Saturday, June 30, 2012

Fun with the Grandparents

Over the last few weeks, the girls and I have been spending some time with their grandparents. It's been a lot of fun for all of us.
First, we got to go to a picnic at John Deere, where my dad works, to celebrate its 175th anniversary.  It was quite a big to do. There was ice cream, crafts, bouncy toys, face painting, or knee painting in Lily's case...

...and of course lots of tractors and mowers to play on. Ela has read a book about "Allie Gator" about a millions times, so she was especially excited about meeting Allie.  But she was happy to climb on anything that might move.  I'm so proud that I have a girl who likes tractors (and trains). 

The surprise high point of the picnic, though, turned out to be a bouncy slide. This thing was super tall, and looked scary to me, but Ela really wanted to try it (having been scared out of the regular bouncy toys by the fact that she could barely stay standing in them).  Convinced that I would have to retrieve her, I decided to let her go and watched as she climbed the ladder to the top of the slide.  When she got up, she was hanging out as far from the edge of the slide as possible.  I braced myself for my own trip to the top, then called to her to come down the slide.  To my great surprise, she threw on a big grin, and dove down...

Several trips later, she was still making the face of terror and giggling like a maniac. So I guess I have a future roller coaster rider on my hands.
A few days after the picnic, we headed up to Winston Salem for a visit with Zack's folks.  It was warm and a very short visit, so we kept it low key.  Ela's favorite part was a trip to the pool.  We tried to convince her to go to the indoor one, but she really wanted to come to the neighborhood outdoor one, so we slathered on the sunscreen and off we went.

Lily hasn't really been in many pools, so while Ela ranged all over, gradutally getting braver, we worked on getting Lily wet without upsetting her.

I'd say we had some success. By next year, she'll be chasing her sister around.

It's really nice being in North Carolina full time.  We love that visiting family isn't such a big production just now.  We intend to make the most of it while we can!

Friday, June 22, 2012

Zack Update

Zack is doing just fine. He had a super busy week last week, and he's recovering this week. He works long hours, but in his free time, he plays softball, studies, or goes to the gym. He volunteers at various events as well, such as making "fuel donuts" for the locals to burn for warmth. He has lots of pictures of the girls and enjoys showing them off to his friends in the office. He is keeping in good spirits. Zack has received a few packages lately, and is enjoying the coffee from home, among other things. He gets to call home regularly. Lily smiles when she hears his voice, and Ela tells him stories about whatever is on her mind at the moment you hand her the phone. She says she wants to give him a big hug, but doesn't seem too bothered that he keeps "sleeping at work". He seems to like our silliness. Zack wisely doesn't tell me much about what he's actually doing, but I get the impression he's figuring out the job and enjoying his work, though he's still feeling overwhelmed at times. He seems to like his coworkers and bosses pretty well. So all seems to be going well!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Beach Week

Last week, the girls and I headed out to Holden Beach with my family. The older Ela gets, the more fun this gets.  This year, we had rain for the first time in a long time.  So we decided to take the kiddos to the aquarium.  Ela could have spent the whole week there. 


We managed to pull her away by reminding her of the fishing trip we also had planned.  Ela was old enough to go this year.  Thankfully, the sun came out in time for that.  Ela giggled the whole time the boat was on its way out, announcing that it "tickled her tummy", and we had a great time catching mackerel. 


Minjee was a pro at getting our fish off the hooks.  Tristan got to be the shark catcher. 

We caught two, but I only got a picture of one.

The rest of the week we devoted to the usual beach activities: playing at the pool, hanging out on the sand, and dipping our toes (fearfully for Ela, excitedly for Lily) into the ocean.

It was a very fun week for all of us.