A Place I Love

One of the days we were in Florida we went to Sea World.  I LOVE Sea World.  I went for the first time several years ago with my aunt and uncle and I've been back quite a few times since then.  I just love it there.  I was giddy to be able to take my boys and share this awesome place with them.  The first thing we did when we got there was go to the Shamu show.  My boys were in awe...as I knew they would be.  As I was the first time I saw it.

We also saw the dolphin show and the seal and otter show.  The last one was a huge hit with Calvin especially.  It was a ridiculously funny show that was perfect for a 2nd grader.  At one point one of the pirates started to climb out of the water and his pants came down revealing heart underwear.  I don't know if I've ever seen Calvin laugh that hard.  He was absolutely dying.  This of course made me crack up.

This is Nathan before the show started.  They were playing music when he said, "Look Mom, my fingers are dancing!"  Hmmm.  Indeed they were.

This was the day for another one of my favorite moments of the trip.  Sadly, I don't have any pictures of it.  My FAVORITE part of Sea World is the pool where you can touch the dolphins.  Or attempt to touch the dolphins.  I told Marc when we were on our honeymoon (at Sea World) that I wish I could spend a whole day just standing at that dolphin pool.  There is something about it that makes you feel so calm and so excited at the same time.  I've touched the dolphins a few times and I REALLY wanted Calvin to have the experience.  (I would have loved for Nathan to also, but I knew he wouldn't do it....it's hard to touch dolphins with your hands over your ears)  SO, when we had some time, I took Calvin down to the dolphin pool and we squeezed into a spot.  Calvin was a little timid at first, but as the dolphins continued to swim by and he saw others touching them he got a little bit more brave.  I was holding him by the waist of his pants so he could reach out as far as he could.  We waited and watched for quite awhile, and the whole time I was praying, "Please God...just let him touch a dolphin....I want him to experience this so badly!"  Finally the time was right and a dolphin swam right up to him.  He touched it's side, and then the dolphin literally stuck his head out of the water right at Calvin.  I heard myself yelling, "Rub his face Calvin!  Rub it!"  The poor kid is lucky I didn't throw him in the pool to get at that dolphin myself.  But the excitement on his face was so worth it!  As we moved away from the pool he was literally jumping up and down.  It was just the best.  We found Marc and Nathan and spent some time petting the stingrays.  BOTH boys eventually did this, and I had so much fun teaching them about the stingrays and watching them get their nerve up to pet them.  The stingrays were very playful and would spash at us every time we splashed them.  Hanging out at these pools was my favorite time of the whole day and I can't wait to do it again some day.  Next time it's Jillian's turn!

Favorite Moment

As you could probably tell from my earlier post, we just returned from Disney World!  We were there for 7 days so I have lots of pictures, and lots of stories.  I'll just post about my favorite things as I can so as not to have the longest post in history. 

At the beginning of the week Nathan was NOT fond of the Disney characters.  This is not necessarily unusual I'm sure.  It's kind of intimidating to see these giant guys coming toward you.  The other kids loved them, but Nathan....not so much. 

When Nathan is worried about something he puts his hands over his ears.  It's not just about noise, it's just how he comforts himself when he's unsure what's going to happen.  Every time he would spot a character his hands would go RIGHT over his ears.  The first time we had a character breakfast I put Nathan by me AWAY from the rest of the kids.  I was hoping the characters would go to them and stay away from Nathan.  It worked for everyone EXCEPT Mickey.  Mickey took a picture with the other boys and signed their autograph books, then he spotted Nathan.  He walked right around the table and stood looking at Nathan.  Nathan, of course, panicked a bit and put his hands over his ears.  Mickey stepped back rather quickly and put his hands over HIS ears.  They stood there staring each other down until Mickey waved and walked away.  Nathan had met his match.  I laughed SO hard.....this was definitely one of my favorite moments.

Wordless Wednesday

Kid Humor

Tonight I just have to get down a few things the kids said this week that I can't forget.  This could be a full time job, so I need to be better about it!

Nathan to Jilly and the other girls I babysit:  "Hey gulas (girls) follow me into my room and I'll show you all the stuff my brother doesn't like me to touch!"

This conversation took place as I drove Calvin to school one morning.
Calvin:  "I've never seen a real bear close up."
Me:  "Yes you have....we just saw some at the zoo this summer."
Calvin:  "Ya, but those weren't the same kind of bears we have around here were they?"
Me:  "No, they weren't.  We have Black Bears up here."
Calvin:  "And the ones at the zoo were African American Bears....right?"
(After more discussion I realized the sign at the zoo probably said American Grizzly.  Close right?)

Me as I change Jillian's diaper:  "Jillian, you need to start going potty on the toilet.  MOMMY goes potty on the toilet!"
Jillian:  "Every time???!"

The boys got off the bus and we were walking down the driveway.
Me:  "How was school, Nathan?"
Nathan:  "Good!"
Me:  "How were the sloppy joe's for lunch?"
Nathan:  "Good, but I accidently got some in my pocket."

A Pumpkin for Everyone!

Besides being adorable, this is the most crown pleasing craft I've ever done.  Last week I gave each of the kids a tiny water bottle to drink at lunch.  They thought that was fantastic.  What a treat.  Little did they know, the fun was yet to come!  On Monday I gave everyone a half sheet of orange construction paper and they took their time tearing it up and stuffing it in the bottle.  The reason I loved this craft is that it worked for all the ages I have.  Everyone had a different style for tearing the paper and it was so cute to watch.  I did the cutting of the faces because they had to be pretty tiny to fit on the bottle.  The cool thing was....after we removed the label there was a huge sticky spot where it had been glued on.  The kids were able to just stick the face pieces right on there.  Good times all around!

Wordless Wednesday

A Trip up North...

What is up with me not blogging lately?  Yeesh.  Again, I'll try to do better.

Last weekend we headed up north to Marc's parents.  We have had BEAUTIFUL weather this October and Marc wanted to take Calvin hunting.  I guess at the tender age of 7, he was more than ready.  SO...after some pancakes on Saturday morning, Grandpa, Daddy, and Calvin headed out. 

Here are our men when they returned.

What is the deal with the plastic bag you ask?  Well, the word is that they saw no grouse so they hung the bag in a tree and let Calvin shoot the gun at it.  He was super excited to show me the hole. 

The best part of the day?  They took him to the hardware store and bought him his first blaze orange hat.  This is a big moment in a man's life.

While the big boys were cruising the woods on the 4-wheeler, Grandma and I took Nathan and Jillian to the playground.

Nathan thought this HUGE tractor tire was the best part of the playground.  He just sat in it.  He loved that it felt like a fort.  I think we need to find one of these.  He would spend hours in it!  Maybe Papa and Nana need one for the resort??  Sounds like a good idea to me!

When everyone was back home Grandpa took Nathan and Jilly for rides on the tractor while Daddy and Calvin played football.  This is the face we get lately if we ask her to say cheese.

It wouldn't be a visit up north if I didn't mention GG's Oh Henry bars.  She makes them every time we come back, and they are amazing!  We had such a great weekend.  It's always so relaxing when we're there, and this time was no different!  Thank you Grandma, Grandpa, and GG for the visit and all the fun!