Dentist, Fort Casey

We went to Fort Casey on Whidbey Island for mother's day. It's a large concrete structure, with paths, a beach and a great kite-flying area. You could literally put the kite up in the air a good ways and just stake the end of the string down and let it fly by itself. The girls had fun exploring the different paths and all the nooks and crannies in the buildings.

What kid cheers when they go to the dentist?! Mine do! We went for their regular cleaning, and the girls go in together, but without me. I could hear them giggling in the waiting room! Meghan goes back in 2 weeks to get molars sealed, and the dentist requested that he be the one to do it! I'm not sure how long it will last, but I'm glad they like to go, it's easier than dragging them in kicking and screaming!

Photos, and there's lots of them!

Ok, so much later the same day...

Finally got the pictures straightened out.

We start with Friday's excursion to Tulip Town. We have rock-star Meghan, with her pants falling down. She says it,"Rock on, bay-bay!" The girls posed with the cutout - Meghan was tall enough to reach, but Jenna wasn't. I was wondering what to do when an elderly man offered to hold her up. Then a lady in his party said he shouldn't so she would. He didn't think she should, since she was pregnant. She held Jenna up, and I snapped it quickly, thanking her! We went on the tractor trolley ride, and walked around a bit. I was taking pictures with my tripod, trying something new, and Meghan swiveled the camera around from that lower viewpoint and took some great shots. She really has a good eye, and a very creative streak - wonder who she gets that from?! Jenna posed for us a little, but mostly was running with Meghan and our friend that came with us. Fortunately it had been dry for a few days, so the field wasn't very muddy - though Jenna did manage to step in a mud puddle that sucked her shoe off!

Next we have Jenna riding her truck (a sturdy Grave Digger monster truck) that she loves to ride around on in the house now that more of the floor isn't carpeted. Meghan showing off her face-painted hands. She really wanted her face painted at Tulip Town (we did last year - the guy is incredible!). I said no, since I didn't want to pay that much and just have it washed off in a few hours (bath night). My consolation prize was that I would paint her the next day. So while each of them had their turn at speech, the other got painted while sitting at the nearby bakery. I didn't get a shot of Jenna, she had a grey unicorn on her cheek and a red butterfly on her hand. Meghan has a unicorn and a kitty on her hands.

Meghan has come down with a cold, and set herself up to watch movies yesterday. She put the laundry basket next to her to hold her buddies, water and cereal. She's using a unicorn for a pillow. She stayed home again today, fever and sore throat, etc. I've tried getting all the photos lined up where I want them, and it's fighting me tonight. I need to go to bed, so I can hopefully not get whatever Meghan has! So it'll just have to stay slightly wonky.

still trying...

We went to Tulip Town Friday with friends, and I have some great pics, but the software seems to be having issues tonight, so it will have to wait. We actually got a little flushed from all the sun - way too many days spent inside with no sunlight! We probably OD'd on Vitamin D! I'll try again with the pics tonight (it's already tomorrow!).

Easter, Beach, Etc.

Easter...

We didn't go to the Lyman egg hunt this year, since both girls had speech at that time. We colored some eggs the night before, for fun. Nothing fancy, just food color and crayon for designs. They liked dipping them in different colors to see what happened. Sunday was rainy, so no outside egg hunt. I had scoured up all the little toys laying around, and stuffed them in eggs. I bought one bag of M&Ms, divided some of it into the eggs. When stuffed, we have a grocery bag full. Mark hid the eggs while the girls and I straightened up Meghan's room. They had such a blast searching for them! Jenna wanted to open each one as she found it, but we finally got her to just put them in her basket, and they opened them at the end - it didn't matter who had found what egg, and the candy ended up split fairly evenly. They also each got a chocolate rabbit, but Meghan didn't want hers. She is very particular about her candy! They had already picked out and opened their toys the week before, so it was a fairly laid-back Sunday aside from the egg hunt!

Last Sunday we went to Washington Park, outside of Anacortes. We like to take a picnic lunch and go there. There's a playground for the kids, a boat dock for small boats where people pull big boats with small vehicles (we just shake our heads!), and lots of gravel beaches and tide pools. The field next to the playground had all these little white flowers. The girls had fun clambering over the rocks.

I went through the girls clothes today, pulling out stuff they don't fit in anymore. Jenna still has a good selection, since I also pulled out the stuff from Meghan. Meghan's closet is looking a little peaked! Unfortunately, she's at an awkward size - too tall for a 6, too skinny for a 7/8. Though some of the Tshirts these days are sized totally weird - she has a 10/12 that is just a little wider than a 6/8 - wider, not longer! School dress code is that no belly should be visible, even during movement. I'll end up buying boys clothes just because they're cut longer! I'm buying patterns on sale, and plan on sewing most of her clothes so they'll fit her.

More pics

Meghan making crackers and peanut butter, the girls at the River park on spring break.

Meet Shirley

We said goodbye to Orville yesterday. His transmission was seriously slipping, the engine was ticking (possible lifter), the fan only blew on max, etc. He served us well. Our new family "member" is Shirley.Thinking of Goldilocks and Movies, Shirley Temple comes to mind - so Shirley it is. She is a goldish (found out it's actually called sandstone) 2004 Honda Odyssey. This is the first vehicle of mine that I'd consider an investment piece, since they hold their value very well. Not that I haven't taken care of my cars, but they always end up being $1k or less at trade-in. She is in great shape. You can see her picture here, until they take her down! And that's not what we paid. She has a few bells and whistles, which will take a little time to figure out. Both the girls love the fact that it has a built-in DVD player. Long road trips will have never been a problem for us, but I think they might look forward to them more! I did my research, and if you want to know why 2004 is better than 2005, I can tell you! I really wanted a Montana, but there were none to be found locally (1 in Renton sold while I was researching). Would you believe our insurance is cheaper?! We decided to decrease our deductibles on both vehicles, and it's only $4 more a month. Considering how much a windshield costs, it will be worth it!

Meghan's trying to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels. This week is spring break. We're going swimming tomorrow, and maybe a picnic Friday if the weather's nice.

Funny Faces

Seems like every time I have the camera out, the girls insist on doing funny faces. So, just for fun, here's a set of funnies, Jenna mid-jump and Tess totally relaxed. I'll write about our first roller skating venture on Sunday!