Baton Rouge

Since we were flying out of the New Orleans Airport on Tuesday, Johnice drove me and the girls over to Baton Rouge on Monday to spend the night at Mrs. Alice's so we would be closer and not have to get up so early. On the way over to Baton Rouge, we decided to make it a fun day and do a little sight seeing. We stopped by the Baton Rouge Temple for a few minutes and took a few pictures. It had been raining and was overcast, so the pictures aren't great, but it was really nice to show the girls (well, Katie at least--Sarah had fallen asleep by the time we got there and I didn't dare wake her) the temple, since we had just talked about temples in our FHE lesson.



We then drove by the Governor's Mansion, which was very pretty, but was hidden pretty well by trees. There just wasn't a good spot for a picture, but Katie took one anyway. She has taken over my old camera and enjoyed taking tons of random pictures on the way over to Baton Rouge. It was pretty funny when I got her camera at one point to see what all she had taken pictures of.



Then we went to the Capitol Building.





It was really neat. Each step up to the entrance has one of the fifty states on it. We, of course, had to walk up and read each one.





And, of course we had to pause by our two favorite states for pictures.



And then Katie wanted to run the steps, and wanted us to run with them. I wish I had the energy to, but we just watched. They must have run up and back down at least five times.



They didn't even seem tired afterwards. They are just so sweet.



We all enjoyed spending some time with Maw Maw 'Nice'. Thanks so much for such a fun day!

Our Famous 1st Grader

Have I mentioned how much we love Katie's 1st grade teacher Mrs. Chappell? She stopped by for a visit the Sunday before we left for NC. She has called us several times since school got out, and we have returned her calls, but we have always missed each other. So she was just driving by and decided to stop and we were so glad she did. Apparently Katie missed the day she handed out awards, so she stopped by with a folder full of certificates for her.

There was one for making banner roll, one for "Outstanding Classroom Citizenship", and ones for making all A's in reading, spelling, and math.

And she got a medal and a certificate for reading over 350 books--the most of any 1st grader. She was so excited about her award. After Mrs. Chappell left she said, "Now that I have a medal, I'll be famous!" You're already famous in Youngsville sweetie, and that's all that really matters!

There's No Place Like Home

Nothing beats being able to go home to visit family and friends, but at the same time nothing beats being in your own home after a long trip. We were all very anxious to get home to see Aaron, who we all missed terribly. After the first week in NC, Sarah started saying at least once a day, "I miss daddy too much." And I felt the exact same. Katie was having too much fun while we were in NC to show or tell how much she was missing her dad, but she got very excited to see him when we were talking about him on the way home. When we drove up last night, Katie said, "Why isn't he waiting out here for us?" But before we could even open our doors to get out of the car he was coming out of the house to give us all one of his famous bear hugs that we love so much. And when we came inside we found flowers, balloons, and some yummy treats to welcome us back. Today we have just been trying to recuperate from our vacation hangover. I have just felt too tired and unmotivated to try to tackle the long 'to do' list ahead of me, which includes, laundry, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, back to school shopping, a trip to Vidor, TX to pick up my food storage order, balancing the checkbook, paying bills, getting ready for sharing time on Sunday, and most importantly catching up on my favorite blogs. And of course the girls are already bored because they are missing all of their cousins they've had so much fun playing with the last two weeks. Hopefully soon I will be able to post about all of our adventures in the Tarheel State, but first I have to conquer at least some of that long 'to do' list.

4+1=5

In case you haven't noticed, there is a population surge in Youngsville. We had hoped to keep our little secret quiet for a while just to make sure things are okay, but it has leaked out. So, after two years of trying, crying, wishing, hoping, and praying, we are THRILLED to announce that baby #3 will be arriving in Youngsville in February 2009. We feel very blessed to welcome a new little one into our family. Since we will be leaving tomorrow for our trip to NC, I will probably not post for a while. So I will leave you with my 'secret' diary that I have been keeping since we found out we were expecting. Be forewarned that it is lengthy. Enjoy!

Diary of a Pregnant Cajun Tarheel

June 25th--This morning I did a home pregnancy test and OH MY......IT WAS POSITIVE!!!! As I was peeing on the stick, I was thinking, "Why am I wasting my time and this test?" I must have taken at least 10 pregnancy tests in the last two years, not because I showed any signs of being pregnant, but just because I wanted to be so badly. And they have always showed the same result--NOT PREGNANT. So as I am waiting the 3 minutes, I am still scolding myself for wasting yet another test because I am currently showing NO signs of being pregnant--other than my ravenous appetite and being a little more tired than normal, which doesn't really seem out of the ordinary. And then I look over and see.......what......could it be......could it possibly be.......a plus sign? YES, a very faint plus sign, but a plus sign indeed. I could hardly believe my eyes. I even closed my eyes a couple of times and was shocked all over again when I reopened my eyes to see the plus sign. WOW! COMPLETE SHOCK! What do I do now? I called Aaron and told him. He said, "Really? Are you sure? Can I tell people?" I told him to lets not say anything for now until we know for sure. It is killing him not to be able to say anything. He is pretty excited. He must have called me twenty times today before he got home from work. We are both in shock just to think that we might be pregnant. And excited. But trying not to be too excited just yet.

June 26th--Today was very strange. I woke up and still am shocked to think that I could be pregnant. The girls and I met Kristie and her boys at the waterpark and she was asking if I was going to the 'Survivor' class tomorrow. So I told her I think I might be pregnant, and I wasn't sure if I should go or not. She was very excited for me, and she agreed that it probably wasn't a good idea to keep going to 'Survivor' since it is such an intense class. I am pretty sad to think I can't go back because I felt like it was really challenging me and making me stronger. Hopefully it will still be going strong next year this time and I can rejoin after baby #3 arrives--which according to my calculations will be sometime around the end of March 2009. HOORAY!

June 27th--I went to Walmart to buy another test tonight. I kinda want to wait a few more days to take it, but I kinda want to take it RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I AM DYING TO KNOW!

June 28th--I took the other test at 5:30am (it's supposed to be the first pee of the day, ya know!) and it was POSITIVE!!!!! It was still faint, but it was a little darker than Wednesday's test. We are really excited, but still in shock. It just seems unreal because we have been trying for 2 years, and honestly, when I received an answer to my prayers a few months ago that we would have more children, just not right now, I thought that meant it would be a while, like maybe a year or something. We still haven't told our families, but Aaron did let it slip to Dan and Kayla tonight. We were all just sitting watching the girls play and I asked him what he was thinking about and he just blurted out, "Baby names." I was surprised to hear him say that, but I wasn't upset. It was a relief actually, and he felt the same way. He's been dying to tell someone since I called him on Wednesday, and I'm really surprised he made it this long. Dan and Kayla looked surprised and said, "Was that an announcement?" They are very happy and excited for us. We can't agree on a boy name. He likes John Dolan, after his Paw Paw Young. I like John, but I don't like Dolan. I like John David, and Aaron is just not willing to compromise. After all, I am giving him John. If it's a girl--LaWanda Dynamite Young. (Just kidding, Amanda, and whoever else thought I was serious about LaWanda. Don't be alarmed. The real name we have picked out for a girl is Lauren Elizabeth.:)

June 29th--We told the girls today. I'm not sure they really understand. We asked Katie what she would think if Mommy were going to have another baby. She said, "Right now? I think you need to go to the hospital!" Later she said, "Babies cry too much." How's that for excitement? We asked Sarah would she like it if Mommy had a baby. Her response was "Yes", and then she just kept on playing. We also called my family today after church and told them. They are all thrilled, as they all know that we have been trying for the last 2 years. My sister Kristie is very excited that we are pregnant together, and due only two months apart. It actually works out well, because they are planning to come down for Katie's baptism next spring, and now we will have a baby blessing too!:) It's really great timing. It's so neat that Kristie and I are pregnant together, but strange at the same time. She is almost 12 years younger than me, so I never thought we would be pregnant at the same time. I also planned to be done having kids by the time I was thirty, but that plan was thrown off from the beginning, since I didn't get married until I was 27. Funny how life doesn't turn out like you think it will.

June 30th--We called Amy and told her today and she was completely overjoyed. I knew she would be and was very excited to tell her. Aaron tried to call his brothers, but couldn't reach them. Johnice is out of town, so we are going to wait until she gets home and have her and Kent over for dinner and tell them in person. I called around to find a doctor today. I am very sad that I will not be able to see the doctor I had for Sarah's delivery. In fact, I am going to my first appointment tomorrow (wow--didn't think I'd get in that fast!) with a male doctor. I'm really bummed about that since I had a female doctor with both Katie and Sarah, but I'M PREGNANT! I can't let anything distract me from what a great blessing we have been given!

July 1st--I went to SPAR this morning to exercise and when I went to pick up the girls afterwards, there was a note from "Killer Kelly". It said she missed me in Survivor and hoped to see me again soon. I'll be back in about ten months!
I had my first appointment today. It went really well. I loved the nurse. She is sooooo nice. That makes me happy! I have an appointment on the 14th for an ultrasound. Also, my calculations were off somehow, and baby #3 will be arriving the end of February 2009. Hey, the sooner the better!
Aaron was trying to get his parents to come over for dinner tomorrow night so we could tell them, but it wasn't working out, so he told Kent while they were working and then Kent told Johnice. They are both very excited.
As we were trying to get Sarah to sleep tonight, she said, "So what will we name the boy baby?" BTW, she has said we are having a boy and a girl. YIKES! Her suggestions were:
*If it's a boy--Troy, Carolina Boy, Markie, Sweetie Pie Boy
*If it's a girl--Gabriella, Carolina Girl, Lauren, Sweetie Pie Girl

July 2nd--Today Katie just randomly said, "I can't wait for your baby to get here Mom." And Sarah said, "Me too." AWWW! Melt my heart! They ARE excited! I explained that it is OUR baby, not just my baby, and that we all will love, teach, and take care of our new baby. Still no signs of being pregnant though (YIPEE!), except when I was very tempted to yell at some people at the waterpark when we came back from the concession stand and they had not only completely taken over our table, but piled all of our stuff on the table next to ours with someone else's stuff. HOW INCREDIBLY RUDE! I mean, I don't mind sharing a table. I am well aware that there are not enough to go around on a busy day at the waterpark. But moving my stuff and completely taking over my table IS NOT OKAY WITH ME! I feel better now that I let it out.:) We have told all of our family now, and a few close friends, but haven't decided when we will 'go public'. I guess I am just a little nervous and think something may be wrong since it took us so long to get pregnant, so maybe we'll wait until the ultrasound on the 14th. Or longer. Not sure yet. As Aaron was talking to Bishop Jorgensen on the phone tonight he told him our exciting news. When they were talking later, Bishop said that when he told Wendy she cried. Awww! How sweet. It's so fun to tell people individually and to see (or hear of) their reactions.

July 3rd--Today as I was out running errands and shopping, I looked at some maternity clothes and got pretty excited, which is a good thing because I was thinking the other day how much I am NOT looking forward to wearing maternity clothes. But maybe it'll be fun if I can find some cute stuff to wear.

July 4th--Today as I was trying to get Sarah (and me too--I'm starting to feel tired) down for a nap, she put her leg on my stomach. I told her, "Be careful. You'll squish the baby." She looked at me and said, "You're kidding huh Mom?" I said, "No, the baby is in mommy's tummy. So you have to be careful so you don't squish him." She just laughed and kept saying "You're just kidding Mom." I kept telling her I wasn't kidding, and she finally said, "Let me see!" She then pick up my shirt and looked down it. I said, "Sarah, stop." She said, "Sorry I looked at your privacies Mom." It was pretty funny. I guess she and Katie are trying to figure out where the baby is coming from. Aaron told me they asked him and he said, "The stork, of course!"
Tonight at our cookout, Jaimee and Amy got here after everyone else. When Jaimee saw me holding Jackson, she asked Amy, "Did Aunt Lynetta have her baby already?" If only it were that fast!

July 5th--Today Sarah told me she wants to name our baby Jackson Andrews. I told her it might be confusing since that is the same name as the Andrews baby and that we should give the baby our last name so people will know he's ours. She's still wanting Jackson Andrews though.

July 6th--I love how attentive my husband is on any given day, but these days he is even more attentive than normal. It's so sweet. He calls even more than before and is always asking, "How are feeling?" or "Are you doing okay?" or "How's the baby doing?" I am starting to feel tired and needing at least a short power nap in the afternoon AND he encourages me to take one, which makes me feel less guilty about doing it. He is so good to me. I love him so much.

July 7th--Today I ran into "Killer Kelly" at the waterpark. She asked me why I had ditched her class. I told her it wasn't because I wanted to. So she asked why, so I kinda had to tell her I was pregnant. She congratulated me and I told her I'd be back after the baby was born.

July 8th--A few weeks ago I was feeling guilty about having so much fun with my girls this summer and not being as productive as we could be. But now that I am pregnant (it's so weird to say that), I am feeling no guilt for enjoying this last summer that I have with just me and my girls. It won't be the same carefree summer next year with a little one, which will undoubtedly mean fewer trips to the waterpark, so we're making up for it this summer! Lots of fun in the sun!:)

July 9th--I think my husband is trying to kill me! Just kidding! I know it's probably the pregnant hormones kicking in, but he isn't helping matters because he keeps turning up the thermostat and I keep burnin' up! Thank goodness I won't be great with child until the cooler months.

July 10th--Okay, the pregnancy hormones are definitely kicking in. I woke up at 4:30 am and could not go back to sleep. I was feeling a little yucky and like I needed to eat something, so I got up and ate some watermelon. Sarah then woke up and got up too, so I went back to bed to get her back to sleep and hopefully me too. But it was no use. I just couldn't go back to sleep. So I got up again and got caught up on all my favorite blogs, and then Katie got up. I made us both some boiled eggs and toast for breakfast, but still felt yucky after that too. It wasn't until a little while later when I ate some peanut butter crackers that I started to feel better. Hooray, the secret combination to fix morning sickness. At least mine. For today.

July 11th--No morning sickness today, thank goodness. I thought it had arrived just in time for our trip to NC. It would be just my luck to feel great up until the time for our trip that we have been anticipating all summer. Hopefully it was just a one day thing. I know, wishful thinking. A girl can dream.

July 12th--Today Maw Maw Mire came over and brought me some flowers because she said she had heard about our news. I feel really bad the she didn't hear it from us, but we are wondering where she heard it from. We have told several people, so I guess it was just a matter of time before someone let our little secret out. Oh, well. Guess we'll be 'going public' a little sooner than planned. Maybe I'll change the population # on our header and see if anyone notices.

Our Gardening Woes

Somehow we went from this...............

(the day we planted).........to this........

(one week later)........to this................

......welcome to the jungle. At this point we're thinking we've got this gardening thing down. Look how green and beautiful it is. And here we are today......

Yeah, we pretty much have a black thumb. Turns out gardening isn't as easy as we first thought. Let's start with our squash, which are now gone. They were at one time (right beside the tomatoes) very green and beautiful and even were producing like crazy. When they would get about 2 inches long, they would rot. I called the LSU AG Center and they said it was because the bees aren't pollinating. Where are the bees and why aren't they doing their job? Never fear, though, he also said that I could play the role of the bee and pollinate myself. All you have to do is find a male flower on the squash and touch it to a female flower on the squash--only it has to be done between 6-8am. Never mind--I'll just get mine at Kroger, thanks. So we pulled it up. Then there's the zucchini, which is the biggest and greenest plant you have ever seen, but NOT ONE SINGLE ZUCCHINI! I was out there just yesterday and just as I was about to pull up the entire plant out of frustration from it's deceiving looks, I found two zucchini. HOORAY! Now we're just praying that they won't rot. Next is our peppers. They were getting crowded out by everything else, so we moved them to a pot and they are now doing very well--at least for the moment. They have one good sized pepper that I'm trying to let get a little bigger and about 7 tiny ones. Katie keeps tabs on them and is excited for 'her' peppers to be ready, which will probably be while we are gone to NC. Just our luck.

Then there's my cucumbers, which have been the most disappointing of all. At one point we thought they were going to grow to our driveway. They were so green and healthy looking too, with lots of tiny cucumbers. And then it happened. They got some kind of fungus, I think, that started killing the entire plant. They aren't dead yet, but they are turning yellow and looking very pitiful these days. We did get about 5 or 6 cucumbers before they went south. And last the tomatoes. They were also deceivingly healthy looking. In fact they looked like tomato trees instead of tomato plants. But they too have hardly produced anything. We have gotten 3 tomatoes so far, and right now we have another 4 pretty good sized ones growing. They were taking forever to turn red, so Aaron pulled one of our tomato plants up the other day and seriously trimmed back the other two. I was a little upset with him because they looked naked when he got done. But now 2 of those tomatoes have started turning red and he says it's because they are able to get some sunlight now. Maybe he knew what he was doing after all. So for now the gardening thing isn't going so well, but we are going to do some more research and give it another try in the fall. Hopefully it will go a little better next time.

Here's some good news though. I have brought my fern back to life. Kent and Johnice brought me this fern several years ago after I always talked about how beautiful theirs was. We put it on the front porch and I rarely watered it because I just didn't think about it because we mostly hang out in the back. I wish I had a before picture of it because it was pretty sad looking before I moved it to the back porch so I would remember to water it. Now it gets watered and is very happy, except that it has started to out grow its pot and needs a bigger one.

Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone

That's what Aaron's been singing all week. Okay, not really, but he is has talked about how much he is going to miss us everyday this week and has been quite pitiful. So we've been doing some fun things together before we leave for our trip next week. Wednesday night he took us all out for ice cream at one of our favorite ice cream places, Winkydoo's, which is always a fun treat.

The girls like to get the "rainbow" flavor and as you can see, they REALLY enjoyed it.

Thursday Aaron got done with work early and went to the waterpark with us, which is always more fun when he is there. And today he took us out to Choupique Bayou for a boat ride and a little fishing. We all had so much fun. For the first 20 minutes we were having no luck, which prompted Katie to ask the question of the day. "Why do they call it fishing if you don't catch any fish?"

Good question Katie. So Aaron moved us to a new spot and we hit the jackpot--or maybe it was the fish who hit the jackpot.

I made the first catch of the day, but he was a little on the small side, so we threw him back. Then Sarah caught another perch and she was so excited. He was even smaller than mine, so we threw him back too.

She said, "Awww, he's so cute." She even wanted to throw him back all by herself. Then Aaron caught a nice perch, and we kept him.

We caught 5 nice perch, but then they just started eating out worms off of our hooks. Aaron told me it was because I wasn't 'threading' the worm on right. So I let him do the next one for me and the same thing happened. I think it was a conspiracy by that little school of perch. They let us catch a few to make us think we were going to load up, but then they just started eating our bait before we could catch 'em. Those stinkers were fast. Then they must have gotten full because they stopped biting at all. But it was fun while it lasted. Sarah loved every minute of it.

She even loved playing with the worms. If someone would say they needed a worm, she would say, "I'll get it for you."

Katie was not as excited about the worms though.

Between the three of us, we kept Aaron pretty busy. This is what he was doing most of the time.

He was either untangling fishing lines, baiting hooks, or helping cast. I felt bad for him and asked if he had a good time. He said he had a great time, and so did we. We're gonna miss you pretty bad too honey.

It's Just Hair

At least that's what I keep telling myself. This afternoon we decided to go get Katie's hair cut before we leave on our trip to NC next week. Sarah wanted to get hers cut too, and against my better judgement, we decided we would let her be included on the fun too. She was so excited and felt like such a big girl.

She absolutely loved getting her hair washed. I thought she was going to fall asleep.

She was very patient and sat so still.

And here is the finished product. The lady who cut hers was an older lady and I wasn't very happy that we got her. Old ladies usually cut everyone's hair like an old lady. But I tried to give her the benefit of a doubt because she was so nice. But she cut my baby's hair like an old lady. She asked if I wanted layers and I said maybe a few. I thought that meant long layers, but I guess I should have been more specific, because she just went to town layering my baby's hair. It was all I could do to hold back the tears. Thank goodness Aaron was there because I had to walk away for a few minutes.

The good news is that she loves it and can't stop shaking her head. I know she's still my beautiful, sweet little Sarah, but I terribly miss her long locks. Hopefully it'll grow as fast as Katie's does.

And here is Katie. Hers is so cute, and she absolutely loves hers too.

And here they are together. They are so beautiful, even with a bad haircut.

FHE

Tonight we had a FHE lesson about Temples. We talked about why temples are so special and how they are different from our regular church buildings. We talked about some of the things that we do in temples and what you have to do to be able to go inside. We then showed the girls some pictures of our favorite temples and why each is special to us. Some of the temples we talked about:
*Salt Lake Temple, which has always been one of my favorites, and is where my parents were married.
*Mesa Arizona Temple, where Kent and Johnice were married.
*Washington DC Temple, where we and lots of our friends and family were married. This is the temple I went to for our youth temple trips. It is also mine and Aaron's favorite, which is why we chose to be married there, even though the Raleigh Temple had just opened a few months before we got married. It was definitely worth the six hour drive.
*Raleigh North Carolina Temple, which is the one and only Temple Dedication that I or Aaron have ever been to. It is also the temple that my parents worked in for a while a few years ago. Most of my siblings are only about 30 minutes away. I hope to be able to take the girls there when we are in NC next week.
*Houston Texas Temple, which is the temple district that we live in now.
The girls loved looking at the pictures and talked about how pretty they were and said that they want to go. So we have decided to take a FHE field trip soon to visit the Houston Temple. I think it is important for them to go now. Even though they cannot go inside, they can still see and feel how sacred and beautiful it is and set a goal of entering when the time comes. If we had prepared more, we could have made the sugar cube temples for activity, but it really was a last minute lesson. However, it was also one of our best FHE ever because the girls seemed to be listening and enjoying it. We sang "I Love to See the Temple" for our closing song. I LOVE to hear my girls sing--especially primary songs.
For dessert, we made some patriotic cookies that we had planned to make on the 4th of July, but completely for about it. So the girls and I made them this afternoon and had so much fun doing it.

Katie and the star shaped sugar cookies.

I just got a new camera, which I hadn't planned to write about, but I had to when we realized that it didn't make Katie blink when I took her picture. For the last 3 1/2 years I have had my old camera, I have had the hardest time getting a picture of Katie whenever a flash is required because it ALWAYS made her blink. Okay, not always, but 99.99999999999999999999 percent of the time, she blinked. It was always very frustrating for us both, so this is a huge deal and extremely exciting news. And as you can see from this picture, she was in complete shock when I told her she didn't blink when I took her picture.



Katie's huge smile that followed me telling her she didn't blink her eyes again! LOVE the missing teeth!



Sarah decorating her cookie and sampling the sprinkles. She asked for help and this is what I found when I turned around after helping her.



And a few minutes later, this........



I wonder why we even made the cookies. Why didn't I save us all the time and trouble and just pour the sugar right down her throat!



Sweet, innocent look. "Who me? I didn't do anything!" Now we all know why you're so sweet Sarah! You really are PURE SUGAR!



They turned out pretty cute, and VERY tasty!

Happy Independence Day!

I am so grateful for this great country that we live in and for the many freedoms that we enjoy. I remember having these same feelings as a child too. I'm not sure when Aaron's love for our country began, but I know that it must have started early too because he has an enormous amount of American pride and always says his favorite colors are red, white, and blue. So to celebrate one of our favorite holidays, we had some friends and family (the Andrews, the Odells, and Amy and Jaime) over for hot dogs and homemade ice cream tonight. We had a great time visiting while the kids played--except for Sarah. She spent most of her time holding Jackson instead of playing with the kids. I think she thinks he is her baby. Ever since the Andrews were over two weeks ago when she held him and got him to sleep that night, she asks everyday if we can get the Andrews over so she can "hold the tired little baby."

The highlight of the evening was when Aaron lit some firecrackers just as one of Sulphur's finest drove past our house. He immediately stopped, backed up, and pulled into our yard. Kristie had just asked Aaron if we could do fireworks because we are in the city limits. His response, "Of course, we can! We're American!" The policeman looked very upset as he got out of his car and I have to admit I was a little worried. Sarah (this was one of the few times she had handed Jackson off to me so she could hold a sparkler) immediately ran over to Aunt Amy and buried her head in her shoulder. Aaron went over and shook his hand and asked how much trouble he was in. He told him he wasn't in trouble, but the noise had frightened him and he politely reminded Aaron that we ARE NOT supposed to set off fireworks in the city limits. He did unofficially, of course, tell him it was okay to do sparklers. So that was what the kids did for the rest of the evening, along with some of the snaps that you throw on the ground. It was a fun night, despite the police drama.

Check out our All-American Beauties! I made their hairbows this week. Don't look too close though, because it was my first attempt at bows, so they have several flaws, but hopefully I'll get better with the next attempt.

Tuesday Night Date

Last Tuesday night Aaron and I took the girls to the waterpark. After a good 30 minutes of playing 'Shark' in the lazy river (with Daddy as the shark chasing the 3 'mermaids', which is usually my role), we went over by the water slides and tried to get Katie to go down with Aaron. Before she was tall enough to go down, she really wanted to. But now that she can, she refuses to go down the water slides. I really think that if she would just go for it, she would love it and never want to get off of them. As Katie was refusing Aaron's attempts to get her to go with him, Sarah kept saying, "I'll go. I want to go down the slide!" So we went over to talk to the lifeguards and they said she wasn't tall enough, but she could take the swim test, and if she passed, she could go down. He showed us how far she had to swim and I wasn't sure if she could swim that far without stopping, but Aaron said, "Let's just let her try and see how she does." So we did and she swam like a little fish and had absolutely no problem going the distance. Now, granted, there is a really good current where they do the swim test, which I would imagine has helped lots of kids pass the swim test. But there is also a really good current when you come off of the slides too. Anyway, we were so proud of her and she was pretty proud of herself too. So she and Aaron quickly grabbed a two person raft, went up the stairs, and down the green slide. The first time she looked very happy and proud of herself and said, "That was a little scary, but it wasn't too bad." So off they went for a second try, but this time when they got to the top, she was having second thoughts, but Aaron put her on the raft anyway and down they came. When they hit the water, their raft turned over, and as Aaron was falling off of the raft, he grabbed Sarah, so they both went under. She was not happy about that at all, and was done with the slides for the night. We kept telling her how proud we were of her for swimming so well and passing the swim test and how brave she was for going down the slide. It didn't matter what we said though, she was done.

On Monday, we met Wendy, Von, and Travor at the waterpark and the boys wanted so badly for the girls to go down the slides with them. Katie was not interested at all, but Sarah kept saying she would go with them, and when they would get to the top of the stairs would change her mind--EVERYTIME--which happened at least 10 times. Thank goodness they were so patient with her though and never got upset with her at all. She even told Wendy and me she would go with us and we would take her up and always the same thing would happen at the top of the stairs. So as we were about to leave on Monday, I thought I would give it one last shot and bribed the girls telling them we would stop to get snow cones (which they LOVE!) on the way home if they would go down the body slides and they took the bait! Wendy, her boys and my girls all went up. Wendy said they both started to get nervous when it was their turn, but she told them to just practice sitting, and then gave them a ever so slight nudge and off they went. AND THEY BOTH LOVED IT! When Sarah climbed out of the pool, she said, "That was fun! I'm doing it again!" And off she went, and repeated almost the same words the next 20 times or so that she came down. And Katie was definitely feeling the same way. So Wendy and I became permanent fixtures at the edge of the pool beside the body slide for the next 30 minutes or so while they all had a blast going over and over and over. When we finally were able to drag them from the slides, we got snow cones on the way home and then came home to tell Daddy how brave they had been and how much fun they had discovering the joys of the body slide. However, there was a very severe side effect from all of the fun they had. This is what I found about an hour after we got home.

They were completely wiped out! They probably would have slept all night and I was tempted to let them, but we had people coming over for FHE.

So tonight when Katie started begging to go to the waterpark again, Aaron told her we could only go if she would pull her loose tooth out. I think he told her that because he thought she wouldn't do it, and honestly I didn't think she would either. And to begin with, she was upset that he told her that, but he began coaching her how to do it and within 10 minutes it was out. So off to the park we went. The girls were so excited for Aaron to see them go down the slides.

Katie proudly showing the reason we were at the waterpark.

Aaron wasn't as crazy about the body slide as the girls were, but he played along with the girls while I watched, and cheered, and took pictures. Then Katie asked if I would go down the green slide with her, which is the one with the raft. UGG! I didn't really want to, but I did since I wanted her to see how much fun it was. It was funny to hear her asking if I was scared on the way up and trying to comfort me by telling me how much fun it would be. She loved it, and I did too, except the end where you have to get off of the raft. I never did quite figure out how to get off of the raft without going under water, which I was trying really hard to avoid. But we all had a great time, and it was so much fun to watch them discover the fun of water slides!