Beech Mountain

Our friends Robyn and Bill invited us to go up to their family's cabin up on Beech Mountain. It was a mom-and-kids getaway in the middle of the week. We left Wednesday after the gym and came back after lunch on Friday. It was beautiful up there, not to mention at least 10 degrees cooler than Winston-Salem. Wednesday afternoon we went to a pool up there.

Thursday we checked out an animal rescue center next to Buckeye Lake. The rescue center had raccoons, rabbits, a bobcat, two coatimundi, a guinea pig, and two hybrid wolves. It was an interesting place. I will say this, I don't ever want to run into a wolf, hybrid or otherwise. We found a hike next to the lake and explored a little bit. The kids took a little time to make faces for me (below). We didn't get to go too far because it was too close to lunch time, but it was beautiful.

Thursday afternoon we went to the little mountain town of Banner Elk to play at a playground right next to a creek. The kids had a great time jumping into the creek and splashing around. Afterwards, we had some ice cream at a quaint little shop.

Friday, we went to coffee lake which has a quarter mile trail around it. The kids played in a rocky sand bar while Robyn and I took turns running.

I think the kids really enjoyed being up in the mountains doing all the outdoors-ey things, but they were ready to be home. They've been away for a lot of the month.

Saturday, we had to do grocery shopping (I've been putting it off considering we've been traveling so much). This afternoon, we hung out by the pool. No one took a nap today, so the kids were pretty tired by bedtime.

Tucker's Birthday Party

Yesterday, we went to Tucker's 4th Birthday party, held at a neighborhood pool. The kids had the greatest time. They love swimming around with their floaties. The pool itself was very nice because it had a section that was only 3 ft. deep, another section that was only 4 ft deep, a slide, and a kiddie pool. Payton got brave enough to go down the slide with her floatie. She hesitated a little when she was at the top. She had to make sure I was in the right place to catch her. After she came down, I asked her if she liked the slide and she said, 'Not so much.' She didn't want to go again, but kudos to her for trying.

At the kiddie pool the kids were playing a game with a ring. Ian would throw it; Payton would fetch. That little boy has quite an arm. He was able to throw it all the way across the pool (see video).

Virginia Beach

Benita lives 40 minutes to Virginia Beach. So we took a trip there Friday. The kids (and adults) had a blast. Payton was ready to go into the water right away. She loves jumping waves. Ian wasn't so sure about it. He played in the sand for most of the visit. My job during the sand play was to fetch the water. I felt like Mickey Mouse in Fantasia. The last hour I finally coaxed Ian to finally sit with me just where the waves touched the beach. I had to explain to him that only the little waves would reach us - not the big waves. It finally sunk in and he started to play in the water and jump waves with us. Of course, then it was time to go.

On the way back, we got stuck in a seven mile traffic backup going into the tunnel. I'm not a big fan of tunnels.

Here we go again....

Well, we slept in that Wednesday after we got back from Phoenix, and then went to the gym. We got there at 11, but it felt like 8 am. It was really strange and a little surreal. We did laundry, got Ian's hair cut (that was a nightmare), worked in the garden, and went to the store. Then when it was time for be, neither child was tired (of course) so we all fought and cried about it for an hour before they went to sleep somewhere between 9:30-10 pm.

Thursday morning, Payton had her second cavity fixed. The Dentist ended up just disking it off because it was small enough that she didn't need a filling. Payton didn't like the shot or it's numbing effects much. She kept saying that it hurt when, in fact, she just didn't understand what she was or was not feeling. It was quite traumatic for her - and Mommy. Ian was great. He found a couple of cars and kept himself entertained. We came home, had lunch, and packed up again to got visit my cousin Benita who lives in Hampton, Va. It's about a 5 hour drive there. The drive wasn't too bad, except I started to have a little car trouble. A hose of some sort came off of something or another (I know nothing about cars, except this thing had happened to me previously and I knew how to fix it). We were 3 miles from Benita's house, when the engine stalled out on me. I called Benita and her parents, who were also visiting, for help. Laird fixed the problem and the car seems to be OK. The highlight of the drive was the mile and a half long tunnel that's only 10 minutes from Benita's house. Payton especially thought it was cool. I, on the other hand, find tunnels disturbing. There are no 'outs' if someone is driving erratic or something goes wrong with a car. I don't like it. One wrong move and there could be a massive accident. So, I'm not a fan of tunnels.

It's a Jungle Out There

We had the same flights from Phoenix to Minneapolis to Charlotte on the way home. We were suppose to get in at 10:11pm. I figured it wouldn't be as bad as it seemed because it would still feel like Phoenix time to us. I was right, but I was still tired by the end of the trip. The kids were good on the plane, but in the airports, Ian just would not listen. He decided he was going to run when and where ever he wanted to - no matter if he got time outs or got yelled at. So I was a little ragged by the end of the day from keeping up with him (and everything else).

We arrived late because we had to dodge thunderstorms. It took a little while to get our luggage and take the bus to our car - plus load the car. We had a little incident on the way to the car. The bus dropped us off at the bus stop about 50 yard from our car (in a parking lot). We had to cross the street to get to the car. I loaded all our stuff on my back and started to drag everything across the street and I told the kids to stay close and follow me. Payton did, but Ian wouldn't move from his spot. It was like he was glued to the ground. I tried and tried to get him to move, but he wouldn't. Then he saw another bus, two bus stops away and he was a like a deer in headlights. He wouldn't budge. At this point, Payton dashes across the road to a median and is yelling at Ian and me to cross. She's almost hysterical. Ian can't move. So I drop everything, leave it there, grab Ian and Payton and take them to the car. Oh, did I mention it was raining? Then I go back and get everything, load them up and we leave. By this time it's midnight. I got 10 minutes down the road and couldn't see in the blinding rain. The kids were already asleep. I pulled off to a Mc Donald's parking lot and called Scott, who was working at the time. He checked the radar for me because I was about to get a hotel if I knew it wasn't going to let up for a couple of hours. After about 15 minutes in the parking lot, it let up and we trekked the rest of the way home. I finally crawled in bed at 2 am that night. At least we all slept in till almost 10 am :)

The next day when I peaked out my window at the garden, I couldn't believe how big everything had gotten. I think the corn and tomatoes each grew about 2 feet! My tallest corn stalk was about 7.5 ft tall. I picked 4 squash, one green onion, a large tub of lettuce, and 10 carrots. It was fabulous!

Aaaah Phoenix

I'm not going to say that Phoenix feels like home. Right now, I'm not sure where home is, except where every my family is. BUT, Phoenix is so beautiful. I love the skyline. I love how clean it feels. I love not sweating when it's 95 degrees out. We've had beautiful weather since we've been here. It's a full 10 degrees cooler this week than it usually is and I'm not complaining.

The trip out here was as good as it could have gone traveling alone with a 2 and 4 year old. We had two flights with a layover in Minneapolis. First, I was worried about making it from my car in long term parking with two bags, a diaper bag, a backpack, two car seats, and two children. Once that was done, I figured I was at the mercy, somewhat, of the kids moods. A 2 and 4 year old can be super sweet and listen one minute, but then run off then next. If they are hungry or tired, it is very difficult to rationalize anything with them. Wires in their brains don't connect the right way when they are hungry, tired, or worried and then you just have to contend with damage control. Fortunately, the kids were super great and a lot of that had to do with them being so excited to see Daddy.

We stayed at Auntie Melissa's house. We arrived in Phoenix at 6:30 pm which was 9:30 in NC. I was surprised, the kids didn't fall asleep on the second flight or in the car on the way to Melissa's house. We got all settled in and the next day we went to.....the mall. We were up at 5:20am, so we had plenty of time to kill before it opened. We went to a cool McDonald's with a dinosaur play park and then went to an outdoor play park. We still had time to play at the indoor play area at the mall before the mall opened at 10. Why the mall? It was time to buy new Crocs. Payton got some blue/turquoise ones and Ian got some red/blue ones. We had looked around W-S for some, but couldn't find any of the new styles. So with new shoes in had, we ate lunch at like 1030 and the kids fell asleep on the way back to Melissa's. That night we had dinner with our regular night Sunday supper group at John's house. The kids loved playing with his dogs in the back yard.

The next day, the kids and I went to visit our house in Phx to meet the new renters. (Daddy had to work.) The bushes were a little wild, but the house looked good. Payton remembered the where the TV used to be, her room and the backyard. It was good to see the place - I love that house.

Then we saw Payton's first friend, Jessica. Jessica and Payton lived in the same subdivision and played a lot together when they were 2 years old. We met her at her mom's salon, played there, and then had lunch together. The girls were happy to see each other. On the way out to Phx, Payton kept saying, 'I want to see Jessica' over and over again, so we HAD to go.

Friday, the kids and I went to Fountain Hills because they have a really great splash pad - too bad it was closed for repairs. We played at the park and watched the fountain twice, before Ian got a little too rambunctious with the wood chips. It was still a beautiful day.

Saturday, we had a fry bread/pool party at Patrick and Melissa's house. It was great to hang out with everyone and eat yummy food.

The Monday before we left we went to the Arizona Science Center. They had a traveling Lego exhibit that Daddy especially wanted to go see. It had lots of castles, knights and dragons.

Anyway, the kids slowly through the week, got their schedules on track with Phoenix time. But, they were tired a lot.

Payton's follow-up

Payton had her follow up appointment with her ENT Dr. yesterday. Everything checked out great. Everything has healed well and the tubes are doing their job nicely. Payton also took a hearing test and is in the normal range :) What surprised me the most, though, was that she's gained a little over 3 lbs since her surgery! How crazy is that! I knew she had been eating more and I noticed a little belly on her, but over 3 lbs!

Today, Samuel and Sarah came over to play in our little pool and on our slip-n-slide. It was only suppose to be around 79, but that didn't seem to bother the kids.

Payton's Last Day of Preschool

Payton had her last day of preschool today. I was a little sad picking her up from school for the last time this year. It was almost like the first day of school where I felt a little out of sorts. My baby is growing up (very quickly it seems). Beginnings and Ends make you reflect on what has transpired up to that point. Payton has grown up a lot since she first started preschool last August. She was barely out of pull-ups when she started and now she rarely has an accident. She knows the days of the week, the months and can count. She's starting to know her letter sounds and is starting to spell. I know this summer will be busy and she'll continue to change, as always. But today was a a good day to look back and sigh, smile, and tear up a little.

End of the year party

Payton's class had their end of the year party at Triad Park today. I've never been there before - but was impressed with the trails and two large playgrounds. The park had a couple of other classes of older kids there today, so it was a little crowded at our playground. And it was a sultry sunny day. But, new playground + lots of friends = good time. By noon, I was ready to get the kids out of there though. They were turning red and getting too hot.

I thought that the kids would fall asleep on the way home, but no luck. Neither one of them took a nap today. Well, take that back, Ian slept for about half an hour on the drive to the park. Ian was ready for bed tonight. Hopefully, he'll sleep in tomorrow.

End of the year program

Today was Payton's end of the year program. The kids all did very well. There was the usual crying child, costume malfunctions, and kids staring off into space. Unfortunately most of the time Payton was the one just staring off not saying the words to the songs and bible verses. I don't know if she didn't know the words to everything or she was just busy basking in the splendor of all the attention. I tried to capture as much as I could on the camera - when I got there I realized I only had 3 minutes of battery life left :) Payton's favorite song was Romans 16:19 Says - she sang and did the most for this one.

Ian was entertained during the songs, but then started wandering around and rolling around on the floor during the bible verses. After the program came the recognition awards which I realize are a necessity, but when they last almost as long as the kids' program did - it became a little too much. Ian was flipping out. It didn't help that he was tired. (On the way to Payton's school, we were in the car for 7 minutes and both kids were out - asleep.) So after the program was over, we were supposed to have a covered dish dinner for which I made a beautiful pasta salad. But, after Ian almost ran out the door, and Payton wanting to be held while we were waiting in line to be served, I decided I had had enough and left. I hope everyone else enjoyed the salad. We had some leftover pizza at home.

The day ended with me pretty frazzled, but it wasn't all bad. The first part of the day was fine. We got Gizmo shaved today. Ian and I took him to the Petsmart groomer this morning at 11 and then ate lunch at Chic-fil-A. Ian played in their playroom for almost half an hour. He's learned to pull himself up a step that comes up to his chest. It's pretty impressive to see how strong this little tike is. The he would yell, 'I made it!'

Scott's off to Phoenix

We took Daddy to the Charlotte airport today. He's gone for a month rotation in Phoenix with John Khazin! We'll be joining him for a week in about a week, but we have Payton's last week of school this week. Ian didn't have an easy time with Daddy leaving. He was ready to go with him. He cheered up a little when I said we would go visit him, but I think he wanted to go today.

After we dropped Daddy off, we went to Trader Joe's. Don't get me started on TJ's - I love that place. Then we went to IKEA. I thought it might be good for the kids to run around and bit and eat there. They were actually really good walking through the store. No one ran off and they actually listened. Unfortunately when we got home the day had taken it's toll on the kids. Payton fussed and whined a lot and Ian just needed lots of hugs. After I tucked them in, I found them in the hall. Payton was 'reading' to Ian. I broke it up, and sent them back to bed (of course, I couldn't resist recording them - it was too cute).