Days of the week

I'm convinced Kiefer will never learn the days of the week because we are ALWAYS late to preschool and that's the first thing they always do.  No matter how hard I try, we can't seem to leave the house before 9:06 a.m. and his school starts at 9:00!  On Friday, we actually arrived right as the church bells were chiming.  It was the first time in months!  It's my daily marathon to get Carter up, dressed, fed, pack his lunch out the door with Daddy-O to catch the bus and occasionally I have to load everyone up and take them with us to the bus stop if Daddy-O has a meeting.  Then we race back at 8:00 a.m. and have to do it all over again for three other little people.  It's no wonder the days are a blur -for both me and Kiefer! :)

Gracias Guadalupe Gil!

On our fabulous vacation, I enjoyed the relaxed pace of life, the beauty of the tropical flowers, the sea breeze, the sand, the ocean, the sun.... such a treat to get away, spend time with good friends and create fun memories together with our families.

But I have to confess, one of the highlights for the trip for me was having a maid clean our condo each day!  As silly as it sounds, it was truly like Christmas morning each day.  We'd get up and go to the pool or the beach first thing and when we would wander back she would have magically been there to clean up after our crew and no matter what state we left things in, we would return to order and cleanliness.  It was divine!

What's more, she would leave fun little artistic treasures behind - a towel wrapped in the shape of a swan, or toilet paper coiffed into the shape of a tropical flower, then dipped in blue ink made to resemble pedals.  The boyz would walk into the room with a hush and search out that day's treasure like they would seek out Christmas stockings left by Santa.  And each day they would say in their amazed, enthusiastic, pirate treasure-seeking voices, "She's been here!!!"  And they'd go to see what she'd done with their stuffed animals on their freshly made beds or what she had created with toilet paper that day.

It was a gift to me.  Not just the entertainment value it brought the boyz, but I never realized how much I appreciate coming home to a clean house (or room) that I didn't have to clean myself.  A true vacation!

So I say, Gracias Guadalupe Gil!  I appreciated you more than you know!!

Bucket list of a different sort

We had a fabulous vacation with some dear friends at the beach in February.  We've decided after leaving the ice storm and missing the four degree temperatures that February is the best time to head south to defrost.

While we were there, we had a daily agenda of beach time, pool time, digging in the sand, catching an ice cream treat or two and more beach time.

One of my favorite memories was chasing the boyz on the way to the pool following Kiefer with a bucket on his head!  He made countless people laugh as he dove and weaved past them and through the sun bathers lined up along the trail.

We bought this green bucket and shovel set at the local Walmart one of the first days there.  And for ease of packing, we chose to pass it along to another family we saw at the pool as we were leaving.  We encouraged them to pass it on when it was time for them to fly home, too.  You don't realize how attached kids get to sentimental objects like the sand bucket they played with for a week while on vacation. And they parted with some tears.

Now every once in a while, I'll randomly mention, "I wonder what our bucket is doing on vacation at the beach?"  Or "I wonder who is taking care of our bucket at the beach right now?"  They still can get a bit sentimental about it and sad that we left it behind, but it's fun to think about... that life goes on.  Others go on vacation when we fly home and buckets stay behind, making other kids' vacations special.  At least I hope.

"I want to go to the Children's Museum!"

A popular request around our house - especially during the winter months.  It's adorable that Griffin is now old enough (and vocal enough) to let me know he'd like to go explore at the museum.  So last week, after a few days of repeated requests, we went.  I still feel weird about going places without Carter while he's at school, but I figure I took him to the TCM countless times so it's the younger set's turn now. 

After playing at the water table and sand station Kiefer played at the toy train station and Griffin parked himself in the "Tractor Creepy" (the mini skid steer)  He would not let anyone else have a turn boys and girls alike tried to succeed him, but to no avail.  Finally I had to entice him with the promise of lunch.

We made our way to through the crowded cafeteria and I can't shake the feeling that all eyes are on me.  Maybe it's my imagination, maybe it's because I have three children dressed alike melting because they need lunch.  But as we're weaving our way through the gauntlet of chairs Kiefer's crying and dodging ahead to places I can't navigate with my double-wide double stroller so I'm barking commands, "No Kiefer, not there, we can't get there, how 'bout over here?" to which I hear a loud, "Nooooooo!" echo through the cafeteria.  More eyes penetrating the back of my head.... then just as I was hopeful the show would be over we make an even greater spectacle of ourselves as Griffin lunges out of his seat in the front of the stroller and attempts a triple lutz for the chair and nearly lands on his head but for his quick-handed mother who grabbed ahold of his matching rugby shirt and saves him an inch above the hard tile floor.  A gasp was heard around the lunch room followed by a lull in the conversation.  All I could do was smile at the hispanic lunch lady who was cleaning the table next to me and move my crying crew to the nearest seats.  I'm really not that bad a mother, they just get really melty when they're hungry.  Next time I promise I'll strap him in.

I juggled nursing Fletcher while dolling out sandwiches and scarfing down my own lunch.  After I got some food in them, my delightful children returned.  Last stop on our museum visit: The Carousel.  On our way, we saw a sight we've never seen before - they were dusting the Chihuly using ropes and pulleys and rappelling gear.  It was fascinating!  I said outloud, "you take dusting to a new level."  But the guy didn't really even crack a smile he just looked at me while I took his picture.

Finally, we made it to the Carousel and happily selected our noble steed.  Except the fact the Griffin has decided he's afraid of the Carousel.  At first I tried to help him move past this phobia but then as we sat on the bench during our dizzying ride I couldn't help but see things from his perspective and honestly, I saw things with new eyes.  I can't blame him for his concern- you see lots of teeth, scary smiling horses and fake eyeballs everywhere.  So I held onto him a little more tightly as we settled into the bench.

It was another adventuresome day!

Griffin mesmerized by the sand table

Kiefer and Griffin playing at the sand table

Griffin aboard "Tractor Creepy" and not a chance of him sharing!

First time Fletcher got out of the stroller at the Children's Museum.
Here he is enjoying the playscape area

No, I'm not holding a two headed monster, they're wearing matching rugby shirts!  Look at poor pensive Griffin's face on the carousel!

I can kinda see why he's scared...

Ok, now I get it!

Poor guy!! It's almost over! 

At least Kiefer's having fun!

Poor Griffin! Someday it won't be as scary!