Camp Mommy: Evan's week

Pressley has been at cheerleading camp this week (post to follow), so I've had a great week spending quality time with my sweet Evan. On Tuesday, we went to Fernbank. We've been to Fernbank several times over the past few years, given its proximity to our house. Evan is a big fan of dinosaurs, so Fernbank seems an obvious choice for entertainment.



Right now, there is a gecko exhibit there. It is a pretty cool exhibit. Not as interactive as I might have liked, but we were entertained. There was a sign on each enclosure that told us how many geckos were in there, so we felt it was our duty to find them all before we moved on.

Ok. So confession time: there is area called a Walk through Time in Georgia or some such thing. I swear, I have never noticed it in all of our outings to Fernbank, and as others may already be aware...THAT'S where most of the dinosaurs are! I've always thought it was just the giant skeleton in the big atrium and some in the outdoor areas. I had no idea this other area existed.

Evan was not quite as excited as I would have guessed he would be, but I guess that is what happens when you take a kid to the Museum of Natural History when he's three and a half. The local stuff fails to impress.

Finally, we headed to the kids' playrooms to round out our visit. Only, the play rooms are closed for renovations. Instead, there is a tiny area called "Greatest Hits of the Children's Playrooms" or something along those lines. There is the fishing boat, some city building blocks, and the little bin of "fresh produce." That's it for the greatest hits. I hope the renovation is done before the year-long membership I just bought expires!

The next day, Evan and I went to paint pottery. We took our own stencils that we printed on the computer and cut out. Evan picked a plate and a cup to paint and I think they turned out super-cute. I gotta say, though. Painting pottery with a child is an awful lot of work for a control freak like me. It is not easy to make said child feel like it is his own thing while still maintaining some sense that it will turn out like it is "supposed to." I can't tell you anymore about the pottery because we still haven't picked up it and when I tried to get Evan to tell Corin what we had painted, he said he wanted it to be a surprise.

We also rented a movie one day. I'm not sure what Evan enjoyed more: watching the movie or helping me rent it from the Blockbuster Express machine in the Publix.

Finally, on Friday, we went to see Despicable Me. It was super cute and we enjoyed it very much. GranNan and Poppy had to pick Pressley up from camp that day since the movie ran a little longer and would prevent us from picking her up on time. So, we rounded out the week by having lunch with them.

All in all, it was a great way to spend some good bonding time before my big boy starts first grade next Monday.

Stay tuned for a post about Pressley's experience at cheer camp as well as a post - or at least a picture - of the snaggle-toothed boy who lost his first tooth during Camp Mommy.

Vacation wrap-up

I had the very best of intentions that I would blog while we were on vacation this year. There were four laptops on the trip - one of them my dad's, which had all of the weeks' pictures on its hard drive. There really is no excuse for failure, except that the sun and the sand and the big evening meals and the lure of a glass of wine were always standing between me and being productive about chronicling the weeks' adventures for posterity.

There were many times during the week that I thought, "Oh. This would make an entertaining blog post." But, do you think I remember any of those things right now? That would be a "no."

So, instead of short, entertaining blog posts along the way, you get a long-winded, rambling wrap-up piece. Sorry. I'll try to do better next time.

The first thing of note from our vacation experience this year was that the kids (mine and Beth's) have settled into being quite content at the actual beach. In years past, it seems like as soon as we haul all of the gear down to the sand and get all settled in to read a book or drink a diet coke or what-have-you, the kids are all clamoring to go to the pool. Even though they all have plenty of pool time at home.

This year, Evan and Will thoroughly enjoyed body surfing and boogie boarding and diving for sand dollars (which they found by the bucketful), while Abby and Pressley enjoyed digging in the sand, watching daddies dig in the sand, sitting in whatever shade they could find with a cold orange-flavored beverage, and just doin' their thing.

Sometimes the girls were very independent from one another. Pressley likes to wander off by herself, so as not to be visually connected with the rest of the family, while she chats with the waves and the birds and performs sonnets and songs and soliloquies for no one in particular. Sometimes she'll return for a prop, but she is generally content to just wander about and be one with her imaginary world of princesses and mermaids and who-know-what-all-else.

Other times, the girls would hold hands as they skipped and jumped around and had lots of fun together. You kinda never knew what you would get. One day, in their quest for shade, Abby insisted on borrowing her mama's chair with the big canopy that flips over on top of it. Pressley wanted in on some of that action, so we finally positioned the big chair in such a way that it would cast some shade out in front of it and we put Pressley's little chair directly in front of it, facing Abby's. This was the girls' idea, mind you. I just helped a little bit with the logistics.

The boys were a little more predictable. Though they did their fair share of digging in the sand – and burying Evan, the general rule was if it floated and rode waves, they were dragging it out into the ocean. They were particularly partial to the Big Giant Blue Innertube that they could both fit on. Late in the week, they decided to try a skim board. The other kids were not much for all the falling down required to learn the art of balancing on the board. Evan didn't seem to mind all the falling down, and I was really proud of his determination. I won't say he achieved pro status, but he definitely improved.

What else? We ate lots of good seafood. Both in restaurants and at the house. We made a low country boil one night that will likely see a repeat performance on future beach trips.

Oh, the daddies took the kids to a state park that they thought was approximately 30-45 minutes from the island. Turns out it was about an hour and twenty minute drive, but they say it was well worth it. Next time we go to Hilton Head, we plan to make a full day trip of it, complete with a picnic lunch. There was a lighthouse (which closed before they could climb it), fishing (with rods that were provided at the park), and shelling.

And, finally, how could I forget the family beach photo? As much as I used to resist this, I guess I’ve gotten old and soft and sentimental, so I’m as insistent upon it these days as anyone. The boys were never into it from the beginning. Well, the little boys. The husbands behaved because they know what is good for them. The sons have not yet learned. Despite the angst, we got some good shots, but before it was over, even Pressley (photo-is-my-middle-name) was complaining that it was taking “for long” and asking when it would be over. Ahh, memories!

Camp Mommy: Pressley's week

Evan is at karate camp this week. The original plan was to find Pressley a half-day camp to attend this week, just like she attended gymnastics camp during the week Evan was at Sports Camp. I made the mistake of asking Pressley (before I had done any research into the subject) if she would rather go to gymnastics camp for a second week or if she wanted me to find her a dance camp instead. She enthusiastically chose for me to find her a dance camp.

Well. Easier said than done.

I searched high and low for a dance camp. I talked to moms at swim team. I searched "the Google." I even sought out expert advice via Facebook, where I do my most intense research for such matters. I got some excellent leads, but all camps (of the dance and princess varieties) were either full, not offered this week, or not open to kids under five.

I finally broke down late last week (or maybe Sunday) and admitted to Pressley that mommy could not find a dance camp for this week. But I softened the blow by telling her that I had found a gymnastics camp to attend the week after we get back from vacation. So, Evan will go this week. Then we'll go on vacation. And, then you'll go to camp the NEXT week! (And that is when Evan will have a week of Camp Mommy.)

It worked like a charm until Evan got all dressed and ready to go on Monday and there were murmerings (or loud whinings) about it not being fair and "hmmmph!" and all.

I told her we would do fun stuff together while E was at camp and asked what she'd like to do today. Without missing a beat - and in a much more pleasant tone - she said she'd like to go to the mall to ride the train.

The $3 train ride is at the mall near my mom and dad's house, so I suggested we also go to the park near their house and feed the ducks. I stole that idea from Big Mama, my blog "friend", whom I've never met, but read without fail most every morning of the week while I eat my cereal.

So, we headed to the mall at 10:00 am. Come to find out, the train doesn't "open" until 11, so we had to kill some time at the Old Navy and the Claire's boutique. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to take Pressley to Claire's with the notion that we'd just look. I ended up being suckered into buying her a Princess watch that has four interchangeable faces. Camp Mommy could end up being very expensive if I'm not careful....

Anyway, here she is on the train:


And here she is on the quarter-fed cars at the other end of the mall. Luckily, she's happy just climbing in and out and turning steering wheels and never once asked for money to "ride" them.

Here's one in front of the fountain, showing off the new watch.

OK, so... on to the ducks at the park. As we were walking up, we didn't see any ducks and I was afraid this would be a bummer trip. But, we found the ducks, or rather, they found us.


Here are the ducks discovering that we've come to visit and that we've brought bread:

And here is the last one I snapped of Pressley before she started running from those aggressive little guys because she thought they were going to eat her.

For the rest of the time, she stood behind me with her hands planted firmly in my back pockets while I fed the ducks the rest of the bread. I tried to assure her that the ducks would not eat her or hurt her, but frankly, I wasn't all that confident. I think the heat has kept the kids and the bread away this summer, becuase those were some hungry ducks!

Blackberry Pickin'

We decided to make a quick trip to Knoxville for the weekend of the Fourth of July. Gran and Grandaddy had already planned to go to a party hosted by a friend of theirs, and she graciously agreed to let them bring us as well. The party was to include picking blackberries at a nearby preserve and bringing the berries back to the hostess' farm so she could make blackberry pies.

Now, I have never been blackberry picking. I took the kids to pick strawberries last summer, and silly me thought this would be similar. I did not realize that blackberries grow up in the middle of briars and thorns. (Call me a city girl.) So, my family was seriously inappropriately-dressed for this particular activity. Corin and Evan were wearing shorts; Pressley and I were in skirts. Evan had on the most appropriate shoes - his crocs. The rest of us had on flip flops.

We walked in our inappropriate clothing and shoes to the top of a very long, steep hill to where Grandaddy figured the best berries would be. Corin blazed a trail for the kids and showed them how to pick the berries and I got a couple of pictures before the chaos ensued.

As Gran predicted, Pressley was not a big fan of the blackberry pickin'. She got a thorn in the bottom of her toe, which drew blood, and it was all over but the hollering. She screamed like she had lost her whole toe rather than just a few drops of blood and I ended up carrying her all the way back down the hill while she hollered. I have never been so sweaty in my life. OK, maybe I have, but the point is, carrying 40 pounds of screaming, writhing pre-schooler down a hill in the heat of July is not fun for anyone...

Things significantly improved when we returned to the farm for a pot-luck dinner. There were lots of other kids at the party, and after dinner, the kids enjoyed drawing with sidewalk chalk, playing catch, watching the teenage boys light fireworks, chasing fireflies, and the like.

Here is Lil' P watching daddy draw with some sidewalk chalk.

Sunday, we just hung out with Gran and Grandaddy. Here is Pressley hanging out, playing her Leapster with an exhausted Lilly nearby. I am certain Lilly was resting from being loved on all morning.

We left that afternoon to return to Decatur to watch the fireworks with some friends. On the way back into town, we stopped for a burger at FLIP, and Evan discovered a new love... in the form of a Krispy Kreme doughnut milkshake. Happy Birthday, America!

County swim meet

Once again, I'm very proud of our little athlete. Last Thursday and Friday brought the county swim meet at Emory University. Thursday was the preliminary round where all swimmers in the 8 and under age group swam to qualify for Friday's finals. Evan swam in the 6 and under team relay, the individual freestyle and backstroke. The top 10 relay teams advance and the top 20 individual swimmers in each race advance. Though Evan didn't advance in either of his individual events, his relay team qualified (with the second best time) to advance to the finals.

We had a lot of time in the "bullpen" on Thursday between warm-ups and Evan's events, so we got a little creative and tried to re-produce the Wahoo team logo onto Evan's back in sharpie marker. I am NOT an artist, but I was pretty proud of the result. (I did not take pictures of the logos drawn by the mothers who do have some artistic talent. You would be much less impressed with mine if you saw theirs.)

Here is Evan with his buddy, Jason, from our neighborhood. Jason swims the anchor leg of their relay team and took 2nd place in the county for both the freestyle and the backstroke.

Here's the whole 6 and under boys relay team. (I took about 6 pictures of them and this was the best one. I guess it is hard to get four 6 year olds to hold still for a picture when they are hyped up on sugar and competition.) They took THIRD place in the county meet! We are SO very proud. Evan swam his little heart out.

This is Evan getting ready to climb onto the block for his leg of the relay in Friday's finals.

Diary of a Mom of a Drama Queen

I am preparing a bunch of photo-intensive catch-up posts from our fun-filled last week or so, but first I feel like I need to just vent. I understand that three is the new two. Meaning that the twos are not so terrible anymore, but the threes just might drive a mother over the edge. So, what does that say about the fours? Because here we are...smack in the middle of the fours...and I'm wondering how much longer I'll be able to hold out before I have to get botox and color my hair.

I thought the fours would be so much better. We know how to use our words to express ourselves. We are getting older. It should be getting better. But try telling that to the nannies and the stay at home moms who were gathered in great numbers at the Barnes and Noble for story time yesterday morning.

We were there to pick out a chapter book for Evan. He had told me that a friend of his can "read a chapter book all by himself!" I suggested that I'm sure that Evan could too, but we just hadn't started buying them for him yet. So, we had some time to kill yesterday and I decided to go to the bookstore to let Evan pick out a book. I also found an "easy reader" book for Evan that I thought he would enjoy. I was browsing the level one easy reader princess books for Pressley when she appeared with a big, gaudy, sparkly Princess book that included a set of paints and maybe some stickers. I told her that we were here to buy books that would help us read - not books with paints and stickers - and she started to whine. "But, mom-MEEE, I want this book!" I calmly replied, "No, sweetie, that is not what we are here for today. Maybe we can come back for that book sometime when you have your own money or when you have earned a treat."

I won't give you the whole play-by-play, because frankly, I don't want to re-live it and it would exhaust you to just read about it. But, suffice it to say that after I had tried all my best mommy tricks, I finally had to drag her from the store, kicking and screaming while all the nannies and stay at home moms within a 10 mile radius sat watching - either sympathizing or judging. I'm hoping for the former.

I am still hoping that this recent wave of behavior (sadly, this has not been an isolated incident) is the result of missed naps and late bedtimes several days in a row last week. I have been determined that, starting with this past Monday, she would get sufficient naps everyday and we would not sacrifice bedtimes for any reason. We have had a good several days of good sleep habits, but so far, we don't seem to be back on track with the behavior.

I'll keep ya posted, but I really need a reappearance of my sweet little girl. Drama queen, I can handle. But, all-out DIVA may make me run away from home...

WHEN will I ever learn?

Somehow in the car this morning, I ended up reciting a list of errands I ran a couple of weeks ago while the kids were each at camp. (Evan asked. I don't know why...) One of the things on the list was that I went to the doctor for a check-up. Evan wanted to know if I got a shot when I went to the doctor. I said no. I could have left it at that, but for some reason I was compelled to clarify that although I didn't get a shot, I did get stuck with a needle when the nurse drew blood. (Probably in an attempt to empathize since they, er, Pressley still gets shots every year.) Evan needed to know how that worked, so I explained.

He was quiet for a few seconds while he processed that information and then he asked if kids ever get their blood drawn. I said yes. Sometimes. (Note to self: it would have been a really good idea to stop there. Next time just stop there!!) But no. I had to go and try to make it personal.

So, I said, "In fact, Pressley had her blood drawn when she was a tiny baby. She was only 5 weeks old."

Evan asked a few follow-up questions while Pressley looked horrified, clutched her arm at the elbow crease, and took on a bit of a green tinge. I thought that was that. But I was wrong.

When I put Pressley down for her nap, she started up with the questions:

[Whining ]"Mommy, why did they take my blood?" Me: Because you had a fever and they couldn't figure out why, so they needed to run some tests.

[Bottom lip quivering] "But, how did they scoop it out?" Me: Sweetie, they didn't scoop it out. They used a needle that had a hole in the middle.

"Did I cryyyyyy?" Yes, honey, but the nurse dipped your paci in sugar water and that made you feel much better.

And on and on. I thought we might not get a nap at all. But, with 5-10 minutes of back scratching, the questions finally stopped and sleep came.

I don't know when I'll learn to only give out the necessary information and avoid the drama. I should have known this would disturb her. There is a picture of her as a one year old in our family photo album where she is crying on the beach because she wanted none of participating in our family photo shoot. She can barely look at that page without welling up.

She is extraordinarily empathetic with her former self.