The rest of the trip…

[quick pause from birthdays for more catching up]

Legoland was only one day of the six we spent in Orlando. The other days were filled with all this stuff…

Not only does bowling allow for awesome foot gear it offers a chance to experience the vast array of human emotions. The depths of despair (for a gutsy boy insisting on no bumpers for the very first time), hope and perseverance (He’s such a good sport and didn’t fuss or fret. He just buckled down and kept trying…I love that kid), and of course the very peak of joy and elation:

Because Orlando is the theme park capital of the world and Legoland ate my theme park budget in about 1.3 seconds, we had to look for other options. Luckily, Grandpa found a super fun crocodile preserve (free admission) with all sorts of other animals to go visit. It was more than enough zoo for us and plus they had Swamp Freezes.

7-11 day with the grandma who started the love of Slurpee’s young and paddle boats with the great-grands. (I found brand new muscles in my legs…oh joy).

Coco Beach and local Splash Pads. Florida knows how to do summer right.

The kids missed their Dad, and I missed my partner in crazy. Amazing Grandparents, a fun hotel/resort to swim at (and play mini golf, and go to the beach by the lake, and watch movies, and play with mini-figures, and do art crafts at), and adventures to be had helped distract us. We were all glad to get home and get back to normal. Well, as normal as we ever manage around here.

P.s.

of meat and road trips.

We bought a cow! Well an eighth of one anyways and tomorrow when our roosters start crowing in the wee hours, we are headed up to Utah to pick it up in all its frozen, prepackaged glory. It turns out that if you care about high quality meat at all, buying a part (or whole cow) is the way to go…not that we have another way mind you. Whole Foods charges a snobby, foodie price for high quality beef. Sometimes I am a snob. But I don’t have the bank account to be both a foodie and a snob. So off to Utah we go.

 

My girls have been sick and little little girl is very sick. I knew I needed something to make the 12 hours in the car tomorrow bearable for everyone and the solution was a somewhat time intensive sewing project. Then the universe took pity on my sleepless week and both girls crashed this afternoon so I could start and finish the project.

I wish I could do yoga and nap at the same time. Layna is a master multi-tasker.

My babies are all half fish. This would be the second time Naomi has zonked out in the bath tub. I don’t mean to be a bad mom. I just got caught up in sewing and forgot that the water would cool off. Poor thing woke up frozen and cranky so we got her bundled in a diaper and a quilt and she went right back to sleep on the couch.

Does your car look like wild capuchins routinely fight battles in it? Well mine does and I’m sick of throwing away books because they get left on the floor and ruined.  Also road trips = snacks. Snacks = mom having to turn around and feed said capuchins every 3.5 seconds! No more! I made back of the seat holder caddy things.

The great thing about having friends who quilt, is that I end up inheriting the coolest material. The bad thing is that the material is really only good for quilts. I don’t quilt, so lets just say I’m…amassing.

You know how in building they say, “measure twice, cut once”? Well in sewing it should be, “think twice, sew once.” I’ve ripped out so many seams because I didn’t think about what I was doing. Then I finished and realized that, no, I really do want the pocket to open from the top. blah.

A few straight seams, some crazy funky fabric, and I now have two packed, kid-friendly, treasure troves of boredom/hunger fighting goodness in my car.

Oh that weird tie thing at the top left of the one on the right? That was a classic case of me not thinking. Neil asked what it was and I promptly said, “It’s a DECORATION!” He smiled. And wisely said that he liked it. He is a wise one, this husband of mine.