Parents' Night Out

I haven't written in a few weeks, and I've been a bit of a grouchy pants. I am pretty sure there is some correlation. Writing is definitely one of the ways I relax. Thankfully, Ree has been on spring break for the past three weeks (hurray for year round schools!), and I've at least been able to work out in the mornings on a regular basis so I haven't killed anyone. This is good.

I'm sure there is lots to share from the past three weeks, but it is awfully early and despite being a morning person, I am a little brain dead. I think I am just giddy from freedom. You see last night Jeff and I spent are first night alone together without children since I interviewed for my job nearly five and a half years ago. 

I am heading to Seattle this morning to attend a conference for work. So that Jeff could travel with me, my parents foolishly generously agreed to watch the kids while we are away. And since our flight is so early, my parents traded houses with us last night so that we didn't have to worry about sneaking out super early and they didn't have to get up at 5am too.

In getting ready for this, I wrote instructions for my parents, emergency release forms, and notes to the kids' schools. (Hey, Mom! I forgot to tell you there is a note for preschool in Michael's bag. Ree's is in her TOTO book where notes go.) I wrote out a list of foods the kids like and posted it on the fridge so the kids can help with meal selection. (Although there can be some disadvantages, there are also benefits of having children that can read. It is so nice to avoid the "What's for dinner? What's for dinner? What's for dinner? By saying, "Go read the fridge!") But it never occurred to me to leave the kids with a set of emergency contact information.

We somehow managed to keep this trip a secret from all the kids until about Wednesday. Ree started asking questions then, but the other three were in the dark until we told them yesterday. Michael was ecstatic that Gran and Gene were going to have a four day "sleepover." Natalia ignored us until it was time to tell us goodbye, and then she was a bit uncertain. I think Leon pretended the whole thing didn't exist until I actually went to tell him goodbye. Then he got a little misty eyed, although the poor little dude did his best to keep a stiff upper lip. I reassured him that he could call me or email me (with a little assistance), but he kept insisting he didn't know my email address or my phone number and he was doubtful that my parents would be of much help. So finally, I went and got a piece of paper, wrote MOM at the top, and then wrote down my contact information for him. As I handed it to him, he visibly relaxed. Mom was reachable.

So what did we do with our first night of freedom? We did go out to dinner at a great Thai place we had never tried before, but after that we sat on the couch at my parents watching reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond and eating junk food. It is a sad day when cookies in the open at 7:30 at night is a big treat, but it's true. Here's hoping to get a little crazier over the next few days!

Thanks Jenna for the treats!

Beach Wedding

Last Saturday afternoon we headed to the beach to attend a wedding. A mom from preschool generously offered to take the boys to a classmate's birthday party, so it was just me, Jeff, and the girls.

Clearly, Ree was thrilled about this arrangement.

Natalia was quite happy to sport her brother's sunglasses.

It was a nice ceremony, with the couple's children in attendance.

Can the ring bearer be any cuter?

After the ceremony, Ree was quite happy to escape to the water...although none of us were brave enough to get our feet wet in March.

Following the ceremony, there was a reception in a private room at a sports bar near the beach. Natalia and the ring bearer quickly became friends.

For the record, two two-year-olds playing Skee-Ball for two hours is quite scary. Miraculously, only one finger was smooshed, and there were no serious injuries even when they started launching the balls across the room. But even scarier is the fact the machine talked. On Monday Natalia started talking about the wedding. And she proudly told us her favorite part. "Beer Ball!"

Cape Fear Museum

We've been in a fairly mellow, happy place the past few weeks. It's...weird. Wonderful, but odd. Part of it is we haven't had any visitors or crazy plans. We've actually had (gasp) free time. So we've started exploring Wilmington. We've lived here over five years, and we decided it might be time to actually do something other than go to the beach, the parks, the mall, and Barnes and Noble. Crazy concept. Unintentionally, we started doing free activities, and now it has become a goal to find free activities every weekend.


Last weekend we went to the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science. There is a day each year where almost all local attractions are free to county residents, and last Sunday was the day. We probably wouldn't have gone otherwise, but it was definitely worth checking out for free.

It turned out to be a great museum, and the kids all had lots of fun. We will definitely be going back (and we discovered it is free the first Sunday of every month).

The kids found furry surprises in trash cans that were part of an exhibit on city life. (And, yes, the boys are sporting capes. They attach to the backs of their Angry Birds Space shirts.)

They had fun playing with different mirrors in the kids' area.

There were life-size beavers to check out.

And this will show my true math nerd-dom, but I think the museum had one of the greatest clocks ever.

Catching Up

I have no idea what happened to the past couple of weeks. They are gone. Poof! I am sure there are some stories to share, but I am too sleepy to think. So here are some pics of our adventures.

It snowed! Sorta. It didn't last long enough for us to bother putting on coats.

Leon bravely caught snowflakes with his tongue.

Ree and I went to the coldest birthday party ever. It was in the 70s in January when the mom planned to have the party at a park. The air temperature was in the 30s with steady 20+ mph winds the day of the party. At least it was pretty.

I took Leon and Michael to a Literacy Live event at UNCW. It was all about roller coasters. They rode a virtual roller coaster and then made roller coasters out of pipe insulation and marbles. Michael is a wee bit obsessed.

We checked out a new playground which Natalia named the Castle Park. We have no idea what it's really called, but the kids keep asking to go back.

Natalia "borrowed" our camera. It turns out she knows exactly how to use it. We got lots of pictures from a two-year-old viewpoint.

Q and U Wedding

Oddly, we had a really nice Valentine's Day. Something about having kids actually makes it so much better. No romantic pressure. Just cheesy, goofball fun. Our kids treat it like Christmas and go absolutely nuts opening their cards. And the candy! Oh, the candy this year! We have been sheltered at a hippie preschool the past couple of years. I had NO idea the volume of candy (and homemade cookies, for which I am quite grateful) that we would find upon opening the kids' Valentine boxes from school. (Oh, and that was weird for me too. I always remember ripping into the bag/box of Valentines in class, but the kids' boxes and bags were all sent home sealed.) It's a lot of candy.

But that aside, the highlight of the day was going to Ree's class. (Having a valid excuse to skip work and hang out with my children is never bad either.) They did not have a simple Valentine party. In fact there was no "party". Instead, we attended the wedding of the letters Q and U. Because those two letters always go together when you are reading, they decided to finally get hitched.

It was a formal affair. The invited guests were all required to wait in the lobby of the school until it was time to be seated. Then we were escorted back to the classroom. The boys in the class were ushers, all dressed in shirts and ties, some with vests and jackets, and the guests waited patiently while the ushers seated everyone. The last to be seated where the families of the bride and groom who, of course, got to sit in the first row.

The ushers then processed in, followed by the girls in the class who were serving as bridesmaids. (Rumor has it there was some good-natured "fighting" among the girls over which bridesmaid would wear the fanciest dress.) Some of the boys had boutonnieres, and all of the girls carried bouquets.

Then it was time for the bride and groom to enter. The groom came in first, looking awfully nervous. Then everyone stood as the bride, dressed in a full length white dress and veil with her hair in an updo, processed in.

The teacher, dressed in a black robe, officiated, and Q and U exchanged vows and rings.

The ushers then escorted the bridesmaids out.

 Then it was time for the reception which began with Q and U cutting the wedding cake together.

And really, is there a better way to spend Valentine's Day than at a wedding?

Happy Valentine's Day

The kids got make-a-face Valentine's cards. Natalia had A LOT of fun making hers. I think this says it all.

Happy Valentine's Day from Pabla Picasso (and the rest of her family)!

In Sickness and in Sickness

Normally, we are pretty healthy people, but this winter we can't seem to catch a break. This week it finally dawned on me why. Leon and Michael started preschool. We have a whole new set of germs swarming around the house.

We haven't been this sick since the year Ree started preschool. Among other ailments, that winter we got a nasty stomach bug. Normally, viruses sweep through the house taking us down one by one. Not this one. Within 24 hours, all five of us came down with it. Jeff was so miserable he locked himself in our bedroom, and I spent the night in the living room with the three kids. Ree slept on the couch while the boys and I slept on the futon mattress on the floor. We couldn't keep up with the laundry and were out of sheets and towels, so I had layers of receiving blankets under everyone to deal with the inevitable doom.

We thought that was pretty bad, but this week we've found a new twist on the joys of being sick. The kids have been sick on and off since Christmas, with Michael having some crazy 24-hour flu bug last Sunday. His best friend and her family came over to watch football with us Sunday night, and he still excused himself and went to bed early. A few days went by and no one else got it, so we thought we were okay. But now Jeff and I both have the flu. The good news is the kids still feel good and are full of energy. The bad news is the kids still feel good and are full of energy.

This is when I am so grateful we live in a place that I can just send 'em outside to play, even in February. (And this picture is actually from a trip to the park a couple of weeks ago, but I haven't been too motivated to take pictures in the backyard this weekend. I still like this pic!)