Virginia's Second Haircut

Remember a few months back when I finally relented to months of nagging from T and cut V's hair?

Well this time, it was weeks of nagging by V to cut her hair "short in back, with bangs like Bridget!" Bridget is one of her buddies from school, who does have cute hair. Of course, nearly all of her friends at school have bangs, but Bridget for some reason got the shout out.

She showed me over and over again what she wanted and eventually, I picked up the phone and called the fabulous Lauren for a hair cut.

I went first and demonstrated how fun a hair washing, cut and blow dry could be. V was more than ready for her turn at the sink:


with the scissors:


and for her bangs!

Look how happy she is about these bangs! That's the face I make when T unexpectedly pours me a glass of wine on a Sunday afternoon!

She was way too grown up for the whole ordeal/fun (depends on which Bruce you ask) and was rewarded at the end with not only a great new 'do, but a lollipop to boot.

BEFORE:


AFTER:


Happy haircut!

New bike!

Every time we think Virginia has graduated to big girl status, we realize there is another milestone looming that will put her into an even higher level of "being big!"

Take for instance, her new bike.

Despite T's secret desire to get her this bike:


We went with the "Aunt Chrissy got us a really great deal on a new bike from Performance" model pictured below.


FYI- it is called the Chickadee. Perfect, right?!

She loves her bike so much, she insisted we take it to Seaboard Station last Friday night so she could ride it with other kids. I didn't really want to go after a long week and facing a weekend of single parenthood. When I tried to persuade her with a delivery pizza and any movie she wanted...she said no, "seaboard station!" When I told her my head hurt and I really rather stay home she said, "You could just take some ibuprophen!"

So off we went. Luckily one of her BFFs from school, Scarlett, was also there. Scarlett is a lot faster on her bike, but she was patient with V.

They rode for about 5 minutes, stopped for snacks, rode for 5 more minutes, stopped to beg for ice cream, rode some more, stopped to make silly faces...and so on and so forth.

Favorite quote of the night was Scarlett (who turned 4 on Monday), looking at V using her feet to get the bike moving, said to me "that's how 3 year olds ride their bikes" and took off riding as fast as she could with no assistance. So I guess that's the next milestone we have to look forward to...

Simple Pleasures

OK, OK I know it has been a while since we posted anything. That's a testament to just how much we have going on this summer! While I'd like nothing more than to spend a long time detailing our trip to Mississippi, our Friday nights listening to music at Seaboard Station and the recent visit with the Ashland grandparents, I can't. Too much time, pressure and way too many pictures to sort through. Instead, I'll tell you about the simple pleasure we enjoyed this past weekend...a nature walk with Virginia.

Sunday morning rolled around quickly (how does Sunday get here so fast when Monday-Friday takes so long?) and with bellies full of waffles, Tres and I decided we needed to head out to nature and get some exercise. I packed up a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and we headed to Lake Crabtree park.

V, armed with nothing more than a magnifying glass and a paper bag to collect treasures, was extremely excited. See how excited she is to have her picture taken on the way to the trail?

T led the way to the nature trail and we searched for close encounters of the wild life kind.

Luckily, since we built this hike way up to V to convince her to leave the TV behind, we found lots to look at...

Slugs in a tree!


Caterpillar nests!

Deer!

A frog!

A spider so big it could eat a cicada!

Butterflies!

V was enthralled by it all. Until Tres mentioned we should be on the lookout for snakes. Then she decided Daddy's shoulders provided a much better view of nature.

How long would you have expected a 3 1/2 year old to tolerate such a hike? My guess was 15 minutes. Nope! V lasted over an hour on this trail and actually protested having to go back to eat lunch.

Good girl! She's ready for Girl Scouts already.

We had a great time and remarked at least a dozen times on the way home how great it was to 1)get out of the house and into the woods 2)enjoy a completely free activity and 3)not see any snakes.

Ahh, the simple pleasures in life.

Virginia's First Haircut

That's right...she made it to 3 1/2 and I had never cut her hair (not counting snipping off that last bit of baby mullet she was born with by about 6 months).

Tres had literally been begging me to cut it for months, well a year probably, but I wasn't budging. Something about her not being a baby anymore. Or fears of a bad haircut. Or perhaps just because it wasn't my idea. No telling what it was really all about.

Maybe I liked the Chrystal Gayle hair...

but I did finally have to admit that it was hard to keep untangled, she came home from school looking like a rag-a-muffin AND Tres had no ability to really fix it it was so long.

So, I grabbed my theatre hair stylist friend Brittnye and she came on over for a cut.

V was excited. I'm still not sure what T promised her if she got her hair cut (is there a princess bike hidden somewhere I haven't found yet?) but she was pumped. But not as pumped as Tres. I think this may have been his most victorious moment yet.

She sat still as could be and let Brittnye cut away. No wiggling, no complaining, no crying.

I think she actually felt pretty grown up getting to wear the cape and all.

I had to admit that the finished product was cute...even if the curls were all gone.

And WOW has brushing her hair been easier. So, I guess it is official. V is not a baby anymore. And I guess I have to admit that Tres was right. Darn it.

4th of July Weekend...party party party

July 4 was a great day at the VeggieBruce's! V waited impatiently for her friends to arrive
because she knew what was in store:

2 pools full of kids


1 slip and slide


a ridiculous amount of food (thanks to everyone who brought something)

and best of all, fireworks!



Could you ask for a more appreciative audience than that? Zane loves fireworks.

V liked them too, although a bit less effusively.


Somehow I missed the opportunity to take a picture of Tres' first adventure in kegging his home brew (sorry, T). He made an IPA using the hops he grew on our back porch and it was a hit! Less of a hit were my terrible pouring skills. Yes, I'm 33 years old and this was my first time pouring beer out of a keg tap. My Dean's List college years should be enough proof of that...if the foam in your cup didn't already convince you.

At any rate, each Bruce had a great time with friends and neighbors...

I think we'll do it again next year. After we take a little nap.

4th of July Weekend...party prep

Tres and I decided to turn our 4th of July party into an annual event so that translated into spending Saturday getting ready for the 50 some odd people that were going to descend upon our house on Sunday. First things first, we had to harvest some important ingredients...namely the Caribe potatoes we'd been growing since Spring. You can't have a 4th of July party without potato salad, right?

I was amazed to actually find purple/blue potatoes inside the bags that have been sitting on our back deck for months. It was kind of like an Easter hunt looking through the dirt for the potatoes. Virginia squealed with delight at each one. Predicted yield for a bag? 12 pounds. Our yield? Just shy of 3 pounds. Oh well, better luck next year. We had plenty of parsley, cucumbers, basil and cherry tomatoes to round out our harvest.

Next up, testing out the new dinosaur blow up pool we acquired at ye olde Kmart. I blew this whole thing up by myself. Now that's a lot of hot air! Set it up, drug the hose around and nearly passed out in the process only to get this reaction:

After adding a bit more water, the pool thankfully passed the most important test of all: the lick test.

Yep, you guessed it. Dinosaur tastes like chicken.

4th of July Weekend...the warm up

We were thrilled to get to see the Coynes en route to their new home in Alabama. While they stayed less than 24 hours, it was a memorable trip in that Molly has finally caught up with James and Virginia...at least in her mind. Exhibit A: the trampoline

I cannot think of a better way to spend a Thursday night than with Coynes, Neomonde take out and lots of good wine.

Friday night we took V to my favorite summer activity: Music on the Porch at Seaboard Always good music, cheap beer and pizza (price, not quality thankyouverymuch Carolina Brewing Company!) and so kid-friendly we can hardly stand it. Case in point, they close off a huge parking lot so kids can ride around on their bikes/tricycles/scooters,

everyone backs their cars up to unload chairs/tables/snacks

(our friends Greg, Bridget and "Crispy" from V's school)

and this week they even had BOUNCY HOUSES!

What could be better on a Friday night? Dancing you say?

Check.

Squealing at the band?

Check.

Face-staining treats?

Check.

No, nothing could be better.

I couldn't make this up...

Tuesday marked V's first big recital. After however many weeks of "Jazzy Bugs" ballet/tap/creative movement/gymnastics, she was ready for the Little Gym end of semester show case. Or so we thought...

First, I have to give my mother, aka Queenie dba Kiki, props for hauling little V to class every Tuesday at 11:15. And to Tres' mom, aka Grandma, for taking her last week when Mom was in England and lastly, Kristy the babysitter, for getting her there this week so Tres and I could show up and enjoy the show. We didn't even mind that Kristy forgot V's dance shoes.

We arrive and V is thrilled to see her friends. Thrilled to be wearing a pink tutu (even though it wasn't the official tutu of the class*). Thrilled to be a Jazzy Bug. Until the music started...

And then she turned into a hair-gnawing, hand-wringing statue.

She watched as the other girls jumped, twirled and kicked around her.
And she shook her head "no" each time I motioned from the back to smile, dance, move, or do anything but stand in one place.

She eventually just gave up entirely and came and sat in my lap. I loved her anyway.


When the dance routines were over (and there were three, count them, three routines), I asked her "Why won't you dance? Are you scared?" She shook her head no and simply said,"I'm waiting for gymnastics!"

And true to her word, the little girl turned it out in gymnastics! She did her routine on the balance beam.

She swung on the uneven bars.

She had a great time.

She even got a medal, which she accepted with style.


After she got her medal, she led us (Tres, me and Kristy) back into the dance room where she proceeded to dance her little booty off. Jumping, spinning, kicking, the whole 9 yards. In shock, T & I asked her almost simultaneously, "Virginia! Why didn't you do that in class?" To which she replied,

"I didn't want to share the stage!"

Is the saying a star is born every minute? Or just a sucker? Either way, we are in trouble. Big trouble.


*In my defense, several mothers swore to Kiki that they wouldn't buy the $30 tutu being sold for the class and would send their kids in tutus they already had...but at some point those mothers must have backed down from their oath because all but 2 other kids had on that stinkin' matching tutu!