Disney III Extreme Makeover

The girls had a blast when they were made over into princesses by their very own fairy godmothers.

As you can see from their "BEFORE" and "AFTER" pictures, it was quite a transformation! Dylan opted for the pop diva princess look while Katherine wanted to look like a "real" princess. (Dylan peeled out of hers after a couple of hours, but Katherine wore hers for a week - and would still be wearing it if I didn't insist on her washing her hair.)

After the makeover, the girls got to meet Cinderella and have dinner in the castle. But they didn't enjoy that as much as they enjoyed walking around the park, waving to all the little girls, and having people stop them for their picture. Isaac tried his best to get in on the action but he was a little underdressed!


Obviously, "before"







"After" the fairy dust

Disneyworld II

I took tons of pictures, so it's hard to choose just a few!

Disneyworld I

Lots of fun...very little rest...that about sums it up!

Magical Kingdom

Tomorrow, we're off to Orlando for a week with Mickey, Minnie, and the gang!

I could use one of those Disney princess wands right about now. I've got to go and figure out how to get about 500 lbs. of "necessities" down to around 50 lbs.

No Silent Movie

• Another first for us as a family - the movies. Isaac had never been to a movie theatre.
  
  We went to see WALL-E. We 'd heard good reviews so we thought it'd be a good one to start with. Without spoiling the plot for those who want to see it, I'll just say that it's not particularly great for the little ones. There's about an hour of no dialogue and some reading required.
  
  So, we had about 2 hours of this:
  
  Isaac: What dey doing?
  
  Scott: Shhh.
  
  Isaac: Why you say 'Shhh'?
  
  Scott: Shhh.
  
  Isaac: Mama, why Daddy say like this, 'Shhh'?
  
  Me: Shhh.
  
  Isaac: Why you say 'Shhh'?
  
  Me: We have to be quiet.
  
  Isaac: Daddy, Why Mama say like this, 'We have to be quiet'?
  
  Scott: Because we have to be quiet...people are watching the movie.
  
  Isaac: Why?
  
  Scott: Shhh.
  
  Isaac: Why you say 'Shhh'?
  
  And on...and on...and on...

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!

As we take the time to celebrate our nation and reflect on the freedoms and blessings we as Americans sometimes take for granted, I am thankful to be living in the greatest country in the world!!!

We began our festivities on Wednesday. Our town sponsored a celebration with a live band and a fireworks show. We're usually gone on the 4th, so this was our first time to attend. I tried to prepare the girls to not expect too much...Boy, was I wrong! They went all out. The fireworks alone lasted 30 minutes. Poor Katherine and her sensitive ears still haven't recovered! But we had a great time.

Last night, our friends, Perri (or, as Isaac says, "Ms. Pee-Wee") and Chad came over for a cookout. We enjoyed a nice, relaxing evening with them. But after they left, we were up until after midnight with Dylan trying to rescue a baby rabbit on the brink of becoming an early holiday treat for our cat, Sara. (We saw Mama Bunny happily hopping around our backyard today, so we're convinced that our efforts weren't in vain.)

Today was much more low key. Scott started a slow process of cooking some ribs last night and finished them by lunch today. They were delish! We ate outside, and just as we had finished, we heard a sound coming through the trees and as we realized it was rain, everyone started screaming and grabbing the food. It was pretty funny...especially when we realized after we were inside and catching our breath that Isaac was missing. We found him still screaming and laughing and running in circles outside!

In a Blink...

We've had a breakthrough around here in the "potty war". Isaac has moved past just "pee-pee in the potty" and will now proudly proclaim to anyone willing to listen that he has done THE OTHER!

A victory, true, but it's still a bittersweet moment.

A few days ago, I stopped to watch Isaac, wearing only a size 2 t-shirt and diaper, struggle to drag a watering can half his size across the yard to fill the birdbath. Something about that moment made me pause.

Sweet? There's nothing cuter, in my eyes, than a toddler on a hot summer day, clad only in a diaper.

Bitter? The realization that he rarely actually "toddles" around these days. And when those diapers are gone, my little baby boy will be gone with them.

Denver II

We had a great time in the mountains, but the highlight of our Denver trip was our family's first major league baseball game. Katherine and I helped cheer the Colorado Rockies to victory over Scott and Dylan's New York Mets. And Isaac? He was just happy to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" as he cheered indiscriminately for anyone and everyone!

We also went to the zoo, shopped at the 16th Street Mall, played at a giant water park, and visited Denver's Butterfly Pavilion where Dylan and Isaac held a very hairy and very scary tarantula named Rosie.