Lusk Clan Fourth

I have incredible memories surrounding the Fourth of July.

I grew up an Air Force brat, and besides that the daughter of a singer in the Air Force Band. Needless to say, every Fourth of July we found ourselves at one concert or festival or another. It was a blast.

I remember games, and food, running around, sparklers and great concerts with my dad as the leading man.

 My dad was a great entertainer, and even now I don't really enjoying going to concerts because no one is quite like him. One thing I don't remember about the over populated 4th of July shin digs we went to was the traffic. Maybe I was asleep by the time we left the parking lot, but as an adult I loathe the idea of sitting through fireworks and waiting with 17,000 other cars to get out on the same one lane road.

Seems like the next thing I should say about the holiday is Bah, Humbug! (Can you say that about anything other than Christmas?)

Despite my disposition we decided we would suck it out and let our girls experience the whole kit and kaboodle of fireworks amazingness. I prepared myself for the event all day.

We spent the morning cleaning house, very patriotic I know. The girls were rewarded with their hard work (Read: Staying out of our way as we cleaned) by a session in our sprinkler and improptu sandbox turned swimming pool. The weather was really nice, not hot at all, meaning water games caused some shivering and teeth chattering.

Despite the temperature the girls had fun running wild. After a nap we headed off to the local park to enjoy the festivities.

My parents had rented a booth to sell their donuts and drinks to attendees, so we sat with them and had a yummy picnic dinner.

The girls were eager to play on the inflatables. The moon bounce was first.

Maggie loved it, Ellie not so much. She couldn't quite figure out how to get up with all the jumping going on around her, so she exited pretty quickly.

There were a couple of tall slides, and a couple of obstacle courses to play in as well. I wasn't sure Ellie was going to be able to participate in either of these being so little.

Silly me, I tend to underestimate that kid more than I should.

She had help the first time up, but did it all on her own the fifteen or so times after.

Maggie loved doing the obstacle course, and after only one time of waiting for her sister, Ellie wanted a chance too. Again, she excelled.

Having exhausted all of the sights offered at the festival we found ourselves with at least two hours until fireworks would commence. Being thoroughly uninterested in the traffic or wrangling my kids and wasting time we bribed them with ice cream to leave the park early, without watching fireworks.

They weren't too upset.

What's a family outing without silly family selfies?

Much to Maggie's delight the ride home we saw several fireworks and even from our drive way were able to see several shot off. Thankfully, that was all the fireworks she needed.

I know I'm going to have to suck it up one of these days and let them experience the whole Fourth of July thing in all its glory...but being in bed at 11:00 and not in a grid iron parking lot is quite nice.

Lake Herrington

We were invited this weekend to go spend some time at Lake Herrington with our good friends, The Daniel's.

They have a little girl that fits right in the middle of our girl's age, so it has been so nice to get together.

I was a bit nervous about going though, due in large part to Scott and I not being very good swimmers. Scott taught himself to swim only five years ago, and I've never been proficient.

Thanks to noodles and life vests we were safe as can be!

While Maggie is usually pretty skittish, she was eager to jump right in.

Ellie on the other hand, wasn't interested.

She eventually worked up the courage, and joined me in the water.

Though she had a great time playing in the kiddie pool as well.

Despite the cloudy coverage we were able to get out for a short boat ride. It was Ellie's first official boat ride and all the girls were so excited. The cloud coverage offered a comfortable temperature, and then later a a huge rain storm.

It was an adventure and I had a great time, but I imagine the captain of our fair vessel was a bit miserable when the pebble like rain drops were smacking him in the face.

After a few hours inside, enjoying a yummy lunch and a companionable game of Hand and Foot (Which the girls won) we were able to take another longer trip out on the boat to look at the beautiful lake. Meanwhile I began day dreaming of having my own lake house some day.

It was an awesome day, with great friends.

The Dreaded Dentist

I've been dreading this appointment for more than two years.

May 26, 2012 (or close to it at least) our pediatrician told us that they recommend children begin seeing a dentist about age 2.

Let me set this up by mentioning that until the age of three Maggie LOST it every doctor's appointment we had.

Screaming.
Crying.
Fits.

And that was just to get on the scale, don't even ask about shots!
So the idea of having my girl lay in a dentist chair, with her mouth wide open while a stranger poked around on her teeth was a bit unrealistic at that time.

Fast forward two years and I knew that I had better get the dentist relationship started.

We prepared the girls as best we could. We talked about what would happen so they wouldn't be surprised. We read several books on "Going to the Dentist." Maggie even took a trip with my mom when she visited the dentist.

Well, last week the day had come.

I'd like to tell you that all of our hard work paid off. That my girls were a champ and marched into the office, sat quietly in their chair mouth agape. But alas, I can not tell a lie. Only half of them were brave.

The tears began when we entered and were putting on the bib. They gave the girls a chance to pick out a princess toothbrush. Ellie picked quickly, Maggie had to dry her tears long enough to see the options.

When we walked back to the space where the chairs were set up, the waterworks began anew.

I reasoned, I encouraged, I begged, I pleaded, I threatened.

And still Maggie freaked. I remembered then about the second child I had brought and turned to find Ellie.

Ellie did AMAZING!!! She just hopped up into the chair, chose her toothpaste and opened wide. 

And then there was Maggie.

They were not able to use any of their dentistry tools. They brushed her teeth like I had that morning. I even tried to do the flossing myself, but she wouldn't calm down enough for us to have a conversation about anything. 

Ellie got a bit upset when they dentist came in to check things out, probably because she was worried about getting shots. (Maggie had gotten three for her 4 year old well check up the week before.) But a little tickle session had her calmed down and able to follow the dentist's instructions. 

Thankfully, there was no trouble for Ellie's teeth and Maggie gets a chance to do it again in six months. 

She will go with both her Daddy and I to see us handle it between now and then. We will also have lots of conversations leading up to the appointment. I'm hoping that Ellie doing so well will influence Maggie a bit. Beyond that, the hysterical freak out session is why she lost her prize for the visit. Still trying to figure out how to let her be emotional, in an appropriate amount. 

Ravens Run Nature Park

We Lusks have had a very busy summer so far.

Between play dates, game nights, library visits, birthdays, doctor appointments, Father's Day, VBS and family visits we have just been busy. A good busy though.

Last Saturday, we woke with two jumpy girls in our bed and realized we didn't have anything planned until the late afternoon. With the forecast calling for gorgeous weather we decided a hike would be a great thing.

We went to Ravens Run Nature Preserve and attempted our first family hike.

We weren't sure how the girls would do. We've taken several walks through our hilly neighborhood, but we haven't really been in real life nature. That coupled with my girls terrible fear of bugs of all kinds, including ants and flies, we were going to just try our best.

We chose the green path, which was marked as the easiest. But because of our terrible sense of direction we ended up on the red, or moderate path, for a bit. 

We passed by a family, or rather they passed us, and each of the kids had walking sticks. It wasn't the first time my girls had picked up a stick during a walk, but they usually call them their Moses sticks. 

Maggie was excited to be out in the "jungle", until she learned that we probably wouldn't see any "amimals". 

We were on the look out the entire trip, but only came across a few butterflies. Ellie however found a bumblebee.

She crouched watching it for several minutes. Then this conversation began. 

Ellie: (Reaching out to touch the bumblebee) I want to touch it.

Me: No, it will sting you. We don't touch bumblebees. 

She pulled her arm back and kept watching. 

She then turned to me, smiled and said, "I touch it."

Then quickly reached out and touched the bumblebee. 

She can be so fearless...though that night at dinner she went hysterical when a fly was flying around her plate. 

I wanted to get a family picture while on our adventure. I set up the camera and set the timer.

And failed.

And failed. 

And failed again. 

Then a couple of sweet girls came upon us and got one for us. 

The trail was really nice and very shaded. It had rained a few days before our adventure, so some of the trail was a bit moist. The ground was perfect for capturing tracks. We found several deer track and a couple of dog tracks too. 

We went for about an hour at a very leisurely pace and then stopped for a water break. 

We ended up going for just over two hours and the girls completed 3.5 miles. We weren't sure how long or how far the girls were going to last, but they did an incredible job. Ellie only had about 10 minutes riding her personal chauffeur. 

 We plan on making this a recurring family outing.