Cars.

For those of you who don't know him well, my husband loves cars. Loves. I'd say next to me and the girls, Evan loves cars more than anything else in the world. Which is why I have been to more cars shows since meeting Evan than I think any non-car lover should go to.

So, when he found out that Denver has an annual car show, he wrote it on the calendar and told me to make no other plans for the day. Our friend offered to watch the girls for us (you know, so we could actually do something alone as a couple...ah, alone...), but when we asked Elisabeth what she wanted to do, she said, "I want to go to the car show because it's important to Daddy and he went to the American Girl store with me." How can you not love that girl?

So, we all went to the Denver Auto Show. It was held in the Colorado Convention Center, which we had never been to before. (We haven't really explored Denver very much. Don't tell anyone.) We were greeted by this:
Yes, he is a giant blue bear. Yes, I did love him instantly. Why do you ask?
No, really, I loved him. I even cornered one of the employees of the center to talk about the giant blue bear. Yes, she did stare at me like I was a freak. Why do you ask?
Anyway, back to cars...

I was greatly intrigued by this ad for a carseat from 1962.
*shudder*


Can I please tell you how much Julia loved having free reign to sit in and explore every car she saw? She is her father's child.
I was very interested in the Ford Flex. We were thinking about one when we bought our Taurus, but they didn't have any that were in our price range.
I still really really like them. When/If we have baby #3, it's the car I want. We put the girls in to see how they'd fit (with PLENTY of room!!!).
Then I checked out the trunk.
I'm sorry. I must have downloaded the wrong picture. Not that that isn't a nice trunk as well...


Elisabeth likes to look for new trucks for Evan's dad. Of course, this white one wouldn't do because it wasn't red.

The girls playing with free toys from the vendors.
Though she was having an absolute blast, Julia needed some down time.


Then we found the motorcycles, which Julia calls bikes.

Elisabeth was a little tentative about getting on.
I love this picture.
Julia thought this was a huge step going from the black mat to the carpet and would make a giant production about getting "down".
She also "read" this car book and kept running into people because she wouldn't put it down.
Julia is a safety advocate.


Elisabeth is such a good big sister and would (try to) carry Julia around for us.

Elisabeth loved this car.

Me? I have a soft spot for Camaros.

The girls were fantastic the entire trip, even with the fact that they wouldn't allow drinks on the show floor and my girls are always thirsty. It was fun.

And I have no idea why she made this face on the way home, but it makes me laugh every time I see it!

Under the weather.

I don't feel well today. I blame Elisabeth.

Elisabeth was sick first with a cold, which she lovingly gave to Julia. Julia then passed it on to Evan and me. If I've done one thing right as a parent, it is that the girls love to share.

I seem to feel worse at night, but today I can't seem to shake it. Last night was horrific in the sleep department--what with the not being able to breathe and those weird "sick" dreams I always have and Evan getting calls from security officers on base at like 3:00AM, etc. etc.--so I think that's why today I can't shake it.

Here's the thing. When I am ill, I need sleep. Sleep is definitely my drug of choice when I am feeling under the weather because 8 out of 10 times I am feeling better in no time. I am stubborn about taking unwanted/unneeded medicines, so I put those off for the last possible moment. Even as a small child, I remember sleeping endlessly when I was ill and feeling better the next day.

But, now I am a mom, and I have found that my children (especially a certain 21 month old), do not give a fiddler's fart if I am ill. They still expect me to clothe them and feed them and tend to their needs.

So, what do I do, you ask?

I call my mommy. I whine, "I'm siiiiiiiiiiick." I leave her messages about my sickness if she doesn't pick up the phone. I listen to her tell me how sorry she is that I'm sick, that I should at least lay down if I can't nap, that I should have some hot tea and make sure that I get some medicine if I need it. Then I wait for her to call me back in a day or two to see if I am feeling better. My mom is the best nurse when you are sick. She makes soup and buys popsicles. She lets you watch movies. She insists you take a warm bath. She gets cool washcloths for foreheads when you have fevers and holds your hair when you are puking into the toilet. She is so fabulous, that when Evan and I got married and moved to DeKalb, I was nervous he wouldn't know how to take care of me when I was sick. I got angry the first time I threw up and he didn't immediately hold my hair and get me a wet wash cloth to wipe off my face. How did he not know that I would need at least 2 blankets and my own pillow for the couch while I watched movies? And, didn't he know that 7up is a MUST when you have a sore throat? Not Sprite or Sierra Mist. 7UP. He's gotten better, but, honestly, I had to rethink our entire relationship.

So, I just call my mommy, even if we are 3 states apart now. It's much easier.

Easter 2010

I realize that this post is a bit delayed. I mean, Easter was almost 2 weeks ago. I choose to blame the lovely weather for my lateness. It's hard to stay inside and download pictures when you could be outside frolicking.

While loading the pictures for this post, I realized three things:
1. This post is going to have a lot of pictures and dialogue. Sorry.
2. This is the first Easter that Evan has spent with Julia, since he was in Alabama last year.
3. I have been writing this blog for over a year now. How time does fly. Thank you for sticking with me and listening to me babble for so long. :)


As all Easter's should, we dyed Easter eggs. We did it on Good Friday so that Jana and Keith could participate since they were leaving early the next morning.
Elisabeth is an old pro at dying Easter eggs. She's been doing it for a number of years now.
Julia? Not so much. First, she kept trying to drink the dyed water/vinegar (much to Elisabeth's dismay!).
Julia did have a couple of shining moments where she was helpful and contributed.
But they were quickly followed with stubbornness in having to share the spoon with Elisabeth. (Look at Ebeth's face...she is so ticked off.)
But, we ended up with some lovely Easter eggs.


Easter morning, Elisabeth woke up around 6:30 AM saying that she'd found an Easter egg from the Easter bunny in her room. Still half asleep, we told her that was wonderful and to get her excited tooshie back to bed until Julia woke up. Elisabeth did go back to bed...after checking out her Easter basket and searching for all of the Easter eggs. So, when Julia woke up at 7:oo, Elisabeth proudly declared that she'd found all of the Easter eggs and had already played with her things in her basket.

I was not very happy.

After explaining to Elisabeth that not only was she told to WAIT for all of us to wake up, and that all of those Easter eggs were not for her because the Easter bunny had left them for Julia to find too, but we didn't even get to see her face when she looked through her Easter basket. She asked if I was mad at her and I told her "Yes!". I then made her put back most of the Easter eggs she'd found and made her pretend to see her Easter basket for the first time. (Mother of theYear? Why yes I am.)

Once I was done being grumpy, we enjoyed the rest of our Easter with no snaggles.
Elisabeth was most excited about her Selena Gomez CD because Elisabeth worships the girl.
Julia was quite pleased to find Winnie the Pooh in a bunny outfit hanging out in her Easter basket.

Because we are familyless out here in Colorado, my lovely friend Rachel invited us to her family's Easter egg hunt at her brother's greenhouse.
Rachel comes from a rather large family, so with well over 30 people present (and 6 dogs), the girls were very entertained. Julia even ATE AT A TABLE WITHOUT US!!!! She loved the little girl next to her and wanted to eat by her. Hanging out with Rachel and her family has definitely helped Julia be less anti-social.
Then it was time to hunt for eggs.


The girls in their Easter dresses.
My favorite flower of the day.
The best part about being at the Greenhouse for Easter (besides the grilling and the flowers and the company)? The other activities the family came up with. The children had the run of the greenhouse with instructions not to trample the flowers. They also flew a kite for a while. Julia did not want to actually fly the kite, but did want to sit in the parking lot and watch it.
The grown ups either rode around on dirt bikes or shot hand guns at glass bottles. Evan, of course, chose to practice his shooting skills.
While Evan socialized with others (another reason hanging out with Rachel's family is good--Rachel does not accept shyness, especially from Evan!), I played with Julia who loves all things automotive.
Then, Evan decided I should shoot a gun. I had never done so in my life, so I gave Julia to one of Rachel's sisters for safe keeping and went to learn.
And greatly enjoyed myself. :)
Evan.
Rachel.
After the greenhouse, we went over to Rachel's mom's house because she has a library in her basement. It is a dream of mine to someday have my own library in my house. We also got to see one day old kittens.
And take some fresh chicken eggs home.

It was one of the funnest Easter's we've ever had! Thank you Rachel's family!!!!