Lake George

Last night was a terrible night for getting the girls to bed. I think their little nap in the car in the afternoon threw them off. They were still tired, but had enough energy to stay up and be difficult. I was glad when everyone got to sleep.

Today was our first full day at Lake George. Brian had a meeting this morning at 8, so he set a wake up call for 6:45 so he could get some breakfast first. After the call, we both rolled over and went back to sleep. He woke up again at 7:30--we were amazed we didn't sleep longer and totally miss everything. I slept a few minutes more before getting ready. Breakfast only went until 9, so I let the girls sleep as long as possible. I had to wake them all up and practically drag them out of bed. We barely made it down for breakfast, then I dropped them off at the kids' activities while I had a spouse's meeting. Ellie cried when I dropped her off because she was in a different room than Eliza and Libby, but she ended up doing fine. They combined our spouse meeting with all the FA meetings, so after that, we were both done. We got our cash allowance for the meals, then got our girls. We asked them what they wanted to do and we did it. They wanted to swim, so we got our swimming suits on and went down to the lake. The hotel has a shallow, roped off part of the lake where you can swim, so they had fun in that for a while (it was freezing--Havasupai freezing), then they played in the sand a while. We went down to another roped off part that was a little deeper and more wavy. The other part had a dock in front, so it was more like a pool. Libby loved swimming in the deeper part with some waves and such.






As were were walking to get lunch, there was a boat with one of those banana tubes on the back. Brian talked to the driver--a young guy--and asked if they could ride in the boat as he pulled the tubes (you have to pay to ride the tubes). He totally let them! Libby decided she didn't want to go, so Brian and Eliza got a long ride on a boat.

When they got back we got lunch at a cabana and ate it outside on a terrace, which was fun. We had what we sometimes get at Costco or Sam's (pizza, hotdog, pretzel and a drink), but it cost 3 times as much! Ouch! Brian gets tired of hearing me complain about the prices of things on vacations! Once a cheapskate always a cheapskate!

After lunch, Eliza really wanted to ride ON the banana tubes, so she and Brian did that. They had a blast. One time, they were turning and everyone flew off except Eliza. She was so pleased with herself for that!


While they were doing that, I took Ellie and Libby to the indoor pool and we had fun there for a while.

We didn't dare drive somewhere for fear of them falling asleep, so we went back to the room and changed clothes, hung out for a little bit, then went to the little playground right by our room. It was fun to play there and the girls got a kick out of me going down the slide.



From there we went to Mr. Brown's Pub (which is actually just a restaurant) for dinner before going to "Chip's Music Show." It was for kids and it's a man who plays the guitar and his family (a young son--probably 11 or so--who plays the drums, another son about 7 and then his wife.) Chip plays the guitar and plays fun songs for kids. It's all interactive and the kids got to play a game, play an instrument, sing, do hand movements, etc. My girls really enjoyed that. Libby shook a shaker even, but just colored the rest of the time while she observed what was going on.





We ended our day outside roasting marshmallow and listening to Chip sing some campfire songs. Yum! I love the smell of campfire and eating roasted marshmallows.

For bed we tried to make it easier by letting them watch a movie and just kind of fall asleep. I have to realize it's just now their normal bedtime at home when it's 10 or later here. It went much smoother for sure. Brian is out at Wal-Mart to get some breakfast food for the mornings and some snacks.

A Traveling Blur

So far our trip has been a blur. My parents came over to stay with Hattie Sunday night at 6:30 or so and we left for the airport around 7:30. Our plane left at 10:25 PM. We wanted to try the overnight flying in hopes that the girls would sleep and so we wouldn't lose a day of vacation in traveling. Wrong-o choice! ...at least until they get a little older. It was a miserable flight to say the least. Eliza and Libby fell asleep about an hour into the flight, which was okay, but Ellie was a bear...just fidgety and constantly moving around and not wanting to be in her seat, etc. And on a dim, quiet airplane it didn't make for a good combination. Add in my frustration--ugh! She finally got to sleep probably with an hour and a half left so we all got to sleep at least that long. We arrived in Philadelphia a little before 6 AM their time, got a bite to eat, then got on our little U.S. Airways Express plane to Albany, NY.

The plane ride was quick--probably 90 minutes and no one slept on that flight. In Albany, we got our rental car. At first we were given a Pontiac G6, but we realized half of our luggage wouldn't fit, so the lady let us upgrade at no charge to a Rav4, which worked out great. From Albany, we had about an hour and 15 minute drive to Lake George to our hotel--The Sagamore. We got to our room, then headed out to find lunch. The girls were not behaving well, but hopefully it was because of fatigue. After lunch at the Lakeside Grill we had a treat at Ben & Jerry's.





We went back to our hotel to unpack and get settled, then we wanted to pass about two hours until it was time for dinner. We hopped in the car and just drove around the main street and saw more of the lake. It is really pretty here--so green and lots of lush trees and greenery. Not more than five minutes into our drive, I looked back and found all the girls sacked out!

They stayed sleeping that whole time and we really had to wake them for dinner. The first few times we tried to wake them, they didn't budge! We had to physically get them out of the car, which made for three grumpy, tired girls at dinner. We went out to the back side of the hotel and watched out over the lake for a little bit before heading over to the Edward Jones dinner. There were lots of choices for dinner. The theme was "Tour of America" and had fare from four regions of the country. I opted for some chicken and cole slaw. I guess I wasn't too hungry!




After dinner we made our way back to our room and the girls got baths and now are working on getting to sleep. I hope tomorrow they are better rested and happier or this trip might all be a blur!

4th of July

Friday morning we woke up and went to our ward's 4th of July breakfast at the church. We ate breakfast and Eliza, Libby and Brian took a little ride on a fire truck. When Doug blasted the horn, Eliza was totally scared off. They also got to enjoy about 1 minute of water fun from the water on the fire truck. They didn't anticipate it finishing so quickly, so Bishop and Doug went to the fire station and got it filled up. So the kids enjoyed one more time getting blasted with the water. The rest of the time they played in the sprinklers and ate snow cones which were perfect in the heat!

After the breakfast we came home and I took the older three girls swimming at the resort for about an hour before coming home and eating lunch. The afternoon was spent packing. I told Eliza and Libby how many outfits and such they needed and they totally got everything out (Ellie's too), so it made packing way easier. I got to escape a little bit...i got a pedicure at one of the new shops that opened up right by our house. They were having a special and I was so impressed with the new shop. You get a bottle of water when you sit down, the chairs are nice, the employees speak English that you can really understand and it's clean. They sanitize their instruments like they do at a dentist office. At the end of the massage you get a warm towel on your legs.

After the pedicure, I hit Target and Marshall's. I finally found some swimsuit cover-ups for Eliza and Libby.


Soon after I got home we went to Brian's parents house and swam until it started storming. My parents came over for the ice cream and fireworks--KarraLee and her kids came over, too. My mom and I tried our hand at taking picture of the fireworks. It was fun to do and we were happy with how they turned out.






Hattie enjoyed them and she would say, "OOooo" imitating what we were saying. Brian had to bring Libby and Ellie out, but they ended up really enjoying them.

Today has been buuuuusy. Brian and I packed our suitcases with a lot of help from Libby. She loves to help pack. We also got about 98% done (finally) with our 72 hour kits. I found 2 humongous rolling duffles at Marshall's yesterday, so we consolidated all our stuff into those so it would be more practical if we had to use them instead of expecting each of our girls to haul a heavy, full backpack. I just have to grab a couple items at Wal-Mart tonight and we'll be set! Yay!

The rest of today we've (I've) done some vacation nesting--you know get the house clean and tidied up and laundry done before we leave one our trip. We also watch The Bee Movie, which was funny.

We finally get to have a date night tonight. I think it's been nearly a month since we've been out! Havasupai, Sedona and not being able to find a sitter last week has made it a while. But unfortunately I think we'll be doing "errands" (e.g. Wal-Mart to get ready for our trip).

OK--off to nest some more!

Ice Cream

Today after Hattie's morning nap, we went over to my mom's to help her put together some handouts for Sunday. Then we went down to the school where my dad is doing the summer program and we got to have some ice cream. I think the older three girls had a couple of ice cream "novelties" and Hattie and I shared a a yummy mint brownie ice cream sandwich. It was delightful.

After indulging in ice cream, we came home and Ellie and Hattie napped while I worked on young women stuff, then Libby wanted me to play Polly Pockets with her. So we spent over an hour dressing all the Pollies and putting shoes on them.

After Brian got home, we went to El Pollo Loco for dinner. After a crazy, LONG experience in the drive through there one night (over 30 minutes) they sent me a $10 gift certificate for my trouble, so we used those. Then we spent a little time at Target before coming home. I oriented my two new young women leaders who are over personal progress and Brian took Eliza and Libby out so they could see the fireworks that they shoot off from the lake. Libby said today, "I like fireworks now." For the past couple of years she has shied away and not wanted to be around for the fireworks, so I am excited for her to see them!

Climber

This morning Brian and I were getting ready and I asked out loud, "I wonder what Hattie is doing." We hadn't heard her for a minute so I was curious. Brian went in the kitchen and found this...

She can now climb onto the kitchen chairs and apparently from there on to the table. Earlier in the week Eliza had picked some flowers out back and put them in a water bottle as a centerpiece on the table. Hattie was trying her hand at rearranging them (this picture happened before the bottle tipped over). She also nibbled on the crackers Ellie left out from breakfast. Yum!

Wit's End

I've been at my wit's end for about the past three months. First--Hattie--she is sooooooo clingy to me. Seriously, I am holding her most of the day. When I put her down, she cries! Yeah, I know, tough love is in order but I just haven't wanted to do it yet. Even when someone else offers to hold her, she still just wants me. It wears on me and wears me out. I just want her to walk around and play. She does fine if I am not around--she'll totally go to others and not have to be held.

The other thing that is about to wear me out is potty training. And don't continue to read if potty training lingo and descriptions gross you out. I am only writing about this to A--get it down because one day (soon I hope) I'll look back at this experience and laugh (hopefully) and B--maybe someone can help me.

We've been potty training Ellie since the very end of March and she has the pee part down wonderfully. It's the fun (not) #2 stuff that we are dealing with. She has had some success, but it's rare and sporadic. To get graphic...she doesn't indicate that she has gone poop (can I just tell you how much I hate that word) until after her panties are dirty (nothing in them but just like where it has touched). Then in her bottom is a little piece that is just sitting there. So we go to the potty and she sits down and basically it just falls out. We go through that routine about 5-8 times a day. It's been about 3 months--I wonder if maybe she doesn't know that it is coming out...Hmmm... That is what I am worried about. So it's not like she has one big accident..seems like I could deal with that and tell when she is going. But it's not like that. Anyway...I am on the last straw. Got any ideas? I just feel so bad because she is just so sweet and I'll be so frustrated and annoyed and as I'm helping her get cleaned up, she'll sweetly say, "Thank you, Mom." How can I be upset at that?!? But I've read lots of articles, searched on-line, read potty training message board, gotten books on-line, prayed about it, etc. I hope we can figure this out soon!

Baby Blessing

Yesterday we did the usual Monday stuff. Hattie took a long nap in the morning, so after lunch we drove around and I delivered the quote blocks that I made for the laurels whom I no longer have in our ward and to the leaders I worked with, too.

Naps in the afternoon didn't go as planned unfortunately, but at least they both had a little quiet time in their beds. After Brian got home, Eliza and I hurried and left to go to my cousin Emali's baby's blessing. Kamryn...she is a doll!

Eliza couldn't get enough of holding her. After that we stopped at Deb's for my mom to pick up some supplies to make another project for the 7gypsies booth at CHA. On the way home, Brian said Libby was really sad taht she didn't choose to come with us. She was crying and went to bed holding Kamryn's baby announcement. Cute.

Randomness...I love these chocolates. Kari turned me on to them when she gave me a bag as part of my birthday gift. I recently tried the dark chocolate variety and yum!! A delicious treat during the day.