Pictorial Illustration of the Day

So. This shows about the caliber of the day we had. One of those days where you hang up your coat and the hook falls off the wall (happened), you lose your keys (they were in Nora's crib), your visiting teachers show up in the morning to you in your robe and the house trashed (yup), and your kids fly off the handle about not being able to draw chalk flowers correctly (see below). And John missed all the fun since he's been partying (working) up in Appleton for the last couple of days. But before I find neighbors lined up outside my door with sympathy casseroles, let me tell you we're doing just fine. John's came home, fixed the hook and hugged the kids. All better.

The Dells Again

We had a great opportunity to go on vacation with some of our friends to the Dells. It was so nice to get out of the SNOW (because we still have a lot of it) and pretend it's warm and sunny. The girls had so much fun in the water and Hailey went down almost all of the big slides. If you want to see more pics and stories, check out Carolyn's, Pam's, or Miriam's blogs.

Hailey obviously enjoying the sun.

Nora is happy as usual because she is standing on top of something.
Frolicking H.John.

Small slide.

Lunch.

Enjoying the waves.The "beauty" of Wisconsin: that both snow boots and a swimsuit can be appropriate to wear at the same time.

Body Worlds

There is no better way to celebrate St. Patricks Day than to study the inside of the body. And make green cookies. We took our family (at Hailey's incessant pleading) to see Body Worlds down at the public museum. I really was impressed at how excited Hailey was about it and how much information she absorbed. She received a book about the body for her birthday and has asked a never-ending sequence of questions ever since. There were glass cases that had organs displayed in them and Hailey knew the names of every single one! (Except for the liver; that one stumped her.) What made it worth it to me was to see the nerves of the back and legs exposed and labeled. I was able to see where the sciatic nerve branched off from the spine and where each individual nerve led down the leg, and all the damage and bother caused by that silly epidural made a lot more sense. Fun day.

Here's the dissected horse. It was Hailey's favorite.