Poopy, Puppy

Poopy:

As the trip got underway, Nat was having problems with her underwear. More specifically, she was having bowel issues resulting in trouble with her underwear. (Good thing I packed plenty

for her... and hey, it happens to lots of people when they are on vacation... different food, new surroundings). I know, TMI, but this next part is cute.

So, we were in the bathroom stall at a restaurant for the third time that night. In her dramatic, yet despondent style, "I've had it with this.... I've NEVER had a life like this."

_____________________

Puppy:

The girls loved swimming in the pool with their new water rings. Both girls are getting more comfortable in the water and both thought they could swim. Jules was so convinced, that while I stood 6 inches away, helping Nat, she stepped right off of the second step and was submerged.

Nat was "swimming" much better. We held onto her bathing suit and helped her go, practicing some "doggy paddling." Jules, wanting to be just like her sister, would "doggy paddle" too. While in her ring, she would begin to kick her legs hard, stick out her tongue and pant. "heh heh heh"

Scary, Wary

Scary:

On coming into the hotel via a side door after dinner, John noticed a small frog on the glass. He, of course, loving frogs and being an animal guy, pointed them out to the girls who were less than thrilled. Then he pointed out another and another! By now, Nat was sooo scared, which made Julsie start to cry too. Ugh. Daddy continued to stand outside the door, attempting to convince the girls that the frogs were great. They weren't buyin' it. By now, the thought of going past/under those frogs to get inside completely terrified Nat. We had to force her and we all ran inside together. Once inside, she just let out all her fear and cried and jumped and screamed.... did I mention it was around 10 pm?

She was supposed to sleep with mommy that night, but Jules was now super tired and cranky and just had to cuddle with mama until she fell asleep. This left Natty in daddy's bed.

"Daddy, I don't want to sleep with you."

"You don't? Why?" (they had been fighting to sleep w/ daddy all week)

"You're too scary."

"I'm too scary?"

"Yeah."

"Why? how did I scare you today?"

"Your toes." (After coming in from the frog incident, he had sneakily tickled her with his toes, pretending he was a frog.)

"My toes? And what else?"

"The frogs."

"The frogs?.... Yes and what else?" ... silence.... "what did I put on you today at the store?"

"A snake." (You see, earlier in the day, while at the check-out, he slipped a fake plastic snake on her and she screamed bloody murder right in the store. I, of course, was not nearby or that would not have happened. )

"Well Nat, you make a pretty good case, I guess I do scare you a lot."

____________________________________________

Wary:

While enjoying a perfect evening on the patio of a Mexican restaurant, commenting on the lack of flying bugs, perfect temperature and joy of eating outside (when you aren't the one hauling everything out and back in), I see ... well, it was either a big roach or a giant beetle. Yuck! I didn't mention it because I didn't want anyone to flip. I really wanted my cheesy, spicy enchilada, and the bug was headed in the other direction.

About 10 minutes later, I see John staring (uncharacteristic of him), at the next table. They notice it too and look back at him. He says something and I see her jump up and sit in a chair on the other side of the table. Apparently, he had noticed the bug near her foot... and told her.

Luckily we stayed and I got my enchilada, but Nat spent the entire meal crouched on a chair on the other side of the table just to be safe.

Luckily??? Well, maybe not so luckily. I loved the food, but the waitress accidentally spilled an entire 20 oz glass of ice water on our table. Very unluckily, we were sitting at the only outdoor table topped completely with grating. (The others had a plexi-glass top.) The freezing water drenched my jeans from knee down and got John too. The waitress had no idea. She just was worried about wiping up the table and kept asking if our food had gotten wet. It was funny and neither of us were upset enough about it to tell her. I mean really, what could she do? We just had to drip dry. Too funny. - Didn't ruin our night!

(Accidental) Pun Fun

We got a GPS just before we left. We desperately need it. I shamefully admit that EVERY time we drive back to NW PA we take a wrong turn around St. College. I know. We've made the trip 100 times and it's amazing we still mess it up =) Anyway, this was the GPS's maiden voyage and we were just getting used to it.

Wait 2 questions for you:

1. Does anyone know if you can blow up a GPS by making it re-calculate every nanosecond (flipping U-eys, circling gas pumps, and in parking lots and such)?

2. Does anyone else call it a "She"? because I totally do and John made fun of me for it.... then he called it a she =)

But I digress - back to business

At one point, near the end of vacation, Ms. GPS came out with a novel phrase (to us): "Turn Right Sharply." John and I both looked at each other. "That's funny," I said, "I haven't heard her say that one before." Then imitating Ms. G, "turn right sharply." Natalie chimed in, "haha that is funny. She must have thought we were shopping for pencils."

Back from the Beach

Well, we've been back from vacation since late Sunday. My refrigerator is no longer empty and my laundry was done on our first day back thanks to John's help. (...without even being asked. Yeah, I totally almost fell over too.)

It took us about 4 or 5 hours longer to get home than our GPS said. We detoured through Strasburg, VA to see an old friend and visited for a little while. We also made frequent stops. The girls are completely in love with McDonald's burgers and sundaes. Every time Jules sees the sign, "burger, burger." =) If you look closely, you can see the hot fudge mustaches in these photos.

The vacation was great, the hotel was beautiful and we ate out for dinner and breakfast each day. (That's probably the best part for a mom... no cooking! no clean-up!) We totally indulged and broke our pre-beach clean eating trend with pleasure. We had ice cream and pancakes and steaks and burgers and cheesy Mexican... mmm. Finally, to complete the food fest, we stopped at Pizza Hut on our way home because as John said, "that's the only thing we haven't splurged on yet." mmm. For dessert we had the cinnamon sticks. As a cinnamon addict, I highly recommend them.

Anyway, we had a great time visiting with our friends Tim and Susan. If you remember, we went to their beach wedding last year. Tim and John were college friends and I met him in '99. Susan is great, a real sweetheart. She even had pink bags (smart color choice) filled with beach toys for each girl when they arrived - big hit. Tim completely hooked us up - the hotel, lifting at Gold's everyday (where John got free smoothies which he now craves daily), parking at the beach. We were spoiled.

The girls loved Tim and Susan. They've been mentioning them every day since we got back. JJ: "Tim... nice.... hug... kiss." She was ready to go back to his house yesterday. =) They don't have any kids yet, but he wants GIRLS badly and I hope he gets them. They will be his little princesses, I can see it now.

We were also lucky to get to see his dog, Cali, one last time. He got her in '99 - the same year John got me =), so we've known her all her life. She is a beautiful, kind and loving Rotweiler. She is an old lady now and has had one leg amputated and is battling cancer. She won't make it much longer, but her 10 years have been filled with love. It's probably a blessing she won't live to see his children because she and her "sister," Sam, have always been his "girls" =)

Anyway, that's the enough sad stuff and the end of the detail portion of the trip. Tune in later for the bloopers.

We're on VACA!

We're on vacation in Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach, NC. It's on the coast, just north of South Carolina. John's good friend from college lives down here with his lovely wife (and 4 dogs).

We got in yesterday at about 2 am so we slept late, hit the gym and then spent the rest of the day at the pool. The girls LOVED the pool and can't wait to hit the beach today. We've already got some cute pics of them and I'll be sure to post them when we get home.

The girls were very good on the way down (8 hour drive). At one point, we stopped to get gas and use the restrooms. As we exited the highway, we explained that we weren't "there" yet and that we were going to use the restrooms. (We're now on the main drag approaching stores, restaurants, gas stations.)
Nat said, "Oh good. I have to pee." Then, a few seconds later, the Golden Arches come into view, "... and I'm hungry."
Daddy and I smiled at each other. "You're hungry?" said daddy. "What do you want to eat?" Slyly she says, "..... um.... hm.... maybe we could have.... hm... a burger?"
Grinning, daddy says, "we don't have any burgers. Mommy, did you pack any burgers?" "No, I don't have any burgers."
Helpfully yet somewhat desperately she says, "we could get a burger."
"Where?" said a coy daddy.
"Um, maybe right there, at "Friendly's" (sometimes she gets her burger joints mixed up.)

No kid can resist the call of the Golden Arches... like a lighthouse on a stormy night, it calls them in.

PS There are Harris Teeter grocery stores here. I was immediately thrilled, knowing some of my favorite blogs post HT deals. Yes, I have already checked the blogs and created a list of things I can get for free or cheap =) Yes, I am so addicted to this that I WANT to do it on vacation!

PPS Yes, I was concerned about posting that we were out of town. Then I realized that any stranger who reads this doesn't know where we live and anyone who DOES know where we live knows there's nothing worth stealing =) haha

Montana - Part 4 - The Fam

We frequently talk to Gramma and Grandpa over Skype and Nat loves to talk to Uncle Mark on the phone, but was so neat for them to get to see each other face to face. Nat was happy to see her Grandparents, but was ELATED to hear they had a tire swing. You see, she (and her two cousins) used to LOVE to swing with Grandpa at his old house in PA. It was a special little thing they had together. Julsie got in on the fun for the first time too! It’s always nice to visit Amie. Neither of us are phone-talkers so we usually have a lot to catch up on =) Baby Garrett is so cute and a good little boy. I think he’s pretty strong too. I wanted my hands on him right away. (I have no good pics of Amie and I know she'd hate it if I stuck a stinky one up... and its not easy to get a pic of her, ask my MIL) My nephew Wyatt is 8 now. How time has flown. He has grown sooo much. I really noticed how tall he was on this trip. He’s a nice boy and well behaved. I just really enjoy him, always have… I mean, we ARE “buddies and jerks and pals!” (what he told me when he was 3). He’s into animals, hunting, four wheelers and all the regular boy stuff. And like most boys his age, his dad is probably his favorite person and role model. (It’s funny to see the change, from momma’s right hand man to daddy’s …from my best bud on our first trip to Toby’s pal on our third.)

He and Nat had fun together too. She couldn't wait for "the boy" to come home from school every day. They played hide and seek in the house quite a bit and almost every night they would walk to the pond and throw rocks. He was really good with her. (Julsie and I like to throw the rocks too =)

I think Mark liked the girls. I know they liked him. It's funny, Jules has been in a stage where she cries anytime anyone other than mom or dad pick her up. I mean anyone. She had absolutely NO trouble with Mark. She went with him right away. It was really cute. Oh, and Jules learned the word "No" just before the trip and mastered it while we were there. THAT was not cute. =)

Montana - Part 3 - The Hunt

We arrived on a Thursday so Mark took off work from Friday – Sunday for both weeks we were there. During the week, Toby was going to have to hunt on his own. He had Mark’s GPS, so the biggest thing he was worried about was being able to bugle. You see, finding an elk is like finding a needle in a hay stack. If you can get the needle to talk, it would be a little easier (especially since in archery you have to be sooo close to get a shot). So he practiced, and Oh Heavens! Sunday night he barely paid any attention to anyone. He sat outside and bugled. Wyatt, a great bugler according to the experts, bugled along with him. Oh, the cacophony! I was ready to shove that vacuum-hose-grunt-tube down his bronchial tube! But anyway, he went out on Monday and actually got one to call back. Tuesday he actually chased one around the canyon for hours but the bull never let Toby get closer than 50 yards. Wednesday it was pouring rain so he stayed home (elk don’t talk when it’s raining). Thursday, he had a lovely assistant and got within 30 yards. (I’ll tell you about that day in a later post.) Friday I prayed like a mad woman. In order to get meat back on the plane (my main objective), we really needed to get one no later than Saturday. I was on pins and needles until I heard news… and then I was devastated. They bugled, called him in and got within 20 yards. He was standing behind a Christmas tree type pine and Toby needed just one more step to get a good shot. With his bow a quarter of the way pulled back, they waited. Later, Toby said that he was pleased with how calm and focused he was. So, he and Mark are on baited breath. Toby was certain he was just going to take one more step….. but NO! All of a sudden he took off in the other direction, NO!, leaving Toby with nothing but a full quiver. This pic was taken from where Toby was standing to shoot. Can you see Wyatt in the center of the screen? That's where the elk was. That would be his best position of the entire 11 days. We came home with suitcases full of clothes instead of bricks of frozen meat. Oh, how I longed for a freezer full of a healthy, lean, (the original) “organic,” protein source.
However, we also came home with a ton of memories made with our family. We are so thankful to Gramma and Grandpa for transporting us everywhere and spoiling us, to Mark, Amie, Wyatt and Garrett for opening their home to us, providing meals, and just taking care of us. Not only do they put us up, but Toby gets a world-class hunt from an awesome guide for just the cost of his license. Mark could have worked or hunted himself on those days. Instead, he took his tag-along younger brother out to get one. We would never be able to afford to send even Toby out west on a hunt of this magnitude not to mention sending us girls too. We really appreciate it. Thanks Mark!

Montana - Part 2 - Camp

When we got to Mark's Toby didn't even have much time to tour the new house. He was packing his hunting clothes into a duffle because he and Mark were immediately heading up to the mountains to camp a couple days (ie hunt during the day, but instead of coming home at night, sleep right there.... in amongst the bear and mountain lion and wolves and I was sure glad I wasn't there). The tent they slept in was about 2 ft high, 4 ft wide, and 6 ft long (if they were lucky). I saw it when they set it up to dry back at home. Good thing they are related. I don't even think Nat would have used that thing as a play house. I really wish I had a pic (Toby deleted it I think.)

They took food and supplies (ie. baby wipes) with them, but did manage to round up some fresh meat for dinner one night. Other than the brotherly camaraderie, the camping trip was sort-of a bust. The canyon was full of signs of wolves, but no sign of elk. They came home empty handed but had a new appreciation for their beds and their age.

Speaking of age, it really doesn't matter that Toby is 8 years younger and hits the gym most days of the week. It probably helped that Toby was training on the Stairmaster in prep for the trip, but Mark still just flies around those mountains like Tarzan did in the jungles. The way Toby talks, he'll literally run for yards across a downed log spanning a ravine 30 ft below. He'll glide down the face of a cliff 5o ft, just touching his feet to the ground at a couple points and swinging off snags along the way. I went out with Toby one day (you'll hear that story later) and I can really appreciate the sheer Craziness of that! Especially when Tob said, "you know how you trailed me at times? That's how far I trail Mark at times." Holy mackerel. You may not be able to tell here, but he's a fearless, high-flying mountain man.

Back to the Good Stuff - Montana

I know, I know, no one cares about the other blog, just get back to the good stuff - my kids. =)

So, we were in MT from Sept 4 - 15 visiting John's brother, wife and 2 boys and my in-laws. Oh yeah, and John was also there to try to bag a trophy elk. I was off-line out there, but wish I could have been writing every day. There were so many funny little things, I could have 10 pages of stuff. Here's my attempt at brevity:
Let's see - where to begin... We flew out of Philly very early on Thursday so we stayed in a hotel Wednesday night, taking the hotel shuttle to the airport. We checked in around 9PM. Why so late? Well, you see,
1. I babysat on Wednesday (but she actually helped to occupy Nat while I finished last minute chores)
2. I had to make dinner when John got home (If you've ever seen me cook you know I make such a mess it takes a while for me to clean up)
3. His suitcase broke as he was zipping it up to put in the car so we had to make a mad dash to the outlets on the way out of town.
4. We had to stop at Walmart (not on the way) to get him a stinkin' pad lock for his bow case. (The girls and I stayed in the car. He took the keys and it was stuffy. So there we were, like a bunch of hill billies, my shoes off, the kids climbing around the car and the door open for everyone to see. Oh well)

It took us a while to get settled. The girls were so wired. Plus we had to transfer John's clothes to the new bag, and unload all our junk. Nat started out in dad's bed but soon after he fell asleep, she crept over to my bed and snuggled in the crook of my leg behind my bent knees. Jules was snuggled in my arms. How cute. Then Nat touched Jules and Jules sat up and was excited and on and on!

Anyway, we slept a few hours, got ready, took the 4AM shuttle, schlepped 2 kids, 2 car seats, 2 carry-ons, a camera case and one bow case containing a firearm to the airport. Sigh

We were able to get seats together and flew our first leg without incident. Despite the early hour, and to daddy's dismay, the girls were too excited to sleep. Jules was a little loud (happy loud) and John and the others were struggling to get their cat nap in.

We landed in Minneapolis just fine and spent our lay-over in a kids play area. We ate snacks I'd packed, the girls played and John again tried to get some rest. Here are the little stinkers posing in the MSP airport.









The kids slept during the second leg of the flight and we landed in Missoula on time. Grammy and Grandpa came to pick us up (bearing cookies=) and we were all happy to see each other. We loaded up the truck, hooked up the car seats and off we went for the hour drive to Uncle Mark's house.

Beach Bums

This was Julsie's first time at the beach! I think she liked it. She played in the sand and upon taking a big bite out of Nat's sand castle, quickly learned it wasn't for eating. She didn't get into the ocean because it was a little to chilly, but she loved "swimming" in the hot tub.

Nat, on the other hand, went out with daddy into the ocean, came back to mommy with teeth chattering and once she dried off, begged to go back in.

Like the girls' sunglasses? And check out the sand bucket.... a protein container. How appropriate.

When daddy asked Nat what her favorite part was, she said, "the ocean. I liked the pool too. What was your favorite part?" (right then I realized how grown up she's getting) Daddy said, "probably the ocean.... but the best part is being with my girls."

Wedding in Wilmington

Last weekend we went to Wrightsville Beach, NC for the wedding of one of John's college roomates, Tim, to a beautiful southern girl, Susan. We are really so happy for them. The reception was in an oceanfront restaurant and the ceremony was right on the beach. John was a groomsman and Nat was the flower girl. Everything was so nice. The food was great, the weather was perfect and the bride and groom were such gracious hosts all weekend. Nat just loves Tim (and I think the feeling is mutual)... but she played shy. Little stinker!
We made a little vacation of it, leaving here Friday morning and returning home Monday evening. It actually only took 8 hours to get to the southern tip of NC and only 4.5 hours to get to the VA/NC border. Depressing, but that's how long it takes to get to my parents house in Northwest PA!