We haven't been up to a whole lot lately. I've noticed that we haven't explored any new places in quite some time now, so I need to get on the ball and start planning Jason's days off better! I think it has been difficult to plan this past month because Jason is working in the ICU and he has a very messed up schedule, so it makes it hard for me to plan any day trips or weekend getaways. That and we're supposed to be saving up money for the end of July when we're hoping to travel out to California for a week long vacation - 1/2 the week for Jason's brother James' wedding and the other 1/2...Disneyland!! Now all we're waiting for...is to find out if Jason will be allowed the time off from work (he was told two days ago that there's no guarantee, so we'll see what happens). I'm pretty upset with his schedule as of late - he has no guarantee of getting off to go to James' wedding and he's scheduled to be at a hospital in Dallas for most of the month of April when his other brother, Joe, is planning on getting married! It would be horrible to miss one brother's wedding and even worse to miss two!! Argh!!
So where was I...ah yes - not up to a whole lot lately. Near the end of May, the girls and I were out at Walmart looking for some birthday presents to send to three of Tony and Angie's kids. Kristin found these Batman masks and she was sure they'd make great presents for two of her boy cousins. I set them down after seeing how quickly she lost interest in them and decided to go with Star Wars Transformer toys instead and a little girlie toy for my cute little niece Anna.
Silly little girls
Jason and the girls spent the last two afternoons of May on a slip n slide that Jason just HAD to have. I just kept thinking, "How much fun can can a little strip of wet plastic really be"?? Apparently a lot, but I think that's because Jason can make anything fun! He's crazy!
Katie ready for the slip n slide!
Kristin too!
Uh...aren't you supposed to slide down on your tummy?
Kristin would run and run to get up enough speed...only to slip down the slide a couple of feet or so... ;)
Jason - a man of many talents...
That's my man! ;)
Jason preparing to manually force Kristin down the slide
Oopsies...
Kristin, Katie and Jason drying off in the sun
Katie enjoying watching Jason and Kristin from the sidelines
Man that Katie is a lazy lazy little girl... ;)
I'm hoping we can one day buy a big water slide - the Bonzai Sidewinder Falls to be exact!! It's just so blasted expensive though! If it didn't cost so much, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it (especially since it would keep us nice and cool in this hot Texas heat)! But for now...I guess our $9.99 slip in slide will have to do. I also want to buy a trampoline with an enclosure. I was shocked when Jason told me we shouldn't get either because it would be a waste of money and we'd never use them! If anyone would overuse either - I'd think it would be him!! Yeah - they're ridiculously expensive, but I'd like to have more fun things to do at our house. He thinks we wouldn't use them enough to make it worth it. Psshah! This coming from the man who loves Sea World, slip n slides and anything Star Wars!! ;) I'm sure he's probably right, but I still want them!!! Did I forget to mention that I'd also like a swing set for the girls too? Sheesh! Why am I so greedy?? None of it's for me personally though - I want to get it for Jason and the girls... Is it still considered greedy when you want get things for other people? Sniff sniff.
Some of the other Anesthesiologists from work invited us out to come play in a nearby river. It was pretty fun. We've been hearing about it for a while now and we finally were able to make it out there ourselves. Next time I'll be better prepared with food, drinks, life jackets and water socks!
Kristin having fun as usual
Jason taking Katie for a dip
Jason, Katie and Ian
Jason getting ready to jump off a rope into the river
There he goes!
We had to keep our visit to the river pretty short because I had an appointment to cut my hair that afternoon. I did a before and after picture. I'm not sure why though - it doesn't do me any good to see what my hair looked like down...because I always had my hair up. That's the whole reason I decided to cut my hair - well that and it was getting long and stringy. Usually people prefer their after picture to their before picture, but well...now I just get upset that I cut my hair at all!! I wanted to cut my hair because I was tired of always just putting it up. I never left it down because I didn't like taking the time to blow dry it out out (a mommy-poo only has so much time in a day you know). Now that I cut my hair - I still want to put it up, but now I'm left with nothing but a little stub of hair in my rubber band! Argh!
Before
After
I'm thinking about cutting it a little shorter. I don't like mid-length haircuts! I either want it long or too short for a rubber band! But what if I end up hating it even more?! I don't know what to do!!
Our neighbors next door invited us over for a BBQ on Memorial Day and we were so excited to find out that their 14 yr old daughter babysits!! She was SO sweet and polite! Such a cutie! It can't get much easier than having a babysitter who lives right next door! Jason and I have a little catching up to do with our one on one dates!! Woohoo!! We love our little cuties, but it has been WAY too long since we've gone out all alone!! Way too long! I'm also excited because her Mom is Korean and she makes bulgogi and kimchi!!!!!! Mmm hmmm...
So that takes us into June. I decided to wash out Katie's repulsive little bassinet/playpen. I didn't realize how gross it had gotten!! Katie likes taking her bottle to bed with her. Yeah - I know that's bad, but hey if it gets her to bed, than so be it!!!! Kristin used to do the same thing and she turned out fine...well at least she seems to have turned out fine... ;)
Anyways - Katie had spilled milk under her playpen sheets and it was all stinky and gross, so I whipped that thing outside, hosed it down with water and scrubbed it with laundry detergent and a scrub brush. After two hours in the hot Texas heat, it was all dry and brand new!
Katie in her makeshift bed while her bassinet was drying...she didn't really approve of it though, so this didn't last more than 5 minutes.
One night while Jason was on call, I decided to take the girls to Chuck E Cheese to have a little fun. It's not as much fun going without Jason though - because he's the one who normally wins us all those tickets, so we can get better prizes!!! When I go, we only get enough tickets to get a couple of the cheap nothing-prizes. I could be wrong, but I think CEC is making quite a profit when all I get for $10 worth of tokens is one cheap bracelet and 2 tootsie rolls!! Hmph! I'll show them - I'm bringing my ticket-winning hubcap with us next time! They'll be sorry!!! ;)
Katie and Kristin in Cheese land
No matter how totally lame Barney can be, the kids will still love him! ;)
Normally when Jason comes home in the morning after being on call at the hospital overnight, he grabs Kristin's stuffed Ariel and Prince Eric dolls and always wakes Kristin up with his best Ariel-singing voice and puts on some sort of puppet show skit. It's so sweet!! So one morning a couple months ago, Kristin woke up and realized that Daddy had come home from work and went to sleep (since he hadn't gotten any sleep the night before), so she decided to wake him up for a change. It was so cute!
Kristin waking up Daddy with singing and a skit
Like I've mentioned many times before, we usually go to Sea World on Jason's days off. I still haven't figured out who loves going more - Jason or Kristin! Anyways - this isn't our favorite time of year to go (because it is SO crowded in the summertime), so we haven't been going as much as we normally do. This is one of the couple of times we have gone this month. Kristin was so excited to find out that it is Shamu's 20th birthday this year! Well - actually it's Sea World's birthday, not Shamu's - but it's much more exciting to think you're celebrating Shamu's birthday rather than just some amusement park's existence!
Kristin, Katie and Jason with their beloved Shamu ;)
At the water playground at Sea World
My cute little chunk-a-loo!
A couple of days later, we decided to take Kristin to a kid salon for her very first haircut!! I hadn't cut her hair yet because I always thought I looked like a boy when I was a little kid - because my Mom always kept my hair really short. You know...that horrendous bowl haircut that was popular for a while there way back when (or maybe it was only popular for boys)? Suffice to say - I was not excited about getting her hair cut, but she was very adamant about getting it done (mostly because she hated getting her long ratty hair brushed)! So I snapped a few pictures of her, then I took a deep breath (and a gulp) and we walked into the salon for her appointment. It was a cute salon for kids (mostly for girls), with car chairs, individual plasma screen TVs and accessories and toys galore. They even had a room in the back for girls to get a "mini mani" or a "mini pedi." They also do makeup sessions and have dress up parties. It was a little too much if you ask me!!
Kristin's cute long hair that she's been growing since she was a baby (insert crying here) ;)
Kristin with Sharkey
Getting ready for her hair to be washed. She was so excited and nervous at the same time.
Me trying not to cry
Kristin focusing intently on the Dora the Explorer DVD
Who came up with this idea? It's brilliant!
All done!
For $2 more you can get a mini mani!
Afterwards, we came home and I filled up our little pool for the girls to play a little while before betime.
My cute little Kristin-poo
Poor Katie after losing her balance and falling face first into the water
She's so happy with her haircut...man - I wish I was this happy about mine!! ;)
Kristin helping me make dinner - homemade tomato and basil soup with grilled muenster cheese and bacon on sourdough. Mmmmm...
About a week and a half ago, my friend Alicia came over with her daughter ReHanna and we had a girls night out at the theater! We watched a late showing of Made of Honor with Patrick Dempsey - a girlie movie that Jason would NOT go watch with me - after Jason and Katie went to bed. It was such a cute movie! I can't wait until it comes out on DVD! As much as I don't like going out to movies without my Jason-poo - it was so nice to watch an entire movie without having to entertain and chase Katie around!!
Alicia, me, Kristin and ReHanna before we headed out
Jason trying to entertain us before we left by prancing around in my fencing gear. He's such a silly boy!! :)
Okay - I think this post is monstrous enough don't you think??!! Hopefully this will conclude my very long rambling catch up posts. Hopefully the next time you check in on me, you will find pretty little posts with just a picture or two (okay probably 10 or more - let's be serious) all packaged in a more concise to-the-point format. We'll see if I can handle it...
