Temple Trip

Last Saturday we had the opportunity to go down to the Chicago Temple as a family while John and I switched off watching kids and attending sessions. Although it was a long day, I think it was a great experience for our family, even Hailey and Nora. We got to spend some time walking around the Temple grounds and talking about the importance of the temple, and even found some time to get some Ben & Jerry's. I really miss the days when we lived five minutes away from a temple and could get a session done and be back home in two and a half hours, but there's something to be said for having the opportunity to drive two hours there and back- it give you a lot of time to reflect on the experience. All told, the whole trip was about eleven hours, but that included meals, potty breaks outlet shopping, ice cream, and two sessions, and the girls went right to sleep after we got home.

And speaking of the mall. . .

I learned something totally new about Nora the other day. I thought that she was magnetically drawn by forces beyond my control to all things wet and dirty. But No! Nora met her match the other day at the mall- clean, spraying water. She's not interested. We spent the afternoon shopping at the mall with a grand finale of running in the fountains, and although Hailey ran through them with a joy and reckless abandon only four-year-olds possess, Nora wasn't having any of it. Having good, clean fun is just an oxy-moron for her. Here's a play-by-play of the day.

Hailey's choice of friends at the mall is lacking.

So, every time I go to the mall with Hailey we walk past the Victoria Secret store, and she greets the girls. "Hi Girls!" And when we leave, "Bye Girls!" The seven scantily clad models are met every time we walk out of the parking complex and into the main shopping area. The first several noted encounters I ignored it and just walked on, pulling Hailey's hand a bit more firmly. After it was obvious that this was a well-ingrained routine, I asked her, out of ALL THE MANNEQUINS in the mall, WHY IS SHE FRIENDS WITH THESE?

Her explanation: They are wearing swimsuits [fine explanation for me] so they must be going to the beach all as girlfriends together. They are all girls. And they get to wear pretty shoes with their swimsuits, too, and that's neat. They should have swimsuits that cover their tummies, but they are happy and having fun.

The question is, at what age do I tell her it's time to get some new friends at the mall?

What are the nightmares of a second child?

John and I woke up startled in the middle of the night to hear Nora yelling from her crib. We sat up in bed to further observe what was going on with her. (No need to get out of bed since our apartment is so small that her crib, even in a different bedroom, is about six feet from our bed.) Nora forcefully yells, "No it's MINE! IT'S MINE! No! IT IS MINE!!" and rolls over and grunts and goes back to sleep. There's a little window into the true fears of a second child.

Unexpected beach day

Yesterday we went to play group at the park about five minutes away from us next to the lake. The park usually has a large sand pit, two sets of swings, and a playground area; yesterday it had a playground area and three large ponds of yucky water where the swings and sand used to be. All this water was too much of a temptation for Nora. Her magnetic radar that searches for mud and wet things was overloaded and within five minutes (Carolyn thinks less than five) she had dodged my tactical maneuvers and jumped right into the nasty pool that used to be the sandbox.

My options at this point were to take The Perpetrators home and eat our packed lunch on the sidewalk or strip Nora naked and walk down to the beach where the water was colder (deterrent to get in) and cleaner (peace of mind if she did). I'm glad we chose the latter choice. We had a lot of fun.

Summer can be such a struggle, especially one this wet. It's the time of muddy ruined clothes, two or three baths a day, sandy sheets, and perpetually washing and changing dirty dirty children. The thing that makes it worth it is that when I tuck Hailey into bed at night (Nora already worn out and zonked in her crib) she sighs, "Mom thanks for letting me [insert 'splash in the puddles,' 'play in the mud,' 'swim in the lake' here]. It was the most wonderful day. You are the best mom EVER!"

She's pretty gratuitous with her compliments, but it still makes me think there's a reason I'm doing laundry for the third time this week.

Dealing with some weather

Well, we had some meteorological fun today. It was the second day of tornado warnings in Milwaukee county, and this evening we were concerned enough to head downstairs for part of the evening. No worries, though. We brought down a few laptops, a couple of cameras, some sleeping bags, and snacks and had a party down in the laundry room. We emerged a little while later to an intact home and thankfully not too eventful storm. . .

(Anyone know what Hailey's "trophy" that she found downstairs is?)

But the evening wasn't over. John had to leave to help clean out someone's flooded basement, and while John was leaving, I was on the phone coordinating efforts for another flooded basement problem someone else was having. During this commotion, Hailey and Nora inched their way from the front door to the parking lot- which had turned into a giant lake- and jumped in! I yelled at them to get out, but yelling isn't very effective while you're reaching for you camera at the same time, and they stayed in and played for a while. Pretty crazy day.

One more note- underneath that lake it a fully-functioning sewer drain. It's not blocked, it just couldn't keep up with the water. That's how fast and how much rain fell. All told we've gotten almost EIGHT inches in the last two days!!

Friday Photo- Me torturing my kid

Okay Pam, here is my Friday photo. This is the only picture of my own children that I have taken this week. I've taken plenty of other kids, but the only portraits of my kids are the pajama-clad, bed-headed, marshmallow matey-dribbly ones like the one pictured here. I have hundreds of test shots just like this one: Hailey, straight out of bed, made to sit in front of my camera so I can get exposure readings. I have permanently ruined my kids for sitting for photos. My own fault, I guess. The pretty ones (not of my girls, unfortunately) are here.


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