Towel Animals - Vacation Flashback -

One of the BEST FEATURES of the Carnival Cruise was coming back to the room after our daily outing to see that, not only did they clean the room, but they also left us a present.

The towel animals were AWESOME and would always bring a huge smile to our faces! Here are some pictures of our friends who joined us on our cruise...

This was a stingray.

Chris really liked the elephant on day 2

Night 3 was a dog...too cute

We think this was supposed to be a pig, but it just looked satanic; especially so when it's head fell off and we were tossing it around like a basketball. (lol)

And, they saved the best for last...the monkey. We found this guy hanging from the ceiling; he was absolutely ADORABLE!

Laundry Mess

So, I know I was supposed to do a follow up about the laundry. Well, as of one week after the previous post there was still a large pile of laundry in the middle of my living room. I finally ended up hiring a babysitter to sit with Ethan and play with him while I finished up all the laundry. It's crazy!


But, as of one week later...here is what my sad couch looked like.





I think the saddest news of all, however is that by the time it was FINALLY cleaned...more laundry had piled up and I can see this vicious laundry-cycle starting all over again! (I need a "scheduled" laundry day where I ONLY do laundry!)

I can't wait for the kids to get older so they can do their own laundry...humm...I wonder if I can teach a 3-year old to do laundry?? Humm...might be worth giving it a try!

Happy Campers

Last weekend we went camping. We rented a Scamper (small camper) from the Base and took out little family out to Chiniak for the weekend. Chiniak is about an hour drive outside of town, and into the wilderness.

Camping for men is easy. They don't mind being dirty, or peeing in the woods, or not having a shower...and they love fire, beer, sitting around doing nothing!

But, camping for women is a completely different story. Being dirty is horrible and there are only so-many wet-ones you can use to try to clean yourself. Peeing the woods is an experience! If you haven't done it, you should give it a try. First, you must sneak out, as if you were going on a walk through the woods all by yourself...then you must find a tree that will hide your exposure...next, you must QUICKLY pull your pants down, squat, pee as fast as you can, wipe, and yank your pants back on like nothing ever happened. It's a race. Yet, it doesn't help when your two dogs follow you to your destination...and then continue to sniff everything!

And...have you ever thought...what do you do with the toilet paper? Do you leave the used toilet paper out in the woods and contaminate nature? Or do you bring it back with you and toss it in the trash that is hanging from the nearest tree?

And, let's talk about peeing in Alaska at 4am. Ya, its a little cold...um...but, there are over 3,000 bears on this island; and it's bear season! Have you ever thought about that?!?! At that point, it's nice to have the 2 dogs sniffing everything in hopes that they would alert you if there were a bear watching you pee.

Aside from all that...and the "shower" (of lack there-of)...we had a nice time.

Emily had a friend come out on Saturday and the two of them are so cute together. They are BFF. It's fun to watch her play. Ethan LOVES to be outside, so he had a ball! Me, well, I got plenty of sleep and Chris got some quality time with the kids.

It was a bit rough being in this 16' camper with 2 adults, 2 kids, and 2 dogs. I slept on the couch/table/conversion with Ethan, Emily and Bryndall. Chris slept on the tiny bunk bed. Chloe slept on the entire floor. No bathroom in the tiny camper, only option was to squat outside. It was cramped, but the kids loved it!

"I don't like mommy"

Well...the first, of many times it will be said "I don't like mommy"

Emily told me that she didn't like me today. It was the first time anything like this has ever come out of her mouth. It was 9:15pm (way past her bedtime) and she was refusing to go to bed.

She's been having difficulty winding down at night because the sun isn't going down. Dusk comes about 11pm or midnight. So, getting her to understand "bedtime" relies on "time" not darkness, as it traditionally does. I, myself, find it difficult to slow down at night because it is so bright in our house; it doesn't help that our family room is FULL of windows, and the light just pours in.

So, after trying to persuade Emily to go to bed for 20 minutes, I started enforcing it...and she doesn't like me for it. I'll have to say, hearing those words come out of her mouth sent daggers through my chest. I know I'll hear them again (kids say things they don't mean), but that very first one hurts.

Ethan Playing

A video of Ethan playing...he's getting so big!

Piles of Laundry

Well, it's been 2 1/2 weeks and I just can't seem to get on top of this laundry. Just as I think I'm making a breakthrough, Emily will wet her bed or Ethan will throw up...and, all of a sudden, there are three more loads to do and it starts all over again.

I've been folding all the laundry in the living room because it makes it easy to work on while watching the kids. They've been rather needy these past few weeks, so the laundry is really just sitting there, piling up. Without a second-set of hands its been really difficult to get on top of it (this is the part where it would be nice to be close to family.)

I'm going to take this same picture next Sunday...and, if this mess is still in my living room...SHOOT ME!!

Hot Mess

Emily dressed and ready to go out on the town.

(Notice, she has a headband stretched across her belly...her face is dirty...and her pants totally DON'T MATCH her shirt.)

She's a "Hot Mess!"