Sand, Spiders, and Swimming!

We've had lots of adventures this week! I found something else to keep Olivia occupied while we work on the deck (which Michael finished the top part today! Just the fence is left). This turtle sandbox was $1 (yes, ONE dollar) at a nearby yard sale. Play sand at Home Depot is $2.50/bag and we got 3. So, for less than $10, a new sandbox!





Wednesday, Olivia and I went to The Butterfly Pavilion with Lindsay (my neighbor with the daycare!), her kids, and some daycare kiddos. The Butterfly Pavilion is about 40 minutes north of our house. It has lots of bugs and creepy crawlies, but the main attraction is a tropical conservatory with 1200 butterflies from rain forests around the world. Needless to say, there were butterflies flying EVERYWHERE! We started in the insect room. Olivia was as grossed out by the cockroaches as I was:



The main attraction in this room is Rosey. Rosey is a tarantula. If you "hold" the tarantula, you get a sticker proclaiming your braveness. Have you met my sticker loving daughter? As soon as she saw those stickers, she made a beeline for the spider. Unfortunately, you have to be at least 3 years old to hold Rosey. Even more unfortunately, if you're under 3, Mommy can hold the spider for you. Luckily, I can handle spiders (in a controlled environment). A snake would be a different story! I found it quite funny that she wasn't afraid of it!



We moved through a few more exhibits, then hit the conservatory. It's kept really humid and we were all sweating within 2 minutes. (I will remember this place next winter, when it's snowing for the umpteenth time!)



The butterflies were amazing:



The staff are mostly volunteers with loads of information. The main rule is (obviously), don't touch the butterflies. We were informed that butterflies landing on us is OK, preferably on our clothes, to avoid the oil in our skin. Now, you can't walk 2 steps without butterflies swarming around you, yet we were expected to keep a 2 year old and an almost 2 year old from touching? Tough request! They did pretty well at first. Then, we rounded a corner to find Lindsay's little boy shaking one by the wing. I thought one of the volunteers was going to pass out. We made a hasty retreat to a play area!
Note the sticker:





Lots of fun! The rec center pools opened Friday, so we went down for an hour or two. She wasn't really into it. She liked the splash area pretty well:



But, was much more interested in the snacks I brought:



Saturday and Sunday was mainly spent working on the deck, but we headed to a nearby park with fountains today. I thought Olivia would really like it and she squealed when she saw it- "wader!" (water). However, I think it was a little intimidating for her:





That was as close as she got before running back to Daddy:



We decided to head to the pool instead. Luckily, she did much better today. She even let us take her in the "deep" end (4 feet). We usually stay in the kiddie area. It's a zero depth entry, so it's perfect for little ones. She gets cold pretty easily (probably because of the lack of fat on her body!), so even though it was warm today (around 80), she was really cold when she got out of the pool:



She was once again really into the snacks I brought:



I guess I'll take her to the pool on days she's not eating well! Did you notice her hair was in a ponytail today? She looks so much older!



One video to share. Michael thought it would be really funny to teach her "Becky." I didn't think she would pick it up, but lo and behold:



So, now Mommy's working on some new words: "Michael Andrew." =)

A day at the park

Last Monday was one of the first really nice days we've had this Spring. It was so nice, I decided to pile the girls in the bike trailer and ride to a nearby park for a picnic lunch.



They love the park:







There's also a small lake (pond), so I took a loaf of day old bread for the geese. Avry really got into feeding them, but Olivia wasn't too impressed. If they started walking towards her, she ran to me (screaming).





My favorite part of the park? Two worn out little girls:



They were asleep within 2 minutes of leaving. Unfortunately, the ride back home is much harder than the ride there. It took me about 45 minutes and by the time we got there and I unpacked the lunch, they were up and ready to go. I was exhausted, so I let them loose in the playroom. Olivia discovered her new trampoline has some music and when Avry heard it, she started dancing. This girl has some moves!



Since they were so into the dancing, I took them in the living room and turned on the Kiddie music channel. Michael came home from work and we watched them dance for 45 minutes. They were hysterical!



Olivia has the pants falling down problem pretty frequently!

Oh, in case you were wondering- the sunscreen did NOT come out of the carpet!

Baby jail and the Sunscreen Incident

Michael started working on the deck last weekend. The dogs wreaked havoc on the deck with their nails:



He got a good deal on Trex, which never has to be stained (Yay!) and is supposed to not scratch as easily as wood. It's turning out to be more work than we originally thought. I'm trying to help, but it's hard with Olivia. I finally hit on the baby jail. I used to use this gate to keep Olivia and Avry in the playroom. Then I remembered it will connect together to form a circle.



She thought it was fun for 30 minutes. Then she hung over the side, saying and signing "all done."



It's really not safe for her to be outside:



So, I took her inside for dinner. She skipped her nap and was exhausted. This is what happened while she ate her spaghetti:



Work on the deck has temporarily stopped, due to snow and a few days of cold weather (in MAY. There is something so wrong about turning on the heat in May). This weekend is supposed to be nice, though.

Olivia gets so excited when Avry comes over. She waits by the front door and watches for her when I tell her she's on her way:



Yesterday, they were playing nicely in the playroom and I slipped away (I thought they didn't notice) to the bathroom. I was gone maybe 2 minutes. When I came out of the bathroom, I heard giggling in the playroom and this is what I found in the living room:



Yes, that's sunscreen. And it was EVERYWHERE:







This is how found them in the playroom. Have you ever seen two guiltier looks?







To make matters worse, Olivia ate a blue crayon while I was cleaning up the sunscreen.




We need nice weather NOW, so these kids can play outside!

THAT child.

You know the one. The kid that all the other kids stay away from, because he/she takes their toys, or hits them, or pushes them. The kid that the other mothers tell their children to stay away from. I used to look at those mothers with pity. Imagine not being able to control your child.



That was my child this week.



Not the whole week. Just one day. The one day we had a play date. Disaster with a capital D. It all started when I forgot her blanket at home. How dare I do such a thing. She had her bunny (blankie and bunny are her 2 comfort items at the moment), but not blankie. When we got to our play date's house, my friends little girl had a blanket very similar to Olivia's. Which meant it was hers (of course). My friends little girl put up a fight, but Olivia pulled her hair and she let go. Sigh. Time out number 1. It went downhill from there. Magic markers on the wall, apple juice spilled on the carpet, tantrum after tantrum when she wanted a toy that someone else was playing with, it was nonstop drama. We left early (apologizing profusely) and she was a perfect angel the rest of the day.



I was aggravated at her for a little while.



But it's really hard to stay mad at someone wearing pink sparkle shoes and carrying a bright pink pirate monkey. Especially when she knows she's been bad and gives you that little impish grin. REALLY hard.

Busy, busy!

Sorry about the break in blogging! Life got uncommonly busy and we're just starting to catch up.
Olivia and I have been busy helping out at a neighbor's home daycare. She is a surrogate mother, pregnant with twins. Her surrogate contract specified that she could hire someone to work her daycare if she went on bed rest. Which she did, 2 weeks ago! We spend around 30 hours a week at her house. She has 2 boys of her own (ages 4 and 2), plus 4 daycare kids that come at different times during the week. Most of the kids are 4 and 5, which is nice. They looooove Olivia and Avry. It's been good for Olivia, although she hasn't really been napping over there. She loves the dress up clothes at their house:



She had the babies last night, so I'm not sure how much longer we'll be there. It's definitely been nice to have some extra money for all the traveling we're planning for this summer!

Our latest Craigslist find:



She loves this trampoline! It's the first thing she runs to in the morning (note the morning hair and blankie):



Nice way to burn some energy!



We've had a few days of cold weather and even some snow yesterday. Normal spring weather around here, but we would have loved to work outside today. Instead, we shopped for shoes for Michael and made a trip to Costco. We went to Murdoch's first to look for shoes. It's kind of like a feed and tool store wrapped up in one. You can get tools, boots, clothes, even animals. We were showing Olivia the baby "chicks," when a worker informed us they were actually baby turkeys. Whoops.



Her language is exploding. She talks all the time. I don't always understand what she's saying, but you can now pick out words and get the general idea. Like this conversation we had in the car today:



Every time that Avry comes over or we go to the daycare, I have a little talk with her about being "nice" and "sharing." (We're still having major issues with sharing!) At least she's talking about it, even if she's not quite doing it yet!

Michael finished another project last week (he's on a roll!). He re tiled the guest bathroom! His first tile project. Of course, since the tile was new, we had to paint the walls and get a new light fixture (still waiting on that!). I have looked and looked, but this is the only "before" picture I can find. It's from our first showing of the house, before we bought it:



EVERYTHING was white. Vanity, floor tile, and shower tile, all white. The walls were light green. The picture is pretty forgiving, the walls were pretty bright! Here's after:







Nice! We need to add one more layer of paint and hang a light fixture before it's completely finished, but I love how it turned out. Up next: the deck! The dogs have pretty much destroyed it, plus we need to add a fence. Right now it's open right up to the pond. Not very kid friendly!

One more video- I was cooking dinner one night, when she saw the lemon juice. She pretty much demanded to try it!



Last, but not least, a very happy (belated!) 6th birthday wish to Maggie!



We hope you had a great day!

Sesame Street Live!

Tickets to show: $90





Cotton candy and assorted other snacks: $20



Elmo balloon: $10 (yes, TEN dollars for a balloon. I'm a sucker.)



Watching this reaction (sorry it's so dark- look for her white shirt):







Priceless. ;)


And one more video, because it's funny.
Eating pudding: