July 24, 2006

Roses are red,
I have to thank Amy,
She sent me a Starbucks card
so I could buy mochas and stay sane-y (zany?).

I hope you had a nice weekend. We had fun on our impromptu vacation. Here's my favorite picture from the ranch this weekend:



It's a limestone fencepost that Pop-pop brought from Kansas.

So today is a special day. It's Alex's half birthday. Now normally (or most normal people) don't celebrate half-birthdays. But we don't have any birthday in July so we decided to celebrate Alex's. It's a big deal for him to be 4 and-a-half now.

7:15 Drop off.

7:30 Lots of cereal. The most I've seen Ariel eat. There was only 1 1/2 ounces of formula left.

8:20 Walk to Starbucks. Both boys were in the stroller, I felt like it's been a while since I had any exercise. Ariel slept in the bjorn.

8:55 Starbucks. I enjoyed my 8th-one-is-free mocha, but somehow got roped into buying both kids milks that they didn't drink. They are on prohabition for a while.

9:05 It's been a while since we've been to Michael's so we wandered by. They already have their fall decorations out, isn't that creepy? I let Alex pick out a half-birthday present from the arts & crafts section. He picked out color-wonder statues.

9:40 We all sat at an outdoor table and painted our statues. Alex did the seahorse, Adam did the turtle and I did the fish. It was very nice of Alex to share. Before I started my statue, I gave Ariel a bottle. She finished the formula bottle, then started a new one, and left about 1 1/2 ounces. See, she just won't take 6 oz from me, she's a 4 oz girl.

See our bee-u-ti-ful statues?



(And for the record, I did not do a crappy job to make the kids feel better. I really just did a bad job. I guess I should stick to picture taking.)

10:10 We went to the library to stock up on materials for our trip tomorrow. I got Jer and I books on tape, a couple DVDs and CDs for Alex and some books. Before leaving, we all went to the bathroom. Adam didn't go, but he wouldn't let me put on his diaper, either, so once again he's comando.

10:45 We walked home and Ariel napped again.. And it was HOT, 87 deg as a matter of fact.

11:30 Got home. I called Crissy and finalized our Fabulous Adventure™ Plans. I also talked to Jeremy (who was at home). He was back from his job search related phone conference (which was a not helpful) and has an interview tomorrow. He'll have a new job in no time.

11:55 Left for Crissy's house.

12:05 Crissy's house. Ariel had some lunch, Apples & Cherries. She didn't finish the last part. Crissy and I had triscuits and cheese and smoothies. The blender scared Ariel, she really startles at loud noises.

12:45 At last we were ready to go on our Fabulous Adventure™ - Lakeside Amusement Park!

1:20 Got to Lakeside. We got the kids all checked in, then Crissy fed Ariel a bottle.

Much fun was had at Lakeside. Adam did all the rides except the one he was too short for. Marcus did a great job of sitting with Adam and keeping him safe.

Here they are on the roller coster.


Ariel was quite puzzled by Lakeside:


She mostly hung out in the bjorn or the stroller and didn't nap. She had fallen asleep for a few minutes, but then I walked under a water mister and she woke up with a start and wouldn't go back to sleep.

Alex and Gavin rode every ride together:


3:30 We all had a snack and then Crissy fed Ariel another bottle. Keep this picture in mind, because the part of Wendy will be played by Crissy for the rest of the week while we are on vacation:


3:45 We told the kids they had two more rides left, then we would have to go. Crissy predicted it might take a while to actually leave.

4:15 Crissy was right, it did take a while to go potty and walk to the car.

5:00 Got to Becky's house. Traffic was pretty heavy.

(And I think that this blog could have been better written, but Jer is watching Deadwood in the background and all the f-bombs and other colorful language kept discracting me.)