Project progress

I've been fairly productive lately.

I finally got a picture hung on wall. There was actually two of them, but one of the cheap IKEA frames broke, and then the glass broke, so I settled for one picture. It's on the wall above the futon in our room, but I didn't do a full shot because Mr. M's bags are all over the futon.

Awhile ago I bought LMS a soft pink blankie from the Pottery Barn reject store ($1 for a blanket that's usually around $20!). She's taken to carrying it around with her lately. Since she already carries her lambie around, I don't think she needs to carry a blankie too. So I made the blankie into a pillow for her. I wasn't sure how she'd react, but so far it's all been positive: she calls it her snuggly pillow, and has only tried to take it out of her room once or twice.

While we were on vacation, one of Mr. M's young cousins had a different type of hoody towel that I thought was pretty cool. Instead of a wraparound, it's more of a poncho. Since LMS is constantly complaining because hers slips and falls, I thought it was worth a try. A bath towel, a hand towel, and some ribbon, and LMS has a new bath towel. Overall I'm happy with how it turned out, but if I did it again, I think I'd use narrower ribbon. I used the ribbon to cover the rough towel edges and to make a bow, but 1 1/2" was a bit too wide.

LMS did not want to smile for the camera

I also hemmed some pants for LMS's cousin.

Amusement park fun

Last night my FIL's company had a night at a local amusement park. It was a lot of fun, and the lines were short!

We rode a water ride that's similar to one I've ridden at Disneyland. This one was a bit different, though. Not only did you get splashed by the 'rapids', but just before the end they had hoses aimed so you got completely soaked. There was no avoiding it! I had a spare pair of pants for LMS (in case she had an accident) and a jacket, so she wore her jacket buttoned all the way up and her dry pants. I wasn't so lucky: I took my shirt off and zipped my jacket up, but had to make do with taking my shorts off and wringing them out as best I could before putting them back on. Good thing it wasn't a cold evening...

LMS and her best buddy cousin who's a month and a half older than her (that's him in the green polo shirt) were just tall enough to ride the rides, and had a great time.

Enjoying the swings

Playing with their light sabers (sorry about the bad quality)

Exhausted after a fun evening. Interesting position, no?

Random cuteness of Little Miss Sunshine

The other day, I asked LMS if, when she grew up, she wanted to be short like Mommy (I'm 5'1" on a really good day) or tall like Daddy (he's 6'3"). She replied that she wanted to be tall like Daddy, not short like Mommy!

For quite a long time LMS has referred to the American flag as a 'Daddy flag'. It must be his, since he wore it on his uniform. On our way back from our roadtrip, we pointed out that a daddy flag has another name- the American flag. We helped her say 'American' and thought we were successful in correcting her misconception. However, the next time she saw a flag she yelled 'American daddy flag!' Guess we weren't as successful as we thought....

Sewing a Sleeping Beauty costume for Halloween

Running

When I go running, I have two routes I use. They both start the same and diverge after about 1/3 mile. There's a hill in that first 1/3 mile, but it's fairly short, so it's not too bad. Route A levels out after the hill (where the routes diverge), and then is downhill for the last quarter mile or so of the first mile. The second does have a hill towards the end of the first half mile (the point I've been running to lately), but it's not horrible. From there, it levels out before turning into a steep hill for the last quarter mile of the second mile. That hill is tough.

Route B is also starts out pretty flat, with a short downhill followed by an uphill just before the end of the first mile. The mile marker is halfway up the hill, which isn't super steep. After the hill, the second mile levels out for a bit, then starts a gradual slope upwards, followed by a couple small hills. The last half mile has a couple more hills, but actually ends halfway down a hill.

I've been using Route A for quite awhile now, so I'm used to the minimal hills and the mostly downhill-ness of it. It's a nice, fairly easy mile and a half route. I've switched to Route B, and wow, can I tell the difference! It's definitely a tougher workout. It's good switch things up and try not to get into a rut.

Sewing

Today we bought fabric for LMS's Halloween costume. We could have used her chicken costume from last year (it's big enough), but since I 'm actually feeling somewhat energetic and motivated, I decided to make her a costume.

We went to the fabric store and picked out a pattern, which happened to be on sale for $2, instead of $9. After we picked out the fabric and I paid for it, I noticed that the cost almost came to the cost of a store-bought Disney Aurora dress. This is why I rarely sew clothes anymore- it's cheaper to buy them, and less time consuming. In this case though, there will be the satisfaction in finishing a type of project that I haven't done in a long time. And hopefully it will be better constructed than a store-bought dress.

The dress on the pattern package looks to me like a Cinderella dress, except it's pink. LMS saw the pink and thought it was an Aurora dress (which is why she picked it). In looking at the pattern more last night to determine the materials needed, it really started bugging me, so I pulled up pictures of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, and sure enough, this is a Cinderella dress made of pink fabric.

Since LMS wants a Sleeping Beauty dress, I found one at the Disney store, compared it with the pattern I have, and decided it won't be too difficult to alter it a bit to look more like a Sleeping Beauty dress.

I have some other sewing projects (hemming Mr. M's niece's pants, making a new hooded bath towel for LMS, making a bag or two), so I won't get started right away, but I will start soon.

Happy 8th anniversary to us!

Today's our 8th anniversary, and Mr. M is gone for it, again. A couple years ago, we noticed a trend emerging: he's usually doing some sort of training and is gone, whether it's for a couple nights, a couple weeks, or even longer.

The rundown:

1st anniversary- Mr. M was on a weekend (read: overnight) training exercise with the army. He hadn't gone to basic yet, and this was supposed to show them what basic would be like. After 3 days of lots of exercising and marching, he literally had to have help getting dressed- he was that sore!

2nd anniversary- We were at language school, and they scheduled a training exercise over our anniversary, so he was gone for a couple days again.

3rd anniversary- Mr. M was in one state, attending training to learn his military job, and I was still at language school, finishing up my Japanese course (I was in the class that started a couple months after his).

4th anniversary- Mr. M was out of the country for two and a half weeks. He did get a good present, though- an email showing a positive pregnancy test! I finally managed to stay pregnant, too.

5th anniversary- We were at language school again, and he was at a week-long immersion course over our anniversary.

6th anniversary- We were finally in the same place at the same time, but we didn't have the money or time to do anything- Mr. M had to spend lots of time studying.

7th anniversary- Mr. M was done with language school, but he was deployed halfway around the world.

8th anniversary- Mr. M's out of the country again for a two week training mission. The timing totally went by me till about 3 weeks before he left- then I realized he'd be gone, again. And I was the one who told him he should go...

Next year, on our 9th anniversary, who knows where he will be. I don't totally mind if he's gone again, as long as he's here the following year for our 10th. I want to do something big for that one. Maybe a trip or cruise or something.

It's a good thing we don't get hung up on holidays and 'special' events- being in the military sure makes it hard to be punctual with celebrations.

99.9% of our pictures are boxed up, in storage. Rather than dig through boxes, trying to find wedding photos, I made do with what I could find (random photos that weren't in storage).
Coming out of the temple:

Two of our wedding photos. Not sure why I had these particular ones, and not some of the others, but what can you do. I loved my dress! It's the first one I tried on, and after trying on several others, I kept going back to it. It was very simple, with flowers embroidered on the skirt, extending up to the bodice. Hard to see that in the photos, though.

Also, Happy Birthday to my brother and sister- thanks for sharing the day!

More Disney pictures, finally

While we were on vacation, we saw Mr. M's brother and got our memory stick full of pictures from our Disneyland trip back in May.

We stood in line the last morning so LMS could say hi to the princesses, which she loved.

LMS and Snow White

LMS and Cinderella (Mr. M's brother's camera was very touchy, so quite a few pictures came out blurry, unfortunately. The picture with Aurora was even blurrier than this one.)

Standing in line, waiting to see the princesses. They had a few pages working the crowd, keeping the little girls entertained. The one who came to say hi to us was very friendly and good with kids, and let LMS try on his hat and cape. Wish the picture was clearer....

LMS and Tinkerbell

Today I used my pepper spray for the first time

LMS and I went for a run this morning and had a run in with a couple dogs. We were running past their house (on the road, nowhere near their house or driveway), and they were running around in their barely fenced yard (3 strands of wire, not barbed wire, with entire stretches without even wire). They decided we were too close, and came running after us, barking furiously. One went through a gap, the other easily slid under a strand of wire. I started yelling at them, pulled out my pepper spray, and sprayed one as it got closer. Ok, I didn't actually hit it, since the range on the pepper spray is less than I thought (good to know!), but I think the dog got a wiff, because it backed off a bit. At that point, their owner started calling them, and they retreated.

These particular people have 3 or 4 dogs, which are usually fenced in, away from the road. I have had them come after me a couple of times, so I know to watch the house carefully as I pass. In the past one of the owners was out in the yard with them, and was able to call them off before they got too close. This time, no one was in the yard, they were in the house, not paying attention.

I've gone off about unleashed dogs before, but I need to rant again. Just because you live in the country doesn't mean you should let your dog run free. My mom tells me that when we moved here 12 years ago the county was a free range county, and she thinks it still is. This means that technically you can let your dog run free, but he can't enter anyone else's property (like they're only going to stay in the road??). However, just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

If you let your dog run free and he damages property or livestock, or bites someone, you'll still be held liable. Makes sense that you'd keep your dog appropriately leashed/fenced, right? It only takes a minute for someone to get bit, as could easily have happened today. I'm sure the owner thought the dogs would be ok, she'd just go drink a cup of coffee or something, but we could have easily been bit.

And I don't care what people say: 'my dog wouldn't hurt a flea', 'his bark is worse than his bite', etc. Well, I don't want to find out if his bark really is worse than his bite; I don't want to be chased by dogs barking ferociously; and I don't want my daughter hurt or traumatized because either she or her mom were bitten or chased by barking dogs. I still remember an Afghan (those are some big dogs!) jumping over it's completely inadequate fence and coming after us as we walked home from my older brother's school- I would have been 3 or 4 at the time. Maybe that's why I'm so paranoid now, but I don't want LMS to have the same issues I do.

If you can't be a responsible pet owner, you shouldn't have pets.

Thoughts on 'portable careers'

A while ago we goat an email from the university Mr. M is attending. It talked about the MyCAA program and how they were a participating provider. Curious, I looked up the MyCAA program to find out more about it. Basically, it provides up to $6000 for spouses of active duty military to pursue training for portable careers.

'Portable careers' got me thinking. My bachelors is in animal science (vet tech, specifically), but I knew I didn't want to work in a vet clinic even before I finished my degree. It would have taken too much time to finish if I had changed majors, but now I wish I'd gone ahead and changed it anyway.

I have also gone to massage school, and while technically portable, it doesn't work real well with an active 3 year old running around. And I'm a little out of practice...

I've also learned Japanese at language school, but that's not terribly useable right now, either.

Thinking about what I want to do with my life: if I had changed my major, I would have changed it to English. I've thought about getting a masters in English, specifically professional writing, but the program's expensive, and I'm not real confident in my writing skills.

I like organizing things, and have thought about being a personal organizer, but I'm not creative enough to do the 'make-over' parts after everything's been sorted and organized. And with the economy like it is right now, most people don't have money to pay for someone to organize their houses for them.

I read a lot of books, and it really bugs me when I find typos, inconsistencies, and so on. So that led me to think about editors. I did some research on book editors and decided that's not what I want to do- they have to keep on their writers to make deadlines, they have to sell the books to the publishing houses, and other things I'm not really in to.

In researching editors, I did run across a job called copyediting. So I researched copyeditors, and finally found something I think I can do. A copyeditor reads a book, looking for consistency in spelling, punctuation, details, etc. It's a job that requires attention to detail, and would mesh well with my OCD tendancies. I even found several colleges that offer online copyediting courses. I need to check on costs of the courses, but they weren't very long, so I wouldn't think they would cost an arm and a leg. Copyediting is fairly portable, too. While some places want you to go in to an office to work, there are telecommuting positions available.

I technically had a couple months of eligibility left when I was doing the research, but I haven't pursued it yet because the timing isn't right. Once we get a real job and move into our own place and get settled, then I'll look into it again. Whether I use the MyCAA option to pay for it will depend on how quickly Mr. M gets deployed again.

Running after a rainstorm

It was quite windy this morning, so I went for a run this afternoon, after the daily rainstorm came through earlier than usual. Since LMS was (supposed to be) napping, I left her under my dad's watchful eye and headed out.

I ran a mile and a half, then walked the mile and a half back. The whole thing took me 36 minutes, with the running portion taking 13 and a half minutes. I completed the first mile in 9 minutes, and the last half mile in 4 and a half minutes, despite the fact that the last half mile felt a lot slower. I guess that was just the faster pace tiring me out. It still felt good, despite being tiring, and it's encouraging to see my times finally getting faster and to know that I can keep a consistent pace.

I always did like running in the rain, but I don't get to do it here- there's usually lightning along with the rain. Running after a rain is the closest I can get right now, and it's pretty nice too- everything feels cleaner.

Puddle jumping

The almost-daily rain storm came through this afternoon, and brought some hail with it. Some of the hail was quite large, and kind of shaped like an ice cream cone. Interesting...

We put on rain boots and went puddle jumping, which LMS really enjoyed. Living in the country means no gutters to splash in, but we did manage to find a puddle in the front walk.

We also splashed in the barrow pit in front of the house, next to the road. That's the closest we get to gutters out here. LMS didn't mind.

I remember why I like to run

I went for a run this morning and realized why I've persisted in running all these years, despite very painful recurring shinsplints, collapsed arches, and difficulty breathing due to my asthma acting up again. It felt good! It hasn't felt good in years, but it used to, and that's why I've kept going. Now that I have orthotics and have had my shins worked on, my feet and shins feel a lot better, and as long as I remember to use my inhalers in a timely fashion, I don't have problems breathing.

It felt so good to run down the road, pushing LMS in the stroller. Because everything's been working better lately I've been able to start speeding up my pace. Even though I was pushing LMS, I was still able to keep a 10 minute mile pace. That's not super fast, but it's a lot faster than I've been able to do for quite some time.

I brought my camera along today, and took this picture while we were on our way back. From where I was standing to the top of the last hill in the distance is just over a mile. The top of that last hill is where I run to when I do two miles. Most of the hills are fairly gentle, which makes for a good workout. The last one is a lot steeper and definitely more of a challenge.

There's a hill just before we get home, and at the top I stop and let LMS out so she can run the last hundred yards or so with me. She's so funny to watch- she kind of punches the air with her little fists. She likes to 'run races' like her mommy, and I'm trying to do everything I can to encourage that.

I thought this was pretty- an unused horse arena full of flowers with a windmill in the distance.

Random stuff

Back in March I went to a children's clothing and toy consgnment sale (it's a big one held about once a quarter or so), and bought a bag of 7 stuffed baby toys for about $7. I bought them because I've read that 'loveys' can go for high prices on ebay. If your child loses their precious bear/bunny/lamb/etc, you want to replace it as quickly as possible.

I've done this for LMS with her lambie: she started biting lambie's nose, so I bought a second one so one could be washed while she snuggled with the other. Eventually she stopped biting lambie's nose, so I bought a third one to replace the first two that had had their faces half chewed off. (the 3rd one is on the left, the two chewed-on ones are in the middle and on the right)

Now she's started rubbing lambie's tail constantly, and it's looking pretty icky, so I've bought a fourth lambie that will take over when LMS stops with the tail-rubbing. I think I've payed between $6 and $13 for each of them, but they're getting more rare. The only one I could find today was listed for $25. Ouch!

In any case, selling lovey's is a thriving business on ebay, with the more rare, discontinued ones commanding fairly high prices. I checked all the toys in the bag to determine their going rates on ebay. Six weren't in demand, but I hit the jackpot with the seventh. This particular bunny was listed on ebay for anything from $60 to $150. I checked recently closed auctions, and one had sold for about $45 a week earlier. I didn't feel good about listing it for $150- that's just mean when a parent is trying to replace a lost lovey, but I still wanted to get a good price for it. So I listed it for $45.99. I made the mistake of listing it as an auction, rather than a Buy it Now, and it didn't sell. I re-listed it, but since we were on vacation by that time, I couldn't list it as a BIN (I hadn't brought it with me, so couldn't get it mailed right away). It didn't sell again, but I re-listed it again once we got home, this time as a BIN, and it sold within a few days. I have a feeling that if I had listed it at a higher price it wouldn't have sold nearly as quickly. And I really can't complain when I got $46 for an item I paid $1 for. Not a bad profit...

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A few months ago, my SIL mentioned that my brother had bought her 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog' for her birthday. So I looked it up and thought it was pretty funny. When we went to visit them at the beginning of the month, they pulled out the DVD so everyone else could watch it (no one else had seen it).

I was doing some blog-hopping yesterday, and found someone who had made a Dr. Horrible's cake. Pretty clever!

Gluten free on vacation

I had fairly good success eating gluten free while traveling for 2 1/2 weeks. I prepared ahead of time and checked out websites of restaurants, and made a list of edible items-it's limited, but there is fast food I can still eat.

Some examples of fast food that I ate:
Taco Bell: taco salad (minus the tortilla)- kinda gross, but I'm not a fan of taco salads to begin with (give me a chalupa any day!).

Wendy's: mandarin chicken salad, no noodles or sesame dressing (I used a little ranch)- quite good- I'm a sucker for mandarin oranges.

Wendy's: baked potato and chili- also pretty good. It was way too hot to be eating chili, but it tasted pretty good. The baked potato with sour cream and chives and broccoli (if you can find broccoli, it's not available in all markets) is good, but the bacon and cheese potato (also not available in all markets) is kinda gross- the bacon and cheese sauce both tasted kinda funny. I had a sour cream and chives potato and chili while everyone else ate Pizza Hut pizza, and didn't feel deprived.

McDonalds: fruit and yogurt parfait (no granola), apple dippers, and side salad- were ok, but I would have preferred some protein. Those 3 items are pretty much the only gluten free items, other than ice cream, at McDonalds. Very sad.

Burger King: had a tender grill chicken sandwich minus the bun- it was ok, but it was just the chicken, some lettuce, and a tomato, no condiments. It came with a bun, so I had to go back and tell them I couldn't eat it because of the wheat. One of the girls working there said it was cornmeal dusted, there was no wheat. Umm, I'm pretty sure it's made of wheat. Maybe she was thinking of sesame seeds? They fixed it without any further problems, though.

Carl's Jr.: low carb burger and fries- pretty good. I ordered the criss cut fries because I thought they were ok, but when they arrived, I realized there was some coating on them. I ate them anyway, but I shouldn't have. The natural cut fries are ok, though. The low carb burger is very messy.

Food while camping:
I brought gluten free pancake mix and mixed up a few pancakes for myself every morning and cooked them in my own pan (avoiding contamination). I also brought gluten free noodles for spaghetti night and gluten free crackers to eat with meat and cheese or tuna for lunch.

I've noticed I have a lot fewer blood sugar problems since going gluten free. I can eat less protein without feeling crappy, which I haven't been able to do for years. This is a good thing, since I didn't eat as well as I should have on the trip, but I still felt pretty decent.

Despite not eating as well as I should (too many Ghiradelli chocolate peanut butter squares (yum!) while traveling and too many gluten free s'mores (carefully tear a marshmallow in half, place a square of chocolate in the marshmallow, close, carefully skewer, and verrry carefully toast- yummy!), I still managed to lose another 3 pounds. Now that vacation time is over, I need to buckle down and eat more fruits and veggies and exercise more regularly so I can lose more weight more quickly.

Haircuts, bloodwork, and job prospects

I went running yesterday. It felt good, but I could tell it's been awhile- I'm going to have to work my mileage back up to where I was before we went on vacation.

I gave LMS her 2nd haircut this week. Her first one was shortly after she turned 2, and since we finally got her 3 year pictures done, I decided it was time to cut her hair. It was getting nice and long, but it was also starting to look a bit scraggly on the ends. I only took off about an inch or so, but it looks a lot better now. She does seem to be cursed with the weird flippy-curl thing my sisters and I have. There's a bit of a wave/half-curl on one side in the back, and a bit of a flip on the other side. Hopefully it'll all even out as she gets older.

I was doing some bills earlier in the week: one was from the children's hospital for the blood work we had done awhile ago on LMS. They were trying to bill us for the $878.84 not covered by insurance. That's right, they billed a total of $965.38 for bloodwork! Our insurance paid $86.54, and our EOB says we have a co-pay of $15.28. The billing dep't messed up and was trying to charge us $878.84 instead of $15.28. I called them, they said they'd send out an amended bill and not to worry about it. Good thing, since I was not going to pay eight hundred plus dollars for bloodwork. Minor surgery, maybe. Bloodwork, no.

I've actually been feeling motivated to do some sewing lately. I've bought some fabric for some bags, and today LMS picked out a pattern for a costume for Halloween. I'm going to attempt an 'Aurora' (Sleeping Beauty) dress- I have to find the appropriate fabric first. I'm still itching to do a quilt, but I really don't have the space here.

Job search update:
Mr. M has been doing Guard stuff this week, and since he was actually in the area, he was able to go to Headquarters to try to get stuff figured out. He talked to a friend, who is responsible for approving security clearances in the state, and he said that since it's being investigated for renewal, it's considered active. Which means we can start looking for a real job! Yay!

I finally have a chance to catch my breath

I think things have calmed down a bit finally.

We got home really early Wednesday, which threw things off for most of the day. Thursday morning we finally went in and got a new family picture and LMS's 3 year pictures done (which turned out good). Then in the evening, we drove up to the mountains with my parents, two sisters, and youngest brother for a camping/biking trip.

We camped Thursday night, drove a little further in the morning and started our bike ride. Last summer, my brother started his cycling merit badge and got everything done except for the 50 mile ride. No other scouts were interested in doing it with him, so we all volunteered. The plan was for mom and dad to drive the cars while the rest of us rode our bikes.

We've all driven this route many times, and seen the trails, and thought they went the whole way. Turns out, they don't. There were short lengths of bike paths interspersed with long distances on a highway, with cars and trucks zipping past. I started out towing LMS, but had to hitch a ride after 12 and a half miles. The combination of: forgetting to use my inhaler before starting, lots of crud blowing in the wind, a really stiff headwind, towing LMS in the trailer, and lots of traffic whizzing by was just too much. My lungs were not feeling good at all (and I was feeling a bit nauseous and headachy- a bit of altitude sickness maybe?), and I did not feel good about towing LMS on the road (or even just myself).

picture taken while I was riding (not safe, I know) of the nice trail at the end.

So LMS ended up riding in the car the rest of the way, and I rode too till we joined up with the 'real' bike trail that runs along the freeway. At that point, I got back on my bike and did the last 16 or so miles. That portion was really nice: fairly level, shady, well separated from traffic, and scenic. We've all decided that part is worth doing again, but not the rest. Everyone else did manage to finish the ride (it ended up being 54 miles), but there is a lot of soreness.

view of the canyon from the trail (also taken while riding)- beautiful!

We got back pretty late Friday night and slept in again on Saturday. Mr. M ended up helping his dad with some cement, and they took us to dinner afterwards. When we finally got home, we still had to dig out Mr. M's army gear and pack his bags.

Today after church we finalized the packing, had dinner quick, then headed out to the airport. Mr. M has a week of make-up drills and then two weeks of training out of the country. And the end of the two classes he's taking coincides with his return, which means he'll be very busy finishing papers and trying to get them turned in on time.

LMS and I returned home and she finally (after 3 weeks!) got to bed on time. Now that we're home and settled, my main goal is for her to get caught up on her sleep and back on her normal sleep schedule.

Reading books. I thought the outfit was cute- Army P.T.s and a flower headband!

Thanks, interfering mail lady!

Grrrr. Just got back from the DMV, where I got to pay an extra $65 to renew our trailer registration because our stupid, nosy mail lady 'edits' our mail for us.

It's not the first time she hasn't delivered stuff, and it's definitely not legal, but she takes it upon herself to decide who is living at an address. My in-laws get mail for two of their kids still, and she has repeatedly sent back their mail, since they don't 'live' there (one actually does right now, but that's beside the point). Whether they live there or not is none of her business. Her job is to deliver mail to the address specified.

We've complained, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Maybe one more complaint will be all it takes to tip the balance...

The last few days of vacation

At the end of our second week of vacation, we drove to my brother and sister-in-law's house for their baby blessing.

The route to their house is one that we've traveled before, and there is some gorgeous scenery out there. I loved all the trees around where they live.

sunset, while driving to their house.

daytime view of some of the trees, on the drive back home.

another daytime view, showing the river and the gorge.

LMS and her cousin who's two played very well together and had lots of fun. Last time they saw each other, the cousin wouldn't leave her parents' sides, so they didn't play then.

My brother and SIL have four kids; their oldest 3 and LMS, along with grandparents and various aunts and uncles had a marshmallow fight. This is done by constructing a blow gun out of PVC pipe, and then blowing mini-marshmallows at each other. Great fun till someone starts licking the marshmallows before blowing them at you (yuck!).

the four grandkids all ready to go. the girls weren't really sure what was going on, the boys have their game faces on and are ready to go!

loading up

blowing marshmallows on the grass

We had a good time visiting with family (a decent number of my siblings were able to make it) and meeting our new nephew.

The day after the blessing we started the long trip home, which was really loooong. We stopped at my sister's house for awhile so the little girls could play for a few minutes. We had originally planned on spending the night there on the way home, but ultimately decided not to, and we had both told our daughters they would get to see each other. It wasn't too much of a detour, so we had a quick visit before getting back on the road.

At one point we stopped for gas and a potty break, and LMS saw baskets of fruit in the store and got very excited. After taking care of business, she picked out an apple and a banana, and proceeded to eat them all up. She didn't want the candy that was everywhere, she wanted the fruit!

munching on her fruit while watching a movie

This morning around 2:30 am, we were almost home, and we saw cop lights behind us. We weren't sure why he pulled us over: we weren't speeding, we weren't to the construction zone yet, there was no erratic driving going on. Turns out he pulled us over as a "courtesy" to let us know our headlight was out. Thankfully, he didn't see our expired trailer tags; he just gave us a warning and told us to get it fixed as soon as possible (got that taken care of today!).

I discovered the tags were expired the day we left on our trip. That was a Friday, and the DMV is closed on Fridays, so we couldn't do anything about it. For some reason, we weren't sent a renewal notice, and while my parents have used the trailer on several occasions, this was the first time we were using it, and I thought we still had time left on the tags. We needed the space for the things we were bringing, so we took a risk and brought it anyway. Tomorrow, I will be going out to the DMV and getting it taken care of. No more illegal driving for us.

our trusty little trailer.

2nd week of vacation

At the end of the first week, we returned to Mr. M's grandma's house with his immediate family. That's his parents, older brother, younger sister and her 3 kids, and youngest sister and her husband and 5 kids. It got very crowded and noisy in that little house. Luckily, Mr. M has an aunt who lives 5 minutes away, and she invited the 3 of us to sleep at her house each night. So we got some peace and quiet each night and didn't have to fight over who got to use the bathroom next. It was so nice....

The guys got to golfing again- Mr. M had a great time again. We've both decided that if we had the time and money, we could get into golfing. Of course, we would need a lot of practice, since neither of us is very good.

I got my very first pedicure, which was an enjoyable experience. Not sure why it's taken me this long. Probably has something to do with my funky, short toes and not wanting to draw attention to them. Too late now!

The city Mr. M's grandma live in has a great trail system next to the river, and it's close to where she lives. Last year, LMS and I went running on it; this year we went for another run, and a bike ride. Mr. M, his brother, LMS, and I went for a 20 mile bike ride. Longest ride I've ever gone on, and so much easier than a 20 mile ride here would have been. We have too many hills out here for a 20 mile ride to be easy. It was a nice ride, and a nice day for it.

We also got to go swimming at another aunt's house. It felt so good after the bike ride, and everyone had lots of fun.

We went to see the new Harry Potter movie with Mr. M's brother. It was enjoyable, just don't get hung up on the differences from the book.

We were also able to go to the Temple with Mr. M's parents and grandmother (his brother left his recommend at home in his bag, so didn't get to go), which was a good experience (of course!).

LMS and her cousin who's a month and a half older than her (let's call him Little Mister Mischievious) had a great time playing together the whole time we were together. While we were camping, it wasn't uncommon to see the two of them holding their little folding camp chairs and hauling them from one place to another. No idea why, but they must have thought it was fun, since they kept doing it.

LMS is eating ice cream, LMM has a binder clip in his mouth (why??). great expressions on both faces!

LMS and LMM twirling on a chair, great big smiles on both- they're having a blast!

1st week of vacation

The first week of our vacation started with traveling to Mr. M's grandma's house. We followed Mr. M's parents (and his sister and her 3 kids), and spent the night in their travel trailer. It was a bit crowded, but we were able to park in a truck stop, open the slide-out, and sleep. That's the way to go!

Unfortunately, I went to sleep with our credit card in my pocket, and when I checked in the morning, I couldn't find it. We looked all over, talked to the employees of the truck stop, and ended up calling the credit card company. No unauthorized charges had been made, so we thought maybe it was still in the trailer, but since we had looked and couldn't find it, we had to report it lost/stolen and get a new card sent.

The next day, after putting LMS down for a nap on the same bunk we'd slept on, I looked down, between the pull-out curtain and the bed, and there was our card. Of course. At least it hadn't been stolen, but it was too late to stop the new card being sent.

We spent a day and a half with Mr. M's grandma, then headed up to the campground, and spent the rest of the week camping at the lake with Mr. M's immediate family, aunts, uncles, cousins; and some more extended relatives the last couple days.

We had fun in the lake. LMS was cautious at first, but really enjoyed the water. Someone brought a canoe and a kayak, and I took LMS out in them. She insisted on helping paddle both the canoe and the kayak and had a great time. Maybe we should get a kayak of our own...

We all got bit by lots of mosquitoes. During the day, the mosquito repellent worked pretty well, but come dusk, nothing worked. We had all brought different brands of repellent, and we tried them all, but we still got bit. And they were stong, persistent things: I got several bites through my jeans! The poor little kids got some pretty nasty welts.

We made s'mores every night. I couldn't eat the graham crackers, so I pulled apart a marshmallow, put a square of chocolate inside, closed the marshmallow back up, carefully skewered it, and then very carefully toasted it over the fire. A bit messy, but very ooey, gooey, and yummy.

It didn't get dark till almost 10 pm, so LMS was always in bed during s'mores time. One day, her nap lasted till 7 pm (I think she went down a little late, and was just so exhausted that she slept longer than usual), so she got to stay up later and make s'mores.

toasting marshmallows, not looking too excited.

eating the finished product. love that smile!

We went on a short bike ride, during which I managed to fall over, again. I was stopped, with one foot unclipped, and I was turning to look at my rear tire, which was riding kind of low. Somehow, I lost my balance, and toppled over. I scraped up my leg a bit, but it wasn't too bad. At least none of my accidents have been while I was actually moving.

One morning the guys had some male-bonding time and went golfing. Mr. M had a great time.

Another day, we drove a ways to a reservoir to go on a hike. LMS was the youngest by quite a bit, but managed to walk almost all of the mile/mile and a half to the top. I only carried her for a short distance before she decided she was ready to walk again. She did really well, and didn't whine and complain at all (unlike some kids we know would have done).

the first reservoir, which was just above the parking area. very pretty.

LMS climbing and hiking along. she's holding my walking stick, which she insisted on carrying.

Mr. M and LMS on the trail.

this was our view as we reached the top of the trail- the second reservoir. gorgeous!

the 3 of us, with the sun in the wrong position