New Rooms, New Car, and a Cousin Campout

Summer's coming to an end, school is just around the corner, and we're trying to cram in as much fun and check off as many To-Do List items as possible before the first leaves fall.  

Poor Maddy has been stuffed head to toe in her toddler bed since March, but who can shop for a new bed and decorate a room in the middle of the school year?  Well, probably a lot of you - but not me!  So, she waited patiently until Summer.  Hopefully her growth wasn't stunted too much from the close quarters. 

Maddy adores the color pink, like seriously ADORES it, and requested pink everything in her new room.  (She also requested we paint our house pink and is still fuming that that didn't happen.)  Because Pepto-Bismol chic doesn't suit me, we came to a compromise: 

She was pretty happy with the results.

Bonus tip of the day:  When your husband does a fantastic job painting and then spills a huge puddle of blue paint in the room entryway, don't panic.  First, count your blessings that you, the children and the cat were not in the room as there is no possible way you can be blamed for this major goof up.  Just come to the rescue with some rubbing alcohol and hopefully this mistake will be visible to you alone for the rest of your life.

Since Maddy's room makeover went so well (see, I've already forgotten about the paint stain), we decided to spruce up Isabelle's room too with fresh paint and a new bed frame.  Super cheap when you convert the toddler bed into a full size bed.  Plus it was originally their crib!  Best.  Purchase.  Ever.  So, Isabelle's sleeping in her crib again...

...and doesn't mind there are a few gnaw marks on the footboard leftover from babyhood.  She can't complain...we told her not to chew on her crib.  It's not our fault she wasn't an active listener at 10 months old.

Next on the list was getting a new car because who has time to sit in a dealership for 10 hours during the school year.  As we have established - not me!  I've been driving my Mazda, which I love, for 12 years and we really needed something with more room.  I thought I would have to get a dreaded minivan but thank goodness the Toyota Highlander exists because it has everything we need.  Seating for seven, 4WD, and heated seats.  Plus, I never realized how much energy I had to exert to turn the key in the ignition of a car until I tried the push button start.  Have you heard of this?  You push a button, and the car starts.  Like magic.  Welcome to 2013 Aubrey Brock!

Maddy likey!

But, the best part of summer was spending some time with my sweet niece and nephew, Vilia and Shepard.  They came over for their first campout at our house.  Some of you may feel this is a copout and not a true camping experience.  I feel we were really just being realistic.  Anyone who takes an 8, 4, 3, and 2-year-old camping in the wilderness without working plumbing has my vote for Looney Tune of the Year.

They had a wonderful time!

'Sup, ladies?

Thanks for putting the diaper back on Shep.

What could be better than s'mores and beer around the campfire? 

It was one wild night.  I'm not sure what kind of campout Vilia thought this was...

I go back to work this week, ready for another great year of kindergarten. 

You know what that means Maddy - back to the grindstone.