The Beauty of Hawaii

OK...I'm focusing on the mommy part of the Blog today and going to share some of our favorite places in Hawaii. We had such an amazing time. The beaches and water were the most beautiful I've ever laid eyes on. I could float in the ocean and see the sand under my feet. And the landscape is just amazing - especially Maui. So here's my Hawaii Top Ten Best list.

Best Beach: South Maui. Big Beach by far. Not really good snorkeling, but crystal clear water and soft, soft sand. The day we were there the surf was a little rough but I could easily get out past the breakers and just float. Perfectly amazing.

Best Dinner: Our Anniversary Dinner. We sat outside only 50 feet from the beach. The view was amazing. Best crab cakes I've ever had. Also the most amazing lobster....mmmm just melted in my mouth. Pineapple Creme Brulee for dessert. Oooooh yeah.

Best Time for Rain: Right at the start of our Luau. Although I didn't see it this way at the time. We had reservations for our luau on Friday night - our last night in Maui. We were there for about 30 minutes before the rain started. Since the resort had not planned well for rain (it rarely happens) they moved the luau inside and refunded anyone's money who didn't want to watch the show inside. When I realized that the show inside would be very dummed down and the food only eh, we got out money back and went out to a really nice place and had an awesome meal.

Best Hike: The hike from Waikiki to Diamondhead. Although I threatened to kill Tom several times along the hike (it ended up being about 8 miles round trip) it really was awesome. The views were totally worth it.

Best Snorkeling: Molikini Crater in Maui. We took a boat trip out and had 2 hours to snorkel. Visibility in the water was about 80-100 feet. Saw some of the most gorgeous fish I've only seen in tanks before. If you've ever seen Finding Nemo we saw several Moorish Idols - Gil the Fish in the fish tank and they are striking. People say it's overrated but it's totally worth it.

Best Hidden Find: Nakalele Blowhole. Oh my, this thing was amazing. It shoots like 100 feet in the air. Tom and I sat and watched it for 45 minutes at least. And then we climbed and hiked all around the area. The guide book we had described it as an acid war zone. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. We spent another hour scrambling around there. At the last peak we climbed out to, we stopped and took a break to just watch the ocean. We were treated at the end of the day with 3 sea turtles swimming just off the shore. If we hadn't had the guide book we never would have found this place.



Best Bit of History: We spent the morning at the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. It was just one of those things I couldn't go to Hawaii and NOT do. Although there are thousands of people milling around the area waiting for their turn to go out to the memorial Tom and I were able to take it at our own pace. When we were out at the memorial a very brief rain shower blew in off the mountain and made the whole thing quite surreal. It went from gorgeous blue to blustery and back to gorgeous blue in the span of about 5 minutes. The feeling at the memorial was somewhat haunting - appropriate I expect. I'm very glad we took the time to visit.

Best Sunset: Our best Hawaii sunset was on the evening of our Anniversary. We got to watch the whole thing out over the ocean. It really was amazing. The way everything just glowed at the end of the day. This is something you certainly don't get to see in Virginia.




Best View: This is a toughie. It could be from the top of Haeleakala, being above the clouds and looking into the amazing colors of the crater. Or the view from looking back over Maui's rocky northern coast. Or the view from the top of Diamondhead looking back at Waikiki. Each one was glorious in it's own way.

Best Drink: By far the tropical martini. Certainly NOT the $9 watery colada from the resort or the Mai Tais at the luau before it rained. This martini had vanilla vodka, coconut rum and pineapple juice. Top with a slice of Hawaiian pineapple (not anything like what we get on the mainland) at it was pure heaven.

All in all we had an amazing time. Got our fill of amazing food, atmosphere, views, hikes....you name it. We promised each other we'd go back again in 10 years and bring the kids. Hawaii certainly filled my expectations of a magical place. The company I had certainly helped "wink wink sweetie".

Edit - I completely forgot about this picture. As we were exploring the area around the blowhole we found a smaller blowhole. It was just the right time of day that when it spouted a rainbow would appear in the mist. Really really cool. I spent about 5 minutes trying to catch it with the camera and I finally got one. Here it is...

My Little Nudist

Maybe it's just a boy thing. Who knows. But Jeffrey has taken to removing his Pull-ups any time he's put to bed. He won't do it if I put him in shorts but it's been so warm this week I was just letting him sleep in his Pull-ups. A couple of times he's come downstairs from his naps completely naked. I then have to go on a scavenger hunt for his undies. Thank goodness they're generally dry or only a little wet (all except for the one day he tried to dump the poopies into the potty).

Well last night I went in to give the kids night night kisses. I sneaked into Erin's room, bent over to give her a kiss, apparently startled her because she bolted straight up and headbutted me. Apparently she didn't notice it because she just rolled back over - I had a bump on the head when I woke up this morning though. So I opened the door to Jeffrey's room slightly startled at what had just happened in Erin's room. I was blown away to find myself even more startled in Jeffrey's room.

There he was in his bed - Stark Naked. No shorts. No Pull-up. No shirt (he hadn't been wearing a shirt to start with). He was sound asleep snuggled with his blankie and his Cars fleece blanket. I went in to grab Tom, informing him that he just HAD to see this. When we went a little closer we found that his bed was soaked. His blanket was soaked. His fleece was soaked. His perfectly dry Pull-up was crumpled into a ball at the side of his bed. We had to wake him up fully, get him clothed and change his sheets.

I only wish I had gotten a picture of it. Sigh . . . he can even cause problems while he's asleep.

Mommy - Go Potty

I haven't given an update on Jeffrey's potty progress lately. He's doing quite good. He's even started telling me when he has to go - which seems to have taken longer than it did with Erin. Yesterday was his first completely dry day. He was wet in the morning (something to be expected) but stayed dry for the rest of the day - including his nap time and a trip to the Dr. (for what turned out to be a bug bite behind the ear). The day before that he was playing outside with Erin while Tom was working on the deck. There was a knock at the door and Jeffrey was standing there saying,

"Mommy, Go Potty"

I was pretty amazed at that. To realize while outside playing that he had to go. And to be willing to stop playing long enough to come inside and go pee. Again this morning while we were snuggling in bed he looked at me and said the same thing. Way to go kiddo, progress!!!

We've started making some more trips outside the house in his undies. Earlier this week we went to the grocery store without a hitch. As long as we go potty before we leave we're usually pretty lucky.

That's not to say we're in the clear. Monday evening, Tom found him in the basement playing, standing in a huge puddle, and completely un-aware that anything was wrong. When I went down to get him he looked at me and said - Ooops - pee pee in pants. And that was about it. Not overly concerned about it at all.

So we've still got a ways to go, but I'm impressed at the progress we've made at this young age.

A Few Day Trips With Grandma (And Aunt Katie)

While we were in Rochester we took a few "day" trips. One morning we went into the city to explore the Strong Museum of Play. Later in the week we decided to explore the local amusement Park, Seabreeze.

If you're ever in Rochester with time to kill and children tagging along...the Strong Museum of Play is one of the best "children's" Museum's I've been to in a long time. And I've been to more than my share of Children's Museums. There's this great section on different genres of stories, a super Wegman's shopping area, and this cool motion/kinesthetic area. Add in the little train and carousel and it was a winner. We also bought tickets to the butterfly exhibit which was much like what we saw in DC. The kids loved it just as much and giggled every time they saw a butterfly. Erin really liked looking all around the exhibits in the reading area. Jeffrey enjoyed shopping with his own shopping cart in Wegman's (A local grocery store chain). He also got a huge kick out of riding the little train around. Erin found this shadow volleyball game that she thought was pretty cool too. There's also a huge saltwater aquarium where every child I saw inspecting it - including Erin and Jeff - would shout "Look, there's Nemo!!". It was really a great time and we were very excited that Grandma and Aunt Katie were able to take us there.

On Friday we decided to check out a local amusement park right on the lake. Erin was very excited as when she sees rides anywhere she always wants to try them out. The little tykes area is super - there's a boat ride, some rockets, a tiny turtle "roller coaster", a swing ride and best of all cars. Then Erin spotted the "big kid" rides and she was itching to try them. She was at the middle height where she needed an adult to ride with her so I had to upgrade my ticket from observer to rider. Erin jumped onto the Log Flume, the Beartrack Roller coaster (a great experience for a first roller coaster) the teacups and even spied a couple of others she wanted to try but was too short. She had an awesome time, and is clearly my amusement thrill seeker. Jeffrey thought that the green car in the toddler car ride was specifically his, and he spent 90% of the day talking about driving the "green car" and would race in line to get the green car. It was really pretty cute. He did get to ride one big kid ride - they rode an airplane ride where the planes flew up and down while around and around.

Jeffrey Driving his Green Car

Erin Sitting Waiting For Her First Roller Coaster Ride (grandma got all the other pictures of Erin on the big rides as I was riding with her)

Grandma suggested both these places and they were great. We had an awesome time Grandma.

Swimming at Grandma's

We went from Rhode Island to Rochester. All the kids could talk about was swimming at Grandma's. Note, the kids see a swimming pool maybe once each summer. Last summer Erin was physically terrified of the pool. Jeffrey enjoyed it but he was so young I'm sure he had no memory of it. So why the kids were so excited about swimming at Grandma's I'm not quite sure.

The first day we got there we went swimming briefly after dinner. Grandma and Mommy got out all the safety equipment (2 flotation bubbles) and everyone ready for the pool. Erin took one look at it and screamed. Jeffrey started down the steps and decided it was a little cold for his liking. Needless to say we spent 5 very long minutes in the pool before Erin's screaming won out. We moved out of the pool and Erin spotted the spa,

"Hey Grandma, can we go in the little pool?"

"Sure honey."

We move over to the little pool where Erin can walk around the whole thing on the bench seat. She's certainly more comfortable here. Jeffrey is also having fun. Grandma and mommy are playing goalie in the middle for anyone who might slip. No one slips, but Jeffrey decides that he thinks it would be fun to JUMP off the step at mommy. 20 minutes later there is much jumping and splashing and swallowing of water but he's having a blast. So much even Erin is ready to try. So all in all our first night in the "little-pool" was a success.

The next day brought a heat wave to Rochester. It was 90ish out and we planned an afternoon in the pool. I certainly didn't want to spend it in the little pool, so I got Erin to try out the big pool. We tried the water wings rather than the bubble. Erin seemed more comfortable with this. We got her to relax herself in the big pool. Grandma got out the flotation noodles and a "boat" (floating mat). Jeffrey and I splashed around and Grandma showed Erin how to tuck the noodle under her arms. Before we knew it, Erin was paddling/running around the shallow end with a noodle and her wings.

Jeffrey had no problems getting into the big pool. Since he had discovered the fun of jumping last night he wanted to continue that trend. He spent much of the day standing on the edge jumping in at mommy or Grandma.

"Ready Mommy,"

he would shout. This was not a question. It meant.....Here I Come. He was to the point of jumping off the edge away from me rather than to me. He'd go under, come up with a little cough and go right back at it. My crazy little man. He drank so much pool water but it didn't slow him down a bit. Wild and crazy goofball. I had to watch him like a hawk. He did end up in time-out a few times when he didn't wait for someone to be ready for his jumping.

The next day was much a repeat weather wise. Good and hot - perfect for the pool. Jeffrey was his crazy old self, and Erin was ready for the next step. We got her to try kicking around without the noodle and holding onto Grandma/Aunt Katie's hands. Next thing she knew, Aunt Katie took her hands away and Erin was kicking around the shallow end of the pool in just her water wings. Next thing I knew she was asking me if she could "swim" to the deep end to get the floating duckie and then to the ladder in the deep end. Two days ago she was terrified and now she's swimming to the ladder in the deep end. I was so proud of her for trying something she was afraid to try. My big girl.....

Now I've got to get some wings for here at the house for both kids for those trips to the lake. Last time they knew their boundaries.....now I'm pretty sure they'll be trying to paddle for the dock. Time for some real swimming lessons I guess.

From the Viewpoint of a 4-year Old

I gave Erin my old digital camera to take on our trip last week. She spent about 3 days with it before she totally filled up the memory card AND killed the batteries. It's amazing to look at how she sees things. So from the Viewpoint of a 4-year old we have....

Family members

Our trip to the Lighthouse

Outside the Car Window

Inside the Car

These last few require a little explanation. I figured Erin would enjoy taking pictures of what she could see out her window as we were driving around Rhode Island. Either Rhode Island is very boring (I doubt it), she really can't see much (entirely possible), or she is extremely fascinated by her car seat. When I first took her camera to look at what was on it I found about 35 pictures of her car seat, her lap and her buckle. It was rather amazing. I deleted the bunch figuring that was just something interesting her at that point. Later that day I retrieve the camera again and another slew of car seat photos. I kept them around this time. I call it -- study on a car seat. If anyone has any painful desire to see any additional shots from the study let me know and I'll send them along. As for now here's just a taste of what I'm talking about.

Fun with Family in Rhode Island

We had a chance a few weeks ago to drive up to Rhode Island and meet the newest member of the clan - little Avery Anne. What a cutie.

We left early on Thursday morning - and I mean early. We were on the road by 5:00 AM in order to miss all the traffic around the 3 cities we had to travel through. We had great luck and made it to Rhode Island by late afternoon. We got to meet Avery right away while Erin and Jeff re-acquainted themselves with cousin Rylie and all her toys. Jeffrey talked almost the entire drive about Cousin Rylie's house so he was quite excited when we got there.

We had a relaxed evening and then headed over to the nearby favorite beach to to a little wading and search for starfish. Uncle Jeff is a pro at finding starfish. Erin was pretty terrified of them at first but eventually realized they were pretty cool and decided she didn't mind helping to throw them back into the ocean. Jeffrey, as is typical, ran directly into the water and it was all we could do to keep him as dry as possible. By the end of the trip all 3 kids had wet bottoms from getting into the water.

On Saturday we went over to a nearby lighthouse. The day was gorgeous, if a little windy. We walked around the lighthouse and climbed a little on the rocks. Rylie pointed all the boats out to me. Jeffrey just wanted to run and climb. Erin had my old digital camera with her and she just wanted to take picture after picture.

That afternoon Rylie had dress rehearsal for her dance recital so we took the kids and Avery out to a nearby playground. They had a blast running and climbing. There was an Air Show nearby and we got to see some of the planes flying around in formation over the playground. Of course what good is a trip to a playground if we don't stop for Ice Cream on the way home. We found the greatest place for Ice Cream thanks to Uncle Jeff. Erin enjoyed her first strawberry Ice Cream cone while Jeffrey missed out snoozing in the back seat.

Sunday, Jeff drove us around Newport. The mansions there are amazing. Both the kids called them castles as we drove by. We stopped at a park overlooking the bay/inlet where we could see a whole bunch of sail boats. The kids spent the required time running around in the grass chasing and tackling daddy. Even Cousin Rylie got into the mix - until Jeffrey tried to clothes-line her. And then that was enough of that.

That afternoon Rylie had her dance recital. She was adorable doing the Twist and marching. Erin was mesmerized by the whole thing and now wants to take dance classes. I think we might have to wait on that a bit. "Uncle" Craig drove down to meet Avery and see Erin and Jeff after the show.

By Sunday night everyone was exhausted, moms and dads included. With early mornings for all on Monday we turned in not long after the kiddos. It was a great weekend to spend with family, for the cousins to play together, and to meet Avery who's just as cute as a button.

A Visit With the Butterflies

While spending the weekend in DC with Noni, Grandpa, Uncle Jon and Oma we took some time this morning to go to a butterfly exhibit. This is a big open aviary/greenhouse type building that is just filled with butterflies. Both the kids are fascinated with butterflies right now and were very excited about going to see them.




There were some important ground rules such as no running, no screaming and no touching the butterflies. These were difficult for Jeffrey to process. Once we got inside and saw the butterflies it was hopeless. He was so enchanted by them that he would scream with glee every time one flew by him. And if one was still enough he'd reach his finger out to "pet" it and shriek as soon as it would flutter its wings and fly away. And forget about not running. How can one not run after something that is so amazing. Even still he did manage to remain still enough for a few seconds at one point that a butterfly landed on his shoulder. This resulted in the loudest squeal of glee of the entire morning - and immediately terrified the butterfly off his shoulder.


Erin wanted very badly for a butterfly to come and sit with her. She would try and sit very still and put her hand out next to a nearby "flutterby". But any time one would get close to her she'd jerk her hand away and giggle. With the ones she saw flying through the air she would run after it clapping her hands together as if she could catch one in her grasp. She would stop often when she saw one on the ground or a nearby flower and get up very close to it as if she was inspecting every detail of their wings.



All in all the kids loved the trip. Much more exciting than when we took Erin almost 3 years ago. That time she was most excited about the stones in the paths. This time it was all about the butterflies.

Boys Will be Boys I Guess

Well one boy in particular. He seems to have gotten himself in quite a bit of trouble yesterday afternoon. The type of trouble I never had with Erin. Not even when she pooped in her room so proud because she didn't poop in her panties. Although this is along very similar lines.

Jeffrey was put down for his nap at his usual time yesterday. Before laying down he peed on the potty and we got a pull-up on him. Both he and Erin were up very early - like 6:30ish which is way too early for me. So expected them to take good naps. Jeffrey apparently had other plans. About 10 minutes after laying him down I heard him up playing. I went in to guild him back to bed and noticed he smelled stinky. I half expected this actually. He's not been super great about pooping in the potty recently, but at least saves it for the Pull-up at nap time. So I take him into the bathroom. Clean him up and remind him that poopie belongs in the potty. I fish out a new Pull-up and bring him back to his bed.

Ten minutes later I hear him up again. Now I know he's just playing so it's time for some action. I go upstairs and find him in the middle of the hallway wearing only his t-shirt. That's right, no Pull-up. He looks at me with a big smile and says.

"Poopie in the potty mommy"

I peer into the bathroom and there is his Pull-up in the middle of the floor. And he has actually gone pee in the potty. Well I'm actually pretty proud of him for this because he's never really taken initiative to go on his own before. So I tell him good boy, but it's time to nap. I put the Pull-up back on and tuck him in.

Ten minutes later I again hear him playing. This time he's in the living room playing with the drum. Since he knows he's supposed to stay in his room during nap time he runs away from me. But not before I notice that yet again----he's naked on the bottom half. I ask him where his undies are and he leads me to the bathroom and again proclaims,

"Poopie in the potty mommy"

I peer inside and yes he has eeked out a little more pee into the potty. But this time I'm a little more frustrated because he KNOWS it's nap time and is really really testing the limits.

Again I re-clothe him and send him back to bed. Ten minutes later I hear him up again. This time it sounds as if he's staying in his room. I decide to wait it out hoping that he'll just conk out on the floor. A bit later I head up to check on him. Erin's door is open and there is a nasty smell coming from in there. Erin hears me coming upstairs and runs to meet me...

"Jeffrey went poopie mommy."

"OK honey, I'll get him cleaned up."

"No don't worry mommy I wiped his bum for you."

"What?"

Now you see I assumed Jeffrey went poopie in his Pull-ups. And I was correct in that assumption. What I didn't realize was that he had then taken said soiled Pull-ups off and tried to dump the poop into the potty (something he sees mommy do). Then feeling like a big boy he just went about his business. Except he rather missed the toilet and actually ended up dumping the whole Pull-up into the potty. Then apparently proceeded to fish it out. I wander into Erin's room and there he is in all his glory squatting in the middle of her floor playing. Clearly his path to this location had taken him through her room, over to the fish tank, up onto her newly washed sheets, and ended on the floor in the middle of a pile of toys.

Erin's room stank to high heaven. Jeffrey had poop all over his hands, all over his T-shirt, all over his legs, and all over the toys he was playing with. So I scooped him up, cleaned him off, removed said T-shirt and got him settled in pants and a clean shirt. I then turned my attention to the bathroom and toilet which had splatters of poop everywhere. After wiping that down it was time to address Erin's room. I stripped her bed, got the spots on the floor, and cleaned the toys. All in all it took about 45 minutes to clean it all up.

I asked Erin why she didn't come get me and she was quite clear that it was OK, she had wiped Jeffrey's bum. Clearly in the mind of a 4-year old this was sufficient enough to deal with the situation.

So I've got a stripper and a little girl who loves being a big sister so much (on every other Tuesday that is) that she's willing to clean up his poop. Boys will be boys I guess.

And oh yeah one other thing.....this morning I was greeted bedside by a stark naked Jeffrey in all his glory. Heaven help me. Now if I can just get him to tell me where he hid the diaper.

Out of the Mouths of my Babes

Here are some cute conversations I've had with the kids recently.

• Jeffrey went through a hitting phase a few months ago where he found himself in time out quite frequently for hitting. Whenever we put him in time out we always ask him, "Jeffrey do you know why you are in time out?" Usually he'll just look at you with his big eyes and say - "I sorry mommy." I'd inform him he was in time out because it's not nice to hit people. So, recently when he's in time out, most often for not listening, I'll ask him...."Jeffrey do you know why you are in time out?" His immediate response....."We Don't Hit PEOPLE" (emphasis on people). I try very hard not to laugh at him but it's quite difficult to hold it back.

• Or there's Erin trying to get Jeffrey to eat a Lima bean (her new favorite). "Look Jeffrey it's good. It's not spicy. It's good. Try it." Well put my dear. It's true - Lima beans are not spicy.

• Tonight Erin was sitting on my lap while I was playing an online fantasy game. She'll sit with either Tom or I enough she has a basic grasp for the game. So my character "fell over" (read died). Erin asks, "What happened mommy?" My response, "Mommy fell over, it's OK". A few minutes later the same thing happens. "Look mommy you fell over again." Then she turns her head away from the screen to look at me -- "You're not very good mommy." After one last attempt at the quest I moved onto a different area. Erin got slightly confused and said..."We're not in Kansas anymore!" I laughed for a good 5 minutes. No dear we're not in Kansas anymore. I couldn't have said it any better myself.

What could make a better photo shoot than...

...the end of a hot day, Popsicles on the porch, and naked kids (well almost naked). We had a long day in Richmond (actually lucked out with the dress and was able to pick it up today) at the dress store and then the Children's Museum. The kids were great at the store this time - probably because we were only in there for less than 5 minutes. Then we went to the museum where both were amazingly well behaved....until it was time to go. Erin got a rainbow painted on her cheek as the highlight of the day. When we got home we had a quick dinner of garden veggies and dip and Spaghetti Os. I promised the kids if they ate well we'd have a special dessert. I had them take off their clothes (although Jeff refused to take off his shorts) and they sat on the front stoop with Popsicles. The sun was shining in their faces and it was simply beautiful. I'll put up some of the pictures, but given today's society I'm going to hold back on any of Erin without her shirt. Sad as that is I think it's the appropriate thing to do. Anyway I've got a few to share.


Erin with her Rainbow before dinner


Erin with her Popsicle


Jeffrey having a go at it

Today.....

....we left the house in big boy undies. We took our first trip out of the house in big boy undies today. He's been doing very well for me the past few weeks. He doesn't yet tell me when he has to go, but seems to understand that when I take him to the bathroom he needs to try to go potty. I've been able to stretch our trips out to almost 2 hours apart which is great. Then I'm guaranteed he'll go within the first few minutes. He's been pooping in his pull-up at naptime so the pooping is still being worked on, but he hasn't had any poopy accidents in his undies.

So today we took the plunge, and went to the tax office (car tax day) and then the park for about 30 minutes. We were gone about an hour and he stayed dry the whole time. Yipeeeee. I'm not sure we're ready for big trips without the pull-ups but am certainly excited to know that we're making major progress here on the potty front.

At This Very Moment

At this very moment Jeffrey is playing in his room. Usually this is a good thing...today not such a good thing. You see he's supposed to be sleeping. I've gone up there 4 times, changed a stinky Pull-up, moved him back in bed, and even once slapped his behind. He knows he's stretching the bounds because when he hears me coming he either runs for his bed or lies down where he is on the floor and pretends to be asleep. He and Erin were both up early this morning playing and need to nap.

He's been fighting the sleep more and more lately. I think it's more of a control thing than a not being tired thing. He wants to control when he sleeps. Or where even. For example (a cute example at that).

Last night I put the kids into bed around 8:00 PM. Tom was out so I got both kids to bed at the same time. I read Jeffrey a story, tucked him in, got my night night kiss and left the room. I went over to Erin's room and read her a chapter from Charlotte's Web. All was quiet when I left her room. I headed down to the basement to watch a movie and play on the computer. I have a baby monitor on my desk so I can hear what Jeff's up to. All is quiet for the rest of the night.

When I'm ready to head to bed I always peek in at the kids and give them secret kisses. Sometimes Erin wakes up and says love you mommy. Jeffrey is usually half out of his bed and I scoot him back to the middle. So last night I head into Erin's room and give her a kiss. She makes a few noises but doesn't wake up. Tom, standing outside the room immediately starts giggling. I am thinking - he knows I do this every night, what's so funny. Tom remarks...

"I assume you put Jeffrey to bed in his bed tonight, right?"

"Of course, where else would I put him?"

"Well come look at this."

I turn to see what he's snickering about. There in the middle of our queen bed is a sound-asleep Jeffrey. All snuggled under the covers and cozy on Tom's pillow. I have NO idea when he moved in there. I never heard a thing.

Usually if he wakes up later in the evening he'll come downstairs to me...not last night apparently.

A Beautiful Hike, But No Zebra

For some family time on the long weekend we decided to take the kids out for a hike. Tom had me choose the hike. I wanted something different and a little fun so I picked a 4-miler that ran by a river and some waterfalls up in the Shenandoah. We've still got both backpacks for the kids so we figured we were set. While I got everyone ready (meaning me dressed, Erin in socks and sneakers instead of sandals, Jeffrey into a Pull-up and sneakers) Tom got some bottles of water ready for the hike.

We headed out the door about 10 AM. It was simply gorgeous. High 70s at that time, puffy clouds and a slight breeze. We piled into the Sentra and headed on up the mountain. We had the windows totally rolled down and the kids thought that was the best thing ever. Jeffrey giggled the whole way. We had to drive about 15 miles along Skyline Drive before we got to the parking area for the hike. It was a little hazy down in the valley but still the views were gorgeous.

Once we parked we got the kids out of the car and into the packs. I was a little worried about Jeffrey. We haven't packed with him yet this year and he's in a very "mobile" stage right now. I figured he'd throw a fit about getting into the pack, but nope. We crossed over the drive and headed down the Fire Road towards the river and falls. Not 100 feet down trail we had the first exciting event of the day. A smallish black bear went sauntering across the trail about 30 feet ahead of us. He was gorgeous. Erin missed him at first, but we were able to point it out to her off the side of the trail. He sat about 35 feet off the trail for a few minutes and we just stood and watched him. Then he gave us one last look as if saying "See you later" and rumbled down the hill through the woods. Erin was sooo excited. As we continued down the trail she asked daddy what we'd see next, Tom replied we'd have to wait and see. Erin decided she wanted to see a zebra next. So....she spent the next 2.5 hours on the hike looking for a zebra. Sadly for her we never stumbled across one. About a mile down the fire road were the first set of waterfalls. These falls were really cool. Fairly narrow but they were relatively tall. The kids thought they were amazing.

This provided a good chance for Tom to mess with my backpack...again. Lemme tell you Jeffrey had no problems with being in the pack except the he weighs almost 30 pounds fully dressed. I had to keep adjusting the pack so the weight was on my waist and not shoulders. This was probably the most frustrating part of the whole trip. We had to unload him at least 3 times to make adjustments.

At that point we veered off the Fire road and onto a trail that followed the river. This was simply beautiful. The river bubbled and cascaded down rocks. There were lots of pools where you could fish for brook trout (we saw one group of hikers with fly fishing poles). We stopped and took a water break along the stream at one point. The kids loved walking around and throwing stones into the water. Jeffrey wanted to get a big splash. Tom took this picture right as Jeffrey had thrown a whopper into the stream...look at the second splash on the right of the photo. Erin liked the sounds the different sized stones made as she threw them into the water. There were a few close calls where Jeffrey almost fell face first into the water leaning for the perfect stone. Wouldn't have bothered him, but would have made for a long walk back. At one point Erin found a great little perch by the river just to sit and look at it. She reminded me very much of her Uncle Jonathan at that point as he loved to do the same thing.



The hike followed the river for about 1.5 miles. Erin provided entertainment by singing. She sang Over the Rainbow several times. Jeffrey wanted to sing Eensy Weensy Spider. We passed lots of other hikers who thought the kids were just the cutest things around. On the way back up the mountain (we had about 1000 ft of elevation change down....then back up) we passed one last waterfall. This was the best of all. If we hadn't had the kids, and I hadn't had another mile of mountain to climb up I would've loved to jump right into the water at the base. As we turned away from the falls, Jeffrey turned around and shouted "Bye Bye Waterfall!".

The climb up was difficult but not too horrible. We took lots of little rests. About 1/2 mile from the top the path leveled a bit and widened. We decided we could let the kids out of the packs to finish the hike. They took off running up the mountain, jumping and tripping over little rocks in the path. By the time we were done we were all exhausted but it was completely and totally worth it. If you ask Erin what we saw on the hike she'll tell you, "A Bear, A Monkey (chipmunks), Water and Waterfalls -- but No Zebra."

Sigh...one of those L..O..N..G days

We had one of those long mornings that just completely and totally wipes me out. And the kids. One of those mornings that the kids are lucky to live through (OK we all know that's an exaggeration but still).

We were out late last night at some friends. Erin fell asleep while watching Cars...Jeffrey did not. He was still going strong at 11:30. By the time we got home though he was crashed out. At 7:30 this morning I woke up to find him snuggled between Tom and I. And not about to want to wake up. Problem is that we had to be out of the house at 9 AM to get to Richmond to have Erin fit for her Flower Girl dress for "Uncle" Gary and "Aunt" Suzie's wedding in August. It's a nice drive, but about 90 minutes. I gave myself 2 hours just to be safe.

So eventually I got him up and on the potty (making real progress there, but that's for another day). Went in to get Erin. Roused her and noticed that she seemed to be wearing different panties than she was sent to bed in. Honestly I wasn't sure about it but really I was pretty sure she was wearing Mermaid and not Care Bears. Fairly quickly she confirmed that her panties (and apparently her sheets and blanket) had gotten "soaked" at night and she had gotten "new" panties.

Moving on to breakfast. I notice that the shorts I've put Jeffrey in simply aren't going to work. He must have been getting ready to shoot up a few inches when we tried them on because 2 weeks ago they fit, but today they were hanging around his ankles. So while they fussed over not having the right flavor oatmeal (Erin needs cinnamon, Jeffrey just likes to fuss when his sister does) I unearthed a pair of shorts for him and got him ready to go.

As Erin fussed because her oatmeal wasn't correctly prepared, Tom made the comment that I was in for a LONG morning. He had NO idea.

So 9 AM rolls around and I'm actually ready to throw the kids in the car. Make Erin go pee, get Jeff in a pull-up and we're off. The drive to Richmond goes fairly well save for Jeffrey kicking the window button on his door and lowering his window. Normally not an issue, but it's a 50/50 deal whether the window will go back up again easily. Following the directions from the lady at the store, we actually end up arriving about 20 minutes before our appointment. Silly me assumed they would be open at that point, but no. So I'm stuck sitting in the car with Erin insisting that we listen to her drum CD (which was in the house) and Jeffrey who desperately wanted OUT!!!!

About 10:50 we got out and I let the run around the sidewalk. By 11 we finally got inside. We had an appointment but still had to wait a few minutes. Erin announces that she has to pee - I ask where the potty is and run Erin back. Jeffrey is now hollering through the whole store--- "Poopie in the potty mommy. Poopie in the potty." I duck behind a lovely seafoam strapless number and hope nobody can see me.

By the time we're out of the potty, a young lady has brought us a 3 and 4 in the dress style. I grab the 3 and get Erin into it. Immediately she thinks she is a princess. She starts spinning and dancing - and falling over into the glass mirrors. Jeffrey, Mater car in hand, proceeds to run directly into one of the mirrored walls. Whether he didn't realize it was a mirror or he just wanted to run into a wall - I'm not sure. What I do know is that his hand prints on the mirrors were not appreciated by the staff.

It becomes quickly apparent that Erin will need a 3 not a 4..because she is pretty much falling out of the top of the 3. The sales lady grabs about 2-3 inches at each side and says -- well we can take this in. But for length we need the 3 not the 2 - which is great because they don't have a 2 we can try on anyway.

So back into normal clothes we go, and I head to the counter to "register" and place our order. The kids start running around like wild monkeys throughout the store. After much threatening and removal of all toys and privileges they are sitting on the floor at the base of the counter.....convinced that mommy is the meanest person in the whole world.

We ring up the dress. I hand over the credit card. I sign the slip...same old same old. The lady at the register (I've been passed off to "expedite the process" - read get this lady and her two unruly kids out of our store) asks me to sign another form stating that I've been informed that this in a non-refundable purchase and that alterations are available at an extra charge. I make the comment that we'll certainly need alterations. She pauses and says..."oh".

"Oh?" I ask?

"Well we expect to get the dress in here at the store on August 15th.

"WHAT!!!!!???? You've got to be kidding me? Are you serious? And you didn't think to mention this to me? That's not going to work!!! The wedding is August 18th!!!"

So I'm immediately passed off to the manager because now I'm the pissed off mom-of-a-flower-girl-with-two-uncontrollable-children-who-must-be-shoved-out-the-door. She does some looking and discovers that she "might" be able to get a size 3 in by the end of June. Well I guess that's going to have to do, but this is insane.

So I drag the kids out of the store, paper in hand with the card of the store manager clearly stapled to the front. I explain to the kids that we were going to spend a "fun" day in Richmond but they were not being very good inside the store and maybe we'd just go home. Erin screams, Jeffrey tries to run away. Once I get them in the car we all calm down and I ask if they want to get lunch. There's and Applebees nearby and they have a pretty good lunch menu. Erin agrees that she can be good - she wants lunch.

I find the little plaza with the Applebees. It's at the far end and we have to pass a McDonald's in order to get there. This particular McDonald's has an outdoor Play Zone. Erin can spot these things a mile away and assumes immediately that we're going there. When I drive by she erupts into tears as if her most beloved Pet Toy has just been decapitated by her brother. Needless to say we ended up eating at McDonald's. An hour later, I finally fished Jeffrey - who had eaten almost nothing - out of the play zone. I explain to him a fifteenth time that he drank all his lemonade and that it is "All Gone". I take both kids, toss them in the car and vow never to return to Richmond.

Never that is until I'm able to pick up a flower girl dress in white with apple trim that apparently takes 10 weeks to order.....But she's still going to look like a beautiful princess at the wedding.

Progress!!!!

I know I'm overloading you all but this needs to be said......

At 5 PM I had to change the same pair of Cars undies I put on Jeffrey at 8 AM!!!

And I only changed them because they got a little wet, not soaked at all. He stayed dry all that time - and we weren't even living in the bathroom.

Yay little boy....there's a light at the end of the tunnel.