We Were Supposed To Be Camping

This weekend was the church family camp weekend. Nick and I got up and packed everything in the car and headed out. However, we didn't like the look of the gray sky, as we certainly did not want to spend another weekend camping in the rain. We decided to keep going to see how it looked further out. We were on the road that led to the campground and Nick was still thinking about turning around, because the road seemed to be pretty wet....not a good sign. But as we got closer, it seemed to dry out a bit.

The campground at Eklutna Lake has a couple wide open sites for big groups. It was our expectation that it would be a grassy type field where all the tents would be scattered around. There was a gravel/dirt road that led to the site, and as we drove on it, we noticed that it was fairly dry, and not at all muddy. So there was hope that it wasn't wet at the site and we may be able to stay after all.

Then, we saw the site. It was an old rock quarry, and there wasn't a speck of grass or soft ground anywhere. We drove in, were noticed by a few people, and drove right back out and went home. It would be hard enough camping with a baby if we could put him down occasionally, but there was no way we could let him crawl over rocks all day. Not only would it be uncomfortable and cold, he would put every stone in his mouth that his hands touched. I could never keep up with that. So if we stayed, it would be another weekend of having to hold Baby Nick the entire time, which neither of us enjoy. It would have been as bad as if it did rain.

So we unpacked the car, ate lunch, and all four of us took a two to two and a half hour nap in our nice warm, soft bed. I am sure I will have some explaining to do at church as to why we didn't stay, but I will just explain that the conditions were not conducive to camping with a baby who doesn't want to be confined to someone's arms the whole time.

I was pretty disappointed at the condition of the campsite. I would have enjoyed being able to stay and fellowship with members of the church. But I could not handle another weekend, especially after the experience last weekend, with having to hold Baby Nick all day and being entirely miserable.

Joey was pretty disappointed as well, and after looking heart-breakingly sad for the next fifteen minutes, he fell asleep in the car. By the time he woke up twenty minutes later, everything seemed right with his world again. I am glad he is so resilient. As Stacei pointed out, kids remember their childhood as wonderful (for the most part) even if we parents know how many disappointing moments they had.

She's Gone...

...And we are all a bit sad. Good-byes have never been easy for me; but ever since last year, they have been nearly impossible.

I was doing just fine all morning, with the best of intentions not to make a big deal of Angie's departure. But as we had to leave her at the airport, the dam broke. Not only did I have to deal with my sister's leaving; all the emotions I felt ten months ago as we left our home and families came crashing back, not having diminished one iota.

Since I still had the boys, I couldn't allow myself to completely retreat and wallow in self-pity (as I SO desired to do). All the way home, Joey kept talking to me and asking me questions, and I had to respond trying my best to choke down the tears. He kept asking me, "Are you done crying yet, Mommy?" I explained that Mommy was very sad, and it is okay to cry when you are sad. But I also told him that I was almost done. We came straight home and took a long nap, and that helped. The rest of the day, Joey kept saying, "We can pick Aunt Angie up at the airport." I wish that were true.

Angie gave us a call after she arrived safely home in Oregon. It was good to hear her voice again, as it seemed pretty quiet in the house tonight. After getting off the phone with her, I cried a little again.

And as I sit here and blog....you guessed it, I'm crying again.

I still have my parents' visit to look forward to. Joey and I started removing links from the paper chain again today. Only thirteen days! But after breezing through a week with Angie, I also dread having to say good-bye to my Mom and Dad. I think it will be the hardest yet.

I want to be back in a place where saying good-bye is only for a day or so, not for months and years. Even with all the technology, I'm still so isolated from everybody. My boys are missing out on so much not being close to their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. And they are missing out on so much not watching my boys grow and change.

I suppose I should get to bed...everything is so much more dramatic when you are exhausted.

Bathtime Blast

I can't believe how fast a week can go. We already have to say good-bye to Aunt Angie tomorrow. I will take Nick to work in the morning, and then we have until early afternoon to hang out with Angie before taking her to the airport.

Tonight was bath night...and the boys had so much fun splashing around. I was soaked! But Angie got a few great pictures of the boys.

Here are my happy splashers...especially enjoying getting Mommy wet.
There is nothing cuter on earth.
How deceptively angelic he looks!
He's such a big boy, helping wash his own hair.
For being such a good boy, and being a big help for Mommy and Daddy, Aunt Angie bought Joey a special toy. He got a Rip Cord Racer Mater toy. He had so much fun. As for the sunglasses, he is just too cool.

More Pictures Of The Park

Having fun on the play structure.
Like Father......
....Like Son. (Same expression)
Going down the twisty slide.
Trying to smile handsomly with the sun in his eyes.

At The Park

Last summer, Grandma Mary would come over and take Joey to the park. They would go whenever Mommy needed to pack, if Mommy had something to do without Joey, or whenever she wanted to spend time with her grandson. For as long as we've been here, Joey asks if Grandma Mary will take him to the park. Since she has not been able to come yet, she gave Angie strict instructions to take Joey to the park for her. Today was the first day that the weather was nice enough and that our schedules connected enough to go as a family.

Here are Bubba and Angie on the teeter-totter.
Daddy and Baby Nick are teeter-tottering on the other side.
Aunt Angie wanted to see if she would fit down the tunnel slide.
Bubba taking his turn down the tunnel slide.
Baby Nick really enjoyed going down the slide. He was all smiles on the way down.

Bubba's Fish

A seasoned fisherman at three years old
He looks so comfortable with a pole in his hands
Here it is; the big catch!! (Look closely by Nick's knee.)
Jewel Lake is a beautiful oasis in Anchorage
Wow! Bubba looks hip, styling, and cool! Nice sunglasses.

First Fish And Date Night

Nick and Angie took Joey fishing today at Jewel Lake. They were gone for a few hours in the afternoon, but it was well worth it. Joey caught his first fish today!! It was tiny, and at first he wasn't sure about it, but he finally got the nerve to stand close enough for a picture. Nick forgot our camera, but I am not surprised; I'm the one who told him to bring it, and he doesn't listen to me much.

Angie had her camera, so we at least have a picture documenting the momentous occasion. Before Angie leaves, we will download the pictures from her camera so I will be able to share them later.

When they got back from the lake, we ate dinner, and then Angie was gracious enough to watch the boys so Nick and I could go out on a date. We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: The World's End. It was good, a fitting conclusion to the series. It's so expensive to see a movie in the theater. We could buy almost two movies for the price of seeing one in the theater. Oh well; it was still nice to get out for a couple hours. Angie said the boys were wonderful, both of them going right down to bed without a fuss. Maybe she should stay with us longer so she can take over the bedtime routine!

Anyway, we are planning on a pretty laid back day tomorrow. Nick and Angie will go fishing one last time tomorrow evening. Nick will have to go back to work on Thursday, and the boys and I will have to take Angie back to the airport. It's sad, because Thursday will be ten months to the day that Angie took the boys and I to the airport to come up here.

Nick made the observation that he only has to work one full week before going back on vacation. He will work two days this week, all of next week (with a day off for the Fourth of July, although he is on call) and two days the following week before my parents come. That time should go by quickly. They will be here in two weeks from tomorrow!!

Have a blessed night.

Success.......Finally!

Nick and Angie were fishing all day. They decided not to go to Sheep Creek (as it is an hour away) but instead to the Tail Race. They would fish there until high tide, when they would drive over to Ship Creek to fish the tide. After fishing for a couple hours at the Tail Race, there was no luck...no fish. Nick has been fishing often and other than the charter, hasn't caught anything. He was very discouraged.

Then they went to Ship Creek, and were just about ready to pack up and leave (since dinner was in the oven) when Nick snagged a WHOPPER. He fought for a long time, getting very fatigued, until the people fishing next to him grabbed a net to bring it in, he landed a 40 pounder! He is very excited.
Joey wanted to see the fish, but once he did, he was scared of it. He would hardly get close enough for us to get a picture. The fish is bigger than Joey.
Here it is....a native Alaskan King Salmon.

Exit Glacier

This is Exit Glacier. It's quite amazing to see. Since we didn't hike up to the face of it, we took the best pictures we could from far away.
This is such a beautiful area.
After seeing the glacier "up close" we drove back towards home, but stopped one more time to take pictures of the glacier from the road. You can see that it is a much better view of the glacier, it's just farther away.

One more cute story about Joey and the tent...now that I am thinking about it. When we packed up camp and took the tent down, Joey asked in the tent "popped." He he he he. He thought, since it kind of looked like a blown up balloon, that we had popped it. I had to explain that we just folded it up to put it away. He cracks me up.

Sour Faces

Hard up for entertainment, we passed out sour Warheads candies and watched the sour faces. It was so funny.


After Jack tried it, he gave it to Randy and told him to get the icky part off. I loved the pained expression on Randy's face. He is a fun one to give a hard time to.

Camp Mary and Camp Poe

Our campsites were named rather than numbered, as I am used to seeing. Randy and Cheryl's campsite was Camp Mary, and our campsite (to the right) was Camp Poe. What I found funny was that to the left of Camp Mary was Camp Paul....and Mary and Paul are Nick and Angie's parents' names.
Here is Daddy and his boys. The boys are in their "Portland, Oregon" sweatshirts from Grandma Mary. They fit perfectly!
Here are Randy and Cheryl, and Cheryl's grandson, Jack sitting around the campfire. Of course, we haven't started the fire yet, but, it's the location that counts.
And here are Nick, Angie, and Bubba around the campfire. Baby Nick is sleeping in the tent. That is the only way I had enough hands to take a picture.
Baby Nick was getting really cold; his lips were turning blue. So I put him in his pajamas, keeping his socks on, put the overalls on top, covered his hands with socks, and put his sweatshirt/jacket back on. He was stylin'! But at least he warmed up, and his lips went back to pink.
Bubba wouldn't take a nap when we got to the campsite, especially because Jack was there and he was having too much fun playing. I thought it would be fine, because then he would sleep really good at night. But he couldn't make it. He sat down in Angie's lap and promptly fell asleep. He kept Angie warm, and didn't wake up until dinner was ready.

Ancient Anchor

In the middle of the marina is this huge anchor. Instead of telling you all about it, I took a picture of the "Story of the Anchor" so that you can get it almost from the "horse's mouth."

Seward Marina

When Cheryl and I talked about food and stuff, planning out the weekend, she told us that check in was 11:00am and it was a two to two and a half hour drive. So I didn't think we needed to leave any earlier than nine in the morning. She said they would probably leave between seven and eight, so we decided to do the same. We got all packed and ready pretty quickly, and we left by 7:45am. When we got down there by 10:30am, we tried calling Randy and Cheryl to see where they were. They had made the reservations, so we didn't even know what spots we were in. When we couldn't reach them, we decided to drive back in to Seward and look around at the marina. When we finally did get a hold of Randy, they were still an hour away! I guess we didn't have to leave so early after all!
It was pretty chilly, but was only drizzling rather than pouring at this point. We bundled the boys as well as we could, and walked around.
On the far side of the dock, on the left side of the post, you can kind of see the small spot in the water. That is a sea lion playing with his food. I took eight pictures....trying to get a good one. He was too far away (as I couldn't zoom) and he was too quick. By the time the picture actually took, I usually got a good picture of the ripples! But at least we did see a sea lion!
Baby Nick does not like to be restrained. He had just spent the last three hours buckled in his car seat, only to get out and be buckled in his stroller. Not only that, but I had to wrap him in the blanket to keep him warm and dry. He spent the whole time squirming around, trying to break free. But he sure is cute.
This is the best possible catch! This is where Nick and Angie left from on the charter. You can see in the background the cleaning stations where their fish were cleaned, de-boned, and filleted. Angie was happy she didn't have to even touch one fish. That's my kind of fishing. I like to fish if I don't have to bait the hook, touch the fish, clean the fish, or eat the fish. I like to cast the line, and reel it in!
This mountain is one of three in a group, one of which is called Marathon Mountain. For the purpose of this blog, we are going to pretend that this one (it may or may not be) is Marathon Mountain. Every Fourth of July, runners will run straight up and straight back down the mountain. Can anyone be that insane?

Scenic Drive

Here are some pictures of a really beautiful spot along the way. It would have been breathtaking had it been sunny out, but you can still see how gorgeous the area is.


This is my favorite view; looking up the river, seeing the trees and then the mountain.
Here are Angie and Nick; they really are pretty close. I am so glad that Angie could come up and stay with us. We are having fun having her here.

Speaking of "mountain", I have heard some funny things out of my son's mouth. When he sees a mountain, he says, "That's a really big, heavy rock." When he saw our tent, he called it a mountain; I had to keep telling him it was a tent. He thought that it was called a 'mountain', not just that it was big. And when we bought marshmallows to roast over the fire (which we never could do in the downpour) he called them "marsh-pillows." He is so funny!

Wild Life

As we were driving, Nick suddenly slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. He had seen what everybody else on the road (who had also pulled over) had seen; mountain goats high up on the rocky cliffs. So we stopped and took a couple pictures. There were a couple adults and a couple babies....they were so cute.
You can see how high the cliff is, and how steep, and if you look real close, you can see the spots of white that are the goats. Don't believe me? Check out the next picture.
Here is a zoomed in picture of the mountain goats. I will ask you to kindly ignore the reflections of the light and the green mat that the picture was displayed on. You can just pretend for a moment that my camera does not freak out on me and refuse to allow me to zoom in with any sort of clarity. I did try taking a couple close up pictures, and they were so cute on the display screen, but of course the picture wouldn't turn out. So I was thankful to see this display picture in the Exit Glacier Information Center, because I could at least get a picture of the picture to be able to show what we saw on the way down.

On Our Way Camping

Here we are, getting ready for camping. I had two pages full of lists of things that needed to be packed, trying not to forget anything important. We had so much stuff, packed the van absolutely full, and I was being teased (by my husband) for being over-prepared. When we got to Miller's Landing, and saw Cheryl's jeep packed just as full, I didn't feel so bad.
Here is Aunt Angie and Baby Nick (appropriately dressed in his camouflage for camping) getting all buckled up for departure.
If you can find him, you'll see we had to practically "pack" Joey just so we could fit everything in.
Can you believe we are only camping for one night? It's hard to imagine with all this stuff nearly blocking the rear window.

Wet Weekend

We went camping this weekend, at Miller's Landing in Seward. Seward is on the peninsula, and is right on the water....so it stays colder than Anchorage. You would be lucky if it got up to 65 degrees and a clear, sunny day. And at night, you would be generous in saying that it stays in the lower forties.

This weekend was NOT clear, and it was NOT sunny. In fact, it was the very opposite; cloudy and WET. It is one thing to camp in warm weather....quite another to camp in the mud. I knew I was going to have a difficult time from the start, because Baby Nick was not going to be able to put down outside. But it was much worse than I was preparing for. I was hoping, that if the weather was good, I would be able to put Baby Nick down on the ground occasionally, although I was worried about having a campfire, because that would attract Baby Nick like honey attracts a Pooh Bear! But with it being very cold, and then wet and muddy, there was no way. So as long as we were outside (and when are you not outside when you are camping, unless you are blessed to have a camper) Baby Nick had to be held. Angie and I shared this job for the most part. But Baby Nick was not a "happy camper." I would take him into the tent every now and again so he could get down and play, but after a few minutes (and hearing everybody outside), he would come to realize that he was still "trapped" and want to go back outside.

The rain continued all night long, never letting up. How do I know? Of course, I was up all night, only dozing here and there. I was so cold...I couldn't even move enough to change my clothes, not that I even had the nerve to try. I laid there all night, listening to the leak in our tent drip right on my pillow, trying to keep both the boys warm enough..and asleep. Finally, Baby Nick got up and needed to eat. I was sure that it was at least 7:30am, since the night had been incredibly long, but Nick informed me that it was all of 5:40am! I was so frustrated. The wind and rain had blown all the tarps around that were covering the campfire and picnic table area, so everything was soaking wet. I was not looking forward to standing out there waiting for the water to boil (if I could even light the burner) to make a bottle. Nick thought the lodge might be open, and they would have hot water, so I prayed harder than I have ever prayed that the lodge would be open...and it was. Thank you merciful Father. I got the hot water, mixed in the formula, threw the bottle into the tent and raced myself to the restroom. I barely made it, I had held it so long.

I decided that morning, that instead of making a nice breakfast of eggs and bacon (which was the plan) that we should just stay in the tent, get everything packed up, strap the boys in the car, load the car, take the tent down and hit the road. I did not want to spend any more time there. So we finally woke Angie and Bubba up to get ready. Nick was getting Bubba dressed while I sat outside with Baby Nick in the one chair that was kept dry, but Bubba wouldn't stop crying. Finally, Nick asked that I start the car and get Joey warmed up, he didn't appear to be feeling well, and he couldn't stop shaking from shivering so bad. So I had Angie buckle Baby Nick in the car (who promptly fell asleep) while I sat and rubbed Bubba's arms and legs and back to help warm him up. When he finally thawed out a bit, I buckled him in the car to help pack up. Angie and Nick had everything in the tent all ready packed, so all I had to do was help take the tent down.

It wasn't all horrible; we had fun spending time with Randy and Cheryl, and Joey enjoyed playing with Jack. The boys especially enjoyed throwing rocks in the water. On the way home, we stopped and took pictures of Exit Glacier. There are several signs along the road marking where the glacier use to be, so we can see how far it has receded. The first marker was in 1815 (I think) and was five or so miles further down the road than the glacier is now. There is a half mile hike to where the glacier actually is, where you can get right up to the face of it, but since it was miserably cold and wet, we decided to just take pictures from afar. It was nice to be home, get things put away, and get the boys down for a nap. Unfortunately, they did not go down at the same time, so I didn't get a nap yesterday. And Baby Nick was kind enough to sleep in until ten to six this morning, so I was up early today.

Angie and Nick left about 45 minutes ago to go fishing at a couple fishing spots today, and they should be home in time for a late dinner. So the boys and I are home by ourselves again today, having another normal day. It is good for the boys; not too much disruption to their schedules. I am determined, however, to get the boys down for a nap at the same time this afternoon so that I can join them.

Baby Nick cut two teeth this morning! The teeth on either side of his upper front teeth both cut through today, after stubbornly holding back for several weeks. Now he has a total of six teeth.

Joey has been begging me for lunch for the last half hour, so I better go make it. It is still a little early, but he had an early breakfast, too. That also means that I can put them down for a nap shortly after lunch, and I may get some sleep pretty soon.

I have lots of pictures to post....so after nap time, I will post several quick blogs to show the pictures.

A Quiet Day

The boys and I are having a very quiet day at home today. The sun has disappeared behind the clouds today, so the temperature has cooled down quite a bit. It's nice not to feel so sticky, but we haven't even opened the blinds yet. (I like to open the blinds when it is sunny and cheery, rather than cloudy and gloomy.) Even overcast, the natural light is better than nothing, so after I finish this post, I will open the blinds.

Baby Nick started waving yesterday. It's really cute to watch, but you wouldn't exactly recognize it as a wave unless you paid attention to the context of the movement. He hold his hand out in front of him and watches it for a minute, as if to will it to move. Instead, his whole arm flaps around.....but it is still a wave.

Angie came bearing gifts for the boys, and some from Grandma Mary as well. Grandma Mary sent up matching hooded sweatshirts for the boys; they are gray and say "Portland, Oregon." The boys look darling in them. We will take the sweatshirts camping this weekend, and we will make sure to get pictures of them together in the sweatshirts. she also sent Nick and I matching T-shirts from Trinity Vineyards. On the back, the shirts say "Got Trinity?" in the style of the "got milk" ads.

Angie brought the boys a couple books. For Joey, she got a stenciling book, and he does pretty good for three years old. She also brought them a book called "B is for Beaver: An Oregon Alphabet." It is a fabulous book with wonderful pictures. The rhyming couplets for each letter is great for the kids, but then there are sidebar texts full of fun historical facts. I learned quite a bit that I didn't know before...and was reminded of several things that I had learned in school as a kid. Angie also brought Joey a kid-sized traveling coffee cup from Starbucks, that is filled with markers and stickers inside, and has a removable coloring sheet. He can customize his own mug! We can also print out pictures and put them in so he can have a mug of his favorite photos. Joey also received a puzzle from Aunt Angie. It is a 24 piece Cars puzzle, with his favorite characters Lightning McQueen, Mater, and Sally. He does surprisingly well, with only a moderate amount of direction. Thank you so much, Mom and Angie. Your generosity and thoughtfulness is very sweet and appreciated.

A funny thing that happened yesterday; Joey was up at the table looking at his travel mug. He had his upper half hanging on the table, and his feet in the chair. Baby Nick comes crawling under the table, and decides to use Joey's chair for his walking stick. We hear Joey say, "Hey!" and then see his chair slowly move out from under his feet. Baby Nick was obviously the culprit, but that left Joey hanging on the table with no support under him! It was so funny. I wish I had had batteries for the camera so I could have taken a picture.

I suppose I should get something done around here before Nick and Angie get back. The dishwasher needs unloading, and I still haven't started on the laundry. Better get at it.

She's Here! She's Here!

Yeah!!! We picked Aunt Angie up from the airport about 2am. We put the boys to bed early, knowing that they would be up for a couple hours in the middle of the night. It wasn't very successful in Joey's case. He kept fighting sleep and yelling down to us. Nick went upstairs around 11:30pm to get a short nap in before leaving, and Joey was still awake.

As we waited for Angie to come around the corner, Joey was holding a birthday card and a piece of birthday cake with a yellow crayon candle. Angie's birthday was yesterday, and since we were going to be seeing her so soon, we decided to throw her an extra-mini "party" at the airport. It was so wonderful to see her. Joey definitely woke up after seeing her and talked non-stop on the way home. Baby Nick pretended to be shy for about 30 seconds, but then allowed Angie to hold him. By the end of the day, he was fully warmed up to her.

Yesterday had to be the hottest day Anchorage has seen. According to Nick, local radio stations were saying that it got all the way up to 83 degrees! That made our house very stuffy, especially upstairs where the bedrooms are. The other, more difficult thing, about putting the boys back to bed, was that they are both in our room while Angie is here. So if one is not already asleep when the other goes to bed, it is impossible to get the two of them to sleep. Joey was still too wired, but since it was 3:00am, I needed him to go back to bed. Baby Nick didn't want to lay down in the play pen when Mommy and Daddy were in the same room on the big comfy bed. So Baby Nick was jumping up and down in his bed, and Joey kept peeking his head up and giggling at Baby Nick, and we were all sticky with heat. (I'm not trying to compare myself to Paul and Angie in Texas, but after spending several months in weather twenty below zero, even temperatures in the sixties feel a whole lot warmer than you would expect.) Finally, I got back up and took Baby Nick downstairs to rock him to sleep. I had him laid down by 3:30am, so it didn't take too long. A bonus was when I came back upstairs and Joey had finally fallen asleep. Baby nick slept until ten after eight this morning, and Bubba came downstairs shortly after that. Nick got up after Joey, but Angie slept until around eleven. But she had worked the night before, and didn't get any sleep before she left, so she was exhausted. Plus, she is on vacation....and that is what you are supposed to do on vacation, relax and take it easy.

We didn't do much today, except do the grocery shopping. Then Angie treated us to Red Robin for dinner. Her boyfriend's mom gave her a gift card to Red Robin for her birthday, after researching Anchorage to see what kind of restaurants we had up here. That was so thoughtful.

Tomorrow, Nick and Angie are getting up around 4am to get ready to leave for Seward, where they will take a charter boat fishing. They will fish for halibut, and if they reach their quota early, they will also fish for salmon and rock fish. A customer of Apria's was so pleased with the service they provided, that she offered her husband's charter service at a discounted rate. They will pay the price for a halibut charter, and if they have time, they will fish for the other fish at no extra cost. That is yet another blessing that God has bestowed upon us recently. So the boys and I will have a normal, quiet day at home. I will probably get laundry done, if I feel motivated enough. Nick and Angie will hopefully be home by 10:00pm. Then on Saturday, we will be leaving by 8:00am to go back down to Seward to camp for the night. We will be camping with Randy and Cheryl, who will also have Jack with them. They will get to do more fishing this weekend, and I am hoping to be able to take the boys to the Sea Life Center that is down there. It's not exactly an aquarium. It is, in fact, an operating research facility, but they have things to see, and a place where you can feel the marine life "on display."

The boys were asleep, but then Joey woke up a little bit ago, and he can't let Baby Nick sleep while he's awake, so now Baby Nick is awake. I guess I will have to rock him to sleep again tonight, since he won't get himself to sleep as long as Mommy is in the same room. That is easier said than done, now that he is used to getting himself to sleep. Oh well....who said I was going to get any sleep this week, anyway.

This Is It...

This is it...the end of the waiting. Angie will be here in a matter of hours. She is currently sitting at the airport waiting for her plane to depart in about an hour. I hope her flight goes well, and that she is able to have a quiet and restful time.

Last night we had a good visit with John and Cindy. Sherri stayed behind to take a nap, but Shannon went fishing with John and Nick. Shortly after they started fishing, it started raining with thunder and lightning, so they had to turn around and come back. Unfortunately, there were no fish caught between the three of them, but they had a good time anyway.

Cindy got a three hour, interactive performance from Joey. He went on non-stop. I was exhausted just watching him. I wonder how long he is going to keep that pace up while Aunt Angie is here. It will be nice for him to have a couple week break to rest up before having to perform for seven more days when Nanny and Papa Buddy come!

Joey has started a new phrase that I am none to fond of. When he gets upset with me over something that I tell him or keep him from doing, he says, "I don't like you." Tonight I was so tired I finally said, "I know you don't, and I'm okay with that." I'm really not okay with it. I know he is just saying it because mommy isn't giving him everything he wants, but I still don't like to hear that my son doesn't like me. I didn't think that he was going to say that for another ten years! He's having a bit of trouble going to sleep tonight. Not that I blame him, I probably won't sleep either. But he is three and I'm....well...a lot older.

I will keep blogging as I get the chance over the next week, but if I am uncharacteristically silent, it's just because I am so busy having fun.

Magpies

I have a praise report! The pacifier was located last night! After listening to Baby Nick scream for almost an hour, I found the pacifier, popped it in his mouth, and rocked with him for a few minutes. Since I don't want him to think he gets to be rocked to sleep again, I put him back down after he calmed down. Even though he now had his pacifier, he decided to scream for the next hour to hour and a half before falling asleep. Last night would have been a great time to have ear plugs.

As I was sorting through all the boxes of baby clothes (to pull out what can be worn now, and put away what is too small) I heard this enormous racket outside. It sounded like a thousand birds had descended upon the foliage out back and decided to scream along with Baby Nick. I peeked my head outside, and sure enough, the trees were full of magpies. They are part of the crow family, so you can imagine how beautiful (not) their "song" is. They were screaming at a cat that was prowling around. Of course, I don't blame them....I'd scream at the cat, too. Even after the cat left, the birds kept cawing for much of the night. I did get some video of them, both to show what they look like and what they sound like. But the darn things don't like to sit still. So, just as I get the camera zoomed in on one bird, it flies away to a tree behind me, and I have got to whip the camera around and try to find it. But now, of course, the camera is zoomed in too close, and all I can see is an extra large leaf! By the time I get the focus zoomed out and find the bird, it flies back to the first tree. And so the dance continued for several minutes before I decided to stop being the dumb one in the exchange, and call it quits. (I think I might have been the one with the "bird brain.")

Today, the magpies continue to bless us with their noise. At this particular moment, however, I am thankful to say that they are quiet now. My ears are getting a brief reprieve. Both the boys are napping as well....so I'm really getting a break.

It's funny; when Nick comes home from work, he gets to leave work behind and relax at home. He usually puts his feet up, and often falls asleep in the recliner while I cook dinner, look after the boys, and put things away. He gets what I used to call a 'break.' Now, whenever I get a 'break', I get to clean the kitchen without interruption, or fold the laundry without Joey's help, or eat a quick bite without my two small birds sitting at my knees with their mouths constantly opened! It's amazing how being a mom will redefine half your vocabulary. (I haven't yet figured out the definition of 'sleep', but I have a pretty good handle on 'sleep deprivation.')

John and Cindy, Shannon and Sherri will be over this evening. The boys will go off fishing and leave us girls to ourselves. The little boys will stay behind with us, where they will provide us with non-stop entertainment, I'm sure. It will be very nice to be able to spend more time with them. It was one thing to have Grandma Dooley up here back in January, making me miss mom even more (because she is Mom's mom.) But Grandma doesn't live right next to Mom anymore. Seeing John and Cindy is as close to seeing my Mom as I have been in ten months! They actually get to see her and hug her whenever they want. Plus, they are wonderful people on their own, so it is nice to see them for them, and not just because they are a connection to my Mom.

Joey's paper chain is quite small today...only two links left. It is kind of misleading, though, because, even though Angie technically arrives on Thursday, we will pick her up at two in the morning, so it will still feel like Wednesday night. I won't even go to bed tomorrow, since we will leave around 1:15-1:30am and I haven't made it to bed before 1:00am other than a couple of times in the last month or so. We will have the boys in pajamas with pants (instead of shorts) and keep socks on them, so all we have to do is lift them out of bed, put their jackets on, and buckle them into their car seats. We can't wait.

Three...Two...One....

We are down to the final days before Aunt Angie's visit. She works the graveyard shift at work, so she only has tonight and tomorrow left to work before she is officially on vacation! Woohoo. Nick is also counting down the days. Only two more days of work for him, too. I think he has been mentally on vacation for the last two weeks.

They boys have been pretty good, for the most part. Joey learns new songs all the time. Today he sang "He's Got The Whole World". We called Nanny so she could hear him sing it. He sings it very well, but he gets the one phrase stuck in "repeat" mode. Besides Nanny giggling about a broken record, she commented that, "[she] does have to work tomorrow!" He finally ended the first verse after twenty-some lines. Thankfully, he wasn't into singing any other verse.

Lately he's been adding a phrase after just about everything he says..."is what I'm talkin' about." For example, "I like peanut butter, is what I'm talkin' about." He is getting more varied in his bedtime prayers, too. Tonight he prayed, "Dear Lord, happy this day. In Your name, Amen." And then he proceeded to repeat that prayer over and over in the middle of my prayer. I would love to say that I taught him a valuable lesson about respecting others and respecting God, but I couldn't stop laughing...so, that opportunity was shot! The other night, Nick came down from putting Joey to bed and told me that he asked God to "bless Larry and Bob Mato." Eventually, I aim to get him to ask God's blessing on real people, particularly people we know...but I guess for now, blessing VeggieTales characters will be good enough.

This evening, as I was busy trying to get dinner cooked, Nick was sitting at the table fixing one of his fishing poles. Nick and Uncle John and Shannon are going to get to go fishing tomorrow evening. Needless to say, since both Nick and I were busy (both of us doing very important things that couldn't be postponed) the kids were unsupervised for a few moments. Noticing that as I was slaving away in the kitchen, the kids were left to their own devices, I checked on the boys. Joey was fine, but Baby Nick...I thought I would blow a gasket. He had gotten to Joey's juice cup, still half full of bright red Tropical Punch Kool-Aid, and proceeded to dump it out all over the floor. His pant-legs were soaked up to mid-calf, and his bare feet were nearly glued to the floor by the juice. Nick was kind enough to wipe the floor off while I dunked Baby Nick's feet in the sink filled with soapy water. While he was splashing, the oven timer went off. Now what? I can't let go of Baby Nick, he would do a head dive off the counter top. The oven is not all that far away, right behind me in fact, but the hot pad was a bit of a stretch to reach. So I tapped into my secret "Elastagirl" super power, and stretched as far as I could in one direction, while keeping one hand on Baby Nick, and then recoiled myself to reach behind me to remove the food from the oven. I wish that all moms were endowed with "elastic" bodies. It seems there is no end to the need.

At least the boys are in bed now. Not that they are asleep...Baby Nick is currently screaming because Daddy has been in and out the front door several times in the last few minutes, and Baby Nick's window is right above the front door. We managed to lose the one pacifier we had left, so I can't even plug his mouth right now. Hopefully it will turn up before long. I guess I better get back to the grindstone. I have more dishes to clean, the toys to pick up, and clothes to put away.

Sleep well.

BBQ At Randy and Chery's

On Friday, we got a package from Aunt Megan in Texas. She was so sweet to be thinking of the boys when she got a pair of Mickey Mouse Crocs for Joey and a shorts outfit for Baby Nick. Sorry again for the blurry-ness, but here is a picture of the Crocs. The amazing thing about this, is that Joey put them on himself, on the correct feet. Since getting the shoes, he has learned his left from right. He has been fairly consistent, as well!
Yesterday, we were invited over for a barbecue at Randy and Cheryl's. It was the most beautiful day since coming up here. The temp was in the mid seventies! This was the first time we were able to see their backyard with no snow, and they have a beautiful yard. The boys LOVED being able to run around on the grass. When Joey was a baby, he hated the feel of the grass and refused to be in the grass unless someone was holding him. Baby Nick had NONE of that. He got right down and was off like a shot.
This is Baby May, Chery's granddaughter. She is almost six months old; she was born on December 26th. She is a BIG baby. She enjoyed seeing the other kids; Joey and Baby Nick. Joey was just a sweetheart with her, the same way he is with Baby Nick.
Randy and Cheryl have a small play structure, as you can see here, that the boys enjoyed playing on. Baby Nick took his first trip in a swing, and as I knew, he loved it. It looks like he may be trying to get out of it in this picture, but he really was reaching for the red "bolt" holding the structure together.
Joey especially enjoyed the telescope. He is always pretending to have a telescope or binoculars up to his eyes; so for him to have a "real" one to play with was enjoyable. They also had a toddler's tee-ball set that he played with, and he actually did very well.
Baby Nick was much too distracted to ham it up for the camera, but he really had a good time. Most of the time he spent in the swing, he slouched down (like he does in his high chair) as if to say, "This is the life."

We all went to church this morning and enjoyed a good time of hearing the Word and fellowshiping with the others. The plan for the day was to go out to Mirror Lake for a picnic and fishing for Father's Day; but as we left the church, there were dark, ominous clouds in the direction of the lake, so we decided to have a normal Sunday afternoon; which is to say we all took a nap and then I spend the rest of the day doing laundry. Which reminds me, I have got to get started on the laundry soon.

Hope all my dads have a fabulous Father's Day.