The Great Outdoors

We spent July 14 through 17 "living outside" (as Bridget called it) at Enota Mountain Resort in North Georgia. It's about a 2-1/2 hour drive from our house, but feels like another world. The girls had been asking us to take them camping for quite some time. It all started when they saw the Brady Bunch episode where they go camping, then they saw Hannah Montana and Zack and Cody camping on their favorite TV shows, so the "Let's go camping" onslaught continued.

Neither Dwayne nor I are big on the whole hunting/camping/fishing thing, but we do both enjoy getting away to the woods and mountains. We'd prefer to be staying in a comfy cabin while we're doing it, but we didn't really have money for that kind of vacation and what the girls really wanted to do was tent camp, so we decided to try it out. We all had a good time, especially the girls.

There were lots of things for them to do. There is a working farm on the premises and kids can help feed the animals, gather eggs from the chickens and milk the cow!! The girls loved this because they both love animals of all kinds.

Here's Bridget milking the cow:



Now it's Tessa's turn:



Here they are with the eggs they gathered:



They also got to ride a pony. Here's Bridget on the pony:



Ride 'em Tessa:



There was a playground just across from our campsite. They had three in-ground trampolines; two set into the ground and one set into a deck. The girls loved jumping on them and we loved that we didn't have to worry about them falling off and getting hurt. Here are the girls with a couple of teenagers they befriended. The older girls were teaching them to do flips on the trampolines. They were so nice.



Pops played on the trampoline with the girls, too:



On our last morning there, the ducks swam by our campsite. We were feeding them bread, so they hung around for a while. They even left the water at one point to scarf down more bread. Here are Bridget and Pops feeding them:



Camping got the thumbs-up from everyone, so I'm sure we'll be going again. I'd like to go back this fall -- the mountains are so pretty when the leaves are turning. Yes, we survived, even thrived, in the great outdoors, but I gotta admit I was very happy to hit the hay in my big, comfy bed when we got home.

Another Visit from the Tooth Fairy

Bridget lost another loose tooth on Friday, July 13. Once again, she pulled it out with my tweezers. Here she is posing with the tooth and showing off her new smile:



The tooth fairy didn't bring her quite so much money this time (see previous tooth fairy entry), but she didn't seem to notice. We were leaving to go camping that morning, so she was focused on that excitement rather than the tooth fairy. Whew!

July 4, 2007

We went to see fireworks in Acworth. The fireworks were shot over Lake Acworth and were really pretty. I didn't get any good pictures, but here's a kids-eye view of a firework taken by Bridget:



Yes, we should have sat on the other side of the fence. We had what we thought was a good seat until they started shooting the fireworks and realized that our view was being blocked by a huge tree. We had to move to the best available spot quickly. I had never been to Cauble Park. It's a nice facility, and not too far from our house. They have two playgrounds, lots of picnic tables, and a "beach" area on the lake. We'll have to go back there again sometime.

A Visit From the Tooth Fairy

I was so glad that Sandy brought the girls home a day early because the evening they came home, June 28, Bridget lost her first baby tooth! She had previously lost a few teeth that had to be pulled by the dentist, but this was the first one to come out naturally. It was one of her middle teeth on the bottom. She was so scared it would come out while she was eating and she'd swallow it and wouldn't be able to leave it for the tooth fairy. I assured her that she shouldn't worry about swallowing it, and that even if she did swallow or lose it, the tooth fairy would still leave something for her. She was still worried, though.

She was doing all kinds of stuff to try and get it out on her own. She didn't want anyone else to pull it. Dwayne was teasing her with some pliers and she asked him to borrow them. She tried to use them to pull the tooth out, but they kept slipping off the tiny tooth. I gave her a pair of my tweezers and she eventually used them to pull it out. She was so excited!

Bridget shows off her new smile:



Then, disaster struck! She lost the tooth. We were all looking for it. Crisis was averted when Dwayne finally found it. It was really hard to get her to sleep that night. I think she was excited both about being home and the tooth fairy's imminent visit. I kept telling her that she needed to go to sleep so the tooth fairy would come. She finally nodded off and so did I. It was after midnight when I woke up in her bed. I skipped my usual evening chores and slunk into my own bed. Before I went to sleep, I made sure Dwayne was going to play tooth fairy.

I had to go to work the next morning, and didn't think to talk about the tooth fairy visit with Sandy before I left. Sandy told me Bridget woke up and started looking for her gift from the tooth fairy and didn't find anything. Bridget said the tooth fairy didn't even take her tooth -- it was still wrapped up in the handkerchief Sandy had given her. She said Bridget had big ole tears that were about to fall out of her eyes -- she was devastated. I had told Sandy about falling asleep in Bridget's bed and being so tired the night before. She thought Dwayne and I had forgotten to play tooth fairy. So, Sandy snuck $2 under Bridget's pillow without her seeing it. Bridget found the money and was happy. Then, Sandy asked her if she had opened up the handkerchief and looked inside. Bridget said no. Sandy said, "Maybe you should open it." There was the golden dollar coin Dwayne had left for her. So, she got $3 for one measly tooth!!! Hope she doesn't expect that every time.

Well, if she does, Sandy suggested I tell her this tooth was especially valuable because it was her first lost tooth. I hope this story works because she has another very loose tooth and has borrowed my tweezers again . . .

Time Tripping

Ever wanted to go back in time? For two weeks in June, I felt like I had done just that. I was offered some work with my former full-time employer. I do lots of work for them from home, but this work required me to be in the office for 10 days. I don't have any family or trusted babysitters near to my home, so the girls spent the weekdays and weeknights with their aunts in North Georgia. This meant that I was going to work and coming home to a childless house again. It really did feel like time tripping.

It was nice to see everyone again and catch up on all the happenings in their lives. Pek Suan is going to be a first-time aunt soon and will be travelling back to Malaysia to visit her family and meet her niece or nephew. She is very excited! Kim, her mom and her sister are selling their triplex home. Kim's mom will be moving into an assisted living facility run by her church. Her best friend lives there already, and the accomodations and services sound really great, so I know she will adjust to it and enjoy it in no time. Kim will be living with her cousin for a while, while she saves money for her dream home. She is very excited about getting a fresh start! Susie's "little" daughters are now 10 and 14. Yikes!! How did that happen? She is attending church now. Psych! She and I were very much alike in thinking we'd never be "church-goers", but like me she has found a church that supports her beliefs. In the "news of the weird" department, Carol's husband-to-be, who also works at SP, is the father of one of the "Barbie Bandits"! And, Mack is still Mack. Bless his soul! I think I miss him most of all.

The first two or three days were fun. It was nice to dress up again and "have somewhere to go." It was nice to talk with adults. It was nice to do my work in a quiet room without being interrupted by a kid every couple of minutes. It was nice to go to a movie with Dwayne in the evening.

But, I was over it by day 4. I was missing my kids so bad!! I was so tired at the end of the day, even though sitting in an office was nowhere near as mentally exhausting as dealing with two kids all day. I think the constant sitting caused my fatigue. Sitting at a desk virtually all day, prefaced by sitting in a car for 45 minutes, followed by sitting in a car for another 45 - 60 minutes. All day spent inside with only a few moments outside at lunchtime. I truly believe this is an unnatural state for humans. I remembered quickly why I had become so tired of devoting most of my life to my job. I know I would not be happy going back to that lifestyle. When you're raising kids, there are many times you don't get to do what you want to do when you want to do it, but it is still nowhere near as constraining as being tied to a desk all day.

By the second week of being away from my kids, my heart was aching for them. My sister Sandy was kind enough to bring them home a night early and spend the night with us. I was so happy to see them!!

I had the unusual privilege of taking a trip back in time. It made me appreciate how lucky I am to be home with my girls. On those days when I'm at the end of my rope, I can look back on those two weeks and smile. Life is good. : )

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day by going out to dinner at Macaroni Grill. The girls had a great time -- they love going out to restaurants. The food was delish!! I bought Dwayne a DVD of the movie "Ghost Rider." For the girls' gifts, we decided to try a cute DYI gift idea I saw on the internet. I dressed them up in one of his shirts and had them do a couple of his favorite things for some "Just Like Dad" photos. We framed the photos and decorated the frames with the words "Just Like Papa."

Here is Tessa wearing Pop's reading glasses and "reading" a Harry Potter book:



Here is Bridget wearing Pop's reading glasses and "paying bills" at his desk. Yes, you read right, paying bills is one of his favorite things -- go figure:



It is really hard to find a Father's Day card that doesn't say to Dad or Daddy. In Russia, parents are called Mama and Papa, so the girls have always called him different variations of Papa. I typeset the word "Popsy" in a matching color and glued it onto his card so that it would read appropriately. Popsy is the current fave Papa nickname around here. The girls got it from an episode of "The Little Mermaid" cartoon, where the character of "Little Evil" refers to his father as Popsy. I really can't see myself running around calling Dwayne "Daddy" but I love calling him Pops or Poppy or Popsy or Popo. One day I was watching the reality series "Gene Simmons' Family Jewels" and heard Gene's son Nick calling him Popo more than once. I thought that was a Bridget-and-Tessa original, but I guess not . . . Maybe someday, they'll bow to peer pressure and start calling their Pops "Daddy" like all the other kids, but I hope not.

Madison's Birthday Party

Saturday, June 9, Tessa, Bridget and I attended a birthday party for Bridget's friend Madison. It was held at the local gymnastics center and a very good time was had by all the kids. The center had a huge "pit" filled with large foam cubes. The kids could jump into the pit from a springboard. Bridget and Tessa loved it!

Here's a pic of the birthday girl in the pit:



There was also a huge ball on a rope that swung out over the pit. The kids were given took turns swinging on the ball (assisted by a staff member) and could jump off the ball into the pit if they wished. Bridget and Madison both wanted to jump into the pit, but just couldn't get up the nerve. They were the only girls who even wanted to try. Two of the boys in attendance were the only ones who actually jumped off the ball. I know I wouldn't have had the nerve to do it -- it was really high in the air and swinging pretty forcefully. Here's a pic of Bridget on the ball swing:



Of course, there was cake and ice cream. Here's a shot of the festivities (Tessa's at the front left of the photo):



Here's another group shot. The lady in the yellow shirt is Madison's mom. Bridget is sitting to her left:



Bridget loved getting to see her friends from preschool again. She has really missed school this summer. I don't think anyone from her class will be attending kindergarten with her. That makes her sad. I've tried to explain to her that the friends she makes in kindergarten will go to school with her for years to come, but I don't think she really understands. Anyway, on this day she and Tessa had a blast!!

Jennifer's Slumber Party

My niece Jennifer hosted a slumber party Friday, June 1. In attendance were my niece Stephanie and her kids, Brock, Ashlyn and Allie; my niece Tina; my sister Martha and her niece (on her husband's side) Hannah; and a very special guest, my great-nephew Bryant. He's the son of my late nephew Jeff. We don't get to see him very often, so it was really a treat to have him there. I hadn't seen him in a few years and he had changed a lot since then. He is 17 now and looks so much like his dad -- it's really amazing. He is a very cool kid, but not "too cool" to play with all the little kids like Bridget, who quickly developed a major crush on him. Here's a picture of Bridget and Tessa chasing Bryant:



Here's a close-up of Bryant:



Jennifer had lots of activities to keep the kids (and adults) busy. We made melty-plastic art (I'm sure that's not the technical name for it), which involved placing tiny multicolored plastic circles inside stencils and then ironing the shapes to melt them together into one piece. The kids showed more patience than I expected with this painstaking process. Tessa in particular seemed to love it.

In the evening, we played various games outside, including badminton, frisbee, kickball and dodgeball. There was a difference of opinion as to how dodgeball should be played. Now, I'm old school when it comes to dodgeball. You know, two teams -- one team makes a circle and the other team gets inside the circle; the team on the outside tries to hit the people on the inside; last one standing is the winner. Nowadays, they play it more like the game we called battleball, where the two side stand in lines facing each other and the object seems to be more about catching the ball when it's thrown towards you than dodging the ball. We settled our debate peaceably, and played it both ways.

Here's a cute photo of Bridget and Brock. Looks like it was a deep conversation:



In the evening, we made earrings. it was so much fun and we came up with some pretty cool creations. Jennifer bought some clip-on earring backs so that Bridget and Tessa could make earrings, too. Bridget especially loved this craft and was really good at choosing beads that went well together. Here she is modeling some of her earrings (that's Tina in the background):



Here's Tessa modeling some of her earrings:



The next morning, Jennifer made pancakes for all of us -- yummy!! Thanks Jennifer, for hosting the party. The girls and I had a blast!!

Note: I stole all the photos for this blog entry from Jennifer's blog. Thanks again, Jennifer! : )

Brock's 6th Birthday Party

My niece Stephanie's son Brock celebrated his 6th birthday with a party at their home on May 27. The girls had a blast!! They rented a huge inflatable water slide for the party. The girls started squealing as soon as they saw it. Here's a photo of the inflatable:



I wasn't surprised that Bridget made a beeline for the slide and was ready to get on it immediately -- she is such a daredevil! I was a bit surprised that Tessa wasn't scared to come down, either. Here's a pic of tiny Tessa coming down that monster slide:



Here's Allie coming down the slide:



After most of the revelers had left, Stef and my sister Martha braved the slide. I didn't get a good photo of Martha coming down, but here's a pretty good one of Stef:



In addition to the slide, Stef and Johnny have a trampoline, swing set, and fishing pond. There was lots to do! Here's a pic of Tessa and Bridget getting a ride around the property with Ashlyn at the wheel:



There was also food, cake and ice cream, birthday-present opening, and a birthday boy who I didn't show here because I didn't get any good photos of him. Maybe one day my photography skills will improve . . . Anyhow, thanks so much to the Davis clan for a fun-filled day!!

Halfway to Orlando

My brother-in-law Jimmy used mapquest to get directions from his home in Du Quoin, Illinois, to our house and to Orlando, Florida. He discovered that our house is within 1 mile of being exactly half-way from his home to Orlando. Funny, huh?

He and his family spent the night with us on their way down to Orlando and on their way back home. We loved getting to see them all. Bridget and Anthony had lots of fun together -- they are the same age. Vincent and Dominick had both grown so much since we'd seen them in January!!

Here are some photos:

Anthony clowns around with Bridget and Tessa (that's Vincent in the background):



Dwayne and Dominick:



All the kids -- Vincent, Bridget, Dominick, Anthony and Tessa (left to right):