So, About June . . . My Twilight Weekend

Two of my dearest friends came for a visit one weekend in June (told you it was a busy month!). Wendy (mom of 2) and Kathy (mom of 3) arranged for childcare and headed east for a visit! They got here on Friday night and we talked and talked, and then went to bed.

On Saturday we went to the beach. We had a wonderful time - it was actually the longest stretch of time either Bree or I had spent at the beach. But we took chairs, toys, books, coolers and settled in for a leisurely afternoon.



It was great to have other people help to occupy Bree. :) She had a great time playing in the waves. She would get chilly and then come back to the blanket to warm up. We went souvenir shopping after we were done at the beach, and Kathy & Wendy found some great stuff for their kids.

We hadn't anticipated spending the entire day at the beach - I just had a t-shirt over my bathing suit - but we found a nice casual restaurant at the oceanfront where we could eat outside.

It was so much fun to sit outside, engage in some people-watching, and just enjoy the nice late afternoon/early evening. When we got back to the house, Wendy & Kathy asked me if I had ever seen any of the Twilight movies or read any of the books. It was an interesting coincidence, because my friend Leslie had just sent me a bunch of books as she was moving to NYC and was culling her library to bare bones. She had sent me the entire Twilight series but I hadn't yet started reading them.

Kathy & Wendy were properly horrified that I hadn't yet been exposed to the series, and we watched the first movie on Saturday night. I don't think I could have enjoyed the movie as much without Kathy, Wendy & two bottles of wine. :)

On Sunday, we all went for manicures & pedicures after a nice lunch. The pedicures & manicures were all birthday presents to each other - Wendy had her birthday in January, I had mine in May, and Kathy had hers earlier in June.

Even Bree got polish on her toenails and fingernails. I wasn't sure if she'd sit still for it, but she sure did. She loved every minute of it. She is such a little girly girl - she loves all aspects of being a girl - lotions, potions, creams, lipstick, polish and perfume. She felt so special after her polish experience.

On Sunday night, we watched the second Twilight movie: New Moon. And darn it - they got me hooked on the series! I started to read the books and had them all finished in just over a week. (And I even got to see the third movie while I was in Kansas City - I was able to get away for a few hours by myself.)

We all had such a great time! I can't wait until we get a chance to do it again. :)

So, About June . . . Visit to DC

I learned that a dear dear friend from high school was in DC for a short-term work assignment. Since she lives in Boise, ID, I rarely get to see her. I think the last time I saw her was on a trip to Boise in 2002. Bree & I checked Sly into the doggie hotel and we left for DC!




On Saturday we went to the zoo. We were there in time for grooming goats! Bree enjoyed this but didn't want to actually look at the camera when I took the picture.

It was a very hot day in DC, and very humid too. It was a nice day to be outside, though. We had a great lunch outside the zoo, at the Lebanese Taverna. Yummy! We finished up the zoo after lunch.

The place where my friend was staying during her assignment had a pool, and we were able to go swimming in the afternoon. A really great day. But the fun wasn't over yet! That evening, we met our friends Bill & Alyson and Caleb for dinner. We ate at a local shopping center that had a Lego store - where Bree & Caleb had an absolute blast playing with Lego swords & shields. Alyson showed Bree the "proper" way to handle her sword and shield. Bree was in business!

And while Bree & Caleb had a great time, Bill had an equally awesome time. :)

We had brunch on Sunday at a dim sum restaurant that I used to go to with Leslie & Marc. It had been years since I had eaten dim sum and it was really good. It would have been even better if Bree had eaten something, but she didn't even really want to try anything. I am pretty sure she knew that I'd get her Mr. Donad's on the way home. :)

We headed home after brunch, and wowza - I do not miss DC traffic AT ALL. It took us over 5 hours to get home. Sly had a great time at his doggie hotel. I will admit to feeling guilty that he might be thinking that we were "returning" him or something. He was happy to see us, but I do believe that he was happy to have a few days away from Bree's grabby little hands.

So, About June . . . The Little Gym Finale

A lot happened in June. And I didn't blog about any of it! So I'm going to make up for that now.

This is actually going to be a bit out of order - this actually happened towards the end of June. Bree had her "show week" for Little Gym where several things that she had learned throughout the semester were highlighted. Bree was part of the Funny Bugs group for gymnastics - 3 and 4 year olds.



They started practicing for show week about a month before the last class. The program went as follows: each child would be called into the gym, and they would run in, do a forward roll, and then any "trick" or "stunt" that they wanted to do. Then they would go sit down and wait for the other children to make their entrance into the gym. In practice, Bree did great at her entrance. She'd run in a top speed, do her forward roll and then do a little jump.

Now Bree always wants to be first. For anything and everything. Unfortunately, she volunteered to be first without realizing that the gym would be filled with people. It was completely different from when they had practiced it. So when she entered the gym, she just stopped dead in her tracks. Her instructors had to coax her into the gym and got her to do the forward roll.

Bree did very well on her balance beam routine. She even did a forward roll on the balance beam! Such a dare devil! Bree also did a great routine on the uneven bars.

At the end of the show, all of the children got medals. Bree was very very proud of hers.

Bree's smile is a bit goofy in the picture of the two of us, but you can see how her hair is coming in! It's not getting longer, unfortunately, but it is getting thicker.

Long Time, No Post!

Well, where to begin. My blogging has been sporadic at best this summer.

My mom came into town on a Tuesday in July, and we left for Kansas City the very next day. It took us two days to get there - and really, the drive wasn't that bad. There were two of us driving, that helped - but also, Bree did really well with the drive. We, of course, had to stop at Mr. Donald's for almost every meal, which really does get old after a day. Bree would eat her meal, then she would dance.



Bree has actually started doing this at every restaurant we go to. She wants to get up and dance, like we're at a club or something. I tell her to stay near our table and to not get in the way of anyone carrying food, and then she just dances. She calls it her "princess ballet" which involves a lot of spinning, grand hand gestures and rolling of the eyes. It's actually pretty funny to watch, especially if you're not trying to get around her with a tray of food. Bree will dance at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Doesn't matter what time of the day we're at a restaurant, she's gotta dance.



When packing Bree's toys for the trip, I brought one of her dress up outfits. Her absolute favorite is a princess dress given to her by her cousin Nina. But if anything ever happened to this dress, I wouldn't be able to live with Bree, so I decided it would stay home and we would bring her flower tutu & headband. Bree was able to reach her toy bag while we were in the car, and she was playing dress up as best she could in her seat. You can also see her electric keyboard on the seat next to her, and her doodle draw as well. She was able to keep herself occupied both on the way there and the way home.

This is probably my very favorite picture of the whole trip! GiGi and Bree had such fun together. This was taken right before we left for the wedding. Bree was a good girl during the ceremony itself, which was not a full Catholic wedding mass, and that was a very good thing for 3 year olds who just want to dance. The wedding was beautiful, but I'll admit that I did not actually see most of it. The wedding program was wrapped with a very pretty ribbon, which Bree used to wrap around my head, stick in my cleavage, stuff in my mouth, and blindfold me. BUT, she was quiet while she did it, so I was okay with it. Well, you know, as okay as you can be when you're being blindfolded by a toddler during a wedding. Did I mention that she was actually quiet during the ceremony? Totally worth it. :)

The picture above was taken outside the curch after the wedding. Because Bree had to dance. Of course. The reception was a blast! The food was awesome, the music was great, and it was just such a fun night. Bree was such a good girl, she actually got to stay to watch the bride and groom cut the cake and have their first dance. She even got to dance with the bride & groom on the dance floor! She had a great time. I was so surprised that she didn't put up a fight when it came time to leave. Granted, it was 10pm, but this girl can go all night when she's in the mood.

It was so good to see everyone in Kansas City. We weren't able to get out there for my Grandpa's funeral, we just can't get out there as often as I'd like. It is getting easier to make the drive - well, it seems like it, anyway. This is only the second time we've done it.

On the way back, we made it as far as Charleston, WV. We were able to find a hotel with a pool so that Bree could practice her swimming. That's right, we signed her up for swimming lessons at the local YMCA. The only pictures I have of her swimming class are from my cell phone, and they just don't translate well onto the computer. Anyway, Bree likes her class, but it's been difficult lately to get her to the class.

Bree: "Mommy, I don't want to go to swimming."

Me: "Why?"

Bree: "Because I don't like my teacher."

Me: "What's wrong with Mr. Justin? He's a good teacher."

Bree: "But he's a boy. I need a girl teacher."

Me: "Mr. Justin is your teacher."

Bree: "But I don't wanna go!"

Me: "How about you just go watch the other kids, then?"

Bree: "Okay. But I'm just going to watch."

Me: "Okay. But you're going to wear your bathing suit."

Then I make her go sit on the side of the pool with the other kids. Then, inevitably, Bree will insist on being the first person in the pool to take her turn. Aaaand we do it all over again the next Saturday.

We've got four more lessons, and I hope that she gets over this "no boys as teachers" nonsense. It just makes me feel bad. She does love her swimming, though. What scares me the most is that Bree really thinks that she knows how to swim. When we were at the hotel pool, she kept telling me to let her go because she already knew how to swim. I reminded her that she was learnig to swim, but that she didn't yet know how to swim. Yet she will tell you that she knows how to swim.

July was a whirlwind of a month, and here it is eleven days into August already. There doesn't seem to be any time to stop & catch my breath. Maybe in September? Maybe in 2014? Who knows!?!