Warning: If you do not like travelogs, do not read this. However, this is my blog, and I wanted to record my memories of this vacation so far. Read on if you want to, but remember that I warned you! : )
James' vacation began last Friday when he returned home from work. We were too tired to really do anything that night, although Ben had been in "Vacation Party" mode all day. I asked Ben if we shouldn't wait to have the party until James came home. He promptly replied, "No! I'll be in bed by then." Wise kid. He was right. He organized a treasure hunt, created an invisible pinata filled with invisible candy, and gathered all of these "presents" for Daddy.
Saturday morning, we got up and readied ourselves to go to Opening day at the waterpark to which we have season passes. It was cold! The sun only peeked through the clouds for literally like 5 seconds while we were there, and the water is not heated.
Well, despite the freezing cold day, and the freezing cold water, Ben made a break-through! He was out there playing! He wasn't clinging to us, or begging us to be right there with him. He was enjoying himself, and kept wandering farther and farther into the water. At one point, I jokingly said to James, who had only ventured in up to his ankles, "So, if he runs into trouble out there, are we going to send the lifeguard after him?" To which my witty husband replied, "Of course! He's getting paid to go into this cold water!" Thankfully, Ben returned to us just fine. We then heard about the "warm" water and headed there. I think it was just in time, Ben's lips were starting to turn blue from the cold. After warming up in the water for about an hour, we left.
James took us to Walmart, where he purchased a bicycle for me, and a seat for Brianna to put on the back of his bike. Mind you, I hadn't ridden a bike since I wrecked for the um-teenth time as a child and decided that I just wasn't cut out for it.
That evening, a dear friend from Columbus came all the way down to watch our kids for us, while we got away for the night. We rented a hotel room, and enjoyed our first over-night get-away since Ben was born. It was wonderful! And we are sooooo grateful for our wonderful friend.
She brought her nephew with her to play with Ben. They had a blast. They even caught a bird in our backyard and played with it for about an hour and a half. They built a nest for it, and had great fun feeling like they were pet-owners.
The next day, Ben found the same poor bird in our back-yard again. He played with it for about an hour again. I felt so bad for the bird. I was unsure if it was injured, or just too young to fly. That mystery was solved when I watched it jump off of our deck and make its way across our lawn to its' Mommy. It was heart-wrenching. This poor mama robin had obviously been nearby watching her poor baby get manhandled by a well-meaning boy. I swear they kissed when they reached each other, and then the mama immediately started catching bugs and feeding them to her hungry, traumatized baby.
Speaking of mama's feeding their babies, Brianna absolutely refused to take a bottle from my friend. She ate everything else well, but apparently, bottles are to be kept within the family. Soon after we returned, she gulped down a bottle while on my lap! What a doll!
On Monday, we decided to go camping. It sure takes a lot of gear to go "rough it". We spent hours gathering and packing our supplies and food. (Somehow we forgot the camera, darn it!) Finally we set off to the campground at a nearby park. We set up our tent, and roasted hotdogs for dinner. We were visited by a racoon at our site that night. Luckily, I had seen him just before dusk, so we wisely packed all of our food into the trunk of our car. But that didn't deter him from looking.
With all of the bugs and dirt, Ben kept saying, "Why did Daddy want to go camping?" and "Why did Daddy think this was a good idea?" When James slapped at a mosquito in the evening, Ben made a bee-line to the tent. The next morning, however, Ben had a great time catching all of the daddy-long-legs that were crawling all over the outside of our tent! And later, when his little feet were just black, he announced that "Boys are supposed to get dirty!" I guess he adjusted pretty quickly.
For breakfast, James cooked pancakes and sausage on our campstove. I love eating a pancake breakfast outside in the morning. It's just refreshing! Then we broke camp. Brianna fell asleep right before we were to take down the tent, so while she napped, we played UNO at the picnic table.
After she woke up, we went for a family bike ride! It was actually fun! And I didn't wreck! Unfortunately, Ben did, but he pulled himself together, got back on his bike, and had fun! Brianna seemed to completely enjoy being a part of this family activity. We found the smallest bike helmet we could, but it still moved down over her eyes from time to time. Even still, she never complained. Every time I caught her eye, she was smiling!
Wednesday was spent working in our yard. We tried to make our yard look as if someone actually lives at our home. We did make great progress, but it was a lot of work. James worked the hardest!
Interestingly, as we were working, a dog wandered into the yard, trailing his leash behind him. James figured he had gotten away while on a walk. He kindly tied him to our tree, thinking that its owners would surely be by any moment. He even gave the dog some water. As the hours went by, I felt bad for the dog, and fed him. We debated over just letting him loose again, or calling the dog pound. Finally, I could stand watching him on that short leash no longer. I said, "Just let him loose." So we did. He wouldn't leave. He followed us around and wanted to play with us. He wanted to go into our back yard. It was interesting. Finally a little neighbor boy did come looking for him and took him home. So, we had a dog for an afternoon. I think that was a little longer than James was comfortable with, but afterall, HE was the one who tied him to the tree!
Thursday was Ben's graduation from Pre-school. On Wednesday night, he asked me what graduation clothes he was going to wear. I told him he could wear whatever he wanted. Then he explained that he meant a cap and gown--in black. I told him that he wasn't going to wear a cap and gown. He wanted to know how old he'd have to be to wear them. I told him when he graduated from high school. He said, "Well, I have to wear
something for graduation!" So, on the way to his graduation, James stopped at card and party store, and purchased a paper graduation cap, which Ben was thrilled with!
At the actual "ceremony" there was a little platform--two steps up, small platform, two steps down. As each child's name was called, they would march up the steps, get their certificate and stand proudly for a photo. Once again we forgot our camera. When Ben's name was called, he stood, stooped over in a gorilla-like fashion, and walked poutily up the two steps. People couldn't help but giggle, myself included, but when Ben heard this, he couldn't handle it, and he laid down on the platform--head on the stair he had just come up, body across the platform, feet on the first stair down. He was starting to cry, when his Daddy lifted him up and moved him to the side.
After the ceremony, I apologized for laughing, but said that I thought he was trying to be funny. I imitated how he had looked, and he started to giggle, too. Later, though, he told me that he "doesn't like to stand up in front of all those grown-ups." I guess he's pretty normal!
Friday, we went back to the waterpark. This time it was a hot, sunny day! We brought Ben's good friend, and we all had a marvelous time. Brianna was pretty nervous at first, but by the end of the day, she was dangling her cute little feet in the water and making contented sounds. She is such a doll. She is just full of life and fun! And she looked sooooo dang cute in her little swimsuit!
We went straight from the waterpark to Ben's five-year-old check-up where he got three shots. Not a fun ending to the day, but he did great and didn't cry at all. He is growing well, and the nurse practitioner was very impressed with his intelligence.
This has been a wonderful vacation so far! We have made great memories which I will treasure always!
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