groundspeed

The Year of Theme Parks and... Duckface

So... Disney.

Our crew plus my mom at Animal Kingdom

We just squeezed in a little Disney vacation. We got on the road Saturday morning and went straight to Animal Kingdom, took a true day of rest on Sunday where our day's itinerary looked like this: swim, watch a movie, swim, hit up Magic Kingdom on Monday, and came home today but not before getting in a stroll and lunch at downtown Disney.

Sooner than later we'll use the 3rd park on our Florida residents 3-park deal to go to Hollywood Studios.

Kevin doesn't like to do Disney, but I got him to agree because:

A. I let him buy a new tv for our bedroom even though our 11+ year old box tv we bought shortly after we got married WORKED JUST FINE.

B. I promised him we wouldn't do birthday parties for Blue or Toby because these Disney trips would count as their birthday parties instead. (Blue's birthday is in December, so we told him we're celebrating his half-birthday this year.)

C. I promised him we didn't have to go back to a Disney theme park for 3 years.

Whew. 

Said promises are now published on the blog so, internet, keep me accountable. :-)  

(Having two families over for dinner tomorrow night for Toby's birthday is JUST A DINNER, NOT A PARTY, BTW.) 

I supposed I'll eventually publish more pics here or do a facebook album photo dump, but for now here's a pic I took at the resort in which Kaden's inner teenager is clearly emerging as this sure looks like an attempt at duckface to me.

An Opportunity to Poke Fun at My Husband

Opportunities to make fun of Kevin don't come often, people. 

I'm taking advantage.

You know those marriages where the wife is always right? And the husband expects this? And then everyone is happy?

I didn't end up in one of those marriages.

We are both opinionated, stubborn, head-strong people, well-educated, as well as smart within our particular areas of expertise. With Kevin, if you are playing an updated version of Trivial Pursuit with pop culture questions you will totally need him on your team to answer anything that comes up about hip hop or rap. Meanwhile if you need a Gilmore Girls or Jane Austen novel expert, I'm the one to come to.

In those areas, we bow to the other's authority.

In many, many others we butt beads.

I knew I was in trouble when, while we were engaged and picking out our first set of bedding, Kevin had an opinion! And, like, vetoed stuff I wanted. Um, as the female don't all the decorating and design choices automatically fall to me? Apparently not. (Although, in this house I did get him to agree to a lavender-walled master bedroom and that's something, I think.)

He disagrees with how I cut tomatoes and loves to make fun of how I eat corn on the cob.

I'm a little hen-pecked, I tell ya. Or in this case I guess it would be rooster-pecked?

But I'm a strong woman and I use my middle finger a lot, so it's all good.

(Gasp. A missionary wife did NOT just write that.)

Ok, so on with my little window of opportunity to make fun of Mr. Always Right.

Last night we went to our First St. Lucie Mets game as a family of five. Kevin has taken Kaden and Blue many times, but it was mine and Toby's first go. Of course Toby fell asleep on the way there. Of course he did.

So... I pulled up and let out the biggest three boys. Kevin, upon getting out, instructed me to, "Look for them at third base around the second level." No problem. I've been in this stadium many times dropping off and picking up Kaden from baseball camp. I know where third base is. I proceed to park, wake up Toby, deal with his I've-been-woken-up grumpiness, feed him a little dinner (we ate Tropical Smoothie wraps while he was asleep), and get him going.  

We walked up and skipped the entrance that would have dropped us over first base, gave our three extra tickets away and continued to pacify the growing anxiety of my three-year-old. After a stop at the potty we headed over to third base and started looking. And we kept looking. And kept looking. 

I told Toby we are looking for Daddy and Kaden and Blue and he wanted to find them and I can tell, I can feel, that his anxiety is growing because we haven't found the. Plus noise and people and smells and... we need to hurry up and find them. He's getting too big for it, but I held Toby on one hip (because at this point if I let him walk he'd be throwing himself to the ground) and manage to fish out my phone from my Rhode-Island-sized purse.

Me: We're at third base. Where are you?

He: We're here. Just look around.

Me: We have been looking around. Toby's getting anxious. WHERE ARE YOU?

He: (With that you-are-being-stupid edge to his voice) Do you even know where third base is?

Me: YES I KNOW WHERE THIRD BASE IS!

He... He who played t-ball and then baseball for... forever. He who played intermural softball at UF on a team that won National Champs. He who is currently assisting his oldest son's baseball team. He said (After a moment of silence where he inevitably mourned his own stupid mistake.): I meant first base.

Me: I am SO making fun of you for this.

And because I also know where first base is, we walked right over to them, but luckily, on the way, I passed someone Kevin works with and got my very first chance to tell the story.

Justice.

And then we were together.

To watch baseball. (And see... SEE where this picture was taken. Above FIRST base.)

No, we weren't really there to watch baseball. Apparently we were there to let the boys run around at the top of the stadium and stress this mama out that they might be hit by a foul ball.

I felt better when they sat under here:

We also met Klutch.

Danced to the music:

And stayed to the very end, a first for Kevin, Kaden and Blue, but good because then the kids got to get on the field and run the bases.

The final score ended up with the Mets falling to the Palm Beach Cardinals. Booooooo!

But, it ended up being a successful night. New experience for Toby. Fun for Kaden and Blue and ammo in my arsenal for when Kevin critiques my tomato cutting. No fingers will be raised. I'll just smile and say, "At least I know where third base is."

Marriage. Fun stuff.

If a brother is stationary...

Well, it depends on the brother.

If Kaden is stationary Toby just wants to be cuddled up near him, doing what he's doing. Like here, Toby's clearly saying, Kaden, if you're going to be reading you may as well be reading to me.  Meanwhile if Blue is stationary (which happens a lot because he's in time out so often) then Toby comes up and attacks him.

As in Toby tackles Blue while pulling his hair.

Toby also gets super, mighty, crazy jealous if Blue trues to hug me or cuddle.

Because Blue is still bigger than Toby it's mostly just funny. But in a year when Toby is likely to surpass Blue in height...

Oh well, at least Toby loves Kaden!

Aren't they cute?

Big Date Night

Kaden and Blue have just left for a very big date night. They are going to Chili's and then to see The Croods and they are taking their cousins, Mesa and Erin.

Their cousins are from Tennessee so... that's about right.

;-)

Blue, especially, has been soooooooo excited. When I picked him up from school today the conversation went something like this:

B: "SMILEY FACE DAY! I GET TO GO ON A DAY-ATE!"

Me: Good. Can you maybe not yell?

B: I need to wear my black shoes because when Daddy goes on a date he wears his nice shoes.

Me: That's a good idea.

B: And black pants.

Me: You don't have black pants. You have khakis and jeans.

B: I have black baseball pants.

Me: That would look really dumb.

B: .... (Maybe he has to think about this?)

Me: Baseball pants are for baseball. They would look very silly with your black dress shoes.

B: (avoiding the pants issue) I need to wear a button shirt.

So then we discussed his button-down shirt options...

Meanwhile when we got home Kaden's all like what? I should change?

 

Before they left we went over the rules:

1. Boys pay. 2. Boys open doors. 3. Boys do not burp or fart on dates.

That seemed like enough guidance for this age.

We also talked them through the date. I told Kaden that at the restaurant he is supposed to indicate the bill comes to him, but it's ok if he double checks with Mesa to make sure he leaves the right tip.

Meanwhile Blue is supposed to pay at the movie theater. I told him to say, "Two adults, two kids," and showed him the bills in his wallet that he would need.

I'm looking forward to hearing how all this goes down.

But now matter what happens at least they look good. (Especially Blue!)

Love having my nieces in town!

Marching Right Along

March!

What a month!

I'm not going to say it's been busy. To me busy infers hectic, frazzled. Our March has not been these things.

But it has been full.

And looking back over the month I am especially grateful that Toby has kept pace. He has his moments, and we have to build in our accommodations, but we don't mind accommodating. I don't even get the impression that Kaden and Blue mind it. That's just our Toby. He has moments and more often then not I (armed with snack or juice) can bring him down out of the moments or sometimes we leave things early. Eh. It happens.

But I can't think of anything we've had to leave early. I can think of a few moments where I've gone off to the side and pulled Toby in close to my lap or strapped him down in the stroller and once I've made his space small and manageable again then, pretty quickly,... he's back. Wanting out, ready to go back to the fun.

About that fun...

On the 1st we headed to Miami for the Fragile X 5k and a weekend with my dad where we did a whole lot more than just the 5k. The afternoon after the run/walk we headed over to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. The lighthouse there was built in 1825 and reconstructed in 1846. It's the oldest standing structure in Miami-Dade County.

Aw. Toby wasn't tall enough to go up.

There he is with Daddy while the rest of us were at the top. Ok, let's try that again zoomed in...

And the next day we hit up the zoo.

First time touching a rhino. Super cool.

Then, March 7th, came Kaden's birthday and the next day we were off to Legoland with my mom.

From there we continued on to Tampa where boat day fun and more birthday celebrations awaited.

The twins got a tire swing for their birthday!

Kevin and our youngest niece, Stella.

Cousin fun - trying out the new trampoline together.

A cake for Kevin, Kaden, Chloe and Colton - the March Stratton birthdays!

But we had at-home fun too. Like a little shamrock painting sesh...

Mom - if I just press them all together it goes faster.

Toby and I did all the painting and then the big boys did most of the cutting and then... happy green-ness which we hung all over the kitchen. 

(Walls and pantry door - but how many pics do you need really?)

And then Kevin's birthday came around and we hosted a dinner that was not a birthday party - just a dinner on a birthday :-) with three other families. We were expecting a bunch of kids and it was the day before St. Paddy's so I added green sand to the sandbox.

I was so busy that this is the only picture I took.

But Kevin was celebrated - promise.

Meanwhile there's also been baseball...

Bunnies...

Blue being Blue... (which often keeps things full and hectic and frazzled)

(More) Birthday party fun... (This time celebrating our friend, Ayden turning 4)

It was a camping theme and I scored the centerpiece log for the party hostess. Saw it while jogging. I may not be losing any weight, so at least it's nice to know my regular excercising is good for something!

This was right after singing. Toby got excited and ran outside but then he kept saying, "Happy Birthday" from here. So friggin' cute.

Momma's boy for sure.

And for the rest of the month -  Spring Break.

Which we spent playground hopping, 

having friends over,

and riding ponies.

Ok. Same pony, but multiple times going out to ride.

And... traditional Easter shenanigans:

Here our eggs are vibrantly colored but then... we tried out an idea of putting food coloring on whip cream and rubbing them around on the eggs for added color.

Caught!

Pretty much we made our eggs uglier, but they boys had fun doing it.

And now today, on the last day of the month... we're off to a hunt.

If Blue reads two books today he will have filled every single line on his monthly reading log for the first time this school year. The books I get him keep getting longer, but he's loving it.

No pictures of that.

And no pictures of our discussions of Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Passover, The Last Supper, Judas, crucifixion, and life. Eternal life.

No pictures of bike rides and wiffle ball in the backyard.

Or surprisingly chilly mornings where I, yet again, drank my "last" hot chocolate until next winter.

Small moments. Big family events.

Full.

(Go, Gators! Elite 8 here we come!)

A Dog and a Tree

I could get rid of every toy in our house but Kaden and Blue would be happy because they'd still have their dog and their tree. (Toby would only be ok if I also kept a few of his favorite DVDs.)

Our only backyard tree

sees a lot of use.

And our only pet

gets a lot of "love."

Doesn't Gus looked thrilled?

More so when Toby decides to throw sand on his head.


Sure I've got their Easter Baskets already filled and ready to go. They've got toys in their rooms and an entire play area with all their stuff (And people wonder why I say no presents at parties!), but "the simple things" (also see yesterday's post about sprinkler fun) have their hearts.

I have boys who can play outside for hours either in the backyard with their tree and their dog or in the front on their bikes and with the basketball net.

That saying?

Boy = noise with dirt on it.

Yes, exactly.

Fun, Fabulous... Water

The boys are on spring break. They had early release on Thursday, March 21st and don't go back till April 1st.

Yowza.

I've been thinking about what do with 'em and the big question was simply - how many times are we going to the beach?

But. It's. Cold!

OK not cold, cold. We don't have the heat on and we're all still wearing shorts and flip flops but nippy in the mornings and highs in the 70s and for us that's not beach weather.

Friday we headed to the library and to the mall for lunch and some time in the mall play place and to make an exchange in the area and to stop into the Pet Smart to say hi to the animals and, and, and... we were out and about most of the day. 

But now we're out of plans.

Well, Blue has already read two of his books. I guess we can go back to the library one day.

Ok sure there are zoos and science museums and children museums, but I'm trying to be super cheap right now. We just had a Legoland day for Kaden's birthday and I'm in the middle of negotiations for Disney fun for Toby's bday but Kevin, who is finally coming around to my viewpoint on this, will SHUT IT DOWN if I go spending crazy cash on entries this week.

Sooooo....

Enter the Ninja Turtle Sprinkler.

I had just DVRed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie which they watched in the morning. In the afternoon, when we made a Target run and we saw this... well, this mom didn't have a good reason to say no.  

I'm glad I didn't.

Most of the time Toby wasn't having it. He prefered poking ants with sticks in this corner.

Cutest. Tushy. Ever.

I know this is a luxury. I knew we are blessed to have fresh water come from faucets and hoses and to use it not only for drinking, cooking and bathing but to route it through a plastic ninja turtle and PLAY!

Friday was World Water Day. I don't fully know what that means. I read an article about drought and saw words tossed around like "crisis" but, of course, it doesn't hit home. 

I loved this photo series that showed abundance and need together. 

We recently donated money to a well in India. I wasn't thinking about World Water Day when we did it, but now that it's come, I'm even more glad that we did. 

(Another day of spring break almost down... how many more to go?!?!)

The Oldest is Older

Dear Kaden,

It's here. Your ninth birthday. Last year of the single digit, so you must be feeling old and mature. 

But you're not. You're a nine year old boy. Fart jokes are the pinnacle of humor in your world.

A few weekends ago Gran and Papa were visiting and they brought with them the movie Hotel Transylvania. I elected not to watch but from my bedroom I could hear your loud, uninhibited laughter. I knew I'd made the right choice. If you find a movie hysterical - I hate it. (And generally, if I love a kid's film (Wall-E, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Hugo), then you think it's terribly boring.) It's ok though, your father still enjoys fart humor, so there's a very strong possibility that even if your comedic tastes never improve, I will go on loving you.

Saturday, March 2nd wearing the free sunglasses that came in our FX 5k bags. Kinda channeling your inner Justin Bieber here. 

Just before turning nine you went on your first date. A date. In 3rd grade. Holy moly. You spent $50 of your Wildcat Cash to "have lunch on the stage with a friend" one day at school, but that "friend" was a girl you have a crush on, a girl we've talked about before because you started asking me what a "crush" was and about my boyfriends. When I found out this girl was not in your class, I asked you how you knew her. You said you saw her at lunch at that sometimes your classes joined for "resource." (Um, what is resource?") So I'm thinking she must be pretty cute in order to have attracted your attention when she's not even in your class, but when I asked you what you liked about her you said, "She has nice penmenship like me and she's from Ohio." Uh. Ok.....

But you're not too grown up for a good playground - Sunday, March 3rd at Zoo Miami

The way to your heart is still through your stomach. Planning your birthday this year pretty much just meant planning the day's menu. For breakfast you requested pancakes, hashbrowns and eggs. For lunch you wanted me to bring you pizza and chocolate cupcakes for your class* and for dinner you want to go to Chili's. It's a good thing we're goingto Legoland tomorrow (instead of a party this year), we'll need to walk off all your birthday calories!

*Which I was happy to do especially because I was ready to check out this crush but dang it! She was absent today!

So you're still all about food (especially with Hot Sauce, your favorite condiment) but you're starting to get grumpy about Mom's Picture Taking Addiction. I get this face more often than not these days:

I even ASKED you if you WANTED to come over this pic. You could have said no!

Dork.

Meanwhile this picture you were all about having me take:

At the end of our zoo day.

Total dork.

Oh and those sunglasses were your quick upgrade from the orange ones above. Before we left the zoo on Sunday, Poppy took you into the gift shop so you could pick out anything you wanted for your birthday present from him. I knew you were well past the stuffed animal phase but I noticed a safari jeep I wondered if you might get. Nope. My grown up boy picked out sunglasses.

Oh sure. You'll smile for a picture with Poppy.

You are considerate but... not always so clued in to how you should show that consideration. I have long said, in order to get through to you one must, "pop bubble, then speak," but sadly I am still not good enough at following my own advice. Recently, on a trash day, I asked you to "take the trash to the street" but apparently all you heard was "trash" because you emptied the kitchen trash into the big trash can (considerate!) but left that trash can right there in the garage (grrrrr). More recently, as in Friday, I told you we needed to stop at the store for trip snacks. Every single thing I bought was for our weekend in Miami so when we pulled up to the house I very intentionally left that bag in the van. 15 minutes later when I'm run around all frantic busy with last minute trip to-dos and dealing with an over-tired and fussy Toby, you come up all proud of yourself and announce you put the groceries away. Again, grrrrrr. I reminded you what those groceries were for (our trip). I reminded you when we were leaving (as soon as Dad got home). I handed you a sack and told you to gather up everything you'd put away and put it back in the van. 

Sorry, kid. If you want brownie points you are going to have to START LISTENING.

Third grade has come with much weeping and gnashing of teeth for both of us because well, it's hard for you and it's hard for me because I'm not sure where it's truly too difficult versus when you're not trying. So all things homework and grades are... stretching us right now. BUT! You've happily finished up another basketball season with Upward and are in the middle of another baseball season so life's not too terrible for you. Plus I tend to keep the rest of our schedule fun-filled. (It's nice to have a mom who's addicted to the beach, huh? Not to mention those other fun, recent plans like the fair, Miami weekend and now Legoland all back to back - nope you're not hurting in the entertainment department.)

You're still very much a little kid but also very much trying to figure out what it means to not be a little kid anymore. You're on the cusp of those tween interests, saying things like you want your own iPhone. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. (Maybe when you're twelve.)

I love you. As your Mom, I'm going to fret and fuss and possibly even bark and growl when you don't listen or you do things I don't like, but I love you. As you keep getting older things will keep getting more complicated, but remember, no matter what, I got your back. We're in it together, so bring on all things NINE!

5k! Circus Walk! (And some March birthday gift ideas.)

Um, what is a circus walk? 

If your answer is any walk in which my family participates, then you are probably right, but I don't think that's what they mean.

On March 2nd our clan of five plus Poppy (my dad) will be participating in the Families for Fragile X Trail Run and Circus Walk. Their website describes the circus walk part of things as having "challenges along the trail to engage kids of all ages."

What do you think? Should we dress Blue up as a clown?

I'll take it under consideration, but if you get us a clown wig then it will be SO done. After all you did raise $165 in honor of Blue back when it was his birthday. He owes you all some good pictures.

Remember that? In lieu of gifts? 

Well, we have have more birthdays coming up. Kevin and Kaden are my March birthday boys.

Wanna get Kaden a birthday gift? 

How about Kevin?

Kaden is not having a party this year (incidentally neither is Kevin). He chose instead to have a Lego-land day. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't love an "in lieu of" present. 

Whatdoyasay $9 in honor of Kaden turning nine?

OR (and?) in honor of Kevin you could give $36. (Although that's just an arbitrary number.)

Birthday magic in the form of donations can happen here.

To read more about the walk (or to register and JOIN US!!!!) go here.

Celebrating birthdays and helping advance awareness and research for Fragile X to benefit Toby.

Win - win!

Florida Seminole Diorama

There's an easy way to help your child with his diorama assignment. You throw a shoe box at him and some crayons or markers and say, go to it.

OR...

Step One:
Think about how you can teach the kid about local Native American history. And ya know. Do that.

Take him to The House of Refuge because they have a time line of local history that includes local Native American information.

Realize in the car on the way home that the only thing that seemed to sink in with your kid was A: The pirate for whom this part of the beach is named and the fact that he was hanged and thousands attended. And B: The house of refuge keepers had problems with black bears.

Um. Not helpful.

A few days later happily discover a Native American section while on a trail walk at the Florida Oceanographic Society.

Ays, are not one of the tribes up for choosing in the assignment.

Of course not.

Actually walking through this structure still proved memorable.

A little helpful.

Next up: See what the library has to offer. 

Check out She Sang Promise: The Story of Betty Mae Jumper Seminole Tribal Leader

Turns out our book of choice is beautifully illustrated and lyrically written. It not only taught the experience of this Seminole women born in south Florida, but also nicely touches on the themes of women empowerment (Never mind that she became a tribal leader - she friggin' wrestled alligators!), the importance of education, and how to improve upon ones culture while still respecting it. Ok, so my kid probably didn't pick up on much in terms of these themes, but they're there. Promise. Good little book.

After reading the book we got on the internet for a little follow-up research. Spent some time clicking around here and reading here.

We read about "chickees" and knew we'd need to include one. We discussed how the chickee was different from the Ays structure we saw (no floor vs raised floor). We saved a picture to use as a reference for our model:

Step Two:
Hand kid a sheet of paper and a pencil and tell him to design the plan.

Compliment his idea to have a large tree in the middle dividing up the scene.

Agree with his layout and offer zero corrections.

But...

Decide you will make fun of him for-ever because he wrote, "flying animals" on the sky part instead of just, ya know, "birds." (Hey - the school system makes building their self-esteem a huge priority. We feel that at home we can keep it real.)

Step Three:
The actual making of the diorama. 

Tag team husband to take over from here.

Watch husband disregard traditional shoebox plan and break out the power tools. Watch 8-year-old's eyes light up.

Getting in on the drill action.

In the same day paint the base and glue on sand.

Next day paint the back and draw on some "flying animals" (all of which happen to be birds - not a bat or a flying squirrel in the bunch).

Collect foliage.

Glue foliage.

Watch Dad get started on the Chickee.

I'm not sure of the actual breakdown of the assemblage at this point and I slacked at taking pictures. All I know is that one night at almost 10pm during "project time" I heard a basketball bouncing in the garage so I went in to check "progress." Dad was sitting there in front of the Chickee while Kid was playing.

Dad, "This floor is taking forever."

Mom, (eye roll) "If he's not helping he could at least go to bed."

Kid did work on the roof and sweep the garage of all the scraps. So there's that.

Last step: Kid glues store-bought figurines to project, poses for pic, and brings to school one whole day before it's due!

So there's your Florida Seminole Diorama How-to.

Looking at this picture it is clear that Kaden's hair is the project we need to tackle next.

And after all this talk about Seminoles there is only one way I can, in good conscience, end this post:

Go, Gators!