Chapter 470

Friday I met Carissa in Gig Harbor and took custody of Reagan so they could do some uninterrupted purging and baby preparations. We went to Panera for lunch and this is the fountain nearby. The cracked ice made for a really awesome look to the fountain. The pieces of ice were at least 2" thick. Imagine how thick it was during the freeze.

Before we could even go home, Reagan wanted to stop at the Stupid Mall and ride her zebra. She got her zebra ride, while making zebra noises the entire time, then we walked the entire mall to look at E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. Did I say we looked at everything? Not only that, she reviewed what had changed since her last visit. Considering it's Chinese New Year now and it was dia del los muertos (October 31st), there was a lot to review.

She has always wanted to do this rubber band jumpy thing. I always manage to convince her she is too small to go on it. This time there was a kid smaller than her and my story was blown wide open. I wasn't sure she would like it and wasn't eager to hand my $10 over. The attendant said he'd hook her up and if she didn't like it, I didn't owe him anything. Of course Reagan loved it and there went my $10! The bonus of the situation was she was having such a good time and there was no one in line so Reagan got an extra long turn.

Of course, the minute we hit the house, Reagan wanted to Jeep in the snow. I opened the garage door and she was off like a shot. She had the biggest smile on her face. That kid's driving scares me. She drives as close to things as she can, she puts her hands over her head in the air as she drives down hill, looks off to the side of the car as she's driving, and worst of all, she likes to run over everything she can. Mole hills, branches, leaves, me, anything.

We discovered if I push the back of her Jeep while she was driving in the snow, she could drift her Jeep in the snow. She was screaming, laughing, and once again, not looking where she was going.

Reagan and Grampa seem to be having fun blowing up Carissa's college graduation balloons. Lots of giggles.

Amazingly, Carissa mentioned that Reagan's bangs needed trimming if I got a chance. I stopped by my hair lady to see if she could squeeze Reagan in sometime that day and she did it right then. She said they were really long because she kept cutting off a bit at a time and they were still too long when she was done. I appreciate that she didn't whack them off too short right away. Bronwyn was very pleased that I didn't tackle the job myself. She's seen my handiwork first hand and it's not pretty.

After the bangs trim, we were off to Covington Library to put in a little quality indulgence of her favorite pastime. But first we had to find the Geocache that is right there in the library. Reagan found it all by herself and signed the register as well. She's a great little Geokid and is serious about her formal Geotraining beginning this summer.

I had to check my phone to see how many books remained to be checked out on my account. Between me, Mary Lou, and Mary Lou's sister Linda, I only had a balance of 16 books. That should have been plenty but Reagan had to cull a few out to make weight. I didn't feel too bad limiting her to (just?)16 books. I just hope Mary Lou or Linda don't want to check anything out before I get these back to the library on Tuesday!

Reagan found several hidey-holes and spent time reading in each one. All totaled we spent a couple of hours at the library.

Then we were off to Reber Ranch to get some bird seed. Reagan was fascinated watching this video on how to turn bananas into high-quality protein hummingbird food.

 When we got home from Reber, Bob was working on the Scamp. We showed Reagan where she would be sleeping when we go camping this summer. She was so excited with the top bunk because she got her own window. 

She liked that everything was on her scale and that she could easily look out the windows and everything was small.

 Then it happened. I was asked to make an outfit for her narwhal family. How the heck do I do that??? I got the envelope from Reagan's oversized Valentine card and started cutting patterns.

I drew the shape on the fabric and Reagan cut the pieces out. Yes, those are my official sewing scissors she's using. Not just everyone gets to lay hands on those!

Then she selected the buttons she wanted to put on the outfits, put them in a bowl, and stirred them with a yardstick. Not clear sure what was up with that but it happened. I also want to publicly announce that I would have made different button choices for these outfits but since I don't have to wear these outfits, I kept my mouth shut.

Reagan discovered the stylus on my machine and carefully stuck to the 3 buttons I told her she could push until I was done sewing. Then I let her push away. Please send prayers that I can get my machine reset so that it works properly again!

Two custom narwhal outfits? Check.

This morning I sewed cornerless envelopes to keep the penny that she found in the parking lot at the Covington library. I'm glad I am using my new $6,000 (retail, not what I paid) sewing machine to make paper envelopes!

Reagan reeeally wanted this unicorn bow when we were at the mall. She loves it and has worn it every minute she could since she first got it.

Every 3rd Sunday, Barnes & Noble has reading with therapy dogs. We read books with a unicorn and had "coffee" while we waited for the dog(s) to arrive.

There was only one dog today, but he was as big as 4! He name is Maxx and he is a 2 year old leonberger, a giant German mountain dog. He weighs about 160 pounds and has some growing to do as he is only a teenager. Look at his foreleg. It's literally larger around than Reagan's calf!

His paw was bigger than Reagan's hand. When he spread it out on the floor, it was bigger than my hand spread out!

 We visited the Hallmark next door. I didn't realize any of those relic stores even existed any longer. They are kinda like the cockroach; a prehistoric survivor.

Then we stopped for another cache on the way home. She "caught" this fish and found a travel bug inside that we snagged for release during our vacation since it's goal is to "visit the desert in bloom".

Then home for a simple meal and to watch "Racing Stripes". It's an awesome cute movie. How can you beat talking real animals with funny antics for the kids and great background jokes for the adults? Bob and I found ourselves chuckling at things Reagan didn't even notice. We found she was chuckling at stuff that wasn't even funny...to us.

Have a good week Everyone!