August 21-Last day of Summer/Last Blog

Well, it is here! My last few hours of Summer and my last blog entry. I am feeling all sorts of different emotions right now.

• Scared-What if the 10 year olds think I am a loser? (I don't super care, but I still want them to like me)
• Excited-I think that I am going to love 4th grade and it is going to be a great professional challenge for me.
• Sad-I am going to miss my "babies".
• Frustrated-Why did I leave 2nd grade? I had it made there!
• Undecided-Will 4th grade be better than 2nd, or 1st, or Kindergarten?
• Guilty- Did I thoroughly enjoy every minute of my 2.5 months off?
• Anxious: Do I have enough planned for tomorrow, and the next day, and the next?
• Exhausted-I have been awake since 4:30... planning!
• Determined-I can be a wonderful Mom, a great teacher and a fabulous JCP receptionist, right?
• Joyful-My new team is so great! We have so much fun together.
• Envious-Why do I have to work so hard and others people get to live in nicer houses and stay at home?
• Indifferent-I enjoy writing in this blog, but I need to spend more time to do school work and spend time with my husband.

My plan is to write a seasonal update about our little family. Although I am sad that summer is over, very soon it will start to be my 2nd favorite season; Fall! Football, pumpkin spice candles, Oktoberfest wine, Apple Cider Donuts, bonfires, and sweatshirt...yippee!!

I am so blessed to have such a "wonderful" and caring husband who supports me with all of my crazy ideas. I am so glad to have a beautiful daughter that makes me laugh each day! I am so happy for a puppy that has done a pretty good job of replacing the loneliness that was left in our house (of course, she has shown to be quite pricey though). .I am so fortunate to have two fabulous families that I know will always be there for us. I am delighted to have so many friends who have been there for us through so many stages of our life (work friends too!). I am so fortunate to have two jobs that I adore and allow me to have a flexible schedule to be with my family (of course, Tony's job too). Overall, it is human nature to want more and better things for my family, but I am blessed for what I have. I am living the dream that I constantly wished fo on my 45 minute drives between U of  I and ISU; "Just Another Day in Paradise".

Reagan had to help Mommy dust! She couldn't stand the dirt anymore!

Molly helping us get our "last" summer ice cream!



8/19- NOT the last day of Summer

Most teachers consider today to be the last day of summer! I am in complete denial about this and that is why the last day of summer is not till Tuesday! Tomorrow and Tuesday are just meetings. When the kids come, then it is over.

A large part of my denial lies in the fact that I have not done everything that I wanted to get finished this summer. Go to the Zoo, go to the pool more(yes, I only went twice with the pool pass, thus it was about $32 each time! DAMN!), paint the sun porch, complete all of the laundry, and clean out the "baby" storage room are all of the things that did not get done. It is pretty sad that most of these jobs are chores that I really have no excuse for not completing, but I am going to pull the "I had 2 babies to take care of this summer" card.

My last day of sleeping in required me to get up at 7am, and I have been moving every since! Reagan and I went to visit Kelsey and her new baby Andie. I can't believe that about a year and a half ago Reagan was that tiny! It does go so fast! Kelsey and I were talking about having 2 babies and I know that we do want to have another one, but it just blows my mind to think that I would have to do it all over again! I just can't imagine...at least right now!

My huge accomplishment for today was that I took out the Crock pot and made dinner. This is a pretty big for me and I am actually pretty proud of myself. We even have lunch for both of us tomorrow! Maybe I will try this technique more often!

Reagan checking out the Guinea Pig at Petsmart! She loves the fish too!

August 18-An ALMOST Hospital visit?

Reagan almost gave me heart failure yesterday! I put her down on the garage step to grab Molly out of the car. Well, she did not realize that she was up there and began walking, and tripped off of the step. She was crying a bit, just like she normally does when she falls. I told her " You are ok". She didn't seem to be whining that much so I gave her a snack and she was smiling and happy. I went to put her down and her ankle buckled. She whined a bit more and tried to take another step but couldn't, and started whining again.

Tony was a work, so I called my Mom who came over to look at it. We didn't see any bruising or swelling. I called the doctor anyways! I finally got a hold of Tony, who said to take her to the hospital, REALLY?. I waited for the doctor to call back to hear his opinion first. After a "boo boo" Popsicle, she seemed OK, but was still afraid to walk on it! The doctor called back and said to "try" to keep her off of it, keep icing it, and if it was still bad, to bring her back in the morning. We were suppose to go to a friends house for dinner, so I sent Tony, and I did my best to keep Reagan entertained while sitting. Since it was only 5:30, we played toys on the couch, played with the iPad, ate dinner, colored, had a bath, read books and played with Silly Putty.

I was scared to death that she would wake up the morning and it would still be weak, and I hardly slept worrying about it! (Yes, I am a huge, worry wart.) She started squeaking around 7:15 and when I walked into her room she was standing in the crib. I put her down on the ground and she was already cruising for the bookshelf and it didn't even seem like she was phased by it! I was so relieved! Thank goodness! What would we do if it had been broken or sprained? How do you tell a toddler to keep their feet up? Hello, their names are Toddlers for a reason! (If it it not one baby it is the other!)

Gotta have the bow!

So thankfully, a crisis was averted and we got to go upon our day as normal! I had JCP today (which by the way, I am getting mighty sick of Mom's, ) and we were going to our final Summer event, the Arlington Million. My Dad had bought Tony's Dad, Step mom (and Kaylee) and us tickets, so it was nice being with them. Last year, it rained so it was not that busy, but this year it was PACKED! I have not seen so many drunk people since the DMB concert a few years ago. Our big mistake was that we brought Reagan. She was all over the place! She wanted to climb the bench, go up and down the hill and be constantly moving. I love that she gets to experience new things and different people (event if they are drunk), but next year, I think that she will stay with Grandma! Then Mommy and Daddy can have a break!

The glasses were a hit too!

 

Poor Molly had to be in her cone all day! I am going to feel bad for her next week!

Molly's new cousin, Penny!

August 16-Chores

My husband is going to be getting a reality check very soon! Yesterday, I mentioned to him that I think that I do more chores than him.

Tanya's Jobs:

• Sort, wash, and fold all laundry
• Clean Bathroom
• Change sheets on beds
• Vacuum
• Sweep 
• Mop
• Wash counters
• Windex (everything)
• Dog Poop
• Reagan's Breakfast

Tony's Jobs

• Mow Lawn
• Shovel snow
• Fix stuff

Now let me tell you, since we had ONE winter snowfall, a summer drought and we have been too broke this year to fix stuff, I am pretty much getting screwed! I brought this up to him and do you know what he said? "You know, you use to clean the house every Friday, what happened to that??  Then I started to feel all guilty, cause I use to clean the house from top to bottom each Friday cause it was so nice to have it all clean for the weekend. Since we had Reagan, I have changed my cleaning to "spot" cleaning; just cleaning what needed it. I really hate doing that, because then I am constantly cleaning instead of cleaning in one big swoop. I just don't have enough time to clean for 2 hours like I use to! After my guilt set in, I realized that that little Bastard made me feel bad, when I was trying to tell him to do more cleaning! So next week, my plan is to not clean at all..."cause I am too busy"! I am sure that our house will go to hell, but maybe it will drive him crazy enough that he will at least pick up one job! 

I told Tony that I was not going to drive the hour there and back to Naperville to take Molly to the vet to check on her swollen incision since I too I drove their twice last week to take her and pick her up. So he did (maybe he felt guilty about not cleaning?). The Doctor did not think that it was infected, but did give us a cone for her to wear when we are not home and some anti-inflammatory medicine (she is already on the antibiotics for her UTI). Molly HATES the cone. She just stood there like a stick and didn't move till Tony finally laid her down. I feel bad for her, but we can't have her licking it! I personally think that it got inflamed by all of her jumping and "crazy eye" time. (How do you make a puppy, not have energy?)

Caught licking the rainwater off of the slide! Gross! 

Unfortunately, Molly's leaking is not stopping. I am personally starting to think that she still doesn't realize that she has to go. If I see any drips on the floor, I immediately take her out and stay out there till she pees. After that, no more leaking! From my "Mommy" research, I have found that if she has this major issue is a birth defect, then she would be constantly leaking, and a lot more than a few drops. It still royally ticks me off though! 

Listen here DOG!

Molly has entered what the book calls the "Teenage Stage". Her newest feat is to lay on the couch, she even jumped on the bed today! Now, I let her lay on the couch when I am on there (I know, but I always check for leaking first!), but I do not want her on there by herself yet till we get this figured out. She is not yet getting this, cause we spent about 15 minutes of her jumping on and off either couch, getting all curled up (and super cute, btw), just to have me kick her off, so she can jump on the other couch. Finally, I got her a blanket to lay on the floor, she seemed cool with that as long as I sit on the floor too...little hoe! 

That is what I thought! 

August 15-The Drive-In

I feel a little better about my classroom! I was so thankful to get a large chunk of time in there to work and even had some helpers to get some of the small stuff out of the way! I am pretty thankful that I am not going to San Fran tomorrow cause I still feel that I need to be in my classroom some more over the next few days.

I had my first home visits today! I was so glad that I am doing them. I made it very informal and just asked about their summers and asked the parents more about their student's goals.  They did go longer than the 15 minutes, but it was so fun to get to meet them for the first time in their own environments. They went very well, and I still have 2 more on Sunday and I hope to schedule at least 2 more before they start school.

When I got home Tony mentioned that he noticed that Molly's spaying incision seemed a little red. I took a peek and it defiantly looks a little pink and irritated. So I called the vet and they said to bring her in. So, I persuaded Tony to take the hour long drive out to Naperville to have them look at her. I really wish that we would have just taken her to our vet, it is so much closer! So hopefully, they can figure it out, cause there is defiantly some discharge oozing too! BOOOOO!!!!!! (Why can't we just have some normalcy with our dogs?)

At the Drive-In

So because Molly was irritated, we decided to leave her at home while we went to the Drive-In (Fabulous Groupon deal for $10)  I kind of wanted to just stay home after that ordeal, but Tony persuaded me with the fact that we really won't have any other night to go before school starts. So we managed to give Reagan a 5pm-6:30 nap and got her in the car by 7:15. She was so excited to be there! We were hoping for a little excitement in the beginning and then for her to fall asleep. Not our baby! She was moving from the time we got her out of the car seat till the time that we strapped her back in at 10:00!. She watched the hour and a half movie for a total of 5 minutes. She was more interested in her folding chair, the rocks on the ground, eating popcorn, going up and down the ramp by the concession stand and washing her hands in the bathroom.  However, this is the reason that I wanted her to experience her first movie at the Drive-In, cause she could do all of those things and not bother too many other people. I was just glad that we did not have Molly too! At least Tony got a chance to enjoy Ice Age 4!

All of the rocks that Reagan put on her chair?????

Ready for the movies!

August 14-JCP

Reagan's new charming action is whenever she goes into the bathroom, she points to her toothbrush and says "sh", which means brush. It is so cute that she wants to brush her teeth! I even bragged about her to the dentist today.

Reagan did have to go to the Babysitters today, so that made me sad cause I much rather be with her than in JCP hell! I was trying to be nice and volunteered to work two 8 hour days in a row and I am highly regretting it right now! Volunteering two days in a row during Free Kids Cuts for August was INSANE of me!

To top it off, today in the Salon we had a HUGE corporate visit, when I say huge, I mean each and every "boss" above me that is possible besides the actual JCPenney President was in attendance! A whole bunch of these people from "Dallas" decided to make a visit to our tiny salon during the biggest event in Salon history. My poor boss was running ragged making everything look perfect! All day yesterday was spent with me answering phones, confirming appointments and troubleshooting all other problems, so that she can line up products and other silly details that "they" analyze for. I felt so bad for her!

So finally today they came in at 1pm and sure enough they looked at the lined up shelves and all of the other silly details. They talked to the receptionist a bit and asked how it was going, and I wanted to say "Which one of you was responsible for this ridiculousness?" but I was respectful and put on my PC answers. I was baffled to hear their PC answers back and it made me realize what I could never work for a corporation, as a full time employee, cause I just can't buy into the "fake" of it all! I would rather be a teacher and tell parents the honest truth about their students (but in the nicest way possible).

The one thing that blew me away the most was when one of the visitors, a 50 year old man, came up to me and the other receptionist and put his hand up to "High 5" us. Then he said " You guys are doing such a wonderful job"! Number 1: How do you know what kind of job we are doing? You have been here for 5 minutes. Number 2: I am a 30 year old woman not a 17 year old. Next time, treat me with some respect, and shake my hand. This is not a 5 year old t-ball game.

Anyways, tomorrow I am excited to have Kaylee and Dalton (Sister and Brother in law) come into my classroom to help with getting it ready. Tony and Reagan are going to come and meet us for lunch, so that I can spend a little time with my sweetie! I am hoping to convince Tony to go the Drive in tomorrow, cause I got a great Groupon deal!

Reagan licking the rain water off of the slide. (Do you see her?)

Molly licking the rain water off of the chair!

August 12-Waffles

When Tony woke me up at 5:30 to go to work,  I had a little smile on my face. I knew that  if I laid a blanket on the couch (yep...she's still leaking?) that Molly would crawl up there and sleep for about another hour or two. I was exactly correct! She slept all the way till 8am when Reagan woke up. It was wonderful! I sort of feel bad, cause Molly is such a wonderful cuddle bunny and I have refused to let Tony have her on the couch. Boy is he missing out! Cuddling with Ellie was his favorite past time and I know that he is dying to have that same coziness with Molly (its just not the same on the floor). Hopefully, the UTI will clear up soon and we can get this figured out and get her onto the couch!

Molly checking out the Kitty!

Today, we had breakfast at Grandma and Grandpa's house. When we were younger, my Dad would make homemade waffles almost every Sunday. (That's probably where my chunkiness came from!) Over the years, he usually only makes them for special guests or holidays. (Well, at least that it what they tell us, Bret probably gets Breakfast every Sunday.) Today, he made Waffles at Casey's request and because Reagan had been present for other Waffle occasions, but was not old enough to enjoy!  Let me assure you that she loved them and when my Mom gave her a little puff of whipped cream in her palm, she was already signing for "please" which means give me more! She liked the waffles but she loved the whipped cream! I guess it is a good thing that we hardly every buy that stuff, cause I am sure that she would constantly be signing to the refrigerator!

Reagan's first homemade Waffle

After breakfast, we went to go check out Casey's wedding site. It is a beautiful location with lots of windows and a great big bar! I am so excited for her and I don't want to wait another year! I am so glad that she decided to wait to do the family/wedding party photo's till after the ceremony, even thought it doesn't make sense in a saving time. I just feel that it takes away from the Groom and Bride seeing each other for the first time in front of all of their family and friends. That moment just seems so magical (this from me who is not sappy). I know that my wedding is over, but Tony and I did not sleep in the same bed or see each other till the moment that I walked in. I started crying right away, just because it was such a "fun" anticipation! I am glad that Casey can experience that too!

This week is officially my last week of Summer! I think it is going to go so fast. Normally by this time in the summer, I am dying to go back, but for some reason, I am just not feeling it! Maybe it is because I am a little nervous about 4th grade and also a little sad about being away from my Babies.  I know that Reagan loves being with Karen and all of the kids there. We are looking into getting Molly into Doggie Daycare once a week, although it seems a little pricey, but it will be worth it to get her energy out on our long Monday's.

August 11-ENERGY!

Either Grandma gave Reagan sugar all day or my 16 month old suddenly got a whole ton of ENERGY! She was constantly moving her body from 5pm till she crashed for bed at 7:15. These were her list of activities during that time:

• Spinning circles in the kitchen
• Pulling all of the Tupperware out of the cabinet
• Walking around the yard "helping" me pick up doggie rocks
• Playing hide and seek behind the tree
• Pushing her "car" around the patio
• Climbing up and down the patio chair
• Throwing real "rocks" out of the fire pit (Molly helped)
• Finding Molly's toys and giving them to her
• Eating bubbles in her bath
• AND finally, falling asleep after her bedtime story, Fox with Socks (not easy to read BTW)

Of course, she had a TON of energy after Tony and I both had a pretty long Saturday of working "Back to School" retail. (I am convinced that MY day was harder than his, but he disagrees.) I love being busy at JCP. However, we have a huge corporate visit on Tuesday and it make it hard to focus on that when you have each stylist book completely full with free kids haircuts. (In my 8 years of working there, I have never seen it so busy, even at Christmas time!)

Sleepy!

It was nice after work today, cause my friend Katie invited us over for a little get together at her house. It was nice seeing Carter, Reagan's fiance there. (Although she wouldn't kiss him?) Reagan and Carter are about 4 weeks apart and they are both SO cute together, but they were doing the whole parallel paying thing. This means that they play alongside each other, but not with each other, kind of interesting.

Carter going in for the kill!

Tomorrow is exciting, cause Grandpa is going to have us over for Breakfast. (Only because Casey special requested it). Then we are going to go and visit her reception hall at the Itasca Country Club!

August 10- A Pitiful Puppy

My friend Rebecca cracks me up the way that her new puppy is her "Baby". She is a great Momma and even sets up Skype during the day to keep an eye on him when she is away. I was definitely the same way with Ellie. I would make dog birthday treats, take her to the groomer every other week and arrange play dates. It was kind of an obsession. But now with Molly, I don't feel that it is exactly the same. Of course, I love her so much, but having Reagan makes things a little different. However, I am not sure what it was, but last night my stomach was in knots and I barely slept. I was so anxious not having her at home! I think that Reagan sensed that tension because she woke up around 1:30am, wailing and stayed awake for about an hours. (She hasn't done that since she was 7 months old).

Sleeping on my arm in the car

So finally at 9am, I got to pick Molly up. She barely looked at me (she was probably ticked). I got her pain meds and the doctor told me that she did have a UTI. She gave us meds to make sure that she gets that cleared up. So we will wait and get the UTI cleared up and then see what will happen with her recesses urethra. On the way home she layed on my arm the whole way and tried to sleep. I felt so bad for her. I felt bad that I had to go to JCP, but I think it was good for her to have some quiet time and rest in her cage.

My shaved little puppy!

August 9- Spayed

When I walked out the door, my eyes were full of tears. I had to give myself a minute to call Tony cause I would have started to cry. I think that I was thinking back again to Ellie and how we had to take her collar and drive our car away without her. (The worst day of my life). I know that I will get to pick up Molly tomorrow and she will live to have a long and wonderful life with us (cause God just can't do that to us AGAIN!) But, it was still hard and it is super strange to be home without her!

Reagan looking for Molly in her cage

The Animal Hospital called around 3:30 to say that she was doing fine and just waking up from surgery. I do like that they keep her overnight, because I know that if she were home that she would be too excited and then not feel well. (Ellie couldn't help but jump)  We requested that they check her urinary system to see if there were any problems down there. The Doctor said that her urethra is a little larger than normal. She said that they sometime grow out of that, and if not, there is a surgery to help with that. So we will just wait and see!

Looking for Molly outside??? (She was very confused)

Trying to keep my mind off of my poor puppy, I had tutoring and a meeting at school. It was nice talking a bit with my team and making some plans. I feel so much better about starting the year! I really feel that I will be fine, and weather I like it our not the students are starting and I will probably not be ready, but they won't even know it! This year, I am even trying a little experiment with Teacher home visits. I put it out as an option and I have had a pretty positive (?) response. I think that I am nuts, but I hope that it helps build a relationship  with the parents and students. I also hope that it is worth my time!?

August 8- Stresses #1-5

My lower back is aching, my jaw is clenching and the red wine tastes REALLY good! School must be starting!

Getting some SUN!

Getting a new classroom ready for a new grade is extremely stressful. Not only do you have to set up the classroom, but then you have the extremely hard task of actually teaching the students a new curriculum to you! I have done this four times in 8 years and although this current situation has been self inflected, it still give me stomach cramps. I have even gotten desperate enough to "hire/pay" my sister and brother in law to come in to my classroom next Wednesday to do some little organizational stuff for me.

Another reason for my jaw clenching is my wonderful JCPenney job. Now, I bet you think that being a receptionist of a salon is a lot of magazine reading and nail polishing (which it was, "once upon a time"). However, the wonderful people of JCP decided to perfectly plan FREE KIDS CUTS for August. My boss had offered me all sorts of extra hours, but unfortunately I had vacation, and this little "teacher" thing and I had to limit myself. I felt so bad for saying "no", but I would wind up in the looney bin if I said yes! Thankfully she hired a wonderful, former JCP receptionist that everyone will love!;-)

Stress #3: My poor Molly is getting spayed tomorrow. I am so sad for her, not just cause she can't eat till the following day, but because tomorrow night she has to sleep over at the vets office. I am going to miss her and it is going to be eerie here without her. Hopefully the spaying will help her with this whole leaking thing . My Mommy instinct tells me that it will not, but I am going to be extremely hopeful!

Stress #4: Since my sister has moved to the San Francisco Bay area, no one in my family has visited her. It is mostly because she is practically in Chicago once a month! In fact, I saw her last week and then she is coming in again this weekend. Now, since Joel's family lives out there, and they are engaged, it is probably wise for a few of us to at least meet them before the wedding. They aren't getting married till next Labor Day, but with my school schedule it is really the only time that we will have to go out there and visit before "real" wedding stuff starts to set in. So...my Mom and I are planning a trip to Cali on Thursday (Yes, 4 days before I have to report to school and crazy JCP) . In a perfect world, we will fly in at 8am and leave by midnight. However, I have flown stand-by so many times before, that I know that it doesn't always work like that. (Hold on...my back is cramping again.) We still have Friday to get back, but I still feel that I need to be in my classroom getting ready. I am super excited to go though and meet Joel's family, plus I will be excited to fly on a plane and actually read a book (it will probably be a school book though).

Stress #5: I am really going to miss being with my Babies! There are so many things that I felt that we would still have time to do.  I definitely could not be a stay a home Mom, but I am really going to miss having the freedom to take 3 walks a day, play in the backyard, or go shopping whenever we want. I am so glad that my Master's is over, so that I will have an extra night to be home and also not have to stress about getting my writing or reading done, but it is still not enough time! Oh well...just like before, I will just have to prioritize my time! When I am home, I am going to have their full attention!

Reagan playing in the Water Table

August 6-Colorado

Our adventure began at 5am on Friday till right now at 8pm on Monday. After unpacking all of the suitcases and putting it all away, I am enjoying some quiet by sitting on the porch drinking a nice cold Beer. Our trip was wonderful, but there is definitely "No place like home". Bear with me, cause I was so tired at the end of each day that I didn't blog at all!

Reagan ready for the Airplane!

The trip flying to Denver went wonderfully. I am a big fat chicken, cause I did not have enough guts to Benadryl my child, and I am glad that I didn't, cause my luck she would have been super hyper or super crabby. However, she probably took down about 20 Animal Crackers and drank a whole lot of water on the way there! She slept for about a half hour while we were on the plane and was great the rest of the ride! We were excited to get to Denver and see my Grandma, Mom, Dad, Sister and Future Brother in law. After getting the rental car, checking in, and getting dressed, we were already off to the rehearsal dinner.

Tony had never seen the mountains before and I felt a little bad for him, cause he had to concentrate on driving and didn't get to take in the view. Evergreen was beautiful and the restaurant was gorgeous! Reagan was pretty well behaved amongst adults and even let Mommy and Daddy have some yummy wine! It was a cozy dinner and we enjoyed getting to know my new Uncle's family. We headed to bed early that night, cause we had a lot planned for the next day.

Auntie Casey with Reagan

Saturday morning began at 7am, and we even got Grandpa Ron to buy us all Breakfast! We then headed to Red Rocks to check out the scenery. Grandpa decided to carry Reagan up the first flight of stairs, but I bet he was regretting being a Smoker, cause he put her down right away after getting to the first landing! It is a beautiful venue and Tony just kept saying how he would LOVE to see Dave Matthews play there! It was pretty fun to see all of the people working out on the stairs there! I personally thought they were all nuts!

@Red Rocks

After that, we headed for the Coors Brewery. We were going to take Reagan, but I was thankful that Grandma Baba took her to the hotel instead, cause it would have been too long for her. The tour was nice, but I personally liked the Miller one in Milwaukee better. Of course, we got to sample beer at the end, but I was a little disappointed cause I only had time to have one (I was not going to chug)...we had to get to the wedding!

Tony and I at Coors

The Wedding was in Downtown Denver and it was quaint and beautiful. Reagan continued to be amused by Animal Crackers and a few games on my cell phone. Luckily the ceremony was short but very sweet!

Grandma and My Dad walking down the aisle.

The reception was a quiet garden reception in the foothills of the mountains at my Aunt and new Uncle's house. My poor husband who has not driven down a hill larger than Trout Park Boulevard, was freaking out driving there. The GPS took us a little on the off beaten path and I swear we were about to fall off of the side and even bottomed out once! Luckily, we got there fine and the reception was great! It was great seeing my cousin, Orion and and his new girlfriend Chrissy. We got off of the mountain in plenty of time, cause it was starting to get dark and they definitely did not have street lights down in this valley.

Mom, Grandma, Me, Casey and Reagan

At the Reception at my Aunt and Uncle's house

Another early morning the next day. We got up and said "Goodbye" to my sister, Joel, Grandma Baba, Grandpa and Grandma Jean, as they were flying standby and needed to get to the airport early. We then had a little breakfast and then decided to take a little trip to Central City with my Uncle. We were a little disappointed cause they really did not have that much. A lot of gambling and not a lot of shopping, but I guess it was only 9:30 on a Sunday. So then we headed to my Aunt's house. We had a little time, so we stopped to take in the view of Lookout Mountain. We stopped at Buffalo Bills Grave site and even tried out a true "Buffalo" Burger (Yes, my cousin worked there and he said that they were real Buffalo). They were actually pretty yummy!

Central City,Colorado

Uncle Rob and Reagan on Lookout Mountain

We met my cousin and his girlfriend up at my Aunt's house. I asked Orion if he could take us on a hike up into the mountains behind my Aunts house. (My Aunt took us there a few time when we were little and it is so nice). So, we put Reagan on Tony's back and Orion, Chrissy, Uncle Rob and I headed up the mountain.  (Note: Orion and Chrissy are Crossfit trainers, so that must have thought we were a bunch of wusses).  It is a beautiful hike, but not the Fox River Dog Park hike that we are use to. A stream wraps around the mountain and there is a little waterfall. We climbed in to the basin and luckily the water was not deep because of the drought. A little farther and there is this set of rocks that overlooks the whole valley.  I said that I would climb up there, since Orion offered. So Tony, Chrissy, Reagan and Uncle Rob waited at the bottom while Orion took me up there. (I reminded Tony that he had good Life Insurance on me)  I felt that I was 10 years old again following Orion up some mountain, but I was so glad that I did it! It was a beautiful view, but my 30 year old self got the best of me and I did get a little anxious! On our way back up we saw a whole heard of cows in the waterfall basin. My Uncle went to take a picture and 2 came after him! I was a little scared for him!! Luckily, we all made it back! Reagan even took a little nap on Daddy's back. I am sure he did not appreciate that dead weight, cause he was so tired at the end of it! I think he was glad that we did it though!

Yes, that's my Dumbass on a Mountain!

After that my Aunt took us on a drive up to Mount Evans. We just pulled out of my Aunt's neighborhood and the "low tire pressure" light went on the car! Perfect time to go up a mountain, but we actually made it! We didn't got all the way up to the top, but we stopped about half way at Echo Lake and got a shirt and some pie! It was so beautiful up there but us "Flatlanders" all felt a little queezy (I guess it's the lack of oxygen)! It was strange how the tree levels change and how the temperature changed to about 25 degrees cooler. The way down was crazy! So many twists and turn and curves! It was a good thing that we don't get car sick.

At Echo Lake

Later on my Aunt wanted to go to dinner, but we had been dragging Reagan around all day and we decided to just get some Mexican food to our room. We even took a little walk and got some Frozen Yogurt! Reagan fell asleep right away and I was not far after her! Of course, Tony had to stay up and finish watching the Olympics.

Finally, it was time to start getting ready for home! We got packed up and stopped by to visit Orion's Crossfit Business. I am so happy for my cousin, cause he found something that he loves and he is doing really well at it! I told Tony, that if I were to open a business it would probably be the Ice Cream shop right next door to the Crossfit! Haha! So we headed for the airport!

Orion's Crossfit Gym

A brief view of the mountains, yes, that is Reagan squeaking in the background! 

We got to the airport in plenty of time and even had some time to get some t-shirts and a Dreamcatcher for Reagan. It was a super quick plane ride, but honestly it seemed like forever, cause although Reagan was so tired, she did not sleep at all! We took advantage of Teddy Grahams on this trip and the man that sat next to us even complimented her on her good behavior ( Ha! What does he know?)

Reagan and Mommy ready to go home!

Molly was so happy to see us! My Mommy had been watching her today and even bought us dinner for our return. Thankfully I have tomorrow off and I get to relax a bit! School will be starting in such a short time. Now that this trip is over, it's starting to get "real"!

She wouldn't sleep the whole plane ride, but fell asleep waiting for the bus!

August 2- Ready, Set, Fly?

 Tomorrow we are attempting the almost stupidest thing that we have ever done in our parenting  lives. We are about to take a 16 month old, on an two and a half hour airplane ride to Colorado. Of course, when I have a "problem" I have to ask every single person that I see to tell me about their situations. I have gotten a whole LOT of interesting stories from, "oh they slept the whole way", to "yeah...diarrhea the whole flight", to the ultimate nightmare..."screaming the whole time".
A friend did mention that they gave her niece Benadryl before the flight and that she slept the whole time. At first, I was like "WHAT???", but then I got to thinking? So I asked the doctor, and he did bring up Benadryl and said that it will "get her nice and drowsy". Now, Reagan is a really good baby. She is friendly, happy and charming, so for me to want to "knock" her out for 2 1/2 hours is kind of bothering me. On the other hand, I know that she will be SO excited for this new adventure that she will not want to sleep on her own! Plus, when we get there we have so many things planned that I would hate for her to be so cranky and tired! I think that this will be a last minute "Daddy" decision, cause I just don't think that I can do it.

Now, I don't normally complain about businesses cause I hate when people complain to me about JCP or Best Buy. However, I am blown away that our airline only allows ONE "personal" item on board the airplane (purse, briefcase, umbrella?). If you want to bring a carry on, you have to pay 30 dollars! So Mr. Airline Man (of course, a man), Tanya Hernandez is not a fool! On the airplane, I will be wearing, two tank tops, my very "heavy" jeans, and my sweatshirt.(Yes, it will be 92 in Chicago and in Denver? So...?) Oh, you allow a infant diaper bag? Well...that will be stuffed the the brim with all of her clothes, bows, book, toys and snacks. My "personal" item will actually be my pool bag (within your regulation) that will carry my large purse and all of my necessary electronics! Thanks to my Mommy, who works for a competitive airline, who checked other duffel bag for free! HA! So you can take your 30 dollar fee and...

Thank goodness for my Mom checking our bag, cause Tony was going to attempt to bring all this stuff into this little black bag...HA!

Now to continue with our cheapness, we are going to be playing Planes, Trains and Automobiles (and Buses) in order to save $70 on the airport parking fee. This is the agenda for tomorrow morning:

• 7am:Leave our house (maybe)
• 7:15: Pick up my poor Uncle (who I think is pretty hesitant to come with us)
• 7:45: Drop luggage, Reagan and responsible adult at Terminal 3
• 8:15: Pick up bus at United Employee parking lot (Thanks Mom!)
• 8:30: Bus will drop off at Terminal 1 (yes, I know...Reagan/Luggage/Responsible adult at Terminal 3)
• 8:45: Take O'Hare Tram from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3.
• 9:00: All meet at Terminal 3 and breath

Now, when I called my Uncle to tell him of this little cheapskate plan, he was a little shocked but willing. He called to confirm that I meant 7am, cause our flight doesn't leave till 10:50. I explained to him that we just want to make sure that we have PLENTY of time. Tony says we are not "running through the airport like Christmas Vacation", I told him that he meant "Home Alone".

Molly playing with her Cousin Bella.

Poor Molly got stung by a bee!