I had a hunch this question was coming, but had cleverly been avoiding it. It started a few months ago when Elizabeth asked about Aunt Amber's baby under her shirt. She seemed to be content with the explanation that babies stay with her mommies so they can grow. Apparently, she had been thinking about this for awhile because this week she asked me again. "Mommy, how does a baby get in the mommy's belly?" Yes, I understood the question, but responded with, "the baby stays in there to grow until it is ready." Our good friends just had a baby and I know she overheard some of those conversations. I look down at her and realize she is looking at pictures from her baby book and it is a picture of my bare pregnant belly. I know at this point my answer is no way going to satisfy her. "Mommy, I know that, but how does it get in there?" She is three and half, I am racking my brain, I have no good answer for a three and a half year old about the birds and the bees. "Let's ask daddy when he gets home and we can talk about it together." Maybe she will forget. Well, she did, but only for a day.
We are on our way to dinner Saturday night, in the car and we hear, "Daddy, I have a question. How does a baby get into a mommy's belly?" Brandon and I do that side look out of the corner of our eyes at each other. Ok, big boy, you are on, what's your answer? "Well honey, they swim." She chews on this for a few moments. "Daddy, babies can't swim!" She's so sharp. "Actually Elizabeth, they can swim, but then they loose that skill and you have to relearn it, like in swim lessons." He whispers to me, I think that is right, isn't it? Well, she buys it. Later that night we rehash the discussion and Brandon prides himself on the fact that he gave her a scientifically correct answer. Swimming is a part of the baby making process. I know how she is envisioning this and it may be a bit of a stretch but for now, this explanation will work. Now she says, "Daddy knows all the answers!" Last week, it was mommy who had all the answers!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Legos
At first they were building separately. Elizabeth took all of the small single pieces and tried to build a tower bigger than her. It was over four feet tall but it wouldn't stand without being held, because it was tall and skinny. I look over at Grant and he is patiently putting together different sizes to build his tower. Even when he is building straight up he wasn't using all of the same size pieces. He would put a double on top of two singles to make it stronger. Is his ingenious building a coincidence? Maybe? My mom and mother in law have been telling me that his fine motor skills are really good. Watching the kids build was like watching Brandon and I's personalities on stage. Elizabeth is let's build it tall and fast, even though it might fall, look at how grand it is (so mommy!). Grant, takes his time and does it right to get a perfect result (so daddy!). I was hoping we would see more of a blend of our strengths in our children!
All Good Things...
...usually come to an end and so it was time to leave Hawaii. No one was looking forward to it. Of course, who looks forward to the end of vacation? Amazingly, I think we got home with everything. Considering how much we spread everything out, it is a small miracle!
The Lihue airport was a special experience. Hawaii is very protective of live plants coming and going from it's island. This means extra check points, not only before the ticket counter but also at the gate. So here we are with our cart full of four suitcases, two car-seats and our back packs. We walk fifteen feet and have to load everything onto a conveyor for the first screening and then of course load it back up. We shuffle our mess over to the ticket counter and wait for an automatic terminal to be available. Once there we quickly learn that there is a new system and have great difficulty getting checked-in. We finally have boarding passes in hand and are double checking them, only to realize that we don't have any for Elizabeth and no indication of a lap child for Grant. Ahhhh, we start over! The agent actually pulled out a hard copy manual to figure out how to deal with Grant's boarding pass. Then we start unloading again to have our bags weighed and tagged...only to load again to shuffle them over to security. We were lucky that grandma and grandpa were entertaining the kids, because this was no short process and we haven't even waited in the security line yet! That is our next stop. It wasn't the longest line I have ever seen, but it moved very slow. David and Sara's flight was about the same time as ours so we were able to spend an extra hour with them. We go to our gate and get to do this agricultural scan again! At least we only had half of our stuff!
The flights had gone so well before that we knew we'd be lucky to have a repeat performance. What we really underestimated was the kind people sitting around us previously. We were not so lucky this time. I have referred to them as "kid haters." I am confident that the row in front of us did find one ounce of cute in our family. The lady turned around once and said, "I don't know if you are aware, but your child is bumping my seat." I lost it and started crying. The man then starts turning around and giving us dirty looks and glares. My sister in law says it best, it is harder for the parent's than it is for anyone else listening or feeling your children kick. It is embarrassing and if you could do something about it, of course you would! The kids really weren't being loud, they were just squirmy. On this six hour flight, Grant did not nod off or even act sleepy. Elizabeth managed to take a nap, but I also hauled her into the bathroom to explain the situation of having less than happy people in front of us and that we had to try better. We landed in SanFran around 11 pm and grabbed a bite to eat and boarded the next plane. This was only a three and a half hour flight and we were confident that Grant was ready to crash. Brandon tried to get him to sleep before we took off, but had no success. So yes, we are those parent's who pulled out the Benadryl. Elizabeth thought it looked good, so we let her have a little too! Definitely not winning any parenting awards here, we know! It was time to take off and he started screaming as I had him trapped in my lap. I think at this point someone turned around and looked and I said, "he's a baby, he's going to cry, go ahead and stare!" I got an, "Alison" from my husband, I rolled my eyes and continued to try to calm Grant down. (planes are loud, I really don't think the guy heard me) He carried on, loudly for five minutes, but then collapsed and slept the entire flight. Elizabeth slept for a few hours. The kids were so soundly asleep when we landed that I was beginning to wonder how we were going to get them off the plane. However, they roused and we made it. Only another two and half hours in the car and we would be home! Do you know what it feels like to have had one hour of sleep and it be 9:00 am? Brandon and I were semi-functional at best. We ate lunch early and everyone took naps! The kids slept for over four hours, which made for a less than pleasant bedtime, but we all needed those naps! We had all Sunday to catch up on things. Brandon sorted the laundry and in the process has earned a new job assignment. I always have at least ten loads after a trip and with his sorting I had half as much and nothing turned a funky color! Good job honey and thank you!
We had 20 hours of travel, just in the air, that doesn't include all the other time before, after and in vehicles. All things considered they both did well. We never had prolonged crying or screaming or absolute chaos, just our typical little outbursts. Brandon and I did pretty well too, we only had to give each other a pep talk once!
The Lihue airport was a special experience. Hawaii is very protective of live plants coming and going from it's island. This means extra check points, not only before the ticket counter but also at the gate. So here we are with our cart full of four suitcases, two car-seats and our back packs. We walk fifteen feet and have to load everything onto a conveyor for the first screening and then of course load it back up. We shuffle our mess over to the ticket counter and wait for an automatic terminal to be available. Once there we quickly learn that there is a new system and have great difficulty getting checked-in. We finally have boarding passes in hand and are double checking them, only to realize that we don't have any for Elizabeth and no indication of a lap child for Grant. Ahhhh, we start over! The agent actually pulled out a hard copy manual to figure out how to deal with Grant's boarding pass. Then we start unloading again to have our bags weighed and tagged...only to load again to shuffle them over to security. We were lucky that grandma and grandpa were entertaining the kids, because this was no short process and we haven't even waited in the security line yet! That is our next stop. It wasn't the longest line I have ever seen, but it moved very slow. David and Sara's flight was about the same time as ours so we were able to spend an extra hour with them. We go to our gate and get to do this agricultural scan again! At least we only had half of our stuff!
The flights had gone so well before that we knew we'd be lucky to have a repeat performance. What we really underestimated was the kind people sitting around us previously. We were not so lucky this time. I have referred to them as "kid haters." I am confident that the row in front of us did find one ounce of cute in our family. The lady turned around once and said, "I don't know if you are aware, but your child is bumping my seat." I lost it and started crying. The man then starts turning around and giving us dirty looks and glares. My sister in law says it best, it is harder for the parent's than it is for anyone else listening or feeling your children kick. It is embarrassing and if you could do something about it, of course you would! The kids really weren't being loud, they were just squirmy. On this six hour flight, Grant did not nod off or even act sleepy. Elizabeth managed to take a nap, but I also hauled her into the bathroom to explain the situation of having less than happy people in front of us and that we had to try better. We landed in SanFran around 11 pm and grabbed a bite to eat and boarded the next plane. This was only a three and a half hour flight and we were confident that Grant was ready to crash. Brandon tried to get him to sleep before we took off, but had no success. So yes, we are those parent's who pulled out the Benadryl. Elizabeth thought it looked good, so we let her have a little too! Definitely not winning any parenting awards here, we know! It was time to take off and he started screaming as I had him trapped in my lap. I think at this point someone turned around and looked and I said, "he's a baby, he's going to cry, go ahead and stare!" I got an, "Alison" from my husband, I rolled my eyes and continued to try to calm Grant down. (planes are loud, I really don't think the guy heard me) He carried on, loudly for five minutes, but then collapsed and slept the entire flight. Elizabeth slept for a few hours. The kids were so soundly asleep when we landed that I was beginning to wonder how we were going to get them off the plane. However, they roused and we made it. Only another two and half hours in the car and we would be home! Do you know what it feels like to have had one hour of sleep and it be 9:00 am? Brandon and I were semi-functional at best. We ate lunch early and everyone took naps! The kids slept for over four hours, which made for a less than pleasant bedtime, but we all needed those naps! We had all Sunday to catch up on things. Brandon sorted the laundry and in the process has earned a new job assignment. I always have at least ten loads after a trip and with his sorting I had half as much and nothing turned a funky color! Good job honey and thank you!
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| This is all of the food that we had leftover! I might have over packed on the snacks. We have a new "snack bowl" now and we have been home for over a week and it is still full! But boy, we sure did appreciate the variety! |
We had 20 hours of travel, just in the air, that doesn't include all the other time before, after and in vehicles. All things considered they both did well. We never had prolonged crying or screaming or absolute chaos, just our typical little outbursts. Brandon and I did pretty well too, we only had to give each other a pep talk once!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Hawaii Reflections
OK, so we had some interesting weather, but it also makes for great memories! Like when my brother wakes up and realizes the power is out and strolls out and announces that we need to take inventory of our food, start rationing and anyone caught sneaking food is thrown out of the house! Or when the power goes out for the second time and Elizabeth takes delight in telling people that we used our iPads as flashlights. All the rain wasn't ideal, but our helicopter pilot told us we saw a lot of waterfalls because of it.
The helicopter tour was an awesome experience. Brandon, David and my dad and I did this together. We joked afterwards that the pilot was probably a Vietnam Vet pilot. A few times it felt like we were a little too close to a side of a mountain, but I'm sure Bogart had it all under control! The mountains of Kauai, that were formed by volcanoes are absolutely breathtaking. There is so much of the land that is protected/preserved that being in the air is only way to see it and we did see a lot of waterfalls! We have a DVD with the pilot's narration being sent to us!
The other way to see the natural landscape is by water. Sara joined us on the Na'Pali coast tour. My mom was so generous to stay back with the kids. We had to drive around to the west side of the island, about two hours one way, to a small harbor to board our 30 foot HBI (hard bottom inflatable) boat. Now from our previous helicopter tour we had noticed how the calm the water looked. I can confirm, as the passenger sitting in the very front of the boat, holding onto the roped sides, like I was riding a horse...the waters were not all that calm!! I guarantee the people on the larger boats were looking at us saying, "oh why would you want to be on that little boat." Well, because we got to go places that they couldn't! So it the rough ride was worth it, but we all felt pretty beat up by the end of the day. The goal of our tour was to see dolphins, whales, sea turtles, caves formed by the volcanoes and snorkel. Mission accomplished! Within 10 minutes out to sea we saw bottle nosed dolphins and we were quite impressed, but in another 10 minutes we had 50-70 spinner dolphins swimming right next to our boat! Another plus of a smaller boat is that we could reach over and almost touch them! We didn't realize it at the time but we could have gotten in and swam with them, but we had just started the day it the water temperature was 78 degrees and I don't think any of us were feeling quite brave enough. I think we all regret not diving in though! My biggest regret is not having my Flip camera. We only took a waterproof disposable camera. I dropped it off for processing today so we will see what quality of pictures we get from that. Next we saw were NASA used to be and where the military station is now and were told about their underground control center. We all agreed there was some major secret squirrel stuff going on there! Our captain actually pointed out a helicopter that was toting a torpedo and told us that they play "war games" here. Interesting stuff. We saw some sea turtles laying on a reef at a distance. They pretty much looked like big rocks, not all that exciting, but then we got into snorkel and we saw one swimming underwater and that was pretty cool. We saw a lot of fish and Brandon and I even spotted an eel. That water was pretty chilly and some family members would say that once you got it and you got used to it. I was still shaking when I was eating my sandwich! But it was fun and worth it. We continued up the coast and explored the natural volcanic coast line and mountains. Our captain was very informative, but I don't think I retained all that well. A big thing that our smaller sized boat did was enter into the Queen's Bath, which is a cave that the ceiling has fallen in on in the center. So it is a cave, but with an open ceiling and a rock (the ceiling) in the middle. The water inside is like a washing machine! It was thrilling to actually be inside. The last thing on the list was whales. We had seen a few puffs in the distance, but nothing too close. The whales (hump back) are migrating towards Alaska this time of year. The captain spotted a few puffs and this time we went after them (remember how smooth that water is??!!) Well, he had good eyes because we were probably withing 100 yards of it, which is pretty close, considering the size of this mammal and given reports of them ramming boats until they sink. We wanted to get close, but be at a safe distance too! The whale came up and we were all "ooh and ahh" and the captain tells us that was just a calf! It was huge and it was the baby!! The adults can stay underwater from anywhere to 8-20 minutes, but the calf was playing and came up often. We took off and then found another set. These were both adults and you can't even describe their mass. The motor was turned off and we just sat there in silence and you could hear them breaching and then watch them wave their side fins all the down. It was simply amazing and mother nature at it's best! Thank goodness that tidal wave lost momentum and didn't make it to Hawaii so we could enjoy the best the ocean had to offer!!
The kids loved the beach. Elizabeth loves to run into the water with daddy. Unfortunately the first time she did it a small wave at her ankles took her down. You cannot underestimate the power of the ocean and especially in Hawaii, the waves are so much stronger than what I have ever seen on the East coast, the Gulf of the Caribbean. We got the salt our of her eyes and she was right back out there! We collected a lot of seashells and coral. We even found a shell that was still closed, the two halves still together. My dad got it open to show us the oyster. Grant was a little uncertain about the sand on his feet at first, but once he was ok with it, there was no turning back! We had sand everywhere! Let me just say sand sticks to boy parts really well! He is all boy and loved just digging in the sand. He liked to get rinsed off in the ocean with daddy or pops, but mainly preferred the sand.
We had different sleeping arrangements every night within our family. Initially we thought the kids would share the room with two double beds and we would be brave and give Grant his first big boy bed experience. He falls asleep on Brandon's chest easily, so we figured he would really just be sleeping there, not actually trying to go to sleep. Plus, he typically sleeps through the night. Well after arriving and checking out the bedrooms we realized that the double beds were just too high off the ground. But there was a daybed with a trundle bed under it. Perfect! We just pulled it out and laid Grant there. It was a soft spot, yet low to the ground and not confiding like a pack and play. All was good until 1 am when my mom is at our door with Grant in her arms. She had heard him wandering in the hall. I was zonked and the storm was so loud I didn't hear the monitor. Poor guy! We don't know how long he was out there for! He wasn't crying but when my mom opened her door she said he just put held his arms out! So into our bed he went. We only got kicked in the head a few times before we used pillows as barricades! Of course a few nights Elizabeth slept between grandma and grandpa. When we didn't have power I slept with Elizabeth and Brandon with Grant. We finally got out the pack and play for Grant and he slept some in there, but usually ended up in a bed! It all worked out fine. Elizabeth napped quite a few days. Mom played baby with her one day and got her to fall asleep. My dad tried it the next day, but ended up playing puppy, but that worked too! It didn't really matter when I went to bed, I was up at the same time....whenever the roosters started! Have I mentioned the chickens? They are protected in Kauai and they are everywhere! Why did the chicken cross the road jokes must have started here! The roasters take their job very seriously and are relentless!
With all of the rain we saw a handful of rainbows. However, the biggest one we saw was on the way home from the airport in Illinois! It was big, you could see both ends - right here in Illinois - go figure!! We watched a lot of basketball (some more than others), but the games were always over before dinner with the time change and often gave some a reason to roll out of bed!
We had some great meals. I had fish tacos for the first time and there were really good. We also had Ono fish and all agreed that if we could fish like that at home we would probably eat it once a week! We discovered a great new mustard called Hawaiian Gold and are awaiting our shipment!
Some of us learned new hobbies, like knitting. No, not me, but Brandon. My mom asked if anyone wanted to learn and he was the first one to raise his hand. He is actually pretty good and has almost completed his hat. We found a great yarn shop in Hana-lei Bay. My mom asked me to pick a color for him and I picked a basic brown. Well, once again I know how to pick them, it was $50! Apparently, this was a very special hand dyed brown color! Needless to say, I re-picked! I will keep you updated on his progress.
All in all, we just enjoyed the time together in a beautiful surrounding. Our family likes to talk about making memories and we made some good ones on this trip! We only took pictures with my parent's camera, so these aren't the best pictures, but I will post more later!
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| A view from a bedroom window - so lush!! |
The helicopter tour was an awesome experience. Brandon, David and my dad and I did this together. We joked afterwards that the pilot was probably a Vietnam Vet pilot. A few times it felt like we were a little too close to a side of a mountain, but I'm sure Bogart had it all under control! The mountains of Kauai, that were formed by volcanoes are absolutely breathtaking. There is so much of the land that is protected/preserved that being in the air is only way to see it and we did see a lot of waterfalls! We have a DVD with the pilot's narration being sent to us!
The other way to see the natural landscape is by water. Sara joined us on the Na'Pali coast tour. My mom was so generous to stay back with the kids. We had to drive around to the west side of the island, about two hours one way, to a small harbor to board our 30 foot HBI (hard bottom inflatable) boat. Now from our previous helicopter tour we had noticed how the calm the water looked. I can confirm, as the passenger sitting in the very front of the boat, holding onto the roped sides, like I was riding a horse...the waters were not all that calm!! I guarantee the people on the larger boats were looking at us saying, "oh why would you want to be on that little boat." Well, because we got to go places that they couldn't! So it the rough ride was worth it, but we all felt pretty beat up by the end of the day. The goal of our tour was to see dolphins, whales, sea turtles, caves formed by the volcanoes and snorkel. Mission accomplished! Within 10 minutes out to sea we saw bottle nosed dolphins and we were quite impressed, but in another 10 minutes we had 50-70 spinner dolphins swimming right next to our boat! Another plus of a smaller boat is that we could reach over and almost touch them! We didn't realize it at the time but we could have gotten in and swam with them, but we had just started the day it the water temperature was 78 degrees and I don't think any of us were feeling quite brave enough. I think we all regret not diving in though! My biggest regret is not having my Flip camera. We only took a waterproof disposable camera. I dropped it off for processing today so we will see what quality of pictures we get from that. Next we saw were NASA used to be and where the military station is now and were told about their underground control center. We all agreed there was some major secret squirrel stuff going on there! Our captain actually pointed out a helicopter that was toting a torpedo and told us that they play "war games" here. Interesting stuff. We saw some sea turtles laying on a reef at a distance. They pretty much looked like big rocks, not all that exciting, but then we got into snorkel and we saw one swimming underwater and that was pretty cool. We saw a lot of fish and Brandon and I even spotted an eel. That water was pretty chilly and some family members would say that once you got it and you got used to it. I was still shaking when I was eating my sandwich! But it was fun and worth it. We continued up the coast and explored the natural volcanic coast line and mountains. Our captain was very informative, but I don't think I retained all that well. A big thing that our smaller sized boat did was enter into the Queen's Bath, which is a cave that the ceiling has fallen in on in the center. So it is a cave, but with an open ceiling and a rock (the ceiling) in the middle. The water inside is like a washing machine! It was thrilling to actually be inside. The last thing on the list was whales. We had seen a few puffs in the distance, but nothing too close. The whales (hump back) are migrating towards Alaska this time of year. The captain spotted a few puffs and this time we went after them (remember how smooth that water is??!!) Well, he had good eyes because we were probably withing 100 yards of it, which is pretty close, considering the size of this mammal and given reports of them ramming boats until they sink. We wanted to get close, but be at a safe distance too! The whale came up and we were all "ooh and ahh" and the captain tells us that was just a calf! It was huge and it was the baby!! The adults can stay underwater from anywhere to 8-20 minutes, but the calf was playing and came up often. We took off and then found another set. These were both adults and you can't even describe their mass. The motor was turned off and we just sat there in silence and you could hear them breaching and then watch them wave their side fins all the down. It was simply amazing and mother nature at it's best! Thank goodness that tidal wave lost momentum and didn't make it to Hawaii so we could enjoy the best the ocean had to offer!!
The kids loved the beach. Elizabeth loves to run into the water with daddy. Unfortunately the first time she did it a small wave at her ankles took her down. You cannot underestimate the power of the ocean and especially in Hawaii, the waves are so much stronger than what I have ever seen on the East coast, the Gulf of the Caribbean. We got the salt our of her eyes and she was right back out there! We collected a lot of seashells and coral. We even found a shell that was still closed, the two halves still together. My dad got it open to show us the oyster. Grant was a little uncertain about the sand on his feet at first, but once he was ok with it, there was no turning back! We had sand everywhere! Let me just say sand sticks to boy parts really well! He is all boy and loved just digging in the sand. He liked to get rinsed off in the ocean with daddy or pops, but mainly preferred the sand.
With all of the rain we saw a handful of rainbows. However, the biggest one we saw was on the way home from the airport in Illinois! It was big, you could see both ends - right here in Illinois - go figure!! We watched a lot of basketball (some more than others), but the games were always over before dinner with the time change and often gave some a reason to roll out of bed! We had some great meals. I had fish tacos for the first time and there were really good. We also had Ono fish and all agreed that if we could fish like that at home we would probably eat it once a week! We discovered a great new mustard called Hawaiian Gold and are awaiting our shipment!
Some of us learned new hobbies, like knitting. No, not me, but Brandon. My mom asked if anyone wanted to learn and he was the first one to raise his hand. He is actually pretty good and has almost completed his hat. We found a great yarn shop in Hana-lei Bay. My mom asked me to pick a color for him and I picked a basic brown. Well, once again I know how to pick them, it was $50! Apparently, this was a very special hand dyed brown color! Needless to say, I re-picked! I will keep you updated on his progress.
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| Elizabeth is laughing so hard because daddy is signing the wrong words to Baa Baa Black Sheep. I just love this moment! |
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Wacky Weather
We are on the island of Kauai and the place that we are staying is located on the north side. From the airport it is about an hour and half - two hour drive. There is only one road that gets you there - Highway 51 (or maybe it was 56 - I'm bad with directions - ask anyone!) Hawaii Highway 51 is a little different than an Illinois highway. Parts of it look similar, but the last part of it is full of twists and turns, one lane bridges and drop off the side of the mountain cliffs. There were at least five bridges between Hanalei (the closest decent sized town) and our place. We arrived on Thursday. The whole week prior the island had received 36 inches of rain - very abnormal. Many streams feed into the ocean and thus a lot of bridges that go over the streams. At least one bridge was closed the three days prior to our arrival, but Thursday morning they were all open and stayed open all day. Time for all of us arrive! My parent's had been there that morning to drop off their luggage and groceries. My mom drove us home from the airport and my dad drove my brother and his wife later that evening. By eight o'clock that night we are all together. Time for vacation to start! The kids were worn out and fell asleep in grandma and grandpa's arms and we were all pretty tuckered out too! We all turned in and that's when it started...more rain accompanied with a thunderstorm. Here is a run down of our weather:
Thursday - We arrive to partly cloudy skies, but it is warm. Thunderstorm that night.
Friday - Bridges are closed (again!). It rained all day. Dad and Sara and I ventured out just to see if anything was open. Red Hot Mamas convenient store was open, but not much to offer. We were after ice and milk. She had neither! Well, technically there were two bags of ice, but they were in the ice cream freezer helping it stay cold! The Red Hot Mama told us that she doesn't get milk deliveries because the bridges can't support the weight of a milk truck. Interesting! We sit in the hot tub and get natural rain water facials and we are sure this is wonderful for our skin because it is Hawaiian Water! Maybe I have read one too many Fancy Nancy books! During that night and into the next morning it stormed again, even harder. It was kind of thunder that wakes you from a dead sleep because your bed is shaking. Hawaii knows how to do a thunderstorm!
Saturday - 5:30 am the power goes out. Dad reads online that Kauai has been declared a State of Disaster. We now accept that we are part of a natural disaster and my brother recommends rationing food and penalties for sneaking food! I wasn't really worried, remember all that food I packed for the plane?! We break out the cards and dice! It never stopped raining for more than 15-20 minutes. The power returned just as the sun was starting to set. No storms tonight.
Sunday - Today we had scheduled a boat tour of the Na'Pali Coast - we had to reschedule. David and Sara venture out and find the bridges to be open, but shortly after they return there are reports that they are again closed! It rained all morning, afternoon and evening...
(It sounds doom and gloom, but our spirits were high. After all, we were all together and it really became rather comical!)
Monday - We woke up to sun!! The bridges are open! We played at the beach down the road, watch tree trimmers on the side of the mountain and kite surfers in our backyard.
Tuesday - Forecast was not great, but it turned out to be a good day. It was a mix of sun and clouds and few passing showers, but not bad. We had our fingers crossed for good weather because some of us were doing a helicopter tour.
Wednesday - Apparently, we avoided a tidal wave that lost momentum in the ocean due to an earthquake overnight in Japan. Geesh!! Since the tidal wave warning was called off the Na'Pali Coast boat tour was on and we had a great day for it. It was a little cool, but we had sun most of the day and sunburns to prove it! While we were gone a tree fell and blocked this infamous Highway 51 for over four hours!! While cutting it into pieces to remove it they hit a bee hive and the bees swarmed like crazy! Glad we weren't waiting in our car for that special event!
Thursday - Perfect day! This was the first day that I actually got hot and even wore my swimsuit to the beach! We had sun and a breeze (not wind!) and most of all NO RAIN!! We had just finished dinner and thinking what a wonderful day it had been and the POWER GOES OUT AGAIN!! We had a candlelight atmosphere for a bit and did some awesome star gazing, but then everyone headed to bed. Luckily, the power came back withing a few hours while we were sleeping.
Friday - Our last day was a great one to end on. We enjoyed the beach and the sun all morning and early afternoon. Grant and I caught a nap in the hammock. Brandon snorkeled right outside our door and we went to a Lu-Au that evening.
Saturday - We didn't get to enjoy much of this beautiful day as we were packing up to leave :(
Thursday - We arrive to partly cloudy skies, but it is warm. Thunderstorm that night.
Friday - Bridges are closed (again!). It rained all day. Dad and Sara and I ventured out just to see if anything was open. Red Hot Mamas convenient store was open, but not much to offer. We were after ice and milk. She had neither! Well, technically there were two bags of ice, but they were in the ice cream freezer helping it stay cold! The Red Hot Mama told us that she doesn't get milk deliveries because the bridges can't support the weight of a milk truck. Interesting! We sit in the hot tub and get natural rain water facials and we are sure this is wonderful for our skin because it is Hawaiian Water! Maybe I have read one too many Fancy Nancy books! During that night and into the next morning it stormed again, even harder. It was kind of thunder that wakes you from a dead sleep because your bed is shaking. Hawaii knows how to do a thunderstorm!
Saturday - 5:30 am the power goes out. Dad reads online that Kauai has been declared a State of Disaster. We now accept that we are part of a natural disaster and my brother recommends rationing food and penalties for sneaking food! I wasn't really worried, remember all that food I packed for the plane?! We break out the cards and dice! It never stopped raining for more than 15-20 minutes. The power returned just as the sun was starting to set. No storms tonight.
Sunday - Today we had scheduled a boat tour of the Na'Pali Coast - we had to reschedule. David and Sara venture out and find the bridges to be open, but shortly after they return there are reports that they are again closed! It rained all morning, afternoon and evening...
(It sounds doom and gloom, but our spirits were high. After all, we were all together and it really became rather comical!)
Monday - We woke up to sun!! The bridges are open! We played at the beach down the road, watch tree trimmers on the side of the mountain and kite surfers in our backyard.
Tuesday - Forecast was not great, but it turned out to be a good day. It was a mix of sun and clouds and few passing showers, but not bad. We had our fingers crossed for good weather because some of us were doing a helicopter tour.
Wednesday - Apparently, we avoided a tidal wave that lost momentum in the ocean due to an earthquake overnight in Japan. Geesh!! Since the tidal wave warning was called off the Na'Pali Coast boat tour was on and we had a great day for it. It was a little cool, but we had sun most of the day and sunburns to prove it! While we were gone a tree fell and blocked this infamous Highway 51 for over four hours!! While cutting it into pieces to remove it they hit a bee hive and the bees swarmed like crazy! Glad we weren't waiting in our car for that special event!
Thursday - Perfect day! This was the first day that I actually got hot and even wore my swimsuit to the beach! We had sun and a breeze (not wind!) and most of all NO RAIN!! We had just finished dinner and thinking what a wonderful day it had been and the POWER GOES OUT AGAIN!! We had a candlelight atmosphere for a bit and did some awesome star gazing, but then everyone headed to bed. Luckily, the power came back withing a few hours while we were sleeping.
Friday - Our last day was a great one to end on. We enjoyed the beach and the sun all morning and early afternoon. Grant and I caught a nap in the hammock. Brandon snorkeled right outside our door and we went to a Lu-Au that evening.
Saturday - We didn't get to enjoy much of this beautiful day as we were packing up to leave :(
Friday, March 9, 2012
Rock Star Travelers
So I actually wrote this post on our second day of vacation, but it my haste managed to delete the whole thing while correcting a spelling error - arg!! So here it goes again and you know things never flow the same the second time!
We are really proud of the kids, all things considered they did great! My alarm was set to go off at 1:15am. At 12:50 am, Elizabeth comes into our room, wide awake. Not exactly the start I had hoped for. By the time we were loaded Grant was awake too. You would think with a two and half hour drive, in the dark, in the middle of the night they would fall back asleep...nope!! Elizabeth kept saying, "this is taking sooo long." Oh girlfriend, you have no idea what you are in for!! Come to find out she thought we were flying out of the Bloomington airport, so no wonder O'hare seemed sooo far away! Even though they were awake they did well.
We got checked in and headed for security. The line was pretty long, but we are doing fine. We make it past the paperwork checkpoint and are almost to x-ray when we hear, "I have to go potty." My eyes roll, really? right now?? "Can you hold it?" - "No" Do we really want to start our day with an accident. So I rush her back to the security lady and ask where the closest restroom is and if we can come right back to our spot. Luckily, she asked me if I had our boarding passes, which I didn't, they were in Brandon's pocket. We made it to the bathroom and through security and even found a McDonald's for a breakfast burrito!
Time to board...We gate check the stroller, but we still have a small suitcase and two backpacks. As we try to enter the bridge lady says we have to check the suitcase because they are running out of overhead compartment space. Um, no, I have essentials in there - Benadryl, extra diapers, back-up clothes. I decide the plea. "Please, we are traveling with small children, there are things in there that I need on the plane." Her response, "Pull them out and put them in your other carry-on." Is this lady crazy? Can she not see that our backpacks are bulging? So I try again, "Please ma'am I really need this suitcase, could someone else check theirs?" Now I get attitude..."Would you like to be the person to tell them that your stuff is more important than theirs?" Oh my goodness, I almost start crying, but instead I motion for Brandon and Elizabeth to ahead and I would deal with this lovely lady. As I am filling out the tag info, Brandon comes back and says, "Alison, come on, there is room!" I swoop up Grant and dart. The bridge lady follows and continues a conversation with the flight attendant. I keep walking, but all I hear is attendant say, "This is my first day." and the bridge lady replies, "I'm done!!" We easily, EASILY find room for our suitcase.
And so it begins...Everyone takes a little snooze, we are eating, playing games, watching shows. The most you hear from our row is a little shout ever now and then, but no pro-longed crying! We are nervous about a very short layover in California, but our flight gets in 20 minutes early and the gates are right next to each other! It is now feeling like lunch time and Brandon runs to BK and we grab chicken nuggets to eat on the plane. We sit on the tarmac for 45 minutes. There are two other families seated nearby us, one family has a set of twins. Needless to say they were cute, but not so found of confinement. One of them cried/screamed off and on the entire flight. Elizabeth and Grant both took great naps and thanks to Bose, Brandon enjoyed one too. I practiced deep breathing. Elizabeth's ears hurt on the descent. The flight attendant asked if I had a bottle for her. Nope didn't pack a bottle for my 3 1/2 year old! I had her blink three times and make a funny face and waved my hands in a magical way and she felt better! Mommy magic...works every-time!
We land and we call the day of travel a success!! Will we be so lucky twice?
We are really proud of the kids, all things considered they did great! My alarm was set to go off at 1:15am. At 12:50 am, Elizabeth comes into our room, wide awake. Not exactly the start I had hoped for. By the time we were loaded Grant was awake too. You would think with a two and half hour drive, in the dark, in the middle of the night they would fall back asleep...nope!! Elizabeth kept saying, "this is taking sooo long." Oh girlfriend, you have no idea what you are in for!! Come to find out she thought we were flying out of the Bloomington airport, so no wonder O'hare seemed sooo far away! Even though they were awake they did well.
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| Carry-on Luggage - back packs are great, but don't fit under the seat that well! |
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| Oh yea, did I mention we have an umbrella stroller and two car-seats too! |
We got checked in and headed for security. The line was pretty long, but we are doing fine. We make it past the paperwork checkpoint and are almost to x-ray when we hear, "I have to go potty." My eyes roll, really? right now?? "Can you hold it?" - "No" Do we really want to start our day with an accident. So I rush her back to the security lady and ask where the closest restroom is and if we can come right back to our spot. Luckily, she asked me if I had our boarding passes, which I didn't, they were in Brandon's pocket. We made it to the bathroom and through security and even found a McDonald's for a breakfast burrito!
Time to board...We gate check the stroller, but we still have a small suitcase and two backpacks. As we try to enter the bridge lady says we have to check the suitcase because they are running out of overhead compartment space. Um, no, I have essentials in there - Benadryl, extra diapers, back-up clothes. I decide the plea. "Please, we are traveling with small children, there are things in there that I need on the plane." Her response, "Pull them out and put them in your other carry-on." Is this lady crazy? Can she not see that our backpacks are bulging? So I try again, "Please ma'am I really need this suitcase, could someone else check theirs?" Now I get attitude..."Would you like to be the person to tell them that your stuff is more important than theirs?" Oh my goodness, I almost start crying, but instead I motion for Brandon and Elizabeth to ahead and I would deal with this lovely lady. As I am filling out the tag info, Brandon comes back and says, "Alison, come on, there is room!" I swoop up Grant and dart. The bridge lady follows and continues a conversation with the flight attendant. I keep walking, but all I hear is attendant say, "This is my first day." and the bridge lady replies, "I'm done!!" We easily, EASILY find room for our suitcase.
And so it begins...Everyone takes a little snooze, we are eating, playing games, watching shows. The most you hear from our row is a little shout ever now and then, but no pro-longed crying! We are nervous about a very short layover in California, but our flight gets in 20 minutes early and the gates are right next to each other! It is now feeling like lunch time and Brandon runs to BK and we grab chicken nuggets to eat on the plane. We sit on the tarmac for 45 minutes. There are two other families seated nearby us, one family has a set of twins. Needless to say they were cute, but not so found of confinement. One of them cried/screamed off and on the entire flight. Elizabeth and Grant both took great naps and thanks to Bose, Brandon enjoyed one too. I practiced deep breathing. Elizabeth's ears hurt on the descent. The flight attendant asked if I had a bottle for her. Nope didn't pack a bottle for my 3 1/2 year old! I had her blink three times and make a funny face and waved my hands in a magical way and she felt better! Mommy magic...works every-time!
We land and we call the day of travel a success!! Will we be so lucky twice?
Monday, March 5, 2012
Preparation
In three days our family will be leaving on a very special vacation to Hawaii. I have been mentally preparing for months, but it has come time to start putting the wheels in motion. I tried to explain the luggage situation to my husband. "We will each have a back pack, one with food, one with entertainment, the umbrella stroller will be gate checked, the car seats will be checked at the counter, we will take one suitcase as a carry-on with extra clothes for ALL of us, (pretty certain he stopped listening two backpacks ago!) a smaller bag with diaper changing stuff, I will put my wrist-let in one of the carry-on's, and then of course the regular suitcases that will just be checked." Are you following me honey? Are you listening?
God bless him, he told me to relax and that we would pack on Sunday and he would help and he was wonderful help! I went shopping on Saturday for the food and entertainment. We need 20 hours of just plane entertainment. Our flights are broken up into 5 hour legs, but we have to keep the kids busy. So I raided the Happy Meal toy stash. I went to Barnes & Nobel and bought some really cool books, that I can't wait for them to see! We have coloring books, activity books, crayons, water paint brushes, cards, paper dolls, journals, etc... I had a hard time getting stuff for Grant, everything I looked at I thought, "He could throw that, or he might choke on the that, too messy, too loud...." I am hoping he really likes the books and mommy and daddy's silly antics! The iPad will be loaded with new shows and apps the night before we leave. We are leaving our house at 1:30 AM, for a 6:00 AM flight and have only a 45 minute layover in California, so I am not planning on having much time to grab food. Plus, eating can be entertaining. Heaven help us! I bought peanut butter crackers, Jelly Belly's, mini M&M's, granola bars, oatmeal squares, suckers, fruit snacks, squeeze tubes of apple sauce, squeeze tubes with vegetables, dried apples, Twizzlers, trail mixes, sour gummy worms (for us!)... Oh and of course blankets for each of them and sippy cups. The pediatrician also recommended Benadryl, in case things get hairy! We are prepared for the worst and will hope for the best! In general, our kids are good travelers and good at restaurants, but this is for ten hours, so we shall see! I am hoping they will slide into their car seats and sleep until we get to the airport and then if we can stay awake and happy for the first leg, maybe we can all get a snooze on the 2nd leg. Brandon has his noise cancelling headphones packed! I may fight him for them!
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| This is just the stuff to go into checked luggage. Love our packing cubes, they are a must for anyone who travels frequently! All of our carry-on stuff is in a separate pile! |
God bless him, he told me to relax and that we would pack on Sunday and he would help and he was wonderful help! I went shopping on Saturday for the food and entertainment. We need 20 hours of just plane entertainment. Our flights are broken up into 5 hour legs, but we have to keep the kids busy. So I raided the Happy Meal toy stash. I went to Barnes & Nobel and bought some really cool books, that I can't wait for them to see! We have coloring books, activity books, crayons, water paint brushes, cards, paper dolls, journals, etc... I had a hard time getting stuff for Grant, everything I looked at I thought, "He could throw that, or he might choke on the that, too messy, too loud...." I am hoping he really likes the books and mommy and daddy's silly antics! The iPad will be loaded with new shows and apps the night before we leave. We are leaving our house at 1:30 AM, for a 6:00 AM flight and have only a 45 minute layover in California, so I am not planning on having much time to grab food. Plus, eating can be entertaining. Heaven help us! I bought peanut butter crackers, Jelly Belly's, mini M&M's, granola bars, oatmeal squares, suckers, fruit snacks, squeeze tubes of apple sauce, squeeze tubes with vegetables, dried apples, Twizzlers, trail mixes, sour gummy worms (for us!)... Oh and of course blankets for each of them and sippy cups. The pediatrician also recommended Benadryl, in case things get hairy! We are prepared for the worst and will hope for the best! In general, our kids are good travelers and good at restaurants, but this is for ten hours, so we shall see! I am hoping they will slide into their car seats and sleep until we get to the airport and then if we can stay awake and happy for the first leg, maybe we can all get a snooze on the 2nd leg. Brandon has his noise cancelling headphones packed! I may fight him for them!
Got Milk?
Just when I think I have conquered the most interesting questions with clever answers, I get thrown another curve ball! Sunday after church this was my conversation with Elizabeth:
E: "Girl cows make milk"
Me: "Yes honey, they do"
E: "Why?"
Me: "Because mommies make milk for their babies"
E: "You didn't make milk"
Me: uhhh "Yes, actually, all mommies make milk for their babies" (I choose not to through in an extra lesson here on mammals)
E: "What do you call the milk you made for us?"
Me: oh gesh, are we really having this conversation? oh wait, I think she has her own answer, this should be good
E: "I know" (she starts to whisper) "It's called chocolate milk"
Me: Mothers making chocolate milk, well that would be interesting, but I'd best set the record straight "No, it's called breast milk"
E: "Oh" followed by the biggest eye roll I have ever seen from my daughter!
Later in the day....
I have been talking about having a garage sale and cleaning out some of the baby stuff we don't use anymore and try to reclaim our basement. Elizabeth really likes to play baby, especially with the baby stuff.
E: "Mommy, someday I might come home to your house."
Me: "Ok" where in the world is this going?
E: "I might have babies"
Me: "I hope you do someday"
E: sniffles begin "Mommy you can't get rid of the baby stuff, what will my babies use?"
Honestly, my first thought was, am I supposed to keep this stuff for another 20+ years for my grandchildren?! No that's just crazy.
Me: "Honey, don't worry we will buy it back if we need it again someday!"
E: "But Mommy....."
I continue to convince her for the next few minutes that it will be ok if get rid of the baby stuff. Never once did she say, "but I like to play with it!" or "what if we have another baby?" I guess I was spared a few extra questions! She keeps us on our toes!
E: "Girl cows make milk"
Me: "Yes honey, they do"
E: "Why?"
Me: "Because mommies make milk for their babies"
E: "You didn't make milk"
Me: uhhh "Yes, actually, all mommies make milk for their babies" (I choose not to through in an extra lesson here on mammals)
E: "What do you call the milk you made for us?"
Me: oh gesh, are we really having this conversation? oh wait, I think she has her own answer, this should be good
E: "I know" (she starts to whisper) "It's called chocolate milk"
Me: Mothers making chocolate milk, well that would be interesting, but I'd best set the record straight "No, it's called breast milk"
E: "Oh" followed by the biggest eye roll I have ever seen from my daughter!
Later in the day....
I have been talking about having a garage sale and cleaning out some of the baby stuff we don't use anymore and try to reclaim our basement. Elizabeth really likes to play baby, especially with the baby stuff.
E: "Mommy, someday I might come home to your house."
Me: "Ok" where in the world is this going?
E: "I might have babies"
Me: "I hope you do someday"
E: sniffles begin "Mommy you can't get rid of the baby stuff, what will my babies use?"
Honestly, my first thought was, am I supposed to keep this stuff for another 20+ years for my grandchildren?! No that's just crazy.
Me: "Honey, don't worry we will buy it back if we need it again someday!"
E: "But Mommy....."
I continue to convince her for the next few minutes that it will be ok if get rid of the baby stuff. Never once did she say, "but I like to play with it!" or "what if we have another baby?" I guess I was spared a few extra questions! She keeps us on our toes!
Grant & Books
I have to get a picture of our little man draped across the recliner with a book in hand! He has hit that phase where he always has a book. His favorite book right now is Animal Sounds. He knows all of the animals, but can only say a few of the names. He says "duck," which thankfully comes out sounding like "duck!" He has his own version of "dog." If you ask him "what sound does a ______ make?" he almost always responds with a neighing horse sound and a head shake! Although today I did get a "Maamaa" sound for the goat. His other favorite book is a large picture book of animals. He likes to be quizzed. "Grant where are the fish?" Actually, he likes playing this game with any book! Grant doesn't have anything in particular he sleeps with, no special blanket or toy. However, he does like to pick out book to take to bed with him.
I just got the Baby Center update on my 20 month old (already???) and it says they can learn 10 new words a day, even if they don't speak them, they all get stored in that rapidly developing noggin! Guess we'd better make sure we are teaching him the right words!
I just got the Baby Center update on my 20 month old (already???) and it says they can learn 10 new words a day, even if they don't speak them, they all get stored in that rapidly developing noggin! Guess we'd better make sure we are teaching him the right words!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Mama Knows
I totally believe in motherly instincts and a mother's intuition. Grant didn't sleep well the other night and the next morning was running a slight fever. I had a hard time taking his temperature because he didn't want me anywhere near his ear. He also got upset when I put his shirt on him, like it hurt his ear when I pulled it down. I called the doctor and they got him in very quickly. Sure enough, he had an ear infection. The doc said his ear was the color of his shirt, which was bright red. Poor guy! I am glad I got him in so quick and on meds right away. I have never taken my kids to the doctor and something have not been wrong with them. Mommy's just know when their babies are sick!
Kids in the Kitchen #4
It was actually so nice out today that when we got home we went for a walk. We took a walk without a stroller. Elizabeth rode her bike and did a really good job (training wheels of course!). I pushed Grant in his little car and Jack was just happy to be with us! I was able to walk at a quick enough pace that I broke a sweat! I couldn't help to think though that our stroller days are coming to an end. On the way home Elizabeth wanted to push Grant and have me walk her bike. I did this for about two house lengths and told her to get back on her bike! It is going to be a fun and active summer - I can't wait! They were so much fun today!
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