Summertime Means...Agua

Raquel's new love - splash pads

During our week-long stay-cation, we tripped over to the splash pad at the mall.  It was Raquel's first experience with these mini water parks.  As soon as she saw all the kiddos running around screaming and frolicking, she joined right in.  

Now, being the practical mom, I was thinking Luis could walk with her around the outskirts of the water, seeing as how she was only in a onesie.  However, being the exciting dad, Luis took her right into the fray.  She had a blast.  I guess I need to learn to let loose sometimes.

 

Disneyland!!!

Every now and then, Luis gets a week off between rotations.  He had one in May and it will be his last one until December.  We expected him to work the whole week, but when he didn't get any hours, we decided to stay-cation the whole week.  (Which meant we mostly ran errands.)  At the last minute, we had a surge of splurge and bought tickets to Disneyland!  It was our first time with little missy, but as always, she amazed us and was fabulous all day - even with no nappo.

Doesn't this first image of Disneyland just get you excited?!?

Raquel was a little unsure at first, but as the day progressed, she started getting the hang of the rides.

She L.O.V.E.D. the splash pad area!  That is, until some little hoodlum plowed into her...grrrrr:(

At dinnertime, we discovered The Golden Horseshoe, a little place to eat that is fashioned after the saloon from Calamity Jane.  Remember that classic?

I still can't believe we got to go, but I'm sure glad we did!

Pillow

I made another pillow.  It made me happy.  The end.

Mother's Day

I love that on Mother's Day, Luis doesn't have to go to early morning meetings and can be with Raquel and I as we get ready for church.  (Though somehow, Raquel still ended up at my feet whilest I curled my hair.  Why is that?)

I was happy and delighted to receive a cute new pair of shoes and my first orchid EVER.  

Unnecessary

As I pulled out batch of cookies number nine from my oven today, I was taught an important life lesson that I would like to share.

It is almost never necessary to make cookie dough that calls for 7 cups of flour.

There are a few exceptions to this rule, which I will outline below.

• It is your neighbor gift at Christmastime.
• You are hosting an event and expecting 108 guests.
• You have 17 offspring that require brown bag lunches every day.
• You run your own bakery.
• You are planning on freezer-storing a year's worth of Family Home Evening treats.
•  Your name is Annette Ferguson, you are having a few family members over for lunch, and you're worried about not having enough food.
• You are the PTA president embarking on a bake sale.

Otherwise, it is unnecessary.  Next time, I'll remember.

Just a Little This and That

This is mostly for Megan, since she needs something to do at work.  Boy, we really haven't been up to much.  I like to imagine that we can move into a bigger apartment so I search nearby apartments three times a week.  I guess I've been doing that.  Oh yeah, I've also been reading.  You know when you have a phenomenal book and spend every spare second reading?  I've been doing that.  I've been looking at Pinterest.  I've been baking (which occurs because I look at pinterest).  I've been spring cleaning.  I've been Relief-Societing.  I've been playing with magnetic letters...oh wait, that's what Raquel's been doing.

She's also been giving piggy-back rides to her friend, Peanut.

She despises when I wet her hair so we can scrunch it up in pretty curls, but its so cute, I can't resist!

I especially love what it turns out like post-nap.

We've made it down to the pool  a couple times once, so we've already been developing fabulous tans.  Bet you can't do that in Utah right now:)

Yikes!  I sound so lazy.  I promise I'm not.  I just like to exaggerate.  Life is good:)  By the way, in case you are in need of some good news:  3 1/2 more months!!!  Hooray!  

Okay okay, now calm down and go snip another link off your countdown.

Easter

I have been really homesick for Utah these days.  I didn't feel homesick during Halloween, Thanksgiving, or even Christmas.  However, lately, everything seems to remind me of Utah and the fact that I haven't been there in 15 months!  This time, it was our family egg hunt that I longed to attend.  The good news is that some friends from the ward got together for an egg hunt of our own.

 (Raquel guarded her loot well by keeping an eye on the sketchy babies nearby.)

At home, daddy helped Raquel draw her first Easter bunny.  Growing up, we Ferguson children never had a real Easter basket.  During egg hunts, we used sacks.  For Easter morning, we made our "bunny baskets" out of paper grocery bags.  Call us ghetto, but it was one of my favorite traditions...and now it's Raquel's turn.

Sadly, as our Saturday before Easter progressed, Raquel became more and more sick.  On Sunday, she had a fever, runny nose, and the saddest eyes I've ever seen.  She ended up staying home from church.  (I can't help but wonder if she did all that to get out of wearing the outfit I made for her.  I didn't think it was THAT bad.)

 Thankfully, she rallied and had enough energy to open her gifts.

A few days later, once her soggy nose dried up, Raquel was forced to wear her Easter outfit anyways.