We went, we ate, we swam, we slept, and we ate and swam some more.

On Sunday afternoon we loaded the girls up and told them we were taking them to a surprise place to spend the night. Addi wanted clues and wasn't too happy when we wouldn't just tell her where we were going. Fortunately, Great Wolf Lodge was not that far of a drive because her pouting was really putting a damper on all of our excitement.

We got to the Lodge about 2:45 and our room was ready. While the girls and I waited in the car, Bryan walked into the lobby to check-in. Since it was a chilly Texas February day (a high of 78 or something), people were walking around outside the Lodge in their swimsuits.

That's when the girls figured out we would also be going to a swimming pool. And, that's when we all started calling the waterpark a swimming pool until Monday afternoon when I suggested we call it by it's correct name so there would be no wailing and gnashing of teeth this summer when I said we were going to the swimming pool. I tell ya, I've learned a few things in my years as a mother.

We spent about 2 hours in the waterpark that afternoon where Addi surprised us with her courage. She wanted to start out on the "adult" slides, the ones she was just barely tall enough to be allowed on.
Then we went up to our room to change for supper. We found a restaurant in the Lodge that was filled with flat-screen tvs all tuned to the Super Bowl. That suited the Mister just fine. He didn't even complain when the little Misses took forever to eat as they are accustomed to doing. The entertainment was great. The food was disappointing. The menu was full of yummy sounding stuff. Many of it boasted being created specially for this Great Wolf Lodge by some professional sounding chef. I could really help them out.

1. Fire professional sounding chef and burn menus.

2. Go to foodnetwork.com and pick anything. It will taste supremely better than what we ate and your customers might not be so disgruntled when you charge them $15.95 for a hamburger.

That being said, we did order a dessert I would like to recreate at home, but that was through no skill of the chefs/cooks. It was simply because the Lodge uses Blue Bell ice cream. I am not kidding when I tell you that on the platter was at least a pint of chocolate ice cream with probably half a pint of vanilla in the center. You couldn't see the vanilla because it was covered by a mound of cotton candy. Four long pretzel sticks covered in chocolate stuck out of the ice cream and met tee-pee like over the cotton candy. Plenty of hot fudge, whipped cream, and cherries topped it all off.

This is pretty much how we all looked while eating our sundae:

And this is pretty much how we all looked once our blood sugar was sky high:

We got back to our room and the girls were thrilled to watch movies on the flat screen tv in their very own tent for a while. At 8, we made our way down to storytime in the lobby. We found out once it started that Wiley Wolf would make an appearance for pictures after the story, so I ran walked, as quickly as possible up to our room to grab the camera. I made it back in time to find everyone else gone, my oldest cowered in a corner, and my youngest high-fiving Wiley. Everyone was relieved to see me with the camera. That's about the time Libby figured out there was something a little off with Wiley.

As a result, this is how the picture of Libby and Wiley turned out:

And this one (notice her grip on Bryan's shirt!):

Monday morning we woke up, ate a ridiculously priced breakfast (you'd of thought we would have been smart enough to load the girls up and run to Whataburger for some taquitos - tastier and cheaper!), and spent about an hour relaxing in our room before we had to check-out. Check-out time was 11 o'clock. Bryan and I thought we'd make sure the girls were well rested before heading back to the waterpark in the hopes we'd avert an early afternoon meltdown or two.

Of course, it worked.

Oh, wait, no it didn't!

About the time we decided we'd, once again, pay the exorbitant prices for lousy food and eat lunch, the kiddie area was evacuated and roped off. Even though we were planning to leave the area to eat, Libby almost drowned herself trying to stay. Then it took forever to get our food. Then we smelled The Smell near the table we'd already claimed. Fortunately Mondays aren't too busy, so we easily moved our gear to another table further away from The Smell. The kiddie area remained closed for quite a while which meant we had the perfect opportunity for Addi and Bryan to ride more big slides while I tried to guess when she'd come out to capture her expression with the camera. If that had actually happened, the picture would be here.

But it didn't. Instead of taking that perfect shot, I was picking my 2 year old up off the floor while trying to keep my digital camera dry and not teaching her some words I would later regret when she repeated them. I have these instead.

The first time Libby went down the kiddie slide:

And the second time (surprisingly she went again and again after this "flip"):

Addi ending a "medium" slide:

Libby also went down this slide all by herself while I was at the bathroom. She led Bryan to it, said, "slide", and showed up at the bottom with a horrified look on her face not long after Bryan went down himself. Needless to say, she did not go on this one again!

Finally the kiddie area reopened. Bryan and I pretended that it had just been closed down for routine maintenance while the girls continued to enjoy all the splashing, squirting, and sliding.

This was one of Libby's favorite attractions. In fact, on Sunday she was heading over to one of these when an older boy (we're talking at least 4) saw her and immediately raced over to climb up. She continued, completely undeterred. They got to the jet ski at about the same time and she was the one who ended up sitting on it. Not sure how it happened. Maybe he was so stunned by her determination??!

Both girls also enjoyed the "lazy" river and the wave pool. Addi was quite the little floating fish in her life jacket. She swam all over the place. Libby was a little more cautious in water too deep for her to reach the bottom.

Neither girl particularly enjoyed having water poured over their heads. A trait they come by honestly from their mother.

We really had a blast. I expected a little time for relaxation and that wasn't the case at all. In my current condition, 24 hours was the perfect stay. In a couple months, or years, a few days might be fun.

We finally made the girls gather up their things to leave about 5 and made it home to eat, throw them in the bath and have them in bed by 6:30. Bryan and I were snoozing by 8:30.

I think they've asked me everyday this week if and when we can go back. Next time, I'd like to try another location where it will actually be cold outside while we are enjoying the water inside. But, that is a long way off. I think next time I'll want Baby P to be at least 3. And, let's face it, 3 years is like an eternity to little kids, so my standard answer has been, "We'll see." Yet another thing I've learned from my mothering years - Never make a promise you might not be able to keep to children who remember everything.

Surviving

I really allowed myself to believe Libby would not get this junk.

On Tuesday, when Bryan and I were at our worst, jumping into bed every 2 hours to fend off the chills, my dear SIL called and offered to take Libby until we were better. At first, we declined. Soon it was clear that the energy of a perfectly well 2 year old was way too much for 2 near-death 30-somethings. Lisa came by that afternoon and Libby was off to spend some time with her cousins. Addi still felt pretty bad, so she didn't complain too much.

Since neither Bryan nor I ran fever yesterday afternoon or night, we figured it was time to get back to our lives. He headed off to work this morning. I loaded Addi up and we went to an appointment for me. Then we drove to Arlington to pick up Little Libby.

Addi was a tiny bit jealous this morning when I told her we'd be picking Libby up at Nana and Poppa's house. She's certainly not used to her younger sister getting to do all the fun stuff :)

Just as I was about to take the exit off the interstate, my SIL called and said that Libby had started running fever. I felt bad for her, but I really felt bad for all of Bryan's family who have now been exposed to this stuff. We may be running out to pick up one of Lisa's kids next week while she and Clay are to weak to parent :)

So, now we stand at probably me feeling the best. I sound horrible and my throat hurts, especially when I have a coughing fit, but that's pretty much the worst of it for me now. Addi is still coughing a lot and she says nothing hurts, but she's pretty grumpy. Bryan had to come home early today he was still feeling so poorly. Libby has run fever all day and asked for food only to eat a bite or two. She's starting to cough. I suspect we'll have a few days of her feeling really badly and we'll do all we can during that time not to continue to pass it on to each other or others.

In my forced seclusion, maybe I'll be able to get some things done like defensive driving, our taxes, picking out a boy's name and a girl's name for Baby P/Mystery Baby, organizing our study, re-installing all our computer programs that are now gone thanks to the crash, setting up our wireless network, and getting a new email address since I can no longer check my old one, also thanks to the crash.

But, all that will have to wait until I disinfect this house. And then, disinfect again after Libby's all better.

Hopefully my nesting will kick in soon to help me get motivated to get it all done in the next month. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

That game just made us sick!

Literally.

3 of the 4 of us are sick. And, according to Libby, because Mommy is sick, the baby is sick and needs to go to the doctor. I think Baby P (aka Mystery Baby by Addi) is fine and is part of the reason I feel even more zapped of energy...you know, they say the baby gets all of your nutrition first and you get the leftovers.

It all started on Thursday when Addison went in for her 5 year well child visit. She had to get her kindergarten shots. I won't even go into that because I may find myself sobbing about the whole ordeal again. (Quick tip: Mommas, if you haven't yet experienced those kindergarten shots, which are given at age 4 in Texas and age 5 in North Carolina, make your husbands take off work while you stay home. They are awful! Really. Awful!)

Addi was fine that night and the next day. She even went to preschool on Friday in her usual good spirits and, being the drama queen she is, couldn't wait to tell her teachers that she wouldn't be able to run around because she got 4 shots the day before.

Saturday morning we all went to the girls' sibling class at the hospital and that went well. Then she didn't eat lunch and ended up laying down in the booth and falling asleep. I tried to blame this behavior on her waking too early. However, by the time she woke up several hours later, her cheeks were bright red.

Fever.

Still, I wanted to believe she wasn't really sick. I blamed it on the shots.

Yesterday, my parents watched her while Bryan and I went to the Cowboy game. She and Libby were supposed to spend the day with Rachel and Ethan, but we knew how difficult it would be to keep the sick quarenteened from the well, so Libby got to enjoy some time with the Starrs on her own. I know she had a great time; she talked incessently the entire way home :)

Poor Addi looked so much worse by the time we picked her up last night. I know she was well taken care of. My parents catered to her every care, even making her pancakes and running out to get her some more toys, movies, and a better tasting Sprite. (Making pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, is a tradition that Addi doesn't let my Mom forget about. Yesterday, though, she told me, "Since I'm sick, Grandpa will have to help Grammy if she wants to make pancakes today.")

Sometime during the game the tickle in my throat turned into a scratch and the coughing began. By the second half, I was close to miserable. Of course, the game wasn't quite going according to plan either. We left with about 2 minutes still on the clock and missed seeing the interception that sealed the deal. By the time we made it to the car, I was past miserable, but felt okay when we pulled up to my parents' house.

By the time we got the car unloaded (and realized we'd left Libby's pillow, blanket, and monkey at the Starr's house), fixed Addi a snack, and put Libby to bed, I had the chills. I crawled into bed with the intention of staying just until I warmed up, then putting Addi to bed, brushing my teeth and getting a few things done. I'm not sure what time I woke up, but all was quiet and dark and I was sweating. Poor Bryan was laying next to me shivering. Thus began our night o' fun. Addi had apparently been up numerous times already unable to breathe. So between that, Libby waking a few times for unknown reasons, my coughing, and Bryan's nausea, we all had a pretty rough night.

The good news is Addi seems to be feeling much better and hasn't run fever all day. She's been very sweet by wanting to take care of us, getting us water, and drawing us pictures with words she knows how to spell but have nothing whatsoever to do with the art work. (I just got one with 2 flowers and the word "ZOO" plastered across the middle!) Libby is fine, so far. It will be nothing short of a miracle if she doesn't catch whatever this is, but stranger things have happened.

I feel a little better than I did last night. I mainly just feel zapped, but not to the point where I have no desire to accomplish things. Bryan is the worst off at the moment. I truly can only remember him taking a couple other sick days since we've been married, so I know he feels really bad.

We'll all be back to normal soon enough. Maybe this will make me finish some things on my to-do list. Then again, I am feeling rather sleepy all of a sudden :)

An explanation is in order

I know the last post was so long ago that most of you have either called to asked if I had Baby P early, have left messages through family members that my name is mud until I get another post up, or have long since abandoned checking our blog.

(Which leads me to a somewhat random point (and yet another - Becky, weren't you just commenting on how random Libby can be?? I guess I can't deny where she gets it :) Back to the beginning of my randomness...Bloglines is a wonderful way to check your favorite blogs. Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but you just go the the website and copy/paste the URL addresses of the blogs you'd like to read. Each time you go to the site and click on "Feeds", it will highlight your feeds that have new material since the last time you checked. Then you just click on whichever one you want to read. Some blogs, mine included (I think, it has actually been so long since I looked at mine) have little Bloglines buttons you can click on that will subscribe you to its feed. There are also a few other sites like this, but I use Bloglines and would recommend it.)

Now, for the explanation...

A few days after Christmas the hard drive on our laptop crashed. And, I don't know if I ever posted about this, but our desktop needs a new motherboard or something, so it is actually in a dumpster somewhere now. We were computer-less until a couple days ago. I've just been so overwhelmed at everything there is to blog about that I've avoided the computer all together. Well, that and I'm afraid if I touch it, it will break again :)

To make things easier on myself (and you, Dear Readers, who surely do not wish to read a blog post version of War and Peace), I'm just gonna list 10 Parker family current events.

And, I promise, if you're sticking with me, I'll post fairly regularly as long as I still have a working computer.

1. My grandmother, aka Rea, Momma (or Mom, which do y'all call her?) Ma, Memaw, Mawl came to stay with us after Christmas for a while. The girls and I drove her back to Austin last Wednesday and we got to see 2 of my cousins and my 2 aunts who we'd just seen at Christmas. The girls were able to sufficiently torment my Aunt Dee's cats and sufficiently torment my cousins at 7 am! We ate some delicious food (both home cooked and bought) and got to meet Bob (we'd been hearing about him for a while and enjoyed getting to put a face with the name). The only people missing were my other cousin Lauren and her new husband Will, but, hopefully, we'll be able to see them soon and get the opportunity to meet Will before he's deployed. It was a wonderful thing to see all my Austin relatives twice in a matter of days!
2. Baby P is doing well. I am sick of being pregnant! Be sure you catch that I did not say, I'm ready to have the baby, I'm just ready to not be pregnant! This pregnancy has really made me wonder at the resiliency and patience of women who have 6,7, 8+ kids. I used to think I had a lot of patience and I used to think I was a "good" pregnant person. Of course, adding in a major move and two major holidays might have added some stress :) I have a little less than 6 weeks to go until my due date (although my babies never like to be rushed) and feel like I have about 6 months worth of stuff that must get done before the baby arrives!! A computer falling apart doesn't aid in the completion of said stuff.
3. Speaking of Baby P, the girls will be participating in a sibling class at 1 of the 2 hospitals I could deliver her/him. It is in the morning and, according to my OB, very cute. I'll try to remember my camera.
4. Addi started preschool for the very last time on Wednesday. She attends on Wednesdays and Fridays and has loved it so far. Libby misses her and stares at me like I'm really kidding myself when I tell her that we'll pick up Addi soon, but isn't it fun for it to be just Mommy and Libby sometimes?!
5. Libby's differences when compared with her sister are really shining through. She is determined. Even when utterly frustrated with something, she wants to continue to do it herself. While she's good-natured and enjoys a joke as well as the next toddler, she sometimes has no patience for kidding around. The other night when Bryan put her to bed he tried playing a game Addi used to enjoy at bedtime. Addi would ask him to sing a certain song, he would start singing another song, she would giggle and correct him, he would sing yet another song and the cycle would continue. Libby asked him to sing Jesus Loves Me. He started singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and she furrowed her brow, popped him in the face and said, "No! Daddy! Sing Jesus Loves Me!" I supspect he won't be continuing the Song Game with sweet Libby Lu.
6. Bryan continues to work hard. He's gone before the sun is up and home after the sun goes down. He's also eating well. A few times a week he comes home and tells me that he won't even share with me where he ate lunch. Of course, that only serves to peak my interest. You would think going through a pregnancy for the third time, he would know once he peaked the cravings of a pregnant woman that he may, in fact, have to drive the 40 miles to the Dairy Queen in Hutchins for a steakfinger basket late one night.
7. One day last week the high was below freezing. Today the high was in the mid-60s. I mentioned it being winter in conversation with Addi and she looked at me like I'd lost my mind replying that "Winter is when it snows, Mommy!" Honestly, I don't mind. I'm not crazy about it being in the 80s during January, but a sunny day in the 60s is perfect to me. We aren't stuck inside and I don't have to try and squeeze into my non-maternity coat. While Addi was at preschool today, Libby and I took a walk and found a new playground. I was literally sweating before we got home, but loved the idea of pushing the kids outside after naptime for a snack on their new picnic table and some energy expension on the new trampoline. We have a shoebox sized back yard and big windows along the walls of the breakfast room and living room, so if I love to send them outside while I'm cooking supper. Hearing them giggle and squeal is precious!
8. Don't tell the girls, but we're taking a family "vacation" of sorts before Baby P makes an appearance. A new resort opened in Grapevine and Bryan made reservations for us in a Camp room later this month. I've heard this referred to as a babymoon. Like our honeymoon, our babymoon will consist of lots of time wearing a swim suit. Unlike our honeymoon, this time around, I will not be allowing any photos to be snapped of any part of my pasty-white, very pregnant self in a swim suit. It just wouldn't be pretty.
9. Bryan bought a cookbook for me as a Christmas gift. It was one I'd asked for and I've used it quite a bit. You may have heard of it, Deceptively Delicious? I think I've used it enough to recommend it. There have been a couple recipes that have flopped, but mostly we liked the food. The idea is you get all these vegetables and spend some time steaming them, pureeing them, and putting them in quarter cup servings in freezer bags. Once you get through that, which is time consuming and messy, the rest is pretty easy and quick. You just thaw however many servings of whichever vegetables are called for in the recipes. The author (Jerry Seinfeld's wife) wants you to use brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas and whole wheat bread. We already ate whole wheat bread, and the tortillas and pasta don't really taste that different to me (or my kids). I just never bought those because I didn't think I would like them and they are more expensive. The brown rice is going to take me some time to get used to, but Bryan and the girls seem to like it. There has only been one meal in which I could detect the taste of the "hidden" vegetable and I think that was because I used Rachael's advice and "just eyeballed it". I've made breakfast, lunch, supper, and dessert. Some of our favorites include the pancakes with sweet potato, the French toast with sweet potato, the Sloppy Joes with red pepper and carrot, and the tortilla cigars (like enchiladas without a sauce on top) with squash and carrot. Everyone except Addi also enjoyed the guacamole spread with their cigars and I really liked the oatmeal with pumpkin. So, if you have anti-vegetable eaters in your house, you might this book a try. Also, she says you can puree meats and sneak them into foods also. (I rememberred this after I talked to you today, Angie).
10. If you're looking for a van, I must recommend the Honda Odyssey. I had a Pilot and loved it. I didn't want a van...ever. But, when Libby was super-little and I was still toting her around in the infant carrier while trying to keep a hand on my 2 year old so she wouldn't dart in front of a car in a parking lot, I always envied the moms who pressed a little button on their door lock remotes so their children could just climb right in to their vans without having to set the infant on the ground while keeping one hand on their 2 year old and opening the door with the other hand. The first thing Bryan said when I told him I was pregnant again was we'd have to buy a van. Let me tell you, I fought it. I had a Pilot I loved and it had a 3rd row. I told him there was plenty of room and Addi could just climb in the back once the baby arrived. It would have worked. It would have, but this works so much better. The dvd screen is bigger than the Pilots, there are built in side window shades, about 300 cup holders, the leather seats are much more plush and comfortable than the Pilots, an 8th seat that comes out completely and can be store under the floor, and it tells me how much oil I have left and when my tires need air on my odometer. Plus, I really love driving it. And, it cost us less than the Pilot did 4 years ago! I couldn't imagine there would be much difference. The Odyssey drives so much like a car. It is so much easier to park and really has some get-up-and-go. I don't even mind driving it when I am kid-less. After all, who am I kidding? I am a thirty year old mother of (almost) 3. The Odyssey was designed with me in mind.
11. One more for Bryan...we are going to the Cowboy game on Sunday with his dad and my brother. I probably shouldn't put this on the internet for the world to see since I was raised in a house not 15 minutes from Texas Stadium, but I'm not really a fan. I'm excited because it can be fun to be in that atmosphere, around all the lunatics who paint their bodies blue and because everyone else I'm going with are fans and so they will be really excited.

So much for brevity. If I can keep up better, I won't have so much to catch y'all up on. Be writing again soon...

a short update

Well, we're here in Frisco. Our household goods were delivered last Friday and we had a get-together today with some family and friends.

And, no, the boxes are not all unpacked and the house is not all put together, but we have understanding family and friends.

The girls are doing well. Libby had a few days of asking to go back home. She started sleeping in a toddler bed (without rails) on Saturday night and didn't fall out all week. She's sleeping in her new big-girl bed (with rails) right now...she wouldn't even let me cover her up :(

Addi has had a harder time. She keeps talking about how much she misses her friends and has drawn them all pictures and written in cards for them. I have to get some stamps so we can get those in the mail. But, we met a family behind us today and they have a little girl only a few days older than Addi. They also moved from NC last year and have 2 year-old twin girls. Hopefully all our girls will get along because they would make wonderful playmates.

Bryan is liking the new office. The girls and I got to see "where Daddy works" on Monday and were impressed by the kitchen...maybe it will inspire him to take his lunch instead of going out to eat every day!

I had an appointment with my new OB on Thursday and I loved her! I've never (with 4 different OBs in 3 different states) had another one ask how I'd like my labor and delivery to go...you know, how they say it will happen in the books :) This one did and she was so nice. She really took her time with me and seemed fine that I had both girls at the appointment. *a revealing look at how pathetic I can be below*

Baby P is great! Moving and grooving...so everyone says. He/She doesn't seem to be as active as I remember Libby being, but the doctors and sonogram technicians all talk about how much he/she moves. I have another appointment/ultrasound/gestational diabetes test in 3 weeks and then I start going every 2 weeks. I can't believe we're already at that point in this pregnancy! Things are going to really fly now, especially with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years coming up.

I felt a little sad when everyone left today and had to remind myself that I could see them again tomorrow, if I wanted. It was a strange, but nice feeling.

Our wireless is not quite working, even with all the hard work from Uncle Clay (thanks again, Clay!), but I'm online, our phones work, and we are gettting all our mail, we think :) I plan on catching up with communications this week. At least during the beginning of this week since the later part is Thanksgiving and a day dedicated to football. I've added a few shots of our last few weeks...I know some of y'all only care about the pictures anyway!

*I don't think I've even told Bryan this, but I have yet to change my watch to the correct time. In fact, we left on the Saturday before the time change, so now my watch is 2 hours ahead. Everytime I decided I'm being ridiculous, I just can't make myself change the time to Texas time. And, yes, I know it is even correct North Carolina time anymore. I'll change it one of these days. Now I just really confuse myself when I'm in a hurry and glance at my watch :)

1 down, 1 to go

I'm sitting here in a hotel room in Raleigh listening to airplanes fly overhead and the sweet sleeping noises of Libby Lu. Despite Addi falling asleep on the way here, she is wide awake trying to perform gymnastic stunts in her bed.

Our movers finished about 6:30 tonight and we waved as the truck drove away with all our stuff. Libby has probably said she wanted to go home and/or wanted her bed 10 times since then. Addi's been fine, especially since she got to play with Isabelle a little tonight. I broke down in our front yard when it was time for Bryan to leave. But, really it doesn't seem like we're doing anything but taking one of our twice yearly trips to Texas. Our flight is tomorrow around noon. Bryan is still on the road with Zoe...he has hotel reservations in Atlanta. He plans on making the rest of the trip tomorrow, so we should all be reunited at some point tomorrow.

I'll let you know more when I get a chance.

Everything you ever wanted to know about our trip and more

Obviously, we're back. Well, 3 of the 4 Texans are back in NC. Addi is still in Texas with grandparents. And having a ball, so I'm told. She's not really needing to talk to me once a day like I had planned. I got a call from her about an hour ago, which was the first she's initiated during the 3 days she's been away from us. I, at least, am going to believe she initiated the phone call rather than the alternative...her grandparents forced her to call.

We had a great trip. I am having a little trouble getting out of vacation mode though. And, no, the mountains of laundry surrounding me aren't doing much to slap some reality back into me. We have 7 people (including Addi) showing up at the local airport on Thursday. They will patiently be waiting for Bryan, Libby and I to pick them up. Then, we'll see what we can do to entertain 4 more adults and 2 more kids for a week while it is supposed to be scorching hot and raining. Maybe that knowledge will kick me into gear...at least by tomorrow night :)

So, like I said, the trip was great. We spent the first afternoon with Bryan's family where we were introduced to our newest family member, sweet Rachel, and the girls were introduced to a cool new treehouse that Poppa and Uncle Clay built. It goes without saying that the girls loved both Rachel and the treehouse.

The next morning, Bryan and I drove to Houston. We were able to hang out with good friends all weekend and see lots of old friends at the wedding. We took advantage of being child-less by eating everything we wanted....chili-cheese Fritos with peanut butter Twix and Big Red for a snack on the road, Mexican for lunch, yummy seafood at the rehearsal dinner, Shipley's for breakfast, Sonic for lunch, Whataburger for the next breakfast, and Wings-n-More for the next lunch. My mouth is watering as I type.

We enjoyed our fried pickles, cheese fries, and wings at the "new" Wings-n-More in College Station. Bryan and I took our time at the Bonfire Memorial. We walked around campus remembering different spots we would always meet and noting the inevitable changes.

Bryan was amazed at the Century Tree. I guess, being a guy, he didn't pay much attention to it while he was a student. I don't really remember the whole "story" with the Century Tree, but, basically (and please feel free to correct me in a comment if I'm wrong) there is this huge tree in the front-side of the Academic Building with a path leading right under its branches. You aren't supposed to walk under the tree by yourself or??? Who knows?...you'll never get married or something. If you walk under it with someone, that will be the person you marry. Lots of people get engaged under the tree. Anyway, all I know is I avoided that path at all costs while I was a student. I guess, I walked under its canopy for the first time about a week ago! We also drove around College Station and spent way too much money outfitting our family in current Aggie garb.

We were more than ready to see our girls by Sunday evening. Monday night we all ate at Babe's in Burleson. My belly was full by the time we made it back to Nana and Poppa's house. Not too full to enjoy some Blue Bell though!

Tuesday we ended our time with Bryan's family and began our time with mine. That night we were able to catch up with the neighbors I grew up next to. On Thursday, we drove out to Sprinkles and ate a cupcake. I have to say, that none of us were overly impressed. Don't get me wrong, the cupcakes were delicious, just not overly delicious.

We swam, ate more Blue Bell and more Mexican, spent time with my grandparents, played with the little girls next door, and made pancakes while at my parent's house.

Then Bryan, Libby and I came home. Addi cried when she found out she had to ride with Grandpa while he dropped us off at DFW. We'll miss you too, Kid! I started crying when I hugged her good-bye and she did her best at impersonating a sad person. I cried as we drove to our house from RDU and wondered what in the world I was thinking when I agreed to leave my child 1100 miles away from me. I called Addi the minute we walked in the door and she humored me for about 2 minutes. I really didn't want her to be miserable. I just thought she would want to talk to me once a day (maybe before bedtime). I thought wrong and that has been a little hard to come to terms with. My baby's growing up. She doesn't need me like she used to. It's part of life and before I know it my other baby will be just as independent.

I don't know that I'll be posting much more for the next week or two. I really do need to tackle this laundry. I've been trying to do fun Mommy-Libby activities while Addi is away. And, we will have company for a week. Until then...

NC Museum of Life and Science*

We spent some time at the North Carolina Museum of Life and Science today. It was so great. The highlight for me was the butterfly house (or birdfly as Addi says). Bryan liked spending time with our family. Addi loved the train ride and Libby liked it all from lunch to her nap on the car ride back home. If you ever get a chance to visit, I highly recommend it.

*click on the title to go to the ncmls website

Haven't I Seen You in Here Before?

That seemed to be the question to ask us at lunch today. We went to eat at a Chili's near our house. We've probably been there 3 times in the 2 years we've lived in this house, but when our waiter welcomed us today, I recognized him as Ben, the waiter we'd been served by in a previous visit. After I placed my order, Ben smiled and asked, "Isn't that what you got the last time you were here?" "Uhhmm, errr, maybe", I stumbled. It is very possible that I got the same thing since I rotate between about 3 meals there, but really how do I know what I got the last time I ate Chili's?! While waiting for our meals, a manager stopped at our table. She talked with us for a few minutes and then stated that she knew we must be in there a lot because our girls looked so familiar! We must have a "family twin" because we seriously do not eat at Chili's enough for all that. The ironic thing is that we actually did patron the Chili's in Lawton, OK a lot with our good friends. Bo, Melissa, Bryan and I could be spotted in Chili's at least once a week and never without a Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie. We never experienced anything like this though :) In any case, Bryan and I decided we would not be visiting that Chili's again...it was a little embarrassing!

Christmas Pictures at Last!!

Christmas Eve

Our house had a pretty laid-back Christmas Eve. Libby has been sick and had a rough night, so she stayed home with Bryan while Addi and I went to church. We ate leftover pizza for lunch and then the girls went down for their naps. Bryan watched football all afternoon and I baked cookies. Tonight we ate (in our dining room for the first time since we moved into this house almost 2 years ago!) brisket, Mexican rice, homemade salsa and tortillas...yummy! And we let Addi and Libby open a couple gifts from us. They each got a pair of pajamas and a book to share. Addi made sure to leave cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for Rudolph before she went to bed. Now it's time for Santa's elves to get busy :) Have a Merry Christmas!

We've been...

very busy this past month. I started teaching preschool 5 mornings a week (which means the girls both go to their classes 5 times a week) and will continue with that through October. It has been great and I will miss this group of 4 year-olds when their teacher returns from maternity leave. Bryan's parents flew in on the 22nd of September. We had a great visit and they were wonderful houseguests. They cooked every night and kept my house neater than I usually do :) Nana and Poppa, you are welcome here anytime! (Even if you don't cook or clean!) Aunt Lisa, Uncle Clay and Ethan flew in on the 28th and we all loaded up and set out for the beach that same day. We spent 4 days on our most favorite NC beach, Sunset. It is peaceful, relaxing, and beautiful. We hung out in the beach house, hunted for sand dollars, shells and starfish (by the way Parkers/Starrs, Starry the starfish was apparently eaten by something while drying out on our deck...shhh, Addi hasn't noticed!), rode bikes on the beach, tried (some more successfully than others) some boogey-boarding, played games, took walks, and had a great time. Lisa has posted more pictures of our beach trip on her blog. We returned to Raleigh in time for Bryan's parents to adjust their packing and head to the airport. The Starrs stayed with us until the afternoon of October 3. Addi was so excited to have Ethan sleep in her room! They both slept on her trundle until Ethan kicked her off of it in the middle of the night :) I'm sure the next time they're here we will have to let Libby sleep somewhere in that room so the "new girl baby cousin" (as Addi calls her) will have a room to sleep in. Now I need to start planning for Halloween and Addison's birthday party. She already got a big present from Nana and Poppa when they visited - a new bike! Oh, one last update...Libby has joined the walking world! She took a few steps about a week ago. Since then she has taken 3 or 4 steps at a time a few times a day. Today, though she was walking like crazy at preschool. Her teachers said she was even turning around without losing her balance! I've tried to get some video footage of it. When I'm successful, I'll post some of her first wobbly steps.