Kindergarten Field Trip

Today was Big Sis' fieldtrip. They toured a grocery store, went bowling, ate a sack lunch, and played at the park. Lil Sis and I joined in the fun for lunch and playing. We met up with them at the bowling alley and were saddened to learn Big Sis wasn't having fun bowling. A couple of lanes had bumpers and she was in a lane next to the bumper lanes. She was really frustrated about her repeated gutter balls, as she was watching some classmates knock over pins with every throw.

I guess we need to go bowling as a family some time. I haven't bowled since I was about 15. I had such a bad experience (I think my score was 29 or something bad like that) that I've not played again since.


She had a blast at the park, though. Unfortunately, the fun ended early due to raindrops. The kids whose parents were there were allowed to go home for the day. We decided to stay and play at the park a bit longer. It was really just sprinkling. We decided everyone else was just wimpy. Little Sis continued practicing her new trick.

Before we left, I let the girls climb to the top of "the rocket". Big Sis said her teacher wouldn't let them climb it, but the other kindergarten class was able to. I explained to her why her teacher had that rule. Then I let her go up as long as she agreed to help Lil Sis down. Lil Sis has a rule that she can only go to the very top if Big Sis or another responsible big kid is with her. It's the climb down (vertical ladder with 4 or 5 rungs) that makes me more nervous than the climb up. Big Sis did an awesome job of making sure Lil Sis got down safely. By this time, another group of children (upper elementary aged) from a different school district were getting excited about the rocket also. After going down the slide a few times, we went home too.

The white rectangular shaped object is the top of the slide. The girls are looking out of the top. Yeah, it's way up there!

Home was nice. We popped popcorn, watched a Veggietales movie, and then they watched the Barbie Island Princess movie while I fell asleep on the couch. All in all, it was a pretty good day, despite the bowling disappointments.

Two Days Ago

I just downloaded my photos from the weekend. I had forgotten about the fun we had on Monday. After lunch, we headed to town in search of an elusive geocache. After searching in a tree, up, down, in and out, all around, we gave up. Fortunately, the tree was very close to a pond, which happens to be very close to the elementary school.

On Friday, Big Sis and her kindergarten class visited the pond as part of their unit on frogs. They released tadpoles and tasted cat tails. She said they were good and a little spicy. She also expressed she did not get a chance to touch a tadpole and she wanted to touch one. All we had was a stick, so she settled for stirring the water with a stick and seeing them swim around.

We continued walking around the pond and soon saw two boys. They were carrying nets full of tadpoles. They had caught them in the pond and were releasing them. I asked them if Big Sis could hold one. They were very kind and handed her one.

As we finished our walk, we saw three goose families swimming around. It brought back memories of my elementary school days and visiting the pond near my school. I'm glad our girls will have this pond to explore during the next 6 years or so. We have a cool county conservation naturalist that makes learning fun for the kids too.

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We finally ended up at the playground. We have a cool playground too. Lil Sis especially likes sliding down the pole. It is really high and she's been doing this all year. It makes me nervous, but she's quite confident. The part I find unusual, is she's afraid of similar poles at our city park, even though they're lower off the ground. I think it may be the horizontal distance to the pole from the platform that's the issue, rather than the vertical height.

We eventually returned to geocaching on the trail. We looked for three more, but only found one. At least we got some much needed exercise on Monday.

A Lot of Mulch

What a difference a few bags of mulch can make! Cool Daddy-O was on vacation yesterday afternoon. The weather was cool and breezy, so we worked outside all afternoon. We borrowed a neighbor's truck and went to town and purchased 30 bags of mulch. I arrived at this number by looking at the bill we got from the landscaper 3 years ago, and decided to buy the number of bags he used on our project. We were quite liberal with the spreading of the mulch (we are very tired of the weeds coming through the weed mat). We got about 1/2 done with the area around the house and had used over 1/2 of the mulch. We also had another area in front of the house that we needed to freshen up. So, while the girls and I went to the vet clinic, Cool Daddy-O returned to the store to get another 30 bags. This time, we took the $2 off coupon from the paper.

We then continued mulching the rest of the yard. Good news...we had 5 bags left over, that we can use if we find some areas that need more. The weather for the rest of the weekend is supposed to be warm, wet, and stormy. We're very glad we mulched when we did, because it was very comfortable working outside with a jacket on.

Our Memorial Day "grilling" party is going to turn into a "homemade pizza" party. Grilling outside during a severe thunderstorm (predicted for Sunday night) does not sound fun. We already have experience making pizza during severe storms, and we've been successful. It's possible to hang out in the basement while it bakes and eat down there if necessary.

I'll close with one more picture of our mulching success.

Snickers Update #3 (good news)

The vet clinic called yesterday at 4 p.m. with an update. His fever was down, however, he hadn't eaten anything, thus hadn't expelled anything either. They recommended he come home so that he would feel comfortable enough to eat. When we got him home, he ate his normal amount. Within a couple hours, he was meowing and pawing at the door. When he saw the cat food can, he got an excited look in his eyes. I fed him some more and he snarfed it down. This morning, Big Sis went to check the litter box, and she reported success. YAHOO! Hopefully, this new found success continues. He has a different antibiotic that he needs to take for the next 5 days.

Snickers Update #2

The past couple days, we noticed Snickers wasn't quite himself and wasn't pooping well. Yesterday, I decided that if he wasn't all emptied out by this morning, we'd take him back to the vet. I called this morning and made an appointment and described his symptoms. Just as we were getting ready to walk out the door, he went in the litter box, and he tried his best, but it just didn't work. So, off we went.

They weighed him, took his temp (104.5 = fever), and discussed options. Dr. P. wanted to keep him at the clinic to monitor him, start a different antibiotic (he has been on one for the past 2 weeks and still has a fever), give him fluids and an enema. Poor guy. Little Sis got teary, which made me get teary. We were sad as we left the clinic. Little Sis was saying, "I miss Snickers a whole, whole, whole, whole bunch" and sobbing. Oh, Man....I get teary eyed just typing this. Sounds like there is a possibility of mega colon. I haven't googled that yet, but sounds like if that's the problem, he could need daily meds on an ongoing basis.

I talked with the vet about our history of bad luck with persians. Our last one, Maggie, developed a seizure disorder and had her own account at Wal Mart for her phenobarb prescription. She also developed a stomach problem which required daily meds. With both those meds high enough to prevent seizures and control her tummy, she eventually became lethargic and sad and we made the very difficult decision to say good-bye. Not long after that, our old cat, Allie, age 15, wasn't doing well and we took her in to the vet to say good-bye. That just left us with Sparky (now age 9) who was rescued from a parking lot as a kitten.

Oh, and just a bit more cat background, since I'm going way back. In 1990, I got my first Persian. All was well with him for about 8 years and then he died following his second asthma attack.

I was hoping that when we got Snickers, we had done thorough research and had found a cat with healthy bloodlines. Now, I'm bummed and .... well, if this doesn't work out.... I don't think I'll be able to get another Persian. We've had the best luck with plain old boring short-haired cats that are free or dirt cheap.

Hopefully, I'm getting ahead of myself here. And we'll find out that he's going to be o.k.

Another issue that I'm concerned about is Snickers' food. I put a painstaking amount of research into his food. After the recalls a year ago, I learned a lot about cat food ingredients and decided to feed our cats Blue Buffalo dry and Wellness moist. Since it's not the vet's recommended Science Diet brand, I'm afraid they'll try and get me to switch. I'm very leery about switching foods at this point. It took forever to find a food that Snickers liked and would eat. He's a very picky cat. Well, that's enough for now. I thought this was going to be a very short post, and it's ending up being a long vent. Oh, well....I feel better now. Thanks for reading this if you made it all the way through.

Breakfast Reward

The girls have had difficulty going to bed when it's still light outside, despite being so tired they can barely stand up. Last night when they were headed to bed, I promised them something special for breakfast. When Big Sis woke up this morning, she smelled chocolate. The best thing? I woke up early enough on my own to make them and thus, I'm not groggy. I am looking forward to some coffee with those muffins. Gotta go pour the milk :)

Yet Another Nice Day

A few hours ago, this flower was quite droopy. Yeah, not good. Little Sis and I determined a cold drink of water would be the answer. And it's a good thing. After watering the plants on the porch, we ventured to the back yard. Oops...things didn't look so good there, either. We simulated a brief shower for the garden. The tomato plants look like they'll live, after all.

I spent much of the afternoon organizing all the preschool and kindergarten papers that came home recently. Our "horizontal surfaces" (aka counters and other places that collect paper) were in bad shape. Things don't look a lot better, but I did throw away and organize a lot of stuff today. However, while I was doing that, the girls drug out more toys and now it looks like a tornado went through the living room, destroying Little People land. I will continue this project tomorrow. And. I. Will. Win!

The school was spared from the tornado.

However, the minivan suffered major damage.

Before we could make supper, we had to run to the grocery store. We were only gone 30 minutes (we were moving really fast in the store) as we had to get back before Big Sis got off the bus. We had to go before she got home, so I could get started on supper. We ended up stocking up on the essentials, even though we only had mushroom soup on our list. I actually cooked a yummy meal for supper, too. We had baked pork chops with a mushroom gravy sauce, baked potatoes and corn casserole.

Upon arriving home after school, Big Sis declared today to be the worst day ever. Her 7th grade buddy visited today and they were playing basketball in P.E. She said they were playing and all of a sudden she was hit in the cheek with a basketball. I gave her a hug to console her. I also told her she was lucky the ball didn't hit her in the nose. I told her that would have hurt even worse. (Yes, my glass is half full.)

Tonight, while Cool Daddy-O was cruising the neighborhood in the old John Deere, the girls were running on the concrete driveway. Note: they've been warned it is not safe and it would hurt really bad if they fell. Well, Big Sis fell. As she was crying big crocodile tears, little sis was crying sympathetic tears. She was scratched up, but barely bleeding. We sat and snuggled on the porch steps. We talked about what happens when running on concrete and falling down. Little Sis soon arrived carrying baby wipes. She wanted to help Big Sis get all cleaned up. We managed without band-aids.

After Cool Daddy-O returned, he and the girls pulled a bunch of weeds. Big Sis kept declaring her super strength when she pulled the weeds up by their long roots. We're very happy the girls like pulling weeds and are taking full advantage of their enthusiasm, because we know it's just a phase they're going through, and all good things must end at some point.

Just As Good As Yesterday, If Not Better

Here in Iowa, we put up with January, February and March weather, so that we can enjoy days like today. It was clear, breezy and reached a high of 70. We celebrated by spending the afternoon outside. We planted seeds in the garden. We developed a nice little system and the girls and Cool Daddy-O placed the seeds in the soil and I covered them up. Hopefully in a couple months, we'll be posting pictures of our bountiful harvest (or at least enough for a few nice meals).

A row of peas

While Cool Daddy-O went on another tractor ride, the girls and I planted some annuals in pots to decorate the front porch.

Coleus, ivy and some impatiens

Gerber Daisy

I love weekends like this. The interior of the house suffered, but we can clean that another day. On a day like today, we just can't work inside. I think we'll all sleep soundly tonight.

A Beautiful Saturday in Iowa

This photo sums up our day's progress. We spent most of the day enjoying the outdoors. We spent the morning brainstorming plans for the day. As a result, we borrowed a rototiller from a neighbor and re-established our garden area that had been reclaimed by our lawn for the past several years. Now that the girls are older, I can no longer use an excuse of having a baby or a toddler. In fact, I think this year, I have little weed pullers. At least, I hope that's what they're going to do.

After tilling, we worked in some peat moss and cow manure into the soil. While the girls and I ran to town, Cool Daddy-O rescued the tractor from winter storage and took it out for a spin. While we were out we bought seeds, including: zucchini, green beans, lima beans, peas, and carrots. We also bought some bunny repellent (little sis suggested this as a way to keep rabbits away). I didn't even know such things existed. After our break, we planted 7 tomato plants, 6 pepper plants, and 3 broccoli plants. We forgot to sprinkle the anti-bunny granules tonight...we'll do that tomorrow. I hope the bunnies don't eat stuff tonight. We planted our basil plants (we grew some from seed and bought one established plant) in our deck container. We also bought a mint plant (our neighbor sprayed poison on ours), and seeds for oregano and chives. I think that's all the gardening excitement. After tilling and starting the tractor, Cool Daddy-O is preparing for extremely sore arm muscles tomorrow.

I'm ashamed to admit that we finally removed the snowy penguin themed welcome mat from the front entrance to our home today. Now, I need to replace it with something more seasonally appropriate.

For supper, we drove to Country Inn Pizza a few miles to the north. We had heard great recommendations from friends recently about this little restaurant. Tonight we were brave enough to try something new. We declare the pizza to be most delicious. In fact, Cool Daddy-O commented that he wouldn't mind if that pizza was waiting for him at home some night after work. He had sausage and Canadian bacon on his half and declared it an awesome combination. I had pepperoni and mushrooms on my half. Also quite tasty, although I'm daring enough to try additional combinations. The girls each had a corn dog and shared a tossed salad. Much to our surprise, they chose water for their beverages.

On our short drive home, I saw something cool, slowed down, made a U-turn in the middle of the highway and drove back to see it again. What was worth turning around for you ask? 2 Canadian Geese and their 9 goslings following them and waddling around. It was so worth it. As I was admiring them, Cool Daddy-O said he sees that sight at work all the time, and didn't think it was all that out of the ordinary. It's just not fair that he gets to go to a job he loves and sees baby geese every day in the spring/summer months.

Bubbles, Bubbles, Everywhere

WARNING: The following post may be less than dramatic and filled with flowery, bubbly talk.

The most exciting thing we did today was blow a million bubbles. Yesterday, the wind blew the bubbles away and the girls chased them around the yard. Today, the wind was calm and we watched them float up, down, around, and finally blow away or pop.

It felt like it was going to rain all day, but it only sprinkled once. I surveyed all the perennials today. The tulips and fern leaf peonies are just beyond their peak. The lilacs are reaching their peak. Most of the blooms are above my head and I can't get a good whiff of them. The peonies and irises are looking great. We'll have some nice colorful flowers in the next couple weeks. I trimmed off the dead parts of one of our dwarf burning bush. Thanks to those nasty rabbits, a few branches were dry and crispy. There is some nice growth coming out of the bottom branches and it shows promise of surviving. The other burning bush looks good despite being chewed on.

O.K. I don't have anything exciting to say today (in case you haven't already figured that out). I just noticed that I've been posting at least once a day since last Thursday and I'm going to try and go a week without missing a day. So, if I have to have a boring post, so be it.

While baking tonight, I noticed we're critically low on our supplies of flour and cocoa. We're also out of Diet Pepsi, chocolate milk and orange juice. Guess where we're going tomorrow after lunch?

Also, I think I'm going to be referring to the girls as Big Sis and Lil Sis from now on. I noticed my blog is getting visited by people that probably aren't looking for a "family friendly" blog when they Google the words I've been using for them. :)

An Activity Filled Mother's Day

We traveled to Ames today for lunch. We realized as we were leaving that we would be arriving at Hickory Park at 10 minutes til noon. Not good. We drove through the parking lot and determined we could go have fun for a couple hours and come back later. We picked up some bagels for a snack.

Just to be nostalgic, we drove by the dorm where I lived. The semester just ended and we saw a lot of overflowing dumpsters. The red bud trees were in full bloom and beautiful. I think the Iowa State campus is at its height of beauty in May. In this photo, you can see Lyon Hall, red bud trees, and an overflowing dumpster (in the far left).

We also attempted the three geocaches we hadn't located VEISHEA weekend. We STILL can't find them. However, after I got home tonight, I figured out the coordinates for the mystery cache I was trying to solve. Now I'll just have to go back there again some day.

Our lunch at Hickory Park was delicious as always. The girls opted to get nickel candy instead of ice cream. So, they had dessert for 30 cents.

To add more to my Target story from yesterday, I noticed that 2 of the items I purchased were in this week's sale ad. I received $2.14 credit. We then spent just under $3 on drinks and received a coupon for $2 off the hair color product I buy with the receipt. Gotta love Target!

Snickers is sitting on his "roost" on the back of my chair as I'm typing. He's keeping my neck quite warm. He continues to make nice improvements.

Fun Numbers

We enjoy odometer patterns and sequences. As I was driving home the other day, I realized this sequence would be coming up. I just happened to have my camera with me. I wanted to take a picture to show Cool Daddy-O, as he was at home with the girls. It's the car he primarily drives and I didn't want him to miss out. I was also very aware of my speed being documented for all eternity, so I kept it under the limit :)

Pyramids .... in Iowa?????

I ventured out on a solo geocaching / shopping adventure this afternoon. Out in the "middle of nowhere" I found this.

It was part of a "virtual cache". There are 3 pyramids on the edge of this rural cemetery. I also spotted a fox sitting in a pasture, however, it ran away when I slowed down to take a photo.

As I continued on my back roads journey I spied some train engines.

I used several coupons at Target today. I ended up saving $23.98. I think that's my personal best coupon experience. I also was able to find a wind proof/water proof jacket at 63% off. All in all, I'd call it a good day!

Snickers update

Snickers continues to improve! When I woke up this morning I found a pleasant surprise in the litter box, indicating that things are moving along as they should. The swelling is going down also and things are light pink rather than red (in the nether regions). He had his last dosage of pain meds this morning. We will continue the antibiotics for another 11 days. Initially, he seemed content to stay in the bathroom. Last night he started pawing at the door. I really don't want to let him out until the swelling goes down and he's feeling more perky. I don't want Sparky to beat him up or anything. I also don't want Snickers to go hide somewhere in the basement where we can't find him.

We had a delicious Mother's Day Eve brunch consisting of whole wheat pancakes, scrambled eggs, orange juice, milk, and coffee. We just finished and think we can feel good til supper. Yeah, that means we don't have to cook lunch. If the wind stays calm, we may have s'mores this afternoon for a snack.

For fun, I'm going to make a solo run to Target and perhaps place a travel bug in a geocache on the way...well it's kind of out of the way...but it's not too far out of the way.

He's on the mend

Snickers ate some food last night. He also ate a couple times today. He has gone #1 in the litter box a few times. No #2 yet, but for some reason, I wouldn't expect that til tomorrow. He hadn't had anything to eat for a few days (that stayed down, anyway). He even jumped up on the bathroom counter to hang out for awhile tonight. His bottom is still very swollen and sore looking, but it's improving some.

I volunteered at school today for grandparent's day. It was fun watching all the kids with their grandparents.

Little Squirt just realized she's watching "grown up TV" and declared, "It's not scary at all". She's watching HGTV, because the show I would rather watch, would be classified as scary for her. She had another 2 hour nap today. She fell asleep when grandma and grandpa were here and she had her eyes closed (for some reason, it's grandpa that causes the closed eyes now). Cool Daddy-O mowed the entire lawn during her nap. So, she'll probably be up really late again tonight. She's been doing backward somersault/flips off the ottoman, but just declared it is time to brush her teeth and she left the room trotting.

Tomorrow, I hope to do some geocaching on my way to and from Target. Due to the high gas prices, it's important to combine shopping with fun in any way I can :)

Soccer is officially over until next fall. We're looking forward to summer programming at our local library!

Thanks to everyone who has expressed concern about Snickers :) He says "meow". That means "thanks" in cat lingo.

I'll spare you the photograph of my morning so far

Little Squirt and I had to take Snickers (aka the sick cat) to the vet this morning. I knew it was bad when I called the clinic at 8 a.m. and after explaining all his symptoms, they asked me to come in at 9 a.m. To make a long story short, I'll just use a few descriptive words, but not go into the really gross details. Not eating. Not pooping. Vomiting. Stinky. Poop stuck on butt. Hard poop. Shaved butt. Swollen anus. 105 degree fever. Pain medication for 3 days. Antibiotic for 14 days. Subcutaneous fluids at clinic. Expect diarrhea for 3 days. Hope for some kind of BM in 24 to 48 hours or call on-call vet. Hope appetite returns by tomorrow. Hope he's back to normal in a few days or we go back for more testing. All for the bargain price of $85. Sad, sick, mopey cat. Sad family. I explained to the vet that Little Squirt is his person. We don't want to spend a ton of money, but he is a valued member of our family despite the fact that he gets mad sometimes and doesn't use his litter box appropriately.

Little Sis attains new personal record

It's currently 12:07 a.m. (approx) and Little Squirt is still awake. I attribute it to a couple of things. First, she's anticipating me leaving tomorrow (Tuesday) morning and not returning until Wednesday night. This will be the first night I've spent away from Cool Daddy-O since we were married in 1996. I'm going to be helping my cousins prepare for an estate sale. It's an overwhelming task, and I decided to help for a couple days. Due to the 60 mile distance from home and the price of gas, I'm going to spend the night at my brother's house... incidentally, I'll be sleeping in my childhood bedroom.

O.K. Back to my story...I got a bit side tracked there. Sorry.

Little Squirt and I did our regular Monday morning and noon routine. After lunch, we went to the "gray park" walked around a tree again looking for a geocache. Didn't find it. I had started wondering if the robin was fake and it was the cache. However, when we returned, it was facing the other direction. So, either someone is playing a cruel trick on me, or that isn't the cache.

We then played at the wooden playground for awhile. While we were swinging, I remembered I had a girl scout meeting tonight to prepare for. I also remembered that we were making mother's day presents at the meeting. So, off to Dollar Tree to buy some tissue paper. After that, we went to a garden center / flower store to check out the annuals and perennials. Little Squirt began her "melt down" there. When we got home, she insisted she couldn't walk and proceeded to have a 30 minute tantrum. She ended up falling asleep on my lap within 5 minutes of picking her up. She slept 1 1/2 hours or more. Side Note: she hasn't taken a nap in well over a year.

She's still pretty happy, although it's obvious she's getting tired. She's lying on the couch with "blankie' and watching HGTV. She also recently remembered her show and tell for Wednesday is a picture of mommy. I found a picture of her, daddy, and me that was taken at her birthday party. She's holding it now.

Every once in awhile, she says she's going to miss me and has been following me from room to room as I pack my things. I'm trying to prepare for all scenarios... extra clothes (I fell in the mud the last time I was there), weather radio (severe weather outbreak is possible tomorrow), etc.

Not sure if I'm being coherent or not. It is after midnight. Like I said in the beginning, there were several factors contributing to this staying up late by LS. Mid afternoon temper tantrum, anticipation of missing me for 2 days/1 night, and a girl scout meeting that big sister gets to go to. It seems she has a rough time every afternoon there is a meeting as I'm preparing for it. Another year and a half and she can be a Daisy too. It's tough being the younger sister.

Big Squirt has been asleep in her bed for a few hours now. Little Squirt, Cool Daddy-O, and I (mommy squirt) are going to turn in soon. We're going to let her snuggle with us for awhile as she falls asleep.

That's all for now. Cool Daddy-O is now talking to LS about all the fun stuff they're going to do tomorrow.

Good Night.

We looked and looked and this was what we found

Big Squirt and I went geocaching this afternoon. We stayed close to home today and found 3 of the 4 we were searching for. Big Squirt found this robin in a tree that we were searching in. We didn't find the hidden cache, but thought this was pretty cool. I took a couple pictures from different angles, and she didn't even flinch. We'll have to check back here in a couple weeks and see what's happening.

We had a fun afternoon hanging out together. She even commented it was nice to talk without Little Squirt interrupting us all the time. I found that kinda funny. I think Big Squirt is always interrupting my conversations with the rest of the family.

While we were gone, Cool Daddy-O and Little Squirt built a fire and we made s'mores. Spring truly is here.

Big Shoes to Fill

After a cloudy start this morning, the blue skies prevailed at last. We drove to Pella for the annual Tulip Time celebration. We scouted out a cool spot out of the wind and planted our chairs between a huge tractor and a wagon full of spectators. The parade was complete with Dutch costumes, marching bands, awesome floats, and a martial arts entry complete with a broken leg. I didn't see it happen, but I did see a young man that landed on the ground after jumping to kick a board. His leg was bent between his knee and ankle. I was a bit squeamish at this sight. His fellow participants quickly picked him up and carried him away. Not sure if they should have moved him in such a manner. Within 10 minutes an ambulance was nearby and he was taken away for treatment. A few minutes later, we saw another ambulance picking up someone else. I bet the ER was busy today.

The Squirts each ate a corn dog and Cool Daddy-O and I had brats or Sinterclaas Sausages as they're called in Pella. For dessert we had funnel cakes and for a mid afternoon snack, the girls shared cotton candy.

After our snack, we set out on a 6 stage geocaching expedition. The clues took us to the stage on the town square, then to Central College, then to the VerMeer Mill (windmill), and finally toward Lake Red Rock. Cool Daddy-O spotted the cache and then gave the rest of us clues to find it. We found three other more simple caches today also. We found our first travel bug and will place it another cache soon to continue its travels. We found and logged our 21st cache today.

We enjoyed a delicious supper at Pizza Ranch in Pella. I think it's Big Squirt's favorite place to eat. She loves the chicken and mashed potatoes there.

The girls were asleep within a few minutes of hitting their pillows tonight. I think we'll all sleep well after spending the day in the fresh air.

Maple tree

Here's a series of shots of Big Squirt practicing her "new trick".

She needs a boost between the second and third shot. She tried reaching the branch last summer, but wasn't even close. Now, it's a breeze.

The fourth shot shows her preparing for her dismount. She got a little scraped up on her hands from the bark, but no major injuries.

She'll probably be "hanging out" here this summer.

Meanwhile, Little Squirt enjoyed playing in the clubhouse. We moved all the "kitchen toys" out there the day before yesterday. They love taking the screen out of the window and playing "ice cream shoppe". She's busy preparing the next treat in this picture.

We watched Big Squirt play soccer tonight. She has some awesome kicks...it's just that there was a future soccer star on the other team that always seemed to block our team's kicks when we got near the goal. The kids are improving and having fun and that's what's important.

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Big Squirt gets out of school at noon. Not sure what we'll do, but I'm sure we'll find something fun to do. We have options of geocaching and going to a parade and looking at tulips. Or, we could stay inside the house and be dry :)