Spring Break

Spring Break....yeah, that was fun. More than happy that it is over. Lets see if I can do a decent summary of our week of events: We did go to Great Wolf Lodge up in Washington, just north of Centralia. They have an indoor waterpark that was fantastic for the kids and I must say, Andy and I enjoyed the waterslides too! The kids had a total blast and went down countless slides and rides and rode waves in the wave pool. That said, the night before we left Mason came down with a cold. He still isn't over that cold! Nasty congestion, runny nose, etc. and he actually threw up three different times while we were there. Don't worry, only one of those times was in the waterpark (luckily, it was off to the side where no one was around anyway and not in a pool!). The other two were in the hotel room. All three of those fun incidences were a result of too much intake of liquid and too much coughing. (sorry for the details people!) But gee, he felt much better the day we headed home!



Oh and did I mention this place had only been open nine days before we got there?! Our room was actually fine. But Andy had a couple of conversations with people whose rooms were not fine and some even still had construction going on next door to them. But let me chat about the food options. Or lack of. O.k. so they have a grill/restaurant that was decent. But it doesn't serve breakfast. The breakfast choices pretty much was up to the "buffet". I am not real keen on "buffet" food... and we ended up having it for dinner the first night we were there and it pretty much made something like Old Town Buffet seem rather gourmet. It was terrible!!!! When Andy and I had lunch in the grill/normal restaurant, we were chatting with the bartender and another employee and they said basically that they were having trouble keeping people on the job and hired! Another employee told us that they "still had a few kinks to work out". Never a good sign. And do keep in mind, this little town didn't have much more to offer in the way of food. Oh, there was a McDonald's attached to a gas station....yum, yum!



We figured we would actually go back again, when the staff is a little more together and would probably do like Meegan did (yes, they were there too! What a fun surprise!) and come up and just stay one night. You can go in the waterpark early, before you check into your room, and you can stay in the waterpark later the next day after you check out. And head back to Centralia when you need food!



So we came home on Thursday, and it was snowing on and off. It snowed while we were at the waterpark too but that is indoors and warm and I didn't care as much. But by Thursday afternoon, I had had enough of being cold. Little did I know, I would still be dealing with the cold even today! argggghhh....not liking snow at all at this point!



Oh and here is a fun one, we knew before we left that our outdoor kitty "Cozzy" wasn't feeling well. He was just kind of acting under the weather but we figured wellllll we will take him to the vet if need be when we get back. We got back and we realized later that evening that he wasn't eating or drinking. Not good. So Friday morning Andy calls the vet and we manage for a 3 p.m. appointment. Well, the cat didn't make it to that appointment. Andy came home from work early to take Cozzy and we had to search for him in the garage (I had kept him locked in there and it's were he usually sleeps anyway). Couldn't find him right away, but when we did, he was against the back wall and already stiff. Pet deaths suck and I have to say, this one caught us completely off guard. I'll have to do another post later with a few pictures of Coz.



So Andy took Coz to the vet anyway to have him cremated and we will get his ashes back in a couple of days. (That was a fun one to explain to the kids too!) Poor Matthew had a rough night on Friday with that one. And to top it all off, I was hoping for a bit of good luck for the weekend--totally wishful thinking, on Saturday Matthew had a nasty earache. To the point were on Saturday night he was doing nothing but crying and working himself up just about to hysterics. Lucky for me (and Matthew) I remembered I had kept the bottle of (prescription) eardrops from the last time the boys had bad ear infections. Plenty of Motrin and eardrops for Matthew the rest of the weekend and I was actually sure I wouldn't send Matthew to school today but he seemed ok to go. We even went to gymnastics like normal so maybe it will heal on its own. I am hoping.....



So it is official. This spring break sucked. And I do not want a repeat of that anytime soon!

And just for fun....these were taken at the end of the school week, just before spring break started. Mason had actually had a minor incident at preschool were he managed to cut himself on his finger. It was a pretty good cut, and really required the band-aid to be on at all times for awhile, which was problematic for Mason until we dug out the "Tattoo" bandages. These things are genius! And then Mason was more then happy to show off his "ouch"!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone! It's been busy around here with egg coloring, egg hunting, and Easter baskets. And the boys aren't even done yet, they still are going to Grandma Dee's this afternoon for more treats and are on their way to the park right now for some fun with friends!

The best thing you can give children, next to good habits, are good memories.

~ Sydney Harris

Family Dinner

So it's not often that Andy and I have been willing to take the kids out to eat for dinner. Usually, I am tired at night and have put up with whatever antics have happened during the day so that the idea of eating out in public is usually more than I can bear. But tonight, upon the urging of my husband, we headed out to Russell Street Bar-B-Que. Andy knows one of the owners and has been there a couple of times himself and had proclaimed to me how wonderful it was. So tonight I agreed to go, feeling too, that perhaps it was time to make an effort to take my kids out once in awhile that didn't involve grandparents.

And guess what? It went just fine! My kids actually behaved quite well, even with a 1/2 hour wait! And even better, the food was really good! I have been to another BBQ around town (that shall remain nameless) and although it was good, I never had a deep desire to return. Tonight, stuffed full as I am, I can't wait to go back and try some more of the menu! I had a pulled pork sandwich ( I figured there was no way I could have a dinner of pulled pork, I wanted to fit in dessert too!) with a side of greens that were braised 'southern style'. Now, I had no idea what the hell that meant but I figured I would give it a try. Oh my, I would be willing to eat just a huge bowl-full of those....yum! Matthew really liked them too and I also had a hard time keeping Matthew out of my pork sandwich! The kids inhaled their food, not surprising for Matthew but rather impressive for Mason who never seems to finish anything. Mason had chicken strips and fries and had very little left when he was done. By the way, those chicken strips were very tasty, thank goodness he was willing to share a little! ;) Andy had the smoked beef brisket sandwich with some very hot BBQ sauce and a lovely pint of porter that he can't remember what it was now!

So there are so many other things there that I am itching to try....the sausage, the brisket sandwich with a little less intense heat, the shrimp, and the grilled tofu. Yes, even vegetarian options!

and oh my, how did I forget about dessert?? I decided on a Peach Cobbler, not on the regular menu but oh the taste of summer was much needed for me! :) The boys had sundaes.....Andy abstained from dessert. He figured his dessert was the pint during dinner!

These sundaes are $1 on the kids menu! Mason 'fed' Andy a bite and he did say they were rather tasty.

Good to the last drop!

Super Mason

Did you know that there is a new superhero in town???

Bad guys beware!

Fruitful Rewards

Last night Andy and I went to the auction whose proceeds are benefiting Matthew's elementary school. It was a lot of fun, held at the bowling ally! Andy spent almost 3 hours bowling and consequently today, is very sore!! I ended up not bowling, only because I was actually helping out with the auction and because I was also either chatting or shopping. ;) I actually didn't come away with too much, a present for a certain someone who shall remain nameless at the moment. This person's birthday isn't for quite awhile! A lovely bottle of wine, a buy-in event, and then the coup de grace.....the first grade art project from Matthew's class! Actually, let me back up for just a minute. Matthew had spent the better part of last week mad at me because he felt he should get to go to the auction. In his little mind (and I really can't blame him) a night at the bowling alley with a bunch of the teachers and parents sounded really cool. And it was, it just wasn't for kids (Yay! oh, sorry) and he had a really hard time understanding that. So when Andy and I got home last night, he was still pouting about not getting to go. Until I told him about what I had bought. Then he was quite pleased.

So the chair was made by the kids in Matthew's first grade class and the idea was based on the work of Eric Carle, you know....The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do You See?, and our current favorite, Mr. Seahorse. Each child did some sort of animal, bird, or flower, drawn on paper and then they picked out tissue scraps in whatever colors they wanted and one of the lovely moms (I helped out in the classroom with the drawing part) put all the artwork on the chair and some embellishments. And it turned out great! One of my favorite animals is the little pig in the above picture....it's on the bottom row in the middle. I should take a close up picture of it.....it has the most darling curly tail. Matthew's animal is actually in the very top picture. It's the bird/dinosaur looking thing that's red with green feet. Love it! ;) This morning, Matthew wrote me and daddy a little note, professing his gratitude.

Budyful, don't you think?

Bet You Didn't Find This In Your Underwear!

So yesterday morning I got up, made the kids breakfast, drank only one cup of coffee (perhaps I needed more), and then took a shower. As I was rushing (late as always) to get dressed to get Matthew to school on time, I heard something small and plastic drop to the floor in the bathroom. It had fallen from my (clean!) underwear that I had just unfolded. What could it be? Wait for it................... a very tiny, plastic police flashlight that goes to one of Matthew's Playmobil sets. Obviously, it had gone through the wash. And somewhere...someone has a damn sick sense of humour.