Vienna: a birthday tribute

Little miss Vivi turns three today!  I absolutely cannot believe how quickly time has flown.  I wanted to take a moment to pay homage to some of her quirks & favorite things.

For [almost] as long as Hana has loved elephants, Vienna has loved rhinos.  She is also an Ariel-fanatic, and loves all things pink (particularly Yo Gabba Gabba's Foofa).

Her favorite sports are dance and swimming, and she is developing quite an artistic side.  Her interests lie more in sculpting (play-doh, etc.) than coloring, though.

She loves to sing & dance and frequently puts on living-room concerts with her sister; they take turns with the microphone and battery-operated guitar.  :o)

She is a little mini-Mommy, and is constantly picking up on my expressions.  Ex: the other day, as Daddy was on his way out the door for a basketball game (which always make me a nervous reck d/t Matt's hx of bball injuries), V gave him a big kiss and said, "I love you.  Be careful."

She is such a helper in the kitchen, and will drop just about anything when the opportunity presents itself for her to help cook.  She loves to help me clean as well, and really just loves to help with things in general.  Her favorite center at school is "Home Living" and she wants to be a nurse when she grows up.  Big sis takes much more after her father, and will drop just about anything when the opportunity presents itself for her to play Mario, etc. with her Papa, and she wants to be a pilot when she grows up.

V is a hearty eater, and favorites include: asparagus, apples, cantaloupe, watermelon, vanilla, juice, milk, Eggo cinnamon toast minis, pancakes in Disney shapes, corn dogs, just about anything Italian or meat/noodle based, bologna, yogurt, gummy bears, gold dubloons [chocolate coins], dum dums, quesadillas, Cheerios or Kix w/milk, and baked beans.  She is newly interested in chocolate, but that is mostly d/t Hana's theory that love for chocolate=dark skin, and Vienna is trying to match her sister's complexion since they are best buds.  :o)

Her nicknames include: Buttcake (??), V, Vivi, Sister/Sissy, & Sizzle.

Vienna has two best friends, Julia & Zoey, who she talks about all the time and plays very nicely with alongside Hana.

She is extremely into princess & baby animal role-play, and is becoming quite fearless on the playground.  At LibertyFest last week, she went down a 20' tall (or thereabouts) bounce house slide completely on her own!  Yet she is terrified of the Winnie the Pooh & Peter Pan rides at Disney.

V has a gentle spirit and is very sensitive to tone as well as feelings in others.  Like her big sis, she is extremely empathetic, and is both comforter and cuddler.

Also like Hana, she has a very loose concept of personal space when she is snuggling with me in bed, but, yes, I do love those moments still.  :o)

She is such a sweet girl and we are so happy to celebrate her 3rd year in our lives.

Happy Birthday Vienna Li!!  xo

Here are some pix looking back over the years...

Belly shot w/Ha:

Newborn Vienna w/welcome card Hana made:

Learning how to walk; 1 year old at Pelican Bay:

Sporting a 2nd birthday hat at school:

Enjoying an Ariel makeover for her 3rd bday:

 Looking forward to many more adventures ahead with our little cutie and her darling sis!

Happy 4th of July!!

Cooking up some pudding & prepping things for the grill.

LibertyFest & fireworks later tonight!
Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus

For the past 2 years, we have been meaning to take the girls (and Matt!--who has also never been) to their first circus, but always seem to find out about it after it's on its way out of town.  Hana's lifelong fascination with elephants and both girls' intense Dumbo love has made the circus a "Must See" for our family.

On another quick note, YouTube perusal revealed--and our recent trip to Disney confirmed--that Walt Disney World [Orlando] is constructing a Dumbo circus tent in their new Princess-themed addition to Fantasyland.  It is set to open sometime in 2012, and we cannot wait!!  I am hoping to spend Christmas '12 in Orlando with Matt's side of the family.  Here is the YouTube footage highlighting the plans:

Back to Ringling Bros.  :o)  The circus was absolutely amazing and the girls were captivated by every minute, despite the length (3hrs, plus intermission) and evening start time (7:30pm).  Highlights include...

Matt's favorite: seven motorcycles in a globe; definitely the most dangerous stunt of the night

My favorite: the gymnasts

This woman was absolutely amazing in terms of strength

Vienna & I were very impressed

Vienna's favorite: the clowns...needed to borrow an "official" Ringling Bros photo for this one

...and Hana's favorite: the much-anticipated elephants!!

There was also a pretty impressive tiger act: the trainer was alone in the ring with EIGHT tigers, one of which growled and pawed at him a bit--and he was loving every minute!

Such a great night!  

Haha & V still talk about their circus adventure--the other day the girls and I were asking each other some riddles...

Vienna asked: "What goes in a suitcase?"

The answer: "Clowns!"

OKC Spraygrounds: Harvest Hills Park

This week the girls and I enjoyed an afternoon trip to Harvest Hills Park
(8235 NW 104th, OKC).

This park has a cute sea dragon & whale tail-themed sprayground, which reminded the girls of Disney's nightly water show, a definite highlight from our recent visit to Orlando:

This is the same light show I used to watch on family trips as a kid--and the girls loved it every bit as much as I did (and still do!)

Anyway, the thematic tie-in made this park an immediate favorite.  :o)  

What I enjoyed best, from a parent perspective is the same-site location of both the dry playground and the sprayground.  Frequently, the girls like to shift back and forth between attractions--though not necessarily at the same time as one another.  This is the first sprayground we have visited where I can safely let them do that!  :o)

 Sunscreen time!  Can't forget the piggies!  :o)

I also noticed for the first time, OKC's "Play in the Park" program, which I have since seen in other areas.  This is such a nice idea and I was surprised to see that not many kids seemed to be taking part in it.  The city provides staff at various parks from June 13 - July 22nd and children over age 6 (or under age six, if a parent accompanies) can take part in supervised sport/craft/educational/performing arts activities and play from 8am - 4pm, M-F.  It is a free program that also provides breakfast and lunch at some locations.

On another note (kind of funny and sad), I have been trying to talk Matt into a sprayground visit.  He is not one for hanging out outside, but today he said his reason for not wanting to check one out was "safety-related"--after learning of the North Highland park shooting I discovered a few weeks ago.  I felt like he was perhaps blowing things a little out of proportion, as city parks during daytime hours are not usually synonymous with danger in my mind, so I did a Google search on our planned activity for today: a trip to the mall (girls received a *ton* of Build-a-Bear coupons that expire this month).  Turns out all 3 malls near us (Quail Springs, Crossroads, & Penn Square) have had shooting incidents over the past several years, whereas only one sprayground that I know of so far has.  Perspective.  LOL, still ended up going to the mall though!  :o)

Other City Spraygrounds we have visited include:
Earlywine Aquatic Center

Macklanburg Park
Macklanburg Park Pool

North Highland Park

OKC Spraygrounds: Macklanburg Park

Another beautiful sunny day, another excuse to check out a local sprayground. For me, the main draw of these parks are that they are a fun, free, and SAFE way for the kids to get some activity in while staying cool. Due to their adventurous swim styles, taking them to a community pool by myself just doesn't strike me as safe. Turns out, my intentions are not unlike the city's in creating these refreshing spots. They were built as a safe alternative to crowded city pools--and they have built 16 of them to date! Apparently one in Bricktown, by the Myriad Gardens, is in the works. It was easy to see the safety-related need when we went to Macklanburg Park (11700 N Stratford, OKC) last Friday, a wonderful park that also boasts a city pool and dry play structure. The free pool was filled to capacity and much of the sprayground crowd consisted of people waiting for their chance to get in. While we didn't go to the pool, it looked nice, if slightly wild due to the large teenage crowd, and it also had a cute 12"-18" baby pool area, and was staffed with lifeguards. We are planning to go back again on Friday with some friends and maybe get a chance to check it out.

Pool hours are: M-F 1pm-6pm

Sprayground hours are: 10am-8pm

both are open Memorial Day through Labor Day

This sprayground has a rainbow theme and three sprayer features that kids get to control, the most we've seen anywhere so far. Ha LOVES to hose other kids down--and most of them are happy to oblige!

One home daycare that was there brought with them water balloons--these turned out to be a huge hit and we have seen them at other spraygrounds since--and also have started keeping a stash in our swim bag. 100 for $1 at the dollar store! :o) The smallest water jets at the spraygrounds are perfect for filling them!

Here, Ha enlists an older boy to help her fill some up!

Ha & V love to cart water balloons around and refer to them as their "babies". Here are some cute pix of the girls fixing their babies up in little towel nests and also slathering them up with some sunscreen! :o)

V gives her balloon a good spraydown:Ha took the lotion application very seriously.

The girls' oldest best bud in the area, Julia, joined us at the park with her older sister, Amanda, who the girls adore and who is a good friend of mine. :o)

V was not about to let 3" of water stop her from getting a good swim!

And, yes, if there is the slightest suggestion that water may touch her face, the goggles need to be on. :O)

Two spraygrounds whose themes we have seen, yet whose identities we have not yet uncovered include: an exciting-looking pirate ship & an under the sea theme! I hope to visit all 16 with the girls during the summer.

Other City Spraygrounds we've visited include:
Earlywine Aquatic Center

Harvest Hills Park
Macklanburg Park Pool
North Highland Park

Entering the final week: Time for a flashback

The past couple of weeks have each brought with them their own challenges and last-minute hurdles, but nothing we can't deal with....I am just soooo excited about next Wednesday, when Matt returns to Active Duty, and we can resume a more normal life. I don't really know how "normal" living 97-minutes apart in two separate residences over a day's drive away from any other family may be...but it is refreshingly normal for us. :o) It is definitely unusual, to say the least, to be a married-with-children couple both attending school full-time for the past 2 years...since most adults with children...have jobs...or are at least actively looking for them. We have just been waiting out time since May 14th of this year, and really since July 19th of 2009, when Matt switched to Reserve status for ASCP, but classwork during the academic year at least made us feel productive and dual GI Bill, grants, unemployment, scholarships, WIC, and ASCP stipends definitely helped with the cash flow. This experience has really made me realize, though, when there is a will there is a way, and there is a lot of government funding to assist folks who may not look that all-together on paper with investing in a marketable degree and optimistic future if they are willing and able to take advantage of it. Anyway, that is not really the point of this post...I just wanted to kind of give myself a perspective flashback of our trip out here (driving K-ville to Edmond). A very rocky week that we tried not to look at as an omen. :o)

In May of 2009, Matt had just returned from Afghanistan, having officially been gone for over 1/2 of Ha's life and 9/10's of V's. We were so excited!

Prior to Matt's deployment, we took a bit of a gamble on his being accepted to ASCP and decided to file for an early return of dependents from our military station at Kadena AB in Okinawa, Japan. What this meant is that the military would fly me, the girls, Petunia, and some of our stuff back to the States (where I could attend community college and knock out nursing prerequisites--science labs are rarely offered overseas), with the catch being that we would have to pay out-of-pocket in the event that we decided to move back to Okinawa (e.g., if ASCP didn't work out). It also enabled us to split our housing allowance, so Matt could rent a single's residence near Kadena while the girls and I lived in the States. Anyway, the point is, we had a lot of stuff to move from TN & FL--where the girls and I stayed during the deployment--to Edmond, since the military was only transporting the rest of our belongings from Japan.

Somehow, and for the FOURTH TIME, Matt had talked me into ordering a CAR off of eBay, despite absolutely loathing every other experience we've had doing this. Our new car was a 2006 Jeep Liberty diesel, which I felt incredibly self-conscious driving as it always emitted large plumes of smoke--to the point where people would pull up next to me to let me know what was going on, unaware I was driving a diesel. Plus it was very loud and I lived in constant fear of either me/Matt accidentally putting regular fuel into it or else the gas station somehow messing up and refueling its stock incorrectly, thus ruining our engine. Anyway, we'd had it for about a month before Matt's return and I was trying to think nice thoughts about it, and so far it hadn't disappointed.

To celebrate Matt's return and for a final hurrah before our two-years of civilian life, we planned a road trip (from TN, where the girls and I were staying with my folks) to Walt Disney World and planned to drive back up with a U-Haul, our loot stored at Matt's folks' house--plus some furniture and rugs his parents were passing on to us, and Petunia--who a family friend was dog-sitting.

Ready to hit the road! TN --> FL

V meets Leo, the Little Einstein

Matt teased me mercilessly about the large amount of dessert consumed at this buffet dinner

Ha & her favorite

At Cinderella's fountain

The Jeep Liberty diesel touted an impressive hauling capacity for its size...3500 pounds...which was one of the reasons we were drawn to it. Our ride back up to TN went very smoothly. We split it over two days, instead of trying to cram it all into one night like we did on the way down, which resulted in Matt almost falling asleep at the wheel, me driving for most of the night fueled by coffee, stopping at nearly every Walgreens/CVS we passed for Matt to load up on herbal remedies, creams, and neck pillows, and Ha being awake most of the night, crying "I just want a bed".

Matt & his folks

We spent about a day or two in TN, filling the U-Haul to capacity, and visiting one last time with my family. Realizing road tripping with 2 kids and a dog can still be fun after our drive up from Florida, I planned out a leisurely drive that entailed fun stops at Casey Jones Railroad Museum in Nashville, TN and Hot Springs, AK along the way. We planned to spread the trip over three days and learn a little in the process. Things were looking good as we left from Knoxville one late afternoon in 2 cars. Vienna and I rode in Pa's Corolla, which my grandmother generously gave us earlier that year--and ended up being our saving grace on this trip. Ha and Matt towed the full U-Haul in the Jeep.

We stopped for dinner at McDonald's and to stock up on Redbox rentals for the girls around 6 that night, in Chattanooga, about 2 hours west of Knoxville. As we got back on the road, Matt called me to let me know that the ever-ominous and mysterious "Check Engine" light had come on. We were hoping it was something simple, like leaving the gas cap off, but no such luck. The "Engine Temp" warning light flashed on too and when we popped the hood it was smoking hot in there. Knowing the road trips that lay ahead, we signed up for AAA before we embarked on any of them, and called right away for assistance. Turns out they don't provide any aid for vehicles pulling trailers, so we were out of luck. By this time it was getting late so we revised our Casey Jones plans and struck out for the nearest hotel. We were literally having to drive for about 5-10 minutes and then pull over to let the engine cool off for 30. We eventually made it to a Best Western and checked in for the night, hoping things would miraculously be better in the morning. They weren't, and I lost my cell phone blue tooth ear piece in the process, to boot.

Thank goodness for free internet in most hotels nowadays (as of our most recent visit, Disney has even come around). In the morning, we located the nearest repair shop and Matt made off very slowly with the Jeep, while I attempted to entertain the girls and Petunia at the hotel until checkout time, and after that, at McDonald's. The repair shop news was not good. Apparently, we were pulling too big a load and the transmission overheated, to the point that parts of it had fallen/melted off and were clogging some part of it (I am not a mechanic, but if memory serves, that is the gist of it). They tried to repair it and succeeded in getting the warning lights to stay off for about 20 minute spurts, provided we kept our speed at like 30 mph or below and avoided hills. At this point we knew the Jeep would not make the trip...at least not in current conditions. We briefly considered a trade-in on the spot, as the repair shop was also a dealership, but they were also looking to capitalize on our misfortune and only presented unappealing offers.

& it starts! (our troubles, that is, not the car, lol!)

A highlight of this part of the experience, however, was a conversation Matt had with one of the workers. While our whole family loves the military and its travel-rich lifestyle, and we consider the benefits (education, housing, etc.) extremely generous, Matt's vision of the AF is unparalleled and he will try to talk anyone, anywhere into joining. With a broken down car, no clue how we would complete our trip or afford repairs (up to $3-4K for a rebuilt/new transmission), all our belongings in a U-Haul, and none of us probably looking too clean after a day on the road compounded by stress, here Matt is at the repair shop telling a worker with military inclinations about the incredible opportunity AF enlistment brings. We always laugh when Matt does his "Just look at me!" impression--because it is hard to imagine anyone envying that situation or wanting to take any sort of advice that might land him/her in a similar one! It is so endearing though because Matt talks to everyone like that, he just loves the Air Force so much. :o)

Anyway, at this point we decide that maybe the Jeep will be able to handle the trip without the trailer, so we look for the nearest storage/rental facility to check out those pods where you pack up a huge box and then a truck delivers it to you. Turns out those pods are extremely expensive, and it also turned out that the Jeep was no better off without the trailer...it was pretty much done and in need of serious repair. And to make matters worse, it was a Saturday afternoon, and most rental places were not open until Monday. In any case, we decided to unload the trailer in a storage unit at the facility and consider our options (shipping v. renting a truck, shipping v. ditching the Jeep, etc.). After Matt single-handedly moved all our stuff from the trailer to storage, we decided our best bet was to rent a moving van with a car tow on back and tow the Jeep to Oklahoma. However, appropriately-sized rental vans at the facility where our stuff was stashed were unavailable for days, and no nearby facilities had both vans AND car tow attachments available.

We booked a van at the nearest facility and Matt took off for there in the Toyota, leaving the girls and I to hang out at Target for over 4 hours, looking quite unkempt d/t not packing enough clean clothes. I really felt like we were getting stares, especially since we ended up having to have TWO meals in their little food court (which stresses the length of our visit, to employees, anyway), but we just tried to roll with it. Matt picked up the van, then left the Toyota at that facility and drove another 40 minutes to pick up the hitch, which he hooked up to the van and then took back to get the Toyota, which would have had to load on himself (dangerous!) were it not for the help from a kind passerby. Then he had to drive to meet us at Target, unload the Toyota, and go back to the hotel to get the Jeep. After all that, we STILL had to go back to the original storage facility so he could transfer all our stuff from the unit into the new van. What a day!!

By the time we finally got on the the road, it was early evening, and, wouldn't you know it, 15 minutes into the trip, just as a new sense of optimism was setting in...we get a flat tire!!

Front tire is blown out

Luckily, the rental insurance covered this, but we were stuck at gas station in the middle of nowhere, for over an hour, in the dark. I tend to be unusually paranoid, and that was definitely the case here. I didn't even know where to hang out with the girls, because I felt like the gas station was dangerous both inside and out. Luckily nothing happened and Hana enjoyed sticking toy dinosaurs in the blown out tire before the sky grew too dark.

Kids can find the fun in anything! :o)

During two moments of weakness/hope, we purchased $20/ea TN Millionaire's Club lottery tickets...a new game where the payout was less than the regular lottery, but still great ($1M) and the odds were way better. Not for us, though. But at least we got the tire taken care of and were one night closer to getting out of Tennessee. I REALLY wanted to make Arkansas that night, but it was too long a day for the girls, so we stopped at a hotel (Quality Inn), which was one of our favorite chains during this visit and also a chain we enjoyed en route back to TN from FL.

The next day we finally made it out of Tennessee and into Arkansas, where we also enjoyed our one pleasure-stop of the trip: a visit to Chuck E. Cheese, which our very patient girls absolutely loved.

Late that night (around 1am or so, we made it to Oklahoma City, and, not fully appreciating how close Edmond was [literally minutes from where we stopped]), stopped for the night at the nearest motel when Ha reached her tolerance limit. This motel, EconoLodge, was the worst motel, hands-down, I have ever been to. My main complaint was the urine smell. You never want to take your kids somewhere that smells like that, but there was also no way we were forcing Hana back in a vehicle, so we roughed it for the night and survived to push on to Edmond in the morning. Despite the late hour, I was hoping to start browsing the rental market immediately, but of course, EconoLodge internet was out and the guy at the desk could not have cared less. Anywhere that allows their guest rooms to smell like ours did cannot be too concerned with customer service.

Arriving in Edmond, was like a dream, after our tumultuous and $$$ week on the road. We checked out of EconoLodge and immediately headed north to Edmond, where we drove by UCO's beautiful campus and looked for a non-seedy hotel that also permitted pets, to set up camp at. Several months prior to our move, one of my brothers moved from TN to DE in a weekend and landed a great apartment in a matter of days. Having signed a lease sight-unseen once during a move stateside from Misawa, Japan, shortly after getting married, we decided we would never do that again. Our CA home was very nice, just not as kept-up as its pictures suggested. So...we had some places in mind, but hadn't signed any paperwork yet. I was also a little nervous about the rental process since Matt technically did not have an employer in OK, as he was transitioning out of Active Duty and would be stationed with the Reserves. We set aside savings for this period and also had about 6 different stipend entitlements that actually permitted us to live quite comfortably, but made filling out lease applications awkward since nontraditional cash inflow makes some rental agencies nervous, and as a 28 year old mother of two, I REALLY felt like I was too old to need a co-signer, so I was hoping we would be able to qualify for a nice unit on our own merits, which we were able to quite easily, again underscoring my general paranoia.

Finding a suitable--and immediately available--house or apartment proved to be quite the undertaking. I am far far far partial to houses because neither Matt nor I like sharing walls d/t noise concerns on his part and cigarette smoke inhalation concerns on mine, plus we are pretty attached to the idea of a nice fenced-in backyard for our kids and Petunia. Anyway, there were no houses that met our search criteria (less than 5 minutes to UCO so Matt could bike and safe-looking) and immediately available. At the time I had it in my head that we needed a 3bdrm, mostly since we have so much stuff, but right now we are living very comfortably in a 2bd/1ba, so I may have been too strict on requirements. Anyway, we needed immediate availability, as we were staying in a $69/night hotel, plus still had our rental van, plus looming Jeep repairs. Needless to say, we couldn't find anything, and I was shocked at the poor apartment selection...many of the complexes with 3bdrm availability had reviews involving terms like "drug dealers", etc. on apartmentratings.com. It was taking so long to find somewhere suitable that Matt finally had to unload our van at a local storage unit (the van came with a 1-month storage credit) so he could return it.

Shortly thereafter, we came across Spring Creek of Edmond.

Didn't have the best reviews in the world, but it was under new management, wasn't overrun by teenagers at the time, and had lots of kids Hana's age and slightly older playing in the pool and parking lots. Plus they had a 3bdrm immediately available, and while there were no yards, there was a dog park--with talks of a future playground, a community pool, and nice concrete patios outside each unit. We eventually equipped ours with faux grass pad for Petunia to use, particularly in the winter, a chilly season where you either have to make it extremely easy and comfortable for Petunia to do her business outdoors--or get used to stinky punishments inside the house.

Girls absolutely ADORED "painting the house" with basting brushes! :o)

Anyway, while Spring Creek eventually ended up evicting our two good neighbors and replacing them with nosy highschool-age kids and indoor-chain smokers, at the time it was a dream come true and I still remember rolling around with the girls on the floor, laughing, almost crying, yelling: "We're home! We're home!" And finally getting this adventure off to a good start...despite, of course, Matt still having to rent another van, unload storage again, and move it all into our new apartment! :o)

Father's Day firsts

This year's Father's Day we experienced several firsts...some anticipated, some a surprise:

1) first Father's Day as a USAF officer!!

2) first Father's Day as "Matt" (the hubby's new nickname/name [slash mark used to indicate hubby's strong inclination toward legal name change])

3) first Father's Day gluten free

-Black pepper bleu cheese burgers w/GF buns

-Condiments & sea salt 'n olive oil home fries

Father's Day dinner time! Matt is not home for many evening meals, so this was a real treat!Gluten-free cupcakes...Akins store mix (tasty, although I have definitely noticed with both vegan & GF cooking, from scratch recipes that don't use substitutes [e.g., modified-to-be GF flour, as opposed to chickpea or almond flour] are MUCH tastier...shouldn't really be that big of a surprise, though, lol...will definitely be doing more completely homemade GF cooking in the future). :o)

Our morning church service featured a mini-VBS recital that both girls partook in (I was up there "dancing" too...Matt mercifully excluded my moves from the filming...it is pretty embarrassing that I'm not even good at children-song dancing!):

Matt's Father's Day loot this year was focused mainly on the future...

-OSU basketball shorts to celebrate his recent acceptance to their Spears MBA program (starts this fall!)

-"As Seen On TV" electric egg cooker/steamer & George Foreman grill (his top two requests for his upcoming Enid, OK apartment move)

--the egg cooker works surprisingly well & so far we've used it for hard boiled eggs, poached egg whites, and snack size vegetable steaming

--we opted for the removable-plate Foreman...in Matt's world, if it can't go in the dishwasher, it can't be washed...making for some interesting-smelling grills in the past

-Barnes & Noble gift card to indulge in golf reading (he is taking golf lessons at Tinker AFB this summer to prepare for officer life, lol)

Hope all the dads & father figures out there had a wonderful day!!