Thomas at OKC

This past weekend we managed to make plans to meet our friends, Susan, Halsey & their little boy Ethan, in Oklahoma City to see Day Out With Thomas. We were stationed with them in Washington until Ethan and Claire were about 4 or 5 months old and they ditched us for Hawaii. The nerve. Anyway, thanks to the powers of the Air Force they're now in Kansas so this seemed like a great way to get together (though a more careful look at a map showed that OKC is NOT in the middle - we definitely got the good end of this deal).

The Thomas adventure was pretty fun. I was surprised that there was more for the kids to do than at the one in Washington (and it wasn't raining!). The kids got temporary train tattoos, bounced, watched trains visited Sir Topham hat, shopped a bit, and ate popcorn. Our car was the one right behind Thomas. And it was air-conditioned. Makes for a good day.

We got hotel rooms for the whole weekend so that we could hang out a bit. Managed to secure adjoining rooms at the hotel (woohoo!). The kids got along really well, except for a few squabbles over whose turn it was for the Troublesome Trucks on their Thomas track. Those trucks really are troublesome! They went to sleep without too much fuss in one room so we grown-ups could all hang out. Susan and I hit the mall and a few other stores kid-free, which was so fun. I was having major mall-withdrawal since we don't have one anywhere near us in Altus. Of course we mostly bought stuff for the kids, but whatever. All-in-all it was a great time. Though I think Ethan has caught the crud that Claire was coming down with. She apparently had no problem sharing that...

A few highlights:

Dancin' Queen

My dad drove Claire to school for me one morning while they were visiting. Apparently they had the Mamma Mia soundtrack playing in their van because when my mom and I went to Wal-mart with Claire a day or so later Claire told us, "Guys... When Pawpaw was driving he had a good song on the radio. It was about a dancing queen."

She has since informed us that Dancin' Queen is her favorite song. Move over Veggie Tales CD, Abba is here!

Grandparents! Four of 'em!

As we mentioned before, we both had our parents in town together for a week, just to see us (because let's face it: we don't live in a tourist destination down here!). We were SO happy that they all could make it out here for a visit.

The girls and I were in grandparent heaven. With four grandparents in the house, I didn't push a single kid on the swing set for an entire week. Not once. That's really saying something because that's really all Maddie ever wants to do. (Ever. If she could figure out a way to suck her thumb on the swing I don't think we'd ever get her back in the house.) And we had a good excuse to go out to eat (gotta show them the local culture, right?). They took Claire to and from school and dance. They picked up whiny kids and entertained them, they broke up fights and prevented arguments.

Ummm, can you guys come back, please??? I'm still trying to adjust back to doing all of that myself all day long! Pretty please???

(click for more pics!)

Squeaky shoes

Here's a quick video of Maddie and her grandmothers at the mall. Maddie had just gotten her two year-old photos taken and was enjoying a stroll (hop?) in her special squeaky shoes. It takes a long time to go the length of a mall like this:

Maddie's Birthday

Our little Maddie-kins turned two. How does this happen? One minute she's a cute little baby and the next minute she's a sassy (though still pretty darned cute) two year-old. We had a little party for her here at the house with a few of her friends and some very special guests - her GRANDPARENTS! Yep, both sets of grandparents were troopers and hopped into my parents' minivan to drive here in time to celebrate Maddie's birthday with her. Wasn't that sweet? She and Claire get an entire week of quadruple-grandparent spoiling.

We spent Maddie's birthday with a party, some bubbles, kite-flying, a walk (with a turtle-sighting) and present-opening. All-in-all not a bad day. :)

(Click for Pics of the Day!)

Our poor goldfish

A couple of weeks ago one of our goldfish went belly-up. He didn't last long, but for $.50 a fish you really can't expect much. It was Maddie's fish and I thought she was a bit too young to learn about all of that, but I called Claire in and told her that the fishy had gone to Heaven and we needed to send him back to the ocean. We said a little prayer for him and flushed him down the toilet. Claire was heartbroken and bawled her eyes out but we replaced him and Maddie was none the wiser.

This morning I noticed that both fish were belly-up in the bowl. I sat the girls down to breakfast and oh-so-sneakily flushed the fish, trying to figure out how to deal with it this time around. Do I go to the pet store and try to find two more fish that look just like the original two? Do I 'fess up and tell the girls? I had already flushed them, so a somber ceremony was out of the question this time. Hmmmm... After much contemplation, here's how it went down when Maddie and I picked up Claire from preschool:

Me: Girls! Guess where we get to go today!
Girls: (excitedly) Where???
Me: To the pet store!!! Our fishies got sick last night so we have to go to the pet store to pick out two new ones to replace them!!! (said with much enthusiasm, like this is the best news in the world)
Girls: Yay! Oh boy! The pet store!!!

So now I know how to deliver that information the next time it's necessary (which seems pretty often, judging on how many fish we've been through already!). Bon chance, new fishies!

Big week for Maddie

It was a very eventful week for Maddie. First, she mustered up the courage to ride Yankee after Claire's lesson on Monday. This is a HUGE deal for her, as she is terrified of horses. She didn't even want to pet the fuzzy miniature horses at the county fair. But as Claire was riding this week Maddie told us, "Me turn," over and over again until it was her turn to ride. Here she is:

From 2008-09

Her other big accomplishment is (drum roll, please): she's learned to use the potty! We're still in the early phases and we have some issues at nap time, but she is done with diapers. Woohoo! I can't believe what a big girl she's becoming. So big, in fact, that she's turning two in less than a week. Seriously, where does the time go?

An evening storm

A little late summer storm blew through about 15 miles north of our place. Our view across the fields let me take a few decent shots -- I won't try to compare to the weather experts' talents though.

Happy Anniversary

Today was our 7th wedding anniversary. Not wanting to let such an occasion just slip by, we thought we'd get a babysitter and go to Altus' finest restaurant. OK, OK, seriously now. After reviewing our dining choices we decided to cook at home so we headed to Walmart to pick up the fixins for surf-n-turf. Don't judge us; I'm pretty sure it's the only gig in town that sells lobster. Maddie helped Phil pick out a lobster from the tank (I was across the store. I can't contribute to the murder of those poor critters) and some yummy bacon-wrapped filets. When he was done grilling it I think we had a pretty nice meal:

We also served the girls some fine cuisine. Here is their mac-n-cheese a la peas (it was the nice 3-cheese variety):

I'd say we had a pretty nice anniversary!