80s day

Even though the girls have had an opportunity to dress in all sorts of creative ways this week at school (it's Red Ribbon week with a different theme for each day), for whatever reason, they REALLY went all out for 80s day. (Perhaps it was the encouragement of their born-in-the-80s parents?)

After receiving a fashion history lesson ("Think big and bright, girls!"), this is the route we took.

We found both of the girls' shirts among the hand-me-downs Grandma Susan gave us. Seth says he remembers his sister wearing the shirts and Bekah's coat. (Here's lookin' at you, Rachel!)

Bekah requested pink hair. Seth requested a mohawk. Bekah requested blue eyeshadow. Andrea assisted in making the earrings.

Admit it ... you wish you had such an awesome, colorful coat.

Poor Analee woke up super early that morning throwing up, so she stayed home from school. (It was a nasty stomach bug that swept through our entire family and left a wake of puke behind it.) However, we still had to give her an 80s makeover for posterity's sake.

I tried to give her mile-high bangs, and without a crimper we had to make do with getting her hair wet the night before, French braiding it and undoing the braids the next day.

Bekah washed her pink hair out before piano lessons that day ("I was the only kid in fourth grade who dressed up, Mom. But people told me they liked my hair."), and Analee took off her makeup immediately following the pictures ("Please no mascara this time, Mom. After the dance recital, I hated taking it off."), but for a few minutes on Monday, we could have totally had two small (yet decidedly more colorful) backup dancers in this iconic 80s music video.

Ana's shiner

With the weather so warm for an Idaho October last week, I decided to take the girls to a nearby playground for some outside play. We had fun and stayed there for an hour and a half, but Analee decided she needed something to remember the day by.

As she was running around a piece of playground equipment, the rubber chips on the ground slid out from under her, and her cheekbone decided to introduce itself to a metal bar.

This was the result:

A cheekbone bruise that forms a line up to the inner corner of her eye. I've never seen a shiner quite like this one.

Lagoon (again)

It's been two years since we last took the girls to Lagoon, so we figured it was time to go back. This time we went in October so we didn't get fried on the asphalt, we brought along Grandma Susan to help out with the kids, we did a there-and-back trip so we didn't have to pay for a hotel, and we remembered to bring a camera.

Since we were there during Frightmares, we got to take advantage of the many photo ops:

Four girls as astronauts.

Two girls in a coffin.

Three girls as ... fairies?

One girl as two bugs.

Three girls as cowgirls/boy.

Four girls and a grandma as various Halloween beasties.

Here's the rundown:

Rebekah was still fairly cautious. She was overjoyed when we saw that the Ferris Wheel was closed for the season (she's pretty terrified of heights) and she wouldn't go on any roller coasters, but she did well on the rides that stayed on the ground. She was a big help with Winnie, too. Rebekah's favorite ride was Rattlesnake Rapids.

Analee enjoyed the roller coasters she opted to go on, but insisted that she doesn't like any rides that go upside-down. Has she ever been on such a roller coaster to know that she doesn't like it? No, but she's sure she wouldn't, so please stop asking her. :-) She went on the Jet Star with me, which is fairly ambitious for a girl who was barely tall enough to go, but because I promised to hold on very tightly, she went and reported it as her favorite.

Miriam insisted that she remembered going on Bulgey the Whale last time when she was 2, and couldn't wait to ride on it again. She did it once, and several other rides as well. We had to persuade her to go on Rattlesnake Rapids the first time, but afterward declared it as her new favorite. 

 Miriam rides Bulgey.

Analee rides Bulgey, but she won't enjoy it. She was only riding on it so Winnie would go, but Winnie chickened out, so Ana was left on a "baby ride."

Gwendolen was horribly traumatized during her first trip to Lagoon. (She was in utero last time we went.) I took her on the tilt-a-whirl thinking she's like it; instead, she screamed, "No, Mommy! No!" the whole time. Even the carousel was terrifying. She did well on her cat until it started moving. The only two rides she enjoyed were the baby boats and the little cars. 

 Winnie's general reaction to Lagoon.

What you can see: Miriam, Grandma Susan and Analee enjoying the tilt-a-whirl. What you can't see: Andrea and Rebekah plugging their ears while Winnie screams in a separate car.

Happy for now. Once the ride started spinning and the cat started going up and down, she started shaking and crying. Poor thing.

 One ride she actually enjoyed. Miriam was barely small enough to go on this one.

Because Grandma Susan came with us, we were able to split up a few times to take girls on different rides. Seth and I were even able to leave all four girls with her long enough for us to stand in line and ride Wicked. Best. Coaster. Ever.

We ran out of cash to do our usual photo booth pictures (I don't know that we all would have fit in there anyway), so we instead asked Grandma to shoot a picture of us on the way out of the park.

When we knew it was nearly time to go, we asked the girls which last, favorite ride they wanted to do together. They all agreed on Rattlesnake Rapids. So we got completely drenched and shivered our way back out to the parking lot, where we changed clothes and headed to Wendy's for a drive-through dinner.

No more potty breaks

I left the two little girls alone FOR TWO MINUTES yesterday so I could use the bathroom, and what happens? A hysterical Miriam comes to me with news that Gwendolen has trapped herself somewhere. Where?

In a doll stroller.

That's what happens when you're old enough yet skinny enough to climb into small places, I guess.

Silly girl.

I hope they're always this close

Winnie 1 week old, Miriam 2.5 years old.

Winnie 1 year old, Miriam 3.5 years old.

Winnie 2 years old, Miriam 4.5 years old.

Gwendolen's 2-year stats

My kid's a shrimp. But she's a brainy shrimp.

Height: 23 pounds (25th percentile)
Weight: 32.75 inches (10th percentile)
Head: 19 inches (75th percentile)

She's brainy 'cause she's got the big Grover noggin, and she's brainy because she's still advanced when it comes to her vocabulary. The doctor asked if says at least 50 words. I think her vocabulary is at least 10 times that. He asked if she can run, walk backward, climb and descend stairs on her feet, jump, throw, kick, scribble, etc. Boy howdy, does she do all those things.

In fact, my dad was noticing that she can (sometimes) catch (big) balls, and hold onto a ball while she walks up and down the stairs. I think he's got his eye on her as a future volleyball player, but unless she hits a growth spurt, she may end up as setter or defensive specialist. (Not that there's anything wrong with either position. ;-))

Right now, Winnie loves drinking milk and asks for it 10 times a day. She's still infatuated with her bika (blankie) and baba (pacifier), although I try to limit how long she gets them during the day. She sings all of her ABCs as well as several other songs ("Old MacDonald" and "Wheels on the Bus," among others). She loves having books read to her, and insists on taking a book to bed with her whenever she goes down for a nap or for the night. She knows she can get almost anything she wants by following up a request with a high-pitched "Please?"

She has a great sense of humor--one day while Seth was changing her diaper, she announced, "Bubble tummy!" and stuck her belly out as far as she could. The next day when I was changing her, she repeated the trick, adding, "Pop!" and sucking her belly in as far as she could.

In short, she's just about the cutest, sweetest little thing there is.

Gwen eating the cupcake she won at the school carnival three days before her birthday.

Gwen is 2

The day after Gwendolen's birthday (so, October 5), we invited family over to celebrate her birthday with us. (When your birthday is on the Saturday of General Conference, you have to switch things up a little since the menfolk will be at the priesthood session that evening.)

The weather was as perfect as you could ask for in October. We had most of the festivities outside where the kids could enjoy the sandbox,

 Bennet, Cooper (hiding in the background), Miriam and Winnie in the sandbox.

... the chair swing,

Bekah spinning, Ana swinging, Seth sitting.

... and the little play house.

Winnie on the table of the playhouse.

We couldn't very well ask the 2-year-old what she wanted for her birthday dinner, so I chose to serve chicken salad sandwiches. Aunt Rachel was smart and brought mac and cheese for the kids.

Everyone ate dinner,

Winnie with her birthday dinner.

... and birthday cake,

Seth cutting, Andrea serving birthday cake.

Winnie enjoying her portion.

We don't usually spring for fancy ice cream cake at birthdays, but we won a coupon for a free ice cream cake from Coldstone at the school's raffle earlier that week. It was quite tasty.

... and watched Gwen open her presents.

From us, Winnie received bristle blocks and a reusable Crayola coloring pad.

From Grandma and Grandpa Scott, she received a toddler tablet.

From Aunt Rachel and Uncle Justin, she received a box of Sofia the First books. (Grandma Scott had Miriam try on the Minion costume she made for our Scott cousins in Washington, by the way.)

From Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis, she received wings, a skirt, a boa, a crown, Smarties and princess place mats.

To see more fun birthday festivity pictures, start here.

Fall pool party

When summer/outdoor toys go on clearance in the fall, I try to snag a few for the girls to have next summer. Who knew the blow-up wading pool I got at 75 percent off would be used in September when the temperatures climbed back up past 80?

Rebekah and her Barbie in the pool.

Miriam eating a Popsicle.

Analee, Winnie and Miriam playing with toys on the driveway.

Winnie eating her Popsicle.

To see more, start here.

Monument Hike

Back in September, we arranged to take Bekah and Ana on our annual summer hike. Actually, we first arranged to take the hike at the end of August, but the promise of bad weather made us take a rain check (HA!).

The adventures started before we ever got to the trailhead. We've learned through experience that Analee has a tendency to get carsick. Unfortunately, that manifested itself on the way to Darby canyon. We had to pull over to the side of the road and use every napkin in the jockey box to clean up the mess. Analee's jeans were pretty wet, so we drove through Victor and then Driggs to try and find a store that sells children's pants before 9 a.m. on a Saturday.

The best we could do was Broulim's in Driggs. They had a few pairs of women's pajama pants, so we got the smallest size we could and decided we could use a bungee cord as a belt. (And the moral of the story is: Always pack extra clothes. Or at least have a barf bag near the back seat.)

By the time we made it to the trail head, Ana's jeans were mostly dry anyway (thanks to the heater vent turned on high), so she opted for them rather than the too-big pajama pants. You'd think our pants quest was in vain, but Bekah ended up using them when her root beer erupted all over her jeans, making her a soggy mess. Thank goodness for extra pants!

Analee, Andrea, Rebekah, Seth and Grandma Scott heading up the trail. (Grandpa Scott took all the pictures.)

Rebekah (and the aforementioned pajama pants ... hacked off via Seth's knife to make them short enough for her) during a snack break.

Analee on the hike.

Stopping at the monument before heading up to the Wind Cave.

Analee, Andrea, Seth and Reekah under the waterfall that comes from the mouth of the Wind Cave.

Heading up to the mouth of the cave.

Rebekah coming back out of the cave. She just crawled through the small, windy opening that gives the cave its name.

Andrea, Analee, Seth and Grandma Scott eating lunch at the monument after coming out of the cave.

A silly picture (the girls needed one taken) at the monument.

Analee (and her blue lips) with the Wind Cave in the background on our way out.

The whole experience was perfect--the weather, the company, the trail conditions.
It was fun to take the girls on a hike I've done about a dozen times myself. I hope it's the first of many times we hike together to the monument.

To see more pictures from the hike, start here.