So…3,000 miles in 14 days (6 long days of actual travel) and I’m done. I think that was the last of our road trips for a loooooong time. I hope everyone got their fill of us!
Amazon: YAY!
A rant turns into a rave!
I just realized I didn’t use the Amazon Mom 20% coupon I had when we ordered Owen’s new car seat a few days ago. I was debating if it was worth returning the other one and reordering to save $25…when I decided to try writing Customer Service.
It was:
I understand that you would want to use your Amazon mom in your recent purchase and I wish I could help.
I’ve reviewed your order and see that your order has already been shipped. Under the circumstances, I made an exception and requested a refund of $25.80 to your credit card. The $25.80 refund is 20% of the price of the item which is $129.00. It will take 2-3 business days for the refund to appear on your visa statement.
This is why I have no problem spending thousands of dollars there every year!!
Another lovely hotel night with the kids.
Katie was up at 1. Maggie was noisy. Owen was up at 1:30 tossing and turning and turned his turtle night light on. I was up listening (in case he had to go potty) and saw his light go off 45m later. It came on two more times (I know because I was up and saw it). Then Katie was up at 5:30. And then Owen had to pee.
GOOD MORNING!
😐
Use a flashlight!
Prompted, I’m sure, by us seeing a bunch of rainbows over the past day or two…
Owen: I want to see a rainbow.
Me: You can’t see rainbows in the dark.
Owen: Use a flashlight!
Katie, stop crying!
Katie is crying in the car. Owen says “Katie, stop crying. We’ll be at the hotel soon. Right over there.”
A few moments later: “Katie, it’s okay. The hotel is right over there….just a few seconds. Stop crying!”
Road Trip Rule #43
As soon as one kid falls asleep, the other one wakes up.
Owen barely ever sleeps in the car…so of course, not five minutes after he fell asleep, Katie wakes up SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER because, oh, you know, she’s STARVING after just having eaten 4oz 30 minutes prior.
Potty Break
Turnpike potty break…and ice cream break since the potty break was successful!
Destruction!
Owen’s skeleton’s arm came apart and he took it to Tom to fix it.
Tom: “Owen, what happened?”
Owen: “Destruction!”
Neither of us have any idea where that came from!
Reading with Grauntie Marge
Grauntie Marge wanted Owen to see where she lived, so we took a quick trip over to her house. She then gave Owen a present of a new book, which she then read to him.
Mama and Katie at rest
Potty Charts
Owen did really, really well with going potty on vacation. He only had a few accidents (only on an overnight or a nap!) but overall we were both really impressed. He even made it all the way to Michigan—two days and 18 hours in the car—without an accident!
He filled out two of these sheets while we were gone—one star for each potty, with him being able to pick a treat when each line was completed. He LOVED picking out the sticker and LOVED putting it on the star. He even tried to negotiate by saying “Two stars?”
A chocolate mess!
Grandma Jean was making brownies and let Owen lick the spatula. We made him stay in the kitchen (no carpet) but he still managed to get chocolate on the sliding glass door, the floor, and of course himself.
The end of a long day
We spent the day with Grandma Marsha in Kalkaska and had a nice picnic get-together with Tom’s friends and family. Owen got to play with a lot of kids his age (though, honestly, he didn’t really play WITH them) and he missed his nap. When we finally got back to Grayling, he crawled up onto the couch with his B…
Earlier, between rain showers, daddy and Owen attempted bubbles (this also averted a meltdown, of which I can’t even remember the problem).
And Grandma with Katie…
Oh, to be that comfy.
Amazing full double rainbow
We were getting ready to leave Grandma Marsha’s place when Tom came running in (from packing the car) saying there was the most awesome rainbow outside…so we all went running. Of course I had my phone, and tried to get a panoramic shot as it was starting to pour down on me… It’s a decent picture, but certainly doesn’t do it justice.
As we were driving away, I kept trying to take pictures through the car window, so Tom stopped in the parking lot of the hospital a few blocks away so I could get out and try for more pictures. It was the biggest and brightest rainbow I’ve ever seen! And it lasted a good 15 minutes–and probably would have lasted longer except the sun was setting!
Smart kid, indeed.
Me: Owen, you’re a smart kid.
Owen: Yes, I’m a smart kid!
Front seat rider!
We only had to travel about two miles down back roads so we were going to let Owen sit in the front seat. He has never even sat in the front seat alone (even just parked in the driveway). He was GIDDY with excitement, which you can sort of see here.
And here, he’s pointing to everything on the center console saying “Check! Check! Check!” 🙂
We never did end up driving with him in the front seat… But the scary part? Look at how perfectly he fits? The seatbelt is in the correct spot!!!
Snow = clapping
Grandma said it was 38 degrees. I said it might snow. Owen claps his hands excitedly (SO not my kid!) and sticks his tongue out (as if he was catching a snowflake in his tongue) and says “Like this?” 🙂
Game Day at Grandma’s!
We spent the day at Grandma Marsha’s place, and it just happened to be MSU game day! We all had our jerserys—and the boys played football and hot potato! I love Owen’s guffaw.
I caught Owen catching the football!
And I got to take a little nap with Maggie…
The best things I did today.
The best things I did today. [Link dead as of 6/9/2016.]
Sooooo much this. Exactly.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when my hubs comes home from work and the house is messy, there’s no real plan for dinner, the kids are acting wild, and I’m stressed and overwhelmed, and he has the nerve to ask me, What did you do all day?
As if taking care of three children, one of which is attached to my breast every two hours, isn’t enough in and of itself. Thank.you.very.much.
….
It can be so frustrating. To feel like I’m not getting anything done. To look at my To-Do List at the end of the day and realize I can’t check anything off the list. To realize that tomorrow will likely be very much like today.
But here’s the thing. Life with little ones pretty much never fits into the neat little boxes we form in our minds. When you have little kids around the only thing you can pretty much plan on, is that things will not go according to plan.
And even though those plans I make are all good things, I cannot forget that the best things are what I get to do every day.
Happy (belated) birthday, Grannie Lin!
Oops! We were a day late…and we felt bad because we had actually been with Grannie on her birthday…but it was a busy morning as that’s when we were packing up to head back to Grayling.
Feeding the fish!
Tom and Grandma Marsha took Owen to the fish hatchery—and he seemed to enjoy it a little more than he did last year.
Playing on Gramma Jean
Be careful when you lay on the floor with a little boy around…
Beginning and end of day.
Getting ready to leave Papa and Grannie’s house, squatting by papa’s hand print and Owen’s name. (Be sure to ask them the story if you ever see them!)
Cuddling with daddy after the long drive back to Gramma Jean’s house…
Little Captain America
The mask fits Katie better than it fits Owen. 🙂
(She’s blurry because she moves around a lot.)
Under the table
I’m not sure why he likes playing under things like this…but he often does it at home, too. And he ALWAYS hides under the bed when playing hide-and-seek.
Captain America!
So when we were passing through Troy on the way to Grayling, we stopped at Costco for some formula (we hadn’t brought enough). Along the path to the formula, I saw the same Halloween costumes like we had in North Carolina, except they had a bigger selection…so I grabbed a Captain America for Owen. We didn’t show it to him right away, but saved it as a “poop reward” in case we needed the leverage.
Well, we brought it to the U.P. with us and he saw it. My dad saw it, too, and REALLY wanted Owen to wear it. Except…I had already deemed it a poop reward and things in that area were NOT. GOING. WELL. so it was seeming fairly unlikely that he was going to earn the costume while we were there (we have cleaned more than our fair share of poopy underwear in the few days we’ve been here). And Tom and I DO NOT go back on our word with Owen, so he HAD to poop in the potty to get it. I think my dad was more heartbroken than Owen was. 🙂
Well, long story short, he had a tiny poop that made it in the toilet (though, honestly, I think it might have been stuck between his cheeks and it just FELL into the toilet) but I really wanted to get Owen excited about pooping—and let my dad see Owen in the costume—so I counted it! Owen was GIDDY with excitement about the costume, and of course he had to put it on and parade around in it for everyone (he loves an audience).
And then with papa’s swim goggles (which came home with us—thanks, papa!)
Lots of family photos!
Grannie Lin with the kids
Papa with the kids
I wanted to get all our blue eyes in a photo, but I settled for three of them. 🙂 I’m really happy we all have my dad’s eyes. ♥
Linda’s mom and dad, aunt and uncle, and a family friend all came over for dinner tonight. They all LOVED holding Katie and all threatened to steal her. 🙂
Mini Katie photo shoot
She was cute in her first dress so I did a mini photo shoot (unfortunately you can’t really see the whole dress). She did pretty well until she rolled a little too far and bumped her head on the arm of the wicker chair she was in.
WANTED: Stinkeye Sawyer
Owen got a new Sesame Street iPhone app (The Great Cookie Thief) which allows you to make WANTED posters and save them. This is our favorite one so far:
