"AGAIN! AGAIN!"

2 more

Went to the dentist today. Casey has two more cavities. At this rate she should have a cavity in every tooth by the time she's 7. They said we're doing a good job of brushing and flossing but she's cavity-prone. And she eats too much candy. I'm sure that candy pacifier didn't help. Now she only gets candy on Saturdays, with teeth brushing right after.

This time she picked a prize that was this hard to hold clear plastic thingy (like a plastic bag) full of pink glittery liquid and three happy face marbles inside. It lasted almost the whole day before it burst all over. Yuck. Next week she'll have to pick something else.

OK, just one more

My baby with her pacifier. You can see by my hair it was a very windy day. The bounce house even blew over it was so windy. Luckily no one was inside at the time.
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Casey LOVED the canoe ride. She really wanted to do the pedalboats, but Eric has sworn them off, as his legs don't really fit in them. So she settled for a canoe and was very happy with the ride. She wanted to get on a boat as soon as we got there, but our HR woman told me that we should eat first or we'd miss lunch. With every bite she asked, "Is it time yet?" Finally it was time to go over and the HR woman told me that we should wait or we'd miss the puppet show. We went anyway, because Casey was very eager to canoe (and Eric and I would pick canoeing over a puppet show any day), but luckily we made it back in time.

More picnicpix

Pre preschool at the park

Last week I emailed all of the parents of Casey's new preschool class to see if anyone wanted to get together this week. Today we went to the park and met up with three of Casey's new classmates and their moms. One of the moms rode her bike over with her three kids (the 4 and a half year old can ride a bike!) and a woman in a car started yelling at her for having her kids (6, 6, and 4) all on bikes. The woman turned her car around, got out, and started yelling at the mom and getting in her face and saying very very rude things, including swearing at her in front of her kids. So the mom slapped her and the woman pulled her hair and then pulled her to the ground. So while I was wondering why everyone was a half hour late, the mom was calling the police! It was a dramatic morning. Casey played with each of them a little bit, and she played with some other kids who just happened to be at the park. It was the park with sand and water and on the way over Casey was telling me that she didn't want to share her shovels and buckets. Of course as soon as we get there she starts handing out shovels.

Company picnic

Today we went to my company picnic at Shorline Park. Eric and I haven't canoed in years. I know last time we went there wasn't nearly as much singing as this time. I don't think we knew all the words to any songs before. Casey serenaded us until she finally got to eat her magic lollipop pacifier. I'm sure it would quiet any baby.

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We got back just in time for the puppet show. I usually can't stand puppet shows but this one was pretty funny. She volunteered for everything and got to go up and put the hair on the face on the white board. The guy said, "That hair looks like spaghetti!" Different kids got to help make each part of the face. And that's not a real white board, it's a puppet! The eyes and mouth moved and it was hilarous. The puppet gave running commentary as he got drawn and erased. I may have been laughing harder than the kids. He had animal puppets too, and Casey raised her hand to go meet one, mainly because she seems to like raising her hand, because once she got up there she wanted nothing to do with the puppet. She played in the bounce house, played with lots of kids, and ate lots of candy.

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I was impressed with how well she did because we there, napless, until 4 and we were out til 10 last night watching "Toy Story" outside in downtown Los Altos. She asked questions the whole time. Nonstop. It was scarier than I had remembered, but very cute.

Non-cleaning part of the weekend

We were only planning to clean and organize over the weekend, but then we got invitations to Wesley's for a bbq on Saturday night and swimming at Maddie's on Sunday night. Good times. Monday I took the day off and went to gymnastics. It was a decent class, not bad not great. I can see why Casey doesn't want to do it anymore. She did pretty well and volunteered to demonstrate EVERYTHING, even before she was asked. It was the last class and at the end the teacher (a substitute) asked who was going to come back next time. Casey said that it was her last gymnastics class. I had told her she had to finish up the session and I wouldn't sign her up again if she didn't want to. She got her sticker, jumped up, bounded over to me singing, "I like Ashley, I love Ashley" because Ashley was on her way over for a playdate!

The castle is in the house

It took 3 months (instead of 7 weeks) to get delivered, more than enough time for buyer's remorse to set in. It is spectacular, but ridiculous. It arrived Saturday and when Casey said she wanted to take a nap on the couch instead of on the bed, I told her I was going to call the delivery guys to come back and get it. (She slept in the bed.) The delivery guys had to move it around three times until we got it in the right spot. The right spot is where the slide doesn't block the doorway... . It looked much smaller in the giant store. And no, don't ask me, we didn't measure. Measuring is for wimps. I just hope she remembers to open the closet door when she goes down the slide. I need a slide for my bed.
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The delivery guys were putting it together and there was a piece missing, so they asked if we wanted the ladder or the slide until they could get the extra piece. Casey wanted both so I told them we wanted the extra piece from a display bed in the store. My baby wants a ladder AND a slide.
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We spent the weekend getting rid of a LOT of toys, since our house is bursting at the seams. Eric was on a mission to take back the house. He did a lot of work. Casey wasn't much of a help, but after we came back from dinner Saturday night and Eric put away the last of the games and puzzles, Casey asked if she could help. I didn't think people learned how to do that until they were much older. I guess she's advanced.

Gymnastics videos from Michelle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90qv0-ln25M&feature=youtube_gdata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfcsKsdWF1g&feature=youtube_gdata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB5PJEnv59I&feature=youtube_gdata

Tim's in town

Tim is in town from Atlanta, so he met us for dinner tonight. After ice cream he came over and Eric and Tim were trying to talk while Casey said, "Tim, let's play a game!" So Tim got to learn how to play Casey's favorite card game, Hisss.
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She's getting really big. She ate a huge dinner and then an adult size ice cream cone (I forgot to ask for a kids' scoop) and then we got home and she wanted a peach! She's gotten way heavier lately. On her birthday she was 28 pounds and 38 inches but now Eric is saying she is closer to 30 pounds. She is definitely feeling heavier. Her days of being carried everywhere are numbered... .

Crazy late night party

We came back from San Diego on Saturday and went to a wild and crazy dinner at Jeanine and Lance's house. They also invited Karen and Randy. Casey, Brynn, and Ashley played with all of Brynn's toys - luckily she seems to have three of everything, even baseball bats and baseball helmets. The girls put out lots of fires with their power tools. (Don't ask me to explain, I'm just reporting the news.) Brynn walked out in her fireman's outfit and then Casey came in, walked by without talking to any of us, came back and whispered, "Can you help me be a doctor?" So we went into Brynn's room to put on her scrubs.

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All of a sudden I noticed it was dark and thought, "Wow, it gets dark early here" (compared to San Diego) and then realized that was ridiculous and looked at my watch and it was 9:00. Then like 2 minutes later it was 10:00! The girls were still going strong. Luckily we brought pajamas, toothbrush, and toothpaste and got Casey ready for bed before going home.

Gymnastics class

Here are a few more pictures from Michelle of Casey's gymnastics class and from their post-gymnastics picnic in the park. Apparently once the kids are Casey's age you don't have to do "bear walk" with them. I just remember being dressed for work doing bear walk on Friday mornings, with a runny nose because I was always sick. Next week is the last class and I am going to take her. I will stay home on Mondays until preschool starts in September.

Favorite babysitter

We hired Michelle for every Monday of the summer, so that Casey would have a day to hang around the house, take gymnastics class, and just chill out. We thought daycare every day would be too much for her once she got used to preschool twice a week, but preschool was closed for the summer. As soon as we hired Michelle, Casey informed us that she LOVES daycare and would rather go to daycare than have a babysitter even though Wesley isn't there on Mondays either. It was really hard leaving her at first. She would worry about it for days in advance. And she would cry really hard when I left. It was terrible. But by the time I'd get home Michelle could hardly leave the house because Casey would want just one more hug. This week was Michelle's last week and Casey was only a little nervous before she arrived. She told me that she wanted ME to tell Michelle about San Diego and I asked her what she wanted me to tell her about and she said the fire engine ride at Legoland. Michelle had barely walked in the door when Casey blurted out, "We went to San Diego!" and started telling her all the details of the trip. Casey was sad when Michelle had to leave, but thank goodness we have a babysitter who we can trust and who Casey loves.

Preschool park day

Here are some pictures of preschool park day, which was at the beginning of the summer (the end of preschool). That was the first day we had our babysitter Michelle come for the full day and she took these pictures. She got some great shots of Casey and one of Casey's three best preschool buddies, Maddie.

Last day

Favorite thing from the trip:

Veronica - Boogie boarding

Ted - Pirate Splash Battle

Kyle - Pre-dinner answer: Legoland Driving School

Kyle - Post-dinner answer: S'mores

Cami - Lego horse ride

Jamie - Walk on the beach (Casey walked, galloped, ran, and shell-hunted for 40 minutes)

Eric - Making sandcastles with the kids

Casey - Fire engine ride

More Legoland

Thursday we went back to Legoland for more fun. We wanted to visit the Legoland waterpark in the afternoon when it warmed up. Many of the rides there are interactive, and one of our favorites was a fire truck race, which is hard to describe, but there are four firetrucks and each team has to pump the truck to get it to go (Eric said it's a double hand pump, if that helps) and when you get to the other side, you have to put out a fire and then jump back into your truck and get back to the start. Casey drove while Eric and I did the pump, and it was so hilarious. We came in second, in case you were wondering.

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We tried the apple fries, recommended by Kyra, and those were a big hit. I don't know why they don't have those everywhere! Otherwise, the food there was pretty healthy and much better than I expected. One the last night when we all had to decide what our favorite part of the week was, I had to consider my unexpectedly delicious Legoland turkey sandwich as a contender.

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At the waterpark, we did the build a raft river, where you get to stack some giant Legos on your raft and float around in a big circle on the "river". It was fun but would have been better if we hadn't been FREEZING. I can't believe I was so worried about frying in San Diego in August.

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Anyway, after the water park, I had had more than enough fun. I thought Eric, Casey, and I could head home and let everyone else come home when they were ready. Eric agreed and then while I was pushing the girls in the double stroller, I heard them singing, "I LOVE LEGOLAND" over and over. The next thing I knew we were going on more rides and then we were eating dinner and then we were playing on the playground. Thank goodness the park closes at 8 or we would have been there all night.