Woodland adventure

At the tender age of four days Izzy made her first foray into the wild Blue yonder up to my parent's cabin.  We were anxious to go for many reasons, not the least of which was that we had not seen the place since the massive Wallow fire burned through the area.  I hadn't mentioned on the blog up to now because while the fire burned it was just too hard to talk about, and since it had been contained I really didn't have much to say, not having been up to the area yet.  We knew that the fire had burned literally up to our mailbox and that it wasn't severe there... Another reason we were itching to go was the heat of Tucson which, among other things, had caused a terribly over-TVed four year old.  All said we got it all together and headed up to the woods by 3 pm last Thursday.

When we first went up to the cabin with Evie it was an eye-openingly epic trip up there... constant feeding stops, screaming babe because of the change in elevation and just general new-parent traveling with infant anxieties.  Given previous experience both Patrick and I prepared for it to be a long and arduous trip.  We were pleasantly surprised when it was a lovely trip up (mind you not a short one) with only one not so pleasant stop to feed Izzy off the I-10 near a pile of asphalt.  The best was our sunset stop to feed the babe at the Aldo Leopold lookout in New Mexico.  We watched the sun set, enjoyed the cool and I was treated to Patrick playing his guitar and Evie making up lyrics to songs while I fed Izzy.  By the time we made it to the area that had burned in the fire it was too dark to see anything but we could still smell the fire, which was really interesting.  The driveway to the cabin was a mess because of sheet-flow flooding that had come through the area sometime in the past week. 

We spent our cabin days playing at the river, sitting in the hammock or hot tub and just generally relaxing.  Pretty ideal post-partum recovery place if you ask me.  (Made particuarly luxurious by the presence of my parents who made meals for us and helped out with both kids)  Evie spent most of her time playing with Patrick but I tried to steal away at least once a day to spend time with her.  One day we took her horse down to the river (it is actually my horse, a toy of mine from my grandfather when I was her age...) for a hike.  She found it a bit difficult to get him to cross the stream and "practiced" with him at least a half a dozen times before he "got it".

One morning we decided to head up the road because I was curious to see what Alpine looked like and my folks property up there, where the fire had burned straight through and actually destroyed houses adjacent to theirs.  We stopped to feed the baby at Luna Lake, which was really low, most likely because of all the water taken for the fire fighting efforts, but still just as beautiful as before.  The view to Alpine though was really sad, most of the mountains surrounding the town are varying degrees of charred trees... Later in the morning Patrick and my Dad took a hike up the hill from the property in Alpine to see what it looked like and it was a lot of charred crispy trees.  Kita went with them and came back with what looked like a black eye from just walking around in the mess.

At one point during the week Patrick was bitten by the I-must-build-treacherous-balancing-structures bug and proceeded to first make a balance beam for a "circuit" around the front yard and then later a "bridge across the river.  The balance beam did not cause any serious injury, the bridge was another story...  I was up at the cabin when I heard the distinct cry of a harmed four year old and then Evie came up the road with Patrick with a (minorly) cut up knee and a (majorly) bruised little ego.  Later in the day Evie bravely decided to get back on the bridge and go for it again despite her injury and convinced me to come along and give the death-trap bridge a try too.  (I left the little Lacroix back at the cabin for this one).  I went across a couple of times without incident, all the while Patrick was trying to "improve" the bridge by putting rocks under the middle of it to "stabilize" it.  As I crossed he put another rock underneath that had a decidedly un-stabilizing effect on the thing and ended with me bum first in the river landing smack dab on a large rather un-soft rock.  (Hmm I just bet rickety bridge walking and river splatting are probably not among the list of approved activities for postpartum stitches...) 

Another activity was playing on the zip line, which turned out to be a great way for Patrick and I to get some exercise because we must have pulled Evie up the route about 50 times in a hour or so.  Inspired by an e-mail and website sent to me from my friend Sonja I tried to do some artistic outdoor baby photos of Izzy.  Well I am certainly no profession but did manage to get one cool photo of Izzy in the mint.  (She woke up pretty soon after so I abandoned the effort and just FYI babies don't particuarlly like to lay on pine needles...)  We had to head home on Wednesday, sad to leave our woodland adventure but so very, very thankful to have been able to spend the time up there given everything that had happened!

Zingers - fun and bunnies

Evie is enjoying her time with Patrick, Izzy and I... she told me this morning
"I am having the funnest day I've had since yesterday!"

Yesterday on the ride home from the cabin (more on that to come) she asked me:
"Mommy, why don't you like soap made of bunnies?" 
Although this sounds like the most bizarre question ever, it is actually her astute observation that the soap and shampoo etc that we have at home all has a little symbol of a bunny on it with a slash through it.  After I busted a gut and then discovered what she was actually asking about we had a good little conversation about animal testing that I imagine would have made PETA proud.

Photos and a little catch-up

Not too much time or energy to write... Isadora is a better sleeper than Evie was at this stage but equally difficult to feed... we definitely know that her lungs work well, let's just put it that way.  Here are some photos from the weekend both pre and post-Isadora and a photo or two more of the new little one.

Face painting by daddy on Saturday... an angel on her forehead.  She also painted her face herself, the scariest clown I have ever seen... didn't get a photo of that one though.

Belly art by Evie.  My cheap alternative to the fancy belly decoration.  The red thing in the middle is a chrysalis (it was the first thing she painted... I have no idea why she decided to paint that, but I like the symbolism... and the fact she actually called it a chrysalis)

Evie doing a dance all dressed up on Sunday...  this is what she and Patrick did while I rested and tried to figure out (read was in denial about) the leak that turned out to be a break... well really a tear in.... the bag o' waters....  round about 1:30 pm....

Hanging out at the Birth Center after Isadora was born.  My brother and Claudia brought Genevieve by at around 10:30.  She finally made it to sleep at midnight... I pretty much just lay there all night staring at Isadora on my chest... in utter disbelief that I had just had another baby.

Evie passed out on the floor in the room (actually really the very spot) where I had Isadora.  She slept in to a record of 9 am.  A never before accomplished feat.  By the way, the bed there in the picture is the same bed that Genevieve was born in.  Pretty cool eh?

Sleepy Isadora yesterday.

Evie showing off her "present" from Isadora yesterday.  Patrick had to go into work for a little bit leaving me at home with both girls.  Genevieve did such a good job of being a helper and being patient.  I am so proud of her. (By the way she still has the dress on today.. looks like Isa made a good choice)

She's Here!!

Evie and Mom... week 1

This week was Evie and my first week of hanging out together just us girls. I can't remember the last time we had so much time together just the two of us and it was great! Last week I was really tired so I was a bit worried that it would be a hard week but in the end it wasn't too bad. This was, in no small part, because I was able to crash at my parents house on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon for a nice nap while my parents watched Evie for me. (Today and yesterday no such luck but I also managed to sleep a bit better the past few nights so I am doing pretty darn well)

Throughout the week she has been taking full advantage of the fact that she does not have to wear a uniform and has been dressing herself in all sorts of fancy. Thursday she spent the whole day in her snow white costume and received quite a few complements. In fact I think enough people commented on it that it made her self conscious because she hasn't wanted to put it on again and every time someone said something to her she would try to hide behind my legs.

Anyway, on Tuesday morning we went to Biosphere 2 out in Oracle. I figured as a mostly indoor controlled environment it would be a good chance for me to walk about a bit and not be too hot. It turned out to be perfect. I think most of the science of the place and the tour was lost on Evie but she got a kick out of the ocean biome and in particular spent about 15 minutes going through a computer program to learn about mollusks... you just never know what will pique her interest. After the Biosphere 2 we went out to noodles for lunch and then over to my parents for my nap.

Wednesday started out with a bang with a trip to open jump time at Pump it Up, a local jumping castle place... basically a big warehouse with jumping castles and slides in it. Mostly it is used for birthday parties but they do morning open jumps for 1.5 hours for only $7... one of those things I always thought she would enjoy but the whole working thing got in the way. She had a great time and managed to convince me to go down the big slide twice. I went up and over the bumper at the end the second time and decided maybe it wasn't the best idea for me to go down it a third time. After and hour and a half of jumping we went over the pool for a swim lesson. She is really doing well with the swimming, almost has the whole coordination between big arms and kicks, regardless she is now really comfortable in the pool... we just need a few more lessons and some practice so that I am comfortable with her in the pool too.

Thursday was low key with just playing around the house in the morning followed by a few errands and then a trip to see the midwife and check in on Lentil. (All is well on that front, by the way) I then took her over to my folks house again and my brother's girlfriend Claudia watched her for me for a few hours while I went back down to the University to meet with a professor. She had a lot of fun with Claudia and when I came back had made all sorts of pictures and a princess carriage out of cardboard. We stopped for ice cream on the way home and then chilled on the couch and watched a "science show". (She knows that this is the best way to get me to let her watch television... by proposing that the two of us hang out and watch a science show, aka Nova or National Geo or something like that)

Today it was gloriously cloudy and only about 90 degrees so we decided to make an early trip to the zoo. While there Evie found a little boy (3.5) and the two of them proceeded to go around the zoo hand in hand for the next hour, it was really cute. Of course the highlight of the zoo was the splash park part, Kenya Get Wet, where we spent most of our time. She also fed the giraffe. It made me think of the first time I took her to the zoo when she was just six months or so old and was terrified of the giraffes... Anyway after the zoo we headed to the pool for another swim lesson and then over to an "adult lunch" that a former co-worker and my new co-workers put together at the place where I am going to work next year. It was cute, when I told her she was going to a special lunch with just adults she went to her closet and picked out a fancy dress and fancy shoes so that she would be ready to eat lunch with adults.

Not sure how I am going to top all of this next week....

Happy 4th!

This year we celebrated the 4th of July at home in Tucson.  A trip up to the cabin was contemplated and then ultimately scrapped on the off chance I should go into labor (which I did not) and because the idea of 10 hours in a car on winding roads in my "condition" was not exactly my idea of a good time.  We spent the weekend hanging out doing some much needed house chores and pre-baby chores (like build the bassinet) and then went on an adventure on Monday.  The first order of the day was for Patrick to make patriotic pancakes.  Here was his first attempt:

What?  You have no idea what he was attempting?  Shocking.  It is supposed to be an American flag.  Here is the second attempt:

Decidely more flag like, I'll admit.... but there is one major problem with this flag not associated with the fact that I do not doubt the difficulty of making a pancake USA flag.... Ummm since when are the stripes on Old Glory red and blue?  Darn hippies, don't even know what an American flag looks like. :)  Regardless they were very delicious so I really shouldn't be too critical.

After breakfast we piled in the car and drove out to Kartchner Caverns for a cave tour.  I was eager to go figuring it was pretty much the closest way for me to get outside (so to speak) and take a walk.  (All the mountain forests around here were still closed due to fire danger)  I don't have any pictures because they are very strict about what you bring into the cave and cameras are a no go.  But trust me when I say that it was lovely and Evie really enjoyed herself.  She kept telling everyone that this was the third cave she had been through and how she didn't find caves scary at all (oh that and that her Mom was pregnant...)

After our underground foray we headed over to my parent's house to watch fireworks but ended up watching an even better show... big monsoon storm with lightning and thunder... the best an Arizonan could ever hope for on the 4th of July!

Of Roller Skates, Due Dates and Clean Slates

Despite the heat Evie has had a hankering to learn how to roller skate.  We picked up some kiddie skates at a garage sale last summer and they have been hanging out in Evie's closet waiting for their moment.  Last week after school I did my best to help her out with this task, however, given my current bulbous state it was a little difficult and, quite frankly, I pooped out on the task after just 15 minutes or so.  What she really wanted someone to put on our other skates and show her how it is done... definitely not a task I am up to right now.  So last Saturday morning Patrick rose to the challenge, put on his skates and gave her a demo.  She isn't quite ready for prime time but by the end of the lesson she was at least standing and sliding (a bit) on her own.


In other news Lacroix deux is now officially "term" aka 37 weeks today.  We both hope that s/he hangs in there for a bit longer (but not too much longer) but it is certainly an exciting milestone!  The actual estimate date o' arrival is July 22nd.  Little Lentil has been doing well, making my belly move and wave like something out of a bad sci-fi film, but for me the last two weeks have been pretty tiring, the combo of the heat and the pregnancy induced insomnia are definitely taking a toll.  Luckily most days I've been able to take a nap but there have been a few times of late when just moving around, let alone doing something quasi productive, has seemed like a colossal challenge. 

The final bit of happening is that as of yesterday I am gainfully unemployed and will now set myself to the job of entertaining Evie for the month of July!  Although overall I am really excited at the prospect of hanging out with her and playing just the two of us for one last period of time before she loses her only child status; I am also a bit nervous given her spotty nap record of late.   We'll see how well I do without any naps (I am sure she'll be just fine).  Regardless, given the recent ups and downs, it is exciting to be officially finished with the 5 years of one job and able to fully focus on my endeavors as a PhD student!

Staycation

Last weekend Patrick and did a belated anniversary celebration at Starr Pass here in Tucson.  All the fancy resorts in Tucson have smoking deals in the summer because otherwise they would be virtually empty... I mean who aside from a local wants to hang out in Tucson when it is 100+ degrees outside?  As a result of the temperatures we received a package for two massages, a fancy dinner and a room for the price you'd normally pay for just the room... pretty fun!  We chose Starr Pass because they had a lazy river and seeing how Sunday was also Father's Day we invited my family to come down for breakfast (including Evie who had stayed with them for the night) to have breakfast and do a little lazy river floating.  The theme for the weekend for me was being able to lay on my belly... both in the massage because of a special belly cut-out pillow and on the lazy river... ahhh heaven!

Take a guess

Our decision to wait to find out the gender of the next (Mott) Lacroix drives some people crazy.  At my baby shower I had one friend offer to buy me a home gender test, have me take it and then she wouldn't reveal the results to me but just really wanted to know for herself.  I must admit for some reason the closer we get to the due date the harder it becomes for me to wait as well.... or perhaps it is just the difficulty of coming up with good candidate names for both girls and boys.  Who knew that one of the most difficult things with a second pregnancy would be a second set of names?

Regardless there is no shortage of opinions on the gender of our soon to be child (aka Lentil, for the time being, don't worry that isn't even a candidate permanent name).  Early on a couple of Mexican grandmothers emphatically informed me that it was a boy.  My dear friend and co-worker is also amongst the avid boy camp.  In fact I think that most betting folks vote for a boy.... but then again the consensus when I was pregnant with Genevieve was that she was a boy too.... good thing no one bet large sums on that result.  Enough votes were in for a boy that I was nigh convinced myself, I won't even pretend to have a premonition about it, until last week.

When I was pregnant with Evie, and everyone including Patrick, was convinced she was a boy, the only person to say otherwise was a bagger at Sunflower.  Now before you go poo-poohing this method of gender prediction hear me out.  This guy, who just happens to come off as the sweetest, most gentle person that I have encountered, claims to never be wrong and doesn't even ask you what your having.  He just says "I am thinking its a ____."  When I encountered him last time it was after an appointment with my midwife and I was about 36 weeks pregnant.  As he bagged my groceries he nicely informed me of Evie's gender status and told me to bring her by after her birth.  I have not, however, seen him at the Sunflower since then (I only go there a handful of times a year though in fairness).  Last week, also after an appointment with a midwife, I walk into the Sunflower only to be greeted by this guy.  As I checked out he just also happened to be my bagger.... and he said to me, "I am thinking its a girl." Again no questions on if I knew the gender or not, just a simple statement.  Regardless of the ultimate outcome, the random coincidence has given me quite a bit of joy... not to mention made me redouble my efforts at finding a suitable girl name.

But really, how can anyone ever do anymore than guess at the gender?  I mean each person has a 50/50 chance of a correct guess right?  I found out a few months ago that the carry high/carry low method has opposing answers depending on your geography.  My brother's girlfriend who is German informed me that there high equals boy and low girl where as here it is the opposite.... clearly someone is wrong.... and what about the poor souls like me that seem to just carry in the middle?

Anyway, the impossibility of even an educated guess, together with the rather comical form my body currently finds itself in, got me to thinking about other examples of where one person's perception can be totally off from reality....

Sedona (Water) Escape

It is pushing 100 degrees here and the need for me to flee from the heat is great.... My status as walking furnace these days makes me oh so very intolerant of any sort of heat above oh say 80 degrees.  It was a no brainer then when my mom asked if Evie and I wanted to come with her to a conference in Sedona and hang out while she was in the meetings.  Although it got up to 86 there it was far preferable to the 100 it was in Tucson over the weekend.  Evie and I had a lot of fun just exploring the two of us, much like what we do when we go up there with Patrick in February, only this time we could do more exploration associated with Genevieve's favorite element... water.  On Friday we spent the morning at Oak Creek observing tadpoles, tromping in the water and then hiking a bit upstream to find a most fabulous place for Evie to practice her leaps. 

That afternoon we both lounged in the pool (which was actually a little cold for my likes but I tried to be a good sport).  Evie managed to convince my Mom to go back to the pool with her after dinner too.  On Saturday we took a earlyish hike to Bell Rock with my Mom and then spent the afternoon again at the pool and the evening with a great picnic dinner up Oak Creek Canyon from Sedona.  Evie really wanted to go down to the water again so the two of us scrambled and slid down the mountain side from the picnic area to the creek... probably not the best idea a 34 week pregnant lady has ever had but the view from the creek bed was pretty darn nice.  Sunday we headed home with a stop at some outlet mall where Evie played in a water playground and got utterly sopping wet... can you guess what the theme of the weekend was?

Little dancer

Here are some belated pictures of Evie's second ever big dance performance.  It was two days of rehearsals on stage and two days of performance.  Lucky for me we have a friend who not only brought his camera to the Saturday night performance but took some pretty great pics of Evie too!!  The first is from her tap dance routine to rubber ducky and the second is from Swan Lake.  The whole dance studio participated in the Swan Lake portion of the ballet with the littlest ones starting out the dance with a little routine showing them waking to the new day and then periodically "leaping" across the stage at key moments.  It was really well done.  What wasn't so well done was my attempt at a ballerina bun, as evidenced by all of the hair of her's that you can see in these pictures :)  (For Sunday's performance Patrick just sent her into the dressing room and the head of the studio, a very seasoned maker of buns on difficult hair, made her look truly ballerina-esque)

Slip n' Slide

Its June and that means man is it hot.  We decided to break out the slip n slide on Sunday in an attempt to tire Evie out and get her to take an early nap before her dance recital (more on that to come...).  I'm not sure who had more fun, Evie or Patrick.  I too joined in on the fun.... in the form of sitting at the end of the slip n slide in the water pool.  (I tried to "slide" once or twice on my knees but it didn't work out too well for me.)  Regardless I think we all have found a new favorite backyard activity... at least until it gets below 100 degrees again.

Bodega Bay

Evie and I just got back from a fabulous little jaunt to northern California.  We went up to San Francisco and Bodega Bay.  It was a pretty short trip because Patrick couldn't come with us and because Evie has rehearsal for her big ballet/tap performance this weekend.  We went up to stay at a friend's place at Bodega Bay and traveled with other good friends from Tucson.  All in all there were four families and nine children, all under the age of 7.  Needless to say a goodly amount of chaos was involved but it was by in large excellent chaos.  Evie got to see her friend Maxine again and had a really great time with her in particular.  Yesterday on the plane flight home she told me that she already missed her and wanted to know when we could see her again... too sweet.

When we arrived on Sunday we went out to eat in San Francisco at the dim sum restaurant.  I had never eaten dim sum before and it was utterly delicious.  Unfortunately for me, at the almost 33 week point, I ate a bit too much and then paid for it in heartburn for the afternoon... even so it was sooo worth it.  We then decided because it was a beautiful day we would take highway 1 up the coast to our friend's place instead of the quicker route.  It should have been about an hour drive but ended up taking us close to 4 hours because of traffic and just a very windy narrow road.  It was beautiful though.

On Monday it was gorgeous out and we spent most of the day at the little beach near our friend's house.  The highlight for me were the afternoon tidal pools and all the cool stuff in them.  I think Evie's highlight was the "fairy kingdom" she discovered on the beach where a little waterfall came down the cliffs and onto the beach.  She and Maxine played there in the water for a good few hours.  On Tuesday we took another trek down highway 1 and then spent some time in Bodega Bay at the all important (and seemingly ubiquitous) shop that sells both kites and candy and then yesterday we headed into San Francisco to go to the Exploratorium and Chinatown.  The Exploratorium was great, it was waay crowded though because it just happened to be a free day, Evie had a blast with all the little exhibits.  Her favorites were the steam engine, bubbles and anything having to do with a pendulum.  (Afterward she asked me to define physics... I told her it was the study of how things move... I guess that was a satisfactory answer... certainly the best I could do...)  For lunch we went to Chinatown and then a quick wander to find pokemon cards for the boys and a jade Buddha necklace for me.  When I was about this pregnant with Evie we went to San Francisco and I bought a Buddha that I then wore until she was born and thought it would be cool to do the same again.  (I bought a lucky happy Buddah the first time and opted for a Guanyin one this time :)  Evie got very excited about it so I bought her a little jade Buddah to wear as well... she is very fond of it and it was the first thing she just had to show Patrick when he met us at the airport last night....

Culinary Milestone

And here I thought all the milestones would be from this point forward reserved for the soon-to-be Lacroix...  Evie had a rather exciting, and surely not on the developmental list, milestone this week.  She decided that it was high time she make her own dinner.  As I mentally sang a little hallelujah chorus, I outwardly, and rather calmly, said of course you can make your own dinner.  Foolishly I agreed before inquiring about what exactly the fare would be.  This could have turned out very badly for me if the chosen meal had involved fire, excessive amounts of sugar or some other sort of undesirable.  As it turns out she had a real hankering for a dinner of apples, peanut butter  and shredded cheese.  Mmm delicious.  So I dutifully cut some apples for her, put cheese in one bowl, peanut butter in another and gave her a knife and said go for it.  And she did.  She spread peanut butter on each apple, added shredded cheese and then gobbled it up... the whole apple and all the fixings.  All I have to say is that someone out there is looking out for me because not once did she ask me if I wanted to try this lovely dish...

Fun filled weekend!

This weekend was a blast! As the first weekend where I had absolutely nothing else to do but play I made sure that play we did. On Saturday Patrick and Evie went to her ballet and I went to yoga. On the way home the hit a garage sale and then collected me so that they could actually buy something at the garage sale... dangerous because we went back to pay $3.00 for a fabulous vest for Evie I found a fabulous handmade copper necklace too. Then a fine nap was had by all and a trip out to play goofy golf, a very important first in Evie's life. (Alas I did not bring a camera...pregnancy brain... and therefore this important milestone will go unrecorded) We didn't make it through all 18 holes but Patrick discovered my secret talent... yesss I am a goofy golf master, almost went pro in my younger days but then decided to go to college instead.



Today we took a trip out the the Pima Air and Space Museum, another one of those things we have been meaning to go see but never have. It was pretty spectacular, over 80 acres of planes. My favorite was a helicopter that reminded me of a flying insect. Then this afternoon my friend hosted a baby shower for another friend who is due three days after me and myself. It was quite the gathering, lots of fabulous food and some cutie, cute little baby stuff, including a new quilt made by my mom for the new babe and nifty plates that everyone signed! Whew I think I am going to bed early tonight...

End of the School Year

So it is official. I have now made it through my first year as a PhD student. Concurrently Evie has made it through her first year as a full time preschooler. All very exciting. I think both of the Lacroix girls have learned a lot this year! Last night was Genevieve's last exhibition night for the year and she did such a great job. For the first time ever she got right up there and sang all the songs and really participated. It was really neat to see. (Maybe she actually preformed this time because I didn't bring the video camera... hmmm)

This summer she is going to do a brief foray into Chinese (at her request) and then take the rest of the summer (July) off with me. I think we are both pretty excited about it!

Happy (early) Mother's Day

We just got home from school and I was letting Evie play with the doodle application on my ipad (she is incredibly adept at using the thing already... it is really remarkable and not just a little scary). She just came in and showed/"gave" me this picture and told me it was a Mother's Day present.... She was so excited about the picture she insisted that I print it out for her so she can make it "even more pretty" Should I be concerned?

Bye-bye Blankie Sweater

An old friend has been bid a (mostly) fond adieu this week. Blankie sweater (aka my sweater) first became the lovey of choice for Evie round about June 2009. Since then she has gone just about everywhere with us. Many a car has been turned around when her absence was discovered. She successfully helped Genevieve get to sleep every night and make the transition from home to preschool. She was such an essential part of our family that I purchased an (almost) twin for her so that no terrible crises would befall us. She has been chewed and unraveled, washed and dirtied and, above all loved. At some times her stench was more than even I could take... Regardless, the relationship between Genevieve and Blankie sweater is coming to an end in part because Evie is a big four year old but mostly because the chewing and rubbing of said sweater on Evie's mouth has caused her poor sensitive skin to have near constant eczema that try as I might I have not been able to treat any other way. She is not ready to abandon the thumb just yet and I am OK with that. Besides Patrick and I are both all about anti-hypocrisy in parenting and both are guilty of thumb sucking beyond the age of four...and look how well we turned out :)

Patrick's Vacation

For the past two weeks Patrick has been on "vacation". I place this time off in quotes because by most people's standards it probably does not fit their definition of vacation. He pretty much spent his first week working... finishing a pro-bono case, going out to business lunches, talking about being a lawyer to high school kids... you get the idea. Evie and I whisked him away at the end of that first week to Disneyland, which probably wasn't the most relaxing time either (especially because he had a cold...) but it certainly was fun.

Then last week he took it upon himself to completely redo our Arizona room and convert it into a space that we pretty literally never went inside of into a new playroom/living space. This was no easy feat. First he had to bring wiring from another part of the house and install a new breaker so that we could have light and air in the room. (My dad, who is pretty darn good with electricity helped him with this part) He then built a box and installed a ceiling fan in the room as well as added a light and hung my Guadalajara star (which now you can get everywhere but 12 years ago when I brought it back from Guadalajara in the strangest looking box you have ever seen, it was quite the novelty). Once the place was wired and lighted he set about sanding down and disassembling the frames for the screen and then painting them all yellow (same yellow as the living room... finally found a use for the uber eco yellow paint we accidentally bought en masse) He then hung all of the screen and put up a door and gave it a new handle. It kind of exhausts me just writing about it!


Anyway the end result is a fabulous new space that we have been taking full advantage of. We will buy a futon for it soon but in the meantime we pulled a mattress out there so we could sleep in the nice cool air. (Did I mention that ceiling fan came from our bedroom and has not yet been replaced... details, details) His level of productivity was so high there is part of me that hopes now he'll decided to change jobs every few years or so, so "we" can get another big project done :)

Disneyland!

A little over 8 years ago I told Patrick that the only thing I wanted for my birthday was a trip to Disneyland. He had never been and being the indulgent spouse he is we took off for the magical kingdom. So it should come as no surprise to you that taking my child to Disneyland has been one of those (ahem) selfish things I have been waiting to do as a parent. The time finally came this past weekend. About a month ago when Patrick decided to take some time off between his old job and new job and I had a Friday where my class was going to be canceled we decided what they heck, lets just go to Disneyland for a long weekend. Hotel rooms were booked and plans were made. Last Thursday at 7 pm we took off for California and made it as far as the state line before deciding we'd better find a place to sleep. All night driving and sunrise breakfast had been suggested but, alas, both Patrick and I must be too old, or practical... or something, for such craziness, so we settled for a Motel 8 in Quartzite AZ and a late breakfast at McDonald's.


On Friday we made it to Anaheim by noon and set out directly for Huntington Beach. A month ago I decided I needed a new "pregnancy" (aka larger) bathing suit and thought, hey, I'll more likely than not only be large and rather pregnant during swimsuit season once in my life, I mine as well get an offensively inappropriate orange string bikini... and so I did. The weather was warm enough to hang out in said suit but not nearly warm enough to swim in it so it only had a partial christening on this trip. We spent a few hours playing in the sand and watching the waves and then headed to our hotel.


We spent all day Saturday and Sunday at Disneyland with nice long breaks in the afternoon for Evie and Patrick to nap and for me to study (I am getting pretty behind and the end of the semester is nigh... so there may be a blog drought on the horizon). On Saturday Evie got dressed up in her princess dress and we headed out. We were there early enough so there weren't many people and so I proposed we check out Pirates of the Caribbean as our first ride, a personal favorite of mine that I could still go on "in my condition" This turned out to be a poor parenting choice on my part as (duh) Genevieve deemed it too scary about 1/4 way through and proceeded to talk about how much she disliked the pirates off and on for the rest of the trip... oh well. We then spent a good part of the morning with Evie playing on Tom Sawyer's island, hit the carousel then home for a long nap. In the evening we came back for more rides (including another personal favorite, the Jungle Cruise... which wasn't too scary) and a trip in to meet Mickey Mouse. We even made it until the fireworks show at 9:30. In the past 8 years Disneyland has really stepped it up a notch and the fireworks were about the most amazing I have ever seen and, personally, the highlight of my trip. As it turned out the first day of our Disneyland adventure was all about boat rides, all but one ride we went on involved a boat of some sort... Oh and a ridiculously awesome Snow White dress for Evie was purchased at the end of the day (I'm a total sucker... I know)


At the recommendation of some Aussies we chatted with while Evie played on Tom Sawyer's island we booked early morning reservations at the park for breakfast with Minnie... a breakfast where an array of characters come over and visit with you while you eat. This turned out to be a really great tip and was a lot of fun for all of us (as you can see from the pictures of Patrick) Evie prepped for the day by getting all dressed up in her new costume and just looked too cute. Her favorite visitor was definitely the penguin from Mary Poppins who she hugged with a never before seen gusto. Patrick seemed to really dig the Winnie the Pooh characters....


From breakfast we went to ride on the tea-cups for the first of what would be three times that day and then to wait in line and meet with the princesses figuring earlier would be better. There are always three to meet with but you don't know which you will have but Genevieve lucked out and got to see what she deemed her favorite that morning... Ariel. It was really sweet the way they interacted with her and was another really special thing that I (no great surprise) had never experienced at Disneyland. After an extra long afternoon break we went back for one last romp, beginning with the Haunted Mansion. After the Pirates problem I wasn't too sure about it, but made Evie fully aware of what she was getting herself into, and she informed me that she was "Not afraid of ghosts Mommy, I have one in my classroom, I know that ghosties are nice." (A long story...of which I don't quite know all of the details) Anyway, indeed she is not afraid of ghosties, and in fact once we were done proclaimed the Haunted Mansion to be her favorite ride.... Pirates bad, ghosts good.. I guess you just never know. The evening culminated with the fancy Fantasmic show and then back to the room and off to the land of nod...at oh around 11 pm. This morning we packed it up and made the long trek back to AZ, hearts full of happiest place on earth. (Almost full enough to still be joyous after 8+ hours of driving and multiple almost accidents with crazy CA drivers who seem to think it is OK to change lanes 2 or more at a time and not look where they are going)