Five for Friday..on Saturday

So it's Saturday...Saturday night at that and I'm just now doing a 5 for Friday post :) I'm determined to get it posted while it's still Saturday and it's getting pretty close but I think we'll be okay, haha.  I realized I hadn't posted in a while and figured this was the best way to just download what we've been up to.  I definitely don't think I'll be able to keep up this frequency when school starts (which is coming WAY too fast for me and not soon enough for Hayden).

And here we go -- why not make it Six for Saturday...

1.  Speaking of school and Hayden, I saw her school supply list this past week.  She'll be going to the Fair Grove Preschool program 2 days a week this year. She is soooo excited. Not sure she knows exactly what she's in for but I know she'll do great!  We're going to take her tomorrow to get some of her supplies.  I'm kinda thinking we're asking for trouble though because she has to hang onto them until the 15th of Aug when she starts.  Kinda like telling her that her birthday is in 2 weeks...every day at least twice a day we'll hear "Is it almost time?"  :)  Love her!

2. And then there's my school.  This coming week is the last week the girls will be here at the house with me :'(  The following week they'll be at the sitter's house full time as I'm back in the classroom, officially starting my time on the 9th with meetings all day. Yuck.  I've been going into the classroom at least once a week to start unpacking boxes and putting everything back where ti goes.  I'm soo ready for the routine and rhythm of the school year and to be with my new students, just not looking forward to the fewer hours with my girls and feeling pulled in every direction.  But, I always manage.  I'm very lucky to love what I do and have an amazing school to be at so that makes those downsides sooo much easier.

3.  Hayden had a huge achievement this week.  We met mom in Bolivar on Wed for Hay to go back with her and stay the night at the farm.  What surprised us was that she ended up staying THREE nights!! Willingly (according to mom).  I knew she would have a great time but really surprised that she managed 3 nights without having meltdowns missing me.  Seriously.  She really did have a great time. Sounds like she spent it just like I did growing up...playing outside with the kittens, adventures with Grandma, running around naked, swimming, and being outside all the time.  I loved that Dad would send me picture texts and videos.

4. Sweet Abbie sure showed her personality while Hay was at the farm. It was really great to have lots of one-on-one time with her and do some bonding.  She is a lovey little one with a determination like something fierce!  She is sooo stinkin smart too.  We've realized that she's able to follow simple one-step directions (put it in the trash, give to daddy, put it in the box, get your diaper, etc) and is excited to do them.  She wants to be involved with everything and so we still hear a lot of squeals and hollering when we don't realize soon enough what it is that she's wanting.  She also LOVES music.  Here's a video of her new dance moves, spinning as well as a video of her singing.  Again, so sweet.

5. Canada... Ethan is gearing up for his last week long trip to Canada for work.  He hasn't been there since last fall which was awful planning...he left my first full week of school, and I had a 10 week old Abbie, and the girls were starting at a new sitters.  We survived. But this year it won't be as bad. It definitely helps that I'll not be at work yet and wont have to have any schedules or routines (although I neeeed to be getting everyone up 2 hours earlier than we currently are, ouch).  This should be his last trip up there so he is going to do a lot more sight-seeing and exploring.

6. And lastly -- we went up to Aunt Shirley's today for a Cantrell get together. Shirley and Bill had been down to Alabama to see Brad and Missy and then had brought Laine back with them. We hadn't seen her since she was little bitty!  It was a great afternoon with the Minichs, Hagers, Mildred & John, and then Brian and Haddie (who is super cute!).  Hayden enjoyed playing with the girls and Abbie was content to wander and explore and do her best to do it all on her own.  We actually were able to get a picture of all the great grandkids that were there with John & Mildred.  NINE great grandkids (all girls) and we were only missing one...Morgan.  Pretty impressive!

Whew...it's almost midnight. I think I just might get this posted while it's still Saturday!

Thanks for keeping up with us! And if you haven't "followed" us yet, put your email in the "Follow By Email" box on the right to get email updates or click on the Bloglovin button on the side to get daily updates as well. :)   And we always love comments (I say we....Ethan I think doesn't notice them and the girls could care less...so I guess I'm the one that loves the comments, haha.)

Rufenacht Annual Camping Weekend

First off, we survived. Whew! There were some points where I second guessed our choice in going but we survived.

Lemme back up and start at the beginning. Back in 1999 (2000?) we started teh Rufenacht family reunion.  Being as there are just a few "Rufenachts" and we all lived within a few miles of each other, the term reunion was kind of a predictive term for what we hoped it would become.  And it has.  You see, on the Rufenacht side, it's my dad, Uncle Dean and Uncle Frank.  Grandma used to come visit but it's been years since she last made it out to the reunion.

We used to all meet up at the family homestead farm in Wheatland and do real camping...think middle of nowhere.  The old house was there but actually pretty creepy with it not having anyone living in it for several several years and had been broken into a time or two.  Trust me, it was creepy. As much as dad and the uncles would go down to mow and debug and clean  up, it was still creepy.  Usually we'd camp out on Fri and Sat night...roughing it with just the camp fire and a water hydrant that came straight from a stream fed well (think ice cold). Saturday we'd take the boats, jet skis and kids (actually I'm not sure there were kids for a while...) to Pomme de Terre lake and spend the day there...hanging out at the beach and riding the boats.  We'd often head in town and go to the races as well on Saturday nights.  So hot. So dusty and dirty. After a few years, we moved the site closer to the Mt Zion area, at a nearby campsite.  One year we were even under tornado warning while we were out camping. Talk about scary.  Another year we were back in the fields between Uncle Dean's and dad's farm.

Eventually we moved the camping site onto the back field at mom and dad's farm. Dad had built an 11 acre lake with several fishing docks and a beach.
 It has proven to be a great move!  The kids love the beach and the fishing. It's close enough to the house that we can run to the house if necessary (think: Abbie naps) and mom can hang out there when it's too hot or her allergies are acting up. There were a few years though where we used the house as the campsite because it was raining too much too.

This year was probably the best yet. We got to the farm on Friday afternoon and set up our tent.  Dad had really made it beautiful down there. Heather and I decorated with some festive 4th of July flags and banner while the guys did guy things, as usual. Eventually more people showed up: Uncle Frank came in his RV, Uncle Dean stopped by, mom and dad rode down to visit and the Naylors set up camp.  That first night was pretty mellow.

Saturday brought the people: Cheri and her crew, Mindy and her pack, Heather's friends the Hankins, and Uncle Dean set up his camper.  Even with our campsite population almost tripled from Fri night we still had lots of room.

We spent the morning slowly waking up and then mom made breakfast, scrambled eggs.  The whole day had everyone just kinda hanging around, swimming, fishing, eating, and then doing more of it all.  Saturday night we had a fireworks show. Hayden actually sat and watched the whole time - Abbie slept in the tent and wasn't bothered at all.  Wait - have I mentioned that this was Hay's first time camping, successfully?  No? Let me back up a bit.

This was Hayden's first successful camping trip.  Oh we'd taken her to the reunion camping trip twice before but this was her first REAL camping trip.  The first year, she was almost one and refused to sleep in the tent...she and I ended up at the house for naps and bedtimes.  The second year I remember her being terrified of fireworks so we watched from inside the car and then she went went Grandma to sleep up at the farm.  Last year we didn't go but she and Ethan had set up camp in the backyard one day.  All was fine and dandy until it was bedtime and she realized that I wasn't going to sleep out there with them (someone had to stay inside with newborn Abbie, I got the lucky straw).  So the tent sat outside for probably a week (yes it even rained) and no one slept in it.

Fast forward to this year.  Abbie napped in the tent and slept like a champ!  We did nap at the house once, that was just because it was too hot though.  And Hayden? Wow, she just had a blast at the lake and loved sleeping in the tent.  She stayed up late and slept hard, woke the next morning all excited to do it again. She caught 2 fish.  The second one she did it all by herself! She was super proud, as she should be. The first night I made a little pallet next to our mattress (we need to buy another mattress...2 is plenty on the queen blow-up) but the 2nd night she made her way onto our mattress and  was quite snuggly.

Overall it was a great weekend, the best camping yet. After this trip we decided that we ought to take Hayden on a camping trip, just the 3 of us.  Thinking she would love it. Love that we can make these memories with our little family and hopefully continue the tradition, down at Grands' Lake.

Hayden's 4th Birthday

This year for Hayden's birthday, she went all out princess-themed.   Per her request, she had a princess cake, princess decorations, pink and purple everything, her friends and presents.  

We had already semi-celebrated with family back at the Rufenacht camping weekend so this party was going to be more low key.  Hayden still had a blast as it was everything she had asked for.

Guests this year included Grandma Diddle, Aunt Heather, Ty, and Talyn, Grandma Rhonda and Papa Ronnie, and Josh and Andrea Mueller. She enjoyed having everyone there, even though she spent most of the time locked in her bedroom with Talyn.  Two days later and she's still playing with her new toys so I'd say they were a success ;-).

Hard to believe she's four.  Shell be going to preschool two days a week next year and is super excited.   

Happy birthday, sweet Hayden!!

This One is Dedicated to Hayden Lea-Ann

I know everyone says that kids grow way too fast...and it is sooo true.  Our little Miss Hayden turned FOUR last week!  Those were a fast four years and wow our lives have changed since back then.   It has been wonderful to see Hayden continue to grow into her personality and to see her little sense of humor just explode this past year.

Hayden definitely keeps us busy, entertained, on our toes, and our hearts full of happiness.  She was definitely an early walker and talker which plays into her busy-ness these days. Her creativeness keeps her busy while playing with her Barbies or babies (still a HUGE fans of pretend baby play).

These days she has a lot of "loves" when it comes to what she loves to play with or do.  She loves being anywhere we are, especially me. This summer she's gotten extra attached to me (again) and we're working through that chaos.  She loves Abbie, 90% of the time.  She loves when Abbie agrees to play with her and I know she can't wait for Abbie to grow more so they can really play together.  Hayden also loves being outside. We got her a full size trampoline this summer - HUGE hit. She's gotten so much braver and daring on it (thanks to Ethan). She loves for us to be out there with her and especially loves Ethan to do crazy tricks with her. It's those times that her laugh is the best!

Hayden also has gotten braver when it comes to trying new foods.  She's always willing to try anything new and most of the time finds she likes it...or at least likes the first few bites.  Just within the past few months she's discovered broccoli and cauliflower, tomatoes and sometimes pickles, and then pretty much any meat we give her.  She's also considering herself a salad eater - lettuce, lots of cheese and ranch. Everything is better with ranch she thinks.  

She has also started getting more sassy. Not necessarily talking back, but voicing her opinion very frequently and using a smidge of attitude in what she's saying.  Again, we're working on that (any suggestions??). She seems to think she knows it all, not sure where that comes from (no finger pointing now) and she's very adamant that she's right (again...no finger pointing).  It's been a difficult past few weeks trying to teach her the right ways to show what she knows and reteaching her how to respect and respond to adults.

I often joke that Hayden has the sense of humor of a 6th grade boy and that we have Ethan to blame for it. And it's true.  This girl loves to talk about all those gross things that boys talk about, and then she giggles. She and Ethan have a fun time, while I just shake my head, as usual.  I joke when I say I've spent all summer undoing all the things he's taught her, as we are preparing her to head into preschool this fall. I can just imagine some of the things she's gonna say or do in school...ugh. As a teacher though, I know it happens and as her mom I know it will happen.

Hayden loves her cousin, Talyn. She's become brave when talking to "approved" strangers and asking them appropriate questions. She has started singing back songs that we didn't realize she knew. She hates bedtime - still clings to us and eventually climbs in bed with us when we're not awake. She loves Sofia the First and all things princess. Favorite colors: pink, purple and sparkly.  She has an infectious laugh and loves to use it.

What can I say -- we love her.  So thankful that she's the big sister, our little HooBear, and definitely thankful that we get to see her everyday, watch her grow into the beautiful spark of light that she will be and to be a part of her journey.

I can't imagine what this next year will be like but I'm excited to see!

Fourth of July Festivities

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I don't have many pictures from this year's 4th of July celebration.  That's soooo not like me! However,  I can confidently say its because I was kid wrangling (mainly Abbie) the whole time. 

          

We had been practicing our firework shooting skills all week (who are we kidding...we were convincing Hayden she likes fireworks AND we were successful). She has become quite the firework shopper, having befriended the firework man. He knows exactly which fireworks she would like and she would report back to him with her description of them.  Quite the social bug these days.

The day of the fourth the Muellers invited us to their place for their "Americafest".   It was another great night, as usual with Josh and Andrea and their families.  He grilled some amazing wings and burgers and Andrea put on a good kid party with the slip n slide and water balloons.   

Their view for the neighborhood fireworks was really beautiful too. We sat outside for over an hour watching everything. The fireworks were huge and constantly going! Definitely hoping we get the invite back for next year (hint, hint, Andrea). 

Somehow Abbie managed to stay awake the entire day and didn't fall asleep until 10:30pm when we got in the car. She was wide awake the next day at 7, but thankfully went back to a nap shortly which gave us time to get packed up for the Rufenacht Reunion.

Hay managed to play dress-up

and she LOVED the month old twins

 

Abbie is Walking!

Here it is! Video of Abbie walking! She's been taking steps every now and then buy actually walking places more so now. She still crawls most times, as it is faster. 

We tried to get a good video but this was the best one.  I'll try to get another one when she's got more oomph in her. :-)

Sweet Abbie...now if she'd only get some teeth, haha!

Five for Friday

AToday is Friday so that means its time for Five for Friday!!  In the blog world its a time to post five pics from the past week to highlight on the blog.  I haven't done one on this blog yet but figured it might be time!

1. 

My HooBear:  We have been tryin as much as possible to get some Hayden and Mommy time, although it is hard to come by some days.  She loves to play outside, always in a swimming suit or a dress (not surprised, are you?)

2.

Check out our garden this year.   3 tomato plants on the patio. We also have a squash and zucchini in the little garden.   Notice the size difference in the plants? The one on the right is almost 2 foot taller than the others and is super thick!  Last year Ethan made a complicated compost mix for our raised garden bed that is apparently amazing.  The plant on the right is full of the compost where the other two are with MiracleGrow. 

3. 

And Abbie loves toilet paper.  We used it for stacking blocks but then I looked away, for just 5 seconds.  Making memories...playing with toilet paper...making messes. 

4. 

This is how we watch fireworks, apparently.  Hay is still scared of them but says she wants to watch them. So she and I sat in the back of my car, doors shut so we could still watch the fireworks but "be safe" and not  let the fireworks get us. 

5. 

Hayden and her dolls.  Some things never change. 

Happy Friday...the last Friday in June! 

Cantrells in Cozumel

Ethan and I just returned from 6 days in Cozumel...ahhhh.  It was beautiful.  We celebrated our 10 year anniversary as well as my Masters graduation

We had been to a resort in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico last year with Heather and Chad and so our expectations were for it to be similar.   Although this time we were there almost twice as long, by ourselves, and I wasn't pregnant.

We had a forever delay on top of an already long layover from Kansas City to Dallas but finally got into Cozumel late afternoon on Saturday.   The resort was beautiful - Park Royal Cozumel.  It sat right along the ocean front, near a pier so we were able to see the cruise ships sail in and dock all day.  The staff was wonderful and pretty accommodating. The food on the resort was "okay", we found ourselves wanting something simply amazing that you would want to go back for more but it wasn't very flavorful either and not much variety.  But, we managed to be stuffed every time we left the restaurant.

Our First day...pre-burn...standing on the balcony

The Resort's Beach

The first full day we spent it mostly in the pools. There were 2 infinity pools and a beach but we didn't really get into the ocean water but once. We did snorkel for a bit there at the beach but apparently we were there at the wrong time and didn't see much.  We also forgot to put on sunscreen, and reapply frequently....which meant major sunburn.  

One evening we went out on the Jean Lafitte Pirate Dinner Cruise.  It was a lot of fun - not what we expected, probably better though. We would definitely do it again sometime.

Prates aboard the ship

The crew we ate dinner with on the pirate ship (Lobster & Steak for E, Chicken & Steak for me)

Another day we rented a Jeep to tour the whole island. This, too, was a great way to spend time in Cozumel.   The island itself is only 33 miles around and if you drove straight around it would take about an hour.  We left around noon and got back by dinner,  stopping frequently and checking out side spots.
    

At the far southern tip of the island is an ecological park which is protected so sea turtles can nest at night. We drove the Jeep back in the there and saw a crocodile and got to climb an up into an old lighthouse (150+ steep steps up, ugh).   Beautiful sight to see.

Standing alongside the ocean, near the lighthouse.

view from atop the lighthouse
150+ steep stairs high

Ethan with the "Last Mayan"
at a Mayan sacrifice ruin

Then we found a beach side restaurant and had guacamole and beef nachos (YUM).

The rest of the stay was definitely full of just relaxing. I managed to read TWO books (not sure when i last finished a one book, let alone two!) and get a good tan.  It was a great time to spend with Ethan and have a little getaway.

This was our last day, as we were leaving the resort. 

The girls on the other hand, spent the week at our house with Grandma Diddle.  According to Hayden they were silly a LOT (no surprises there). Sounds like it rained for most of the time we were gone but they still had fun.  I'm sure mom was exhausted, I know the girls were.

Hay was super excited to see us back and chatted non stop, also not getting very far away from me.  Abbie on the other hand...when she first saw us the next morning it took her a good 20 minutes to realize who I was (awe) and to come to me.  She remembered Ethan right away though! Once she got used to me again, it was like nothing had changed and she was content to check in and run off as usual.

Great trip...glad to be back.  Until next time, here's a few more random pics.

Balcony view of the ocean - 5 floors up