Mid-May 2016

As you can probably surmise from the title, it has been a quiet few weeks around here. There have been a few stand-out moments. Jack and Anna had the official ceremony for their hundred book club. It was much more challenging this year than last. The hundred books contained specific requirements including 2 fairy tales, 2 books about another country, 5 books about famous people, 10 chapter books, etc. Also, unlike in first grade, the majority of books were nonfiction. This wasn't an issue for Jack, who loves to read about history, but it was a challenge for Anna, who likes to read, but prefers fiction (the kids seem to take after their same-gender parents). They had an awards ceremony and then let the kids have lunch outside with their parents, followed by a dessert buffet. It was a fun afternoon and I was proud of them for completing the challenge.

Anna standing with her much beloved Mrs. Lowe

Jack getting his medal (pictured teacher was a substitute, but his teacher is also wonderful)

Kara completed the first grade hundred book list, but we haven't heard anything about her ceremony yet.

We have made a few more trips to Six Flags. Anna has now braved one of the big coasters. It goes upside down and in corkscrews and is her biggest coaster to date. She loves it!  Kara still avoids any rides with "big hills," which we have assured her doesn't make her any less brave than her siblings. Jack has now ridden every large ride the park has to offer and loves them all--including Batman, which we reluctantly let him ride.  I still think Kings Dominion is a better park, but Six Flags definitely has its own advantages, like the Superman rollercoaster which is my and Thomas' favorite. Regardless, both places are really fun.

You can barely see the barefoot little Anna

In other news, I applied for another job. I am a glutton for punishment I suppose. I still vacillate on whether I want to go back to work, but I think I do.  It would allow Thomas' to retire a couple years earlier and would let us save more money for retirement.  Plus, I really don't know what I will do when Luke goes to school in a few years. Plus, I really don't like to clean and would have no excuse left to avoid it.

And, a couple of random pictures:

Random picture of our "whisper tube." Me and the kids had a lot of fun one night giving each other secret messages.

The only benefit to having to drive to Annapolis to fix a broken iPhone--lunch at PF Changs.

Rebound Week

After our awful week last week, it has been nice to return to normal. In other words, there have been good moments, bad moments, and just plain moments. Here are the highlights.

In bad news: I dropped my new, expensive iPhone. I had taken it out of it's protective case because the case had something blocking the camera. We were at Jack and Kara's baseball game and it just fell out of my pocket, face down on some stone. Screen cracked.

In good news: no tantrums this week! Anna had her second soccer game yesterday. She had fun and her team played well. From there, we went to Six Flags. There was a cheerleading competition, so the park was crowded. We watched a little of it, primarily while Jack and Thomas were off riding the big coasters. We were impressed by the stunts. Cheerleading seems more like gymnastics than cheering. Even though there were more people in the park the ride times were still manageable, particularly in the children's area. I am not sure why Six Flags has such a bad reputation. We have found it to be clean and fun. Of course, we'll see what it is like in the summer.

I thought this was a fun one, we were all on the the same ride, just in two different cars. I took this one looking down at Thomas and Jack. Anna did not like me turning around, she was convinced I was going to cause us to fall.

A rare moment capturing the four of them having fun together!

Jack is doing well at baseball. He has gotten a base hit every time he's been up to bat and does good in the outfield as well.  He says he loves it and wants to be a professional baseball player. Unfortunately, Kara has developed a fear of the ball and doesn't enjoy batting. We aren't sure why, she was never hit with it or anything, but this season may be the end of her baseball career. She is still going strong with her gymnastics/dance class. She can now do cartwheels, splits, bridges, back-bend kickovers, roundoffs, etc. She is currently hoping to learn front and back walkovers. She loves, loves, loves doing floor gymnastics and is constantly doing cartwheels and other moves. Unfortunately, I have no knowledge, so she is limited to what she can learn in her 45-minute weekly class or teach herself in the yard.

Luke get his first big-boy haircut. Jack was ready for his summer buzz cut and Luke was very interested. When Jack was done, Thomas asked if he wanted his hair cut too. Luke responded with his typical "sure"  (sounds like sha). He climbed into the chair and handled it like a pro.

He liked throwing his hair on the ground. I didn't realize he had so much of it.

I never realized how much they look alike until this picture.

Thomas work schedule is still busy, but not nearly as bad. He is still working longer hours, but nothing like the previous weeks. He was even home in time to go to the school's annual sock hop. We go every year and the kids love it. This year, I overheard some older kids talking about being embarrassed by their parents' dancing. It motivated me to get out on the floor with my kids and Thomas, who was already dancing with them.  The kids were completely thrilled. It was a good reminder to enjoy them while they are young. Thomas and I are terribly uncoordinated and truly awful dancers, but the kids were just happy to have us being silly with them.

With some friends in the "photo booth" area.

I got the cap for my root canal. It cost a bit more than I expected, but because the tooth had no root I didn't need to get any shots. Since it was pain-free,  I am calling it a win.

Finally, a few more random shots from this week:

This one is actually from Kara's program last week. Wasn't she a cute monkey?

Jack built this awesome train track for Luke. Far more elaborate than what I usually make him.

There was no school Tuesday so we decided to go berry picking with some neighbors. We got almost 7 pounds and ate them in 2 days (strawberry shortcake, a strawberry balsamic chicken recipe, strawberry covered waffles, and plain strawberries). We need to back for another 7 pounds!

The Wilsons and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

the BLUF (military speak for bottom line up front):Thomas working 16-hour days, root canal, major tantrum and a disappointing Saturday culminating with a car accident.

Thomas was recently assigned to a civilian personnel law case as co-counsel. The case has been on-going for the past year, with depositions scheduled for this week. He had approximately one week to get up to speed on a case with thousands of pages of documents. Then, he had to prep for the depositions and then actually be in the depositions. In order to do all this, he has been working long hours. Excluding the weekend, the kids haven't seen him in two weeks because he goes in before they wake up and is home long after they are in bed.  It hasn't been fun. He is going to miss Kara's first-grade performance tomorrow, which both Kara and Thomas are very sad about. He is also going to miss Jack and Kara's first machine-pitch baseball game. Fortunately, it is only temporary and his normal work schedule should resume next week. It reminds me of when he deployed and makes me thankful that we are no longer in the military.

On Saturday, we had great, fun plans. Anna had a soccer game at 11, then we were going to go straight to Six Flags. However, Anna got in trouble that morning and refused to go to her soccer game. There was a HUGE tantrum involved, the likes of which we haven't seen in quite a while. Obviously, that meant no Six Flags for her. Initially, I was still going to take Jack and Kara but we decided to forgo the trip and just have fun at home. Anna spent the day in her room. We gave her some alternative punishment options if she wanted to gain her freedom, but she refused. That afernoon I decided to take Jack and Kara out for ice cream. On our way, we got rear-ended. I was driving Thomas' car. You know, the one we bought to replace the car that was totaled in a rear-end collision a few months ago? The car only has 3000 miles on it. I am not positive, but I am guessing the girl who hit me was on her phone. She was very young (a teenager I think, maybe young 20s). We were stopped at a light with cars in front, behind and on all sides. The light turned green, I started forward and was just whacked from behind. Somehow, she hit us twice, the poor kids were scared! They both cried out to ask what was happening. 

Our car is going to need a new trunk and bumper. There is also damage underneath. The initial estimate was 6-7k! But, it may change after they put it up on the rack and see underneath (hopefully, for the better). It has been a hassle dealing with her insurance, but I am thankful she took full responsibility. They verbally told me I would get a rental car, but when I went to drop it off, the rental wasn't approved. I don't want to use our insurance, so I have to rely on hers. It wouldn't be such a big deal, but we had to change car seats and do car swaps to make it work since I obviously need the minivan and Thomas is too swamped to be able to deal with any of this.

In the grand scheme of things, it's not a huge deal. Insurance will pay for the damage. No one was hurt, although Jack had a nice mark on his neck from the seatbelt. It is just a pain and a bit sad to see our brand new car looking mangled. 

In the midst of this, I got a root canal on Monday. It went as well as a root canal can go. The worst part was footing the bill. $764 with insurance! Plus, I need to get a crown to top it off next week and that will probably be another $700. I really need a job. 

A few more complaints, because why not? 

-I twisted my knee. It hurts.

-We had some issues with our backsplash. When the guy came out to fix it, he just put new grout on top of the whole thing, but it is a different color than the old grout. It looks terrible! I imagine to fix it, they will have to remove it all and start over. However, I am not sure if the installers will do that willingly or try to say that they see no problem. 

See how the grout on the bottom is a different color than the grout on top?

-Our neighbors just put their house up for sale. We moved in days apart and they have been great neighbors. We have an understanding that Thomas shovels their sidewalk (they are an older couple) and they bake us cookies. I am going to miss them!

-We bought a new computer and it doesn't work. After an hour on the phone with Dell support it finally booted up, but it still doesn't seem quite right.  Our old computer forced us into a Windows 10 update, but doesn't have enough memory to effectively run the program. It has been very frustrating.

This concludes my airing of grievances for the week. Next time, I will try and make a post about all the positives.

Speech and Theme Parks

Luke had his evaluation with Infants and Toddlers this morning. The short is that he is completely normal and is not eligible for any services. I am glad that he is developmentally on target, but I was surprised when she said his language is where it should be for a 2-year-old. Regardless, it is good news. Although, I am sad that he won't get the point that would help him get a spot in public Pre-K (the only benefit I can see of having a child who is not quite where they should be).

In other news, we are theme park season pass holders again! But, not for Kings Dominion. 2015 was the Summer of Kings Dominion. 2016 will be the Season of Six Flags. We decided it would be good to change things up a bit. I was afraid we would get sick of KD if we spent another summer visiting. But, we still wanted another fun option when looking for summer activities. Six Flags fit the bill. This year they are having a Christmas event so we figure we will easily be able to go enough times get our money's worth.

We had our first visit over the weekend. The good thing about low expectations is they are easy to exceed. Granted, I don't think many visits can top this one. The weather was slightly cold, which meant the park was virtually empty. We didn't have to wait in line for any rides. Everything was clean and appeared well-maintained and the employees were friendly and helpful. What more can you ask for? Well, running rides would be nice. Three of the main roller coasters were closed due to "wind". However, it was not at all windy while we were there, under 5mph according to weather.com. Fortunately, the kid rides were all working and the little ones had a great time.

Thomas and I rode one of their big coasters, the Batwing (separately, we didn't leave the kids unattended). Jack was going to ride but changed his mind when he saw that they lay you flat on your back. Thank goodness he did! At points during the ride you are on your back and then you flip to your stomach to give you the sensation of flying. But, you are relying completely on your restraint to support you. It was very unnerving. I felt like I was sloshing all over the place and I am a giant compared to Jack! I would have spent the entire ride terrified he was going to fly out. It was good to experience, but I doubt I will ride again. Thomas felt the same way.

Thomas and Jack went on the two wooden coasters and said they were really good. They said both felt more intense than the wooden coasters at KD. KD has 4 wooden coasters and 5 metal. Six Flags has 2 wooden and 5 metal. So, fairly comparable in the area.

While off riding coasters with his dad, Jack ran into these guys.

Six Flags has two kids areas and I would guess about the same number of kid rides (probably 20) as KD, but not as many that Luke could ride. He got a little frustrated at some of the things he wasn't allowed on. Maybe he will reach 36" by the time the season ends, which would open up a lot of things for him. Six Flags also had 2 play areas. One was really cool; it was fully enclosed and had lots of soft balls and shooters. It also had slides and other activities. I think the kids could have spent hours in there. Although, maybe it wouldn't be so fun if it was crowded.

Of course there was a carousel.

The kids loved the giant water slide. We didn't get wet, but we sure got dizzy. I rode once and Thomas rode once. Next time, we're sending the kids alone.

Our sweet, sweet boys.

And, the lovely girls.

This was one of those rides where Luke didn't understand why he couldn't go too.

Anna using the force to make the balls stay in the air.

Finally, the kiddy coaster. Right up Kara's alley. The first time it went around, she held on tight, the next time, she put her hands in the air. The third time she called out to us, "can we do it again?"

Here are what I see as the pros: SF is closer, it took us just over an hour to get there and the drive was pretty pleasant.  Also, it was cheaper. We got season passes with the food plan for about $200 less than it would have cost at KD. And, the food plan includes unlimited soft drinks and a snack in addition to lunch and dinner.

The cons: I worry what it will be like when it is crowded. It is much smaller (area wise) than KD. Also, apparently there is a problem with line-jumpers. There are notices everywhere and I was asked to fill out a survey on how they handled said jumpers (not an issue when we were there since the crowds were so light). It is Prince George's County, which doesn't have the greatest reputation for safety, although the park itself seemed to be in a very nice area.

All in all, I am confident we will go enough to get our money's worth. The kids all thought it was great and worst case scenario is that we stay away in late June, July and August and appreciate KD more next year.

Oh, one other benefit is that there are 4 different times when we can bring a friend free. On those days, we can get in up to 5 people for free. So, if you have any interest in checking it out--let me know! Priority will be given to anyone who actually reads my blog ;)

And, in closing, a picture of Luke's feet. By Luke.

Back to the Routine

We have been home from our Spring Break vacation for almost 2 weeks. The peaceful rest, limited scheduling, and togetherness has given way to work, school, pink eye, soccer and baseball.

Let's start with Luke. He had his two-year check-up last Thursday (3/31). He is very healthy. His weight was 50th percentile and height was 85th. I don't believe the height though, because they measured him much taller than we do (and the ride operators and Legoland and Busch Gardens did). I asked the doctor about his speech and it is behind. We have an appointment with Infants and Toddlers on Tuesday for an evaulation. He talks A LOT, but most of it is not understandable, which is frustrating for both him and us. By 2, a stranger should be able to understand 50% of what he says and he is not there. However, he is advanced with his motor skills (the doctor said, "this one is going to be an athlete" after watching him jump across the room) and is otherwise developmentally on target, even advanced in some areas. So, I am not worried. I am hoping that infants and toddlers will work with him, so he can get a point for public pre-K. :) While at his visit, we learned he had an ear infection, which might be why he was so cranky in Florida. We opted for a wait-and-see approach since it didn't appear to be affecting him. Then, on Saturday, he had weepy eyes and I learned pink eye can come with an ear infection. It never occurred with any of my other kids, although they rarely, if ever, had ear infections. Hopefully, this was his first and last. The crusty eyes lasted a few days and then turned into a very runny nose. But, his mood has been good and I am hoping this is the end. It's been another long week of forced isolation.

In Anna news, we had an appointment at school to discuss a 504 plan. We had her evaluated and learned that she has a gifted IQ (yay!) accompanied by ADHD and learning disabilities, which might be attributed to the ADHD (boo!). So, we are working with her school to come up with a plan for success. They have been great to deal with and let me just say again that I love her teacher. The difference a good teacher makes is incalculable and we have been very lucky! During the meeting, I got to hear such nice things about both her and Jack that it made my day. (I am sure I would hear the same about Kara, but she is in a different grade with a different team of people that know her).  She has also started playing soccer.  She has practice on Mondays and Wednesdays and even though it is only her second week, she is already making great improvements. She has a good attitude and a learning spirit, so I am sure she will only get better. She even scored some goals during practice. Her first game was cancelled for rain, so we will see what happens on Saturday.

Kara and Jack started machine pitch. They have practice on Wednesdays and Fridays. Thomas is an assistant coach and I think it is going well. Since I don't get to see their practices, I don't have as much information. Kara is still doing her gymnastics/dance class on Fridays, so she only gets to go to baseball once a week. According to Thomas, Kara has a great attitude and is enjoying practice. Jack is a little iffier. School is still going well for both of them. Unfortunately, Jack broke his 2-month streak of "clipping up" at school and had to clip down for talking in the hall. He was slightly bitter and insists that someone else was talking to him. The newest thing for Jack is to engage in giant light saber battles with the boys in the neighborhood. It is pretty hilarious when they "force push" each other, which means one of them holds up a hand in another person's direction and that person has to fall back as if The Force has moved him.

Luke decided to join in one afternoon. This is a small group. Yesterday, we had 8 out there with lightsabers!

Work has been rough for Thomas. He is extremely busy and it is causing a fair amount of stress. It makes me glad I am at home! Sports will make home life busy for the next few months, taking up 4 days out of every week with practices and games.

Final Day in Florida, the Long Drive Home & Final Thoughts

Friday was our last vacation day. Thomas and I had tickets to see another Tigers game. First, we went to my dad's house to spend a few more hours with him and to say goodbye to him and Maggie. Then, it was off to the game. It was Thomas' third game of the week and my second. My sister graciously offered to watch the kids so we were able to get good seats and planned to enjoy an entire game. When we got to our seats, who did we see signing autographs but Alan Trammell, Thomas' all-time favorite player! We didn't have anything to get an autograph with and Thomas wasn't quick enough to get a picture with him, but it was cool to be just a few feet away from his baseball idol.

Alan Trammell signing autographs pregame.

The seats were great, we were in the second row along the first base line. Most of the players were big! We saw the coolest play ever--a triple play! It is amazingly rare to see 3 outs on a single play and it happened right in front of us! Bases were loaded and the batter hit an infield liner, the shortstop (Inglesias) let it drop and threw it to the second baseman (Kinsler). The runner on second didn't move, but another runner had moved from first to second, so there were two players at second base (you don't see that everyday!). Kinsler tagged the runner, then the bag and then threw the ball to first base to get the batter out. The crowd went wild. It was pretty cool. I have to admit that I didn't actually understand what was happening until Thomas explained it. It even took a second to sort it out on the field, Thomas was definitely the first in our section to understand what had happened. Unfortunately, it started to rain after the 4th inning and the game was cancelled. And, the Tigers lost. But, still, we had fun!

And, that's Miguel Cabrera, two time MVP

From there, we got the kids. Kara had thrown a royal fit at my sister's house.  It was over nothing, my sister simply asked her to switch chairs so my sister could rock Luke to sleep. It was her second major fit of the vacation. Although she enjoyed her time in Florida, the change in routine was really hard on her and she got pretty difficult. Kim and Marta definitely got to see her at her very worst.

We went back to Marta's to pack up. First, we stopped and bought a ton of junk food to sustain us on our drive home. Marta made dinner and we called it an early night. Everyone was in bed by 8, and the kids fell asleep fairly easily. I had an upset stomach and actually threw up a couple of times. Thomas woke up at midnight and he loaded up the last few things, then we got the kids ready. When Anna woke, she said her stomach hurt and she threw up! We were afraid we were in for a long drive. But, after a couple more bouts of sickness and some sleep she reported she felt fine. I had felt fine after I got whatever it was out of my stomach, so I was confident it would be the same for her. Thank goodness it was, can you imagine riding in a car for 13 hours with an upset stomach?

The drive itself was great! It absolutely could not have gone better. We hit almost no traffic, the kids were in a good mood and there were no accidents or construction. The kids slept for the first 6 hours of the drive, which made time go by quickly. Thomas took the night shift and I dozed off too. We stopped around 4 for gas and everyone went to the bathroom, then back to sleep. We didn't stop again until 9:30 and only then because we needed gas. No one complained, everyone was happy with their surprises from "the Big Green Bag of Mysteries," as named by Anna and Kara. They played Kindles, listened to music and had fun conversations. I don't know why no one needed to use the bathroom, everyone had a water bottle, but it just worked out that way. We seriously drove 12.5 hours and only stopped twice! That has to be some sort of record. We were willing to stop for a picnic lunch, we had all the supplies, but everyone just wanted to push through. We made it home by 1:15 and ate lunch at our own kitchen table. Everyone was so happy to get home! Thomas and I even unpacked, something that I normally procrastinate for days (maybe even weeks).

Final vacation thoughts: overall, it was an excellent vacation. We thought we would have so much more down time, but somehow we managed to fill virtually every minute. We got to spend a lot time with our family and it was sweet to see the kids with (some of) their cousins. Being far away makes me grateful for time I do get to spend with my Florida peeps. However, even with almost 9 full days in Florida, we still didn't get to do everything or see everyone we wanted.

Marta, Frank and Elizabeth were great hosts. It is hard to find someone with the space (and temperament) to allow our family of 6 to invade their home and we were thankful they were willing to put up with us. The trip was hard on Luke and Kara, who thrive on routine. Both had moments of intense breakdowns and I am hoping that we will be able to get them back into the swing of things without much difficulty. Anna and Jack were great. They were easy-going, polite and well-behaved. When I asked everyone their favorite thing about being in Florida, most referenced seeing all our friends and family. So, then I asked favorite activity.  Jack, Anna and Kara all said Legoland. Thomas loved all the baseball. My favorite activity was the walk through Circle B and seeing all those alligators. Luke most enjoyed hanging with his cousin, JD, who may be his new favorite person. It was definitely a success! But, it is still nice to be writing this final blog from the comfort of my couch in my own living room.

Nature Walk and Birthday Celebration

We had another fun day on Thursday. It started with a phone call to change our Royal Caribbean cruise, previously scheduled for Spring Break next year. Marta, Frank and Elizabeth are going to join us! Because of Elizabeth's school schedule, that meant moving up the cruise by a week. The kids will miss school and end up with 2 weeks off in a row. Hopefully, next year they will be healthier than they were this year and the extra absences won't matter too much.

We had an early lunch with Basille. We hadn't seen her in a few years and it was fun to catch up. Then, it was off to Circle B for a nature walk. It is a county owned property with over 1200 acres. They had an awesome nature center, with some really cool exhibits. After looking at all the educational stuff inside, we went on a 3-mile hike. It made me wish St. Mary's would do more with Elms. We saw lots of interesting birds, tons of alligators, turtles, and a snake. My sister saw wild hogs driving in, but we never ran into them.

The nature center was awesome! They even handed out maps with pictures of wildlife to look for. And, it was all free!

can you find the two turtles and the baby alligator?

He's just hanging out.

Another baby :)

This snake did not want us to pass. Thomas bravely walked by (after he lowered from striking position) and then the snake slithered into the lake and the rest us walked past.

A pretty bird

The path itself was even beautiful. The trees were classic Florida, with spanish covered moss.

The Wilsons with JD and Amanda.

Another cool bird, this one swims in the water looking for fish (we actually saw one with a fish in it's mouth, but I couldn't get a picture) and then has to wait for its wings to dry before it can fly off.

Last alligator picture. I couldn't believe how many we saw.

Thomas has spotted something special.

From there, we took the kids to get ice cream, then we went and hung out with my dad and Maggie. It was my dad's 74th birthday! Kevin turns 40 on Sunday, so we had a joint celebration. My sister made pizza and bought a delicious cake from Publix. It was one of my favorite days in Florida.

My Florida family. Thomas took the picture, so unfortunately, he's not in it.