To sleep

As many of you know, I've tried several approaches to getting Lisa to sleep every night. The most current routine involves me sitting by her door, which is wide open of course, and reading a book "with no pictures" while she falls asleep. I keep a timer by the door and I've been decreasing the time I sit there each night. When it goes off , she knows I am going to my room to read my book. The first night she was pretty insistent that she still needed me by the door, but she now will usually fall asleep within ten minutes after that. Sometimes she's out before the alarm even goes off. Eventually the idea is that she will be fine going to sleep without me sitting by the door at all.

But enough about that part of the story. The main reason I am writing is because I was just picking up Lisa's room a bit and had to smile at the book I found on the floor. She has decided that she also needs to read a book "with no pictures" every night and her book of choice lately has been this one:

I haven't read this one yet, but Lisa seems to think it's very good!

What can you do for $2 in Rexburg on a Saturday night?

This was our Saturday night. Family fun for $2. We were feeling especially cooped up and bored and decided a non-committal trip to Wal Mart might help. We walked down the party aisle and Ryan spotted the fluorescent hairspray. Perfect! We brought it home and had ourselves a little party, complete with music (Kool and the Gang's "Celebration"), dancing, and sugar cookies. Lisa thought it was great and we had fun too.

Summer and sprinklers

I'm not sure who turned this sprinkler on today, but I wish I could tell them thank you for leaving it on ALL DAY! Lisa thoroughly enjoyed it. Since it was right outside our door, she noticed each and every time when other kids happened upon it and would run out to join them.

Whatever it takes

Often in my parenting approach I adopt the "whatever it takes" philosophy. I know there are some times when you just have to put your foot down and say this is how it is, but a lot of the time I try to find alternatives or distractions and compromises that will minimize frustrating (and very loud) tantrums. Lately Lisa has been in protest of bathing and especially washing her hair. While we were in California, Gramommy had the ingenious idea of suggesting Lisa take her bath in the kitchen sink. It worked like a charm and now seems to be the new place to get the job done. It actually is quite convenient. It doesn't hurt my back to wash her hair, it makes me clean out the sink, and no tantrums! Too bad she will likely grow too big before long. We'll have to think of something else then.

Vacation at San Diego, California

We were lucky enough to get to make a trip to California this summer and while we were there we enjoyed a fabulous five day trip to San Diego. We visited several theme parks and the beach and ate lots of good food. It was a great trip.

Legoland

Ryan and the boys consulted the map before heading out to explore. Lisa charmed us with her "I do not want to wait in line one more minute" face, but forgot all about the waiting and thoroughly enjoyed herself once the rides started. She had herfirst ever car driving experience. Hence the need to say her last goodbye's to Marmee. She did make the car go for a few seconds, but encountered some difficulty using the foot pedal and the steering wheel simultaneously. She was also so cute when she met the Lego Princess and climbed up on the throne to sit with her. There was a line of other kids, but I think she assumed she could just hang out for awhile. We saw mini-models of New York City and San Francisco made completely of legos that were very impressive and got some great pictures with Marmee and the grandkids.

Carlsbad State Beach

We loved all of our time in the sun and playing on the beach. Lisa had a funny way of playing in the waves. She would run toward them then bolt away as they got closer. So she and Ryan ran a lot of circles together. Her favorite was just playing with the sand toys. And eating snacks, of course.

San Diego Wild Animal Park

The Wild Animal Park was HUGE but we were able to see quite a bit and make a fun day out of it. It was a pretty hot day and Lisa took any chance she could to rest on whoever would let her. Cade and Cameron were very sweet and helpful with her. She was elated when we came across the little splash park and even though we hadn't brought a swimsuit, she just got soaked in her clothes. Lisa did NOT like the dinosaurs. At all. At one moment she had two dinosaurs growling on either side of her and looked as though she might have a panic attack so we quickly made our way out of that part of the Park. But I found them amusing, as you will see in the picture. Fortunately, Lisa has become much more comfortable with petting zoos. She actually touched a few of the animals while we were there. Her first visit in the Idaho Falls petting Zoo was not a success--those goats were scary! Her favorite part of the day may have actually been the carousel. Lisa, Cade and Cameron rode on it several times. The animals were actually quite beautifully crafted.

Mission Beach near Sea World

It was fun to meet up with Derek and Allison at Mission Beach. Lisa loved playing games with them and making them her personal jungle gym.

Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe, San Diego

Sea World

Shamu the Whale was the first show we watched and Lisa was entranced. I am so amazed at the relationship of trust the trainers have with the animals at the park. Then Ryan and I found the sting rays and enjoyed feeling their smooth skin as they swam by. Marmee and Katie kept Lisa for awhile so Ryan and I could spend a little time together which was nice. At the end of the day, Lisa and Marmee picked out matching necklaces. We left the park at 10:00pm to make the long drive back to Yuba City. Good thing Katie had enough energy to drive. The rest of us were totally wiped out!