Back in the swing of things.

With everything that's happened this summer this blog has fallen off the radar a bit.  But rest assured, we've been as busy as ever.  Case in point...

Last Saturday we joined a few friends for a day at Heritage Square.  In case you may have forgotten, it's a fabulous miniature amusement part tucked right into the foothills.  Plenty of rides fit for both our girls, along with some halfway decent food made for a pretty nice afternoon.

This next picture is of what is about to be the fastest amusement park attraction Ava's ever been on.  I'm not sure who was more nervous - her or me - but Ollie and Brady were ready to ride, and Ava was not about to be left out. 

I shouldn't have worried.

This thing spun in both directions at what looked to me like a nauseating speed; the kids thought it was awesome.

Lila wasn't thrilled with the spinning rides, but was pretty happy on the whirly-bus.  I only have a picture from the inside so you'll just have to use your imagination about what it actually looked like.

And then we had what I consider a monumental first: Baby's First Pony Ride. Kids and animals can be a pretty unpredictable pairing, so I had no idea what the result of a Lila/Pony combo would be.  Again, all my fears were unfounded.  Little Sister was a natural.

Big Sister, of course, thought it was pretty cool too.

I have lots more to catch up on, but I think this was a pretty good start.  More to come...

Rest in Peace, Grandpa George

The day Ava was born.  He was so happy to be there.

Grandpa and Lila.  I'm so glad they got to meet each other.

This picture is my favorite.

You were a brilliant, funny, loving man, and we miss you every day. I'm only sorry we didn't have more time with you. 

Cheers to a life well lived. 

Tips for a Successful Sleepover

First of all, allow me to assure that yes, I was told I was crazy.  "You're hosting a sleepover for your 4 year old?  Um, yeah, good luck with that."  But thanks to an episode of Doc McStuffins that featured exactly that, my child was obsessed.  So I called up the mom of the requested friend (who I happen to know is almost as crazy as I am) and made the arrangements.  And I don't mind telling you, it was pretty cool.  So if your kid watched that same episode of Doc and won't let the idea of a sleepover go, here are a few tips for pulling it off...

1.) Planned activities are your friend.
Anyone who goes into a night like this without a plan is asking for trouble.  Bored children will be forced to find something to amuse themselves, and your house is likely to pay the price.  So to avoid the toilet-papering of my dining room, we made jewelry boxes.

Lila didn't get a jewelry box, but she was not about to be left out of an art project.

We topped them off with some glitter initials we found at the craft store.  Gorgeous - and time consuming.

2.) Do not serve meatloaf.
Have plenty of kid-friendly food on hand.  Nobody needs a broccoli-related tantrum at a sleepover.  We went with pizza and ice cream sundaes.

Some intense conversation going on.

 

3.) Run them into the ground.

This one is the most important.  No matter how wigged out a kid gets about sleeping away from home for the first time, or how badly two little girls want to keep each other up all night, sheer exhaustion will ultimately win. 

 

Catch me if you can!

Swing-Ball.  Andy's invention.  Very popular around here.

 

Notice that it's dark out.  "Running them into the ground" must continue until bedtime.

The kids came downstairs at 8:30 and asked to go to bed.  They crawled into their sleeping bags, and other than a few minutes of first-sleepover trepidation, we didn't hear a peep out of them until 6:15 the next morning. 

 

Score 1 for Mom and the perfect sleepover.



Night of the Arts 2014

Every year Ava's preschool puts on a little spring show.  The theme varies (this year was about life on a ranch. Not really sure why), but it gives the kids a chance to dress up and showcase their musical talents.  We were told to dress the kiddos in "their very best", so I of course took that to mean I needed to do a bit of shopping.  I found a lovely dress that Ava declared made her look just like a princess, and we decided a trip to the salon for some curls was the perfect way to complete the look.

She was so excited about the show and her new look that this was the only picture I was able to get her to stand still for.  She really did look just like a princess.

Despite the fact that she spent a tad more time with her finger in her nose than I would have liked, Ava did a great job, and she was so proud.  

 

We were pretty proud too.  Way to go, sweet girl.

Disney: The Big Finale

Ok, so maybe that title is a bit of an overstatement, but this will be the last post on our trip.  Promise. There will be lots of pictures though, so I'll keep the clever commentary to a minimum.  (Insert winky face here.)

Let's start with our Disney digs.  Andy scored us a Lion King suite at the Art of Animation.  The room was cool, but the pools were even cooler.  Here's Ava being dwarfed by the giant jellyfish in Nemo's lagoon.

Grandma Sally was with us, so there was - of course - ice cream.  Every day.  The girls were pretty sad when we got home and the never-ending parade of chocolate-covered Mickey heads came to a halt.

There were lots of rides...

A little jailbreak after Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (in which I totally kicked Aunt Marianne's butt.  Just sayin'.)

 

This fantastic little flash-mob number right in front of The Country Bear Jamboree that Ava was swept into...

There's something so perfect about the princess dress/Minnie Mouse sunglasses combo.



 

Becoming a cast member from Honey I Shrunk the Kids...

 

 

 

Immersing ourselves under the sea before Turtle Talk with Crush...

 

 



Making wishes in a Muppet fountain...

 

 

And clowning around in line for the Winnie the Pooh ride...

 

 

All of which made Lila really really sleepy.

 

It was such a great trip.  Many thanks and lots of love to Grandma Sally and Aunt Marianne for accompanying us.  It wouldn't have been nearly as magical without you.  

Did I mention we were at Disney World?

I've regaled you with tales of races and makeovers, but see, the best part is actually this: we were in The Happiest Place on Earth.  I have a lot of great pictures, so I'll do my best to break this thing down into manageable pieces...

The characters are way cooler than they should be.

We never intended to go out of our way to meet any of the characters. (People were waiting 5 hours to meet Elsa from Frozen.  Seriously.) We figured that all the princesses we met at Cinderella's castle had us more than covered in the meet-and-greet department, but the line to meet Tigger and Winnie the Pooh at Epcot was pretty short, so why not, right?

These lovely people couldn't say a word, couldn't move their faces. Yet somehow, they were so incredibly vivid. They were charming and sweet, and managed to express more emotion in the 3 minutes we spent with them than most DMV employees do in a lifetime. And the effect is magical.

Ava danced for Daisy and Minnie, and I really believe they were delighted.
 

 

And I think both girls would have gladly brought Jake home with us.
 

Belle has her own attraction now, and the audience - if they so desire - can be a part of the action.  Allow me to introduce you to the castle guard:

Yup, that's our Andy.  Lila was supposed to be a salt shaker, but her attention span wasn't quite what it needed to be.

As you would expect, Belle was charming.  And the New York Times said the castle guard stole the show.

More to come...