Trip Post #1--Lots of Potty Humor

I vowed not to leave it to the end of the trip to post...and try and remember everything that happened in 3 weeks.  I have already forgotten so much.  I posted a big facebook album with lots of pics of our camping.  I am really enjoying some things about this trip.  I knew it was going to be awesome when I packed:
NO STROLLER,
NO PACK N PLAY
AND MOST ESPECIALLY NO DIAPERS!

Ben is a potty rock star.  He loves to look at the "snakes" he creates.  I was a bit worried about the camping bathroom situation.  But 2 things were in our favor.  1.  He thought that there were alligators in the potty and he was excited to feed them his poop.  2.  It was actually a good smelling porto potty.  Seriously.  Smelled like cinnamon.  On the second day when he went back to go potty he said to the alligators, "You're welcome for my poop."  I just about died.
He does wait a little longer than I would like sometimes.  Today I wanted him to go before we went into sacrament meeting (which is last at my parents' ward).  He didn't want to. I asked if he had had any water to drink in nursery.  He said they had pink water (some punch I assume).  I got really excited and asked if he wanted to see if his tinkle would be pink.  He was so excited he instantly decided he had to go.  I am really enjoying taking him because he gets so excited to be successful.  He even says, "I am so proud of me!  Are you proud of me mommy?"  YES!

Libby and Sarah are loving the trip too.  They have been playing outside non-stop almost.  We definitely need to get our swing set up at home.
Sarah also loves to put on shows for people.  So here she has an amazing audience.  She had Bryn and Brian dance to the "Rabbit Tango" song as she sang it.  She gave them special moves to do and then changed them just before the dance started.  It is, unfortunately for them, a long song and she knows every word.
We have had some interesting Libby/Sarah conflicts during the trip.  In the car the kids get to pick the movie in a rotation.  When it was Libby's turn she wanted to watch Willy Wonka.  Sarah FREAKED out.  Wouldn't have it.  We had to spend 15 minutes calming her down and getting Libby to choose something else.  Finally, it was all calm.  They watched something else.  Then it was Ben's turn to choose.  He said in a cute sweet little voice, "Willie Wonka?"  I think he did it just to see what would happen.
Libby was super funny when we pulled into the camp site.  She said, "Are there snakes in Utah?"  I said yes, and she freaked out.  Didn't want to get out of the car, afraid to walk to the river.  Then after she did, and didn't see a snake, she was over it.  Just like that.  Love kids.

Ben's dinner one night was composed mainly of pickles.  Definitely related to their auntie Ray Ray.  

Ben was into taking pictures of me.  I looked REALLY good by the end of 3 days with no shower.  Gross.  And smelled good.  

Ben was super into posing for pics. 

The Persian Princesses

A few pics from the road.  Getting started.   

Burger Kings and Queens

Ben was excited to sleep in his new sleeping bag.

I found a snail for Libby to salt in the garden at my parents.  She was pretty excited.  

Grandpa got a new toy that Sarah can ride on.

This is the size of rock the kids wanted to toss into the river.  

 

Potty Training Saga...

This week was dominated by two things.  Potty training and dance recital prep.  Last week, just after I blogged that I was giving up on Ben and the potty, he came in to show me that he had thrown his own poop into the potty.  So, he wasn't going to let me give up.  Later that day he actually pooped in the potty!  So, we decided to just go for it.  He has about a 50% rate getting #2 in the potty.  But #1 he is almost 100%.  The one exception I can think of is when he accidentally shut himself into the van and couldn't get out.  When he needs to go he says, "I'm tinkling!"  Or "I pooped!"  Usually the former means "I need to tinkle!"  The latter sometimes means that he needs to or that he already did.  Sigh.  It is a tough thing to learn.

Dance Dance Dance!

I had dance practice or dress rehearsal or a performance every night this week.  And, while I should have been studying, and it wore me out, I loved it!  I was super proud of the girls in the recital and super proud of myself!  I think that I nailed it.  I won't see the DVD until later this summer, but I think it went really well.  I had fun.  I wasn't nervous.  I managed to smile and not sing.  I am happy.  And I want to do it again.  We'll see if the family budget and energy can handle it next year.

This week wouldn't have been possible without my mom!  Big thanks to her for flying in from Utah to help with the kids while I had an insane practice schedule.

Libby's dance was to Hungarian Dance.  It was so fun.  They used tambourines!

Sarah, the Persian Princess.

Haven't seen the Weeks for too long!  So glad they came!

Grateful for friends who braved the traffic to come and see us!

Proud of Aunt Maren for coming out to see some dancing.  Not really her thing, but she did it for us!

These are my friends from class who aren't instructors.  The rest of our class are instructors, the studio owner & her daughter.  

We started our dance with these fake men.  Then we danced by ourselves and at the end we were joined by real men partners.  It was such a fun dance!

  

Bodystep Launch and a Streaker Story

It was our launch of BODYSTEP 96 this weekend.  I got to teach with 2 fabulous instructors!  Mary and Tisha are awesome!  (I know, Trish and Tisha.  Gonna get confusing!).  Anyway, the week before the launch, I went to shop for launch wardrobe, one of my fav things to do.  Sarah also needed a swimsuit.  So, she and I were trying on clothes.  Ben announced, "I want to try something on."  Before I could stop him (or even realize what he was doing) he stripped off all his clothes (including pull-up) and bolted from the dressing room.  (BTW, the dressing room is now in the middle of the store and there was a line to try on clothes.)  Off he went, entertaining all.  He came back with a women's tank top.  He tried it on and decided that it was too small.  Again, before I could stop him he stripped it off and left the fitting room.  I got dressed as fast as I could and brought him back.  It was so funny to see him in his Avengers shoes and nothing else running around Old Navy.  That boy!

Dance Recital Sneak Preview

If I had known how many extra practices were involved in dancing in a recital, I might not have done it...But at the same time that I am a bit stressed by the time commitment, I am loving it!
Here is a sneak preview of our costumes....

Libby is dancing to "Hungarian dances"

My dance is a latin-ish dance where we dance with partners for part of the time...hence the extra practices.

Sarah is a Persian Princess

Sarah's Preschool Graduation

Sarah graduated from the Westgate Chapel Preschool this week.  I have really enjoyed her time there.  It was a nice spiritual focus and at the same time she really learned so much!  There was a preschool talent show for her class on the last day.  She wore her Persian Princess out fit and did her dance recital dance.  She was AMAZING!  Great eye contact with the audience.  Sang with confidence.  I was so impressed.
Love this girl!
Last night I offered 5 bucks to the kid who could find the missing leotard and my missing Oakley sunglasses.  Sarah's response:  "If I find them, and I get the 5 bucks, I want to share it with Benny."
Libby's response:  "THAT'S NOT FAIR!  WHAT IF I DON'T FIND THEM, AND THEN I DON'T GET 5 BUCKS!"
The cold Libby and I are suffering from has a definite grumpy component!

Happy Birthday Benny and other Ben news

We celebrated Ben's birthday amid a whirlwind of activities this week.  I sandwiched a birthday party in on Tuesday between clients and classes and dance rehearsals.  By the time I cleaned up from the party on Wednesday morning, there were green cupcake crumbs everywhere.  But it was worth it.
His favorite gift was probably the stomp rocket from our friends from church.  But he loved everything, including the attention!  When he opened his card from G&G Randall, he said, "Oh, so cute!"
By Wednesday he was birthdayed out.  When G&G Randall finally caught up with us on Wednesday afternoon, Ben told Grandma that his birthday was "all done."
I wish I was also reporting that he was fully potty trained.  We went for 2 days in undies with only a couple of accidents.  But all of the accidents revolved around the fact that he won't go #2 in the potty.  So, I am giving up.  Sort of.  I don't want to regress!  He does really well with #1.  But I don't have the strength, or energy, or stamina to deal with it right now.  Ugh.  I think we will do pull-ups so he can go #1 most of the time and when he is willing to say something besides "it won't work" when I ask him to try #2, we'll go back to undies.  Sigh.

We worked with him on making a 3 with his hand in the morning at breakfast.  Libby and I gave him lots of options as to how to do it.  His fingers just couldn't quite make it.  So we got the first bump.  

Later in the day he got this down!  (Although since then he still struggles with it.)

His amazing Hulk cupcakes.  Big thanks to Paige and her friend for doing the eyes.  Not sure if they are pinterest worthy, but the turned out pretty tough looking ;)

He got the stomp rocket down pretty fast!

A Magical Seattle Evening

I am kind of a unique type.  I love work.  I have to make myself play.  I am pretty proud of myself because this weekend Derek had an actual weekend (no Mariners or festivals) and I helped us carve out some play time.  On Friday we went to the temple during the day and in the evening we watched a movie.  I actually sat and watched an entire movie.  Shocking.
Then on Saturday, after the Rhinos event (which ended about 5:30 pm) I looked at the weather (beautiful) and the family--all in the car and ready and suggested a trip to the Ballard Locks.
It was AMAZING!  This is a special place for us because Derek took me there when we first started dating.  I would say it was the night that I knew there was really some magic between us (and I am amazed that I felt anything because it was winter and freezing).
It was another magical night.  I should really play more often!

Fish and chips from the Redmill Totem across the street.  Delicious.  We ate every bite of everything (another magical moment!)

Libby posing with the sculpture

The girls watching a train cross the drawbridge.  It was about to go up after the train to let through a big fishing boat. 

Sarah took this awesome pic.  

Ben is 2--for 2 more days!

On the way home we got Dick's shakes.  

Have I mentioned how much the girls love sitting on top of the van?

Posing at the gate of the locks.

There was a sweet couple that let the kids feed their fries to the seagulls.  

My favorite pic of the night.  There was a heron down near the fish ladder.  Derek and Ben checking it out with the drawbridge up in the background.  

End of an Era

For 3 years I have been on the board of the Wrestling Rhinos, the local wrestling club.  I decided to help out the board because youth wrestling is really important to the success of middle and high school teams, and because we wanted the club to be very vibrant when Ben was ready to wrestle.  Also because they were desperate for help.  My time on the board could have been up last June--but I said I would help again for one more year.  Big mistake, since I had no idea at the time what was in store for our family this year, moving, etc.  So this year was a struggle to keep on top of it all.  So, I am VERY VERY glad to have something off of my very full plate.  But, I said a tearful goodbye at the end of year party yesterday.  We had some very capable parents step in to help take over my jobs on the board, so I leave things in very great hands.
When I started on the board there were a handful of Rhinos with a very loose organization.  I am leaving a club that has about 150 wrestlers and we run a pretty tight ship (the criteria being that wrestlers actually register, have their USA card, and pay their club dues).  I am leaving a couple of other things as a part of my legacy.  

I got to be on the board during the 40th anniversary season.  I created this logo for the back of the sweatshirts.  

I also found a vendor and had them create this awesome design for our club singlets.  Hopefully Rhinos will be wearing these for many seasons to come!

Favorite quotes

This week had some great quotes.  Of course I didn't write enough of them down.  But here are the favorites that I remember.

Ben found a tiara and put it on.  He said, "Queen Benjamin at your service!"  Then he made me put it on and say, "Queen Tricia at your service."

Libby learned a new joke at school.  It is why is 6 afraid of 7?  Because 7, 8, 9...(ate 9, get it?)  Anyway she has told it to several people--getting it wrong in various ways most of the time.  But the best are the Sarah spin offs of the joke.

At the dance studio yesterday (I should have taken pics in our costumes, but I was too frantic and rushed.  I even wore my costume and got a pic with the girls) Sarah told everyone how much she loved their costumes.  It was so sweet.

This guy is so adorable.  He is excited to be wearing undies and going potty.  Hasn't figured out #2.  Kinda scared to see if he stayed "clean and dry" all night.  Doubting it.  It is a work in progress!