A hill of a day.

"Zedio, Zedio! Molk, molk!"

E's little voice at 8 AM this morning. She was up with Daddy getting breakfast; Cereal and milk. My first thought: I love her little voice and how she says certain words. My second thought: Wow! Did I get to sleep in? Yes, technically 8:30 is sleeping in for this mama.

My perfect Sunday morning quickly went tumbling down hill. E turned into Little Miss Crabby pants and wanted everything and nothing at all. That is the biggest struggle these days: interpreting her words, which are most of the time whining and impatient squawks. Yes, I said squawks. Okay I realize my toddler is not a farm animal but when it is not even 9 AM and I haven't had my first sip of coffee she sure sounds like a farm animal. 

I hoped and hoped that my daughter would, by some miracle, beat the odds of the terrible two phase. I remember writing about the terrible two stage way before it begun. Wow, was I fooling myself. 

Lately, dealing with my toddler is rough. Through the kicking, yelling and tears I know that this is just a phase and it will pass but in the midst of the frustration between R, E and me I just want to stick my head in hole. Is this normal?

I've been thinking a lot about all the Summer things I used to do: relaxing in the sun, going to the beach every weekend, bike rides down town, going to the pool, etc. I snuck in 30 minutes in the sun this weekend I realized how much I miss just relaxing. I want to say that having a toddler doesn't leave room for much but it's not true. A toddler forces you to think on your feet and seize every opportunity you can to soak up the sun for a few minutes, put a fresh coat of nail polish on your toes, read a few pages in a good book, or ride a blog entry.

Having a toddler forces you to focus on other things too: playing in a tiny tent, rolling on the living room floor giggling about nothing at all, pulling a wagon down the street, splashing in the waves when you make it to the beach between nap times. Having a toddler forces you to focus on the small, wonderful things in life. New words, new books, a Disney movie, a face full of ice cream, collecting rocks in buckets... E forces me to have patience and better communication. She forces me to slow down while the rest of the world rushes passed us. 

Our day made a turn for the better as we made our way to the beach. Every time we come over the hill and E sees Lake Michigan she yells beach! beach! She actually played in the water this time and when it was time to go she didn't make a fuss.

 It's a learning experience. There will always be something new when helping your child learn and grow. Some days its bad and some days its good. And then there are days that are great. 

Keep Loving. 

Our weekend at The Kalahari

Have you ever heard of Kalahari? If you said no, that's okay! I'm glad I'm not the only one in this big ol' world that hasn't heard of it. The girls and I were invited by a friend from work to spend the weekend there! A surprise little get away just to enjoy ourselves. A resort complete with a water park, arcade, gift shops, restaurants and more. All in one place. Here's the shorter version of our weekend.

The four hour drive turned out pretty well. I wasn't quite sure how E would do, this being her very first road trip and stay away from home. Thank God for the DVD player in the van we drove. I am pretty sure that saved us. We all know you can't keep a toddler tied (in this case: belted) down very long. But she did well. M stayed awake up until the last half hour. When we arrived she kept saying, "I can't wait to go to bed." I have NEVER heard this girl say anything of the sort.

The hotel room was very nice. M and I shared a bed and they were so big I never even felt her move. The pack-n-play served well for E once she finally fell asleep (at 1:15AM).

Saturday morning brought a picnic breakfast, exceptionally tasty hotel coffee and a stroll around the resort. E loved the giant statues and long hallways. The girls played in the hallways more than in our room. The older girls couldn't peel their faces off the windows into the water park. They were so ready to dive in. I do admit, it was rather awesome! And LOUD. But, we held off on the water park 'til about 1:30 and then let the girls have fun. I didn't see M for a couple hours. She was having a blast!

E probably could have played on the water slide in the kiddy pool all day. After just a couple trips up the stairs and down the slide she was doing it all by herself. I was rather impressed.

We couldn't go to a water park and not float around the lazy river. We made it around  1.5 times and E was done floating in a circle. I think the wave pool would've been my place to hang but my little toddler had a hard time withstanding the waves.

She slept in my arms for awhile before we went to rest back at the room. I was ready for peace and quiet. The older girls couldn't get enough of the water park and had to stay 'til close. That's what vacations are for, right?!

Sunday morning:

Our last mission was to spend a little time at the arcade. However, an elevator door separated E and I from the rest of our group and we got lost. I am rather directionally challenged so we ended up on several different floors before I finally asked for directions and then ran into my friends daughter. Somehow she knew the resort like the back of her hand and we reunited with the girls.

The arcade was fun and really brought me back to being a kid. If I didn't know better I would've played all the games myself.

Vacation felt very nice. My friend and her daughter are great vacation partners!! It feels good to have gotten away for the weekend. I can't wait until our next vacation. This time we won't leave Daddy at home.

Keep loving.

Our FIRST time at the beach.

First time touching sand. 

I've become obsessed with capturing and documenting Edee's firsts. And today we had two of them. 

Between full work weeks, the crowds, little parking and hot hot sun (which you think would lure us to the beach) it's taken us a little too long to make it to the sandy shores of Lake Michigan. But, last night seemed like the perfect time to go...not too cloudy and not too sunny. So, we packed a sack dinner of sandwiches and grapes, tossed towels and an extra diaper (this is a first) in the beach bag, jumped into our suits and drove down to Grand Haven Beach. 

It only took Maddi about 2 minutes before she was swimming. And under water WITHOUT her nose plugged this year; something that she is very proud of. Ryan and Maddi played frisbee and volleyball and tried skim boarding in the small waves. 

It only took Edee a few minutes to decide she really doesn't like when the sand sticks to her hands and likes it even less when it gets anywhere near her mouth. But ofcourse that didn't stop her from touching it over and over again.

Edee's first time dipping her toes in Lake Michigan

And she absolutely loves the waves. Well, maybe it's more just the look and sound of the waves. When I tried to put her little feet in the water she lifted her legs up as high as they would go. Yet, she couldn't stop staring out into the water. Maybe it's because Maddi and Dad were out there splashing and having so much fun. 

I am looking forward to many more firsts with her (Maddi & Ryan) this Summer. I think this weekend we will go to Papa Dennis' pool and give swimming a try! 

Hope you all are enjoying your summer. 

Keep Loving.