A little of this and a little of that

Last night we decided that I will be leaving this afternoon to go visit my sister Laura in Iowa for a while (originally I was going to leave this coming Monday, but gratefully flying standby lets you be flexible). So now I'm trying to get clothes washed, packed, and organized before our flight today. But of course I feel the need to blog about the last few weeks, especially since I won't be home for a while. So here's a few random things we've been doing:

Paul got scuba certified...this required him to dive at the Balmorhea State Park, about 4 hours away. The girls and I came along, thinking we would enjoy the day swimming in the natural spring while he dove. It turned out to be ridiculously windy, and the girls lasted all of 10 seconds in the water before wanting out. So I was stuck with two cold, wet, crabby kids with nothing to do in the middle of nowhere. Gratefully our friends Cassie and Jacob came along and we decided to visit the McDonald Observatory, about an hour away in the Davis mountains. The girls napped while we drove :). It was only sad that Paul couldn't come along since he is the astronomer in the family.

Hattie enjoying the giant sundial

This is the gigantic 433 inch mirror, made up of 91 hexagonal mirrors (it's lying flat looking toward the dome). It's the 5th largest telescope in the world.

Hattie liked Anna's carseat

Hattie has also taken an interest in photography. She borrowed the camera during the drive home from Balmorhea and actually had a couple of decent shots.

Proof that we really were in the middle of nowhere

Then yesterday she documented Paul mowing the lawn:

You can see from these two pictures, taken in succession, that she learned out to take pictures vertically

The girls have been a lot of fun lately. Yesterday Hattie was making Anna laugh like crazy...and it lasted for about 20 minutes! I love my crazy girls.

And some random pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Once upon a dream

Hattie has really started singing a lot lately. Whenever I get her out of bed in the morning or after nap she is usually singing the ABCs. And her she actually sang her favorite song on camera. I had to help her along a few times when she got distracted by the coloring.

She also LOVES to color, but only recently. Before, I had to sit at her side while she told me what to draw, but now she is independent. She probably colors for about an hour a day, usually something for Uncle Spencer, Baby Owen, or Cousin Keira. Those three seem to be the recipients of about 75% of her artwork, with Mom, Grandma, Dad, and various friends and family getting the other masterpieces.

And of course, a two-year olds prayers are always fun. Here is a common one:

"Heavenly Father, Thankful for my friends come over. Please bless. Amen."

We are working on lengthening them a bit.

Day trip: Carlsbad Caverns

A few weeks ago, Paul didn't have school on Friday for Spring Break (it was just one day, not the entire week). So we loaded up the kiddos and caravaned with a few of our friends to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico, about 3 1/2 hours away.

Hattie and her buddy Juliet were so good...they are great little friends

We geared up for the 1 1/2 hike down into the caves. They said we hiked down 800 ft - equal to 4 Statue of Libertys.

The downhill hike started with some with some serious switchbacks. It was cool to look down and not see the bottom.

This picture shows the last bit of light that we had for a few hours.

A cave formation called the whale's mouth.

Hattie did pretty well walking down. Every so often she realized how dark it was and got scared, but on the whole, she was an angel.

And of course she loved holding hands with friends.

Paul still took his turn with both girls. By the end of the walk Anna was exhausted. Once we got to the bottom of the cave we entered "The Big Room" which add another 1 1/2 mile walk around inside...at least it was all flat and there was no more downhill walking. At that point, our camera died, and Anna was finished, so Hattie and I did a quick walk through the cave. It was so beautiful and amazing. I'm always curious to know how such places were discovered, buried so deep in the earth. Gratefully, there is an elevator that took us back to the surface so that we didn't have to hike up 800 ft!

We loved spending the day with the Babcocks, Lindsays, and Foutzes!

Sicker still

Well, tomorrow didn't bring what we hoped. It's Thursday...Hattie is STILL sick and I am too! I've almost completely lost my voice, so don't bother calling me...just text! I feel alright - just a little chest congestion, sore throat, and a cough. But Hattie - UGH - has been horrible. She always wants snuggles which was sweet the first two days but now is too much. Gratefully her fever is gone and she just has a cough and a runny nose, which she refuses to wipe herself. Every time she feels it starting to run she hands me the wet wipe (she won't let me use Kleenex) and says, "Just be soft okay?" Any advice on how to teach kids to blow out through their nose? Hattie can't seem to figure it out. But I think we are on the mend. Today has been the best day yet. Cross your fingers for tomorrow.