A very memorable Memorial day

We had a week-long vacation and then a three day weekend on top of that, what an adventure.  Last year we took the grandmothers, a nanny, and the kids to Port A to a friend’s beach house for a week.  We had so much fun we decided to do it again.  However, this year we changed two things, our nanny has since moved on and we went with a former nanny; and instead of two cars we rented an RV.  Most of you who know me know my propensity for going a little over the top on things.  So this can surely not be a surprise.  What really worked out for us this year was we had a base of operations.  The RV was a small 24 foot Winnebago and it was perfect.  Last year we got down to the coast and all our luggage and baby safety gear took up every square inch of space we weren’t occupying.  This year, we had a couch, kitchenette, fridge, and a bathroom on the bus with plenty of storage space.  It was great because even though it was only a four hour trip, everyone could stretch their legs a little, stand up, grab a coke, etc.  For those of you in law enforcement of course the kids were constantly in five point restraint car seats. J

Another great thing about this was the food.  We were able to both take our own food at 1/3 the price of the island groceries, and also bring back what we didn’t finish.  Last year as soon as we got there I had to turn around and go to the store for all the stuff we’d need. Then at the end of the trip we threw everything away.  This year, mom even premade some carne guisada, and all we had to do was warm up the tortillas.  Also, if a child pooped or, got too hot, or if one of the grandmothers overheated, it was time for the whole family to pack up and go.  This year, we’d just mosey over to the air conditioned bus and have a seat, snack, or use the potty.  Amazingly no one got sick of each other this year even on the bus. 

The beach.  Connor and Josephine had some pretty fun experiences this year.  First Nita bet me 100 bucks that Connor would spend more time playing in the sand and even thought the only way he’d go to the water was if we dragged him out there (like we had to do last year).  My theory was that a year’s worth of size and playing in puddles and mud surely would have changed his attitude.  I took and won the bet before I had the tent set up.  Connor got off the bus, took off his shoes and ran straight to the surf.  We had a ton of fun just splashing out in the waves and watching the occasional mullet hop over a wave.  Josie even liked being out there.  Connor loved it so much that when we were leaving the beach on the first day to go back to the beach house he was literally praying to God that we come back to the beach.  “Dear God, please let us come back to the beach. Please.” It was pretty cute.

The next day was the Texas state aquarium.  Another big hit.  Connor is called “the butterfly whisperer” at his little school because he’s always willing to pick up any bug and wants to pet everything.  The first show we saw was the bird show.  There was a nice little hawk that was flying from a perch to her trainer’s arm and at one point Connor stuck out his arm to see if the hawk would land on it.  He was not concerned about the heavy leather glove she was wearing.  After a tour of the grounds and a dolphin show it was time to hit the splash park.  Connor went nuts at this place and so did Josie.  They both just played and laughed and got soaked.  They slept the sleep of the innocent on the way home.  Again, we had the generator running on the RV so we all walked in to a nice comfortable bus for the ride home.  No legs sticking to hot seats.

Another funny thing about the aquarium was at one point Connor and Josie were looking at one tank together and Connor was making up names of fish to explain them to Josie.  Josie would point at another fish and Connor would make up another name.  It was pretty darn cute.

The next two days were the beach again.  The nanny we brought turned out to be a huge mistake, but that is another story.  Let’s just say that she wasn’t on the last day’s beach trip.  So it was Nita and I juggling the kids back and forth, and it was wonderful.  Connor discovered the little bivalve mollusks (little butterfly looking clam things). When the surf is rolling out, they are exposed and they feed for a few seconds and then use a little foot to push themselves over and then bury themselves before the next wave crashes on them.  It was kind of fascinating to watch.  And Connor was really getting into it.  He’d lie down with face right up against the sand and move at just the last second when the wave rolled in.  Of course his little shadow had to do it as well.  She doesn’t have quite the speed of Connor in ducking the waves and got a couple of big splashes she didn’t quite expect.  But she was a trooper and kept on doing it because big brother was doing it.

And of course we fed the seagulls the left over pancakes and biscuits from breakfast.  Connor loved this as much as last year and Josie did too….for about five minutes.  The problem is Josie has this little thing where she likes to carry food in each hand.  She’ll take her time to eat it, but she just likes to have it.  She also likes to eat peanut butter crackers like some folks eat oreos.  She’ll break them open and lick off the peanut butter and then eat the crackers…sometimes.  In any case once seagulls are all stirred up, they won’t leave until ALL the food is gone.  So the clashing of these two tendencies led to the inevitable.  A seagull got brave and dove in for the cracker.  Josie moved to save her cracker and the seagull got a little bit of knuckle and the cracker.  Josie HOWLED and took quite a while to settle down.  I’m not sure if it was the missing skin or the cracker probably a bit of both.  She even said, “bird take cracker away” about 20 times in a row (pretty good for 18 months btw).  Daddy kissed her hand and gave her another cracker.  Poor thing, but it was kind of funny too.  Within a few minutes she was bounding down the beach and lying in the surf with brother.

The last night we all went to dinner and we stopped at a little souvenir shop beforehand.  The big tourist trap item is hermit crabs with painted shells.  The first place we went, they wouldn’t allow us to hold one (we’re about to find out why). The second place had a nice little girl who said she’d be happy to let Connor hold one.  So Connor picked one out and held it.  Remember he wants to hold and pet everything.  So he picks another one to hold.  Meanwhile Nita is asking if we should get one and goes so far as to call a friend back in Austin who actually has one.  As she’s getting the care and feeding lowdown, Connor wants to hold just one more.  This time the crab clamps down on the little girl’s palm, for what felt like 10 minutes to us.  It seriously must have been about 20 seconds and the girl was in tears.  That little hermit crab was not letting go.  The shop owner said, “Go put it under the water, he’ll let go, I’d hate to cut the leg off.”  I never really thought these options were on the table.  Needless to say, that was the end of our hermit crab shopping.

We did one last stop at the beach after dinner and dragged some more sand in the bus.  The company we used to rent was American Adventure RV rentals.  They were wonderful with us and any and every issue I had they gave 24/7 service.  It was my first time in an RV and frankly there were just a few things I’d forgotten in the orientation that they patiently walked me through remotely.  They were very helpful.  The drive back was relatively uneventful since all the traffic was going the other way.

All in all it was a very successful trip.  Being the only male over three years old meant that I loaded and unloaded the bus each time.  I even lost a couple of pounds on the trip.  But it was all worth it and was such a great time. I even had a dream the night we got home about loading the bus.  Seriously, I did.

We got back on the Friday before Memorial day.  So we had plenty of time to unwind and still have some fun.  Of course we had our big golf tournament at the club so I went to play with a buddy on Sunday.  He then suggested we bring the whole family over for some fajitas and pool time.  We did and it was a fantastic day.  And then on Memorial day we took the kids to our club pool where Connor and Josie played for hours.  They got so tired that Josie slept on my shoulder on the ride home (in my golf cart).  Finally, after naps we hoped back in the golf cart and headed over to my mom’s for dinner.  The kids went out back and played in the park again for another hour and a half.  So there was a lot of playing, running around, swimming, and sleeping.  What a fantastic week.  Connor and Josie start swimming lessons on Wed, so the new adventure begins.  They are both quite the little water bugs, man that was an easy 100.

The simple things

As I’ve mentioned before, Nita and I have a little different style of parenting.  Nita is all about exposing the kids to new and exciting stimulus and I’m about safety.  There are times when we clearly and obviously clash.  I’ve been trying to do a better job of letting go, but for those who know me, I kind of like being in control of the situation.  Anyway, Nita has been letting Connor help with cooking and meal preparation.  Additionally a couple of our nannies have introduced fun cooking activities into snack time.  So I finally relented and bought Connor some little chef tools, his own apron and his own chef’s hat.  He has made eggs, pancakes, and has mixed veggies for us.  He absolutely loves helping us in the kitchen and the other day he RAN into the house from outside to help me egg and flour some pork chops.  And there was a mud puddle he could have jumped in.  I asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up and he said a chef.  Mr. Lagasse, you have been served.

This weekend was mother’s day and Nita decided she wanted to take the kids to the Flying Monsters (dinosaurs) IMAX exhibit…in 3D.  Then we’d hop over to central market for dinner.  Nita’s brother and the grandmothers were invited as well.  This was to be Connor and Josephine’s first 3D experience.  Okay, technically the polar express 3D at home was the first but Connor was barely Josie’s age and he destroyed all the glasses.  Anyway, Connor loved it and Josie was more interested in the popcorn and rice crispy treat than the show.  Connor jumped a few times and once when a dinosaur flew by his head and appeared to go behind us he turned around and shouted (loud enough for most of the theater to hear), “Hey you, come back here, this instant!”  There were more than a few chuckles.  He was very good through the whole thing and said he liked it.  Josie just liked walking up and down the stairs.

Then we went to central market where the kids mostly picked at the food but were dying to get to the playscapes.  Connor had his attention diverted by the dogs and a new little duck swimming with his momma.  We brought his unfinished hamburger bun and fed the ducks and a turtle by the edge of the pond.  It took quite a bit of effort keeping Connor out of the pond.  Josie just hooted and quacked, because well, that’s what ducks do.

The day before we played outside on our playscape and for snack time, I brought the kids some pudding snack packs.  Nita and I reminisced about seeing the can in our lunches as kids.  We couldn’t wait to open it (ourselves) and we’d lick the metal lid.  And no one ever cut their tongues.  Of course then we’d hop in the front seat with our parents and drove home unseat-belted.  Anyway, I brought out the pudding and the kids smiles were as big as I remember mine being.  It made me think that one of the best parts of being a parent is sometimes reliving some of your own favorite moments as a child.  I hope I don’t take it for granted.  It’s especially fun and I know it flies by.  A buddy who lost a bet to me was supposed to meet up for a couple of beers yesterday and had to cancel at the absolute last second because one of his kids had an issue.  In fact he said, “Don’t be surprised if you read about a homicide, because, well, you’ll see when yours are teenagers.”

Finally after dinner we just started playing around in the living area.  Josie picked up a xylophone, Connor picked up a toy electric guitar, and Nita just walked over to the piano.  The next thing you know we were having a little sing along. Stay tuned for the new album of Duets, coming to a record store near you.  I guess aside from the IMAX, most of our fun was pretty simple.  Cooking, feeding ducks, pudding cups, and singing around the piano after dinner.  Good Lord we’re the Cleaver family.  Ward did like a little scotch after work didn’t he?

If it has the word “mud,” I’m in

This weekend we were invited to an annual event at a dear old friend’s house.  She has a combination crawfish boil and Kentucky derby party, this year it also coincided with cinco de mayo.  The crawfish are spicy and the mint juleps are plentiful.  You would think that I would have connected the dots here and put a couple bucks on 200-1 horse “I’ll have another” but alas I did not.  This is Connor’s third time at this event and he’s definitely getting the hang of it. 

The process for purging crawfish or mud bugs is to put them in a baby pool with salt water.  This allows them to ahem, let’s just say “devein” themselves.  Connor wasn’t nearly as interested in eating the corn, potato, mushroom, sausage, etc. as he was playing with the mudbugs. In fact he spent about 10 minutes begrudgingly eating a Peanut butter sandwich, one crawfish tail, and one potato and about 2 hours playing with crawfish.  He told stories later about the “little lobsters” which became “huge, GIANT lobsters” only two days later.

He’d race them, fight them, scare them, pick them up, sieve them, you name it.  Many other kids came up and were excited to watch, but didn’t want to touch.  Connor was fearless, and for those of you wondering, yes he got pinched a few times.  But my sweet little boy didn’t care, he’d shake them off his finger, and then pick it up and put it back into the tub.  If they rose up their pinchers to scare him, he’d give them his claw hand and his invisible dragon fire (complete with sound effects).  I heard so many parents and attendees just amazed “at that little red-headed boy over there.”  It was cute.  Connor could have spent all day doing it and was a little upset when it was time to go home.  The crawfish were a little spicy for Josie and she was more comfortable watching brother and didn’t really want to hold the mini-lobsters.  They also found the cookies and cupcakes quite filling.

The next day I almost did something stupid.  I was REALLY close to buying him a few crawfish from the HEB seafood section but then realized we’d soon have another “soupy” scenario (the turtle for new readers).  My better judgment took over at the last second and we went home with what was on the list.

Sunday’s are turning into fun family breakfast days.  There is a little kolache and doughnut shop near Connor’s school.  If you buy enough kolaches you get a free bag of doughnut holes.  Well Connor and Josie love both and it goes like this.  I have to put mustard and ketchup on their plates so they can “dip it” and then eat the kolaches, although sometimes (always) Josie will double and triple dip the mustard.  Once they race through this they start in on the doughnut holes.  The first doughnut hole is usually the best.  Their eyes light up when the glaze hits their tongues.  Then Josie says “more” while giving the sign language sign just in case we were somehow confused.  If you saw the "this old man" video, this was the same morning.

Now that they are all sugared up, I take them either in the back yard to play, or we get in the golf cart and head to the golf course.  We stop at the pond on number 15 to see if there are any fish, turtles, cranes, or ducks and then head to number 16.  It is a par 4 with a couple of hills, and they are usually running the sprinkler around this time.  So Connor and Josie take turns running through it barefoot until they are soaking wet.  We head home and dry off.  After this we head to the grocery store where Connor tries to convince me he needs Jelly beans, a sucker, or another doughnut.

This trip to the store was different.  They were all sugared up from the holes and there was zero chance they were getting more sweets.  We also had a noon appointment so Nita and I decided to divide and conquer.  I took Josie and Connor went with mommy. (Two reds two browns). Anyway, we split the list and we met back in produce.  When I got there, Connor was holding a huge broccoli crown and he was eating it like cotton candy.  I try to give the kids healthy snacks and it isn’t unlike me to grab the boy an apple or a bulk carrot, but this time Connor just reached out and grabbed it…and was going to town.  I can’t even imagine what everyone else thought of us.  So once we regrouped and I put both kids in the same cart, Josie (Connor’s human shadow) HAD to have some broccoli too.  She needed to get a stalk and she started munching on it as well.  The looks we got were priceless.  Once we got all the way into the line Connor started his campaigning for candy again, so they quickly subsided.  Josie wasn’t sure what to do with all the broccoli in her mouth that she’d clearly misjudged as a treat.  Don’t get me wrong, they both like broccoli cooked but raw isn’t within two concentric circles of a cookie.  Heck it’s not even in the same area code as a cheese snack.

On a sad note Maurice Sendak passed away this week.  He was the author of “Where the Wild Things Are.”  If you aren’t familiar it’s the story of Max who is naughty in his wolf PJs and is sent to bed without dinner.  He discovers a far-away land where the wild things are and he is made king after winning a staring contest.  Connor loves the book the characters, etc.  Josie loves playing with the Dolls that Nita has had since she was a girl.  We’ve all read the story to kids many many times.  Don’t Go. I’ll eat you up!!! I love you so.

Mrs. Manners meet Mr. Murphy

Okay so it wasn’t exactly Murphy’s law to the letter, but anyway, here goes.  For a while now we’ve been working on being polite.  Connor and Josie regularly say “please” and “thank you” and they are generally sweet.  When we ask one to apologize to the other, they do and the other usually says “that’s okay, I forgive you” and there is a hug.  They call their elders Mr. and Mrs. (or at least “Aunt” and “Uncle”) and of course “yes sir” and “no sir.”  Lately we’ve been working on a new project.  Since we now have two chatter boxes we’re working on the proper way to interrupt a conversation.  And as much as I love a good loud talking debate, elevating your voice and talking over everyone isn’t really what we’re going for here.  So we’ve been trying to work on raising our hand and saying, “excuse me, I have something to say.” 

Now the funny/ironic part about this (and those of you who REALLY know me) know I have a bad habit of interrupting people, finishing a thought that I don’t think is getting to the end quick enough and sometimes just plain old talking over people.  I didn’t say it was a good habit, but you know, full disclosure to head off the Luke 6:42 crowd.  J  So the hardest part has been attempting to model the behavior we expect from the kids ourselves.  Nita and I are doing much better for sure, but it isn’t always easy to let someone finish their thought (especially if you are kind of through listening anyway – again, full disclosure). I digress.

So we’ve really been working on how to politely interrupt, wait for the acknowledgement that it is your turn, and then what to do with the floor when you get it.  This weekend we took a little ride up to the Cedar Rock rail road in Williamson County Regional Park.  As you are aware, Connor and Josie both love trains and this was a fun little treat.  As we were riding up there and Nita and I were arguing with the navigation system on the proper way to get there, Connor kept asking us to tell him Godzilla stories while Josie sang songs.  This was a great time to review our strategy on “Mommy and daddy are talking right now, but Connor you are next.”  Then finally, we got things sorted out and we said, “Okay Connor, go ahead.”  “Uhm, uhm, I love you.”  “We love you too pumpkin, but what do you want to say.”  “Uhm, (repeat for about 30 seconds) can you tell me a story about Godzilla and Mothra?”  Meanwhile Josie is saying, ”My turn, my turn” and we know with her experiences and vocabulary it’s more than likely announcing flatulence.

I guess next we’ll work on what to do with the talking stick when you get it, or if the point is just to hold the talking stick (no we aren’t actually using a stick).  Our method for helping the kids with the courtesies is positive re-enforcement.  So we usually reward them for the behavior we want to encourage as a method of getting more of that behavior; enter Mr. Murphy.  So we get to the train station and ride the train a couple of times. Connor and Josie both love the ride and the sounds, all the butterflies, etc.  At the end of the ride the conductor says, “Okay folks thanks for the ride” and he blew the whistle.  Since Connor in his short life has already sat inside the Lakeline mall train and worked the steering wheel, blown the horn, and rang the bell, I incorrectly assumed that pulling the chain for the whistle might be a possibility.  So I said, “Why don’t you go thank the conductor for the ride and ask if you can blow the whistle?”  Connor excitedly walked around and patiently waited while Conductor Tim sold tickets to the next ride.  Then when he was next in line he said, “Thank you for the ride Conductor Tim, may I blow the whistle please?” 

Conductor Tim said, “Sorry son, we can’t let anyone touch the engine, company policy.  You don’t want to end up like this.”  At this point he showed one hand which was missing about 40% of the fingers Connor had.  Two things happened at this point: Connor got upset that his polite inquiry didn’t work, and I found a grotesquely funny way to explain it.  As we loaded the kids into the car seat Connor was beside himself that he was not allowed to touch the train.  I’m not saying we spoil him (we do), but usually if he’s being really good or polite let’s just say the rewards flow in pretty good.  But when he doesn’t get his way, he doesn’t throw a tantrum, but it’s as if his feelings are hurt.  Like, “How can this be? I’ve been good, I was nice to Josie, I was obeying, (channel Nancy Kerrigan) WHY!!”  So we had to take a few deep breaths and then he finally composed himself and said, “But mommy, I said ‘please’ (the word lasted about three seconds)!”  Here is where my sense of humor and problem solving kicked in.  I said, “Well honey, I bet what happened is one day he let a little boy touch the train after the owner told him not to and the owner came and cut off his fingers.” 

Connors eyes got big.  Nita’s mouth dropped.  “Dude!” she said, “What are you doing?”  I laughed.  “So you see Connor, I bet he wanted to let you do it, but he has to follow the rules now since he only has three fingers left.  When we break the rules, sometimes really bad things happen.”  At this point Nita is saying, “We might have been able to spin this another way, don’t you think honey?” while chuckling.  Then on the way home I found four other opportunities to mention instances where not following the rules might warrant cutting off fingers, not even counting the obvious betrayal of the Yakuza code.”  But we really did turn it into something funny and light (not that I’m totally insensitive).  Anyway, on the way back home it was lunchtime and we were talking about what to have for lunch.  As we were doing the mental scan of our fridge I mentioned we could get a quick drive through burger.  Since we’re from Texas, Whataburger was on the top of our list.  So we pull in to the drive through and order our food.

I’m not exactly sure what the protocol is here, but should you tip the girl at the window when your son says, “Who is that fat old lady?”  Is there any amount that guarantees an un-dropped meat patty?  Or is our nervous smile enough?  When the woman walked in the back to get our food, I looked at Connor and said, “Sweetie, you can’t say that.  She’s going to cut off daddy’s fingers.  And then how will we play baseball?” 

Speaking of baseball; Josie is getting very vocal as I mentioned before.  Since the Rangers are so much fun to watch right now and between ESPN, FoxSports Southwest and KBVO you can pretty much watch every single game…which I kind of have, much to Nita’s chagrin.  However, a couple of days ago, Josie came waddling in before bedtime in her little Pajamas and said, “Daddy watching baseball. Josie watch with daddy.”  Although it was more like “daddy watch baybah.”  Then she climbed up on Mancave couch and snuggled up.  Oh, my future looks bright if I have two kiddos who love to watch some baseball with daddy.  And I’m not even counting all the saved trips to the beer fridge. And I know I’m a little long here, but speaking of more baseball, Josie has discovered the joy (about five months earlier than Connor did) of bat races.