A quick journal entry about the beach... with no pictures.

We went to the beach again on Saturday as a family. It was a bit overcast so we didn't really get in the water, but we had a picnic, played Frisbee, collected seashells (but didn't bring them home) and dug in the sand.

At one point the kids and I were collecting shells near the water and Derek was sitting on our blanket a little ways away. There was a couple nearby who said to me, "Did you see the dolphins?"

Sure enough, there was a little family of dolphins swimming by - much closer than I expected they would. We could really only see their dorsal fins and part of their body. They never poked their heads out of the water or jumped up or anything, but it was still fun to see. There were probably between 6 and 8 of them.

A few minutes later Derek called my name to get my attention. I turned and he pointed toward the water, so I looked again and saw another dolphin. Fun! I looked back and he said, "Ryan." So, I told Ryan that Dad needed him. He goes running across the sand to Derek and I had to gasp when I noticed that he was running across the sand nude from the waist down! Oh - THAT's what Derek was talking about. Ryan had apparently wet his swim trunks and didn't like the feeling, so he stripped down.

Later on when we were playing Frisbee, Ryan and Katie were having a blast in the dry sand. There was a sort of sand ledge and Ryan was running and jumping off of it, rolling around in the sand. Katie would ask for help getting up and then she'd slide down on her belly. Once she REALLY ate it - face in the sand and then she got smart and slid down feet first instead. I have heard that baby powder does wonders for getting sand off of your body when you go to the beach. I sure wished I had some to try it out. Sand in diapers is practically impossible to get out.

SHINER!

.....

The same step that cut Ryan's head open reached out and smacked Katie in the forehead pretty hard today. I actually almost considered taking her to the doctor over it - but then I came back to my senses. This was about 2 minutes after it happened. It looks totally different now. I'll take another picture and show you tomorrow.

(I couldn't get the bubble wand out of her mouth to take this picture)

"Her Name Was Lola, She Was a Bunny"

Yeah, we haven't been able to stop singing "Copacabana" this past week. Meet Lola -

Cozmo's previous owner said that Lola was acting really depressed and since Cozmo was becoming a total escape artist, we thought there was a chance that they missed each other. Apparently bunnies will form lifelong attachments to each other and some just really need to stay together.

I picked Lola up Saturday evening and it's pretty obvious to me that they really need to stay together. She doesn't act depressed to me at all - so it seems to have solved HER problem, and Cozmo just can't get enough of Lola (darn good thing she's supposedly spayed). The thing is, rabbits actually are quite a bit of work - I don't think I'm cut out to own 2 AND take care of my kids. SO, Lola is just here on a trial basis and we'll decide what to do in the next week.

There's a good chance that we'll try to find a new home for the two bunnies and then maybe we'll adopt one of Cozmo's new babies in a few weeks when they're old enough to leave their mother. I think ONE bunny is more our style.

Lola has been fabulous so far. She will actually let us touch and hold her which is a BIG improvement over Cozmo. She's as soft as silk too - it's almost therapeutic to pet her. Problem is, since she arrived they are each trying to "mark" their territory and there has been poop ALL OVER my house. They are spending more time in their cages now remembering where poop goes. Am I really potty training 3 bodies right now? I did this to myself - I asked for it.

Ever See Anything Like It?

This is SO funny to me. It's an apple jacket - to keep your apples from bruising! WHAT!?

Some Pictures Say it All

(warning: format on this posting may or may not drive you crazy)

...but if I didn't take this opportunity to ramble on about my frustration, you might be disappointed.

This is a small sampling of Ryan's destructive phase he is currently in. (He's less than 2 months shy of being 3 years old. I REALLY thought he was too old for this.)

-Entire box of Q-tips in the toilet (oh yeah, I still owe you a new box of Q-tips Mom),

-baby oatmeal cereal dumped all over the highchair/floor,

-rolls and rolls of toilet paper emptied in the bathroom,

-mascara painted all over the carpet (and as a result, carpet fuzz all in my mascara),

-two buckets full of sand dumped on my doormat,

-handfuls of sand piled in Katie's hair,

-kitchen cleaner sprayed in her hair (yes, I lost mother of the year award on that one - but I didn't DO it),

-coconut oil rubbed into my wood kitchen floor (not GOOD wood, luckily),

-salad dressing dripped on the kitchen floor,

-cup of juice poured on our rabbit (which resulted in me giving our bunny a bath - have you ever given a rabbit a bath before? Avoid it if possible),

-cat shampoo (used to give said rabbit a bath) painted on the toilet in the bathroom with my blush brush,

and plenty of others that are too mundane to list.

I keep telling myself that I'm not giving him enough attention, but I promise I'm not just ignoring the boy all day long.

I should probably clarify a thing or two about this picture, for Ryan's sake. I went in and said, "only toilet paper can go in the toilet - we can never flush anything else or it will get stuck."

He said, "But I went potty in there (the trash can) and needed to put it in the toilet."

Darn potty chairs! Now he thinks he needs to "go" somewhere else and dump it in the toilet afterwards. UGH!

Because I never record anything for this girl

At her 12 month checkup today (she is currently 14 months old) her stats were as follows:

weight - 18 pounds 4 oz = <5%

(Went home and weighed the diaper she was wearing. ACTUAL weight - 17 pounds 12 oz)

height - 28 1/2 inches = 20%

head - 18 3/8 inches = 85%

Got 4 shots. Isn't wearing this shirt today - but should be.

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

Look at all of these darling kids in our neighborhood. Katie was asleep for the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, but these kids had a blast. We just hid eggs in the park for them and they all went to town.

Kirsten
Teagan (I know, I should've cropped out Ryan's head)
Ellie, Kelsey, Kirsten

ChloeGarrett and William

Ryan

A Few More Bags

Trying out a New Bathtime Approach

I know, they look SO happy don't they!? I thought this might improve the hair washing time.

Unfortunately, it was a raging failure... on both accounts.

Wouldn't Want Her to Get Thirsty

My kids seem to have a thing with drinking water when they go to bed. This seems like a little much though, I must admit. Especially since she has been sleeping for 2 and a half hours in this picture and she's STILL hugging one cup.