The Kangaroo Zoo

Last week I met some friends and their kids at the Kangaroo Zoo. It's a bounce house place and it is a lot of fun (thanks Amy for the suggestion!). Both of my kids had so much fun-- even though Lucas wouldn't go down any of the slides, he had a blast jumping. Grace was all over everything. She just did her own thing for like 2 hours.

Grace went down on her bum once and I think it was too fast for her so the rest of the time, she slid on her tummy like this.

She jumped off the top of the green hump you can see behind her here. You can tell from her hair that she is at the last part of the jump 'cause it's still flying upward.
Luke had a harder time getting over the hump...
Grace went through this one like 20 times in a row. It was shaped like a figure 8. Every time she would come out here....
...and then go back in here after jumping up and touching the snout of the dragon. I kept trying to get a shot of her touching it, but of course by the time the camera actually snapped, she had landed already.
We would have stayed longer but Lucas started to shut down on us.
Grace was so pooped from all the running, jumping and sliding that she fell asleep looking out the window about 5 minutes after we got home.

Chalkboard giveaway!!

My cousin has just started making these awesome vinyl chalkboards! They are moving like hot cakes and this weekend she is giving one away! Visit Spell It Out Designs to find out how to enter the contest.

It is ALWAYS sunny and warm on February 18th

Today was the big day. The big 3-0. Buck planned a great party for me with all of our usual guests, lots of balloons and food! I'm still 20 at heart. It was a wonderful day, including the weather. Last week when it was freezing and stormy, I said, "Well, atleast it will be warm on Wednesday." It took him a second to realize what I was talking about. I tell him every year it will be warm on my birthday and it always is! I can't remember the last time that it felt like winter on the 18th. Sometimes it's crappy on the 17th & the 19th, but always warm on the 18th. I may have jinxed myself now by making such a big deal of it.... Anyway, it's been my best birthday so far.


Here's Luke trying to sneak some cake before it was cut. Grace is pulling him away.
Waiting to blow out the candles. I got spoiled with ice cream cake AND homemade banana cream pie.

Just after the candles were out.
A game of dress-up.
These were my favorite part of the party decor.
I'm keeping this one since I now have it in writing from Buck..... It should be valid for a year atleast...until I'm no longer 30, you know?

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day!

sucking wind

I played 5 on 5 basketball tonight for the first time in atleast 8 years or more. It brought back memories of basketball tryouts (this time minus the pink denim shorts...LOL Manda) and the first week of practice in high school of tasting blood in the back of your throat because you are so out of shape! I don't get much running in with the yoga and volleyball that I've been doing so this is going to be good for me even though I am going to be sore tomorrow!

sweet little MONSTER!

I finally got a gym pass again and today was my first day back in the gym. I hated the kid center at my last gym so I just stopped going and eventually my membership expired. I'm hoping to have a better experience with this one. I tried Luke out in the kid center today and he didn't have a very good experience. I ended up getting paged because he tried to bite another little girl. I guess he got his fingers pinched in the gate and was crying and some little girl tried to come console him and he tried to bite her. He bit me yesterday for no good reason too. I have got to figure out a way to get the biting to stop. He bites Grace when they are fighting too. He can be such a sweet, loving little guy but sometimes he has this demon take over and he's a maniac!

:)

"This is not about doing it your way or doing it my way, it's about doing it the best way. I can't help it if my way is always the best way." - my dental hygenist Marianne

We were discussing life as she cleaned my teeth yesterday and she summed up some of my feelings so well in this one little thought! LOL.

I'm losing my onions!

I used to have a grip on my life but lately I feel like I am going crazy! I remember preaching to Buck (he would call it nagging) when we were first married that everything had a place and it belonged there so it could be found when needed. I don't know if it has been the addition of 2 kids in my life or if I'm just getting old and forgetful but I am misplacing everything! I am constantly searching for Grace's ear stuff, car keys, my purse, etc. Yesterday I got home from the grocery store and the 2 onions I had bought for use in my dinner were no where to be found. Perhaps they rolled out of the back of the car before I shut it and got left in the parking lot. Maybe the checker never bagged them. Maybe they are somewhere in my house and I'll find them this summer growing hair. I have no idea. I feel like I am just as aware of my surroundings as usual, but apparently not!