A Pit Stop, and Then ~

After our stay in Coeurd'Alene, we drove home, only to have one day here to do laundry and jet off to Florida. One day in which I discovered our toy room flooded and we were in need of a new hot water heater. But that's another story. This story begins with Audrey being too chicken to get her ears pierced, that is until she made a pact with her soon-to-be eight year old neighbor and friend Reagan. The kids didn't know we'd be leaving the next day, but Reagan's mom Kate did. So we set up an ear-piercing date and away we went. Our family rule thus far has been girls must be 8 years old before getting their ears pierced. Elle came along ready to choose some clip-ons until she decided she was tough enough to get hers done too. She had already asked me several times before this particular outing.

So, I buckled. For a couple of reasons. First, I figured how often do sisters get to do something like this together? I also figured I was going to be cleaning/monitoring one set of earrings, I might as well do two; and there you have it. Elle was very brave. Maybe more brave than her older sister. It was a fun night, especially with all the moral support. The girls have really enjoyed their new earrings, and they're so cute!

All we could do with the water heater was shut it off and let it sit until we came back. The kids had no idea we'd planned a trip to Florida. They'd just gotten home from Grandma's and School was starting in one week. I told them Sam had to fly out the next morning and we were going to all go to drop him at the airport. On the way, Sam told the kids he'd met a pilot who gave him some "special passes" to come see the airplane that he would be flying on. I had stayed up into the wee hours of the morning the night before, packing every needful thing and putting it all in the trunk. We dropped Sam at the curb, he gave all the bags to the skycap while the kids didn't notice or suspect a thing. When we were going through security, Reese kept saying "too bad we can't really go on a plane, that would be fun..."

We were all the way onto the plane, the flight crew was very accommodating; showing the kids the cockpit and even insisting they sit in the pilot's seat. I kept wondering if this was actually legal. Sam had gone to our seats to put the carry-ons away when I ushered the kids back to say "goodbye" to Dad. Reese kept saying , "Mom, we need to get off! " Once the kids had given Sam his hugs he said, "well, why don't you all sit down? Would you like to go for a plane ride today?" Reese said, "no, we can't!" He kept insisting until the flight attendant told him, "ok, we'll all ride up here and put you down underneath with all the luggage." That got him to sit down. It was so much fun to surprise them, none of them had any clue.

For some strange reason, my phone pictures are loading in miniature form tonight... So, these few pictures of my little jet-setters will have to remain in thumbnail format until I can figure out how to fix them. Thanks for stopping by our blog!