End of School & The Start of Summer

As usual, I am behind on my blogging.  I think at this point, I can probably stop opening with that--it can just be assumed.

The kids wrapped up the school year.  We had the first grade picnic and the Kindergarten graduation. They received their final report cards and we excitedly started summer break.

The first grade picnic was fun, we got to meet some of the kids' friends and their parents.  Phone numbers were exchanged, promoting the possibility of summer playdates. It was a rough ending for Jack. He thrives on routine and genuinely enjoys school. It is particularly difficult because the majority of his close friends will be going to the new school next year. His best friend is a little girl who was also in his Kindergarten class. They played together at recess, sat next to each other on the carpet, and talked about each other often. In fact, I was mildly relieved to hear from her father that this was not a one-sided affection and that she considers Jack as good a friend as he considers her. As the end of the year got closer and closer, Jack would often comment about how much he was going to miss his friends. It has been a rough year with far too many friends moving away and this school rezoning is only exacerbating the problem. Regardless, the picnic was fun. Unfortunately, it was on an excruciatingly hot day. As we walked up, families were quickly throwing their blankets in the shady yard perimeter. We decided to set up in the large gazebo, which was nice. The kids played and we all ate pizza and snacks. We even pulled Kara out so she could be a part of it.

Kara had her Kindergarten graduation the following week.  She was chosen to read some sentences. They only chose one kid from each class, so I was excited for her.  We practiced her lines and speaking with emphasis and she was fantastic.  She had them memorized and was so cute in her delivery.  Her lines were, "Hollywood is a great place to learn about nature.  This year we learned about many different creatures. Here is a song about some of our favorite ones."  She was the only kid that received applause and I even heard a couple of random comments behind me talking about how well she did. It was so cute! I was actually nervous for her.  Her class went last and I was just holding my breath the whole time. I didn't even know I was a stage mom!

Our little performer

Their report cards were all solid. Everyone is on track and performing well. Their teachers had nice things to say and behavior was overall good. I have been uniformly impressed with their teachers. We have had excellent communication and felt that the teachers genuinely cared about our children. As a result, we tried to get nice end of the year gifts. The kids filled out a teacher's about me sheet (my favorite response was on Jack's, where he responded with "get a kid' when asked what he thought his teacher was going to do this summer); a Target gift card, and a note pad that said "from the desk of" with their name on it. We also wrote detailed thank you notes. The kids were so excited to bring in the gifts and I am happy any time we can get them in the giving mood.

Our cuties on the last day of school (Kara chose to wear the same outfit that she wore on the first day)

We went to Brusters with our some of our bus stop friends right after school

Our summer is off to a good start. The kids spent the week at Vacation Bible School singing the world's catchiest tunes.  I seriously have been singing "We all fall short; we all fall down, God's love is turning our hearts around," about 16 hours out of each day.  They had a great time and it really is a huge gift to the community.  I can't imagine the effort that went into entertaining all those kids for 3 hours a day.  And, it was free!

After their "concert" Friday, we went straight to Kings Dominion. My friend Jennifer's mom came up to celebrate her grandson's first birthday. She is staying with us, because we have more room, and she came with us.  That was awesome because she kept the kids while Thomas and I finally got to ride Volcano (scary!). We tried to ride Flight of Fear, which we have attempted to ride 3 times. As has happened in the past, the ride down right as we got to the front of the line. I am starting to think someone is trying to tell us something. Fortunately, the lines were short. We stayed until closing and finally got to see the fireworks. It was a perfect day to be there, the weather was great and we walked on just about every ride. I asked one of the workers if the crowd was typical of a Friday and she said not at all, but that it was similar to a Wednesday. So, we have decided Thomas needs to take some random Wednesday off this summer so we can try to repeat the experience.

Luke loved the fireworks.  Here he is wide awake at 10pm.  He went all day on a 1-hour nap.  We tried laying him back and he would just pull himself right back up. He didn't want to miss out on any of the fun.  Fortunately, he stayed in a really good mood and caught up on his sleep the next day.

The kids have swim lessons for the next two weeks, then a week at St John's Summer Camp. Then, I think we have a couple of weeks with no plans followed by one more week at St. John's. We are hoping for a busy, fun summer.  Although, I don't want the kids to feel like they have to be entertained. There is plenty of free time where I expect them to play and find something to do without me having to structure some activity.

3 Paintings with Wine and Design (aka:To Hell and Back)

I heard about a place several months ago where you could go and paint a fool-proof picture in a couple of hours.  I was immediately intrigued and really excited about trying it out.  There were several fun Christmas designs that I was interested in, but the timing never worked out.  Finally, in late March, Thomas and I decided to attend one of their date nights.  For the date night, you paint complementary pictures that you can hang up side-by-side.  We went to the Front Porch for dinner and walked around a bit before it was time for our session to start.  We chose a dandelion design, which was our favorite of the date nights offered in March.  It was a very simple design and we had a good time.  It was relaxing to be there with Thomas and nice to do something a bit different together.  We both really liked it and hope to go back. The next morning, when we showed the kids, the girls were very excited. They wistfully remarked how they wish they were big enough to go to the painting place.  So, I signed us all up for one of the Mommy and Me sessions in May.

I never told them what we were doing.  When the day came, I simply told them I had a surprise for them and that we were going to do something special.  When we got to the studio, they were VERY excited.  Unfortunately, the excitement quickly waned, at least for Kara. She was very frustrated that her owl was not coming out like the instructor's owl.  She also didn't like them telling her what colors to use.  It was way too formulaic for her artistic tendencies. Kara is not one to keep her feelings to herself, so she protested, rather loudly at times. If it had been just her and me, I would have left. But, I had Anna with me (we'll get to her in a minute).  At one point, Kara loudly proclaimed that this was the worst surprise ever.  She hated it and wanted to know "why did you bring me here?" Every stroke of the brush brought a groan, sign or cry. It. Was. AWFUL! That seriously went on for about 40 minutes. It was in a very small place and there wasn't much I could do. I did manage to make her quiet down so it was really just me that got the brunt of her frustrations. The instructor even tried to talk to her a couple of times and Kara just (literally) turned her nose up at her. Finally, she heard me when I said to just paint the owl any darn way she wanted in whatever dang colors she liked.  I had told her from the start that the finished product didn't really matter, to just have fun and enjoy herself. Although she is sweet and loving, she is also obstinate and stubborn and it took a while before she would just accept that the painting was not going to look exactly how she wanted it to look.

Anna, on the other hand, was pleased to be there.  She tried her best to follow the instructions, but went with the flow if things didn't go exactly as planned.  However, she was her typical energetic self. She got paint everywhere.  On her clothes. On my clothes. On her body. On my body. In her hair. She went to the bathroom at least 3 times. With Kara on one side and Anna on the other, I was in my own private hell. But, at least Anna was cheerful and happy, for which I was very grateful.

Somehow, we managed to make it through the 2 hour session. When all was said and done, both girls said they loooovvved it and wanted to know when we could go back?!?!?!  I told Kara in about 10 years. They also wanted me to take them for ice cream. And, perceptive Anna piped up from the backseat, "Mommy, you aren't acting like you had a good time."  My little Sherlock. Ahhh, the joys of motherhood. The pictures now hang proudly in their bedroom and I chuckle frequently at the memory of my misery

You would never know the anguish these guys caused...

My final foray with Wine and Design (there has never been any wine involved with me, not much design really either) took place on Friday. One of my neighbors decided to host a party at her house. She is moving soon and wanted to have one last celebration with her friends. She chose a Solomon's bridge design, which was my most complicated yet (still relatively fool proof). She had 6 friends from the neighborhood there and 6 from outside the neighborhood. There was tons of fantastic food and I had a great time.  When they go to someone's house, the pace is much more relaxed. I think it ended up taking about 3 hours before we finished.  It was fun to be with a group where we basically all knew each other, lots of joking and commentary, as opposed to being in the studio with strangers. We took silly pictures, made fun of each other's work, complimented each other's skill, took lots of food and drink breaks, and just generally had a good time. It was a very nice way to spend an evening. I just wish we weren't getting together because one of us is leaving.

For each design, they start you with an outline.  

At the neighborhood table

It was going so well, until my bridge got wider and wider. 

Highlighting our friend Isabelle who is leaving us for more mountainous pastures.

When Thomas and I left active-duty, we were so excited about establishing roots.  We pictured the kids making friends and growing up with those friends. Now, it seems as if the people we like keep leaving. Three of our favorite neighborhood families have left with another going soon. It is awful! The perils of living in a military town, I suppose. I have decided not to befriend anyone who is on active-duty, a contractor or unable to commit to 5 or more years here.  :)

Fort Necessity and the Flight 93 Memorial

As Kori has indicated in previous entries, our family enjoys American history.  One of the benefits of living in southern Maryland is the close proximity we have to so many historical places.  One such place is Fort Necessity.  I have wanted to visit for a while so I was very excited to finally get out there. The drive out took about four hours and the kids all did very well.   It still amazes me how good of a traveler Luke is.  When they were Luke’s age, the other kids (Kara especially) did not like being in the car for an extended period of time.  And for Kara, an extended period of time was anything longer than five minutes.  We are very fortunate that Luke (so far) has taken to traveling so well.  Anyway, getting back to the trip, we arrived at the Fort Necessity National Battlefield Visitors' Center at 1:19pm. Thanks to Kara's detailed record keeping, we know when we arrived and departed from all of our stops. Kara has been reading the Magic Tree House books, and so she decided to keep a journal during our trip, just like the characters in those books.  That was very cool. 

The first thing we did at the visitor’s center was watch a short (about 15 minutes) movie on the French and Indian War.  Everyone agreed that it was really good and were excited to get out and explore.  Following a quick tour through a small display area, we headed outside.  They had a play area for the kids, complete with a small “Fort Necessity” to play in.  Although I was eager to head out to Great Meadows (the site of the actual battle) the kids needed to work off some energy after the long car ride, so we let them play for a little while.   The weather was perfect and spirits were high.  Little did we know of the chaos and tragedy that would soon hit our family.

Just kidding-nothing bad happened.  It just seemed like the blog needed some drama.   So, once the kids had enough of the play area (or should I say, once the parents had enough of it), we headed down the trail to the reconstructed fort.  We were walking through a heavily wooded area that suddenly opened up into a very large and lush clearing.  In fact, one might describe it as a great meadow.   

Jack and Luke in the play area.

I have seen many pictures of it but seeing the fort in person I was struck by how small it was.  I had always envisioned a fort large enough to accommodate the 400 men George Washington had under his command but I can’t imagine getting more than 100 in there.  I guess the fort wasn’t made to accommodate the soldiers, but rather the supplies, ammunition, and livestock. It seemed rather strange since the fort was in the middle of this large meadow, surrounded by forest.  One would think the fort would be used to help defend the soldiers since they were otherwise sitting targets to any approaching enemy.  The French and their Native American allies agreed—they soon surrounded the fort from the protection of the forest and opened fire with Washington’s surrender soon following. 

We spent a little bit of time in the fort (not too long because, again, it was really small) and surveyed the area.  Jack manned the cannon and picked off a few imaginary French soldiers who dared to leave the protection of their trees.

At the entrance to the fort.

In 1754 George Washington stood here and thought--"wow, that wide open field would be a great place to make a defensive stand."  Fortunately for all future Americans, Washington learned from his mistakes.

We then followed the trail up to the Mount Washington Tavern.  It was a bit of a hike up a really steep hill, but everyone agreed it was worth the extra effort.  It was an original building from 1839.  How did we know it was built in 1839?  Well, because the sign and the brochure all said it.  But that’s not the cool part.  During a recent renovation, wallpaper was removed and underneath it was the original walls with “graffiti” (their signatures and the date-July 1839) left by the men who built the structure.  It was really awesome to see those signatures and imagine the men writing them. What would they say if they knew that people would be standing in their building, reading their handwriting 176 years after they left it?

The rest of the building was also interesting.  It had served as a tavern along the national road.  People traveling out west to the Ohio valley would stop off and have a meal or if they could afford it they’d actually stay the night, although most people apparently just continued on their journey, sleeping under the stars.  A couple of facts the kids found interesting—although it was a “restaurant” there was not menu from which to choose the food.  Patrons just sat at the table and the host brought out whatever meal they were making in the kitchen that day.  Talk about a bad business model!  The other thing the kids were fascinated by were the sleeping arrangements.  Men and women were not allowed to sleep in the same room, even if they were married.  So all the men would sleep together in one room and all the women in another.   They also shared the same bed.  So if you stayed the night, you most likely found yourself sharing a bed with total strangers. It’s not hard to see why these types of “accommodations” went the way of the dodo bird. 

From there we headed back to the car and drove to Braddock’s grave.  General Edward Braddock was Commander-in-Chief of military forces in America in 1755 and led the expedition to take Fort Duquesne. Unfortunately for poor General Braddock, they were ambushed by the French and Native Americans.  Routed by their enemy, with General Braddock mortally wounded, young George Washington took over and led the British on an organized retreat thereby saving the day for the British army.  Once again, in defeat, Washington’s legacy grew.  He was recognized throughout the colonies and mother England as the man who saved the day during the Battle of the Monongahela.

Following our brief stop at the grave, we drove the 8 miles to Jumonville Glen, finishing the Fort Necessity National Park trifecta.  Jumonville Glen was the site of the skirmish that actually started the French and Indian war and was George Washington’s first exposure to warfare. The amazing thing about Jumonville Glen was how preserved the entire area is.  We all talked about how if George Washington were somehow transported there in present day, he would find that it looked nearly identical to how it was that fateful morning in 1754. I don’t imagine there are many places you can say that about.  It was very cool.

When finally checked into our cabin at Jellystone, Kori was looking through the book at local attractions and noticed that the Flight 93 memorial was fairly close by.  We decided to head out there on our way home on Sunday.  I’m glad we did, because it was an amazing experience.  The memorial is seemingly in the middle of nowhere so it’s generally not something that one will simply stumble upon, so it made us feel good to see so many cars in the parking lot.  Clearly the impact of the 9/11 attacks still resonates with people.

 

Parts of the memorial were still under construction, with the main visitors’ center and the walking trail are scheduled to be finished by the end of the year.  Even without those areas being open yet, the memorial was really nice.  There’s no doubt it’s a sad place to visit.  It was so horrific to read all of the accounts of the hijacking and the subsequent crash (along with everything that occurred between those events).  But I also found it very inspiring.  These were people who refused to accept their fate.  They fought back and very nearly overcame the odds.  And although they were not successful in taking back the plane, their efforts unquestionably saved the lives of hundreds of other (would-be) innocent victims.  They refused to give up, and kept fighting until the very end.  Their actions were truly inspiring.  I know that I will think of those brave souls the next time I am faced with seemingly impossible odds.  When the easy road would be to simply give in, I’m going to stand up, look that challenge directly in the face and say, “let’s roll!”  

Jack and Anna reading the names on the memorial wall.  The dark ground they are walking on represents the flight pattern the plane took.  It crashed on the other side of the gate. 

Another view of the memorial wall.  

Jellystone

Thomas has been wanting to see Fort Necessity since we moved here.  With no big trips on the horizon, it seemed like a good time to do a mini-vacation.  I found out there was a Jellystone Campground nearby and the plans all fell into place.  Thomas is going to do a blog focusing on the historical stuff, including a side trip to the United 93 Memorial.  So, I am going to write about the Jellystone.

Before our neighbors went last year, I had never heard of Jellystone.  And, even if I had, I probably would have assumed you needed a camper or tents at the minimum.  But, they took their family of 6 and stayed in a cabin and we did the same.

We left after breakfast on Friday and drove straight to Fort Necessity (with a brief stop at a Chick-Fil-A).  Fort Necessity and the other sites were about 40 minutes from Jellystone.  It was a mountainous road, which was fun and different.  We passed a lot of whitewater rafting places, one will let kids as young as 4 go (more rafting than whitewater), so I am hoping we can go back in 3 years and give it a try.  I have always wanted to try rafting.

Anyway, by the time we got to Jellystone Mill Run, it was around 4:30, we checked into our cabin, then went back out to get dinner.  The closest shopping area was about 30 minutes away, which we weren't expecting.  More mountain driving.  There was a Subway much closer, but we needed some stuff at Walmart.  We got back around 7 and did the "Snowless Snow Tubing" on their 400 foot hill. We also checked out the pools, which were packed!  The tubing was fun.  We all tried, even Luke, but he wasn't a fan and I learned I wasn't supposed to have gone with him on my lap anyway. I think the other kids went down 5 or 6 times.  Then, they played on the playground for a while before we decided to call it a night around 9pm.

The hill doesn't look too steep here, but it was (especially pulling multiple tubes behind you)

Everyone was exhausted, but it took us all a while to fall asleep.  Luke was not happy to be in the pack-n-play.  He was also overtired.  As a result, he cried for about 45 minutes and refused all attempts at consolation that didn't involve removing him from the bed.

Despite the rough night, everyone was up at 6am and ready to go the next morning.  The forecast called for rain in the afternoon, so our plan was to get to the pool as soon as it opened at 9.  We had breakfast on our screened-in porch and then went for a walk to see the other side of the campground. They had an upper and lower area, our cabin was on the upper, which had the bigger pool and splash area, restaurant and tubing hill.  The lower area had mini golf, a smaller pool, waterslides and a very small carousel (toddler sized).  We picked a busy weekend--there were very few empty campsites. I was also surprised to see that many of the campsites appeared permanent.  People had built stone walls and decorated around their campers.  I was very curious about the people who call it home, but I never got any answers.

Fun photo opportunity

At 9 I took the older 3 to the pool while Thomas stayed behind with Luke, to ensure he got his morning nap.  By 10, the place was packed!  I think everyone had the same idea we did, because it wasn't really pool weather.  I think it was barely 70 degrees. Jack was cold and left around 1045.  The slides and bounce houses opened at 11, so the girls and I stayed entertained. We finally left around 1230 to get lunch at Subway.  Then, we came home and all 6 of us went back to the pool until dinner. We had dinner at the campground's restaurant.

They loved this slide

Unfortunately, I didn't get one of Jack

Overview of the pool area.  You can't really see the pirate ship, which was Luke's favorite.  He would slowly climb the stairs, then go down one of the two little slides.  Over and over and over.

After dinner, we told the kids to decide if they wanted to do a firetruck ride before going back to the tubing hill. Only Kara wanted to go, so Thomas took her. Although, Jack and Anna had some definite regrets when they saw Kara and Thomas go riding by on the big firetruck. After a few slides down the hill, we decided to call it a night.  The girls had spent about 6 hours in the pool, Jack only a little less, and we wanted to make sure everyone got a good night's sleep and wasn't cranky on the drive home.

All in all, it was a good stay.  We wished we had done more "camping" type activities, like smores, or sitting around the campfire, but with all of Luke's stuff, and the requirement to bring your own bedding and towels, we didn't have room to pack camping gear.  We would definitely try another Jellystone.  The kids had a blast and are already asking when we can go back.  I hope that we are building lots of good memories for them.

Our little cabin

Bunkbeds filled the hallway right off the kitchen

There were two beds in the loft.  The ceiling was so low, only Luke could stand up.

The drive home was long.  We took the scenic route, so we could see the United 93 Memorial.  On the way, we saw a cute little covered bridge, originally built in 1802!  Of course, we needed to stop and take pictures.  We also enjoyed seeing the giant windmills.  It was funny to the kids how small they looked until we got close to them.  Those things are massive!

Thomas is going to write about the Memorial.  I just want to share a couple of my thoughts.  First, I was surprised at how sad it still makes me.  I couldn't even talk about it with the kids without crying. Second, I was glad to see that even 14 years after it happened, there were a lot of visitors.  The Memorial is not on the way to anything (that I know of), but there were dozens of cars in the parking lot with license plates representing many diverse states.  That made me happy to see. I was glad we had the opportunity to visit and to talk with our kids about that fateful day "when the world stopped turning."

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a very busy fun-filled weekend.  Saturday, we went to Mount Vernon.  We got there around 9:30 and watched the orientation film.  We saw it for the first time last year and Jack really wanted to see it again, but the girls were nervous about the war scene.  Fortunately for them, Luke only made it about 10 minutes, which actually isn't bad, before I had to take him out.  He is really loud.  He likes to hear the sound of his voice and the louder the better.  I guess he figures that his chances of being heard around here increases proportionally with his volume.

Because we have annual passes we don't feel the need to see everything on each visit, so this time we focused on the Pioneer Farm area.  The weather was perfect and everything looked lush and beautiful.  One of the historians told us that in May they focus on the sheep.  We were able to see them shearing the sheep and then the cleansing of the wool. After walking around outside for awhile, we went to the visitor's center. The kids still love the children's room. I will be sad on the day they outgrow it, which I fear is coming soon. Anna and Kara used to run right to the dresses and then play with the doll house (an amazing replica of Mount Vernon) for as long as we would let them, but on the last few visits they just weren't interested. I hate those signs that the older 3 kids are losing their status as "little." You go from baby, to toddler, to preschooler, to little kid, then kid, big kid, preteen, teen and finally adult (and, of course, all the stages of adulthood, but that's beyond my level of worry at this point). I really like where they are right now, but they are definitely growing rapidly.  Even my little baby is no longer a baby. Time just goes by too quickly.

One of our only Mt. Vernon pictures. How would you like this view from your back porch?  

Saturday night, we had dinner at the Darrow's house, one of my favorite Maryland traditions.  We have been alternating months at each other's house for about 4 years now.  Obviously, we have missed some months, but for the most part we have been pretty faithful.  It is something our family really enjoys. Alecia is a great cook and we just enjoy the company. 

Sunday, we were back at Kings Dominion.  We were braced for heavy crowds, but it was manageable.  We got there shortly after 10 and were able to walk on several rides, probably because we weren't going for the headliner type attractions.  Around 2, we decided to check out the water park.  It was far bigger than I expected and insanely crowded. We did not do any slides, but we let the kids play in both wave pools. They had multiple toddler areas, but Luke wasn't too impressed (I think he was pretty tired, his nap schedule was completely off track). It is definitely something we want to explore more.  After about 2 hours in there, we changed and went back to the park. We stopped for a snack and I lucked into a free funnel cake. I have been craving a loaded one (with strawberries and whipped cream) and the people in front of me ordered a plain one.  The staff misheard and made the loaded.  The workers were going to just throw it away, so they asked the line "does anyone want a free funnel cake?" I was the quickest to reply, so it was mine. I was nice and shared with everyone and didn't even begrudge doing so.

We walked around the dinosaur area and the kids spent probably a half an hour digging for bones. Jack was really funny, every time he found something new, he would call all the kids (mine and anyone else who would humor him) over to show them. He was really into it. I guess we have a bit longer of that "little kid status" left after all.  By now, it was about 6pm and we decided to get some dinner. Thomas and I figured we would probably leave after that,but we kept doing "just one more thing" until it was almost 9! I was actually the party-pooper who didn't want to shut the place down. I was so tired! Even Luke was wide-awake and cheerful. Of course, he was asleep before we even left the parking lot once he was in the comfort of his car seat. 

It was a really pleasant day. Everyone was cooperative and patient. It can be difficult because they all like different rides, especially Kara, so there can be a lot of standing around while someone else is riding. But, they were just so good that it was easy to stay and before we knew it, we had been there for 11 hours!

Anna is getting brave, she has now ridden all the wooden roller coasters there and some of them are pretty intense!  This is her riding solo on the kid's coaster, the Woodstock Express.

We ran into Sally, which was pretty cool...

until she tried to kidnap Luke!

It was a character-filled day

Luke loved climbing around on this gate.  I was taking a picture when he fell.

But, he just got right back up and wasn't the least bit upset (he didn't hit his head).

Monday, we had a more low-key day. We do understand the purpose of Memorial Day and we made sure our kids understood why they were out of school. That being said, we still think it is perfectly appropriate to enjoy family time, so as we've done in the past, we decided to visit Washington's birthplace and have a picnic. Our picnic tradition for Pope's Creek is to stop at the Walmart in King George and let the kid choose their lunch. They love Lunchables, but we only buy them on rare occasion. So, when we told them the picnic idea, all the girls could talk about was what they were going to choose for lunch. Jack asked me to pack him a traditional lunch, but the girls were all about the Lunchables. It was pretty funny how excited they were about that. 

Pope's Creek was nice and we enjoyed walking around.  However, the bugs were really bad and we didn't end up staying very long. It was still beautiful and fun and we took lots of pictures. I think it is one of the most beautiful places in the area and it is really fun to picture a little baby Washington taking his first steps there.

Anna started to sneeze right as Thomas was taking this picture

Our annual bench photo.  I wish I had asked them to take off their hats.

We just love this bridge.  So fun to walk, run and play on.

To complete our weekend, we had ice cream sundaes for dinner. The kids are all hoping that was the start of another Memorial Day tradition. We gave Luke a little bowl of ice cream (I did also give him some "real" food). He proceeded to hold his spoon in his left hand and eat the ice cream with his right. Thomas tried to help him out and Luke screamed at him and shoved his hand away. It was pretty funny how adamant he was about feeding himself, so we just let him at it. Jack, Anna and Kara all remarked that they can't wait to tell their class about how they had sundaes for dinner. They each have a circle time where they can share something from the weekend and that is what they are going to share. After all the amazing experiences we gave them this weekend, it is the ice cream for dinner that made the biggest impression.  We love our littles!

We had everyone in bed by 7:30 and hopefully they will be refreshed and ready for school in the morning!

A Scary Day at Kings Dominion, a Tantrum and Mother's Day

We recently bought annual passes to Kings Dominion.  We decided instead of doing our annual trip to Dutch Wonderland and having just 2 days of fun, the money would be better spent on a full season of fun at Kings Dominion.  We have currently been 3 times, including one awesome Friday where we took the kids out of school early.  Most recently we went yesterday.  Our friend and neighbor, Amanda, and her two children, came with us (her husband was working).

We left right after Jack's soccer game and go to the park around 12:30.  Because we bought a meal plan that includes two meals with each visit we had waited to have lunch until we got there.  After lunch, we got started on the rides. Around 3, we were heading to the children's area, when we realized Jack was not with us. Amanda took the other kids to one of the rides and Thomas and I began searching.  We had seen him probably a minute before, so we didn't think he could be far away.  However, we couldn't locate him.  After about 5 minutes, I reported him missing to an employee, who took me to the Family Care Center. They asked me his name and made a phone call. About 5 minutes later, I was told security had a little boy they were bringing over.  I went outside to wait.  Meanwhile, Thomas was visiting all of Jack's favorite rides. After about 10 minutes, I learned that the kid they had found was not Jack.  I was upset that we had lost so much time and began to get really worried.  I saw a security guard outside and she took me back in to do a more formal report.  I gave them a complete description of Jack and waited while she got permission to broadcast this info to all security in the park.  Then, she left me with another security guard who took down my phone number and said he would call when they found him.  

By this time it had been 40 minutes since we had seen Jack and I was extremely worried.  Anna was with me and she was crying and saying over and over how she just wanted Jack and how he was a great brother who was so nice to her.  A report of another missing child came over the radio, this one had been missing for 25 minutes and I had the (irrational, I suppose) thought that someone had kidnapped our children.  I was really upset with myself because while we talk about stranger-danger fairly often, and even role-play various scenarios, we hadn't talked about what to do if they got separated from us.  We also hadn't told them to never leave the park without us.  I was extremely afraid that someone had lured him into the parking lot by saying that we were out there, or something similar.  Every minute that ticked by increased my stress level exponentially.  

About 5 minutes after I had given the guard his description, the same guard walked in the door with him.  I started crying out of complete relief.  He had been missing for 45 very long minutes.  Jack had gone on a ride.  He said he thought we knew he was going on and when he got off and we weren't there, he just started wandering the park to find us. Finally, someone asked him if he was lost and then brought him to the security officer. I have never felt such immense relief in my life. 

We then waited outside for Thomas, who was still circling the park. I found out that he had the same progression of thoughts that I did and was also convinced that Jack must have left the park, because he was sure that he should have been found before that. Talking with Jack, we must have just missed him on several occasions because Thomas did look in all the places he said he was.  Of course, for all I know, he was off riding his favorite roller coaster and enjoying the unexpected freedom (I don't really think that, but it is funny to imagine).  It was an interesting experience, to feel so many emotions in such a short period of time.  From slight annoyance to extreme worry and finally immense relief all in less than 60 minutes.

Later that day, we all took a bathroom break and guess who wandered off again?!?!?! Fortunately, Amanda spotted him and dragged him back to us.  This time, I smacked his bottom and yelled at him in front of a very surprised crowd.  I think the emotions of the day had gotten to me and I was so mad that he could have walked away from us again. The stroller had never moved, so I felt like it was an intentional act.  I am sure the astonished parents watching just thought I was an awful mother abusing her poor, crying child.  It was a rough afternoon.  But, it spite of it all, we actually had a really good time. Poor Thomas had a headache and stayed with the littler kids while I got to do all the fun rides. I tried out another of the big coasters (my goal is one each trip until I do them all). The kids all got along really well and were very well-behaved (minus the Jack incidents, of course).  We ended up staying until 9pm and were close to staying for the fireworks at 10. We really love that place and I am looking forward to many more visits. Here is the photo dump, but I didn't take any pictures yesterday, so they are from our first two visits.

Luke was not impressed with the carousel.

Dino Dig area

Joe Cool's Driving School (I think this is the cutest ride, it has stoplights and I love watching the kids wait for the light to turn green.  Makes me laugh every time :)

Another of a non-thrilled Luke

Some decent Mexican food

Jack and Thomas are in the front car.  I love this ride.  Definitely one of my favorites.

Can you believe Thomas and I rode this?  It is the tallest coaster there, by far.  It is aptly named "The Intimidator".

The only "roller coaster" Kara likes. 

Hanging out with the Luke and the girls while Thomas and Jack were on the coaster behind us.

Taken by my friend from the top of the "Eiffel Tower" (1/3 to scale).  Look how huge the Intimidator is! It just dwarfs everything.

In other news, Jack is playing soccer, Kara is doing t-ball and Anna is still in dance. Guess when they have their practices?  Mondays.  It has been a nightmare in logistics. Actually, it's not really a nightmare, just a long miserable day. They only do one thing and they just happen to all be on the same night.  I do think each one of them is getting better at their chosen activity, although I have no idea if they will continue beyond this season.

Last Thursday, Jack and Anna were in a show at school.  As first graders, they were only eligible for the chorus, but they had been rehearsing for months and it was a very exciting time.  Unfortunately, during the show Kara decided to throw a tantrum so I missed the first half. Kara is generally well-behaved, but when she chooses to act up, she goes all out.  It was both embarrassing and infuriating. I really wanted to see the show!  Thomas had been sitting separately in the back with Luke, so I had to bear the initial brunt.  Then, he came out at intermission and took over.  She was upset because she wanted popcorn.  I told her if she was good I would get her some at intermission, then I realized I didn't have any money.  I could have borrowed the dollar from any number of people there, but I wasn't thinking when I said this and I made the incredibly stupid mistake of telling her this during a break in the show.  So, I have my share of the blame.  Of course, screaming, crying, kicking and acting like a fool is a pretty disproportionate response to being told no popcorn, so I am not taking full responsibility.

Today is Mother's Day.  We had donuts for breakfast, the kids made lots of thoughtful gifts and Thomas got me some beautiful flowers.  He also let me enjoy a nap, and, as mentioned went to Kings Dominion, despite having a terrible headache and being unable to ride the rides.  And, he did it all cheerfully!  I am very lucky in life!!!