Weekend fun

Friday night we had Sarah and the family over for Cinco de Mayo, Steve made enchiladas, guacamole, margaritas....it was great! The weather was so nice and the kids were able to play outside until dark. Presley and neighbor Naiah found worms, so many worms. I'm still shocked that Presley will touch them but glad that she does!

Saturday we didn't do much but enjoy the day. Steve and Piper went to the car wash and to look for flip flops for her while I worked out and P played, then we went outside to enjoy the weather!

Presley had a girls evening planned with her friends Leah and Maris, Steve had a ticket to the Alton Brown show at the Civic Center (it was a birthday present from me and he wanted to go by himself instead of having me there with him since I don't really care about cooking!) so Piper was my date to my friend Nicola's wedding.

Presley got picked up for Fancy Nancy at the DSM Playhouse about 3:00 and then Piper and I left for Carlisle. The wedding was pretty cool, their motorcycles lined the aisle they walked down, her 18 year old son played the piano for the wedding. The weather was perfect!

Her dress was completely HER! Bold and beautiful, the guys wore jeans and their motorcycle leathers. We have know her (and her family) my whole life so we knew a lot of people there too. We are so happy for Brett and Nicola, they are perfect for each other!

Piper just wanted to dance! The minute we got to the reception in Pleasant Hill, she asked me to dance (when there wasn't really any dancing yet) then we ate and then it was just about time for us to leave to pick up Presley (I said I would pick her up between 8:30-9 in Johnston). I felt bad that I was going to make her leave before the dancing had started. So I made the decision to leave her there with my parents, jet back to Johnston and get Presley and then go BACK to the reception. I was gone for about 45 minutes and Piper was in full dancing mode with my dad when we got back! We stayed for about another hour and then headed home! All of us exhausted!

I don't get it.

Why?? Have I shared this shoe already? If so, oops, sorry! This is a shoe that sells for $1190, yes the nude colored 'sock' is a part of the shoe. But no worries, you are able to take it out and just wear the red strappy sandal if you want to! Why??



Now this fancy piece of footwear is only $1890!


WHO is going to buy this THIGH high boot for $1395? Thigh high??

This is what happens when I'm bored at work and I just look at the really expensive things on Nordstrom.com!

 

May Day!

Monday was May Day! We had 4 neighbors bring by May day baskets for the girls, it was too cute and fun to watch. Presley and I had talked about maybe putting some together for some of the neighbors. At dinner Steve casually said that we weren't going to do it. Presley freaked out! Started screaming, crying, ran and hid behind a chair and threw a shoe across the room.....so that was it, we weren't doing it. There was no way we could give in to that behavior!
I was sad for them b/c I think they would've enjoyed it but I think we are at that point where follow-thru to punishments and making them realize that they need to control their behavior and attitudes and how the respond to things.

Of course, this was the night that Piper said that 'Daddy, ruined everything for her beautiful sister'....and Steve and I just started laughing hysterically!

There have been a lot of times lately where one of them is throwing an absolute fit about something and it's so ridiculous and FUNNY! That I just laugh! I really try to hide it, but sometimes it's just not possible! The threat of taking videos of their meltdowns usually gets them to calm down a bit too! :)


Tuesday we met neighbors Sarah, Kyle, Collins, Carver and Cohen at El Mariachi for a Dos de Mayo dinner! Figured we would totally skip Cinco de Mayo at the restaurant b/c we know it will be busy! Dinner went good, even with 5 kids! They ate and they were good and each earned a quarter for the candy/gum machine!

Finally the weather is getting nice and our weekends are looking SO busy again!

Week in Review

Where did the last week go?? And it doesn't seem like we really did much over the last 7 days!

Last Monday Steve went to Def Leppard with his brother, he mainly went to see Tesla and he had a good time. It's hard to do concerts on Monday night and have to get up for work Tuesday morning! Piper had gymnastics so I picked up both girls and headed there and other than that we did nothing!

Wednesday Presley had gymnastics so Steve took her to that and Piper and I had a date at El Mariachi, this will be ending soon since both girls will have gymnastics on the same night this summer! :)

Thursday I got off work early b/c we moved buildings (this is the 3rd time in 12 months that I have moved at work, so dumb) so we picked up the girls and headed to Adventureland to get our pictures taken for our season passes. Piper was so excited, she was free last year so didn't need a pass....man, she felt like a big kid getting her picture taken with her own little ID!
After that we headed for an early dinner to the new Bigfoot Bacon and Brew in Altoona (the old Jethroni Pepperoni..... http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/new-business/2017/04/26/bigfoot-bacon-and-brew-opens-altoona/306799001/ ). I really liked it but they put pickles on Steve sandwich after he asked for no pickles and that turned him off completely, so I doubt we'll be going back which is a bummer.

Friday we headed over to neighbor Sarah's house. The weather was so crappy this weekend so it was nice to hang out, have the kids play, eat, drink and play an adult game (Disturbed Friends....kinda similar to Cards Against Humanity, you don't want kids in the room!).  Thanks to Sarah and Kyle for having us over!

Saturday it was another rainy, gloomy, chilly day. I worked out in the morning, we all made a trip to Target to get out of the house, the girls played and played, I read my book and did laundry. We decided to head out for dinner at Papa's Pizzeria in Polk City https://www.zomato.com/des-moines-ia/papas-pizzeria-polk-city/menu#regular . It was really good, the kids were pretty well-behaved and we will definitely be going back! After dinner we went back home and just hung out some more, the girls had baths, Steve headed to The Boat House because there is only so much sitting around at home that he can do and we were all in bed early!

Sunday it was another rainy, gloomy, chilly day (do you see a pattern here?). Piper had a birthday party at Pump It Up and Presley and I went and got pedicures and then we did nothing the rest of the day! It was nice to chill at home but man, I finished a book Saturday afternoon, finished another one Sunday afternoon and have started another one already! I did work out and Steve made dinner and the girls played but that just about sums up our boring weekend indoors. The forecast looks better for next weekend though, so we are looking forward to that!

Omaha Zoo

Thursday night Steve and I got started talking about possibly going to Omaha over the weekend. We didn't have anything planned, we don't have THAT many free weekends coming up, so about 9 pm Thursday night we booked a hotel in Omaha for Friday night. Friday I left work early, we went home and packed and then picked up the kids about 4:00 and headed out of town. We decided to have dinner at Texas Roadhouse in Council Bluffs and see our friend Brandon who is a manager there. We got right in and had awesome service and was able to chat with Brandon off and on while we were there.

We headed to the hotel, got checked in and decided to walk around a bit since the sun was still out and we had no time frame or schedule!

We got back to the hotel and for some reason Steve talked me into staying another night, so we booked Saturday night also! Then we did some swimming! The pool was so busy but it didn't bother Presley at all! Piper, on the other-hand, got out and dried her face off every time she got splashed!

Always posing...she wanted me to take a picture to send to grandma!

I set my alarm for 8:30 Saturday morning, thinking my kids would sleep in! I was wrong. 7:30 they were awake! What? They should've been tired!!! Oh wait Piper was tired, all day! She was whiny and broke down crying many times. We got there about 10, the weather was perfect, no exhibits were TOO busy so it was nice! 

She wasn't too tired to pose for the camera!

 For the last couple weeks she has been telling us that monkeys are her favorite animal, not pigs anymore.

 I have a picture of 18 month old Presley with this too!

 The most ferocious animal in the zoo this day....the PIPER!

 Presley trying to reason with the tired animal!

 The gorillas are one of the best exhibits!

 Baby gorilla!

 Rock on sister!

 In the bear area they had these statues, I think they were supposed to be bears? either way, Piper wanted her picture taken with ALL of them.

 She found a pig!

We stayed at the zoo until about 2 pm, we were all worn out! So we headed back to the hotel.

Omaha Zoo

After the zoo, we had a mandatory quiet time period for both girls! This 30 minutes actually seemed to make a difference. It was only 3:30 when we decided to go walk around the Old Market again. The weather was nice but finding a patio that we could sit at was impossible, so we walked around and found some ice cream before heading back to the hotel so Steve and I could grab a couple drinks before we did headed out for dinner.

We went to Upstream Brewery https://www.upstreambrewing.com/, it was a nice one block walk from our hotel and the kids did good too. There was some empty space next to our table that Piper started dancing in, entertaining many couples near us. We hung out here for a while and then headed back for more swimming.

 





The pool was actually dead which was nice b/c we basically had the pool to ourselves for most of the time we were there! We headed back to the room about 8:30 and Steve and the girls played Simon Says....which included dancing on the bed.....

and hugging your sister!

No one was ready for bed, so we travelled back downstairs to the hotel lobby. The girls played with their dolls and Steve and I enjoyed another adult beverage while we people watched!

The girls actually slept in until 8:30 Sunday morning, we had breakfast and then hit the road back home! We got home about noon and Steve and I were busy, busy! Target/grocery run, car wash, laundry, picking up toys, laundry, vacuuming, Steve made dinner, dishes, Presley had a time out for about an hour for being such a brat, Piper and I went on two walks and the girls played with the neighbors before having to come in for baths and bed.

Favorite Person

My sister recently asked on Facebook "Do you have a favorite person?", and then went on about how her favorite person is her husband. She gave this very nice, long post about all the things she loves about him.
It got me thinking b/c I can't say that I just have ONE favorite person, I think my 3 favorite people in my life are the ones that I spend the most time with...... Steve, Presley and Piper....and don't get me wrong, there are times when they are definitely NOT my favorite people too!

Steve is my favorite person b/c he is funny, creative, he likes to cook and build/fix things, he is an awesome daddy to two of the most stubborn girls. He knows about so many different things.....cars, fishing, hunting, fashion, cooking, paint, furniture, construction and music.  He is social, he likes to be outdoors and to NOT sit still. He supports my love of the Packers and the New Kids on the Block. He pushes me to go out of my comfort zone. I think it's so cool that he is still best friends with his friends from highschool.

Presley is my favorite person b/c she can be a great big sister. She loves being creative and organized. She sees everything as it pertains to her 'American Girl' dolls, if there is a McDonalds toy, she sees that it is the perfect size for her dolls.
She is shy and hesitant, like I was when I was younger so I totally understand how she is feeling in these moments. She can be goofy and funny and dance around with no cares but rarely do others see this. There is nothing better than watching her really laugh and have fun. My favorite time is reading with her at bedtime.
She LOVES her daddy!

Piper is my favorite person b/c she is funny and goofy! She isn't afraid to ask questions. She loves coloring and learning. She can be so, so sweet! She still calls things the wrong name (the remote control is a commercial, stop signs are sign stops, the other day she wanted me to do an 'underdog' on the swing but she asked for a 'cannonball'). There is nothing better than the moment you pick her up from daycare and she comes running toward you for a hug and cuddling with her before bedtime.
She LOVES her grandma and told me that she wants her hair cut like grandmas. She cries when she leaves their house.