Easter, Part III

The Easter Bunny came!

Kobe is yawning...this picture cracks me up!

Once we got to Mom's, the photo shoots began.

Kaylin's sensitive eyes had a hard time adjusting to the bright sunlight.

But I got a better one of her later.

Easter, Part II

Mr. Purrs, Hannah's cat. Inside cat kicked outside, wanting very much to be inside again.

My sister put together a cool scavenger hunt for the girls. Here they are running to the lettuce garden, for it's time to "lettuce" get started. :)

Here's Bobby helping Hannah get some treats from up high.

My beautiful niece Hannah.

Getting money from "Grandmother Bunny"

And all three girls after the egg scavenger hunt.  Love how close they are in age and hope they will always continue to be close!

Easter, Part I

The winery held its First Ever Egg Hunt on Saturday. We went out early to help distribute the 5500 eggs over the grounds, and the girls were first to get their picture with the Easter Bunny.

We waited, and people started arriving. And they just kept on coming. There was an insane amount of people there, all from Facebook invites and word of mouth. It was crazy. Bobby got to direct traffic.

The girls passed the time with friends, being silly.

And they passed the time by "practicing" how to get a head start. Then when the actual thing started, Tess cheated and jumped on "Three" instead of zero. The others brought that up to her repeatedly afterwards.

This picture cracks me up. Look at Macy's face! When Jesse reached zero, it was mass chaos. Those 5500 eggs were gone in about 3 minutes, tops.

This is Jane, who is mildly obsessed with Bobby. She walked up to him, showed him her empty egg. When he said, "where's your candy?" She opened her mouth like this to show him. Love that Janey Jane.

Family picture with the winery in the background.

Part One of Easter complete. Parts II and III coming up.

Cali Trip, Part 1

After the previously mentioned crazy flight situation, this Hummer limo picked us up and took us to Huntington Beach. Kids were very impressed, and I was too.

Me in Huntington Beach...I LOVE palm trees and always take my picture with them.

Lunch was on the pier in Huntington Beach, and I had Pacific Halibut. Very good!! I love fresh seafood, and being landlocked in Missouri limits those fresh opportunities.

Thursday brought Disneyland. We were there a LONG time. Lines weren't terrible, but they weren't short either, and it was HOT. We had a fantastic time, though. Indiana Jones ride was our favorite. Riding rides at 11:15 at night is fun too. 

That's it for Cali Update #1. More to come when I have time!

Home!

Home from beautiful and sunny Anaheim. Lots of stories to share later, but that'll have to wait!

Trainwreck of a day...

Bobby said I needed yesterday's trip written down in a book, but I don't have a book, so I'll blog about it.

Dad drove me to airport at 5:15 am
Met 21 other students, so excited to get to Cali
Fuel leak on plane
Stand at ticket counter for 1.5 hours to re-book 21 people
3 goats in pet carriers in ticketing line
What a complete hassle that was
End up on 2 different flights, 2 different airlines
Fly to Denver with 6 others, luggage still in KC
Brake problem on that plane
Man went into diabetic shock
Land in Denver
Find out the other 14 didn't leave KC when supposed to
Fly to Orange County
No luggage
No issues on that plane but my contact fell out
Two dogs on that plane
White Hummer Limo picked us up
Drove through Orange County dancing and singing in the Hummer Limo
Ate dinner on the pier at Huntington Beach, surrounded by Pacific Ocean. Beautiful.
Ran through sand, dipped toes in the FREEZING cold water
Shopped in Huntington Beach
Drove in White Hummer Limo to hotel
Checked in
Relaxed for 3.5 minutes
Rode transit bus to Downtown Disney
Ate dinner, shopped at Downtown Disney
At 8:45 pm, other crew arrived with our luggage in the White Hummer Limo
That was 10:45 CST, so they had been at the airport/in air for 17 hours

Off to Disney today!

Cali, here I come

My alarm is set for 4:30 am, quite a bit earlier than I like to wake up. Tomorrow I fly to Anaheim with 16 high school students and 3 other advisers for our semi-annual journalism trip.

This trip has required more planning/scheduling then usual--Bobby is currently in Wisconsin for work, meaning we will both be out of state. THANK GOODNESS for grandparents to shuttle kids around here and there.

The day I come home is also picture day for dance, and there is no way Bobby can handle full make-up, hair in bun, costumes for the girls. THANK GOODNESS for two friends who have stepped in and are taking care of that for us. 

Tomorrow is a full day--flights, the beach, Downtown Disney. The kids are going to die when they see the transportation I've arranged--a 30-passenger party bus, complete with full bar (pop only) to pick us up and take us to the beach. I've kept it a secret so I can see the looks on their faces!

I did ask the company to take out the stripper pole, though.

The dresser crash

I was just thinking how peaceful the morning had been...both girls had gotten themselves dressed for church, we were well ahead of schedule for a Sunday morning. Then I heard the crash. Then I heard the crying.

Kaylin managed to pull her dresser over--not on top of her, but it knocked her in the head, and everything came crashing into the floor. Macy's lava lamp. Kaylin's bowl of seashells from our trip to the beach almost three years ago, and a whole plethora of junk that had accumulated on the top of her dresser. Seashells covered the floor.

I rocked Kaylin on my lap, checking her head for cuts and watching her for signs of a concussion.  She was fine.

I guess that was God's way of telling me to clean off her dresser more, huh?

That's mud alright.

Yes, that's mud.

Tonight we went to a BBQ for a 40th birthday party. It was a Woodstock/hippie theme. How appropriate that the kids found a big mud hole and the end result is the picture above.

Bobby and I are pretty laid-back parents, and neither of us freaked when we saw Kaylin with a little bit of mud on her feet. I told her to keep it on just her hands and feet, which she did not do, but that's okay. The other parents were fine too--no one freaking out. The little girl on the left in green did get her shoes completely covered, and that mom's jaw hit the floor when the daughter said, "Someone got my shoes dirty!" Her dad replied, "I think you are that someone!" A water hose came out at the end of the night, and kids were hosed down. Kaylin did ride home with no pants on to protect her car seat from the mud all over the back of her shorts.

Good times with friends, just hanging out in the mud. Being young. They're only young once.

Rite of passage

My baby girl Kaylin has learned to ride a bike without training wheels. Still not so good on the turning part, but good on the straightway. We'd tried last summer, but it wasn't successful. She learned in about 10 minutes with Bobby the other night. Guess she just needed to be ready!

My first 5k

Well, I did it. I ran my first 5k. I have been running 3 miles the last couple weeks, so I wasn't terribly worried about not being able to finish it. I was nervous about the unknowns--what was it like to run a race with 6000 other people, etc.

A teacher friend, Kimberly, and I parked at another teacher friend, Leigh Anne's, house, then walked to the start line. This was Kimberly and I's first 5k, Leigh Anne's 5th. We got there about 20 minutes before the race...visited one of the 9000 port-a-pottys, stretched a little, people watched. Then it was go-time.

Leigh Anne is faster than us, so we didn't really run with her at all. Kimberly and I stayed together about a 1.5, then I dropped back a little and then lost her. I finished in 36 minutes, Kimberly in 35, and Leigh Anne in 30. It was a testament to how many people were running that I was only 1 minute behind Kimberly, but I couldn't see her. It was neat to hear my name when I cross the finish line, thanks to the chip on my shoe!

Bobby and the girls were on the left side of the road when I passed them first, then moved down by the finish so I saw them again when I was almost finished. Macy had been whiny about going, and it was sooooooooo nice to see them! After sitting through countless dance recitals, basketball games, soccer games, choir concerts, etc., it was nice for them to watch ME for a change! Bobby cheered me on with an inspirational "Almost finished! Push it!"

Some wrap up thoughts:
1. Some people should not wear Spandex. Do they not look in the mirror before they leave the house?
2. This was my first race, but it wasn't hard to figure out what to do. Don't cut in front of people so close that they almost trip.
3. Lady in black tights? I think something was supposed to go OVER those tights. I did not enjoy looking at your underwear through the tights.
4. Some people take this running thing VERY seriously.
5. After mile 2, the 5k merged with the 10k. Those people were zooming by.
6. This race thing is addictive. I've spent the last hour looking at races! Might try the doozy of all, the infamous Hospital Hill.

The three of us...Leigh Anne in pink, me in middle, Kimberly in black

Here's to our first 5k!

Gravy train is over

Monday I have to start teaching again. It's been a nice 2 months in which I have really done nothing during the school day, but time to get to work again. I have really missed being in a routine...I keep forgetting to do things, keep losing things, etc. Another reason I couldn't be a stay at home mom without a routine!

Saturday is the big race. Well, not really big to most people, but it's big for me. Last night we went and picked up the race packet and looked at the course. A little gradual hill for the first 1.5 miles, then a gradual downhill for the last 1.5 miles. Looks to be about 45 at race time, so a tad chilly.  I woke up this morning with my right side of my body all funky--hoping I just slept wrong on my right side. Hoping it wears off soon. Ready to do this race tomorrow!

As Macy told me, "Mom, you know you're not going to win, right?" I just hope to finish and come in middle of the pack.