Big fun on the Ferris Wheel

The highlight of our trip to the fair on Sunday.

Goin' back to Cali

I'd like to. Soon. Here are some photos from our recent trip, a bachelorette party of sorts for Jaime.


We started the trip off right with some proseco by the pool. I'm in favor of any state where it's 78 and sunny all the time.

Jaime and I on our hotel balcony.


Walking on the beach, which was not nearly as swimming friendly as our hotel pool.


Finally realized my lifelong (or monthslong, anyway) dream of sampling some Pinkberry. Jaime and I only drove about an hour through traffic to get it.


Jaime's California cuisine, healthy and fresh.

My California cuisine, carby and bacon loaded.


Mmmmm. Fish tacos poolside.


Crepe stuffed with banana and Nutella. Went back to this place two mornings in a row.


In front of the Chinese Theatre on what would become the longest night of our lives. Our flight left at 6 a.m., so we decided to roam the streets of L.A. all night rather than check out of our
expensive hotel at 3 a.m.



Sustenance for the long night ahead.

The Cabin

My mom's family has a cabin in Ozark-land, out in the middle of nowhere, overlooking a crik (as they call it in Missoura.) I used to go there all the time as a kid but haven't been in probably ten years.


Last weekend, Lexi and I went with my parents for the afternoon. That's the cabin up on the ledge. It's hardly fancy, but it's cozy. And has a great view. And, ya know, a crick.



Mom and Lexi in the crick, under the cabin.


Crick swimmin' hole.

Susan Peters roast

Was pleasantly surprised after stepping off stage to find that Lori had taped most of my roast of Susan Peters. (Thanks, LAL.) I think I could have slowed it down in a few spots. But thanks to a little Bombay Sapphire, I survived.

It was fun, but I'm glad it's over.

Fish in training

We spent a few pre-storm hours on Sunday at our friends' backyard pool, and you will not BELIEVE what Lexi did. It's particularly amazing considering that when we first got in, she wouldn't let me let go of her. An hour later -- this.

Of course, the life jacket is a bit of an issue because she does not understand now that she can sink without it. When I told her we'd better get her in swimming lessons, she said, "Mom, I don't need them. I already know how to swim."

Jitterbug

Lexi had a big moment in her life on Sunday. It was her first (but as you'll soon see, clearly not her last) time performing on a stage.

The show was put on by Jitterbugs, a little dance class they offer at pre-school. I was a little worried she'd be too shy and refuse to go on, but it was quite the opposite. Lex was the front-n-center star of the show.

After this lethal Kung-Fu fighting kick, I'm not sure whether to enroll her in ballet or karate.



Mommy will be talking to Lexi soon about her feelings on cheerleading.



Emma, Lexi's B.F.F. and co-star, offering her customary tackle hug after the show.

At least someone had a good race

My 10k time was abysmal at this year's River Run. But enough about me. Lexi was a racing star, completing her first ever Tot Trot.


Run, Lexi, run!! Run those 20 meters!!



I was actually surprised she did it because she can be pretty shy in unfamiliar situations. I think her running partner Harrison was the secret ingredient.


And look! They won medals!! Nothing abysmal about that.

Disturbing... yet adorably so

I asked Lexi to pose for a pic this weekend and found out with great surprise that her Jitterbugs dance class has taught her how to pose for real. A tad JonBenet for my taste, but...

SupermodelWURK!

...WURK IT GIRL!

Carrot nose, Twizzler mouth

Lexi really, really wanted to build a snowman yesterday. Or so she said. As it turns out, what she really wanted to do was throw snowballs at my head while I built her a snowman.


A spring snowman is an unusual creature because his mouth can be made out of Twizzlers colored for Easter.


The weekend's snow also brought an opportunity for me impart an important life lesson: Never eat yellow snow.



Yes, I know. She's a snow angel.

"Dream girl"

Of course, on days when Miss Jessica sends home notes with words like "no listening ears" and "rough day," I tend to think she is uninformed and impatient.

But when I get notes like this one, well, that's what I realize just how smart and intuitive Miss Jessica actually is.

Three months of parties

You wanna know why I haven't been blogging lately? It's not laziness or hecticness or utter depression. No. It's because I've been hauling Lexi all over town to birthday parties for the past three months.


The most exciting, naturally, was her own. And who wouldn't be excited with a gem of a cake like that?


Lexi's birthday was on March 5, but the celebration went on for weeks. Above is a shot from her party at our house, at which she received Bendaroos and a whole stable of My Little Ponies.



The most recent party was Saturday at Lauryn's and included rosy cupcakes, little sammiches, dress-up and general girliness.



The previous party was the previous Saturday at McDonald's in honor of Lexi's B.F.F., Emma. It included cheeseburgers, sock feet and more Bendaroos.



Back in January, it was Kyle's birthday, which included a dog shape caked, dog bone shaped sammiches and a rockin' game of hot potato with a dog bone.



Brian's party had bowling. 'Nuff said.



And way back at the beginning of January was a party for Coop, who turned 4 first and with the greatest style. Cha cha cha.

The party tour is over now. I think. Time to get back to blogging.

Gindi grub

We took Lexi along with us on Sunday to review Gindi Thai & Japanese diner, a new place at 7010 W. 21st St., where Backyard Burger used to be. (It was delicious -- look for details in Friday's paper.)


I'm always a little hesitant to take Lexi to an Asian place because well, ya know, there aren't usually cheeseburgers on the menu. But she'd recently discovered a book about a little kitten who loved sushi and was pretty excited about going to a "sushi place."



She ended up burying her sushi deep in a bed of chicken fried rice (do you see it there, sorta in the middle??) But she could not scarf down the rice and Pad Thai fast enough. She loved it so much, in fact, that double-fisted eating became necessary.

Kid bowling

Lexi fell a little bit in love on Saturday night when we attended Brian Buselt's 31st bowling birthday.


Lexi had never bowled before, but Brian sacrificed his score to show her how it's done (even though I didn't see a whole lot of evidence that he knows exactly how it's done.)



Nevermind that. When the ball started rolling, Lexi was so excited she caught a little air.



This is the joy that can be felt only by two kids who managed to knock down one pin with a ball that was barely moving.

Grateful, grateful girl

This Christmas was the first one where Lexi seemed fully aware of what the proceedings meant. Santa brought her presents because she was good (mostly) and because she'd had the forethought to tell him exactly what she wanted. Or get her mom to, anyway.


One of the main items on her list was a "big-girl' kitchen. She was beyond thrilled. "How did Santa know EVERYTHING I wanted???" Um, because I told him for you when we saw him at the Eagle open house and you were too shy to speak REMEMBER???


Parent tip of the week: Don't let your kids' watch commercials. If you do, they'll decide that they simply can't go on living with out the Swimming Water Baby™.


She said her most favorite gift, however, was this easel complete with dry erase board. It was a cast-off from the Tobias family storage unit, emptied just before the big move. We cleaned it up a little and made it good as new. I predict hours of fun -- and dry erase marker clothing stains -- are in our future.