Just the two of us

For a fabulous 5 days in May, Michael and I escaped to Hawaii for some time to ourselves. My generous mother agreed to fly out and take care of our boys so I could accompany Michael on his Navy trip to Ohau. Yes, he did have to work, but on the flip side, the hotel, car, and his flight were already paid for. Which only left my plane ticket to purchase, and for that we used our airline miles. So really, all we had to pay for was our meals which far exceeded his perdiem (amount the Navy pays you for food while you are traveling) but they were all eaten "kid free" so it was well worth it.

While Michael worked, I spent the first day visiting my former kindergarten students at Christian Academy. I was able to get a great picture of 10 of them that are still attending the school (but didn't want to post it since I didn't have their parents' permission). I really can't believe they are in the 6th grade already! I told them I would be back in 6 years to watch them all graduate!

The second day I spent 6 hours reading by the pool (but never in the sun). I kept moving chairs whenever the sun would creep towards my side of the pool. I am probably the only person who went to Hawaii and never got my swimsuit wet. I just enjoyed reading my book in the shade (which was hot enough without the scorching sun) and sipping on several frozen Bahama Mamas. The Hilton Hawaiian Village makes THE BEST frozen Bahama Mamas! In fact, they were so good I asked the bartender to write down the recipe so we could duplicate it at home. The third day in Hawaii was probably my favorite. I went shopping at the Ala Moana Mall and didn't even set foot into a children's store. I wanted a few new summer tops and really wasn't looking for anything else. But it just so happens that the sales lady in the White & Black store really knows how to do her job. After looking through the store and finding one top that I wanted to try on, I headed to the dressing room. The nice sales girl asked what my pant and shoe sizes were too, so I played along and told her. I spent the next hour and a half feeling like Julia Roberts in pretty woman, as I allowed her to dress me up in various outfits and then twirled around in front of the mirror hearing her oohs and ahhs. I must say I even oohed and ahhed at myself a few times. I was having so much fun....that is....until I looked at the price tags. Ouch! I have never ever, ever paid more than $30 for a pair of shoes and even then they were just a specially dyed pair of satin shoes from Payless for my junior prom. I am just not a purse or shoe person. So even I was flabbergasted when I placed the $88 pair of black slingback heels on the counter, along with 2 bustiers, a tunic, and a pair of cropped jeans and reached for my credit card. The lady was good at her job, heck no, she was GREAT at her job, because four hundred dollars later I walked out of there with five items in my bag; but with that came a huge feeling of guilt. The only thing that kept a smile on my face was thinking about how cute I was going to look and how much fun I had. I had to keep telling myself that I paid a little more than I usually would have for clothes for myself all because of the "experience." It truly was so much fun being a live barbie doll! That night Michael was impressed by my new outfit, despite knowing how much it had set him back, so it was all worth it!

Michael had finished all of his meetings a day early, so we spent the last day in Hawaii driving around the island and reminiscing about living there prior to kids. The trip ended all too soon when we had to leave at 6:00 am the next morning. I owe my mom a huge thank you for taking care of the boys and another thank you to my dad for allowing her to come out. I only wish we lived closer so that we were able to do this more often.

Here are a few pictures of our drive around the island:

Down Under #20

I can hardly believe that we are now two-thirds of the way finished with Mikie's field trips. The Magic Tree House series continues even further (over 40 books) but after book #29 then they travel to Camelot and the Merlin Missions begin. Just by glancing at the titles of those books, I can tell there won't be any accompanying field trips. So, we'll savor every moment of the next 10 books and try to get to #30 Christmas In Camelot by December.

There are times when I wish Mikie would let us read a few books out of order, like High Tide In Hawaii , which would have been perfect a year ago when we were actually in Hawaii. As well as this one Dingoes At Dinnertime, also perfect last year when our VBS was Australian themed. But then again, I'm glad he likes to read them in order because they do have little mysteries to solve that would be spoiled by reading ahead.

So, back to the field trip: Of course I wanted a zoo that had as many animals from Australia as possible, which led us to the Catoctin Zoo near Frederick, Maryland. Since our weekends are filling up very quickly, we decided to head there after church on Sunday and we arrived at about 2:30 pm. Had I not just witnessed us crossing the border into Maryland, I could have sworn we were back in WA...It was that kind of a day...beautiful in my eyes.......low 60's, overcast, a chance of occasional drizzle.......jacket weather! Perfect!!!! And the best part.....hardly any people!!!!!!! It was a great escape and a fabulous family day.

Mikie at the entrance to the Australia exhibits. I love that they had aboriginal paintings on the fence and one of them was the serpent from our book!

Heading into the outback.
We heard the cassowary make a funny call. Mikie does some research about the emus.

The Emus were very curious...

Mikie wanted them to see their pictures in the book, but they almost ate this page.

When we approached the kangaroos and the dingoes neither animal was visible from the path and I was beginning to think that we should have drove to another zoo. But then a worker walked by and said she would try to lure them out of their dens. It worked!

This is one of only four zoos with dingoes on exhibit and we got to see him!

The boys had fun running back and forth to race the dingo from one side of his cage to the other. Video below:

Then the kangaroo came out to see us. When we were at this zoo 5 years ago, I remembered there being a lot more kangaroos. The zoo keeper told us that they used to have many more, but only one was left after visitors accidentally poisoned them by feeding them buttercups.

This was the lucky one who came out for us to observe the way he jumped and used his tail for balance.

Although you can't tell it from this picture, Zachary really enjoyed the "tain-duh-roo." He even got a stuffed one as his souvenir. It has quickly become one of his favorite animals; as now he loves pointing out all the pictures of kangaroos in our books.

The only animal we didn't get to see (besides the Koalas-that we'd have to go to the San Diego Zoo to see) was the Kookaburra. His habitat was being renovated so he wasn't on display.

After leaving the land down under, we enjoyed the rest of the zoo. Zachary got to see his "mingos" and Mikie said his favorite was the snake house where were saw a lot of humongous pythons! But I think my favorite was watching the boys feed the goats, lamas, and alpacas in the petting zoo.

A face only a mother could love!

Just as we were getting into the car, it began to sprinkle. God's timing worked out perfectly for us today! It was time to end our field trip by going to the Outback Steakhouse for supper.

A little geography lesson and it was time to head home. Field trip #20 was a success!

"I'm walking on sunshine"

Whenever I return from a girl's night out around here, Michael always asks me if I had a good time. Up until tonight, my answer has always been "It was ok. I haven't had 'fun' since I left all my friends on Whidbey Island." But after a night filled with splatter paint shirts, bleached tight rolled jeans, bangle jewlery, Razzle candy gum, Madonna songs, and lots and lots of hairspray, I was able to come home and answer that question with "Yes! I really DID have FUN!" All of this was thanks to Amanda for inviting me to her 80's themed birthday party. I've only captured a small portion of what the night entailed in my post, but if you just can't get enough neon here then be sure to check out Amanda's blog.

Me with the birthday girl!

The fun began even before the party started when we got to put together our "outfit." I remember wearing bright pink spandex leggings a lot in the 80's and early 90's so that was my starting point. I walked into Kohls and was immediately brought back to my childhood when I found this cute neon Care Bear shirt. A quick glance around and it didn't take long to find some neon pink leggings (although they weren't spandex).

To complete my Rainbow Brite look, I added mismatched neon shoe laces to my Keds and tied my shirt in a side knot. I wanted a t-shirt slide, but those just haven't made their comeback, yet. And of course, no party is complete unless Super Boagie can save the day, which she did by mailing me my original 1988 legwarmers. Gather my frizz with a scrunchie in a side ponytail, spray until 6 inches tall, and volia "I'm a Ma-material Girl!"

I told Michael that it was the rad music, the tubular outfits, the yummy food, and the great friendship that made this party "like totally awesome," but secretly it was all because I finally gave in to peer pressure:

"Hey you wanna cigarette?"

"Like, all the really cool kids are doing it...."

"There can't be any harm in having just one....shhh...it's our candy secret!"

Everyone looked great and even Alf made it to the party.

Of course, what's an 80's party without an 80's cake. And yes, it tasted just as good as it looks! To wrap up the night, we played an 80's version of name that tune mixed with a little 80's trivia (which my husband would have totally won had it been a co-ed party). Amanda's sister-in-law made us all 80's mixed CD's and mine has found its way into the 'most favored CD's played in the mini-van' category.

Thanks so much, Amanda, for the blast from the past and a girl's night to remember. I'm honored to be included in your life! Happy Birthday!

Tigers at Twlight #19

When Jack and Annie visited the rain forest of India, I knew our field trip #19 would be to a zoo that had tigers and Asian elephants. The National Zoo had almost every animal mentioned in our book minus the one horned rhinoceros. Of course, Mikie's favorite was the elephant:

The python looked just like the one from the book.

They even had an exhibit that allowed him to touch a snake skin.
The tigers were having a lazy afternoon and can barely be seen lying down in the picture behind Mikie.

Mikie learns a little more about the abilities and characteristics of tigers.

I had forgotten that they had a Tiger Tracks trail to teach you all about tigers and preservation efforts. It was perfect for our field trip!

On the tiger tracks trail Mikie learns about the paws and claws of tigers.

We learned that the reason tigers have rough tongues is to help them lap up more water when drinking and for licking all the meat off of animals' bones.

This spinner told of all the dangers a young tiger cub faces in their first year of life.

We were at the zoo for less than 2 hours and HAD to leave because Mikie's allergies were getting really bad. I have both boys on Zyrtec, but this spring the pollen levels are especially high. Mikie's eyes were very itchy and red while Zach's nose wouldn't stop running. And because of this 2 hour field trip, my boys are now both back on nebulizers. We drove to Aditi, an Indian restaurant in Georgetown, for dinner (or in the boys' case...just dessert).

The experience had it's ups and downs...

The ups:

1. There was a plaster elephant head on the wall

2. We ate on the 3rd level of the building

3. The "nan" bread was enjoyed by all

The downs:

1. The bathroom was on the 1st floor and visited often by our boys who were drinking a lot of water to cool their tongues.

2. There was no children's menu or child friendly cups...enough said!

3. The sounds of shrieks, screams, and threats carried down to the second level where everyone else was dinning.

But, I'm sure my boys will tell you that the most memorable moment of the evening was when, after trying several bites of Indian cuisine followed immediately by large gulps of water, we gave in and let them have cheesecake for dinner!

Colin Michael

"It's a boy!" Those were the words I heard on April 14th when Kathy and Mike called to announce the arrival of their third child. I guess I sorta influenced their decision on not finding out the gender of this one. Michael and I are such traditionalists, and there are so few surprises in this world, that we never find out the sex of our babies. I told Kathy how much fun it was not knowing and she convinced her husband to let it be a surprise. They both tell me that they really enjoyed not knowing. The midwife told Kathy that the look on her face when she found out it was a boy was absolutely priceless.

Introducing: Colin Michael born at 3:04 pm 8 lbs 20 inches

Congratulations, Kathy & Mike! Welcome baby Colin!!!!

Easter

Growing up, the Easter tradition in my family was to hollow out eggs by poking a hole in the top and the bottom of an egg and blowing out the insides. Then we decorated them, strung a pipe cleaner through them, and hung them on a branch that was brought in from outside and had been spray painted white. I wanted to carry on this tradition with my own children, but also decided to do a few things differently. We still do the eggs the same way, but each year we go out and pick a branch that has started to blossom with little green buds and use that as our tree. This year, I think we may have picked the branch a little too early (2 weeks before Easter) because by the time Easter morning rolled around our eggs were hanging on a withering branch with brown leaves. Note to self: pick branch on the 9th day before Easter. The other change I made, was to incorporate the Easter Story scripture passages into our egg tree tradition. Each day we remove a slip of paper from one of the plastic eggs numbered 1-8 hanging on the tree and read the chapter of the Bible as indicated on the paper. This really helped Mikie understand the true meaning and miracle of Easter. I'm disappointed that I didn't even get a picture of our egg tree this year or very many good ones of the boys dying their eggs. I guess this was because I did this activity while Michael was on a trip and I had to juggle taking pictures, all the while trying to keep my boys from dying the surrounding area with brightly colored water. Thanks to a box of egg wrappers we had a sports themed tree this year. The boys even used a white crayon to make their own divots on an egg and dyed it, turning it into a golf ball.

We were invited to a friend's house for an egg hunt as well as games, crafts, and Easter themed food. Zachary had to find all the yellow eggs with blue dots and Mikie had to find eggs with numbers 1-11. I thought Mikie might try to find them in numerical order, but he didn't. He just picked up whichever one he needed next and kept track of it all in his head (even though Bridgette had given them a cross off sheet).

I made an altered version of Italian Easter bread. It called for aniseed and chopped candied fruit. Instead, I substituted cranberries and almonds. It took three tries for me to make this. I used the other two messed up batches to create bread bunnies for the kids. And even then, it turned out very dry tasting and the eggs weren't fully cooked hard all the way through. But hey, it looks pretty, right?

EASTER MORNING

I forgot to take pictures of the boys' Easter baskets before they dug into them so here are the contents spread out.

Every year the boys get a new lamb in their baskets to remind them that Jesus is the Lamb of God. I knew Zach would love his because he still carries around the one he got last year. You can see that this was his favorite Easter gift (it even ranked higher than monster trucks!) When I attended Family Bible Church in Whidbey, a group of moms talked about their tradition of making "resurrection baskets" for their children. The idea is that everything in the basket represented the story of Easter or the life of Jesus in some way. Since then, I've tried to make our Easter baskets as relative to the holiday as I possibly could while still getting them the things I know they will enjoy. Here's a video telling about each symbol:

After breakfast was over and they were dressed in their Easter outfits, it was time for the egg hunt. I was expecting the worst...you know...pushing, shoving, scrambling, fussing, crying, and screaming; but, what I got was my very own Easter miracle. Mikie is of course faster at finding eggs but when he saw that Zachary didn't have as much in his basket he poured some into his brothers' willingly. And in the video below you'll see some scrambling and snatching going on, but again Mikie helped Zachary find a few eggs:

It's a great day when you can eat candy before 9:00 a.m. Video below:



Of course, Boagie and Grandpa sent Easter gifts too. Video:

After church, we drove up to Annapolis and had Easter dinner with Michael's family.

Mikie hasn't quite figured out how to properly climb Aunt June's trees.

Zachary stopped to smell the flowers.

I wonder how many more Easters I will spend looking longingly at all the little girl's in their frilly Easter dresses before I finally get to dress someone other than myself in a skirt?

Jesus said, "This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Luke 24: 46-47