School!!

 Claire

This was a pretty big week for Claire because she got registered on Monday and then started Kindergarten on Wednesday! I kept having a hard time admitting that she was old enough to go but she was so excited to get to go that I had to let her. We went shopping to look for the supplies on her list for school and got her a lunchbox, water bottle, and a clip-on toy unicorn as a fidget thing that I'm not sure she even uses.  We dropped her off both days because I didn't know how the bus worked, but this week she will be riding there and we will pick her up from school. She so far loves it and remembers two names of her classmate, who are all called her new friends, one has the same name as her uncle and another has the same name as her cousin! I thought that was a funny coincidence. I get to see some of the work she does in school that gets sent home and it's so fun, while at the same time so hard for me to think about her all alone there without me.

Shay

Shay had a tough time this week, for a few reasons involving her sister, but also because of how boring life is without all the vacation fun we've been having. She asks to go to the pool, the park, the store, and other places all day when Claire was at school. Shay got a water bottle too because there was an Elsa one and they are finally treating things nice enough that I knew she would take care of it...and stop drinking mine...even though they still do. We've been doing homework after getting home from dropping Claire off and I tell her that it's what her sister is doing to comfort her. We also have made trips to the park and tried to see cousins but she was being cranky and saying she couldn't go without Claire. She constantly asks if we can go get Claire and when we do she hate waiting in the pick-up line and fell asleep the 2nd time we went. 

Sisters

It is so cute to see how well they go together and play together and protect each other! I can't believe I get to be so lucky and I don't look forward to when they start growing apart because they are jealous or two grades apart. I don't want to see them not be the best of friends. For so long they have been both doing the same things and always getting things together, now that Claire is in school and Shay feels left behind, I worry. I've been so blessed with them in my life and I can't wait to see what beautiful people they grow up to be. If only we knew where we were going from here, Chris was home, and we didn't live in his parent's basement...then life would be perfect right now.

Saying Goodbye

 Monday

The girl's cousins were celebrating the last of summer at the Pocatello waterpark this week because their school started Wednesday and we had a lot of fun! Claire remembered all the fun of the lazy river and the big pool and was trying to be so independent and go everywhere without me! Shay was independent too with her life jacket and able to swim on her own really well. I love taking them to go swimming now because they have so much fun without me having to worry too much about them drowning. I'll make sure to get them swimming when they are a little older but so far we've been practicing moving their hands correctly to swim forward. They already understand how to turn in circles and navigate to get their little mermaid toys after throwing them. Claire is okay with jumping in but Shay only wants to land on my arms so her head doesn't go under even though she practices holding her breath.

Wednesday

We drove all the way down to Ogden to go to a Dinosaur park that I remember going to a lot when I was a little girl. I wasn't sure the girls would love it as much as they did but they had so much fun because there were a playground, feeding ducks, digging in the sand, an art room, and their favorite was the moving dinosaurs. Right at the end of our walk-through was the animatronic ones that move and make sound with a mom Triceritops protecting her two little babies from a T-rex. We technically went three times because we started in the morning then took a break for lunch and went back then left to take my mom to her sisters so she could be ready in the morning to fly home and I came back through again with the girls. Their souvenir was eggs that hatched little dino toys but it took way too long in their opinion and asked all the time if they were hatched yet.

Saturday

It was very nice to have relaxing days now that we did so much the past few weeks so some days weren't very eventful. We did go see cousins and have a sleepover Friday night which made them tired for Saturday because they stayed up giggling and trying to keep playing after I put them all to bed. The cousin that is closest to their age slept on the top bunk of the bunk bed in their room so they were all really excited. We also went to a party BBQ for our church community and I was worried they wouldn't do well because they were so cranky right before we left. I'm glad we went because there was a cute puppy that made them so happy! Claire's goal in life was to be as close to the puppy at all times and luckily she has been trained by me to treat animals nicely. Claire protected it from eating human food, getting stepped on, or wandering too far from its owners, and it really impressed me how gentle she was even when it played tug of war with her dress. 

Traveling while Traveling

 Monday

Since we only drove all day Sunday I thought it wasn't that important so I'll start with Monday! We woke up in Missoula Montana at a Airbnb and went first thing to a clinic to check if my mom was covid free so we could visit my newest nephew! She was cleared so we hurried over to visit and also so the girls could have some playtime with their cousin Luna. It was a mostly relaxing day of catching up and letting the kids play, even though we needed to be quite since they live above people. We went grocery shopping for the week and I made Korean BBQ for dinner that night and even though we normally play games together we couldn't because the kids were to crazy. 

Tuesday

Visiting and relaxing bled into today and most of the morning was chatting and trying to get the girls to calm down because they were so excited to play and be in a new place. We went to a splash pad park for a picnic lunch and to play for a few hours and they weren't all that into the constant raining, but enjoyed the park part just as much. When their cousin was taking her nap we went to chill in our Airbnb and right before heading back over picked up some mongolian, which I chose to be my birthday dinner since I didn't get one the day before on my birthday. We took it to go and ate it at their house so they could have a date on their own too while we watched Luna and played. We got out a little later than 8pm which is when quite time is supposed to start and their downstairs neighbor got annoyed and let us know by knocking on the ceiling.

Wednesday

I cooked sushi for everyone for lunch which always takes so long and we barely made it to our nail appointment. My mom took me and my daughters to a nail salon to get pampered (and also she said she needed it) for my birthday! Claire remembers the Bluey episode that they play a game of Salon and thought we were also going to get our hair done. Instead we went to shop for a few food items we needed and then for frozen yogurt which was right next door as my mom finished. I'm glad they had fun but I like doing their nails myself because we an all have a spa together and I don't have to be worried about my little Shay all the way at the other end of the salon! I couldn't choose who would paint her nails but I hope she didn't feel a lone, and she was able to come sit next to our chairs when she was done. We made homemade pizza for dinner together and the girls had fun helping decorate the pizzas and then barely ate any.

Thursday

There was an awesome waterpark about a block or two from the Airbnb we stayed in and we went for 4 hours on Thursday! It has been the longest we stayed but they didn't want to leave either so obviously they can handle it as long as I'm responsible with sunscreening and keeping hydrated. At first Shay was scared of swimming on her own even though she was using the life jacket Claire used a few weeks ago and I knew she would be able to do it because her head wasn't dipping like the other jacket made happen. Once she figured out how independent it made her she was excited and stopped letting me help, even going as far as saying "I can do it by myself" which is what I used to say! After having a lunch break Claire thought the water was cold so she spent some time laying in the sun...face down... then they both found a group of older girls that thought they were cute and wanted to babysit them. I let them play while following behind so I could keep them in sight but they had sooooooo much fun with them that it made up for their cousin not being able to come.

Friday

We went over for a breakfast of crepes (another one that I made), and tried to play some games together but the girls only wanted to go to the little playground next to the house. After they came in for lunch they really wanted to go back but there was a fair in town that we went to instead while my mom tried to recover from hurting herself trying to the monkey bars with them. They rode the carasol twice and named their horses "Rainbowy" and "Elsa" and if you don't know whose is whose then you don't pay attention to the blog very well! Between the carasol they tried a little dragon roller coaster that they were JUST big enough for. It was a relief because it would have been sad if Shay was left out, but they are both above 3ft. They tried cotton candy for the first time ever and were excited to see the animals we saw even though I was worried because the first 5 minutes were all cows. We eventually got to the chickens, rabbits, and the baby goats which they loved most.

Saturday

Made it all the way back home to Idaho! It was a slow morning because we all slept in even though I had plans to get up early to pack...funny how my mind has different ideas. The trip was long and I got really annoyed hearing "are we here yet" from Shay. As soon as we got home I unpacked the truck so we could shop for food enough to feed everyone at Claire's birthday party! We had invited family and friends to the park for sandwiches, salads, chips, and of course the cake. Claire was excited to pick her own cake at Walmart since we had seen it the week before and I told her she could have one for her birthday. I gave her the choice between rainbow and watermelon and she chose both which was good because I did a mental counting in my head and figured we might need two with the size they sell. She also picked the unicorn candles for the rainbow cake and having two was smart because we only had half left after everyone was fed. It was a rushed day and so different than last years because I barely did any decorations but had so many people come. After presents most people went home, but there is a beach at the park we went and they played in the water a little then mostly in the sand until we needed to go home. I can't believe I have a 5 year old...

Just a Vacation on our Vacation

 Claire

During our early week, she started trying to give her sister piggyback rides but she isn't tall enough or strong enough to thoroughly pick Shay up so they just walk together on top of each other. It happened three times the same day like they just realized how fun it was. We've been busy playing so hard here as I organize, but they go on adventures and help grandma in the garden on her days off and grandpa in the shop when they can sneak in. We've mostly been going to the firehouse for dinners and needing to be distracted because it's not a playground even though they want to climb on the big trucks. When we went to visit my aunt Katie's house, Claire was so excited because there are 3 dogs there sometimes, and almost as soon as we left asked if we could go back. She is definitely an animal person and I was trying to teach her to practice making doggies happy so she will be ready for her own dog one day...at least she has her sister...

Shay

She is starting to draw figures instead of just scribbling! I got a picture of her first ever personoid of Catboy when they were being distracted after dinner at the firehouse. She was so proud and I was excited to see her testing her artistic abilities. Soon she will be like Claire and set up her toys to try and draw them and start coloring in the lines! I'm glad she has her own interests and seems to be excited about learning and being like her sister. Between all the activities of Roy Days, my cousin brought out two sets of kinetic sand and they had so much fun making creations. I know what they will be getting for Christmas now and I was lucky she had kept it because they were starting to play with the dog toys in that house and who knows how clean those were. Shay likes to pretend to be a kitty but I wouldn't put it past her to put a dog toy in her mouth. I think she enjoyed sleeping in the tent we brought to be their private room. We were all going to be outside but there was a chance of storms so the little 2 man tent was perfect for the downstairs room.

Roy Days

My mom flew into Salt Lake this week and I took the girls to drive all the way down to Roy to pick her up and enjoy a day full of fun because the town having its celebration. We got there on Friday night to enjoy the fair across the street from my aunt's house the girls did some bouncy houses and we ate fair food. We got up early the next morning for me to run a 5K and the girls to do a kid's fun run course with my mom and aunt taking pictures for me. They were there at the starting line for me to see me start then also at the finish line 28 minutes later to tackle me after I finished! We stuck around for the rewards and we all got medals because I was 2nd in my age group we went home just in time for a quick shower and to pack up and go to the parade. We got a good spot because the kids next to us were really nice about sharing extra stuff and making room when the girls went back to the edge of the street after having me open more candy for them. Dinner was a BBQ with friends and s'mores that their first cousins helped them make. They were going to watch fireworks but it started long past the girls bedtime so they missed out but liked playing with the light bracelets.