International Trip Rule #3: Get some gear

Now that everyone in our household has a current passport from the nation of their choosing,  I have my shiny new bank card from my UK account (with its whole £7) and all our important documents are stored safely on the internets, we can think about gear.
Several items of gear arrived this week.

Jo's backpack that doubles as a harness. There are few things cuter, I submit. Also, it's a ladybird. It was incredibly hard to capture a picture of this, FYI.

A fancy new-to-us, folds up teeny tiny, weighs only 9lbs pack and play. Hallelujah for portable crib solutions. It's like a tent crossed with a crib. Thank you Phil & Ted, thank you.

And most importantly, Jo and I sorted our monies!

Perhaps premature, but enjoyable nonetheless.

International Trip Rule #2: Receive your passport

On the same day that we mailed Adam's passport renewal, we got Jo's brand new passport in the mail. That was pretty speedy - they tell you it will take 6-8 weeks and Jo's was almost exactly 2. I took a picture of her with her brand new official travel document. I told her it was a book about her. She seemed pretty pleased with it.

And we'll be doing this all again in 5 years time....

Baby Hair Rule #2: Do what feels right.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone should have the sort of unchecked power being a parent bestows.

Exhibit A:

I did this to Jo's hair and there was very little she could do about it. 

Now, for some reason when I put Jo's hair in pigtails it is quite the battle. Struggle against this hilarity? Not so much. Later in the day when she caught sight of it in the mirror she put her hand up to it but spared it the usual speedy yank that would have ended its existence. Then she laughed. I'm taking that as a good sign.

As Jennie said though, she's probably missing the mohawk days.

Baby Rule #4: Hug Your Bear

Jo carries this bear around whenever she finds him. He's got all sorts of stuff stuck to his poor self. His face is a pretty good indication of what the last meal was. Sometimes I find him abandoned in kitchen cupboards (he was in with the mixer last time that happened) and sometimes Jo tries to add him to my shower. However this bear also gets lots of love. He is kissed and cuddled and then passed to an adult to repeat the process. Once the chosen adult has repeated the affection he is claimed by his rightful owner, usually for a repeat of the process. Kisses then cuddles. Sometimes he gets kisses from his rabbit friend.

And sometimes Jo bites his face.

Baby Rule #3: Toys from the Library

I love to check out toys from the library. I think Jo likes it too... And she definitely enjoys pulling things off the shelves there though she isn't fussy what she pulls off this shelf, and she rarely remains committed to whatever she pulls. There are so many things to pull off the shelf, she most thoroughly enjoys that. Our last toy trip to the library was definitely a success. Jo loves music, especially anything with a solid beat. She dances in her chair to the snippets of music between news stories on the radio. She was rocking out when we went to Syd's dance recital. It's hilarious stuff. Recently she has been dancing to her favourite book - Farmyard Beat, which doesn't even have a tune, just a beat created by the pattern of the words in the book. But the most recent toy I grabbed from the library was a music set. It has a little tambourine, a triangle, some bells but most importantly to Jo, it has maracas. She LOVES the maracas. She will walk around the house with both of them just shaking them silly. She will bump her little bum to their rhythm if you shake them in time. They're a major redirection tool.

She will also try to drum up breakfast with them in the morning.

It wasn't working as you can see from the facial expression. I was too busy taking pictures of her. She's most displeased.

Summer Rules #3: Shave Ice Testing

In accordance with the Summer Rules Bucket List (SRBL) we have been trying out shave ice locations. Jo and I tested this location one day after a trip to the library. As you can tell from the pictures Jo was enthusiastic about this particular offering. (She's throwing her head back with her mouth open in the first shot, her way of announcing she would like more. Completely unprompted.) I can't say that I blame her, it was definitely yummy. Tiger's blood with ice cream in the bottom.  Having only eaten shave ice once while actually in Hawaii, I don't know that I am truly qualified in this matter, but from what I recall of said experience, this shave ice was great. No beans though. Next time I am in Hawaii I really want to try the beans. Someone remind me.

This sugary food colouring high was brought to you by North Shore Hawaiian Shave Ice at 1304 North State Street in Orem.

Holiday Rule #1: Take pictures (or pray that someone else does)

Yesterday was one of my favorite Fourth of July celebrations ever. I'm no rookie - I've been doing this for 12 years now in a variety of locations with a splendid selection of folks. But holidays with Jo are really ridiculously better. And yesterday was no exception. Cousins, BBQ, swimming, fireworks. Good times, good times.

Such good times in fact that I completely forgot to take a single picture. Thank goodness for Hannah capturing our two visual memories for the day.