Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Challenging day at the zoo

I'm generally very positive and I try hard not to write about my headaches, complaints and bad days but let's just be real. Some days being a mom is just hard! I tried to make my unusual day off a fun day for the kids despite my feeling a little under the weather with sniffles and a sore throat. We went to the zoo. There was just so much whiney, talking back, temper tantrum throwing, crying and bs for me today. I will say it was not enjoyable for the most part. The photos will show you smiles and fun but don't let these two fool you. They sure can be difficult. Here's to hoping a good nights rest makes for a better day for everyone tomorrow.




Why can't my kids just lay down and snuggle and sleep like this baby gorilla? Isn't he just darling?


Peek a boo to the lion

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Are you tired of butterflies yet?

We aren't! Here's another that eclosed (that's the fancy word for emerges from a chyrsalis) today. He wasn't quite ready to fly away this afternoon so we will keep him until tomorrow. Callie is planning to brig him to school to release with the kids as she brought caterpillars for show and tell about a month ago. You might also notice Callie has some new sparkly shoes. She saw someone wearing some similar at the store last week and loved them so we found some on Amazon for her.



Saturday, August 27, 2016

Chocolate monster

There aren't a lot of exciting photos today because I spent half of my day catching up on sleep. Being up at night with sick kids is exhausting. I don't know how I survived all those months when they were infants and I never slept more than a few hours at a time! Diego is finally feeling better without a fever so hopefully we can get back to normal. We had ice cream after dinner and Diego insisted he wanted Rocky Road. He eats it by shoving his whole face into the cone which is pretty messy. I call him the chocolate monster!

Friday, August 26, 2016

Illness and injury

Today was a day of recovery. Diego spent the last 24 hrs with a fever and was throwing up last night. As anyone with a toddler knows puking means all over everything and everyone, lots of laundry... Today he doing better and started eating again but we cancelled all our fun end of summer vaca plans for swimming and play dates for the next two days.
We also spent part of our day helping the butterfly with th injured wing thanks for manny. I reached out to a butterfly expert who actually responded and suggested we try cutting off part of the broken wing and making sure the opposite side matched it. I was nervous as if it still couldn't fly it would become our pet. I wasn't thrilled with this idea as it meant feeding it daily until it died. Well a little trimming and we got it flying! I was so glad to see it fly away. We also had another butterfly hatch that we released today with the injured one. And we had 5 caterpillars all form into chrysalis today! We saw two happen and I even got one full complete transformation on video. It's pretty  incredible, nature is amazing!
Callie was a trooper in keeping Diego relatively happy and entertained during his illness. She got the Mickey Mouse ears out and they watched videos together. Cute aren't they?
Let's hope tomorrow everyone is well and we sleep all night, I could use the rest.






Thursday, August 25, 2016

Beach babes

We spent the day at the beach with Tammy and Kaitlyn while they are in town on vacation. We had a blast and skipped naps we stayed so long. We built a mermaid in the sand which the girls thought was awesome. This is something I used to do with my dad as a little girl. I recall my dads looking much more magical than this but the girls were still impressed and they weren't patient enough to make it much more elaborate.

The down side to our day is that our second butterfly release went horribly wrong when the butterfly fell and Manny tried to bite it. Now I have a butterfly that can't fly with a bent wing I am trying to rehab. Therapist for butterflies? I'm trying!
Also Diego came down with some illness and has a fever and isn't feeling well tonight. Let's hope he sleeps it off and starts feeling better tomorrow.
Callie and I spent some time doing her nails tonight and having "spa" night just like fancy nancy. We did a face mask with cucumber eyes and all!









Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Big day for everyone

It was a big day! Butterfly release, children's museum and garbage day all rolled into 1. Better get all the fun in before school and work start back up next week.
I was really worried about our butterfly. This morning I thought it was dead. I even told Callie it was dead. But when I opened the cage to touch it as it was laying on the bottom on his side he moved! I thought well let's give it a shot. At first he couldn't fly so we took him back in until it was sunnier and hung him on a stick to let his wings dry more. Then even the second try he couldn't fly well. After a few stumbles he ended up by my garden and then suddenly just flew off up and over the trees. It was great to see him fly away as I was worried he was a goner all day. Callie cried after letting him go as she wanted him to stay at our house and not fly away. I reminded her we have lots more butterflies coming soon.
We had more fun at the children's museum today and Grandma came with us. We discovered a secret room in the back of the tree house off a dark tunnel that has a ceiling full of spoons! The kids thought it was so cool.
When we got home we stayed up and waited for the garbage truck to come before taking a nap.
Each kid had their own big fun today. It sure was fun.











Tuesday, August 23, 2016

A butterfly is born!

Today was the day our first butterfly emerged from its chrysalis! We weren't able to set her free to fly yet as they need several hours for their wings to dry and sunlight to be able to fly for the first time. So we will keep her inside until tomorrow morning. Of course it happened at nap time and for the first time in awhile Callie was actually sleeping at nap time, so she missed watching it emerge. I saw and it was so cool!
We also went to the children's museum today and saw some of the new things they put in. The kids really enjoy going there. We may even go back tomorrow!
We will try to get a video of letting our butterfly free in the morning :)
Before bed we were outside playing on the playground. The kids were having so much fun playing together and their contagious laughter just makes my heart smile. It's these moments where they play so happily together that make having two kids so close together worth all the work. Let's hope they can continue to be buddies for a long time to come.








Saturday, August 20, 2016

Pool party

Last night we went to a pool party with some friends and swam and danced the night away. They had a bouncy house and a dj with dance floor and lights. I didn't take any photos as I was in the water with the kids or chasing them around in the dark trying not to loose them. So I only have two photos Doris snapped for me.
We did some swimming today too at home.
My plumeria that was given to me by my mother in law a year ago has just bloomed it's very first flower! It's beautiful and so big! We should have a bunch more coming.
And today we had a BBQ at LuLus house.