July

Oops! I guess I missed July. My apologies to my 3 readers. If we had gone on a family vacation to Europe or something I would have an excuse, but we didn't. We did some stuff, nothing really exciting, but stuff none the less.

Auntie A and the twins came to visit
10 days at grandma and grandpa's with Auntie C and Cousin H
Camping
Yard work
Bannack Days
Swimming lessons
Aunt K and Cousins B & S came for a short visit
Kiddie day at a local nursery
State Fair

That is all that comes to mind. Flower had a fever for a few days, something viral. Princess had a cold and gave it to me a couple weeks ago. I think I'm almost over it. DH has been out of town a couple times for work. That sums up July. I'll try to do better in August.

Ticked Off: Part II

Unfortunately there is more to the story. Part II has good news and bad news.

The good news is that now we don't think Princess had a tick embedded in her head all week. The bad news is that we found a tick on Flower yesterday afternoon.

Flower was in the bathroom and I went to help her finish up. I helped her off the potty and noticed something in the crease of her leg. You guessed it, tick number 2. I sent Princess to find Dear Husband. He is a pro at tick removal (and yes, his service is available to anyone in need) now so he showed up with alcohol and tweezers. Princess brought the sandwich bag. DH removed, bagged, and labeled the tick in seconds. Now we have a collection of frozen ticks.

You are probably wondering what the good news is. Flower's tick was barely in her and I know it wasn't there Friday at bedtime so we think she picked it up Saturday morning. We didn't leave the house Saturday morning. This means Princess might have picked up her tick in the house, most likely on Thursday.

From the online research we've learned ticks can only live on another animal or in wet environments. When we got home from our hike on Monday we were all soaked to the bone and muddy. We threw our wet clothes in the laundry. Then we found the leaking water heater and I immediately forgot about our wet clothes.

Thursday I decided to do laundry. I remember sorting the damp, smelly stuff from Monday and cursing myself for letting them sit for three days. I sorted the laundry on the floor downstairs. There is a large plant very close to this area. We think the ticks (hopefully only 2) made their way to the plant or one immediately found Princess.

Now we are all performing tick checks twice daily. I am examining every small round brown thread in the carpet. Keilie dog is wearing a tick collar. I am praying we only brought 2 ticks home with us. DH is leaving tomorrow on a fishing trip and will be gone all week. I hope I won't need the tweezers in his absence.

As a side note, we were seated in church this morning when Nana, Papa, and Grandma M arrived. Princess started shouting to Nana as they approached our isle, "Nana, Nana, guess what....Flower got a tick too!" Flower was standing next to me by the isle so Papa leaned over to say hi to Flower and ask me if she really did get a tick. Flower immediately pulled her pants down and showed God, Papa, and those seated near us the little red mark on her groin. The child is not modest.

Road Trip

Last Friday the girls and I headed north to visit Grandma, Grandpa, Great Grandma, Great Grandpa, and Great Great Aunt E. There were a lot of greats in that sentence.

Grandpa had surgery on his foot two weeks ago so we thought he might need some entertainment. Flower was perfect for the job.

No more than 30 minutes after we arrived Flower was unpacking our bag to find her blanket and woof-woof. She covered Grandpa up with her blanket and tucked him in with woof-woof. Wouldn't it be nice if everything could be made better with a soft blanket and stuffed animal?

Flower spent the weekend following Grandpa around the house with his bag of ice and pillow. She checked on him every so often to make sure he was OK. Flower was on a mission to make sure Grandpa was without a want. I think nursing may be in her future.

We had a nice weekend. We hung around the house, went out for lunch, and raided Great Grandma’s stash of cookies. Uncle S and Aunt S came for dinner and brought microwave popcorn (in a bucket since the theatre is closed for the winter) and sweetest (Swedish) fish.

As I type the snow is falling and it’s a bit chilly. I’m glad I decided to take a road trip last weekend.

Status Report

It has been so long since I posted I almost forgot my password. Not a good sign. So you are probably wondering what we have been doing and why I have not let you in on it.

Truth is, we have been staying home, laying low, and it has been lovely.

The Princess Birthday Weekend Bash took a lot out of us. We spent the following week recovering. I did not clean anything because I was just plain tired of cleaning. According to Dear Husband I went a bit overboard trying to keep the house in order while we had guests and he is probably right. It is a bad habit I need to work on.

Last weekend started Thursday when I picked Princess up from school. She had a tummy ache and with all the bugs going around I wasn't sure if she was sick or not. We headed home for the afternoon and after a long nap she was better. Friday evening we attended a fund raiser at school. The dinner was awesome (roast pig, twice baked potatoes, pineapple upside-down cake) and we bid on a few items at the silent auction. There were so many items to bid on it was a little overwhelming but I think the fund raiser was successful and we enjoyed the evening.

Saturday we ran errands and had a movie night. Sunday we went to church. Princess had school Monday but DH and I were off so Flower and I stayed home and DH went fishing. The weather has been cold lately so I am going in to winter mode; staying home and cooking meals in the crock pot.

This week flew by. The weather is back to normal fall temperatures. DH has hunting on the brain. I am waiting for a load of laundry to dry so I can fold it and through it in a bag for the weekend. After lunch we are headed north to R-town for the weekend. We haven't been up in months and DH has an antelope tag which must be filled.

That's it. Pretty boring, I know. If DH has a successful hunt this weekend maybe I'll post a photo of his antelope and see if I can get some nasty comments from some animal right activists:)

YNP

We’re home. We got home last night around suppertime. We unloaded the pickup, started the laundry, unpacked everything (except Dear Husband’s duffel bag which is another post), gave the girls a bath, and made smores before bedtime. It was the perfect way to end a vacation in my opinion.

The weekend was fabulous. The girls loved the hotel. I can’t even begin to count the number of times Flower asked, “Where are we going? The hotel?” She wasn’t thrilled to be home last night. Princess wants to live at a hotel. I’m not sure what their favorite part was, the swimming pool or staying up past their bedtime and eating popcorn in bed.

Yellowstone was busy, but not as bad as I thought it would be for a major holiday weekend. There was a lot of traffic but it was due to a road closure because of a construction project on a major road. We didn’t see many animals this trip, the usual big game….but no moose or bear this time. Princess was tired of buffalo after the first day.

The nice lady who took our reservations kept her word. We had a bear peeking in the window of our room. It was little disconcerting the first morning I looked out to check the weather without my glasses. The girls loved him however.

Princess wanted to go hiking so we found a couple short trailers filled with squirrels. Flower is the best bear repellant you can get. She talks or sings the entire time. At one point she was yelling “Squirrel, where are you?” over and over and over. Hiking also meant Flower got to ride in the “pack-pack”. She loves the pack-pack, who can blame her? She has the best view and never gets tired. I’m not sure I can say the same for Daddy since Flower has a hard time keeping her hands to herself.


Today includes laundry and a short trip to town for some school shopping. Princess starts pre-k tomorrow and I haven’t really bought her any school clothes. I don’t think she really needs any, but I’m going to use this opportunity to see if I can convince her to wear some pants or skirts….anything but the same three pairs of shorts and t-shirts she has been wearing all summer. Wish me luck!

Weekend Plans

Labor Day Weekend. The last weekend before summer is officially over. Anyone have plans? We didn't until yesterday. Now we're going to Yellowstone National Park with millions of other tourists.

Dear Husband and I are both planners. Me more so, but he has been known to make a few lists of his own. We talked about taking a road trip this weekend earlier in summer but didn't make any arrangements.

I was dragging my feet because I'm trying to save a little money since we'll have another monthly expense when Princess starts pre-k next week. DH finally had a free weekend so he wanted to get out of town.

We talked Nana and Papa into watching Keilie dog. I reserved one of the last hotel rooms in West Yellowstone. The lady on the phone promised me a bear outside our window. I'll post photos next week.

Buckleberry Diversion

It was supposed to be a fishing trip. We headed out Saturday morning with the poles and lunch in the cooler. Dear Husband wanted to take the girls fishing. He found a lake up in the mountains about an hour and a half from home. We got a late start and figured the campground would be full on a beautiful Saturday morning in August.

We were surprised to find the campground empty less one couple that was occupying the only decent spot. We doused ourselves in bug repellant and ate lunch. DH baited the poles with worms and we headed for the lake.

It was a beautiful little lake tucked up in the mountains, the only problem being 95% of the shore is private property and the water is about a foot deep on the 5% you can access from the campground. So DH hiked out into the lake to cast a few times because Flower want to go “fissin”. Princess reeled her line in a couple times before she realized there was a gross and disgusting worm on the end of it. After that she decided it was more fun to search for pretty rocks in the water.

After about 10 minutes of “fissin” it was evident we were not going to catch anything. We decided to pack it in and head for home. Maybe find a milkshake or ice cream cone along the way. There was more than one road to this lake and at the junction we decided to take the other way back to town. As we were driving along DH and I spotted some wild raspberry bushes that weren’t in season. Then we spotted the huckleberry bushes.

DH stopped and we jumped out and picked a handful. The girls thought the huckleberries were delicious. We continued down the road looking for more bushes. We found another little spot to pull off so we stopped and picked more. Flower kept yelling “Buckleberries, more buckleberries!” DH picked a few cups of berries while the girls and I ate whatever we could find. By the time we were done Flower had a purple ring around her mouth. We all had purple hands.

We finally hit the road again with a tupperware full of huckleberries to snack on. We skipped the milkshakes because the berries were much better. Princess is already making plans to return next year with buckets for everyone. No one even remembered we didn’t catch a fish.

It Was a Wet and Wild Kind of Weekend

It’s Tuesday. I’m not really sure where Monday went. Before I know it the weekend will be here again. That’s a good thing. Summer is flying by. That’s a bad thing. Last weekend was the first in almost 3 months which we’ve been home and cold/stomach virus free. Rather than sticking around a house in terrible need of a good scrubbing we played at the lake and on the river.

Friday the girls and I went out for lunch at a new bakery. It was delicious. Princess takes after her parents and enjoys dining out. Flower just likes to make a mess with her food so I say dining out is one less time I’ll have to clean the floor. That afternoon we met Homestead at the lake for some fun in the sun. The kids had a marvelous time wading in the water and playing in the sand. We will definitely put the lake on our list of things to do again before the summer is over.

Saturday was Dear Husband’s birthday so he went fishing while the girls and I watched Saturday morning cartoons. We were completely worn out from our outing on Friday. There was a commercial for a hotel on TV with a line about going out or staying in and Princess looked at me and said “We are not going out today….I’m exhausted!” After a long nap Princess felt better so we dropped the girls off at Nana’s for the evening. DH and I ran some errands and went out for pizza.

Sunday we took the raft out for a little fishing. We had a big crew. Nana, Papa, Grandma M, and the four of us. We packed a lunch and took the fishing poles. It was Flower’s first trip in the raft. She did ok but we’ll probably wait until next summer to take her again. Sitting in one place for more than 30 seconds isn’t really her thing yet. Princess is a little better in that department so she and Papa fishing off the back of the raft. Grandma M, Nana and I tried to entertain Flower in the front of the raft. DH rowed. We saw river otters, pelicans, geese, a bald eagle and deer. Princess and I each caught a fish. Actually Papa hooked the fish and Princess reeled it in. I was getting lunch out of the cooler and missed it but DH said she gave the poor little fish the ride of its life. A good day was had by all. Nana and Grandma M made a delicious birthday dinner for DH to finish off our day.

That was our weekend. The girls are still exhausted and so am I. It seems like all we do is try to catch up on sleep and rest during the week so we can go like crazy on the weekend. I love summer but sometimes I long for winter so I have an excuse to stay home.

Dog Tired

We got home late last night from a family reunion. We had a great time but by Sunday evening we were beat. We were still three hours from home so we stopped at a McDonald's to grab a couple Happy Meals and take a potty break.

The three of us girls were in the handicap stall using the facilities while Daddy was ordering our food. The girls were done going potty and it was my turn. Flower was exhausted. She was so tired she couldn't hold her head up any longer so she walked over to me and laid her head on my lap to take a quick nap....while I was peeing. Seriously. If we would have had a camera I would have let Princess snap a photo. It was a true Kodak moment.

Now, to clear that image from your brain, I will post something cute.












Oh yeah, and we saw a black bear....

and a grizzly bear....

and a few other random animals but I'm tired of waiting for blogger.

Happy 1st Birthday Cousin Halle!

Exactly one year ago today Cousin Halle graced us with her presence. Auntie C and Uncle P are busy celebrating today. We are busy wishing we could be there to witness the mess of little fingers eating cake. Enjoy every moment Auntie C because you’ll blink and she’ll be getting ready for kindergarten.


In other news, we had a busy weekend. We are all exhausted. Flower seems to be coming down with a cold. Friday we ran errands and took Flower back to the dentist so he could check her front tooth. It’s doing fine. Saturday the girls had a sleep over at Nana and Papa’s while Dear Husband and I went fishing/rafting with some friends. Today the Thunderbirds were in town so we had a picnic at DH’s office, which is very close to the airport. We had great seats and didn’t have to battle the crowds. I snapped a ton of photos but thought these were noteworthy.

Wildflowers

As I mentioned earlier, we spent last weekend at Great Grandma C’s. A lovely time was had by all, except Keilie dog of course, but I’m sure she’s forgotten about the little poisoning incident by now.

GGC always plants a wonderful mix of wildflowers in her backyard and the girls love them. I’m not a great photographer, or even a photographer at all for that matter, however I did manage to catch a few shots I wanted to share with you.

Pre-Weekend Update

Things are looking up around here. In case you were wondering Princess is feeling better. No emergency trips to the bathroom in 18 hours. We're busy packing this morning. We are headed to Great Grandma C's this afternoon for her surprise 80th birthday party. Auntie A is flying in for the weekend.

Saturday we'll make a short road trip to attend an annual memorial walk with Auntie A and Uncle L. Back to GGC's Saturday night to visit with all the out of state relatives. Home on Sunday. At least that's the plan. We'll see who gets the stomach bug next.

We Had Fun, Fun, Fun!

Princess and I headed to Phoenix to visit Auntie C, P and Cousin H last weekend. We had a blast and will be recovering from the heat and activities for a while. We flew down on Thursday and back home yesterday. Flower, Daddy, Nana and Papa had a fun filled weekend of bathroom demolition at Great Grandma C’s. I’m pretty sure Princess and I got the better end of the deal, even if it was 100+ degrees in Phoenix.

Our weekend went something like this.

Thursday – Head to airport 90 miles north. 10 minutes from home Princess began to ask “How much farther to the airport?” and continued to ask every 3 minutes until we arrived. Princess navigated airport security like a seasoned traveler. The TSA lady looked over her boarding pass, asked Princess her name, and then asked her if she knew where she was going. Princess gave her this look like “Duh, you’re the one holding the paper!” but she replied “Phoenix” very politely. The TSA lady looked a tad surprised and didn’t know what to say, and let her through security. We boarded the plane and Princess couldn’t quit smiling. Her grin grew as the plane ascended and she must have told me how much fun she was having a million times. I sprung for the kiddie snack pack which was actually pretty good. It had more stuff to eat than we wanted and it came with a cookie she could color with special markers and then eat. We arrived mid afternoon, went to Auntie’s C’s place and then out for pizza.

Friday – Up at 5:00 AM (we didn’t adjust to the time change very well) and off to the zoo. I’m going to take this opportunity to brag about Auntie C’s bargain hunting skills a bit. She found out it was free admission with a Fry’s card so we saved $36 at the gate. She also found coupons in the phone book for free rides on the carousel and a customer appreciate coupon for the Rain Forest Café. When it was all said and done we saved over $50 on Friday and didn’t have to pay for anything at the zoo except the giant snow cones. BTW-that was the best $2.99 I spent all day because in 100 degree heat you can’t beat a snow cone the size of your head. I think Princess enjoyed the snow cone more than the animals. Friday afternoon we hit the mall for some shopping. As we were walking across the parking lot Princess looked at Auntie C and asked “It’s so hot, how do you live here?” I was thinking the exact same thing. That night we went to P’s softball game and met some of Auntie C and P’s friends and relatives.

Saturday – Slept in until 5:40 AM and then took off for the downtown area to ride the Light Rail. Princess loves trains so we took a little ride through Tempe and back. Then we headed to the Children’s Museum for a couple hours of madness. We grabbed a late lunch and back to the house for some time in the pool. We thought about going to the theater (one of my favorite musicals was in town) but the tickets were sold out so we went to an early movie and then a graduation party to round out the evening.

Sunday – Auntie C drove us to the airport bright and early and we headed home. Princess bought a stuffed elephant and gummy bears for Flower and she couldn’t wait to get home and see her little sister. We beat Daddy and Flower home by an hour so we had time to unpack. We spent the rest of the day lounging on the couch and turned in early.

I asked Princess what her favorite part of the trip was and she said playing with Cousin H. When we were reading stories last night she was a bit emotional because she misses everyone. I guess that just means I’ll have to start looking for cheap airline tickets again…..

We’re Late, We’re Late…

…for a very important date. No time to say hello, goodbye we’re late, we’re late, we’re late. Any Alice and Wonderland fans out there?

This seems to be our mantra lately. Remember that cold I was complaining about a couple weeks ago. I still have it. It got much worse last week, then Flower picked it up, and Princess has been coughing as well. So we’ve been home coughing and feeling generally miserable. I’ve had this nagging feeling that I’m behind on everything for the last couple weeks. I’m going to use our current health status as my excuse for not posting just so you know.

Now I’ll bring you up to speed. We went to Grandma and Grandpa’s last weekend to help my great aunt celebrate her 80th birthday. The girls love to visit because Grandpa bought Princess a little red corvette when she was about 18 months old and she’s finally big enough to drive it. She and Flower terrorize the streets until the battery dies.

Tomorrow Princess and I are flying south for the weekend to visit Auntie C and Cousin H. Princess is pretty excited as this will be her first plane ride. I’m excited too. I’m also feeling some guilt because we’re leaving Flower home. She and Daddy are going to visit Great Grandma C with Nana and Papa this weekend. Flower will have fun, but I’m still sad I’m such a wimp and didn’t buy three plane tickets. I’ll let you know how the trip goes next week.

Park-n-Play

The girls went to the park for a picnic with Nana and Papa on Saturday. Dear Husband was skiing….yes, in May, I know, will this snow ever end? I ran some errands and met up with everyone at the park.

Princess is a little shy around strangers. The big and little variety. She refuses to speak to adults she doesn’t know, which is mostly fine except when the cashier at Target gives her a sticker and she needs to say thank you. Princess usually doesn’t speak to kids her age either, even those she has been in tumbling class with for six months. Both DH and I are more on the quiet side in group settings so she comes by it naturally.

Flower isn’t shy. She’s the one we need to keep a very close eye on. I wouldn’t put it past her to leave the park with a stranger if they offered her ice cream and balloons. This frightens me but we’ll deal with it.

By the time I join the party at the park lunch was over and it was time to play. Princess took Papa to the swings and Flower took me to the train. A little boy ran over to Flower and tried to strike up a conversation. Flower replied to the best of her ability and made a new friend. Princess eventually came back to check on us and the little boy tried to talk to her. Luckily he’s young and didn’t take offense to Princess’ aloofness.

Princess finally warmed up to the little guy and the three of them played together very well. I was chatting with his father who told me he was three and not bashful which I had already deduced. They were a nice pair and the girls enjoyed the new playmate.

That evening at dinner we were telling DH about our day and I was describing the little boy’s father to DH because he looked familiar to me. Princess broke in and said “Mommy, I thought the man was Johnny’s grandpa but he kept calling him dad.” So that leads me to my next question. Do I look old enough to be someone’s grandmother, or do I look very youthful for my age because I don’t think Johnny’s daddy was much older than me?

Where Did March Go?

It has been two weeks since I’ve posted and it seems like just yesterday. I suppose I owe my three…yes, THREE readers (Hi Wanda and girls!), an explanation. Here it goes.

Two weekends ago our family descended on our house for the weekend to help celebrate Flower’s second birthday. We had a wonderful weekend but our house is not equipped to sleep ten people very easily. We did it though and everyone seemed to be happy the next morning so the sleeping arrangements must have been ok. We spent two days cleaning the house and it was trashed five minutes after everyone arrived…not literally of course, but it seemed like it. Dear Husband always wonders why I insist upon thoroughly cleaning the house before we have overnight guests. He thinks it’s a waste of time and he is probably right. Now that I’ve publicly admitted he is right and I am wrong, we’ll see if he reads my blog.

The following week we had a three-day workweek and then DH and I flew to Las Vegas Thursday morning for the weekend. We were in Denver last spring and signed up for a “free preview” weekend for a new resort in Vegas. I found some cheap airline tickets and our lodging was paid for (in exchange for two hours of our time where we got to repeatedly say we didn’t want to buy their program) so it sounded like a good plan.

The girls stayed with Nana and Papa for the weekend. This was the first time I’ve been away from Flower overnight. Flower is pretty good about adapting to new things so I wasn’t worried about her. Princess has spent the night away from us before so she was ready for another sleepover. Our dog, on the other hand, was not. Let’s just say the girls were easier for Nana to take care of than the dog.

We all had a nice weekend. Nana had lots of activities planned for the girls. We enjoyed some great food, a magic show, live music, adult beverages, a little gambling, sleeping all night without someone calling “Mommy!” and a tour of the Hoover Dam. DH thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the Hoover Dam. We took the “Hard Hat” tour, which goes down inside the dam and through tunnels, etc. It was very interesting. My favorite part of the trip was being able to fit everything I needed in a carry-on bag and still have plenty of room to buy a few things to bring home. That and the great food we can’t get at home. Unfortunately we didn’t hit the jackpot so we both had to go to work this week.

We left for Vegas in a snowstorm and we returned in a snowstorm that was much worse. Our flight was the last one to land that morning and later on that day the roads were closed. We were happy to be home.

This week was very busy at work and our daycare lady’s father passed away so she is out of town until after Easter. We’ve been juggling our schedules and staying home with the girls this week.

I am taking this opportunity to do away with Flower’s binkie. She only uses it when she sleeps and it’s been that way for almost a year. She actually sleeps with two binkies, one in her mouth and one in her hand. I asked her if she wanted to give her binkies to Cousin H yesterday because Cousin H is still a baby (who doesn’t use a binkie, but Flower doesn’t know that) and Flower agreed. Last night we put the binkies in a box, wrapped it, decorated it with bows and stickers, and “sent it off” to Cousin H. Flower wasn’t very happy at bedtime when she didn’t have her binkies but after I reminded her a dozen times we gave them to Cousin H she finally went to sleep. She woke up twice last night, which isn’t uncommon for her, but she didn’t go back to sleep as easily as usual so she had a rough night. She is napping now and it took a bit longer for her to go to sleep, but she made so I think she’ll be over the binkie by Monday.

I tried to slice the tip of her binkies last year but she immediately noticed and that just made her mad. I was weak and needed my sleep so I gave in and bought new ones. This time I’ll be stronger. I hope once Flower has moved past the binkie she will start to sleep all night, or at least not wake me up when she wakes up. A girl can wish, can’t she?

Our Snow Bunnies

We decided to skip the Super Bowl festivities last Sunday and take the girls skiing. Princess skied a few times last year and really enjoyed it. Flower is still too little for skis, although we're sure she will have a blast next winter.

It always takes Princess a few minutes to remember she likes to ski. After the initial "I don't want to!" phase she settles in and the "I don't want to!" is replaced with things like "Daddy, I want to go faster!" and "Daddy, can we do it again?" Flower and I hung out at the bottom of the bunny slope and watched Daddy push Princess up the hill and run down backwards. Princess hasn't quite mastered the tow rope yet, although they did use it a few times. Maybe next time she will figure out it's much faster to ride the tow rope up the hill and Daddy won't be so sore the next day.

We're Frozen

Well, we survived another weekend. This one wasn't as busy as last weekend due to the weather. An arctic blast rolled in Friday night and it dumped a little snow, blew it around enough to make traveling dangerous, and dropped the temperature a million degrees.

It was a good weekend for hot chocolate and movies. Unfortunately we had practice Saturday morning for the Christmas program at church so Princess and I donned our winter wear, put the pickup in four wheel drive, and backed out of the garage. Seriously, there was a 4 foot drift in front of the garage door. We spent the morning in town and made it home for a nap and hot apple cider.

Sunday morning we headed back to church for the early service and Christmas program. The program was originally scheduled for the evening but with the weather so frigid it was moved up to the morning. We were thrilled because it meant we didn't have to go out in 20 below temperatures. Princess was an angel. Nana was in charge of the program this year and it went very well despite lack of participation from the older kids at church. Basically half of the kids who could read backed out at the last minute so Nana had to improvise. Those of you who know Nana know that the program was wonderful, despite what she might tell you. I'd post the video but I doubt you want to see all of it so you'll have to settle for a photo.

While we were at church the power went out at our house so it was a little chilly when we returned. Luckily the girls went to Nana and Papa's for the afternoon so we headed to town for a little shopping. Then back to Nana's for dinner. The power was on by the time we got home so we didn't need to break out the propane heaters and long johns.

This morning our daycare lady informed us that some of the other kids were home with a stomach thing that didn't sound like much fun. I'm headed out of town for a meeting tomorrow so cross your fingers the girls didn't pick up the stomach bug because Daddy's in charge!

We’re Exhausted

We had a busy weekend. I knew it would be, I just didn’t realize how busy. Friday we did a little shopping in the morning and daddy hit the road in the afternoon. He had a project that only he could do 4 hours from home. He was bummed about missing Princess perform at the festival on Saturday but that’s life. We have video.

Saturday morning we headed to the festival to watch a friend dance. I called Nana and Papa to make sure they would be there to help coral Flower. Things took a little longer than I expected so we barely had time to eat a quick lunch and get Princess dressed for her performance. She was fabulous. Her leotard was adorable, she didn’t complain once about it or her hair. She was in the front row so Nana was able to get her on video. After the little girls did their thing the older girls performed their routine. Then they all grabbed a little girl and did the chicken dance. Apparently it’s a tradition for this group. It was definitely entertaining. Flower loved all the girls and she was moving her arms and dancing right along with them.

Next item on our agenda was Santa. Princess remembered that Santa was at the festival last year and there was no way we were leaving without seeing Santa. Luckily he was available and there was no line…amazing I know. Princess got right up in his lap and immediately started smiling for the camera. Flower was ok with sitting in his lap, but she just wanted to stare at him so we had to coax her into smiling for the camera. Last year all she wanted to do was pull his beard so I guess we’ll consider staring progress. She eventually looked our way and the photographer got a great photo. Princess told Santa she wanted a dollhouse and Flower wanted an inchworm. I breathed a huge sigh of relief because I’ve already ordered those items so a last minute change of heart by Princess would not have been good. After Santa we checked out the craft tables and decorated cookies.

Sunday we headed out to harvest a Christmas tree with friends. I’ll admit, I was a little apprehensive because Princess has issues when it comes to wearing warm clothes and this outing would require snow pants. After a minor meltdown she got dressed and we took off. It was in the 30s with a light snow falling….a perfect day for some sledding and hot chocolate. We found a nice place and the kids played on the sleds for an hour or so. Then we set off in search of the perfect tree. Actually, we were just looking for a decent tree that would fit through the door and not take up the entire living room. We hunted for about an hour and made a decision. Hopefully we’ll get it in the stand tonight to see if we made a good choice.

Flower went to bed early last night and did not want to get up this morning. Princess was a bear this morning but we eventually got out of the house. I’ve been moving pretty slowly all day too, but I have another excuse. I tripped on the stairs at 4 am Saturday morning on my way down to let the dog out and stubbed my little toe pretty bad. Of course I had to pick one of the busiest weekends we’ve had lately, but it’s healing. Hopefully I’ll be mended by this weekend because we still have a lot to do!

P.S. I know, I know....those of you with more kids or older kids are reading this going "That's all....we do all that in an afternoon." We're more of a 'hang out around the house' family so this was a lot of activity for one weekend!

The Train Ride That Wasn't

Let me start by saying I will get to introductions in a bit, but right now I'm going to jump right in with a little story from last weekend.

Big, see previous photo, loves trains. Last summer we rode a little tour train and it was a big hit. The town we live in also has a tour train which is a nice ride, from what I've heard, so all summer I've wanted to take the girls on the tour train around town. Last Sunday we decided to pack a picnic lunch and take a ride on the train. I missed one small detail on the brochure. Closed Sundays. Luckily we didn't tell Big our plans, so she wasn't disappointed. Instead we promised her a tour of the state capitol building.

A few weeks ago I came up with a brilliant idea. Every summer I would bring the girls to the Capitol and take their picture on the front lawn by the flowers (they are different every year and thought it would be a nice chronological history). So we set the girls in the flower bed and started clicking. See the two little girls below the O and above the 2? That's my girls holding very still for the picture. Actually, there were bees all over the flowers and they were too frightened to move....but hey, it's a good picture!

After the photo op we headed for the Capitol. We practically had the entire place to ourselves, it being Sunday afternoon, and Big couldn't help but ask "Mommy, are we supposed to be in here?". We made our way to the back corner to check out the House Chambers and the cool green chairs. Little wasn't thrilled....but Big was.

We followed the Capitol up with a trip to the dump (always fun for all) and Dairy Queen. What else could you ask for on a hot August afternoon?

*Please note, the photos aren't exactly where I wanted them but I can't figure out how to edit my posts and I'm tired so it will have to wait for another day.