Gatlinburg Trip

We arrived home yesterday from a wonderful trip to Gatlinburg with Larry's family. We were there for 4 days and stayed in a beautiful cabin with beautiful views of the fall foliage. The entire trip was very relaxing and the kids had a great time.

We spent one day at a place called Ober Gatlinburg which had ski lifts that led to the top of a mountain and a spectacular view!! There was also an Alpine luge type ride that we rode down the mountain, which Spencer particularly enjoyed! There were a few kiddie rides and Olive loved riding the cars around in circles! The kids also played mini golf and enjoyed "the cyclone", an indoor boat/waterslide that was very fast

and fun!!

I spent quite a bit of time at the outlet mall and got some really good buys on things for myself (which I don't get to do very often). Larry got some quality time with the guys, drinking beer and watching football.

We also celebrated October birthdays and also surprised Jodie by having a celebration for her birthday, which isn't until Dec., but she will be in Australia for her nephew's wedding!

First Day of School !

Spencer's first day of Kindergarten (1/2 day) started this past Thursday. He was very apprehensive despite my best efforts at talking it up. In the end, we ended up making a deal that if he didn't cry when I dropped him off, when I picked him up, I would take him to dairy queen for a hot dog and cherry slushy. And...voila! It worked. He did great, no tears. In fact, I didn't even have to sneak out of the room b/c he was so busy coloring and meeting new kids in his class. I decided to forgo the whole room mother thing this year, but I am going to help out with the Halloween Party and also accompany the kids on a field trip to Stage I to see a play in the Spring.

I had bought Spence a special shirt to wear for his first day, and I must say that he received several compliments on it. He also picked out the cutest messenger bag (he's too metro sexual for a backpack). I had his name embroidered on it...turned out adorable!! Things seem to be going well except for the fact that his little girlfriend Claire (whom he had a crush on last year) is in his class this year and won't play with him. She says it's because she is "too old" for him. She evidently turns 6 around Christmas. Spence is crushed and says he wishes he had his own personal Genie so that he could make a wish to be older than Claire. Another concern of his regarding school is that he prefers to play in the "big room" than to go outside. The big room is an alternate area for play when it's raining, too cold, muddy, etc. He said that he wishes he could go to heaven but not be dead so that he could control the weather and make it rain in order to play in the big room at school. Oh the woes of a 5 year old, but I admire his clever strategies/solutions. He does, however love his new teacher, Ms. Susan...as seen here posing with Spence!!

Other than school, Spencer is obsessed with the Wii. He kicks my butt on Mario Cart on a daily basis. He is so good at that game...plus, he knows all of the characters and is able to read the instructions, etc. I had to limit his playing time b/c it was becoming an obsession. For example, a few weeks ago he said "Mommy, when your laying in bed at night and can't fall asleep, do you think about Mario Cart?, cause I do.." Allrighty, how about we turn the Wii off for a while...

Happy Birthday Spencer!

As hard as it is to believe, Spence tured 5 this month. My baby is no longer a baby. He wanted a Super Why party, and despite the fact that PBS has nothing commercially available for that particular show, I was able to use clip art from their website to create items. The theme of the party was to come and be transformed into your favorite super reader. I used pillow cases and printed out different characters that could be ironed onto the fabric to make different capes for the kids. Then I used green foam to cut out super why masks. I found little foam crowns for the girls who wanted to be princess pea! The kids decorated their capes and crowns and had a great time.

Before and After

My Dad emailed me this picture about a year or so ago, and I was hoping to get a shot of Olive this year that was similar. I didn't get exactly what I wanted, but you get the gist.

Fripp Trip 08

We left Friday morning with four kids in tow (Spence, Olive, Isabelle and Jenna)…and what could have been a completely disastrous expedition surprisingly turned out easier than I had ever dreamed. All the kids did great, even Olive. She slept a few hours and then was content watching a movie on the DVD player and then she looked at books. Once we arrived in Spartanburg, we met up with Mom, Dad and Chris and headed to Outback for dinner followed by some swimming in the hotel pool. The kids were worn out and went to bed early and slept well.

Saturday went well too, the final leg to Fripp was only 3 ½ hours long and we were all relieved to finally arrive. The house was nice, but not exactly what we expected. The bedrooms were all very small but they were livable. The most disappointing aspect of the house was its absence of wired/wireless internet access. So, the only way anyone could get online was to drive up to the beach club and log onto their wifi. So, I was only getting on about once a day.

The beach was beautiful, not an ounce of seaweed the first day and the water was warm and clear to the bottom. Tuesday, it rained for a better part of the day, but cleared up in time for us to spend a few hours playing in the sand. Spence played on the boogie board, riding waves in, and I even tried riding one of the skimming boards, but I’m not very good at staying on my feet. Olive loves the ocean and the waves don’t seem to bother her, even when she gets hit in the face. She is my adventurous girl, she also takes the pool head on and jumps in with no fear.

Wednesday we visited the Hunting Island State Park and climbed up a very tall lighthouse. It was really cool , but became very limited on space as we neared the top, and after climbing in circles for several stories, we were all very dizzy. I was miraculously able to get some good shots of the beach despite the tunnel vision that set in once I set foot out on the balcony. I also bought a very nice rendering of the lighthouse to hang in my bathroom, which is "beach themed".

The last two days were spent at the beach and pool and the kids couldn't get enough water. We did take a break on Friday and the girls went to Beaufort and did some shopping while Larry and Spencer went Kayaking. By late Friday afternoon, Spence was so tired he was floating around the pool in a daze. Olive became more and more confident in the water and was sticking her head under every chance she got, trying to swim like the bigger kids. I didn't apply enough sunscreen Thursday and therefore, I suffered with a sun rash that night and thereafter. Nevertheless, it was a great trip, one that we hated to see end.

The drive home, as always, was not fun, and the trip wouldn't have been complete without Spencer throwing up....which he did due to car-sickness about 30 miles south of Gatlinburg, TN. So, we called it a day and spent the night in Gatlinburg. The slugger recovered fast though and managed to swim in the hotel pool and eat a great dinner out....he just needed to get off of those winding mountainous roads. We finished the drive this morning and were home by lunch time. The rest of today has been spent putting things away, dong laundry and stocking up on groceries and getting ready for the work week. There should be a pill that specifically treats Post Vacation Depression.

The Unlikely Suspect...

This is just a quick post. When I came home from work today, I spent a lot of time with the kids out on the deck since the weather wasn't so hot/humid. While I was out there, I would occasionally hear a noise that sounded like a parrot or some other strange exotic bird. With all of the cicadas flying around, it was hard to tell if there could be a bird mixed in all of that mess. Over and over, I'd hear the crazy squawking sound "whapah". It would even catch Olive's attention and she would look around to see what was causing such unpleasant auditory input.

Since I have recently been the recipient of some practical joking by some friends/family (you know who you are and you two will pay), I began to become paranoid..of what, I don't know...but at this point, I didn't know what the hell to expect. After a few hours of being truly baffled,it wasn't until I cleaned up around the deck this evening that I found this:







A Kung Fu Panda toy from a McDonalds happy meal. This isn't just any Kung Fu Panda...Nope, this one is possessed by pee pee, yep...you heard me...a urine intoxicated Panda lives on our deck. Evidently, Spencer couldn't hold it one day and decided to let loose in the back yard. He looked down and realized he had tinkle'd on Po, the Kung Fu Panda. Ever since then, Panda kinda yelps out at will...even with the power button turned off!!!!

The future's so bright...I gotta wear shades!!

Today was one of my "at-home Fridays". I love these days!! I never really have a plan for them, but the kids and I always seem to have a great day. Today I took them to the Library and started them on the Summer Reading Program. Spence checked out 3 books and Olive checked out none. That is because Olive had a meltdown and we had to leave immediately. But, at least Spence managed to get his books, a few easy-readers. We are trying to get him prepared. A few weeks ago, I met with his Kindergarten teacher for next year and she mentioned that the class will begin having homework the first week of school and will start reading simple books the first week too...and have spelling tests every Friday. Gosh, I'm pretty sure in my Kindergarten class all we did was color and have recess.

We also went to Kohl's in search of some sandals for Olive as her toes are sticking out of the ones she is currently sporting. Shocked, I found out they don't even carry her size...for any of you Mom's out there with kids who wear toddler 4's, don't bother going to Kohl's. As we were walking out, Spence spotted the sunglasses rack and he picked a pair out for himself and for Olive. He did a great job, both kids look like movie stars!!! Then Spence had to try on everyone's glasses.