This entire week is supposed to be rainy. Yesterday it rained for part of the morning and then didn't rain again until the night. It's overcast and cool today, and we're all hoping the rain holds off until after the annual picnic that the Chamber of Commerce is holding tonight. We're planning to go after Accalia's swimming lessons. There are free pony rides, clowns creating balloon animals, a kids' art fest with lots of different crafts to do, plenty of food, etc.

Right now Ella is napping and Cole and Accalia are playing outside with the youngest neighbor girl. They're birdwatching. This morning we had a few errands to run, including voting in the presidential primary. It's been an exciting year for voters in South Dakota because, with the Democratic race, we're actually relevant this year! I don't recall ever having candidates visit South Dakota so many times before a primary. I don't think the Democratic candidates even bother since this is such a big Republican state. Yesterday Hilary was here in Yankton, but we didn't go to see her because we had other commitments at that time. It would have been neat just to do that, though. Obama's headquarters is about a block from our house, so that's fun, too.

Yesterday had its share of ups and downs. Ella was out of bed by 6 a.m. and had been awake since about 5 a.m. Thankfully she slept in a little longer this morning. Good practice for the baby's presence, though. And yes, Rachel, I did use "she" when referring to the baby in a recent post, but you should also know that my mom is now convinced we're playing psychological mind games with her regarding the baby's gender. Hee, hee, hee. She told me right away that she didn't want to know if we found out, but she was convinced that this baby would be a girl. Then she decided the baby would be a boy. Now she's back referring to the baby as a girl but does so with a giggle. So, keeping my mom's mental state in mind, take it all with a grain of salt.

Anyway, back to yesterday. After the rain stopped, we went to the Lewis & Clark Visitor's Center that overlooks the Gavins Point Dam. On the way, we saw a wild turkey. The kids had fun looking around the center. Cole's favorite was definitely the model of the dam, power plant and surrounding area. When we were back home, he started to recreate it in our sandbox.

Accalia had a haircut yesterday and had her below the shoulders hair taken up to chin length. She's much happier. It's the last time we'll be going to that stylist, which is unfortunate because Accalia's gone there for a while and is comfortable. She's fine with going to the person who does my hair, though. The reason we're no longer going there is because, over the past few visits, we've had to wait longer and longer despite having an appointment. Our appointment yesterday was for 3 p.m., but Accalia didn't get in until 3:30 because her stylist was giving somebody a manicure. I was furious and just about ready to leave when she finished up. Cory said I should have left anyway just to make a point, but Accalia was looking forward to it so much. I don't know if this stylist has gotten into the habit of double booking or always ends up taking walk ins when it's close to our appointment time, but I'm not going to continue going to a place where we're not going to have our appointment time honored. Besides, it's not at all fun to try to entertain three children in a hair salon for an hour.

After the haircut, we hurried to the chiropractor. Then we all headed home. Cory did some gardening outside later on, but otherwise it was a pretty quiet night. The neighbor girls came home around 8:30, and Accalia and Cole ran outside to play with them. It didn't last long, though, because the oldest came to the door to tell on Cole for saying something, and two minutes later Cole was collapsed on the ground crying because she had said something to him. Cory suggested we call it a night and try again when everyone was well rested. Surprisingly, Accalia and Cole were just fine with that. They were really tired.

So that's the last couple days.