The Lily Pad

The whole time I was in Asheville I drove my parents car which has a gas gauge that looks something like this: When I returned to CA and back to my own car I had to get gas right away because our drive back from San Diego had left me on empty and the idiot light on. Not wanting to overpay or drive on base, I just put in $15 to get me through. When I got in I was amazed that my $15 had gotten me 3/4 a tank of gas! After several errands over 3 days I didn't seem to be using any gas and was amazed that after a month I had forgotten that my car gets pretty good gas mileage. It wasn't until I had driven all over town, up to Temecula and all over town there that I realized that my gas gauge looks like this: Guess my $15 didn't do as well as I thought! **For my slower readers, you know who you are, the F and E are on opposite sides. So what I was reading as almost full was really almost empty.

Way back when Madelyn was just a tee tiney little ankle licker we started teaching her to sign in order to communicate. I didn't want her to rely soley on a series of grunts to communicate that she wanted more of something and I wanted to instill in her some manners. So we only taught a few basics including "more", "please", and "thank you". Well, she still isn't much on the talking but she definitely knows her signs and uses them appropriately without prompting 95% of the time. It makes me so happy when she thanks a server for her drink in a restaurant. Sometimes she signs "thank you" and sometimes she says a sweet little "Thay!". When I was about 4 or 5 we took a trip down Florida to visit my mom's dad. This was going to be the first time I met him and she told me for days, weeks, and every minute of the 50 bazillion hour trip that I had to mind my manners and not talk with my mouth full (I was a talker back then, go...

No, we haven't fallen off the face of the planet or been trampled by stampeding camels we've just been relaxing, hanging out and visiting family. One thing we haven't been doing is sleeping well, but here are some pictures of what we have been doing: Fun new hairdo's and making faces. Writing on the sidewalk with chalk. Hula Hooping. Bubble blowing. Avoiding floods. Trying on glasses and playing piano. Eating ice cream without spoons. Helping Great Great Grandmother eat her 96th birthday cake. Climbing trees in our underwear. OK, so that last one is just Madelyn and her Grandaddy. I would never climb trees in my underwear, the bark scratches.

Since we've been in Asheville we've been really busy with visiting family and being lazy. It's been a really great visit so far, but I have to say that the highlight thus far happened the other night after a really yummy Mexican dinner with guacamole and an awesome childrens menu (under $4 including drink and a huge selection of food!) when I had the distinct pleasure of explaining to my dad what a cameltoe is. I managed a little modesty and class when I told him that it was a wedgie in the front, but as is with my family the conversation quickly turned south and we spent the next 20 minutes giggling and making jokes like 13 year old boys. I knew that there would be many more laughs, but didn't quite expect my parents to come through the door at 11 last night laughing about camel hoofs. Just goes to show you can teach the slang but you can't teach the proper usage. Just wait til he finds out about moose knuckles.