A toothy day

Annika lost her first tooth this morning!! It's been wiggly for quite a while (about a month and a half), and after seeing Annika wiggle it for so long, Emmett decided that he wanted a turn. Before I could stop him, he had his hand in her mouth and wiggled and pulled it right out! She cried a little bit (I think mostly just from seeing the blood - I hadn't told her that it would bleed) but she was very, very excited about it. I think she may have a hard time getting to sleep tonight, she's so looking forward to seeing what the tooth fairy will bring her.

To add to the tooth excitement, the kids both had dentist appointments today.  The dentist and the hygienist laughed when we told them how the tooth came out.  Both kids did great for the dentist.  For Emmett, the dentist just poked around in his mouth a little bit (no cleaning yet), but he was perfectly still for her and she said his teeth looked great.  He's still missing his top 2-year-old molars, but the dentist said that it's actually a good thing if baby teeth are slow to come in.  She said it usually means that they'll fall out later, and then by the time the adult teeth come in, the child has better brushing habits and technique to take care of them.

 

Annika had a full cleaning today, even with x-rays and fluoride in the trays (in the past they've just "painted" it on).  She continually amazes me at how well she does at the dentist.  None of it seems to phase her, and she actually seems to look forward to going to the dentist.  She had to have some tartar removed, which she's had done several times before.  There's something about her saliva that makes her more susceptible to tartar build-up, but the dentist said that it's nothing to be concerned about at this point.  Today she actually told me that people who get more tartar actually get fewer cavities, so there's a plus.  

Now for the "tooth fairy" to do her job!  I think I'm almost as excited as Annika! :)

Men at work

At the park this morning Emmett was far more interested in what was going on across the street!

Camping

We were camping this past weekend (Saturday morning - Sunday evening) with Carey's family.  I'm not a huge fan of camping (well, more accurately I'm not a huge fan of sleeping in a tent - the other stuff I don't mind), but it was a good weekend.

We played at the beach.

The kids went on a bunch of rides (the fair was in town).  We had been to this fair last year and Annika went on most of these rides, but this was a first for Emmett.

This ride was a first for them both, and the one that they chose to go on twice.

We rented a "bike" and rode around town.

We made s'mores.

We were "attacked" by fish flies (luckily they don't bite or sting - just a nuisance to have around).  This picture doesn't do them justice.  There must've been millions of them swarming around at dusk.

We had beautiful weather. 

This was our campsite.  The kids slept in the camper with Carey's parents, Carey's sister slept in the small yellow tent on the right, and Carey and I slept in the tent on the left.  It was quite cold at night, and there was lots of noise due to the fair, but it was only for one night, so I survived.  Now I don't have to sleep in a tent again for another whole year. :)

My bed

At least it's just for one night. :P

Salamander

Annika finished her week of swimming lessons today, and even though she didn't pass her level ("salamander"), she really amazed me at how well she did. There were only 2 things that she "missed" on her report card - front to back roll-over and back to front roll-over. And more importantly, she had a lot of fun (which wasn't happening when she took swimming in spring). I think she really liked her teacher a lot. Despite being initially disappointed that she got the "boy teacher", she seemed to really like how fun and silly he was. She actually asked me today if I thought he would be teaching salamander again! :) Since she had so much fun and did so well, I actually registered her for another week of swimming lessons in August. Gotta strike while the iron is hot, right?

Brrrr

Swimming in the deep (cold) pool today, thanks to a pool "fouling" in the shallow pool. She was shivering by the end of the lesson.

How to...

... entertain a two-year-old for 45 minutes at swimming lessons. I'll admit, not my finest "mommy moment", but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

"I will always have gum"

I'm an auntie!!!!  My niece Brianna was born on Saturday, and now I'm finally allowed to tell (I'm the worst secret keeper in the world). Carey and I got to meet her in the hospital on Sunday afternoon and the kids met her this evening. They were instantly in love with their little cousin (and it felt nice to hold a little baby again... but not enough to make me want another! :P).

By the way, did anyone (other than Andrea) catch the reference in the post title??? :)

"Hot dog popsicles"

Linus

Lately he wants to take his blankie everywhere (and doesn't want to stand still to have his picture taken!).

Let's go to...

Everyone's favorite popcorn store... I mean, hardware store.

Growing

Curly

I curled my hair this morning with my curling wand (using it for the third time only), and I was quite impressed with it. It only took about 10-15 minutes and it lasted pretty well throughout the day. My hair normally does not hold a style very well, so I expected it to be completely flat by night, but it's not (although it did loosen up quite a bit, which was okay - I like it looser). These pictures are from 7:30am, 11:00am, 3:00pm and 9:00pm (I wanted to keep track of how long the curl would last). 

Hey iPhone users - anyone know why sometimes the photo image reverses?  Did you notice that the mole above my mouth is on the opposite side in the first picture?

Run

Today's workout completed. My goal is to get up to 3 miles. I've been inspired by some friends doing the "couch to 5k" program, so I'm re-doing it to improve my distance. I first did the program in 2009 and then attempted it (but didn't finish) again in 2011, and even though I completed the times required, I didn't actually run fast enough to get to 5k (or 3 miles). I started at week 4 this time, since I'm not a beginner runner any more. This was week 4, day 2.

Splash park

Taking a break at the splash park to have a snack. We were there for about an hour and a half this morning, before it clouded over.

Lazy man's crepes

Made these "crepes" for lunch today - they're actually tortillas dipped in egg and milk and fried up (sort of like French toast). Not quite as good as the real thing, but fast and easy! Click here for the recipe.

Chicago mix

This could be dangerous... (not quite the same as Garrett's, but a close second).

In bloom

3 days

3 days of reading at every chance I got. I love a good page-turner, but I'm always sad when it's done so quickly. Thankfully I've got the next book in the series ready and waiting for me...

Pretty toes...

...not-so-pretty sandals (but very comfy).

Treated myself to a pedicure this morning, just because. 

Better than Starbucks?!?

I've been making my own frappucinos at home lately and at first I thought they paled in comparison to the Starbucks version (I use skim milk and just a spoonful each of sugar and caramel sauce, so I don't feel too guilty about having 1 or 2 a week). The other day, though, I treated myself to the "real thing" and I have to say, I think I almost prefer my version. It was SO sweet and SO rich, it was almost a bit much for me!!  I guess that's good for my pocketbook, and my waistline, if I don't feel the need to drink too many of those!

I treated myself to some whipped cream today, since I had some leftover from dessert the other night. Yum!!

Watermelon strawberry lemonade

Made this delicious summer drink today!  Click here for the recipe.  The one thing that would've made it better would've been if I had a small sieve to strain it (as recommended in the recipe) - it was a bit "seedy" from the strawberries.

Bike riding

I love that we have a big driveway that's perfect for the kids to ride their bikes while I sit in my lawn chair and relax!

Drawing

This is a picture Annika drew in church this morning. It's Annika with her soon-to-be cousin. ;) Not sure why she drew a frown on her face, though, since she's very excited about the new baby.

"Mom, I'm all done..."

We celebrated my mom's birthday this evening. This was Annika's piece of cake, when she decided she had had enough (conveniently when all the icing was gone...). ;)

Busy day

We had a busy day today.  We went out strawberry picking first thing this morning (I actually gave the kids their breakfast in the car, so we could get going a little earlier) and picked two baskets of deliciousness.  Then we stopped in at my parents' place on our way home to say hi.  A quick lunch at home and then we dropped Annika off for her last day of day camp (which I think she was more sad about than me!  She's really enjoyed this past week, and she's looking forward to the 2 other weeks that she'll be going during the summer).  While she was at camp Emmett napped and I enjoyed a quiet house.  Then we went to pick her up and headed over to our friends' place to drop off supper for them (they recently returned from Ethiopia, where they adopted their son).  After a brief visit it was back home for our supper and then we made strawberry milkshakes for dessert.  It was a good day. :)

Flush

Emmett's favorite part of the potty routine - climbing up on the toilet to press the "flush" button.

Fro-yo

Yummy! Went out for a treat with a good friend this afternoon while Annika was at day camp and Emmett napped at grandma's house.

July long weekend

We spent the long weekend at my parents' cabin with a few friends, and it was a gorgeous weekend.  Here are a few pictures...

Emmett having a serious conversation with Grandpa about Little People and tractors.

 I could not believe Annika actually held this frog.  This one got away pretty quickly, but she found a smaller one that she kept and played with for quite a while.

Betcha didn't know that my kid could walk on water, did ya?!?

Life jacket buddies

Who's number one?

Snuggles with Grandma around the campfire.  We did our fireworks one day early (since everyone was leaving on Monday), and this was the first time that Emmett stayed up and got to watch the fireworks.  I don't think he was scared by them, but I think by the end it was all a bit much for him, and he asked to go up to the cabin before it was over.

Taking a break from swimming to warm up in the sunshine.

I was trying to get a picture of the kids together in their Canada shirts, but this is the best that I could get.

And just a little update on the Off Clip-Ons (for keeping the bugs away) - they seemed to work pretty well, but as the package says, you basically need to stay in one spot for the "bubble" to work.  So, not so good if you want to take a walk, or if your kid is running around all over the place, but we found they worked pretty well for sitting around the campfire, and for when the kids were playing in the playhouse (and movement was contained to a small area).  We still came home with quite a few bites, but I think those were mostly from the horseflies that attacked us while we were swimming.  Oh, and just one more thing about the clip-ons - it states on the package "keep out of reach of children", so use your discretion before putting one on your kid.  I found that my kids were okay with them (they pretty much left them alone after we turned them on and clipped them on), but if you think your kid might eat it or destroy it or something, then maybe it's not such a good idea.