Our Busy Week...and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISH!

I've been in a writing rutt lately, which is weird because we've been so busy - I have things to write about.

Monday and Tuesday this week were very very warm. With humidity, temperatures were in the 100's. Adam had filled the swimming pool up for us Monday morning and by the time we got home to swim in it, the water was too warm for the girls. They wouldn't even get in. I had to add some more cold water which made it very luke warm. We sat in the sun and enjoyed splashing each other with the water. Alexa loves her pool and will even put her face under the water, but Lillian is a little bit more reserved. She likes to sit on my lap and watch Alexa slide down the slide, splash and play. I find this odd, because Lillian is my little daredevil. She is usually up for anything. Maybe it's just a phase?

Tuesday was library day, our second trip to the library in Farmington, and most likely our last. Things went well for the first few mins. We returned our books we checked out from last week, gave the librarian a piece of mail with my name and new address on it, to prove we live where we live so I can check out more than 2 books on my library card and then proceeded to the back corner of the library - the children's section. Alexa and Lillian immediately went to the shelves and started pulling all the books they could grab and handed them to me. Within a minute I was holding a towering heap of books they wanted to check out. I tried to explain to Alexa that she should look at the books and search for ones that look interesting to her, not just grab whatever she can reach off the shelf. Don't get me wrong, I like to read fun books, but I try to get ones that have some sort of meaning or lesson that relates to Alexa or Lillian. For example, sleeping in their own bed, potty training, manners..ect. But, this time I had no choice, they had picked the ones they wanted and had moved on to the toys in the corner. They had a toy mailbox with little pieces of paper cut to look like letters to fit through the mail slot. Lillian sat and put letters through the slot while I sat and read a book to Alexa. But, when I was finished Alexa decided it was her turn to put the letters through the slot and well, let's just say Lillian wasn't very willing to give up her turn. We are in a library remember, so Lillian's screams just echoed throughout the building. Enough to make the 9 year old volunteer come over to try helping me distract her with a puzzle, that she was clearly not interested in. Instead, she went into hyper mode and started running up and down the book aisles pulling books off the shelves and throwing them on the floor. I chased after her trying to put the books back in their correct placing on the shelf. What a circus. When I finally thought I had things cleaned up enough, I grabbed the kids to get the heck out of there. We went up to the front to check out, swiped my card in the self check out and BEEP BEEP BEEP. The screen read "There is an error on your card, please see librarian for assistance". Oh brother, what could this be? I had Lillian squirming in my arms wanting to get down and run, but I wasn't up for cleaning up her mess, so I held on to her tightly while I'm asking the librarian what is up with my card. She proceeded to tell me that I had a $10.42 balance on my card from like 2 years ago. I couldn't check out any books until I paid it with either cash up front or credit online. Well, being I never carry cash, I had to pay online with my check card, which was out in my car. Lillian is still squirming like crazy and I'm still holding on tight as we make our way through the parking lot to the car. While I'm digging through my purse, Lillian screams at me, "AHhhhh"! Frustrated, I tapped her mouth with my hand, scolding her not to do that any more and what do you know it makes her laugh and she now thinks it's a "game". So every 5 seconds she lets out a little, but loud, scream. Not wanting her to continue, I nicely ask her to stop and then scold Alexa for laughing at her. She carries on with her little "game" back into the library. The librarian sets me up with a computer to pay for my overdue charges online and Lillian keeps screaming in her ear. I keep apologizing, but the VERY understand librarian starts to get the giggles, which just fuels Lillian to scream even more, and LOUDER! I look up from the computer screen and there are at least 7 people across the room (with headphones on) using the computers, all turned around staring at Lillian, giving her very mean and evil looks. I don't blame them, mind you, but she is a little kid, SORRY!
So, finally the nice little 9 year old volunteer came to my rescue again and took the girls and gave them each a "stamp" on their hand while I was able to finish paying my overdue fines online and checked out the books. All was fine and good when we got to the car, but boy, I can just see the look of horror on the librarians face when we walk in next week to return our books.

Wednesday night was the start of the concerts in the park in Burnsville. Even though we are little bit further away now, the girls still enjoy going, and quite frankly, I do, too. We packed our bag with a blanket, snacks (popcorn and craisens) and food shelf items. If we bring food shelf items they trade us for a can or pop or a bottle of water. So, we each got a water. The band was "Bob and the Beachcombers". It really was a huge beach party. They had a million lei's scattered all over the front of the stage for you to put on when you arrived, as well and a gazillion hula hoops for the kids to play with. I found a spot near the front, because Alexa LOVES to dance near the front of the stage, so I like to stay as close as I can. Alexa immediately got us each a lei and grabbed a large green hula hoop and began to move her little hips. I was amazed at how well she did. She said she had been practicing at school. One of the older kids was trying to teach her. Lillian again was a little more reserved. She wanted to sit on my lap and just watch everyone. She did, however, get a little more active towards the end of the show and danced with me for a little bit. The band was amazing, Alexa got her face painted and the girls were shot by the time we got home. I gave them a quick rinse and they were ready for bed.

Last night (Thursday) Adam worked late as part of his extended summer hours, so I decided to take the girls to the sprinkler park in Apple Valley. Lillian was very excited to see all the kids and the water spraying out of the ground, but wanted to stay close by me. Alexa on the other hand, was all over the place. I lost her at one point at the playground. I nicely reminded her to tell me when she was leaving the water park. Her newfound "independence" scares me. After they played at the water park for awhile, I allowed them some time at the playground, too, before heading home. They were both very good listeners. I gave them tubs again when we got home and they were both sleeping by 9:15, which is actually pretty good considering it's been much later than that most of the summer, so far.

We are anxious for another busy night tonight, with a playdate with Alexa's old friends from her very first childcare - New Horizon. We've stayed in touch with 3 other families from her classroom over the years and have planned a big get together for tonight. We've gotten together with one of the girls (Katelyn) a few times since, but it's been awhile since she's seen the other 2 (Connor and Nathanial), so I'm anxious to see if they'll recognize each other. We're meeting at Carrie and Matt's for pizza and then play at the park afterwards - which just so happens to be the park by our old townhouse. So, our kids are very familiar.

We have a babysitter lined up for Saturday night to watch the girls while we have dinner at our friend's Vic and Sara's and then we'll try and get to the Dew Days parade in Farmington on Sunday.

Adam's parks are closed next week, so we also look forward to having him home with us in the evenings next week. Nevertheless, we'll still be very busy. A grill out with our friends Renee and Sandiq and their kids Jayita and Nadia and also a playdate with our friend Sarah and her 2 kids, Chase and Owen are in the works for next week. Then it's the big 4th of July weekend, where we will head to Albert Lea to welcome Adam's mom back from England and to hit up the HUGE 4th of July parade and fireworks show.

A VERY SPECIAL HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM AND BROTHER BENSKI THIS SUNDAY, JUNE 28TH! I HOPE YOU BOTH HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!! HUGS AND KISSES