Why We Had Kids, Part 4

It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

Vacation Pictures

We had a great vacation, and we were not ready to come home. We spent 2 days at silver dollar city, and stuck around the resort for the rest of the time. It has lots of activities and heated pools, and were blessed with fantastic weather. Our pasty white skin was not ready for 7 days of sunshine! Here is one of the lodges we have stayed at. It is called the Bluegreen Wilderness Lodge at Big Cedar. The tiny specks on the rock are Bern and Bella.
A view of Table Rock lake from one of the pools.

Bella the brave loved to float around the deep ends of the pool with the noodle wrapped around her. She only sank once, which I think are not bad odds considering how many hours we spent swimming.

Mommy and Bella on the lazy river.

Daddy and Bern trotting around the pool.

Brian let me sleep in a couple days and took the kids fishing and to the playground. He also fixed Bella's hair, can you tell?

Bella caught two, Bern caught one.

Brian was rewarded with a spa day for letting me sleep in.

Bern loves trolling the floors of the pool looking for treasure. He mostly found leaves and one dead worm.

At the hot tub.

Cotton candy at silver dollar city.

The ladybug ride.

Brian and Bern braving the kiddy coaster.

In front of the train on Branson landing.

Brian took a picture of the lovely sunset while I sat in the condo with the sleeping children. Watching the season finale of Ugly Betty. Have I mentioned before that we don't have cable so when we are on vacation we go a little crazy with the TV. I think I saw 3 new/old movies last week, plus a ton of shows we don't get at home.


We had a great time, it is such an easy trip being 4 hours away, and the lodge is so family friendly. We stayed there last year and it is starting to feel "special" to our family. It is also great to go the week before memorial day because the pools are open but there are no crowds. When we were driving away Bella said "See my face? It is sad because we are going home". We finished off our trip at Lamberts, were the kids caught/dropped the rolls that were thrown to them (this made Bella's face happy again). We also might have bought a paint can sized jar of the molasses they drizzle over the rolls to take home with us, which made me happy again. Hope we can go again next year, but not sure since Bern will still be in school that week and we will have an infant crimping our style:)

27 Weeks!

This is an exciting week for us, Bern's last few days of school and we are preparing for our vacation later this week. Bella's packed her suitcase at least 4 different times in recent weeks, she is usually heavy on the underwear, shoes, and swimsuits. I guess that is what is most important for a getaway. I'm glad we decided to stick with a close-by location, as you can see I'm getting big and anything over the 4 hour drive would probably be uncomfortable. We really aren't brave enough to do super long drives with the kids anyway. The vacation would be absolutely perfect if Brian and I could get a day or 2 alone, maybe my good friend Erin might drive up (or down, geography is not my strong point) from Little Rock and watch my kids for me. She is a missionary with FamilyLife, after all, it could be a service project? Just kidding Erin!

On Sunday I was awoken to my 3 favorite people smiling and bearing gifts. Bern was a bit confused and kept telling me happy valentine's day. After the gift opening session Brian and the kiddos made me a very delicious breakfast of cinnamon rolls, eggs with bacon, and a fruit plate.

Later in the afternoon we got out the old home video's and watched the kid's grow up onscreen, it made us very excited for summer girl's arrival. I can't wait to have a baby in the house again, I didn't realize how much I missed it till I saw the images of Bern and Bella toddling around. The weeks seem to pass so quickly and I know that it will be August in no time!

Under the Weather

Sorry about my lack of posts, I've been sick with a sinus infection and it's taking a toll. My dearly beloved came home from work to care for me today, which I sooo appreciate. I feel like I'm behind on everything and I have no energy to get caught up. Bern's school year is quickly winding down (next Friday), and we are leaving for vacation on same day. Last year we went to Big Cedar Lodge near Branson, and had a great time so we are going for a repeat this year. They have a lovely set-up there, lots of pools and nice accommodations. I think we are even going to venture into silver dollar city (poor man's Disneyland) which I haven't been since I was little so if anyone has any suggestions let me know.

Yesterday when I was picking Bern up from school his teacher let me know he had a good day till the end, in which he decided to spit on the floor. I wanted to tell her to hang on, she only had 9 more days left. When asked why he spit on the floor he told me that he had something icky in his mouth. Makes sense to me! I told him next time he might do better spitting in the trash can. I'm sure his teacher is going to miss him so much:)

Miss Bella is keeping busy with her imaginary friends and dance class. She also shares my love for ice cream so we have been splitting a lot of DQ blizzards lately. When I'm pregnant (and when I'm not) my two favorites are cookie dough and ice cream (calcium for baby), so I've been killing 2 birds with one stone with the cookie dough blizzard. Don't you worry about my weight though, I've been making up for it in the aqua aerobics class at the gym, along with a bunch of 80 year-olds. Yesterday Bella asked me if summer girl is ever going to get here, and I had a mild panic thinking, yes, she will be here before we know it. I'm ready and excited for her to get here, but have lots to do before she actually does.