The Mountain Family

October Happenings

2008-12-19T22:35:00.001-08:00

I still don't know what prompted this, but one night while I was making dinner, #1 decided to put on a play. She and Daddy designed the "costumes" (construction paper hats/crowns) and then she wrote the lines. She got two chairs and draped blankets between them to be the stage curtains. For some reason, even the people watching the play had to wear costumes, thus #2 and I have on ours!

Here they are reading their lines. #1 wrote "Will you go to the ball with me?" on a piece of paper for Ryan to read. She wrote "Yes, I will." on her piece of paper. And that was the end of the play. A lot of work for two lines, but she was proud of herself! It was cute!

Here we are with our girlies. Don't I have a great husband?!

The girls were enjoing a nice fall day....

playing outside before the cold weather got here....

The girls helped Ryan plant a couple of trees. We purchased another Tulip tree. We planted one at our first house and were pleased with it. We also used tulips in our wedding, so I like that we have a tulip tree! Ryan also found a maple and transplanted it. I think he found it growing in one of our other beds...we'll see if it survives!
Back in the spring....before tax season was over....Ryan and the girls were trying to figure out what to do while I worked one Saturday. The previous home owners had left a small flower bed next to the garage....maybe 4 or 5 feet long. Ryan decided to let the girls plant flowers in it. I have enjoyed that bed all spring, summer and fall and cannot wait to have even more gorgeous flowers next year! Since the girls like "instant gratification," Ryan bought a few six packs of various flowers to plant in the bed. That way they had something pretty to show me that day. But he also purchased wildflower seeds and sprinkled them all over the bed, too. The girls and I both had so much fun checking the flower bed to see what new flowers were blooming. And they kept blooming, and kept blooming! Even after the first frost, we still had flowers in that bed. It was amazing. Here a few of the pictures we have of the flowers. At the very end of the summer, I cut a few and put them in a vase. Next year, I'm going to do that more often so I can enjoy them inside, as well as outside!

Playing in the playroom......

Here are Sweetie and #2 hanging out....can't you tell that Sweetie was being "sweet?!" (I guess I'd be fighting back too if a 3 year old was holding me by the neck!) By the way, #1 has decided that we should change the cat's name to Cutie. "Because she's not really sweet, but she is cute!" She has a very good point!

I found this picture on the camera one day and had to ask Ryan what it was! Apparently after bathtime one day, he put a green plastic barrel from the Lincoln Log set on her nose and got this super cute picture! I love it!

This is how Ryan spent many, many evenings this fall. He took a course at the U of A in order to get a certification that he wants for work. He only needed 3 more hours of physcial science. He could take freshman level geology, or a senior level course called Karst Hydrogeology. He opted for the senior level course because it would pertain to some of his projects at work. WRONG CHOICE!!!! Next time he will opt for the easy A! He had field trips and a presentation and LONG homework assignments! I'm proud of him though. He stuck to it and worked hard and got a B in the class!
(do you see Sweetie sleeping by his leg? She LOVES to curl up on HIS lap every night. We can both be sitting side by side and she chooses him. I think she knows that he doesn't love her as much as the rest of us, so she's trying to woo him. Cats are like that, aren't they?!

The girls took Daddy's spot, so then he had to try to get all 3 of us out of bed and ready for work and school! Yuck! What happened to the days of seeing Ryan off to work and the girls and I hanging out at home in our jammies until after lunch?! They went by so quickly!

Growing up with Grampy Don

2008-12-19T22:26:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist digging out these pictures of #1 and my grandpa. #1 was almost 4 when the pictures of her were taken, and #2 was almost 3 when the pictures of her were taken.

Grampy Don always used to take me for bike rides. I would "ride" in the basket like #1 is. Basically, straddle the back tire and let a foot rest in each basket. It works great unless you hit a bump. That happened to me one time when I was about 5 or 6. I still remember how scary it was flying off the back of that bike and landing head first on the sidewalk....ouch! I reminded Grampy Don to watch out for any bumps!

Going off to explore......

Silver Dollar City

2008-12-19T21:59:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything...I got sucked in to Facebook for a while, so my blog has been neglected. Since I'll be busy for the next 3 1/2 months, I thought I should get my blog up to date, or else if will never happen!

In October we went to Silver Dollar City with my brother and his family. We actually went over on a Friday night and visited my grandparents. They are retired and travel full time, so we rented a cabin at the RV park where they were staying and got to spend time with them. We hit the outlet malls on Saturday and had a bonfire on Saturday night. Then we got up on Sunday morning and headed to SDC. The weather was PERFECT and the park was not crowded AT ALL! We could walk up and get right on most of the rides. They only had one person operating a couple of the kiddie rides, so we had to wait for a little while on some of those, but not long...maybe 15 minutes. The cousins had fun getting to go on the rides together, and the parents got to alternate riding with the kids. It was a win-win situation!

#1 and Allison on the trolley ride into the park.
Waiting for Dad to get the stroller rented....doesn't #2 look so happy?! :)

Andrew thought it was taking Uncle Ryan too long to get the stroller!
It was worth the wait! Look at all of that room to spread out!
I'm not too proud to admit that I liked the frog ride, too! It was actually fun!
The big girls were trying to make it look a little more exciting than it was! They rode the kid's roller coaster later, so maybe they were just practicing for it.

See how much fun this ride is?! The dad's each rode with the little ones later in the day, but I didn't think they'd appreciate their picture's being on here, so I left them off.
Grampy Don & Grammy Saundra (the great grandparents) came to SDC for a while. We let them eat with the kids, and the parents snuck up to the next level and had a nice, semi-quiet meal. I love that my girls know their great grandparents!
We all went on the Great American Shootout after lunch. I discovered that my hubby is REALLY GOOD at that game! I had to take a picture to prove how good he did! He won out of everyone on our boat.

We couldn't leave without a stop for ice cream.....what a mess!
We had a great time! We were finally able to get a picture of all of the kids in the parking lot on our way home.

Labor Day Weekend

2008-10-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

We had a busy Labor Day weekend. We went to the lake with Ryan's family on Saturday, had #1's best friend from pre-school over on Sunday and went to the lake with my brother & sister-in-law on Monday! #1 also had a birthday party to attended late Monday afternoon. After the party, she came home and fell asleep. When I woke her up, she was really, really hot. I took her temperature, and it was around 101. She had a low temp through the weekend, but by Monday night, it was obvious she had a bug. After a trip to the doctor on Tuesday, we learned that she had strep throat! At least she was able to have a lot of fun before the illness got her down!

After a eating lunch on the boat, we went for a swim in the lake. Ryan tried to fish while we swam, but for some reason the fish just weren't biting....I'm sure it didn't have anything to do with us being in the water...we were really quiet! ha!

Grandpa went for a swim with us...

then we got to ride on the tube! I don't know which kid is in the tube with me in this picture, but both of them got to ride. They really enjoyed it! #1 even enjoyed swimming from the tube to the boat when we stopped out in the middle of the lake! I was proud of her for swimming so far, and in such deep water!

When #1 was 9 months old, she started going to a Mother's Day Out program at a local church. There was a girl in her class that was one week younger than her. The next year, they were in the same class, and the next year, and the next year! They became best friends, and since we moved their last year of preschool, they have missed each other so much! We have scheduled a few play dates and they have seen each other at birthday parties. We got to have Ryleigh come swim and play on Sunday afternoon. It is so neat that the girls are still such good friends. I will have to be sure and continue to make a point to have Ryleigh over so that they can stay friends for many years to come!

Here are some pictures of the bathing beauties....

We don't have any pictures from our day at the lake on Monday. We went to my sister-in-law's grandfather's house and I forgot my camera. My SIL took pictures, but I haven't gotten copies yet. My SIL's parents and my mom came, too. My little brother stopped by, but didn't have time to swim and tube with us. We swam off of the dock, and then took the houseboat out for lunch. After we got back from our cruise on the houseboat, we took the ski boat out and did some tubing. The girls didn't like the tube as much that day. My brother goes a little bit faster than Grandpa! And there was more activity on the lake, so the water was choppier. At one point, we hit a wake so big that it bounced #2 right out of her seat, up into the air, turned her upside down, and she landed on her side on the tube inbetween our seats. Luckily, I saw the boat cutting through the wake and anticpated what was coming. I had a tight hold on her life jacket. I did not think it would throw her out of the tube like it did though. That scared me so much that I decided I was finished tubing for the day!

First day of Kindergarten

2008-10-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Wow....the first day of school seems like so long ago! #1's first report card should come home on Monday, so I guess it has been about 9 weeks.

She was excited to go to school and was not nervous or sad at all. No tears or clinging to us....

Here are some pictures...I just couldn't resist including the one of the two girls together!!

On our way in, we ran in to our neighbors. Their youngest son started kindergarten this year, too. When they stopped to talk to #1, you could tell that she felt so big and important!
Here she is outside her classroom and sitting at her desk. She had a great first day and has loved every bit of school since....well, except for P.E. It's not her favorite! She doesn't like getting sweaty! :) her words, not mine!

2nd Bi-annual (?) Girl's Trip

2008-10-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

Two years ago I went with 2 of my friends on a girl's cruise. We had a blast and decided that we had to go on a trip again sometime. We didn't think our husbands would be too happy if we went on a trip every year, so we decided that we should go every other year. Our wonderful husbands said YES, so this year we went to Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2006 Andrea, Felicite & I went. We asked Mary Anne to go, but she wasn't able to go. This year she was ready for it, even though she was leaving behind her 6 month old baby! (I've decided that 2nd kids get left behind more often than 1st kids. #2 was 4 months old when I went on the cruise 2 years ago!)

We called Felicite to see if she was on board this year, but she had also had another baby, and had several trips planned for this summer, so she wasn't able to come.

We woke up early on Saturday morning and headed to XNA.

We flew into Albuquerque and drove to "Old Town" to eat lunch. It was a lot like the Plaza in Santa Fe....just a little down town area that forms a square and has a park in the middle. We found a little mexican restaurant and thought we were having the first of many mexican meals. It ended up being the ONLY Mexican food we ate the entire trip! The salsa was nice and spicy and the food was yummy. Andrea got a great picture of MA and the guy serenading her!

When we were leaving we found this statue and thought it would be a good group picture. There was a lady sitting on a bench on the sidewalk, so we asked her to take our picture. She took the picture and sat back down, but it didn't really take. We asked her again...and again...and the 3rd time finally worked! She just wasn't holding down on the button long enough. Since she went to so much trouble taking our picture, I think it deserves a spot on the blog!

As we left Albuquerque and headed to Santa Fe, we saw mountains! We had to record the first glimpse of mountains...even though it is from the window of the car as we drove down the interstate!

We made it to Santa Fe and stayed at a great condo! Funny story about the gated condo. We had a garage door opener that opened the gate. It worked great every time we entered the parking area, but we always seemed to have problems with it when we left. The parking area was a circle drive, so there was one entrance and one exit. There was a condo unit in between the entrance and exit, so it was very clear that you had to go in one and out the other. Every time we would drive over to the exit gate, we would have problems with our opener. We would pull up really close to the gate, and then it would swing towards our car as it opened, so we had to hurry and put the car in reverse so that the gate didn't hit the front of it. One day when we were leaving, we could not get the exit gate to open. We went back into the condo to swap openers (there was a spare in the condo). The other opener worked just fine, so we left. Then that opener started giving us problems. We were leaving for dinner our LAST night there and could not get the stupid gate to open so we could leave! MA got out of the car and walked up closer to the gate, pushing the buttons on the opener, trying to get it to open and couldn't. I ran back into the condo and got the 1st opener and tried it. It wouldn't work. Then I got both openers and started walking back and forth pushing them both and pointing them at anything that I thought might possibly be a sensor. In desperation, I turned back to the girls in the car to see if they had any ideas on how to open the gate. An older couple that lived in the condo between the 2 gates had come out of their condo and were informing MA and Andrea that the exit gate had a motion sensor and did not require the openers. Apparently, the entire time we had been staying at the condo, we were opening the entrance gate on our way out! I had noticed a couple of times that the entrance gate was open as we drove by, but I just thought someone happened to get to the condos at the same time we were leaving! It would have been nice to know that we didn't need the openers a little bit earlier in the trip, but the next day (when we were leaving for good) we were able to leave without even TRYING the openers! :)

Anyway - here is a picture of us in front of the condo.

After we got to the condo and unloaded, MA and I wanted to sit and rest for awhile. Andrea was able to sit and do nothing for about 10 minutes before she was begging us to get up so we could go explore Santa Fe! She does not slow down well....always has to be going and doing! Guess that is part of what we love about her! We went down by the plaza and saw this beautiful church...we knew that the oldest church in the US was in Santa Fe, and this church was right in the middle of town and a lot of people were visiting it, so we thought it must be THE church. On our next to last day in Santa Fe, Andrea found the oldest church, and it wasn't this one! We do have a lot of pictures of this church though! When Andrea found THE church, it was after dinner and too dark to take pictures, so we drove by it on our way out of town. MA and I stayed in the car while Andrea took some pictures. She even discovered the oldest house in the US was right next door. Apparently the house was built for the priest to live in, while everyone else lived in tents.

Above - the 3 of us in front of the church we thought was the oldest church.

Below - the actual oldest church....(yes, I know, it makes sense now that the oldest church wouldn't be as elaborate as the one above!)

Below - Andrea in front of the oldest house. She was really excited about getting to see the oldest church AND house, so I thought I should post the picture that has her in it! Some other tourist lady offered to take her picture...

Back to the really pretty church that was not the oldest....even the door was detailed and elaborate. Here is a picture of the door....and all of those little rectangles are metal sculpture type plates. The other picture is of one of the individual plates.

Below - the garden in front of the church had different statues. This one had some beautiful turquoise on it. Of the statues and art in that garden, this one was probably my favorite.

The most frustrating thing about Santa Fe is that everything closes so early! At 5pm all of the street vendors packed up and went home...restaurants closed around 9. Nothing opened until 9am or 10am. When the 3 of us do something in AR, we usually meet at a restaurant around 7:30 or so and stay for a good two or three hours! Sometimes we meet even later and stay until 11pm! Our first night, we went to the La Cantina Sena (I think that was the name) and were able to have 8pm reservations, but little did we know that would be the latest we would get the whole trip! La Cantina Sena was like a broadway dinner theater. The wait staff sang broadway hits in between courses. It was entertaining and something different that you don't find around here.

When we were out exploring, we ran across the tax collector's office. We couldn't resist getting a picture of me by it...even though I'm not a tax collector, I "get" to be the bearer of bad news often enough...one of those "don't shoot the messenger" sort of things!

We took a picture of the Palace of the Governors, not knowing that it would look totally different the next time we saw it! The Native American artisans bring their goods and sell them on the sidewalk, but since it was 5:05 when we took this picture, they were already gone for the day! We took a picture a couple of days later when the sidewalk was full...I'll post that picture on another post.

Andrea thought of a great game that we could play at night at the condo. She thought of personal questions that we had to answer about ourselves, and then try to guess the answers of the other girls. She decided the game could be called Fun University (which MA and I quickly nicknamed FU) and we had freshman and graduate level "courses." The graduate level had harder questions....she surprised us with gifts for playing the game! We all had matching PJs! She liked the shirts because the had '08 on them (the year of the trip) and since they said Univeristy, she named the game after the shirts. You can't tell in the picture, but Andrea's PJ bottoms don't match mine and MA's. Our pants were pink and purple plaid....Andrea claims that they didn't have her size in that color, so she had to get blue and purple plaid....yeah, right! She'll make up anything to get out of wearing pink! :) The other 2 nights MA & I had to come up with questions...it was really quite fun b/c there were some random facts that we learned about each other that we probably wouldn't have found out otherwise. Who knew that we all preferred cinnamon gum to mint or fruity gum!?

Day 2 - Santa Fe - Rafting

2008-10-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

We started our second day with the BEST BREAKFAST!!! Since we would be rafting through lunch time, we were advised to eat a big breakfast. And did we ever! We went to a French bakery/cafe and had yummy food! MA and I split a piece of quiche and then ordered something sweet to top it off. MA & Andrea had blueberry crepes with Nutella. I got to sample a bite and it was delicious!

I couldn't resist a strawberry tart...

Just to prove how much we LOVED this place....we went there every day for the rest of our visit! We decided that we would not want to be disappointed if we went anywhere else and did not receive such yummy food! And we were SO excited about our food, we took PICTURES of ourselves with it. We had no makeup and hadn't showered! We were on our way to go rafting, so we were grungy, but we sure didn't want to pass up an opportunity to have pictures so we could reminisce!

Side note - I borrowed 2 of my little brothers triathlon shirts because they were quick drying and would be good to wear on the rafting trip. The waitress asked us if we were in town for the Santa Fe triathlon that had taken place the day before...we had to be truthful and confess that we had never been in a triathlon...we were just wearing borrowed shirts. Then when we got to the rafting place, another girl had a triathlon shirt. She started asking us detailed questions about what kinds of triathlons we do, so we had to repeat our story again! I'm not going to borrow those shirts anymore. I feel like such a poser!

Here we are getting ready to go white water rafting on the Rio Grande! Don't you love our helmets!?

Here is a picture of some of the rapids we were on. They were Class 2....I think the guy said that there were a couple of places that were Class 3....but that was maybe only if the water was a little higher. There was one time that we had to paddle straight towards a rock, then back paddle to stop, then our side of the boat (just the 3 of us) had to jump to the other side of the boat because the guide had to flip the boat up on its side so that we could sqeeze between two boulders. It was really cool and really fun!

We stopped at his big boulder so we could climb up on it and jump off. Here are MA & I making our way to the top. Andrea didn't jump because she was afraid snakes might be there!

Our guide took this picture from the water for me....I thought it turned out pretty cool.

Here is a picture of Andrea from her picture taking spot. I took this one from the water as I was swimming back to the boat.

Apparently the rafting guides enjoy shooting each other with water guns. We got to a wide, calm spot on the river and our guide whipped out this water gun and started spraying another guide. The other guide pulled out his gun and sprayed our guide. It was funny for a little bit, but all of the rafters got soaked in the process, and they did it for a long time!

Here we are on the river!

We went to Il Piato for dinner that night. It was a nice Italian type restaurant. We kept laughing because the portions seemed really small. They were actually quite normal size, but we are so used to HUGE portions at chains (such as Olive Garden, Carinos, etc), that "normal size" seems small. Andrea ordered a glass of wine....which I think cost her $7-$9, and when they brought it, we just started laughing (after the waitress left)! **Below - I had to toast her with my water glass, just so we would have proof that the portion sizes really were small!

Santa Fe - Days 3 & 4 - Art Musems & Coming Home

2008-10-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

I have been really behind on my posts...the first 2 posts for Santa Fe were completed back in July & August, but I was waiting to post them until I could show them to MA & Andrea to get their approval. I was able to show them to Andrea and she approved....I've given up on waiting to show them to MA, so I just posted them! Now I've got to try and remember about our last two days in Santa Fe!

Of course, we started our day at our favorite French bakery! Andrea & I had strawberry & nutella crepes, while MA branched out and had Croque Monsieur. I had no clue what it was, but it sure looked good! During the trip we discovered that MA knows a lot about different foods and how to pronounce the "weird" names....(she even knew that "gnocchi" was pronounced "no-chee") During this breakfast when she not only knew how to pronounce "Croque Monsieur" but she knew what she was ordering! We learned about her foreign exchange experience while she was in high school. She got to go to France for about a month (I think 6 weeks) and live with a French family that had a daughter her age. That girl also got to come to the USA and live with MA's family. So MA was really familiar with the french pastries and foods. About a month after we got back home, MA even had us over and prepared crepes for us! We'll have to make strawberry/blueberry/nutella crepes a friendship tradition!

After our breakfast, we went to the Palace of the Governors and shopped. We were all able to find some goodies to bring home to remind us of our trip, as well as some gifts for our families. Andrea wanted to find a special piece of art, which she did! On her trip to Italy, she took several pictures of doors. She found an artist that digitally edits his grandfather's photography. Some of his work included doors of Santa Fe and the surrounding areas. When Andrea asked to take a picture with him and his art, he also invited his friend Robert to join them in the picture. I was successful in zooming in close enough to leave most of Robert out of the picture...but if you notice Andrea's arm is missing and there is a little bit someone's head showing....it's just Robert! :)

Here are a couple of pictures showing the Palace of the Governors during the day....it's a lot busier than the first time we saw it (on the evening of Day 1)!

MA & I made some purchases from the same artist. MA purchased a piece that now hangs in her kitchen. Andrea laughed when she saw my art because, according to her, it fit me perfectly....it was "practical art!" I really liked some of the prints that the artist had, but they didn't really fit my decor....I noticed some mousepads in a rubbermaid container behind her table and asked if they were for sale. They were! So now I have a mouse pad in my office that is pretty and functional!

After our shopping, we walked to the Georgia O'Keefe gallery. On our way, we passed an older house that had a sign in the window advertising their Ansel Adams exhibit. Andrea got really excited and started begging to go in. We went in and saw some famous pictures. MA knew who Ansel Adams was and knew some of his work....I recognized his pictures....but Andrea had studied him and his photography, so that was why she was so excited. The guy in the gallery said we could take pictures, so we all took pictures next to this famous photograph. I'm only posting Andrea's picture with it because she was the most excited!

Here's a picture of Ansel Adams and a picture he took of Georgia O'Keefe.

After we left the Ansel Adams exhibit, we went to the Georgia O'Keefe gallery. MA and I started talking to a couple of the security guards. They were so nice and helpful and knowledgable! They really made the gallery visit enjoyable! We asked them if they had an interest in Georgia O'Keefe before they started working there, and they said that they really didn't. They now compete with each other to learn the most interesting facts about O'Keefe and her works on display there. One of the guards showed us some damage on one of the canvases. Apparently a young child pointed to the picture and touched it. That pressure damaged the art and it cost about $200,000 to repair it! He had to shine his light at a certain angle for us to even be able to see the 1 inch line/tear in the canvas. It's hard to imagine that the repair cost that much!

From there, we headed to Canyon Road....a whole road of nothing but shops and galleries! On our way, we found a small garden of statues. Andrea and I decided to imitate art! I think we did a pretty good job!

We were getting pretty tired when we got to Canyon Road, so we stopped at the Tea House to rest our feet and get something to drink. Unfortunately, they didn't have sweet tea. Their tea of the day was honey bee tea, so we all tried it. It was pretty good....not quite sweet enough, but it was refreshing!

While walking down Canyon Road, we found some art for MA to imitate. I must say she did an excellent job! You can tell that she's been doing yoga!

By this time of the day (around 5pm), MA and I were getting pretty worn out, so Andrea started taking some "good sport" pictures.

Here's MA enjoying her last little bit of honey bee tea. This is the gallery that I enjoyed the most. Had I had an extra $1,500 with me, there was a painting of poppies that I would have purchased. Andrea found a painting there that she would have liked, too. I think the painting she liked was around $4,000 - $5,000.

Just waitin' on Andrea....

If we each had an extra $50,000 lying around, we could have purchased some bronze statues that we liked. The first one is of 2 girls and 3 boys, so we decided that it was Andrea's boys and my girls playing together.

Here is Andrea leading her 3 boys off to a new adventure and MA sharing her love of reading with her daughter and son!

We ate dinner at the Pink Adobe on our last night. We assumed it would be Mexican food, but it wasn't. I had steak and MA & Andrea shared some seafood enchiladas. The food was just okay, and MA got sick, so that put a damper on things. We're glad we went to the famous "Pink Adobe," but we probably should have held out for authentic New Mexican food.

Since I'm the "numbers" person of the group, I was always in charge of calculating each person's bill when the bill arrived. The nerd in me enjoys it!

On our very last day we savored every bite of our delicious breakfast. I think MA & Andrea had crepes, and I tried the Croque Monsieur. It was delicious!

On our drive back to Albuquerque, we saw gorgeous clouds! The whole trip home had these white, puffy clouds. MA decided that Andrea should do photography of cloud formations....we aren't aware of any artists that have ever done that.

Picture taken from the car....

The next two pictures were taken from the plane...

The next picture needs some explanation. MA purchased some framed art that needed to be carried on the plane. It was wrapped in bubble wrap. Out of habit, she kept popping the bubbles....walking through the airport..*pop, pop*....eating lunch..*pop, pop*...reading a book...*pop, pop*...so, we decided she couldn't pop the bubbles unless she was "popping" a song. During our trip, we kept hearing the song "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis, so MA decided to "pop" that song. We decided to make it a duo. She instructed me when to "pop"as she sang. This is when Andrea decided she needed a picture of us singing and popping bubble wrap. Apparently just as Andrea took the picture, I didn't pop at the right time and MA called me on it. The look on MA's face is priceless!

Here we are on the plane getting ready to head back to our families....coming home rejuvenated and missing our families....but not really missing all of the work that we do as moms! We had such a good time and are so thankful that we have such wonderful husbands that allow us to get away for a while! We'll have to start planning our trip for 2010!

Our family has grown!!!

2008-09-17T22:25:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't blogged in a long time! I have so much to blog about, but I can't get the pictures downloaded because I'm having problems with the memory card. I can see the pictures on my computer, but when I put the card into the card reader, it shows most of the pictures are damaged. I don't think they are since I can view them on the computer, so I'm going to find a cord and try to download them that way....cross your fingers! Now for the news.......

Meet our new little girl!

#1 has been begging (and I do mean begging!) us to let her get a pet. She finally decided that if we wouldn't let her have a horse, she would settle on a cat! So she has been asking for a cat and coming up with solutions for every secenario we have thrown out there! (Where would we keep a litter box? Who would feed it? Who would clean the litter box? etc.) She did a really good job coming up with solutions, too. Sometimes she had a quick answer, other times she would think about it for about a week and then randomly answer the question. (driving down the road out of no where she gave us a good answer for where the litter box could be kept....I knew then what she had been thinking about for the previous week!).

So tonight, after much discussion between me & Ryan, we surprised the girls with a trip to the animal shelter. We looked at all of the cats and then told the girls to pick one. #1 couldn't believe it! #2 was a little more reserved. If we walked by a cage and the cat started trying to reach out to bat at us, she squealed and squirmed away from it! It was a little much for her to take in.

We finally decided on a 10 week old calico kitten....her name is still being discussed. #1 thought of "Sparkle." #2 says "Salsa." The cat was called by both names tonight. Neither child is insistent on the name she suggested, so we'll have to discuss it some more, and possibly come up with another option. I'll let you know when the name has been determined.

I thought this was a funny picture of #2 trying to figure out how to get her hands on the cat! Since Sissy was holding it, she thought she'd try to hold its hand. It looks more like she is trying to squeeze the leg off, but she really was being gentle!

This morning the girls and I walked #1 to school. It was such a nice, cool morning, that #2 and I stayed outside when we got back home and worked in the garage. Ryan has been working really hard to get the attic decked and stuff moved up there. There is enough room for my car to get parked in there, but there are still a lot of boxes lining the walls. While I was unpacking/sorting/organizing, #2 did a good job playing and entertaining herself. She was singing as she played, and sang every word to the chorus of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." I grabbed the camera and asked her to sing it for me again. She got a little bit shy, so some of the words are kind of under her breath, but you can get the jist of it! Too cute!

First Day of Preschool...and almost Kindergarten

2008-08-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of #2 on her first day of 3 year old preschool. And a picture of #1 from her first day 3 years ago! I love to find pictures of my girls at the same milestone and compare their looks and faces....so much of their personalities shine through! #2 is having a great time at Grana's. She is one of the big kids now. Last year there were 3 5 year olds and 3 2 year olds. Now the 5 year olds are in kindergarten, so #2 has moved into the "big kid" position. Ms. Carol says that she is doing great and seems to obey and get along better without big sis around. Apparently big sis would try to help, which would just get #2 riled up, and then she'd start acting up. This year she is one of "the three little angels." We've also heard #2 refered to as "my sweet, quiet little one" by Ms. Carol. I think that #2 has Ms. Carol fooled!

Grandma & Grandpa sent a cookie boquet to #1 today! It was for good luck on her first day of school! The picture on top shows cookies decorated with a bottle of glue, "Have Fun" and a box of crayons. The cookies in the bottom picture had a pencil, her name & "ABC 123." She immediately ate the cookie with the crayons. She voluntarily shared her cookies with all of us. She gave me the bottle of glue, #2 the "ABC 123" and Ryan the pencil. She is saving the "Good Luck" and name one for later. Apparently "later" means 3 hours in her world...she had 1/2 of one of them after dinner tonight. We'll save the other half for tomorrow and the other one for Thursday! Thanks Dave & Tess!

Back to School Fashion Show

2008-08-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

So I've created a monster....we went back to school shopping and then had a fashion show for Dad...he took pictures of most of the outfits for us. We didn't think to take pictures until our 3rd of 4th costume change. Then we bought a couple of more outfits the next day (including a gold sequin tank top that is just like something Hannah Montana would wear!), but we haven't taken pictures of those outfits yet. I'm just going to throw these on here with very few comments (hopefully I can refrain from commenting too much!).

**the above outfit does not have a tie....she found a ribbon and added that accessory herself. I will not allow the ribbon to be worn out of the house! :)

**the above is her favorite dress. After seeing a lady in a strapless dress yesterday, she has decided that she would like a dress that does not tie around her neck or have any "strap things." I informed her that she is not old enough for a dress like that. She then asked if she could tell the lady in the dress that she thought the dress was beautiful. (and she did tell her that)

**her favorite outfit....can you tell?!

**FYI - these jeans are too long...I am taking them back

The shirts in the 3 pictures above (and the white capri pants in the first of the 3 pictures) were sent to us by Grammy Saundra. #1 is usually really picky about her clothes, but she LOVED all of the clothes. Grammy Saundra must know #1's style really well!

**We got black leggings to wear under this skirt. Dad says it's too short. It's not a skort, so it does need something under it.

That is all that we've taken so far. She probably has another 5 outfits that she hasn't modeled, but when she does, I'll take pictures and post them.

Since #2 was left out of most of this, I'm going to include a couple of cute pictures that Ryan took while #1 was changing clothes!

I love this one of her!

Oh how they grow!

2008-08-15T08:34:00.001-07:00

A couple that we know are missionaries in Indonesia. They had a picture of their two girls (same age difference as our girls) that shows their oldest pushing their 4 week old in the baby stroller (I'm sure they were well supervised). Anyway, it reminded me of the picture that I had of my girls when they were 3 years and 4 months, respectively. Then just last week, here they came in that doll stroller again! I grabbed my camera and took a picture so I could see how they've changed. Now they are 5 1/2 and 2 3/4! It's amazing how their personalities are captured in both of the pictures. Even at 4 months old, #2 wouldn't submit and look at the camera...ha! Now, at almost 3, she'll look at the camera, but won't smile for me...she has to be herself and make her own face! Of course, #1 just poses and smiles!

From the mouth of a 5 year old...

2008-08-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

As I was folding laundry, I was listening to my girls playing in the other room. #1 was making a tent and I heard her exclaim "This is the perfectest tent! I'm a genius! I really am, come see! ......Oh wait, I'm not a genius. Yes, I am! I am genius! Come look at this perfect tent!" (apparently the blanket that she had draped over the laundry basket had falllen, making her question whether she truly was a genius, but then she fixed it and restored her confidence!)

She was talking to her sister, so #2 ran in there to see this "perfectest" tent and they started playing! I had to hurry to the computer so I could type this while it was still fresh in my memory!

Too cute!

Swim lessons & Saturday mornings

2008-07-15T21:02:00.000-07:00

#1 finished swim lessons...she has mastered the doggie paddle and is working on arm pulls for her freestyle. She can now float on her back, tread water, and do the elementary back stroke. She really learned a lot this year. She will even jump into the 4ft end of the pool without insisting Ryan or I be there next to her to catch her.

#2 did a pretty good job hanging out poolside while big sis got to swim. Luckily, the swim instructor had a dog that liked to play fetch. #2 played with the dog quite a bit.

Ryan took some pictures of the girls hanging out on a Saturday morning. We love the picture of #1. The picture of #2 shows off yet another one of her many faces!

4th of July

2008-07-15T20:38:00.001-07:00

Our neighborhood has a 4th of July bike parade for the kids. They get to decorate their bikes, or scooters, or wagons and ride around Founder's Park. #1 really got in to decorating her bike and even wore the wig for a couple of laps around the park. #2 fell asleep, so we let her sleep while we decorated, but when we tried to wake her up, she would not get up. Her eyes would roll back in her head and she'd roll over and go back to sleep. We decided that I would stay home with her and Ryan would take #1 to the parade. I hate it that #2 missed out, but she ended up taking a 3 1/2 hour nap, so we're glad we decided to let her sleep!

The little boy about to run #1 off the road is Sam, a friend of hers from preschool. He wasn't being very nice that day....and was probably really trying to run her off of the road!

She loves to walk across the pond on the big "stepping stones." If you look really close, you can see that she is holding the phone. She called me to tell me about the parade and see if she could go home with her friend Jax and play there for a while. This picture reminds me of a picture of me when I was about the same age. I was laying under the table, with the phone to my ear, just talking away! It looks like she is going to be a chatterbox like her momma....always on the phone!

That evening, we went down to one of the parks in the neighborhood with Jax's family and watched some fireworks. Apparently a couple of brothers that live in the neighborhood spent several thousand dollars on some fireworks. They set up a couple of platforms and a trailer in an empty lot and put on quite a show! We watched the fireworks for a long time...and then had to leave (before the fireworks were over) because #2 had to go potty (image that!). When we were heading home, we passed one of the bigger parks and realized that it was packed! There were A LOT of people watching that firework display. The next day we saw a trailer with a bunch of fireworks turning into the neighborhood. We're wondering if the same people bought some fireworks on sale and are holding them for next year....we sure hope so! :)

#1 rides a bike!!!

2008-07-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

After only 3 evenings of practice, #1 can now ride her bike without training wheels! It all started one Sunday evening when we went to Mom's house for dinner. Cousin Alli brought her bike with her and was practicing riding without training wheels. #1 gave it a try....and wore Ryan out! A few nights later, she tried it at our house on her bike. I wasn't home, but Ryan said she was doing pretty good. The next night, #1 wanted to show me how she could do it, so I grabbed the camera and this is what I saw! We were so proud of her! She still needs a litte bit of practice getting started. She hasn't quite grasped how to put one pedal "up" to help get going. She is doing great though! We ride our bikes to the pool and back. #2 has a seat on the back of my bike that she rides in, so we can all go on rides together. It's great!

#2 entertained herself while big sis was showing off. I turned around to check on her, and saw her coming down the alley with the big tube for the pool. When Ryan saw this video, he realized why the tube won't hold air anymore!

#2 found another pool toy to play with....

I don't think #2 knew how close she was to getting plowed over by her sister! She certainly seems oblivious!

The first big bike wreck....luckily no blood! Lil' sis thinks she had better go check it all out. She had the best time dragging that tube around with her.

See the owie??? It's right there! It hurts so bad! I need a band aid! I'm never riding my bike again!

She has had an accident since then that resulted in a skinned knee and a little bit of blood. She got back on and rode the rest of the way home, so maybe she'll be tough after all!

Hannah Montana

2008-06-30T23:19:00.001-07:00

These videos are kind of old, but they are too funny to not share! #1 wanted me to take pictures of her "performing." It is a pretty long performance....but if you fast forward about 45 seconds into it, you'll hear the funny part!

I love that she dresses up like a "rock star" and sings the only songs she knows....songs she learns at church! Of course, she's just like her Momma and can't carry a tune, but loves to sing anyway! And she forgets the words and butchers the songs, but oh well! She's having fun!

I maybe contribute to this...I'm guilty of making up songs all of the time...like songs about getting dressed, or what we are doing during the day, etc. I can't believe the girls like it, but they do and when I've finished making up a song, they ask me to sing it again. Of course, I don't remember what I said, so I just make up something different and they're cool with it. After watching the video again, I'm thinking maybe I should stop teaching them that!

Whatever #1 does, #2 has to do, too. She took her turn being Hannah Montana, too.

First Haircut....followed by First Bloody lip

2008-06-30T23:08:00.000-07:00

#2 finally got her first haircut! We had to take off some of the length to try and thicken it up. The bangs are a little to "straight" for me, but they have had about a week to grow since this picture was taken. They are looking better now.
The back view. If she didn't have her head tilted up, you could see better. Her hair is about an inch above her shirt collar. It is a cute little bob. It kind of reminds me of pictures of Suri Cruise's hair.
If you look at the lower left corner (in this picture....her right side), you can see that her lip is kind of purplish. She fell off of the bench at my mom's house and hit her mouth as she was falling. She cut the inside of her lip and it bled for a while. Then it got swollen and discolored. She handled it really well and calmed down after about 5 minutes. She is always so banged up, I find myself thinking that she should have just been a boy. Then the bumps and brusies would be battle scars. I bet we'll have to spend money on a plastic surgeon on her someday. #1 has never had a bloody nose or mouth....she has had a couple of skinned knees. #2 has had a bloody nose, several skinned knees, X-rays for a possibly sprained/broken foot, and now a bloody lip. Just call her Grace! :) You can't see it in this picture, but you maybe can in the very first picture....the same day that she got the bloody lip, she ran into the edge of an open door and got a bad bruise on her cheek. It was probably a inch long, but that is pretty big for her little cheek!

And they sleep...

2008-06-30T22:40:00.000-07:00

I love to watch my girls sleep. They are just so peaceful! It makes me happy and sad at the same time. I remember watching them sleep when they were babies and it makes me realize how big they are now. If we've had a "trying" day, I forget about it when I check on them that night and see them in their beds, so innocent. I love to see babies on their tummies with their bottoms in the air and their hands tucked underneath them. Every now and then, I catch #2 sleeping that way. I don't catch her doing it very often, but when I do, I treasure it. I know that she won't do it much longer, and when she stops, I know that those days will be gone forever. That makes me sad. I remember watching her crawl around our house and thinking....I need to remember this, because when she starts walking, we'll never have another little baby crawling around this house again. I got a picture of her sleeping on her tummy...I'm sure it will be one of the last times I catch her doing it.

The night before we left #2 was playing with this felt doll set. I checked on her at 11:30pm and she was in her bed asleep and the doll set was on the floor, all piled up. At 3:30am I checked on her again (on my way to bed). This is what I found...she had gotten up and played with her dolls some more and fell asleep on the floor! I had been up working, and never even heard her get up and play!

Day #2 - in Frisco - #2 was the last one to wake up.

Day #3 - The girls got to sleep on a murphy bed (a bed that folds up into the wall). We took this picture before we woke them up to start our first day at Sea World.

This picture was taken in the parking lot/driveway leaving Sea World. We didn't even make it to the main road and #2 was out!
After our first day at Sea World, #1 crashed. She was the first one to go to sleep that night...followed by Ryan.

Then #2...who fell asleep at my feet! I was sitting in that chair working on the computer and she was still going from her "power nap." She finally laid down and fell asleep.

Naptime on Day #4....#2 in her precious "baby pose!"

Dad & #1....this is when #1 informed me that she hadn't slept....she just rested! Looks like she is sleeping pretty good to me! I love how they are in the same position!

I did get rest, too. I'm just usually the last one to give it up. When everyone is sleeing I see that as my opportunity to accomplish a lot! I get so much done because there aren't any interruptions!

Vacation - Day #4

2008-06-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

We got up on day #4 and thought we'd head back to Sea World, but the girls wanted to swim at the hotel pool first, which actually turned out to be a really good idea! We were the only people at the pool for quite a while. Later on a family of 5 came. After we got back from Sea World, there were a lot of people at the pool and it looked pretty chaotic! We were happy that we had already been there! We swam for a while and then headed to Sea World. We got there around 1:00 and stayed until about 5:00. It was really hot that day, and I was burned from the day before, so the heat was making my burn hurt even more. We were wanting to take the girls to a playground area (Shamu's Happy Harbor), but it wasn't shaded AT ALL, so we rode the log ride instead. On our way back to the hotel, #2 fell asleep in the car and took a 2 hour nap. Ryan & #1 fell asleep, too. #1 didn't want to lay down, but we forced her to. After about 10 minutes, she was asleep. An hour and a half later, she woke up and said "I closed my eyes and rested, can I get up now?" I told her that she had been asleep and she assured me that she did not take a nap! She had only closed her eyes, but could never get to sleep! I don't know why nap time is so terrible! One of these days she'll wish she could take a nap, but won't be able to...

The elevator doors had a picture of Shamu on them. It was actually pretty cool and realistic!

#2 was chillin' in the pool at the hotel.

This is the Smores stand where you could purchase Smores kits at the hotel.

The hotel had a really pretty pool area. This whole area was the 0" - 24" pool. The level above has a 3' - 4' pool and had waterfalls that fell into the smaller pool. It's hard to see them here, but the 2 dolphins to the left of the picture above are behind the waterfall.

Here is #1 really, truly SWIMMING! We are so proud of her! She starts swim lessons this week, so we'll see how much she learns.

After swimming at the hotel in the morning, we went back to Sea World and saw the show with the sea lions. It was pretty cute.

The funniest part of the Cannary Row Caper was probably the walrus doing sit ups! I don't know how that thing can move around, let alone do sit ups! I wonder why God made walruses....

#2 leaned back and waved to me & Ryan. She was just kind of checking to make sure we were back there.....notice that she won the fight for the "best seat" in the stroller for this ride!!

Here we all are on the log ride. The girls weren't to sure what to think about it. #2 whined a little bit on the way down each time, but after we got to the bottom and asked her if she had fun, she said yes.

Ryan took a picture of us out on the balcony...the girls thought that was pretty neat. Just like princesses....

After we left Sea World, we went back to the hotel and took naps and then went down to the Riverwalk. We didn't get down there until close to 9pm, so it was pretty dark and our pictures didn't turn out that great. It was a perfect night for eating outside and enjoying the atmosphere.

We ate at this Mexican restaurant that borders the river. We were right next to the river, so the girls got to wave at the boats as they passed by. They would wave and say "Hi!" and got so excited if any of the passengers waved back. They kept count of how many people from each boat waved back to them!This is one of #2's many faces! She is such a mess! After keeping the girls this evening so I could have dinner with a friend, Ryan informed me when I got home that if she had been born first, he would have made sure that we didn't have any more kids! We love her and couldn't imagine life without her, but she keeps us hopping! She has started a new thing when she gets in trouble. We give her choices, such as "sit down in the chair or go to time out." She makes the face that she is making above and says "I not sit down and I not go time out and I not get spankin." She shakes her head each time she says "I not" and then looks at us and makes this face. She says it all in this cute voice that makes it so hard to not crack up laughing, even though you just want to pull your hair out because you can't get through to her!

#1 was so excited that she got to "dress up" for dinner. Really, she wanted to wear new shoes, and the only thing that I could find that could even remotely match them was this halter with a denim skirt. It was not the cutest outfit, but she felt special. She had gathered some earrings to bring with us, but we forgot them at home, so I let her wear a pair of my earrings this one time. She isn't allowed to wear dangly earrings, but they were the smallest earrings I brought with me, so I gave in. It was vacation after all! She also got to wear some lip gloss and blush. We had let her hair air dry, so I pulled it back in one of my clips, which made her feel so special. She wants to grow up so fast!

#1 took a picture of me and Ryan...the only picture of the 2 of us from the whole vacation! We have discovered a new, wonderful thing....the girls are finally to the age that they can sit on side of the table, and we can sit across from them! It has been a really long time since we have set next to each other at a table or a booth. We usually have to pick a kid to sit next to and that's the one we are responsible for during the meal. Now they can feed themselves, and they enjoy sitting next to one another!

Okay...time for a little rant....Ryan took this picture of me and #1 coming back from bathroom. It was upstairs in a little balcony area. Here's the rant....Why do my kids feel the need to have to go to the bathroom everywhere that we go?! I know that sometimes, you just have to go, and their bladders are small, etc, but there are times that they each have to go 2 times, and it's never at the same time! This is when I wish we had boys. #1 is to the age now that she shouldn't be going to the men's restroom with Ryan. There are times that she has to (if Ryan takes her somewhere and I'm not around). #2 is pretty much at the age that she doesn't need to go in the men's room either. That leaves it up to me to take them to the bathroom every time! I know that I need to send an apology out to my mom for doing this to her....I even remember doing it! I judged places by how nice their restrooms were. I still do it. I can tell you the best bathroom at the mall, and which restaurants have good bathrooms, but I did not realize that it started so young! Anyway - sorry Mom! I'm getting my dose of it now. At least you only had one daughter to drag your around and critique the bathrooms! I get a double dose! (By the way - I do remember being really fascinated with the bathroom at AQ Chicken in Springdale!)

I just thought this picture was too cute! We stopped in the Rainforest Cafe on the Riverwalk and got this frog for #2. It is so ugly that it's cute! (the frog...not my daughter) #2 really liked it. The girls named it Hoppy.

Vacation - Day #3 - Sea World

2008-06-19T15:37:00.000-07:00

We got up and ate breakfast and headed to Sea World! When we got there, the girls started begging to go swimming. They didn't want to see the sharks or Shamu or do ANYTHING before swimming! We went ahead and rented a stroller and headed to the water park. We hadn't planned on spending much time at the water park, as people had told us it wasn't that great. It wasn't as big as White Water, but it was definitely bigger than the Springdale Aquatic Center. It ended up being perfect for them! There was plenty for them to do, but not so much it was overwhelming! We were at the water park until 2:00, and then we ate lunch over there, too. There was a performance while we were eating. It was pretty cheesy, but it was for kids, and kids loved it. They invited kids up to sing/dance in front of the stage. Ryan & I were both surprised when #1 jumped out of her chair and ran up there! That isn't like her...she usually stays back and watches to see what other kids do and then decides if she wants to join in. #2 was a little more cautious. She ran up to check out what her sis was doing, and than ran back to her seat. After a little while, she ran up there again and danced for a minute and then came back to the table. It was so cute to see them up there! Ryan got a great picture of #1 that really captures how much fun she was having!

For some reason that Ryan and I still cannot figure out, the girls kept fighting over the seat on the left, that #1 is sitting in. They would race back to the stroller and try to be the first one there to claim that seat. They did that both days we were there. We are still clueless as to what was so great about that side.

The "cheesy" show...when the boy came out on stage (he is at the far left in the picture above) and started the show, Ryan and I looked at each other and said "I hope they pay him well! You couldn't pay me enough to do that!"
#1 having fun dancing by the stage...#2 checking it out to see what is so great about it.

#1 getting her picture taken with some of the characters. #2 wouldn't go up there with her.

At 3:15, we FINALLY saw a show. It was called Waggin' Tales and had all sorts of animals in it...dogs, cats, birds, a kangaroo, a skunk, a pig, ducks, and a shetland pony. It was pretty cute. The animals all did different tricks. The girls got to pet one of the dogs at the end of the show.

We head off to see Shamu and on the way we heard the girls saying something, but couldn't make it out. We listed really hard and then had to tape them! #1 must have made up the chant and #2 picked up on it! I don't know why Ryan felt the need to rotate the camera...he said he wanted to get me in the video, too. I don't know why....sorry!

We stopped to look at the flamingos on our way....the girls thought they were pretty neat.

These 2 pictures (above & below) crack me up! We got some ice cream on our way to the Shamu theater. All three of us were eating our ice cream (above) and then we were all focused on the same thing (below). It just reminded me of a "like mother, like daughter" moment. Ryan always says "They are just like you!" For the first time, he has a picture to prove it!

We finally got to see Shamu! We had seats that were really close...4 rows back from the platform that the lady is on (below). I was kind of disappointed in the show. They had too much "story" with it and not as much information. The last time I was there, they talked about how they teach the whales and showed us what the different hand signals meant, etc. This time just seemed kind of "choppy" and random. They had a video playing on a big screen, so you were watching that and then it would stop and you had to look back to the water to find the whale. It was a lot of back and forth between the water and the screen. They did have some cool tricks. #1 was pretty bummed that we didn't get splashed. We sat in the splash zone, but didn't get wet.

It was pretty cool seeing the trainers ride on the nose of the whale! You can tell from these pictures that the park wasn't very crowded. We decided that early in the week, and early June, is a great time to go to Sea World! The crowds are pretty thin on Monday-Wednesday and then start picking up Thursday-Sunday. We didn't have problems finding seats at any of the shows, and most of them were only 20% full.

After Shamu, we saw the water skiing show. It was my favorite. Here is a picture of the 12 person pyramid. They ski-ed (sp?) like this all around the lake, so they were able to hold the position for a long time. #1 had her picture taken with some of the girls that were skiing. We tried to get #2 in it, but she didn't want to.

#1 was bummed that she didn't get wet in Shamu or in the water ski show (they have jet skis that come by and purposely spray people). We were on the front row at the ski show, just not centered good enough! We went over to a platform by one of the water rides and let her get soaked! I got a picture before the boat came, and one before the tidal wave hit. She LOVED it! #2 didn't think that was much fun. I think that #1 ended up getting splashed 4 times! She had to wait for the ride each time, but was having so much fun, she didn't mind to wait.

On our way to see the sharks, we found the dolphin cove. It was late in the day, so you couldn't feed the dolphins anymore, but you could still try and get them to come to you. #1 wanted to touch one SO BAD!!! We never could get them to come over to us. There was a 9 day old dolphin in the pool. I don't think we got a good picture of it, but it was so small! Relatively speaking...

BELOW - We looked at the aquariums in the shark area. #2 kept pretending to grab the fish as they swam by. Then she would pretend to eat them. She would make a noise - similar to Cookie Monster eating cookies - and then say "I eat them up!" She had a great time doing that! Still don't know why...but it if kept her entertained, it was okay with us.

We had reservations at a Residence Inn, but after our first night there, we checked out and decided to find something else. It was just kind of run down and didn't feel very clean to me. When we got to Sea World, we saw a van for a Radisson hotel. It was dropping people off at the entrance to the park. They didn't have to pay $12 to park and then hike to the park...it sounded great to us! We got a business card from the driver and called later to see if they had any rooms. I went in to see a room and scope it out before we decided for sure to stay there. It was SO NICE! Then we found out that they have a big courtyard area that has fire pits in it. Every night, they sell smores kits and you can roast marshmallows in the fire pits! And after being totally ripped off at Sea World all day (a bottle of water for $3, a bowl of strawberries for $5, etc) we were pleasantly surprised that the smores kits were reasonably priced. We bought a couple of them and had smores! At dark, they also showed movies on the side of the hotel. Our room had a balcony (only one story up) that faced the movie, so the girls got to go out and sit on the balcony and watch Antz. We were really happy with the hotel and would definitely stay there again when/if we go back. If anyone is planning a trip down there, let me know and I'll give you the info for that hotel. Here are some pictures of the mess from the Smores...but it was worth it! #2 didn't want to have her picture taken, but I took it anyway!

Vacation - Day #2 - Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

Although they didn't know it, the girls gave Ryan and I both a gift by sleeping late! #1 was up at 8:30 and #2 didn't get up until 9! They were up until 11pm the night before, so one would expect them to sleep late, but with our girls, that is usually not the case! We got around and headed to Krispy Kreme for breakfast. Before vacation, we had told #1 that she could get a pedicure and manicure while we were on vacation. There was a nail salon accross from Krispy Kreme, so we headed over there to get our nails done. My husband is such a great dad & husband! How many dads spend an hour in a nail salon taking pictues of his wife & kids, let alone on FATHER'S DAY?! Some of the other ladies in there asked him if he had forgotten Mother's day, or what had he done to have to do that on Father's Day?! We explained that we were on vacation, and as soon as we left the nail salon, we were heading to Bass Pro Shop! Richard & Julie met us at Bass Pro Shop after they got out of church. It was nice to get to visit with them a little bit more. We left Grapevine around 3:30 and arrived in San Antonio around 10:00. We only had to stop one time - for dinner. #2 slept for about 3 hours of that ride. #1 played the gameboy that we borrowed from Uncle Colby. They were REALLY good travelers!

Here is Dad with his two girls! We were in the Krispy Kreme parking lot and they were still wearing their donut hats.

The sisters took a shower together! #1 convinced #2 that it was just like playing in the rain. It worked b/c #2 doesn't usually like showers, but this time she didn't complain and beg to get out....well, not as much as usual! In fact, for the rest of the trip, she has been requesting to take a shower so that she can "play in the rain!"

I love this picture of the girls! I think they are cute in their matching outfits. And they are smiling and not hitting, pinching, or biting each other!!!!

We rented a car for the trip....thought we'd save on gas and keep the miles off of our cars. When we picked up our car, they gave us a free upgrade to a luxury car! It's pretty big and isn't something that I would want to drive all of the time, but it has been so nice for this trip! It rides really smooth and is all leather and fully loaded. I'm a car kind of girl, so all of the bells and whistles really impress me! We also rented a GPS unit that has been very useful. Ryan likes those kinds of gadgets, so we're both being spoiled this week!

Here we are getting pampered. I have an embarassing to story to tell on myself...but it is funny, so I'll humiliate myself! The last time I got my haircut (a month ago), my eyebrows needed waxed badly. There wasn't anyone available to wax my eyebrows, so I thought I'd just stop in some other day and get them done. Well, one thing led to another and I never did get them done. As I was picking out my nail polish at the nail place, the lady came up to tell me what chairs we were in. Then she looked at my eyebrows and said "And did you need your eyebrows waxed today?" I was so embarassed! I said yes and explained that I had been meaning to do that and I was glad she had offered, as I kept forgetting! Then, to make things even worse, when a different lady came over to wax my eyebrows, she says "Would you like your lip done, too?" I was horrified! I told her "No thank you." So....if one of you reads this and thinks that I do need to start waxing my lip, please let me know. I'm writing that one off as the people trying to make money and hoping that I really don't need to start waxing there!

The finished product!!

We left the nail salon and headed for Bass Prop Shop. They were having a boat show. The girls picked out the perfect boat for their Grandpa & Grandma to buy! We took some pictures of it.

We thought it looked pretty & shiny!

#2 thought the captain's seat fit her perfectly!

#1 LOVED the fact that it had a potty! If she could use this boat, then she would have one less reason that the pool is better than the lake!

What a bargain! D&T - let us know if you are interested and we'll get some more info for you! Ha!

Vacation - Day #1

2008-06-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

Our first two days of vacation included a lot of driving, but we got to break it up some. On Saturday we left NWA around 11:30 am and headed towards Frisco, TX. We only had to make three stops on the way, which isn't bad considering we were traveling with kids! We got to visit some friends of ours, Richard & Julie, and have dinner with them. Julie & I met each other in college and have done a pretty good job staying in touch....one of those friends that you can talk to once every few months and pick up right where you left off! Julie (and Richard) made a delicious dinner for us and then came over to our hotel to swim with us.

The pool had a small 1 1/2 foot pool that the girls like to splash in. That's #2 hiding behind the duck!

Julie and #1 swimming some laps...

#1 though it was really cool that the pool changed colors....blue, green, purple, red, gold...

Richard and Ryan hung out poolside and took pictures of us girls in the pool.

Richard & Julie bought the girls some bubble toys. #2's toy is a fan hooked up to a bubble wand that has four holes, so it makes A LOT of bubbles! You can see some of them in the background in the picture above. The other kids at the pool had a good time trying to catch all of the bubbles. #1's toy makes giant bubbles....I wasn't able to get a good picture of her using it...she is still trying to get the hang of it.

1st Lake Experience (for both girls!)

2008-06-09T22:37:00.001-07:00

Okay....so I've decided that our family needs a blog. Even though our family lives nearby, we never really share pictures with them, so maybe this blog can serve as my scrapbook and a way for us to share pictures of the girls! Since this is my first time to try my hand at blogging, I have now learned that I put all photos in reverse order. It might make more sense to scroll down to the bottom and work your way up so that the captions are in order!

On our way back "to town" Linden gave us a list of reasons that she likes the pool better than the lake. It was so hard not to die laughing, as she sounded just like me! She had 6 reasons...I'll try to remember them all the exact way that she phrased them!

First, pools have bathrooms.
Second, you can see the bottom at pools.
Third, I don't have to wear a life jacket at the pool.
Fourth, I can touch the bottom at the pool.
Fifth, the water is warmer.
Sixth, I can swim at the pool.

Her #1 & #2 reasons are the exact reasons I haven't been in the lake since before she was born!

We did have a great time and can't wait to do it again...next time we might try the tube! I think Linden will go to the lake some more...she just wants to be sure we know that she likes the pool more!

Here's a pic of the crew after our day on the lake!

#2 finally gave it up! We were going pretty fast, so it was loud and windy, but she slept through it all! When we got back to the dock, we took off her life jacket, carried her to the car, took a picture (above), loaded her up and drove back to D&T's house....she never woke up! We did wake her up when we got back to the house...she needed to change her clothes and eat some Father's Day dessert!

Here's where I have to brag on my hubby! So we towed the canoe back to the marina, but we couldn't just tie it up and leave it there. Ryan got in the canoe and paddled to the shore. He got out on those big, slippery rocks and pulled the canoe out all by himself. Did I mention that on our way back we started going too fast and almost flipped the canoe?! It had water in it from the close call, so it was not a light canoe! He drug the canoe across the parking lot and loaded it in his truck and then came down to the marina and got back on the boat so we could go for a boat ride above 5 mph! It ended up being a lot of work for a canoe ride, but, again....the things we do to please our kids!

#1 and Grandma getting ready for our trip back to the dock.

#2 got her chance to drive the boat, too!

Here they are sunbathing. They thought it was so cool to get to eat on the boat! D&T took the canoe for a little ride while we were resting on the boat. Ryan caught my attention and nodded out towards the water and there was a snake swimming across the cove towards us! It was swimming right by where we had been swimming! I decided that we were done swimming for the day!

#1 grabbed a hold of the noodle and started paddling around. She was really brave and just took off without me. I looked up at one point and she was about 6 feet away. #2 was doing really good kicking her feet and trying to paddle with her hands. She made sure she didn't let go of me for too long, and would only paddle with her hands when I had a tight hold of her...she wasn't as confident as her big sis! Grandpa started a great game of fetch. He had a small piece of a noodle that he threw into the water. The girls would race each other to get to it and then throw it again and swim to it again. They could have gone on and on playing that game, but we finally got them talked in to resting for a bit. Ryan swam with us for a little while, but I don't have any pictures of him in the water with the girls. The water was a little too cold for him, so he didn't stay in too long.

We jumped out of the canoe and into the lake water! I have not been in the lake since I've had kids, and I wasn't a big fan of it before kids. It's amazing what people do to please their kids!

We tried to go out on a canoe at kid's fish day on Saturday, but they didn't have life jackets small enough for #2. Uncle Nathan still has his canoe out at D&T's, so we paddled around out there. #1 likes it more than #2....we found out that she likes being in the water more than being in the boat! It was also nap time, and she had been up late and gotten up early, so she was really tired. She might have liked it better if she wasn't working so hard to not fall asleep!

#2 loved to honk the horn! Here she is in the captain's seat while Grandpa dropped anchor. At least we were in the cove where we didn't annoy anyone else with the horn!

For our early Father's Day celebration, we went out on the lake with Dave & Tess. #1 got to drive the boat! We were going really slow because we were towing Uncle Nathan's canoe behind the boat. We towed it over to the cove on D&T's property. The girls have never been on a boat before....I know it's sad! We were nervous for #1 to go when she was 18 mos, and then the next summer I was prego, and then the next summer #2 was too little....anyway, we FINALLY did it! The girls loved it!