In the land of Leinie's

We went to Wisconsin last weekend for the wedding of Mike's cousin. Even though this is my fourth trip to WI with Mike, I learned a lot on this trip. Here's a recap of my new knowledge:

1. Leinenkugels tastes like Keystone Light. Only not as good.

2. It is even worse warm.

3. After 3 Leinenkugels, it tastes a lot better!

4. It takes at least 4 Leinenkugels before one can perform in a karaoke situation.

5. They do not serve any other beers in Wisconsin other than Leinenkugels. No Miller Light and no Coors Light. Also, no Sierra Mist Free.

6. Getting a manicure kind of grosses me out.

7. No one in Mike's family eats chocolate!

8. Only the rich can afford cheese curds because they cost $6.99 a pound!

9. Going up and down two flights of stairs 50 times in a night in high heels makes my legs really, really sore.

butt, butt, underwear

It was pretty warm out today, so we decided a trip to the pool was a good idea. We swam for awhile, and then got out to dry off. Our pool has this large grassy (fake grassy) area that the kids love to play in. I got the girls situated on the grass, and then ran to the restroom. When I came back, I found my kids playing duck, duck, goose with each other. Only when I got closer to them, I realized that they had changed the words to butt, butt, underwear. Just imagine my two little angels with their quiet little voices, "BUTT, BUTT, BUTT, BUTT, BUTT, BUTT, UNDERWEAR!!!!" Followed by screaming and running.

Fashion Sense

Today we had a garage sale. I have been cleaning out our storage room in the basement, and we had so much extra stuff that we don't have or use anymore. I thought, what a perfect opportunity to make a trip to goodwill! Mike said, no, we are having a garage sale. I agreed to the sale, but I told Mike he had to man the sale and I would do the setting up. So, all week, we have hauled toys, old electronics, and lots of other stuff into the garage. I also decided that I needed to clean out my clothes, and I would sell my old clothes that I haven't worn for several years. So, the garage sale starts this morning, and I have to say, it was a hit! We were a popular house, and I watched out the window and saw lots of people leaving with lots of our old stuff! Yay! Around the end of the sale, I went out to see how things had gone, and noticed that most of my old clothes and shoes are gone. I am so fashionable, I am thinking to myself. My clothes are so popular! I hope I haven't gotten rid of anything that I am going to regret. Mike noticed me eyeing up the clothes table, and he says, "your clothes sure attracted a different lot." "huh?" I said. "yeah, one lady came by and picked up about ten of your old shirts to give to her elderly mother." "What??" I ask. "And you will probably be seeing the rest worn by ladies in our old neighborhood."

Adventures in bike riding

Every summer, we have enjoyed taking the kids for bike rides. We take them to the park, or around Zorinsky lake, or wherever our hearts desire. This year, however, we haven't gone on a single bike ride. And that is because the kids have outgrown the bike trailer that they normally sit in together and Mike tows behind his bike. And since Briana isn't quite ready to ride her own bike on that long of a bike ride, Mike has been thinking about getting a new kind of bike trailer for his bike. He was able to borrow this one from a friend to see how the kids like it before he bought one of his own.

Needless to say, the girls LOVED riding on it. We may have to buy two of these now so they don't fight over it.

I love Sheryl Crow

Mike and I got back from our trip to St. Louis yesterday. We went for four days and left the kids with Mamaw and Papaw (Thank you, thank you, thank you!!) We had so much fun there, but the highlight of the trip at least for me, was the Sheryl Crow concert we went to.

The other highlight of the trip was our helicopter tour. That's right, I went in a helicopter. I was pretty scared at first, but once we got going, it wasn't scary at all. It was quite fun.

The trip was great. Mike and I are now planning to go on a trip by ourselves once a year.

Swimming Lessons

After Sydney's success with swimming lessons on Tuesday, Briana decided that she, too, would like to take them. So I got her signed up for today with the same teacher Sydney had. Sydney's lesson was first, and she did great! I remembered her goggles this time, and she put her face in the water 4 times! And she floated all by herself. Yay!!

Here she is floating like a starfish.

First attempt at putting her face in the water.

Look at that!!! Face all the way in the water!

Here's a movie of her floating:

And here's a movie of her practicing her kicking.

Lesson #2 for Sydney: a success!!

After waiting for the longest half an hour of her life, it was finally Briana's turn. She did really, really great!

Here she is floating.

Doing the backstroke.

Jumping in- her favorite part of the lesson!

And here's some awesome movies I took of my fishie swimming!

She learned a ton of stuff at her lesson, including the freestyle, backstroke and butterfly kick. Her teacher had her swimming laps across the pool, and Briana was doing really good. She also learned how to take a breath while she was swimming without stopping. She absolutely LOVED her lesson, and can't wait to go back!

Roar

Briana had her friend Emma over to play today. The girls begged me to paint their faces like tigers. Thanks to YouTube, I found a very easy video telling me exactly what to do. They turned out very cute.