It Was Only 20 Cents

Today, the girls and I went to the library to record their books for the summer reading program. Now, I have been raving about this particular library (the girls do reading programs at two libraries) because they really spend a lot of time and effort in making the kids feel accomplished. Sydney loves placing stickers on her paper to show how much she's read. Layne gets to put stickers on her paper because she was read TO. They each get a couple small prizes - this week was a finger rocket and a pinwheel. And before we leave, each girl picks out a few more books to read (or to have read), we check out and go on our way.

Last week, I got Sydney an audio book to listen to in the car. After getting the DVD player installed, I was thinking that perhaps we made it too easy for them to become zombies with every car ride, even the two minute rides to the grocery store. So I turned off the DVD player and "lost" all the DVDs, so there was no other choice but to listen to the book. It got to the point where both girls would ask for the audio book as opposed to a DVD. We listened to Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary. Oh, that Ramona! Even I got a chuckle from listening.

Today, I decided to try to find another Beverly Cleary book because, well ... I can only take so much Ramona. After a fiasco with Layne - let's just say "poop in panties, no diaper bag, and a bathroom with no paper towels and no SOAP!!" - we went to check out our books. The attendant checking my books out informed me that I owed 20₵ for an overdue book (this came after I'd asked if she had any hand sanitizer I could use and was told that they don't give any to the patrons - rest assured I made a point to tell her that there was not soap in the bathroom!). I dug to the bottom of my wallet and pulled out two dimes. As I handed it over, I asked which book it was. I had been so careful to keep track of and return all the books well before the due date. In fact, we've been to both libraries on a weekly basis since the summer reading programs began. So I was quite sure it was a mistake. The clerk pecked at a few more keys and when satisfied with her search, announced to me that it was "Henry and the Clubhouse" that had generated the fine. Hmm. Strange, seeing as that was the very book that I had, not two seconds ago, checked out of the library. I pointed that very fact out to her, and she insisted that it was that book. I tried to explain to her yet again, that it would be impossible for me to owe a fine on a book with which I'd not even left the building. Something was definitely lost in translation, even though we were both speaking English. It was like speaking to a foreigner who still can't understand what you're saying even when you talk loud and slow. I looked around for some help from another, perhaps more experienced librarian. And when one did come over, I got the same answer. It was indeed, the book sitting in front of me. But when she elaborated, she told me that it was from LAST summer, the date was from July '08. Impossible, I told her. We checked out, all of five books from the library during last summer's reading program, and all of them were dinosaur related and none of them were audio. She, also, insisted I was wrong. I shook my head, puzzled, knowing in my heart that it was their error, not mine. I commented that it was only 20₵ and that it surely wasn't about the money. I promised that I was not trying to be difficult, but that I was genuinely confused and just wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery. I walked out of there with a puzzled look and no answers.

Just then, something occurred to me. So I went back in - dragging the girls with me - to ask "if that fine is from last summer, why is it that no one told me about it? I've been in here, checking out books for the last several weeks and no one thought to tell me?" I asked in the most inquisitive, non bitchy voice as possible. After all, we would be back in a week, and I didn't want to be the one they all stared at and whispered about upon entering the library. (Although, I imagine that by virtue of the fact that I went BACK into the building, I was being a bitch, ya think?) She gave me some lame-ass answer that one can still check out books so long as the fine is under 2$. Maybe so, but still. I felt the need to tell them that perhaps they should look into a little more. And then I was gone ... until next week anyway.

I'm still puzzled, and I still want them to fix their database. But the girls got their prizes and their books for the upcoming week. Guess I have to let this one go.

Big Girl Pants, Part Deux

It's been a long time since we've done this, and I fear we're a little out of practice. Layne is learning to use the potty. It's been about four years since we went through this with Sydney and I can't really remember how it went. I remember that we visited my family in MA for a week in the summer and Sydney's cousin Paige was using the potty. So that motivated her to use the potty herself. And I remember that we had to use "poopie prizes" from the Dollar Store to encourage her to keep using the potty for #2. But I don't exactly know how it all happened. So I'm kind of at a loss.

I've been asking her (admittedly, half-heartedly) for several months now, "when are you going to start using the potty?" She always answered, "um ... in tventy minness" - always the comedienne. I was quite prepared to use diapers all summer and then pass the buck onto the teachers that Layne will have at preschool in the fall. Granted, it she will only be there a few hours three days a week. But that's enough to get her interested, right?

Wrong! All that was needed to get her interested was a trip to Babies-R-Us to grab a bag of diapers. As we wheeled past the display of big kid pants, something caught Layne's eye. I honestly don't think that she knew what they were, but she saw Elmo and she saw Dora, and that's all it took. She jumped off the cart (she and Sydney like to stand on the bar above the wheels and hang onto the front of the cart), and went rummaging through the packages. I explained to her what they were and that if she wanted them, she had to use the potty. She enthusiastically agreed. Yeah right! I thought to myself, but let her pick out a pack with Elmo and a pack with Dora.

All the way home, she talked about using the potty. So when we got home, I asked her if she wanted to put on some big girl pants. She started stripping. And before I knew it, a nekkie girl was standing in front of me. We went to the potty chair. She told me she wanted it in the other bathroom. If a change of location will do it for her, I'm there. She sat. She giggled. She tried to push something out of her little body. I pretended to be busy with something, and then I heard the pittering of peepee in her little potty! High fives all around!

I put big girl pants on her and she wore them all day. She's been doing pretty good - we're on Day 4. She needs a reminder every so often, and I used to always say, "whose training who". But I guess if she is showing interest, we should go with it. We got this to help:

If nothing else, it will remind us to remind her.

She Said I Have a Great Name

We went to see them a couple years ago, and last night we got to see them again. Celtic Woman has to be the most amazing show I've ever seen. Their voices are so beautiful and so powerful that it brings tears to my eyes.

The concert ended and as we headed out, much to our surprise, our friend handed us each a Meet & Greet pass. We were going to meet them! I was so excited! We waited in our group and were escorted to a small room where we were told that we would meet Lisa and Chloë. No photography, so no quicky iPhone pics, but it's something I'll never forget.

On a whim, I bought a program. And I'm glad I did, because not only did I have the picture that they handed out to us, but I had my program. When it came time for our turn, the assistant asked my name and wrote it on the program. She slid it over just as Chloë introduced herself to me and shook my hand. Me, being a star-struck speechless girl, just smiled and probably shook her hand a little too tightly. She looked down at the program to sign it and said, "Oh, your name is Meredith. That's a great name." You know, I never liked my name - always wondered why my parents picked such a name. Now I LOVE my name. Chloë slid my things to Lisa who rendered me equally dumb-struck. Fortunately, they kept the conversation going and asked if this was the first time I'd seen them. I told them I saw them a couple years ago, and Lisa completed my sentence by saying "at Robinson." It's pretty impressive that, with the multitude of venues at which they play, she would remember that not only were they at a different venue a couple years ago, but the actual name of the venue.

What a great end to an incredible night. Can't wait until the next time I get to see them. In the meantime, I'll be listening to the CDs we got the last time we saw them and downloading anything I don't already have.

Lisa is on the far left and Chloë right next to her. (PS They are both so much prettier in real life.)

RIP

I sit here this morning and watch the Michael Jackson tribute on VH1 - MJ videos from his whole musical career. Like him or not, he made musical history. What I want to remember about him is Thriller and everything that came along with that in the 80s. It was before he got weird, before he got arrested. It was classic Michael Jackson. And then there was this:

VH1 played this video this morning and I was moved with the nostalgia of that event. So many artists brought together by MJ, et al.

A good one or a bad one, it's the end of an era.

Layne-isms

First off, Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you and miss you. Hope you have a great day!

Layne has so many adorable things that she says right now and, more than anything, I wanted to have some record of them. But I want to begin this post with a Father's Day snaffu.

Layne is going to summer playschool once a week at the same school where Sydney goes (if you saw Sydney's video, then you know where ). Being the week before Father's Day, they did a craft geared around this holiday. I have to preface this by saying that we - Jess and I - have never received a Father's Day gift from Sydney at any daycare or school she's attended. In fact, every Mother's Day that we've been moms, we've each received our OWN gift, that's TWO gifts that Syd had to make.

Well, Layne's teachers are unfamiliar with our family structure and she came home with this:

Jess was livid and said that she was going to call the school. After all, the school - the principal, pretty much ALL the teachers, and even a good number of parents (heck, within the tiny school, we're not even the ONLY two mom family) - know our family structure and have gone out of their way to make us feel comfortable and welcome at their school. But this teacher is summer only employment and never had the benefit of having Sydney as a student. And because Layne only goes once a week, there really wasn't much of an opportunity for her to realize that Layne has two moms. But she learned that day because Jess was on pick-up duty and actually got to meet the teacher. I told Jess we should give her the benefit of the doubt - her position at the school surely didn't lend itself to the appropriate knowledge.

I spoke to a friend of mine that works in Layne's room, but happen to be off on that day to prepare for her older daughter's birthday party. She told me that upon realizing that Layne has two moms (i.e. when Jess picked her up), the teacher felt bad sending home the craft. So really, it was just a big misunderstanding that honestly, in my opinion, needs no further attention. The school knows, the teachers that she will have in the fall know, and I'm confident this won't happen again. I actually thought it was humorous. Sydney laughed too.

Onto the Layne-isms. The kid is a comedienne, she seriously knows how to make people laugh (when she's not having a temper tantrum). Every time we change her diaper, in order to get her down the hall, we say "I'll beat you." And not the "beat" as in "to a bloody pulp". She loves a good race, and she loves to WIN a good race. So all we have to do is make her think she won't win, and the girl is moving. Once she's there (where we change diapers), she has to get on her little step stool and say "One, two, streeeee, JUMP!!" And she jumps off. Then and only then is she ready to get her diaper changed.

One Layne-ism that drives us nuts is that she has to "get in on Bahbah (Sydney)'s side". It's so annoying because if you try to put her in the car - on HER side - she throws a fit. Nice. Just may as well do it the way she asked in the first place. Happier Layne and happier moms.

She loves to prove Moms wrong. I had some salt & vinegar popchips (yummy! get yourself some!). She asked for some. I told her that I didn't think she'd like them. But she insisted. I handed her two (you know, one for each hand ). She took a bite of one and gave a look that undeniably told us she did NOT like the chip. I said, "I'm sorry, Baby, I didn't think you'd like them." She said, with the same I-hate-these look, "I like dem." But she handed them to me anyway. I said, "You just don't want them?" She nodded - yes, she likes them, and no she doesn't want to eat them at this very moment.

One morning while still in bed, Jess took a sip of some water she had on the night table. Layne asked for some in the cup that was also on the night table. Jess told her that there was yucky milk in the bottom and that it would taste very bad. She insisted, so Jess poured some water in the cup (there was only residual milk from a cup that had been emptied by Sydney the night before). Layne took a sip, gave the "ugh, this is yucky" look and told Jess she liked it. I just hope that we still get the visual facial expression when she is a teenager.

She loves to play the "Yeah behbay (baby, but she put some inflection in the word )" game. She came up with this game all on her own. Here's how you play: (Layne:) Momma, you say 'Yeah behbay, (few breaths) no behbay', an ... an ... I'll say 'no behbay, (few breaths) yeah behbay!' Ready?" I tell her to go first (so I know what to do), but she insists I go first. Of course, I get it wrong - I said "no behbay" instead of "yeah behbay" first, or instead of saying "behbay", I say "baby", or something like that. And I have to get the directions all over again. It's like when a little kids tells you a secret in your ear and it takes them forever to say only four words. This time I insist she goes first so I know how to play. And so it goes ...

And finally, the funniest one to date. We don't say the word "stupid" in our house. I hate "you're stupid" or "that's stupid", so we banned it (because I'm the Momma, that's why! ). And we have the Stupid Police in our house. I swear Sydney can hear the word from one end of the house even when it's spoken on the other end. "We don't say stupid!!" we'll hear from her room. Anyway, we were having the Stupid conversation in the car one day and we realized that Layne had some input. She said, "we can't say 'stupid', right?" Right, Layne, we don't say "stupid". Next thing we know, she's saying to herself something that sounded a LOT like "stupid". I reiterated to her that we don't say stupid and that I'd like for her to stop saying it. She said to me, with the most serious face, "Momma, no I say 'stupid', I say 'stoopie'. You said we can't say 'stupid' so no I did. I juss say 'stoopie'." WTF? How do you reply to something like that? Jess and I tried oh so hard NOT to let her see us laughing. [And I can't even spell the words differently to reflect the way she actually says them, like I used to for Sydney's Conversation Wednesday, because the girl has wonderful articulation - there's no guessing what she is saying.]

And now she periodically hollers out "STOOPIE ON BEHBAY!!!" Pretty much a combination of the "Yeah Behbay" game, and the whole "stoopie" incident. We have no idea what it means, but I'd venture to say that it gives her a reason to say a word that is close in pronunciation to a word she's not suppose to say ... and she loves that!

First Place!

Even though I just blogged about swimming kids, I'm going to blog about it again.

Last night was Sydney's first swim meet. She's been on the swim team for a year now, but has never expressed interested in competing in a meet. We never pushed it because I don't want swim team to be something that she feels is a chore. I want her to enjoy it, so if that only involves going to practice twice a week, so be it. But her coach told me that summer meets were REALLY laid back and casual. And there's only four all summer, so yeah, pretty easy going.

Monday night, Sydney informed the coach that she wanted to swim freestyle and butterfly. And she was excited about it. But the next day when I just happened to mention the "race", she got all nervous and hesitant. She's not really one to want or NEED to compete, so this made her a little uneasy. But we reassured her that it was just for fun and "race" was just the technical term. She was skeptical, but went along with us.

She is in the 6 & under group, so they only swim a half length of the pool (in the winter and spring leagues, they swim a whole length, so it made me glade we waited for summer league). During warm-ups, she swam about 4 lengths and I was worried that she would burn herself out on warm-ups. When I asked her if she wanted to get out, she looked at me as if to say, "Mom, it's so uncool that you are standing there talking to me." So I quit bugging her.

Warming up

When it came time for her heat, she bounced (like she always does when she's excited; my parents call her Happy Feet ). She lined up at the edge of the pool, and when the Ready, Set, Go beep sounded, she hesitated, not quite sure what to do. She watched all the other girls go into the water, and then she dove in. I'm not sure where she placed, I was busy timing a girl in another lane. But Jess was taking pictures and cheering her on. She was bouncing as she climbed out of the pool, if that's possible. And bounced all the way back to her team's waiting area.

And she's off ...



Bouncing out of the pool.



Parents were asked to time, so having always been on the other side of the watch, I gladly offered.

Several strokes (breast stroke and backstroke) and what seemed like a thousand heats (all for the 6 & under group) later, they started with the Butterfly heats. Sydney was ready when it came time for her heat. She stood on the side of the pool and dove in at the same time the beep sounded.

"Swimmers take your mark, get set, BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

My eyes were on Sydney the whole time, silently cheering for my girl (I was sandwiched between two parents of children from the other team). I could hardly contain myself when I saw that she'd won. And remembered at the last millisecond, that I had the timer in my hand for another girl. I was so proud, I just HAD to tell the two parents sitting on either side of me that she was mine!

And what does the winner of the race deserve? Yep, ice cream!





As does little sister, who had to watch the whole thing.

I Retract My Previous Statement

Although not a statement I made on this blog, I once expressed my detest for those "floaty" things that kids wear on their arms when they swim.

I just always felt that they give the child a false sense of security. I know, roll your eyes, but I'm hard-core when it comes to learning to swim.

I have a distinct memory of something that happened during swimming lessons when I was about 8-9 years old. All skill level groups were having a lesson in one large indoor pool. My sisters and I were in the "Swimmers" group (the highest level) and I remember being interrupted by a girl in the "Beginners" group (the lowest level). The children in the Beginners group usually fell in the 4-6 year old age range (maybe younger ... give me a break, I was young myself). But there was a 12-year old girl in the Beginners group. She cried every week for the entire lesson. But this one day, all eyes were on her. I'm not kidding, every eye in the natatorium was on her. Evidently, the instructor of her class (who happened to be my swim team coach for YEARS) decided the kids were at a point in their learning where they could jump off the diving board. Every child in the class would have a turn ... like it or not. Some kids were gung-ho and ran right off, others were hesitant, but there was another instructor in the water to catch them the moment they hit the water. And then there was this girl. When it came time for her turn, she would not go up the two steps to get on the board. The instructor walked over to her (he'd been coaching all the other kids off the board), gave her some encouragement, and waited for her to climb, which she did, crying the whole time. When he asked her to walk to the end of the board, she wailed louder. It was at this point that she drew the attention of everyone in the building. He encourage, coaxed, pleaded for her to take the last step into the water, but she refused. So he got on the diving board, walked to the end, picked her up, and placed her into the arms of the instructor in the water. She SCREAMED bloody murder the entire time. Her head never even went under water, but she went off the diving board, dammit! Like his methods or not, *I* came away from that experience, HER experience, with something. I vowed, at that very moment, that I would never have a child that is afraid of the water like that 12-year old girl. I felt terribly for her on that day, but I'm thankful for that glimpse of what it would be like to have a water-fearing child.

Both my girls are/were water babies. And I can feel confident that what I learned on that day, what I vowed on that day, has held true. My girls are not afraid of the water. And both girls love the water. So much so, that it's hard to keep them out.

So back to the original subject of this post. The floaties. Do I still hate them? Yes and no. Layne is still at an age where she just doesn't have the core body strength to be able to keep her head above the water. She moves her arms and legs when she swims, but it's not enough to get her head high enough to take a breath. So that simply means that someone has to be in the water with her at all times. Usually not a problem, because I rather enjoy swimming with her. But this weekend, we were at the pool with friends and I just wanted to chat. However, keeping Layne confined to the steps where we were all hovered just wasn't working. Friends had an extra set of floaties, so we said what the heck, blew them up, and put them on her. She was in HEAVEN! Normally, she's pushing any hands that touch her OFF, which is not really in her best interest when it's those hands that are helping her breathe. With the floaties, she was able to do everything and go everywhere the big kids went. And she made a point to swim AWAY from me anytime I went near her. Lil' stinker! She was adorable and had a great time.

In the deep end:









Sydney teaching her how to dive.

So I wouldn't consider myself a "Fan" of the floaties. I still have that gives-false-security thing going on. But they definitely made our day much more fun, for everyone - her moms and Layne.

The T-Rex and the Porcupine

The girls love to put on shows for us. A couple nights ago, they were busy in the toy room making puppets (well, Sydney made the puppets, but you know that Layne "helped"). And then they presented us with a puppet show, titled The T-Rex and the Porcupine.

Spinner dolphins? And yes, dinosaurs are part of everyday life in our house. I know, I know, it gets old ... welcome to our world.

End of the Year Program

A couple days ago, we received Sydney's report card in the mail. She did very well - all A's and one B. And along with her report card was the picture of her group from the Elementary Program - the Hawaiian Girls. There she is - front and center (almost), wearing the suit with the big yellow flowers. [This is a pic of a pic, so not great quality.]

AND I figured out how to clip just her number from the DVD of the program that we received from the school. So without further adieu ... (She's the one on the far left end; during the side angle, she's the one the furthest from the camera; and also the first one under the limbo pole. For a girl whose never taken dance class, she can sure swing that tushie. )

Dinosaur Scene

What's the first thing you think of when you think of Sydney? Right ... dinosaurs! Last night she was quietly playing in her room. Layne was staying out of her hair (my MIL was here for dinner and keeping Layne busy). We called her for dinner and she told me she needed some help with something in her room. So as Jess set the table, I went to Sydney's room. She'd set up a scene with her dinosaurs, and she wanted me to help her hang a couple from the ceiling so as to look like they were flying.

Of course, I thought the whole thing was precious. And then she showed me her coloring book, and on the cover was the scene she had set up on her table. The girl is just adorable!

Here is her rendition of the coloring book scene.



Here it is again with a little more detail not seen in the previous picture.



Here is the coloring book picture.



And she really wanted me to take a picture of both - her scene and the coloring book scene.

So stinkin' cute!!

Diarrhea of the Mouth Part III

And here is the last installation of our weekend in Memphis. Reminder - bad photos ahead.

On Sunday, we went to the Pink Palace. Sydney likes it because it has some really big models of dinosaurs. Although the dinosaur exhibit is on the small side, she really loves it and cannot get enough of those models. There are other exhibits, lots of animal exhibits, and lots of gem exhibits. So really, dinos, animals, and sparkles is all the girl needs to make her happy. Layne just has to go along for the ride. Fortunately for me, she admires her big sister so much, that she likes everything Sydney likes. So she was all too eager to oblige Sydney's request. Now here come all the crappy pictures.

She's not crying, she's doing her pretend scream, which sounds just like a real scream except she thinks it doesn't.



Sydney hiding from Layne.



I tried to get the same shot as THIS ONE, but I couldn't remember how they were standing. Oh well.



Nothing but mischievousness on her mind.



Sydney cooperating and Layne NOT cooperating with my picture taking.



At the Pink Palace - Sydney in her glory, Layne pretending to be scared.



The two of them sitting on a plaster model of actual dinosaur prints. Sydney thought it was a riot that they could sit criss-cross applesauce inside each footprint.



Sydney correctly told me that this dinosaur is a dilophosaurus. The girl cracks me up.



No, it's not a wooly mammoth. It's a Mastodon. Get it straight.



This circus model was incredible. Crafted decades ago, and it still has moving parts. Very cool.



This model is huge!



A replication of the first Piggly Wiggly. The girls went shopping.



Later this month, there will be a huge dinosaur exhibit. They've already started to set up the exhibit. And Sydney was beside herself with excitement. So I snapped a picture of her in front of this Stegasaurus. You can just see the happiness on her face. So cute!



After the Pink Palace, we returned to the hotel room to find Mommy awake. So after she showered, we got the girls swim suits on and took a walk down a few blocks to this water fountain plaza. The girls had a blast!

We had some dinner and returned in time for Jess to leave for her second shift. When she arrived back to the hotel in the morning, we packed up and got the girls ready. We had some breakfast and hit the road. It was a great weekend, and the girls had lots of fun.

Diarrhea of the Mouth Part II

Moving right along ... (again, poor pictures = phone pictures, the only camera I've been using lately. )

Over the last few weeks, I've been spending a lot of time preparing next year's schedule for my Brownies (not Daisies anymore!!). I'm really excited, I've planned a great year. One night while I was sitting at the computer organizing everything, I saw this little guy scamper across the screen outside the window. I'd seen him before, but every time I'd move to get a picture, he'd run away. So I moved very slowly this time and I got him.

And every so often I'd have to take a break to watch some kind of "show" that the girls were putting on for us. One show involved a couple of cheerleaders and one of those, a sassy girlie indeed.

And then came the trip to Memphis. We'd known that our DVD player in the car was on the fritz. I rigged up a cheap model that we'd got on a close-out sale. It was not pretty and there were wires all over the car floor and ceiling, but at least the girls had something to watch on long car rides. Jess and I decided to bite the bullet and get a new DVD player - one that mounted on the ceiling, one that required professional installation. At least this way, we wouldn't be wasting $100 here and $100 there on cheap DVD players.

But getting a DVD player like that involved dropping my car off for the day for the installation. I was without my car for the whole day. That, in and of itself wasn't such a big deal. The big deal was driving around in Jess' car - a Honda Civic. She loves her little car, but when we drive around as a family, we use my minivan. So when we went to the gym and grocery store, I had to sit in the passengers seat with my knees tucked under the dashboard. NOT fun, not fun at all. I joked about it, in a serious kind of manner. And she called me a car snob! Can you believe it? A car snob! I tried to explain that I'm not a car snob. Minivan or Civic, you get use your own car. And having to deviate from that, it gets a little uncomfortable. Are you with me? Jess wasn't. Thankfully, it wasn't even gone for 24 hours. But definitely enough time to give me a renewed appreciation for my minivan. And it was done in enough time to be able to use it for the 3-hour drive to Memphis.

Here is Laynie watching, getting settled in for the ride. Each girlie has her own set of wireless headphones so that the Moms can listen to their music on the radio (the DVD player uses an FM frequency to play it through the car stereo, except when they use the headphones).



We arrived in time for dinner. So after we checked into the hotel, we walked down a few blocks and found a place to relax. Sydney's dinosaur kicking back on Beale Street.



After dinner, we went on a horse & carriage ride - at Sydney's persistent request.



This is Handsome Bob. He gave us a wonderful ride.



The moon over The Peabody. (Taken from the roof-top of our hotel.)



Memphis Zoo, here we come!



Must. Get. Face. Painted. Our first stop. Sydney chose a pink T-Rex. Roar!!



And Layne picked a dolphin - an "umm-orange" dolphin. Don't ask. Eee, eee (the dolphin came back for the day!)



Rubbing the Buddha for luck.



Kiddie rides!



Carousel ...







After the rides, we made the rounds and saw the animals. It was a beautiful day, so most of them were out lounging in the sun. Layne favorites were the monkeys - no surprise there. And Sydney's favorite was the Komono Dragon - no surprise there either. In the bird house, Sydney got a bird on her stick.



Then Momma got a bird on her stick (do you know how hard it is to hold the stick steady, so the bird doesn't fly away, and take a picture with a phone at the same time?).



And Laynie got a bird.



Sydney got another bird ...



... and finally, Mommy got a bird.



On the way out, the girls took a dip in the fountains with all the other kids.



And don't forget the trip through the gift shop. Laynie just couldn't decide what she wanted. And after she finally picked all on her own, in the end, she got exactly what "Baabaa" (Sydney) got.



This happened on the short walk to the car. I was able to remove her from the stroller, change her messy diaper, and buckle her into her car seat without even a peep of protest from her. Tired girl.

We drove back to the hotel, found a place to eat dinner, and Layne snoozed the entire meal. She woke up in time to kiss Mommy goodbye as she left for her overnight shift. Jess arrived back at the hotel this morning and went to bed just as the girls and I headed downstairs to have breakfast.

I gave Sydney the choice - the Pink Palace or the Children's Museum of Memphis. We get free admission to both because of our reciprocating membership at the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock. I'm not a fan of the Children's Museum, it's on the small side, but that's not why I don't like it. It needs major updating - or just plain fixing of the old stuff. Nothing peeves me more than going into an interactive museum and nothing works. So when Sydney said she wanted to go to the Pink Palace (there is a small dinosaur exhibit), I was glad. When we left the hotel at 10:30, I didn't know that it didn't open until noon. So we found my favorite park here in Memphis and the girls played until all the kids came out of church (the park is on the grounds of a church). And that was about the time we needed to head back to the museum.

Now, I had planned on wrapping up these posts today, but I still have some more abysmal pics to post. So yet again I have to say "To be continued". We head out bright an early tomorrow - as soon as Jess returns from her second overnight shift. I'll finish this up from Little Rock.

Diarrhea of the Mouth Part I

Let me begin this post with a disclaimer. I have not picked up my good camera in ages - bad Mere! I find myself forgetting it all the time now, so I have to take pictures on my phone. My phone doesn't take terrible pictures, but suffice it to say (and soon to see), that it does not take the caliber pictures that my good camera takes. So I'm sorry for the quality of the pictures you are about to see.

Okay, summer is here - officially as of May 21 when Sydney got out of school. But before she got out of school, we spent the last few weeks in preparation. If I can figure out how, I will post Sydney's number in the Elementary End-of-the-Year Program, which was absolutely adorable. I didn't take any pictures or videos because of a couple reasons. First, I was on "Costume Patrol" which meant that, not only had I spent several hours, the week or so before the show, helping construct and assemble costumes for every student in the elementary program, but I had to make sure that all the first graders were wearing their costumes correctly on program night. And second, we purchased a copy of a DVD of the program, so I knew that I'd have a record of it without taking any pictures (which is why I have to figure out how to clip the DVD that we bought so as to only play Sydney's number).

The day after the program, and also the second to last day of school, the first graders had a field trip to Mid America Museum and I was asked to Chaperon, which I did gladly because I'd never been to the museum before and wanted to go whether or not I chaperoned.

Here is Sydney and Laynie with Syd's friend Jozlyne looking crazy in the funhouse mirrors.



THAT is way to many Laynies for anyone to handle, even Momma!

The kids had a great time and it was a great end of the year activity.

After the last day of school, a whole two weeks before public school got out, we bummed around at the gym's pool and at Wild River Country. We signed the girls up for the Summer Reading Program at two of our local libraries. And last Saturday, we walked around the River Market and did a little shopping at the weekly Farmers Market.

What is a trip to the River Market without a face painting.





And Layne having a snack at the water park.



She just couldn't hang in there for the 10 minute ride home. All the swimming and having fun just wore her out (notice the death grip on her water, she was thirsty, even after she fell asleep ).

Last week began our summer schedule - swim team practice for Sydney on Monday & Thursday afternoons, swim meets for Sydney on Tuesdays evenings, gymnastics for both girls on Wednesday mornings, summer playschool for Layne on Thursdays, and horseback riding lessons for Sydney on Thursday afternoons. Sydney is doing a swim camp next week, and Layne is doing an intensive swim lesson session (45 minutes, 4 days a week for 2 weeks) for the weeks of June 15th & 22nd. Yes, we will be "active" for at least the month of June.

We spent today at the Memphis Zoo, and I have a lot of crappy phone pictures to post. But it's getting late and we are scheduled to go to the Pink Palace tomorrow where we will gawk over dinosaur exhibits. And I need some sleep (I never wanted to be THAT person, but I don't sleep well anywhere but my own bed, and even though the beds in this Residence Inn are extremely comfortable, I did not sleep well last night and I won't sleep well tonight). So here is where I say, "To be continued" as evident by the "Part I" in my title. I'll bore you with more tomorrow.

Check this out

From our gym's website - Thank Jen!! (It's obviously from a couple years ago - the girlie doesn't have those chubby cheeks anymore.)

I swear I'll blog more tomorrow. There's so much I've been wanting to blog about, but Sydney got out of school on the 21st, so I've been trying to keep her busy (and let's not forget that I've been obsessing over my Brownie Troop's schedule for next year). So tomorrow's post may be a long unorganized one, but at least there will be one.

We are in Memphis this weekend because Jess picked up a couple shifts here, and we are headed to the Memphis Zoo tomorrow. I'm excited. But I'm also pissed - I FORGOT MY CAMERA!! I'm pissed, pissed, pissed at myself. So all I'll get are the pics I take with my iPhone. Oh well. At least we'll have that, right?. Right.

Ppphhhhhhh!

Holy Scrap!

That was Megan's motto for the weekend. We even bought a cute pair of sweatpants with "Holy Scrap" across the butt. The other motto was "Good Times!" which Megan uses quite generously. We had so much fun.

To look at what I did, it doesn't look like much. But I actually am happy with what I got done. And even as all the women at our table, besides me, were winning door prizes, I kept on scrappin' and having a great time. Then it came time for the Grand Door Prize - the next scrappin' weekend hosted by the same owner/store (in October) paid for in full. And guess who won? Yep, that would be me! So I guess Megan and I will be scrappin' together sooner than we thought.

Megan made this one for her own books. I think it came out adorably.



The next four layouts I made from pictures of when we went to Massachusetts for Easter in March 2008 (yes, I incorrectly labeled it as 2009 - just haven't fixed it yet )



Just wanted to thank my sister Melissa for the Easter Egg stamps. I definitely put them to good use this weekend.



I like to come up with my own unique designs, so all of these paper pieces and photos were cut by hand (and this would be the reason I only get four layouts done in a 48-hour period. )



This one is my favorite. Making that big basket was so much fun. It was the first time I'd ever done weaving and braiding for a scrapbook page. I'll have to do that more often.



I made this first. It's a gift - the recipient to remain unnamed until she sees it in her own hands. (Although, it's not hard to guess.)



And the six different sides. I just love this project. Melis, I need to order more blocks!!

When I told Jess that I won another weekend, she cringed. And when I told her that I told Megan it wasn't a sure thing, Jess told me to tell Megan that it was a sure thing. (I love my wife!) But she ordered me to work on only projects for our very own scrapbooks. I'm always doing stuff for gifts and things like that. We don't have many of our own books.