Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

So, that whole goal of not spending money this week?

Yeah. Didn't happen.

Though, we had a good reason: we spent the week going on "field trips" (soooo educational) to stores looking for supplies for Megan's birthday present. She's asked for a room re-do: new paint, bedding, knick knacks, pictures... a complete overhaul. So, we hit World Market; Hobby Lobby; Bed, Bath and Beyond (with a side trip to Bath and Bodyworks, for my one true indulgence: their hand soap); Lowe's; Home Depot; Claire's (for fun; the girls had a blast trying on stuff. They have to hate it when we come in.); Pier 1; and Target. Whew. On the upside, all we have to do now is clean and paint the room. And buy picture frames, posters, order the prints she wants in the picture frames, and get a lampshade...

At least it passed the time. Somewhat.

When we weren't field tripping, we were swimming; several trips to the pool this week. Is it bad that we're actually getting tired of the pool? (I'd love to do some canning, but there isn't anything to can.) Russell pointed out that there was a weird vibe at the pool yesterday, an overhanging exhaustion. We are so done with summer. It hasn't been a pleasant month for anyone here (we're in "extreme drought" conditions, and so are stopping watering the lawn. On the upside, I don't have to mow anymore...), and we're all Just. Tired. Of the heat. To the point of despair. I tell myself that it will cool down eventually, but then I look at the weather (we're gearing up for 112 high on Tuesday...) and I wonder if I'm stuck in hell (seriously; I've found myself starting to cry when I look at the weather)...

We also spent the week watching TV/movies. It was officially "stupid movie week": Russell and I watched Date Night (we thought it was hilarious, though recognize it's not for everyone. It's just that they nailed our marriage so well...), The A-Team (okay, if you watched the TV show, it's probably somewhat amusing. Otherwise, pass.), and Top Gun (because I was nostalgic. Man, there wasn't even a plot to this one. It was just a vehicle to watch Tom Cruise be gorgeous. Perfect for 13 year old girls in the 80s. *blush*), and I went to see Thor (It was okay, but it needed to be more fun. It wasn't lighthearted enough to be a good superhero movie. And, obviously, I need to brush up on my Norse mythology -- or comic book reading? -- because I didn't get a lot of it.) with Karen (she'd wanted to go, but couldn't find anyone to go with her, while Russell took the girls to the church daddy-daughter movie night to watch Tangled (well, it was at a house, and was outside, but thankfully it'd rained and so the heat wasn't unbearable). Megan and Caitlyn spent the week watching the first season of Angel, upon the recommendation of one of Megan's friends. They seem to like it. And it kept us in our air conditioned bubble.

Only two more weeks until school starts. Here's to surviving until then.

Princess Luncheon

A few weeks back, Alison discovered this at the library:

This became the germ of an idea. Although there was not a single recipe in the cookbook that Alison would eat, she decided that what she wanted to do was throw a party so she could make the recipes. And invite friends. And dress up like a princess.

Sure, it's the end of July. And it's 2,000 degrees out. But, I couldn't think of a single reason not to have a princess party. I gave my okay, and Alison (with help from Caitlyn) made the invitations, sent them out.

Then they created a menu,


made decorations (which I, alas, didn't get pictures of),


made the food,


and ran the whole show.
She invited six delightful girls (plus one big sister to help be waiter/event director with Caitlyn).

They played games

Had lunch

Made bracelets


And took a Princess Quiz. (Alison was the Leader Princess; Kristen was the Diva Princess.)

A couple of people didn't quite get what was going on (who has parties that aren't birthday parties, after all), and sent presents, so there was even present opening.


A good time was had by all.

Random Things From Around the House

Or, things that keep us entertained when it's too hot to think.

The girls have taken some water balloons that were given us back in New Jersey (by a friend of the Baileys) and decided that instead of throwing them at each other, what they really wanted to do was make ice balls.

They do come out in some interesting shapes...

We went on a field trip to World Market (yeah, we do have interesting field trips. Educational, too.), just to do some browsing. It's a fun place to just look at stuff... but I found this:

Which made me very happy. I love having a nice glass pitcher around the house, but for some reason (extra strong gravitational pull in our house?) I can't seem to keep them around. But, for now, we have a new pitcher. It makes me happy.

As do these:

They had them at World Market! And, of course, they must be bought and eaten. *happiness*

Caitlyn decided that what she really wanted to do was poach an egg the "old fashioned" way. She searched out instructions on the Internet (oh, the irony there), and made them for lunch one day.

Lesson here: when it says "gently slide in", it means "quickly but not dumping" (the egg ont he right) not "really really slowly" (the egg on the left). They were yummy, though.

Riverside Park

So, yesterday, I decided we needed to get out of the house, and so dragged (drug?) everyone to Riverside Park, one of our favorite places here in Wichita. We never go there enough in the summertime... At any rate, it's a grand place to have a picnic, play at the playground, and get wet in the fountains.

(Is it bad that when I look at this picture, I think of Willow Smith's song "Whip My Hair"? Probably.)

(She said, "Look at me I'm Shaid Kapoor in the shower." Too. Many. Hindi. Movies.)


(She's just cute.)


(There's a story here. Like: Why is that elf sneaking up on me? I mean, sooo creepy!)


(Russell prefers to stay cool by having the girls fill up his hat and then dump it on him.)


(I don't give birth to children. I give birth to monkeys. Seriously.)


(Playing with the camera...)

You Know It Hasn't Rained In A While

When you are excited enough by the mere fact that it's raining that you snap a picture of the windshield as proof.

Then you drive home with all the windows open, and no one minds.

We need more of this stuff here.

Let's Play BEAT THE HEAT!

*audience cheering*

The game show in which we give you temperatures of more than 100 degrees, and you come up with ways to survive and entertain your children in this kind of weather. Each day is worth 50 points.

Let's meet our first contestants: The Foxes!

*audience cheers*

Shall we get started?

Monday

send Caitlyn to her first day of acting class, run errands, let the younger two children watch too much TV (on the computer; shows of choice are: Phineas and Ferb, Good Luck Charlie, and Friends For Change Games) and/or play computer games. Go swimming at the Northwest Y in the afternoon for two hours, accidentally running into friends there (which is why we stayed for two hours). Take Megan out to her boxing class, only to turn around and leave because she did something wonky to her knee getting out of the car. (It's better now.)

Score: 32.75/50, plus 10 bonus points for bumping into friends and actually interacting with them.

Tuesday

send Caitlyn to her second day of class. Let the younger two children watch too much TV/movies. Borrow the DVDs of BBC's Robin Hood from a friend, bring home to much cheering. Watch the first episode of the first season. (Shall I do my British men in period dress swooing here?) Take advantage of the cheap theater's retro days $1 admission price and take the girls to see Rio. Splurge for soda and popcorn, share seats because the theater is packed. The movie is just okay, though the music is good and the girls think the movie is cute. (Megan: "I want to hang-glide in Brazil now.") Everyone gets into helping Caitlyn learn her lines for the show.

Score: 42.5/50 plus 5 bonus points for bumping into friends.

Wednesday

send Caitlyn to her third day of class, go to zumba. Let the younger two children watch too much TV. Megan has yet to get off the computer except for small intervals to go to the bathroom, sleep and possibly eat. Get out invitations to Alison's "Princess Luncheon"; field nagging reminders to pick up all the food and party supplies. Email sister to send beads for the party. Send children to friend's houses, go volunteer at the library. Pick up children (tpo much screaming; they don't want to leave!) Practice with the young women for a musical number in church this coming Sunday.

Score: 40.8/50

Thursday

Russell stays home because we have to be two places at the same time: Alison's gymnastics class and Caitlyn's acting class's performance. Russell tackles the gymnastics; Alison is sad afterward that she missed her sister's performance. I borrow a video camera and tackle the (cute) performance. See friends there (Caitlyn invited them, and they actually came), and arrange a sleep over for the evening. Megan has yet to leave the house. The children spend the afternoon watching movies, two more episodes of Robin Hood, other assorted TV, and complain and fight (especially after Caitlyn's friends come over) while I veg and read because that's about all the activity I could handle.

Score: 19.6/50

Friday

Take everyone in the house (except... Megan...), including sleep over friends, to the Y for Zumba, play class, and kid's Fun Fit. The tweens enjoy the sub at zumba, especially the "drinking song". (Should I get negative points for that??) Arrange to meet friends at the Andover Y (we haven't ever been to their water park) later that afternoon. Pick up Russell (after having to return home twice to pick up things we forgot), and head out to Y after lunch. Enjoy the pool, friends. Alison discovers that she LOVES the tube slide; Caitlyn succumbs to peer pressure and goes down same tube slide, which she is deathly afraid of (claustrophobia mixed with fear of darkness=yuck), comes to me upset afterward. I engage in life-lesson teaching (sometimes I'm okay as a mom...): it's okay to not go along with your friends when you know you won't enjoy the activity, right? The Kitchens come over for dinner and to teach us a new card game, Dominion, which everyone enjoys. Watch a very weird French movie.

Score: 43/50, plus 10 bonus points for getting Megan out of the house and participating in a family activity (which is slightly unfair, because she did go see Rio with us on Tuesday), and another 10 for actually organizing an event. Minus 5 for the French movie.

Saturday

Clean house, go shopping. Karen drops by and go with her to visit a woman in the ward who's in a nursing home; leave children home with unwanted boy who has "randomly" dropped by for a "drink of water" (aka, "to flirt with Megan"). Respond to increasingly desperate texts for advice to Get. Rid. Of. The. Boy. Who. Won't. Leave. Finally give a suggestion that works. :-) Volunteer with Megan and Caitlyn at the humane society. The younger two watch Phineas and Ferb all afternoon. Finally turn it off when Russell says, somewhat desperately, "HOW MANY EPISODES ARE THERE??" Make a salad, throw everyone in car (including Megan), and go to Riverside park to play in the fountains. Rejoice that clouds move in and it's not so blinking hot. Celebrate when a teeny tiny bit of rain falls on our way home. Watch more Robin Hood and crash.

Score: 42.5/50

Sunday

(It rained! Not much.... but it rained!): It's a free day!

*audience cheers*

Go to church, be lazy around the house. Don't watch TV, and the children actually play nicely (sometimes). Make a few things for the book group that is at our house tomorrow. Wind down and get ready for the next week.

Shall we see how The Foxes did this week?

*audience cheers*

Final score: 251.15/300

Not too bad! Tune in next week for another episode of BEAT THE HEAT! in which our contestants become increasingly more desperate: can they entertain their kids, stay cool, and NOT SPEND ANY MONEY? You'll have to come back to find out!

Stay cool!

Caitlyn's Acting Class

So, we found a theater place in town (close by) that doesn't charge three arms and two legs for workshops. Hooray! We signed Caitlyn up for a week, and at the end they did a little performance.

It was a couple scenes from Beauty and the Beast in which she was

a bookseller


Mrs. Potts


and a couple scenes from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in which she relished playing Veruca Salt.



I do wish we had the money to put her in something grander; she's such a natural at this acting thing.

Next Stop

Home and Regular Life.

That's what I said last week, wasn't it?

So, Monday we drove. And, thanks to DVD players in the car and really good audio readings of The Wee Free Men, we made it home in record time: 11 hours. We were SO ready to be back. I don't think there was any running around shouting and yelling and hugging of one's pillows, but the girls were more than happy to Not. Be. In. A. Car. The only problem was some slight flooding in the laundry room; I thought I turned off the hoses to the washer, but maybe I didn't: the washing machine was full to overflowing. Thankfully, the sump pump is in that room, so the water didn't get out of the laundry room. *whew*

Megan spent the week hiding. And hogging the computer as much as possible. She was more than happy to be away from everyone. She's an introvert, and being stuck in a car with her family for 17 days 24/7 was very, very hard on her. Thankfully, she bore it well. I think she's fully decompressed by now; she went to the YW activity at the park (to play in the splash fountains) and the church dance (!) last night.

As for the rest of the girls, they've had competing issues: they're sick of playing with each other, so there was a lot of fighting, but they also didn't want to get in the car and go anywhere. There was much crying on Tuesday when Alison thought she had gymnastics class, but because I didn't sign up for it before we left, the class on Tuesday was full. Thankfully, the Thursday class was open, but that meant TWO WHOLE DAYS of waiting. On top of that, we tried to go swimming on Tuesday, but they wanted to watch a movie first, and by the time we got to the pool, a storm was brewing (but it's too hot for it to rain; 100+ all week!) and so we only got about 20 minutes before they closed the pool due to lightning. (Kristen, on Thursday: "Jesus controls the weather. He's made it rain two times now so we couldn't swim. Jesus is kind of EVIL." Yes, we did laugh.)

We solved the fighting problem by having the Chavez girls over to play. For four hours. It was quite lovely to hear sounds of playing and not fighting, for at least a little while.

The BIG event of the week, however, was (of course) Harry Potter 7.2. Megan's been begging to go to a midnight release for a while now (she really wanted to go back in November for 7.1, but we said no, much to her dismay). So, back before we left, we bought tickets (which ended up being for the IMAX. In 3D! Which explains why they were so much.), and Russell took her and a friend to the showing. They were exhausted on Friday, but they said the experience watching with a crowd of fans who were so completely into the movie was priceless.

I took Caitlyn yesterday for a matinee. (She didn't like watching them at night; she gets too involved and can't sleep afterward.) I'm glad I went with her; she sat and clung (clinged?) to me the whole movie, which helped during all the sad parts. (Yes, I cried. Lots. Particularly during Snape's memories, which surprised me.) At one point, she asked if I was doing okay. I said, "I think so. Are you ok?" She said, choking back a sob, "No!"

Friday, my mom asked in an email if it was worth it. Um... YES. It's not the world's best movie, but it's a good movie and there are many little moments (like Helena Bonham Carter playing Hermione playing Bellatrix; or Maggie Smith defending Hogwarts against Snape; or Alan Rickman; or Daniel Radcliff managing to be a good actor; or NEVILLE! or all the wonderful little moments of humor threaded through this tough, dark, emotional ride) that make the movie a wonderful experience. Especially for Harry Potter fans like us.

And now, it's Sunday. We're pretty much back to normal, over our post-trip withdrawal, and ready to settle in to dealing with our hot, hot weather. It seems we're stuck in a heat bubble, whatever that is. Which means we're looking at 104+ temps all week.

At least we can head to the pool!

At Martin and Jessica's

So, we spent the next-to-last day of our vacation (the last day being spent driving, again) at Martin and Jessica's house. We managed to get up, go to church, and then spent the rest of the day being lazy and playing with cousins.

We did get a picture of Alia and Caitlyn doing perler beads, but it didn't turn out. Alison and Tanner -- who were kind of on-and-off; I suppose that's to be expected as they get older, but it still kind of makes me sad -- hid away and we never snapped a picture of them. Oops.

However, when Martin came back from his High Council assignment, we got him to get out his sword and armor for us to see/admire/play with.


Martin explaining something regarding the armor, sword fighting, or Western Martial Arts in general. It was actually quite fascinating.

We got all the girls to try on at least the coif (that's "the metal thing that's a hat," as Alison says). Megan said that if I put up the picture I snapped of her, she'd kill me. So you'll just have to imagine it.

Kristen put it on, and then asked for it to be taken off, almost immediately. "It's TOO heavy," she remarked.


(This one's for you, Abe.)

The really cool thing is that Martin made the chain mail himself. Impressive. I told him he needs to start making the rounds at the Renaissance Fairs.

We don't spend enough time with family, but it's always nice to see them when we can.

Buildings

One of the things that fascinated Megan and me, at least, the most was the architecture of both Boston and New York. They're big cities, sure, but they're old big cities, which means there's a lot of interesting stuff to look at. Megan kept stealing the camera and snapping pictures. I thought I'd take some of the best and make a couple of mosaics, showcasing the buildings of the cities.

Boston:


New York:

Summing Up, Cuz 'Splainin' Would Take Too Long

I'm sitting on Martin and Jessica's excessively gravitationally strong couch (I swear, once you sit on this, you don't get up!), watching the girls play with their cousins one last time (though Megan's off reading somewhere), wishing we could just be home already (soon!), and thinking over the whirlwind of the past two weeks. The best way to sum up, I think, will be one of my stats/awards posts.

Number of miles we've put on the car (before the last little bit): 3223
Number of miles walked: No idea. It was seriously a lot, though.
Worst traffic: I-90 just before Erie, PA where we went 2 miles in 2 hours before we could escape
Worst traffic, runner up: the George Washington bridge going through the Bronx at 2 p.m.
Single favorite thing (Russell): Hampton Beach (He had a hard time coming up with just one thing. Watch for his blog post about the trip...)
Single favorite thing (Melissa): seeing all the things in NYC I didn't get a chance to see when I went my senior year
Single favorite thing (Megan): learning to water ski
Single favorite thing (Caitlyn): singing Disney songs with Aunt Camilla and Megan while they were paddling upstream on the Concord River
Single favorite thing (Alison): seeing Daniel Radcliff's face on a poster
Single favorite thing (Kristen): meeting her new friend Mara and playing with her cousin Elena
Friends we saw: Rosalynde and John Welch, Kristine Haglund, Ross and Wendy (and Ashton, who actually talked to us, which wasn't expected, since he's an 18-year-old guy) Bailey, and Russell met up with two academic friends in NYC. (Most of them were Russell's friends. He's just an incredibly well-connected individual.)
Number of photographers in the family: three -- Megan, Kristen, and I were always vying to take pictures.
Nicest place to sleep: Kristine's couch from IKEA
Nicest place to sleep, runner up: The Embassy Suites hotel in Boston (curse their non-free wi-fi, though)
Drink of choice: Coke (regular for Russell, diet for me), because we just didn't ever get enough sleep!
Drink of choice, runner up: water. We went through gallons as we walked, and we still ended up slightly dehydrated.
Best eating out experience: Francesco Pizzeria in Manhattan
Best breakfast: Embassy suites hotel
Best non-restaurant food: Wayne's grilled chicken (recipe please?) and Camilla's Boston Cream Pie
Coolest surprise: Ross had taken the recipe from another mutual friend, Nick Zukin, and smoked us a loaf of pastrami, which was very yummy. And very thoughtful and awesome.
Thing I missed the most: ice cream. I didn't get enough ice cream. (And we missed out on the family trip to the good ice cream place.)
Best day (Russell): Lexington and Concord on Independence Day
Best day (Melissa): at the risk of sounding repetitive, Wednesday, when we walked through Manhattan and saw the museums.
Best day (Megan): Hampton beach
Best day (Caitlyn): last Sunday when there was hardly any driving (YAY!), and we could sit around and play games and do puzzles and talk with extended family.
Best walk: through Central Park. I have a new bucket-list goal: to walk through Central Park in the fall when it's cool and the leaves are turning colors.
Best walk, runner up: through Niagara Falls State Park, first thing in the morning.
Best walk, third place: the hike around Walden Pond.
Most stressful moment: when we lost the keys to the luggage carrier that we'd borrowed, and we spent an hour looking for them, until Ross found them in the grass.
Most impressive thing: that we never lost Kristen, though she tried a couple of times.
Most impressive thing, runner up: that we didn't break anything at any of the houses we stayed at.
The stories people probably got sick of hearing of the most: Russell and me talking about the trips back east we took with our families when we were kids.
Biggest meltdown: over a bracelet we'd bought at an Indian store in Boston, which Kristen gave away, over Alison's objections. (But it's forgotten now, so don't tell anyone!)
Biggest mistake we made: pretending we were still in our 20s, and planning days that packed enormous amounts of stuff in. Though it seems like it couldn't be avoided because there is just too much to see!
Sanity-keepers for Megan: cell phone and books. She'd have gone nuts if she couldn't have read or texted her friends.
Thing we should have done more of: played card games with relatives.
Places that we should have done differently: Kirtland and Palmyra (but we can say we've been there, at least. Oh, side note: Nauvoo and the Missouri church sites are better.)
Regrets: that we couldn't fit more in, that Wendy had to leave to go to a funeral the day after we arrived at their house, and that we couldn't be in Spokane for the Fox Family reunion as well.

Was it worth it? Most definitely.

Next stop: home and regular life!

Great Eastern Adventure Day 14: Statue of Liberty

We're just about vacationed out. We were all up late last night: Russell off at a gaming convention, playing a D&D game (it's July; he has to get it in somehow!); the older girls and I watching (finally) Inception. (Not a bad movie, though we wished they'd spent more time on the supporting characters.)

So, today, we slept in, had a lazy morning, watched too much Disney channel, and made plans to go see the last thing we really wanted to see:


So, we went down to the Jersey shore, and got on a boat


(As a side note, Kristen has discovered that she REALLY likes taking pictures. She often grabs the camera and takes a hundred or so pictures before giving it back. It's pretty cute, until she starts twirling and dancing with the camera around her neck, and we worry that she'll break it... She took this picture.)

Stopped at Ellis Island, which was really quite cool. Russell would have loved to spend more time there, but we didn't want to push the kids further than they were willing to go, especially after all we'd dragged them to do the past few days.



And then we went by the Statue of Liberty.



We didn't get off the boat and brave the crowds. Or see the museum or go up the statue. And, you know what? I don't regret that. It was quite cool seeing it (Did you know it's been 125 years? I still remember the big bash from the 100th birthday celebration! It's been 25 years since then?) but, really, seeing it from the boat is the best way.

From there, we drove through some small, quaint New Jersey towns on our way back to the Bailey's. We would have stopped and walked around, but it had started to rain and half the girls were asleep in the car, so we just drove by and looked. The one thing that surprised us was the amount of vegetation. You think of east coast, and you think of endless cities. And while there are a lot of cities here, there's also a lot of trees. I miss trees sometimes. Along with water. On the other hand, it was dripping wet humidity today; the kind where you don't even bother to dry off after a shower. I don't miss that.

And so, tomorrow, we're off. A looong drive to Indiana to stay with Martin and Jessica for Sunday, and then another long drive home. It's been an amazing vacation, but we're all looking forward to sleeping in our own beds and getting back to our regular routine.

Great Eastern Adventure Day 12 and 13: New York City

So. We've spent the last two days seeing as much of Manhattan as we possibly could. We've walked miles, probably; rode the New Jersey commuter train; drove the minivan around in New York; navigated the subway system; ate both at a pizzeria and street vendor food; and saw more than I could possibly fit in one post.

Some highlights...

The train ride, though not waiting in the station.


New York City pizza (though Ashton insisted that we could have gotten better pizza in Jersey)


Wandering through Central Park, even if we got a little misplaced and took the long way across


The Met. You could spend days in the Met. We only saw a little, tiny smidge of it all and even that was amazing.

(We found a fountain that had coins from all over the world, and spent a good while looking at them. One of the coolest things we saw.)



Feeding pigeons Ritz crackers.


Being in the middle of Times Square, with the lights and the press of people


The fact that the girls wanted to go up the Empire State Building because it's Mount Olympus in the Percy Jackson books, and yet they were all underwhelmed. (Though Alison was happy to get her souvenir penny.)

I went up, but didn't go out (until Russell dragged me out for a picture). Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of everyone up there...



Seeing Daniel Radcliff's face all over town.

Eating street food -- surprisingly good hot dogs and ice cream.

Russell liked meeting his friends Noah and Damon for lunch, and walking Highline Park with Ross. (He did that without the rest of us.)


The New York Public Library children's room.

(They have the original Pooh bear stuffed animals there. Kristen was very happy.)

The carousel in Bryant Park.


Driving by Washington Square and the UN building.



You probably have noticed that there aren't many pictures of Megan. It's because if she wasn't taking the pictures, she was doing this
:
Either the book's really good, or it's time to go home. Probably both.

At any rate, it's been a fun (if exhausting) couple of days!