My Sentiments Exactly

I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.

~Marlene Dietrich

A Quick Update From L-town

Whew! One week into the vacation and I finally have a minute to blog. We are having a blast so far: staying up late, eating at our favorite restaurants, catching up with old friends, hanging out with family. I can't believe we have 2 more weeks of this.

We spent most of today at the beach. The girls loved the water, but Ellie was not particularly fond of the sand. In fact, we were there for 4 hours before she would even attempt to put her feet in it. Needless to say, I was a little tired from carrying her back and forth from the water to the blanket in the shade.

We tried really hard to keep up on the sunscreen, but I missed a few spots on Makayla. And my niece is so red. Tonight when Makayla saw Jordyn's sunburn she said, "Oooo! Jordyn got bit by the sun. That was really mean of that sun. He's super naughty!" That got a pretty good laugh out of me.

We have 3 more fun-filled days here before we head home for our 1-day layover. I'm taking tons of pictures and will post some when I get home.

We're Off

Today marks the beginning of what I can only imagine will be a crazy 3 weeks. It's our summer vacation. We've been looking forward to it for some time. Our schedule goes something like this:

-Hop in the car tonight when Kasey gets home from work.
-Drive through the night and into the morning, arriving in L-town approximately 15 hours later.
-Hang out with friends for 5 days.
-Kasey's family reunion for an additional 5 days.
-Back in the car for another 15 hours through the night.
-One day layover at our house to do laundry, pay bills, and repack car.
-Drive to my family reunion, approximately 6 hours away.
-Camping and other fun stuff for 3-1/2 days.
-More driving.
-Home for 3 days to do, what else? Laundry!
-Kasey goes back to work while the girls and I travel to my mom's house for 4 days.
-Those 4 days home include a day with my high school friends (WooHoo!) and all our kids, a trip to the new pizza place (I've heard it's excellent), possibly a day at the beach, and a party for my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary (and I thought 6 years was a lot!).

Kasey got me a new toy to hopefully make the driving a little more bearable for the girls. I sure hope they don't hate us and their car seats by the end of all this.

With this crazy, crazy schedule, who knows if I'll have time to blog. I'll definitely tell you all about our adventures (with pictures) when we get back in July.

New Summer Do

Makayla's hair has been driving me crazy for a while. It's so fine and breaks so easily. So today I took her to get it cut. I think the short cut is pretty cute on her, but the lady did a horrible job. The back is all jagged and uneven with the front. I'm pretty sure I could have done a better job myself, and I would have saved myself $10. I'm debating whether to go to a nicer salon and pay another $15 or $20 to get it fixed or wait a month and even it out myself. Or just maybe, my sister will take pity on Makayla's poor hair and fix it for her when we see her next week. (Katie are you reading this? wink, wink)

Six Years and Going Strong

Kasey and I celebrated our anniversary last week. Here's our 6 years in a nutshell: 2 kids, 4 apartments, 3 college degrees, 6 jobs, countless trips to see family and friends, a little heartache, a lot of happiness, and even more love.

I can't wait to see what the next six years bring.

Splash Pad Fun

It's such a beautiful day today! It's a nice change from the snow we had last week. On a whim, I decided to take the girls to the splash pad. It wasn't too busy when we got there, but it was crazy by the time we left. Makayla remembered it from last year and immediately started running around and jumping through the water. Ellie was much more tentative. She did a lot of standing near the water and staring at other kids. I took pictures until I got too hot, then I coaxed Ellie into the water with me. I didn't get any pictures afterwards, but both girls were dripping from head to toe when we left.

I think the girls had a lot of fun. If the weather stays nice, we may go several times this week.

There Goes My Self-Esteem

It's nice having Kasey home. I can get away with only taking one kid with me to the store. I can't believe how easy it is to maneuver the grocery store with just one kid in tow!

Today, Makayla was the lucky winner. We hopped in the car and drove to the store. We picked up a few groceries, stopped by the Red Box, and loaded up the car to come home. As we were driving the short distance home, Makayla and I started talking.

She said, "I have a little bum."

"Yep, you sure do."

"One day I want to grow up and be a mommy."

"Being a mommy is pretty great."

"But I can't be a mommy until my bum grows big, big, big like yours."

"Do mommies have big bums?"

"Well, no. Just you do."

"Thanks for that vote of confidence, kiddo!"

"You're welcome!" she beamed. "Mommy, I sure love you."

It's good to know that my kids love me. Big bum and all!