The light at the end of the potty train tunnel

Why is Halea holding THREE lollipops? Because she pooped AND peed in the potty that many times!!!

Summer Fun (the real kind this time)

We had the BEST day at the beach today. Ryan and I decided to take our kids for a picnic at Alki. We didn't really know what to expect with our unruly crew. Sometimes it can be breezy at the beach, so I packed jackets for the kids. We stopped at the store and got lunchables for the kids and sandwiches for Ryan and I. The weather couldn't have been nicer ~ we didn't need the jackets (but that's ok because my great grandmother used to say it doesn't cost much to carry a jacket ~ she was right). The kids stayed engaged with us and never took off out of sight. They buried Ryan's feet in the sand and then he buried their's. I tried to skip rocks with the kids, but my skill level for that is the same as their's so we all had fun throwing rocks in the water. After our fun on the beach we strolled the boardwalk where the kids got to hear all about the various milestones of where I was when I was finishing up the marathon. (I'm sure they loved it). They got to stop and pet dogs. It was a perfect day. It made me appreciate where we live ~ close to the mountains, three minutes from the beach, and ten minutes from a useful beach.

Who killed our summer adventures you ask?

Being the fun mom that I am, I took my kids to the splash park at the library after we took Bryce to the Dr. for a possible fractured foot. (this was the clencher on the summer fun). I had packed a nutritious lunch that they sat and ate. Halea got it in her head that the water would be more fun naked, so she ripped off her dress and her diaper. When I tried to re-dress her, she ran from me. It was embarrassing chasing my naked two year old having her laugh and scream NO at me. She stopped laughing and started kicking when I was carrying her back to the van to go home. I was hopeful that my girl would not be a wanderer like her brothers, but no such luck. Her brothers also took turns peeing in the water ~ Ugh. It will be a nice home summer.

Summer (bummer) Adventures

I'm really trying to make the best of my summer single parenting since Ryan is in the middle of a crazy summer quarter in his nursing program. I've tried to take the kids out quite a few times (knowing that it will be hard), but it's a disaster each time. They really are happy being at home all day every day. So why fight it?

Bryce's Return

We picked unmedicated Bryce up from camp early yesterday. For various reasons, it was determined by a leader that Ryan or I would need to come stay at camp with him or bring him home :( Since Ryan is in school and I have to take care of our littles, we drove the hour there and home and got our boy.

After the murderous rampage I went on that killed Fire, my guilt drove me to paint Bryce's room. Ten minutes into the project I wanted out of what I had started. I was bare wood that sucked up all the paint I could put on it, and it had grooves that needed a tedious job of being filled. So annoying, but I finished it when I ran out of paint. It looks good.

Bryce was sad about losing his Beta, REALLY SAD. He told me I don't deserve to have pets. I agreed (yay!). I think he got over it and likes his room.

SOLVED: The mystery of the missing fish

For Bryce's birthday, we got him a beta fish and one for the girl he likes. We had Fire, a red beta and she had Ice, a blue beta. My mom also gave us an aquarium set up with two coy, so I put the the three fish altogether. Fire wasn't doing very well in the big tank, so I moved him back to his original vase. He didn't look very happy, but I didn't worry about it too much.

Bryce went to scout camp on Monday morning. I have taken the responsibility of caring for the fish because I kind of like it. Tuesday morning I went to feed Fire and I couldn't find him. His water looked pretty murky, so I poured some of it out, hoping to disturb him enough to have him swim out and see him. I didn't see him. I took out the rocks, shells, everything in his tank, and still no Fire. I was dumbfounded as to the fish's disappearance. There was no trace of him anywhere. I asked the little ones if they had seen him. Parker said no, Apollo said he was in the treehouse (he wasn't).

I decided to clean Fire's vase and accessories in the dishwasher. This morning when I was unloading the dishwasher I dumped a small conch shell out and the water was red. Little chunks of Fire came out.

I feel HORRIBLE! I killed my son's fish while he was away at camp. Part of me wants to replace the fish and pretend that nothing ever happened. But I know I need to own up to my mistake and hope he forgives me.

Family

We had a great time at the family reunion in Port Angeles. Everyone was there! There were no hard feelings and no fights (at least not that I'm aware of). It was so cool that all 20 cousins could get to know each other. My brother is staying with us for a few more days. I'll be sad to have him go, but it just means I'll have to start counting down the days until the next reunion (in two years).