Just another day on vacation

Owen was the first one up again this morning. He climbed into bed with us and snuggled. He kept giving me little hugs complete with light pats on the back. He also held my face in his hands a lot. It was really sweet. By the time Deets was up and in our bed for his snuggle-bug time, Owen was heading back to his spot on the sleeping bag. That's when he discovered Brandon sleeping in his spot, and he was none too happy. He woke Brandon up to make him move over. Instead of moving over and going back to sleep, Brandon woke up screaming bloody murder. We went from calm to screeching in the blink of an eye. So much for the calm morning. Dylan & I tried to ignore all the noise and kept snuggling. Russ had to deal with the screaming banshee.

Since it looked like it was going to be a nicer day than yesterday, we headed to the beach again today. It's free and the kids just wear themselves out. They had a great time today. They weren't the out of control, deaf children we took to the beach yesterday. They just played and played and played. (Oh, they ate and ate and ate again too.) They even allowed us to enjoy the sounds of the ocean, and bask in the sun's warmth. My mother-in-law, Diane, and I managed to get sunburns. I'm pretty burned, even though I had sunscreen. All I can say is thank goodness the boys escaped burning.

It's bedtime right now. Actually passed bedtime. It's 8:45 and Brandon is poking Owen. Those two are rolling around on their sleeping bag, laughing, poking, hitting and laughing some more. Poor Deets is laying next to them trying so hard to go to sleep. He's so tired after another long day playing at the beach, he can't even tell his brothers to stop.

Beach Day!!!

Today was beach day. We spent a good four hours at Rio Del Mar Beach. I spent a good portion of that time yelling, "Don’t throw sand," "Please share," "Get back over here," and "Don’t throw sand!!!!" I must have yelled at Brandon 50 times about throwing sand. The last time I yelled at him, he had thrown a shovel full of sand into Owen’s face. That wasn’t fun trying to comfort a 2 year-old who can't see and who is trying to spit all the sand out his mouth. Aside from that, the boys had a wonderful time. I think I needed Russ with us at the beach. We usually trade off with the yelling and being the voice of reason. Aside from the boys running wild on the beach, they got some sandcastle building, hole digging, Frisbee throwing, seashell searching and sand dune jumping in today. I swore they were going to fall asleep in the car on the way back to the house. Not a one! There were some exhaustion related meltdowns happening once we got back. That was solved with dinner. Full bellies mellowed them out. I don't know why...those boys ate all day long today. Right up until bedtime they were asking for cheese, bread, apple slices, and just food in general. Even Mr. Picky Deets was on fire with the food. I think that’s what through me off the most! That boy barely eats. I actually found myself saying, "Nobody is eating anything else!" It was CRAZY! It’s like they are all going through a growth spurt at the same time. Today was just exhausting. After baths, I popped in a movie for them and poured a glass of wine for myself. I was so frazzled, I swore I'd polish off the bottle. But after a couple of glasses, I corked the bottle and came upstairs to type this. Now I'm so tired, I think this will be the end of this lame entry. Nighty, night!

My drive to Santa Cruz

Good times! That's all I can really say about that drive. There was a horrible accident on I-5 just before Lodi. We were stuck in stop and go (mostly stopped) traffic for at least 5 miles. By the time we got to the accident, the kids movie was over and I was listening to all three boys yelling, "I want to watch...!" over and over.... They finally accepted the fact that I couldn't change their movie. Dylan and Owen settled in for a nap, while Brandon tried without success. It was a difficult trip for us all because Russ is usually the one driving, and I’m in the passenger seat taking care of the boys’ every need. Not this time. Russ drove his work truck down with all his tools in back just in case he needed them to do some work on his mom’s rental. The rest of us were packed into my car with all the usual beach vacation items. He’s staying the whole week, where we are just staying until Wednesday. Brandon tried so hard to talk to me during the drive, but I couldn’t hear him. I kept telling him to speak up, but he just couldn’t. The only time he talks loud enough to be heard is when he’s upset. It took four and a half hours to get here today. It was ridiculous...but then again, I guess it could have been much worse. My luck didn't change once we got here. The house we rent that used to have internet access, no longer has internet access. So much for my plan to work and blog! Maybe we will have better luck when we move to Diane's house mid-week.

Hee hee, giddy with glee

Bought a new laptop today. (hee, hee) I can work or play anywhere now. Half the problem with working at home is I'm stuck downstairs and the kids are running wild upstairs. I'm giddy that I'll have my computer when we go to Santa Cruz. I can actually work (or blog) in the evenings when everyone is winding down and going to sleep. (hee, hee)

Connie's '67 Cadillac

Well, the long awaited day finally came. Russ had the Caddie towed to a mechanic specializing in classic cars. Russ told me the mechanic wanted to hear the history of the car like a doctor would want to know his patient's medical history. That right there made put Russ at ease with leaving the car there.

The car used to be his grandmother's car. Russ likes to point out that she was the original owner, and it was bought at Hubacher. When we would drive down to Santa Cruz to visit, Connie was still driving it to the store and to go get her hair done. The day eventually came when she decided she shouldn't be driving anymore. That's when Russ started driving the car, so it wouldn't just sit in the garage and deteriorate. Not that it was torture for him. He loves driving that car. Well, over the years the car started having electrical problems and fuel line issues, and it was also leaking fluids. It ended up sitting in storage, and then my mom's garage collecting dust. There was never enough time, or something else was always more important to deal with. Now that Russ isn't working the crazy hours he did when he was in sales, he figured now is as good a time as any. We had the cash to saved to fix it, so why not? Right after Russ drove it home from the shop, we hosed off the dust and went for a nice long drive. Aside from the car spewing radiator fluid at the end of our drive (because the cap was left off), it ran like a champ.

Brandon must have been around 2 years-old when he asked Russ if we could go for a ride in "the Caddie car." Russ told him when it was fixed we would go for a ride. Little did we know it would be almost 4 years and 2 brothers later that he'd finally get his ride. Russ drove the car over to his mom's house the next morning to surprise her and the boys (they had spent the night). Let me point out that Diane was less than pleased that the car sat for as long as it did, and who could blame her? It was her mom's car. Anyway, Russ says that she was all teary-eyed when she saw it. Russ strapped in a carseat and booster seat and the four of them when for a drive.

A perfect day

It was an all about Deets day. He and I spent the morning together...just the two of us. This never happens, so it was very special for us both. We spent the morning at the zoo. He got to be the leader and decide what we were going to do. He marched us around to glance at most of the animals. We only stopped at his favorites: the gibbons and the fish (by the red pandas). It was early enough in the day that all the animals were out and about, but they didn't warrant a second glance from Deets. He obviously had an agenda, and he was sticking to it. He wanted to take pictures at the zoo cutouts??? If you know Deets, the last thing he likes is having his picture taken. I guess it's acceptable if he's sticking his head through a hole! After a brief snack, we headed off to the new hand-carved carousel. Deets couldn't believe there weren't any "seat belts" and asked me to hold him so he wouldn't fall off his zebra. He loved it. The whole ride he kept asking me what all the other animals were around us. It really is a beautiful ride. Next was the zoo train. We were first in line, so D got his pick of seats. He was disappointed that he couldn't see any of the animals from the train...the same front and center animals he refused to look at when we first got there. By train time, they were all hiding in their enclosures. After that, he wanted to play on the rope spider web and the cement "shell slide". I was surprised that he only played there for 5 minutes, before he announced he wanted to go in the reptile house. He treated each window like a Where's Waldo? page, "Where is it, Mommy?" and "I see it, Mommy!" As soon as he found the animal, off to the next one. If someone was standing there, he'd skip it and move on to the next one. After a 2nd snack, it was time to go.

He was singing The Wheels on the Bus on our walk back to the truck. He sang several verses and then told me to sing "the daddies on the bus" verse. I tried to make the daddies on the bus go bumpity-bump, but Deets busted me and said only the people go bumpity-bump. "Try again, Mommy." I asked him what daddies did on the bus, and his answer was, "Don't know. Do you your best Mommy." When I was done laughing, I came up with "daddies on the bus go goofity-goof". He like it so much, he made me sing it 5 more times. Singing came to an end when it was time to get in the truck. He was more focused on buckling himself in and having his toys in his lap.

We hadn't even pulled onto Land Park Drive before Dylan asked, "But Mommy! Where are the golf at?" On the way in he saw people playing golf and wanted to stop and watch, but then he decided the zoo was better. Now that the zoo was done, he was back on golf. I pointed out the people playing and pulled the truck over so he could see. I knew he was dying to get closer, so we got out of the truck and sat at a bench at one of the tees. He had great golf etiquette. He was very quiet, didn't talk when they were hitting and searched in vain for the ball once they did hit. Once he realized that he couldn't see the ball once they hit it, he was bored. He loves to sit with Russ and watch it on TV. I think he was expecting to be able to see the ball like he does on TV. I've already told Russ he needs to take D to the driving range. I bet he'd just love that.

We spent our quiet time on my mom's couch watching Bolt while Owen napped in her room. Later in the day we played together outside, and I even managed to get him to lay under the big tree in the backyard and watch the wind blow the leaves. We had such a wonderful day together. Dylan was just glowing. He had a perfect day, and so did I.

Live, eat, breath newspaper

Not too tasty.... We are shipping our papers to the printer in a few days, and things are getting a bit hairy. We are down one designer, which means I'm doing all the designing. Several clients haven't submitted ads or changes to existing ads yet. No stress...just distress. No, not really. Just super duper annoying! I just finished working on ads and I needed a tiny venting period. I'm done now. Going to bed.

Brandon's crafty

Brandon LOVES art. The first thing he does when he gets up in the morning is draw or craft something out of cut pieces of paper. Yesterday he wanted to do a craft with me, so I pulled out paper plates, markers, crayons, googly eyes, ribbon....He decided we should make masks with googly eyes, but then decided cut holes were better. Here is what he came up with:

Owen and his rice

That kid of mine is so funny! He was sitting at the island in my mom's kitchen today. He took the lid off the rice cooker saying, "nt (want) rice." Then it was "nt poon" over and over. He was ready to eat the plain old white rice right out of the cooker. So impatient...he barely waited for his bowl and spoon.

Cindy's Dad in the hospital

My dad went to the hospital for a scheduled surgery yesterday morning. The procedure for his diverticulitis went well. He was having additional problems with his heart today, so they moved him to a room on the cardiac floor. I went to visit him yesterday and today, and he was far more pleasant than I expected. The last time I saw him in the hospital, he wasn't so nice. I'm sure a lot of it had to do with all the pain he was in and all the strong drugs they were giving him. I think he's much more mellow this time around since he has a friend with him most of the day, and my brother and myself are popping in for visits. He should be home in a few days as long as they don't find additional problems with his heart. I'm hoping he can go home soon, so he can get some rest. With nurses and doctors popping in and out to check on him (or a roommate) it's impossible for him to rest. He was moved to a private room today, so hopefully he'll be able to rest a little easier.

Last day of school

Brandon is dead-center singing

Brandon had a fun filled last week of school: Play Day, Pajama Day, Picnic Day and finally the Kindergarten Celebration. Thursday the kids stood on a stage to sing us some of the songs they've learned this year. It was pretty darned cute. Cameras and camcorders were working overtime.

Brandon loved kindergarten. He said he'll miss his classmates, but he'll miss Mrs. Wong, his teacher, most of all. I can only hope he ends up with a 1st grade teacher than can measure up to Mrs. Wong.

Brandon & Mrs. Wong

Baseball Photos

One of the boys on Brandon's team has an aunt who is a photographer. She shot quite a few photos at the Orioles games. The links below will take you to photos of Brandon.

http://jkstans.zenfolio.com/p626105055/e3da76079
http://jkstans.zenfolio.com/p244803541/h204344bb#h204344bb
http://jkstans.zenfolio.com/p244803541/h204344bb#h384a1d06
http://jkstans.zenfolio.com/p244803541/e34fa247e
http://jkstans.zenfolio.com/p244803541/e2086f7b7
http://jkstans.zenfolio.com/p244803541/e254054f8

T-ball season is over

Brandon played his last t-ball game of the season this afternoon. They played on the big field today instead of the t-ball field. Russ said it seemed like the parents were more excited for the kids than the kids were. Brandon was so proud of himself that he caught a ball and threw it to 1st base. He was also really excited that he was able to hit the ball pretty far. He had a terrific final game. He's really sad that the season is over because he really, truly enjoyed playing the game. But on the flip side of that coin, he was super excited to get his t-ball trophy and had a great time goofing off at the end of year pizza party with his teammates. We are all looking forward to next year. Brandon is hoping to be on Coach Bill's team again. He just loves his coach.

Preschool event tonight

I took all 3 boys to preschool tonight. (Can I add that I was there alone with the 3 boys?) They had a graduation potluck for the end of the school year. I wanted the boys to go so Deets could play with his friends, and Brandon could see some old friends. Owen just played and watched other kids around him. He already acts like he owns the place. He often likes to tell me that it's his preschool.

Anyway, I'm all excited that Brandon gets to see his best pal from preschool, Gracie. She graduated tonight, and Brandon snubbed her! He said "hi" and then ran off to play by himself. I asked him later if he thought he was too old to play with his old friends, and he actually said yes! I asked him if I set up a play date with Gracie, would he play with her. He said he would because he likes Gracie. That's when I told him that he could play with her tonight, and that's what he did. It was good to see.

I think part of him was shy. He hasn't seen Gracie for quiet a few months. I think that gap in time made him unsure of how to play with her. Before Deets switched to 1/2 days, Brandon would come with me to pick up Deets. He and Gracie would be off and playing for the short time we were there. Now they never see each other. It makes me sad for Brandon, because he hasn't connected with anyone else the way he connected with her.

My boys are finally all home

I don't remember the last time I had all three boys home in their beds asleep! They have been with either my mom or Russ's mom for at least a week. I've had Owen most of the week with a Deets or Brandon here and there. It feels like they have been on vacation without us. Now I have this overwhelming sense of comfort knowing they are all peacefully sleeping in their own beds. I'm pretty confident that I'll have a warm little body crawling under my covers in the middle of the night tonight. I love it when they do that. They snuggle right into one of us and fall right to sleep.