The Beach

Last week was a good week. Monday we stayed home all day. We didn't go to the park or pool or anywhere. It was great. I was not in the mood to go anywhere, and I was worried that Brooke wouldn't be able to handle it well. But she was great! We did all our chores in the morning; and then we drew and played with markers, crayons and colored pencils, read lots of books, played with blocks and toys all afternoon. I worked out for an hour during Brooke's nap. It felt really great; I like Lindsay Brin, and her yoga section is awesome! It's really good for my sciatic nerve, which hasn't even been bothering me for weeks.

Brooke loves lipstick. She started drawing on herself on last Sunday with markers, and then on Monday, she put on some pretty "lipstick" with markers. It was pretty funny and cute!

On Tuesday, we did cleaning and laundry before we went to the park in the morning. There were a lot of kids there for Brooke to watch, mostly, and play with, a little. Other than that it was a pretty slow day. I taught a piano lesson, we made dinner, and that was about it.

Our busy day was Wednesday. I had a doctor's appointment in the morning. So we dropped Brooke off to play with the Faucette's, and I dropped Daniel off at work, and then I went to my appointment. Everything went great. It was pretty quick, and Inna didn't have anything to say, really. Afterwards, I picked up a little gift for Ashley Sheffield and her new baby, and then picked Brooke up. Together we went to see Ashley and give her the gift; her baby, Zachary, was sleeping, so we didn't get to see him, sadly.

We rushed home, and got ourselves all ready to go to the beach. Nicole Faucette was taking her kids to the beach and had invited us to go with them. They picked us up, and we went to Ventura. We had a fun time; well, Brooke and I did. Brooklyn and Blake were a little needy, so it was harder on Nicole. But we just sat and ate and visited while the kids played. Brooke liked playing with the sand toys and chasing the seagulls and eating everyone's snacks. :) After a few hours, we drove home.

The beach kind of wore me out, and Brooke missed a nap. So when we got home, I bathed Brooke and fed her a little dinner, and then she went to bed. I showered and relaxed for a little bit before Daniel got home, and then I took off. I had a food order to do, and then I went to a little Mary Kay event with my friend, Valerie Erickson, who is a new consultant. It was fun, but I was so ready to do nothing.

So ... aside from taking care of Brooke, I did nothing! I watched a movie I'd borrowed from Lynn Lamb. I took a little snooze after Brooke woke up from her nap. And that's pretty much it.

Friday I got back into it. I did a whole bunch of chores in the morning, which Brooke handled really well, for a while. And then I worked out during her nap and did some more good stuff. And then we played in the afternoon. I think we actually went to the pool that afternoon with the Garrisons. We had fun!

This weekend, we mostly just hung out as a family. We did a few chores, I did a little biking while Daniel and Brooke went yard-saling. We went to the pool after nap, and then to Costco to get a new computer. Our laptop died, which is why I haven't been able to write for a week. Anyway ... Whew! Got all caught up!

Chasing seagulls!!

Heart-Shaped Potatoes

Yesterday was pretty laid-back. We didn't do much. Daniel and I were both feeling a bit tired, and a bit mellow. In the morning, Brooke and I went to the park, and Daniel met us there a little bit after. He needed some time to himself, I think, to relax. He'd gotten up early to go help clean the church. But he came later. We played at the park with Brooke for a while. People were coming a going a lot at the park yesterday. Brooke loves seeing people, so that was good.

When we came home, we fed Brooke and put her down for a nap. And I put Daniel down for a nap, too. :) He needed it. And I worked out. For nearly an hour. It felt really nice. I think I'm back in my groove. I didn't get a workout in on Friday, because it was a crazy day and then Daniel and I were tired at night. But because I didn't workout, I felt as though I hadn't accomplished anything during that day, even though I was constantly busy doing productive things. It's nice, because I have a lot of variety in my workouts: I do zumba, yoga, weight and cardio training, go for walks, and spin. It's great that I can mix it up all the time and don't have to do the same pregnancy workout video over and over again, like when I was pregnant with Brooke. I feel way more in shape this time around, and like I'm getting stronger instead of just letting my body go "because I'm pregnant".

I'm also trying to be more careful about my eating. A week ago, Saturday, in the morning, I weighed myself, as I always do (Saturday is my weigh-in day), and I had gained 4 lbs! In one week! I FREAKED OUT! That's a lot to gain in a week. I had gained 3 lbs after our cruise, which I sort of expected because of how NOT careful I was in my eating that week. And I was okay with those 3 days of splurge. But I had not expected another big week of weight gain, and I was quite depressed about it. BUT ... I pledged to do better the next week (this past week). And I was doing better! A lot better. I made healthy dinners every night and had leftovers for lunch the next day. I ate oatmeal with agave and fruit instead of waffles. I cut out almost all sweets. And I was feeling SO good. Much healthier. Less heartburn. More energy. It was great.

Then ... I weighed in yesterday. I had gained 3 lbs in one week AGAIN. I was like, "Okay. Fine. I guess I'll have to start counting calories again." It seemed impossible that I could gain like that 2 weeks in a row, especially when I was so careful this last week. Well, I re-weighed myself a little while afterwards, and the scale showed that I hadn't gained any weight from the week before. I think it'd been having one of its glitches. I stopped freaking out, but still vowed to keep doing better. And then I worked out for an hour, worked up a really good sweat. I really want to stay healthy during this pregnancy. Both for me and for the baby.

Anyway ... wo, that was a tangent. After I worked out, I ate and relaxed. Brooke and Daniel woke up and we went to the pool. It was very fun to go with Daniel. Brooke and I have a good time on our own, but not as much fun as when Dadda comes. I wish I were more energetic like he is. It's hard, though, because I would have to keep up that energy all day. He is a bit lucky in that he can get away with shorter spurts of energy for Brooke, because he's away a lot. Anyway, the pool was really fun.

Daniel went running after we got home, while Brooke and I made dinner, using heart-shaped potatoes. No really! Check it out:

 We ate, put Brooke to bed, and then proceeded to do absolutely nothing. We watched a couple of episodes of "Murder, She Wrote" and cleaned up the house. Daniel also put up some shades in the kitchen window, which is so nice!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnddddd ... some pictures:

Our very first tomato from our garden. It was delicious! And now we're getting a whole bunch. We have some cherry tomatoes that we like to just pick and pop. So good!

After shopping one day, as I was putting some food away, I turned around and see Brooke just sitting on the kitchen floor, eating grapes. No biggie!

Brooke's handiwork. Talented, no? :)

Brooke, in her bathrobe that Stephanie Mitchell made. She looks so cute, all clean after her bath!

SO Blessed!

I am feeling incredibly blessed today! Not that I don't feel blessed pretty much all the time; God is very good to my family. But I kept thinking about all the miracles in my life that I sometimes take for granted. Actually, I pretty much always take them for granted.

Like technology, for example. I don't even think about it. But how awesome is it that I have such an easy time communicating with my family? It's so easy to stay close to my family nowadays. They are a Skype session, phone call or text away!

Diane and Hou had their baby last night. It was a long labor for her, took almost 2 days. But I had updates the whole time, and when he was finally born last night, I got to see a picture of him right away. How incredible is that? I think about the people who lived a few generations before me and what they must think. I have so much! I have time and energy-saving appliances to help with my work. And because of these appliances, I have so much extra time to myself, to play with my child, to pursue hobbies, to waste time. What must my ancestors think? I hope they don't look at me and see a lazy, ungrateful child! I don't have to work as hard as they did. And I have all the things I need.

I have AIR CONDITIONING! On the way to church this morning, Daniel said something like, "How great is it that we have air conditioning? Can you imagine living in Southern California without it?" I love that! Especially when I'm pregnant. It sure makes life so much more comfortable and enjoyable, and, again, easier.

I have such easy access to the scriptures and words of prophets and apostles! I think about times before when it must have been a lot more difficult to hear the prophet speak, or to obtain his words. And I have it at my fingertips all day, everyday. It's incredible!

The other day we had a single man in our ward for dinner, Bruce Bufkin. He was kind enough to bring us some flowers, carnations (my favorite!). They've been sitting all week on my table, and I have thought, more than once, "How lovely those flowers are!" And I think about the goodness of God in creating such a wonderful, beautiful earth to live on. It really is magnificent. Brooke and I have lately taken to looking at pictures on Pinterest. Mostly animals, but also flowers and other beautiful parts of nature. It's just so fun to have such fun things to look at and learn about and be involved with!

I think about the miracle of being a mother. It's on my mind a lot these days, obviously. :)  I love that I can carry and bear children of my own and that I get to experience the wonder of being pregnant and giving birth. I'm so excited about this new little person coming to me and my family! I can't wait to meet her and get to know her! I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who is so good to me. I've been thinking a lot lately about how many of my girlfriends from high school and college have not yet had the opportunity to marry and have kids. There are quite a large number of them, it's quite shocking, especially when I consider the caliber of women these are! They are amazing! So why have they not found amazing men to marry and have families with? And why was I so fortunate to find Daniel and convince him to marry me? He is so good to me and to Brooke. He really loves his little girl, and he is a wonderful father. And he's such an honest, hard-working man, such a good provider. I really don't worry about our future! What a wonderful blessing that is!

These are just a few of my thoughts this last week. They've all been rushing back to me today as I think about my Heavenly Father and Jesus. I think they must love me and my family a lot. We have been given everything that we need and more, and I am grateful, or I try to be, everyday.

Back to Diane, Hou and Owen. It's such a blessing that Owen arrived safely and that he is healthy and well. We are so excited for Diane and Hou! And a little jealous. :) I want to go up and hold that little bundle so badly! Babies are wonderful, sweet, precious things. It's such a blessing to be a mother. I love it!

Friends

Yesterday we had a fun day with friends. Brooke's friends, that is. Denae Garrison asked me to watch Tad, who is just a few months older than Brooke. He came over for about an hour and a half in the morning. They had fun together, the kids. They played with toys and balls, we looked at books and pictures together, and they chased each other around for a while, which was funny to watch.

Brooke loves her friends. She's always asking for them. She has a few that she really loves and asks for a lot, like Daisy Mapp and Lucy Leishman. But the list of friends grows longer all the time. She's been asking for Gramma and Grampa since our cruise. And every Tuesday, I teach Kelsey Faucette piano lessons and Nicole takes Brooke to play at her house for that half hour. Now Brooke asks about Blake and Brooklyn.

After Brooke's nap, we went to the pool, where we waited for the Leishman kids to join us. Their house is still crazy and they are still having to do a lot of fixing up. I was hoping to have all of the kids over to swim, so that Allison could have some time without having the distraction of kids. I'm not sure she actually got that much time; but we had fun! Brooke liked seeing Lucy and watching Chase, the 5 year old, jumping in and swimming around and being crazy. We stayed at the pool for a couple of hours, and once they left, we left.

I keep trying to remember some of the funny things Brooke says or does, but then by the time I start writing, I can't remember any of them. Let's see...

She is a bit obsessed with vehicles of any kind: buses, trucks, trains, planes, helicopters, boats, cars (although these are so common, she doesn't really get excited. But she does love playing with her toy cars). Friday is garbage day here. And for the past several Fridays, every time we hear a truck, we go out to watch it. She has gotten good at recognizing the beep-beeping noise trucks make when they back up. Lately, like over the past week or so, she will hear that noise all the time throughout the day, and she'll ask to see the trucks. We don't usually go out, though, because I know those trucks aren't close enough to be able to go peek at them. She also gets excited at all the trains that pass by our house. :)

She is getting so good at learning new words. And she's pretty good at pronouncing them. It's surprising to me. And also really adorable. She copies almost everything I say, and she has some longer phrases in her vocabulary now.

One funny thing she has been doing is that whenever I ask her to do something and she does it, or whenever she does something helpful to me, she says, "thank you!" because she is always hearing me say that to her when she does that. I guess we need to start teaching her "you're welcome".

Today is shopping day. We did our errands this morning after dropping Daniel off at work. Brooke likes to help me put produce into the bags at the grocery store. Either that, or she likes to help me push and cart. That one is more difficult for me; she would run right over people, and I'd be chasing her all over the store trying to keep her in line.

Well, the rest of our day should be pretty low-key. We have a couple more errands to run before picking Daniel up. And Brooke had a pretty short nap, so she might be going down to bed early tonight. The little stinker.

Well,...

Yesterday was a pretty low-key day. Brooke and I took a long walk in the morning after Daniel went to work. It was a lovely morning, cool, breezy, and overcast. Glorious! Perfect for a walk. Brooke is always impatient to get to the park, though, when we go on walks, so we stopped there on our way back home. She didn't play on the playground much. She was a little ADD. She would play in the sand for a few minutes, then push the stroller around for a while, then I would push her in the swing for about a minute, then she would go to the playground for several minutes, then she would play with the soccer ball for a while, then she would watch other kids play...

Still, it's always nice to get out of the house and doing something.

We had a little lunch, and then Brooke went down for a nap and I got a few things done. Not as much as I'd planned. But then, I always try to get all of my chores done on Monday. I tend to forget there are other days in the week in which to accomplish housework.

In the afternoon, we played, cleaned the downstairs bathroom, and made some dinner together. Brooke really loves to help whenever I have to do something. I think it's adorable. When we cleaned the bathroom, I just gave her a paper towel and she would wipe down whatever I was wiping. And then in making dinner, I was chopping a whole bunch of veggies, and I would have her put the chopped pieces into a small bowl that she then transferred to a bigger bowl. It worked out quite well, actually. She was enjoying her little "job", and I could do what I needed to do without having to entertain her or stop her from doing something.

While dinner was still cooking, we played her favorite game: "chase Brooke around the house". She is always asking us to chase her. Dadda came home, we had dinner, and put the child to bed.

Daniel and I had a little family home evening and scripture study. For a few months, we have been watching some church videos based on the Joseph Smith Papers Project, so we watched another one last night. They are so interesting and it is quite fun and cool to be learning so much about the Prophet Joseph and his life. For FHE activity, we had a Sudoku-Off; we picked sudoku puzzles of the same level and raced.

Life is going well. Nothing to complain about, except that I gained 4 lbs last week!!! I'm so mad at myself for that. I clearly was not eating very well. I have been exercising a lot more since we got back from our cruise, which I'm sure helps. But this week I am making a more concerted effort to eat well. And I'm cutting out most sweets. I don't want to gain as much weight as I did with Brooke: 55 lbs!

I haven't been seeing very obvious instances of the Lord's hand in our lives; perhaps I'm not looking hard enough for them. But we are so blessed! And we are so happy!

Trains!

The rest of last week was busy, but not as bad as the first part. Brooke and I even got the chance to go to the pool Friday afternoon, which was fun. She loves the pool!

I helped to set up for a funeral on Saturday morning, and then cleaned up downstairs a little bit while Daniel and Brooke were out at the park. I was feeling a little tired that day, so when Brooke went down for a nap and after Daniel and I had some lunch, I laid down for a nap too. Apparently we both slept really well, because around 3 in the afternoon, Daniel had to wake us up.

Peter Bowen, my cousin, was having a little Bowen get-together at the LA Live Train station. He is a member there and has a little engine. We thought that we hadn't seen the Bowen's in a little while, so decided to go. When we got there (and after getting lost and having to get directions from Steve), Pete gave us a little ride on his train. It was really little, but had a few cars with little benches to sit on. The trains ran a track that went all around this huge lot. There were trees and little streams and they'd built little towns and buildings around the track. It was pretty fun, actually. Brooke loved it.

He dropped us off over by the bathrooms and kitchen area, where everyone was gathering for the dinner. We visited and chatted with the cousins (Steve and Inga's family, Carrie and Ben's family, Deidre and her fiance, Uncle Pat and Aunt Penny, and some of Pete's friends), helped out with some of the dinner stuff, and let Brooke play and run around with all the kids. We had a nice time. It was good to see that side of the Bowen family, because we rarely ever get to see them. I think Brooke really enjoyed being around so many people, especially the kids. And she really liked to watch the train go by. Daniel took her on another train ride around the time we were going to leave, so she got another ride in. Brooke got to bed pretty late that night, though.

Sunday was low-key. It was Father's Day. Brooke and I had made a fun little card for Daniel and some little jars filled with different kinds of candy that said, "Daddy's Stache" and had a picture of a mustache on it. We made them so he could take them to work and have a little treat now and then when he needed some.

While he was at his meeting, we brought out the presents, and made him a big and delicious breakfast (omelets, fruit, waffles). Then when he got home, we had breakfast together and then spent the rest of the morning getting ready for church.

Church was good. Daniel got a little cinnamon roll treat, it being Father's Day. The women made rolls for the men. After church, we had a little lunch, and then Daniel and I took turns watching Brooke while the other one snoozed. She was a really good girl, considering she went to bed late the night before and that she didn't get a nap. Right about a half hour before we were planning on putting her to bed, she started to have melt-downs. I thought that was pretty good for her. She was having fun playing. We also called our parents on Skype so that she could say "hi" to them. They loved seeing her, and she loved seeing them.

After we put her to bed, I made some dinner (Dan's Salsa and Banana Bread Cobbler), we ate and had dessert while we played a couple of games of Bohnanza, which I lost HORRIBLY at. Both games. It must've been all that Father's Day luck that Daniel was getting. :)

Ducks. Cak. Cak.

Last Saturday, we had a pretty fun day. We did a little cleaning and random things that I can't quite remember at the moment in the morning. I think we just hung out together. We probably had waffles for breakfast because, well, we do that a lot. Brooke and I love them. :)

We decided to go on a little family date in the afternoon, after Brooke's nap. We went to a frozen yogurt place to get a couple of cups of yogurt to share. It was a hot day, so that was a perfect treat. Then we went to the duck pond. There is a shopping center in Valencia that has a little duck retreat. It's supposedly kind of a wildlife preserve for ducks. We went to this duck pond and fed the ducks and watched the ducks. There were also a ton of turtles in the water, which was kind of fun. Especially since Brooke is still learning about all the animals.

It was very fun to see Brooke getting excited about the ducks and turtles. She liked to throw the little duck food into the water and watch the ducks eat it. We felt kind of bad for the turtles. When they saw us throwing the food in, they would swim towards it so they could have some. But the ducks were so much faster, they just ran over the turtles to get at the food.

Brooke's been getting good at her animal sounds. She finally learned how to say what a duck says. But instead of "quack, quack", she says "cak, cak" in her little high pitched voice. It's so cute. I can't stand it!

After the duck pond, we ran an errand to Lowe's, where we picked up a few things and dreamed about all the fun things we could do to our house, but which we likely will not do because we live in a tight budget. And that was the end of our date! We went home and took the Brookie to bed.

Baby!!!

So, Daniel and I went to an ultrasound appointment about a week ago to see that the baby is growing and developing well. Aaaaaannnddd ...

I couldn't wait to find out what sex our baby is! I was so excited. When she told us that it's a girl, I felt so happy and excited (like I wouldn't feel that way with a boy, too ...). I just kept thinking about having two cute, innocent, precious little girls running around my house, playing with each other, and it will be so fun. I really hope they end up being close. It's so awesome having sisters, I love my sisters, and I think girls need sisters; so I'm excited that I know Brooke will have at least one sister. Plus, on the pragmatic side of things, we already have all the baby girl stuff we need. And I've already made a baby girl scrapbook. It's just perfect.

The ultrasound was really awesome, too, because after she had done all of her measurements and checking around about how the baby looked, she turned the monitor towards me and showed my baby girl to us. She helped us to see how she knew that it's a girl. And then baby girl started moving a ton. And we could see it on the screen! It was so cool! Brooke was very still during her ultrasounds, I could never actually see her moving, though I could feel it. During this ultrasound, baby girl had the hiccups (poor thing!), and the ultrasound tech showed us how we could see that. It was super awesome.

 Daniel was so funny. When we got back into the car and were talking about it, he said that he was so sure that it was a boy that when she said, "it's a girl", he was taken aback. He was really surprised that we are having another girl. That's kind of how I felt with Brooke. I was pretty sure that it was a boy, so I was surprised when that tech said we were having a girl. It's just funny that Daniel is experiencing the same thing. :)

For some reason, I am more anxious to meet this little girl and to see her than I was with Brooke. Maybe it's because Brooke was my first pregnancy and delivery, and I was all nervous about everything going well. This time, I have a little experience under my belt, so I can just be excited about my baby and knowing her.

I've been doing a little bit of baby girl name research. I've started a short list of names for Daniel and I to choose from. It's harder this time. All of the girls names I see, or most of them anyway, I hate. It's rare that I come across a girls name that I like well enough, and even rarer to see one that I really like. My top name at the moment is Darcy, which I think is really cute. Although I am not sure if it's a good enough adult name, and you do kind of have to take that into consideration.

Anyway, I am so excited to be having another girl and another baby. I'm very excited for October!!

At 21 weeks.

Back to Normal Life

This week has been crazy so far. Check it out:

• Monday was shopping day -- we were really out of a lot of things and it was getting hard to be clever about making meals. So Brookie and I took care of our shopping and returns on Monday morning. She was a super trooper about it! I love how cooperative she is. After nap, we cleaned up the house a bit. But then we had to hit Target to do some more returns and get a Father's Day Present for Daniel.The rest of the evening was fairly low key. We had dinner together, then Brooke went to bed, and Daniel and I had scripture study and FHE.

• Tuesday was Relief Society Activity day -- I had to drag Brooke everywhere as I tried to get ready and do some last minute things for the activity. We dropped Daniel off, tried (unsuccessfully) to pick up the tablecloths from the church, then went to a nearby park for about a half hour - just to let Brooke run around and play for a little bit. Then, at home, we had laundry to do, dishes and other chores before it was time for a little person's nap. I did my workout (Zumba) while Brooke napped. 

After nap time, I showered and got ready, Kelsey Faucette came over for her piano lesson, and Brooke went to the Faucette's to play. When that was all done, Brooke and I rushed to the church to finally get the tablecloths and paper goods, then rushed to the Sheffield's House to help set up for the activity. Unfortunately, I had picked up the wrong tablecloths. Lynn Lamb had to bring them over to us. I helped set up for as long as I could. But then, I had to go pick up Daniel and drop him and Brooke off at home, pick up a few things from there, and rush back to the Sheffield's to keep getting ready and start the activity.

The activity went better than the last ones that I've done. It was a lot more low-key, a lot less stressful, and went a lot more smoothly than usual. It was summer reading themed; so we had a book exchange table where sisters could drop off books they didn't want anymore and pick up ones they did want. Caleen Beatty did some amazing book-themed decorations for each of the tables. And we had a school teacher come talk to us about summer reading for children. It was really wonderful. And so much fun! I left feeling good, which is unusual for these big activities. Usually I feel down and stressed.

When I got home, Daniel was watching a show, Murder She Wrote; so I got sucked in, and we watched more than we should have and went to bed too late.

•  Wednesday was Drive-All-The-Way-To-Riverside-To-See-Alarie's-Family Day -- so Brooke and I drove all the way to Riverside to see Alarie and her family. They are down visiting with Ryan's family and they invited us down to spend some time with them. It took us an hour and a half to get there. Brooke was an angel! I let her snack a lot of the way down, but she didn't ever fuss. She loved to look around for cars and trucks and planes. 

It was fun to see them! We had a lite early lunch with them, then went outside to play and put our feet in the pool. Brooke was pretty shy at first, but she warmed up pretty quickly once we got to playing outside. She loved meeting Tyson. She kept saying his name. We ate some oranges and apricots off of their trees, which Brooke loved. She's been really into apricots ever since I bought a whole bunch at Sprouts on Monday. It was delicious fruit!

Around 1:30pm, we could tell that Tyson was just done. He needed a nap. So Brooke and I got in the car and started the long drive back. She fortunately took a pretty good nap in the car on the way. And even when she woke up, she was happy and on the lookout for trucks again. :) So cute!

We got home and started dinner prep. Then went to pick up Daniel; then went to pick up the sister missionaries for dinner. Brooke was so funny with them! She was in such a great mood, talking to them and being silly. She kept saying, "mish!" -- trying to say missionaries. It was so funny and cute! We had potato boats for dinner, with salad and pumpkin muffins for dessert. Delish!

After taking them to their next appointment, I came home and Daniel and I read scriptures and hung out and relaxed for a little bit. I was so tired! It had been 3 days of running around, trying to get everything done, and I needed to lie down for a bit. But then, I had a meeting late last night, so I left for that, and brought some muffins with me. :)

• Today has been Stay-At-Home-And-Try-To-Get-Everything-Done-That-I-Haven't-Been-Able-To-Accomplish-Over-The-Last-Few-Days Day -- And I am getting a lot done! I haven't had one moment that I haven't been busy doing something that needs doing. My house has been a bit of a wreck the last few days. So I'm cleaning it up, and tying up ends from the activity. Brooke and I did go to the park this morning for about an hour, which was nice. She enjoyed getting out and playing on the playground. Some little kid had left his/her cars at the park, which she found, and she started playing with them. Funny, how we go to the park for her to run around, and she sits and plays with cars. We could've stayed home for that!! It was still fun. 

She has been such a good girl lately. She still loves to help me with chores. She has been really obedient and happy lately. It's been really great and really fun.

Recovery

So, after we got off the boat, we took Mom and Dad to Ikea for a little excursion before heading home. Mom had been before, and she likes it; but Dad was new to it and thought it was pretty cool. We had a little lunch before we left, so that we could put Brooke right to bed when we got home. Which ... we did.

We mostly just hung out while she slept, and didn't do much, just answered texts and phone calls, took little mini naps, etc. Daniel went shopping that afternoon, so that we could have Portobello Mushroom Paninis for dinner. They were delicious! And we spent that evening playing a new card game we had learned from some people on the boat.

Saturday morning, Dad, Daniel, Brooke and I went to the park for a little while. In the afternoon, Mom and Dad watched Brooke, while Daniel and I went to the temple. Some friends of ours in our ward, the Tavelli's, were taking out their endowments and getting sealed. We just went to the sealing, because Mom and Dad were here and we wanted to hang out with them. We also did a few iniciatories afterwards.

That evening, we stopped by and picked up some Cafe Rio on the way home. Uncle Gary and Rosita came to our place to visit with us and my parents. It was nice. We also built a little fire in our fire pit and made "dough-boys", which are little biscuits that you wrap on the end of a thick stick and roast them until they are baked through. And then when you take them off, you can fill the hollow middle with any kind of goody: pudding, fruit, whipped cream, pie filling. They were very fun and delicious.

Mom and Dad left the next day, Sunday, before we went to church. Brooke had been having a rough few days after we left the cruise. Her sleep was all out of whack, as was her normal daily schedule, and I think she was having a hard time readjusting. Plus, she was still getting over being sick. She made it through church, but just barely. Daniel considered taking her home after Sacrament Meeting so she could get a proper nap, because she was seriously out of control, fussing and screaming during the meeting. He decided to let her go to nursery and see how she does. Well, of course she was perfect in nursery. No problems, no melt-downs. But once we brought her home, all hell broke loose again.

Anyway, it took us a good day or 2 after that for her to get back to her normal temperament. And me too, I suppose. I spent most of last week cleaning up after our vacation and doing laundry and such, but not doing much else. We went to the park with some ladies and kids in our ward one day. And another day we had Lucy over. And another day we had Siv Flick (who I visit teach) and her grandson, Thor (who is wild and crazy), and her daughter come swim with us. That was kind of fun.

All in all, it was a pretty low-key week.

Cruise -- Part 2

Wednesday, May 28th, was the day we stopped in Ensenada, Mexico. By that day, Brooke was feeling much better. She stopped feeling feverish and started acting more like herself. She woke up really early that morning, around 6am, and Daniel and I decided to get her up and sing to her and put her back down, to see if she would sleep anymore. She actually did (we weren't expecting that), and we slept until 9:30! Dad came knocking around that time, which thankfully woke us up. We were hoping to already be in Ensenada by then.

We all got ready and rushed out to breakfast. And then got off the ship into Mexico! The boat actually docked in Ensenada, which meant we didn't have to take the little boats there.

The first thing we did was take a little horse-drawn-carriage tour of part of the city. Brooke was really fascinated by the horse, but she didn't like to touch it or sit on it. :) The tour was fun. The driver talked to Daniel about different restaurants, museums, tourist sites and things in the city. I understood most of what he said, which was really nice. He talked slowly and clearly enough for us.

We stopped for a bathroom break (which we had to pay for, of course, being in Mexico and all), bought a couple little souvenirs, and then took a van ride to La Bufadora, which is a blowhole made from the rocks on the coast. It was cool enough, but a little anticlimactic. It was supposed to be the big thing to see in Ensenada, and it did spout some pretty high water sprays. But not quite worth the money and time it took to get there. It took us at least 45 minutes to get there; it was a ways out of town. But it was a nice drive. We got to see the countryside and everything.

There was about a quarter of a mile walk from where the van stopped to La Bufadora, and the whole street was a huge market. A whole bunch of shops, selling basically the same stuff, lined the entire street. They sold fun trinkets, souvenirs, Mexican style clothes, and food. There was one place that had little lion cubs; they were letting people take pictures with the lions (for a fee, of course). We totally stopped and did that. I thought the cubs were SO cute! And I think Brooke was really fascinated as well with the lions. She's been really into learning about animals lately. Daniel was a pretty good sport for us, as were Mom and Dad, who had to wait for a while.

We walked down to La Bufadora, and watched it for a few minutes, and then we walked back up the street. It took us just as long to get back up to the van as it did to get down. Mom and Dad stopped and bought some souvenirs, a couple of hats, some vanilla extract, a pretty dish, etc. The trip back was not as fun as the drive there. Brooke was getting tired and grumpy, I was getting hungry and carsick. We were all glad when it was over.

After getting back into town, we quickly found a little hole-in-the-wall place to have a little late lunch. We ate some delish authentic tacos; steak, fish and shrimp tacos. And Brookie had a little quesadilla and some strawberries. A Mariachi band stopped by the restaurant and offered to sing for us. We were all pretty much out of money, but Dad gave them 5 bucks to sing a song for us. It was really fun! I think Mom and Dad loved it.

On the way back up to the ship, we were bombarded by the cutest little Mexican kids asking us to buy souvenirs. At that point, we really were all out of money, though. Mom felt really bad about spending all of her cash; she wanted to give each of those kids a dollar or two. One little girl walked with me and Brooke and started talking to me in Spanish. She was so cute, asking about Brooke and telling us how old she was.

Brooke had missed a nap that day, obviously. She handled it pretty well, probably because we had slept in so late that morning. But we still had to put her to bed early. Once we got back on the ship, we tried to feed Brooke a little more, and then we put her to bed. Mom and Dad went to dinner while Daniel and I stayed in the room with Brooke. We were not very hungry, seeing as we had just eaten some delicious tacos. So we waited and relaxed with each other.

Later, when they got back, we went to have dinner. Then later, they were having a little fiesta out by the pool. Dad, Daniel and I went for a little swim and dip in the hot tub. When we were done, Daniel and I did a little salsa dancing and Dad went for some hot chocolate. Then we all went for ice cream and pizza and garlic bread. And it was fun!

When we got back to the room, Mom and Dad went for a little romantic walk, Daniel went to check out the Mexican food bar, and we all stayed up way too late. ...Again!

Thursday was a day spent at sea, so we just stayed on the boat. It was a relaxing and odd day. It was a bit hard to keep Brooke occupied and happy. It seemed that everything we tried to do to entertain or distract her wasn't working. She enjoyed playing with the mini golf balls while I played ... by myself. Daniel had already done a round of mini golf with my dad earlier in the day. And she also loved when Daniel took her in the pool.

That night, we had our last dinner. We all went together for this one, and it was delicious and fun. I took Brooke back to the room after dinner, while everyone else had some dessert, and got her ready for bed. When Dad got back to the room, Daniel and I went to meet up with Mom. She had been saving us seats for a show that was soon to start. None of us were entirely certain which show we were waiting for; but it ended up being a musical and dancing show, featuring songs from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Mom recognized all of the songs, I recognized most of them, and Daniel, hardly any. But we had a good time. It was very fun!

Afterwards, Mom went to join Dad, while Daniel and I walked around on deck and went for a snack. And then we went back and switched with the parents.

We had such a wonderful time on our cruise! The next day, we were docked back in Long Beach. We woke up early, breakfasted and got ready, and then we got off the ship, fairly early in the day. And that was it!

Cruise -- Part 1

On Saturday, May 24th, Daniel, Brooke and I had a fun morning. We took a bike ride, using the Faucette's bike and trailer again, to a new park and played for a while. We had a good time. I think we need to get a little trailer for Brookie.

The rest of that day was spent cleaning out the garage and getting ready for my parents to get here. They arrived late Sunday night after driving all day. We went to bed way too late that night!

Monday morning, we woke up, got ready to go, made some delish waffles for breakfast, cleaned up the house a little, and then drove down to Long Beach, from where our cruise was leaving (via Burbank, where we stopped for lunch at Chop Stop, and also the mall for a few last minute things). Mom and I bought fun hats while we sent the boys to get the luggage. We checked in and then got on the boat. It was very exciting! We had no idea where we were going or the setup of the boat at all. And right when we got to our rooms, we had to get out for our safety drill. We met with a bunch of other people in one of the lounges on the boat, and we were briefed on safety procedures. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, because they had us line up on a deck outside, as we would if we needed to evacuate the ship.

By the end of the drill, none of us were feeling spectacular. But Brooke threw up... all over Daniel! She'd apparently been sick all day and we hadn't really noticed. She did seem a bit more subdued than usual, and she wouldn't really eat anything. Poor baby! First evening on the boat she just went to bed, without much food or anything.

Daniel was tired, so after we put Brooke down, he stayed next door in Mom and Dad's room to rest, while Mom, Dad and I went to the buffet for dinner. It was kind of a weird sensation, the boat moving. I could definitely feel it when we were at dinner. All of the food was at the back of the boat, where you feel movement most. But I didn't get sick. It was mostly just dizzying.

We explored the boat a little, then went back where Mom and Dad switched out with Daniel. I went back to the buffet with him so he could have some dinner. And we explored the ship a little more. We stopped and saw the end of one of the shows. It looked fun!

The next day we stopped at Catalina Island. We took a slow morning getting up, getting ready and getting down to breakfast. But we were able to get to the Island by about 11am. They didn't dock, so they had little boats shuttle people back and forth between the ship and the island. Brooke was still not feeling stellar, but we decided to go ashore and see some things with her, anyway. It would be hard to keep her occupied and distracted from being sick anyway, since we weren't at home. I just figured she'd be tired and not feeling well either way.

Anyway, I think she liked the little boat ride we had from ship to shore. We were sprayed by sea water and she saw the waves and the seagulls (she LOVED seeing seagulls. That's all she wanted to do). We walked around Catalina Island for a while and stopped at the Museum. Apparently, Catalina Island had a big casino in the 1930's, and that was about the only reason people would go to the Island. They have made it a museum, now. And we would've gone to see it, but it cost more than we were willing to spend. And it was about time for Brooke to have a nap anyway.

Mom and I went back to the boat to put Brooke down for a nap while the boys went snorkeling. They were gone for about 2 hours and had a really fun time. Mom and I mostly stayed in the room and played card games while Brooke slept. Once the boys came back and Brooke woke up, we went to get some lunch, and we put on our swimsuits and went to the little water park they had on the boat. There were a few water slides, of different sizes, and a little splash pool with things spraying everywhere. It looked quite fun. Daniel took Brooke down the smallest water slide and splashed around in the wading pool. She liked the slide, but didn't seem to like being sprayed with the water things. I took Brooke down the slide once while Daniel did the big slide, but apparently Dadda has the magic touch, because she didn't have any fun with me. Mom and Dad joined us at one point and brought sun screen and bubbles, which Brooke loved. And we just sat in chairs and relaxed and did bubbles.

We went to our sit-down dinner that night. It was the night we were to dress up, so we went down to get ready after the slide park, and then went to dinner. It was fun! We were seated at a large round table with another family. So we talked and got to know them, we ordered a whole bunch of food, and had a great time. It was a bit hard to keep Brooke occupied. She kept going from feeling sick and grumpy to feeling good. I think dinnertime she felt better, but she was still quite restless. And she was still being picky with food. Daniel took her back to the room to get her ready for bed before the dessert. And I joined him right after I'd had my dessert.

That night, Daniel was really tired again. So he stayed with Brooke, and Dad, Mom and I went to a family-friendly stand-up comedy show, which was a lot funnier than I thought it would be and very fun. Then we went to check out Karaoke, which I kind of wanted to try. But it was far less impressive than I was hoping. The music people were picking to sing was just dumb or vulgar. Just not the type of thing I thought people would do. There were some people getting up who could really sing, and others that were extremely painful to listen to. :) It was quite the experience. Mom and I enjoyed it, for the most part, mainly because it was something we'd never done before. But I'm pretty sure Dad was in Hell. None of us got up to sing; we weren't drunk enough for that. :) Unlike the rest of the people in that bar.

Later, Daniel and I had a little date walking around the decks and the boat. We had some dessert and talked. And went to bed too late... probably.