And Now We Hobble

It was wonderful (note the sarcasm) to rise and shine at 5:30 am Tuesday morning knowing the rest of my family had turned off their alarms. (On the one hand I wished I could sleep in too, on the other, I really enjoyed the quiet house all to myself.) 

Kate arrived about 6:15 am as usual. I can hardly believe I've been caring for her for *counts on fingers* *recounts because I was wrong the first time* 6 months! I have loved every day with her and I'm always sad when she leaves (the rest of the day my arms feel empty). Now that she is sitting up and starting to scoot around it's so different. I have to watch her closer, but I also have the option of setting her down to do stuff (like get my food). Regardless, both she and I prefer the times I just hold her. (So all the time.) 

She was a little off on her schedule this time- not eating all that well (no gagging this time though) and she went on a nap-strike. (Once I realized that I gave up on my nap.) Baby tip- if a little one is flapping their arms while looking up at you they want you to pick them up. In my experience, this is a universal sign. It is very likely that at some point in your life it will be helpful to know that. 

Ava and Mia were a big help that day (not that they usually aren't..). 

Christian got his bottom braces on that afternoon and Grandfather was very considerate to take him out for a big burger-lunch before that appointment. Because he hasn't been able to eat since then.

Tuesday night I got inspired at 9:00 pm to start an art journal. Getting started is, believe it or not, the hardest part for me. I'm creative to a certain extent, yes, but having no rules or patterns or anything like that really throws me off. So I just went for it. 

That little book is very intimidating.

An empty page. *Internally screams*

Okay, that didn't turn out too bad...

I actually really like the cover!

Ava was watching me cut out this triangle piece for a pocket and I cut it backwards. 

Brilliant girl suggested I just put it on the back inside cover instead of the front.

I seriously would have never thought of that. 

Gabe and Mom have been having a fabulous time. 

Wednesday I was able to get the day off work so I could finally go to Hurricane Harbor with my family. The goal was to leave at 9:00 am. 

Let's take a silly picture. 

It was hot and crowded most of the day, but we still had a nice time. I kept seeing little girls that looked like Mia from the back! That'll throw you off quick. 

We got our towels and shoes and things set at a table and went to do a slide. My first scream of the day was because water fell right in front of me from a slide above us. From then on everyone wanted to go on rides with me purely so they could see my face. 

We did all manner of slides, water rides, the lazy river, and the wave pool throughout our time. For the biggest stuff the lines were really long, but we did go on a couple of those. Despite the fact that taking risks, being adventurous, etc, is totally out of character for most of us. 

There was one tube slide that you ride down on a mat and 6 people can go at a time (there are 6 tubes) and race down. We all lined up to go. Dad had to put Mia on her mat and push her then jump on his and go down. Meanwhile the rest of us were all long gone. So the four of the rest of us made it to the bottom and were like "Uh, where are Mia and Dad?" Dad then came flying down and still no Mia. Finally she appeared. She had gotten STUCK in the tube! In her words- 

Well the raft stopped moving and I was going around a corner and thats how it stopped and then the water started to run over my shoulders so I started pushing off the side with my hands. I felt like I had been brave. I said, "That was hard, that was hard, I couldn't have done that if I wasn't as smart as I am." 

Probably the worst part was that the concert concrete was scorching hot. Like lets-walk-on-the-surface-of-a-stove-set-on-super-max-heat-because-we-want-the-pot-of-water-to-boil-in-3-seconds hot. 

Before we left we were able to get Snow Cones with our food passes (we used them to get lunch as well). 

Despite the fact that we'd all basically consumed sugar water, in the car on the way home we all started falling asleep. 

That night in bed some of us heard a couple of gun-shots. Grandfather nailed an armadillo again! Message to all animals digging in our yards: would you pretty please cut it out! 

Thursday morning I woke up and deduced from the fact that the bottoms of my feet were badly burned I probably should hobble around the rest of the day. Also I think my throat was slightly hoarse due to all the screaming I did at Hurricane Harbor. 

After work I had another adventure filling my car with gas it was completely empty because I got sort of lost on Monday, etc, etc, then got to go home and watch Kate again! We had a dance party with her and she took a nap before she left. *Tears* 

Friday Mia and Ava went to work with me because Chloe left for her birthday weekend with Aunt Lauren and Uncle Phil and Dad had a meeting. They were a HUGE help with the kids! 

By the time we got home, though, at least I was wiped out. We all three kind of just crashed on my bed and did nothing until Dad got back. Then we all left to stop real quick by the library and met Aunt Cendei for dinner at Babe's. 

Mom and Gabe's flight home from DC got in late (11:00 pm). And we of course wanted to stay up to see them. 

Christian and I watched a chick flick ("Bride Wars") and I think he may have enjoyed it more than I did! Ava and Mia watched "Happy Feet" and it totally freaked Mia out! This is a kids cartoon and she couldn't handle the fact that the people were called "aliens" by the penguins who didn't know what people were. This girl has NO problem whatsoever with adult movies like "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Phantom of the Opera," and "Les Miserables." And she understands them (sometimes better than I do). She definitely makes us laugh. 

For the second movie, Mia fell asleep on the couch. 

When they pulled into the garage Mom looked at all the fabulous organization that had appeared while she was away and said, "Hey! You took my project for November!" She was very pleased. We have a two car garage but this week was the first time we ever got two cars in there. 

The Herd: Quoted

"How many times did I scream on that ride?" -Me

"You were screaming the entire time." -Christian

"We heard you screaming all the way over there." -Chloe to me.

"I just love Kate so much!" -Mia 

"That got fast really hard." -Christian doing "Just Dance"

"You mean hard fast?" -Me 

"'Cute' means you are small but still look nice." -Mia 

"If you didn't check out our blog you need to, you'll laugh your head off." -Mia 

"You did that like a champ!" -Dad

"Yup, you taught me well!" -Mia 

"Don't say 'green' you can't say it because it's making me think about "Darby O'Gill and the Little People." -Mia 

"It smells like chocolate and coconut mustard." -Mia

"I'm too tired to watch that tonight..." -Me 

"I made up some words today." -Me

"What were they?" -Christian

"I can't remember." -Me

"Way to go Miriam Webster." -Dad

"Oh I know what I was trying to say when I said 'unclimaxical'! Anticlimactic!" -Me 

"What? Come on! They are bringing in another guy with long blonde hair. Can't they just skip that and get married! Oh that was the Beast." -Mia reading Beauty and the Beast. She can't handle all these kid plots.