sleep

she seriously sleeps like this all the time.
comfy!

FINALLY...the end result of the masks!

I finally got the polyurethane coat on the kids' masks today.
Here are the final products.
Macy.

Lani.

Brigg.

Lani and Brigg.

Happy Birthday Paul!!

Father.
Husband.
Amazing.
Happy Birthday, Paul. We love you more than words could ever express.

Hours of entertainment

The kids became quite notorious at our hotel.
There was one employee in particular who was fond of pointing out all the rule-breaking going on.

I think I started something when I showed the kids that this employee was "Watching" them as they ran the halls.
I showed them where he was watching from 3 floors up.
They freaked.
And proceeded to turn into spies.

Brigg specifically enjoyed using his Tae Kwon Do moves to scare the employee.

I'm pretty sure the employee was neither scared nor entertained by their shinanagans.
But I personally got a kick out of it.

Here they are trying to hide from his line of vision.
I think it worked.
Truly hours of entertainment.

The hotel

The view from our balcony

This is where we ate breakfast every morning

Ayla coming after my camera

The kids teaching Ayla to crawl in the hallway.

They succeeded. She is officially crawling.

Some of the many faces of our trip...

Go Twins!

The excitement of the trip for Brigg (and Paul) was this.

Brigg's very first MLB game. He counted down the days.
He was even kind enough to pose for a picturew with the sign that Lani made.

The guy sitting next to Paul and Brigg took a photo of them with his cell phone and emailed it to us.
So nice.

The game started at 7:10.
The got caught in traffic.
They pulled into the hotel parking lot at 11:30.
I was there to snap a photo of Brigg in the back seat.

He perked right up when he saw me.
Told me all about the 2 homeruns and the Twins 7-0 victory over the White Sox.
One happy boy.
One happy daddy.

The Parade

Before we left town on Saturday, Lani walked in the parade with her cheerleading group.

She loved it.
She was a perfect little cheerleader!

And I think Ayla was pretty proud of her sister as well!

Getting caught up...

Spending today getting our lives back in order. I haven't even downloaded photos. But I have unpacked, picked up the house, put clothes away, taught Brigg to vacuum, got 2 of the 3 children bathed, got a shower in myself, and sorted through my pile of "papers" on the kitchen counter. While sorting through those papers, I realized school registration is today and I never sent in Brigg's. I also realized I need to get Lani a physical and Brigg has a tooth growing in behind another one, so we got a dental appointment set up. While I was at it, I went ahead and scheduled Ayla's one year well baby check up! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! ONE YEAR?!?
Heading down to the bank to sign some papers and then to register Brigg.
Not that any of that matters to anyone else but me...but the is why I'm not blogging today.

Home

We made it.

Has it really been 4 days?!?

No computer access, so I read a book.

And I suggest everyone read it.

Period.

Call me a tree hugger...I don't care.

More on our trip tomorrow...

More pics of the camaro

Paul looking "her" over one last time (really don't i sound like a gear head?!?)
he said the smell of the car brought back old memories.
aaaahhhhhhh...

the kids...

really, someone was standing right beside to catch ayla if necessary. i just cropped them out.

I just loved how ayla was looking up at paul in this one.

well...she's gone.

(to be honest, i'm not sure "she" is actually a "she", but it sounded like something a car guy would say, so i'm going with it.)

her new owner picked her up tonight and came with cash to pay.
we spent about an hour with her, saying our goodbyes.

it was fun, but a little bit sad at the same time. paul got this car when he was 14. he's had it longer than he didn't have it.
sad.

but tonight when i tucked lani into bed, she said, "mom, i miss the maro."
it was sweet...even though this is the first time she had actually been IN it.

i'm sorry, but i got a bunch of cute pics. you're getting one more post of them.

She tests me...all day long

This child has begun testing me. It's her favorite thing to do. If she's not sleeping, she's testing me.

She move as fast as she can towards something, breathing very fast and grab it.
Then she looks at me and waits.

"Is it ok?"
"Am i supposed to have it?"
"Are you going to take it?"

If it is ok, if I don't immediately take it, she drops it.
And moves on...breathing very fast and moving very quick.
In the above photo, she's got her eye on an outlet.
She's on a mission.

And if she gets to something and I don't notice, she can chew it up faster than Harley could.
She's testing me.
And she's smart.
But I don't think we're going to sell.

Lots going on...little to say

We've been busy. And we leave town tomorrow until Wednesday. Lots going on, but we'll wait until our return to share all the news. (no, I'm not pregnant...or adopting...or anything like that!) All five of us will be staying in a hotel for 4 nights. We've never done that with just our little family. Should be fun. Paul and Brigg are hoping to fit in a Twins v. White Sox game. (Brigg asked if he could go to 4 games since we were going to be there 4 days. Um...no.) Lani, Ayla and I plan on spending some much overdue time with Leah. YAY! She hasn't even met Ayla yet! Crazy! Lani wants to do "girl stuff". So I'll try.
For today I am trying to get the house together, laundry done, and packing finished up. Lani is in the parade here in town tomorrow morning. She is walking with her cheerleading group. She is SO excited. Brigg...not so much. He hates parades. He asked if he could stay home alone. Again, um...no. As soon as she finishes the parade, we plan on heading out.
So looking forward to the next 4 days. I'll have my lap top, so hopefully I'll have some time to post from there.
If not, it'll be Wednesday before I'm back!

Bathing Beauty

Those glasses stayed on her head for approximately 2.1 seconds.
Still...so cute.