We just spotted the station!

So, many moons ago (heh heh) I signed up at NASA for “Spot the Station” alerts (go here if you want to sign up) because it sounded cool:

Did you know you can see the International Space Station from your house? As the third brightest object in the sky, after the sun and moon, the space station is easy to see if you know where and when to look for it.

NASA’s Spot the Station service sends you an email or text message a few hours before the space station passes over your house. The space station looks like a fast-moving plane in the sky, though one with people living and working aboard it more than 200 miles above the ground.

Well, most of the alerts have been for my sleeping hours…and while I thought the idea was cool, it wasn’t cool enough to actually set an alarm to wake up for. Or the time was fine, but I forgot about it with bedtime rituals, etc. But tonight, the stars aligned (heh heh) and this was the alert that I reread in my email at about 9:25 tonight:

Time: Tue Jun 04 9:32 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 77 degrees, Appears: SW, Disappears: NE

So I told Tom we were going out to look for it. πŸ™‚

Of course, neither of us grabbed our phone so we weren’t entirely sure which direction SW was, but we guessed. And waited. And watched. And marveled at just how much stuff is out there moving around at night. And then we saw it—from a completely different direction than we thought—but it was obviously it. The brightest thing in the sky, moving lickety-split. If you hadn’t known that’s what you were looking at, you really would have just thought it was a plane. It looked that close. But of course, it’s amazing to think it was 200 miles above our heads.

It was really cool, even though it really just looked like a plane.

But I did it. And now I can unsubscribe from the alerts. πŸ™‚

Owen’s GI follow-up

Today was Owen’s six-week follow-up. Here, he’s being a good big boy getting his blood pressure and temperature taken.

20130605-100847.jpg

Overall the doc said he was doing well, and assured me—after I expressed concern that we had one perfect week then completely regressed—that it was normal. He informed me that it could take (and usually takes) as long to fix the problem as it took to cause it…which gives us many many many more months of this.

Owenisms 19

Owen: Mama, say hi to the Lego boxer.
Me: Hi boxer!
Owen: He can’t say hi because he’s a Lego and Legos can’t talk.

Me: Owen, can I have a hug?
Owen: Of course!
Me: Mmm…you’re delicious!
Owen: No, I’m Owen!

Owen: Mama, there’s a bugga bugga!
Me: We don’t need to worry about him. He’s tiny.
Owen: Can I talk to him?
Me: Sure.
Owen: Hi bugga bugga! Hi little fella!Pause. Mama! He can’t hear me! Maybe I’m too big.
Me: You’re right. Maybe he’s too far away.
Owen keeps playing with his cars.
Owen: Mama! The bugga bugga is gone!
Me: Yep, he must have flown away.
Owen: Maybe he went back to his family!

Getting into the car at Sam’s Club.
Owen: Mama, where’s the pretending owl?
Me: The what?
Owen: The pretending owl.
Me: Owl? Oh! That’s at Lowes.

Owen: Mama, close your eyes and think of something happy.
Me: Okay. I close my eyes.
Owen: What makes you happy?
Me: Campfires.
Owen: Ahhh!
Me: Close your eyes and think of something happy.
Owen closes his eyes.
Me: What makes you happy?
Owen: Playing…with Katie!

Shopping at Sam’s Club.
Owen, from out of nowhere: Mom, who’s Sam?
Me: Um. The dog next door?
Owen: No. Who’s Sam? Sam’s Club. Who’s Sam?

At dinner, we were regaled with stories about the Cheerios monster who was coming to steal Owen’s pretend Cheerios. And the ninjas were coming to help out and we had to let them in (which actually required us to open the front door).

Owen: Mama, I have a surprise for you.
Me: A surprise?
Owen: Yes. He shows me his newest potty reward—a Lego minifigure bat.
Me: Oh! A bat!
Owen: Not just any bat…a VAMPIRE bat!

Owen was rubbing his eyes close to his old nap time.
Me: Owen, are you tired?
Owen: No, I’m just checking if something is wrong with them. They’re okay.

Owen: Daddy, it’s almost time for me to brush my teeth and go to bed.
Tom: Yes it is.
Owen: How about you watch football and I’ll play with my trains. That’s a good deal.
Tom: Why yes, it is a good deal.

Owen’s first s’more!

For real! We’ve made them before at his request, but he didn’t want to actually eat it. But tonight?! HE DID! And he asked for a second one (though he didn’t finish it). Tom and I were just FLOORED. He also wanted to help roast the marshmallows…until he realized how hot it was by the fire and how long you had to hold it there. πŸ™‚

S’MORES CHEERS!

2013-06-02kids061

His second one!

2013-06-02kids063

Owen + a slide + Katie’s pool

As mentioned previously, Owen just LOVES Katie’s pool and wanted to play in it after dinner. I then had the bright idea to get out his old slide so he could slide into the pool. And he LOVED IT. πŸ™‚

2013-06-02kids043

2013-06-02kids036

2013-06-02kids034

2013-06-02kids035

2013-06-02owensliding

2013-06-02kids048

2013-06-02kids049

2013-06-02kids053

And then I told him to try sliding down on his belly…which, as you will see in the video, it took him a minute to figure out just how to do it. But after that, it was GAME ON!

2013-06-02kids055

2013-06-02kids054

2013-06-02kids060

And a few more butt slide shots!

2013-06-02kids057

2013-06-02kids058

And a comparison to just over three years ago…May 2010 and June 2013.

2013-2010owenslide

2013-2010poolface

2013-2010owensplash

Katie’s Kiddie Pool

We finally got out the small pool I had bought for Katie about two months ago. Unfortunately, I didn’t look really closely at what I bought, and it’s not so much a pool as a splash pad—which requires a constantly-running hose to keep the side of the “pool” up and the sprinklers going. (I had just thought we wouldn’t use the hose for the sprinklers part…but if you don’t, the sides don’t fill up to hold the water.) So…we can’t use warm tap water in it so Katie gets chilled pretty quickly—even when it’s 85 degrees out. But, she still liked it. And, of course, Owen LOVES it. He was more enamored with it than his big pool!

2013-06-02kids009

2013-06-02kids011

2013-06-02kids014

2013-06-02kids017

2013-06-02kids023

2013-06-02kids024

2013-06-02kids026

Water slide!!

Today we went to a friend’s birthday party (the husband of one of the mommy group moms) and they had borrowed a huge inflatable water slide. Owen just wanted to splash in the water…but eventually started going down the slide. And then we couldn’t get him off! He was SO happy! And it was great to watch!

20130601-231449.jpg

20130601-231623.jpg

20130601-231652.jpg

When it was time to go, we asked him how many more times he wanted to go down the slide and he stopped and was really putting some thought into it. His answer? TEN! πŸ™‚

Then on the way home he kept asking about the water slide and saying he wanted to go back to it. I’m sure he’ll get to go on it again since we have play dates at the house that owns it. πŸ™‚