Into the wild

This weekend was Emma's Brownie troop's campout. We left Friday right after school and didn't get back until Sunday morning. To be honest, I was dreading the whole thing. I used to be a card-carrying member of the Sierra Club and have done a lot of camping over the years. But, at least for me, when you turn 40, a shower, flush toilet and other amenities become more important. This was going to be roughing it...we were going to sleep on little cots in perma-tents (great for my back!) and our facilities consisted of an open-air shower and a latrine.

But now that we've returned, I have to say, we had a great time (not that I'm not happy to be back at home with my flush toilet and comfortable bed.)

Anyway, a short recap...here is our little open-air cabin where we slept...


We bunked with Emma's best friend Emme and her mom, so that was nice. Here are the two girls shortly after we unpacked...


It seems like the majority of our time was spent building fires, preparing meals and cleaning up after meals. Here's Emma doing our dishes after dinner one night (doing dishes consisted of dumping everything in a mesh bag and dunking it in buckets of water.)


The first night there, we made a big fire and the girls roasted marshmallows for s'mores...yum!


The first night, I have to admit, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. It was nice sleeping out in the open air, but the cot was pretty uncomfortable and I tossed and turned all night. The adults all got up at 6 am to make the girls a special "jungle breakfast" (apples, bananas and bagels, which we tied up in bandanas and put up in the trees for them to get.) Shockingly, I was not walking around like Quasimodo when I got up - my back somehow survived sleeping on a 1-inch matress.

We went on a long nature hike, did some badge work and then it was our team's turn on wood-gathering duty...


A few more pictures from the day...






I did sleep much better the second night - although probably not more than 5 hours. Then it was packing up this morning and time to head home. But time for one more picture of an extremely tired mommy (in desperate need of a hot shower!) and her little Brownie scout...

Could it be...

...that spring is actually here for good? All signs are pointing that way, including Emma in shorts and a halter top!

The littlest vampire

Okay, I promise this is the last tooth-related post (at least for this week.) Emma's other front tooth has been loose forever (she lost her first one a couple months ago.) It has just been hanging there all week. This morning when I got her up, she said her tooth felt funny...uh yeah, because it was gone! Somehow, the tooth had fallen out overnight. I searched high and low for it on her bed and floor, but I can't find it. So either she swallowed it - or I'll probably vacuum it up later this week.

Regardless, I have assured her the tooth fairy will come tonight (provided I remember it...as you might recall from my last post, I have a habit of forgetting these things!)

Anyway, here is a picture taken this morning of Emma without her front teeth...my little vampire!

And the world's worst mommy award goes to...

...ME (big surprise!)

Emma lost a tooth at school yesterday and the Tooth Fairy forgot to come last night! Emma was crushed when she woke up this morning and her tooth was still there and no money. I pretended to find her tooth fairy money on the floor when I was helping her make her bed (so I lied on top of forgetting!)

Let's hope I do better today...

My funny kitty (and girl!)

I don't take all that many photos of our kitty, Sami. I'm not sure why...she really is quite a funny feline. This evening, Emma said "Mommy, what is that pink thing on Sami's face?" I looked and Sami was sitting there with her tongue sticking out and she stayed that way for like 30 minutes...we thought it was hilarious!


It was a nice spring evening and we sat out on the porch for awhile...I snapped a couple of pictures of Emma in her new favorite dress.



She is my cute little sailor girl!

Easter 2009

We had a hectic, but fun, Easter weekend. The weather was decent on Saturday, crappy on Sunday...hey, good weather half the time in spring is par for the course.

Anyway, our Easter weekend was filled with bike riding...


Painting Easter eggs...


And then church this morning with Emma in all her Easter finery...




We also managed to squeeze in a showing of "Hannah Montana: The Movie", which was surprisingly not that bad. All and all, a pretty nice holiday...hope everyone had a great Easter too!

Bubble fun!

Who says a 7-year-old can't still love bubbles?

It's party time!

Emma attended two birthday parties this weekend...I swear, it's feast or famine with these things. The first party was a cooking-themed party, which was fun.

The second party was at one of those huge inflatable play places. All the girls had such a good time. This is a group of girls who have known each other since they were a year old, in daycare/preschool together. They all go to different schools now and, in the case of the birthday girl Paci, live in a different town. They only see each other a few times a year, but they just pick up where they left off and are still the best of friends. Here are Paci, Logan, Maci and Emma at the party...it's hard to believe they are all seven now...


In other exciting news, it snowed AGAIN this weekend...good lord, will spring ever come? This is getting a little depressing. We were supposed to go to an Easter egg hunt on Saturday that got snowed out. Emma couldn't believe they wouldn't just hide the eggs in the snow!

Anyway, just one more picture I took this weekend of my girl...I think she looks so pretty (but I'm a little biased!)