It's official. Today Jared re-enlisted in the U.S. Army for another, oh, 87 years or so. Actually, because he's passed a certain time mark, he is now categorized as "indefinite" - he's there 'til they tell him he's not. So the good news is he's got quite the job security. Bad news is it's with the Army. :-) Just kidding, Uncle Sam.

Vacation

We started off the summer with a mini-vacation down to Williamsburg. A few of my siblings were going there, so we tagged along.

Day 1 - Water Country
We had a blast. We met up with Peter and Robyn and their kiddies and Robyn's sister Heidi and her son. The kids had a great time - Jack especially loved the Hubba Hubba Highway (think a lazy river, except faster) - thanks to the fast-moving water and his life jacket, he was really booking. He kept yelling "I learned to swim! look at me swim!" as he doggie-paddled along, and kept offering to help other kids (and Mom) who were falling behind. Ellie loves everything with water, but her refusal to wear a life jacket ended up being a pain for some of the rides. Jared is a fellow water lover, so he was in heaven, and Lydia, well, let's just say I gradually got over my paralyzing fear of being seen in my bathing suit (and all my illustrious chubbiness). Between you and me, it helped that due to the water park demographics, shall we say, I was looking like a leggy supermodel compared to some of my fellow Water Country citizens.



Day 2 - Busch Gardens
On the second day, we went to Busch Gardens. In addition to the Day 1 group, we were joined by Jeanene and Scott and their family. Day 2 was stinkin' hot - we're talkin' sweltering, scorching, Africa-aint-got-nothing-on-us hot. Which led to a little crankiness on a certain blogger's part. In fact, I recall at one point screaming "it's hot and I'm cranky!" But despite that, we had a lot of fun. We checked out the new Sesame Place (the new kid area), but frankly it was pretty crowded and hot. Later we went to the old kid place (Land of the Dragons) and didn't hit a single line. And I gotta give it to the kids - they were good the whole, long day.







Day 3
Day 3 was a travel day - we came back from Williamsburg and basically vegged out.

Day 4
And finally, on Day 4 we attended our community's annual Freedom Fest. There were moon bounces, carnival games, and your typical carnival food. A pretty good cover band, too. I got too cranky to stay for the fireworks (ok, yeah, I get cranky easily, give me a break), so I headed home and Jared took the kids over to the big hill near our house to watch the fireworks.

All in all, not bad for a mini-vacation.

Countdown

Five
(the number of times Ellie peed her pants today - are you getting the impression that we're not having a thunderous success with this potty-training thing?)

Four
(the number of chocolate milk stains Jack shampooed off the carpet to get ready for our family cookout - the boy's getting good at this!)


Three
(the number of siblings who came over for our Father's Day cookout - John & family, Thomas & family, Peter & family - and of course my mom and pop - Jared got to test out his new Father's Day grill)

Two
(the number of hours it took us to drive down to Michael's 5th birthday party (son of my baby brother Ben) - but it was worth it!

One
(the number of days 'til we take off on our mini-vacation to Williamsburg - Water Country and Busch Gardens here we come! and uh, don't worry folks, we'll put Ellie in a pull-up)

Old School

It's funny how I can't remember the simplest things these days, but can remember the oddest things from childhood. Like the Berkowitz's (across the street when I was a kid) telephone number was 762-7922. But don't ask me any of my current friends' telephone numbers. Can't remember 'em.

Here are some other things I remember:

(1) From A to ZZZZZ - this was a cartoon that I think played between Bugs Bunny episodes. It's about a kid named Ralph who daydreams all the time. It reminded me totally of myself as a kids (heck, as an adult, I'm still that way).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=_IOvEo9f4bk&feature=related

(2) Loaf of Bread, Stick of Butter, Container of Milk - ok, does anyone else get this stuck in their head too? This is from old-school Sesame Street, where a mom asks her daughter to pick up a few things at the corner store - I often find myself repeating "loaf of bread, container of milk, stick of butter, loaf of bread, container of milk, stick of butter..." Do you think I should seek professional care?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jdP7HUPbVs

(3) Conjunction Junction - of course the classic Schoolhouse Rock - if you've never seen these, shame on you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkO87mkgcNo

(4) Kroft Superstars - ok, I'm sure you've seen previews for a movie called Land of the Lost - well, are you old enough to know that it's a remake of an old 70s TV show? Land of the Lost was actually part of a recurring series of shows called Kroft Superstars - it also had Sigmund the Sea Monster, Dr. Shrinker, The Bugaloos, HR Pufenstuf (which was a bit bizarre - I'm pretty sure hallucinogens were involved in its making), and a few others I can't remember - Sigmund the Sea Monster was my favorite - I had a crush on Scott from Sigmund the Sea Monster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3U9BuOMkmM

(5) Kimba the White Lion - ok, all I remember is that I watched this - I actually don't remember a single episode, and when I watch it on YouTube now, it still doesn't ring a bell - but I remember that I loved it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU9be7m1_cQ&feature=PlayList&p=6FE62524FF412BD0&index=0

(6) And of course, don't forget Hong Kong Phooey - classic - that dog was one cool cat - he's the number one super guy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kon4czfAHu4

Another Thing I'm Too Old For

Texting. Way too old.

Just had to text for the first time (yes, caveman, we already established that). Only did it because that's apparently the only way that my teenage babysitter can communicate with the human world. Just needed a babysitter so I could go get my hair cut. Only had to type the following message:

"Elizabeth, Lydia from across the street, are you free to babysit this Thursday from 5:30pm to 7:00pm? Let me know."

And nearly had a stroke. Couldn't figure out how to type numbers, or colons, or question marks, and then it gave me a headache that we have degraded so as a society that we can't use proper grammar, and then I got carpel tunnel syndrome typing all those tiny little buttons, which I couldn't really see anyway, because I'm just too damn old for texting.

Big

Big Kids
Jack and Ellie had their first big-kid sleepovers last night. Jack's friend Garrett (his best friend from our days in Maryland) invited him for a sleepover, and after much convincing of Papa Bear Jared, Jack went happily off with his big-boy sleeping bag. Ellie also had a sleepover with her best friend Emma. So off Ellie went with her little pink sleeping bag. I tell ya, Jared and I didn't know what to do with ourselves, this being the first time since Jack was born that we've been alone without the kids for a whole night. We had a fun evening, but more importantly, we SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT PEOPLE and had about one of the laziest mornings I can recall. Jared picked up the kiddies the next day, and sure enough they came back in one piece, had a good time, and didn't cause too much terror for their host parents. I'm quite proud of my big kids!

Big Fits
Meanwhile, Ellie has also decided to throw big-kid tantrums. She's got all bases covered - volume, duration, intensity. I suppose it's quite impressive, if you can look objectively at it (which I can't since I'm being screamed at for 45 minutes). Yesterday (picture below) was the tantrum over whether she could have a second root beer. This morning it was potty-related (first, because I was trying to make her go potty, and then, once I gave up, it was because she DID want to go potty, and back and forth and back and forth for a half-hour). She's got the routine down pat (take notes if you'd like to follow the Ellie Path of Destruction) - (1) first comes the high-decibel tantrum dance. One must scream while jumping up and down. Gotta do both at the same time. (2) Then comes the wailing and gnashing of one's teeth, as if the world just simply doesn't understand your pain. (3) This is followed by sulking (shown in the picture below), where one goes to one's room/bathroom/corner and mopes. Again, nobody understands. (4) Then one clutches at Mom's skirt wailing, "hold me hold me hold me" (even though, at this point in the game, Mom wants to anything BUT hold you). And finally, (5) walk away as if nothing has happened. Fit? Who threw a fit? I don't recall any such fit!


She will cut you. Oh yes, she will.

Big Yum
As part of Ellie's sleepover adventure, she got to go to Emma's Tetta's (grandma) house. And yes, per usual, Tetta came through with some yummy treats. I got some of her homemade baklava - don't usually like baklava (or any dessert without chocolate - why waste the calories?), but this was YUMMY. Chewy, not too sweet, just full of yummy goodness. So I'm thinking we'll have to have a regular Tetta visit from now. Maybe she can adopt me as another grandchild?

Big Fun
Saw this on Brandi's site - I've decided I'm going to use it from now on when I encounter whiny babies (attention co-workers).

Why oh Why

Why I almost sold Ellie on ebay last night:
(1) Because she pooped 6, count 'em 6 times in her big-girl panties, each time laughing tee-hee tee-hee
(2) She then dumped an entire bottle of water on the inside of the car, again, with the tee-hee tee-hee
(3) Followed by dumping her entire plate of pasta on the floor during dinner, tee-hee tee-hee, aren't we hilarious
(4) Concluding with me having to return her to her bed 100 times, people. Yes, I counted, it was 100, and no, it wasn't coincidentally exactly 100 - I stopped at 100, said Screw You Supernanny, and closed Ellie in her room. Tee-hee tee-hee, said Mommy.


Why I have to restart my diet (again) today:
(1) Because only a quart of Briars Chocolate Ice Cream and a good Robert Crais novel could dull the pain.
(2) Especially when, after finally getting Ellie Monster to bed, Jack woke up with a nightmare and wandered around my room for 15 minutes screaming "Leave me alone!"

Why I still love 'em:
(1) Because I have to. It's the law.
(2) But even if I didn't have to, I would, because
(3) Ellie breaks into dance every time she can, whether it's in Sacrament Meeting or in the middle of Nordstrom. And you just can't beat Ellie in the middle of her dance groove.
(4) And because Jack wants EVERYONE to be his friend. The minute he meets someone he starts to think about what would make them happy. And you know what? He's usually right! We went to his buddy Max's birthday party over the weekend, and Jack insisted that what Max would really want would be an airplane. So we got him an airplane - turns out he's an airplane nut! You go, Jack!

Why everything will be ok:
Because I can shake my boogie body!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGOO8ZhWFR4

Climbing Everest

It's amazing with my kids how the littlest achievements will thrill me to no end. Jack's not been the biggest natural in the water, and we've never been able to get him to float on his back. Then last night, in the tub, there's our big boy floatin' away without a care in the world! Woo-hoo! Sure, it's all of a foot of water, but my friends, he was a floatin' alright! Small achievement for most, maybe, but in my house, we're climbin' Everest!

He's a Travelin' Man

A.K.A. - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Potato, Potahto

So I'm trying to mark up all the places Jared has been the past couple of years, and I realize my geography is horrendous. And I'll have to have him check it, because I only was able to count off 23 countries, and I could swear the count is more like 25. Oh well. So please pardon me if I can't remember if he's been to Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan, and if I can't find Jordan on the %*#%&% map. I mean, they won't mind if I erroneously marked them as the UAE or Saudi Arabia, right? It's all about the same, right?


View He's a Travelin' Man in a larger map

If you need me, I'll be in the bathroom

...Apparently for the rest of my human existence. Since we've started potty training Ellie, I pretty much spend 90% of my time in the bathroom. And can I tell ya? Not so fun. I really don't know how people with multiple little ones do it. Every 10 minutes I'm in the stinkin' bathroom. Either coercing some urination, reading a story, wiping a butt, or screaming for the 189th time "don't touch that, it's yucky!" (Really? What's so enticing about a toilet seat that they MUST touch it?!?) Oh, and let's not even get started on all the lovely public bathrooms I'm now acquainted with. I'm not even a germaphobe, but c'mon, kneeling on the floor of a public bathroom is not my first choice of activities. Nasty, people, nasty.