One of us will end up in therapy

I chaperoned K's field trip yesterday to Coco Key - a pretty cool water park in Mt. Laurel, NJ. http://www.mtlaurelcocokey.com/

I really didn't know what to expect as there are mixed reviews online. I was somewhat concerned that all of the lifeguards and safety personnel looked to be 12 years old but they did stay on top of the more rambunctious kids and at least we had K's teachers there as extra added support. There were no obvious signs from the road (there's lots of construction going on) so it took some time to find it. Anyways, that's not why you're reading this. You want to know why my kids are driving me crazy and vice versa.

On the way over the bridge to NJ, K asked if we were in NJ yet because, "That's where Aunt Kirsten lives!!! Oh yeah, and Uncle Dan too." When we got there, we had a blast and spent a lot of time on the lazy river ride. K would get excited every time we went under a waterfall and she capsized us a few times, one of those times included me going under. Thanks, K!

At one point, K wanted to go on the lazy river ride by herself. I gave her a definite NO. One of her teachers, Miss Erin, offered to start the ride with her and let Miss Paige finish the ride with her. That was fine by me as I was wrangling some of the other kids. I watched K round the corner then I was keeping an eye on some of the other kids, making sure they were secure in their tubes. When I rounded the corner, Miss Paige was holding onto K's tube because, apparently, K was excited at one of the waterfalls again and fell out of her tube. Miss Paige held onto her until I could take over. I got to K and we were fine. Flash forward to about 10pm that night and K was crying in bed, saying that I abandoned her when she went under water because I was helping Nick (one of her classmates) get back into his tube. She was questioning how much I love her. That led to a late night conversation about how she wanted to try it by herself, I made sure that teachers were with her, and now she knows why I don't like letting her do somethings by herself. I never thought in a million years that I'd have to spend hours convincing Kahlan how much I love her. She was crying hysterically.

Flash back to the afternoon. So we spent the afternoon going on slides, on tubes, splashing, and having fun. We left about an hour before we were supposed to so we could go visit Aunt Kirsten, who lives only 15 minutes away from the park. Kirsten got a taste of parenthood. As Kirsten and I were trying to talk, you could hear this little voice... "Aunt Kirsten! Look at this! Aunt Kirsten! Did you see this? Aunt Kirsten, I'm hungry! I have to go to the bathroom!" When Uncle Dan got home from work, K and Dan had a great conversation about zombies and fire. Eventually, it was time for us to leave because I still had to make dinner. K was crying again about how much she doesn't want to leave and she doesn't want to go home, she wants to stay with Aunt Kirsten... Want to take a guess as to how quickly she fell asleep in the car?

We got home and I pulled into our driveway, opened K's car door for air, and went up to the porch to unlock our front door. Devon saw me and started with the, "Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!" and I felt horrible because I had to leave her momentarily to get her sleeping sister out of the car. I could hear her crying as I left her to get K.

I am psychologically damaging my kids - yay! (sad mommy face inserted here)

Diva Squared

So K decided to tell us that she likes to do arabesque moves in ballet. Um, when did she learn this?

The Diva also told me that she has three boys at school who want to be her boyfriend- Ryan G., Max, and Evin L. My vote is for Ryan.

We're planning two birthday parties for her - one for her friends at Bounce U and one for family at our house. PJ and I are firm believers that if you invite one kid from class, they all need to be invited (unless it's an all-girls party only, for example). So K's been coming home from school each day saying who made her mad and to "take them off of the list!" I don't think so, K. She still thinks that she's running a dictatorship. What I will *never* tell her is that maybe sometimes she really is running a dictatorship.

Daddy has been teaching K how to play the Pokemon card game. They've played three times and Kahlan has won three times. I just want to add that PJ is not letting her win, she is honest-to-goodness winning. She also rubs it in.

Devon is definitely showing hints of mommy in her personality. She rarely wants what I have (whether it's a drink or food, etc.). So whenever I have Starbucks, she does the ASL for "more" and says "please!" How can I say no to that amount of cuteness?!?!?! My 16-month-old *might* have a coffee problem:) I really only let her have a tiny sip at a time, I swear!

*sigh* I have awesome kids.

And the hits keep comin'...

I have a tendency to shower with the bathroom door open when I'm home alone at night with the girls. It gives me a better chance of hearing them if they need anything after I've put them to bed. Dev was already sound asleep and K was reading in bed to her students (her stuffed animals) when I went in. The fireworks were going off and I heard K whimper a little. I let her know that it was only fireworks and that I would never let them hurt her. K asked what colors they were. I told her that I didn't know because my contacts/glasses weren't in/on and my vision wasn't so hot. K ran into the hallway to the bathroom and said, "Mom. Can you see me now?" Me, "Yes, K. I can see you. You are blurry, though." K, *rolls eyes*, "Put your contacts in, Mom. They are in the cabinet." I love that my kids have so much faith in me...

Poor Dev has a bump on her noggin now. She was excited during a game of hide&seek/peek-a-boo... Essentially, I stand in the hallway outside of our bedroom and she runs into our bedroom and runs next to our bed and "hides" while I walk in and "find" her. Well, in the 10 seconds that I waited before following her in to "find" her, she managed to try to climb up the bed, slip, and bump her head on the bed frame. Now that I think about it, I don't necessarily mind that the kids don't have much faith in me! I'm waiting to receive my "Worst Mother of The Year" award in the mail. I watched her like a hawk for the next 3.5 hours to make sure she was alert, not vomiting, etc. This is one of those instances in which I am happy that my kids have hard heads.

Dev is also teething, I think, by how much she has been gnawing on things. Her canines are trying to come out and she has been gnawing on anything that she can get in her cute little chubby hands. She'll walk around with stuffed animals in her mouth - and she looks so much like a puppy! Maybe if she didn't growl...

I love how my girls are so different yet both so amazing. I have the most wonderful, gorgeous, and SMART kids ever! <3