The End Result

Here it is.  I don't know how I'm going to manage running around on stage with that thing on my head or how I'm going to keep it attached -- it is super heavy!  (Sorry the picture is sideways, but you couldn't see all the hair the regular way.)

Rapunzel Hair

By the end of the night these 3 fantastic wigs will have magically transformed into 1 magnificent piece of Rapunzel'ish hair -- somehow...  Wish me luck.

Runnin' Babes

The girls and I went running this morning, and I absolutely loved every second of it.  True, I was embarrassingly tired since I haven't done any form of exercise since January, and then only minimally.  But, I loved being with the girls and being able to see their different personalities come out in what they wore and the way they ran.  

Rachel, ever the sporty girl, wore some running shorts and a t-shirt -- probably what you would expect from anyone who is running.  When it came to running, she just ran for the whole mile and a half.
Hallie on the other hand showed up wearing a lacy skirt over her shorts, a pink puffed sleeve shirt, and purple and green patterned knee socks (I'll post a picture soon).  Rachel and I tried to coach her on running -- like letting her know that she should move her arms in some way.  But Hallie didn't like moving her arms, or even running, so she decided to make it into a game and see if she could hop all the way with only 1 or 2 hops per sidewalk square.  I thought she would get tired and not do it all the way, but she played her game for the entire half mile that she ran with us.  

The greatest thing about having the girls for running partners was that I was finally the fast one.  I didn't slow anyone down with my 12 minute mile pace -- I was actually the one saying "come on, we can make it to that corner and then we'll walk for one whole house".  All in all, it just felt great.  I love this morning!

No More Binkies

We finally did it.  We took Sky's binkies.  But, being the sneaky parents we are, we blamed the entire ordeal on the binky eating monkey.  Sky was stuck between laughing because it was so funny and wailing because her monkey had suddenly turned so devious.  Even though she was dismayed that her monkey would do something so cruel, she still wanted to sleep with the "mean monkey" at naptime.  All in all, pretty painless -- she only cried for 30 minutes before her nap, and then bedtime was business as usual.  She laid right down in her bed, inquired about her binky, got the monkey answer, and then closed her eyes and went to sleep.  So much less painful than I had anticipated.

Kale's Music Class Program

Kale's music class had a little program last week.  I was trying to get Kale excited about wearing his church clothes (he doesn't like wearing them most of the time), so I really talked up how awesome it was that he got to "dress up".

The big day came and we had to leave shortly, so I told Kale to run upstairs and get ready for his program.  He came down wearing his cowboy costume.  I tried explaining to him that "dress up" meant wearing church clothes, but no amount of persuasion could convince him to change.  At least he wasn't wearing the little chaps that go with it.  So, off we went with our little cowboy to watch him sing and play instruments.

 

Sky, of course, thinks that Kale's class is actually meant for her.  We tried to have her just sit with her sisters and watch, but it was a fruitless effort.  She was more disruptive while screaming in the chairs then she was participating in the class.  Luckily, no one seemed to mind that my 2 year old suddenly became one of the students.

Kale really loves going to class and singing all the songs.  He doesn't always do what the teacher says, but I figure he's only 3 -- he'll figure it out soon enough.

Sand Dunes

Last Thursday Jon decided that he wanted to go camping.  So, Monday morning we packed up all our stuff and headed down to the sand dunes for a nice, warm camping experience.  Little did we know how truly hot it would be.

We got to the campsite around 2:30 and wanted to go exploring.  We tried hiking the sand hills in our flip-flops, but the sand was so hot it was making the kids cry.  Luckily, Jon had anticipated this and so brought everyone's socks and shoes.  We explored around the campsite for a while, and then we ventured out to sand mountain.  Luckily we were almost the only people at the sand dunes, so I didn't have to worry about the kids getting hit by ATV's or anything.  Jon took the older kids and hiked almost to the top of the sand hill (that's 700 feet).  Those hills were super hard to climb, but the kids did a great job.  As it started getting steeper, Jon had to piggy back Kale and Hallie -- hence, they almost made it to the top.  

Sky and I sat in the nice cool car and took pictures.

Once dinner was over it was much cooler, and that's when the real fun began.  The kids played on the sand hills by our campsite for hours, and then we played games and sang songs until it was dark.  Of course everyone (and everything) was covered with sand, so we just brushed ourselves off the best we could and climbed into the tent.  Desert weather is crazy.  Everyone started out laying on top of their sleeping bags because it was so hot, but by the time morning came it was so freezing that Kale, Hallie, and I were all cuddled up and sharing 3 blankets.

After breakfast the kids noticed tons of little tracks in the sand.  They would follow the tracks and find what was making them at the end of the trail (mostly beetles).

We spent the morning sand jumping and following bugs and cleaning up.  Then, before it got to hot (we learned our lesson the day before), we packed up and headed home.

Some might feel that one night of camping is hardly worth the effort, but we love doing it this way.  Especially when you're camping in sand -- no way could I handle more than one day of being that disgustingly sandy, or another day of constantly trying to wipe sand out of kids eyes with hands that are already covered in sand.

Yes, one day was exactly right for our camping trip, and we absolutely loved it.  Great idea Jon!

Kale's Class

Aren't these boys so adorable?  This is Kale's little neighborhood preschool class.  There's a little girl in it too, but she didn't want to be in the picture.  Kale loves that he has all these little friends, and when he sees them anywhere else he gets so excited.