Summer Vacation 2009

We are back from a wonderful and relaxing trip to Uncle Tom and Aunt Audrey's new beach house. The kids had such a fabulous time, splashing and swimming, digging and sand-castle-building, all the while keeping their ears open in the hopes of hearing the chiming music from the ice-cream truck.

Brian had a somewhat rough start, as he was stung by a bee within minutes of our first visit to the beach. My poor baby boy. He let out a shriek of pain, and I watched him hurl a yellow jacket across the sand. He wailed for a few seconds, but then he stopped crying and angrily picked up his bucket and shovel, and stomped off across the sand after his sisters. A cursory examination of his hands and arms did not reveal any obvious sting-marks, so we assumed that the bee had only scared him. Minutes later, we realized that he had a HUGE white welt on his face, with the stinger still sticking out of his cheek. His whole cheek was flaming red, and he fussed briefly while Dan held him down so that I could remove the stinger. He then returned to his sand-castle without another peep, as his poor baby-face grew redder and redder. He is one tough little boy.

We spent rainy days in the cozy Children's department at the local library, and the girls even had a private gymnastics class with a renowned area coach and judge. And of course, we had lots of fun moments together back at the house...playing board games, reading books, and enjoying sunsets over the water, from the beautiful deck that overlooks the ocean. Of course, we ended the week with our annual "cousin sleep-over". Tom and Audrey arrived on Friday night with their four kids, and all 8 children enjoyed two days of fun and laughter. All-in-all, it was a week packed with memories. We even managed to take a few pictures...so very unlike us!

One Of These Things...

...Is not like the other.




This is a picture from Easter, which I posted here a few months ago. While browsing through photos yesterday, I noticed something that escaped my attention back in April. (Click on picture to enlarge photo).

The girls all had matching, black Mary-Jane style shoes to wear with their dresses. I'm reasonably sure that they all went off to church with their matching shoes on. But after glancing at this picture yesterday, I have to wonder if somebody managed to slip something past us in all the chaos of getting ready for the big day.

And I'm not a bit surprised to see which one of my daughters tried to sneak into a pair of white, sparkling princess shoes. Are you?

Dancing...With The Stars!

Amy has always dreamed about dancing under the lights on a big stage. Today was her day! She's been practicing so hard, and, although I know I'm probably a bit biased, I was so proud of the way she performed. She was truly beautiful, and her classmates looked to her every few seconds for confirmation and reassurance. She knew her dance so well, and led her friends in the leaps and twirls up on the big stage. It was an afternoon that she will probably never forget...and neither will we.

Mommy's little boy

Today I decided to try putting Brian into the Child-watch at the gym.

Beth and Amy never had any trouble being left in the daycare while I went to run on the treadmill, but Erin always screamed hysterically when I tried to leave her there. I've attempted to leave Brian in there before, but have never been successful. It's been a few months since our last trial, so today we gave it another shot.

He didn't last five minutes. As I handed him over to the staff member at the desk, he turned and reached out his arms for me. I quickly turned away, and heard his hysterical shrieks almost immediately. I stood around the corner for a couple of minutes, listening as the child-watch workers attempted in vain to distract him with the many toys available in the room. Nothing worked, however, and his cries grew even louder.

I finally went back to the desk to re-claim my little boy. He ran to the door with his arms up, and when they handed him to me, I could hear him hyperventilating as he gasped for breath between screams. His face was blotchy and red, and I spent ten minutes pacing the hallways in an attempt to calm him down.

Finally he quieted, and we sat on the benches outside the gymnastics gym, watching Amy and Erin tumbling and swinging on the bars. I smoothed his hair, and kissed his cheek.

"Didn't you want to play with all those toys, Brian?", I asked him. "They have so many fun toys in the child-watch for you".

He shook his head in an emphatic "no". He turned and patted me on the back. "Mama", he said while rubbing my back. "Mama".

And tonight, while we rocked in the recliner in his room before bed, he once again patted me on the back. "Mama", he said with his baby-smile. "Mama".

I'd dearly love to be able to leave him in the daycare for a short workout. I really would. But I know that someday soon he will venture away from me. So for now, we'll stay together and cuddle a bit while the girls are in their classes. Sometimes, it's nice to be needed. Especially by my little boy.

Off to the dentist

Erin, Amy and I all had our teeth cleaned at the dentist's this morning. Trying to keep a toddler sitting quietly in a waiting room for over an hour is quite a challenge, so Grampy and Nana took turns walking Brian around the neighborhood in his stroller. (Of course I slathered sun block onto Brian's little body before his walk, but I apparently missed a small spot on his nose. He now has a tiny, bright-red area on the tip of his nose, giving him a strong resemblance to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer). Amy and Erin were quite well-behaved during their cleanings, although Erin flatly refused to let the hygienist "brush her teeth with dirt". So they used plain-old Colgate on her teeth, while Amy chose blueberry-flavored toothpaste for her cleaning.

I had a few moments of panic while I was sitting in the chair, mouth full of instruments, as I overheard the beginnings of an argument breaking out between the two girls in the waiting room, but luckily they managed to sort things out on their own. The secretary had her hands full trying to answer the phone while Amy and Erin talked incessantly to her about their trip to Dairy Queen last night for ice cream. All-in-all in was a successful outing.

The girls have no cavities, but unfortunately I was not as lucky. The dentist informed me that I have to have a root canal. Soon. Yikes!