We flew to Ohio this week to visit our cousins Jordan and Carter, and Leia did so well on the plane this year. She was so cooperative, stayed calm, and mostly entertained herself. There was a slight issue when the iPad ran out of batteries, but she got over it and managed to entertain herself drawing and singing along to songs on her iPod. Sometimes it got a little loud, but I felt like it was better for everyone than the alternative whining sound, so I mostly let it go. Leia had so much fun with both of her cousins, especially Jordan, but it was too stimulating, and in the end they couldn't handle sleeping on the floor in Jordan's room like we had planned. We had to keep them separated come bedtime, and even still, the girls ended up going to bed on CA time but waking up on Ohio time all weekend, which meant that I did too, ugh! They loved all the fun parks, and responded well the the discipline of Auntie M, but still liked her afterwards. It was funny though, because Leia did come home asking if Auntie M would still be able to tell her what to do in San Diego when it wouldn't be her house or her rules! Leia is already 4, going on 14, so I was nervous about her learning bad tricks from an actual 13 year old, and I know she watches people like a hawk, so we'll see what comes of it. But she did see that Auntie M did not tolerate bad teenage behavior, so hopefully that was enough to deter her. On our plane ride home, we had to spend almost an hour reading every single price tag in 4 different stores in the Denver airport to find something for the Leia to buy with only $4 (she's lost her wallet, so is down to only 2 weeks worth of allowance). It was a good waste of time for a long layover, but I got really over it and lost my patience when my bags got to heavy and my stomach too hungry. Luckily we finally found some acceptable items in our price range. Then we had a big argument when I insisted that Arwyn get the window seat on at least one of the four flights, but luckily she behaved fine once we actually sat down and she had officially conceded the seat. I've been learning about the importance of daily goal setting, so I've tried to implement that idea with the girls on our morning rides to school (mostly for Arwyn and her potty training), and Leia is really great at setting goals. She was really funny one morning because it was the day she was going on a field trip to check out one of the local kindergarten classes by riding on a real school bus. She was so excited and decided that her goal was to "Learn about kindergarten and riding buses." Great goal Leia, and very important and relevant to your situation. She's so perceptive!
Arwyn was sooo excited for our plane ride to Ohio, and she did really well, way better than last year when she was screaming because she didn't want to wait her turn to get on the plane! She was very patient with all aspects of the trip, but I did have to work harder to keep her entertained because she doesn't like to just sit and watch movies like Leia. She did like drawing on the iPad, but got tired and cranky after a bit. I had to walk the aisles to distract her from violence towards me and Leia (luckily Leia ignored her instead of fighting back, so I only had to deal with one problem instead of two). Arwyn loved teasing and playing with Cousin Carter, and loved having so many fun big kids to tag along with. Like Leia, she also had a hard with the cousin and sister stimulation at bedtime. Auntie M ended up having to put a huge pillow on the bed between Arwyn and Leia so that they wouldn't mess with each other! When we got home, I tried to really get Arwyn to think about using the potty at school a little better by talking about our daily goals on the car ride each morning. I would ask her if she wanted to make using the potty all day her goal, and she thought that was a good idea. And she really did do better with not having accidents when we talked about those goals in the morning. But then she did poop in her pants as soon as we walked out of school, right after she'd been complimented for having a good accident-free SCHOOL day. Guess we needed to specify ALL day!
Run run run through the water!
Taming the tiger!
A little FaceTime session with Princess Leia's Father.
Love those big fully belly laughs!
Home sweet home, checking out the new Darth Vader helmet.
Arwyn was sooo excited for our plane ride to Ohio, and she did really well, way better than last year when she was screaming because she didn't want to wait her turn to get on the plane! She was very patient with all aspects of the trip, but I did have to work harder to keep her entertained because she doesn't like to just sit and watch movies like Leia. She did like drawing on the iPad, but got tired and cranky after a bit. I had to walk the aisles to distract her from violence towards me and Leia (luckily Leia ignored her instead of fighting back, so I only had to deal with one problem instead of two). Arwyn loved teasing and playing with Cousin Carter, and loved having so many fun big kids to tag along with. Like Leia, she also had a hard with the cousin and sister stimulation at bedtime. Auntie M ended up having to put a huge pillow on the bed between Arwyn and Leia so that they wouldn't mess with each other! When we got home, I tried to really get Arwyn to think about using the potty at school a little better by talking about our daily goals on the car ride each morning. I would ask her if she wanted to make using the potty all day her goal, and she thought that was a good idea. And she really did do better with not having accidents when we talked about those goals in the morning. But then she did poop in her pants as soon as we walked out of school, right after she'd been complimented for having a good accident-free SCHOOL day. Guess we needed to specify ALL day!
Day #1: Hooray, the park has a splash pad!
Always fun to try and plug up the water holes with your foot!
Why is it always so funny to put your face in the stream of water!
So many fun park features.
Love that smile!
Oh to be a kid again!
Fun to be wet on a hot day!
It just makes all our Tahoe parks look so bad when you go other places.
They always love climbing up the slide!
Ok, this slide wasn't the best...no runout, you just came off and plopped on your butt!
No fear, way up high on that rock wall!
Arwyn loves the corkscrew climbs!
And she's always a good sport with the camera smiles!
When you drop a full box of beads on the hardwood floor, they really go flying far!
The princess loving the girly time...playing with hair and painting fingernails.
How come they never sit still or allow the use of the brush when I do their hair?!?
Showing off her fingernails, but backwards. Or maybe it was just a double high five for all the fun she's having.
It's so annoying how much they love this and how long they've been waiting to be allowed to do this. This is horrible for me! We'll just have to keep this as an activity to do with Auntie M and Jordan only! That's a good compromise, right?
Smart Auntie M, rented us a stroller. It was definitely necessary!
Checking out the elephants eating lunch!
Arwyn liked the giraffes.
Leia liked everything, but didn't feel the need to spend too long in any one place.
Hey, look, real live "flaminos"!
Be careful, don't get too close to that great sleeping tiger!
Patiently waiting for our turn on the train.
So happy that she finally was allowed to get those fingernails painted!
No one rocks Chuck Taylors and an Elsa dress like Miss Leia Transue!
Our turn for the train finally! These 3 goofs are attached at the hip and having the time of their lives (well, Leia and Arwyn, that is, and Jordan is a very loving older cousin, who does probably enjoy the attention!)
Arwyn is a goof!
And good at making people laugh!
Carousel time!
Leia reached her limit of vacation pictures after yesterday's park adventure, now she's just trying to get a reaction!
Ok, got one more smile out of her!!
Arwyn, my little "cheese!" machine!
Seriously, I had to delete about 30 pictures to get good ones of everyone, and Auntie M was the only one smiling perfectly in all of them!
Yes, a great smile from Jordan too, I think she likes flying on birds!
Selfie, because no one ever takes pictures of the Mommy!
Scrunch face competition with Leia!
Giddy up Arwyn, tame that wild Zebra!
Dinosaurs still live!
Leia and her sensitive nose. Everywhere we went: "What's that smell!?"
Snuggling up with Auntie M to check out the Apes.
This guy was no joke!
Leia enjoying her first ever Dip 'n Dots.
Always fun to check yourself out!
Good balance, Arwyn!
Dandelion wishes.
The zoo did (and reduced sleep hours) did her in. Totally konked out for over 2 hours in the car, even after we parked in a hot parking lot!
Watching Cousin Jordan compete in her track meet.
The little fan.
Congratulations to Jordan for bringing home a top 3 medal, despite being sick!
Trying a medal on for size...Leia's ready to start competing!
A little FaceTime session with Princess Leia's Father.
Can't remember what Arwyn was upset about, but it's so nice when they can comfort each other.
Sister Love.
Cousins!
Day #3: Some awesome parks in downtown Cincinnati.
Seriously, this park was so cool because it had so many cool things, but didn't look like your average kid park.
Tree stump steps...totally a hit, and this would be so easy to add to our Squaw Park!
Legit climbing wall.
With ladder alternative.
Seems like Leia's getting pretty strong!
Hello down there!
This slide was no joke, really long, really high, and really fast, which is crazy because it was actually just doing down the hillside. So proud of Arwyn though because she was really brave!
Let's check out Arwyn on that huge slide one more time!
Side ramp next to the slide for climbing up, which totally solves my pet peeve about kids going up the down way!
It was actually really steep and slippery to go up the ramp, so Arwyn opted for the stairs anyway.
Checking out the view.
It really is a pretty city.
Oh yeah, splash pad time!
Everybody run!
Gotcha!
So fun to get splashed in the face.
Love those big fully belly laughs!
Watch out, the water's gonna get ya!
Here we see one happy camper!
Jordan was a good sport; trying to play without getting wet in this environment was pretty tricky!
Apparently it's really fun to give yourself a water enema!
Climbing up for a photo op.
Arwyn's always ready for a good picture!
And again.
It really does make a cool photo.
"Don't bother us, we are tying to drink the forbidden juice!"
Successful lunch, time to hit the park again!
Arwyn loved loved loved playing with her Cousin Carter!
And watch out for these two, they are trouble!
This park had so many cool features, including this awesome huge piano.
Really cool bird swing at this park in Cincinnati. But I did give myself a little tennis elbow trying flap the wings!
And the innovative fun at this park just never ends!
Made a big mistake of flying home on Frontier Airlines...never again! From the online ticket purchases to the no nuts or drinks to the crappy LITTLE tray tables, absolutely everything about this airline is completely annoying and ghetto! Even Leia agrees!
We watched a silly Scooby Doo episode yesterday, where some pirates blew in some weird smoke before they hijacked the ship. The very next day on the airplane the same thing started happening to us in real life. Freaky!
My little traveler!
Started to get violent and angry...took some serious skills to keep it minimized until she conked out!
I thought Leia would appreciate this since her current favorite joke is, "Are we there yeti?"
Spent over 45 minutes reading the price tags of every single item in about 4 different stores at the Denver airport, trying to find something these two could afford to buy with their $4. Arwyn was fired up about her rock candy purchase! And she always shows her stuff off right in front of her face, so I had to tell her to put it by her ear...she didn't have a clue what I was going for:)
Success! We found a cool Native American bead bracelet that Leia could afford! It's amazing how badly she just wants to be able to buy stuff, yet she is constantly giving away her money!
Coolest carry on bags ever! Seriously, an attached scooter? These seem like a must have item.
My little travelers, wasting time during our long layover.
Ok, layover was a little too long; troops are getting wrestless!
Yes, that's a full wrestle mania session going on.
And now Arwyn is riding her horse.
We had to go run down the moving sidewalks before the wrestling got too ugly.
Luckily for Leia, Arwyn is generally a pretty generous person, because Leia always gets so upset when Arwyn has something she doesn't! Rock candy vs Bracelet, Leia's starting to regret that decision.
Big thumbs up from Arwyn, from her very first, and very hard earned, window seat. I figured that out of the four flights, she ought to get it at least once. Leia (who takes after her father) was not in agreement.
Home sweet home, checking out the new Darth Vader helmet.
Holding her little sister's hand and helping her "walk home from school." We're still only walking from the end of our street, but hey, it's better than nothing.
I love listening to Leia when she goes off singing her own songs, everything on her mind just comes right out.
Arwyn loves to sing these days, and her acoustic version of "Hey Soul Sister" is the cutest thing ever!
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