The city of Olympia holds a Sand in the City event every year, but we haven't been to it yet . . . until this summer. Ken volunteered to work at a booth that his job was hosting, so we decided to make it a family event. I was a little paranoid about watching the girls by myself in a crowded fair while Ken was working in his booth, but I figured I could handle it for a few hours. I needn't have worried. There were a lot of people, but it was so well organized and so many fun things to do, that we ALL had a great time. I did manage to pull the girls away from the sand box to do some fun, free crafts, but they loved playing in the sand. And I figured, since it was there, they might as well enjoy it. If you look behind the sand box and all of the kids, you can sort of see some of the professionally done sand sculptures. Sorry there aren't any close-ups of those.
Amelia had fun filling and emptying the bucket, while Sophia made "sand pies" on the edge of the box.
I figured a cute, positive post was in order after my not so happy ramblings. So today I took this little video of the girls walking like a crab (sorry about the sideways view - I forget you can't rotate a video like you can pictures).
I also took these pictures of the girls throwing rocks. Due to the chip sealing done a week or two ago, there are still lots of little, loose rocks that the girls like picking up. They thought it was fun to pick them up near the driveway and throw them into the street.
I've been trying to get Amelia interested in using the potty for what seems like an eternity. I stepped up my efforts a few weeks ago, and hoped that we might have even a glimmer of success. I figured if I could get her excited about it, that she'd be ready and willing to try it.
And yesterday I went cold-turkey on Amelia. I had been telling her that when the diapers ran out, I wasn't going to buy any more and she'd get to start wearing underwear. Yesterday we used the last diaper and the "Potty Princess" delivered a surprise - a crown for her to wear.
But after multiple messes and crying fits yesterday and today, I gave up. Amelia doesn't even want to try to sit on the toilet and runs screaming and crying if I suggest it. I decided I just don't have the mental/ physical/ emotional energy to deal with that right now.
I put away all the potty stuff - the chair, the sticker charts, the treats, the crown and off to Costco we went for another box of diapers. I felt a bit like a failure, but after eating some dark chocolate, I feel much better. And if I could somehow get a nap today, I'd be all better :)
Some days don't go at all like we've planned them; sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes you've got to find joy in the journey. I had planned to go pick blueberries with the kids today, and since Ken had the day off, he came along too. Bonus! Someone to help pick berries AND watch the girls. After an hour of successful berry picking, we headed home. The car was a little warm, so we had the windows down a bit to help cool off the car while we waited for the AC to catch up. As we were driving in stop and go traffic on the freeway, (mostly stop), I had the thought that we should roll up Amelia's window. Just as I turned to tell Ken to roll it up, I heard a thunk. I turned around to the backseat and saw a look of surprise/horror on Amelia's face. I asked "did you just drop your shoe out the window?". And as she said yes, I could see it in my side-view mirror. I came this close to getting out of the car, but logic and forward movement of the car stopped me. I watched as a car, 2 cars back, ran over the sandal. And at that point, I knew it was a lost cause for sure. Amelia didn't mean to drop her sandal out the window, she was just playing around with it, near the open window. Frankly, I'm surprised that's the first thing that's fallen out of the car, but hopefully, it's the last. Amelia was so sad and cried all the way home. She didn't understand why we couldn't stop the car and get the sandal. I cried too, but for different reasons. 1- It's hard to watch your children learn a lesson the hard way. 2 - And less important, Amelia doesn't own another pair of sandals, and I knew she'd need some for the rest of the summer, and shoe shopping was not on my agenda for today. Thankfully, since Ken was home today, I left Sophia with him, and took Amelia to go look for sandals. Do you know how hard it is to find sandals at the END of the summer? We started at a thrift store - no sandals at all. BUT - I did find a rainjacket and dress for Sophia, plus some new church shoes for me. Bonus! As long as I was shopping, I figured I'd make the best of it, right? Then off to Fred Meyer - I found some adorable Crocs . . . but they were $35! Who would pay $35 for crocs for a child that they'll outgrow in a few months? The highlight at Freddy's? Getting a free cookie for Amelia! Then to Payless Shoes - only a few sandals to choose from and none in Amelia's size. But, I did measure Amelia's feet, and discovered that her feet are bigger than I thought - that's a good thing, since I probably would have bought the wrong size of winter shoes. And finally, to a 2nd Payless Shoes store. I not only found sandals, but found cheap sandals AND in Amelia's size. But just as we were trying them on, the sales lady brings over a pair of "princess" sandals that light up. Amelia obliged me by trying on the "cheap" sandals, but insisted on buying the princess sandals. After 2 1/2 hours of shoe shopping and driving around town, I had no energy left to be firm . . . so instead, I politely, ie. sarcastically told the sales lady "thanks" for showing us the expensive shoes, bought the sandals (and some winter shoes for Amelia) and headed home. Shoe shopping wasn't how I planned on spending my afternoon, but in the long run, it all worked out. Amelia LOVES her new shoes and was excited to show them to Daddy. Sophia likes her jacket and new dress. And I'm happy this adventure is over until another day :)
A pet peeve of mine: when someone is selling something on Craigslist and makes it extremely difficult to connect.
We signed Amelia up for a Princess Dance class. She loves to dance so we thought she'd like the class. Today was the first class and well, she started out good, but ended up crying and spent the rest of the class sitting on my lap just watching the teacher and the rest of the class.
Before dance class today, I got the girls in their pretty "princess" dresses and made them crowns to color. They looked so cute, I just had to take their picture.
I had a bitter-sweet moment yesterday: I sold the pack-n-play that I used for Amelia and Sophia from infant to toddler. I can't believe my babies have already outgrown the crib, but so thankful that they have. And just for the record, I made it super easy to connect when I sold it on Craigslist ;)
I'm hoping to do a little potty-training the next few days and have planned a "princess potty party", hence the crowns. My expectations for success are lower than they were for the dance class.
Lately Amelia has been talking in a "pretend" voice. It is so high pitched and squeaky, that I can barely hear/understand her. Maybe I'm just getting old and hard of hearing ;)
Yesterday the city chip sealed our street and subdivision. The girls (and I) were fascinated by the big trucks and how it all went down. The not so fascinating part? Amelia and Sophia picking up the gravel and getting oil all over their hands/clothes.
We went camping at Mt Rainier Nat. Park this last weekend. We got stuck in traffic heading out of town, then had to take a detour on our way there, but we made it and got our camp set up just before dark. The weather was perfect for our weekend - just a sprinkle of rain on Friday night . . . which made it warmer in the evening and on Sat. morning. And we had plenty of sun on Sat. and Sun.
Both girls had a great time . . . sitting by the fire . . .
eating outside (I think they ate better while camping then they ever do at home; Hmm? Maybe we should try eating outside at home.) . . .
and going hiking.
Ken had found an "easy" hike to a waterfall for Sat. morning, but it turned out we got on the wrong trailhead, and ended up on a "strenuous" hike. It was all uphill . . . steep . . . with lots of switchbacks. But Amelia was a super-hiker. She hiked 1 mile up and 1 mile down all by herself, just holding my hand. She loved it! She would tell me she was tired and needed a break, but was ready to go again almost as soon as she stopped.
We didn't go all the way to the waterfall at the end of our "wrong" hike, but we enjoyed the waterfall we saw as we started and ended our hike.
Sophia got a "free" ride and Daddy's rhythm was just right for taking a nap.
That afternoon we drove up to Paradise to get a closer look at Mt. Rainier and go on a truly easy hike. However, the area was packed and we had to park downhill from the trailhead, which meant walking uphill just to get to the start of our hike.
Once we got on our "easy" hike, the flowers and views of the mountains were spectacular. The hardest part for Amelia? Not being able to pick the flowers. She was so sad. I told Amelia we'd take pictures of the flowers, then print them out for her to enjoy at home.
On this hike, I was really wishing I had a great camera. The views of Mt. Rainier were breathtaking, even if it was partially in the clouds, but my camera just doesn't do it justice. (Can you see the chunks of glacier ice on the mountain? - so cool)
Amelia wasn't as happy on this hike and often asked to be carried piggy-back. At one point, when I set her back down, she said to me, "is your back thanking you now?" :) I'm just glad I didn't have to carry Amelia on the "strenuous" hike.
The girls LOVED playing in the dirt around our campsite. And they probably also loved that I didn't get mad at them for getting dirty ;)
Amelia's favorite part of camping was roasting marshmallows . . . and being allowed to roast her own.
The next best part? Eating the s'more!
The s'more was too sticky for Sophia, so she made me hold it . . . and then only ate 1/2 of it. Hhm? I'm not sure if she's related to me or not ;)
Now those are some happy campers!
Ken says you can't go camping without roasting hot dogs. That's fine with me, as long as I don't have to eat one. Amelia wanted to be just like Daddy, and roast a hot dog too - and happily ate it straight off the roasting stick.
We woke up Sunday morning to beautiful blue skies, and a perfect view of Mt. Rainier. Too bad we didn't have time to go back up to Paradise for another close-up of Mt. Rainier.
But we had to hurry and break-down our camp so that we could go ride on the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad. The girls were so excited to ride on a train . . .
and to get their tickets punched by the Conductor. The only thing they didn't like was the loud whistle.
The train runs from Elbe, WA to Mineral, WA and then back again. At Mineral, the train doesn't actually stop in the town, but rather at a train museum, of sorts, just outside of town. We spent 45 min. there - to play on train parts - while they turned the engine around.
This tractor on train wheels reminds me of the tractor that my Dad has . . . perfect for photo ops.
I think another reason the girls loved riding on the train was that they didn't have to sit in their carseats . . .
and could stick their heads out the windows ;)
Overall, a successful camping trip, despite my lack of sleep and forgetting my glasses (3 days of continuously wearing my contacts was long enough). The girls had fun, no one got hurt, and the weather was great. Can't wait to go next year (and Ken won't believe I just wrote that)!
Amelia LOVES blueberries, and yesterday we went to pick some. Our friend Jennifer told us about a blueberry "park" in Tacoma, where the blueberries are abundant and free for the picking. I've never picked blueberries before, and neither had Amelia, but she did great. She looks like I just caught her in the act of eating them . . . but actually, she was just asking me if the blueberry in her hand was blue enough to put in her bag.
Sophia helped pick too and was pretty good at it . . .
but it was a little bit harder for her to reach them.
