If you get the joke from the title, you are a big nerd; if not, then just be glad!
Round Two of vacation pictures & videos - taken from Poppi's camera and Joy's camera!
I'll give a recap in case the other post did not touch on these items. The day we arrived, we had a bday celebration for Poppi, me, and Staci.
3 generations enjoying cupcakes
3 sisters enjoying cupcakes
On Mar 11, Staci, Shayna, Zach, Wyatt, and Poppi went to the mall. St/Sh to do some shopping (jammies for me, makeup for Faye, misc for St), and Poppi and the boys to do some playing.
Zachary and Wyatt at the playground at the mall
Riding the no-rails train around the mall
Wy enjoying the carousel
Zach liking the carousel
Allowing a picture during the second ride
Zach playing with the maze they built out of Duplos for some electronic bugs
Z lining the bugs up to enter the maze
out of order carousel pic
Zach and Wyatt standing by the mall train
Boys watching for planes at Peachtree-DeKalb airport w/ Poppi
ZW decorating gingerbread house with Aunt Joy
Zach peeking out the tunnel at the BK playland w/ Nana
Wyatt as Superman on swings
breakfast w/ Poppi & MeMa at McD w/ a playground
Zach swinging Superman style
Wyatt, Shayna, Mr.Cat, Zachary saying goodbye at the airport
In lieu of a shower - I've got all the boy stuff I need! - I picked a paint-your-own-pottery activity. Several ladies came to paint or at least chat. Of course I forgot to take pictures during the actual event! So this is mainly just a written record so I don't forget it happened. The attendees: Stephanie W. (organizer), me, Laura W., Kristine H., Molly A., Kristen F., Emily A., Laila B.
Lovely lovely vacation. After Karl & Laura decided to postpone their wedding until the fall, that left the week of Poppi's spring break wide open. Dad agreed to pay for the three of us (minus Art who just started the new job, and could not take vacation) to fly to ATL for the week. The boys were so very excited to get to fly on an airplane again, and I was so excited to get a vacation: sleeping late, someone else taking care of my kids, other people in charge of food, etc. We flew into ATL Thursday afternoon and left Friday evening, a week later.
The boys were also very excited that we were taking a cab to the airport. Given that I am 31 weeks pregnant, uncomfortable, etc, I decided taking the El, by myself with these two rowdy boys and a suitcase, to the airport was just too much. So we sprung for the $50 for the cab (it's only $30 for a cab to O'hare btw). Unfortunately, I waited until the last minute to find out about car seats, and ended up having to take ours with us and check them. It turned out not to be so bad, the boys were able to carry them to the ticket desk. They talked the entire time in the cab, and thought it was just great. They both were well behaved on the flight to ATL, which was amazing since we were delayed twice - first for about an hour on the ground in CHI while they worked on a problem with the fuel pump, then again in ATL because the jet way did not work, and we had to get towed to another gate (Zach was terrified that we would take off again and fly back to CHI). We made it, and Poppi was there at the gate waiting for us (he had flown in from NJ that morning). Aunt Juicenana was waiting for us at baggage claim and after collecting the car seats from the special baggage location, we were finally on the road. Dad would surely want it mentioned that in the 2 minutes it took to realize the parking machine would not take his cash and he putting his credit card in, the price of parking went from $4 to $7. Just that quick.
We got to Poppi's and Aunt Staci was there waiting for us. The rest of the visit is a bit of a blur, thanks to all my sleeping late, and being generally lazy! However, here are some pictures and tidbits of things we did.
Thursday night we had a birthday dinner for me, Poppi, Nana, and Staci. Staci and Aunt Juicenana made some very cute cupcakes with decorations on the edges and gummy lifesavers around the candles in the middle.
Friday night Staci and I took Nana out to celebrate her birthday. First, I must mention that I got completely confused. I thought this was her 66th birthday. We generally make a very big deal about 65th birthdays, and last year, we flew Mom out to CHI to celebrate her birthday - thinking it was her 65th. It wasn't. THIS year was her 65th! So she had her big celebration a year early. Bad Shayna. This year, we all went to get manicures (so cheap!!) and go out to dinner. The place we planned on going for dinner was closed; it is only a breakfast and lunch place. By this time, it was pretty late, and the pregnant lady was getting grumpy. So we went to nearby Mellow Mushroom, which is always good.
Mom getting her nails done
Mom sitting under the nail dryer
Shayna with the hot pads on
Staci getting her nails done
Dinner ended up being quite yummy, of course, and we all had a fun fun time. Thank you to Poppi and MeMa for babysitting my two terrors!
That was Friday night. Back up to Friday morning. Staci and I went with Poppi, Zachary, and Wyatt to the mall for a fun outing. I was on the hunt for new pjs as part of my birthday present, plus buying some make-up for MeMa. Dad and the boys rode the carousel a few times, then went downstairs to ride the train, which drives all over the mall w/out a track. Very popular with our boys. Then lunch - pizza for the boys, Chick-fil-a for me, then ice cream afterwards.
Poppi and Zach on the carousel
Wyatt, Poppi and Zachary
riding the carousel
Back to the house for naps, etc. Staci had to leave to go back to Chattanooga after lunch on Saturday.
On Sunday, I went to church with Mom, while the boys stayed at Leisure Dr.
On Monday evening, Zach and Wyatt made a gingerbread house with Aunt Joy.
Zachary, Aunt Joy, Wyatt working on the house
Zachary and Wyatt working with Aunt Joy
On Tuesday, after Dad's emergency dental appointment, Zach, Wyatt and I went to Burger King to meet Nana for a late lunch. I fed the boys at home, so they could just get dessert and play on the play land while there. This turns out to be a good place to meet Mom, because we are not allowed inside her building.
Zachary peeking out of the playland tube
On Thursday, I had to go back to the mall to exchange my make-up for a better shade. Dad took the boys to look around while I took care of my stuff. I found them at the food court getting a snack, looking very cute all together.
Zachary and Wyatt having a snack with Poppi at the mall
On Friday, we had a flight back home. Poppi rode Marta with us to help me get everything to the airport. It's not so easy traveling 32 weeks pregnant! We got through security and to our gate with no problems. I had to carry 2 back packs, which got a bit old, but it was ok. Unfortunately, there was something wrong with the plane at our gate, so our flight got moved to another gate, so the boys and I had to trek back downstairs and get on the train to another concourse. I'm hurrying the best I can w/ 2 boys, 2 backpacks, and a very pregnant belly, all the while looking for one of those electric carts to hitch a ride on. We got to the new gate, only to be told that our flight has changed gates AGAIN! Now it's getting closer and closer to time to leave, and I'm getting a bit nervous, so we hustle back downstairs, on the train to another concourse. We made it no problem, had time to sit down and eat some of the dinner I packed for us, then get on the plane. Surprise, the plane has video monitors built into the backs of the seats, so the boys were entertained for nearly 1/2 the flight watching sports and other things (without headphones). I even tried napping a bit until Wyatt cries out "HEY, you can't nap, who'll watch us!?" Sigh. I was very happy to see Art at baggage claim and get back home.
It was indeed a wonderfully relaxing (except for the cold I caught) vacation, and I'm very grateful to Dad for funding it!
Other things we did on different days
~ Go to the playground
~ Watch The Incredibles (Wed night)
~ Go to Walmart and buy toys (includ an electronic light saber)
~ Watch videos: Little Einsteins, Backyardigans, Light Saber Battles, etc
~ Play outside
~ I went to dinner at Rocky Mountain (yummy baked strizatta!!) w/ Joy & Joanna
~ Ate a Guatemalan meal, YUM
~ Shopping at Target with Mom (she bought a going-home outfit for the baby)
The day started out with Art bringing me breakfast in bed...BUT, not his usual toast this time. Today he went all out and made pancakes! However, I nixed the "in bed" part due to ginormous belly discomfort and the unmatchability of syrup and my bed.
I had switched preschool carpool day so that I would not have to rush to get ready and get Zach out the door, nor deal with the stress of picking up two wild boys in the locker room after swimming! I finally showered later in the morning and made it to Stephanie's house for playgroup. It was a short one so I did a few errands (paying for a library book that got ruined, depositing checks at the bank, etc) b/f returning home. I had pizza for lunch (yum!), which Zach nagged me about "your lunch is better than ours", to which I replied - tough, it's my birthday! :)
Boys took a nap, I took a nap. Lovely.
Then off to Zoba's for my birthday dinner. We met Art there, who showed up bearing gifts: a card that everyone decorated while we waited for our food, yummy chocolates, and a set of stacking espresso cups that I'd seen at World Market that were so very cute. I'd brought a bottle of Jewel's finest sparkling red grape juice that we drank with dinner.
After dinner, we dropped the boys off at the M. family's who had nicely agreed to watch the boys on Tues night instead of the regular Thurs night, despite the fact that Ben had to do it all alone as Steph had a meeting. Art and I went off to the Wilmette Theater to see Kings Speech. Tuesdays are discount movie days ($4/ea) at that theater and I was worried that it would be packed. We were about 5 minutes late. Ummm, no worries. Including us, I think there were 5 people there. Enjoyable movie, enjoyable evening, enjoyable day, quite a nice birthday! Thanks to all those who helped make it possible!
Today was Zachary's last basketball game of the season. I have a feeling it will be the last one for a few years. He did not love basketball (unlike Wyatt who adores it). In fact, the last two games, we said he could choose to go to or not. Before that we were sort of forcing him to go, and his playing was half-hearted. Once he got to choose, he did seem a bit more into it, but just did not love it. Today's game however was one NOT TO MISS! In fact, we even gave a ride to Zach's preschool classmate, David, whose parents were out of town, to make sure that David did not miss this game. Why not miss?? Because the last game is when they give out the GOLD MEDAL for participation. I prepared Zach that we did not know what they would get, if it would be a medal (which they gave out at the end of soccer season), or a trophy, or nothing. Once he got there, his coaches said they would be getting a medal, and Zachary quickly ran over to the spectator seats to let me know. There were very few kids there today, only 5 on the red team, so Zach played the entire game. He seemed to enjoy himself and was always proud when he made a good pass or a goal. But nothing compared to the excitement of getting his medal! It was so fast I didn't even get a picture of the "ceremony". Double bonus for Zach, they also got a juice box and bag of pretzels! What an exciting day! :) BTW, check out Wyatt dribbling in the background of Zach's picture.
The boys had been begging Art for another sleepover. This time however, they decided to mix it up a bit, with Zach asking if they could have it in Mommy & DaU's bed. This means that Mommy gets kicked out and spends the night on the couch. Not a horrible deal for mommy, at least pregnant mommy, because the couch is perfect support and causes my hips to hurt less than the bed does.
Here they all are in bed, showing me how cozy they are going to be. I went and got two books to read to them for their goodnight stories. Zachary and Wyatt were incredibly excited to be in bed with DaU!
Sometime during storytime, Dexter, hearing about the all-boys party, joined the group.
Before I retired to "bed" (couch), I went into the bedroom to check on the boys slumber party. I could not see anything, so I turned on the hall light. This introduction of light into the room caused Dexter to raise his head and yell at me until I turned it off. They were all sleeping soundly.
9 years! What a ride it has been too! Thanks to our friends Chipper and Kristen F. we got to go out to dinner on Tuesday night. Art picked the place, researched the menu online, and did the prep, which in itself is enough of a gift for me! Usually, we try to go on a little trip (at least an overnight) to celebrate our anniversary, in lieu of presents, but this year, we've decided to skip it. Due to my advancing discomfort, it's just not that appealing. This is the second time we've elected not to take a trip. The first time was a last-minute issue. I was pregnant with Wyatt, and uncomfortable of course, but we were still trying to make a go of it, and make a B&B reservation somewhere (we were living in Germany). Unfortunately, Oma Holland passed away during that time. Thankfully we had not made plans, as we went to Utrecht the weekend of our anniversary, to attend the funeral and support Art's parents who were there. Our "anniversary outing" was a trip to a pub - beer for Art, hot chocolate for me - while Opa and Oma babysat Zach.
This year, though, opting for dinner out was lovely. We went to an Italian place in Wilmette. We each ordered an appetizer (bruchetta for me, something with bacon, ham and cheese for Art) and a small dish (salad for me, soup for Art) for dinner, then we EACH ordered a dessert too (lemon & raspberry torte for Art, a cheesecake type thing w/ chocolate syrup for me). It was the perfect amount of food. And so so good. We ran into another couple there and found out they were celebrating their 14th wedding anniversary. They had their 3 kids in tow (13, 10, 8 or so), and I wondered if that would be our future - bringing our kids to dinner with us.
Embarrassing confession. My maternity pants are getting too small, and I had to unbutton, unzip, and pull down my pants just to get comfortable. When it was time to go, I had to quickly put on my jacket so as not to flash the rest of the clientele. Sad.
On our ACTUAL anniversary, tonight, it was Awana night, so the whole family went. Zach went to Cubbies, Wyatt went into the nursery for Puggles class, and Art and I spent a lovely hour in Caribou Coffee chatting. Felt like a double celebration.
