Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?

We spent just about the whole weekend outside. On Saturday, we went to J&T's pool to celebrate my mom's birthday. The weather was perfect for swimming and the kids spent all day in the pool. When we first got in, I think H. forgot how to swim from last year. She wouldn't let go of me, but about 10 minutes later, it all came back to her and she turned into a little fish. She was jumping off the steps and can kick her way across the width of the pool. We didn't leave until 6:30pm, which means we didn't get home until 7:30pm and we still had to get everything ready for Sunday at Sesame Place. Somehow, H. stayed awake the entire ride home, even though she didn't have a nap and must have been exhausted from the sun and swimming. It was for the best, though, because she desperately needed a bath.

We were up bright and early Sunday morning and W. and her daughter M. arrived at about 8:30am. We were on the road by 9am, with the girls happily watching "The Lion King" in the backseat. We arrived at Sesame Place right at 11am and it was very crowded. We got the last space in the preferred parking lot, and then headed out to brave the heat and the crowds. Our plan was to do the non-water rides first, and then we ate lunch, watched the birthday parade, then changed into our bathing suits to hit the water rides. We were so hot and sweaty at this point that I ignored my usual dislike of very public swimming pools and cooled off. The pictures of H. with Elmo and Big Bird are in Wendy's camera, since both of us had to accompany our little ones to sit with the characters. Otherwise, they wouldn't have done it at all.

On Monday, H. started "school" at the new daycare/preschool. She did great, just like I thought she would. She went through three pairs of training pants, but made it through the afternoon dry. On Tuesday, she only needed to be changed once. I think she was already adjusted this morning because when I dropped her off and was lingering before leaving she told me, "You can go to work now, Mommy." What was I worried about?

Coming Up for Air

Okay, so I lied about getting back on track after my class ended. There just aren't enough hours in the day! I thought things were going to settle down, but we received some news last week that threw us for a loop. Last Tuesday, our babysitter told us she was going back to work and wouldn't be babysitting anymore. And that her last day of a babysitting would be Thursday, June 23 (that's tomorrow). Yes, she essentially gave us less than two weeks' notice. So we had to initiate a frantic search to find someone new. The timing couldn't have been worse, since school just let out a couple of weeks ago, so places that may have had openings were full. Luckily, the daycare/preschool that our neighbor attends had a last minute opening. We went for a site visit Friday after work and I think it's going to work out. It's more preschool than daycare - more structured, more routine - which I think H. is ready for at this point anyway. And they will also focus on potty training, which has been going quite well recently, we just need to get all the way there. So we may not have been planning for it, but I think it will turn out to be a good thing to switch daycare. Now I'm trying to get H. excited about going to "school" and hope that she's not too upset about leaving the sitter's.

In the midst of all of this, I had to squeeze in doctor's appointments for both H. and me, and state inspections for the van and car that are due before the end of the month. Yes, we're still sick and have been since Memorial Day and now it's almost the 4th of July. There wasn't a whole lot the doctor could do for us, "Just let it run its course, but come back in two weeks if you're still not better." I think it is almost gone, but we're both still coughing a lot at night. And my blood pressure was up again - I wonder why!

Our weekends continue to be busy. We went to a birthday party for my mother-in-law on Saturday (instead of going to K&K's ballet recital), and then went to the races on Sunday to watch M. race. Our neighbors went with us, so H. had someone to play with and it was nice to have someone to talk to and hang out with since M. is always so busy while we're there.

Coming up this week, I have an event to attend for work Thursday night down in Baltimore, and then my mother's birthday party on Saturday at J's pool, followed by our long-planned trip to Sesame Place on Sunday with W. and her duaghter M., which I'm really looking forward to. Then H. starts at the new daycare on Monday. Thank goodness the following weekend is a four-day weekend. We don't have any plans for the holiday yet, so I'm hoping to spend quite a bit of the weekend studying for my final, which is on the 9th in the morning. I'll be so happy when this class is over! Then it will be time to start thinking about vacation and everything we need to get ready for that. I'm definitely in need of a vacation right about now!

Wild Kingdom

Here's what was in our yard this evening after work when H. and I went outside to play.


M's not wearing any shoes because I was screaming for him to come outside. I'm sure he thought H. was hurt or something.

We've had snakes in the yard before, but they've always been at the top of the yard near the wall and the cornfield. (And I think they've always been smaller than this one.) This one was on the patio right outside the sliding doors. We practically stepped on it before I saw it. Yuck!

Killer Bloggers (Not Really)

The headline for this story on CNN cracked me up:

Pennsylvania Uses Bloggers to Lure Tourists

I was waiting for the next line to be "to their deaths," or something like that, but no, PA is paying six "roadtrippers" to visit various tourist spots around the state, then blog about their experiences. Think they would be interested in my Dutch Wonderland story? The "Visit PA" blogs can be found here. I think they should make all of them live in a house together for the summer, too and broadcast their adventures online.

Strange But True

First, the whole thing with the Dover school district, and now this. Pennsylvania is gaining on Florida as the land of strange and weird and embarrassing news stories. I think I'm ready to move back to Maryland, inflated housing prices and crime rate be damned. Give me an old-fashioned murder headline any day versus these far more troubling stories.
(Thanks to Bookslut for the NY Times link.)

Holiday Weekend

Our holiday weekend was both busy and relaxing. I took Friday off for a 4-day weekend and waited for the new refrigerator and washing machine to be delivered. They were actually early! My delivery time was between 10:30 and 12:30 and they arrived just before 10. That was more work than I thought it would be, taking everything out of the old refrigerator and putting it back in the new one. However, taking all of the magnets, photos and magazine clippings off the old fridge and putting them back on was the most time consuming!

After that was finished, I commenced with shampooing the carpets, also more work than I thought it would be. The stairs needed the most attention and I had to use the manual hand tools to get them clean, so it took a long time. Then I also cleaned the rugs in our bedroom, the upstairs hallway and the living room. I ran out of steam (no pun intended) before I could do H's room, which really doesn't need it, and I knew I wasn't going to do the family room, which is too big. Next time, I'll hire someone to do this job.

The local Farmers/Amish Market has a cruise night on the last Friday of every month, so we went over there for a little while and looked around at all the cars before getting some dinner, especially since it was a nice evening to be outside. They had a pretty good turnout and M. might take one of his cars up there next month.

On Saturday, we went to Dutch Wonderland and had a fantastic time (I was tempted to say "wonder"ful). It wasn't too crowded, even though the parking lot looked packed when we pulled in. There was only one ride we really had to wait a while for - the Old Tyme Cars on the "Turnpike." H. loved all the rides and wasn't scared of any of them, even the roller coaster and some train-like ride that whipped you around the corners. She really wanted to get on the swings, but you had to be atleast 42 inches for that ride. The only thing she didn't like was the real, life-size Duke the Dragon. She was starting to drag around 2:30, right around nap time, so we headed out just as it started to rain. Good timing! And it was nice to go somewhere that was barely an hour away and still get home with most of the afternoon and the whole evening left. We might consider getting a season pass for next year.

M. went racing on Sunday, so H. and I had a quiet day to ourselves. We were outside for hours, playing on the swing set, using the sidewalk chalk and blowing bubbles. H. took a long nap while I finished and submitted all of my homework well before midnight. The only bad thing about the day was that we both had runny noses and by Sunday night, I was feeling a full-blown cold coming on.

On Monday, we went down to M's mom's for lunch so he could also help her open up the sunporch. I was also able to go to Circuit City while we were down there and buy my new digital camera. I'm very excited, even though I haven't used it yet. My brain has been too fuzzy from my cold to comprehend all the buttons and features, but I did charge the battery. Hopefully, that means more timely pictures posted here!

Then it was back to work on Tuesday, even though I didn't sleep very well Monday night, since I can't breath through my nose. Finally this afternoon, my head no longer felt like it was going to explode, but most of the cold has moved into my chest instead. I hope this cold doesn't last very long because I have too much going on to be out of commission.