Two Little Gutt Girls: Clearing Up the Mud

And we’re back! Tsk, tsk to me. I haven’t updated in nearly a month. Let’s see, since I last updated…

- Loran has traveled to Asia (10 days), Seattle (3 days), Reno (2 days), and Europe – Spain, Italy, France, Germany (7 days). – The girls visited the dentist for the first time. – Chelsey came home to visit. – We’ve attended a baby shower and a 2nd birthday party. – We hosted a pre-parade party and our car was a float in the parade. – Celebrated Father’s Day. – Oh yeah, and we MOVED. – And there’s been the usual fun of Marketfest and Moms on the Run amongst other things.

Early June, we met up with my MOPS group for a play date at Tamarack Nature Center. I have a hard time making a lot of the play dates, but this was only a few minutes away. I figured I could swing this. Ella was in summer camp at Garden of Hope so it was just Lily and I. Sometimes these activities make me a little anxious. That seems counterintuitive to a MOPS group in general, which is supposed to be a group to support mother’s of young children. But, sometimes I see these moms out and about and they’ve really got their stuff together. Their kids are wearing sunblock, and appropriate footwear. They’ve packed snacks, water bottles, extra sunblock, spare clothes and sometimes lunches.

That’s not my M.O. We fly in, typically a few minutes late. Sometimes wearing patchy sunblock. Our clothes are mostly weather/activity appropriate, but I don’t really care if they get dirty in general (the joy of buying all of their clothes on clearance – less clothing anxiety). Sometimes I have an extra diaper crammed into my small purse, and there might be a package of wipes in the car. There may also be a pack of fruit snacks in the purse or a melted granola bar in the car. Sometimes a new water bottle, or one that was left in the car on our prior adventures. The jackpot is that sippy-cup of milk that rolled under the seat a few weeks ago that turned solid and then back into liquid. That’s always a unique find. So, while some children will grow up with a mother who will be toting 20 pounds of stuff in a bag, that also contains a nice blanket for them to spread out on…mine get an ample amount of photos capturing their life, and a little hydration. Perhaps this will make them more self-sufficient in the future…and possibly sunburned. I shine in other areas.

Off to the park we went. This park doesn’t feature a multi-colored playground full of plastic tubes and slides. No, this is serious stuff for a kid. Water, sand, mud, sticks…all wrapped up into one fun area. Throw in some buckets and shovels (which I’m going to pretend were supplied by the nature center and not a mom who thought ahead) and you have entered kid heaven!

Despite the water being foot numbingly cold, Lily was not shy. She was in and tromping around as soon as we got there. Scooping, pouring, playing and having a generally good time.

Some of our friends had a tougher time than others…

Around lunch time, Lily was more than happy to head home. No complaints from her, she was tired and hungry. Without extra clothes, or food, I stripped her down to the diaper, loaded her up, gave her that melted granola bar I’d scrounged up and headed home for a bath.