And the award goes to...

Welcome to my travel awards. I'm sure I've forgotten most of it by now. It's been a month since our trip.

Best pizza: Mackenzie River (I think that's what it was called) in Billings, MT

Best morning beverage: Starbuck's chai in Bismarck, ND

Most comfortable bed: Best Western Sunset Inn, Cody, WY

Best pool for small children: Country Inn & Suites, Bismarck

Best candy: Candy Emporium, Red Lodge, MT

Best wildlife: Yellowstone National Park (such a given)

Best treat: Cotton Candy at the Rodeo in Cody

Best pulled pork: Clarks Fork and Spoon, Clark's Fork (MT or WY -- not sure -- came with sweet potato fries. YUM)

Best Small Town connection: Sunset Inn Restaurant, Cody, WY (Our waitress was an adorable girl from Verndale, MN. She's in Cody participating in the rodeo. She rode in the MN rodeo with a guy I graduated from HS with.)

Best restaurant service: Again with the Mackenzie River Pizza Co. Our waiter took our order without writing it down, or messing it up. Including Shelby's broccoli & bacon pizza. We're talking about a party of 9.

Best rest area: Between Jamestown, ND and Fargo, ND. Didn't see any rest areas in Wyoming. The Montana ones have no vending. This one had a line of roughly one billion pop machines. It was like an oasis. And the bathrooms were nice.

Best continental breakfast: Probably Country Inn & Suites in Bismarck. Although Holiday Inn Express in Dickinson, ND was good too. I just want a bagel myself, but I like some juice options and snack opportunities for the road. CI&S in Bismarck had cheese sticks. We cleaned them out.

It was a great trip, had a great time. So fun to travel!

Buffalo, elk, and bears...OH MY!

The first week of June, we loaded up the van, stocked it full of movies and headed west. By "we", I mean me and the girls. And a borrowed Shelby. Brennan had to stay and work on The Project. It was a trip to celebrate Mom & Dad's 40th anniversary. Mom and Dad shot off ahead of us so Dad could get in a few rounds of golf (and probably the idea of poking along didn't appeal to him). So our caravan was Brent, Lisa, Jeremy, Colin & Daniel in the Tahoe and me, Shelby, Ella and Natalie in the van. With walkie talkies. Roger that.

We spent a night in Bismarck and then Billings. Then we met up with our parents in Red Lodge (after a quick stop at the Candy Emporium), and headed into Yellowstone hoping to see a little wildlife. All I can say is:

Coyote

Wolf

Elk

Moose

Buffalo/Bison

All in all, we saw hundreds of buffalo, some elk, a black bear (spotted by Ella first - she was SO proud), 2 grizzlies, big horn sheep, a coyote, and a wolf. It was the most wildlife my parents had ever seen in the many years they've been going. We had a great trip!

Howdy!

I know better than to write a real blog right now, as I am fresh off vacation and freshly WAY behind in work. I just wanted to check in. Soon to follow (maybe) is a travel award blog, and perhaps an animal sighting blog.

It's over

Yesterday we had the "end of the year picnic" for Ella's preschool. I'm so grateful to them for not calling it "graduation." I'm weepy enough. I admitted to one of the other moms that I had been avoiding her, because I can count on her to be crying at any given moment and I didn't need any help.

It was nice and informal, and it was fun to see Ella singing along to her favorite songs. They showed a slideshow of the past year. And then the teacher talked about how much she was going to miss the kids who were going on to kindergarten (*sniff*).

Perhaps it was particularly in light of what happened to Steven Curtis Chapman's 5 year old Wednesday, but I just wanted to hug Ella a little tighter, and hold her a little closer. And keep her at home forever. Although I know that doesn't make her "safe" either.

So I will spend the summer preparing to let go enough for kindergarten. I can actually see the kindergarten rooms from my living room, and I will also work on my promise to not sit with binoculars in the window all day. Or I will work on my set up, and buy some new binoculars. We'll see.

Gross

I have never been a big bologna eater myself. At least not in the last 20 years or so. Today as I was getting out the bologna for Natalie, I noticed the first ingredient is "mechanically separated chicken."
No thanks.

Tea anyone?

Today was Mother's Day Tea at Ella's preschool. We went for the whole day. First Ella painted a paper cut out teapot. Then we read books. We played Dora Chutes & Ladders (she was Boots, I was Dora). We did a teapot matching game, matching letters. We counted out the number of buttons, and put them on paper teapots. We did puzzles. We did patterns. We made bologna & cheese sandwiches, and cut them into shapes. We played with a tea set & water, pouring and stirring. The moms left the room, and the kids set the tables with table clothes they had decorated, placemats they made, paper candles and little butterfly napkin rings. What a precious, precious day of memories...

Like the one during dancing, when Ella whined, "I don't wanna dance....I'm too tired...noooooooooo......" and when I told her we were going to have fun dancing, she said, "I just want Daaaaaadddddddyyyyyyy..." Nice.

Ella ate her little sandwiches and had some juice, and perked up quite a bit. Me too. They sang us some sweet little songs, and we read a book, and everyone said what they love about their mom. Precious, precious memories.

And then we went outside to play on the playground. They have playground gravel, and Ella manages to get so dirty that there is a dust imprint on her car seat when she gets out after every day of preschool. It's time to go home. "Ella, time to go." "Ok, Ella, we need to go get Natalie." "Alright, Ella, let's get going." "Ella. Come here now." I finally have to go get her and carry her dirty self to the car.

Precious memories.

Don't get me wrong, aside from those two dark spots it was a nice day. It's fun to have the one on one time with Ella, and she thought it was cool to have me there. But I'm really discovering that no mothering moment is picture book pretty. There's always a little something on the side. Like a really great hug and "I love you Mommy" that is so sweet & genuine you fall to pieces, but it leaves a grape jelly smear on your new sweater. It's worth it and wonderful, but it's not completely peaches & gravy, as my husband would say.

So Happy Mother's Day. Grape jelly and all.

I need a road map

Do you ever have those moments where you wonder, "how on earth did I end up here?"

Last night I asked Ella if she'd remembered to wash her hands because I didn't remember hearing the water run. "Yes, I washed them quickly and quietly." "Really?" "Yes." So I used my cracker-jack investigative skills, and saw the sink was dry and so was the towel. "I don't think you washed your hands. The water didn't run." Yeah, busted.

Up until now, we'd really just been working on it from the When a Joke Isn't a Joke It's a Lie standpoint. This was both a blatant lie AND it had a story. Flawlessly given except that I was so positive I hadn't heard the water run. She didn't even crack a smile.

Every once and a while in these parenting moments I have a tiny panic -- what now?? What is the proper response?? I mean, saying you washed your hands when you didn't isn't exactly earth shattering, but it flash it forward a dozen years and it's, "Where were you?" "I was at Susie's house (only no one is named Susie anymore, it's much more complicated)." Really?? Is that where you were??

And this is why I would like to keep her 4 forever, because I want all the lies/omissions/halftruths/mistruths/misrepresentations/fabrications to be about things like handwashing.

I don't understand.

It's April 25. I took these pictures 10 minutes ago. I don't know what to say.
My poor, confused Tulips.

Guess again

So you know those days when you think you're sort of getting it together? I was having one of those.

It's chilly, but I sent the girls in the backyard to run obstacle courses of their own making and to draw with sidewalk chalk. They were thrilled that I suggested it, instead of having to beg and beg. Off they went. They ran around, made some drawings. I kept an eye on them and got a couple of things done. Then I braced myself -- it was time to come in. This is why they beg me to go outside, because I have to beg them to come in. It's a fight. There are tears. Sometimes for all. "Ok girls, go run around the back tree and then come in." They did. No arguing. Tears of joy.

It was a little windy as well, so I thought it'd be best to give them a quick brush before they laid down on the snarls. As I'm brushing Natalie's hair, I come to a major snarl. What on earth??? I take the section of hair to examine it -- DOH!!! Bird. Poop. GROSS.

So my tidy little playtime followed by my quick and easy lunchtime was scrapped for bath time. With a double washing.

On a side note: Sweet potatoes are my new favorite. Butter (well, Brummel & Brown), brown sugar (ok fine, it's brown sugar substitute), cinnamon and a little ground ginger. Thank you, Kayla, for making me get one at Whiskey Creek, and then telling me it'd be easy to make them at home.

10 Deep Dark Secrets

I got tagged! It's my first tag! Courtesy of my friend Aimee over at Libbyland. So apparently I know must share with you 10 Deep Dark Secrets about little old me. I'm sure my 5 readers will know most of them.

1. I used to play sports. Softball, track, volleyball. Long, long ago. I also used to downhill ski and bike. Really very long ago.
2. I don't like heights. My stomach flip flops when other people go near an edge. I wasn't bothered by them growing up, when I had my immortality. Now it's a problem.
3. My ears used to be pierced 10 times, 6 on one side 4 on the other.
4. I was on the speech team in high school. One year I was in poetry, and did really awful feminist poems (not that all feminist poetry is awful, but these were). I sort of relished when one of the guys from our team was in the same round as me, because I'd stare right at him with the evil eye and watch him try to crawl under his chair. I'm sorry David.
5. I thought Brennan enunciated too clearly when I met him, and therefore couldn't imagine dating him. Until the next day.
6. I have always had a love for shoes. In high school I once counted and had 75 prs.
7. I never wanted to live in my hometown again, and now I do -- and I even like it.
8. I want to learn to play guitar.
9. I went to a Concordia Language Village camp in high school for a month to learn French. (GEEK!)
10. I have three tattoos, so far...

Ok, I will tag Beef Trifle, At least we know, Jersey's Musings, Schneid Remarks and Wiethoff Family Journal. Let's dish.