Seminole, OK

I love this place. On a recommendation from one of Iain's fellow pilots in SD, we took a slight detour through Seminole, OK to visit what we heard was "the best children's museum in the country." I was thinking that was probably an overstatement. Nope. The museum is FANTASTIC (though I am a little biased by the fact that it has a working cash register in a little grocery store inside the museum, and I was able to convince Avery to let me take her turn on the register)! The town has a super playground, water park, a Western Sizzlin (which I haven't seen since I was about 10) and some baby geese that swam by us on our museum train ride.

Also, one highlight I forgot to mention in the last post. On Saturday night while in Phoenix, we were putting Avery to bed and I asked her whether she wanted mommy or daddy to tuck her in. She said "Reys", which is what she calls Audrey. Audrey was all over that, though she did say "I can't reach into the crib," so I promised to help her. With some coaching on the exact tucking in procedures, Audrey kissed her and hugged her, told her "Good night, Sweet Dreams, I love you," and I put Avery in the crib and Avery laid right down (which that, by itself, is a miracle). I told Audrey she needed to sing her a song, but Audrey wanted some help. So I started singing Twinkle, Twinkle, but Audrey said "no, not that song. We should sing Jesus loves me." So I started and Audrey started with me in a whisper and by the time we got to the end, she was singing full volume. Then Audrey and I walked away. It was beautiful. Stop reading there if you just want the feel-good version. The next part is that when Avery realized we were gone, she started screaming and I had to go back in and help her finish getting to sleep. But the next night, she asked for Reys to tuck her in again (though the next night, Audrey was kind of over that (she said she'd rather go play), but I convinced her to at least hug and kiss Avery first).

Anyway, here are FINALLY some pix from our trip. Among the pix: Audrey & Avery standing on furniture during the move, Avery at Audrey's dance class the morning we left SD, the fam in front of the meteor crater, playing in a random side yard of a plumbing company in Amarillo, TX where first Audrey used her potty and Avery taught Elmo how to play tag, Audrey & Iain shooting ducks at Bass Pro Shop in OK City, the girls on a 4-wheeler at Bass Pro Shop (we were able to fit an entire vacation into just that one store), the girls about to jump off a ledge together at the OK City Federal Building Memorial Site, some fun at the park, and the cash register/grocery store in action.

Seminole, Oklahoma

Sorry for not getting my act together to get pix up yet. It just seems to be very late by the time we get online each night.

We're currently in Seminole, OK with big plans to see a children's museum and water park tomorrow (we had planned to stay in Oklahoma City tonight but the hotels were full ... who knew OKC was such a hot spot???).

Some highlights so far:

We were in Phoenix on Saturday night at a hotel with a great pool and playground. Really, what else can you ask for?

On Sunday, we drove to Albuquerque, NM. En route, we stopped to see a crater from a meteor that hit a long, long time ago. As we were getting close, we explained to the girls that we were going to see a hole in the ground where a giant rock fell out of the sky a long, long time ago. After we got there and looked at the crater, Audrey said "I guess the rock landed while we were still driving. But I wanted to see the rock land." How to explain a few million years to a 3-year old ........

Today, we saw some amazing beauty of God's creation. I told Iain that I could move to Oklahoma. =)

Avery is learning the Alphabet song. The only letters she really knows are C, S and X, but she sings with gusto through the whole song anyway. It is adorable. I'll try to get some footage.

In case you didn't know (Iain and I only know because Audrey tells us about once an hour), 4 of the Disney princesses have been travelling us this entire trip (well, really following behind us in their pink van). They are Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle. If your kids are looking for them, tell them to check with us. Audrey is keeping close tabs on them.

Both girls are addicted to the in-car DVD players. I don't know if I should say this is a highlight, because it might make us seem like some of "those" parents, but I'm actually patting myself on the back for my forethought in buying them last week! =)

Hopefully pix are coming tomorrow .......

Adios San Diego

We're on our way! The movers came, they packed, they loaded, they left. The condo is clean, the keys are turned in. Iain has had a bucket of water dumped over his head to commemorate his last flight (pix to come) and Audrey finished her last dance class. We drove out of SD at 10:06 this morning and are now in Phoenix. We're homeless for awhile, but we're having a great time so far ... the day was made much better by the presence of a pool and a playground at the hotel. =)

Here's a pic of Iain and Martin just before the flight yesterday. Some pix of our vacation to come tomorrow.

Push-Ups

Iain has been doing push-ups in the living room lately and I guess the girls have been watching. Tonight was the first time they did it themselves, but he's on duty tonight so he hasn't seen his beautiful girls in action.

Avery -- Colors and Counting

Here's Avery showing off her color recognition abilities (100% if the color in question is purple; 0% if the color is anything else) and her ability to count to TWO.

Modern Technology

So we watch very little TV in our house, and even less "live" TV. About 99% of the things the girls watch are either DVR'd or from a DVD. A few months ago when they were watching a live TV show, Audrey told me "I don't like commercials" (hmmm, me either) and now when one of their DVR shows goes to commercial, I know it immediately, because they start saying in chorus "uh-oh, uh-oh" and pointing at the TV, waiting for me to fast forward to the next part of the show.

Anyway, tonight, I was playing with Audrey and her little dollhouse. The house has a garage that opens. She said "I don't know why this house has a garage that we push open." I told her it was so the people who live there could park their car inside, just like we do. She said "no, I mean, where is their remote control?" Really, the girl has no idea that it's possible to open a garage door without a remote. So cute!

She'll also probably be embarassed by this later (so Audrey, I'm sorry in advance), but since I am an even worse journal-er than I am a blogger, I won't document this unless I put it here ... last week, she was sitting on the potty and I heard a little sound. She said "that was just some gasoline from my bottom." I had to stifle my laughter, and it was so cute, that I didn't correct her. But she said it again tonight (again, hilarious!), so I decided to tell her that it's just "gas" from our bottom and it's "gasoline" for our car.

Avery has learned so many new words! She now says "peeze" if she wants something, and it's hard not to give it to her with her cute pronunciation and beautiful smile! She also loves to sing (almost all songs are to the tune of Twinkle twinkle), but she'll sing any word to that tune (Elmo and Mim being her favorite two). Actually, Elmo is her favorite answer to any question these days ... Avery, what do you want for breakfast? ELMO! Avery, did you sleep okay? ELMO! Avery, do you want to go to the park? ELMO!

We LOVE these girls. Can someone please slow time down for us???

Fun at Home

A video from a few minutes ago of the girls racing in the living room to Daddy.

Avery has now learned to count to two (but only in Spanish, much to Iain's delight). Audrey is a potty-using pro ... no more crying, no accidents, just smiles and laughter. Whoo-hoo!