Our attempt at the splash pad

There is this awesome splash pad less than 5 minutes from my parents' house.  We took Violet there today hoping that she would have fun and play in the water.  Instead, she clung to me like this the entire time:

 This was the only water feature she agreed to play in.

 She did end up having fun on the playground.  There was a cool zipline thing,

 and more fun toys.  But I'm still a little disappointed that she wouldn't play with the coolest thing there.

Birthday bliss

Our family clebrated my birthday today.  Mom and I stayed up late last night making this cake.  Isn't it beautiful?  Let me just tell you what went into it.  First you make two delicious coconut cakes.  Then you brush them with a lime glaze that I licked out of the bowl more times than I care to admit.  When that is set, you frost it with a cream cheese-coconut frosting and top with toasted coconut.  I almost cried when I ate it.

 Dad made us all bleu cheese burgers while I took a nap.  After dinner, Brandon started an amateur rugby league in the backyard.  He even got Mabel to kick the ball.  That only lasted until she accidentally kicked it into Asher's face, and then she (not Asher, he was fine) ran off crying.  Poor girl, I guess the guilt was just too much for her.

 When everyone had recovered the kids played ring around the rosie. 

 And everyone loved their pixie stick magic wands that I made for them.

After that, we took a nice bike ride around the neighborhood.  Despite the previous pictures, Violet LOVES riding the bike now.  It was a perfect day, and it's not even my birthday yet!

What we've been up to

Today is our last full day in Idaho. I know I haven't been posting much, but the beginning of our trip was dominated by vomiting and 40 degree weather, so it really wasn't that fascinating. The last few days have been nice and I feel relatively good, so we managed to squeeze some fun in before we head home.

Violet loved playing with her favorite aunt. I'm not trying to cause jealousy; there really is a clear favorite here. Within a day she was saying "Mia" and squealing every time she walked in a room. Most of the time she will pick Mia over Mommy.
Running around naked in the dirt is always fun.We also played 9 holes of golf.
And sleeping in the pack-and-play gave Violet some really awesome hair.

For the love of rocks

Rice approved Brandon to change from the master's program to the Ph.D program!  That means 1.5-2 extra years of schooling, but when your husband loves rocks as much as mine does, the decision is a no-brainer.
AND since we will be living here for 3 more years and saving on rent this summer, Brandon gave me the approval to start looking for a nicer place to live.  So if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!  (One with a washer and dryer would be nice!)

Just keeps getting better

Remember how in my last post I mentioned that Violet threw up on Saturday?  Apparently she gave it to me.  On our flight into Salt Lake I started getting really nautious.  When I got off the plane, I promptly went to one of the airport restaurants and asked for a bag.  It's a good thing I did because at baggage claim I sat down on the floor and threw up.  I thought I was better after that but at my grandparent's house I threw up 4 more times, and by the time Brandon's mom came to pick us up, I could hardly walk.  I then got into a cramped, bumpy car for a 3-hour ride up to Idaho. And I threw up every 20 minutes for the first 2 hours of it.  Luckily the worst is over and I now only have flu-like symptoms, but I still feel like crawling into a hole and sleeping all day.  Thank heavens for the 8 babysitters I have at my disposal here.

Highs and lows of my week

Highs:
Talking with Brandon until 1 AM
Seeing Violet DIVE into a pool at play group
Having my parents come to my rescue and help me move
Having a pediatrician with me when Violet got sick
Taking a bike ride with Violet (she likes it now)
Seeing a man in full camouflage (bushes hanging off his back and all) pop out of a field and scare my pants off while I am biking
The miracle of actually getting this all done

Lows:
Taking Brandon to the airport at 6 AM to go on a 5-day field trip, then babysitting until 5 PM when I get back
Being a single mom all week/weekend
Having to clean and pack our apartment while watching 2 kids because we had to move out this weekend
Realizing what a crappy place I have been living in for the past 9 months (stairs aren't evenly spaced, the toilet doesn't work, the tub doesn't drain, the closet is so poorly designed that you can't take your hangers off the rack, mosquitos wait for you outside the door, and it looks dirty even when it's clean)
Seeing poor little Violet throw up all over herself in the car and not being able to do anything about it because we are on the freeway
Getting news that Brandon's flight is delayed and he doesn't have a ride home
Realizing that I will get home from picking him up at 2 AM, and then I have to wake up at 3:45 AM to catch our flight at a different airport (So pretty much not being able to sleep at all tonight)

Well I guess that's it.  Eventful, huh?