Our little Staycation at Lansdowne Resort

With all of our friends gone the entire month of July I knew we would need something fun to do. A Certifikid deal (it's like Groupon but for kid stuff) came around for Lansdowne resort in Leesburg. Ja and I had been there a couple times for PwC Christmas parties so we knew a little bit about it. We were excited to swim in the pools and spend time in a hotel which is Macy's all-time favorite thing. Whenever we stay at a hotel and go do an activity somewhere else she begs to return to the hotel. 

So in only 50 minutes we were at our hotel having a great time. We pretty much spent the whole time in the pool. The weather was extremely hot that week so the pool water was about 90 degrees. Not too refreshing but we still had fun. 

The main pool has a beach entry which was perfect for Anna. She could crawl around and be in the water at the same time. She did  great and was happy in the few inches of water. 

We took advantage of their fire pit and made s'mores. It was 90 degrees outside so the fire wasn't really necessary but the kids had fun. Ja was sweating up a storm just sitting by the fire. 

I even let Anna have some. She was pretty happy about it. 

She didn't get too messy either. 

Our chocolate melted just from sitting outside so Macy enjoyed licking it out of the wrapper. She had a great chocolate beard going on but she wouldn't let me take a picture of it. 

We only stayed two nights. The first night I slept in the same bed as Macy. She is a mover and was kicking me and trying to lie horizontally across the bed. We both woke up a few times because of it. The second night she said she wanted the bed to herself. She probably thought I was the one waking her up. Anna woke up a few times but we think she was just uncomfortable. Those pack n play mattress' are terrible. The next night we put another blanket in there and she slept better. 

The second day Macy and I went to the local mall to hide out from the sun while Anna napped and Ja worked. There was a carousel there which she rode. I love this picture because I actually captured a genuine Macy smile! She didn't want me to stand next to her but to wait outside the gate. Little miss independent all of the sudden. She waved at me and gave me a big smile each time she came around. It's funny how little things like that melt my heart. 

We brought back lunch for Ja and then went back out to the pool. 

Macy wanted a family photo shoot:

The first night Macy refused to eat dinner. The second night she ate almost 3 whole sliders! And some fries. I don't know how she survives only eating every other day. 

 That night Macy was refusing to get in the bath or shower. We compromised saying she could paint our nails then get in the bath. I bought new nail polish and she wanted to paint Ja's nails so we turned it into a win-win situation. Well, maybe not for Ja. 

On our way back home we stopped for lunch as our last hurrah. It's so fun spending time with our little family. The girls are great travelers and I can't wait to do it again!

Today was a good day

I have to write what a good day we had. We didn't do anything exciting or go on an outing but it was still a good day. 

I took both the girls grocery shopping which is something I don't normally do. Macy and I typically go during Anna's nap but I was up for the challenge. Our Safeway has shopping carts with cars attached to the front the kids can sit in. It's like I'm pushing a train. Macy wanted Anna in the car with her rather than the cart so I obliged thinking it wouldn't last long anyways. Macy told me she would put her arm around Anna so Anna wouldn't fall out. It was the sweetest thing watching Macy protect her little sister. I also noticed that Macy would hold her arm out in front of Anna if we bumped or went down the curb ramp. I was so sad I had left my phone at home so I couldn't take a picture. They both lasted the whole trip!

Anna wanted to hold something during her ride so I handed her a bell pepper. She was thrilled and threw a fit when I had to take it away to pay for it. She loved gnawing on the stem (still no teeth).

Before the grocery store Macy was watching Napoleon Dynamite and told me she wanted steak for lunch like in Napoleon. I didn't have any so she reminded me quite often at the store to buy some. I picked up a little steak for her and Ja was kind enough to cook it for her. 

She finished watching Napoleon while eating her steak. 

After lunch I put Anna down for a nap. Macy helped me clean up the living room then we headed downstairs to the playground. Two days ago she went down the tube slide all by herself and without me catching her. This may not be a big deal for most 3 1/2 year olds but it's a big deal for Macy. She's been afraid of doing it so I'm so proud of her for being brave and conquering a fear. Now she loves going down head first! 

We've played at the playground a lot in the past few days because Macy loves going down the tube slide. After doing that for awhile she wanted to go to another park. 

We walked over to the elementary school next door. On our way to the playground we walked through the field and came across little flowers. 

Of course Macy had to pick them! It was a beautiful day (not too hot or humid) so I sat in the field and watched. I made a crown of the flowers like my friends and I would in elementary school. Macy didn't want to wear it but she wanted to add flowers to it on my head. 

We then walked home and Macy picked more flowers and told me she wanted to put her flowers in water for our table. 

I love walking places with Macy because she will always hold my hand. I love feeling her soft little hand in mine. 

Anna was still asleep so Macy helped me make enchiladas for dinner. We were having the missionaries over. Anna was still asleep so we made blueberry muffins too. I realized Macy only likes to "help" with things because she loves to eat the sugar, flour, batter, etc. We wore aprons and everything. 

 Anna woke up so it was time to vacuum. I started at the back of the condo and when I came into the living room I had to laugh. Macy spotted the vacuum and darted off in the opposite direction. Anna saw it, got a big smile, and came crawling towards it. They already have opposite personalities. 

The girls and I played dress up and restaurant until it was time for me to finish dinner. They were great and even helped clean up. Well, not Anna but Macy did. 

The missionaries came to eat and shared a message which is always nice. 

We finished off the night with Macy and Anna climbing in the cabinet and then taking baths. 

Both girls went to sleep easily too! Bedtime has been great since we figured out Anna only needs one nap a day now. For a couple weeks we were having a rough time getting them to sleep. Knock on wood. 

Like I said, nothing too exciting but I had fun and it was a happy stress free day with my girls!

This is what happened yesterday while I was preparing dinner. A little stressful but luckily it washed right off. 

Macy's New Pet

 Totally out of the blue Macy requested a puppy. She doesn't even like dogs! It's a big deal if she pets one so it was a weird request. I tried explaining to her that puppies are very expensive so we can go to the pet store to price it all out and then we can save up that money. So notepad and pen in hand Macy walked into the pet store. We wrote down prices for leashes, collars, food, a bed, then picked a puppy. 

There was an adorable Shih-poo. That's a cross between a Shih-Tzu and poodle. It was the cutest little white fuzz ball and Anna was so excited to grab it and pull it's hair. Yes, it has hair not fur which means it doesn't shed. Macy wouldn't touch it at first and tried to climb as far away as she could. Silly girl! Dogs are great in theory I guess.

Ja and Macy were begging me to buy this somewhat irresistible dog. I said somewhat because we didn't buy it. Ja said if it weren't for me he would have purchased it. I'm so glad I was there! I'm not ready for a puppy! I don't want to be training a puppy and have Anna. That's too many babies for me to worry about right now!

So we settled on buying Macy a beta fish. We were pet sitting for our friends hermit crabs and Macy was very helpful in feeding them, giving them water, and cleaning the cage. I figured she proved she can be responsible. 

Macy picked out her favorite blue beta and chose and pink seahorse to go inside. Once we got home she named it Dory. "From Finding Nemo" she tells people. 

She was pretty good about feeding it for a few days and now she tells me I can do it myself. So the stereotypical thing happened where the mom takes care of the pets is happening in our home too. Macy does still enjoy having it around and showing it to everyone who comes over.

Anna's three favorite things...

 1- Eating. 2- Spaghetti.

3- Macy.

After being wiped clean (definitely not her favorite thing!) she crawled under the table and tried to climb up Macy's legs to see her. How cute is that?!

Cloud Dough

I purchased some baby oil to try and rid Anna of her cradle cap. I ended up only using a quarter size drop which left me with a bottle of baby oil and no other uses for it. I came across something called Cloud Dough on pinterest that looked interesting and it called for baby oil! Perfect.

It's actually very simple: 8 cups flour, 1 cup baby oil. Mix it together and you get cloud dough! It feels like flour but it's moldable from the oil. It smells good like a baby and makes your hands soft too:) We both had fun playing with it and making shapes and smashing the shapes. I was afraid of the clean up but it wasn't bad since the flour clumps together and isn't dusty like it is in the kitchen. I have a feeling we'll be playing with this stuff often.

Another new hairstyle

Here's another cute hairstyle we tried from cutegirlshairstyles.com. Macy picked it out and it wasn't hard at all. I got a lot of compliments on it because it looks complicated but it isn't!

July 4th Fun

We had a very low-key 4th of July this year. We started out going to our ward's 4th of July breakfast. Instead of the usual pancakes we had bagels and fruit. It was delicious and wasn't cold and soggy since we were an hour late. It started at 8 a.m. and the girls don't get up until 8 so we weren't going to wake up early on our day off!

At the breakfast

Then Ja and Macy went swimming while Anna napped.

We headed to Greg and Holly's for a BBQ and fireworks at home. Brigham and Luc were very excited to light the fireworks this year. Macy loved the sparklers. The best line from the night was Greg speaking to Mark, "No you can't set anyone on fire."

The crowd watching on the lawn. The kids were so excited to light the fireworks they couldn't wait until dark.

After that we went to Langley High School for their firework show. It was fun to sit on the grass and enjoy the fireworks. I brought glow bracelets for Macy to wear in the dark and she loved playing with them. She didn't care about the fireworks until the grand finale because she was playing with the bracelets.

 Waiting for the fireworks to start

I absolutely love this picture of Anna. I caught her mid-scream. It looks like she's thrilled to see the fireworks.

Anna drinking her bottle before the show.

Even though it was super low-key we had a great extra play day with daddy!

Face Painting

Pretty much all of our friends are gone for the month of July. I didn't want to get bored with no one to play with so I picked up a few "activity" books at the library for Macy and I to get ideas from. I opened the first book to a random page and it was for face painting. Of course Macy was on board! She was so excited to paint my face and concentrated really hard while doing it. We had fun taking turns painting things on each other's faces.

The recipe was just cornstarch, lotion, and food coloring.

butterfly

I think I had a giraffe, zebra, and fairy.

 This is a new smile Macy's been sporting.

All finished! The pink slightly stained our faces if it dried but the green was fine. Next time we'll try different colors because I'm sure there will be a next time.

New Hairstyle- Dutch Braid

Another style from cutegirlshairstyles.com. This one was more difficult for me because I didn't know how to do a dutch braid. I had to try a few times. You only pick up hair from the bottom side which was hard to keep the hair tight. Macy was a good sport and of course she looked so cute!