Travis had to travel to Indianapolis for work this week, and then went to a weekend bachelor party in Minneapolis. That meant that the girls and I were on our own from Wednesday to Sunday, so we made all kinds of great plans and had a fabulous time!
Trav's mom came to visit us on Wednesday, and I don't think she got both feet in the door before both girls were clamoring all over her. It was pretty great. Not only did we have a really nice visit, but I got a lot done while she played with the girls. I don't think I would've been able to get on the road the next day without that. And, she had recently had a heyday with a clearance rack full of cute little girl clothing, so they immediately redressed themselves in the cute stuff she brought. It was a great way to just relax and enjoy a beautiful summer day. That, in and of itself, would've been a sufficient grandparent fix for the girls, but I had more planned. :)
Thursday morning, I picked up Megan in Ames, and brought her with us to Rockford. It's funny, you might think adding another kid to the mix would make it more complicated, but she actually made my life easier by entertaining Audrey in the car and singing with Emily, and just being a delight in who she is. Jenny and Julie and Sarah came up on Friday afternoon after school, but they all had to get back to Ames early Saturday morning to get to Julie's soccer game. We had a great time with them, but it was nice to have some time just me and my girls and my parents. Their place is SO pretty this time of year. Their garden is producing like crazy, so every meal is just a creative use of whatever my dad has brought in - green beans, zucchini, grapes, onions, and TOMATOES. Mmmm!! The weather was perfect, except for the sweat bees that Emily detested.
Saturday morning, after Jenny left, I went for a bike ride up through Nora Springs - 28 miles total. About a mile down the road, I saw a friend of mine who was out for a run, and stopped to chat with her. That was kinda fun, chatting it up on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere! She lives in the same house she did as a kid, just up the hill from my parents' place, and yet I hadn't really kept up with her. She'd been working as a nurse, but now she just started teaching in Charles City, with a class of kids who are considered behaviorally difficult, and she's really fired up and excited about that. Recently she's lost a ton of weight and considers anything less than a 5 mile run to be "short." It was so nice to catch up with her. And I am always glad to find out that people I knew from my hometown are doing great things.
So, I got a bike ride, I got to shoot baskets with my dad on a perfect evening, I got to play my mom's piano for probably hours (which is especially fun when Megan is around because she dances! It's so fun to see her snap into character!). I told Travis again that I need a piano like my mom's -- someday, I WILL have one. I mean, my piano is really nice and all, but hers is... well, it's like the one time in my life when I played a $40,000 violin, just to see what it was like. It plays itself!! Ahh! My dad gave my girls breakfast each morning and let me sleep late, and I got to stay up late Friday night laughing my head off with my mom and my sister. I got to see Audrey scooting around outside on her tricycle, feeling very independent as she did laps around the circle. Emily bonded with her grandparents, who are thoroughly charmed by her abilities and adorable personality. They got to swim, bike, swing, catch kittens, help in the garden, wander through a real watermelon patch, eat popsicles and push-ups and cookies and have tea parties, and play with a gazillion toys (or just spread them in a thin layer throughout the house. Why do they do that??) It was perfect weather, with no agenda, and no stress. It was a FANTASTIC vacation! I know that Travis got to go out late three nights in a row, schmoozing with Deere people and getting wasted with his best friends, but I think I got the way better deal. I'm refreshed, happy to get back to my regular routine, and ready to look towards what fall will bring.
The girls and I drove home on Sunday, picked up Travis and went to the airport to get his car. On the way home, we stopped for supper at "Old McDonald's Restaurant." Could it get any better than this?
Monday, August 29, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Another beautiful weekend
Today was the last day that Ashby Park was open, so I packed a picnic lunch, and we put the girls in the trailer and biked over there. I biked there with them earlier this week, and they FINALLY decided it was an awesome place! I wore my suit, and I think Audrey liked sitting in the water snuggled next to me most of all, so it isn't really about running around crazy for them. But we all had a really nice time together. The rest of the weekend was pretty productive too, just getting things done here and there.
We also took the girls to the state fair last Monday, and we managed to do a TON of stuff in under 4 hours. Most of it was free, included with the ticket package that my workplace gave me in lieu of a summer party - rockstar!! Emily had been talking about the giant slide ever since she went down it last year, so she was pretty pumped to walk up every single stair by herself. She plopped down on my lap at the top, and said, "Mom... we're really up high..." and down we went! At the bottom, she was really uncertain, but Audrey went down with Travis and LOVED it. Then, I noticed that Emily had been actually chewing on her hands. I've seen her chewing on her knees, and her toes... I am starting to get a little worried about how anxious she seems to be. I'm trying to figure it all out, and take a more methodical approach to helping her out, without overthinking it and adding more stress. I mostly feel guilt, since it seems like the things she's battling are all things I had to battle too - having things in her mouth, fidgety, jumpy... poor girl. It's bad enough that she has my nosebleeds, sideaches, and crazy red face when overheated.
Speaking of stress, the girls started at Ms. Teri's this week. They seemed to do just fine, but I suppose the stress is manifesting itself in small, seemingly unrelated ways. Audrey had three freakouts the day after she had been there, even though she seemed to do just fine while she was there. But yeah, totally ballistic, crying until exhaustion, THREE times in one day. It was really heartbreaking. Emily has had some behavior issues that generally are small and totally to be expected from someone her age, but the stress has made them a lot harder to deal with. But, as far as Ms. Teri goes, I think it'll be a good fit. She wrote a full page of detailed notes about what the girls did on Thursday, which was great, especially since they were mostly emotive things she noticed, like she was really tuned in to how they were feeling. I think they'll get used to the dogs being around, and it'll be nice to have them in a house setting instead of a classroom. Audrey had been spending a lot of time in the 2-year-old room at Tender Heart, and they never talked to me about it or told me what to expect with that, which annoyed me. And Teri has no problem changing cloth diapers, so we're doing that full-time now. No more progress on going potty, except that she really likes sitting on it while I'm getting her new diaper ready. No worries - we'll get through all these stressors first.
Next week, Travis will be in Indianapolis for work for a couple of days, and then going straight to Minneapolis for Seann's bachelor party, so the girls and I are going to hide out in Rockford for the weekend, after a visit from Trav's mom on Wednesday. I'm even taking a day off from work, which is fun, and a little weird to say since I've got three days off every week. :) And then, it'll be September, and I just can't believe that summer will be over so soon!!! We were just getting the hang of this!
We also took the girls to the state fair last Monday, and we managed to do a TON of stuff in under 4 hours. Most of it was free, included with the ticket package that my workplace gave me in lieu of a summer party - rockstar!! Emily had been talking about the giant slide ever since she went down it last year, so she was pretty pumped to walk up every single stair by herself. She plopped down on my lap at the top, and said, "Mom... we're really up high..." and down we went! At the bottom, she was really uncertain, but Audrey went down with Travis and LOVED it. Then, I noticed that Emily had been actually chewing on her hands. I've seen her chewing on her knees, and her toes... I am starting to get a little worried about how anxious she seems to be. I'm trying to figure it all out, and take a more methodical approach to helping her out, without overthinking it and adding more stress. I mostly feel guilt, since it seems like the things she's battling are all things I had to battle too - having things in her mouth, fidgety, jumpy... poor girl. It's bad enough that she has my nosebleeds, sideaches, and crazy red face when overheated.
Speaking of stress, the girls started at Ms. Teri's this week. They seemed to do just fine, but I suppose the stress is manifesting itself in small, seemingly unrelated ways. Audrey had three freakouts the day after she had been there, even though she seemed to do just fine while she was there. But yeah, totally ballistic, crying until exhaustion, THREE times in one day. It was really heartbreaking. Emily has had some behavior issues that generally are small and totally to be expected from someone her age, but the stress has made them a lot harder to deal with. But, as far as Ms. Teri goes, I think it'll be a good fit. She wrote a full page of detailed notes about what the girls did on Thursday, which was great, especially since they were mostly emotive things she noticed, like she was really tuned in to how they were feeling. I think they'll get used to the dogs being around, and it'll be nice to have them in a house setting instead of a classroom. Audrey had been spending a lot of time in the 2-year-old room at Tender Heart, and they never talked to me about it or told me what to expect with that, which annoyed me. And Teri has no problem changing cloth diapers, so we're doing that full-time now. No more progress on going potty, except that she really likes sitting on it while I'm getting her new diaper ready. No worries - we'll get through all these stressors first.
Next week, Travis will be in Indianapolis for work for a couple of days, and then going straight to Minneapolis for Seann's bachelor party, so the girls and I are going to hide out in Rockford for the weekend, after a visit from Trav's mom on Wednesday. I'm even taking a day off from work, which is fun, and a little weird to say since I've got three days off every week. :) And then, it'll be September, and I just can't believe that summer will be over so soon!!! We were just getting the hang of this!
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