Is It Naptime Yet

It was just a two weeks ago. Eden came out of her bedroom in the middle of the night telling me she didn’t feel well. I asked her if she felt like she was going to throw up and she said yes, so I got her the pink bowl, put a towel over her pillow and after a few uneventful minutes, sent her back to bed. She woke up just fine the next day, but the pink bowl followed her around for a little bit and then just hung out around our house getting dirty and taking up space.

This past Wednesday I finally got around to washing the bowl. It had been haunting our house, then our kitchen and with it’s large, awkward size, it wasn’t fitting into our rather full dishwasher loads, but that’s mostly because I was way behind on dishes. So it was finally washed on Wednesday night, at least a whole week later. Then Eden woke me up at 4 am Thursday morning, saying she didn’t feel well and like she was going to throw up.

Oh, I had heard that before.

So I gave her a drink and a couple crackers, then as she sat at our very full of stuff table, I watch as she got sick. Oh, she was a champ, trying to hold it in, but her mouth just not being big enough so that some exploded out onto the floor, and onto the table of Halloween decorations Lilah had just made that afternoon, luckily only the ghosts was lost. I picked Eden up and brought her to the kitchen sink to finish what had already started, and to rinse her off a little. I then took my poor little girl to the bathroom, so I could clean up the mess, get her some new pajama’s, cover her bed with a towel, and grab the freshly cleaned pink bowl out of the dishwasher, just for her.

And she needed it this time.

So a long time ago I thought my computer screen was going out, I’m pretty sure it still is, but for now it works, but the brightness is still bright. I went on a photo posting hiatus because of my screen, and my sheer laziness to upload and edit photos, but I decided that I’d post some anyways, and would just crop them, so the brightness might be off, but at least there are photos!

The girls and me at the Zoo!
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Comparing ourselves to gorillas.

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He was looking right at the girls. I could have sat and watched him for much longer, but everyone else wanted to move one.

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Lots of standing and looking. This was Jon’s view of the Zoo.

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Open your eyes on three! I was trying to not get squinty eyes, I guess it worked, kinda.

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The awkward bighorn sheep. I totally thought it was a goat of some sort because it did not look like the bighorn sheep I know, or even like the one they had pictured.

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After the bird show with the bald eagle.

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The cool owl after the bird show.

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The mama and baby elephant!

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None of the other carousel pictures turned out, and you could argure neither did this one, but I love ladybugs so Jon took my picture with the ladybug carousel seat.

So Summer feels like it is finally over, hopefully. You never know with Las Vegas weather. We finally have some cooler weather, and we hope it stays that way. The rain clouds that at first just brought humidity finally cooled down this hot valley and hopefully it stays that way.

To end summer we went to Pine Valley with Sam, Britta, Matilda and Grandpa Gary over Labor Day weekend. Even though Jon had been gone the previous week and came home Friday night, he packed up Saturday morning and came along. He wasn’t sure he was going to go, but I think 3 more days of being alone was not appealing and he wanted to be with me and the girls, at least that’s the story I’m sticking to. Pine Valley was filled with 4 wheel rides, good food, talking, lots of time outdoors, and even some games. I hate to rub it in, but I played Yahtzee for the first time, and beat Sam both times. We then played a million games of Uno, and I’m pretty sure I would have won if we had been keeping score. 😉 It was beautiful weather and a fun time.

Just recently we went up to Utah for my cousin Amanda’s wedding reception, summer was technically over, though we came home to triple digits. The weather was perfect for her outdoor reception, but things were not going as planned. When do they ever for a wedding? Since we had time and were there, Jon and I helped decorate an arch that was over the cake. I’m pretty sure it pulled the whole scene together and was the cause for much celebration. I’m really happy for my cousin and it’s exciting to see her begin a new chapter in her life.

Since the reception was on a Friday night, we decided a trip to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake would be a perfect way to spend our Saturday, before coming home on Sunday. It was a beautiful day and the girls really enjoyed themselves. Eden’s favorite exhibit was the giraffes and the elephants. Lilah’s favorite part was the giraffe’s and the elephants, the gift shop, the monkeys, and the carousel, the train and the bird show. My favorite exhibit was the gorillas. They are so massive and it was just amazing to be separated from one with just a thick piece of glass.

We had Aunt Carolyn along on the trip, so she went shopping with me on Saturday night, and I found a nice black dress to wear for my choir class performances. Carolyn was kind enough to sit in the back seat and entertain the girls doing the night drive to Cedar City on Thursday. She entertained them at other times, but it was hard for them to entertain themselves when it was so dark in the car for our travels that night. We always love when Aunt Carolyn comes along on our trips.

We traveled more this summer than any previous one. I had a total of 8 trips while Lilah had 7 and Eden and Jon had 6. Usually we only have 2, maybe 3, trips, so this was one crazy summer for us. I really loved all the time we spent with family and friends, but I am so happy for summer to be over, and to enjoy the holidays.

Today the choir teach for the co-op saw me with the girls and our conversation went a little like this:
Her: Are those your daughters?
Me: Yes.
Her: They are so sweet. They are so nice to one another. I see them talk and have fun. What’s your secret?
Me: Oh, I think they’re just that way. I’m just lucky. Though half the time they love each other and half they hate each other.
Her: Well, they’re sweet and fun to have in class.
Me: Thanks.

Because of this conversation and some things that happened in choir they girls and I had a big discussion. There was a boy who wanted to be Eden’s partner and the conversation went a little like this:

Lilah: I was already Eden’s partner, but Kyle wanted to be her partner, plus Eden’s kinda shy, so I didn’t want her being a partner with someone she doesn’t feel comfortable with.
Me: Well, how about next time you ask Eden if she would like to be partners with Kyle, so if she wants to, she can, and she doesn’t have to be shy.
Lilah: But Eden is shy, and Kyle was mean after I wouldn’t let him be Eden’s partner. I want Eden to feel comfortable, and she doesn’t know him very well.
Eden: Yeah, I don’t feel comfortable with people I don’t know.
Me: Well, how can you get to know someone if you won’t be partners with them?

After this the conversation started repeating itself. Basically, Lilah is being the protective big sister and making sure Eden is happy. Sometimes this is good, sometimes not. In this situation I think it’s not good, because she’s letting Eden continue to be shy, and at other times Eden just has to do things with people and be partners with kids she may not feel comfortable with.

With Lilah being the protective big sister, and the choir teacher asking me how I’ve taught my children to get along so well, I wondered to myself why I have two girls who love each other so much. My answer.

I think it’s because there is only the two of them and they have to love each other.

Lilah and Eden get along about 70% of the time, and the other 30% is usually a battle of wills. The statistics vary from day to day. Some days they get along for 95% of the time, other days they get along for what feels like 1% of the time, but overall they really do get along and love to be around each other, and I think it’s because they’ve only got each other, and thus if they want someone to play with, they have to get along.

This evening I continued to think about the girls relationship. Eden and Lilah love one another and have so much fun playing together. I love homeschooling because they get to spend so much time together. I love that Lilah can get Eden to laugh so easily, she really is the one person who can get Eden to laugh and smile at the drop of a hat. I love that Eden lights up when she sees Lilah at lunch and they immediately want to sit with one another at the co-op. I thought of my own youth, and spending time with my older sisters, and how they took care of me and how they would let me do things with them and their friends.

As I continued to ponder on their wonderful relationship it was then time to make and get ready for dinner, and they decided to fight over who’s stuff was what, and how to put things away and a little yelling may have taken place.

Now they’re having fun in the shower.

Sigh, sisters.

I received an e-mail last week from a friend of mine. She just got married to a man with two daughters, 4 and 6 years old, and was wanting some super mom advice so she e-mailed a few of her mom friends and asked for some advice on parenting. I was thinking it might make a good blog so I’m posting it here.

1. Do no play favorites with one child that you might get along with better. This can be hard because subconsciously you might treat your children differently, but try to be aware and make sure to be fair at all times. Being the favorite is great, but not being the favorite stinks.

2. Children are people. This is something I’ve learned. You can be a parent, a mentor, and a friend to your child. Make sure their feelings are validated and never belittle, support them fully when they’re doing something, like you would like to be supported. This does not mean you have to do everything they say, but make sure they know what they desire is important, even if not possible at that time.

3. Children are people, but they also need to be guided and need boundaries. Consistency is key. Always follow through with what you ask them to do in a timely manner, something Jon has to remind me to do sometimes. When they know what is expected of them, they do it more willingly over time. I would also add, make sure they know what the consequence is before you give it so it’s not a surprise. This can sometimes be hard, but be as consistent as possible.

4. Know what your children are capable of and what they’re not. This is tricky, but watch and see what they do. Can one easily clean her room while the other plays? This might mean one needs more time, or more guidance and help to do a chore, while the other can do it on her own. Watch and give guidance and then over time demand more of them. Let them know why more is expected of another so they know you’re trying to be fair.

5. Children will often push boundaries and try to not do things when it’s new, or not something they want to do. The more consistent you are in what you expect from them, they less they will complain and the more they will just do.

6. Tell them you love them often, and play, play, play.

7. Make time for you and your spouse.

There are other things I might suggest, but even with what I have, it’s all in what your parenting style is and what you feel is important. I feel a lot of my advice is pretty simple and well known, but it’s well tested and proven in our house.

I could probably list an experience of why I think each piece of advise is important, or why I think it works, but I won’t. Partially because some of the experiences are delicate and private but mostly because I’ve learned that they just work for us. I’m still not perfect at all my points of advice, but I know for those times I am following one of my points, life is better and my relationships are better with my girls and Jon.

So life is continuously busy here at the Blake house. Last week I was a little lonely with Jon gone on a business trip, so I had a goal of going out each day so I could have adult contact in each 24 hours. It worked until Lilah got sick on Wednesday, but then on Thursday I was able to get back in the game and do stuff. Here’s a break down of my week.

Monday: Co-op open house. Basically I went and paid for co-op and saw some of the other moms and new moms. I’m helping the treasurer, since she has a baby that was recently release from the NICU, and we have a lot to figure out this term since we have so many families, the most we’ve had yet. I also visited Anna and her cute baby Alex, and did some shopping.

Tuesday: I did whatever around the house and that evening we had pizza at the park with Carolyn. Then we went back to the Svilar’s to play games and visit with Derek who does not like to venture outdoors on such short notice. Carolyn and Derek gave the girls a few things and Eden told me how Carolyn spoils them.

Wednesday: Lilah was feeling a little sick so we stayed home from the park. I was a very sad Mommy though, I think I got a lot done around my house this day, I can’t be entirely sure that a lot of time was not wasted on-line.

Thursday: I did more stuff around the house, or wasted time on-line, I can’t remember. My friend Beth and her daughters watched the girls so I could attend my first Concert Choir class at CSN. Our orchestra director for the play directs the class and convinced me to join. It was fun, though I realized how bad I am at picking out alto parts. I get to go shopping for a black dress, which I’m always excited to go shopping, and I think it will be a rewarding semester.

Friday: I canned peach jam and pie filling with Sam all day, literally. I was there from 10:20 am till just after 4 pm. We were helping one another, and though she had a lot more peaches to deal with after I left, I was able to make jam and pie filling with my 12 pounds, or whatever half a box was. It’s always more fun to can with someone rather than alone, so we had fun. My girls mostly played and Matilda mostly stayed out of the way. I then procrastinated, cleaned a little more, and picked Jon up at the airport that night. We were so happy to see Daddy and have him home with us after having him gone for 6 days.

I did do school every day, the regular house work, and even some cleaning and organizing of my hall closet and stove top. It’s funny how I’m now cleaning places people don’t see, but really for the sake of cleaning places people do see. My hall closet has been such a mess that I had to organize it to put the winter blankets away that had been hanging out in my bedroom all summer long. They are now put away until we need them in 4 weeks, maybe sooner if we have any cold spells. My stove top was just gross, so I cleaned the grease catcher things and now I’m not so embarrassed for anyone who might see them. My bathrooms….that’s another story.

I hope you all had a great week and had some adult interaction every 24 hours. I think adult interaction is greatly recommended for stay at home moms. 😉

…Really we began school in July because I was on a long hiatus. Really long, like 6 months of no “schooling”. Of course my girls still learned and we still did things. The co-op was still taking place, we’d go to Science Saturday, then there was the play, and for the record I stopped schooling before the play because of various reasons, but was not able to start again till July, for various reasons. Now we have more of a plan, Jon and I discuss weekly what’s going on, and I’m mentally able to handle it, most days. I have a schedule I’m sticking to for schooling every day and Lilah is coming to terms with what is expected of her for school. My patience is still low some days, but we’re trying to work together in a more harmonious manner.

Since I haven’t watched a lot of TV lately, Netflix instant play is awesome with our Wii, I don’t see a lot of the commercials, but I know there is one commercial that use to play. It’s a Staple’s one where you hear “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” playing in the background and the father is going back and forth gleefully in the isles and then they show the kids, the two teenagers, who are sad and somewhat shocked at their fathers embarrassing behavior. It’s about how wonderful it is to have the kids back in school. I haven’t said this to many, but that commercial really annoys me. I know it’s just an exaggeration, but I feel it shows that families don’t have harmonious relationships, and parents are really happy to pawn their children off to other people for 6 hours a day. I know that’s not true for all, and I am exaggerating feelings, but I feel it perpetuates the thought that parents don’t want to spend time with their children and are happy to be free of them for most of the day. Really I wouldn’t mind being free of my children some days, but I’ve chosen to homeschool so being with them is just a part of it.

The first comment out of most people’s mouths when I tell them we homeschool is they don’t have the patience. The thought of spending everyday, day in and day out is tiresome, and then you have to teach your children on top of that. It’s exhausting and for 6 months I didn’t have the patience to homeschool, but as OMSH wrote for Pioneer Woman’s homeschooling blog, parents, just as teachers, have days where they don’t have patience. (It really is a good read, so please read it if you can. My off days just lasted for a really long time.)

For those 6 months I didn’t homeschool because the thought of it drove me up the wall. Even now, it is somewhat daunting, but I’m doing it and for the most part enjoying it.

For 6 months I just let go of any expectations I held of what I should be doing with my girls and did whatever the heck we wanted. Right now their days are filled with lots of playing, some TV, some formal schooling, and a little bit of house chores.

Really, I love spending and having my girls with me each and every day. Overall I get a long really well with them, which is not something every parent has. There are days where I really want to get away or I wish I could be like other moms and not have kids with me all day so we could do things alone, but I have my girls and friends know we’re a packaged deal. Jon also lets me have time to myself, in fact, I begin a choir class this week at CSN. I’m taking it so I can work on my singing ability, but it’s also a weekly getaway from my girls.

I’m hoping to get better at this school thing and I’m happy my girls have the patience to put up with this mama/ mentor.

School has begun, but learning never ceases.

Eden had been in primary for 1 year and 8 months and had given the prayer and scripture twice but no talk. Lilah gave two talks, at least, in her first year of primary, partially because there were only 2 to 3 kids in her class, including her. Since then Lilah’s given at least one talk a year. I was beginning to think Eden would never give a talk, but yesterday Eden gave her first talk in primary.

To prepare we talked about the subject, “Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and he is a God of Miracles.” We flipped through the gospel pictures book Grandma Blake had given her and discussed what miracles Jesus had performed and I asked her to choose one to talk about in her talk. She choose the story of Jairus and Jesus raising his daughter from the dead. We wrote some things down and then discussed how she thought Jesus helped us today and then we had her talk. I typed it up and then had her read it a couple times. She felt pretty good about it so we put it away for Sunday, we did this Saturday afternoon by the way. Sunday morning came and Eden wanted to read her talk one more time to make sure she knew it. I think she was feeling a little nervous and she wanted to make sure she knew most of the words. She did, so she then felt pretty confident. All Sunday morning Eden was talking about her talk and how it would be her first one and how she wasn’t nervous and wasn’t going to be shy. She said how she thought people would really love her talk and ask her to do another one. (She was thinking a little like her mother use to at this point I must admit.)

She went to class and after I taught my lesson I waited in the primary room for the children to file in for sharing time. Lilah saw me, but I’m not sure Eden did when she went to sit down for this group time. The leaders did their thing and then it was time for the talk. The leader who was conducting the meeting was new, so she just asked if Eden was here to give her talk. I had started to go to the front and I watched as Eden timidly nodded her head as she stood and then witnessed her face light up when she saw I was there to help her.

She spoke quickly into the microphone and read each word. There were a couple words I had to correct her on, but overall she read it by herself. Eden doesn’t know just yet to pause at the end of a sentence or how to emphasize different words, but she was so cute as she read. I held up a the picture depicting Jesus raising the girl from dead and stood by her side for support.

She was so happy to give her talk and apparently they discussed the same story of Jairus and used the same picture later that day in primary, which Eden got a kick out of.

Here is the talk we put together:

Jesus Christ is the son of God. Because he is the only begotten son he can perform miracles. Once there was a little girl who had died. Her parents were very sad. Her dad Jairus went to Jesus and and asked him to bless her. Jesus said “Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.” and she then got up and was healed.

We may not see Jesus raise someone from the dead but he can perform simple miracles in our lives. If we need help we can pray to Jesus and Heavenly Father and ask for help. Jesus can perform miracles in our lives if we have faith.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I think there are a few reasons why Eden hadn’t been asked to give a talk just yet. One: There are a lot if kids in her class. Two: She’s not always there with being with Jon on Daddy Sunday’s and our traveling. Three: She’s very reserved and not one to volunteer. After how she acted yesterday, I know she was so happy to show her potential and confident to be up there speaking in front of her peers. I think she was a little nervous, but really enjoyed it.

So for the third year in a row we went camping with the Park family. I’m beginning to see a tradition take shape. We went and visited Andrea and her family in August for our yearly Ely trip. When we told them the date Andrea told us they were planning on camping that weekend and we were welcomed to join them, so we did! For this camping trip I finally got my wish for a tent that I could stand up in. I really didn’t like having to be hunch over to put pants on in our old tent, and since the girls needed their own sleeping bags and were too big to share one, we needed to get something bigger than the 4 man tent we have.

Jon put me in charge of buying the tent. I was tempted to get a huge ten man tent with two rooms that could fit at least 4 twin mattresses, but instead I bought a long six man tent, and I’m pretty confident we can fit 3 twin air mattresses in there, I’m just not sure Jon would have much room to sleep. 😉

We went camping just outside of Ely this time. It was mostly for the experience and the fun of camping out in the wilderness. We each made our own dinners but for dessert we tried cake in a mason jar, from Family Fun. Brien also brought some ice cream and it was delicious. I’m craving it as I type this, but that might also be because I’m hungry. They just used a boxed cake mix and cooked it for the recommended time. Since there was a meteor shower taking place we were able to watch the night sky and see a few arch across. It was beautiful. We actually traveled up to Lee Canyon the night before and saw some just outside of the Vegas lights with the girls.

It didn’t get too cold that night, and we woke up the next day and broke camp down before we went on a hike. We did the full 3 mile loop, but the Parks stopped a little early to go get some chores they needed to do done. Zarina was happy to be on the hike, but only if she was being carried. Our girls were happy to be on the hike as long as Jack, Andrea and Brien’s dog, was on the hike, so it was a little rough at times once the Parks left. Overall it was pretty fun and we enjoyed the cooler weather as we walked through the Juniper trees and along the trail.

After showering and getting cleaned up at the Park’s house we roasted hot dogs and then ate smores. They have a nice fire pit in their back yard, so it kept us warm as the night cooled. We then slept inside that night and went home Sunday morning.

I love our yearly trip to Ely to see Andrea, Brien and Zarina. I’m so grateful they open their home to us and allow us to invade for a short time each year. I’m so happy they live relatively close and that the girls get to see Zarina and be friends with their cousin. It’s funny because I hated that the only trips we took as a family was to visit family. I wanted to go to Disneyland or the Zoo, but I now understand why my parents made those trips. Hopefully we get to do both the family and “fun” trips with the girls and if we’re lucky we can have our family on our “fun” trips too, like we did earlier this year at Disneyland.

Thank you once again Parks, and we love you!

Lilah and I went to Sea World with the Girl Scouts. We decided to use her cookie money to pay for the trip and it would be the big event we got out of the cookie sales. When I signed us up I thought we’d be staying in a hotel for one night. It wasn’t until I went to the mandatory meeting that I realized we’d be camping out in Sea World, in their exhibits and I would not get to shower Saturday morning before I spent all day in the park with Lilah. When I told Lilah the plans she was rather excited to sleep in the exhibit, and we knew we’d be sleeping in the Wild Arctic Exhibit, the coldest one of all. I thought there was a wall of ice in it, but there was not, but they keep it a cool 50 degrees in there, which is very cold when you’re sleeping.

We rode on bus to San Diego on Saturday morning. I knew I would let Lilah make most of the decisions on the trip. This was my time with her, and I knew that I wanted her to have fun, and since I wasn’t having to referee two girls, I would just let her make most of the decisions, with some guidance since I didn’t want to be going to one end of the park and back again. Her first decision came in Barstow, where we stopped for lunch. She decided we should have In and Out for lunch, the busiest place there. There were several tour buses in the area and apparently lots of families making the stop to eat together. The line and food went rather quickly and Lilah got to enjoy her first In and Out hamburger. She loved it and I enjoyed letting her be in charge.

After lunch we continued onto Sea World and arrived early and waited to begin camp. The girls played games, and at times hung out on the bus. At 6pm the Sea World staff came out. They did a luggage check and we got ready to put our luggage into a shed till we needed it later that night. During this process Lilah noticed my luggage was making a noise, but I decided it was just the vibrations from the tanks behind us, since I couldn’t think of anything that would make noise in the suitcase. Once our luggage was safely locked up we entered the park.

We were split into smaller groups and given bright green t-shirts to wear. The shirts were to help the staff be able to keep an easier eye on us. We did a couple things, but they fed us right away. We then did different activities with the camp staff and visited different sites. It was kinda a whirl wind so I can’t remember all we did. I do remember after we visited the penguins the girls did a little relay race, where they dressed up with big penguin feet and wings and then had to walk and pass an egg to another girl. One girl was also dressed up as a polar bear as we learned about different things that help them survive. We saw the Shamu Rocks show that night, and my camera battery decided to die while we were watching it. It was an amazing show and I think Lilah really enjoyed it. At this point she was walking and hanging out without me so she did not sit with me during the show, but was with some of the other independent girls scouts her age. Sea World had a nice fireworks show shortly after the Shamu show, so we stayed in the stadium and watched from there. (The group we were in for the night was mostly all IGM’s and just one other troop and around Lilah’s age, which was nice. )

The final thing we did that night was feed the sting rays. That was so cool. The water is rather deep, so it was hard for Lilah to get her hand in there, especially since we had our jackets on under the bright green shirts they had given us and it was hard to roll up the sleeves. Lilah was too nervous to feed them her fish, so she gave it to me. I was also a little scared so I ended up dropping it in the water when one came up to get it. They said they just go over your hand and suck up the fish, but since I was not able to get my arm down all the way I was rather scared that I might get bitten. I worked up a little more courage and was able to feed one of the rays my fish. Lilah did work up the courage to pet the sting rays, and she really loved that. The sting rays were probably my favorite part of the trip.

We got settled into the Wild Arctic exhibit after the park had closed and as I opened my luggage I realized it was making a noise. My air mattress pump had gotten turned on and had been running for at least 5 hours. It was a little hot to the touch, and though it was on, it was not doing anything but making noise. I worried we’d have to sleep on the hard ground, but luckily one of the other leaders had an electric pump and let us borrow it to pump up our mattresses. Phew. I also felt really blessed that my pump had not caught fire, because the plastic had melted off of the batteries and they were really hot to the touch. That would have sucked had a trailer of girl scout stuff been caught on fire due to my negligence. (Hint: always take one battery out of your mattress pump when traveling.)

Lights out was round 11:30 pm and I slept very badly. It seemed like I was awake for most of the night due to someone snoring, or having to ignore my urge to go to the bathroom, or my face being really cold. It was not fun and the 6:15 am wake-up call came way too quickly. Lilah slept just fine, and was right by the manatee tank. She said she was awake during the wake up call, but she sure didn’t want to move or wake up when I tried to get her out of bed 5 minutes later. It was a very early morning for these two late sleepers.

We packed up, put our luggage on the buses and then headed to breakfast. I asked Lilah if she wanted to hang out with some of the other girls and their moms or if she wanted it to be just her and me for the day. She decided she just wanted it to be her and me for the day so after our final activity of feeding the flamingos we headed off to be by ourselves in the park.

We had about an hour before any of the rides started, so we hung out at different exhibits and planned what we wanted to do first. We did see one of the other girl scouts and her mom so we hung out with them for a time and I rode a water ride with the girls. The other mom hadn’t purchased a poncho yet, so I went on the ride with them three times, since there was no one else in line and they were having fun. We then went our separate ways but met up once more for the other water ride by accident once again.

Lilah and I rode most of the rides and saw three of the shows that day. I forgot the sunscreen in another bag so we got a little toasted. I now will spend whatever amount needed to buy sunscreen at amusement park to keep from getting sunburned and to protect my children’s skin.

Some highlights of the day where: Sitting in the splash zone during the Shamu Believe show and Lilah getting drenched because she decided she did not want to wear her poncho. Feeding some ducks and Lilah wishing Eden was there since she knew Eden would love feeding the ducks. Lilah pretty much thinking about Eden the whole day and saying how she would enjoy this or that. The third time on the rapids ride getting sprayed by bystanders, but not knowing at the time that’s what was happening until later where we noticed you could pay to spray people. Petting the stingrays during the day. I was petting one, and another one came on top of the one I was petting and tried to slurp a nonexistent fish from my hand. I squealed and Lilah laughed at me while the other bystanders thought I was crazy. Eating a cream cheese stuffed pretzel and cotton candy for lunch while we watched the Sea Lion show. Getting along with Lilah the whole day.

We loaded onto the bus at 6 pm and left a little later. We stopped in Barstow for a meal break at 9 pm and got back into Vegas around midnight. Jon and Eden had to get out of bed to come get us at the girl scout office. Luckily we don’t live that far.

It was lots of fun, and Lilah now thinks Eden and Daddy should go to Sea World together. I really can’t wait to go back and maybe in two years when Eden is old enough, we can do it again.