Beautiful Beach

Pensacola Beach is beautiful. Was it worth the trip? Well, for the beach part absolutely. I guess the challenge of taking a family vacation is that you have to take the family. I really wanted to take the kids to the beach and they loved it, but it’s all the other times with the twins that are exhausting.

I’ve heard the saying ‘it takes a village,’ but what seemed to work for us was to take the village on vacation with us. Thank heavens for GiGi, JoJo, Lolly, NeeNee, and Aunt Deb or I’d never be able to squeeze in a nap. The beach seems to make me a little more sleepy, but has the opposite effect on Connor. He got up at 5:20 am this morning (thank you Carl for taking that one) and even though he’s completely exhausted, he takes nearly two hours to finally go down for a nap. Hopefully we’ll get schedules back on track when we get home.

For now though, I will have to admit it’s all worth it for us to share this time on the beach.

Damn You Cracker Barrel

The plan for our drive to Pensacola Beach, FL for vacation was broken into two drives. The first leg to New Iberia, LA to stay the night with family before making the final leg to the beach.

Halfway on the first leg is a Cracker Barrel we frequently stop at when making the drive to Louisiana. We timed it perfectly, just before the lunch rush, headed into the bathrooms and then out to get a table. But to get to anything at Cracker Barrel you have to maneuver through the “country store.” The evil, toddler tantalizing “country store” that required the twins to touch everything they could get their hands on and burst into tears when we headed to our table for lunch. Although I hate being one of those parents that buys naughty children toys when they cry, I understand it reinforces a negative behavior, but frankly I just wanted some iced tea, a chicken sandwich and a little piece and quiet while we tried to eat. So I left bawling children at the table and dashed back to the country store for two light up airplane fans. Only $5 bucks each. A bargain to keep other tables from staring at us like we were torturing our children and ruining their lunch.

All was well, until it was time to leave and we had to brave the country store again. Connor made it, completely distracted by his light up plane, but that toy had lost it’s charm for Chloe. She started to cry and insisted she wanted a Scooby Doo toy instead. This time there was some really serious, outrageous crying. I didn’t buy her the Scooby Doo, but I did make the twin parent mistake of exchanging one of the airplanes for the Scooby Doo instead, meaning we had two different toys.

Nightmare. Now, not only did we have to listen to the cartoon voice repeating, “Scooby, Scooby, Doo” and the obnoxious Scooby laugh every time Chloe shook the toy, which was about every three seconds for an hour. We also has to listen to Connor cry that he wanted a Scooby Doo too.

They finally traded for a little bit, but not until Chloe took wicked pleasure in shaking Scooby Doo and taunting her brother while he cried and reached toward her for the toy.

We have all vowed never to go to Cracker Barrel again!

Vacation Planning

Some of the best part of taking a vacation can be the planning and anticipation. However, it now seems like a lot more work than it used to be.

We decided the kids were old enough that it would be fun to take a beach vacation to Pensacola Beach, FL. We invited my Mom, Carl’s Mom and her sisters (the aunts) and I wanted to get a house with several bedrooms to fit as many as wanted to come. We found a lovely home at a great rate where we could walk to the beach. Score!

Sydney's Sandcastle

The plan was to drive, 6 hours and stop overnight with family in New Iberia, Louisiana, then drive the final 5 hours the next day. This is where the planning really began, what to pack and how to pack. I needed to have overnight bags, for the kids and myself, easy to get to for the one night stay and everything for the beach could be packed in larger bags that were packed at the bottom of the van. There is a washer/dryer at the rental house, so I knew we could do laundry and pack fewer clothes.

Then we also needed to bring some toys, enough for entertainment on the ride and when we made it to our destination, but not so much stuff overall that we couldn’t fit everything for 3 adults too.

Ultimately we made it all fit.

Back of Van 

Inside of Van

But honestly it took a lot of thought and consideration to make it work and even then the drive was a beating. I need a new plan for next year.

Busy Day

The twins had a dentist appointment. We were headed out on vacation in a couple of days and they needed haircuts too. We had enough to do I thought it was worth it to take them out of school for a day to get everything done.

The trip to the dentist was fairly uneventful. Connor felt more confortable sitting with Carl, but Chloe was fine by herself. Our dentist is great, which is why I assume she does this for a living. She told Chloe she’d make her teeth sparkly like a princess and Connor that his would shine like a shark. They loved it.

We had lunch. Took naps, except Connor never slept. Made a grocery store run and then headed out for haircuts. For cuts we go to a place specifically for kids but it’s so fun the twins are sometimes fussy when it’s time to leave. I promised them ice cream if they were good and that did the trick.

We walked to the yogurt shop and everyone got their own cup with sprinkles on top. They loved it, but then the sugar rush came and they were climbing the walls, literally.

We headed home, made lunches for school the next day and started dinner.

I was exhausted. I seriously don’t know how stay-at-home moms do it. Being a Mom is really hard work and caring for children all day is incredibly thankless. I’ve heard Moms say knowing their children are being cared for, loved, and enriched by their own mother is all the reward needed, but that just doesn’t work for me. I salute all the Moms out there. It’s hard no matter how you do it.

Birthday Pink

Yesterday the twins turned 3. I was originally planning to take cupcakes to school, but the school director said the kids usually smash them and she didn't recommend them. So then I had to figure out what to do. Thanks to a suggestion from mother of three, Michelle Garza, I took sugar cookies, frosting and decorations to school for the birthday celebration. It was a hit with the kids and the teachers, yeah!

I couldn't get both to look at the camera and smile at drop off, but we did get to wear our birthday outfits again! Thanks GiGi!

Birthday before pink eye

That afternoon I got a call from the school that Chloe's eye was puffy and irritated and she may have pink eye. I ran her to the doctor who was super great. After they confirmed it was pink eye they were sweet enough to give us two samples of drops, one for Chloe and one just in case Connor got it too. Then, since it was Chloe's birthday they let her pick two toys from the treasure chest. It took her awhile to decide, but she ended up with a red heart necklace and a crown. Now I just hope we can contain it with her and get it cleared up quickly. Of course I keep thinking my eyes feel a little itchy. Happy Birthday!

Birthday at the doctor's office with pink eye

Halloween Over-kill

I really like Halloween. I think Halloween is a favorite holiday for my sister-in-law too. Before we all had kids she'd host murder mystery nights to celebrate Halloween, she decorates everything and has serious concerns about a zombie invasion. Not sure the zombie thing is related to Halloween, but she is a charming, funny writer. You can check out her blog No Gutzler, No Glory.

The main reason I like Halloween is that I get to dress up. Carl is really great about dressing up too. In fact, we met on Halloween in 2001.

Night Carl and I met

Carl was a flying nun and still loves that costume. He's worn it to Mardi Gras and any other occasion he can think of. This Halloween party was after the anthrax scare, so I'm a mail person with a mask and latex gloves.

One of the great things about having kids is dressing them up for Halloween and I like the family to dress in theme. Just one of the small perks of having kids. The twins were born in September and I didn't get organized enough to get us costumes for that first Halloween, but a friend hosted the 2nd Annual World Banana Day that February (benefiting North Texas Food Bank) and it was a perfect excuse to dress up.

The next year I had a little time to plan ahead, so the kids were bees. Dressed in khakis, Carl and I were bee keepers.

Halloween 2010

Then the plan for the next year was based on the kids really loving the zoo and animals in general. With Connor's crazy mane I thought he'd be a great lion and Chloe was a pink leopard. We broke out the khakis again to be big cat trainers.

Halloween 2011

So I'd been thinking about what to do for this year for awhile. I didn't think it would be fair for us to wear the khakis another year so I ended up with two ideas.

1. The twins could be a cow, horse, pig, sheep, some sort of farm animal, then Carl and I would wear denim overalls and gingham to be farmers.
2. The twins could be some sort of fish or ocean creature. I found really cute shark, whale, and lobster costumes. Then Carl and I would be fishermen. It'd be a bit harder, probably need yellow slickers and hats, but it'd still be a family theme.

The hitch? The twins don't want to be farm animals. They kinda want to be sharks or whales, but the problem is they can talk now, and they keep "saying" they want to be Spiderman. So Spiderman is one option. I let them look through a costume catalog and we came up with another solution. It's not a family solution, but here's my plan:

Chloe will be a rose

She said she wanted to be a princess, then a butterfly, but when I showed her the rose costume she happily agreed.

Today I bought some rain boots at Target. I have long rose garden gloves and I'll get a little apron to carry around gardening tools. Chloe will be a rose and I'll be the gardner.

Connor picked his own costume and he wants to be a dinosaur.

We'll just have to break out the khakis one more year, and Carl will be a paleontologist.

So ultimately I've gone a little over the top on Halloween costumes. After all, it is only one day and not even a day at that. One evening. But the main point of this post was to justify the time and money I've put into Halloween this year and I'm going to totally enjoy it!

This year's costumes were ordered from Chasing Fireflies.

Willow's Sweater

An art director friend of mine posted this on Facebook. I thought it was so cool I wanted to share here.

I know it's a bit random, but I really like this video. My favorite shot is when he's standing with his feet in the ocean.

Video for Willow's 'Sweater'.
Everything shot in studio with 3 beamers projecting on a floor and two walls.

Directed by: Filip Sterckx
DOP: Pierre Schreuder
3D animation / Editing: Filip Sterckx
Production: Pierre Schreuder, Filip Sterckx
Technical support: Aitor Biedma
Production assistant: Nils Goddeeris
Thanks to: Het Depot, Stake5, Cools multimedia, Tom Brewaeys, Birgit Sterckx, Antoon Verbeeck, Pieter-Jan Boghe

Connor Update

After I posted my concern about Connor I think I got a few folks worried about him, so it seems it's time for an update.

He's gotten better about going to school in the mornings. Some days he's still a little fussy and may ask for me to carry him in, but I haven't been leaving with his crying ringing in my ears. Although it's against the rules to bring toys to school, I've been letting him take a little something in his pocket. Sometimes it's just a piece of rope or a rock he found, but it seems to make him feel better to have something of his own on him.

Drop offs are going well, but overall Connor still has a really short fuse. He has difficulty sharing toys and will run off crying if Chloe doesn't share what she has with him. He's a bit of a toy hoarder. He has a bunch around him around him when he plays and he insist on putting a bunch in his bed or to the tub at bath time. It's not really a problem except for not being able to share.

The other day when we were headed to his birthday party Connor saw the goodie bags and went crazy. He wanted one for himself and wouldn't accept that they were for the friends who came to his party. To calm him down I gave him one of the extra stretchy frogs that went into the goodie bags. He played with that goofy frog almost the entire party.

We're working on the temper and trying to control our emotions, but it's not an easy thing to diffuse. I worry I give in to him too often and it perpetuates the behavior. I just want him to be happy, and often when he's upset he has done it to himself.

Relaxing Yoga?

I've been going to my yoga studio off and on (mostly off lately) since the twins were 6 months old. It's not far from my house, has a variety of caring instructors, but still feels like a workout. I always leave sweating. Not that sweat means a good workout, but it does make me feel better psychologically.

Since I've confessed I needed to lose weight and work on getting healthy again, I kicked it off this weekend and went to yoga for the first time in a month and a half last night. The teacher last night is very spiritual in class. Sometimes it seems a bit too much, but most of the time it fits what we're trying to accomplish.

So after not being in a yoga class for awhile, I try to ease my way back in and modify poses so I don't wear myself out and get discouraged. I already feel like the biggest, frumpiest person in a room full of svelte yoginis so I try not to put too much pressure on myself, which is hard for me, but kinda the point of yoga.

So last night, near the end of a class where we've focused on our shoulders, our spiritual instructor informs us we're all going to try handstands. There's a nervous titter in the class and we all line our mats up against the wall. After a few tries she asked us how we're feeling and if anyone wants to share. I offer that trying handstands makes me nervous and when she asks why I say, "I'm afraid I'm not strong enough to hold myself up." Heck I'm a girl without strong arms and I haven't worked out in nearly two months. She repeats back to me in her best mystical voice, "Afraid you're not strong enough to hold yourself up?..."

I seriously started welling up and it was all I could do not to let tears drop down my checks in front of the entire class. I was really talking about not having strong enough arms and it's somehow turned into one of my biggest fears of not being able to take care of myself or ultimately my family.

I held it together for the rest of class and even tried the handstand a few more times. However, when I left class I was sick to my stomach and burst into tears in my car. I know crying can be a part of yoga and a good release but it may have been a bit much for my first class back.

I'm going to try to make it to a morning yoga class today so I can keep the momentum rolling and get over the last class quickly. Hopefully I'll feel better after class this time.

Birthday Party Success, I'm Exhausted

The birthday at The Little Gym was great! The kids ran all over and played like crazy. The staff was so helpful there, they put everything out, cleaned it all up and then packed everything for us before we left. It runs like an efficient play machine and it was great for a party.

I think everyone enjoyed the Trailer Cakes and the mini cupcakes are definitely the way to go.

We requested no presents, but I put it on the back of the invitation so I guess some missed it and I know it's hard for some people to come to a party empty handed. It just seems to make folks uncomfortable. We didn't open presents at The Little Gym because we were too focused on playing.

Even though I didn't personally run around and chase bubbles and the staff at The Little Gym did most of the work, I was exhausted afterwards. We had family over after the kids party. At this point I was ready for a glass of wine.

We tried to open presents back at the house with family, but a fight broke out immediately between Connor and Chloe. We put the chaos of present opening on hold, but they did play with one of the gifts that was opened.

Aunt Karen and Uncle Martin got the twins chef outfits and a pizza toy. They're adorable chefs if I do say so myself. Karen had the aprons personalized with the twins' names, but she said you could order an entire set of aprons and hats and have a pizza making party. It sounds like a fun party, in theory, but I can't imagine helping 12 kids make pizzas and then trying to cook them. Maybe when they're older. Maybe KiKi can do the chef party?