We decided to give the bounce place another try since some of the moms were going. Owen HATED it before but that was two years ago so I was willing to try it. I explained it would be like the big water slides but without water. He seemed interested so I kept my fingers crossed.
We walked in and once he saw everything, he was almost vibrating with excitement! YAY!
There was a toddler (under 4) area and Katie spent some time there…
The family that had the birthday party this past weekend still had the slide today so they invited us over. Of course, Owen was ALL ABOUT THAT. There were a lot fewer kids there, too, so I just let Katie roam and she had A BLAST. Even in the rain and the mud.
On the way home I asked Owen if, when daddy comes home, he’d rather go to the water park or have a big water slide in our backyard and he wants the water slide. SCORE! That’s much, much cheaper! 🙂
Happy 12th anniversary from halfway across the world, baby! It feels like just yesterday but also like we’ve been together our whole lives as I can’t imagine my life before you. I love you and miss you desperately!
Obligatory Flashback Wedding Photo
And this year—after a respectable 11-year run—we FINALLY ended our accidental-turned-scheduled anniversary tradition of having Chinese for dinner. Damn marine corps not offering anything remotely Chinese in Afghanistan today. Hmph.
However.
We’re possibly starting a new tradition as Tom had steak and shrimp…so I figured instead of me just grabbing Chinese take out, I’d go and get steak and shrimp as well!
However.
I didn’t really want to get it take-out (who wants steak and shrimp to cool off on the 20-minute ride home?) but I honestly didn’t want to go by myself (well, with the kids)…so I sent an open invitation to my moms group…and one mom offered to come out with me (well, plus one of her kids). So…YAY for friends! And new traditions!
That said…WOW. I don’t think I’ll be taking the kids out by myself anytime soon. Or if I do, it will be to a FAST FOOD place or somewhere we can get much faster service.
Those of you with small kids will understand—you do everything QUICKLY. You order quickly (you quite possibly even order the kids meals first), you pay the check quickly, and you’re hopefully out of there before the squirming and whining begins. But unfortunately that was not how tonight played out. I fully blame the waitress, who constantly disappeared for loooong periods at every stage of the meal. Tom and I can usually get in and out in under 40 minutes. Ruth and I were there (at the same place) for just under ONE AND A HALF HOURS. Good god.
Ruth was a godsend, though. At one moment when it was a bit of a circus—everyone was noisy, there was too much crap on the tables and nowhere to put anything, Katie had reached for the knife three times in under a minute and was spilling corn all over the floor, Owen was asking for the third time where his milk was (damn slow waitress!), we were trying to share the onion appetizer…all while trying to place our food order—she volunteered to take the kids (my two and her one) for a brief walk so I could have a breather. And then she noticed Katie needed a diaper change so she did that, too.
/sigh
Of course, Owen didn’t follow along quickly enough and then Ruth was too far away for him to chase after so he stayed with me. Then announced he had to pee…so I had to take him back to the bathroom anyway. But then I left him with Ruth and went back to the table as they took a quick roundabout tour of the restaurant and I got to eat three bites of my salad in peace.
Overall it was a great meal—the steak and shrimp were REALLY good. It may have spoiled my usual order at that restaurant as well (I have ever only ordered one single thing every time we’ve gone there). The only thing that could have made it better? To have been able to calmly and slowly eat the yummy meal in peace and quiet—appreciating the food—instead of just shoving in a random bite here and there between managing two kids. Well, I guess that’s technically more than one thing. 🙂
I am so glad to have made a few new good mom friends who just UNDERSTAND and are willing to lend a hand—or supportive meal—when it’s needed.
And on that note… I mentioned that I’d probably order steak every time I went out because I wouldn’t be eating it at home because I don’t grill. And Ruth pipes up “I GRILL!” So I’ll provide the protein and the grill, she’ll provide the actual grilling, the kids can play in the pool…YAY!
Katie took an epic nap so by the time we arrived almost two hours after the party started, everyone was inside for present opening. Owen had been super patient at home so was SUPER excited about the water slide…and not so much about anything else…so as soon as the birthday girl opened our gift, I took him outside (and a friend took Katie).
It was an overcast, rainy, and disgustingly humid day…but he didn’t care at all. And he went right up like he’s been doing it forever (each slide is a bit different and none of it phases him).
Then Katie got wiggly and wanted to walk around.
And was excited to see Owen!
And seemed very interested in the kiddie pool…
Her first time on a swing by herself.
If you listen closely you can hear her saying “Wheee!” 🙂 The video isn’t too long since I wasn’t able to have a hand on her and though she was pretty steady, she was looking around at everything and not reallyholding on.
His first break two hours in!
He didn’t want to leave, but Katie didn’t want to be held and it was too hot to be chasing her around. There were also too many kids running around in a muddy yard who weren’t exactly paying attention to a little one wandering around…
So, as you may or may not know/remember, we’ve gone through a multitude of dining table sets over the years. (I started the process by wanting a counter-height table…we got one but returned it because it scratched too easily, we ordered a different one and the wrong base came in TWICE…) Our most recent table was from Sam’s Club which we got on clearance for half price because it had a scratch…and I knew at the time it would just be a temporary table until we found THE table.
Well, I found THE table.
I’m always on the lookout at Costco since their prices are really really good…and this month it was in the circular for warehouse only. I was drooling because it seemed perfect—center table legs, butterfly leaf, nine pieces, and leather-cushioned chairs!!—but it didn’t list a price.
So we were headed there today and I hoped it was a great price…AND IT WAS!! PLUS there was a manufacturer’s in-store rebate which made it even better. But they would only hold it until the end of business. And they only had three in stock with none showing as on order. Our friend with the trailer didn’t answer his phone. U-Haul was cheap but we didn’t have our ball/hitch and they didn’t have any. But we bought it anyway thinking we’d figure out something. Luckily our friend got back to us on the way home (plus his daughter could babysit)…but that still meant another 2-hour round trip (man do I hate being an hour away from Costco).
And of course it rained cats and dogs on the way home…but I have my table!!!
I had been planning on heading to Great Wolf Lodge when Tom returned from Afghanistan…but he suggested we go beforehand. So he took two days off work and we headed up this morning. I had the brilliant (if I do say so myself) idea of taking our babysitter, Virginia, along for an extra pair of hands and eyes…and as it turned out, it was completely AMAZING—it was great being able to pay more attention to Owen (who will remember it) and be able to take tons of pictures (though Virginia is in most of the pics with Katie!). But seriously, Virginia was awesome with Katie the whole time—even when we weren’t actually at the water park.
So without further ado, the pictures.
Proof we were actually here, LOL—though this picture was taken as we were checking out. 🙂
We splurged and got a Kid Cabin suite—complete with log cabin bunk beds and a day bed (and their own TV which we never even used). Owen was excited about his own room/bed and testing out the bunk bed steps. He didn’t make it to the top because he was too scared. 🙂
The view of the outdoor pool area from our third-floor balcony.
Katie was (of course) intrigued by the new annoying band on her ankle.
Sneaking one of my fries. Tom ran to get us Chick-Fil-A while we got settled and into suits. We figured we’d be eating at the hotel enough (and spending enough money on overpriced food) that fast food was acceptable for our first lunch.
Waiting in her 2T suit. We had brought her 12m suit (that Grauntie Rose got her for her birthday) and I actually put it on her but it was really too tight.
Ready to go with Miss Virginia!
She SEEMS to be interested in the bubblers, but unfortunately it only lasted about seven seconds (if that). She just wanted to MOVE. This is where Virginia came in really handy.
Owen liked them quite a bit, however.
Of course, she was more entranced with the hole that had no water coming out of it…
This is how Owen watched the 1,000-gallon dump bucket—far away from the action on the sidelines…
…in the bubblers. 🙂
One of the few things Katie could reach and was semi interested in.
Miss Virginia on constant vigil—keeping Katie’s face out of the water as she tried to drink it.
FEETS!
This is where she liked to crawl.
Making sure I actually get in a photo!
She LOVED the lazy river (Owen hates it with a passion—he has some strange fear about inner tubes).
The outside frog slide that he loved!
Just hanging out. I cropped the pic so he appears closer than he really was. He was pretty far out. I love that he’s old enough we can let him do that and not worry or freak out.
It was about this time that Tom and I decided to splurge on drinks from the bar…since it was right there and all…and it was HOT outside. Yeah, we only had one drink because while they were certainly tasty, they were NOT worth the price. But, as a bonus, while we were standing there waiting for the drinks and Tom was holding Katie, she peed on him. (She had a swim diaper on, but they can only hold so much.) 🙂
I then had Virginia take a family shot—and she only took three and one of them came out really well!
This is how Katie crawled most of the time—her knees were sore (yours would be, too, if you were crawling on cement!) so she would kind of drag one leg while actually putting the other foot down (if you look closely you can see the foot prints on the right side).
Owen having fun in the pool with the water toys.
Virginia spent a lot of time walking Katie around. Again, brilliant idea.
Owen on his favorite indoor slides. It was terribly hard to get good pictures of this due to timing and the new camera that I wasn’t totally familiar with the best settings to get the best shot. So lots of the future shots might look a little off. I did the best I could. 🙂
The other area Katie liked—the waterfall station (well, it was more like a sheet of water). It was somewhat interactive because the water did crazy things when you stuck your hand in it.
Tired boy…and we had only been there 2.5 hours at that point!
Climbing in the ropes with dad. They headed to the top to attempt the waterslide…but once Owen got to the top he said NO WAY (even though the one he went on in Kalkaska was about the same).
Back at the room for dinner. This is where Katie loved to crawl.
Miss Virginia taking a break.
Owen and daddy taking a break.
Virginia stayed in the room with Katie while I took my real (i.e. non-waterproof camera) down to try and get some better pictures of Owen.
Owen liked the sheet of water, too.
This is him doing his robot through the falls.
Back up at the room on the balcony with Virginia and Katie. Katie liked to push the furniture around and stick her feet out the slats.
Completely THRILLED that she got the remote and we didn’t take it away from her!
Owen in his own bed!
Katie had only slept about an hour in the car and then didn’t get an afternoon nap at all…so we were hoping it would help her fall asleep quickly. And it did…she only screeched for about four minutes before she was out cold. I’m sure Owen wasn’t too far behind, and Virginia even put away her laptop and went to bed about 9:20. Tom and I turned our phones off about 10:30 as we were exhausted, too. However, I didn’t have a great night’s sleep…I tossed and turned and it felt like I had slept a loooong time but when I looked at the clock it was 1am. Ugh. The cycling of the A/C pretty much kept me up/woke me up—when it was running, it was COLD and you needed to be under the covers…and when it was off, it was WARM and you didn’t want the covers on. Plus my back hurt (as usual) from the car ride and what carrying of Katie I did (though Virginia did most of it). Plus it was only a Queen bed. So I knew I’d be exhausted the next morning…
Today was the big day of our Deckwarming party (and Tom’s going away party) as well as a mini celebration of Katie’s first birthday (technically her third first birthday as we already celebrated in Michigan, then she had her actual birthday on the 10th, and then today’s gathering). It was a long, hot, tiring—yet fun—day.
Party-prep is so much work—it never seems like stuff will take that long…but it always does. I was VERY thankful to have hired Virginia to come watch the kids while we did the prep because then I didn’t have to listen to Katie screaming because I wasn’t paying attention to her…and I was actually able to get stuff done! I loved what Virginia posted on Facebook—it’s classic Owen:
As usual, we had too much food (or maybe just not enough people?!) but then, I’m a Len and we apparently don’t know how to cook for less than 40 people (or are paranoid about not having enough food regardless of the number of people). 🙂 But everything was delicious.
The weather actually held out—it was touch and go for awhile with intermittent thunderstorms pretty much all morning and early afternoon—but it cleared up about 4 and was sunny and gorgeous (though the humidity was right at about 99%).
We had a good blend of old (Mitchells and Trimbles) and new friends (from my mommy group) and the kids had a blast in the playroom and in the pool.
Then it was time for the birthday cake. I had wanted to do something special for Katie so she didn’t fall into that “second kid gets squat compared to the first kid” thing PLUS after Owen’s Lego cake debacle I had decided I was never attempting to bake a cake again…so I asked our friend Ursula to make a cake. She has recently started making and decorating cakes and she’s ABSOLUTELY AMAZING (as opposed to my first attempt—see above Lego debacle post). Here’s the picture I sent her (that I found on Pinterest) along with her version on the right (I asked for the 1 on top instead of the ladybug and only two layers):
Also a big thanks to mommy-group friend Jacqueline who helped with my last-minute ice cream request (Doh! How could we have forgotten ice cream on our three trips to town?!) and pre-party kitchen cleanup (she arrived during the last 15-minute rush to get everything done, saw I was a bit overwhelmed, and jumped in to wash the sink full of dishes).
Some of the kids playing dress up:
Having a blast in the pool:
Wandering:
She made such a mess that we had to hose off the deck (thanks, Roger!) and give her a quick bath in the sink with Dawn detergent (I hadn’t planned ahead to have baby soap downstairs). Here she is somewhat cleaned up, back with Virginia again.
Since Owen was having so much fun in the pool and with the kids, we let him stay up late. This is about 9:30 right before he finally went to bed.
Thanks to everyone who shared the day with me and Tom!! And you can tell we’re all getting older…everyone had gone home by 10:15!! 🙂
We were invited to a BBQ today…and Owen had a blast since they had not one but TWO waterslides there! He spent the first part of the day on the little slide and was just having a ball running around with the other kids and playing on this slide.
We asked, but he didn’t want anything to do with the big slide…but then when I came back outside after saying goodbye to Tom and Katie (he took her home for a nap) I couldn’t find Owen anywhere. Turns out he was on the big slide!
And he played. And played. And played. And played. We got there at 3 and he went straight to the slide…and he was pretty much going non-stop until we left at 7. (He did take about a 10-minute break to have a snack of graham crackers and milk and then maybe a 5-minute-total break to have a few bites of chocolate cake but that was IT. He didn’t even take a potty break, even though I asked every half hour or so.)
A closer up look at that happy face!
He did take a brief break from the big slide to hit the small pool—which he enjoyed flopping over the edge to make a big splash!
And then it was back to the big slide…with a gun!
And then a few more trips down the little slide before it got put away.
On the ride home, Owen admitted he was tired. We got home and I was exhausted. From simply sitting around at an outdoor party. SITTING. (Well, there was some walking around and eating, but it was mostly sitting.) And it was warm but actually okay in the shade and there was a breeze.
Even though Owen is actually old enough that we could let him run around without actually having to keep an eye on him 100% of the time, I didn’t get to visit with everyone as much as I’d hoped. But it was wonderful being able to just sit and watch him play and have soooo much fun WITHOUT having to worry about watching Katie at the same time.
A friend of the family invited us out to their place at the lake to go swimming since her granddaughter (about the same age as Owen) was going to be there, too. We’d been wanting to take Owen to the lake, so it was the perfect opportunity.
Amazingly, Katie stayed in my lap the entire two hours. I think she was just tired enough to be content—I wanted her to fall asleep for just a little bit but it just didn’t happen (she’s not the type to fall asleep outside her bed so I didn’t have much hope). But I really enjoyed the calm cuddles that I NEVER get.
Venturing out with daddy, Alice, and our friend Terri.
He and Alice got along smashingly.
Owen managed to play in the sand without getting dirty:
Daddy found a crawfish…and a HUGE snapping turtle:
I felt REALLY old because Alice (who is just a few months older than Owen) is the daughter of someone I used to babysit. Egads. But as the mom said, it’s cool that 30 years later our kids are playing together.
Then we saw the rain approaching from across the lake so we quickly packed up and headed home.
When I took her to visit my mom and her friends at someone else’s house.
Without a diaper bag because we were only going to be there for 20-30 minutes.
😐
Needless to say my mom had to run me home, I sent her back with carpet cleaner, I had to give Katie a bath (first one by myself!), and then put all of our clothes in the laundry.
We didn’t attempt to go back because with my luck it would happen all over again—or worse. At least all the people there have had kids of their own (or had enough experience with kids) that it wasn’t really a big deal to anyone.
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!
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! 🙂
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. 🙂
So we’ve been wanting to get this chair redone every since Tom’s mom handed it down to us in 2003 (when we got our first house)…and we finally did it. The boyfriend of someone in my mom’s group does reupholstery and it wasn’t nearly as expensive as we’d always thought (though it was still a chunk of change). It’s not perfect—if you look close you can see he used white (?!?!?) thread—but it’s not super obvious from a normal viewing distance. We also lucked out on the fabric—upholstery fabric is notoriously pricey, but we got it from a $7.99 store. YAY!
A few months ago we went to a USMC charity event called Basket Bingo and a group of us bid on—and won—a five-course dinner at the general’s house. Well, it was tonight.
Our good friends happened to be behind us coming on base—and we were quite early—so we stopped by the water to take some pictures. It was just a little windy.
Karen and Tom
The first couples to arrive.
FIRST COURSE (appetizers on the back deck) Watermelon tequila shooters
Brie toasts with papaya salad
Chicken satay skewers with chocolate BBQ sauce
Mojitos
Our Hosts, General & Mrs. Lukeman
The table setting.
SECOND COURSE Plantain soup
THIRD COURSE Mélange of jumbo lump crab, mango, and avocado in a tropical fruit purée
FOURTH COURSE Island pork tenderloin with a brown sugar glaze
Coconut shrimp with a mango sauce
Baked green rice
Green bean sautée
The staff from the gourmet club that prepared and served the dinner.
The whole group enjoying post-dinner drinks on the deck.
Then, we got takeaway gifts of a rum cake, spiced nuts, and a packet with ALL the recipes! I will definitely be making the Chocolate BBQ Sauce because it was DIVINE and I could have drank it with a straw!
Overall it was a fun night and a very enjoyable meal…I just wish I hadn’t been running on fumes (zero hours of sleep after our short weekend trip to DC).
After play group today, Amanda and Xander stayed so the boys could go in the pool. Xander is two…and wasn’t quite sure—for the first hour anyway—about the whole thing. But he eventually went in. They were having a blast splashing each other.
Later, Amanda texted me:
Thank you again so much for today. Xander has not stopped talking about playing with Owen since he woke up.
Xander just adores Owen and it’s sooo cute to watch…
We weren’t really planning on getting a big playset, but once I saw Owen playing on his little Step 2 playset and saw that he had really outgrown it…I looked on the local Yard Sales board and found exactly what we wanted, emailed the lady, and made plans to go look at it (it was 45 minutes away). I was excited because most of these types of sets are SUPER expensive and have too many things that Owen wouldn’t really use, but this one was actually quite reasonable and had things Owen would like (towers, ladders, a rock wall, and a tunnel!). We looked at it, Owen played on it and loved it, so we left a deposit last weekend and made plans to get it this weekend (Tom was in the field all last week).
I thought the process would take ALL day, possibly requiring two trips (and since it was 45m one way, two trips would have been dreadful)—even with our friend’s big trailer—because Tom had no one able to help him. But thankfully at the last minute I managed to get a friend’s husband to help (the ones buying our old playset!) and then one of our best friends was also able to help…and he also offered his big truck (which ended up being critical) and the whole thing was done in like two hours, not counting drive time! They had it apart and loaded on the trailer and truck in under an hour (the lady texted me to tell me and we were both amazed) and I think it took about the same to unload and put it together. YAY!
“Mom! The number one!”
“Mom! Look! It’s the letter A!”
Testing out the bench.
He had to run and get some cars…
Are you done screwing the slide in so I can use it?
Wheeee!
Tunnel!!
Uncle Tom! (A great picture that I’m ticked ended up blurry! I had an in-focus one but you couldn’t see Owen’s face.)
The workers!
Katie’s first swing!
Also, as a bonus, we didn’t have to use any money from the savings account for the cost of the thing (which was not inconsequential). We had our stash of Craigslist/LejeuneYardSales cash from a few recent sales for the deposit last weekend, then I sold a bunch of stuff this week to finish out the rest of the payment. YAY!
Yeah, so, I just got locked in the bathroom with Owen while Katie was roaming around ungated. (I thought she was gated in but then I heard her playing with the dog bowl and knew she was on the loose.)
Talk about trying to stay calm in a panic.
How did it happen? Well, the door knobs were off from a kid-locking-herself-in-during-play-group-incident earlier that morning and I hadn’t put them back on yet (no, we were never given the little keys to unlock the doors—and we’d tried to find some to buy but just never did). So I didn’t even think about it when I shut the door behind me to keep Katie out while I dealt with a diarrhea pull-up.
Talk about an instant all-over body sweat.
Okay. I can’t get the door open. Who do I call? Who is closest that might be home? I thought of any of the mommy group people who were just there but I knew the closest ones had kids napping…
Okay, I can get one pin out—if I can get them all I can take the door right off the hinges. Nope, the other two are stuck. Calling Tom was pointless since it would take him at least 45m to get home (and there’s not much he could do over the phone).
Who would know how to get the door off? Roger might, but he’s likely busy. Ursula—she could at least come get Katie and then—oh, duh—she could likely put the knob back on. So I called her and she wasn’t home (5m away) but was in town (15m) so as I was telling her what was going on I was still messing with the door and trying not to sound terribly panicked…when I somehow managed to move something just enough to allow me to open the door.
Ah.
Breathe.
Wipe the sweat off my forehead as I thank Ursula for answering her phone.
Then race to find Katie…who was happily playing in the playroom.
We were invited over to our friend’s house (Tom and Karen) for Easter lunch, and then the guys decided to take the kids to hit a bucket of balls. These are the pictures Tom texted me:
Today was Owen’s first honest easter egg hunt with a bunch of kids! One of the moms in my mommy group had organized a get-together with some of her neighbors and the mommy group moms. I am SOOO glad we decided to go… It was the first time Tom had seen Owen with more than a handful of kids—and it was amazing.
This was his slam dunk:
Tom trying to show Owen how to hit the ball:
He did, but then that was it and he was off to the next thing:
The start of the egg race, which was taking place to keep the kids out of the back yard while the older kids were hiding the eggs:
Slow but steady…
Race over, no one cared who won!
Getting ready to go hunt for eggs!
Rushing in! Half the kids came in each side of the yard. Owen was just thrilled—and it was hilarious because he could see other eggs while he was picking up the ones in front of him, but had a hard time actually getting the ones in front of him because he was so enamored with seeing all the other eggs that he wasn’t close to yet!
He even braved the bouncy house (which he DOES NOT like to play in) because there were a handful of eggs inside!
His successful haul!
The entire gaggle of kids! I think the youngest was 2 and the oldest was 6.
A family shot, taken by a friend. (Then I took their family shot—she’s like me and rarely is in the photos!)
Owen torturing the girls on the trampoline with a fake snake! They were all screaming and he was just laughing and having a great time.
Swinging the snake around. All I could think of was my mom telling me how her brother did that to her WITH REAL SNAKES when they were kids…
Then he got all sneaky and shoved the snake through the opening in the side of the net. He was so proud of himself! What a stinker!
Then, right as we were getting ready to leave, they were handing out popsicles. Owen didn’t want one, but then asked a little girl if he could have a bite of hers. The mom was standing there (and knows about Owen’s food issues) so told her daughter it was okay. So Owen took a bite! He didn’t love it, but at least he tried it!
Yes, this was the first thing he actually stuck up his nose and couldn’t get out. I had to get the tweezers and threaten to take all his Legos away if he did it again.
>>> FACEBOOK COMMENTS
Karen—And that item looks pissed!
Sheryl—Look at Owen’s face – did he get yelled at?
Katherine—It happens
Jennifer—Sheryl, not yelled at, but definitely told to SIT STILL AND DON’T TOUCH IT while I ran to get the tweezers…and to not do it again.
Andrew—*laughs* Poor Owen.
Jean—Remember when one of your “Brownie” friends stuck a Nerd up her nose in the car on the way to Cedar Point? OMG.
Kristin—My brother in law didn’t stick things up his nose. He stuck red hots up his SISTER’S nose.
Tammy—Poor Owen looks like he belongs in one of the Bad Dog pictures.
Jennifer—He was actually just watching Sesame Street. He wasn’t upset.
Jeremy—Whatever that is that was up his nose doesn’t look happy about it.
Nancy—Awww! That photo is just great! I stuck a crayon in my belly button and my mom took me to the hospital because I wouldn’t tell her what happened, I was crying, and it was red. Kids, man.
Posing with his presents—and in his birthday shirt—for another birthday picture!
Katie in her new party dress…with Grannie (and a gift from Grannie):
And trying to peek around me to watch TV like Owen does:
Owen’s finished (lame) Lego cakes:
The appetizer set up:
Attempting to Skype with Gramma Jean/Grandpa David and Grandma Marsha/Uncle Rob (it didn’t work too well—our network couldn’t handle it):
Most of the attendees:
Singing Happy Birthday:
Really excited about his new Xbox Sesame Street game from Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob:
And the guitar I found on clearance for $3 (and took the batteries out ahead of time!):
He did pretty well opening presents…except he really loved the first things he opened (Lego Cars and a Ninja Lego) so he wanted to stop right then and play but we made him keep going. 🙂 We did stop about halfway through, though, because he was losing interest and really wanted to play. Which was just fine.
One of the moms in my group had a GREAT explanation for the “difference” (not really) between black and white skin.
Evie asked me a question after MLK day. Many would find it difficult to explain… but this is what I said. I held a white towel against my arm and asked if they matched. She laughed and said, “no”. I held a black towel and asked her if anyone she knew resembled the towel. Again, she laughed and said, “no”. I explained that we are all just different shades of brown. Flesh, blood and bone. Full of emotion, love and tenderness. We are all the same, just a different shade!
I thought that was simply awesome—and a perfect way to handle what could be a potentially uncomfortable or awkward question. The next day, this photo was making the rounds on Facebook and I thought it was apropos to her explanation.
It’s been forever and a day since we’ve deep-fried a turkey (we used to do at least 3-4 a year but haven’t done one since probably 2007-2008) so we decided to have a pre-holiday meal with our best friends! It was DEElicious and we had a great time!
