Awe the stories, the fun, and the adventures of Ashland. It was so great having Kristine Kristina along - she was a life savor for sure! She got the hang of two kiddos pretty darn quick! Everyday was packed full of adventures while mom was working. I couldn't wait to get home every night to hear and see what they were up to. Kristine is an art teacher and is so great promoting D in arts. Asa was all smiles as her usual little sweet self.
Upon arrival at our rental house Dylan claimed her room first which had two twin beds and a TV (which never came on but none the less was pretty cool to have in your room). For some reason she LOVED her Ashland room and sleep in her own bed every night, which she doesn't necessarily do at home. Even one night after a midnight potty run I braced myself for the "Mom can I come sleep in your bed" but instead I got "see you in the morning mom" and climbed right back in her bed.
Things seem like a blur now so I'm trying to remember all the funny stories and things that happened during our trip. Dylan for some reason must have been channeling a jazz musician as every night I would come home to find all the girls on the front yard hanging out. Dylan had a tip jar set out at the front of the walkway by the road and would be playing instruments or singing waiting for tips in her jar. I was sure the neighbors would start to come tip just to perhaps have a little piece and quiet again but they didn't.
One night I came home to find the girls sitting on the front lawn. We were chatting away when Kristine mentioned she was going to go see a jazz show that night. Dylan quickly pops up by saying "Oh you're not going anywhere 'cause I'm going to jazz you up right here" and starts scatting - bee bop bah bee bop (which I hadn't a clue where she learned how to do) and then ends her performance with, and I kid you not, 'Jazzy Hands'. I nearly wet my pants laughing so hard! She is a funny one that girl of mine.
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| Dylan loving her mermaid food aka seaweed |
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| Sweet little Bean |
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| Super cool museum the girls found on a rainy day |
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| AAAAHHHHHH - Kristine & D |
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| Bubble girl or should I say giant bubble girl |
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| A good sport or a big kid - Kristine is always a hoot |
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| Wading in the cold water in Lithia Park |
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| Started with wading which the dress kept getting wetter and wetter |
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| Dalai Lama Dylan in her make shift dress out of Mom's nursing cover up. |
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| I have to give myself credit for coming up with such a fashionable gown on such short notice. |
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| Yummy Ice Cream |
Mother's Day weekend Kristine took off for some well deserved personal time and I took the girls to Emigrant lake for a little fishing adventure. Dylan really had it in her to "catch us a fish for dinner". Luckily she didn't as I wasn't sure I had it in me to clean it! As a surprise I brought Matt's old boyhood had to give to D. She LOVED it and was soooo excited to wear it fishing.
I do have to back up for a moment here as this story adds to our fishing adventure. So Friday afternoon at work I get a text from Kristine asking if Asa had rolled over yet as she just watched her do it 3 times. I was sooo excited I started yelling at work "My girl just rolled over". And sure enough when I got home Asa was rolling across the floor. So the next day I pack up the girls and all the gear, food, diaper bag, etc.... basically we looked like we were climbing Everest with the amount of gear I had with me. So we get to Emigrant lake and I realize that we have to walk in a bit to get to a shady spot and with these fair skins kiddos I wasn't taking any chances. So we get our spot and get all set up and Dylan starts asking to go fishing. I grab her pole and we cast off her line when I hear a funny sound coming from Asa. I turn to find her rolled over on her belly with my sun glasses arm jammed in her month and a handful of rocks. All of a sudden panic struck me - not about the glasses or the rocks as I knew she was okay but the fact that I could no longer just leave her and that life just got a little bit harder!
We had a great time at the lake. It was a beautiful sunny day and I loved just hanging out with my girls.
We had soooo much fun at Emigrant lake on Saturday that we decided to go again on Sunday. This time we paid the park entrance and went swimming - there was an actual roped off area for the kiddos AND it meant we didn't have to hike as far with all our gear. I stopped by good old Target and got D some water wings and sent her down to the water while Asa and I hung out under a tree.
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| Lil Asa in her orange bathing suit - she was actually rolling all over the place, so proud of her new trick! |
I kept a good momma bear on Dylan from under our tree. She made all kinds of friends and was having a blast in the freezing cold water. At one point She had climbed on some kids gator floatie and his mom was pushing her around. She had a blast. It was a great Mother's day!
One of Dylan's favorite things to do in Ashland was Lithia Park. It's a huge fabulous park with all kinds of fun things to do - including this huge climbing rope structure. One evening a friend from work was having a little gathering in the park for her birthday. Dylan was sooo excited to get to go to an adult girls party in the park and was on her best behavior. She could figure out why there wasn't any cake - that puzzled her. After the party Dylan took our lovely friend Nan (who was also down working) to show her the rope structure. I couldn't tell who was the bigger monkey....
Since there wasn't any birthday cake at the birthday party the night before Nan sent me home a slice of a cake from the shot she happened to be working on the next day. Dylan was very happy and had me take a picture to show Nan.
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| Here's Asa after a nap - soooo proud of her next rolling over trick! | | | | | | | |
Matt came down the following weekend to help out and for a visit. It was great fun having him down! He arrived on Thursday afternoon. The girls went and picked him up at the airport - Dylan was sooo excited! Later that night after work I was on the couch feeding Asa and Matt was on a conference call behind me in the dinning room. It was sooo funny as Asa kept pulling away and looking behind me as she heard Matt talking - she knows her Dad's voice! Friday I was working so the gang all went for a little hike.
Here's a picture of Dylan and Matt reading a book in a tree out front after a water gun fight.
And Miss Asa hanging out on the grass rolling around.
We had a great time with Matt's visit. He made us all a fabulous meal, we actually went out to a restaurant to eat - sushi D's favorite, hit the park, mom got a little shopping break downtown, and we went on a family hike to Table Rock Mountain which was fun. Poor Matt though had Asa strapped on his front and Dylan riding on his back for a lot of the way - he got a good work out! Dylan had on a super hilariously cute hiking outfit and of course had to pick wild flowers even though we told her not too. We had a great picnic up top and suddenly Dylan's tired legs weren't tired anymore - so funny how that happens because they were then super tired as we started our hike down. Oh girlie! During our picnic though Matt and D went off to climb a tree or something. I was feeding Asa when all of a sudden I looked around me and was surrounded by, I kid you not 5 squirrels all looking very hungry. Fearing they might carry away my second born I held her a bit tighter and keep a watchful eye out for our lives!
Matt left Monday morning and we had one more week to go. Kristine and I braced ourselves for a rough one as D was starting to get a little home sick. I told her it was her last week and that she got to do all her favorite things one more time before we left to go which lite a spark under belt. Here's the girls busy with their art projects.
One day Krisitne texted me to say that Dylan's rolly polly aka potato bug had been found dead as Dylan had snuck it into the house and covered it with a wash cloth 'to keep it warm' of course. I like oh boy poor Kristine is going to have to have a big conversation with Dylan about her dead bug and why he died - I didn't pitty her one bit! BUT apparently Dylan took rolly polly outside on the back deck, flicked him off the rail and said "he's dead off to find another." Which lead to another conversation of 'you can't just keep collecting rolly pollies D, they talk to each other and wont like you if you keep catching them." Thanks Kristine I owe you for that one!
And my Dylan hilarious story from Ashland was the day she came to the studio to visit. I caught her about to take a piece of candy from a dish on the styling shelf. I had to explain to her that that candy was styled for photography and that she couldn't touch it but that should could go ask Cindy (the Senior Stylist) for a piece of candy she could eat. She sooo nicely went over to Cindy and started a very sweet conversation with her before asking for a sweet treat. It was a proud Momma moment. As she was leaving she asked if she could have a few Harry & David catalogues to take with her. That night when I got home Dylan started asking me questions about the catalogues like if I took the photo's. I told her I made the stuff inside look pretty so people would want to buy it. She then asked me if people from Africa could buy stuff from the catalogues and I said sure I guess then could. She was happy with that which ended our conversation. Later that night before bed we were face timing with Matt when Dylan says "Hey Dad did you know that mom makes this stuff in these catalogues look pretty so people will buy it. People from Africa call the studio and say 'I'd like to buy some yummies please.' and mom does that. I even saw these cookies right here on Cindy's desk earlier when I was at the studio."
We survived that last week and packed up the car for the long journey home. Kristine and I were amazed at how fast the time flew by. We survived the drive back which was a bit harder than the way down. The girls did great traveling - thank goodness! I was whooped from working and single parenting for three weeks! And I still had two more weeks to go up here in Seattle! First week went well Second and last week went to h.e.double L - I was sicker than a dog, got a call at work that D was throwing up at school, Matt was out of town and hurt his shoulder and was going to stay an extra day (already having been gone 4 nights), and Asa well Asa was Asa and smiled all the way through it all even as she was projectile vomiting at the end of the week! Oh us Clark's we love a good adventure! All said and done I'd do it all again in a heartbeat - we had fun! And the girls were troopers especially Dylan who was such a great little helper and traveler! And thank you again Kristine for all your hard work, for coming along with us, and for continuing to laugh through it all!
