Do any of you have the Flip camera? I recently bought it on a whim, and I am TOTALLY addicted. I love it. Love it. Love it.

And the results? Well, you need to see for yourself.

As I've often said before, I'm so grateful that my children have wonderful teachers and caregivers in their lives. I love my kids with all my heart, but I'm easily impatient and weary, distracted and busy. Full days together usually end up including some amount (ok, some significant amount) of television and computer games, once my creative energy runs dry.

So that's why I'm thrilled to have discovered geocaching. We have good friends who've been doing it for awhile, and when the girls began their restless, "I'm bored" rant, I finally decided to give it a try. After some searching online, we found a location not far from our home, and with only about 45 minutes before we had to pick up Bryce, we hit the road.

It was an awesome experience. The sunshine felt great, the girls were excited to pick wildflowers and exclaim over the many ladybugs wandering through the fields, and the thrill of finding "treasure" was simply fabulous.

Is this a new addiction? Quite possibly. But more importantly, as Keira beamed a big smile, she declared, "This is the most fun we've had together in forever."

I wholeheartedly agree.

Keira lost her first tooth! To her delight, it had been wiggling around for a few weeks, and she gleefully let people test how loose it was, all to her running commentary about what it felt like, when it might fall out, and how excited she was feeling.

This past Sunday was the big day. After having a banana snack, Keira came tearing out of the house, exclaiming that her tooth was gone! We hunted around the kitchen, but to her disappointment the actual tooth could not be found. I think she was somewhat sad yet somewhat fascinated by the thought that she probably swallowed the darn thing.

The next part was interesting. Keira leaned in and asked me in a small voice, "Mama, is the tooth fairy real? Or is it just you and Baba?" I hesitated for a moment, looking down into her curious face. I thought about all the myths we've already been struggling to maintain...and decided to tell her the truth.

"It's just us, Keira. There isn't a real tooth fairy."

"Oh, good! I'm excited to get my money."

Of course, I thought. That night, $1 later (happily stashed away in her piggy bank), Keira put on her pj's, carefully brushed her hair, and asked me to take a picture of her toothy grin.

Hooray! Our big girl is just a little bit bigger.