Weekly Quote 6/27/11

"Not enough minerals."

This is all I hear about whenever Clark plays Starcraft. That and, "You wanna piece of me?" Delightful.

New quote up!

Grammie and Opa come to visit!

My parents came to visit back in May, and boy howdy, did we have a great time! Julia and Ella soaked up every moment they had with Grammie and Opa. Here are some pictures, courtesy of my mom :)









I think this last one is my favorite. We went to Frankenmuth, and ventured across the covered bridge to discover a couple of peacocks and peahens hanging out at the park. I had never seen a white peacock before, isn't it awesome? Looks like a giant dandelion fluff.

We absolutely loved showing my parents around Midland, and discovering a little bit ourselves. Can't wait to head to Utah next month for a visit!

Ella Walks!

About a month ago, my parents were here visiting (pictures from that will be forthcoming). We thought we'd start practicing walking with Ella, sending her back and forth between us in the hopes that she'd take a step on her own. She picked it up really fast. Like, after a day she was getting a good 4 or 5 steps in there before falling down. And now? Now, she walks everywhere. If she falls down, she'll stand right back up and keep on walking. No more crawling, no sir!

I've been meaning to post about this for a month, but I couldn't find the time to take a good video (because now I'm chasing after a toddler, ack!). I finally happened to get one with her walking, but it wasn't very good, and it sat here, unpublished, for another couple of weeks. Then I finally got a good one a week ago, and now I'm FINALLY going to post it. I'm a little slow, can you tell?

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I realized yesterday that now I've got a toddler and a preschooler, instead of a baby and a toddler. It's all going so fast! But I am excited about every step these girls take toward independence.

Dress Up

Some friends in the ward were generous enough to give us all their old dress-ups. Julia is in little girl heaven. There are all sorts of things in the box: hats, a poodle skirt, princess dresses, tutus, pom poms, high heels, etc. Ella is a big fan of the hats. She actually leaves them on for a few minutes, which I think is pretty impressive for an almost-one-year-old.

I think my favorite number is this hat. I cannot fathom why someone would create such a thing. Sheer awesomeness.

And finally, a little video! I was a little surp

rised to find that Julia knew exactly what to do with the pom poms. I'm sure she picked it up from TV. She makes one EXCITED cheerleader.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Weekly Quote 6/16/11

"For nobody else gave me a thrill,
With all your faults I love you still.
It had to be you, wonderful you,
It had to be you."

Good old Frank Sinatra. New quote up!

30 by 30, #1: Go to a Zumba class.

In case you aren't familiar with the 30 by 30 Project, here is the original post, with the big fat list.

Whenever I tell people that I have a degree in Exercise Science, they get this knowing look on their face and make some comment about how healthy my family must be, or how useful that knowledge is. And every time, I have to explain that I didn't learn about aerobics, I took a bunch of anatomy, physiology, and biology classes. And I really didn't learn anything that can be applied to real life, per se. And then I have to admit that I, in fact, hate to exercise.

But really, that's not entirely true. I just don't like certain forms of exercise. OK, maybe most forms of exercise. What it all boils down to are two things: 1) I hate running, and 2) I don't have a lot of hand-eye coordination. So all sports that involve balls are right out, and running all by itself is like torture for me. But it turns out that I do enjoy things like dancing. Which means that I enjoy gym classes, like aerobics. (I've never tried swimming for exercise, and I think I might like that, but that's not the point of today's post.)

SO. Dance-y things are a good fit for me. Zumba is a particularly dance-y aerobics class. It seems like the perfect class for me to take! But I've never had the guts to go by myself. And I've also had a hard time juggling it with the kids. But today, the planets aligned and I went to my first class.

My awesome friend Sarah had a Free Pass to the gym, and when I mentioned that I needed to try a Zumba class before I turn 30, she graciously offered to take me. We got up at the horrific hour of 5:30 and headed to class. I almost abandoned the plan, since Ella was up in the night, and Julia was in our bed for a bit, and I was pretty tired, but I knew I just had to get my duff out of bed and do it.

I really, really liked it. Sure, I'm not perfect, and I'm pretty white (literally) so I probably look a bit ridiculous, but I think I would really enjoy doing it on a more regular basis. I'm going to have to look into my options and figure something out.

I think the best part of this particular experience was I mentioned that I needed to do it, and then the next day I was doing it. Usually I'm full of intentions and have no follow through, but this project has forced me to make things happen. It pushes me a little bit, and it's so good for me.

15 down, 15 to go. Yikes.

30 by 30, #28: See Niagra Falls.

In case you aren't familiar with the 30 by 30 Project, here is the original post, with the big fat list.


So. We went to Niagara Falls. It was a very quick trip (out on Friday morning, back by Saturday evening) but we did what we wanted to do, so it was just right.

We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Clifton Hill, which was nice and close to the falls. Clifton Hill is like Amusement Park Niagara Falls. Lights and noise and people and ice cream shops and a celebrity wax museum and general chaos. But close to the falls, like I said. We got there Friday afternoon and walked down by the falls for a while. Ella was obviously taken with the display:
It is amazing how close you can get to the Canadian side, you are just right there, watching the water plummet into the mist below. You could practically reach out and touch it.

My big recommendation? Don't go to Niagara Falls with glasses. I was constantly "misted up." So I'd wear contacts. Of course, I'd wear contacts anyway if I could. I am DYING to wear contacts again. I wean Ella next month. I'm counting down the days.

Friday night we ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. I think the girls liked all the animals, though I'm not entirely sure. We sat next to some elephants, and I'm pretty sure Ella didn't trust those guys. She kept a close eye on them until they calmed down. But then Julia really liked the monkeys and the fish and all the other animals. But then when the thunderstorms would hit, both of them would be near tears, so I don't know. I think we'll wait a few years and try again.

Saturday morning we went on the Maid of the Mist boat tour. That was fabulous, but very wet. The girls did not like the wet and windy part. Neither did I, frankly. Once again, not glasses friendly. But it was neat to be on a boat and get so close to the falls. It also gave me a good laugh to see the picture they take and will sell to you for an exorbitant price. Neither of the girls was particularly interested in having their picture taken at that moment. It was almost worth buying it for the bad picture entertainment, but not quite.

As a side note, my grandparents went to Niagara Falls on their honeymoon, so I kept thinking of them the whole time we were there. They were married in Detroit, and I would love to go to the spot where they were married, even though the house was torn down a little while ago. Is that weird of me?

Saturday afternoon we headed back home. The girls were great little travelers, and Julia was pretty happy to see something that had been mentioned on Little Einsteins. All in all, a great little weekend trip.

I'm still here!

It turns out I haven't blogged much in the past month. I feel like I have very little to say, and yet I want to post about our trip to Niagara Falls and my parents coming to town and how stinking cute my girls are and how excited I am that summer is here! And how excited I am that I'm excited for summer to be here! (Dear Summer: We've had a rocky relationship the past few years. I'm so glad we have made amends. Be gentle with my fair skin! Love, me)

Also, I was getting into a regular routine of blogging every Tuesday night while Clark played basketball, and then Clark quit playing basketball on Tuesdays. Now he only plays on Saturday mornings. Little girls are very much awake on Saturday mornings, so there is no time to blog. Sigh.

Sorry we've been a bit sparse. We'll see if we can't get going again here.