This weekend

We went to church this morning. When we arrived Payton asked me if I would go to Children's Church with her. Children's church is a mini-service for kids that happens during the readings and sermon. They have their own little altar, candles, songs, lessons, and even sharing of the peace. I actually had never been to it, but had seen parts of it in passing. Payton would rather go to the nursery and play with Ian than go to Children's Church, but I would rather her go to Children's Church. So I went with her today and she was the acolyte for the first time. She lit the candles (with help), rang a big bell 3 times (to signify the beginning of the service) and helped lead the songs. It was super cute and sweet. She did such a great job (sigh).

Yesterday, the kids and I went to their first little league baseball game. Our friend, Reese, was playing in the game. The weather was gorgeous and we needed something to do in the afternoon. Daddy was working. The field was in a beautiful location. There were several large trees around that shaded the stands and half the field. It took a little while for the kids to warm up to the situation, but I brought some toys for them to dig around in the sand and dirt with. Then after the ice pops, they felt right at home. Oh, and then they found the mud. I barely caught them before they dove in. I think they still had a great time, and Reese won his game.

Some of my peas are ready. I got to pick about a handful. I'm not sure what got the one on the right. I'm hoping it was a bird and not an insect.

The Hostess

Scott and I were invited to go to the monthly seafood buffet Friday night at Scott's boss's country club. When Scott and I have had date nights in the past, we've used the YMCA Parents' night out. But the Y wasn't having it that night. I decided to try to get a college student from church to come watch the kids. She works in the nursery at church - she knows the children and the children know her. I called on a whim, Thursday and the babysitter said she could. Yay.

I told the kids about it Friday morning and afternoon. They were both excited. Well, Payton was excited, Ian was kind of just going along with Payton's excitement. 

When the babysitter arrived, Payton took it upon herself to show her the house and describe everything. 

Payton: This is the computer. I have my own folder. I can play on Disney.com, pbskids.org, and nickjr.com (as she climbs up into the chair to demonstrate.) And this is the laundry room. Gizmo's food is in here. That's his potty where he pees and poops. This is the big TV. Upstairs is the playroom. Here's my room. Here's Ian's room. 

You get the point. Payton turned into Miss Chatty Cathy. It was pretty cute. I'm sure while we were gone, Payton told the babysitter about how we do things, where everything was, and what to do and not do.

We got back at 8:45. The seafood buffet was very nice. We were hoping the kids would be asleep when we got back. We walk through the door and the kids come bounding down the stairs, 'Mommy! Daddy!'

Evidently, the babysitter said it was time for bed around 8:10 and the kids hadn't watched anything on TV yet. They (I'm sure Payton) convinced her they HAD to watch TV. So when we got home, they were reading the longest book we own (again, probably suggested by Payton). Those sneaky kids :)

Oh, well. We'll probably do it again soon. The kids had a great time and the babysitter actually said the kids were, 'sweet'.

Payton's field trip to the farm

Grandma and Grandpa left us last Wednesday morning. We all drove them to RDU, so Payton missed yet another day of school. I know that it's just preschool, but I still feel bad. She hadn't been in over a week. So, Thursday, she went and had a field trip. The whole class went to a 'farm' which was actually some one's house with a garden, two goats, two quail, and some chickens. At least they had a tractor. The kids watched the tractor plow up the dirt and then they planted some corn. We had a picnic lunch and had a surprise visit from the ice cream truck. It was actually a very nice outing. I dressed Ian in a red shirt and he blended right in.

Lots of Fun in the Sun

Scott was off for the entire weekend, and Monday! We decided to lay low this weekend. So Saturday, we went to Target and bought us a $10 slip-n-slide for some good ole backyard entertainment. You may remember that Scott had used a tarp for our own homemade slip-n-slide, but Payton didn't like it because she said it 'scratched' her bottom. The new slip-n-slide is a lot smoother, but much much smaller. And yet, Daddy and I slid on it anyway. Notice the looks on Scott's and Ian's face. There were lots of funny looks captured, but also there was lots of fun had.

After the slip-n-slide, Daddy and the kids washed Mommy's car :)

More Fun with Grandma and Grandpa

We went up to Hanging Rock State park while Grandma and Grandpa were here. The kids were so much better this time - not nearly as much whining. I think the lollipops helped :)- lesson learned from the Biltmore trip. The waterfalls were just as beautiful as last time we went, but this time, the rhododendrons were in bloom. It felt like walking through a wild garden. The weather was beautiful - actually very cool for this time of year (53 F). 

And then there were 8.....

stalks of corn left in the garden. Initially I had 10. What happened to the other two that had been growing nicely in my little patch of a garden? The first one left us a couple of weeks ago. The corn was only about 2 inches high and one stalk (the little one on the end) was severed right above the ground. Ian was my first suspect because he had been wielding a small blue shovel earlier that day. But then this morning, another little corn plant on the end was completely severed and the top of it was gone! So, whom ever severed the plant, took the evidence. I've seen a little rabbit and a ground squirrel in our back yard.  They are my suspects at this point. I'm afraid I'm going to have to put up a little fence around the garden - or at least put something around the next littlest corn plant for protection.

Grandma and Grandpa's visit

The Saturday that my parents were here, we visited the Triad Farmers' Market. The market is very large and I think farmers come from all around the state to sell their produce and plants. The strawberries are in season now, so we had to get some of them - along with some fresh bread, goat cheese, greenhouse tomatoes, flowers (for me, Payton insisted), and some sugar snap peas. Yummy! We had a very nice lunch that day with all the stuff we bought from the market. I think Mom and Dad were impressed with the size of it. There aren't farmers' markets like this in TX.

Later that day, the kids (and Grandma and Grandpa) had fun playing in the water. 

We had a visit from the local fire department. They were testing the fire hydrants. We got a close-up view of the fire truck and the gush of water from the hydrants. The fireman flashed the lights and honked the horn for the kids. Ian was pretty worried about it while it was all happening, but was very excited and animated as he was telling Daddy about it later that night. 'Daddy, fire truck, here!'

The Biltmore

Off to the Biltmore Estate we went after the eventful morning at the dentist's office. The Biltmore Estate House is amazing. It reminded me of a rich country home out of a Jane Austin novel. It has 250 rooms, 43 bathrooms, 4 floors, and a basement equipped with a bowling alley and indoor poor. There are formal gardens, an Italian garden, an azalea garden, and lots of trails to meander on. The estate also has a farm and a winery on the grounds. You can stay at an Inn somewhere on the 8000 acre estate or go for carriage rides or horse rides. The place is absolutely beautiful.

If you go after 2 pm, your tickets are good for the whole next day. So, my strategy with the two kids was to get there after 2 and see as much as we could before supper and then see the rest on the morning of the next day. The kids enjoyed the farm and most of the gardens. The first day we strolled through the azalea garden down to a bass pond. Payton was not too thrilled with the walk - I think she was hungry. We walked through some of the formal gardens before the kids had enough. So, after a snack in the car during the meandering 3 miles to the farm, the children were much happier. The farm had some horses, goats, and chickens. Ian seemed particularly interested in the chickens. I think he wanted to chase and catch them, but I wouldn't let him. The kids also really enjoyed the Italian garden that had the lily ponds and goldfish/koi in them.

We were going to try to make it to the winery that first night, but we ran out of time. We headed off to the hotel. Ian had to help with the luggage :)

The next day, we attempted the tour through the Biltmore House. The kids weren't nearly as impressed as the adults were.  They wanted to get in and out of there as fast as their little legs could go up and down its 4 floors. They did well considering we had to pause in hallways and in bedrooms, waiting for people with earphones or classes of students getting a tour to move out of the way. We bought a book about all the rooms, so that we could read about what we saw in the house. 

After the house tour, we ate some yummy lunch next to the old carriage house and then toured the rest of the gardens. This time the kids each had a lollipop. They were a lot happier on this trek through the gardens...hmmmm.

First Dentist Visit

Grandma and Grandpa flew into RDU Tuesday evening. The kids and I went to pick them up. They were SO excited to see them. Each child gave them an extra-long hug and Payton talked to them almost the whole way home. It wasn't that Ian didn't try to get a word in; Payton just wouldn't let him. There was just so much to talk about - the surgery, the weather, school, toys, etc.

Since I have the grandparents here, I am taking advantage of their help. Payton and Ian had their first dentist appointments. The pediatric dentist office was very kid-friendly waiting room equipped with a playhouse and lots of toys. The examination room was open with four tables pointing towards the four corners. You could see everyone and everyone could see you and your exam. I guess this helped..... Payton went first. She had to have X-rays. She didn't care for the X-rays too much. She has a very small mouth for her age and they had a hard time getting the lower back teeth pictured. She did great during her exam. Ian took a little more coaxing. I didn't think he was going to get on the exam table, but receiving a green bouncy ball helped tremendously.

Ian got a clean bill of healthy teeth. Unfortunately, Payton has three cavities that we have to get filled on two separate occasions :( The dentist said they were in odd places. I don't know if her getting them had anything to do with her inability to swallow very well with her stuffy nose and large tonsils prior to surgery, but it could be a possibility. Anyway, Payton gets to go back next Tuesday. Grandma was there to help with the whole dentist experience which was a relief. Doctor and dentist visits are stressful for everyone involved.

After lunch and play at Chic-Fil-A (hey, that rhymes), we set off for Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore Estate.

Payton's post-surgery voice

I made a video of Payton singing Jesus Loves Me before and after her tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy/ear tube surgery. We were told that her voice would probably change. Right after the surgery there was a huge difference (she sounded like Minnie Mouse), but I waited 2 weeks till most of the inflamation was gone. The teachers at Payton's school both noticed the difference right away. Our friend, Jill couldn't stop chuckling at how different she sounded.

Tim and Fanny's visit

We had a very nice visit with Tim and Fanny. The time seemed to fly by. We had to dodge some rain and thunderstorms, but we managed to go see some of the beautiful places around the area.

We went to Hanging Rock State Park which had a couple of easy trails that end at waterfalls. We had a picnic lunch by a lake before it started raining on us. The kids were a little fussy on and off, but overall the beauty of the park made up for it. When we started to get close to the waterfalls Ian got a little scared - I think because of how loud the rushing water was. Payton loved it all. I really had to watch them because the kids wanted to jump around on the rocks and they were all pretty slippery.

We visited Scott at the hospital for lunch one day and the Greensboro Children's Museum another day.

And what trip to Winston-Salem would be complete without a trip to Pilot Mountain. A couple of squirrels wanted in on our lunch. Then the caterpillars decided that shear numbers would be able to take us.  Don't worry, we made it out of there OK.