Kalahari

Last weekend we took a little mini family vacation to Ohio. There is a huge indoor water park and resort called Kalahari in Sandusky which is just under 2 hours away from us so we decided to go check it out. It did not disappoint. 

Macy working on her basketball skills. If you missed it on facebook, Macy just got measured at her 4yr check up and is in the 100th percentile for height! Josh has big plans for her.

Josh pretty much did not have a single second to sit and relax. He ran around the park with the kids for three days and they could not have been happier.

Samm was a really great help to me of course and walked around with Macy most of the time. 

Of course, her taking care of Macy in the kiddie pool had absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact that she    did not want to ride any of the water slides.

I wasn't sure how this little munchkin was going to do spending all day at the pool, but she really was great.

The big hit of the park was this boogie board ride. Unfortunately the line was always really long so they only rode it a few times, but I was really impressed with how well Samm and James did. 

You had to stand at the top by the life guard and jump forward over the ledge and I wasn't sure if Samm would actually do it, but after only a second of hesitation she went for it.

There was another life guard down in the front facing them and telling/showing them what tricks to try. This one was my favorite.

The life guard in front had a little bit of fun with Josh. After she took her board and did a front roll, the two older guys standing next to me started laughing, and Josh mouthed "ya right!" She smiled and nodded her head that yes she was serious and she may have giggled just a bit also.

It's hard to tell from this picture, but this was him actually completing the roll and making it back onto the board! I'm pretty sure he shocked everyone watching.

Macy was willing to give the bigger water slides a try, but in the end she was happiest on the little ones in the kiddie pools.

James is our ride lover and had Josh going on all of them with him. That is James coming out of the one on the left. 

I love these next two pictures because it shows the difference in the size of splash that Josh and James make. This is our little skin and bones James.

And this is Dad!

So she was mostly happy

Macy was sitting out for a while to warm up and just started singing to herself. Even after I started taking her picture, she acted like I wasn't there and just kept singing away.

Swimming all day makes for very hungry kids!

Mostly Laila and I just sat and people watched but we did play in the water a little.

Macy had a perma-wedgie

Too cute not to take a picture of!

And just a few pictures of my people watching partner. I couldn't help it, she is so stinkin cute! And to answer the question about who Laila actually looks like. Well, according to the Asian lady at the kiddie pool she looks just like her niece. ?

By the third day of nonstop running around with the kids, Josh was d.o.n.e.

And this is what a long day of swimming and  late night dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings will do to a little girl.

PS. That purple shirt is the only proof from our entire trip that I actually do exist. I really need to start handing the camera off to Josh more.

I've said it before...

Two things always happen when I go out anywhere with Laila. 1) people (women) always stop and tell me how cute she is and 2) she gets called a boy at least once. I'm pretty used to it, so I don't bother to correct them.

The other day Laila and I were at Big Lot's, of all places, when a woman and her little girl walked past us. The woman stopped and proceeded to make a big fuss about what a cute little boy I had. I just smiled and said "Thank You" but as they walked on I heard the little girl say something about the baby being a girl. Then, the woman said in a very "your only 4, what do you know" type of voice, "No honey, that's a boy." To which the girl responded "Then why is he wearing a pink shirt?"

Big Lot's is a very strange place!  And I happen to think he is the cutest little boy ever! Even in a pink shirt.

Facebook Repeat

I'm sorry to all of you who already saw these on Facebook, but I wanted a permanent record of them here on the blog and my mom and dad don't do Facebook.

Poor Samm is so desperate for a little bit of alone time that she has resorted to hiding out in her closet. I always know when she is in there because 1) the other two are following me around asking if I know where Samm is, and 2) she usually tapes a keep out sign of some sort to the door. Well, the other day I found this dry erase board in the dollar section at Target and within minutes of me giving it to her this sign was posted. I had to laugh when I read it because doesn't every mother feel this way.

And today was one of those days where 9:00 church just about killed me, and the rest of the day pretty much finished me off. After dinner James brought down his school folder and I discovered that he had five sheets of homework due tomorrow! So, once the kids were finally in bed, much later than normal I drug myself into the kitchen to tackle the mountain of dinner dishes still sitting in the sink, and ended up finding this on the floor. And I remembered again why all of this craziness is totally worth it!

Happy Love Day

Aren't my Valentines cute!

Macy picked out the fabric for the girl's dresses and I used this pattern for the older two and this one for Laila. I added a couple inches of length to the dresses so they would be knee length, but Samm's still ended up being too short so I had to throw a border around the bottom on Saturday night. I don't love it as much as I do Macy's, but it still turned out cute.

And last night our kitchen turned into a Valentines Day bake shop. So I may have gotten a little carried away, but heart shaped food is just too cute. We made cookies and homemade sprinkles for teachers and some friends, Samm actually made heart chocolates for her teacher and we have some to take to neighbors, and then once the kids were in bed I made them heart shaped monkey bars. I was a little disappointed when I came down stairs and they didn't seem very excited about their special treat, but then I found out that they thought they were blueberry muffins. Once I explained what they really were, I got the reaction I was hoping for.

I hope you all have a wonderful day with the ones you love! Josh is on call tonight which is a bummer, but that's life around here.

Gretel and a jolly rancher hat

Last night we finally got to watch Samm in her school play. She did a great job of course and loved every second of it. We did video tape it for the grandparents, but unfortunately we are still using our ancient laptop and I think it would take at least 24 hours to load. So for now, here are a few shots of her in action.

And today happened to be the 100th day of school and James was supposed to make a hat with 100 things on it so we made a jolly rancher hat. I even let James use the hot glue gun! It was a pretty awesome, but heavy hat.

Samm's Calendar

A few days ago Samm came down from her bedroom and posted this calendar on the fridge. 

She has given herself one day a week off from playing with James and Macy. Which means that one day a week James and Macy will be following me around the house whining about how bored they are. Yep, they really are that lost without her!

Best Sunday activity ever!

Dad has had a couple of REALLY long days here lately! We were hoping to get to spend some time with him on Saturday, but he ended up working all the way through Friday night and desperately needed some sleep so the kids and I packed up and left the house so it would be nice and quiet for him. Part of our stay away from the house journey took us to the craft store where we gathered supplies to make valentines. Samm was soooo excited she could hardly contain herself, so as soon as we got home from church today she and Macy got right to work. There was glue and glitter everywhere, but I honestly didn't care. There was just something about watching Macy's chubby little fingers cut out those hearts and seeing Samm put so much thought into each one that completely made my day.

When it was all over, I had two very proud girls!

And James has decided that he has absolutely no desire to cut out hearts and has asked that I just by him a box of pre-made valentines.