Christmas In July

I feel like a kid at Christmas!

I woke up before six this morning and could not go back to sleep. I was too excited. We are off to Maine today!

Rick and I got the packing done last night - all we need to do it find a way to fit everything into the car, get breakfast for everyone, make sure the rats are set for a couple of days and do the last minute stuff that is required when leaving a house empty for a week.

Our fabulous neighbor Lauri is going to keep watch over things for us - she's going to check in on the rats a couple of times, water the garden if it needs it, and put out the trash for us on Monday. In fact, she is so fabulous she is even going to make a run to Michael's during the week to get us some more Sculpey clay which is finally on sale again -we have been waiting for about a month for it to go on sale so I could buy them more and of course the stupid stuff is on sale this week, Sunday to Saturday! Yes, she's a keeper.

Before we leave we are going to give Youngest girl a dose of Dramamine and hope that she doesn't end up with a bout of carsickness. She has had about 3 or 4 incidences of vomiting during car rides seemingly at random. These bouts occur anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour into a car ride and we can only assume that it is carsickness because she never seems very sick after emptying her stomach of its contents. Most local drives have been incident-free, thankfully - it's the long hauls that seem to be the most vomit-inducing. Today I would like to avoid a puke scented car on our 4-5 hour journey so I'm giving the Dramamine a try. Here's hoping it works. It can also cause drowsiness which might not be such a bad thing for our long trip...

I've packed some reading materials for the trip. I'm midway through Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner, which I am enjoying. I also packed a novel by Tracy Chevalier called The Lady and the Unicorn which I had actually started a while ago and was enjoying but hadn't found the time to finish for some reason or other. And lastly, being completely overambitious in regard to my reading list for the week, I included a copy of Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Rick and his mom have given it rave reviews (I just asked Rick for the author's name and he said "don't start that book on vacation - you'll get sucked into it!") and so I threw it in the bag to start if I finish the other two books. I'll hopefully be having too much fun sailing, swimming, walking along the beach, and playing shuffleboard to actually read much but I'm bringing them as insurance against rain. If I don't bring any books it is sure to rain...right? That's my theory anyway. In fact, we are also bringing along some board games like Monopoly and Sorry to ward off the raindrops. Maybe I should pack a 1000-piece puzzle while I'm at for a little extra insurance. Actually, that might be like hand-delivering the rain an invitation to our little vacation party. Scratch that idea. Besides, I'm not sure we are going to have room in the car for more crap essentials.

OK - off to get ready for our Big Maine Adventure! I'll probably be able to check in on occasion since we'll have our laptop along and there is internet access at the resort. So, feel free to comment or email me but don't expect a speedy reply!

Have a good week! I planning on having a great one!

Two More Days Until Maine!

On Saturday we are driving to Boothbay Harbor for a week-long vacation. And it will be a real vacation. No cooking, cleaning, or other household duties! Our first honest-to-goodness vacation since 1999 - the year before Eldest girl was born.

We've talked to the girls about the kinds of things we can do at the resort and they are most excited by the idea of the heated salt-water pool and the kids' camp. I must say I'm looking forward to those things as well but I'm also excited by the thought of learning to sail on one of their boats (they have instructors who will go out with you, thankfully, otherwise I would not be so brave stupid to attempt sailing on my own) and having all my meals cooked for me - including a lobster bake or two.

And then there is the fact that I've never actually been to Maine before. I've lived in Massachusetts my whole life and have never had the opportunity (or made the opportunity) to drive up to Maine. I'm finally going to Maine and I can't wait!

Just two more days.

And lots of packing to do in the meantime.

Wish You Were Here

We just made blueberry muffins.

If you were here you could help us eat them.

--------------------------------------------

Some Kind of Wonderful

Wrong! I was sooo wrong!

And I'm more than happy to admit it.

Eldest girl surprised the heck of me (and the rest of the family) by actually choosing to stay overnight at camp!

I was convinced that we were going to have to deal with a meltdown about whether or not to stay. It was, in fact, quite the opposite. She was still undecided when we got there but I told her I had brought along all her things and she still had time to decide. I asked if she had talked to the counselors about the evening plans and she had not. She is the kind of kid who likes to know what to expect and I thought that hearing about the evening's activities would help a bit in making a decision. So, I offered to go over and talk to the counselors with her. After the counselor gave us a brief run down of the evenings events Eldest girl made a surprising turn around. She said "That sounds like fun! I want to stay!" And from that moment on she never looked back.

Eldest girl seems to have found her confidence. She is becoming a 'can do kid'! It's exciting and makes us all so proud of her.

While the kitchen crew prepped for the BBQ we took a bit of a walk and allowed the girls to show us the nature center and nature trail. We also checked out the cabin where Eldest girl would spend the night.

two happy campers in front of the Nature Center building



eldest girl in front of her cabin


showing us her bunk


with her counselors



the fearless camper hamming it up for the camera


After dinner it was time for the skits that the kids had been working on during their two weeks at camp. There was a variety of performances from a dance number (to Bye Bye Bye by *NSYNC but with no puppet strings, trains, psycho chicks with dogs, or car chase scenes involved) to a mock news broadcast of the days events at camp. Eldest girl took her new 'can-do' attitude to a new level when her group got up to do their skit. I am still not quite sure how to describe their skit other than to say it was filled with the antics of a gaggle of soon-to-be 3rd-grade girls. I do know that it had something to do with waiting for the camp bus. Here are Eldest girl and another girl waiting at the bus stop...



She was so proud of herself last night. Once she finished she came running up to me and said "I did it!"

Indeed, she did.

And it was every kind of wonderful.

Sleeping Beauty

I had wondered why Youngest girl was so unexcited by the park yesterday. But, she did seem to perk up a bit when we went to the pool yesterday afternoon. So, I figured she was probably just more excited by the idea of going to the pool and just biding her time until we got there.

She played hard for about an hour and a half in the pool and ate a ton of blueberries and raspberries and then we came home so we could get ready to go to the BBQ at the older girls' camp.

I went to take a shower and left her looking at books on the couch.

When I returned this is what I found:



I think she is growing. Either that or Corduroy is a real snooze.

I find it so funny that she can fall asleep just about anywhere. In the last few months she's fallen asleep on the living room floor, the rocking chair, and the couch. And she is the only one of my three kids who has voluntarily gone to her room in the middle of the day, climbed into bed and fallen fast asleep. This one takes after me - she likes her sleep.

In fact, today she came with me to my dentist appointment (routine cleaning) and she was so freaked out when the dental hygienist put the mask over her face that she curled up on my lap so she wouldn't have to look at her and promptly fell asleep. She was much happier when she woke up and found that the 'scary monster' was gone and the nice looking hygienist was back.

Tonight we are heading off to camp again for another BBQ. Last night was a fun mixture of hot dogs, burgers, lemonade, energetic camp counselors, silly skits, campy songs, and a real campfire over which we burned roasted marshmallows for our s'mores. Tonight we go back for more of the same but this time it is for Eldest girl's group. Middle girl did a nice job playing the part of a counselor in her skit last night - it will be fun to see what Eldest girl's group has planned for us tonight. It is also up in the air whether Eldest girl will decide to partake in the sleepover option or not. She seems completely torn- afraid on the one hand but intrigued on the other - and I fear a meltdown when push comes to shove and she has to make that final decision. I am planning to bring her overnight necessities, just in case, but at this point if I were a betting mom I'd be betting that she'll be coming home tonight. Only time will tell...

Lazy Days of Summer

Updated

Must. Move. More.

I'm still having a hard time with the motivation to get any exercise. And my afternoon slump is a good indication that I'm slacking off on the exercise. I definitely find that I feel sluggish and want to take a nap if I don't get my daily dose of exercise. I also want to eat more. It's a strange thing how exercise uses up calories and yet seems to suppress the appetite.

This morning Youngest girl wants to go to the park and I want to go for a bike ride. So, we've made a compromise. We'll bike to the park!

This afternoon we have an invitation to a friend's pool. It's supposed to get close to 90 today so that will be a great place to hang out for the afternoon.

The older girls are at camp and this evening we are driving out to meet them there for a family 'hot dog BBQ'. Tonight is the BBQ for families of the younger kids and Middle girls says they have some songs and skits prepared for us. Tomorrow night will be a repeat but this time for the older kids so our family will be there once again for Eldest girl group. They are both having a blast at camp - I'm already planning on signing them up again for next year.

OK - time for a bike ride!


**************************************

You can't ride my little red wagon

Front wheel's broken and the axle's draggin'

You can't ride my little red wagon

Any more today!

Well - we tried.

We got about 1/2 mile away from home and my bike gave up the ghost. Or rather - it chose to stick to one gear and some wire thingy that was sort of attached to my gear shift thingy was sticking out funny (yes, I'm quite technical when it comes to all things mechanical). I was stuck in one gear and the shifter was no use. At least we were able to ride back home without any major issues but it was clear that if we wanted to get to the park we were going to have to take the car.

Once there, Youngest one was completely unmotivated to actually play at the park. She enjoyed the swings for about 2 minutes and went down the slide once. I tried to entice her with a walk along the river but we barely made it 10 yard before she gave up on that idea and asked to back to the swings. We got to the swings and in the 2 minutes it took to get there she decided she was no longer interested in the swings anymore. It was time for mommy to take the lead and declare that it was time to go home. We ate our lunch and are having a bit of quiet time before we head to our friend's house to swim in her pool.

Here's hoping we have a more successful outing this afternoon!

We can paddle...canoe?

We did, indeed, get out in the canoe yesterday afternoon. Our initial plan was to leave Youngest girl with the grandparents but they were not home when we called over to set up a time to drop her off. We decided to be brave and took her along with us. She actually did a great job of sitting nicely and had a good time watching the world go by.

The pond we chose for our first canoe adventure was small and a bit mucky but it was a good first run and now we are anxious to get out again and find some bigger and better places to canoe.

And being completely brainless yesterday, I forgot to bring along my camera. Otherwise I'd post a few pics of us in our dorky (but safe!) life vests and of the murky waters through which we paddled.

Yeah, it was probably for the best that I left the camera at home...

12 of 12 - Boston Edition

Did you miss me?

I made it home safe and sound by about 6:45 last night. Rick and the girls survived the weekend just fine with the exception of multiple bouts of vomiting (Eldest girl) Friday night into Saturday morning. She was doing OK - aside from being tired - by the time I called to check in on Saturday morning. Rick also sounded very tired and the younger two girls were reportedly bickering all morning. However, things apparently improved and they had a good day on Sunday - they even managed to get out for a Geocache hunt and it was enjoyed by all.

As for me, I had a good weekend away with Patty. She was so relieved to have me along to do the heavy lifting and provide some additional supports in the classroom and I was more than happy to oblige. I think the most valuable thing I learned this weekend is that I do have some level of competence in AAC. I've been listening and learning a lot from both Patty and Dale (the Physical Therapist, aka "PT", on our team) this spring. I did learn a few things along the way and got my hands on a number of good resources but on the whole it felt more like a good, solid review of things I already know. The one thing that I know I need to work on is the thing you can't get from a classroom. Experience. Hands-on experience. I have the knowledge but I need to actually put it into practice with real live kids before I can gain the breadth of expertise that both Patty and Dale possess. It will come with time - after all, they've been doing this for more than 20 years. With all that experience under their belts it's a blessing and a gift to have them as my mentors.

OK...now on to the main reason for this post - my 12 of 12....Boston style! Be sure to visit Chad Darnell's site for more information on the 12 of 12 project and to view other blog entries.

7am
Best Western at Longwood Inn (right in the heart of the medical district)
We had an interesting check-in experience. Suffice it to say that our first room had only one bed. We were thankfully able to move but not after some snafus and lack of follow-through by the hotel staff. The waitress from room service who deilvered our beers to the room with the one bed might have assumed otherwise, but we were so happy to have two beds to crash in once we finally got moved at about 11:30pm!


The view from our hotel - not so very exciting. I believe that one of those buildings on the right is Children's Hospital.


7:30am
Boston streets on our way from the hotel to Simmons college
We were in the general vicinity of Fenway Park - home of the Red Sox - and I was told by Patty that the Citgo sign in the distance is famous seeing as it is right near Fenway. So, there you have it. We saw a famous sign on our trip - the extent of our sight-seeing during the busy weekend!


7:35am
Cumberland Farms/Dunkin Donuts
Breakfast of coffee and bagels procured from DD.


You could tell we were in Red Sox territory by the blue and red signs above the coolers in Cumberland Farms. (Click on the picture to enlarge)


7:45am
Arriving at Simmons College.


7:55am
The classroom where we spent the majority of our weekend
The building was very nice and according to Patty had just been renovated. Having not been in a college classroom for quite a few year I was quite impressed by the 'Podium of Technology' that existed. All the necessary technology could be accessed via a touch screen device on the podium. She had computer, DVD player and even a VCR right at her fingertips - among other things that we didn't use but had available to us.



8:30am
Classroom
Class is about to begin. A few of the computer-based communication devices that we were going to be demonstrating to the class.



11:30am
Still in the classroom
One of the demonstrations involved a pudding-making activity in which Patty played the part of teacher and three volunteers were each given a different device to use to communicate their wants/needs. This picture shows the device with activity-specific vocabulary and the leftovers from the pudding-making. Another student was given a device with relatively random vocabulary, and a third student was given one of the high-tech devices in which she had access to a huge amount of vocabulary - both commonly used words as well as access to pages with activity specific vocabulary. We wanted the class to see for themselves which vocabulary set worked best when given to a novice user.


12:15pm
Around campus
At lunchtime I took a walk around campus for a bit to get out of the building and see the sun for a while. The campus is currently involved in a large-scale renovation which they are expecting to have completed by the fall semester.



9pm
Best Western Hotel room
After dinner we headed back to hotel room where we did a bit of troubleshooting for a few of the issues that cropped up during the computer lab portion of the class and Patty did some editing
on some of her tutorials. It's a bitch when they make relatively minor changes between versions of the software and the students were quick to point out the inaccuracies/differences on the tutorials.


9:30pm
Best Western
I turned on the TV to see if there was anything mindless to watch for a while. Jurrasic Park fit the bill. Patty and I were both too tired to bother watching the whole thing. Lights went out by 10pm since there was another long day ahead of us.


Not too exciting, but a basic idea of our day. Patty has another three weekends of classes to teach but she is getting other "helpers" to join her those weekends. I'm on stand-by if she needs me the second weekend of August for her final class but at this point it looks like I won't be needed.

Rick is taking a vacation day today and the older girls are off to camp for the day. At some point today - if the rain stops - Rick and I might try to get out in our canoe for the very first time! We bought it a couple of years ago on Craigslist but the planets have yet to align just right for us to actually use it! I'll be sure to give a status update tonight on whether we manage to take our maiden voyage or not. Wish us luck!

Off I Go!

To my millions of readers who hang on my every word ~
To my four loyal readers who can actually stay awake reading my blog (or maybe just use it as a sleep aid) ~

I will be liberated from my children away for the entire weekend. I am heading into Boston to help my coworker Patty teach a class on AT (assistive technology). She is just about 3 weeks post-op (mastectomy) and needed help with some of the physical demands of the class. So, I'm tagging along to not only help her out but to also get an earful of all there is to know about AT. I'm still in the steep learning curve phase of my re-entry into the working world and so this partnership is the perfect solution. I get the education and she gets a much needed extra pair of hands for the weekend.

I have left Youngest girl with Rick for an overnight or two in the recent past and I've even gotten away all by my big self for a whole day now and again...but to leave all three girls with Rick and be all by myself from Friday morning until Sunday night? That'll be a first. I have never been away from any of my kids for that length of time. So, send along some "be good" vibes to the girls and some sanity vibes for Rick. I'm sure he would appreciate that. Rick has a few plans for the weekend so hopefully I will return on Sunday night and find everyone happy and too busy to have missed me.

Tomorrow is 12 of 12 (see Chad Darnell's blog for more information) and so I'm going to try to take some interesting pictures in Boston - not sure how interesting they will be since I'll be in a lecture hall for most of the day but I'll try to be creative. I won't be able to post them until I get back so you'll just have to be waiting with bated breath for my return. Sorry about that. But, I have a feeling you'll find something to do with your time until I get a chance to post again.

The weather here has been nothing short of spectacular. Yesterday we had a high of about 85 with blue skies and a light but effective breeze. I took Youngest girl on a bike ride on the rail trail and we had a great time. The older girls continue to love, love, love camp. Eldest girl is finally settling in and feeling more secure. At least that is what I chose to believe since she was an emotional wreck each evening after camp right up until last night when she seemed much more mellow and able to deal with life. I swear she keeps all her emotions bottled up tight inside all day long and then lets loose when she walks in the door. I see it at the start of every school year and it seems to be the case with camp as well. She just has such a hard time making the adjustments to new situations and getting to know new people. It's exhausting for her.

Middle girl, by comparison, seems to thrive on those kinds of situations and she comes home bubbly and happy and full of stories from the day.

Sometimes it is hard to believe they are related!

OK, I'm off to finish packing and to get showered and dressed. Try not to miss me too much. I'll be back before you bother to check my blog again know it!

Pride Cometh Before a Fall

I've been so excited by Youngest girl's achievements on the potty that perhaps I'm going overboard on the praise...just a bit. It's been more than a week and perhaps she is not needing all the joyous shouts, high-fives, and proclamations of "what a big girl!" we've been doling out. But, I find I can't help it because I really am that excited. (Pathetic? Yes. But we are a diaper free house! How cool is that?)

This praise overkill was highlighted by a recent interaction I had with Youngest girl a few nights ago. I was sitting on the couch and she was standing nearby looking adorable and just so huggable. So, I held my arms out wide and said to her "can I have a big hug?!"

My only real motivation was to give her a hug and get one in return. Because, ya know, that's one of the joys of having a two-year-old in the house. All that free love.

But, it seems as though she was anticipating yet another round of praise for how well she's been doing on the potty. Being the card that she is, she came over and gave me a huge hug and said in a very motherly sort of way "I'm soooo proud of you!"

And then she started to giggle.

She was mocking me. Seriously!

My two-year-old has learned the fine art of mockery.

What next? Sarcasm? Irony? Light-hearted banter?

I couldn't help but laugh and then asked her why she was so proud of me.

"Cuz you do your job...!"

There was a brief pause during which I had high hopes that I was being praised for my efforts as a mother. But I didn't have long for it to go to my head or anything before she finished her thought: "...since you are a big dirl wike me!"

Oh. That job.

Yes, folks. I can use the potty! Aren't you soooo proud of me, too?

Summer Camp update

Aside from being 15 minutes late, the camp bus arrived back into town safe and sound with all the campers accounted for. The girls came off the bus no worse for the wear and with smiles on their faces which I took as a good sign. They both were quick to say that they had a fun day at camp. At one point, Middle girl even reported that she was sad when it was time to get on the bus to leave because she wanted to stay even longer! I fear we may have a party girl in the making in that one. She never likes to see the good times end.

One of Eldest girl's first comments to me was, "you're probably going to be mad, but I failed the swim test." Huh? I cannot for the life of me figure out why she thought I'd be mad. (Apart from the fact that she sets high expectations on herself and tends to be a bit perfectionistic. I'm guessing that failure was not an easy pill to swallow - it never is, but she seems to have a harder time of it.) She was very mad because of the way the swim test was given. Apparently, the kids were asked to swim a particular length from one side of a u-shaped dock to the other and then tread water for a given amount of time. Eldest girl cried as she told me that she knew she wouldn't be able to do it and that she swam the distance fine but then was too winded to do the full amount of treading water. She felt it unfair that they made her do the water treading after the swimming. I explained that it was probably set up that way for a reason - namely that they needed to test her strength and stamina in the water. She would not be disabused of the notion that the test was unfair. I did my best to reassure her that I was not mad and that I was sure she did the best she could. She also stated that she knew she was not going to be able to pass as soon as they told her what was required. To which I explained that if she went into it thinking so negatively that perhaps that didn't help her get a positive outcome. I told her that perhaps she needed to go into it with a more positive attitude. I'm not sure I helped much with that bit but I really feel that negative thinking will lead to negative results and it's a lesson best learned young. Eldest girl has a tendency to think negatively and that has always bothered me. At the end of a fun day she will most often lament the things she didn't get to do instead of rejoicing in the things that were fun about the day. Or she'll let one sour moment overshadow all else. She did the same thing yesterday. She let her failure in the swim test overshadow the fun times. She also compared Middle girl's activities to her own and complained that Middle girl seemed to have participated in more activities. I explained that the kindergarten set tend to have shorter attention spans which might account for the increased number of activities but that they both arrived at camp at the same time and left at the same time which would indicate that one did not get more than the other. (However, Middle girl - by her very nature - might have possibly squeezed more fun out of her day! I'm just saying... Not that I would say that out loud.)

In the end, I think they both really did have a good day and they both climbed on the bus this morning happy and carefree as all summer campers should be. Eldest girl did tell us that she will have another opportunity to attempt the swim test again today. Maybe she will take my words to heart and think more positively ("I think I can! I think I can!" -- perhaps I should have given her that book to read last night...along with her current Harry Potter obsession).

Youngest girl and I have another quiet, but fun day planned. Yesterday we ran a few errands, took a bike ride through the neighborhood (something that is a rare treat since Middle girl doesn't want to do much more than ride to the end of the street and back and Eldest girl can ride her two-wheeler but refuses to practice stopping so she doesn't really like to use her bike for fear of falling...sigh), read a few books, did a few puzzles and she even took a long nap which allowed me to get some cleaning and pick-up done around the house. Today we have been hanging out at home this morning in the comfort of the a/c because it's stinking hot outside. After lunch we are going to a friend's pool for some cooling off and by the time we leave there it will be almost time to get the older girls off the camp bus.

Plans for tomorrow? A much needed haircut and lunch with Rick while Youngest girl hangs out with Grandma and Grandad!

Booty Camp Complete...on to Summer Camp!

Youngest girl is doing her job quite well this last week! She still occasionally needs to be reminded that a trip to the potty would be in everyone's best interest, but she has not had any accidents since I last posted. She's even dry through the night so we've gotten rid of the pull-ups as well. I'm still in awe of just how quickly it all happened. I think she was the easiest to train of all. And I'm thrilled that I can stop carrying a diaper bag and won't need swim diapers in the pool anymore.

In other exciting news, the two older girls started camp today. Middle girl seemed apprehensive last night about going but this morning all was well and she happily climbed aboard the bus. I was afraid I'd have one or both in tears this morning (since Eldest girl seems to have more anxiety issues at times) but it went very well. There was a slight snafu at the bus, however. The bus driver was a substitute and the camp counselor was a newbie - so neither of them knew exactly what was what. But, thankfully there was a veteran camp mom who knew the ropes. There should have been a bus monitor (possibly by the name of Chris) who was supposed to have clipboard in hand to check in the campers and get them loaded on the bus by 8:05am. By 8:15am it was obvious that something was amiss. The veteran mom said that they are usually right on schedule and yet there was no sign of the monitor. She called the YMCA to find out if they knew anything. We finally did get the kids signed in on a makeshift list (created on the back of a High School tardy slip provided by one of the dads) and sent the kids off on the bus with explicit instructions to the sub and the newbie not to let the kids get off the bus without a parent present at the end of the day. I would have been much more concerned about this lack of organization if it were not for the the fact that the veteran mom was there and reassured me that this was not a common occurrence. Let's hope tomorrow bus drop-off is a bit more routine.

While were waiting for the no-show bus monitor to possibly show up and get the show on the road we chatted with some of the other kids and parents. One 8-year-old girl was a familiar face to me, if not to Eldest girl. And her younger sister was familiar to both me and Middle girl. The 8-year-old (L) had gone to preschool with Eldest girl but they didn't remember each other and Middle girl just finished a year of preschool with her sister. I'm hoping that Eldest girl and L will get reacquainted at camp and have fun together. I was also able to introduce Eldest girl to another 8-year-old who was the daughter of the veteran mom. She seemed quite camp savvy, having gone to this camp for the last three years. Eldest girl often has a difficult time meeting new people so I was happy to be able to send her off with two girls who might be able to help her acclimate and learn the ropes. There were no 5-year-olds to introduce Middle girl to but I'm sure she'll make friends in no time.

The girls won't be back from camp until 5:25, which is when the bus arrives back here in town. I'm sure they will be tired but hopefully also happy from a long, fun day at camp! I'll keep you posted.

Lastly, I wanted to post a couple of pictures of the girls in their 4th of July parade costumes.

Last Monday I realized time was getting short and the girls still needed something to wear for the little parade we have every year around the town common. The kids are invited to wear costumes or decorate their bikes and sometimes a family might get ambitious and put together an actual float for the parade (show offs). Sometimes a small band leads the crowd playing patriotic songs and in years past we have also had some mounted police to join our little ragtag parade. After the parade someone reads a portion of the Declaration of Independence and the kids all get prizes for participation. Then folks gather on the common for foot races and other games, as well as free lemonade and watermelon.

For this year's parade the girls wanted to wear costume instead of decorating their bikes and wagon like they did last year. After a brief discussion Eldest girl decided on being an Indian girl (everyone at the parade asked if she was Pocahontas and she was so annoyed because she was just an indian! - the kid needs to lighten up a bit). Middle girl decided to be a 'nature fairy' and although her costume did not end up looking the way I imagined a nature fairy would look she was pleased which is really all that mattered. When we went on our shopping trip to get fabric and patterns we had been unable to decide just what to have Youngest girl wear. In the end we found some simple pieces to put together and made her a hula girl costume. She liked the grass skirt very much, however, it appeared that the concept of 'hula girl' was lost on her. She walked around picking up the grass pieces and letting them fall while chanting "snowing! snowing! snowing!" Ah well - she still looked pretty cute.

In fact they all looked cute, if I do say so myself.