Idyllwild Fire Dept

I know you were fooled for a moment, but I have not joined the fire department. Nina's hubby got us a hook up to take the girls on a field trip to the Idyllwild fire department. Idyllwild is the mountain town where two of the most recent and devastating fires in our area have centered. So we got together that morning for school and talked about fire and fire safety and then carpooled up the hill.

The first half of the trip looked a lot like this...pretty charred.  I was skeptical as to how Idyllwild would look.

But then we popped over a ridge and suddenly all the big, tall green trees were there and it was as if there weren't even any fires.  It was kind of amazing how sudden the change occurred.  One minute I was looking at black all the way up to houses and even some lost outbuildings, and the next it was tall green pines.  I wish I had stopped to take a picture of a tree that was literally burnt on one half and the other half still had pine needles on it.

Anyway, we walked through the town to get to the station because, well, it is a cute mountain town worth walking through.  Steve knew of a real estate guy who rescues animals on the side and knew he had a baby racoon so we stopped in to say hello.

Then we went to the fire house.

And tried on the gear...

They had the moms put on the gear, which was super stinky, and then walk around.  It was heavy and we were supposed to be super impressed but, well, they don't know what it's like to be pregnant or carry a backpacking pack, so I admit I was sweating like a dog and quite uncomfortable as it felt quite claustrophobic but the weight didn't bother me.  :-)

Our task was to convince our kids to come to us without being too scared (they were all hiding from us).  They do this to get the kids used to the idea that if they are in a fire, they should not be scared and run away from the guys who look like these kind of monsters.  K came right away and Em took a little while but eventually came.  Ad didn't have a choice since she has a broken leg, and, as you can see, Jini's kids were thrilled.

Then we got to play on the truck...

After we were done, Steve took us to a little candy shop and we all got to pick out one treat.  Yummy!

Thanks Steve!

Well, to all who live around here, Idyllwild is alive and just as beautiful as ever if you feel the need to camp or hike anytime soon.  To the rest of you, have a wonderful day!!

Finishing it Off

Well, we should most definitely finish this one off tonight. :-) These are just some of the photos after the ceremony and at the reception.  Oh, and yes, my Dad did the ceremony, that's why he matches all of the rest of the bridal party.

I am really glad M made it!  Due to his work schedule, he drove up Friday afternoon and drove home Saturday night after the wedding, but he made it and the girls thought it was great to be with Dad at 'their wedding'.

The view from our table...not too shabby.

The girls were given squinkies for a present to entertain them through all the toasts and eating.

I was concerned they might be too small for Em to see but she did great with them.

Every time I looked over my shoulder, this is what I saw.

It was pretty hot but Nana, always prepared, had a spray fan to keep us cool.

And then Em realized we were going to get to dance.  So she grabbed Poppy and took him out to dance.  Mind you, this is before anyone else is dancing.  She was so excited to dance!

And when Poppy quit, she brought Dad into it.

Finally all the real dancing started and we all got involved.  Yes, Nana is swinging Em.  Good job Nana!  We basically played tag team for the next long period of time, trading in and out who was dancing and who got to try to cool off.  We were all sweating profusely so I am not sure it worked.  :-)  But the girls had a blast!  All they talked about for the next three days was how they want to go back to the wedding so they could dance some more.

And a beautiful sunset to close it out.  They could not have asked for a better day!  And no major goof ups...ah, it was great.  Congrats Kenny and Sarah!

Well the reason we stayed an hour north of the wedding spot was simple - it's my aunt's house and it was free (well, minus gas to get back and forth) - but I digress.  Nana and the girls swam twice a day while we were there.

And my cousins, well, I caught them playing poly pockets with my girls while I sat downstairs and had adult conversation.  Haleluiah!

This morning I could not figure out why I was so tired and then I realized that in five days I drove seven hours up there, two hours of driving and a reahearsal and rehearsal dinner the next day, two hours of driving and a wedding and reception the next day, then the seven hour drive back home.  All with girls who get up at 6:30am no matter what time they have gone to bed the night before.  Apparently I am not 21 anymore and this wears me out.  So sad!  I am not in the mood to get old, but I guess there isn't much I can do about that.

Anyway, I have decided, after all my traveling alone with both girls the only thing I really don't like is the fact that I can't just run in to go potty when we stop somewhere.  Going potty is an ordeal of getting both girls out of their seats, shoes on, all three of us cramming in a public restroom stall, having an argument about why they have to pee even though they don't think they need to right now, washing three sets of hands, marching back out to the car, buckling all of us back in our seats and heading out.  Just to pee.  It's a lot of work, but really, it's the only problem I have at this point.  And come on, did you see the pics?  Traveling is always worth it.  K still tells me stories about trips we took when she was two - she remembers the funniest details - but that's it...she remembers.  Nothing like a wedding to broaden our girls' horizons.

Well, we are safe and sound and back to school and life.  This morning, Em wrote a perfect capital A all by herself, no help from me...and with how challenging fine motor skills are for her, she may as well have climbed mount Everest in my mind!  This is hard to explain, but I expect these things from K, so my response when she does them is almost like a check list, "Yep, that's done, what's next?"  With Em, well, we just don't know what to expect.  So a single black capital A on a white piece of paper and my eyes well up with joy.  :-)

That reminds me, two things happened at the wedding with regards to her.  First, a NICU nurse did not immediately pick her out as a preemie (which means her features look 'normal'), her glasses were all that made her ask. And a psychiatrist who works with kids like Em kept saying, "She just doesn't happen.  Do you get that?  Babies born like her do NOT turn out like that!"  He kept asking me if I understood what he was saying.  I told him that thankfully I do not.  I mean, I know...in my head.  But God has saved me from having to understand in my life and in my heart.  She is doing so many things I never thought she would do and each time she does, I get down on my knees and thank my God - for a million different reasons, some selfish and some not, but mostly just because He didn't have to do any of this but He has chosen to do it anyway.  Because He is good.  My God is good.  God Bless!!

Wedding Day

The day of the wedding began like any other...doing nails...okay, so not really like any other.

Yep, that's me, doing the girls' hair.  A few days before the wedding, while looking up ideas on how to keep straight hair curly, I stumbled across a braid called a waterfall braid.  Good old you tube had tutorials and I taught it to myself.  That is the braid you see in Emily's hair.  It is basically a modified french braid that allows hair to cascade down from the braid itself.  I love it but it was hard to keep Em's fine hair in it.

I then curled what was left of their hair and that was that....well, an hour later that was that.

Then it was a quick snack substituting as lunch and dresses and flower crowns in the hair...

....oh and admiring yourself in the mirror.  It was so cute to watch her!  She knew she was extra pretty and she was thrilled about it!

My praying angels headed down for pics...

Finally with the bride and groom.  Em was so funny.  They wanted her to stand, but she just plopped right down on the ground in her 'Belle' style and posed.

Looking out over the venue.

And of course, the wedding party.

Me and my girls...who knew I would be doing wedding hair?  My cousins accused me of being a whole new person they did not even know.  :-)  It is true but I'm grateful.  Not grateful to be doing hair for an hour, I would be fine without that, but grateful to be so much more well rounded in my life.

Ok, M was fascinated by the grapes as well...

M took the girls down to the shade while my mom and I packed up...

...and like little girls in dresses do, they began to dance...there is a video.

Em kept holding her dress up so she wouldn't trip on it, which only made it more cute.

These photos are how you know Dad was by himself...he got the girls jumping just so he could catch them in mid-air.  Only a Dad would see his girls in white dresses standing on green grass, wearing flowers in their hair - hair that took over an hour to create, and think, "Well, we have twenty minutes before the start of this wedding.  Let's get the girls to jump up and down in their nice, long dresses."  Thankfully they stayed on their feet and their hair stayed up so he was forgiven.

Getting their flowers...

Oh yeah, so sometimes when you have kids, you forget to take pictures of yourself.  Okay, so all the time.  We remembered and this is the real us...note the glasses on the head.

Then we remembered to take off the sunglasses.

We were at a wedding, I had to do the show off the ring on the man's chest photo!  So, I couldn't keep a serious smile, I was laughing.

There's my uncle!  I told you he existed.

We had to walk such a long way from the tent to the aisle that they decided we should walk the girls to the end of the aisle before we let them go.

And then I have no pictures of them actually performing their only duty the entire day (besides to look cute) because I did not have my camera.  Hopefully people will send me a few they got.  This is all done and trying to remember where to go.  Yes, come over to us and sit under the tree.

Nana was the real hero.  She had presents for them to open every hour or so and she managed to keep them quietly entertained.  Their behavior was stellar and everyone thought they were amazing, including me.  I even forgot they were there as I watched the ceremony.  Thanks Mom!

Sarah.  I like this look, clearly thinking about those vows he is reading.

Ok, so I did go steal a couple pics...these were on facebook...

Let the party begin!!!!