So Much Fun!

The last couple of weeks have been GREAT! My friend Lori invited the kids and myself to visit her husband's firehouse in Union City. (Matthew was in Colorado for a "business" meeting at the Broadmore...tough, I know) The kids were in awe the entire time. Wyatt LOVED the powerful hoses. They got to eat breakfast with some of the firemen that were working at the time. We rode in a brand new truck with the sirens going...Annabelle didn't really love that. What a fun adventure!

Two days later, I decided to take them to the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield. The tour is pretty good...you get to see all of the workings of a candy factory. The best part, and I'm sure the part the kids will remember the most is the "stroll" through the candy shop after the tour. They each had a bag and we pretty much filled them with all kinds of Jelly Bellies and other assorted candy.

Then it was on to Tahoe for our annual family vacation. We had SOOOOO much fun. We had many great days at the beach playing in the water, making sand castles, and Wyatt's new favorite thing to do - crawdadding. We rafted down the Truckee (following that, I took Annabelle to the Urgent Care clinic to find she had a double ear infection - you would have NEVER known by her demeanor...she continues to amaze me!). We hiked, rode bikes from Tahoe City down to River Ranch (where you will find some of the BEST nachos around), swam at the pool, took walks out the Big Rock, played Monday night Bingo - TWICE - and lost, had a ton of fun with our friends the Hogans (Tim, Heather, Charlie (3) and Tobi (1)). We played Chubby Bunny and ate s'mores. It was a great 10 days. The kids were VERY sad to leave and we all can't wait to go back!

+= Binky Fairy





So goes the story we told Annabelle last night. The Binky Fairy was coming to take all of her binkies to give them to new babies that need them because she was a big girl now and doesn't need them anymore. We put the binkies in a box together and set them outside on the barbeque bar. We told her that when the Binky Fairy comes, she'll take all of the binkies and leave a very big girl special present for her.


Okay...I started that entry exactly 20 days ago (today is Aug. 23)! Yikes!!! So the basic highlight of that story was that after I put Annabelle to bed, I could hear her through the monitor say emphatically, "Today, I want my binky back. I NOT a big girl, yet!" Talk about breaking my heart. After about 1 1/2 hours of snuggling and re-explaining, she just fell asleep. In the morning, I woke to hearing her - "Mama, Moooommmyyyy...Cinderella...the Binky Fairy....Cinderella...the Binky Fairy brought Cinderella!!!"

Pretty much every day she asks about her binky and why she doesn't have it anymore. I'm sure that will fade with time. She hasn't cried about it, though, which I didn't expect. She's quite the trooper!!!