6 States Later

We made it! The girls actually did really well for what we just asked of them. Ava an otherwise great sleeper and car rider decided to go on a sleep strike and "I want dat" repeat. Granted it is probably frustrating to be surrounded by things that you can't reach but please just tell me what "dat" is you want. Once we hit Michigan we stopped and saw my mom, her sisters and my Grandma Bush it was a refreshing break from the car and although short, a nice visit.

Aunt Barb gave piggyback rides, and Aunt Janet let the girls "bury" her in the sand.

Dolphin rides, ice cream, kittens it was a fun stop.

It was good to see my Grandma and she really seemed to enjoy showing the girls all of her "favorite things"

We made it the rest of the way to Grandma Mailands and have laid low. Today we went to the beach and then spent the rest of the day looking for "reindeer tracks", bunnies, birds, and bears. Tomorrow we head to the Mailand reunion and then we are off to camp for a week!

Are you ready for some football?

It might seem early but today marks the end of summer and the beginning of football season. I use beginning loosely since I don't really remember there being an end (that is the Texas way). But meetings officially started today which means not much Daddy time for awhile. We've enjoyed having him around more this summer. Here is how we feel about that changing.

My coping technique. Leave town. The girls and I are headed here.

We're taking a "little" car ride with my Dad and headed to spend some time with my Grandma and some Michigan family and friends. We plan to see the "great lakes and have some great times". I hope you're ready Dad! My dear friend Melissa also invited us to join her and her family at camp for a week while we are up there. I love that I have a husband that will let us go on these adventures. I'll keep you posted as this "Texas Tornado" blows through the North. Mai is planning a bear hunt . . .

Name Changes.

I was impressed. Mai had started writing her name without coaching and it looked pretty good for a 3 year old. Granted there are only 3 letters. Those three letters are now causing problems. For weeks she did it right (well, except for her A. She insists, "an a isn't a "circle with a tail" - there is no convincing her she is sticking to the capital A). Last week her name changed to this.

This week she is AIM. I tell her it says AIM. She says, "no Mom M A I is Mai." Next week maybe she'll be Ami.
Lucky for this girl you can't mess up Ava in quite as many ways.

Monday=Fun Day

Hawaiian Falls was where the fun was Monday. Mai and I had a "big girl" day with a couple of friends while Ava spent some time at football with Daddy. (I wasn't ready to take on 2 toddlers at the water park especially one with a broken head.) Mai's description of the day "I went on the BIGGEST water slide ever." Don't tell her it wasn't really the biggest - she was too short for that but, there was still lots of fun to be had in this just right spot pictured above, we also played in the wave pool (not quite like the ocean) and floated the river. It's a pretty wet place and since I had already ruined my camera with water I wasn't about to risk another. Here are a couple of after shots of some beat kids.

Ahh Vacation

What I wouldn't give to be in San Diego right now...

Our trip was great. We loved the weather, time with family, the beach, and all of the fun adventures. Here are just a few highlights from our week that went way to fast!

Sea World was excellent. The girls both loved seeing the animals. We even got to see a really fun 4-D Elmo show. We watched the Dolphin show and Shamu, Mai got to feed and pet the dolphins, we saw penguins, turtles, star fish, and flamingos... Mai was pretty excited about the these for some reason? When I think Sea World -flamingos are not the first thing that come to mind.

We were able to go see Galen's cousin Tony and his family. They live in a beautiful area. The highlight of that trip for the girls was picking oranges right out of their back yard.

Of course we LOVED and spent a great deal of time at the beach. Mai had a "to do" list that she had been talking about since at least April -

1. Sand Castles, 2. Sand Angles, 3. Be buried, 4. find sea shells, 5. surfing . . .

Ava didn't know what she was in for and it took her several days to "enjoy" the sand squishing between her toes. She wasn't so sure about that sinking feeling

Mai was building a sandcastle with Galen one afternoon and they were working the the mote. Mai came back and had some water for the "remote" we corrected her "Mai, it's called a mote". Her next trip back with water - "here is some water for mo-town." Ha! Here is a look at mo-town.

Mai and Ava loved their bike rides with Grandma and Grandpa. Ava even picked out one of these trailers in the Target ad this week and said "I want". She was probably thinking it was safer then the wagon . . .

Everyone loves fireworks. Ava was one and Mai wanted her picture taken with one?

Every vacation needs a theme. Lesley thought this crew needed some special shirts.

"We put the FUN in Dysfunctional" - it was fitting.

We had such a great time and I have sorted through a lot of great pictures from everyone to keep this a "summary". If you want to see more just let me know I have plenty on snapfish. Just think how many I could of had if my camera didn't bite the dust thanks to a wave. . .

Last night

We got to meet these people

Thanks to this. . .

While we were out for our walk Ava apparently stood up in the wagon. I didn't see her do it and when I started to go again she fell right out the back. We kept walking, I carried her and she cried for a while but then settled down. I passed her off to Galen to carry and we quickly noticed she was falling asleep. Not normal for Ava out on a walk. She started to make us nervous so we tried making her walk. Instead she puked. Mai and I ran ahead home to call the Dr. while Galen and Ava walked. She was staggering and lethargic she just couldn't keep her eyes open. We decided we couldn't wait for the Dr. to call back so we quickly loaded in the car and headed to the hospital. We made it about a mile before Galen called 911. She was a rag doll and we just couldn't keep her awake. The very nice Propser EMS and Fire crews got to us quickly and loaded us in the ambulance. There were all crowded around her and even with all the commotion she was fighting to keep those eyes open. Even though she had been up walking they took the precaution to put her on a back board burrito like thing and in a neck brace. She only cared for a couple seconds then once they finished and covered her up she just laid there staring and licking the edge of her neck brace. She was quite the sight. At the hospital they were great and quickly did her x-rays and a cat scan so they could unwrap her. Probably about 3 hours into the adventure she snapped out of it and was the wired little Ava you would expect at 11pm. They did find a small fracture in the back of her head (skull fracture... that just sounds scary). Thankfully it isn't anything that needs fixed and should heal on it's own. So, by midnight she was asleep in her carseat with a broken head and a concussion on her record- quite a night. We are so thankful that it was nothing more.

This was our last check before they let us go home.

Rough night huh Ava?