Sophisticated

That's a fancy word for "all grown up" and the word I taught Makena and her friend, Leah, today when I took them to get their fingernails polished. This was a special birthday outing and it was great fun! They chose their colors (purple and orange) and sat stick-still so they wouldn't mess up the pretty polish. At one point while waiting for their manicurists, they turned around and saw a lady who was getting acrylic nails replaced. Their eyes got huge when they realized her manicurist was using a Dremmel on her nails. Obviously, we had no need for Dremmels so all was good. We stopped at McDonald's for a treat on the way home and had an all-around lovely girly outing.
Happy Birthday, Makena!
Waiting patiently
wait a minute now- nobody told us about the crazy loud scary tool...
the end result (there are little flowers on her thumbnails- she's so proud)

Monkey Business

It has been an eventful birthday week around here. After ramping down from the party, we ramped back up again on Monday and took a trip to the SC Zoo. Neither Brett nor I had ever been before so it was an adventure all around.
Let's talk gorillas. Gorillas were all Reese talked about for the entire first hour we were there. "Where are the gorillas?" "When can we see the gorillas?" "Did we miss the gorillas?" I can only guess that this fascination is driven by the book Goodnight, Gorilla, a perennial favorite around here, in which the gorilla snags the zookeeper's keys and wanders around one night freeing all the other animals. That's a little bizarre considering the oldest gorilla at the SC Zoo did, indeed, escape last week...
After watching the gorillas, a nice lunch, a potty break in the nastiest and least ventilated bathrooms ever and Icees (woohoo!), Reese switched gears to tigers. Sadly, when we got to the tiger enclosure, there were none there. Major disappointment. Luckily, there were a few monkeys nearby putting on quite a show.
The gorilla escapee
This was our view from our riverbank picnic table
Icees!!
The rest of us wanted cold drinks, why not the orangutan?The last stop was the carousel.
"A tiger was chasing me the whole time!!"

MKB party #3...4 years old!

We did it again. This year we totaled about 125 people- give or take a toddler or two. We're all in a bit of shock that Makena, Keller and Bradley are 4. What's even more shocking (to me!) is that both Keller and Bradley have added second brothers (meaning a third boy to each family) in the last two months. Don't ask. The answer is no :)
Back to the subject at hand...we upped the ante this year and had two water slides- the giant orange one we had last year and a smaller one. The kids, obviously, have all aged another year so almost all of the ones who were timid with the big slide last year conquered it with no problem this year. The line to get up the big slide was nose-to-rear the entire time and we had a constant problem with kids wanting to congregate at the top of the slide. We'd look over and notice that the six kids piled on top of each other at the top were causing the slide to start sinking. Is this a forebearer to public loitering?
(I realize I'm struggling with under and over exposures here- I'm not good enough to adjust on the fly and play partial party hostess)
Can you believe they're this big?

Whitewater Center

We finally made our first trip to the Whitewater Center this week. We've been pretty slack in our support of it- we've talked it up ever since it first opened but we haven't managed to make it out there until now. Our loss! This place is every ex-summer-camper's dream- rafts, kayaks, ropes courses, zip lines, rock climbing...plenty of things that make me think I'm still 17 (until I actually do them).
From June-October they have free concerts on Thursday evenings so we took the kids, had dinner, listened to music, watched the boats and zipliners go by and climbed in the kid-sized bouldering park. This will definitely make our regular rotation of summer evening outings.
Watching the boaters with Uncle JamesSpying some zipliners after scaling the boulders
At the top of the boulders

Garden update

I know you've all been waiting with eager anticipation for an update on our garden. I promised fewer plant pictures and I will hold to that promise (for now). We've gotten four or five huge zucchinis and one pretty big cucumber so far. There are so many Roma Tomatoes dragging the tomato plant branches down that I'm not sure what we're going to do when they all ripen! The okra plants got their second wind and are fighting their over-zealous neighboring zucchini leaves- I'm hoping for a bumper crop (did you know okra plants have beautiful flowers?). There are probably seven or eight bell peppers that are almost ready to pick and the first of the jalapenos are there.
The kids love checking out what stages the various plants are in. We spent a little time up there this afternoon pruning some weak branches and pulling a few stray weeds. Reese spent her time inspecting the tomato plants and, each time she spied a new bunch, shrieked "Mommy, Mommy come look at the manatoes!!"
Here are our zucchini models- Makena with our two biggest so far
And Reese with an unfortunately shaped one I called "fat boy"
And a bonus picture just because I think she's cute holding squash.

Our water world

Here we are- barely halfway through June- and I already need to buy both girls another swimsuit. I can't keep the ones they have clean or even dry enough for them to put back on every time we're at the pool, the lake, in the sprinkler, baby pool, friend's slide....puddle. You name it. If it's wet, they get in it.
This is our friends' new waterslide. A tad smaller than the gigantic orange one we've used previously, but the secret to this one is that the landing pad is inflated. For most people that would translate to a soft landing but for Reese, it translates to an opportunity to launch herself off the top of the slide and bounce up from her landing while laughing hysterically.We went back to the lake this weekend. Brett's eldest niece graduates from high school this year and there was a great cookout to celebrate! Other than celebrating Chevis, we spent a big chunk of time swimming. Makena is officially able to get herself from the dock to the steps at the seawall (about 25 feet) all by herself! Granted, she's wearing a life jacket, but she's really making progress. Even in the pool she spends all her time diving forward and taking a few strokes- she's so close to doing it all by herself...she just has to figure out that rhythm...
Please note the fabulous wedgie
after a hard day of swimming
Reese wanted to keep her life jacket on while she lounged in the chair. She also wanted her hat, Daddy's sunglasses and a towel. After she got comfortable she declared "I need a book".
Remember I said if it's wet, they'll get in it? This was a nighttime Rain-Rain-Go-Away dance. Obviously, it was ineffective.

Errant musings

these thoughts were typed after an evening with the sewing machine and one...or three...glasses of wine
Home Ec classes didn't exist in my high school. Well-sewn handbags wouldn't have gotten any of us into Harvard ergo...there was nary a Singer to be found amidst our hallowed halls. Sixteen years later (to the date, I might add...woohoo!! Class of '93 graduated 6/4/93!), I'm a little sad about that. Granted, I have just struggled to affix ribbons onto burp cloths for a fellow SJS '93 graduate (who will be delivering triplets tomorrow!). I have mediocre sewing skills- if you picture ribbons and a burp cloth, your visual will certainly include straight lines- straight lines are things I aspire to sew.
I asked for and received a very basic sewing machine for my 33rd birthday (yes, yes...I can hear you all serenading my youthfulness with "na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, gooooodbyeeee"). I have never had designs of making fancy dresses for my girls- just things that involve right angles, like pillows and table runners. My mother has a sewing machine, but I only recall her using it when James and I were very young. I have enlisted the verbal help of two of my friends who are very talented seamstresses. They both look at my finished products, ignore the blatant flaws and compliment me on whatever little values they can find (I have FANTASTIC friends!!).
I'm rambling. I guess this is a classic case of youth being wasted on the young. Would I have wanted to take a home ec class in high school?? Absolutely not! Now that I am out of the workforce and my sense of accomplishment is abstract at best...straight lines are pretty cool!