The first matter of importance is that we got bunkbeds! This is pretty exciting news at our house. I've been looking at bunkbeds ever since Becky got them for her house (I don't know how long ago that was, but I know it has been at least 2 years, probably longer). I came home from a meeting at the school, and there was this wonderful surprise awaiting me.
The girls were so excited -- Rachel especially since she has been sleeping on the floor for the past 2 years. This was by choice because she didn't like sharing the queen bed with Hallie. Anyway, we all helped put the beds together, and then we went to the store so the girls could choose their own bedding.
After about 10 minutes of deliberation, the girls both decided on their favorites, and from that point on Rachel couldn't stop talking about how tired she was and how nice it was going to feel to sleep in her new, comfy bed.

The bedding on the left is Hallie's -- so obviously the right picture is of Rachel's.

We stayed home from church on Sunday because we all have a bad cough. Since we weren't stay in bed sick, Jon had the kids make us a list of things we could do to fill the day. He called it our "Sunday Sick List". A few items were to build a ship and a fort. Jon decided to combine the 2 activities and built a ship that had a secret fort entrance from the deck. The kids loved it, and they probably played ship/fort for a few hours. Pretty awesome!

Rachel the Bookworm

The last few days Rachel has been walking around with her nose in a book. Literally -- it's like watching Belle walk around her little town while reading. She doesn't even know what's going on around her. We've just discovered the Junie B. Jones series, and Rachel absolutely loves it. She has read the first 4 books in the last week. Like mother like daughter I guess.

Anyway, last night I had to ask her to brush her teeth about fifty times before she finally paid enough attention to register what was being asked. When I came back in to check on her, this is what I found. It is kind of tricky having her so totally engrossed in the books because then she doesn't want to do anything else, but secretly I love seeing her get so involved because I totally know how that feels.
She has been reading in her bed every night until it gets too dark to see. Somehow, reading in bed seems acceptable to me, but playing with barbies while in bed? Definitely not!

Just a few funny Hallie'isms to think about today:

We were at church with the Hansen's on Sunday and Hallie wanted to go up and see Steve on the stand. Bree told her that she could just go up and say hello -- Hallie's response, "I want to go up, but we's not bishops."

As Bree was carrying Hallie into the house after church, she made a comment about how Hallie was getting heavier. Hallie says "Sorry I so heavy; it's because I got all these papers at church."

Hallie is so adorable. You have to imagine her saying these things with her sweet little voice and it is so funny.

Vacation Time

So, we were sitting in church a few weeks ago when Jon leans over the kids and asks "Do you wanna go on a vacation to somewhere warm?" I of course said yes, and that's all it took for Jon to come up with a plan for the family to go to Nevada. Not too far, but far enough to be warm and feel like a real vacation. Thank goodness for all of Jon's hotel points that make things like this impromptu trip possible.
The kids were so excited to go. They had their shoes and sweaters on before we even had breakfast that morning. Sky was probably excited too even though she looks pretty miserable. Maybe she knew what was awaiting her that day -- almost 7 nonstop hours in her car seat.
We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and then continued on to Hoover Dam. It was pretty cool. They had these big statues and constellations all over the ground. I guess they put them in the exact spots that they were in space on the day the dam was finished, or something like that. I'm not really sure why they did it, but it was pretty cool.
When Kale saw that Jon had the camera out, he kept wanting to pose with his hands by his face. I'm not sure why, but to him it seemed like the ultimate picture pose.

We spent the following day doing a few things. We started out on the Las Vegas strip and the kids thought it was so cool. I was kind of nervous about exposing the kids to that environment, but when you go at 8 am there's not really much to expose them to so long as you stay out of the casinos. Anyway, the kids thought the hotels were way cool and they had a great day of riding around in the double strollers. That's right folks, we had 2 double strollers on the streets of Vegas. My favorite part of the day was seeing people's expressions when they realized that Jon and I were together -- we were just one big long train of kids. Pretty funny.

We headed back to the hotel in the afternoon for a dip in the "swimming cool" (that's what Kale calls it). After the pool we went to a park that was just around the corner from our hotel. We played on the playground and played a little soccer/football.

We finished off every night (and actually started every day) with a cup of complimentary hot chocolate from the hotel lobby. You've gotta love free stuff. The kids loved staying in the hotel, jumping on the bed, and pushing the elevator buttons.
It was such a super fun vacation! Thank goodness for my spontaneous husband that thinks up fun ideas and then actually has us do them. Wahoo for family trips!

Isn't this picture of Kale hilarious? He wears this frog towel around like there will never be another day. One morning Jon came downstairs at 6 to start working and there was Kale sitting in the dark, with the frog towel on of course, doing his puzzle on the floor. I think Kale would be satisfied if this became permanently stuck to his head.

And now some words of wisdom from Hallie: "When my tummy not hurt, give me cookies."

Rachel's First Lost Tooth

Rachel was so excited about her newly lost tooth! She walked around with a permanent unnatural looking smile on her face for about a week after she lost it. She got a whole dollar from the tooth fairy -- I don't know what she was thinking. That tooth fairy is setting herself up for either some empty pockets in the future or some sad kids when they don't always get a dollar. Just in case you couldn't see the missing tooth in the first picture, Rachel thought we should include a second one where it's a little more pronounced.

Any questions?

Another Snowman

Can you even believe this monstrous snowman?!? Jon was in charge of supervising this times attempt, and this is what they came up with. It's interesting to note the differences between the 2 snowman building instances: 1st - Note the difference in size between the kids first attempt (which I supervised from the warmth of my home) and the second attempt, which Jon actually went out and assisted with. 2nd - Notice the items chosen to make the face, etc. The little snowmen, our first ones, had faces completely made from food. When Jon helped the kids, the snowman's face was made out of screwdrivers, tree stakes, and snow shovels for arms.

Are these differences perhaps indicative of mine and Jon's personalities and preferences? Jon, the outdoorsy, active type, and me, the girl who loves warmth and food?