Shamu with Friends

I'm up to my elbows in birthday preparations for somebody's party on Saturday, but I wanted to take a break from all that and post a couple photos from a trip to Sea World we took with some friends last week.

Actually, that might be a bit of a stretch... I DO want to share the pictures, but I'm mostly already done prepping for the party and now I am too tired to move off the couch.  I still need to make a couple more goody bags, and a sign for the front door, but other than that, all the stuff I can do ahead of time is basically done.  Matt made and froze the pizzas earlier in the week and I stayed up past midnight working on the cake last night.  Of course I still need to clean up around here again (read: hide all the junk I don't want our friends to see) and grocery shop/prep the rest of the food.  There are water balloons to fill and decorations to be hung, but basically all of that needs to wait until the night before/day of.  So I figured I should seize this "free time" to catch up on blogging a bit.

But first, can I just say I am absolutely wiped out from staying up last night to do the cake.

Why do I put myself through the stress of making their birthday cakes every year?

Yesterday when I told Peter I was going to get started making it, he asked me where his Dad was.  I told him Matt was at work and then my son asked if his Dad was going to stop on the way home and pick him up a cake at the cake shop.  I told him again, that no, I was going to make it like I always do and then... THEN, my dear sweet adorable first born child acted shocked and reminded me that I "never make anything."

Grrrr.

To make matters worse the kids were up later than usual last night finishing a movie on TV so I got a late start with the icing and by the time I was done for the evening it was already midnight.

And now, from all the standing my feet hurt and are all puffy.

Okay.  But enough with the complaining.  It IS worth it.  When I showed the kids the cake this morning Peter said it looked "Umi-rrefic!"  and gave me a kiss on the cheek.  That might not sound like a compliment, but the cake/party are Team Umi Zoomi themed and that's something they say on the show.

Anyway, Sea World.

Last week we went down with our good friends from school for just the morning.  That was just enough fun for us, and honestly, it was so hot I couldn't have lasted much longer.

We started out at the tide pool to visit with the sea stars.  I think we probably could have stayed there all day and the kids would have been just fine with that.

P and his good friend.  

After the tide pool and an aquarium we visited the sting rays.

Obligatory picture of me to prove I was there.

After the rayas we went over to the dolphins.  We were just in time for an interaction and Peter got to touch.  A.J. wasn't into it though.  She mostly just wanted to hang out with my friend and talk about how her boys are her boyfriend.  A.J. is into her big brothers friends already?  Lord help me!

This is a picture of the picture one of the park photographers
got of Peter petting the dolphin's tail flukes.

Once we were done with the dolphins we went to see the Sea Lions and the sharks before basically calling it quits with animals for the day.  Peter in particular, but all the kids too, were getting fidgety and needed to run around.  

My friend caught this one of my kids looking at the Sea Lions.
It is so sweet that they're holding hands.  This might be my new favorite photo ever.

 Then it was time to PLAY!

The boys all bravely climbed up and disappeared into the maze of nets and things above our heads and A.J. went to jump.  I kept and eye on the girl and tried to not worry about the boys getting lost.  My friend's oldest is 5, so I figured he would be able to remember where we'd told them to meet us, but it was still stressful to have him out of sight.

Meanwhile, A.J. jumped and ran around in circles.

And happily, after a little while, Peter had enough of climbing and came down to join his sister.  :)

So that was fun.  But it was getting a bit late, for us.  We decided to hit up the Shamu show before we left, since her boys kept asking to see the whales.  Unfortunately, A.J. wasn't into it.  She climbed under our seats into the shade and spent the wait time before hand and part of the show "sleeping" under there.  Lovely right?

But the boys enjoyed it.

Gosh, am I the only one noticing how many more A.J. pictures are in this post than of Peter.  It was weird actually.  With his friends there, I barely focused on my boy.  I focused on keeping A.J. happy and he interacted with his friends.  This is such a switch from normal, where Matt usually has A.J. and I have him.
It's like suddenly he's all big and a bit like, "Mom, don't bother me in front of my friends!" or something.

They just grow up so fast don't they?

Peter wanted to get wet so I took him down the steps during the splash time and together we got just wet enough to make him happy.  (If you're wondering, A.J. stayed up at the top of the Soak Zone with our friends and continued to pout.)

It was a fun morning.

Anyway, I never get tired of Sea World, and apparently, neither do my kids.  :)

Life Lessons

It's been barely a week of "summer vacation" around here and I'm already feeling tired of it. My children do better with structure in their lives, even if, in the case of A.J., that mostly just means riding along to cart her older brother back and forth from preschool. I think it is the most frustrating to me because I have been trying really really hard to keep them busy. Even though I haven't been sleeping (hot, uncomfortable, humongous, getting kicked, anxious, etc) and it would be so much easier to just let them sit home and rot in front of the TV all summer, I've been trying to get them out of the house as much as possible. In the last 9 days we've been to the park, the library, the hospital play room (for my doctors appointments and glucose test,) the fair over the weekend and even to Sea World yesterday. I've scheduled play dates and swim dates and trips to fun places and am really doing my best to keep them fairly stimulated and busy all summer long.

Even though I'm humongous and tired and pregnant. I'm trying really hard. Really.

And through it all so far, it's a bit like Peter has unlearned how to behave (or in the very least how not to talk back) and A.J. has just decided she's going to scream her way through everything. And if that doesn't work, she'll try to run away from everywhere.

Ugh.

So the other night, as A.J. and Peter were absolutely waging a war against bed time... even though I knew in my heart they were both just tired and probably losing their minds a little.... I got to thinking:  I wish they would just learn.  

Oh why won't they just learn!?

In this particular moment when I got to thinking I specifically meant that they need to just learn to do what we ask them to do, WHEN we ask them.  If they'd just learn to do that there wouldn't be fighting and yelling. There wouldn't be count down warnings and spankings. There wouldn't be frustration and tears from the lot of us.

Trouble is, over-tired children don't learn. They get more and more out of control and stubborn and it's just.... terrible.

And even though the smart, logical part of my brain knows that the chaos is because everybody is tired, it doesn't make any of it any easier to get through.

So, like I said, that night, after a particularly BAD bedtime battle, I just laid awake all night thinking.

There are some lessons I've learned (or am still learning) that were (and often still are) so hard to learn. I wish my I could somehow make my kids come to these realizations now and save them the trouble and heartache I went through learning these things over the years as I grew up.

Of course it isn't that easy.

The process and experiences of learning the lessons is half the battle at least and if I'm still finding constant reminders of these things, then there is no hope for my kids are their young ages.

Anyway, I just hope that someday my kids do learn a few, very specific things.

And what are they?

1.  Pride is a very dangerous thing. It's one thing to take pride in your work or an accomplishment but this pride should never define you. There is always something better or cooler or more meaningful that could have been accomplished.

Like if Peter scored a goal at soccer, GOOD for him.  But if he get's boastful about it to the other children?
Just... No.

(That's just an example of course.  He never scored except in practice.)

Anyway, pride also makes us do stubborn things. People don't like to admit they are wrong. They don't like to submit and do what others tell them to do  But I've learned over and over in this life that being overly stubborn is a problem. If you mess up, just admit it and apologize. I know it SUCKS to say you're sorry bit just do it so everyone can move on. Try to make amends, but suck it up and take the blame or punishment if you deserve it. EVERYTHING will be simpler and better that way, in the end.

If you're a kid, and you're filthy, and your father asks you to get in the bath tub, just get in the tub.  TRUST ME, it's going to be way easier taking that dreaded bath than getting punished for stubbornly refusing and then fighting your way through the evening wash down you're GOING to get regardless of how much fight you put up.

Stubborn can be a good thing, if say, somebody tells you there's no way you're going to be able to accomplish something and you work hard stubbornly to prove them wrong.  But I already explained the dangers of taking too much pride in something you accomplish, even in the face of doubt or adversity so you just have to be careful when you stubbornly accomplish something to prove somebody wrong.

And stubborn can also lead us to lie to cover up our mistakes, and really, honestly, anyway you shake it, lying is just dumb.

Therefore:

2.  Honesty is always the best policy. Sometimes the truth hurts of course so one must be delicate in delivering the news. But lying? No. Don't do it. Just tell the truth. If you screwed up, admit it.  (See above.)  If you lie and try to hide it, the truth will always come up and the results will be way worse than if you'd been honest from the start.

Additionally, if you tell the truth, you don't have to remember all the lies you told to protect yourself. You don't have to deal with the guilt and confusion in your brain as you try to deal with your own dishonesty.

And if you make it a basic policy of your life to be straight up front and honest about everything, you'll find yourself doing the better thing, the right thing, and overwhelmingly larger amount of the time. Because you've faced the consequences of screwing up and admitting it enough that you find yourself actually choosing the right more often.

Just be real. Seriously.  Be honest.  Talk things out. Bottling stuff up or avoiding issues just makes everything worse.

Ugh, those last two are really confusing.  Just trying to explain them is confusing me.  I guess that's why these lessons are so hard to learn.

But luckily, there's also:

3.  God.  The fact that there is God out there is an overwhelmingly amazing, generous gift.  That God created us all and has plans for us all and listens to us all and then even gave us Jesus and his sacrifice to forgive us all our sinful shortcomings? That is just a gift. God can do and could have done anything, so why should He bother with us? But he does. He did. He continues to....

That is such a great gift, in fact, that sometimes it can become kind of hard to accept.

Children of mine... I hope you now believe fully because, well, you don't know any different. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are a part of your reality because that's what we've taught you. But someday, you will question the reality of that truth and you will have to decide whether or not to accept it for yourself.  You will. Everyone does. It's part of life, and growing up and learning about the world around you and all the other things people out there believe in (or don't believe in.)

I hope, and I pray however, that when that time comes you will trust in the foundation we've given you.  Learn about the other things sure. Doubt your own beliefs as well.  But then read. And seek. Perhaps pray. And feel, in your heart, and in your soul. And I think you really will find the truth there. God is real.  He loves you.  The evidence is all around.

Kids... I could tell you stories.

And even though religion is hard and confusing, and people can get so caught up in judging one another for their sins and their shortcomings, you can just sort of sit back and take comfort in your knowledge of God.  He loves us and if we love him, and accept his love (through Jesus) he forgives us for all our sins and doubts and faults.

And better still, when you look around and think, OMG... seriously, everybody is sinning all around me.  Wait a second, what's a sin anymore anyway?  The Bible is so confusing!  There are so many interpretations!  What do I believe??

When you feel that way, I want you sit down, calmly and remember what I just said before:

He loves us and if we love him, and accept his love (through Jesus) he forgives us for all our sins and doubts and faults. No matter how much we've screwed up he forgives us.  And our friends?  Our neighbors?  Our enemies?  ANYBODY really.... he loves them and will forgive them too if they decide to love Him back.

It really is that simple.

4.  Actually, if my kids can get on top of just these 3 concepts I think they've got it made.  I mean, there are more of course, but if I overly simplified it WAY down, I think most everything can boil down to what I've said.

However- kids, please, while I'm giving advice: try to be Nice.  Be role models.  Be leaders.  Be good friends, to everyone.  Be kind. Be good listeners.  (Seriously on this one.  Try to listen to other more than you talk.  Your Mama is really bad at this one, but that is why she can tell you WHY it is so important to try to do.)  Be good people. Do the right thing.  Be somebody others want to be like.  Be somebody that makes your family, your friends, your teachers and your God proud.

Oh, and also...

Try not to judge others, because you really don't know what they've been through.  Seriously, no matter how  absurd or naughty or, WHATEVER they seem to be.  Instead, just love others they way God loves you and everyone else.




So, yeah.

If only.

IF these were easy, then perhaps they wouldn't be LIFE lessons after all.

Are there any BIG ONES you think I'm missing?

Or, heck, maybe the big lesson I'm missing here is for me.  Maybe I just need to learn and accept that raising children will be difficult and try not to stress out so much about it.

Yeah.  Right.

How to Feed My 2 1/2 Year Old Daughter, Apparently

1.  Put a bunch of random, mildly nutritious kids type food on a plate.

2. Tell her that lunch is ready.  Give her about 10 to 15 minutes to destroy (but not actually eat) this perfectly good food.

3.  Clean up the mess she's made as best you can.  I'd recommend hefty use of wet wipes. stain stick (for her clothes) and a dog (or 2) to get the bulk of it which is now probably on the floor.

4.  Make yourself lunch.  Something you'd never imagine she'd actually eat.  Wait until she is thoroughly engrossed in another activity... a tv show, playing with her dollhouse, coloring, legos, etc.  Once she seems good and busy, sit down, hungrily to enjoy your own lunch.

5.  After you take about 2 bites she will appear beside you.  She will watch you take a 3rd bite and judge the level of your enjoyment.  Then she will decide she wants some too, and say "Can I have a bite?"
It will be very sweet.  She will look up at your with big beautiful blue-green eyes, smiling sweetly.
You will find yourself unable to say no, especially if you've ever heard her scream when she doesn't get her way.

6.  Proceed to feed her the rest of your lunch, forkful by forkful.  She won't go away until you do.  And if you dare to eat any more bites of what was your lunch, that she has now decided is hers, she will simply lean in closer and ask again "Can I have a bite?"  over and over until ETERNITY or the plate has been emptied into her own tummy.

So just let her have it.

Heck.  From now on I might just put pretend food on her plate come lunch time since she's not going to eat it anyway.  Then I will put whatever it is I really want her to eat on a plate for myself and try to eat it.  She's sure to want it all this way, and then, maybe when she's full she'll go down for a nice long nap and I can make myself something to actually eat myself once she's asleep.

SD County Fair

Yesterday we had a family fun day at the fair.

Now.... to begin with, I suppose I can be a bit of a snob about fairs.  Because I grew up in 'burbs of the capital city of Ohio, the only fair I ever went to was the rather large and significantly more extravagant than most county versions, State Fair.  We went several times when I was a kid, though not every year.  Mostly, we checked out the crafts (I loved the cakes from the decorating contest,) the animals, the horse show and the other exhibits on the local wild life, etc.  I remember the best part was always fishing for catfish in the pond.  We rarely ate much of the typical fair food, other than whatever we got for lunch, ice cream cones from the dairy barn and maybe we split an Elephant Ear as a family.  We never rode any of the rides other than the giant yellow slide (which was really plenty of excitement for us and to be honest I'm sure I'd rather enjoy it to this very day.)  I think in middle school my Grandma let us go on a couple of rides and that was a pretty big deal.  In high school I went with a friend once and to be honest all I can remember doing is spending all our money on water balloons at a game booth similar to this where you could sling shot them back and forth at each other.  (That was pretty awesome, and it makes me think that someday I should make Matt build something like that for the kids.  Or, actually, maybe I finally know what Matt can do for a career when he retires from the military.)  Anyway, it wasn't until college when I went with Matt that I really discovered the joy and fat-ification of all that glorious Fair food.  (Yum, and also later, yuck.)

Anyway, so having had basically only had one fair to compare it too, I've never really "gotten" what the big deal is with the San Diego County Fair.  I mean, sure, San Diego county is huge, and by extension so is it's fair.  But there are hardly any animals.  There are hardly any exhibits.  Mostly there just seems to be the standard fairground buildings full of crap to buy, tons of rides, games and FOOD FOOD FOOD.

The weird thing was, when we were up in Monterey we went to the county fair there (seen here and here) and while it was nice enough was to spend an afternoon, it really was tiny.

So suddenly, the prospect of the fair here didn't seem so, well, lame.

Also the kids are at this age where they always want to do stuff and go places.  Always.  The fair seem like as good a thing to do as a family as anything else.

We started out exploring the buildings full of stuff to buy.  We went in looking for the little donuts (which ended up being our breakfasty late-morning snack) and then just kept checking things out while we were at it.  Peter wanted every car set he saw and before long we dragged him out of there with the promise of finding something more fun to do than just shop.

(As if there could be any such thing.)

So we headed over to find some animals.  

A.J. was thrilled to see this cow.  She called it Buttercup, like
the Mommy cow from an episode of Bubble Guppies.

They both liked the pig, but it was being shy and sleepy and was kind of
laying in a spot that made it difficult to see.

The goats were all over the place and more exciting.

Apparently, this weekend was the judging for the farms birds so we looked in on all the chickens and ducks and turkeys and things as well.  

This funny orange little rooster kept cock-a-doodle-dooing
Peter.  

I don't remember what this thing was, but it was covered in
these fluffy downy feathers and looked really quite silly.
A.J. liked it a lot.  

We walked through a couple of livestock barns, saying hello to lots of cows and sheeps and goats.

Outside of the the barns they were doing some judging on the cows so we said hello to this lovely lady and her, um...people.

Here name was April and she was really a sweetie.
She was from the 4H group at the high school
just up the street from our house actually.  

 Next to the cow judging place, we spotted the pony rides.  We always enjoy the pony rides.

(Hey Matt, there's another fun post-military career for you.  We can get a dozen or so ponies, and a big round tent set up and go around to fairs and carnivals and things selling rides!  It will be so much fun!

No?

Whatever.  Fine.)

So the kids rode their ponies.   Peter went buy himself because he is a big boy now and Matt went with A.J., who really didn't need his help, but whose Mommy worries too much.

I really like the pony rides at fairs where they take pictures of the kids for you to buy.  Because everyone will be so surprised that I like pictures.  Anyway, I took this one of Peter as they were lining him up for his photo.  I didn't buy his though because, I already have one like this of him when he was younger (see link above about visits to the Monterey County Fair) and because he was looking down rather than at the camera.  

But I did get A.J.'s.  I was a little sad that the little cowboy hat wouldn't fit on her head for the picture due to her pigtails, but at least she's looking... and now I have a pony ride photo of both of them.  

(Yes I know this is a bit blurry.  I was too lazy to scan it for now so I just
took a picture of the picture.  I promise the real thing is not blurry.)

Once we finished with the ponies, it was time for lunch.  Naturally everybody wanted something different so we wandered around to find Peter a corn dog and fries, A.J. a slice of pizza, an Italian sub for me and a Polish sausage sandwich for Matt.  Not that either of the kids really wanted to sit still and eat.  

There was just too much going on I suppose.

Eventually we all finished and we went on with the animals.

My goodness the place had a lot of sheep.  Sheeps must be very popular in California.
And yes I know the correct plural for sheep doesn't have an s on it.  But when the kids
say it it does, and it just sounds so much cuter that way to me now.

 We were happy to discover that there were horse shows going on.  In all the times I've visited the fair here I've never even seen a horse.  I guess they must do all the horse stuff in the early weeks of the fair and normally we just don't go this early.  We sat for awhile in the nice cool arena and watched for a little while.
But soon the kids were over it and we went off in search of some kiddy rides.

Peter loved driving these little cars.  Apparently, he's British too....

 We chose these mini swings next because Matt could take A.J. and Peter could ride behind them in his own swing by himself.  It was nap time and A.J. was pretty grumpy as she waited.  And I was pretty worried Peter would get scared and find a way to fall out.  But it was fine.  As soon as they got going A.J. LOVED it  and so did her brother.

Next we chose one of those swinging pirate ship rides.  Except this one was a dragon, not a pirate ship for whatever reason.  I suggested it because Matt talks about riding one of those ships at the fair with his Dad when he was little and being absolutely terrified.  He wanted to take A.J. on too but she didn't want to go.  So Peter went by himself again while we watched.  I was pretty surprised when he went all the way to the back (where the swing would be the most extreme) and worried he'd get scared, but again, I worry to much.  He loved it.  

There was also this TALL twisty slide thing that Peter had spotted clear from the other side of the fair grounds.  He immediately said he wanted to do it, and Matt and I kept trying to find him something else to do.  I honestly didn't think he would be tall enough, as it said 42 inches, but with shoes on he was.  It was pretty funny measuring him actually because I'd kept telling him he might not be big enough so then when I lined him up against the measuring stick the man working the ride looked down and caught him standing on his tippy toes!  Even still, on his flat feet, he was just tall enough.  

I think I was more nervous (again) than he was.  He had to climb all the way to the top all by him self.  

But I am determined to let the boy live his life and make his own path (even if he scares himself half to death along the way) so he took his burlap sliding mat and went bravely on his way.  

Thank goodness there were other kids in there to lead him or he might have gotten lost on the way up.  

After the little bridge seen in the last picture the children disappeared inside the long, basically straight up tunnel, to climb all the way to the tippy top.  I have no idea what was inside, but assume it was either a ladder or a very steep spiral staircase.  In either case, I don't know how Peter... who's legs were barely long enough to climb the stairs to even get ON to the whole set up was able to climb all the way up there AND carry his sliding mat.  After he went into the tunnel there was a big lag at the top before any more children came out.  I guess he was kind of slow.  I wonder if the other children helped him or not.

After a couple of minutes though, he came popping out at the top happy as can be.  The man working at the top helped him get set at the top of the slide and off he went, I guess.

I couldn't help but wonder if he was scared.  It really was HIGH.  I kept picturing that scene in A Christmas Story when Ralphy gets shoved down the slide after visiting with Santa.  Ha.  I wonder if the man at the top had to give him a good shove to get him going.

Then, a couple of second later, he appeared on the straightaway part of the slide.... cruising back down to me at breakneck speed.  

Wow. Let's just zoom in on that one shall we?

Yup.  Thoroughly terrified.  

But no sooner was he at the bottom than he jumped up happily.  I swear he shook himself off a little and then  bounded towards me, greeting me with a huge grin and a high five, any fear already forgotton.

Wow.

Mama's little adrenaline junkie, I guess.  

It wasn't quite the Ohio State Fair's big yellow slide, but I guess this was the next big thing for now.  :)

By now we only had enough tickets left for a couple more rides.  Peter asked to ride the motorcycles which had been over next to the cars and the swings where we'd started.  So he rode them once and loved them.  And while he did that I got down close to A.J. who was snuggled up grumpily in the stroller.  I knew she was tired.  I knew she was unhappy, but I'd also heard her cry earlier about wanting to ride rides.

She said she wanted to ride one more ride.

She wanted the motorcycles too.  

So on she went (choosing the purple one specifically) and Peter went again.  

Hi Mama!  Look at me!!

Motorcycle Mama. 

Hamming it up for my camera.  

And with that, we were done with rides for the day.

It occurred to me that I hadn't been in any pictures all day.  

There was an exhibit showing different breeds of horses.  This was just a random moment as we were leaving where I noticed Matt and the kids were sort of lined up perfectly with that horse.  But also, I've always had a soft spot for the brownish horses with blond hair, so... yeah.  :)

That's a weird face Matt is making....

 Soon, it was time for ice cream.  Peter kept asking for shaved ice, but somehow we convinced him that ice cream is better.  Oh, that's right, because it is.

A.J. had a few licks off her vanilla cone then she gave that to
me and ate my dish of chocolate.  

By then it was nearing 4 oclock.  The kids were tired, we were all a little sunburned and I was rapidly getting to the point of not being able to walk comfortably anymore.  So we picked up a lemon shake up for me and a bag of kettle corn to take home and we headed out.  

 A.J. was absolutely done and asleep before we made it back to the van.

But Peter was sad.  He was really tired too but did NOT
want to leave.  We appeased him with some of the kettle corn
on the way home.

All in all, it was a good day.