Memorial Day Weekend '07

Well... I was going to give you a "blow by blow" of our "mini vacation", but after much thought, I am only going to give the highlights...

We enjoyed almost a full week away from home, visiting friends and family and then going to Kalahari and Cedar Point over Memorial Day weekend. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable time, for the most part.

For all of you pet lovers out there, I have to admit that Bobby the goldfish has become a real part of our family. Once it occurred to us that we couldn't leave him alone for six days or he would starve, he began his first vacation adventure. Once we realized that we could not leave him in the hot car all day at Cedar Point, his adventure ended, adding several more miles to our trip and burning extra gas. We took him home, because we couldn't ethically allow him to boil. He is very happy to be back on his shelf with a full tank of filtered water...

I made a purchase, almost exclusively so that I could blog about it. It was such a rare find... For 5 cents, I bought the New Kids on the Block Christmas cassette at a dollar store... hehehe... It remains unopened, but I do plan to listen to it. I was even more obsessed with NKOTB at age ten than I was with Saved by the Bell! I would have bought more copies, were they available, but this was the only one, so I can't share!

The Pistons are doing their best to lose the conference finals to the one man show... Lebron James. If you've been watching, you don't need details, and if you haven't been watching, you don't want them. I love my Pistons, but give me a break...

CP was great! Grandma and Grandpa came to help out and even enjoyed a few rides. We found out that Grace is definitely a coaster rider, and we acted upon this by riding the Iron Dragon, over and over again! Unfortunately, Grace is short, so we didn't have too many options! I also took what will quite likely be my last spin on Disaster Transport. I have heard rumors that it is on it's way out, but don't quote me on that. At any rate, it was kind of sad (and a little creepy) to walk through the building, just Grace and me, with none of the animation and no other riders in sight. Caleb also took his first coaster ride on Woodstock Express. He loved it, as well as the Jr. Gemini! Seth (being a bit taller) was able to ride the Wild Cat, which he hated. We had a hard time convincing him that he might like the other coasters better, but eventually he did get on Iron Dragon (which he now says is his favorite ride), The Mine Ride, and Disaster Transport. He liked them all. It takes a little more effort to get him to ride, but he'll probably outgrow that. I wouldn't ride anything even mildly "thrilling" as a kid. Now if we can just get Ian to grow a bit more... hehehe... Actually, he liked the Train, the Giant Wheel, the Carousel, and Sir Rub a Dubs Tubs, just fine...

I would offer one word of caution to parents of elementary school aged children. If you are going to let them drive the race cars on their own, you might want to stress that it is very important to let off the gas at the stop sign. Seth missed this part and hit a CP employee (who was fine, by the way).

As far as Kalahari goes, I could definitely recommend it to people who have older kids or teenagers and to people who are rich! Everything is very expensive, and it is less family friendly than Great Wolf Lodge. It is very fun, but the "attractions" are not geared to babies, toddlers, or preschoolers. The "Lazy River" is not lazy, at all. Grace fell off of her tube and landed under a waterfall! Some of the slides also have height restrictions that are a little strict. We had to get sneaky a couple of times in order for Grace and Caleb to ride (and, yes, Grace did a bit of standing on her tiptoes at CP, as well). The treetop dry play area is very nice if you are a child. It is less nice if you are a mommy who is trying to find her kids.

I'll finish with some pics. We really did have a great time...

Ian's First Carousel Ride Hangin' Out With Daddy In Big Trouble

Grace Told Caleb that the Frog was Going to Eat Them...

Me and Seth on The Matterhorn

Me and Grace, right before we got Soaked on Thunder Canyon

Phil and Caleb Riding...

The Snoopy Express & The Race Cars
Lisa

Random Summer Adventures...

Yesterday's quote of the day was, "Ahhh... Poop... Run for your life!" That, of course, was uttered by Caleb. It left me with two questions... First, why... oh why... do children not come equipped with litter boxes, and second, why didn't I heed the warning and run? Oh, how I love potty training...

Today Seth had his T-Ball pics. taken and played his first game of the season... in the rain...

Afterward, we went to McDs for fries. When we pulled up to order, we were informed that they didn't have any fries. Of course, Phil laughed, because he thought the guy was kidding. Phil then actually said, "You're kidding, right?" At this point, the McDs employee got rather agitated and informed Phil that they were still serving breakfast. It was 10:20 or so, so Phil asked if we needed to wait for ten minutes. The terse response was that lunch time began at 11:00. So we left...

And we were really laughing, now, because it reminded us of a friend of ours who politely asked an McDs employee if they had fries (this happened a decade ago) and was completely chewed out! Unfortunately, while we were laughing, Seth was crying, because he really wanted fries! We went back at 11:00...

This time, when we drove up to order, Phil had the presence of mind to ask if they had fries. I mean... after all... you can never be sure, right? This McDs employee was completely silent at the request. So we ordered. When we got to the window, she was laughing.

One more quick note from yesterday, and then I'm out... I love play-doh. It is so relaxing...

Lisa

Today was busy...

...but actually quite fun... in a lot of ways. It wasn't all fun (rarely is), but I think I'll talk about the fun stuff... mostly.

This morning I actually spent time with each of my three "big kids", talking about God... and reading the Bible... and praying. That was a real plus, because it doesn't always happen in the individualized way that it happened, this morning, and it doesn't always happen first thing. I think it was a good way to start the day.

After breakfast, I introduced them to TaleSpin... great cartoon! You may notice that that is not what I've listed under "currently watching". Please... go ahead and make fun of my choice of entertainment. I was ten years old when "Saved by the Bell" made it's debut, so clearly I was obsessed with the show. I am enjoying the flashbacks to the late '80s/early '90s. So, sue me...

But I digress (per normal)...

We went on to paint and color the driveway, which is always fun, and we even stayed off of the "grass".

Later in the day, I found out that Caleb's 3 year old pics. were in, so we went to get them. Here they are:

You've gotta love the "stinky face" with Thomas...

We had a bit of an adventure at Ponderosa, and I have to say that I do not intend to ever eat there again. It also came to my attention that my kids are utterly unaware that people in this country do not only speak English. Apparently, Seth heard someone speaking in Spanish, and he asked (rather loudly I might add), "Why would someone from Mexico come to Ponderosa for lunch?" So I sat there wondering whether to laugh or crawl under the table, and in the end I didn't do either. It's not that Seth had a problem with Spanish speaking people eating at Ponderosa. He just honestly thought they'd come all the way from Mexico, and he couldn't figure out why! It wasn't a fantastic dining experience, or anything. We are clearly going to have to talk about this...

But the quote of the day came from Caleb, who has become increasingly interested in school busses over the past few months. It was, "It's the cheese... Hello, cheese!" Yeah... He's pretty funny...

I went on to buy several cheap, junky things that will be fun to use outside in the coming days. Other than that, the trip was uneventful.

The rest of the day has bordered on boring, and I'm kind of tired, but I need to know whether or not the Pistons are going to put the Bulls away before I go to bed, so it might be a long night...

Lisa

I Need A Fence...

So... Yesterday marked day 2 of summer vacation. And Seth was bored! I told him I could order our second grade curriculum now, and he decided he'd find something to do...

With that thought, I've decided that I really need a fenced yard. I realize that I am getting particular. After all, we have only lived in this house for 14 months, and the landscaping people came and graciously planted our grass this week! So, you would think that I could be grateful that we are getting close to having a yard, at all. But I want a fence.

It's mostly due to the fact that I am not a "fun" mom. I do not let my kids run around in the possibly snake infested weeds. I do not let them play in the road. And I do not let them splash around in the retaining... uh... pond. My neighbors let their kids do these things, so clearly they are much more fun.

Heck... I even screamed out the open window the other day when Grace was about to throw herself in front of the moving mail truck. She was probably embarassed, but I guess I prefer that to squashed...

Now, aside from these glaring imperfections in my parenting skills, I also must admit that I am more of a sidewalk chalk drawing, book reading, play-doh creating, board game playing, silly song singing kind of mom. I guess it would be more fun if I could catch a baseball, but thankfully Daddy's pretty good at that!

I hope that some day my kids realize that we gave them boundaries because we love them.

In the meantime, I could use a fence.

Lisa

P.S. You will find the same post, in essence, at "Oh, Baby". So, if you are one of the beautiful people who bothers to check all of my blogs, you can skip that one today!

Caleb's 3rd Birthday...

... Among other things.

And so I make my return to the world of blogging...

First, let me re-cap my last week.

I did not, as I originally intended, have a computer free week. In fact, I am not sure I even had a completely computer free day. Bummer. However, most days I only spent a few minutes here or there, looking at things that Phil wanted me to see or setting up games for the kids. I did have one complete meltdown of my will in which I checked my e-mail. Over all, it wasn't so bad. And please don't laugh about my e-mail comment. I usually check it a dozen times a day. Once in a week was rather remarkable...

Eight days ago marked the anniversary of the most physically painful day of my life. I would not trade that day for all the world and then some, because the result was Caleb's birth. I cannot, in any way, believe that my "baby" is three years old! But here he is:

Oh, wait. That won't do. You can't see him! But this is, indeed, what he looked like while waiting for his presents. Let's try these:

Yes... yes... much better.

Caleb had a fantastic third birthday, which included pictures, lunch at McDs (complete with a playplace), visits from both sets of grandmas and grandpas, all kinds of Thomas the Tank Engine presents, and books! I made a Thomas cake, as well. The tale of the Thomas cake could probably become an epic, if I let it. Let it suffice to say that four cake mixes is a lot, black frosting is not good for the digestive system, and Caleb doesn't quite understand that you do not have to lick the flaming candle to put it out... But here are pics, anyhow:

The day after Caleb's birthday celebration, I completed four final exams and kissed the Spring semester good-bye! It was a very stressful day. Thankfully, Phil's mom stayed to watch my kids. If she hadn't, I don't think I would have gotten the exams done at all! My professors took a while to compute the final grades, but I finished with three As and two Bs. I am quite satisfied with these results, particularly, because I did not deserve these grades. Some of them I earned, but some of them were gifts, and for them I am thankful. When all was said and done, my brain was mush, and I couldn't think or write coherantly...

So, I spent a few days doing wonderful things like playing with Duplos and reading, "The Hobbit". We ate off of paper plates and had more than our fair share of pizza last week! And I do not wish to recall the number of (bags of) M & Ms that were consumed... by me... alone...

T-Ball season began, which is always fun. Swimming sessions are coming to a close again, and I think Seth is the only one we're going to sign up again right away.

Mother's day was super, namely because I got to watch the Piston's game. While I realize that this is somewhat pathetic to admit, you have to understand that we do not have cable... or dish network... or whatever else you can get now. We have bunny ears, so this was the first play-off game I have been able to see. Being the devoted Piston's fan that I am, I put on my way too expensive and now obsolete Ben Wallace Piston's jersey, and watched Big Ben contribute to their defeat (which sort of serves them right, considering the ridiculous display of disrespect down the stretch). It was too bad, really, but now they can come home and win it, so it's alright. Except I can't watch that game, because it will be back on cable... ugh...

And I'll feel guilty if I don't mention that mother's day was also magnificent, because I have the best husband and the four greatest kids ever!

Today, I officially announced that summer vaction has begun to my kids, who countered my announcement with, "When are we going to Cedar Point"? The answer is, "I hope soon, and I hope a lot"...

There have been far more "quotes of the day" and "conversations of the day" than I can begin to put down in writing, but the best quote of the week was probably,
"Jesus, wake up!" (which was not said in a blasphemous way, whatsoever, or you know I wouldn't write it here), and the best conversation,
Phil: "I love to read fascinating things about things of which I have no knowledge. Those are hard to come by". Lisa: "Of course they are, honey". Followed by a bit of stifled laughter...

And now, I must go, because I have things to do...

But look for frequent blog posts, this summer. I'm back!

Lisa

If ever there was a good week...

...to have a nervous breakdown... this would have been it! So... I just finished my last final, and my brain is now officially mush. I have so much to write about, but it is going to have to wait... until next Monday... because I am seriously not going to use my computer again until then!

I have a few things that I need to check on... shop for... finish up, tonight, so if you need to contact me via e-mail, do it between now and 10pm or so. After that, call me. Norman is taking a break (Norman is my computer's name... in case that didn't make sense).

Look for a real post next Monday. I plan to blog like an addict this summer...

Lisa