Can't keep her down...for long

Peyton never gets sick. I mean, like, never ever. So it was bound to happen at some point.

7:15am: Peyton wakes up, groggy, grumpy. Nothing out of the ordinary
7:24am: Getting ready for school, Peyton says she doesn't want to eat
7:28am: Peyton says her juice tastes funny and her tummy hurts
7:45am: We head to the car to go to school
7:46am: Peyton pukes all over herself, me, and the garage floor

8:00am: Peyton is on the couch, watching TV, looking as pathetic as ever.
8:25am: Peyton seems to have some color back, sits up to play on the ipad, and tells me she is hungry

9:00am: It's a miracle! She is cured! Peyton decides being home sick with a mommy who works is boring, and decides to use her barf bucket as a hat.

9:05am: Peyton makes silly faces at me while I'm juggling conference calls, work emails, and wondering if I can still take her school (I didn't).

Please let this be the official record for fastest recovery time from the flu ever. And, as an added bonus, Petyon was so thoughtful and generous that she passed her bug on to me! I however, did not recover as quickly.

Missing our friend

It's been five months since Peyton saw her bestie Amber, and even though I don't think she fully gasps the concept of time yet, she is missing her friend more and more every day. She knows it's been awhile since she got to run amok with her very first playmate.

I hear on an almost daily basis, "I miss Amber. When can we go on an airplane to see her?"

And, the other night, when we were picking a movie to watch, Peyton skipped right over her favorites of Frozen, Snow White, Tangled, and Wizard of Oz, opting to watch the "Peyton and Amber Movie" (a compilation of pictures of the girls set to songs about friendship that I made for Amy before we moved. It was intended to make her cry, and it worked).

Watching the Peyton and Amber movie. Never gets old.

I'm so glad that these two have remained in each others minds and hearts given the physical distance between them. Major props to Amy and me for being such awesome parents and insisting that we visit twice a year. In all seriousness, we moved from Virginia when Peyton was 18 months old. She's lived in Arizona longer now than she did Virginia. But she still considers Amber her best bud...she remembers mundane things they did as babies like eating spaghetting on the sidewalk and running through the water at the splashpad. She loves to tell the story of how they got locked in Amber's room and Mr. Jason had to pick the lock on the door to free them. Many of these memories are brought to life through pictures, but I truly believe Peyton remembers Amber and all the crazy things they did. There is a strange, special bond between these two girls, and I hope that never changes.

PK will have to be a little patient...no plans to visit the Circle yet. At least that is what I keep telling her. Wink, wink.

Slowing (and cooling!) down in Show Low

One of the perks of having parents that live nearby is being able to shamelessly mooch off of their awesome things. For us, numero uno on that list is crashing at my parents' cabin in Show Low. Cabin life is slow, casual, and cool, and with the temperature busting through to the 111 mark, it was needed.

We hit the road on Friday evening and immediately felt relaxed (the bottle of wine that I opened within ten seconds of walking in the door helped in that process). We spent the weekend at a low-key Show Low festival of sorts with games for kids and food tents. We grilled filets and ate cheese and crackers. We zoned out in the hot tub. We napped. We wore t-shirts and jeans (some of us may or may not have worn our pajamas all weekend). We watched movies. It was perfection.

While Mommy's Away

While I was slaving away earning a living, providing for my family, and sacraficing a Sunday evening in the comfort of my home for a business trip, Martin and Uncle Jim (a bad combo, if you ask me) decided to let the kids run amok.

They crafted a 5 foot tower of death by stacking pool lounge chairs and toy tubs on top of each other, allowing my precious angel to plummet into the pool. All the while screaming, "Daddy weekend!!"

 

Following pool time, Daddy allowed Peyton to wear her fleece footed jammies to dinner. Outside. In Arizona. In the middle of summer. It was at least 103 degrees. (In his defense, he was covering up her skin so the bug wouldn't bite her. Probably could have used a long sleeve cotton tee and some leggings, but his heart was in the right place).

Good thing my trip was only 24 hours, and order was quickly restored in the house.

Happy Birthday, Gabriella!

One of Peyton's nearest and dearest celebrated her 5th birthday this past week (May babies are the best), and Peyton and I felt so lucky and grateful to be able to join in on the festivities. Gabriella invited her pals to a Frozen (of course) party at Make Meaning, where the kids got glitter tattoos (duh), painted jewelry boxes and made soap. The evening was topped off with pizza, cake, and singing.

This is Peyton photo bombing Miss Jenny and Gabriella. She thought it was hilarious.

Here are our top 10 favorite things about the original G:

1) Just like PK, she loves all things Frozen.

2) Up until a few weeks ago, she lived by the motto "Tink is the new black." Now, she wholeheartedly believes that Zarina, the Pirate Fairy, is the new Tink.

3) She loves jewelry. I have never seen her out without a necklace, bracelet and at least two rings.

4) If it has Hello Kitty on it, Gabriella owns it.

5) The "roar" game at the top of the grassy hill at the splash pad is where she truly bonded with Peyton - scaring the other kids away with their intimidating shouts.

6) She has the baddest twin brothers in town.

7) Her mom is Miss Jenny, which instantly raises her cool factor.

8) She always shares her purse full of lip gloss, and even lets Peyton keep some overnight for a trade.

9) She has already mastered the art of taking a selfie on her toy phone.

10) Unlike any other 4/5 year old I know, she willingly gave up the last pink frosted cupcake to her friend Peyton (who I might add, was throwing a fit about the pink cupcake).

Disneyland Day 4

Am I really still writing about Disneyland? Were we there forever?!?! Sure seems like it.

Our fourth and final day was courtesy of my dear friend Ilona who has special Disney perks. She was generous enough to give us free passed to the park so we could stay one extra day and see the fireworks show on a Friday night. My friends never cease to amaze me with how kind they are.

We entered the park with one thing on our minds: FIND TIANA. She was the only one we hadn't met yet, and Peyton had one empty page in her autograph book. We immediately talked to as many cast members as possible to track her down.

Martin and I spent most of the morning splitting duties - he took her on rides while I tried to find the elusive Tiana. Long story short, our plan failed and we never ended up finding her. Peyton did run into Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Martin suggested she have him sign her book, but she politely declined, saying Jake is for boys and she like Princesses.

Luckily Peyton wasn't too heartbroken - she decided it was a great idea if the three of us signed the last page in her book. But she did make us promise to go back to find her on our next visit.

Since this day was basically icing on the cake for us, we took our time, did whatever Peyton wanted, and enjoyed a more laid back approach to Disney. We rode Ariel's ride in California Adventure 6 times in a row, and then at least 4 more times later in the day. We rode the teacups. We rode Peter Pan. We watched the parade. Twice.

One of my favorite pictures from the whole weekend is this one: Peyton riding the carousel on the right, Martin, aka her security detail, close behind with eyes on the subject.

The week finished off with the awesome fireworks show (Peyton squealed when Dumbo flew over the castle), and one last swing through all of Peyton's favorite rides including the Rocket Ships, and of course, Ariel.

We got back to our hotel around midnight, exhausted, hot, and broke. Peyton was on a complete adrenaline rush, and bounced around the hotel for a few minutes before passing out cold, clutching her two flip and switch dolls.

In all, a successful family vacation with some lessons learned. We drove home the next day with Peyton saying she missed her friends the Princesses at Disneyland. Martin and I began discussing who would apply for a second job so we could go back...

The Blanket

Peyton brings a blanket to school for nap time. For the past year, she's been perfectly content with her Tinkerbell blanket. But beacuse I'm so great, I got Peyton an adorable Frozen blanket and gave it to her this past weekend. She became immediately obsessed with it and of course brought it to school on Tuesday for her nap.

As always on Tuesday, Grandma picked Peyton up for Pasta Tuesday. She came home, went to bed, woke up, ate breakfast, and I dropped her off at school at about 8:15 on Wednesday morning.

Now, I realize you are probably thinking this story is extremely boring. However, when I dropped her off on Wednesday, her cubby, which had once held the prized blanket, was completely empty. The blanket was...MISSING.

Uh oh. I thought for a second that I could pretend I didn't notice the missing item. But Peyton is way too smart for that and immediately asked her teacher where her brand new Frozen blanket was.

The teacher had a blank look on her face. Tears welled up in Peyton's eyes. She screamed, "my blanket is gone!!!"

TRAGEDY.

My immediate reaction was to line all of her classmates up single file and grill them about the blanket's whereabouts. And then I was going to wait outside her classroom all day and interview each parent as they came to pick up their child. Surely someone pretending to be a friend stole the blanket in a fit of jealously. The child likely conspired with his/her parents who knew finding such a limited edition item would be virtually impossible. It was the only logical explanation.

Luckily, I gathered myself and told Peyton we would find it. She wasn't buying my bullshit and was hysterical. I left school and speed-dialed Grandma to see if she had taken the blanket home by accident. Nope. I called Martin - maybe he had an idea. Nope.

BLANKET GONE. SUSPECT LIST STARTED.

I drove home to get Peyton an alternate blanket to use for the day, and when I arrived back at school I cornered the front desk girl to see if she had seen any blanket theives recently.

"Peyton's blanket is in the dryer. We wash them on Tuesday nights."

What should have been a relief and a sufficient explanation was not for me. I demanded  she show me the actual blanket. I needed visual evidence that the thing was indeed in the dryer, in the school, a mere 30 feet from my child. It was.

I gleefully told Peyton the crisis had been averted, that her blanket was safe and sound and would be returned to her once it was completely dry. Because she is my daughter, she was somewhat apprehensive and asked that Miss Theresea bring it to her immediately.

No doubt the blanket will be making its way home each and every night from now on. And I will be writing her name on it in big, bold letters. And perhaps installing a microchip in it as well.