Hooray for Family!
I realized yesterday that I forgot to write a post last week. My weeks kind of ran together since we spent my usual writing day on the road to my folks house. Which, in fact, brings me to the theme of the past two weeks: Extended family visits!

Nana arrived Sunday, May 6, and gave me a long much-needed break about a month into Daddy's "big trip." I don't think I cooked a single meal in the three days she was here, I had another adult around the house to help and talk to, and I think I totalled about eight hours out of the house without the entourage! The girls had a grand time hanging out with Nana, playing, reading books, playing games, and of course shopping. The highlight of one outing was the entourage getting to play on the quarter-fed vehicles in the mall (and unlike Mommy, Nana actually has quarters!). Their favorite: a simple, simulated roller coaster ride. Monkey was the brave one who tried the moving vehicles first and showed Bug how much fun it was. The other highlight of the visit for the girls was that Nana arrived with new books and accompanying buddies for each girl: Ladybug Girl for Bug, Cheeky Monkey for Monkey, and Duck & Goose for Goose.

Nana drove away in time to give us a day or two to prepare to hit the road for our own "big trip" to Grandma and Granddad's house--Uncle N, Aunt E, and Aunt A were also home. (The entourage are great travellers, which is fantastic because I see lots of road trips in our long-term future. Car trip only toys, movies, and snacks kept them happily occupied.) We were there nearly a week and had a lovely time. We visited the zoo. Highlights included: a great merecat exhibit, a turkey who was really into our wagon (he followed us around all puffed up and showing off), a peacock showing off his tail, howler monkeys, goats (the girls actually touched them this time! I think that might be a first), and tigers who were being very cooperative and visible. We also spent some time in the neighboring science center to check out the dinosaur exhibit and kiddie section, which the girls loved. They were most into the animal- and grocery shopping-related pretend play. Other highlights of the trip included going to church with the family (where Grandma stayed in the nursery to be the helper teacher since the arrival of the entourage doubled the typical size of the preschool class), visiting the local butterfly house (lots of butterflies, caterpillars, and chysalises to watch and we even spotted the elusive resident turtle), visiting Grandad at work and getting to see the mural with all the animals, listening to Uncle N's school band play a few songs at the end-of-year concert (it was bedtime; Monkey and Bug were interested, but Goose had had enough), and last, but not least--in fact probably their favorite event--hiking the trails in Grandma and Granddad's woods. We got to walk through a "jungle" (pawpaw grove) to see a little waterfall in the creek, find Jesus bugs and salamanders farther downstream (Goose was particularly into turning over rocks to find critters), hike to the old swimming hole in the river, see two turtles (a very brave baby one and a larger bright orange one), and admire an impressive spider web or two. Later that afternoon Granddad also took the girls around to the birdhouses to see the baby birds. All three girls are getting braver about Grandma and Granddad's dog too. This visit they were playing fetch, chasing her around the yard, and even trying to give her commands. Of course, they also spent lots of time playing on the playset outside, playing with the Little People town, playing Aunt E's baby grand piano (all three of them at the same time frequently while singing at the top of their lungs), and playing with all the bigger toys in the basement (kitchen, playhouse, bouncy horse, etc.). And I loved that they got to do all these cool things with lots of extra adults around to help!

Top: Dancing in Aunt K's old costumes
Middle (L to R): Chillin' with the merecats at the zoo, feeding geese after our picnic, petting the goats
Bottom: fascinated by the goldfish pond in the butterfly house 

Mother's Day
Daddy may not have been on hand to organize things (he sent an email, and an ecard, and an Edible Arrangement), but the entourage still recognized the day--even if unintentially. For example, when I woke up that morning, I could hear Bug trying to keep Goose quiet and checking on Monkey. When she heard me stirring in the bathroom, she peeked her head in and whispered, "Did you get a few extra minutes, Mommy?" They made special cards for me in Sunday school, and that afternoon they picked wildflowers from Grandma and Granddad's backyard for me. Even Goose participated, though she failed to bring the stems with her--just the flowers clenched her tight little fist. Made me smile!

Emotional Maturity
In Daddy's absence, it's become obvious who has the emotional maturity to keep this household running smoothly, and it isn't always Mommy. Bug has proved herself a Godsend in helping me keep it together. The first occasion was a real calling out, and provided the incentive I needed to beg a neighbor's help in giving me a break. Imagine Bug, hands on hips, admonishing me sternly, "Mommy, we do not have meltdowns. We do not scream. Take deep breaths. You need to apologize to [Monkey]." Fortunately, Bug herself was behaving perfectly, and I did as told instead of lashing out at Bug--an entirely possible outcome. (This had to be the most humbling experience of motherhood so far.) Since then she's become an expert at noticing my "tells" and appearing at my elbow to whisper, "Mommy, you need to stay calm." Just the reminder I need to take a deep breath and dig for those extra reserves of patience. It has at least been an affirmation that all the things I'm trying to teach them about how to handle themselves are actually sinking in--even if I don't always succeed in following my own advice.

On a related note, Bug recently made known that she was tired of sitting in the middle carseat and having to do things like help Goose and distribute snacks. I told her that she and Monkey were welcome to trade carseats, but that they both had to agree to it--I wasn't going to force anybody to move. And that was the last thing I said on the matter. The two of them worked out a compromise: Bug would sit in the middle for short trips, and Monkey would sit in the middle for long trips when that position requires more responsibility. They have since successfully negotiated who sits where every time we get in the car without any referreeing from me! It's been a couple of weeks since they started this, and I am still a little in shock about how well they've handled it all on their own.

Library Party!
The entourage and I headed to the library today for the kick off of the summer reading program. It was a perfect sunny day for it. The librarians had sidewalk chalk and crafts to do, a free hot dog lunch, and of course picking up our summer reading packets and the usual checking out of books. We came home with:
The Doorbell Rang
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
The Barn Party
George and Marth: Round and Round
Fiesta Babies
This Is the House that Jack Built
While the entourage was oblivious, my favorite part of the morning was striking up a conversation with a fellow Christian, military wife, and homeschool mom who has a 4 year old and an almost 2 year old, who just moved into a house maybe three minutes from us. I see playdates in our future!