Vacation!! (days 1 and 2)

(Rather than post vacation pics to Facebook, I've decided to blog with them. The blog will serve me better as a travel journal that I can read later with the kids.)

We've arrived in Garden City, SC!! All of us are so happy to be here — Adrian was in desperate need of a vacation, while the kids and I really needed some uninterrupted time with Adrian! In lieu of postcards, I'll try to blog regularly on our trip.

Day One

We left on Friday at 9am sharp — the EXACT time Adrian wanted to leave! Unheard of, I know. (And it'll probably never happen again!)

Before every trip, I always shop for books and activities to occupy the kids in the car. Oo dug into her new stuff right away, riffling through her bag like it was a Christmas stocking. T, on the other hand, had no interest in what was in his bag. He spent much of the long day in the car simply sitting and looking out the window. Such a mellow dude. The kids were so good in the car, and we ended our day's travels in Greensboro, NC, just in time for dinner.

Our plan was to take a dip in the hotel pool after dinner, but a thunderstorm nixed that idea. So instead we got some cookies from the hotel lobby and kept our Friday night "Movie Night" tradition with a pay-per-view movie ("The Lorax") in the room.

Day Two

After enjoying a good breakfast buffet, we left the hotel around 9:30. Thanks to an app that my dad told me about (Super Pages), finding a Starbucks close by was very easy. We only had 4 more hours of driving to do, but the trip felt waaaay longer than that. The kids had given us all of their patience during the first day's drive. If I had a nickel for every time the kids asked "How much longer?"...

Saturday is check-in day for the condo crowd, so traffic was a beast! The last 10 miles of the drive were slow moving, and the excited anticipation of playing in the ocean was making the tension in the car escalate beyond measure.

Even though it felt like we'd never arrive, we pulled in before 3pm. The kids ran around the condo squealing while Adrian unpacked the car and I made up the beds. While Adrian ran to the grocery store (which he reports was as jammed as the road into town), I took the kids to the beach for T's first dip ever in an ocean.

Incidentally, Oo's first dip in the ocean was when she was 19 months old (and we just found out that we were expecting T).  Here's a pic from that trip to Kitty Hawk, NC.

Okay, so back to the current trip... The kids and I played on the beach until 7pm. When we got back up to our condo, Adrian was still unpacking groceries. Poor guy! We decided on a quick dinner of hot dogs and beans and then headed back down so that Adrian could enjoy some beach time.

Adrian and Oo started with a dip in the pool, while T and I went for a sunset walk on the beach. The water had receded, so there were shells everywhere. As T explains it, we didn't walk very far because there were so many shells to stop and look at. We even saw a little crab scurry sideways; he was almost too fast for us to see. T and I took these pictures of each other on the beach, and the last pic was taken when Adrian and Oo came to join us.

 

We stayed on the beach until it was almost too dark to see. Someone way down on the beach was setting off fireworks. Bedtime came late, and the kids were exhausted. I don't think we'll get much relaxing done on this trip. But that's okay. Play and family time together can be just as restorative.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Oo doesn't have school today; it's a Teacher In-service Day. The kids woke up before me and made me breakfast. Oo made me my usual — a bowl of FiberOne cereal with soy milk. The bowl of cereal was just about enough food to feed one of her baby dolls, so I made a second bowl when she wasn't looking. T filled a cup with fruity Cherrios, pretzels, and chocolate cookies. He didn't feel brave enough to pour the heavy carton of milk, so he left it dry. (Whew!) I told him he made a very good choice.

In addition to having a long weekend, we also have the pleasure of pet sitting Oo's class pet, a bearded dragon named Murray. Here's a conversation I had with Oo just moments ago...

Oo:  Can I hold Murray?
Me:  Yes.
Oo:  Wait... can I hold Murray?
Me:  I said, "yes."
Oo:  Okay. It's just that my ears... whenever you're talking, they just automatically turn off.

Play-Doh Slave

They say a mom holds many job titles: Nurse, Short-order Cook, Teacher, Friend, Psychologist, Janitor, Laundress, Dietician, Social Director, Chauffeur, Bodyguard, Personal Shopper, Baker, Law Enforcer, Cheerleader, Hair Stylist, Toy Repairman, Tower and Train Track Engineer, Storyteller, Secretary, Mind Reader, Dishwasher, Referee, Librarian, Comfy Chair, and Pack Mule, just to name a few.

Well, I can now add "Play-Doh Slave" to my résumé.

For the past I-don't-know-how-many months, T has been OBSESSED with Angry Birds, which is interesting because we have a no-video-games policy in our house. His first exposure to the birds was a YouTube video we watched together. ("Wait," you say, "there are YouTube videos of Angry Birds?" Yes, not only are there some promotional videos that were made by the company, there are a SLEW of animated videos made by fans.)

Since gaining interest in Angry Birds, T has begun a collection of Angry Birds items. He has two Angry Birds games (not video games, but the kind where you have to build the pigs' houses with blocks), some figurines, an Angry Birds kite, pencil toppers, stickers, plush toys, and an Angry Birds t-shirt that he wants to wear every... single... day.

One of T's favorite videos to watch is of a little boy named Evan who is showing off his collection of Angry Birds that his dad made out of Sculpey clay. That video inspired T to build his own Angry Birds out of Play-Doh. But when he found that his Play-Doh skills didn't quite produce the quality he was looking for, he pouted, and then he blinked those baby blues at me. Now, I'm his Play-Doh Slave.

Anywhere from once to three times a week, T digs out the Play-Doh and I start taking orders. He usually requests the birds in the same order: red, blue, yellow, black, white, etc. Sometimes he wants me to make the birds from the Angry Birds Seasons or Angry Birds Space games, and every now and then he'll dictate the design for a new type of bird. But he ALWAYS wants me to make the pigs — he loves the pigs. Oo gets in on the act too, she's not a fan of the characters, but she likes making her little brother happy.

After the characters are all created, T usually wants pictures taken of them. Once he even made a video that was almost word-for-word the same as Evan's Sculpey-clay video! (I'd post T's video here but it's way too long.) Here are some of our pictures:

Adrian teases me about being a Play-Doh Slave. He says that T has me wrapped around his little pinkie. And yet, since I first started drafting this blog entry, Adrian downloaded Angry Birds onto his phone so T could play the game— yep, breaking the no-video-games rule. So... who's wrapped around the boy's little pinkie now?

A Practical Approach to Interior Design

We're finally going to paint the upstairs bathroom! I've been wanting to do so ever since we painted it 8 years ago. It's a sunshiny yellow, cheery and light. But I don't like it. The yellow makes everything look dingy, and it makes the beautiful azure tiles on the floor look like teal — I hate teal. We decided to paint it white. GASP!! I know, I know, we said we'd never have more than one white room in the house, but white really is the best choice for that bathroom.

On Monday afternoon, I decided to trek to the paint store to get some paint chips. I told the kids to put their shoes on so we could run a quick errand, and I was met with the expected barrage of questions: Where are we going? Do we HAVE to? Do we hafta go NOW? Why do you hafta to paint the bathroom? Why don't you like yellow? What color are you gonna paint it?

When I told the kids we were going to paint it white, T did not take the news well:

T: (in a loud, panicky voice) But you CAN'T paint it white because then the WHOLE potty will be camouflaged!!!  (a pause, then very quietly...)  I won't be able to find the potty.

Overheard

Yesterday, Oo was reading the Sunday funnies from the newspaper, when she said something that I can honestly say I've never in my life heard anyone express...

Oo: [squeal!!] Mary Worth is getting so exciting!

Halloween Fun

We had a wonderful Halloween season.  Yes, it's become a season at our house — what, with the costume planning, decorating, baking, trip to the pumpkin farm, school parties...  There's far too much to write about, so I'm going to let pictures tell some of the story.

Here we are ready to embark on a hay ride at the pumpkin farm.  You can't see the hay or the ride in this pic, but you can see my stylin' family sporting their cool shades.  Thank goodness it didn't rain that day; it was the last day we were available to get our pumpkins!

This was the first year we felt the kids were up for the challenge of the corn maze — why don't they call it a "maize maze?"  Just a thought.  Anyway... the kids had a blast!  T loves to solve mazes, so the chance to actually be inside a maze was a big thrill for him.

And here's the money shot...

To pass out to our trick-or-treating friends, we baked chocolate cream cheese cut-out cookies with almond icing.  Deee-lish!  This batch was decorated by Miss Oo.  The cookie in the center was her experiment to see what would happen to candy corn in the oven.

This next batch was decorated by T, with a little help.  Notice the ghosts... it was important to T that he make each one say something different.

Costumes! Oo was a black and white kitty, and T went as a little monkey.  Oo originally wanted to be an alligator, but she decided instead to be a cat when the only alligator costumes I could find were for infants.  And T had wanted to be a gorilla, but he was happy when we found a monkey costume.  They went easy on me — they know I can't sew.

 

The kids picked out the designs for their pumpkins from a carving-idea book and the Internet.  Adrian carved his and Oo's pumpkins: R2D2 and a kitty-bat.

I carved "The Scream" for me and a skull face for T.  He doesn't usually like scary things, but he said his pumpkin HAD TO be scary for Halloween.

Adrian took the kids around trick-or-treating while I stayed home and manned the fort... and the candy bowls.  Oo covered four blocks — double the territory she covered last year.  T only lasted for one and a half blocks before calling it quits because he was tired.  After he dumped out his candy bag on the porch to peruse his spoils, we cuddled, passed out candy, and watched a couple of raccoons climb out of and around a hole in our front yard's tree.  Here is a picture of us snuggling.  (He's pretending to be asleep.)

Before the evening was over, T had planned his costume for next year and Oo had managed to squeeze in an impromptu playdate at a neighbor's house and sort half of her major candy haul.  A jam-packed evening of fun, and yet we somehow managed to get the kids tucked in by 8:30.  But that wasn't the end of the excitement..

...by Wednesday morning, the raccoons had eaten R2D2 and kicked Oo's pumpkin off the steps.  After I took this picture I noticed the look of horror on my pumpkin's face.

Even funnier was T's reaction... holy cow!... he was majorly PO'd!!  I tried to get some video of his ranting and stomping, but he caught me doing it and gave me a look that could kill.

Minus One

We lost a member of our little family last week. Pretzel. Her health has been slowly declining for several months now, but things took a turn for the worse when she stopped eating. The vet found tumors on her bladder, but some lab work showed no cancerous cells, only signs of infection. Antibiotics did nothing to help her appetite and had no effect on the tumors. The vet and I talked about our options: more lab work, x-rays, appetite stimulants and possibly chemo, but it felt cruel of me to lay out a plan for more meds and vet visits. Pretzel HATED going to the vet; while there, she would tremble and yowl and pee on the exam table. And after a vet visit, she would be terrified of me for the next two days — fearful that I was going to put her in her carrier and take her back there.

Since I couldn't ask Pretzel about how she felt about the situation, I had to make the call on my own. I wanted to take her home with me, but for what? So she could starve for a few more days?

Oo was at school, but I had T with me at the vet's. I told him to give her a little pat on the head and tell her that we love her. We left the room while the vet put her to sleep, but I went back in alone afterwards to say goodbye. In hind sight, I should've taken T in with me because not seeing her afterwards left him full of the questions and confusion I was trying to spare him.

When we picked Oo up from the car line at school, T blurted out that Pretzel was dead before Oo was fully in the car. I had been preparing Oo by telling her that we didn't have much more time to be with Pretzel and she seemed fine and understanding. But the finality of the situation sent her into sobs, and the three of us spent the following half hour piled up in a mopey heap together on the couch.

After our snuggle time, Oo set to work, cleaning the family room. She picked up the toys and books and even straightened out all the couch pillows and TV remotes. As she proudly displayed her work to me, I couldn't believe all the effort she had gone through to cheer me up. But then she said, "See? Aren't I responsible?" (She knows that we're waiting for her and T to grow up a little more and become "responsible" before we're get a new pet... That girl doesn't waste any time.)

Even though she seemed to have pulled herself together quickly and put her eye on the prize, Oo got weepy a few times over the next couple days. She's feeling better now though, and she's proud that she and Pretzel became friends before the end.

So back to T, and his confusion... During dinner, on the day that Pretzel passed away, T told me:

Mom, I don't want to be dead. Because if I be dead then I wouldn't be able to do all the important stuff... like... watch videos or ride Oo's bike or bounce on Hannah's trampoline. If I be dead, then all I could do is ride in the wagon like...

And then he made a contorted pose and held it as if rigor mortis had set in. Where does he get these ideas?? I should've let him see the cat.