Dutch Wonderland, Day 1!

It has been a couple of years since our last visit (last year's weekend was cancelled for weather, I am not sure what happened in 2015), but everyone was excited to return to Dutch Wonderland. The kids knew it was happening at some point this season, since the tickets were a Christmas gift, but they didn't know exactly when. Friday was a big night in our house--the three older kids all performed in a school play (blog to follow). They didn't get to bed until almost 10, which is late for our kiddos. However, they were all up by 8. Kara was actually up around 7. Thomas told her about our plans. We wanted her to decide if she wanted to go to her soccer game before we headed to Lancaster. She was happy to skip it and get on the road as soon as possible. Anna was super excited and everyone immediately began gathering bags for the car. We had already packed their clothes and essentials.

By 9:15 we were in the car and on our way, we stopped once at a Pennsylvania Welcome Center for a bathroom break and rolled into the Lancaster Cracker Barrel at 12:30. We had a leisurely lunch and let everyone choose if they wanted a dessert at Cracker Barrel or if they wanted to wait and get a treat at the park. Everyone wisely chose Coke Cake and our (very mini) vacation was off to a good start. After lunch, we browsed the outlets. Jack and Luke played on a small playground while the girls and I went to Children's Place. Anna and Kara have reached the age where they love trying on clothes. They were having an amazing sale of 75% off clearance. We bought 2 dresses, 1 pair of pants, 2 headbands, sunglasses for Luke, and 2 earring cards for $20.15!!! The boys then joined us to look at the Pottery Barn Outlet. We all love Pottery Barn, but they are so overpriced (in my opinion). Not the outlet! Prices were already reduced, and then the entire store was an additional 30% off! Unfortunately, we had the kids, which made browsing hard. We spent a lot of time chasing them around as they sat on chairs, laid on beds and opened and closed drawers. They had a lot of furniture I loved, there was a table and chairs I would have bought if we had any way to get it home. Sadly, the only thing we bought were new lunchboxes for the kids ($24 retail, $10 at the outlet). Still, it was fun.

After a restroom break, we were ready to head to Dutch Wonderland. They have a preview option, which allows you to go into the park 3 hours before closing on the day before your visit. This weekend, that meant we could enter at 3pm. We were at the gate at 2:58, The ticket taker gave me a dirty look and said, "the preview doesn't start until 3," as if we were trying to sneak in hours early. But, I was patient and polite and we calmly waited the remaining 2 minutes.

The park had a camping jamboree where girl scouts camped at their campground and then came to the park, so it was a bit more crowded than we expected for this time of year. But, we still managed to ride most of the rides in the park. Just like the girls had at his age, Luke adored the "whip it" ride, which for some reason, our kids have always called the bumper cars. In fact, he adored just about everything. At one point, he was really mad that he had to wait for the big kids to get off a ride and he threw himself on the ground crying. People just smiled and stepped around him as I waited for the fit to pass. After a minute, I decided to move him to a nearby bench. I picked him while he screamed and as we sat down, he suddenly stopped crying and said, in a very calm voice, "mom, what's that ride???" as something in the distance caught his attention. Just like that, the tantrum was over (to be fair to Luke, he doesn't have many fits, but this was a very long day for him).

The "bumper cars". Anna got off, saying, "it's still really fun!"

A favorite of all Wilson children, but the other 3 are way too tall now.

On the Turtle Whirl with Dad

The big kids still enjoy the little rides

We stayed until the park closed at 6. It took a while to get out of the parking lot. Our plan had been to go to Chick-Fil-A, but like every CFA, it was a zoo. We couldn't even find a parking spot. So, we drove across the street to a KFC. No one was happy. But, we were hungry and tired and didn't want to waste any more time (the hotel pool was calling our names). We ate a meal that no one liked and then went to the hotel. We checked in and then immediately changed into our bathing suits. By now, it was 7:15, so we told the kids they only had 45 minutes, which wasn't near enough time for them, but they were good sports when we told them it was time to go. We played Marco Polo and had a good time. Luke just jumped off the side of the pool into my or Thomas' arms over and over and over and over again.

We got back to the room and got everyone in bed.

Mother's Day Weekend

The celebration for our family began on Friday, when I went to a Mother's Day Tea at Luke's school. Luke made me a crown, a sun catcher, and a handprint photo. We had muffins and his class sang two songs. It was cute and fun.

Saturday, Thomas and I had a date night. We went to Sotterley Plantation for a wine/food tasting. We don't really drink wine, but we thought we would give it a try. We enjoyed the experience and there was some delicious food, including crab cakes, barbecue pork sliders, and chocolate covered strawberries. We also got to walk around the plantation house which we both enjoyed. It was very fun night!

Selfie from the portico

Sunday, we told the kids we had a fun surprise for them, but that it required they get up early because we had to be in Annapolis by 9. They had no trouble getting up and we left right on schedule. The surprise was a ride on the Chesapeake Pirate's Cruise! First, they got their pirate names (Lookout Luke, Jumpship Jack, Krazy Kara & Almighty Anna). Then, they got their pirate outfits and faces painted.  Anna wanted to be a mermaid, everyone else was a pirate. We took pictures and then climbed aboard the ship.

Luke loved the pirate garb!

which was followed by the painting process

Anna opted for a mermaid look, the rest of the kids were pirates. We were one happy family!

We sailed around the river looking for treasure. The kids got to shoot water canons at a scallywag pirate. They found the treasure, drank some grog and cruised around the harbor. The kids absolutely loved it. They all wanted to know when we could go again. Most of the other participants were in the 2-5 age range, but our big kids didn't mind and were very enthusiastic throughout the whole experience.

It was pretty cold for the thieving pirate. But, he was a good sport and even allowed us to knock him in the water. Luke loved this part and kept wanting to shoot the canons.

Drinking their grog as they wave at the people in the harbor.

Lookout Luke with Terrifying Thomas

From there, we went to the Annapolis Mall. We walked around and had lunch. On the drive home, I played the music I felt like listening to and then let everyone else have a say (and "You're Welcome" from Moana has been in my head ever since). We came home, I took a nap, talked with my sister for awhile and enjoyed my gifts. I love when the kids write what they think of me. It is fun to see where their minds are. For example, Kara apparently thinks I really like to nap. I actually don't nap very much, because I like to keep to the same sleep schedule, but apparently, she really notices when I do (honestly, today was probably the first nap I've taken in months). I do like to lay in bed and read, so maybe she assumes I've fallen asleep? Anyway, I had lots of gifts from each of them, here's a few:

From Kara

Kara, part two

Jack's

Little Lukey hands

And, sweet Anna's

I always feel a little sad seeing the Mother's Day stuff in the stores, I miss my own mom so much. But, I am extremely grateful for the family I have and that love that I feel for them, not just on Mother's Day, but every day.

Sick of Sick and other Updates

I used to think my family had good immune systems. We seemed to avoid a lot of illnesses and were never struck too hard with whatever was going around. Our visits to the doctor were generally limited to well-visits. Not anymore! I am not sure what has been going on the last couple of years, but we have had some rough winters! I honestly can't remember the last time all 6 of us were healthy. Granted, most of it is very minor. I am counting colds, but still! The latest annoyance is Anna's pink eye. She woke up on the 20th (a Thursday) with a little bit of pink, watery, eyes. It wasn't too bad and I thought it might be related to a little sty in the corner or her eye, so I sent her to school. The next day it was clearly pink eye. We kept her home. We have fought pink eye before and I know that the vast majority of cases are viral and eye drops won't help.  We treated with cold cloths and colloidal silver. She stayed home again on Monday, but seemed back to normal on Tuesday. We thought it was all over. She looked great on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, I noticed her eye looked slightly watery again. To shorten this story, by Sunday she couldn't get her eye open and it was the worst it had ever been. I broke down and took her to urgent care and got the darn antibiotic drops. We have never had pink eye clear up and then reappear, so maybe it is a rare case of a bacterial infection (as opposed to viral). Meanwhile, Thomas has flu-like symptoms and has been miserable all weekend. But, I need to say again how thankful I am that our heath challenges are minor and simple inconveniences.

In better news, we went to the school's annual Sock Hop last week. Everyone had a good time, it's one of the few things we've done every year, so now it feels like an unbreakable tradition. They always do a silent auction and I generally place bids, but have never won anything. This year, we bid on a Nintendo Switch and a book basket. The kids loved monitoring the bids and Anna and Kara "guarded" the sheets and would run to us every few minutes to let us know if we were still winning. We were outbid on the Switch, but won the book basket. Jack was so disappointed, but handled it well. They also had fun dancing and playing with their friends. Luke had a great time. He loved holding his "ticket" and handing it to the volunteers to redeem his root beer float and brownie. And, he was super cute dancing with the big kids.

Jack had his first baseball game Saturday. His team lost by one run, but fought a good fight. Meanwhile, Kara had a soccer game. Her team lost, but Kara scored her first goal! She was very excited. Her team can be difficult to watch, unfortunately, they haven't won a game yet. In fact, they didn't even score a goal the first two games. But, Kara has maintained a positive attitude and played hard. We have been very proud of her, it is easy to be a good sport on a winning team, but it's definitely more challenging when you are down by double digits week after week. 

Jack and Anna had their 3rd grade recorder concert. It was enjoyable and fun to see how much progress they've made. I like that they start teaching them to read music and play an instrument in 3rd grade. 

In conclusion, here is a side-by-side of Jack and Luke. The other day, we were playing in our neighbor's sprinklers and Luke was wearing Jack's old swim suit. I was struck by the resemblance. For a moment, it was like Jack was 3 and standing in front of me again. It was a sweet moment and a reminder of how quickly time goes by.

Time Hop Tuesday Tangent

After such a lovely Spring Break, Luke and I were a bit lonely without the older kids. To combat this sad situation, we decided to walk to the school to have lunch with Jack and Anna. On our way, we passed one of my favorite houses. I love to slow my pace and linger at the well-manicured lawn and beautiful plants. The park like setting of benches under large oak trees evoke a quiet happiness.   And, each holiday or turn of the season brings something new to admire. Many times I have driven by and seen an elderly couple working peacefully in this yard. We always smile and wave, but they are generally far back from the road. Today, the man was working right next to me as I passed. He stopped what he was doing to smile and nod at Luke and me. It appeared as though he would have welcomed a short conversation, but I did not stop, choosing instead to offer a cheery "hello" as we continued our walk. I immediately regretted my decision; I so wanted to tell him how much I admired his yard, but the moment had passed.

As I was pondering what I should have done, a long buried memory resurfaced. When I was 9 or 10, my family lived in Massachusetts on a busy road. There were no children nearby, so my brother and I generally played together in the woods behind the house. Occasionally, we would ride our bikes down the dirt road that ran behind our yard. At the end of this road was a single, large white house with a beautiful yard. We made up stories about the house and convinced ourselves that something nefarious lived inside the walls. To us, the road was exceedingly long, but in reality, I imagine it was less than a quarter of a mile.

One day, there was an elderly lady working in the yard. I do not recall the specifics of the situation, but I know that eventually we were put to work. From that day on, we would occasionally venture down the road and find ourselves pulling weeds or pruning bushes. The lady's husband was ill and we never went inside the house. But, one day something changed. When we knocked on the door, we were invited inside. We sat and were offered cookies and a drink and we chatted with this kind lady. Although she did not speak the words, we learned that her husband had died. The dynamic had changed and I believe our visits became much more meaningful. Unfortunately, we were young and didn't quite understand what this change meant. Our visits were still infrequent. Eventually, we moved and this memory was long-forgotten...until today.

We all grow old. We should stop and quite literally, smell the roses. I wish I had been kinder and more attentive to my elderly neighbor when I was 10, and now 30 years later, I wish I had stopped to chat with my other elderly neighbor. Although, I have no reason to suspect my current neighbor is lonely, it would have been nice to offer him my sincere compliments on his yard.

I wish my children had more exposure to the older generation. I keep thinking there should be an eHarmony to match up families with no nearby grandparents with grandparents with no nearby grandchildren.

Spring Break 2017, Part II

Saturday--making the girls' "recipe" and dying eggs

Anna and Kara had come up with a recipe that involved making rice krispie eggs, filling them with a surprise, topping with a sugar cookie and adding a handle to make it easy to lift the sugar cookie. Oh, and they needed to have M&M flowers, stuck to the cookies using "spring colored frosting." We went to Walmart early in the day and got all the supplies. Then, we had fun putting it all together. I let the girls take the lead and they had a great time. I think they are ready for added responsibility in the kitchen. That night, everyone dyed our 24 eggs.

First we made the cookies

  

I didn't get any of us making the rice krispies, because we had to move too fast to shape them.

Frosting the tops

Completing the project

And, the traditional Easter Egg decorating

Sunday--Kids opening day at Nationals Stadium!

We had an Easter egg hunt in our basement on Easter morning. We also enjoyed a pancake and bacon breakfast. (Luke liked it so much, he demanded pancakes for dinner. Much to his confusion and disappointment it was not meant to be: "but, I said I wanted pancakes?!?!?") That afternoon was Kid's Opening Day at Nationals Park. We took the metro and got there early enough to enjoy the pre-game festivities. Our section was a bit crowded, so after a couple of innings, we decided to move to a less-crowded area. In doing so, we missed Bryce Harper's first home run.

With room to roam, the kids, Luke in particular, did much better. But, there was still some whining and discontent. The score was tied at the end of the 8th when we decided to leave. In doing so, we missed Bryce Harper's game winning home-run in the ninth. Seriously, what were the odds? We were there for 8 complete innings and missed the two biggest moments! Jack was great at the game, he watched the game, didn't ask for anything, and never complained. I won't comment on the others...

The three older

And Luke, this would have been an awesome picture, but for the guy climbing in the background. Unfortunately, Luke was done and wouldn't pose a second time.

Monday--Calvert Marine Museum and Rita's

For our final Spring Break outing, we went to the CMM. We had fun seeing the otters, doing the marsh walk, and browsing through the exhibits.  We also climbed into the lighthouse. Then, it was on to Rita's for some Italian Ice. A good time was had by all!

I asked the kids their favorite activity we did during Spring Break. Kara said baking our Easter things. Anna and Luke said Six Flags. Jack said the field day on base.

Spring Break 2017, Part I

We kept very busy during Spring Break this year. Unfortunately, I didn't take a lot of pictures, at least until we get to the weekend. Nothing unusual there, right?

Monday--Library and park.

I always like to start our breaks with a trip to the library. That way, the kids should have reading material for the week. The weather was beautiful, so after checking out our books, we headed to the park next door.

Tuesday--Field Day on base!

The base was celebrating the month of the military child and the opening of a new turf field. They hosted an event open to all with base access. They were 2 small inflatables, a jousting inflatable and a large obstacle course. They also gave everyone a free lunch, consisting of a hot dog, chips and water. There was face painting, a video game truck and some other games. We stayed for over 3 hours. We could have easily stayed longer, but Luke had reached his limit. He had done the obstacle course twice, but on the third time, he reached the part where you jump from a steep wall into a soft, sinking surface. He stood at the top and didn't want to move. I finally got him to jump and then he sunk into the bottom and just started crying. Finally, I had to go in after him. He didn't want to continue the course, but was super mad that I had pulled him out. Clearly, he had had enough! But, still, it was a super fun event. It would have been worth paying for, so to have such a good time for free was a huge bonus.

Luke climbing the tall hill that would later prove his downfall.

Jack and Kara getting ready to joust. Kara fought a great fight, but Jack eventually toppled her (he also beat Anna)

Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? Of course, I am sure someone paid for the food, but it wasn't us!

The event also had an Easter egg hunt, Kara turned herself into a hula girl with the eggs.

Wednesday--Pump it Up.

We went to an open jump at Pump it Up. Unfortunately, they only let us use one side and it was not the kids' favorite area. Kara proclaimed that she was not having fun and while she didn't complain, she did bounce around with an unhappy expression. We met up with one of my friends. She had two kids with her and for a while, it was just the 6 of us. Eventually, a man came in with two small kids, but it was still much less crowded than we are used to and the other kids loved it!

Dancing for dad (still shot from a video)

Thursday--Six Flags

Our first trip of the year! It was a bring a friend free day and we brought in 3 members of the Reeve's family. They have a 3rd and 1st grader, so it worked out really well. The kids got along great and we managed to ride most of the rides. One very interesting thing did happen: late that afternoon, we noticed a helicopter hovering above us. I assumed there was a traffic accident, and turned on my phone to look for further information. I immediately saw what was going on--one of the roller coasters was stuck! There were 3 helicopters hovering above the park taking live footage. It ended up being national news! Jack had ridden that coaster earlier and I was relieved that he was not on the stuck car. Although, to be honest, I am not sure why it was such a news worthy story. It was stuck on a horizontal, flat area of the track. Granted, it was high in the air, and I am sure it was not a pleasant experience, but I am surprised it warranted 3 helicopters, a host of reporters, and a spot on CNN. Perhaps it was a slow news day?

We stayed from opening to close and had a wonderful time.

The kids played a game and all participants won these hats.

Friday--Mount Vernon

It was Thomas' Friday off and we decided to spend it at Mount Vernon.  Since we go often, we usually just try and focus on one or two things. Friday, it was a garden day. We walked through the upper and lower gardens and saw everything in early bloom. We also saw the new lambs and piglets. It was very crowded, but it was such a beautiful day that we didn't mind. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures.

That concludes the first half of our Spring Break blog. I was writing the whole break as one blog, but I have a lot of pictures for the next couple of days and it was just too long. Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion to Spring Break 2017!

Orthodontics, Spring Sports, Books, and April Fools

Anna has become the first in our family to start the long process of orthodontia. She was fitted for a retainer last week. She has to wear that for 12-18 months, the onto the braces, followed by another retainer. She is looking at about 5 years of tooth work ahead. But, at the end, she should have a beautiful mouth. I am excited for her and curious to see how it all works. Jack will also need braces, but he doesn't need the pre-retainer. Kara and Luke are maybes for braces, but don't appear to have the same issues as Anna that necessitated starting so early (a really small mouth and a very large overbite).

Luke is finally over whatever ailed him. Following the birthday debacle, he was the sickest he's ever been. He would run a fever, usually just under 102, with a headache, diarrhea, and no appetite (and, he just had that sick eyes look). Then the fever would disappear and we would think he was getting better, only to have it return the following day. This went on for about 4 days before we took him to the doctor (because we kept thinking he was over it). He was diagnosed with an ear infection, strep and a virus. The virus was the catch-all, because strep and the ear infection didn't explain some of his symptoms. He was on antibiotics for another 3 days before we saw a significant improvement, although his fever was gone by the time we took him to the doctor and never returned. It was bizarre and we were worried about him. I am so thankful for antibiotics! We try to let our bodies work naturally, but it is so nice to have them available when we need them.

Random picture of Luke, he likes to be held in the fetal position :)

Since Luke has been sick, we haven't done much in the past couple of weeks. Although, spring sports have begun. Jack has baseball practice on Mondays and Wednesdays and Kara is doing soccer this year. Her practices are on Tuesdays. Jack's practices are about 20 minutes from our house and start at 5:30. To get him there and ready to play, we have to leave at 5:05. We generally get home around 7:30 (they are long practices). It is a long day for all of us. And, it is going to get worse because his play practices are increasing and he won't even get home until 4:50. That leaves him 15 minutes to eat dinner, do his homework and change his clothes. I'm pretty sure that is impossible to accomplish in 15 minutes, but we'll do what we can. The soccer schedule isn't quite as strenuous, but it coincides with the scenery committee meetings for the school play. Since it is a committee of 3, it is hard for me to miss, which means Thomas has to bring all the kids to Kara's practices. This might turn into a problem, as he may be stepping into the coach's role. But, that's a whole other story and we are waiting to see how it plays out.  In sum, it stinks to go from nothing on our evening calendar to all of these time constraints.

Anna is considering applying for the STEM program. We will see what happens, but I am not overly excited about the idea of having my kids at 2 different schools. I do love how much she has enjoyed school this year and of course, we want to encourage her in her academic aspirations.

Last week was the annual library book sale (although, most of the books are donated and not from the library). Thomas always enjoys going and browsing in the old and rare area. This year, he bought an old set of books (1880s) on John Adams. The books themselves were an interesting find, but Thomas also took interest in the name stamped as the previous owner--John S. Wirt, Esq. He spent several days researching Mr. Wirt and was able to determine he was a prominent Maryland lawyer and politician. Mr. Wirt had made some notes in the margins of the books and appeared to have a special interest in the morality of slavery and other moral based topics. He died in 1904 and his obituary was front page news. Thomas enjoyed learning about him and it is interesting to think about both the history of the books and the history of their previous owner, making notes on slavery, a short 20 years after the Civil War.

In our final news, we tried out an April Fool's Day prank on the kids. It was not very well-thought out. It was pretty spontaneous and really should have been given more consideration. I was going to pretend that I was reaching over our balcony to retrieve a balloon and fell to the ground. When the kids came to see what was going on, I was going to jump up and yell "April Fools." So, Thomas threw something off the balcony, I made a falling scream and waited. But, no one came. The girls started crying immediately and ran off. Jack wouldn't come downstairs. Thomas ran down and asked them to come help him, but no one came. Basically, we just terrified them and I felt terrible! Epic fail. Note to self--never do a prank that involves pretend bodily harm. And, hope that Thomas is home if there is ever a true medical emergency, because they are useless ;)