Third Birthdays and (shocker) Disney

Remember that time when I said we weren’t going to Disney this weekend? Too much to do, I said. I lied.

That being said, I think this might have been my favorite trip to a non-water park in a really long time. We headed to Magic Kingdom, which I was afraid would be packed to the gills with last-hurrahers before school started this week but it was only medium busy. We got all of our birthday prep done in the morning and headed out to get there about 2pm. We rode a lot of rides and didn’t bring any meals (when we do eat there, we eat at Pecos Bill’s, which is pretty tasty and relatively inexpensive for Disney. $35 for all of us). We left at 9:30 when both kids were beyond spent and exhausted. Perfect.

Sunday the boy turned three. THREE! How does that even happen? He got everything he wanted within reason. He asked for banana nut muffins for breakfast and he got them.

He wanted to play in the pool most of the  day, and he got that (his brother wanted too, and he got that also).

He wanted blue minion cupcakes, and he got that (actually he had no idea and didn’t care, but they were damn cute).

We had a small family pool party at my in-laws’ house, which turned out to be absolutely perfect and laid back. I made hummus and the cupcakes but otherwise everything was store bought and the spread was laid out and easy and decorated with minions.

And now my baby is THREE. Oh, the horror. Actually, I think it’s pretty great.

Friday bits

Apparently it’s Friday. How did that happen? I swear yesterday was Tuesday. I wouldn’t say I’m COMPLAINING per se, but seriously, dude. This time flash thing has got to stop. So before it’s all of a sudden next week or something, here are some bits from the week:

Ø  Kindergarten open house was Wednesday. Besides the part where I accidentally stepped in a mud pit 6 inches deep with my new suede sandals, it went well. Spencer’s teacher is nice although a little awkward. I think she might just relate to kids better than parents, and I’m fine with that. It was hard trying to explain that my kid might be a little far ahead and I would like him challenged without feeling like I was that braggy PITA mother on the first day. I assume she’ll get the point when he answers all her questions and attaches himself to her right hip.

Ø  I really need to get back to running. As in, I need someone to move here and kick me in the rear repeatedly until I run from you.

Ø  The thing that has happened to me since I got my fitbit is not that I’m obsessed with taking more steps (except on Disney days). It’s that I’m obsessed with my sleep habits. The first thing I do when I wake up is sync so I can tell how I slept. I usually feel like I didn't sleep well, so I don’t know why I can’t take my body’s word for it. Last night I got 9.5 hours of sleep and only woke once and I’m still tired. Part of that is that I get migraines with the rain fronts and it’s been raining a ton. My teeth hurt with a weather front migraine. I took meds and my headache is gone but the lethargy from it just lingers on.

Ø  That “haunting love poem”  that is going around the internet by the OCD guy … I really love it. And I don’t love it because of the performance or because he’s OCD. I just think it’s lovely and raw and honest. I don’t get why people some people latch onto “art by people w/ disabilities” because of the disability (and I’m lumping large groups here, I don’t need anyone to specify for me that OCD is a disorder and not a disability blah blah blah) and then some people brush off the art because “people only like it because of the disability” like those artists get special treatment and shouldn’t. I hit play while I was in my car, so I didn’t watch the “performance”. I listened to it. And it was a raw and honest and beautiful poem. He could have not had OCD and was writing from the POV of someone WITH the disorder (which isn’t the case but who cares). It wouldn’t matter and it doesn’t matter and some people should pull the stick from their asses, is what I’m saying. You don’t like it? No problem! Don’t discount it because it’s getting attention.

Ø  I tried to use up so much from my pantry, but somehow I didn’t use hardly anything from it. Well, I did but then I went and bought more food and CRAZY. It looked crazy. So I had to clean. Here are before and after photos:

Tonight I’m doing my coffee/spice/baking cabinets. There will be pictures.

Ø  Henry’s third birthday is Sunday, and we are having a small pool party for him at my in-laws’ house.  I’m making those minion cupcakes but otherwise I’m not cooking, just buying a bunch of stuff to feed everyone. It will be glorious, and if it rains I will be very very unhappy.

Ø  Also, I will be in a bathing suit in front of my father and I’m not too happy about that but I was the one to do the inviting.

That was already so long ago

So I meant to preview for how busy my weekend was going to be again, but then time got away from me on Friday and I didn’t blog. Bah. I keep accumulating half-posts in my head while driving but then they never get written down. On Friday, when I would gather these bits and post them, it’s appearing less likely that I may do it. But I’m going to try! I was all proud of myself for posting several times in the same week last week; let’s keep that trend going, shall we?

This weekend was MAD BUSY, even for me. We had a birthday dinner scheduled at 7pm (much later than usual 4:30pm birthday dinners) so we decided to do the Disney thing (surprised? No?). We did Hollywood Studios in the morning and Blizzard Beach in the afternoon. Hollywood Studios was miserable. It was so hot that even with a light dress on I was dripping sweat off my back and straight to my ankles – just as pleasant as it sounds. We were all cranky and miserable and at each other’s throats most of the time there. C took Spencer on Star Tours which he always loves and Henry and I wandered to look at characters we wouldn’t be standing in line to meet (Henry hates meeting characters). I took him to the play area and nearly gave myself heatstroke climbing the netting with him (in a dress, with the backpack weighing me down). We all together stood in the shortest line of everything (30 minutes) for the back lot tour and then we skedaddled. Hot.

(What the kids really looked like)

(What I conned them into pretending they looked like)

Blizzard Beach (of course there are no pictures) was miles better. Busy but WET. Plus after the last two weekends of tearing our feet up walking barefoot all day, we got water shoes and I’LL NEVER GO BACK TO BAREFOOT. Screw all the pedicures, it was awesome to be able to walk and stand in the wave pool and not feel like you will need to amputate your poor neglected feet afterward. We climbed 1,871 million steps, slided down 689 slides and mostly just hung out in the overcrowded wave pool with 400 dozen other overheated fools.

And then we packed up and headed to Outback for a marathon dining experience. You think French Laundry takes a long time, with all its gastronomical experimentation? That’s nothing. You COULD wait 30 minutes for a glass of wine, 20 minutes for the last salad for your party, and never get your beer. Our poor lovely waiter, he was so nice, and so very hapless. My food was delicious, maybe even more so because I WAS SO HUNGRY and everyone was so nice but good grief. The first people in our party got seated immediately at 6:15. We got there at 6:30, and did not leave until 9:15. My lovely children, who are usually pretty good at restaurants and were still AMAZING during this experience, had been swimming all day at a water park and their bedtime is 7:45. Spencer, poor Spencer, was so upset by the end. He wasn’t crying but he was begging to go to bed. CAN WE LEAVE PLEASE??? (And yes, we complained twice, and yes they comped a good amount of things and they were all very nice about the whole thing. We could have been jerks about it but we all seemed to be in good humor about the strangeness of the whole experience. We would have paid full price to have been out of there in a reasonable amount of time).

Sunday was another busy day. We went to the model train expo which wasn’t anything interesting for us, but the kids liked it. Henry was jumping around like a mad man saying “I’m so excited! I’m so excited!” Except he really didn’t seem super excited about anything in particular. My boys are not as attached to trains as some of your kids are. They actually got rid of all their train sets on the last Goodwill purge and haven’t looked back. But it was fun, and killed a couple hours.

We then spent the afternoon with friends at a six year old’s birthday party. Again, apparently I took no photos – I should have. Spencer and Cash have been friends since birth, and although they don't see each other all that often they still act like best buds when they get together. I really hope they are friends for life.

And then there was work the next day! The only down time I get!

Groceries and using what we have.

Here’s the thing: My husband has started complaining about the amount of money I spend at the grocery store. BUT I average $100-$120 a week (one week $70, the next $140). This is NOT BAD. So a couple weeks ago I went to the store and got my veggies, some cheese and that’s it. Including one bottle of wine and a six pack for him I spent $80. For the past few weeks I haven’t been shopping at all (except milk) and I’ve been using up the stuff from our freezer and pantry. Since I’m not drinking this month, I didn’t buy more of any alcohol since then.

I've done pretty good. Vegetarian ramen w/ roasted veggies, baked cheeseburger mac. Some sort of pasta with lemon garlic sauce and random canned vegetables. Pizza w/ pillsbury crust.

Last night I had a minor attack because C wanted to go out and find a specific pair of water shoes for himself so I assumed we would be eating out while we were gone. He then found exactly what he wanted at the first store and we were heading home. BUT I HAD NOTHING TO FEED ANYONE! I am out of meat. While I’m not of the general opinion that you HAVE to have meat to make a meal, Tuesday’s meal was meatless and I didn’t know what else to make! I have some salmon but it was frozen and I didn’t thaw because I thought we were eating out.

So after some snappiness (me), we ended up going to a local steakhouse. $45. That could have been half our grocery bill.

Arg.

So tonight is blackened salmon, mashed turnips and broccoli. Tomorrow is mussels in a white wine sauce (from the freezer), wild rice and sauteed spinach. Saturday is Disney – no cooking. Sunday is a Mexican casserole I have in the freezer. And then we’re completely out of food.

Next week: shopping.

BBTW: TV!

I feel like I missed so very many favorite movies on my last Top 10. Sabrina! 10 Things I Hate About You! But the list for television is shorter and more selective, I think. I’m not a huge tv person. Honestly, we watch baseball every night and I’m okay with that. There are of course a few favorites, both old and new, so here they are in no particular order:

1.       Friends. Of course. I didn’t watch it when it first started, I think I got into it one of the last couple seasons. But I jumped in with both feet and I’m a full fledged Friend-ie.

2.       Big Bang Theory: So I’ve always loved BBT, but my husband thought Sheldon was annoying and didn’t get into it. And then it showed up in syndication and we were watching reruns and now we’re both hooked.

3.       New Girl: I love love love Zooey Dechanel. And the rest of the cast makes this show

4.       West Wing: I know I’m not getting through these episodes as fast as I could or should, but I love all of them. I’m somewhere in the third season and it’s already made it to the list.

5.       How I Met Your Mother: I admit it’s not so good anymore, but by now I’m so invested in the characters that it doesn’t matter that most of the time it’s not funny. I love these people. And there’s always syndication for the funny episodes.

6.       CSI: Another show that is just not as good anymore but I can’t give it up – I love it so much. Downhill since Warrick died. I loved Warrick. But Nick keeps me company.

7.       Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I watched this on Netflix when I was pregnant and then on maternity leave with Henry. Love. And yes, my favorite episode is the musical one.

8.       Saved By the Bell: I watched very little tv growing up, but I loved SBTB. I also loved California Dreamin’, which came on afterward, but since I can’t quote from it or remember any specific episodes it doesn’t make the list.

9.       Downton Abbey: I am not a fan of period pieces, but I cannot get enough of this show. Come on, season four!

10.   Chuck: Love.

Honorable Mentions: Fringe, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Lie To Me, Criminal Minds,Ally McBeal and several other short-run shows that realized I loved them and got canceled. What else did I miss?

Bring Back the Words: brainchild of the lovely Ginger.

So Monday, how are you?

I was running late this morning because Henry climbed into bed with me at 5:11am despite my urges to go over and bother daddy. He did that thing where he throws arm and leg and basically his body over me in an intense snuggle (I do not touch when I sleep) and even though it was very sweet and very annoying, the whole time I wasn’t sleeping I was thinking how I used to do this exact thing to my mom when I couldn’t sleep. Sorry, mom. Being the big spoon is so much more comfortable.

I somehow managed to get on the road only five minutes late, and when I was almost to work I got a text from my boss telling me that our assistant is out sick, my coworker has car problems, and she slept through her alarm and will be more than an hour late. Plus! Our one other coworker is on vacation. SO! It looks like at five minutes late, I am the winner on the Monday morning attendance. Excuse me while I drink my coffee and eat my eggs and banana in quiet this morning.

This weekend was full full full. Come to think of it, my weekends are always full – this one seemed fuller than most. Tax free weekend meant I took the kids by myself to the mall for Spencer’s back-to-school shopping. Thankfully (or sometimes, not thankfully), the elementary schools here are in uniform. There are 4-5 color polo shirts (no emblems) they can wear, and khaki or navy pants. I got most of them Saturday; he’ll need a few more pants (he’s grown out of last years’) but he’s good for now. We then met my husband’s cousin for play at the local children’s museum. A couple months ago Living Social had a membership deal, which I took, and then enough people bought from my link that I ended up with a free membership. So! The children’s museum! It was fun, although I’m not good at keeping up with others when my kids would prefer just to climb on the leaves suspended from the ceiling, slide down the firepole (or fall through the hole for the pole, in Henry’s case) or soak themselves through to the bone in the boat/port area. We were only there a few hours but that was enough for me. When we finally made it home I was tired to the bone and C had to go get Thai for our dinner.

Sunday we made it out to Blizzard Beach to again take full advantage of our Disney passes. This is by far the superior water park between it and Typhoon Lagoon. I mean, TL was fun, but BB was WAY FUN. Slides galore, so many things for the kids to do! Henry did every single slide twice, including the two that you toboggan race head first down a water slide on a mat. Spencer could have done a couple more things but the pool at the end was too deep for him and scared him a little. So I have NO pictures of the fun because I won’t leave my phone unattended so it got left in the locker all day but believe me: we had fun.

 

(Spencer's drawing of a man and a slide a la Blizzard Beach)

The only pictures we took, on the way out.

Five for Friday: My favorites

I cannot seem to get the badge over here, but in an effort to get myself fired up for Friday, I’m joining in with Susan to do Five for Friday: my five favorite things.

Coffee: I’m not a I need the caffeine before anyone speaks to me sort of person. I like coffee, I like the taste, the smell. I don’t even drink a full cup most days (although all this week I’ve been having two so I’ve been a jittery mess). It’s just nice.

Books: I got in a little bit of a rut in June and couldn’t get myself reading, but I turned that back around in July and read 12 books. A couple long ones, too. My favorite was Attachments by Rainbow Rowell – you should go read it now.

Feeling in control: I take meds on and off for anxiety and depression. I got off them around the holidays because I missed a bunch of days and the start-up for me is hard (I get really nauseous) so I held out to see how I felt. I thought if I monitored myself I could catch myself before it got too bad. After a slight spiral and a big meltdown a little over a week ago, I started on them again and I can already see a difference in how I handle the children. My fuse is longer right now, is what I’m saying.

Kindergarten: My baby boy is going to kindergarten in 2.5 weeks! I’m legit excited. Not really sad, except in a small “my baby’s growing up” sort of way. I think it will be good for him – he’s such a learner and I’m so glad for him to continue to be in situations where he will learn. Plus, this weekend I’m taking him BTS shopping for his supplies and clothes. He will be wearing a uniform, sort of. There is an array of 4-5 color collared shirts he can wear, and khaki or navy pants (or shorts, but Mr Picky doesn’t like to wear shorts). Fun stuff!

The fact that it’s Friday: Yesterday felt like a Tuesday to me – I was so confused. This is what happens when I have to be out of the office for work mid-week (Wednesday I traveled for work). SO. Friday is very good. Could be worse, is what I’m saying.