A Day Out with the "ly" girls...Kayli & Lily

We met at the Cr Center, and began the fun at the Dinosaur Exhibit...ok, actually Kayli and I were patiently waiting at the Dinosaur exhibit, hoping that Linsey, Lily, and Graeme would arrive before the next bus dropped off a daycare full of kids! Linsey sent us a text saying they were running a little late. I said to Kayli "somebody probably needed a diaper change, and  I bet it wasn't Linsey!" Ha,ha, ha, that was a hysterical joke, as she laughed her head off! I soooo know this kid's humor!

It wasn't too long before Linsey arrived with Lily and Graeme, and we were off and running into the Dinosaur exhibit...

Awww, Kayli just loves Baby Graeme!

time to dig for fossils...

then, try out the job of keeping some dinosaur eggs warm...

finished with this exhibit, we made a plan to eat lunch at this popular "kid friendly" restaurant...

and played in the Crayola store while waiting for a table in the restaurant...

After lunch, we headed outside, where the girls posed for a picture. Lily's stance just cracks me up!

then, they each threw some pennies into the fountain, and Kayli demonstrated for Lily how you close your eyes and make your wish before tossing your coin...

we got tickets for the next kaleidescope session, which didn't start for another 40 minutes. We decided to pass the time by checking out the Hallmark Visitor's Center, right next door...

"what? a scuba-diver crown?"

ok, let's make a bow...

here it comes...

a tiny cute bow...

the girls had pretend "passports" that they were supposed to get ink stamped at the various "stations" around the center. They really got a kick out of this! You can see Lily in the background, putting a stamp on her passport...

we even got an unexpected gift from the ladies at the front desk, as we were walking out the door; a Hallmark recordable story book! Linsey and I were THRILLED!!!

Now, it was our turn at kaleidescope...

so many crafts, so little time...

"Look, Graeme, there's Lily in there"

another craft...

the girls got to draw and color their own puzzles, then put them in this machine and helped turn the wheel to actually cut the puzzle design...

and here's Kayli's dinosaur puzzle...

and at the exit there were these cool cameras that made everyone look like, well, like the view through a kaleidescope! Here's Kayli...

I see Linsey, Graeme, and Lily...

as we all headed home, I don't doubt that Linsey's car was as quiet as mine, as my backseat passenger was "out cold" within a few blocks of the Cr Center!

Trying to Figure Out Just How to Strike a Balance!

So, in two week's time, the pediatrician tells me my daughter needs to gain weight, my vet tells me my dog needs to lose weight, and I'm just trying to figure out how to keep my own weight at status quo! Sheesh...

Sort of Like the Zoo...

We were supposed to go to an evening at the zoo with Aunt Marion. but she cancelled on us at the last minute, due to some last minute rescheduling of Nick's baseball game. Unfortunately I didn't get her voicemail (next time please send a text) so Kayli had been talking about it ALL day, (we weren't meeting until 4:00) counting down the hours/minutes, and was soo disappointed! After some frustrating circular discussions, I convinced her that we could still have fun and she could still wear her zebra shirt and we would stick with the animal theme and go to dinner at the Rainforest C*afe. Woohoo, what a plan! We hopped in the car and headed for the restaurant that we discovered had shut down a couple years ago, when the A*merican Girl Store moved in! Sheesh, we just can't seem to win here! All the way to the parking lot, Kayli is trying to engage me in a totally illogical conversation, and I am racking my brain for a plan, and getting more and more frustrated by the minute...and hungry!
Then, suddenly, it popped into my head, as if by magic (angels? my mom?) it's the next "perfect plan!" It's almost as entertaining as our zoo, has more animals per square foot than our zoo, less walking, air conditioned, no entrance fee, no crowd, waterfalls, bridges, bears, campgrounds, scenic elevators, animal footprints to follow, and a restaurant that brought us to the depths of the ocean  where we were surrounded by huge man-eating sharks and swordfish, where I  savored a juicy cheesy patty melt with crispy fries, and Kayli did the same for a big bowl of Mac 'n Cheese, followed by "dirt pudding with gummy worms!"  Anybody know where we are??? Whew! What a save!

 Plan "C" was a WINNER!!!

Working on it...

Kayli is so good about saying "please," "excuse me," and "thank-you." She has even recently taken on my challenge to use a little more expression with her "thank-you's", and has done a fabulous job with this!
But, just when I thought the going was good, I was recently reminded that the teaching is never done... this morning, a service man was at my house, and it was already 80 degrees by 8:00 a.m., and he was sweating quite a bit, and Kayli looked up from the table and announced to him "Whew! You smell like an old goat!" I nearly spewed out the coffee I was sipping!
Luckily he was quite a good sport and split a gut laughing! He assured Kayli that he took a shower this morning, and grabbed his shirt to smell it. Well, he finished his work, and on his way out the door, he was still laughing and shaking his head saying "old goat, huh?"

Swimming Lessons

I signed Kayli up for a two-week stint of daily swimming lessons, 45 minutes per day. On the last day, they invited parents to stay and witness the new skills our children had aquired...
"Ok, Miss Kayli, are you ready?"

 "I'm ready!"

...and she's off!

doing great... keep that tummy up...

whoops...starting to sink...

Teacher says: "Ok, Kayli, you need to pretend you have a big round belly like Santa, then lean back and let your round tummy just float like a ball!"

Kayli laughs: "Ha,ha, that is hilarious, I can't stop laughing!"

"Ok, I think I'm ready now..."

and, now the scissor kick, NICE...

thanks for the help, Mrs. J., but I'm so ticklish, and uh, you're tickling me, and I'm about to curl up with laugher...

Ok, everyone down at the end of the pool to finish with a dive. 

First, the kneeling dive...

and she "slices through the water like a hot knife through butter" er sort of...

and, now she prepares for the standing dive...arms up...

and...she's in...

a whole lot of learning took place in 8 swim sessions! Way to go Kayli!!!