the renaissance passed us by

sunday i woke up obscenely early with a sinus headache and knew it was going to be a rough day. i called the doc and had some antibiotics wrangled because i self-diagnosed a sinus infection.

we met noel and nancy at the renaissance festival. it was quite a drive, with poor coty squished in between the girls in the back seat. i put my discomfort aside in hopes of getting lots of free chocolate: this weekend's theme at the ren fest. we didn't find any freebies, but they were selling lots of goodies. i was disappointed that the majority of them were not authentic. i'm pretty sure they didn't have krispy kreme back then. nor 'southwestern twisted egg rolls'. harumph.

we kind of had fun, when viewed through the perspective of the kids. well, really just pooka. bug was strapped into the stroller most of the time and coty was bored with waiting around for us. pooka made a wax hand (took about 30 minutes) and did the bungee jumper (after a 40 minute wait in line); see whence the boredom? when i realized i was going to have to pay a la carte for the bungee event, i told pooka that she needed to attempt some flips or something more than just jumping up and down. she can do that on her bed at home for free. she refused, but they have these helpers who strap the kids in and get them started; these people will 'help' the kids flip if asked by the parents. and so pooka did a flip. she had the meanest look on her face when she came around, but the smile peeked through just a little. she threatened to hit kisu and i both when she was done. i didn't think she would, but she hauled off and slapped me square on the belly. fortunately, i had a split second in which to flex my abs. (not a 6-pack, but firm, nevertheless.)

by that time, we were pretty much done. bug hadn't had a nap, but produced 3 poopy diapers, my head was about to explode, antibiotics notwithstanding, and we had spent plenty of money. thank goodness the entrance tickets were comps from Camp Casey.

we slogged back through the muddy forest trail to get to the truck and i relinquished the wheel to kisu. (yes, that's how bad i felt.) we made a pit stop at mickey d's (also not authentic, but a heckuva lot cheaper) where coty - that handsome devil - proceeded to flummox the girl enough that she charged me for 3 happy meals instead of 2 and forgot to give me the kids' drinks.

we bathed the girls when we got home and then i pretty much collapsed. time travel is exhausting work.

the divine mrs c

because i obviously can't get enough of myself. here is a clip that's celebrates how hott i am.

camp casey 2008

i thought this was going to be a beautiful day. i wore a tank top to show off my guns get some color on my arms. i obviously missed the weather forecast that called for winds, afternoon showers, and a high of only 70. duh. fortunately, we got the riding taken care of before the yuckiness set in. i ended up permanently borrowing a camp casey t-shirt to try and keep warm. it didn't help that much, but i appreciate it nonetheless. thanks, molly!

bug and pooka actually rode the same horse. i don't know if that was planning on the wranglers' part or just chance. pooka looked a little silly on the tiny horse. last year she was on the stately sjigborn. i would have been disappointed, myself, to be on such a pacific specimen, but i think the wranglers like them that way. and pooka just likes being on any horse. (she still pretends to remove the tack from and brush the horse at the grocery store after a ride.)

they had a balloon twister man at this session. it was fascinating watching him create such a variety of creatures. i have never seen some of the things he was doing. a balloon bracelet? too cool. i wanted a ladybug one for bug, but he had a sign prominently displayed that stated no balloons for under 3, and i felt that it would be wrong to ask for one for me.


sadly, this video is kinda crappy, but you can get a glimpse of how she was enjoying the ride before she started getting antsy. they pulled her off the horse before she could start screeching and send the other kids' mounts galloping in terror get really upset.

dunkaroo

bug had a blast swimming at uncle kevin's house. i knew she would love the pool because she loves the bath so much, but i didn't know how she would tolerate going under water. to this day, pooka is still very afraid of going under, even though she knows she can practically stand up straight and keep her nose clear of the water.

in my infinite wisdom (HA!) i didn't buy swim diapers because i didn't think we would have the opportunity to use an entire package's worth by the end of the summer. although she is not growing that fast, i'm pretty sure they wouldn't fit by next summer. so we just used the regular diapers. have you ever seen a regular diaper so full of liquid it's liable to burst? know what? if it's at that point and you try to wring the water out of it, it will burst! and you will have slimy gel stuff all over you, the baby, and the deck, which will require much rinsing so that the brainless dogs don't eat it and end up with some kind of fatal bowel obstruction.

but in the meantime, it looks incredibly funny. she looked like the bug she's called. the poofy diaper made her look like a cartoon ant walking on its rear legs.

are you afraid of the dark?

always good when a culture can laugh at itself. i sure did.

let them eat (cup)cakes!

have i mentioned that pooka loves to cook and bake?

she got another miniature baking set for her last birthday and she was dying to try it out last weekend. i finally relented when i realized that these things are barely a single bite-ful and i could send them to school with her.

so sunday afternoon we got the ingredients out and, while bug crawled around the kitchen floor (and under pooka's chair), we measured and mixed.

pooka thought it was really cool how i added a drop of food coloring to the batter before baking to get a swirled cupcake.
the part she really wanted to get to was frosting, though, so she could use her fancy frosting gun. like a caulk gun, only sugary.

i demonstrated and then let her take it away. she's frosted before, with a piping bag, so i knew she'd get the hang of it pretty quickly. soon we had a tray full of adorable treats just waiting to be photographed inhaled savored.
we each had one to try and that's when i remembered that this company's recipes are very dense. (next time, i'll use my own recipe.) pooka didn't even finish hers.

but they got sent to school and pooka looked like a princess for her trouble.

check out her skills:

you make bathtime so much fun

bug loves the bath, and she doesn't even need a rubber ducky. she has always loved the bath. before she could roll, she would lay on her back and kick and splash all over. when she started rolling, she would roll over and over back and forth in the water. when she was learning to crawl, she would practice in the tub, since it was nice and slippery and took less effort to drag her knees. now she's working on pulling herself up on things and she thinks this is the most fun ever:



she did this for about 15 minutes straight, laughing her cute little dupah off. of course, by the time i got the camera working, she stopped the laughter. didn't stop the slipping and sliding, though.

notice my awesome 1950's mint green porcelain. and yes, that is coral tile in the background. we are stylin'!

mobile terror unit

bug's not really a terror, but she might become so now that she's mobile.

she started crawling last weekend. she's been working on it for a while. up on her knees, rocking like a cartoon character about to zoom off. then, one knee forward, give up. finally, she moved several feet across the floor in a crawl-like manner.

actually, since she's unused to mode of locomotion, she's slower than she is when she rolls. she can roll like a lumberjack in Oregon. she pivots on her belly to target a destination and away she goes.

check this out:



oh, that's dried playdough ground into the rug courtesy of her big sis.

sweet potato bug

bug had her first official taste of solids this weekend. (as opposed to the unofficial tastes that my sister and parents keep sneaking into her mouth. such as: pancakes, chocolate, limes, guacamole, and pickles. nothing like freaking out a nascent palate.)

i would like to avoid the processed baby cereal and jarred foods if i can (but the current trend of my milk collection is not looking so good.)

in the vein of homemade baby food making, i boiled and mashed a sweet potato. (yes, i can boil water.)

bug took to it very quickly. she ate about 1 tablespoon on saturday and almost 2 tablespoons today. there was very little spillage, although today she managed to get a gob of it on her hand and spread it around before i caught her. i thought i wiped it all off, but pooka later pointed out that bug had sweet pota"toe"s. oops.

then pooka declared that they are obviously sisters, because, "we're both messy." hmm, well, that makes you related to just about all the babies on the planet....

it should be interesting to see what her diapers look like this week, although they already had a tendency to be orange...that will be something for the daycare providers to take care of because {drum roll, please} she starts tomorrow! (in case you're not following, that means kisu got a job! more on that later.)

chatterbox

have i mentioned how gregarious bug is? she has been gabbing since her 3rd day on earth. here's proof.