Weekend fun!

Last weekend was the annual Historic Morganton Festival. I'm not sure why it's called that, because I've been four times now, and I have yet to learn anything about the history of our fine town while I'm there, but it's a good time.

They have a "Kids Zone" full of crazy overpriced rides and games. Crazy overpriced. You could buy a bracelet for $15.00 so your kid could have one day of unlimited rides and games, which we did. (The festival is two days long, but do you think the entertainment company had a two day bracelet deal? Nosiree, they did not.) We did that because your other option was to buy tickets for $1.00 apiece. You're probably thinking, Mama E, why didn't you buy a few tickets and save your money? Well, friends, I'll tell you why. Every ride cost between 3 and 5 tickets. C had to sit out on the fun, because he wasn't tall enough for many rides, but P rode... and rode... and rode. And I encouraged it. I wanted to feel like I beat the system with our cost per ride by the time you divided $15.00 by all the times he rode things. (I realize the system won, because I gave the ride people $15.00, but let me pretend to preserve some dignity, please.)

This slide helped. Sans bracelet, it would have cost 4 tickets per ride. P rode it many times. I stopped counting after 12. Over and over and over he climbed the steps...


...and over and over and over either Daddy A or I slid down with him (because he didn't make the height requirement to ride alone). On a side note, for anyone who is as freaked out by "double sliding" as I am, since your child is literally on top of your lap and above the sides of the slide, you won't trap their leg and then slide into them as you might on an inflatable or "regular" slide.


C got some slide time in our backyard. I didn't want him to feel left out!

Then Sunday morning, the boys went to Sunday School and heard the story of Moses and the burning bush. They learned about having "ears for God" and listening to His word... and I enjoyed this picture the nursery workers took, so I posted it here... and titled the post "Weekend fun!" instead of "Historic Morganton Festival" so it would all fit together in one place.

I hope you had a fun-filled weekend, too!

School, Days, School Days

September 8 was P's first day of school. Well, not his first first day - he went to school two days a week for three hours last year - but his first day of the 2010 - 2011 school year. This year he'll go three days a week, and he has a new teacher. P has mentioned several times that he really misses Miss Tammy, but we all really like Mrs. Heather.

Since school is literally just up the hill from our house, we usually walk. By "we," I mean that P and I usually walk, and C rides in the stroller, but for the first day Daddy A and I walked and we let both of the boys catch a ride.

Upon arrival at school, the boys wash their hands. No, not P and C, P and the other boys in his class. (I'm sure the girls would wash their hands, too, if there were any girls in the class, which there aren't. There are eleven boys. And Mrs. Heather and Miss Tiffany.) The first day, Mrs. Heather helped a brother student out.

What with it being the first day and all, you can see P was totally nervous about us leaving. I think it's obvious in this picture that he is all kinds of broken up about our impending departure. Or, well, not at all broken up about our departure, since he's already playing with a toy airplane.

Yup, more like the second one. He's had a good time at school so far this year. Mrs. Heather has a treasure box for the boys who have good behavior all week - the first week P chose a monster truck, and last Friday he chose a red plastic whistle with a Thomas the Tank Engine sticker on it.

And, of course, he enjoys center time and the toy airplanes!

the post I title Labor Day Weekend because my creative juices haven't given me any better title ideas

We spent Labor Day weekend with family in West Virginia. We visited with Grandmere, some aunts, and an uncle and a cousin.

This year, when we visited Oak Hill for the Oak Leaf Festival, we were able to take a trip to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine. I enjoyed looking at the simulated coal camp and exploring the model homes, school, and church. The boys enjoyed running around and exploring, ahem, a tree stump. We also rode through the mine and visited the gift shop.

Saturday we hit the festival (after watching the parade, of course!). P was telling me about our visit today - I think he remembered his visit as he was enjoying some of the candy he "caught" at the parade - so I showed him some pictures and asked him to tell me about them.

Here is P's retelling of our Labor Day weekend adventures.

This is when we went to the place with a coal train. There were houses and I liked the place to cut hair they had and the school but it was different from mine. Then I found this cool tree that could be a house for somefin' leetle so I was climbin' around it. And I showed it to C and he was climbing out (at) it. An' I was helpin' be keerful so he wouldn't get hurt.



The guys said I could sit and pretend to drive the train so I did and Daddy said, "Smile!" an' that was him taking my picture. An' I'm smilin' in it, see? 'Cause I was smilin' 'cause I liked drivin' that train.



In the store part C wanted a hat so I was helpin' it fit his head. An' Grandma buyed him that hat an' I was likin' to borrow it to play with it too.



C is wearin' the hat now 'cause it's his but when we get back to Grandmere's house I turned out the lights and the bed was a train and I was using that hat and the light to take people in the dark mine tunnel. An' so I got a pink hat to keep 'cause pink is my favit (favorite) and I can take people to the mine an' be safe. You got to have a light hat down there to be safe in case you need your hands an' you got to found somefin'. (You read that correctly - P chose a souvenir Friday, but he wore C's hat so much that we stopped on the way home Monday and let him get his own "light hat". It was his first show and tell at school later that week.)



Oh this is another day. I'm waiting for the parade. I'm standin' right by the street 'cause they gonna frow candy right out me an' I'm gone catch it. But you got to be in the street to catch it so you got to be keerful an' no cars can hit you, okay, Mom? You can be keerful?



An' C is holdin' Poppa Fred's han' 'cause he's leetle. An' you got to hold hands so you can be keerful an' no cars will hit you. No cars hit me or C 'cause we follow the rules.



This is at the ride part of the fessul (festival). I was likin' that they had a leetle Thomas an' you could ride it.



An' I was smilin' 'gain 'cause I was likin' to ride Thomas.



C was sleepin' when I was ridin' Thomas that time.



I don't know 'bout this picture, Mommy. What it's about? I was ridin' Thomas? (Yes, indeed, this was taken while P was riding Thomas. We posed for a family pic with John, Diane, and Katie.)



This was at the jumpy houses! It was my favorite one wif a slide. I was climbin' and slidin' all around at the fessul... you remember? An' I remember it was fun!

Hey! This is a picture of you, an' me, an' Daddy. An' we are all happy only C is sleepin' still.

An' this is all the guys in our family after all of us guys are awake!

I hope you enjoyed P's guest post! And for the record, C did get to ride Thomas after he woke up - he didn't miss out on the festival fun! The whole weekend was a fun family trip!

"Melmo" and friends!

While we were in Virginia Beach, we took a day trip to Busch Gardens. As expected, we spent lots of time in Sesame Street's Forest of Fun, since P and C are both fond of Elmo, C especially. Both boys refer to him as "Melmo" - I'm not sure if that's just a natural speech thing (I think it may be, since some of my friends' kids have also added an "M" to the front of the furry red monster's name), or if C learned to call him "Melmo" from hearing P call him that. As we were pulling into the park, P said, "I want to ride that high Melmo that goes up and down and up and down. Like this." (Then P demonstrated by raising his hand in the air and dropping it, then raising and dropping it again.) "You know what I'm talkin' 'bout, Mommy? Like the frog one at the other park? You know what I'm talkin' 'bout?" (P's memory amazes me - there was a ride at Dutch Wonderland with a frog theme that did the same thing the ride he is "talkin' 'bout" does. He rode that ride in July. The ride that he was "talkin' 'bout" now he had not seen in several months.) I confirm that I do know what he is talking about, and we plan to ride the ride.

It's our first ride of the day.



I'm not a huge fan of my glasses - I'm more of what you'd call a huge non-fan, I think - but I had to wear them because I was getting ready to have LASIK surgery, and you can't wear your contacts for a week before the surgery. I had one eye done last month, and the results were great. The other eye is scheduled for next week, but I digress.

After P, Daddy A, and I rode Prince Elmo's spire, Grandma Hen and C joined us for a ride on Oscar's Whirly Worms.




P told us that he wanted to ride the "Grover train". Grover's Alpine Express is a roller coaster for kids. P was just tall enough to ride it in April, and after he rode it he was petrified of all the rides at Busch Gardens for the rest of the day. He didn't want to ride anything else, even rides he had enjoyed in the past. This trip, I had planned to skip the "Grover train" entirely. Daddy A told me to let P give it a go, since it was his idea. I reluctantly agreed.



In this particular case, father definitely did know best. P rode twice in a row with Daddy A, then twice in a row with me. He rode the ride four times, and since it was early, and there was no line, he did this in about ten minutes.


P wanted to keep riding, but we encouraged him to try some other things, too. After he climbed off the roller coaster, P stopped to chant with Ernie. P showed Ernie that Ernie's picture was on the shirt I had made for him.

We left the Forest of Fun and went to visit the Clydesdales. P was totally focused on watching the horses but C stopped to pet a sheep.

The boys rode on the "Li'l Clydes" side by side. Now this is the bliss I pictured when I planned to have two children close together in age. Not only would they be siblings; they would also be great friends. (Maybe I should have this picture enlarged and displayed prominently in our home to calm me when I'm afraid the boys are actually going to pull each others' hair out... a visual reminder that they are friends...)

We were seated at a table near Oscar the Grouch again when we dined with Elmo and his friends. Even though he doesn't leave his can, Oscar is very animated and interacts with the audience. He was throwing trash on our table and gesturing to us. P began to talk to him. Several times during our meal, he got up on his knees, leaned toward the can, and yelled, "Oxar! Oxar!" Then he'd wait for Oscar to come up out of the can. A few times, he followed up with, "Oxar, you need to take a bath!" At this comment, Oscar would throw trash at P, and giggles would ensue. (P would giggle, of course, not Oscar. Grouchs don't giggle.)

C really enjoyed our lunch this time around. He has recently become a huge fan of "Melmo." He was excited to greet the characters and get to see Elmo up close.

C also paused to talk dessert with Cookie Monster

.

It seems C prefers cupcakes to cookies.

After lunch, we headed back to the Forest of Fun and changed into bathing suits.

As expected, the splash area was a big hit with P and C.

P conked out in the stroller while C and Grandma Hen rode some of the rides in the Land of the Dragons. I was glad to see P get some rest, and I also enjoyed watching C react to having undivided attention for a bit.

C took a solo spin in the boats. Well, not solo, but without adults.

He laughed throughout his ride on these ladybugs.

After a full day at Busch Gardens, everyone slept well!

"Having Fun at the Beach"

Today's blog post title is an homage to a popular preschool tune performed by none other than The Wiggles. Not surprisingly, the words "having fun at the beach" are repeated frquently throughout the song. Readers who are familiar with the band will now have a mental soundtrack for the rest of this post, which, appropriately enough, features pictures of us having fun at the beach.

As a matter fact, yes I am a bit behind in updating the ol' blog. These pictures of us (and all of the posts about Grandma Hen and Granddaddy Rooster's house/our visit with them) are from our visit in August. Here we go...



Thanks to "Special Agent Oso," P knows the "three special steps" required to build a sandcastle. He filled his bucket with wet sand, turned it over, and then decorated his "building".


The city of Virginia Beach has recently built a play area right on the beach. C was a very big fan of the structure, especially the slide.

Eventually C took a break from sliding to explore the ocean. He was content to wade in the surf and watch the sand cover his toes.

His older brother, meanwhile, jumped in the waves. Even after a huge wave knocked him over, P couldn't get enough of the water! He splashed and played. (After the wave incident, I did insist that he hold hands with us if he was going to jump. Even though I was right there and he was fine, and all. And as I mentioned, it didn't bother him.)

He played and splashed.

P told me that he "really, really, really liked the lotion" (ocean).

C was happy to play in the surf as long as Daddy A was nearby.

And there you have it - (lots of) fun at the beach!

Grandma Hen and Granddaddy Rooster's "Coop"

We all had fun in Virginia Beach, visiting with Grandma Hen and Granddaddy Rooster, as well as Hen Carole (Boo-in-ah) and her family. Shortly after we arrived, Granddad took the boys out back to his koi pond. P loved feeding the fish and frequently headed out just to "look out them", since he could only feed them once a day. Every morning while we were there he asked to feed the fish!

We headed to Boo-in-ah's house next, so we could see her grandson Griffin, who was visiting. We were there in time to see her daughter Laura and son-in-law Ted before they headed to the beach, and her other daughter Karen had dropped by for a visit, too.

P spent a few minutes holding Griffin on the couch. He asked several times during our visit if we could go back and see "Baby Griffy" again, but we couldn't work it out... it's hard to coordinate the schedules of three young boys!

I had another birthday celebration with a delicious turkey dinner, and P helped me blow out the candles on my pink birthday cupcakes.

After several days of adventures, including trips to the beach and Busch Gardens, C was ready to take a break with a gardening magazine. I wonder if he'll inherit his granddad's green thumb...