First official pre-schooler pedicure and a vacation

We're going on a long-overdue vacation. Our first as a family of four! Fun! Exciting! Crazy! All that and multiple bags of snacks. I don't mean that in an urban slang way. We really are taking  big ziploc bags of snacks. 'Cause we're all thrifty and hungry when traveling like that.

Last year, Seattle's summer was an oddity: very little sun. I know that's surprising to folks elsewhere who think it rains here all the time. But summers here are actually pretty spectacular: temperatures in the 70-80s with no humidity, with crystal clear (as in no smog) views of mountains, lakes and water in all directions. I call them amnesia days: they make you forget about the other nine months of craptastic grey and/or rainy dreariness.

So since summer stunk last year, it's been months since my toes have seen the light of day outside of my bathroom. As such, there are probably Preakness Winners with better looking hooves right now.

I didn't want to scare any small children (especially my own) poolside with unkempt feet. We're going to Mexico, so I had a mental picture of me flip-flopping out to the pool with the fam only to overhear some nino exclaim, "Sus pies son como un burro!" ("Their feet are like a donkey!")

So Ava and I hot-footed it over to a local mall and had some mommy-daughter time with side-by-side pedicures, Ava's first in a real nail salon.

We sat back with our fro-yo and smoothie and reveled in the girl time. As you can see, Ava is still so small that even with the seat flipped up, her feet barely made it to the water. But they managed, and she kept giggling and saying, "Mommy, I'm having so much fun!"


It was a reminder of how important it is for me to remember to build in time with me or J. and just her or just Dylan. We're usually so busy rushing through each week hoping to keep all the plates spinning, that we don't take time to savor each other and spend time just enjoying each other's company. The vacation should help some.

Ava got to wear and break in her new vacation sandals (Hot pink sparkly flip flops. Of course.) and chose a hot pink nail color. When the nail technician offered to do a flower too, you might as well have waved a magic wand and told her M & M's and Gummy Bears were about to rain from the heavens. She was thrilled.

She couldn't wait to get home to show her Daddy and brother her new pedicure. Dad oohed and aahhed and exclaimed as expected. Dylan just smiled, happy that his sister was happy.


I didn't get shots of my pedicure, but it was lovely too. It didn't take a belt sander to smooth my rough heels, as I feared, but I assure you, the nail tech earned her money that night. And I did tip accordingly. Mexico, here we come.