Anyone ever been to Bethesda?

Our phone rang at 6:19 this morning. I assumed it would be a wrong number as Fisher tumbled out of bed to answer. I could here the voice on the other end say, "This is Steve Chicken from the National Institue of Health, is this Fisher Lake?" The call was to inform Fisher that he's been selected to participate in a summer research internship in Washington DC this summer. We are both excited, but now we have lots of work to figure out the logistics of living there for 10 weeks - Do we all go out there? Where would we live? How would we get two adults, two children and all of our stuff there on an airplane? Could we afford any of that? Sooo... Does Fisher just go? Do I go visit him for a couple weeks with or without the girls? Where would he live? There are lots of things to do and decide.. If anyone has friends in that area or knows it well, we would love some advice on where to live and what to expect, etc....

Roughin' It!

I survived the camping trip. We all did! It actually went a lot better than I imagined/ dreaded. The weather was beautiful during the day but almost freezing (literally) at night. Lou stayed warm in her tights, onesie, three layers of fleece pajamas, fleece hat, gloves and a few blankets. I got cold in my double layer pajamas, hat, and mummy bag. I am not sure how Curly survived. She refused to wear more than one layer of pajamas and refused to sleep in her sleeping bag. After she fell asleep I tried to cover her with her sleeping bag and blankets, but she kept kicking them off. The only time she had a fit about being cold was outside the tent during breakfast each morning when she refused to wear her coat. Curly and Lou (miraculously) only woke us up once each night. I have to mention that we have an embarassingly large tent. We got it super cheap and didn't realize it was super huge (it's a 12 person tent!). The nice thing about this is that Lou slept in her porta-crib on one side of the tent and Curly slept on the other.
Things were great during the day - 70 degrees, beautiful sunshine and scenery. Curly was a real trooper on hikes. If you've ever been to Zion you will know that it is pretty impressive that she hiked all the way up to the Upper Emerald Pool by herself. I was very impressed. Lou didn't particularly enjoy hiking because it meant she was strapped into the carrier. She much preferred crawling in the dirt and eating sticks and leaves.
I have been to Zion several times, but my husband has just been once. My grandpa grew up spending his summer in Zion while his father did research there. Fisher wanted to see some of the sights and places where grandpa used to play. So we visited the ghost town Grafton where grandpa's mother taught school. We did several short hikes and played in "Wiley Grove" which is a canyon with a stream running through it. The grove is just above the employee housing and my grandpa spent a lot of time swimming and making dams in the stream.
I guess I would say our trip was a success, (The adjustment afterward has been a bit rough with the girls) I don't know that I will be pushing Fisher to go again any time soon.

Grafton, UT (My mom painted a picture of this that hung over my grandma's fireplace)

Emerald Pool Hike - Curly walked right under those chains. AAH! Gave me a heart attack!

The Girls and I at Wiley Grove

Fisher and Curly playing in the stream

Canyon Overlook Trail

The Best of Times...

A lot of good, encouraging things have happened since that discouraging week! Let's see... Curly has often started staying in her bed at bedtime. The secret was playing music on a CD for her to listen too... I am not sure why we didn't try this sooner. She has also become more succesful with potty training. She's been pretty good since day one, but now is really good! Yay for Curly! And she has been kinder to her baby sister. She still bites her, but not as often. I think she has just developed and grown up a lot in the past two weeks. That sound wierd but is really true! I found them playing together like this the other day. Curly was sharing her castle with her sister. Makes my heart leap!

Lou has started crawling! The official day was one day before she became 8 months old, so her (soon to be) physical therapist dad is so proud that she crawled at 7 months : ) I just thinks she looks so cute as she chews on her tongue and smacks her lips while she focuses on moving all those limbs in sync. Aren't babies amazing!

My handsome husband celebrated his birthday last week. He is so great. Two of his best qualities (in my opinion) are his creativity and enthusiasm/dedication. He is a wonderful father and so helpful in not just playing with, but caring for our girls. We had fun celebrating his birthday, especially Curly. I think she enjoys birthdays more than the person who is actually celebrating and keeps talking about her birthday (it’s not until July)… This is Fisher’s birthday ice cream, maybe she is confused by the three candles?
Finally it is Spring Break!! So being the kind wife that I am, I decided I would do whatever Fisher wanted to (he is the student getting the break). We are going camping…aaargh. I love camping, but I am not sure if I will enjoy being in a tent with a baby and a toddler who both currently have night owl tendencies… So I probably won’t get any sleep for the next three days… wish me luck!

On the Other Hand...

It is pretty worthwhile when a sweet little voice says, "Am I your little sweetheart mommy?" and a chubby faced baby blows raspberries and smacks her lips while eating mushed green beans.

Frustrated!

I haven't been doing as much blogging as I would like because by the end of the day, when I finally have a few minutes to actually do something I would like to do (not that I don't like being with my kids all day), I am too exhausted to do much of anything...

This is mostly due to our spirited red-head Curly who has recently begun the practice of bullying her sister for no reason - biting, hitting, hair pulling, eye-poking... she doesn't need to be upset about something, she'll just do it whenever! That along with bedtime battles (mentioned previously), potty training, tantrums, and the fact that she is two years old are a bad combination. It doesn't help that 8 month old Lou is still waking up at least once each night and currently has a terrible diaper rash making her cranky (which is unusual for her).

I hope it doesn't sound like I am complaining, I accept that these challenges are the side effects of being a parent (and I wouldn't trade being a mom for anything). Mostly I am just venting and wondering if anyone has some stellar advice for me.