ChrissieRocks!

Homeward Bound

I've just finished packing up most of our stuff for our trip home. I can't believe how much we did and how quickly the time flew by. It was definately nice to have one last summer vacation before heading into fall. I think the girls are ready to go home. The were little troopers while here but lately Leina has been moaning about missing Artie. Dad? Not so much. Stupid dog who doesn't deserve all the precious baby love wasted on him? A lot. I'm already getting mild panic attacks at the idea of having to restrain Kulia for two whole hours. Ugh. Maybe I'll head to the drug store and pick up some baby Benadryl to "help" her sleep on the plane. Of course, with my luck she'll be one of those strange kids who has an adverse reaction and gets even more hyper than she already is. Sigh.

Just think, at this time tomorrow, I'll be home. I'll be unpacking, and petting the dog, and trying to figure out something to make for dinner. It almost seems unreal. I hope a few of my tomatoes survived my absence. I have a barely started Halloween costume lurking in the craft room and I need to retire the tank tops and pull out the jeans. Back to the daily grind.

Home sweet home, here we come!

San Diego Fun

We had a fabulous visit with Uncle Dan and Auntie Suzy. The kids did great on the long drive down to SD and we arrived Friday afternoon ready to rumble. Leina, Sammy and Daniel were just perfect together. They all played and romped and enjoyed each other. Kulia? Well, she did a great job as the baby of the group. She toddled after them, determined to keep up, and managed to get in their way as all younger cousins do. Leina and Sammy weren't too happy with her and I can't really blame them. That kid can be a real pest.

But Daniel's reaction to Kulia surprised me. Normally, Daniel likes his space but with Kulia, he seemed to make an exception. He let her crawl all over him, paw his face, and snuggle close. He sang her lullabies, stroked her cubby cheeks, and spoke to her in his sweet little voice. If only Leina would love her like that!

Sammy introduced Leina to the idea of "spies" and "bad guys" and she spent most of the weekend running around with Sammy shooting things. Daniel shared his Legos and all I could think of was, "too bad Kevin isn't here". Daniel has dozens of Star War lego ships constructed and is always willing to sit with you and build more.

Saturday morning, we grabbed the kids and headed to the Coronado ferry which took us over to Seaport Village where we rode the merry go round and ate ice cream. Nana Walls joined us for the adventure and the kids were totally wiped by the end. Undaunted, we woke Sunday morning and drove them all over to the SD Zoo where we walked and walked until we found the Spectacle Bear for Leina. There was no way we could see the whole zoo so we did our best and ended at the petting zoo. Leina ran right in to pet the sheep, pig and goat. She was doing great, until....

Did you know that goats will eat anything? Even, it turns out, little girls?

Yes, Leina was petting a particularly large goat who suddenly decided to try a bite of her skirt. He must have liked what he tasted because in a heart beat, he had pulled her over onto the ground and had begun pulling off her skirt when Uncle Dan came to the rescue. He had to forcible remove the skirt from the goat and by then, Leina was in tears. Of course, the rest of us where crying too.... from our laughter. Luckily, Auntie Suzy had an extra pair of shorts so all was well. The girls sacked out on the drive back to LA from the zoo. There were no major injuries, no hurt feelings, or melt downs. What a wonderful visit!

Today, Papa and Tutu are taking Leina back to Disneyland for one last hurrah. Tomorrow we pack our bags, and Thursday we head home. I think we are just in time because lately, Leina has been saying she misses Artie and wants to go home. Also, Kulia has pretty much destroyed Papa. I don't think he can take much more of sister and her troublesome ways. He pretty much follows her around the house trying to stop her from destroying everything she lays her hands on.

But, we managed to squeeze everything we wanted in to these two weeks. Last night, Leina asked me if we could take the kitchen home with us. I told her no and she seemed quite disappointed. Where does she get these ideas? I don't know if Kevin is ready for our return. I just hope he's gotten lots of sleep 'cause I'm about to release Thing 1 and Thing 2 on him. Poor guy!

Mirror Mirror

I was fooling around on this look-a-like web site and entered Kevin's face, just as a joke, to see who he looked like. Here are the results.

My mom and I laughed so hard, we nearly fell over. Kevin, George Bush's long lost brother. Please. Stop. My sides hurt.

A Little Nervous

Well, we are here in LA and it is crazy. All I can say is, my kids rock. Just absolutely rock. They are such little troopers it amazes me. After a 1 hour delay, we finally arrived in LAX safe and sound. Leina was an amazing traveller. She listened, followed, sat and slept all on her own on the plane. She amused fellow travellers with her non-stop dialog with Elmo and was a complete and total angel.

Kulia? Not so much. The wounds are just too fresh for me to even try and re-live that flight. Maybe, on her 30th birthday I'll tell her about what a joy it was to try and confine her squirming 15 month body to a single seat for two hours. Maybe.

Anyhow, we arrived Thurs evening, tucked them in, and then woke up Friday and hit the ground running. Papa and I packed up Leina and headed for Disneyland at 7:30am. Kulia barely had the sleep out of her eyes when we left her with Tutu for the entire day. Tutu reports that she was find and played happily without us. Where this happy child was yesterday on the plane, I'm not sure. The entire ride over, Leina chattered non-stop about how she wasn't afraid of the characters anymore and wanted to give everyone hugs. Big talker. When we arrived, we met up with Uncle Dan and Daniel at the big Dland.

Right when we walked in, I saw them. A circle of Princesses just waiting to meet and greet the throngs. So, I took Leina's hand to wait for our turn with Snow White. At first, Leina was ok. Happy, excited, and with big plans about what she would do when it was her turn. As the line moved forward, however, things began to go south. About 4 people away, she announced she was feeling a little nervous. 3 away, and she upgraded to fear. 2 away and she began wailing and tearing at my leg. My the time we were at the front of the line, she was attempting to crawl up my leg using nothing but her fingernails and sheer terror.

We were going to greet this princess. All month long she had assured me she was no longer afraid. I have braved two hours with Kulia in a small, highly pressurized cabin. We were going to hug that princess and get a picture even if it killed us.

So when Snow White smiled at us and beckoned us forward, I swooped up Leina in my arms and marched next to Ms. White. She was very kind, and soft spoken, and smiley. Leina was slack jawed, big eyed, and had a finger up her nose but at least the screaming stopped. After a little chit chat, we turned for our picture. Suddenly, Leina realized that this princess wasn't going to eat her and the words started to flow. And flow. And flow.

I had created a monster.

Leina didn't care much for the rides. She spent the entire day looking for more characters. She dragged us from land to land looking for anything Disney to hug and talk to. Her fav? Probably Mickey. There was quite a line for Mickey in his Toontown house. When we finally arrived in the big Cheese's presence, Leina walked right up to him, and buried her face in this shoulder and held on for dear life. She hugged him, and hugged him, and hugged him. Finally, the camera man had to cajole her to turn around for a picture. I think she could have stayed there, hugging Mickey, until they started the Starlight parade.

I have some great pictures of her with Snow White, Cinderella, Pluto, Mickey, Tigger and Eoyere. I don't know if she remembers any rides. I do know that she will remeber the hugs for a very long time.

A little nervous? Ha!

Poor Kevin

Kevin turns 33 today and for his birthday, I'm taking the girls and heading out of town for two weeks. Yup, it'll be just Kevin, the dog, and as much pizza as he can consume. We will be down in LA visiting Papa and Tutu and doing the Disney. Yeah baby!

First, I have to make it through the airport of course. Lets just say I'm more than a little nervous. I've got to get two kids, one car seat, a stroller and three bags onto the plane all by myself. It's going to take all my extra mom powers to pull this one off. Then the real fun begins. Leina is a wonderful little plane traveller. She sits and colors or watches DVDs or sleeps. Kulia? Not so much. Her main goal in life appears to be to roam free. Free like the wind. And somehow, the idea of a free-roaming 15 month old on a plane stirkes terror in my heart. Thank goodness the flight is only 2 hours long. I just feel sorry for the poor suckers riding on the plane with us!

Changes

I haven't been able to blog lately because someone has decided to drop her morning nap. Yup. Kulia thinks she's all that and grown now that she has reached the ripe old age of 15 months and no longer needs a nap in the morning. And so my prime blogging time has sadly disappeared. She has definately been growing. According to the doctor, she has sprouted a whopping 3 inches in the last 3 months. Truely amazing. She no longer crawls up the stairs but does this odd little lurching walk. She loves using a fork and has recently discovered the joy of spinning. She also believes that the world revolves around her and that her every whim is law. Wonder where she got that idea?

This is such a busy time of year. The end of summer veggies and coming in and I have to start readying the yard for fall. I've started on the girl's Halloween outfits - Peter Pan and Tinkerbell - thanks to a massive fabric run with Kat. And, I'm getting ready for another trip the Hell-A with the girls. We leave next week and between now and then we have two more doctor appointments, swim lessons, playgroups and a last library run to return everything we're hording. Just thinking about next week makes my head hurt.

Maybe it's a good thing sister is foregoing her morning nap. We are going to need every last second of time to get everything done in these last wonderful days of summer!