The adventure begins...

I was having a very hard time finding a field trip for Mikie's Magic Tree House Book: Tonight On The Titanic. When I mentioned to my husband that it's too bad we weren't closer to Orlando so we could take him to the Titanic exhibit, he told me that he had been needing to go to Jacksonville for Navy business anyway. As it turned out, it was perfect timing (or so we thought!)

Zachary had just recently gotten over a pink eye virus. Mikie was on the last few days of having it. And I was right in the middle of the annoying symptoms which forced me to back out of teaching Sunday school, allowing us to leave early that morning. We drove seven hours and made it to Savannah, Georgia where we ate "mudbugs" and spent the night at a Winngate Hotel (which Mikie later told us was his favorite part of the trip..yes, the entire trip!...Why?... because it had a balcony that looked down over the lobby. Really? Why did we even bother going to Disney??? ). The next morning, we only had about 2 hours left to get to Jacksonville, so we took a short detour to Amelia Island and enjoyed an hour on the beach.

The boys enjoyed picking through piles of seashells, finding their favorite ones to keep and also the ugly ones to throw in the water.

Mikie got a little too wild with his throw and ended up falling into the water.

Another wild, spin throw:

He didn't like the feeling of his wet pants so it was off to the car for a change of clothes and then back to the beach to build a "volcano" in the sand.

The boys & their volcanoes:

Zachary loved spending time with daddy throwing shells in the water and chasing the seagulls.

We drove into town and ate lunch at the hottest restaurant in town. Seriously, it was actually on fire! As we were driving towards the little restaurant that we remembered from our first trip to the town more than 7 years ago, the fire trucks passed us and we jokingly said, "Hope it's not The Happy Tomato Cafe." Turns out, the kitchen was on fire, but they were still serving food; so, we enjoyed lunch and sunshine on the patio. About this time, I was beginning to worry about Mikie's cough, his complaint of being tired & head hurting, and his lack of appetite.

The boys napped in the van as we drove down to Jacksonville beach and found mini-golf course #1 at Adventure Landing.

The hazards of mini-golf in Florida:

The crocodile almost looked real, especially with the live ducks swimming right next to it! LOL!

We all played the first 18 holes, and then just the boys played the second 18 hole course due to the sunsetting. Mikie got two hole-in-ones on both of the last holes! We played a few games in the arcade and were blessed with our first random act of kindness (there'll be one more later in the trip). A young couple gave us their 1200 ticket voucher to turn in for prizes. Their generosity allowed both boys to get airplanes propelled by a gun shooter and nubby gertie balls, amongst many other small things. From here, we drove to Carraba's and the trip started to sprial downhill faster than we realized. Michael was getting the chills and felt drained while Mikie was still complaining of all the previously listed symptoms. We promptly checked into the hotel and got a good night's rest.

In the morning, Michael was much better and had to go to meetings on base. I too was headed on base to take Mikie to the ER for a suspected sinus infection. After 3 hours, they diagnosed him with an upper respiratory infection brought on by allergies, but told me his lungs sounded clear. I walked out of there with a sackful of free medicine (a phenomenon I haven't experienced in over 2 years since every trip to our ped's office costs us upwards of $100 in homeopathic medicines) and a very uneasy feeling about their ability to hear my son struggling for breath. Heeding the advice from our regular pediatrician, I started giving him allergy medicine as well as nebulizer treatments and with-in a day he was improving and complaining less.

When Michael came back that evening (feeling perfectly fine), we went to dinner at Ted's Montana Grill. I didn't know until after we walked in how perfect this place is for Mikie's next Magic Tree House Book "Buffaloes Before Breakfast." We'll be finding one closer to home in the next few weeks and returning with his book for reference.

Health Summary Day 1: Mikie Asthma & Tracy Pink Eye

Health Summary Day 2: Mikie Asthma, Tracy Pink Eye, Michael Chills/Exhaustion

Health Summary Day 3: Mikie ER visit Allergies/Asthma, Tracy Pink Eye almost healed, Michael totally fine

Monster Jam in Richmond & Baltimore

This post is actually a combination of two separate monster truck events combined for the sole purpose of not wanting to write about each one individually. I messed up and put the first show at the end so you'll actually be seeing the most recent experience first.


Only two weeks after the first monster jam live in Richmond (see pictures at the end of post) we decided to see another show in Baltimore because this one had "the cats." We drove up and made it just in time for the last 1/2 hour of the pit pass where you get to go down to the arena and meet the drivers & trucks.

Samson

"The Cats:" Prowler

&
Predator

Crazy Train

Grave Digger

Rap Attack

After Shock

The boys usually get a new monster truck to play with when we go to these things, but this time they both wanted a "Puff Truck" (aka pillow).

I wanted Zach to sleep in the car, but that didn't happen; so, he ended up falling asleep on Michael's lap for about 10 minutes before the show started.

Now these pictures begin our Richmond experience:

It had been nearly a year since we last saw a monster truck show and at first the boys were very excited. Then, they were unsure about the loudness of it all, so we bought them a second set of earmuffs.

I had just bought a new monster truck shirt from Gymboree for Mikie and threw on Zachary's cute monster truck vest that I love so much. While we were standing in line to get pictures with the first driver, Michael and I debated on purchasing a program so the boys could get some autographs. We decided pictures would be good enough and didn't spend the $10 on a program. It was now our turn to meet the driver and before I knew what was going on the driver was signing Mikie's good shirt with a sharpie! I quickly raced up and told him NOT to sign Zachary's vest! Come to find out, Mikie had went right up and asked him "Will you sign my shirt?" I guess he remembered that we had done that last year on the shirts Boagie made for them. Consequently, when we approached each driver I said it was ok to sign the big one's shirt, but not the little one's.

Zachary's favorite "neigh, neigh truck" Black StallionMopar Magic

Iron Warrior

War Wizard

Bad News

Stone Crusher

With their little orange earplugs

Zachary's tire earmuffs squish his little face, making him look a little pudgy.

He was just so cute sitting there "thinking."

While I wouldn't trade my boys for anything, I do hope someday I will be trading in these monster truck shows for a Princesses on Ice ;~)

Field Trip #16 "Hour Of The Olympics"

Knowing that the Olympics were coming up, I made sure Mikie was reading book #16 Hour Of The Olympics in February. The story was actually set in Ancient Greece during the first Olympics, but beggars can't be choosers and I decided this was close enough. This "field trip" actually turned out really well:

On the opening night of the Olympics, we invited Kaitlyn & Lily to spend the night with us and enjoy the activities I had planned (because girls enjoy crafts more anyways!) The kids colored 5 paper plate rings (did you know they represent the 5 continents in the Olympics. N&S America are considered one and Antarctica isn't counted)

They also made torches with aluminum foil, soda bottles, and tissue paper. Kaitlyn was so cute and excited for the crafts. She even asked what the 3rd craft was going to be. Too bad I only had two!


The kids show off their Olympic rings and torches.

Mikie with his cheesy smile and book.

The children were all VERY excited when I told them we would be watching the torch being lit on the T.V. They climbed up on the couch "in the balcony" (as my children call it) and kept asking if it was time for the Olympics to start yet. (notice Zach has on one sock...he hurt his toe and doesn't like to have it uncovered ever)

Now, I knew I'd have to keep the kids up a little late as the opening ceremonies weren't scheduled to come on until 7:30pm, but what I didn't realize was that the torch lighting wouldn't be until the very end of the presentation 5 hours later! Therefore, our evening went something like this:

6:30 Craft #1

7:00 Craft #2

7:15 Questions begin "When are the Olympics going to start?"

7:30 Excitement builds as the T.V. is flipped on

7:40 Questions continue when they learn that an Olympian has lost his life

7:42 I now have to explain the blood they just saw in one of the pictures

7:43 More Questions about why he is dead

7:44 We say a prayer for his family and friends (my attempt to bring closure to the subject)

7:45 The T.V. is muted and we all head to the kitchen for brownies

8:00 We hear that the opening ceremonies will begin in 30 minutes.

8:01 I realize it's going to be a much later night than I had anticipated

8:10 Pajamas are put on and teeth are brushed to "expedite things"

8:20 More Questions about when we're going to see the torch (remember I still thought it would be the first thing in the opening ceremony)

8:30 The opening ceremony begins with pictures of Vancouver and the kids finally have something to "see" on T.V.

8:40 The pretty scenery ends and MORE commentary follows

8:45 The natives are hungry again. We pull out the pretzels.

8:46 I realize we'll have to re-brush their teeth

9:00 The IOC is announced, the flag is marched in, the anthem is sung.

9:10 The children are fading quickly:

9:15 The Olympians begin to enter the arena.

9:25 I realize they are coming in alphabetically and we are only on the letter "C"!!!

9:26 I come to terms with the fact that we will not be watching the torch ceremony live (thank goodness for TiVo!)

9:27 Everyone is marched upstairs. Teeth are brushed again. They are all tucked in their beds.

9:30 Giggles coming from Mikie's room where 3 of the 4 are tucked in.

9:31 Zachary is down for the night in his crib alone in his room. 1 down 3 to go.

9:35 I make my first trip upstairs to encourage less talking and more sleeping

9:45 Second trip upstairs and everyone revisits the bathroom to use the potty once more

9:47 Everyone tucked in again. I head downstairs and watch the Olympians from the United States come in.

9:55 I make a third trip upstairs and speak my expectations a little more firmly
10:00 No more noise to be heard. I assume they've all fallen asleep.

10:05 I prepare tomorrow's breakfast: Olympic Ring Donuts

10:25 T.V's turned off, Michael & I head upstairs, exhausted.

10:30 I go in to check on the three and find Lily is STILL awake. She's quiet so I go to bed and don't hear a thing all night.

6:00 a.m. Mikie gets up to use the bathroom and turns on the light, which wakes up Kaitlyn & Lily

6:01 I tell them it is NOT time to wake up, turn off the light, close the door and go back to bed.

6:03 Giggling (I try to ignore it)

6:05 Louder Giggling. I go in and tell them to look at books until I come back to get them.

6:06 I shower & get ready, pondering why in the world they didn't sleep in.

6:30 Zach wakes up. I let them come downstairs.

6:45 Breakfast is served. Krispie Kremes with colored icing:

7:00 I fast forward the first 3 hours of the recorded Olympic program, we take pictures by the T.V., and the opening ceremony show finally begins

8:00 The kids light each other's torches

8:05 They practice passing the flame to one another (just like on the TV in the background):

8:10 THE OLYMPIC FLAME!!!!!

8:30 We're all dressed, loaded in the mini-van, and headed to bowling to meet Kaitlyn & Lily's parents. First sleep over = A lot of fun + a very late night

11:00 After bowling, we continued the field trip at the restaurant: Jimmy The Greek

Mikie poses by a statue outside Jimmy The Greek holding his research guide about Ancient Greece.

We learned about the Chariot races in the book and were pleased to see an example of one in the window.

The kids compare the pictures on the menu with the ones in the book.Mikie even got to meet Jimmy The Greek when he came to our table and signed our book!

Mikie had olives, tried the hummus and souvlaki, and completely enjoyed the baklava for dessert. As we left, Michael taught him how to say Thank You in Greek and Jimmy gave them all a sticker.