This and That . . .

My little bud ready for his first Father/Son Campout!



Is it time yet for "girl's weekend" to start?!



Ellie ready for "girls-only" walk!

Still smell like camp-fire, but I got my new Summer do!

This past weekend Marcus got to go on his first Father/Son campout with Aaron! He was so excited . . . he packed up his favorite balls and bats and "little Marcus" (his little teddy bear with a baseball for a tummy) . . . About a 1/2 hour before they were set to leave, I was bathing Ellie, who had found her way out the screen door and into a mud puddle while I was finishing putting together the foil dinners and packing up all the "Boy-snacks" for my boys, when Marcus decided he needed a bath too. He was so serious about it, and I could tell he just wanted to feel clean and fresh to go with Dad on such a big adventure. I tried to hide my smile as I explained that he would be getting very dirty on the campout, but that didn't matter! So I pulled Ellie out and Marcus hopped in and the next thing I knew Marcus was ready to go! Clean as a whistle, hair and all, with fresh clothes on, teeth brushed, Lightning McQueen backpack on his back and baseball cap on his head, . . . I actually had the thought, "would it be wrong to tell him every morning he is about to leave on a campout?!"

So, me and the girls got to have "Girl's Weekend!" I asked Kaia if she knew what "Girl's weekend" meant, and she said, "yes, of course! It means that we play dress-up and watch lots of movies, like 4 movies, and we play and we paint our toes and we go shopping . . .!" Ummmm . . . yes, exactly! "Did Daddy tell you what we were going to do?" Exasperated she replied, "uh, NO!" Well, we had a great time; we took a "girl's-only" night-walk around the lake with some friends; when we got home we visited for a bit, and Kaia bustled around getting everyone fresh water and oatmeal cookies--she even set up a bar stool as her waiter-stand! The perfect hostess. Then, our friends left, Kaia put on her princessy nightgown and we cuddled up with Ellie and our favorite blankets to watch our Red-Box movie Princess and the Frog. "We got to stay up as late as mommy and daddy! Ten o'clock!" So exciting. The next morning we brushed our teeth, put our hair up in buns, and headed to Jamba Juice in jammies and sweats.

This is where I had one of those "little lump-in-the-throat" moments: We had just enjoyed our Jambas at an outside table (even Ellie got a baby cup of Jamba Juice . . .yes, she drinks out of a straw, and she has let go of her baby-talk days of Ma-ma and Da-da . . .it's now just Mom! or Dad!--why can't my girls just humor me and Act like babies!!) So we were driving down the road, headed to get gas and then to Target for the 1$ section! We had the windows down, the sun-roof open and we were car-dancin' and BLASTIN' the Tunes!! The wind was blowing through the car, and it just felt cool and crisp and good! At one point, I peeked back at Kaia in the rear-view mirror, and she had the most contented little smile on her face as her head rested back against the seat, staring out the open window, the wind blowing the "whispies" away from her face. It caught me off guard, she just looked so happy, serene, content . . . ahhhhh . . . childhood! Her face captured the moment!

Later, when the boys returned smelling like Camp-fire, and we returned from our girly fun . . . we grabbed our hair-cutting scissors and shears, set up stools on the back porch, and Kaia then Marcus then Aaron got hair cuts. We then popped popcorn, made rice-crispy treats and watched Return of the Jedi. I gotta say it was a good day!