I just got back from Target, where the girls picked out a birthday present for one of their friends. I was pleased with how quickly Claire picked the toy, as she usually spends twenty minutes showing me everything she'd like to have before finally remembering that she's there to buy something for someone else. She showed me the Barbie and pet dogs that she picked and I agreed that it was a great choice.
Once we got in the car, Claire announced, "These dogs pee."
What?? I snatched the box away from her, and sure enough, it said right there on the packaging "Puppy is thirsty...Then makes a puddle!"
The dogs pee. I don't know what disturbs me more: that there are actually toys that pee, or that I just bought one.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Destin 2008
Alternate title: "That Time We Went to Destin and Everyone Got the Stomach Virus (or Possibly Salmonella)"
Another Destin vacation with the Bowmans has come and gone and I've found myself already counting down the months until next year's trip. Although, seriously? We'll have six kids between us by then and that's a little scary. Maybe we should just ditch the kids and go back to Iberostar. Kidding! I kid. Sort of.
It was a great week, even with the stomach situation that quickly took down the condo on Thursday/Friday and carried over onto the ride home on Saturday (good times). We hit all our favorite restaurants and added a new one to the rotation as well (note: Pompano Joe's, you are officially on probation). We hung out at Destin Commons, rode rides and go-carts at The Track, fed the alligators at Fudpucker's and got in plenty of beach and pool time.
Here are some other highlights of the week:
Claire didn't love the beach at first, but finally warmed up to it once the waves died down a little. She fancied herself to be quite the surf girl.
Arden didn't really love the ocean, preferring to have snacks under the shade of the umbrella instead.
Eating at Fisherman's Wharf--a new fave on our list.
Bowman and Bramlett kids
Fun at the Track
Claire was so excited to get a hair wrap just like one of her friend's at school got over spring break. We took her to a local souvenir shop on the our last night in Destin and obliged her. Too bad we didn't know it was going to cost $30. She loved it though and couldn't stop looking at herself in the mirror.
I know it's a completely touristy thing to do, but we can't resist dressing the kids in all white and letting them run around on the beach while we snap a million photos in the hopes of getting that one perfect shot.
Another Destin vacation with the Bowmans has come and gone and I've found myself already counting down the months until next year's trip. Although, seriously? We'll have six kids between us by then and that's a little scary. Maybe we should just ditch the kids and go back to Iberostar. Kidding! I kid. Sort of.
It was a great week, even with the stomach situation that quickly took down the condo on Thursday/Friday and carried over onto the ride home on Saturday (good times). We hit all our favorite restaurants and added a new one to the rotation as well (note: Pompano Joe's, you are officially on probation). We hung out at Destin Commons, rode rides and go-carts at The Track, fed the alligators at Fudpucker's and got in plenty of beach and pool time.
Here are some other highlights of the week:
Claire didn't love the beach at first, but finally warmed up to it once the waves died down a little. She fancied herself to be quite the surf girl.
Arden didn't really love the ocean, preferring to have snacks under the shade of the umbrella instead.
Eating at Fisherman's Wharf--a new fave on our list.
Bowman and Bramlett kids
Fun at the Track
Claire was so excited to get a hair wrap just like one of her friend's at school got over spring break. We took her to a local souvenir shop on the our last night in Destin and obliged her. Too bad we didn't know it was going to cost $30. She loved it though and couldn't stop looking at herself in the mirror.
I know it's a completely touristy thing to do, but we can't resist dressing the kids in all white and letting them run around on the beach while we snap a million photos in the hopes of getting that one perfect shot.
Monday, June 30, 2008
There's Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You
Good news for everyone out there who was worried that there just aren't quite enough Bramletts in the world. Another one will be making his/her debut in January.
Get ready people, we're taking over the world, Brad and Angelina style.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Arden is Two!
6-16-08
Dear Arden,
Today you are two. I know this is the way it's supposed to happen, but can you please explain to me how you went from this
to this
overnight?
You are such a joy to us. From the moment you wake up, you're in a good mood and ready for the day ahead. You run and laugh and entertain all day long until finally (mercifully) you crash in your crib at naptime. I hope that you will always have your sunny disposition, that you will look upon each day as a fresh start.
To say you are spirited is an understatement. You are a girl with a mind of her own, certain that you are capable of doing whatever you feel like doing whenever you feel like doing it. Most of the time, you can. I hope that you will always be confident in your abilities, that you will stretch yourself to try new things and that you will not be discouraged when things don't work out the way you planned.
You love your big sister. She is your best friend, although you don't always show it in the most conventional way (note: biting is not an appropriate way to show affection). I hope that you two will always be close, that you will lean on each other as you get older and that the teenage years don't cause too many wrinkles for me.
You are loved more than you can ever know. Never forget that. Never forget that.
Happy birthday, sweet AK! We can't wait to see what this year has in store for you!
Scenes from a birthday party:
Dear Arden,
Today you are two. I know this is the way it's supposed to happen, but can you please explain to me how you went from this
to this
overnight?
You are such a joy to us. From the moment you wake up, you're in a good mood and ready for the day ahead. You run and laugh and entertain all day long until finally (mercifully) you crash in your crib at naptime. I hope that you will always have your sunny disposition, that you will look upon each day as a fresh start.
To say you are spirited is an understatement. You are a girl with a mind of her own, certain that you are capable of doing whatever you feel like doing whenever you feel like doing it. Most of the time, you can. I hope that you will always be confident in your abilities, that you will stretch yourself to try new things and that you will not be discouraged when things don't work out the way you planned.
You love your big sister. She is your best friend, although you don't always show it in the most conventional way (note: biting is not an appropriate way to show affection). I hope that you two will always be close, that you will lean on each other as you get older and that the teenage years don't cause too many wrinkles for me.
You are loved more than you can ever know. Never forget that. Never forget that.
Happy birthday, sweet AK! We can't wait to see what this year has in store for you!
Scenes from a birthday party:
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
On a Scale of 1 to 10
How bad is it when your (youngest) child's pediatrician tracks you down as you're leaving his office to hand you a handwritten list of suggested discipline/parenting books? Yeah, that's what I thought.
In unrelated news, Claire just got a popcorn kernel stuck up in her nose. For future reference, tweezers are NOT a good option.
In unrelated news, Claire just got a popcorn kernel stuck up in her nose. For future reference, tweezers are NOT a good option.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
You Can Dance, You Can Jive, Having the Time of Your Life
Observations from a Dance Recital:
**One of the best parts of being in a recital is getting lots of flowers. Claire started receiving flowers before we even left for the show (thanks, Grandad and Mimi!) and ended up with so many flowers and sparkly wands and cookies that she couldn't even hold it all. Thank goodness her assistant (me) was there to keep up with it all.
**Another great thing about dance recitals is that you get to put on makeup and if you decide you want your hair curly, it's going to be curly (even if it takes over half an hour with a curling iron) because it's your recital, after all.
**Aside from being on stage, Claire's favorite part of the recital was hanging out backstage in one of the dressing rooms. Given that the recital was two hours long and Claire was only onstage for maybe five minutes total, you couldn't have paid me enough to be the one entertaining 20 four-year-olds in tutus and lipstick for an hour and 55 minutes.
General Observations:
**White, preteen girls + sideways hats + hip hop dancing = hysterical laughter
**If you have a young boy and insist on putting him in a hip hop class full of young girls, please also insist that he be excused from wearing a gold lame' shirt.
**If you have a young girl who is in said hip hop class, please exert your parental rights by refusing to make her dance to "Ice, Ice, Baby" (or any other song by Vanilla Ice) while wearing gold lame' shirts and gold dollar sign necklaces.
**If you have a young girl in the tap/ballet combination class, she will automatically assume that the hip hop girls are "cool". She will tell you, as you're tucking her in at night, that she, too, wants a gold dollar sign necklace.
**Fathers of young girls (and grown up girls, for that matter) will comment excessively on the inappropriateness of some of the dance moves. They will vow that their daughters will never participate in such a bawdy display of hip shaking.
**There is nothing cuter than watching your sweet girl be excited to sing on stage. Wait, did I just say sing? Wasn't this supposed to be a dance recital? Well, don't tell Claire, because you could hear her singing along as she was tapping and arabesque-ing her way across the stage.
**One of the best parts of being in a recital is getting lots of flowers. Claire started receiving flowers before we even left for the show (thanks, Grandad and Mimi!) and ended up with so many flowers and sparkly wands and cookies that she couldn't even hold it all. Thank goodness her assistant (me) was there to keep up with it all.
**Another great thing about dance recitals is that you get to put on makeup and if you decide you want your hair curly, it's going to be curly (even if it takes over half an hour with a curling iron) because it's your recital, after all.
**Aside from being on stage, Claire's favorite part of the recital was hanging out backstage in one of the dressing rooms. Given that the recital was two hours long and Claire was only onstage for maybe five minutes total, you couldn't have paid me enough to be the one entertaining 20 four-year-olds in tutus and lipstick for an hour and 55 minutes.
General Observations:
**White, preteen girls + sideways hats + hip hop dancing = hysterical laughter
**If you have a young boy and insist on putting him in a hip hop class full of young girls, please also insist that he be excused from wearing a gold lame' shirt.
**If you have a young girl who is in said hip hop class, please exert your parental rights by refusing to make her dance to "Ice, Ice, Baby" (or any other song by Vanilla Ice) while wearing gold lame' shirts and gold dollar sign necklaces.
**If you have a young girl in the tap/ballet combination class, she will automatically assume that the hip hop girls are "cool". She will tell you, as you're tucking her in at night, that she, too, wants a gold dollar sign necklace.
**Fathers of young girls (and grown up girls, for that matter) will comment excessively on the inappropriateness of some of the dance moves. They will vow that their daughters will never participate in such a bawdy display of hip shaking.
**There is nothing cuter than watching your sweet girl be excited to sing on stage. Wait, did I just say sing? Wasn't this supposed to be a dance recital? Well, don't tell Claire, because you could hear her singing along as she was tapping and arabesque-ing her way across the stage.
School's Out
Claire had her last day of school on Thursday and was sad to see the year end. She has turned into one of those kids who really love to go to school, which is a huge change from last year, when she cried nearly every time I dropped her off.
It's crazy to think that she only has one more year of preschool left. If it were up to her, she'd start kindergarten tomorrow. She just can't wait to be one of the big kids. Judging by how much she's changed in just the past 9 months, it looks like she's well on her way. And I can't seem to stop it.
It's crazy to think that she only has one more year of preschool left. If it were up to her, she'd start kindergarten tomorrow. She just can't wait to be one of the big kids. Judging by how much she's changed in just the past 9 months, it looks like she's well on her way. And I can't seem to stop it.
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