Book worms

Wednesday we took a trip to the library. Kennedy was so excited and shouted, "It's library day!" After playing for a minute in the book nook with Macy, she wandered off into the kids section. Macy wanted to stay in the little house to play with a little boy she'd just met. Oh no, boy trouble already!

Chasing both of them around the stacks is lots of work, so I suggested to Kennedy that she show Macy the puppet show stage. Worked like a charm.

I was able to pick books that I wanted to read to them, rather than the girls' random pulls from the shelves. We went home with "A Bargain for Frances" (love this series!), "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble," "Madeline's Rescue," "Jumanji," and lots of other cute stories. Kennedy put on a great puppet show for us. Then she finished the trip with some coloring to join the summer reading club.

Days of '47

We were able to celebrate the 24th of July with Jake's family, but it was combined with a belated birthday party for Ira, and a send-off for Brent, Ben and McKenzie who were leaving the next morning for a motorcycle trip to San Francisco.

Macy thinks she's such a big girl...

The sparklers and tanks were a big hit, but the snakes turned out to be duds, even with a propane blow torch to light them. Thanks to Jake and Ben for importing the night's entertainment from their motorcycle ride a few weeks ago.

Just the two of us

Jake and I had our first real get-away since the kids have been born. In fact, it was my first time ever spending a night away from Macy. It felt so strange being at the airport without the girls, and yes I was feeling very sad about leaving them behind. Unfortunately it was a business trip rather than a romantic vacation, but we still had a great time!

I was attending a two-day conference for the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement in Anaheim, California. Jake and I figured that this would be the perfect time to use our Disney volunteer vouchers for free park entry, so we went a day early to spend a full day in Disneyland. We kept this a secret from Kennedy until just before we left. I was asking her for ideas of what Dad and I should do in California. She came up with the idea all on her own saying, "Disneyland is in California. You could go there and have lots of fun!" She also requested that Dad bring her back a Mickey doll. Luckily there were no issues of us going without her. She was actually quite excited to sleep over at Grammie and Pamp's.

We landed late Monday night (July 19th) and took a taxi from Long Beach Airport to our hotel. Our Egyptian driver, who was rather difficult to understand, kept giving us advice on where to eat in "Arab Town" and passed out coupons for kabobs. We ended up just going to the hotel bar for some appetizers before turning in for the night.

Tuesday morning we were up bright and early to catch the bus to the park. We were there just as it was opening. Disneyland without kids is a totally different experience. I missed having them there, but I was also so glad that they weren't with us. It was really crowded, much much worse than when we were there at the end of February. I can't imagine standing in some of the lines with the girls - trying to keep Kennedy from hanging or climbing on everything, and it probably would have been much worse to keep Macy still, knowing that she'd be squirming to get down and walk around. And I can't imagine how tired they would have been, because we were both wiped out by 9:30pm. Jake was ready to quit before I was. I just wanted to go on two more rides, and then stay for the fireworks. We did the rides, but watched the fireworks as we were heading for the exit. And of course we made a final stop for Kennedy's Mickey and Tigger for Macy.

I had a few Disneyland firsts on this trip, which amazes me because I think I've been here quite a few times. My first time paddling in the canoes around Tom Sawyer's Island. My first time riding the big steamship. My first time eating at the restaurant in Pirates of the Caribbean (Blue Bayou). My first time getting totally drenched on Splash Mountain. It was all great, and I can't wait until the next time we come back.

Jake flew home Wednesday morning and I spent the next two days learning about research and prospect management trends and best practices. It really was a great conference, but I sure missed my family! My boss/good friend Paul and I went out to dinner in Downtown Disney at House of Blues. I also got to spend some time with colleagues from other institutions in the state, and from all over the country.

My mom picked me up from the airport, but I arrived after Jake had put the girls to bed. Of course I had to sneak a peek of them sleeping, and they looked just fine. I guess they can manage without me, and I was able to survive a few days without seeing them. Apparently they were excellent house guests, so maybe that means another get-away is in our future!

You look like dirt

We had dinner at Paul and Sara's house a few weeks ago. The girls had a great time exploring their house and backyard. Kennedy convinced everyone to play hide and seek with her, and she even managed to find a few good hiding spots and not give herself away. Jake really surprised her when he hid up in a tree! It took her a while to find him, but boy was she impressed that daddy could get up there. Macy did a great job playing by herself, and found a small garden bed and a pot of dirt to get into. We were keeping an eye on her from a distance, but when she got up we could see what a mess she was. Kennedy exclaimed, "She looks like dirt!"

There couldn't have been a better way to describe her - she was covered from head to toe, so we stripped her down to a diaper for the rest of the night. Of course, Macy went right back to the dirt, but also amused herself by playing with a softball and mitt and watching us play a game of bocce.

Kennedy almost gave up and fell asleep on the couch, but when I went in to check on her she insisted that she was awake...but then admitted to being really tired and ready to go home.

Camp in

Jake spent much of the weekend in a motorcycle safety course, so the girls and I decided to pitch their tent in the living room for fun. We had a blast playing in there! Kennedy decided that she wanted to sleep in the tent. She spent two nights "camping-in" with her sleeping bag, pillow, stuffed animals, books, and water bottle. Jake and I checked on her before we went to bed, and she looked quite comfortable. Sunday night Kennedy was sound asleep when our power went out for four hours, starting at 10 pm. Too bad because she would have loved a real reason to use her flashlight! She's very excited for our annual family camp-out next month!

A sweet treat

When Kennedy woke up from her nap yesterday she came downstairs and said, "I've been thinking that we should make brownies. The ones from my cookbook. We haven't done that for a long time!"

Great idea! I love cooking projects with the girls. Kennedy and I made cherry muffins on Sunday, and we had so much fun in the kitchen together. Macy is getting really interested in helping now, too. The other night when I was shelling some peas for dinner, Macy would stick her hand in the bowl, wriggle her fingers around and then grab a hand full to stuff in her mouth (or throw on the floor, with a cute, "Oh-oh!") Today we let her help whisk the eggs. And then, we all had to try a little taste of the finished batter!

The three Rs

Reading -

I think Kennedy's been read to almost every single day of her life. And those few days we weren't able to read to her, well, they have easily been made up for by the days that we go through big stacks of books! Jake feels like he doesn't have a great appreciation for reading because he didn't do much of it as a kid. Maybe we're trying to overcompensate, but reading is important, and we want them to really love to read - for fun, not just because they have to.

Kennedy is starting to read a bit on her own now. Yesterday Pamp would type some words on the computer for her to read. She got MOM, DAD, CAT, DOG, COW, ZOO and HA HA (apparently she asked him to write this one.) Then she would take a turn typing the words. She knows all the letter sounds, and loves to play a game where we think of a letter, make its sound, and then take turns thinking of words that start with that letter. She amazed me about a week ago by saying, "The letter C sometimes makes the "K" sound and sometimes the "S" sound." So we thought of examples, like cake and cinnamon.

Writing -

Yesterday the girls both took a late afternoon nap after we'd come home from swimming. Waking up at 6:00 pm just threw their normal 8:30 bedtime right out the window. After dinner Kennedy and I went to the library, while Jake gave Macy a bath (she was covered in re- fried black beans, but we're just happy that she's expanding her bread-products-and-baby-food-only diet.) Kennedy wanted to sit down and color and let me pick out the books this time. She drew a beautiful picture of grass and flowers, and then added the first three letters of her name: K-E-N. I was holding back tears of joy. Seriously, I was so excited and just about bowled over with wonder at her accomplishment.

This morning she wrote the whole thing all by herself, all seven letters.

Arithmetic -

Kennedy loves to count things. She can consistently get to 30, but most of the time she forgets 17, and sometimes 30 is "twenty-ten." She loves to sort and group things. She'll endlessly arrange the animal magnets on the fridge - by color, by whether they live on the farm or at the zoo, by size... The other day she said, "How old will Macy be when I'm three?" I replied, "Well, Macy is one and you are three. You are two years older than she is." So I asked her, "How old will you be when Macy is three?" She thought for just a minute, and then answered, "Five."

***A disclaimer for anyone reading this***

I'm just trying to record Kennedy's development. I know my faulty memory, and if I don't write it down, I won't be able to remember all these details. Really, this isn't bragging about my fantastic, amazing, wonderful, brilliant, thoughtful, adorable, and not yet even three and a half-year-old ;)

What should we do today?

Some of the things we've been doing lately...

Swinging in the backyard

Coloring

Playing dress-up

Going on a safari

Swimming

Taking snack breaks

In short, we've been keeping busy and enjoying the summer!

Great news!

Kennedy went in for a nuclear cystogram test yesterday. It's been a year since she had her last VCUG and was diagnosed with stage two kidney reflux on her right side (which unfortunately appeared after she had the stage five reflux surgically corrected on the left side.) She'd been in a great mood until I helped to get her into the hospital gown and up on the table. Then she knew what was coming next - the dreaded catheter. She was very brave, but obviously miserable during the procedure. Even though she cried the whole time and begged to be done so we could go home, Kennedy did an amazing job holding still for the x-rays. Apparently her bladder holds a lot, and they had to fill it to the brim. Then she was supposed to pee on the little potty seat, but she just wouldn't do it. She kept insisting through her sobs, "My body's not telling me that I need to go potty!" Finally the technician let her use the real toilet, which worked like a charm, but then we had to immediately rush her back for a few more x-rays. At first it looked like she still had a bit of reflux, but then after closer inspection she was declared free and clear. She instantly cheered up when she got to pick a prize from the treasure chest - black play dough. Then she told the technicians thank you and gave them high fives. It's such a relief that Kennedy has outgrown this! No more horrible tasting, expensive ($50 a month with insurance) daily antibiotics. The pediatric urologist said everything looks great, and hopefully we won't have to see her ever again. She's perfectly lovely, but all the same we're so glad to be done, and to already know that Macy won't be facing this either.

Jake had worked midnight to 8am to be able to come to the appointments. After we got home from the hospital and had a sandwich, I took the girls to the library to give daddy some time to sleep. Kennedy got to do some watercolor painting while I chased Macy around the stacks. Then we sat and read some pop-up books for a while, including "Mommy?" by Maurice Sendak, which is one that we have at home. Kennedy, although she was scared to death the first few times we read it to her when she was about Macy's age, grew to love this book, and we'd have to read it over and over and over until we were tired of it and had to hide it on top of the dresser. Now it's Macy's favorite, and she wants to hear it over and over and over. We were all having a great time picking out books (library trips are a new favorite activity) until Macy found the DVDs and realized how much fun it was to pull them off the shelves. OK, time to leave. It was a real pain using the self check-out for 15 books with a squirming toddler under one arm. She was much happier when I sat her on the counter, but then she kept pushing the buttons on the touch screen. I realized when we got to the car that Kennedy had forgotten her sunglasses. Too bad, I was not going back in! We called for the glasses when we got home, and they were safely held at the front desk for us. I had plans to take them to the park, but by this time I was irritated and it was hot. We went home and read books, had a tea party picnic and then enjoyed some quiet/nap time. Tomorrow we will go out for ice cream to really celebrate!

You did what?!

Kennedy had something very exciting to show me, "Mom, come see what Macy and I did." Oh no, now what? Well, I never could have guessed what I was about to see. "Mom, Macy and I cleaned our room!" I assume that it was mostly Kennedy putting things away, and then trying to keep up with Macy pulling more things out. However they managed it, the girls did a great job! No one had asked them to do this. It was all Kennedy's idea, and she was very pleased with both the result and with my reaction. Now, how to get them to keep this up...?"

Today Jake stopped by my office. I thought it was just for a friendly visit, which it was, but he also had an ulterior motive. He wanted to discuss/ask permission to make a major purchase. He wanted to buy a new motorcycle - a 2007 Honda VTX 1800. He had mentioned finding it at the Honda store last week, and talked about it again during our trip, but I didn't realize how seriously he was considering this. Jake did a good job researching comparable bikes, checked into loans, and tried to persuade me with promises of a much more comfortable passenger ride. After work he got a check from the bank and we went to pick it up. Even though I worry about him being safe, I admit that he looked good driving it home. Kennedy loved watching her daddy riding in front of us, and she was very concerned when he got too far ahead. She's been making plans that when she is a little bit bigger, he can ride the motorcycle and she will ride her big wheel and they can go around the block together. Macy and I are apparently not invited and we're expected to go to the library.

Independence Day(s)

We spent the weekend celebrating the 4th of July in Torrey and Capitol Reef. The trip got off to a rough start with both girls getting sick in the car on the way down, but they recovered after a good night sleep at the motel. Saturday we staked out a spot on Main Street to watch the parade, even though Kennedy insisted that she did not want to go. I think she ended up having a good time, but once it started she didn't move from her chair - not even to collect the candy that was thrown from the floats. She said that the horses and clown (yes, just one clown) were her favorites. Macy loved the view from Jake's shoulders until she switched to my arms and fell asleep. I have no idea how she managed to nap through the siren of the firetruck and honking from trucks carrying various political candidates, cheerleaders, football players, and local business owners. As the parade was turning around, Kennedy decided she'd had enough and went off with 4-year-old Chloe to throw sticks into the canal.

After lunch we went on a short hike to Hickman's Bridge. It was about 1.3 miles each way, so I carried Macy in the backpack and Kennedy walked, but boy did she complain. She did NOT want to go on a hike. We thought it would help that Chloe and her brother Josh were there (they ended up turning back early), or Pamp, or about six other family friends we were spending the trip with. She cried. She whined. She begged to be carried. But, she made it the whole way - up and back! We were so proud of her. When we made it to the bridge, Kennedy got a round of applause and lots of praise, but it just made her burst into tears.

I guess it was a reminder that she was hiking and didn't want to be. Macy took a nice snooze, and missed the great views.

We passed a little alcove area where there were red mud hand prints on the wall. I'd been telling Kennedy that Indians used to live in this area and made pictures on the cliff walls. When she saw this she exclaimed, "Look! It's Indian paw prints on the rock!" She was very excited to tell everyone about the sighting, although we suspect that it was modern day pictographs. After getting back to the motel, we took a dip in the pool. It was really cold, so we didn't stay in long, and Macy watched us from the deck with Grammie.

Saturday night the whole gang (about 30 people - my parents' friends, their children, and grandchildren) got together for dinner at Kathy and Eric's ranch. Another 4-year-old, Chase, showed Kennedy his secret fort and tried to teach her how to golf in the horse pasture. She loved playing with him, but she seems to have very little aptitude for golf. After dinner, Chloe shared her toys with Kennedy and Macy, and then the older girls painted together.

We ended the night with fireworks - the extra long sparklers were a huge hit with Kennedy - and star gazing. Pat had brought a telescope along, and we were able to get an amazing view of Mars and Saturn - we could even see the rings of the planet. It was the coolest thing!

Sunday morning we left Kennedy and Macy with my dad and headed off on a 5 mile hike of Sulfur Creek Canyon. We took them on this trail last year, but this time we considered the extra weight (and the potential complaining and squirming) and jumped at the chance to go without them.

They ended up having a great time playing with Chloe, her toys, and her dog, which also gave my dad a break. The hike was beautiful, and the water in the creek was so clear. My mom was brave and took the water slide down at the end, instead of the ledge like we did.

When we made it back to the ranger station and reunited with the worn-out girls, it was time to go home.

So we hit the road, and enjoyed a smooth drive back. Thank goodness for the portable DVD player. Macy made growling sounds every time Master Tigress came on the screen in Kung Fu Panda. She also clapped and cheered with the crowd scenes. I feel guilty that Macy likes to watch TV and movies so much, but she sure is cute when she gets into it!

Monday was a day off from work for the holiday, so Grammie suggested we drive up to Brighton to try one more short hike. Kennedy spent the first half around Silver Lake complaining, but then she got into the spirit and ran out ahead of all of us. Macy loved walking on the boardwalk and got lots of attention. People walking by made comments about how she was having a much better time than the crying girl up ahead (which was Kennedy.) We'll have to keep working on this because we love hiking.