Jolly Holiday

Pool party!

What a wonderful holiday weekend! While the tall Vannestes would have loved to be at the lake, they also refuse to deal with the traffic that comes with going up north on the first "summer" weekend. It's enough to ruin an otherwise lovely holiday. Plus there are the small details like V3's arrival just around the corner. And there you have it - here we stay!

We sure made it worthwhile though. Saturday saw Mike putting the pool up in the backyard. My goodness, the fun! Pool-hating Quinn has made her peace with the kiddie pool and had a blast. She even figured out how to climb in and out AND mastered the "water slide." Bugs, of course, swam until her internal organs froze and she didn't have enough energy to climb out of the pool. Because that's what the Water Bug does! Combine that with some friends coming over to play and a bbq dinner - and let's just say bedtime was pretty quiet!

Boat baby

After the exhaustion of Saturday, we decided to have a lower-key day on Sunday. During nap, Mike and I made the executive decision to try a family boat ride. Mike scouted out the area lakes to see if he could find one that wasn't crazy busy - and was successful. So post-nap, we loaded up and headed to a small local lake. We had a little trouble with the big engine starting (and some engine work is now on Mike's to-do list). But the trolling motor worked great and was actually just the right speed for a leisurely boat ride. Quinn loved the boat ride and the slow pace. They both thought the rocking of the boat was pretty cool - and like a rocking chair. The water was deemed "cold" by the Bug - who insisted on putting her feet in and then was shocked when they were wet and cold. We'll definitely be doing that again. And it was nice to be on a lake!

Daddy's assistant

Today, we headed over to see some friends, splashed in their pool, ate on their deck, and checked out their toys. Just what we needed. It's back to reality tomorrow. But we enjoyed the several days of family time and a somewhat slower pace. It was just what we needed before the apple cart is rocked with a new family member. We will head back to reality with our spirits refreshed through some family fun.

And Mike and my life longevity is preserved by avoiding Memorial weekend traffic north!

Bulking Up

The girls and I planted our pots

I told Mike a few weeks ago that I suspect with the arrival of number 3, my camel’s back will be broken and we will need to get a membership to a warehouse store. I’m generally against us having one, simply because I then have to store the bulk purchases. And there is a startling lack of storage options in our house. I can only be so creative before we officially have no room.

Our current family size can pound fruit like no one’s business and I swear we run out every 3-4 days. [I know, woe is me. My children love fruit.] And with another eater on the way, I figured within the next year, it would be time.

And then the last week occurred. Last Friday, we made eggs for dinner. A dozen eggs. And an entire container of strawberries. And half a loaf of bread. BUT – the thing is, Mike and I had to snack after the girls went to bed because we basically got no food. The blondes ate almost all of that by themselves. On Saturday, I made spaghetti. Enough for 5-6 servings. Or so I thought. Until Fiona had FOUR helpings and Quinn had two and there were NO leftovers. Oh, and we ate almost half a watermelon.

Earlier this week, we got a text from Ms. A that Q was mad at her because she had cut her off at breakfast after a full bowl of cereal, four pieces of toast, half a banana, and milk. And that Fiona had eaten the same minus a piece of toast. Then at lunch the same day, Quinn had three helpings of everything and was still hungry so got a yogurt as a supplement. Ms. A may raise our tuition since we are apparently bringing teenage boys instead of toddler girls (rate increase is a joke). At dinner that same night, Bugs ate 2 hot dogs and a brat and Quinn ate almost three hot dogs! And they were delightfully happy. Apparently we've been starving them to death.

Either they are on a massive growth spurt (my theory), storing up for hibernation (Mike’s theory), or fearful that mealtime will be forgotten in new baby chaos (A’s theory). Regardless of the reason, it seems I need to hustle my bottom over to the nearest warehouse store and sign us up before they eat the house!

In Case You Think It’s Under Control

Fear not. It’s not. We have fleeting moments of parenting brilliance. Lots of moments of survival. And moments of abject failure. As always, failure points are the funniest.

Little gardener

We’ve started cathing Fiona. By “we,” I clearly mean Mike. He’s a total master. I’m trying to learn. Bugs is a trooper – but she’s also really smart. So when she has an option, she asks for her dad to do it. Because really, mom is just terrible at it (although I’m not getting any better with her clear preference for daddy). She throws me a bone once in a while and tells me I can put the “cold medicine” in [we insert antibiotics directly into her bladder through the catheter and we have to keep them in the fridge. So it is, quite literally, cold. Apparently I have been deemed proficient at that step].

Because she has been such a trooper with the whole process, we wanted to recognize it. So we got her “the frozen” (the movie Frozen … which she calls “the frozen”). She was really excited and proud that she earned it by being so good. And she promptly asked to watch it. Which surprises no one … except the two people who gave it to her and had no intention of letting her watch it because we limit television and it's beautiful outside. So her reward for being a trooper is instead that she gets to carry around the DVD case of “the frozen” – and maybe pray for rain. Give us a call if you want advice on how to reward your children for good behavior – we’re clearly masters. Sigh …

Then yesterday, we were getting everyone ready to head out the door. I grabbed pants, shirt, and socks from each girl’s drawer and handed out to the appropriate recipient. Fiona really struggled with getting her shirt on, which is unusual. So Mike helped her out. I made a mental note that the shirt looked like it was getting small and we all continued with the morning routine. Mid-morning at work, I suddenly realized that the shirt looked small because it was QUINN’S! When I put the laundry away, I put it in the wrong drawer. And since I grabbed it out of Fiona’s drawer, I didn't even think about it. So I sheepishly called A and asked her to please help the poor child get a shirt that she could breathe in.

Another sigh.

Baby Goats Are Cute

The weather this weekend has been beyond gorgeous. We spent a ton of time outside -including a trip to the zoo today with Gma, Gpa, and Auntie. Bugs has talked up feeding the baby goats enough that Q got really excited about seeing them and feeding them too. So before her bravery faded, we hightailed to the farm. Bugs happily fed her goat buddies again and after determining that the baby goats were, in fact, still cute, Q asked for a couple food pellets as well. She let a small goat take it out of her hand, tossed it toward the "needy" big goat, and then was done with goat feeding. But, she's super proud of feeding the goats and claims that it "tickled."

Walking with Grammy and Grampy

Feeding the goats

Back to our old tricks of not looking at the camera at the same time

The Newest Addition

The fort!

The girls and I spent a lot of quality time together on this Mother's Day weekend. They were [mostly] very good to mama and we had a lot of fun. We had even more fun around 4:00 yesterday when Daddy and Grandpa deemed their weekend work "structurally sound" and the blondes got to test out the handiwork. Look what came to live in our backyard: it has a HUGE slide, a fort, and a climbing wall. Fiona owns that wall too. She flies up it like it's no big thing. Grandpa even took a trip or two down the slide and found that it is super fast! Fiona sails off the end of the slide and loves it. Quinn wants to hold a hand to go down. It's a bit fast for her. Fiona is also super proud that after many tries, she successfully climbed UP the slide herself. Quinn can get about halfway up, but thinks it is really funny when she falls and slides back down.

Two smiles and holding hands. My heart!

Mike still needs to do a little work on the bottom to put the deck in, but the fort is totally ready for play. He got the telescope and steering wheel installed today between rain drops. [We are thankful that the rain held off this weekend and there was only one weather-related stop in the action.] I'm sure there will be many hours of happiness from the weekend of effort. The girls of the house are grateful to have such talented and loving men in our lives. The fort and swing set is a gift of love to the blondes (and the baby) from their dad and two of their grandpas. What a wonderful gift!