Oh, so we had a fabulous time in the rainy place.  The kids loved getting to see Grandma and spend time with their Aunty J.  They loved hanging with their new best friends, Laylee, Magoo and Bean.  I loved all of that too.  I loved seeing my sis, and being a "tourist" in my hometown with my dear friends.

I also love being home and having a Charming man to help me and a bed of my own to actually get some sleep in. 

So now, some pictures from my trip:

It’s Aunty J and Spider!  They’ve shrunk!  (Or they could just be sitting in a really big chair…)

This picture is so tender to me.  Three of my favorite little girls.

All the bebes (minus Spider) taking a peek at the jaguar.

I love this picture.  I grew up in the rainy place but had actually never fed the seagulls in quite this way.  I was impressed that Engineer was not scared and was willing to hand out his fries in this way.

A bunch of hot mamas and their bebes! 

I just got back from an awesome trip to the rainy place. It was heaps of good fun. And now I am home and I am also happy.

And sitting here in my living room while I think of all that I need to do now that I am back, I hear the sounds of Engineer playing Lego Star Wars, combined with the Darth-Vader-like snoring coming from a sleeping Charming. It just makes me smile.

We sing this song to our kids at night, and one night we noticed that Spider does this when we sing it.  So cute.

So have you guys heard of Jones Soda?

Apparently they take photo submissions from people to put on their soda bottle labels.  Erin’s husband submitted one of their daughter and it is dang cute.  You can see it here. 

Anyway, so I think it would make a GREAT soda bottle label.  I decided to check out what other people submitted, and since there are thousands of photos, I thought I would check out the babies category.  Waste of time?  Maybe.  Probably.  Whatever.

Here’s the part where I hope no one gets offended.  My friend’s submission is awesome.   Other people’s submissions?  Not so awesome.  The problem is that everyone thinks their own kid is just so cute that they just submit any old silly photo.  Some people submit NUMEROUS silly photos.  Crummy photos.  Photos that aren’t well focused, photos that aren’t framed well, photos where their kid isn’t even that cute….  You get the point.

Now, I am not saying that your kid isn’t cute.  In fact, I am not even saying that ALL kids aren’t cute, because they are.  But simply having a camera and a cute kid does not equate to great photography.  Skills people, skills.  (I in no way claim to have these, but I can recognize good photography).  And don’t upload 10,000 doofy photos. Quality beats quantity everytime.  Your odds of getting on the label go up with your photo skills, not your upload skills.

Oh yeah, and go vote for this cute pic. 

Do you guys ever watch The Simpsons?  I don’t really, but I will never forget one particular episode in which Homer goes to the freezer hoping to get a little chocolate ice cream.  He says, "Mmmmm, chocolate," as he opens a container of Neapolitan.  The chocolate is, of course, missing.  There is one clean little space carved out where the chocolate should be and the strawberry and vanilla remain, whole and untouched.  Homer gives his characteristic cry of "D’oh!" and repeats the process several times. After opening the last carton he finally yells, "Marge!  We need more chocolate and vanilla and strawberry ice cream!"

I just always thought that was funny.  Well, our little Engineer is a lover of vanilla ice cream.  A purist at heart, he wants vanilla only, with no toppings or mix-ins of any kind.  I came downstairs today to find this:

And though he didn’t say it aloud, I could hear in my mind, "Mom!  We need some more strawberry and chocolate and vanilla ice cream!" 

Well, the day after I posted about the rash, the rash reached my neck and knees and covered my arms and legs.  Wow, that picture really does not adequately illustrate the RASH.

The rash is now improving thanks to either a.) time or b.) the tiny vial of steroid cream I was prescribed when the rash on my stomach and back looked more like red skin with white spots.  The funniest thing about this (maybe) 2 ounce container of ointment is that the directions read, "use 3 times daily for 10 days" as if it would last that long on a rash of these proportions.  Yeah, it’s more than half gone and I have had it since Friday.

Like I said, RASH is improving.  Hmmm, capitalized like that looks like RASH should stand for something.  How about Red Allover Stephanie’s Heiny?  Yeah, cause there’s RASH there too.