I Don't Like Backpacking

I didn't think I did, but for the sake of saving my kids' lives, I went. Rick was determined to take them both backpacking whether I went or not. I tried to convince him to only take Millie, not both of them. I pointed out that it was going to rain and they shouldn't go. His response was they will be fine, I want to take them and it is only a 30% chance of rain. He would repeat this last statement about 20 times during our 2 day adventure. So, once I realized that my numerous rational concerns to him taking both kids backwoods camping was falling on deaf ears, we headed to the store to make sure I had all the necessary supplies...my own pack, sleeping bag, pillow and mat. It saddened me to think of the wonderful 5 star hotel room I could have gotten for less money then we just spent on these supplies so that I could sleep on the ground. I kept telling myself that this was good for the family and that I should try to be a part of this experience.

We, meaning Rick, finally got all of our supplies loaded in our 2 packs and we made it to the trail head in the Great Smokey Mountains. It was about a 4-5 miles hike to the camp site and we made it there in just enough time to set up, make supper, get water, have smores and get to bed. I need to point out that it was drizzling rain the entire time and I kept suggesting that we should not camp because it is going to rain. He just repeated: It's only a 30% chance, it's not going to rain, it's almost over.

Rick had a hammock he planned to sleep in and the kids and I were going to be in the tent. Thus, we had 3 sleeping bags, 3 pillows and 2 mats (Reed didn't need one with his super fluffy sleeping bag.) I wasn't sure if Reed would be able to settle down with Millie and I on either side but he eventually did, after about an hour of singing, jabbering, asking what we were doing and telling us good night. At one point he sang his entire ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star both of which I had no idea he knew. During this hour long serenade, it began to rain harder, and harder and harder. Rick was still sleeping in the tree and I was wondering how wet he was getting. I just assumed he kept telling himself: It's only a 30% chance, it's not going to rain, it's almost over.

Rick finally had to admit defeat and come in the tent. His hammock was slowly turning into a swimming pool and he didn't have his snorkel. Well, this put our tent in the overcrowded category and just pretty much sealed the deal that I wouldn't sleep that night. Without going over every detail, the night basically lasted forever, I sat up most of the night because I didn't have room without laying against the wet tent walls and I just kept telling myself that it could always be worse and the rain would probably keep the bears away.

We made it out the next morning and to the truck by 10:30. The rain still had not stopped but it wasn't raining hard enough to totally soak us on the 5 mile hike back to the truck.

Driving out of the mountains I had time to think about the past 24 hours...
- I will tolerate hiking and I will tolerate camping but mixing the 2 together puts me in a true state of misery.
- Peeing in the woods, in the dark, during a rain storm is not my idea of a good time, especially when it happens twice.
- Dehydrated camping food is actually pretty good, I recommend the lasagna.
- My kids are total champions and they did so well on this less than perfect trip I could hardly believe it. Millie walked the entire way and Reed walked about 85% of it.
- I should have known that any adventure that did not accommodate me taking my camera could never lead to anything good.
- Although I totally love my kids...and Rick...I can think of about a million and one better things to do as a family than backpack in the mountains. If Rick ever invites me to do this again I will beat him with a rubber hose.

Reed's First Video Log

Reed thought the web cam on the computer was pretty neat.  Here is a little video of him.  I apologize for the 3-4 second delay between the audio and video.  They crazy noises in the background are cars going down the road I think.

Lost Sea Adventures

My mom was nice enough to drive down to visit us for the weekend. My birthday was yesterday so she wanted to come down to babysit so Rick and I could go out. This was MUCH appreciated because we never go out without the kids. No family around sure makes it hard to have date nights. After church this morning we decided to drive down to Sweetwater and go to the "World's Largest Underground Lake". We got to walk through a cave that was mined long ago for saltpeter to make gun powder during the Civil War. At the bottom of the cave is a 4 acre lake full of rainbow trout. The lake is 70 feet deep and has caverns that go at least 800 feet into the cave but they don't know how much further they go. Explorers have not been able to go any further than that because this is all their equipment would allow. They still are not sure how large the water filled caverns actually are.

This sweet little kitten was hanging around the village and the employees were trying to get someone to take it or it was going to have to go to the shelter. It took everything I had not to take this little guy home. He snuggled right up in my lap when I went to pet him.

Millie's First Video Log

I just found a good use for the web cam feature on my computer.  Millie, and hopefully soon Reed, will be able to make little videos and tell you in their own words and voices what has been going on.  This one is a little rough, for some reason it was trying to track her face but kept getting confused by her leg flying around.  Hopefully we will both get better at this soon enough.

Reed's 2 Year Update....Very Late

Reed is such a good little boy I can not believe how lucky I am. They both are, really, but this post is about Reed. Reed turned 2 two months ago and I know this is really late but this is going to be his 2 year update. His 2 year checkup was set for August but then I forgot about it and had to reschedule so his stats are at about 2 years 1 1/2 months. He weighed 30 lbs (75%) and was 35 inches tall (75%). His BMI was 17.2 (70%). The Dr. didn't have any concerns or worry about him. I did bring up the fact that I am concerned that he may be slightly colorblind. He knows blue, orange, pink...with no problems but he can never tell the difference between red and green. Color blindness does run in Rick's family so I mentioned this to his Dr. The test they showed me was something he was not able to do yet so I guess we will just have to wait and I will keep working with him. But really, if being color blind is the only thing I have to worry about, I will count my blessings. There are so many things out there to worry about and in the scheme of things, this is nothing more than a little hiccup.

Potty training is pretty much finished. He wears big boy underwear all the time and during naps. We still put him in a pull up at night but he wakes up dry about 80% of the time. He tells us when he needs to go and Millie will even take him to the potty sometimes when I ask her to. Sometimes I don't even ask her and she takes him. My kids rock!

He loves riding his bike and he calls it a Bike Race. We started him back at The Little Gym and now he goes to gymnastics once a week while Millie is in school.

He talks really well and can pretty much tell us anything he needs to. I am sure Rick, Millie and I can understand him better than others can but he has a huge vocabulary and puts about 6-7 words together to form sentences. His voice cracks me up and the way he says things is so grown up and serious sometimes. I need to get a recording of it,

He listens and obeys very well for a 2 year old. He will pick up his toys and put them away when we ask him to, he puts his clothes in the dirty clothes after his shower, he helps sort laundry and put it away and he is very good about saying please, thank you and your welcome. Although a lot of times he will say "Thank you welcome" all together. One of his favorite things to do it play trains and cars when we are inside. He will bring them to me so they can 'talk' to each other and his first questions is always "Doing train doing?" Which means, what are you doing? He says this a lot through out the day..."Doing Mommy doing?", "Doing Meme (Millie) doing?", "Doing Daddy doing?".

He loves doing puzzles and I feel kind of bad that I just dug them out of the closet for him last week. We work on the wooden number and letter puzzle almost every day.

When we pick Millie up from school, some days we get there about 30 minutes early so she doesn't have to wait and so that Reed can get in the front of the car and dance to the IPOD. He will request songs he wants to hear and it is usually in this order...Boo Boo Choo Choo, Stand by REM (he calls it Think About), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Thunderstruck by ACDC, Rocky Top (he calls it Tennessee), and Here Come The Sun by the Beatles. He dances around in the front seat like a crazy person and I am sure everyone in the car pool line wonders why my car is dancing. When we are driving and listening to the radio, he will comment on every song and let me know if he likes it. If he likes it he will say "I wei wike dis song Mommy."

The photo on this post was taken yesterday. It was about 9am and I told Reed I was going to lay down for a few minutes because I was very tired. When I woke up about 15 minutes later, I found him like this. Our new Kindergarten schedule is really catching up to both of us.

Grandparents Day Saved Him And His Bike

This would be Rick hanging his head because I had to drive 27 miles to come rescue him this afternoon. He was halfway into his ride when his tire blew. Unfortunately, it blew so bad that it actually split his tire so he could not repair it..or so that is what he told me.

The last time I rescued him was mentioned here and I vowed then that the next time I would have a camera. He was laughing when I pulled up because he figured I had my camera with me. He is lucky that it was Grandparents Day because if I had not just had Millie go get my phone to call my parents to wish them Happy Grandparent's Day, I would not have had my phone and would not have heard it ring. So really my mom is to thank for both of these roadside rescues because if it weren't for her, he probably would not have been picked up either time.

Large Photo Test Take 3

Got it! Yea for large photos!

Large Photo Test Take 2

Much better!

Large Photo Test Take 1

Ok, I think this is a little too big...

Lunch With Millie

Parents are allowed to go to school and have lunch with their kids if they want. I met up with Millie and her little class yesterday and had lunch since it was a school day for Reed and I didn't have him with me. Originally we were told we could eat in the lunch room with them but they changed the rules on me and we had to go to a separate room and eat by ourselves.

Millie was very excited to see me and she showed me how to go through the lunch line, how to get the food and how to punch in her number to pay. It was very cute and I was glad to finally see the lunch room and how it works. Since it was a special day, I let her get flavored milk which kind of put her over the top as far as being excited. She had corn dog nuggets, mashed potatoes, salad, a banana and chocolate milk.

I was kind of sad when lunch was over, I didn't want to leave her. I asked her teacher if there was anything she needed help with in the room but I was told "no" so I had to leave. I am giving the teacher 1 more week to figure out a volunteer plan and if I have not heard anything by then, I think I am just going to bust in a demand that I be let in to help.

Unplanned Project

Before

Before

Sunday we had planned on pulling out 2 bushes by our front door. One was dying for some reason so we were going to pull them both out so it stayed balanced. Well, Rick decided we should just go ahead and build a retaining wall around the landscaping on the side of the the yard that falls away from the house. We had talked about doing it before but never in detail and certainly had not planned on doing it when we woke up that morning. About 5 hours after Rick first mentioned tackling this project it was finished complete with topsoil and new mulch. He works fast, really fast. I still need to get a few flowers and figure out what to do with Mary and Saint Francis. They are battling it out for attention and I can not figure out where to put them. Millie helped the entire time. Reed was napping but he was there to help mulch and pick up bags at the end.

Wipeout

I have mentioned it before, but my kids love the show Wipeout. While Millie was at school the other day, Reed got bored as usual without his big sister, and he told me he was going to play Wipeout. He started pulling all the pillows and cushions off the couch and he built a pretty good course for a 2 year old. He did it all by himself and he was having a blast. He would run to the far wall, hit it, then start counting. He would run the course and the last part was busting through the tent and diving into the beanbag.

Bus Rider

Now that I have all the California trip caught up, I can let you all know that Millie LOVES riding the school bus. Her teacher asked that we bring her into her class on the first 2 days of school but after that, she could ride the bus. I think she was more excited about riding the bus than about actually going to school but it was close. She hopped right on with no hesitation whatsoever. It was a couple of days before I noticed that she is the only girl who gets on at her stop but it doesn't seem to bother her, she is used to hanging out with the boys.

California Days 5 and 6 - Dance, Dance, Dance All Night Long

Days 5 and 6 just kind of run together because we didn't have a hotel or bed on Saturday night, more about that later. Saturday we were once again up pretty early and we hit Pismo Beach before many people were out. It was a beautiful day and much warmer that the last time I was there. This was Millie's chance to work on a sand castle which is what she has been most excited about since she found out we were going to California. We finally figured out that Reed was cool with the beach as long as he kept his shoes on and Millie finally got used to the feel of the sand so it was a pretty enjoyable beach morning for both of them.







After we soaked up the beach scene, we had to go back to the hotel to get ready for Diane's wedding which was the whole reason for this trip in the first place. The kids had a blast at the wedding and I am pretty sure Millie danced a total of about 4 or 5 hours. Reed didn't seem to have a favorite dance partner although he tried to show Lauren his moves but she didn't seem impressed. Millie tried several dance partners...Owen, Reed, Anna, Keri, Kenny and Daddy but Sam seemed to be her favorite. Their dancing ranged from crazy, slow to WWF take downs at different points throughout the evening.



















After the beautiful wedding we had to make the drive back to San Francisco because our flight left at 5:45 Sunday morning. Mom and Arnetta stayed an extra day so they were sound asleep in their hotel back in Arroyo Grande. Rick and I talked about it and decided it was kind of a waste to get a hotel Saturday night because we would only be in it about 3 hours. So we drove through the night and got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We had thought we would be able to check in and then head to the gate and rest. Well, the check in counters were closed and we had to wait in that area. We finally found a little eating area we were able to get to and it was actually open so we had some subway and the kids ate pizza at 2am (it was like college all over again).

Reed did great on the trip and stayed dry in big boy underwear the whole time...except for the most inopportune time. On our drive back to San Francisco, we were going to put him in a pull up but forgot. When we got to the airport and he woke up from sleeping in the car for 5 hours, he was soaked. I decided to just throw his underwear away and we changed him in the van. We tried to soak up the pee from the car seat but it was no use, it was already in the cushioning. So, we got to travel 2 flights back to Tennessee with a car seat that smelled of pee in the worst way. That was really our only minor disaster so I guess I don't have much to complain about.

All said and done, it was a fantastic trip, with great weather, great family, priceless firsts for the kids and memories that will last forever. After this trip to California, I really don't know why so many people go to Florida for vacation in the summer. Florida can not hold a candle to California with their mild and somewhat cool temperatures at times it was a wonderful break from the heat and humidity of the Midwest summers.

California Day 4 - Do You Know The Way To San Jose

Rick and I headed to the airport to pick up a rental car early Friday morning. All the way there were signs to San Jose so the song was stuck in my head for about 2 days. My cousin Cindy lives in San Jose and I don't know how she does it, I think the song would be in my head 24/7. Anyway, we got the van, went back to the hotel to pick up the rest of the crew and then hit the road to head south to Arroyo Grande where my aunt and uncle live and where my cousin Diane was getting married the next day. We had all day to get there and so we took Highway 1 south from Monterrey through Big Sur and enjoyed some gorgeous views of the coast for about 8 hours. We stopped and hiked a little at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve in Carmel, took several beach stops and ate at a beautiful restaurant along the way.

























Although I found San Francisco to be an interesting city, I was THRILLED to leave the city and see some county coastline. I was also thrilled that it was a clear day. I drove this route about 3 years ago and it was so foggy we were only able to see the ocean in about 3 or 4 small places.