Missed one

This was a leftover photograph from our Valleyfair trip. I found it last night on my camera phone. This ride is called the "Monster", and that's appropriate given it A) looks like an octopus, and B) will give you a MONSTER of a stomach ache afterwards. ☺ You can just barely see Paige peeking her head out from the car. This was one ride that Mom and I opted not to partake in.

Every child does it at least once...

Paige was taking a bath that was "supposed" to have been by herself, but then Daddy opened the door, and Gooby saw her big sis enjoying herself in the tub. So Abby had to get in, too; clothes and all.

Fun in Sanrio store aka Hello Kitty store

Today my mother-in-law, the girls, and I went to the Mall of America. While there we stopped in the Sanrio store so Emma and Paige could look around. There is a playhouse near the entrance, and all three girls had to go inside it. Abby loved it most, of course. In fact she loved the plethora of stuffed animals in the shop even more. She'd grab the stuffed kitties off the shelf and hug them, all while laughing hysterically. It was so comical. Then she'd say, "Ooh!" And hug them and laugh again. She had to bring a few of them into the playhouse.

Emma ended up getting a Hello Kitty bag, and Paige got some lip gloss. Unfortunately Abby ate most of P's lip gloss on the ride home. *chuckling to myself*

I entertained Abby with sunglasses at the Claire's store so Paige could look for new earrings.

♫ With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you. ♪

Whenever Dave comes home from work Abby greets him with a hug. Then she'll stay glued to his legs for a while.

Valleyfair pictures

As stated in my previous post, last Thursday my mom took P&E and I to Valleyfair Amusement Park. It was a beautiful day to be at the park--sunny skies and about 80°. We went to the water park right away and highly enjoyed the slides and tubes. After that we had a picnic lunch outside of the park in their picnic area. Then we headed back inside the park to enjoy the coasters and other dizzying rides. ☺

This first picture is of the girls and Mom. We had just gotten to the park.

Now we see myself and P&E. Super pumped!

This was P&E waiting in line for the wooden roller coaster. Emma sat next to me on the ride, and I wasn't frightened per se, but I was feeling a little yucky from all the jerking, and so Emma said, "It's okay, Mom. I'm right here." ☺ What a sweetheart!

After the roller coaster I made the girls go on this ride called the Frog Hopper (mostly because it was right next to the coaster). It was a ride only for children, and since the previous ride was so thrilling Emma declared that this ride "was the lamest ride EVER!" She kept that bored expression on her face the entire time. Later on the way home I asked the girls which rides they liked and which ones they didn't. Emma said, "I liked everyone except the Frog Hopper." Too funny! The Mild Thing--coaster for kids. The girls actually enjoyed this one, even though it wasn't as thrilling as the big kid coasters.

I don't remember what this was called, but the girls sat in a giant roulette wheel, and it spun up and down like a regular one would, except the girls rode backwards. It makes me feel woozy just thinking about it.

Instead of playing games and trying to win "useless junk" Mom let the girls get an airbrushed drawing on their arms. The pictures lasted several days, although at first the girls didn't want to swim in the pool for fear the image would wash away. Surprisingly they held up to the water quite well.

It was a memorable day!

"Commencing facebook interface."

Several months ago I wrote a post that linked the happenings of my facebook account with the lengthy discussion board of my blogger account. To quote Woody the Sheriff, "... [it] was I think, a big success." ☺ So much so that I'm doin' it again!

• I got to pick raspberries at my Mom's today. And I found out she ordered extra pickles to can just for our family. 26 jars of my mom's pickles!!!!!!!!! : ) July 12 at 4:53pm. I was so thrilled about this revelation. I cannot brag enough about my mom's canned pickles. They are fantastic. Actually, they're better than fantastic, they're STUPENDOUS! Every year we help my mom can them, and then she'll give us 10 jars as our "pay". Now let me just state for the record, folks, that 10 jars is not nearly enough. Those precious few jars only last a couple months at the most. So last year I told my mom that I wanted a 1/2 bushel of pickles ordered for my family. Low and behold my mom remembered. Oh, and she has two raspberry patches, and they are excellent as well. The berries are so much more flavorful than the ones you buy in the store.
• Whew! It's muggy today. July 14 at 9:50am. It has been so humid lately. Every morning before I get out of bed I check the current weather conditions and the forecast for the day from my phone. And no kidding, EVERY day the current conditions say, "88% humidity" (or around that number) at 8:00am. Eighty-eight percent right away in the morning! That's high enough to make you want to stay in bed despite the sunshine streaming through the cracks in the blinds. Consequently if you try to do any activity that requires movement of your body--say for example walking out your back door--you will be covered in your own bodily fluids. Fun times!
• Nicole Sowers had a GREAT day at Valleyfair! They were virtually NO lines at any of the rides, including the water park. Note to self though: when an amusement park ride says "You Will Get Wet" they mean it. July 15 at 10:11pm. Last Thursday my mom took P&E and I to Valleyfair, our state's amusement park. See, MN doesn't have a Six Flags, but we have the next best thing: Valleyfair. Think of it in ketchup terms: you don't have Heinz, but you do have Hy-Vee brand. ☺ VF is super fun though. I have been waiting to take P&E until they were tall enough to ride on the majority of the rides, and finally this year Emma was. P&E, especially E, are fearless! They wanted to ride on the rides that went upside down and fast and generally looked scary or vomit-inducing! So Mom and I endured many of them (despite both of us having tendencies towards motion sickness. Thank you Dramamine.) My last line about the water ride had to do with this: immediately upon entering the park you're greeted by this ride that consists of a large boat and a large water slide. Basically the boat goes up a ramp, spins around, and then slides down a slide; thus producing a massive wave. The girls wanted to ride this one first, and Mom and I agreed--figuring we wouldn't get that wet. Uhh...yeah. We got wet. Severely wet. Looking-like-we-fell-into-a-lake wet.
• Yesterday was a great day! Great teaching during Family Bible Time, had the Lord's Supper during our main service, and then got to enjoy some softball and volleyball. And I would like to brag a little bit more about who won the v-ball games: our team! ;-) I'm just glad that Caleb lost. *laughing to myself* July 19 at 9:20am. Sunday was a fun day. Church was great (as always). I particularly enjoy when we have the Lord's Supper. One reason is that we don't do it very often so when we do it's like a special treat and a wonderful way to bring glory and honor to God. After our church service we had a church picnic. We ate lunch, and then the sporting goods were brought out. I mostly watched everyone play softball as Abby was being a cling-on. But I did get to play 2 rousing games of volleyball in which the team I was on won both games. Woot woot! Caleb likes to playfully "talk smack" so I always have to give him guff whenever an opportunity presents itself. ☺
• Nicole Sowers is stressed. Tuesday at 9:45am. I was very anxious this morning because I had kind of forgotten about Emma's birthday this week. You ever have one of those times when you have something in the back of your mind, and it's there kind of lingering, and you remember it at odd moments but then you immediately forget about it again? Yeah. That's what happened to me concerning Emma's birthday. I knew it was coming up, but all of a sudden it was this week; the day just snuck up on me. I had to plan things last minute, and as a result some of her friends weren't able to attend her party. But we have 5 friends who will be there, and Lord willing they'll have a highly enjoyable time. This post also brought about a reminder verse that is very suited to me: Philippians 4:6. God's Word tells us to "Be anxious for nothing." This is a good verse to have memorized. (Verse 7, too.)
• Late night Toaster Strudels. That's all I have to say. Last night at 9:26pm. Toaster Strudels. Do they really need an introduction? Those delicate pastries have accounted for a good portion of my spare tire. (Or was it the Pop Tarts? Maybe it was the 3 Musketeers? Coulda been Mtn. Dew, too, I suppose...) *wink* I had a craving for them last night, and I indulged it.
• Boy my girls are hyper. Must have been the copious amounts of sugar they ate today. Today at 10pm. Carrie took my girls and I to the Twin Cities today to pick up my bridesmaid dress. Afterwards we went to Byerly's Market for lunch and some delicious desserts. (I picked up a red velvet cupcake for myself and a raspberry cheesecake for David.) Then we hit the Mall of America. After that shopping was done we decided to call it a day. But then on the way home we saw the Yellow Apple Barn on the side of the road, advertising all it's wonderful goodies--like peanut logs. The sign was beckoning, and who can resist an inviting sign? ☺ The yellow barn was FILLED with candy. So between the goodies from the mall and the apple place P&E had a lot of yummy treats today. But it made settling down for bedtime difficult.

"Disconnecting facebook link."

Abby's biggest fan

Yesterday I took the girls swimming again at Flandrau State Park. We met our friends there--Lisa and her 4 children. Lisa's 2 year-old son Daniel seems to have a taken a shine to Abby. One day while we were at their house Abby had a toy that Daniel wanted badly. He tried to take it from her several times, and Abby would respond "Hey!" and then push him away. Daniel must have had enough because after a final rejection he tried a different tactic: he kissed her. ☺ Abby looked stunned! It was so sweet AND so funny.

Yesterday then the two of them played nicely in the sand together. Except Daniel kept pouring sand and water down Abby's back. I guess that's a toddler form of affection? ☺ She didn't mind it one bit though. In this picture you can see her back with sand on it, and there is Daniel--ready to do it again. ☺

And here is a parting shot of Paige and Daniel.

Summer Fun

Greetings! It's been awhile since I last posted. That's because it's summer, and things are in full swing around here. We've been busy going to the library every week. The girls are enrolled in the Summer Reading Program. They have to read or be read to at least 20 minutes a day for 5 days each week. If they do they get a prize each week. This has been no problem for P&E as they stay up late every night reading in the semi-dark. Abby, too, thoroughly enjoys the library. She dashes into the children's section and immediately heads for the table of blocks. She also tries her hand at the children's puzzles. She's in the reading program as well, and she LOVES getting to go "fishing" each week. (The kids use a pole with a magnet on the end, and they try to "catch" paper fish with paper clips on them. The person who gets the most pounds worth of fish gets a prize at the end of the program.) She tries to fish while other patrons are taking their turn. Cute but kind of naughty. ☺

The girls have also been enjoying playing with their friends: neighborhood pals and family friends. P&E attended VBS a couple of weeks ago, and they said it was "amazing". ☺ They even invited their neighborhood friends to come with them (which they did).

But mostly they've been asking DAILY to go swimming. I have to say that it's wearing on me. It always seems like such a hassle to gather all the towels, and sunblock, and drinks, and snack, and beach toys, etc. In truth it's not as big of a deal as it seems to be in my head, and they enjoy it so much. But they literally ask me to go every day.

One day we biked to an outdoor wading pool:

It has sprinklers and a slide. The water is no more than 2' deep. Abby was afraid of the water, and had to hold her blanket most of the time. Of course then it got wet. (I took a picture of Paige, too, but it was super bright when I tried to take pictures so I didn't notice until I looked at the photos that evening that it didn't turn out right.)

I have also taken the girls to our state park's swimming pit/pool. It has a sand beach so the kids can make castles complete with moats in addition to swimming. I usually don't take pictures, but I took this one:

Emma and Abby usually play in the sand whereas Paige is in the water the entire time. She makes friends easily with the other swimmers. Here you can see P in the background making a home for a toad she and the boy found; Emma is laying out her towel, and of course Abby is running towards me. Abby did have to be in the thick of their toad-house making.

Since the girls ask me to swim every day (ESPECIALLY PAIGE) we decided to buy them a better swimming pool. We had one of those pathetic plastic ones--glorified dog dishes--and the girls have used it a lot. But on Saturday we purchased a bigger blowup style for them. Dave really wants a 3'+ deep pool so we adults can use it as well, and we will look into buying one of those at the end of July when they go on clearance. But for now this one has worked splendidly. Sunday P&E swam all afternoon, and they are quit tan.

As for myself I have been trying to read more often. I purchased Sherlock Holmes for my nook, and I REALLY like the stories. I highly recommend reading them.

This coming Thursday P&E, my mom, and I are going to visit our state's amusement park: Valleyfair. Dave is there today with my brother and nephew. It should be loads of fun, especially for the girls, but my mom and I get motion sickness so we're hoping that we both do okay overall. The park has a water park inside so we're for sure going to hit that area. Pictures to follow later.

I hope you're all enjoying your summer!