Vegas Baby

Man this feels like it was SO long ago. I thought I had blogged this but just found all of these pictures saved but not posted! I don't even remember when this was but in the beginning of the year before Jim left the country they got to spend a few days in Vegas. My neighbors Jim and Kelly were amazing and offered to watch the boys. (Still not sure how we got so lucky!) We had an amazing suite from Gene and Kathy and really had the time of our lives! We gambled, watched an amazing show- Ka from Cirque, walked a lot and gambled a lot. I really wanted to do the zip wire adventure but there was mix up and they were actually booked so that's first on my list next time we go there! As much as I know the boys miss Jim the memories from this trip have gotten me through many a night!

Snowshoe Trip ( Feb 2009)

Chris/Poppi has a bunch of other amazing pictures we took of the boys and their first time on skis. The boys LOVED it. They didn't understand what they were doing and wanted to walk but once I got on my skis and held them as we went down the mountain they loved it. We also took them up to the top of the mountain where they have an arcade place. They had such a blast moving from game to game. We found a car racing game that had like 20 credits so we played that for some time.

Then Chris bought the boys tickets for the trampoline that catapults them into the sky. I wish I could describe the joy and wonder on their faces. The fist 10 jumps they were beaming and delightedly laughing. After that they just looked around as if it was the most natural thing in the world to be jumping that high. We also tried the large air slide which Coop took to no problem but Bear held onto his fear of slides and the staff laughed as they had me carry him up the very large slide and go down with him. (The next day they were still laughing at me!) They didn't quite get that they couldn't play with some of the games that other kids were playing without paying for it. It made me laugh when they just held out their hands and demanded coins.

The other big event was us taking over a ski slope to let the boys go sledding. They had a blast and Coop even pulled Bear back up the hill a few times. Chris also treated me to an amazing massage while he babysat the kids. I took a book and sat next to the mountain's lodge fire place before and after the massage. It was blissful!

The Castle Adventure

Today was one of those days I wanted to just bust with joy over these two little guys. We made it to Whole Foods (or The Castle according to Coop) to do a bit of grocery shopping. Bear is in his phase where he has absolutely NO desire to be in the cart and has the glint of mischief in his eyes as he runs just outside of the boundaries he’s given. So we get there and I need to use the restroom.

As soon as I get up Bear tries to take the plunger to the toilet and Coop delights in flushing the toilet for me. All of this is cracking me up until I catch Coop on his hands and knees looking under the stall door saying, “hi guys!” to a woman. EEEEEKK. I grab them and apologize and high tail it out of there. I ask Coop to hold Bear’s hand and lead me to the fruit. No joke the boys knew exactly where to go and led me there holding hands the whole way. Everyone just sort of parted down the middle for them it was so cute. We come up to the fruit and Coop stops and says, “Ohhhhhhh it’s beeeaaaauuuutiful.” He holds Bear’s hand through the whole produce section and everything I need on my list he knows where to go to get it. A Grandma stops me and says, “Whatever you fed them for breakfast today you feed that to them every day!”

We finish up in the produce section and I ask Coop to take us to the Kombucha aisle. He grabs Bear’s hand and they take off for the opposite end of the store again. There is a guy stocking the Kombucha and Coop stops at his knees and cheers, “Bucha bucha bucha!!” The guy is so charmed he gets us a case of the strawberry so we don’t have to bag it.

Get to the line and they see an open table. They make a beeline for it and just sit there waiting patiently for me to pay. I pay and we go to sit outside in the sun and to eat a banana. As soon as I pulled them out the boys BOTH put their hands in the air and cheered for the bananas. I think Bear’s words were something like, “Nana, nana, nana!!!!” They were just so excited and everyone was so tickled at their exuberance.

We head home with a quick stop to the bank and Bear is fast asleep snoring and even some drool coming down. Coop says, “Shhh momma Bear is sleeping.” We get home and Coop helps me carry the bags in and says, “Look momma I can do it!” I respond with how strong and helpful he is and as I put my bags down Coop says, “Good job momma you did it!”

Nobody Told Me

Some poor little turtle has gotten lost on it's way to out little pond not once but twice and ended up very confused with only stairs to fall down. The first day I got over my girly scared factor and picked it up to put it back on some grass. (Trying to set a good example and all.) Little dude not only pees on me but poops on me!!! I admit to a few squeals but I got him down into the grass and he finally ran away. Jim says, "Oh you didn't know they did that? They do it all the time!" Humph nobody told me that!

So two days later he's back and stuck again. I know now to pick him up right in the middle but this time instead of going back in his shell he starts kicking and clawing trying to scratch and bite me!! The boys had a good time though playing with him till he figured out he could get away and we wouldn't stop him.

More Duck Fun

We have a geese infestation in our apartment complex. It's a tad annoying to have geese everywhere you turn but it is cute to see all the little baby geese waddling along. I normally don't let the boys chase the geese but today was special. (I was bored.) We were at the end of our complex playing with some sticks when Coop spotted three geese at the very other end. It's a bit of a hike. He starts yelling "Duckies mommy duckies!!" I actually wanted to see if he would run the whole way so I said, "Go get them Cooper!" This kid took off screaming, "Duckieeeeeeeeeees!" Halfway he stopped abruptly and turned around to make sure I was really letting him chase the geese. I told him to go ahead and he took off again. The two smart ones scattered but the third must have thought Coop had some food and waited anxiously for this toddler to come to him. By the time he figured out Coop didn't have any food it was too late. Coop reached out and almost made contact before the goose started running for it's life. The goose started running towards me with Coop close behind yelling, "Wait duckie!" The other two geese started running behind Coop and I thought oh no what have I gotten my son into? Suddenly the goose took flight and almost clipped me with his wing. Bear and I fell back in the grass laughing as the other two followed suit and flew over us as well. Coop jumped on top of us and I thought you know I might actually like having these geese around here!

How We Got Kicked Out of Target

Ok so we didn't get kicked out, but I wanted to kick us out of Target! Jim is gone this weekend so I've been working double duty with the boys to make sure that by bed time they are exhausted and won't give me any fuss with going to bed. We were up at 6:30 this morning and at the gym by 9. We ran errands from 11-12 had lunch and naps until 2:30. They woke up nice and refreshed so we colored, built a castle, played with the alphabet on the fridge, played chase, tickle monster, and watched Max and Ruby too many times and then had dinner. Cooper built his own train track from our memory blocks. Then Bear, well he destroyed it!

We'd already had puddle time so I thought they would love a bath (and it would take at least an hour if I did it right.) For the first time on record they refused a bath. Typically you ask if they want a bath and they are running for the tub and undressing themselves. So with two hours to kill I suggest maybe we go outside or go to a store. They bring me their shoes and off we go with them being very excited.

We walk into Target and Bear lets go of my hand and starts to run. (I let him know several times on the way in that if he ran away from me he would be in the shopping cart.) I got ready to chase him and he stopped about 20 feet ahead of us and waited. So through Target we go. Bear tried to take down a jewelry display so we had to leave that section. Bear and Coop decide all the brightly colored bras are really fun to play with and they start grabbing at them. Bear got his warning to stop throwing them on the ground but he was having too much fun so in the cart he went. I got what I needed and we were off to explore.

There was a long path with nobody in it. Bear got out and they were off. They just kept running and running and laughing with delight. Coop would fall right in front of someone and say, "Okay? Yeah I'm ok!" Then get up and do it to the next person.

Coop found the bikes and lo and behold they had a little tricycle there and Coop got a lesson in how to ride a bike. He got the steering part and then he got the pedaling part but he did not get them together. (Didn't help that he wouldn't let go of Rocket.) Bear found some soccer balls and I would kick one several isles down and he would take off. Grab it and bring it back for me to kick again. He was crazy over these soccer balls. I was loving it because they were laughing and running. I was working up a sweat with the bike lesson and chasing the soccer balls. Anybody looking at us would have thought we were at the playground!

The problem was trying to get Bear to move on. I brought a soccer ball with us but then he kept wanting to run back to get another one. So he began fussing. And fussing. And fussing. Until he found a Thomas the Train phone. He was overjoyed with this phone but so frustrated because it was in the packaging. So I try to compromise and we get a part of the phone out but it's not enough. Cooper has found a real rocket (from Little Einsteins) that's also a submarine so he's thrilled. Bear is in the cart again but he wants to throw the soccer ball out and try to take out picture frames so that section was out. I decided to call it a night and go check out.

I picked the slowest cash register and the couple in front of me had about 20 coupons. The boys begin begging for their toys even though I kept saying please wait until we pay for it. Coop is trying very hard to climb on the shopping cart to reach the conveyor belt and keeps telling me, "I can't reach! Help me momma." So the next cashier over decides to be helpful and start saying that the toys were his. Well Coop didn't go for that and started to get very upset. The cashier got the message and stopped trying to be helpful. Our cashier thought it would be nice to give Bear his soccer ball so he grabbed it and threw it at a customer in the photo lab. Cooper went and got it and we started to make our way out. I now have the cart so I can't hold Coop's hand and push the cart with Bear in it. I ask Coop if he would please be helpful and get in the cart. He throws himself down on the floor and covers his face saying, "Momma I'm crying!' and screaming at the top of his lungs. So in the cart he goes crying the whole way. We get to the car and then he's fine. Both of them were fine. They just were trying to get a reaction from me I know it.

So while we didn't actually get kicked out of Target my ploy to tucker them out worked wonders. We got home opened the toys (so anticlimactic as the Thomas phone was discarded within 10 minutes) and got ready for bed. They are now both sound asleep (Coop is clutching his new rocket) and I'm not far behind them!!

Lake Lynn Trips Have Resumed

We are so fortunate to live very close to Lake Lynn. It's the biggest lake around here and has a cool little playground. Now that the weather is getting nicer the boys have taken to asking to go to the lake. Instead of walking to the playground they will veer up our hill and say, "To the lake mommy!" oh about 50 times.

Their favorite thing to do is to throw rocks in the water. The poor ducks and geese come running, well swimming, over all excited to be getting some bread or whatever else people feed them and here come my boys throwing rocks for them to eat. The ducks stick around for a little while but give up quickly when they try to eat a rock.


These are the mutant ducks we have around here. I heard another kid call them "dog ducks". They hiss and to get anywhere they have to strain their neck forward to get a rocking motion going to get any momentum. It's actually a little scary. Coop likes to make the hissing sounds they make.One trip around the lake I attempted to go without a stroller. In my defense it had only intended to be a little walk to the first bridge to throw some rocks then head back home. They decided they wanted to walk. So walk we did. We got all the way to the third bridge. I turned them around to walk back home- I knew we were farther than we should have been but I was not prepared for Bear to get tired and just lay down on the bridge and attempt a nap. (He certainly doesn't do that at home!) I tried to get him to hold my hand but nope he was tired and it would only work if I would carry him. Now in our little world if I'm carrying Bear then Coop wants to be carried. (This drama had played itself out a long time ago so I was surprised to see it pop up but Coop was tired too.) Coop was a trooper though he walked the whole way back. My biceps were truly burning but we made it. We got up the ginormous hill and two of the mutant ducks dive bombed me. Not sure if they thought I was coming to their nest or what but I had to hit the deck while the boys thought it was quite fun to watch the ducks fly right over them. Then Coop says, "Momma what you doing?" Maybe I should have tried to take a nap there and see what they would have done :-)

Still my favorite part of our trips around the lake is by halfway they are done walking and playing they just want a ride. Bear falls asleep almost instantly. Coop will check on Bear twice and if he's satisfied Bear is really asleep he'll tell me, "Ok Bear's asleep mommy." Then he will fall asleep himself. They have two drama's in the stroller- if Bear climbs in and sits on Coop's side look out! Or Coop keeps trying to rub Bear's head and Bear does not like that one single bit. But mostly they just sit and talk and one time I saw Coop pat Bear's hand very sweetly.

Last Pictorial Spread of the Mall

We headed over to the mall Sunday morning and had a blast on the different rides. The boys were trail blazing the mall and getting in everyone's way. Up and down the stairs a gazillion times. Coop would get to a split and yell, "Look mommy 3 paths!" We'd go one way and he'd say, "Yes mommy we're taking this path!" To Jim it sounded like "paff". Now he does that to me in the car whenever we are making a turn. Later that morning Coop was pointing out the security officer but he wasn't being very friendly and waving back to us. So when Coop was on the motorcycle I got some awesome video and pictures and was showing Jim. Next thing I know the security guard was telling us we weren't allowed to take pictures because of mall policy. We thought he was joking but alas he wasn't and we had to put the camera away. Here's what we got before the mean man showed up.

Great Caesar's Ghost

So the jacket I bought at Wal-Mart yesterday still had the anti theft thingy on it so I thought we could just run in real quick and get them to take it off after the gym today. I had a bag of flax crackers so I felt confident I could avert any pre-lunch tantrums. We go in and I feel my heart drop a little because the line is about 8 deep for customer service. As I stand at the door the sensors start going off saying I've activated the security system! The jacket didn't beep on the way out but it does on the way in? Who steals stuff and brings it back in??

The cashier from yesterday comes over and I tell her the thingy is still on there so she says she'll take care of it. Whew- we'll be out of there in no time. I look over and Bear has taken off at an all out run towards Subway. I throw the bag at the cashier and take off running after Bear with Cooper behind me laughing his little butt off. Bear starts running faster looking behind him just cackling. The only thing I can think to say as I'm smiling is, "This isn't funny!" I grab Bear right at the Subway and put him in a shopping cart. He's pissed I caught him but the cart instantly distracts him. I look back to Cooper and he has picked up some red mud someone brought in on their shoes and has eaten it. The look on his face was pure horror. He obviously was expecting a goodie not a mouth full of mud. So I run back to him to try and get it out of his mouth and he proceeds to vomit all over him, me and the floor. Great Caesar's Ghost!!! Bear is playing in the shopping cart and some older man is standing there reporting that there is a lost child to my cashier. Luckily she was watching the whole thing unfold and assured the man I was there. I was in the Subway asking the owners for some napkins, "my son has just thrown up." He hands me two. I could very easily have said a few choice words at that point. But I just repeated, "My son has thrown up can I please have more??" He hands me one more. (Sigh- I guess napkins are pretty expensive!) I take what I can get and the cashier comes over with my no longer contraband jacket and rolls Bear over to us. She said she remembered the boys from yesterday and how cute they were. Guess she won't forget us any time soon!

All cleaned up and off we go- I grabbed the sponges I had forgotten yesterday and this new cashier proceeds to tell me, "You MUST try for girl. You just must." I laughed OUT LOUD at her. I said, "With my husband I'm bound for another boy and then we'll have to try for 4- I just don't think I'm cut out for it!" She smiled touched my hand and said, "Try for a girl, you have to have a girl." So I pretty much ran as fast as I could today from Wal-Mart thinking- you guessed it- GREAT CAESAR'S GHOST!!

AMAZING

Sunday we had big plans- pack up for a trip to Snowshoe, WV. We planned to be out of the house by noon but as is our typical fashion we got on the road about 2 pm. The 6 hour drive turned into 7.5 because of some severe fog. Jim was considering getting out and running in front of the car to lead the way but when I told him it was about 10 more miles of ALL uphill he changed his mind. The boys were AMAZING. Bear fell asleep and stayed asleep till 4 am. Coop ran around when we got there playing with Poppi and when we pulled out the sofa bed he went right to sleep with me. Jim slept with Bear on the air mattress. (We didn't want to regress on the whole night nursing saga.)

It was rainy, foggy, and windy on Monday. So instead of skiing we traipsed around the mountain exploring all the new stuff there was to offer. We decided we really needed a mini-van after I had to sit in the very back of the Subaru hoping Jim didn’t get in an accident so we could all ride together. (Kind of hard to get a tour if our tour guide is in the car ahead of us.) What was cute for me is I would poke my head over the back seat and the boys kept saying, “Hi!” to me and if I put my hand over the seat they would both reach over and just hold my hand.

Coop was good in the wind but Bear was not a fan until we showed them the slopes and he was literally off and running across the slope thwarting many a skier. Home for naps- and I mean all 5 of us napped! Then Poppi had lined up a babysitter for us- Jenna. She was AMAZING. She had every confidence that she could handle everything and put us at ease. When she said, "Oh don't worry I can handle it if they fuss when you leave." I was like cool she has it under control. Poppi took us out to a new restaurant Ember that was AMAZING. They are booked well in advance but we got lucky with their last table. Poppi said to get whatever we wanted and Jim took him seriously. I think he ordered 3 appetizers and 2 entrees plus some wine. (Sorry hon but you did eat a lot!) It was the most relaxing evening- we spread it out over 3 hours and just enjoyed every bit of it. I ran into some old friends from when I used to work on the mountain which was nice. Since becoming a mom going out to the night club just doesn’t happen anymore. When we returned Jenna raved about how AMAZING the boys were. She mentioned they were the best kids she'd ever watched so our chests did puff out a little bit. To top it off they just went right to sleep.

The next morning was my mom’s birthday. We woke up with the sun thanks to the boys and got ready for the day. While Poppi went out to get Jenna we tried to get the boys in their snow suits to have a little morning outing. Cooper’s suit just didn’t fit him right or he just decided he didn’t want it on and he screamed the entire time. I think it was a little tight but he was so dramatic. He fell and then we were done. I think it took us all of 5 minutes but it was the longest 5 minutes of my life. Jenna showed up and we took off for a day of skiing. Whereas the day before had been rainy, foggy and windy Tuesday was AMAZING. Lightly snowing, fresh snow and no crowds. Last year on Mom’s birthday her and Chris skied the whole mountain so we did a few practice runs and then did the same trek they did. It had been about 4 years since we skied and we just picked it right back up and had the most AMAZING time.

We had to get back by 2 and we found all three of the kids dead asleep on the couches. It was truly one of the cutest sights. When I woke Jenna up I scared her half to death but she raved at how AMAZING the boys were again and promised to babysit any time we needed her when we were there. What can I say we have two little charmers.

As soon as the boys woke up we got dressed again and took a walk down to mom’s favorite walking path. The boys had a blast walking in the snow. They would hit trees and delight in the snow falling down. Cooper loved us hitting each other with snowballs. We finally got to a beautiful spot on the path and Chris and I spread some of mom and Wolfie’s ashes. I felt like I’d been with her all day and could feel her smiling. The boys had kept on going but suddenly returned and they were done walking so Jim and I put them on our shoulders and headed back.

We got dinner together for the boys and then Jim and I headed out for some night skiing. We had a great time on one of the easy slopes that nobody was on so it felt like we had the slopes to ourselves. Then for some reason two young kids weren’t paying attention (and neither were the lift operators) and got in between us and the lift chair. Unfortunately Jim and I didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late and mass confusion ensued. It ended with Jim’s butt up in the air blocking the chair from progressing and me yelling, “What the hell!” about 20 times. I was so scared Jim was ripping his knee apart and everyone just seemed to have a thumb up their butts. Finally Jim just fell over and onto his back. I could see him trying but he couldn’t get up. Just picture two poles and two skies flailing about in the air and lots of grunting. One of the lift operators finally helped Jim up and we got back on the lift. The other operator came out and thought it appropriate to make fun of us. I’ll admit I’m still laughing about it but we’re lucky Jim wasn’t hurt. That would have been a whole different story.

We got back to the condo and as you might have guessed Poppi reported that the boys were AMAZING. I pulled both the boys onto the couch bed and they both fell asleep in my arms. (Bear was a bit frustrated when I wouldn't nurse him and tried to give my arms several hickeys) but they both wrapped themselves up in my arms and went to sleep. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

This morning we woke up to more snow! Jim couldn’t take off more work so instead of leaving after lunch we sped up and were heading off the mountain by 10 am. I have to say my hubby did an AMAZING job driving in those conditions. It took us a really long time to make it but we made it. (We only saw 1 car flipped on the side of the road.) The boys were truly wonderful. (Yes even AMAZING.)

We stopped once for a late lunch and a game of chase but they never fussed the whole time and it took us 8 very long hours. (The picture of Jim laughing below is him pulling over into a snow bank and trying to scare me as he came out of it!) The boys were happy to be home and are now back in their beds. I was worried about the trip and thought it might be overwhelmingly sad but really it was a wonderful way to celebrate and have fun which is what my mom wanted. So happy birthday GiGi I love you!

We Have a New First!

We actually went out and had a family dinner!!! This may be hard to believe but we have never taken the boys to a restaurant for a meal together. It started off just because of the food allergies, and then the last time we went out with Cooper (while I was pregnant with Bear) he screamed the entire time because he wanted to eat what we were eating. It was mortifying enough we have not repeated the experience. Mostly we feel bad saying look what we can eat but you can't have any!

We traipsed the boys around again today to a new mall. It was a carpeted mall ya'll. You know there is some money up in there. It was by far the nicest mall I've ever been in. They have this huge play area and the machines take .75 cents not .50 like the one near us. I guess this part isn't relevant to the dinner story......

So we got home and Jim took a nap. Not 20 minutes into his nap we had a massive power outage in the area. The boys hadn't had any tv all day and were excited to have a show on. The power goes off and Coop was not a happy camper. He was bringing me the remote begging for tv. He had no idea what a power outage was and really didn't want to hear it. So I tried my best to entertain them while clearing out more stuff in their room to sell on Craigs List I can not believe how many clothes we had for 12 months! Two huge bags full. Again not really relevant to the dinner story guess I am just feeling chatty tonight...

So Jim finally wakes up and tries to entertain them with legos but they decide about 4:30 they are hungry and they get very very fussy. We open our now warm refrigerator and see we have nothing prepared and have nothing to give them except fruit.

We start to brainstorm. I swear you would have thought this was the biggest decision we'd ever made. If only we planned other things in our life this well! We first decided to go to a Chinese place and get them the garlic and broccoli we know they've eaten off of us before. But what if they don't do well in the restaurant? Maybe we should get it to go and eat it at the mall where there is always noise? We decide (after painstaking debate) to go to the restaurant and if they act up get it to go and head to the mall. But Jim's concerned we don't have plates there. I figure someone else will give us some if need be. So we pull into the parking lot and Jim says, "Well you know we could go to a buffet and that way we could have choices." That sounds like a good idea so off we go. We head in one direction and I come up with the Mongolian restaurant we went to many moons ago on a date night where we could pick all the food and add our own spices and sauces- it's like me cooking right? So Jim turns the car in the opposite direction. We get there and we see a Chinese place and figure ok they don't like the Mongolian then we come here and order Chinese. Sigh- this is a lot of stress!

I'm really sorry because I've made this story so much longer than it needed to be. We get there and they have this huge mirror and we pull out their toys. They had a blast. They took turns making funny faces at the mirror and playing with their toys. They downed the nasty tap water and ate with flourish the broccoli/cabbage/tomato/zucchini stir fry with sweet ginger sauce. We had to get them two servings and Cooper wouldn't leave until his last piece of broccoli was gone and all of his water was done. They never fussed, only charmed the waitress. Who knew??

Did a drive by the apartment and saw the power was back on shortly after we left. So probably by the time we'd actually decided where to go the power was back on but it was actually a lot of fun and a little bit freeing. There were no allergic reactions. We expected a bit of rambunctiousness from the sugar in the sweet ginger sauce but they got home watched a show and both fell asleep quickly and quietly.

August 2007 Adventure

Our dear family friend Al Santiago had just had his surgery for prostate cancer and took me up on an offer to cook him some food. So I packed up the boys and off to Grandma and Grandpa's we went! We had some nice weather and played out on the patio with Grandma and Grandpa.

Coop thought it was the funniest thing to try on Grandma's glasses. Good thing Grandpa was there to hold him up :-) On Saturday the day of furious cooking and running around began. I got a late start to Whole Foods and had to frantically call Katie to come over later. Katie, Bruce, and Emily came over to keep Coop and Bear occupied while I cooked. Of course I forgot chicken for the um chicken soup and spices so Bruce made two trips to the grocery store for me. I'm so thankful for Grandma Kathy's kitchen because it had everything I could need but I still had to figure out the oven and temperatures and it just all took so much longer than I could have imagined. Next thing I know Al is calling because he's going to be heading out soon and I need to get over there soon. Food is still cooking and Coop is now napping and my helpers have left. What to do? I pack everyone up sleeping and head over to Al's! About halfway there Bear will just not stop screaming so I pull over and he has exploded in his diaper. It's all over his outfit and I have no change of clothes and only one yes one baby wipe!! So we showed up at Al's with Bear in his diaper and Cooper still grumpy from being woken up by all of Bear's screaming. They take over his townhouse and make Al climb up and down his stairs (he's not supposed to be doing that!) so they can explore. Amazing how you take baby proofing for granted. I felt horrible because I really wanted to be there helping him and instead I felt like the food was probably going to taste horrible and the boys just weren't cooperating with our visit so we packed it up again. As we were packing up the most amazing thing happened. A butterfly just softly floated around Al then around me and then around a wind chime that my mom had given Al. I literally drove away in tears because as hard as the trip had been I knew mom had been there helping.
Sunday we packed up again and headed for a trip to visit with Chris. She had just had a surgery for cervical cancer and we wanted to check in on her and her family. The boys were great and I got to spend a little time with my friend. Just what the doctor ordered (for me at least). Then we headed home and believe it or not I think the boys have gotten used to traveling they do it so well now.

July 2007 Adventure (Really Long)

After Sully Bear’s birthday party we were lucky enough to get to spend some time with the Grandparents, Aunt Kat, and the boy's cousin Lauren.
Coop loved Grandma's recliner. Sadly this was his las time in the chair as it's now broken and gone! (Below) Sully trying to get in trouble with the painter's ladder.

Aunt Kat got to snuggle with Bear as he was clear he preferred her nap for a lap!

We were so excited to be invited to stay with Emily for a few days while Jim went back to work. (Katie and Bruce’s) Katie was being thoughtful and didn’t want the boys to drive all the way back to Raleigh and then turn around on Wednesday and have to drive the 6+ hours to upper Maryland. Katie borrowed her dad’s mini-van and came all the way out to Haymarket to pick me and the boys up. (Thank you Katie I know that was a ton of driving!!) She also had to save me and figure out how to collapse Lauren’s pack-n-play. She didn’t realize how much work she had to do. Did I mention she had to install the car seats too because I’d never had to do it?

The first night was a bit more difficult then I had anticipated. Getting Bear and Coop to go to sleep at the same time not so easy in a new place. I think they stayed up till about 10 when they normally go down at 8 but they were just way too excited. The next day Katie and I had big plans to go to Burke Lake and take the kids on a train ride. We had to make a stop at Wal-Mart. With three kids, two mom’s and a mini-van it took a lot longer than you would have thought! Then we headed out to Burke Lake and no joke by the time we got there all three kids were dead asleep.

So we drove around Burke Lake with me joking Katie about how I thought us staying with her was supposed to eliminate time in the car! It all worked out though because as we drove in there was a big fat sign saying the train was out of order so we drove around and found a playground and waited for them to wake up. They must have felt us staring at them willing them to wake up because finally Coop and Emily woke up and we took them out to the playground where they shared the tunnel and went down the slide. Then Emmy wanted to go on a super secret path on a super secret mission to the lake so she lead the way with Katie and Coop in tow as I waited for Bear to wake up. Bear and I met them down by the lake where we threw sticks in the water and Coop kept saying, “Wow.” Then we took another super secret path while Katie and I sang the Backyardigan’s song “Secret Agent’. Yes, it was a clue that we may like that show more than the kids. Back at the house Katie had lots of fun games for the kids to play. They pulled out the parachute, blew bubbles, played video games and drove Emily's little car.

Later I got to watch all three kids by myself while Katie ran out for a minute. Katie had me all scared because Emmy had never really stayed with anyone but the grandparents without having a fit. She didn’t want to share her train at first but then she did and she was so proud! She came up to me and told me how she had shared her train and she was, "Very brave." Then we had to find her treasure for the pirate ship and that meant we had to find the map. I tore the place apart looking for this map. Not sure why I thought it was a good idea because I had no idea what it even looked like. Then I came across the treasure and Emmy was willing to pretend she had found the map to get to the treasure but I didn’t move on fast enough because then she decided she needed to have the map again. All the while the boys were playing and tearing apart the play room but I didn’t care as long as Emmy didn’t cry! Luckily Katie came home found the map (in the backpack where it was supposed to be- go figure) and saved the day. I realized that while I would love to have a girl (even have the name picked out) I can barely handle two kids let alone three!!

The next leg of our trip was to head to Maryland (last exit before Delaware) to visit with Logan (Jamie and Andy). We got set up and enjoyed Logan’s awesome playground and pool. We thought the boys might be tired from our travels but they had a whole new room of toys to destroy and a train set. The boys were in heaven. The next day we had a wonderful pajama day where we got to play and relax and do some FreedomRocks work. Every time the dog, Max, would come in Bear would pull tufts of his hair out and just squeal in total delight. He was so excited about the dog it was really cute. (Luckily Andy came home and took the boys outside to play in the sandbox, they were going a little stir crazy by the afternoon.) I found the difference between the girls playing and the boys playing so fascinating. Logan was super helpful letting us know if the boys were getting into something they shouldn't be or if they needed help but he didn't care much if he had their attention or not. The independent play was so different then when it's with girls.

The next day we packed up again and made the trek to Gordonsville, VA to visit with Carly and Cason (Chris & Kevin). Again we thought man the boys are going to be so exhausted and annoyed with all the driving, but they showed up and saw a whole new playground and new toys to play with. Not only that but there were cats to chase. (Poor, poor cats.) Cooper learned to ride a little scooter, Sully enjoyed the trampoline and found a new favorite nap place in Cason’s swing on the porch. The next day the boys delighted in the pool. Cooper was brave and wanted to go down the slide. The first time he slid into Jim’s arms and happily went to do it again into my arms.

Unfortunately all thirty pounds of him came a little to fast for me and he went right into the water. (Oh my god- want to talk about guilt.) He was fine, not even a tear, but man I felt so bad! Carly and I got some good snuggle time in. She let me read her three books to her before bed even though I couldn’t sing I feel like I got an A for effort! Who else but a little 4 year old girl can get two grown men to play Barbie twister???

After all our traveling Jim wanted to wake up in our own bed on Sunday and have a day to get ready for the work week. So we packed up again and headed home Saturday afternoon.

We have the most amazing family and friends and were so blessed to be able to do a visit like we did. We have super amazing boys! They were so easy to travel with and it was just so wonderful to spend time with my dear girlfriends and to have our kids hang out.

We’ve decided to make that an annual trek!!