Swimming "lesson"

Here are just a couple more pics of when elise fell in (only about 3 inches) the pond yesterday. I was there before she even fully hit the water, but she got filthy (do we see a theme with this kid?) and smelled horrible! We quickly headed back to the house for a hose-down for Gus and bath for elise...p.s. click on the actual picture on the left of elise in the water for a larger version- it's a great look on her face!

Super-Gus...

Several people have wondered when we'd do a posting focused on Gus, so here it is! The truth is, Gus is the greatest dog- so happy, laid back, and easy that we just forget about him sometimes...although he's 5 1/2 now, he sleeps about 20 hours a day and still acts like a puppy the other few. Sunday morning we took him on a long walk and then swimming and he was soooo happy. This little pond is right behind our house and we spent about 30 minutes there with Gus non-stop retrieving sticks, shaking off to SOAK us, and wagging that tail a whole lot. =) Elise had a blast, too...playing with a big stick also...right up until she fell in the water! I (Erica) was right there and it was pretty funny...she was never in danger. =)

we fancied up this blog...

So, Adam just spent some time adding links, favorite websites, friends' blogs, etc...to the right side of our blog page--then I thought, "maybe some people don't want us to have their site linked on here. So, If you don't want your blog listed on here, just tell me and we'll remove you. =) Thanks. Sorry we didn't ask first!

River Rat

On Saturday we went to a state park to try out the new kayak and see how Elise would like it. Turns out it was a roaring success. Elise seems to be a little bit of a river rat, took to the water right away and didn't slow down when it came time to ride in the boat. With her life jacket securely fastened she climbed right in the aft well like she had been a hundred times before. The boat handled well and Elise managed not to fall off, though her cup was declared overboard more than a few times and the river heard "turn round daddy, turn round" time and time again. While we were beached she climbed in an out of the boat and played in the water like a true river rat, we are so proud. Next we'll see how she does in the salt water and maybe by next year Ainsley can join her.

A Quacking success!

Of course Adam was totally cool and relaxed last night and this morning while I wasn't...and, once again, I should've followed his lead! Elise's first day at pre-school was a huge success! She is a "Duck" (all the 2 year-olds) and was so excited to go this morning- the whole drive in (ok, only 2 miles) I heard from the backseat: "school, Ben (a friend that we know who is also a Duck), slide, blocks, wagon, snack, school, snack..." all the things that we'd talked about last night and over breakfast that were going to be part of this "school" day. =). I walked her into the Duck room to say Hi to the teacher and deal with a (I was so sure of it) tearful goodbye. She dropped her backpack on the floor, LITERALLY said, "bye bye Mommy" and took off for the toys and slide. She never looked back. I chatted with the teacher for a minute, then waited to see if Elise was going to be sad... I never even saw her face. She was totally engrossed in some blocks and had already found Ben and given him a hug. hilarious. I left the room, choked back a few tears on my way to the car, and then enjoyed 3 hours of quiet and time with Ainsley!!!!!!! =)
When I picked her back up a few hours later (after checking my watch NO LESS than 30 times to MAKE SURE I wouldn't be a minute late!), she ran over and gave me a big hug, then took off back to the sandbox. She was filthy, her cute pink bow was gone, cheeks were flushed from running outside, yet she looked like a million bucks. The teachers said she was great; she listened well, was very polite, played well with others, sat quietly during snacktime (shocker!), and never stopped talking and playing. I was so proud of our little Duck! Sounds like she's going to take after her mom's "extrovertedness" after all! She talked non-stop on the drive home, ran around like a crazy kid for an hour and ate lunch, then CRASHED out for a nap...I'm betting she'll be down for 3 hours. It was quite a morning for all of us!

School Anxiety

So, as Adam came downstairs tonight after giving Elise a bath, I had these four outfits sitting on the back of the couch. He didn't really have an opinion as to which would be 'best' for elise, but I'm nervous. I've already picked out and then eliminated 4 OTHER outfits in this process.
You see, tomorrow (Thursday) is Elise's first day of preschool. Although we've talked about it this week, she doesn't really understand, but I'm FULL of ANXIETY! I'm worried that her outfit won't match up with what the other kids are wearing, the kids won't be nice to her, she won't like the snack, etc...seriously, I think she'll do a great job. She's so outgoing, plays well with other kids in general, and LOVES talking to anyone who'll listen. She's going 2 days a week (9am to noon) for the month of May to 'test it out' before the 3 days/week this fall. I think she'll LOVE it, but I'm nervous, excited, worried, all wrapped up in an indecisive mom who can't pick out her 2 year old's outfit. I think she'll go with the khaki capris, Little Mermaid shoes, and the pink and blue ruffled top. Or maybe the green dress...there's no way I'll sleep tonight!

"Mommy's Pacifier"

A friend stopped by today with a late Congrats on Baby/Early Mother's Day gift...it's a jewel-encrusted wine glass painted with phrases such as "I need to "wine" too", "I can see my feet again", "I just lost 10 lbs, let's celebrate!", "Nurse This", etc...and "Mommy's Pacifier" is written across the bottom. It was a sweet gift and hilarious glass. I'll be having a nice little glass of Merlot after the girls are asleep in my new cool glass. "Kum-pai!!!" ('Cheers' in Japanese!)