This is a little dark but Anna was really dancing at the reception. We've never seen her like this before. It was a riot, especially all the arm movements. Sadly, we didn't catch the pelvic thrusting on video.
We made it back on Monday night around 6. We are settling back into our normal routine. I had two days back and work and am already excited to have Thursday off. What is it about being gone that makes you not want to go back?
On the way back from Nashville we stopped outside Louisville to visit our friends Chip and Steph. They have two cute kids and Anna and Carter were so glad to see rooms full of toys to play with after being limited to our hotel room and the small duffel bag of toys I brought. They definitely have Elmo and Thomas covered. Come to our house for princesses, dress up and art projects.
We also went to the River Walk where they were having a festival and Anna and Charlie got to ride ponies 
and jump in the inflatable bouncers. Then we headed to a nearby park. 
Everyone slept well that night!
We had so much fun with them and wish we could have stayed longer!
The next day on our way back we stopped in Mount Vernon IL at a McD's to let the kids play on the playland and eat lunch but the playland was closed. I could have killed them. I just stared in disbelief at the sign. We ate and left. Which meant...
The last two hours of the ride back were pretty rough.
Overall good trip! I'm uploading 124 pictures to Kodak Gallery so you'll be getting that link in your email tomorrow. If you're not on the list leave a comment below and I'll add you.
Awesome video of Anna coming soon...
Luckily we were only 2 miles from the house yesterday morning when I remembered.
Hello from Nashville! The drive down went pretty well. We'd been through half the toys by 9 and into the snacks by 10. It rained until lunch. I think 6 hours is about Carter's limit - at that point he got very fussy and we rocked out to Sesame Street the rest of the way.
I took the kids to the zoo today with Kevin's mom while Kevin went golfing with the guys. We're about to get ready for the barbecue non-rehearsal dinner.
It is about 85 here today, a storm moves through tonight and the high tomorrow is about 70 but it should still be nice and I think the rain is supposed to hold off for the wedding.
I'll try to post some pics tonight!
Things are sort of a whirlwind right now. I had to work extra late yesterday (because everyone did) and work continued to be crazy today - a bad week for me because we have tix to Royals tomorrow night and then head to Nashville Thursday. Basically I have to be packed and ready to go tonight.
I have checklists going like this right now
Toy Bag
-------
magna doodle
"water" games
princess magnet thing
dominoes
crayons
more that I can't remember right now (I actually haven't started this list on paper yet)
Medicine Bag
------------
Tylenol
Motrin
Teething Qtips
Benadryl (not just for allergies)
Snack Bag
---------
chex mix
cheezits
fruit snacks
cookies
trail mix
breakfast bars
cereal
apple juice
bottled water
Remember
-------
sippy cups
camera
magazines
dvd player + dvds
bibs
sleeping bag for anna
stroller
pack n play
I have a list for each child by day which look something like this in addition to all the clothes by day.
Anna
-----
swimsuit
flip flops
jacket
cardigan
hat
sunglasses
flower girl dress
tights
shoes
In fact I have a whole bag just for everyone's shoes.
This is the Type A in me, I think. All my Type A friends are probably laughing. They tell me how laid back I am. But I've been packing and laundry all week. And staying up too late and not getting enough sleep and somehow pulling it all off and managing to watch American Idol while I blog.
Oh! Add laptop to the remember list!
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Goal Update
I should not have taunted the weight loss gods. Promptly after doing so I think I gained back 5 pounds and have spent the last 4 weeks trying to relose this. I am close. Stuck around 131 right now. I'm sure I'll gain it all back after we travel and eat out too much. Hopefully I can find enough activities to burn a few calories while we're gone.
"I like tree branches" "I like pink"
Random quotes from anna tonight, back-to-back.
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Flower girl dress came yesterday for Anna. 2 weeks late I might add, which was making me very nervous. Luckily it all worked out. The size 2 in a tea length fits her perfect as if it were a floor length dress.
I'm all about getting ready for the trip. Dogs got shots today so they can be boarded. I've been picking up lots of car activities - although I have no idea what to entertain Carter with. He's 16 months. Ideas?
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Two days and no bites at daycare.
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Did toy organization today on the main floor. This involves taking all the toys out of the baskets and storage tubs and putting them back in a way that makes sense. All the 0-12 month toys that had made it downstairs went back upstairs. Broken ones go in the trash. I put the books on the two lower shelves on our entertainment center since I can't really put anything else on those - Carter will just pull it off and they wouldn't all fit in the basket anyway. One thing is clear - we have way too many stuffed animals and we need to have a garage sale. For sure.
Would you believe we rarely buy toys? Here they are all organized. Surprisingly they didn't even go in here when they got home from daycare. We'll see how long it lasts.
After speaking with the daycare owner today about yesterday's biting incident Carter was bitten again this afternoon. Apparently there are several biters in the class now, not just one. I really hope this gets better in the next few weeks. If it gets worse I will just have to pull him - or both of them - out and put them somewhere else. But who's to say it won't happen there too. I can't keep sending him somewhere, and paying them, to have him get hurt everyday though. They are supposed to call me each time this happens now. Hopefully that is incentive enough to watch him more closely - I don't think anyone at the daycare wants to hear from me again right now.
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