I'm too young to feel so old

46. This is the magic number. This is the golden height that one must be to ride the big rides at Lagoon. Hailey is officially 46" tall. I have been dreaming of taking my children on the white roller coaster since I was 13. I clearly remember the day I begged my dad to go on the white roller coaster with me, "I'm too old" he said. I was crushed. I vowed that I would ALWAYS go on roller coasters with my children, no matter what.

A few weeks ago Hailey realized (as did I) that she was tall enough for the grand adventure. We planned a special day when she and I would have a private day and go on all the big kid rides together. That blessed day was today. I couldn't sleep at all last night because I was so excited! It has been years since I have been on these fun rides, because I've always been in Kiddie Land with my kids. But today is a red letter day. Today I go with my posterity!! (trumpets sound in the background)

Hailey and I got to Lagoon before the rides even opened. We were there when the ropes fell to the asphalt signaling ride time! Hailey picked the first ride and we raced to the swings. We were the only people on the entire ride! I was in parental bliss as we sailed through the air on our love seat swing. These are the days.

Next we made our way to the Tidal Wave. We boldly held our hands in the air, proving to the world that we are girls of fearsome courage. I smiled at Hailey as she declared this was "the best day ever!"(however, I was thinking: Whoa, I remember that stomach drop feeling, I don't remember having any bladder problems before on this ride. I just might pee myself)

Then, we made our maiden voyage to the white roller coaster. Hailey insisted that we skip there. What the heck, this day is for her. I clenched my bladder and skipped with my daughter all the way to the roller coaster. In line, Hailey's nerves where kicking in but I promised her that it would be a blast! We strapped in and we were off! . . . it's all a blur . . . rattling noise, trying not to pee and not to throw-up at the same time, head lurch, whip lash and we're back at the loading platform. Dizzy, really dizzy. "Wasn't that fun!" I exclaimed to both Haileys, oh there we go, now there's only one. "I want to go again!" she cheered. Yeah, maybe later. My mood was quickly deteriorating. Here is a run down of my thoughts over the next FIVE hours at Lagoon:

I'm not going to throw-up, I'm not going to throw-up.

Clench your bladder . . . harder.

It's hot.

Where's the closest bathroom?

It's how much for food?

I wonder if they sell Dramamine?

What stinks?

Oh yuck, the girl in front of me needs to wash her hair.

I hate the public.

Where's the closest bathroom?

No, I'm not going to pay you to guess my weight!

Dizzy. So dizzy.

I used to love this ride.

Just because there is an adjacent water park does not mean you can dress like a hooker.

No, I would not like to win a 5 foot stuffed banana.

Huh, the sign was right. You will get drenched on Rattle Snake Rapids.

Chafing. Hot, wet and chafing.

Really? Do you need to make out in line? There are children here!

I need a diet coke.

Did you even look in the mirror this morning?

I'm gonna throw up.

Skip? You want to skip to the next ride again?

Yuck! What loser sticks their gum on the wall?

Oh yeah, I wonder if mine is still at the Terror Ride. Those were my "bad girl" days . . . or day.

Noise. Headache. Dizzy, so dizzy. Vomit, I'm gonna vomit. Car. Where's my car? Home. Tylenol.

Hug. "That was the best day ever, Mom! Thank you!!!"

Worth it.

Love and Marriage . . . 10 years and counting!

Well, we did it! We've been married for ten years! The whole thing makes me a little nostalgic. It seems like just yesterday we were starry-eyed newlyweds. But then I look at our wedding pictures and think, "Who on earth is that 12 year old standing next me?" Man alive, Ben seemed so mature and capable back then (which he is NOW) but I can't believed I married that skin-a-ma-link! But I sure do love him! I honestly can say I think I made an excellent choice in husbands. Yes, it hasn't been a decade of total marital bliss, we had our growing pains as all couples do, but I still am madly in love with the man and look forward to decades upon decades to come.

Our official ten year anniversary was on June 18th. Ben took me to Las Vegas for a romantic get away. We had a great time! We stayed in the Bellagio and had a wonderful view of the fountains. It was very romantic. We saw Cirque du Soleil "O". When it was over we just kind of stared at each other. It takes a full 12 hours to process what the heck you just saw. But in the end, I loved it. It takes some creative liberties and mixes stage and water. It's kind of an artsy-fartsy circus, synchronized swimming, dancing, acrobatics ordeal. It is REALLY weird and the director is clearly on crack, but it was worth seeing. We loved our get-away and it was nice to "just us" for a few days without being mom and dad. But it is always nice to come home to where you belong and feel most comfortable.

I love Ben so much, but I refrain from getting too mushy here.

Row, row, row your . . .

BOAT! (Okay, heaven forbid we actually ever have to row it) we didn't get a row boat, but we did get a speed boat, or a ski boat or whatever you call a "normal" boat. For those boating enthusiasts it is a Master Craft X45 (which really means nothing to me--but I hear it is a good boat). Ben and his dad found a screaming deal on this boat and decided to get it together. Ben's dad is out of town which means Ben got to pick it up in Phoenix and drive it home. (please note: while Ben was driving to Phoenix, I had to have an emergency appendectomy . . . with Ben OUT OF TOWN! and to add insult to injury my mom and dad were out of town too. Thank heavens for in-laws and totally awesome friends willing to drop everything and care for me and my children--but that blog is for another time, back to the boat) . . . It needs hours on it before it can tow so we spent the weekend boating. First we tried Willard with Hilary (Ben's sister) Quin (her husband) and Jonas (their 7 month old son). It was fun and we all had a good (freezing and bug-filled) time. On Saturday, our little family of four ventured out together to Pine View. All was well until I had to back-up the trailer to get the boat out of the water. I consider myself a relatively intelligent person . . . until I had to back the trailer down the ramp. Luckily there was a park ranger and a hick there to coach me. Don't get me wrong, I listen to country music too, but this guy was your All American, country drawl talking, duck hunting apparel wearing, kind of guy. He was laughing his HEAD OFF at me. As he was coaching me down the ramp (and the trailer was going in side-ways) he said something to me in a mixture of auto mechanic-talk and country-bumpkin that totally didn't compute with me. In a fit of rage I screamed, "ARE YOU EVEN SPEAKING ENGLISH?!!" Boy, did that get him laughing!!!! (and me fuming). We are looking forward to a fun-filled summer! If anyone out there in blog-world would like to go boating with us this summer let us know! Some people with ski boats only want to bring real skiers and don't like others taking up room. We are not die-hards and we really don't know what we are doing so . . . anyone is welcome to join--even if you don't want to get in the water. (and maybe I'll even let you back up the trailer!)

Hailey is in heaven on the boat. She LOVES it! She especially loves to drive it!

Aubrey is more like her mother and would rather sleep on it!
The girls loved being in the mountains
Hailey, Hilary and Jonas

P.S. being the woman that I am, I took pictures of people and the children and forgot to ever take a good picture of the boat! Sorry.

Blog vs. Facebook Smackdown!

As many of you have commented, I have been lagging on my blogspot lately. It is true, but that is because I joined Facebook. I have only so many precious moments to spend completely ignoring my children and bumming around on the Internet. It is too hard to do both a blog and Facebook . . . but I have decided I am going to try to make it work. My love affair with Facebook is quickly coming to a close and my old faithful blog is here to take me back. After carefully weighing the pros and cons of both I decided, blogging is really where my heart belongs. So, I'm back to write endless nonsense and post zillions pictures of my two children for you all to see. You are thrilled, I'm sure.

I love it here!

I am slightly afraid of posting a few things on my blog, there are just too many weird stories out there, so in interest of protecting myself and my family I am not going to name the city I love in, however this post is dedicated to how much I love this place! I love, love, LOVE living on the west side and seeing the mountains in the east. They are so beautiful! I grew up on the east side and never really appreciated the beauty of these mountains. Now that I am on the west I see them everyday and LOVE them.

The other thing I love about living here is that for a few weeks every winter the bald eagles fly through here during their migration. It is amazing. We have hundreds of bald eagles, they are so beautiful! Their "stop" is only about two miles from my front door. I took the girls out to see the pelicans and eagles. We ended up staying for two hours just watching the birds it was so much fun! As you know, I am usually all about industry and was a supporter of Legacy (down with the special insects in the wetlands---I need a road!) But every now and then the "nature-lover" in me comes out . . . I think living here does it to me.

It's not a great picture because my camera isn't that great, but here are some of the bald eagles in the tree.

Here are some of the pelicans. The pictures are not doing the experience justice, but oh well.

Aubrey and Hailey watching the birds. I'm so glad they get to grow up with these experiences.

Pippi Longstocking

Today was Hailey's preschool day to dress up like a book character. All the kids pick their favorite book and dress up like that character. A few weeks ago Hailey and I went to the library and pick out some Pippi Longstocking books, thus she was Pippi. She was so darling about it! She pranced around the house and made goofy faces, just like Pippi. I had tons of fun putting her costume together, it was really easy and turned out really cute, if I do say so myself!

Are you kidding me?!?

Really, my children needed to come with manuals that say in big bold print "WARNING: IMAGINATIONS AT WORK" I think they get their ever vibrant imaginations from my mom, the queen of make-believe. This week, my children's imaginations got them in situations I never even thought to tell them that was against the rules.

Monday: Hailey and Aubrey are playing quietly in the basement. I keep listening from the top of the stairs and I can hear them giggling and calling each other "friend." About two hours later they come up the stairs crying and scratching themselves all over. They said it was the cotton-snow they were playing in. Upon further inspection, they pulled the insulation off the walls of our unfinished basement and rolled in it like it was snow! I called Poison Control to see what to do. They said it was the fiberglass and it creates little cuts all over. Needless to say, that was a really bad evening.

Thursday: I am at Enrichment night and Hailey decides Aubrey is watching TV too loud. She breaks an eraser off the end of a pencil and then breaks it in half and stuff it down her ears. Ben was able to get one out, but not the other one. We had to take her to the pediatrician and he digs it out with his tools. She bled out her ear for the rest of the day.

Sunday: Getting ready for church, Aubrey decides to do her own hair . . . and thinks that spray butter will work better than hairspray . . . we never made it to church.

The words "are you kidding me?" came out of my mouth more than once this week. I taught my kids not to run into the street and not to put their hands on hot stoves, but pulling the insulation off the walls, putting erasers in ears and using butter as hair products; I guess I just forgot to mention those.