Going up in flames

To all my Facebook friends and family,

I'm so sorry but, you're going to have to relive the first part of today's post. Thanks for understanding.

XO,
Karla :)

For the rest of ya's, here was my status (small book) yesterday afternoon:

"I think we're nuts. We're outside. In case you missed it, it's blazing hot. Which I'm totally cool with. I prefer summer over winter. Maybe you wanna know what the girls are doing?? Wiping handfuls of dirt all over their arms & legs. :) I told them to stop. I even threatened to throw them in the pool. Why is that a threat? Because the pool is GREEN. Ya, I've been lazy......"

But what ALL of you don't know......

All of us were freezing! I'm sure it had something to do with eating ice frosties (the girls) & smoothies (me).

Right about this time, I hear my husband inserting his little "You're nuts" commentary. He works out in it & never understands how a person could get the chills in the dead-heat-of-summer. Well buddy guess what? You're looking at a chic who does & apparently our girls got a little of me in them after all. Oh stop that. I'm talking about the body temperature not the attitude!!!

Right, sorry, back to it then.....this is why we headed outside. Didn't take long to thaw out. Us, Frosties, & Smoothie, melting. But oho no, the girls don't wanna come in. They want to defile themselves. Not because it's the in thing to do but simply because mommy said not to.

Never fear though. See, I pretend I don't care. Instead I pick my butt up off the chair & force myself to empty the pool. Of course, I'm shuttering thinking about having to even step on a side to let the water out. I could have even mini threw up. Just sayin.......

It's a good thing I can just pop the air valves open & let it deflate to drain. That's more like it. Now, where did the pressure-washer nozzle get off to? I distinctly remember Gala walking around with it. At this point, I'm pretty sure I should have confiscated it from her back then. While I'm trying to hold a finger over the hose & spray the green out of the pool, I'm brainstorming ideas on "The other 'joy' of having kids". A completely sarcastic post, all about the things you get when you have kids, besides the obvious. However, I'm not sure how well received that post would have been. I'm generally afraid you'll take me to heart.

Instead, I went back, sat down, & starting posting the aforementioned Facebook status. Right about then the girls came up on the deck, showing off their not-so-awesome "dirt tattoos". Good time to play with the webcam. I've had this computer for months & have yet to use it. Matter of fact, I've never used one. I'm a tab bit behind the times. You should hear my bluetooth story. Or have I told you that one? Hmmm, can't remember.....

I went slightly off topic again didn't I?

I busted out the hose on the girls. No way were they stepping foot in the house looking like that! 4 very soaked people later, I decided this is what we should have been doing all along. That was until, HC decided to take a slip-n-slide on the nice green pool floor. THAT is no slip-n-slide, my dear. FUN'S OVER!!

I hose HC off once more, removing all the green slime. I request the girls strip undies off on the hardwoods, grab a diaper, & have RD grab a towel out of the bathroom so I can change HC's diaper. Obviously, at this point, RD & Gala need new dry panties. I let them know I'm running upstairs to grab some. Only, when I get up there, I want to scream because their room is a wreck. Every last bit of bed clothing, pillows, & babies are laying on the floor. Deep sigh. I pull open RD's undie drawer & 400 babies pop out at me. WHAT THE?! Kids!! Then I realize all of Gala's undies are missing. Every last undie is on the floor behind the chair. Another deep sigh.....

I head into my bedroom, lay down the girls dry undies, strip off my soaked clothes, grab me some dry shorts & panties. At least I thought I grabbed panties. I was brainstorming again about this post. I was wondering if you guys would be saying "well, how did their rooms get so messy? How could she not know? Is she that oblivious to what's taking place over there?"

I then wondered if I am? Oblivious, that is. No, of course I'm not. I know. I really do know. But at the time, I don't really care cuz they are having so much fun & I'm getting a few things done. It's not like they're truly hurting anything.....

As I was saying, through my constant brainstorming, I thought I had taken myself out a dry pair of undies. I unconsciously picked them up off the dresser & thought "Man, these seem really small." I guess they should be. They weren't mine at all. They were RD's. I hadn't taken any out for myself.

Yes, right then I knew I would share my chaotic little hour with you. An hour?? Yeah, with 3 kids, a lot can happen in an hour......

I had my hubby proof read me. His comment? "Sounds like the patients are running the asylum."

Niiiiiiiiiice........sorry, it's the truth. I can't help it. I better look for a new j-o-b.

Pasta Party!

Once again, "Disney Family Fun" magazine has come through. August's issue is, not surprisingly, packed with loads of fun for the whole family!! Thank you, "Family Fun". We love you at our house!!

Here's a few shots of us trying out the "Pretty Pasta" craft project...........

& sadly, once again, the girls are in their favorite attire........undies

Just finished dying the pasta. Waiting for them to air dry.
Following "Family Fun" directions, we used food coloring & 2 tsp of vinegar to dye our pasta.



Stopping to pose for a picture. We're just starting to string our necklaces.
Helpful hint from "Family Fun": use a bread tie as a needle while stringing. Worked fairly well.



Daddy's behind the camera! Yay! Project time w/Daddy!

After necklace (& bracelet) making, I decided we could make a fun art project with the left over pasta.

A Journey Back to Me (AJB2Me)

Reality has hit me. Try as I may, I will never be the perfect mom. Now you might be thinking, "how could she ever expect to be perfect? No one is perfect." And I'll say in reply, yes, I know that. But it doesn't stop any one of us from striving for that exact thing, does it? For that matter, it doesn't stop us from competing with one another either.

As most of us are well aware, every mother (or most) wants to live up the illusion of "perfect mom". For me, the not so simple task of it all leaves me feeling less than great about myself. I spend a great deal of time feeling guilty & the rest of the time on edge. Two things that wear on the whole house after too long. I'm also aware that I will never be the perfect wife, daughter, sister or friend. That is, unless I change my way of thinking....

It's a good thing that I ran across the "Playdate My Family" article in the August 2011 "Parenting Early Years" magazine. Why? Well, it has a small profile on Jessica Denay. "Parenting" describes her as, mother of an 11-year old boy & author of "The Hot Mom's Handbook". And this little profile was just enough to entice me. I started looking into her book & browsed the "The Hot Mom's Club" website. I liked what I saw & much to my surprise, my public library had a copy of the book!! I've just gotten started on it. I plan to give you a full review when I'm finished!!

But one thing I've already learned......If I'm always allowing myself to "self hate", I'm never going to be great at anything. Half-hearted, maybe, but never great. And once this reality sank in, I decided to start a little chain of change. As many of us mothers know, our sense of self is thrown out the door once we become moms.......

I've decided today is the day to give back.........to myself. I have spent far too long trying to be the perfect everything. I am taking a stand. I now understand that I cannot be any of those things if I can't be me. So what makes me, me? Oh my, that may be hard. I haven't spent any quality time thinking about this in years. Instead I've spent my time solely worrying about what is good for everyone else.

Now, at first glance, I know some of you'll think I've gone a little too far. You'll think I've decided to throw out my "responsibilities" as wife, mother, daughter, etc. You may even call me selfish. But that's far from what I'm doing. As I'd like to point out, "The Hot Mom's Handbook" has given me permission to let go of the guilt. And frankly, that's good enough for me!!

As I've said, I'm only trying to find the little things in life that make me, well, me. So, what sets my soul free? What do I miss most pre-kids?

Sometimes it's little things like bathing daily (What?? That can be a rarity as a stay-at-home mom!!) or sexy panties....(Go ahead, laugh. I bet I'm not the only one who misses them) As the book has reminded me, no one ever said you had to give up feeling sexy or caring what you look like to be a good mom, did they?

It's also the big things like a few moments to myself. Heck, even using the bathroom w/o an audience would be a awesome! Or just loading up & going somewhere at the drop of a hat. Yeah, I miss that. Of course that one will be harder to manage. But maybe it's time to look into a good sitter?

So, raise your glass & join me in a new little series, I'd like to call, A Journey Back to Me.....

Lost in a sea of estrogen

I've never really given tons of thought into my poor hubby's situation. Sure sure, I've joked about him being the only male in the house, even the dog is a girl, but I've never stopped to consider how tough that could be. He's between a rock & well, estrogen. The poor bloke is out numbered 5-1.....

I guess it's really amazing for him to take it in stride. When someone says, "you poor poor soul", he smiles & says he doesn't mind. Today, however, he cracked.

We loaded the girls up early this morning & headed to the library. The girls used to love to pick out books but the last few times they've been more interested in the pillows & dolls. While I was dropping off our previous checkouts & picking up the last 2 books of the Harry Potter series, I heard RD exclaim, "There's a cat!!"

I thought she was joking, of course, but I wandered over after the third attempt to tell me about the cat. I peered out the window, toward the courtyard, & seen the tiniest little kitten. It's cute little face was peering up at us. The girls were in LOVE! I have to say, my first reaction was, "Awe, she's homeless. Let's take her home." And NO! I did not say that out loud. The girls would have agreed in a heartbeat. But I'm pretty sure our pooch would have objected the minute we walked in the door.

At this point, one of the staff members came to the window. It was pretty hard ignoring the girls excited cries. The maintenance team came down & brought the kitten in. "Cali" (the name RD gave little mr/miss kitten), was scared to death. The poor thing. RD still insisted we were taking "Cali" home. It was hard explaining why we couldn't. Finally we diverted her attention by heading upstairs to get Zuthura, while talking about how we may get a cat once our dog kicks the bucket. Bit morbid, eh?

As we're loading onto the elevator, my hubby, a dog lover & cat hater says, through a part-laugh-part-boohoo voice, "I never knew it was going to be like this. If you'd have told me 10 years ago, I'd be surrounded by girls, unicorns & kittens, I'd of thought you were crazy." All I could do was laugh & he joined me. We know he loves us but I'm sure it's tough some most days.....

Fun little sites

Y'all should know by now, I'm a sucker for the WWW. I turn to the WWW for every little whim stitch.  It's given me loads of fun info & tutorials on hair (the girls' and my own), snack ideas for preschool, diagnosis (the doctors love me for this) & of course shopping from home (my very favorite hobby) just to name a few. Honestly, if you are looking for information on anything, it's got it. It may not be all accurate, but it rarely lets me down.

Last Friday, I decided to surf around for preschool activities. I was in desperate need of fun & educational ideas to stimulate RD. After rummaging through one site, I landed on a few little tutorials. Most of them were cute enough, but I really didn't have every thing I needed to complete some of them. Plus we were headed to the library & I really was hoping to tie a book into our activity.

Ask and you shall receive. I swear no sooner had I been looking at a picnic themed idea when up popped ideas to incorporate "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". We already own that book so it would give us a head start. Something else I loved was that it provided another opportunity for us to talk about nutrition. I printed off a few activity pages called "Days of the Week Worksheets" & decided to hold off on the fun till we got home from the library.

Once we were back home, we read the book. However, this time I followed a little planner I found called The Very Hungry Caterpillar Lesson Plan. Sadly, I had to skip some of the fun (handing out laminated paper fruit) since I wasn't fully prepared for it. Last minute & all. I did compromise by using real fruit. But all in all, the day ended up being a very stress free day. Unlike so many days before it, I didn't have to beg for the screaming & fighting (a regular between the girls lately) to end. We merely went from one activity to the next. Next time, I'd love to actually get out to the park & do a picnic theme day. Right now it's just too blazing hot!

Drought

I know I haven't written lately. I'm really sorry for it. I feel like I owe you guys a really outstanding post. I hate to say, I got nothing.

It's not that things haven't been going on because it's been crazy hectic in our household. These last few weeks, pretty much since we got back from our trip, have been draining. I've been in this horrible-stressy groucho-mood. I honestly don't even know how my darling hubby puts up with me. (It could possibly be the Leinenkugels, just sayin....)

Some of my mood stems from our recent financial strains. What with the A/C setting us back $1200 & then our dryer taking a poo a few days after we got that quote. Luckily, my husband could fix the dryer on his own. I was never so happy to do laundry the next day. And then, the dryer stopped working after, maaaaybe, 50 minutes. I had a basement crammed with hanging clothes. Good thing I have clothespins out the wazoo.

Once again, we got some advice on what to try & got her up & going again. Let's just say, I pray it doesn't go & blow a 3rd fuse. I haven't ventured down to try it out. And believe me, I could. I got 2 nice piles of towels that need to be done.

The vast majority of my mood though, is coming from a certain 4, going on 16, year old's recent behavioral change. It was getting so bad, I actually told my husband, "I think she became possessed while we were out of town!" For almost a week straight I felt plain & simply at my wits end. I no longer knew what to do or say to control her outrageous attitude. Everyday seemed to bring some other new "crazy" out in her. I really just want my old 4 year old back. I've asked her how she can be so good at school & yet rebel at home. She says it's fun there & our house is sooooo boring. She has always been a high needs child & I think she is feeling a little under challenged this summer. And I know as well, her & I are so much alike we tend to butt heads.

Needless to say, I was beyond thrilled to get out of this house last night. My hubby & I went to a movie. Our first date, something other than running to pick up Christmas or birthday gifts alone, in I'd say, 2 years. This should become a priority. My sanity needs it.

I know this phase will pass. I've chosen a new path for defusing her temper before it gets too heated & it seems to be working for now. I don't wanna rush summer along, but I'm very much looking forward to the start of school & I know she is as well. Let's hope we don't kill one another before then.

Nicknames

Everyone gets cute little nicknames throughout their life. My hubby seems to be quite fond of them. He has given each of our girls several. Usually going through a few before he settles on one or two. He'll walk in the door from work & greet all "his girls".

He's settled on two nicknames for HC. "Chompy" & "Chubby". He's been leaning more toward "Chubby" the last few months. It never really dawned on me till last night that he rarely calls them by anything else. Unless they are in trouble. And the reason it dawned on me? Oh, Gala thinks HC's name is "Chubby". She was pointing to the picture, of them, hanging in our living room, saying "RD", "Gala" & "Chubby".

Best. Laugh. All. Day.

I guess that's actually an improvement. She used to say her own name was "Me", HC was "Baby" & RD, "Sissy". She's got her own name down. Er, sorta. She says one of her nicknames. BUT she does have RD's name down. Now to work on her w/HC. I don't want poor HC developing a complex once she's old enough to understand what "Chubby" really means......

I wanna save

This post is really more of a question for everyone out there. At one of our RCIA classes, the speaker said something that struck a cord with me. He was talking about tithing and how you can't help others if you are always in debt. True? Yes.

I'm getting serious about cutting some more costs, but I'm out of ideas. Here are the things we've done this year....

• Switched to Virgin Mobile for cell phones. No contracts. We get 300 anytime minutes, unlimited text, email, data & web for $25/month. Savings = unsure?
• Cancelled our Dish Network services. Savings = $58/mo
• Switched from Huggies to Walmart brand diapers. Savings = $26/mo
• Eat out less. Savings = ? (I haven't tracked it)

My questions to you all......How have you gotten out of debt or are you still in debt? Do you budget or do you fly by the seat of your pants? How have you cut spending? What are your best tips for cutting costs? Lay them on me & everyone listening....we could all benefit from any and all saving tips!!

If I won

"You got kids, you got sh*t." That is my dad's motto. What's a motto? Nothing, what's the motto w/you?! HA! sorry, just a little "Lion King" humor....OK, moving on.....In case you missed my "Got Kids" post, go ahead & check it out. But wait!! Don't go yet, finish here first.....

HC has taken up screaming. That's how she lets you know everything & anything. I'm mad, I want to eat, I want a pretzel, I need my blanket, read me a book, etc. It's tough figuring out what she wants. It's sort of like a trial and error sequence of offerings. I offer her a drink, she bats it away. I offer her food, she bats it away. And on & on it goes until you finally get the right thing. Sometimes, I can simply use the right word instead. She understands pretzel, banana, baba (bottle), etc. So if I just ask her about pretzels & that's it, she makes this laughing noise that reminds me of the sound pigeons make. FUNNY!! Oh how I love that sound. Much easier on my eardrums, let me tell ya.

Today she was standing at the kitchen counter screaming while I was making a baba for her. I figured she seen me getting it ready & started in. Yes, she screams until you give her what she wants even if she can physically see you are getting it. But she didn't want a baba. She wanted this, I call it "bug juice", it's actual name is "hog wash", that was on the counter. I hand it to her.

Silence.....Awesome.

I went on to make coffee when I heard what sounded like someone peeing on the floor. I turn around. She is dumping the whole bottle of juice onto my kitchen floor! Wouldn't frustrate me so much IF our kitchen wasn't carpeted. ARGH! Got Kids?!?! See how that phrase is so relevant?

Everytime I drive by a billboard, displaying the daily lotto info, I find myself daydreaming how I'd spend the money if I won. This exact thought crept into my mind as I started blotting up juice. And while I was blotting, I knew for certain what I'd do with it. I'd replace every single piece of flooring in our house. I'd put in ceramic in the kitchen, hardwoods in the living & dining areas, & in the playroom. I'd also replace the 30+ year old carpet in our upstairs w/nice plush carpet.

Guess I'll have to keep daydreaming & keep blotting cuz I don't play the lottery. And you can't win when you don't play.....oh & a dishwasher, I'd take one of those too.....

Liquid Death

Pretty dreary day out. No sun. Slight sprinkle. Muggy. Broken AC unit. That makes the day seems even more dreary. Lucky for me I was getting a little break. HC had been napping for almost 3 hours & Gala had fallen asleep a little less than an hour ago.

RD & I headed outside. She wanted to take her barbies for a dip in the pool. Since it was sprinkling out, I grabbed a container & filled it up with water to make a little barbie pool. We'd  been outside about 20 minutes when I decided I should check on HC.

When I came in, I could hear her crying. I hopped over the gate, guarding the flight of stairs, heading to our second floor. That's when it hit me. The smell of poo. Or liquid death as my hubby calls it. HC must of filled her drawers (or I need to seriously clean this house). Lovely. If I can smell it at the start of the climb, it's gotta be a bad one.

I pulled back the blanket (said blanket is in place to keep the upstairs cool, via window unit, while we are w/o AC) & I almost passed out from the smell. Oh Lord, this is gonna be a whopper. I approach the crib. Poo is everywhere. GAG! My little princess decided having her diaper off seemed like a better idea than having it on. And what's worse is, she must have done it before falling asleep because it was already dried on her skin. Double gag! It was on her back, legs, arms, & of course her butt. Triple gag!

Well, this was just as good a time as any, so I rounded up the gang, threw them in the tub, stripped the crib & started the load of HC's bed clothes. All in the day & the life of me (& you other mommas)......

And the results are in

Gala was scheduled for two appointments. One with a GI surgeon & one with a GI (nutritional) specialist. Before the appointments were made, I was on the fence about even scheduling an appointment with the surgeon. I was, & still am, 100% sure we would not have had her go through surgery. So what was the use in seeing one? Her primary care Dr. said that we could at least see what he had to say. Plus, she added, I could ask about the dreaded "knot". So I agreed.

On the other hand, I was stoked about the GI specialist appointment. It was like a gift. We were finally going to get an answer. We'd finally know what was causing all the diarrhea. I wasn't excited about Gala going through a slew of tests but it would be worth it to know what to avoid to clear up this whole mess.

At the 1st appointment, the surgeon's nurse (SN) came in to do a quick medical history before we seen the surgeon. First we talked about the prolapse. When did it first happen, how many times has it occurred, how long & how often she's had diarrhea, etc. I gave her the photos I had taken of the prolapse. And then she asked if I had any other concerns. I told her about the knot on Gala's stomach & lifted her dress to show SN. She told us it was a hernia. I was excited. Not that it was hernia, silly. I was excited we might actually get acknowledgement here. I gave her the ultrasound films that were taken at our primary care Dr office. And then we waited for the surgeon.

He came in & spoke with us about it all. He said she definitely had rectal prolapse & said the pics were great. He asked about her diet & how it was working out. I told him how Gala's bowels have been great off of dairy. He told us how he rarely does surgical fixes for rectal prolapses since the outcome is never great & the chance for having to have it redone are high. And since it seems we could control her bowel through diet, that was his recommendation. Then he did an exam (which was awful for Gala).

After that we talked about the knot. When I said, we had been told it was "nothing" & I found that hard to believe, since you could physically see it, both he & SN agreed. He said it was definitely a hernia. Could be her stomach or part of her intestine coming through a tear in her abdominal wall. He told us how these types of hernias are generally non-bothersome & wouldn't need intervention. BUT sometimes they can cause problems, such as trapping stools, so he would be reviewing the ultrasounds we brought along. He asked us if she ever complained of pain. She hasn't. He told us if they had gotten all the shots/angles he needed & he didn't see anything worry some, we'd do nothing OR I could elect to do cosmetic surgery but then she'd have a scar instead of a knot. (No thanks, a knot is good for us.) BUT if they didn't have the shots/angles he needed OR if he seen something "off" we'd go from there.

He also wanted to check her for cystic fibrosis & would send the order over to her 2nd appointment since he was sure they'd be running several tests & they could just tack that one on. And he suggested keeping a daily food/bowel diary on her. He said we'd just play phone tag from here on out unless something major came up. His nurse gave us their office info & said she'd be in touch in about a week. Leaving that appointment, I almost felt like I was on cloud nine. No major invasive surgery needed for either issue, but acknowledgement that we are not nuts.

At the 2nd appointment, the NP (GI specialist) came in & asked why we were there. I started with my "hunch" of a diary allergy & was interrupted with a scrunched WTH face & "What would make you suspect that?" question. I answered with a Karla style answer (remember that's a long story) the whole while getting the WTH face. I was starting to feel embarrassed & irritated when I finally got, an "I see". Followed by a "well, I don't think she has a dairy allergy. You see, it is very rare, I mean it can happen, but it is very rare that children have an allergy to a protein in dairy."

Hmmm, weird?, since RD has a classmate that is & I know a few other kids who are as well. Woah. Small world for me, I guess. OK. So then it's not dairy "allergy."

Then she says, "Now, she could possibly have a lactose intolerance." GREAT!, I'm thinking, lets check for that! She then tells me that diary is VERY important to a child's diet (like I don't know this) & that I could remove dairy to see if that is, in fact, the problem but I'd need to add dairy back in gradually to see how she does. I explain that we have been on a dairy free diet for 3 weeks & the few times I did add back in dairy, she got the runs & prolapsed. "Hmmm, well, I'll give you a sheet on what she can & can't have. I won't need to see you again."

OK, I said. Do I need to call you to let you know how she's doing?

"You can. If you do, just tell the front desk."

OK. Did the Surgeon call to let you know he was ordering a test?

"Yes, but I don't believe she has cystic fibrosis, so I will not be running that test."

And out the door we were booted. Seriously?! I mean they could have told me that back home. I drove, well my hubby drove, 2.5 hours to be told that?!? What a freaking joke! I was fuming mad. I still am. I was left feeling so let down & put off yet again. I can grasp the fact that she is NOT "allergic" to dairy. BUT that doesn't explain the diarrhea related issue. And yes, I understand that a lactose intolerance could but there isn't a test? What about all the other tests Gala's primary said this "NP specialist" would run. Tests that they could handle better there because "Mrs. NP specialist" would have child size equipment. What about the the tests the GI surgeon assumed "NP specialist" would run? What about the one test he wanted ran?

Deep sigh. I guess all I can do is keep on keeping on. She's doing great off dairy & that's what we're sticking with. The crazy thing about all this was the one appointment, I thought was not necessary, ended up being the best of the two.

Royalty

Or as close to it as I'm ever gonna get.

Even though we experienced a few hiccups through out our get away it was balanced out by the wonderful hotel experience. I cannot say enough about our hotel, Hampton Inn & Suites @ Forest Park in St. Louis, MO & I feel I owe them a big shout out!!!

The customer service was exceptional. I honestly did not see one staff member without a smile & readiness to help. Not to mention we received tons of compliments on how adorable our girls were. What parent doesn't like hearing that?

As expected, while we were out, our house keeper cleaned our room. However, she also put a personal touch on it. She placed & arranged the girls' babies on the beds. Then she put a pair of the girls' sunglasses, that we had sitting out, on Gala's "rabby". The girls thought their toys had come to life & lived it up while we were gone. That put a huge smile on my face!!

Breakfast was awesome. Self serve, like most, but the waitstaff was wonderful. Right on top of everything. Maybe I just appreciated that because I wasn't the one doing the cooking. And I loved having Jimmy John's less than a block away. We walked down & enjoyed lunch there on the 2nd day. Plus 50 feet or less from the entrance was a pub, Highlander Pub & Grill, which I already told you about. I'm gonna say it again though, YUMMY! I had the St. Louis Steak Sandwich. It Was Awesome!

The best part, in my opinion, is the location. Having St. Louis Children's Hospital less than a mile n half away was wonderful. Plus it sits within walking distance of the St. Louis Zoo & St. Louis Science Center. The Science Center was literally 3 or 4 blocks away. We'll definitely choose this hotel again!!

And our night

After the hectic trip down here, we were thinking it might be best to hang close to the hotel. Lucky for us, there are a couple eateries w/in walking distance. One actually sits about 50 feet or so from the front of our hotel. SUHWEET! It's called Highlander Pub & Grill.  They describe themselves as "A Celtic gathering place for the athletic & not so athletic." I fall on the latter side. The food was super yummy!

After we ate we came back to the room for a bit & then got ready for a swim. The pool was packed but the water was perfect. The girls had a blast & when it was time to head back up to the room we couldn't get RD out of the pool. She developed some sort of hearing problem. At least that's what I assume since every time I said it was time to get out, she "swam" away from me without acknowledging me. Daddy finally had to pull her up out of the pool. She stuck her tongue out at everyone & kicked the whole way up to the room. I know everyone thought she was an angel. We did too.

Once we were back up in the room I got the girls a bath. We were about an hour behind our normal bedtime schedule & the girls were exhausted. Gala could no longer control her crying & just wanted someone to lay down with her. HC was ready for her bottle & RD just wanted our dog, Sassy. Finally we all got settled, totally forgetting about brushing teeth or bedtime stories. RD had a sippy of milk & every time she stopped drinking, she started bawling. See, her sippy was making a funny sssssss sound & she said it was saying Saaasssssssy. She said, "I can't quit thinking about her because my cup keeps reminding me!!" That girl is a scream!!!