Clownin' Around...

Last Saturday (which seems so very long ago) Morgan had her "kid birthday party".  The theme this year- Clowns... Yes, clowns!


I did not realize how many people really dislike clowns - it was made all too apparent when asking opinions of clowns to hire. Most people just said, um don't hire one - they are creepy. Well, this was not an option - Morgan wanted a clown, so a clown we got.


Because we were going the clown route we needed a venue - after looking at various parks it was determined that grandma and grandpa's house made the best sense (many, many amenities, pre-set up an option, and a cost of $0 - yeah it does equal the perfect party space).


So a few weeks later a clown party was had..  They arrived and played in our "sprinkler play space" complete with little pools, slip n' slide, and sprinkler toy. They dried off and watched the clown show, ate some pizza, and chose their balloon animal designs. Headed back outside for some more water play (and seemed to actually favor the little kid blow up pools) - finishing the party off with some cake, ice cream, and face creations!  ( I found some paper templates that you add stickers too to make funny faces).


All in all I think everyone had a great time and Morgan said it was "the best birthday ever"! Was it a lot of work (and time spent in my own mind, planning, re-planning, alternate planning, etc...)?  yes.  Was it the effort of the family pulling together (even through mild snappy fits - yes, I am to blame for some, ha ha)? yes.  Was it worth every second of effort for Morgan to have "the best birthday ever"? YES x 1000.






* On a side note last Friday it had a thunderstorm"esque" afternoon which made me SO nervous that would happen during her birthday party (again) - but it ended up being a beautiful / perfect day. Currently it is hailing and having a flash flood moment here, had this happened last Friday I believe I may have had a legit. panic attack.  Thank you for waiting severe weather! :-) 

Underwater Hurdles

As I have written of a couple of times / thought of many.... Morgan has had a hate hate relationship with putting her face in the water whilst swimming - and I mean HATE! She loves to swim - any water source is fine - but face in, no thank you mama - I'm good just the way I am (and as with anything she does not want to do - I'll do it when I'm bigger ok?). 


This has been the state of affairs for the entirety of her six years, until last Tuesday. Last Tuesday we started swimming lessons again. We had been on an extended hiatus because of adenoid / sinus issues - which were actually long past (I just kind of delayed getting her going again). And, then of course there is my ever-existent "problem" of overanalyzing and having to shop around all the different swimming options in town. (It's just who I am - I own it now).


At the end of the day it was decided that she should return to her original swim school. A little pricey - yes. But, familiar, convenient, and I know they are good with kids - also yes.  She had her first lesson this last Tuesday and all I can say is that I was shocked, amazed, thrilled, happy, etc... etc.. etc.... I don't know if it's age, or her adenoids out, or what - but it was like night and day from before. 


When it started I saw "the face" when she was first with her teacher. The "I SO DO NOT WANT MY FACE IN THAT WATER" face - my mouth reading skills interpreted a Morgan negotiation going on with her instructor.  I thought here we go.... but I was expecting it so it's okay - it will just take time. HOWEVER, this expectation was surprisingly shown to be null and void. 


The teacher had her sit on the wall (the dreaded wall) and proceeded to drop her in and all the way under. When she came back up she was.... smiling! Big huge I did it smile. From there, she was doing her "kickers" and letting the teacher dunk her under while she swam - many many times!!!! She was still smiling huge by the end of class (so was I) and told me all about how she went under so many times, and it was fun. 


Oh thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you age six! Thank you adenoid surgery! Thank you fabulous swim school and most amazing teacher.  Thank you Morgan for being such a brave girl.


Now on to the actual mechanics of swimming, but I do not worry about those. This was our hurdle - and it has been conquered. :-)

...and then she turned six.

I feel like it was just recently that she turned five, but as children tend to do she kept growing and has now reached the big age of SIX! 


The birthday started off with a "big breakfast" - Morgan is a fan of the complete breakfast - eggs / bacon / muffin of choice / and some OJ.




Then moved on to some Toy Story 3, in 3D.


A quick trip to the party store for some puppy power.


And, dining ala Chuck E. Cheese!


Happy Birthday My Amazing Little One.... 

Artown, Amazement, and Archie

Artown is an annual event that is a month long celebration of all things to do with the arts. Today, July 1st, was the kick off of the month and they held a FREE event for kids. Outside of the Aces Ballpark (which is still seriously one of the nicest structures in our City) they had areas set up, one of which was face painting. We arrived just in time for our 5:30 appointment slot and were lucky to run right into her best of friends near the stairs to the face paint area. While she had initial plans of what she may get painted, as soon as she saw Frances she decided she too must go for the butterfly look. Not only did her friend wait in line with her for her face paint time (Frances had already gone) she also served as model to the face painter to complete Morgan's fantastical look. 

I was not sure what to expect as we have never gone to the opening night before, but I have to say it was GREAT. They did a fantastic job and everything was legitimately free. The face painters they had were really good and took their time with everyone. They gave out t-shirts and let the kids colors them, baseball pins that they could decorate with beads, and had games and other things available for play. 

yes, matching shirts too.. :-)

If that was not enough we headed down the stairs to find the parade area and happened to meet the perfect time to watch the band (Marching Fourth) - we had front standing spots! The band was so fun - they had people on stilts, girls with hula hoops, a full horns section - it was a legit. performance and Morgan LOVED it. They played two songs, after which everyone formed a parade and walked from the baseball area over to a park downtown. The girls were excited to be part of a parade (the first for both) and it was fun to walk down the street with all these people following the band all the way.

Now - if that were ALL it would still have been a great night. BUT, once at the park they got to have ice cream (like really big waffle cones of ice cream) AND they spent some time with Archie - mascot to the Reno Aces. This last photo is Morgan with her "I just got to talk to and high five Archie face". :-) 

It ended with a walk by the River back to the car. The weather was perfect, the river was calming and beautiful as always... I would say it was a pretty terrific Thursday afternoon! Opening night of Artown - we will most definitely be back!!!!

iPhone..uPhone... One year later we really do phone.

So.... about an year ago - Morgan asked if I wanted an iPhone and I said - eh.... could take it or leave it. But, I drank the kool-aid as they say, saw many a friend immersed in their little application-clad screens and slowly decided "hey, I really do want one of those too". 


But, I was waiting... Waiting on private school bills to end, waiting on the last life that my trusty old LG flip phone had left in it - until today. Today I woke up to my little LG that would no longer charge. Not even for a minute - no little green bars would run across it's screen. No happy little chime and Verizon check mark would appear. Nada - dead, deceased, electronic graveyard.


The only problem with this is that a) I had Verizon and wanting an iPhone meant trading over to AT&T which is no big deal, however b) new iPhone comes out next week and so why buy the old version when the new is just around the corner but c) I HAVE to have a phone, no ifs, ands, or buts about it - HAVE TO have one so... luckily my brother (AKA Uncle John, AKA fantastic sibling with old iPhone he is not using) saved the day and let me have his iPhone for the interim.


So tonight I sit figuring this very technologically advanced (well, advanced as compared to anything I have had) phone out.  So far, so good - only hiccup has been that my phone decided upon its departure it would take my contact list to the grave with it. 


All in all not a bad end to the scenario though - sometimes I just need that nice gentle SHOVE to finally make my move. So hello iPhone - please be everything you promise to be and all that others have said you are. And, to my new, not yet in my possession, iPhone - I look forward to meeting you!

Puffy Dresses & Wedding Plans

When Morgan was playing in her VERY puffy tutu the other night (yes, I got a little out of control with the tulle when making it) she decided to check herself out in the mirror. And then...

Morg: My dress is SO puffy... It looks like a wedding dress because wedding dresses are puffy.

Me: Yes, many dresses are puffy, but some aren't - just depends on what people pick.

Morg: Yeah, but most are puffy.

Me: Do you want a puffy wedding dress?

Morg: No. I don't want a wedding dress because I'm not getting married!

This little girl, she is quite sure she does NOT want to get married. She mentions it often. Before my friend got married she said - it's good that the person has to ask you if you want to marry them. Because you can say no if you don't want to. 

She's actually well-practiced. A little boy at school told her a while back that he was going to marry her, to which she said no. He replied - well, you have to marry somebody.. enter Morgan's final response: No I don't - You don't have to get married if you don't want to and I'm not getting married.

What a romantic proposal that would be - well, you have to marry somebody! ha ha ha 

Now don't worry for her - her main protest to getting married - you have to kiss the person AND that is GROSS. so, maybe she'll have a somebody and they'll just shake hands. ha ha ha

Dress Up

Sometimes a girl just likes to dress up...