Kira's First Ponies

Don't laugh! I am desperate! It is true though that Kira no longer gets mistaken for a boy more than once per week; it’s more like once a month. I am convinced that if she just had enough hair on the top of her head for a little pony tail or two, that the problem would be solved. She really is growing quite a bit of hair in the back though, which I am completely proud of. These pony tails look so silly, they pull off being cute. Maybe in another year she will have more conventionally-placed ponies.

The Point

I took my parents out to the State Park here during their visit to see the lake and let their dog, Jack, jump in the water. Jack LOVED the water, as most Labradors would. Kira spent her beach time sitting in the sand, digging her hands into it while Adalin walked around in the water, dropping handfuls of sand back into it pretending she was chlorinating a pool. Silly girl.

The point there is one of my favorite places, a little peninsula with a very small sandy area at its tip. It was just a wonderful little trip. My parents loved it and so did the girlies. The event was well documented, as both my Dad and I were snapping some pics.

More Pool Pics

This picture totally looks like it was taken by a Paparazzi and Adalin is some movie star!

Going Bonkers

My parents are here for a visit and instead of our typical don't-leave-Kirksville type of visit, we decided to branch out and head to Columbia for an afternoon. I had a few small errands to run, then we ate at Wendy's (very classy) and headed to Bonkers. It seems that every trip to Columbia, I always have so many other things that are more necessary to do, so we always run out of energy to go to this place. Not this time! I wasn't going to let it happen again!

Ok, so this place is so incredibly fun, I think I am going to cry b/c our first time going was just last week! We will have to make one more trip down to Columbia (or to Quincy, IL) for sure to hit up Bonkers again. It's hard to explain what it really is... Like a glorified Chuckie Cheese's jungle gym, complete with tons of different bouncy contraptions, slides, nooks and crannies to explore. Adalin had a lot of fun, but was a little hesitant at first, as she always is. Kira, on the other hand, was nuts! She is a determined little girl and climbed her little heart out, thinking she could keep up on her own. We had a lot of fun.

Shorts and Shirts

Adam and I have matching Gap Camo shorts that we wear every so often (not ever on the same day though.) I was wearing mine and Adalin looks at me with a scowl,
Adalin: Those are Daddy's shorts.
Me: No, they are mine, Daddy and I have the same ones.
Adalin: Girls don't wear shorts.
Me: Yes they do.
Adalin: No they don't! Only boys wear shorts! You're a boy!
OK, if you put it that way....

Yet another story...
Adalin was sitting with Adam by the computer while he was looking at PacSun.com, browsing through clothes (that we can't really afford to buy!) Adalin says: Dad, you have that shirt!
Adam: What shirt? Where?
Adalin: That one right there.
Adam: Yeah, I do have that one don't I?
How she remembers Adam's wardrobe, I don't know!

Adalin: Future Car Saleswoman?

We were driving down our street
and another white Toyota Sequoia was coming the opposite direction (we were driving ours at the time.) The identical car was still a block away and Adalin says, "Hey mom, there is another white Sequoia, just like ours!" How the heck did she know that?
Another car story...
Adalin knows what our friends, the Flammers', car looks like. Its a black Honda Civic, a couple years old, like the gray one pictured above. So my parents visited last week and they drove my dad's new Civic, but in dark blue. The back lights in the new body style are a little bit different , but you can tell it's a Civic for sure. So we pull in our driveway behind my dad's Civic and Adalin asks us, "Hey, are the Flammers here?" Weird!

I don't know where this interest in cars has come from! When we are at the grocery store sometimes I ask her if she can pick out our car from all the others and she has always been able to. My family is big into cars. My mom worked at car dealerships when I was a kid and my grandpa was a stock car driver and bodyman, and is basically a mechanic too. I grew up knowing what each make and model looked like and what changed on the bodystyles from year to year. Look like Adalin will follow in my footsteps, like I did in my Mom's, like she did in her Dad's.

Pics at the Froggie Pool

We had a good visit to the Aquatic Center the other day! It was a gorgeous day; forecast was like 83 degrees with scattered thunderstorms possibly mixed in. We got lucky too! You can see in the pictures that a thunderstorm passed right to the north of us, but the pool never had to close due to thunder or lightning! Those clouds made me nervous!
Since we are leaving Kirksville in just a few short weeks, I am noticing, more than ever, the things about this town that I really love. The pools are one of them! We have awesome FREE wading pools here that are nice and shallow for my kids. Then there is "the Froggie Pool," as Adalin would call it, that is a blast. I have really fond memories of these pools and I will be sad to leave them, especially the FREE ones. Doesn't get much better than that!
So I think that Adalin, Kira and I have become pool rats already this summer. We have been a ton already and that pools have only been open for what, like 3 weeks? Ha! It takes some effort to get the girlies all ready to go, lubed up and off, but it is so fun for them, they love it and, best of all for me, it tuckers them out to no end. The last picture above is of Adalin, who fell asleep shortly after arriving home from the pool, with a rice cake still in her hand. It was nice to just take her up to her room for the night and skip all the stories and songs! Ah! Happy Summer!

Boards Over

Adam took his step 1 board exam Thursday. He had his nose buried in this book for the last month studying for this thing. All I can say is that I am SO GLAD IT'S OVER! I feel an extreme sense of freedom now, with only one 4-week cinchy quarter left, then no more class work - EVER! I say a lot that the last two years have been difficult for me because they really have. Looking back, even 2 days after the storm, it doesn't seem like it has been that bad, but when I was in the middle of it all it was horrible. I guess that's how life is; in retrospect, things don't seem as difficult as they really and truly were at one time.
Adam has to wait 4-6 weeks before he knows his actual score. Agonizing. We will let you know how that goes.

All Birds Go To Heaven

Adam found a badly hurt bird on our deck yesterday evening, probably a result of one of the members of our zoo feeling the need to hunt. I vote for Kitty.
So Adalin and Adam put the bird back up in our big oak tree next to our deck and checked on it periodically.
Last night Adalin had her little friend Jocelyn over and Adalin said to her: Common' Joce, let's go outside and see if the bird died yet!
So I guess she sensed that there wasn't much hope for the bird, but we remained optimistic anyway.
This morning Adalin says to me: Mom, the bird died.
Me: How do you know that?
A: The bird isn't there anymore.
M: Oh, did you see it lying on the ground?
A: No, it isn't on the ground.
M: Well, if it isn't there that means that it flew away.
A: Yeah, well, it died.
M: Adalin, it had to have been alive to fly away.
A: Well, it died and flew up to Heavenly Father. (I finally caught on to her reasoning.)
M: Adalin, let me explain something to you, when something dies, it's body stays on on the ground and only it's spirit goes up to Heavenly Father. So if the bird died, it's body would stay on the ground.
A: Where does it's head go?
(I cracked up, then proceeded to try to differentiate for her the difference between the body and spirit, that the entire body would stay on the ground, only the spirit would go up to Heavenly Father.)