Last Monday: pool

Playing doctor before the pool.

Dancing before the pool.  They had just gotten ready to dance and the song stopped. :(

Pool!

First try to get a kids' picture.  It didn't work for so many reasons.  But pretty much none of the kids wanted their picture taken.

Dinner at Texas Roadhouse: guys' table.

Dinner at Texas Roadhouse: mostly girls' table.

Someone woke up around 10pm and was super happy.  He was especially happy to help Ben choose cards.

Last Sunday: Space and Rocket center

Playing...there were so many toys and Isaac and Joshua loved it!

Getting sunscreened.

Hanging like a bat at the robot zoo.

Camouflaging like a chameleon.

Ring around the rosies under a rocket.

 Watching Ben on a ride.

Space shuttle/moon walk play area.

Joshua under Saturn V

Steering to the moon in the play area

Walking down the walkway arm.  At the end I threw him up in the air like a rocket would.

In the Apollo trainer.  The seats were rather comfy and Isaac almost took a nap.

Joshua with Saturn V.

Everyone by Saturn V

A tired Joshua.

Playing ring around the rosies after nap time.

After dinner yard time.

Last Saturday: arrival

So here are the pictures...they make the stories so much more fun.

The water fountain at the hotel, in the super super sauna room.  It had a sensor and gave cold water.  We visited it a lot while waiting for Ben to wake up.

Water table.

Squirt bottles were a hit.  Here they were very intent on squirting the stairs.

Saturday: bittersweet

Today's activity was to go to the pool again. It was fun. The boys had a good time. Isaac is deathly afraid of getting water on his face which is super annoying. Joshua got dunked a few times and "jumped" off the edge.

We went home and struggled to keep Joshua awake. Of course, he was then wide awake at nap time. I handed him over to Ben who said he was full of energy the whole time I napped. He got a bit cranky after that, but it also meant he went to sleep promptly in the car.

After dinner we left. I think it was the right amount of vacation, but still sad. The group is diverse and similar at the same time. It was a good vacation.

Before I had even taken my foot off the brake to back out of the drive way Isaac asked, "are we there yet?" We were also talking about returning our car and Isaac said, "We can return it Monday or Saturday. Those are our options." He sounds so grown up when he says that, but makes no sense. Speaking of grown up, he did his first credit card transaction while getting gas today. And Joshua started creeping along furniture. He'll be walking soon.

We're currently in Indiana. I doubt we'll get out before we find a hotel, but hopefully we'll get about half way.

Friday: cave!

This morning we went to a cave. It was big. It was darkish. It was a perfect temperature. The normal cave things were there...fallen rocks, columns, stalagmites, stalactites, soda straws. Beautiful. Amazing.

The first family of the group left afterwards. :(

After naps we made some ice cream, although haven't tasted it yet. We played outside. Isaac was completely exhausted at bed time. He kept telling me that all he wanted to do was sleep.

Hmm...I also had a funny conversation with Isaac written up, but can't access it right now. I guess it'll be tbd.

Friday: in trucks

Got it!

We're going down the road, guessing what's in white semi trucks.

Amanda: that says swing transport.
Ben: maybe swings are in there
Isaac:maybe logs.
Isaac: we don't know.

Amanda: what's in that truck?
Isaac: maybe bags of water
Isaac: that you throw
Amanda: you mean water balloons?

Amanda: what's in that one? It saw salson.
Isaac: maybe clouds
Isaac: maybe there's no clouds somewhere.

Thursday: lunch

Today the moms got to go out by ourselves. We went out for lunch. Well, really we went out for dessert but we ate some real food too. Our waiter didn't think we'd be able to eat all the dessert but we showed him! Not a single bite was left. We also rode the carousel. Really rode it, not just stood next to a child while it spun. :)

After naps we had water balloons. They were a ton of fun! The kids continued to play in water and on the play set for a while after that. After dinner things were getting crazy inside. The kids were running around screaming...most of it was fun, but as always there were some tears. Isaac and Marshall both wanted a basketball and ended up upstairs and then they were both crying surprisingly hard. All we really got out of either of them was that it was about a basketball. Anyway, we went back outside. Isaac chose to ride the black truck some more instead of eat strawberry pie. His loss, my gain.

The adults started to preview some of the pictures taken during the trip and there are some cute ones!! Joshua is Mr. Serious in most of them, but still cute.

Wednesday: children's musuem

Today the moms brought the kids to the children's museum while the dads went to see a movie. The museum was nicely done...a lot of things for the kids to explore. I thought the funniest part was when Isaac told the chickens to lay some eggs and then when they did gave them a treat...an egg teat. One of the eggs they had just laid, in fact. Joshua also did an awesome job standing by a train table.

Upon our return there was lunch and then good naps. Pizza for dinner and then playing outside. Isaac loved the small black truck he got to drive...pictures to follow.

Tuesday: burritt on the mountain

Today we went to Burritt on the Mountian. The day was a bit cooler than previous days, although still hot by the time we left.

We started in the mansion, hoping we could get through it before we lost the kids. Isaac didn't make it, but the mansion was rather small. Surprisingly small for someone who was rather wealthy and for a building that is called a mansion.

We ate lunch under a magnolia tree, finishing up with freeze dried ice cream. Then we went to the back in time area. This worked really well for the kids...a bunch of interactive things and areas to run. Once I get pictures downloaded I'll talk about it more.

Nap time didn't work very well. Joshua kept waking up. He hasn't been sleeping well. And there are too many people in a small area to let me try and help him sleep better. Then after Joshua was up "for good" I kept waking up worrying that Isaac was sleeping too long. Blah.

Then we just hung out, had a good dinner, and I put Joshua down for an early bed time. Oh...the toy of the day is a cash register. Bother...I had taken a picture of Isaac with it so that these posts weren't just words but the app isn't letting me insert it right now. But the batteries ended up disappearing because the scanner was really loud.

The other funny thing was that I was telling Joshua to let go of something:

Amanda: Joshua, let go.
Amanda: Joshua, let go.
Isaac: mom, you forgot please.

We've been working on please a bit more this vacation. Guess I need to work on it more too.

Monday: pool

Today we went to the pool...it was surprisingly relaxing. Joshua was sleeping and Isaac was just paddling around so I got to play several rounds of jump in the pool while catching the frisbee.

Every came home and took naps, then upon waking up we hung out a bit more then went to Texas Roadhouse. A quick trip to a jerky store for some kangaroo jerky and then back home. The kangaroo jerky was ok.

Some more hanging out at night...a nice and relaxing day.

Sunday: rocket museum

Today's big activity was the rocket museum. We started with the robot zoo, which we spent a lot of time in but Isaac liked because of the hands on things, not so much because of the robot animals. After a brief time outside, we decided to go to the other building. It had all the cool space memorabilia...the Saturn 5, an Apollo training capsule to go in, a swing arm to walk down and pretend you're an astronaut about to go to space and such. We spent quite a bit of time there, and by the end the kids were done.

We came home and took naps. I was rather surprised to be able to transfer Isaac from the car to his bed without him waking up and realizing there are toys to play with, but it worked.

After dinner there was some outside time, and then bath time. Isaac said tat the tub drain was pretty big and so babies shouldn't go in the tub. I assured him that Joshua would go down the drain. The kids were in bed and we looked through pictures of some of our past vacations...there was a lot of laughter.

Saturday: made it

Today we made it to our destination! But first, I want to tell you about the hotel we stayed at last night because it was silly.

They had an indoor pool with a roof that was kind of like a green house. Ok, no problem. All of the a/c units vented into the pool area. Yuck, problem. It basically felt like a sauna in there all the time. It was hotter than the outside, which is saying something during this heat wave that the south is having. Then, on top of that, the eating area was in the same space. So breakfast in 105 was not fun. AND they were almost out of everything and had no cereal bowls. But...it was an adventure, I guess. Not too bad as we didn't have to stay in the area too long, but dumb planning on someone's part.

While we were there Joshua also went up some steps for the first time. They were shallow, but I am really hoping that it was a fluke and we can delay this skill until after vacation.

Anyway, we got to the house and Isaac and Joshua had a grand time playing. Isaac loves all the new toys and kids to play with and Joshua kicked a ball around most of the afternoon. He skipped his afternoon nap because he was so happy playing.

And the adults had fun too. A lot of catching up. It's odd because it's been two years since we've seen everyone, but since we have monthly game nights online it doesn't feel that way. We also took turns dealing with super sad children...but at least we're all in the same boat. (And to be fair to the kids, it is hard having some many people around in a new setting.)

Friday: playground

We went to the playground with some friends today. It was perfect. The weather was lovely-cloudy, warm, windy. The other kids left soon after we got there so we had the playground all to ourselves. Isaac and the other girl chased each other well. Isaac also found out he was tall enough to do the drinking fountain by himself, but between still being short and a plugged drain he just got his shirt soaking wet. We took it off and I think he loved it.

Later in the day I asked him to water the flowers. A minute later I hear him call mom! I go over to see...the yellow daisies were starting to lose their petals and Isaac is devistated. Completely. Needless to say, I did the watering. And ate the first tomato! It was very good.

The boys declined to go to sleep at their bedtime in the car. I didn't let Isaac have a nap just so he would fall asleep and he didn't. It took him an extra 1.5 hours past his bedtime.


We're having quite the lightning show now that it is dark out. So beautiful. I wish I could take a picture if some, but alas, I can't.

Lots of days: trains

We've been taking pictures of the train tracks that we've made since Christmas.  :)  Isaac likes the ones with instructions from the book, but Ben and I really like the ones we make.

This is probably one from the instructions.

Under the table:

On/off the table:

Double decker:

Carousel

With a new X piece:

Figure 8 tilted:

Spiral:

Quad loop:

Up on the table:

Hmm...we've also made some "wormie" ones.  Those have two little circles on either end and a long section in the middle, using as many pieces as possible.

Wednesday: Monday and Wednesday

Monday Joshua turned 50 weeks.  The big 5-0.

He's been busy chasing balls, rolling cars, and just started to throw things.  Although sometimes they're dropped before he moves his arm...he faked me out very well the other day.

Monday I also cut Isaac's bangs.  I love his curls so I let them stay around.  (He has been called "she" a few times lately though.)  He wanted to have his hair cut while laying on the floor, hence the tears in this before picture.

And after.  It's not very straight...I still haven't figured out how to make it straight.  But when it's all mussed up and the rest looks like it hasn't been cut recently, I don't think anyone will notice.

Here was today's game.  We were going to use the magnets to run around the couch looking for bones.  When we found them we would beep.  The magnets had to be one in each hand, magnet side out, but only one magnet would beep a given bone.  His detailed explanation cracked me up.

I also had {what I think} was a good parenting moment during lunch.  Isaac didn't want to eat his broccoli because it was too hot.  So I gave him an ice cube to dip the broccoli on.  Now, I'll agree that the ice cube could cool the broccoli down, but he tended to "dip" the broccoli for only a second.  But it went from being too hot to edible.  Phew.