I love summer.

Everytime I even think about getting another job, when teaching gets hard and the little-pay thing becomes a problem, I think about summer and just know I couldn't actually change jobs. Not because I love my job that much, but because I love summer that much.

This week, we've gone swimming four times, played with friends just about every day, stayed up super late and slept in super late, let the house get messy, slept in our (dry)swimsuit three times (them, not me. yuck), had no idea what day of the week it was, had sleepovers, did nothing of any sort that was productive, and generally have been lazy. We have lived this week in flip flops, swimsuits, and shorts. I have not straightened my hair or put on make-up in over a week.  I'm sure Bobby is thrilled with that.

I have read 2 books, so that must account for something.

I love summer.

Palate expander

Today was the day Kaylin had been simultaneously dreading and being excited for. Today was the day she got her palate expander.

She has a wicked cross bite, and I've said before the dentist probably sees $$$$ when he looks in her mouth. The first step is a palate expander, which she'll wear for 4-6 months, I think. Her mouth is just too small for her teeth.

Macy was with a friend at WOF all day, so I took Kaylin to Zona Rosa. We had Subway for lunch, and ate over by the fountains.

I also took her to Build-a-Bear, for her "Dentist Bear"--just a furry friend for her to take to all her dentist appts. (there will plenty) and give her comfort when the pain kicks in. Dentist Bear will be around for a while.

Then it was off to the dentist. While she was back there, I was in the lobby and let me tell you--that kid talked the ladies' ear off! I don't know how she ended up with the palate expander with as much talking as she did!! They let her watch a movie, but she told me later she couldn't see much because of the lady's hands and head. HA!

Then the dentist called me back, and went over the directions. We go back in a week to have it checked again, and I have to "crank it" only one time between now and then. There's a little hole in the top, and I have to put in a key and turn it. I can remember clearly laying on my mom's bed and having her do the same thing to me.

I took a picture of the mold with the palate expander. Just so we're clear, this is NOT Kaylin's mold. If her's looked like this, we would not be visiting the dentist so often. I really wish I had taken a picture of her's--it was laying right next to this one, and shows how really screwed up her mouth/teeth are.

So far so good on her pain. I've given her Tylenol twice. She hasn't eaten much--a big bowl of ice cream, some pudding, a thing of jello, and that's about it. She tried chips twice--her all-time favorite--and gave up trying to chew the chips. She also gave up on the cheese for some reason. She was pretty funny in the car. Instead of dwelling on what she couldn't eat, she kept saying, "Well, at least I can still eat _____" Ha! Always looking at the positives.

5th annual Canoe Trip

This weekend was our 5th annual Canoe/Camp Trip with friends. We couldn't remember how many years it had been this weekend, so we did some counting and I did some research on the ol' blog here. 

First annual trip, 2008: Macy's Arm Part III
Second annual trip, 2009: Don't Rock the Boat
Third annual trip, 2010: Can't find a blog entry about it. Was it not exciting enough? I know we went.
Fourth annual trip, 2011: Weekend

This year we ventured to a new place that had a Groupon, and it was nice. Couldn't camp as close to the river as I would have liked, but that's okay. No crazy or fun stories, just a nice relaxing time camping and floating down the river. The river was pretty low, and the boys didn't find any cliffs to jump off, but the girls did find a great spot to float down the current (much better than last year, when we got beat up by the rocks). Just a fun time with friends.

This year I actually took pictures! Not sure why I haven't in the past. Here's all of us before leaving to float. 

 Me and Bobby

 Me and the girls...what kind of smile am I doing? Good grief.

 Took this picture of our campfire, then put some filters on it with Instagram. I thought it turned out pretty good.

 View back up the river at dusk.

It was once again an awesome time with friends. I love being able to get away for just a couple days.  Macy asked me before we left when she would be old enough to go with us. I told her when she had her own kids and needed to get away from them! I'm so thankful Mom and Dad were able to watch them--they had a great time.

Lofted in the sky

This weekend my parents watched the girls while we did our 5th annual adult camping/canoe trip. More on that later.

Friday we were driving along and I was reading in peace. I looked at my phone and saw 4 missed calls from my mom, and 2 voicemails. Immediately uncalled back, panicked.

Apparently my mom and Macy had found a loft bed at a garage sale. Macy has been begging and begging for one, and had made Bobby promise to make her one this summer. It was a good deal, so we said sure. Mom paid for it, the guy took it down and took it over to Mom's house.

So of course this afternoon, after a weekend of hanging out with friends. Bobby got to work putting together a loft bed. Macy's in hog heaven, although we've already had to tell her three times that we aren't bringing her food while she's up there hollering "someone help me!"

Now we need another good deal on another loft bed, for a certain younger sister who is, as I type this, searching for prices on loft beds on her iPod.

Homemade Photobooth Craziness

At the girls' field day, they had a professional photobooth set up to take pictures of the kids with crazy props. My mom had the idea to do a homemade photobooth when my brother's family was in town, so she began collecting props. Saturday afternoon we decided to give it a try.

I took these with my iPhone in Mom and Dad's backyard, giving them about 5-10 seconds in between each picture to change their props. I then used an app on my phone to make a collage. We printed them at Walgreen's. Pretty cool stuff. I'm going to put them all in a photo album for the kids to look through.

My dad and my mom. Funny to see my mom without her glasses on.

My brother Rod and his son Brandon

Macy and her daddy

Kaylin and George, my niece's husband.

George and Lauren, my niece

Lauren and Macy

My sister and her daughter

My brother and his wife

Kaylin

Macy and Hannah

Kaylin and Grandma

Bobby and me

My sis and me

Kaylin and Josh

Royals! Finally!

I've been quiet for a few days because my brother's family has been in town, and we've been having too much fun to blog! I'll chronicle their visit in a few blog posts.

Friday night we went to Royals game. I had been dying to go, so it was a fun trip.

My nephew Brandon and I had quite a laugh at this player's name.

The two youngest, Kaylin and Josh.

My sister and her daughter. Oh yeah, it was Ladies Night and we all got blue Royals' sun hats.

The three amigo's.

The 4 youngest grandchildren: Josh, Macy, Hannah and Kaylin. Look at Macy's red hair! It's already fading.

I have a friend who works the camera at Kauffman, and he got the kids on the big Jumbotron! The girls had made signs that said "Free Hugs". I almost missed getting a picture. They were so excited.

Me and the girls. Bobby was working. :(

It was a beautiful night, Royals won, and it was Fireworks Friday. Couldn't ask for more! Long story, but Kaylin and I had to ride home with a friend from church and that was funny to arrange.

Up next: Our homemade PhotoBooth. :)

Red hair don't care

Macy has been begging to dye her hair red for months. We've had discussions with our hairstylist about the best way to accomplish this without permanently damaging her hair or ruining it somehow. I was not about to strip her hair and bleach it, in order to dye it. So we reached a compromise- IF we could find a non-permanent red hair color at Walmart, we'd do it. She and I looked at every.single.box of hair dye. There are plenty of reds, but not wash out ones. She was not really pleased with the color we picked out- #23 medium auburn- but we bought it and headed home.

On went the dye, and i somehow got it all over her face and shoulders. She looked like an oompah loompa or like she had a really bad spray tan. But it all washed off in the shower.

She is very happy about her hair. It washes out in 28 shampoos, which I'm happy about. No permanently damaging her hair. Who knows what it will look like when it starts fading out.

I try to be a laid back mom on the things I can be laid back about- I fuss with her enough over way more important things, so it's nice to be able to let her do things like this. This is what she'll remember-"remember when I was 10 and you let me dye my hair red?" or the time I dyed her hair blue with Kool-Aid and hopefully she won't remember the fights, or all the times I had to say no. You have to pick your battles as a parent...you can't say no all the time.