From Grandmother... (Mrs. Bullock)
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
OBX Vacation Part IV
On Thursday, September 10, the weather was still looking pretty windy/rainy. Not a wash-out, but not a beach day either. We decided to head over to Roanoke Island Festival Park.
The highlight of the park is the Elizabeth II, a recreation of the sixteenth century type ship which would have brought folks over twenty or so years prior to the "Lost Colony."
As you board the ship, there are costumed guides who answer questions and let you know more information about the ship. The boys really enjoyed climbing around the ship and ringing the bell. After the ship, we headed to the settlement site area. They had an area set up with tents and a blacksmith, as well as a game called Skittles. Skittles, apparently, is a variety of bowling dating back many years. Jacob enjoyed trying to throw the wooden ball and knock down the pins. After talking to the costumed guys at the settlement site, we headed into the museum. It was quite kid friendly and had lots of hands-on exhibits. In fact, Jacob enjoyed it so much he didn't want to leave! He was nearly in tears as we left and it was starting to rain a bit.
We had already decided to swing down to Bodie Island to see the lighthouse there. We had seen it four years ago and there's not much there other than the lighthouse and a giftshop, but it's nice to go look at. As a nice surprise, the lighthouse itself was open. You can't climb, but you could go inside and look up the stairs. We later heard that they are trying to make improvements so that people can climb to the top. After the lighthouse, it was time to head on back for lunch and naps. We had a laid back afternoon, and in the evening, Kim & Steven headed out for their date night and Jeff and I were in charge of getting the 3 kids fed dinner and put to bed!
It went surprisingly well. We fed the boys homemade mac & cheese that Steven made earlier in the day, and sweet potato fries. After some playtime and I'm sure some Blue's Clues, Jeff took Jacob & Sterner to read to them, and I took Grayson to feed him a bottle and put him to bed. Grayson cried a little, but settled down after a little while. There wasn't much I could do to help Grayson, so I went in and helped Jeff. After books, Sterner and Jacob went right to bed without any issues at all! Jeff and I sat down to eat some of our leftovers from the night before and waited for Kim & Steven to get back. All was well!
The highlight of the park is the Elizabeth II, a recreation of the sixteenth century type ship which would have brought folks over twenty or so years prior to the "Lost Colony."
As you board the ship, there are costumed guides who answer questions and let you know more information about the ship. The boys really enjoyed climbing around the ship and ringing the bell. After the ship, we headed to the settlement site area. They had an area set up with tents and a blacksmith, as well as a game called Skittles. Skittles, apparently, is a variety of bowling dating back many years. Jacob enjoyed trying to throw the wooden ball and knock down the pins. After talking to the costumed guys at the settlement site, we headed into the museum. It was quite kid friendly and had lots of hands-on exhibits. In fact, Jacob enjoyed it so much he didn't want to leave! He was nearly in tears as we left and it was starting to rain a bit.
We had already decided to swing down to Bodie Island to see the lighthouse there. We had seen it four years ago and there's not much there other than the lighthouse and a giftshop, but it's nice to go look at. As a nice surprise, the lighthouse itself was open. You can't climb, but you could go inside and look up the stairs. We later heard that they are trying to make improvements so that people can climb to the top. After the lighthouse, it was time to head on back for lunch and naps. We had a laid back afternoon, and in the evening, Kim & Steven headed out for their date night and Jeff and I were in charge of getting the 3 kids fed dinner and put to bed!
It went surprisingly well. We fed the boys homemade mac & cheese that Steven made earlier in the day, and sweet potato fries. After some playtime and I'm sure some Blue's Clues, Jeff took Jacob & Sterner to read to them, and I took Grayson to feed him a bottle and put him to bed. Grayson cried a little, but settled down after a little while. There wasn't much I could do to help Grayson, so I went in and helped Jeff. After books, Sterner and Jacob went right to bed without any issues at all! Jeff and I sat down to eat some of our leftovers from the night before and waited for Kim & Steven to get back. All was well!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
OBX Vacation Part III
On Wednesday, 9/09/09, the weather was looking a little better, but still cloudy and cool in the morning with a good possibility of rain. We decided to trek to the north towards Corolla. When Jeff and I went to Manteo in 2005, we did not go much past Kitty Hawk, so it was interesting to pass through Southern Shores, Duck, and other small developed areas on our way to Corolla. The houses up that direction are just enormous and at some points, the island is so narrow that the water on the sound side is very close to road (NC 12) and the ocean is easy to see to your east. There is also much less commercial development that direction, though a Harris Teeter has opened in the last year or so, and there are beach shops and such, it's just not the degree of commercial development seen in Kill Devil Hills / Nags Head. Some people believe those areas are too commercial and compare them to Myrtle Beach, but having just visited Myrtle Beach in May, there is no comparison really. To me, Kill Devil Hills/Nags Head is just commercial enough to have good variety for shopping, eating & entertainment, but not the complete overdone of Myrtle Beach.
Anyway, it took us about 40-45 minutes to get to Corolla. We were headed to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, and had also planned to visit the Wild Horse Museum and whatever else we came across. Both of those are very close to the Whalehead Club, which is a large formerly private home that has been renovated and can be toured, sort of like the Biltmore on a much smaller scale. First, we headed to the lighthouse. We were looking forward to checking it out and climbing it. It's actually one of the "easier" ones to climb. Many you cannot climb (Bodie, etc.) and Hatteras has a 42 inch minimum height, so the kids couldn't have gone. Yes, we took three kids ages 9 months, 2 years and 3 years up 210 steps to the top of the lighthouse. The climb wasn't too bad and Jacob did really well and went all the way up by himself. At the top, the views of the water, the sound, and the Whalehead Club were stunning. We took photos and then began our descent. Jacob again made it most of the way down but wanted carried about the last 1/3 of the way. I thought going down was worse than going up because you had to look down. It's also harder on the knees! After the lighthouse, we decided to venture down this dirt road which had a sign pointing towards the Wild Horse Museum. It was a bit further than we thought it would be, but we made it. The Wild Horse Museum is housed in the old Corolla Schoolhouse, built in the late 19th to early 20th century and used until the mid-1950s.
The Wild Horse Museum was of course, small, but had a very friendly attendant who answered our questions. Fortunately, we were visiting on a Wednesday, the only day of the week that they have a former wild horse visit for the kids and adults like to meet. And even better, we were just in time since the horse would be showing up around 11:00 a.m. Shortly, Uno arrived. He was a beautiful chestnut color with a blond mane. We had already heard Uno's story earlier, he had been removed from the beach because he had been abandoned by his herd. It was later discovered that he had health problems, which is likely the reason he had been abandoned. Once a horse are removed, they are immediately vaccinated, but they cannot be returned to the herd because they could infect the herd with diseases they have not been exposed to. Because of this, it is quite serious when a horse is removed from the beach and not a decision made lightly. We all enjoyed meeting Uno and we took pictures.
After that, we went looking for some food because we had been smelling something ever since we had ventured over to the Wild Horse Museum. As an aside, there are additional buildings, former homes renovated into businesses and shops, as well as a chapel that make up the Historic Corolla Village area. It's pretty neat.
As we ventured, we found Corolla Village BBQ, the only place to eat anywhere in the immediate vicinity. It's a former outbuilding/garage of one of the homes and sells NC-style BBQ. Having had Pigman's BBQ two days earlier, the Corolla Village BBQ was a huge improvement. It was quite good in fact. After we ate, we checked out a playground near the Twiddy Realty building. Apparently, the Twiddy family has done all the renovations in the Historic Corolla Village area.
After the BBQ lunch, we headed on back to the beach house. I really wanted to keep Jacob awake until we got back and he wanted to sleep. I knew if he did, he would not nap when we got back. So, as we drove along, Jeff and I sang silly songs to him, and while he was acting like he was mad at us, he kept laughing. We got him home without him falling asleep and he took his nap without incident.
Wednesday night, it was decided, would be a date night for Jeff and I. Originally, I thought we'd put Jacob to bed and head out, but Kim & Steven felt like they could handle it, and Jeff and I would return the favor on Thursday. So, Jeff and I decided to head over to Manteo and walk around a bit. We decided on nostalgia and ate at the Full Moon Cafe, where we had eaten four years earlier. I had Shrimp and Grits, which oddly enough was served over Polenta, which any good southern girl knows are NOT grits! Jeff had a huge shrimp & crab enchilada. Oh, and we had a baked brie appetizer that was really good too. The food was good and we enjoyed our dinner. We wanted to do something else after dinner, and a walk on the beach seemed like a good idea, but it was far, far too windy. So, we opted for a visit to the Outer Banks Brewing Station, which brews their own beer and we wanted to check out anyway. We had a beer apiece and split the beer sampler before heading back to the house, where all the kids were fast asleep.
Kim & Steven had taken them out for
pizza at Dare Devil Pizza which was 1/2 block from the house and then took them to the beach to play in the sand a bit. They'd had a good time and all was well!
*Sigh, our vacation was more than half over!*
Anyway, it took us about 40-45 minutes to get to Corolla. We were headed to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, and had also planned to visit the Wild Horse Museum and whatever else we came across. Both of those are very close to the Whalehead Club, which is a large formerly private home that has been renovated and can be toured, sort of like the Biltmore on a much smaller scale. First, we headed to the lighthouse. We were looking forward to checking it out and climbing it. It's actually one of the "easier" ones to climb. Many you cannot climb (Bodie, etc.) and Hatteras has a 42 inch minimum height, so the kids couldn't have gone. Yes, we took three kids ages 9 months, 2 years and 3 years up 210 steps to the top of the lighthouse. The climb wasn't too bad and Jacob did really well and went all the way up by himself. At the top, the views of the water, the sound, and the Whalehead Club were stunning. We took photos and then began our descent. Jacob again made it most of the way down but wanted carried about the last 1/3 of the way. I thought going down was worse than going up because you had to look down. It's also harder on the knees! After the lighthouse, we decided to venture down this dirt road which had a sign pointing towards the Wild Horse Museum. It was a bit further than we thought it would be, but we made it. The Wild Horse Museum is housed in the old Corolla Schoolhouse, built in the late 19th to early 20th century and used until the mid-1950s.
The Wild Horse Museum was of course, small, but had a very friendly attendant who answered our questions. Fortunately, we were visiting on a Wednesday, the only day of the week that they have a former wild horse visit for the kids and adults like to meet. And even better, we were just in time since the horse would be showing up around 11:00 a.m. Shortly, Uno arrived. He was a beautiful chestnut color with a blond mane. We had already heard Uno's story earlier, he had been removed from the beach because he had been abandoned by his herd. It was later discovered that he had health problems, which is likely the reason he had been abandoned. Once a horse are removed, they are immediately vaccinated, but they cannot be returned to the herd because they could infect the herd with diseases they have not been exposed to. Because of this, it is quite serious when a horse is removed from the beach and not a decision made lightly. We all enjoyed meeting Uno and we took pictures.
After that, we went looking for some food because we had been smelling something ever since we had ventured over to the Wild Horse Museum. As an aside, there are additional buildings, former homes renovated into businesses and shops, as well as a chapel that make up the Historic Corolla Village area. It's pretty neat.
As we ventured, we found Corolla Village BBQ, the only place to eat anywhere in the immediate vicinity. It's a former outbuilding/garage of one of the homes and sells NC-style BBQ. Having had Pigman's BBQ two days earlier, the Corolla Village BBQ was a huge improvement. It was quite good in fact. After we ate, we checked out a playground near the Twiddy Realty building. Apparently, the Twiddy family has done all the renovations in the Historic Corolla Village area.
After the BBQ lunch, we headed on back to the beach house. I really wanted to keep Jacob awake until we got back and he wanted to sleep. I knew if he did, he would not nap when we got back. So, as we drove along, Jeff and I sang silly songs to him, and while he was acting like he was mad at us, he kept laughing. We got him home without him falling asleep and he took his nap without incident.
Wednesday night, it was decided, would be a date night for Jeff and I. Originally, I thought we'd put Jacob to bed and head out, but Kim & Steven felt like they could handle it, and Jeff and I would return the favor on Thursday. So, Jeff and I decided to head over to Manteo and walk around a bit. We decided on nostalgia and ate at the Full Moon Cafe, where we had eaten four years earlier. I had Shrimp and Grits, which oddly enough was served over Polenta, which any good southern girl knows are NOT grits! Jeff had a huge shrimp & crab enchilada. Oh, and we had a baked brie appetizer that was really good too. The food was good and we enjoyed our dinner. We wanted to do something else after dinner, and a walk on the beach seemed like a good idea, but it was far, far too windy. So, we opted for a visit to the Outer Banks Brewing Station, which brews their own beer and we wanted to check out anyway. We had a beer apiece and split the beer sampler before heading back to the house, where all the kids were fast asleep.
Kim & Steven had taken them out for
pizza at Dare Devil Pizza which was 1/2 block from the house and then took them to the beach to play in the sand a bit. They'd had a good time and all was well!
*Sigh, our vacation was more than half over!*
Monday, September 14, 2009
OBX Vacation Part II
Tuesday morning, we knew it would be raining when we got up. In fact, there was a low pressure system that was causing quite a bit of wind as well. It was nearly like a tropical depression!
So, we decided to head over to the NC Aquarium at Roanoke Island. When we got there about 10:00 a.m. or so, it wasn't too busy. The kids enjoyed looking at the fish and other exhibits. We caught the diver talk in the big shark tank. We had just seen the diver talk at the Fort Fisher Aquarium on July 4th. Jacob loved it then. It was cool because the diver would give the kids "high five" through the glass. This time, it wasn't quite as interactive, and while Jacob still enjoyed it, he was disappointed he did not get to high five the diver! They take a photo of you at the beginning of the tour and at the end you can see different views of yourself on different backgrounds. I ended up buying two of them. We also got some magnets and Jacob got a book - Curious George goes to the Beach. More on that later. ;)
Lunch the previous day had been sort of harried, so we opted to head back to the house for yummy leftovers from our Labor Day feast the day before. Then the kids went down for a nap. Each day, it seemed like Jacob would go to sleep earlier than Sterner and get up earlier, and Sterner would sleep later. So, when Jacob woke up pretty early afternoon - we decided to take him to play mini-golf. I'm glad we did too because we would not have had time later in the week. We headed back towards Nags Head - there are actually three mini-golf courses near the Outlet mall. While it was sunny at the beach house when we left, by the time we got over to the mini-golf, it was raining! Jacob was so disappointed. It looked like an isolated shower, so Jeff suggested we walk around the Outlet mall a bit and see if it would stop. So we popped into the Coach outlet and Gymboree. Nothing we couldn't leave without.... It stopped raining and we went for the Jurassic Park mini-golf. Jacob is so funny. He will hit the ball, then pick it up, moving it closer to the hole, then sort of just push it along with the club until it goes into the hole... But, he just loves it. Even more than bowling we later discovered! We finished 18 holes and then actually did the 2nd course, for a total of 36 holes of golf. I was pretty "done" after the first round, but we pushed through because Jacob loved it.
We headed back to the beach house and it was time for dinner. Since we were having grilled fish, coconut rice, and a black bean/mango chutney, we decided to feed the kids first and put them on to bed and then have an adult dinner. It worked well! We also decided to watch a movie together. Still not hot tub weather Tuesday night. We watched a movie. The movie was great, but we ended up stopping it half-way through to take a potty break, etc., and ended up talking for an hour! We finally restarted it up and finished it.
Wednesday - we went to Corolla! More to come!
So, we decided to head over to the NC Aquarium at Roanoke Island. When we got there about 10:00 a.m. or so, it wasn't too busy. The kids enjoyed looking at the fish and other exhibits. We caught the diver talk in the big shark tank. We had just seen the diver talk at the Fort Fisher Aquarium on July 4th. Jacob loved it then. It was cool because the diver would give the kids "high five" through the glass. This time, it wasn't quite as interactive, and while Jacob still enjoyed it, he was disappointed he did not get to high five the diver! They take a photo of you at the beginning of the tour and at the end you can see different views of yourself on different backgrounds. I ended up buying two of them. We also got some magnets and Jacob got a book - Curious George goes to the Beach. More on that later. ;)
Lunch the previous day had been sort of harried, so we opted to head back to the house for yummy leftovers from our Labor Day feast the day before. Then the kids went down for a nap. Each day, it seemed like Jacob would go to sleep earlier than Sterner and get up earlier, and Sterner would sleep later. So, when Jacob woke up pretty early afternoon - we decided to take him to play mini-golf. I'm glad we did too because we would not have had time later in the week. We headed back towards Nags Head - there are actually three mini-golf courses near the Outlet mall. While it was sunny at the beach house when we left, by the time we got over to the mini-golf, it was raining! Jacob was so disappointed. It looked like an isolated shower, so Jeff suggested we walk around the Outlet mall a bit and see if it would stop. So we popped into the Coach outlet and Gymboree. Nothing we couldn't leave without.... It stopped raining and we went for the Jurassic Park mini-golf. Jacob is so funny. He will hit the ball, then pick it up, moving it closer to the hole, then sort of just push it along with the club until it goes into the hole... But, he just loves it. Even more than bowling we later discovered! We finished 18 holes and then actually did the 2nd course, for a total of 36 holes of golf. I was pretty "done" after the first round, but we pushed through because Jacob loved it.
We headed back to the beach house and it was time for dinner. Since we were having grilled fish, coconut rice, and a black bean/mango chutney, we decided to feed the kids first and put them on to bed and then have an adult dinner. It worked well! We also decided to watch a movie together. Still not hot tub weather Tuesday night. We watched a movie. The movie was great, but we ended up stopping it half-way through to take a potty break, etc., and ended up talking for an hour! We finally restarted it up and finished it.
Wednesday - we went to Corolla! More to come!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
OBX Vacation!
We are just back from the Outer Banks of NC! We had a wonderful trip. I didn't have great internet access out there, so I had to wait to get back to blog the details of our trip.... without further adieu...
Background....
So, several months ago, Jeff told me he really wanted to spend a week at the beach. Pretty much all our vacations have centered around Disney, family and a couple of cruises. His family vacations growing up were spent at the beach.
We decided on the Outer Banks. We've only been out to the Outer Banks one other time, about 4 years ago. We stayed in Manteo that time. But we wanted a true week at the beach vacation... I started looking for houses to rent directly from an owner.
After MUCH searching, I found a wonderful house in Kill Devil Hills. It was actually hard to find a direct rental, even using VRBO.com. Here is the house we found: Caribbean Dream
It's four bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 1.5 blocks from the ocean, a pool and a hottub, multiple decks, and fairly new. I was enamored with this house! And we got an amazing deal through the owner. Roughly $400=$500 off the rate through the rental agency! We started thinking of who we could take with us. Pretty early on, I decided this trip would be a lot more fun for all of us if we took another family with kids so Jacob would have a playmate.
We ended up asking our friends Kim & Steven, who have two sons - Sterner, almost 2.5, and Grayson, 9 months. Steven and I go way back. We were coworkers about 10 years ago. He met Kim the summer we worked together at a law firm in Wilmington, and she and I became great friends too. About four years ago, they moved to the Raleigh area. With the best of intentions, we've still only seen them a handful of times a year. We had just recently had a park/dinner "playdate" with them, and a few days later, I emailed them the house I'd found and asked them to join us. To my surprise, they responded enthusiastically within about two hours! We had been excited about the house, and now we were really excited to have such great friends going with us!
This trip was so much different than other vacations... which were mainly to FL... and mainly focused on family & Disney. After several months of waiting, but not nearly the planning that goes into a Disney trip... we left for the Outer Banks last Saturday!
Prior to our departure, I went to the Holly Springs Farmer's Market and bought some produce to take with us. We ended up leaving a little before 11 a.m. We stopped in Rocky Mount and had some lunch at the Cracker Barrel. We headed on. We could not check into the house until 4 pm so we stopped at the Outer Banks Visitor's Center near Manteo around 3 pm and hung out a while looking at brochures, etc. We got to the house about 3:30 p.m. Kim & Steven & the boys were already there waiting by the pool. They'd gotten into the gate, which wasn't locked. We all went into the house and got the cars unpacked. Wow at the stuff that four adults & three kids need for a week at the beach!!!
Next up was a trip to the liquor store and the Harris Teeter, which were fortunately only about a mile a way and right next door to each other. Both were very busy. The parking lot of the ABC store was so busy! Steven and I ran in while Jeff & Kim waited in the respective cars with the kids. The line was wrapped up and down two aisles! I grabbed what I needed and Steven offered just to wait in line for both of us and walk over to meet us at the HT.
We had loosely planned the first four days of meals... I had a list and a cart. Kim had a list and a cart. Then Steven came in and had his own cart. With Jeff manning the two older boys in the spaceship cart, we all zoomed around the HT gathering supplies! We finally met at the front and ended up totaling about $400 in groceries between 3 carts & two bills! We got back to the house and it had to be carried up to the third floor kitchen. Houses at the beach are often "upside down." The living areas, the kitchen and living room are on the third floor to take advantage of the ocean views.
As the time in the day was waning by the the time we got back from the grocery and unpacked the food, we decided to feed the boys and then have a later adult dinner. It worked well. We got all the boys into bed in the 7:30 to 8 p.m. time frame. (As an aside, that is J's typical bedtime and it was a coincidence and a blessing that Kim & Steven's boys go to bed at the same time!!)
Anyway, once they were all to bed, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of grilled NY strip steaks, baked potatoes, and salad on the screened in porch. After dinner, we talked for a bit and then decided to reconvene in the hot tub. Oh yes. The hot tub was NICE!! It was actually a bit too hot. We jumped in and out and managed. We finally turned into bed about 11 p.m. A great start to the vacation....
On Sunday, we decided to hit the beach. The weather was looking precarious for the remainder of the week and we needed to take advantage of any decent beach days! After breakfast, Jeff, Jacob and I ran to the local Wings for a beach umbrella. Everything was 50% off, and even though it was cloudy, I was determined we needed one. :) We actually got a great deal on one for $12, and headed back to the house.
Finally, we headed out to the beach. Oh my, how much stuff we took! It was a bit cloudy and quite windy as well. The ocean was far too rough for swimming, but we'd known that in advance and had planned to let the boys play in the sand and to stick our toes in the surf occasionally, not venturing much past ankle depth. We stayed out maybe an hour and a half, but with the wind and lack of sun, it was a bit cold... so we headed back to the house. They had a good time playing in the sand. We got the boys showered & bathed, fed them lunch and put them down for naps. Jeff and I headed out to Austin's Seafood Company to buy some shrimp for dinner. We also made another trek to the Harris Teeter for MORE groceries! We got home and later, we had a wonderful "shrimp boil" with shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes, sausage, etc. After we put the kids to bed, we hopped in the hot tub again!
On Monday, the weather was really looking not so hot. Rainy. Windy. Yuck. It was Kim's birthday and she made us a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, both chocolate chip & regular, as well as bacon. We weren't sure what we were going to do... but by about 10:30 a.m. we knew we needed to get the boys out of the house. So, we decided to take them bowling over in Nags Head. Why bowling you ask? Well, Jacob LOVES bowling... (and so does his dad! ) Jacob was really excited about bowling! With four adults & two kids playing, it took a LONG time to play even one game. But it was good. I actually did decent... I bowled two strikes and a few spares. I ended up losing to Jeff 116-114. Jacob bowled a respectable 82 I believe. Sterner bowled similar.... as a disclaimer, by the end, both boys were using one of those bowling ball slope roller things. Even Grayson got a few turns! Kim had herself a strike or two. Bless his heart, Steven was just not a bowler. He tried, but he did not excel at bowling. :) Or maybe he let Kim win because it was her birthday! :D
After bowling, we decided to go out to lunch. We decided on BBQ and checked out Pigman's BBQ. It was decent. Nothing to "write home about." I had Turkey-Q and Jeff had Pork BBQ, which was better than the too saucy Turkey-Q. The hushpuppies were good. And Jacob enjoyed the french fries. :) After lunch, the kids were sort of rowdy, so we headed home for naps! I think we ALL took naps that day! The post-nap plan for dinner was a Labor Day cook-out with grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, homemade pasta salad, homemade slaw and some MEAN baked beans with ground beef, bacon, etc. in them that could be a meal in and of themselves! We had a great dinner with the entire gang. After dinner, Steven brought out a Carvel ice cream cake with candles in the shape of a "32" for Kim's birthday. We all enjoyed some ice cream cake and sent the boys off to bed.
Unfortunately, that night, it was too rainy for the hot tub...
More to come! Including pics!!
Background....
So, several months ago, Jeff told me he really wanted to spend a week at the beach. Pretty much all our vacations have centered around Disney, family and a couple of cruises. His family vacations growing up were spent at the beach.
We decided on the Outer Banks. We've only been out to the Outer Banks one other time, about 4 years ago. We stayed in Manteo that time. But we wanted a true week at the beach vacation... I started looking for houses to rent directly from an owner.
After MUCH searching, I found a wonderful house in Kill Devil Hills. It was actually hard to find a direct rental, even using VRBO.com. Here is the house we found: Caribbean Dream
It's four bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 1.5 blocks from the ocean, a pool and a hottub, multiple decks, and fairly new. I was enamored with this house! And we got an amazing deal through the owner. Roughly $400=$500 off the rate through the rental agency! We started thinking of who we could take with us. Pretty early on, I decided this trip would be a lot more fun for all of us if we took another family with kids so Jacob would have a playmate.
We ended up asking our friends Kim & Steven, who have two sons - Sterner, almost 2.5, and Grayson, 9 months. Steven and I go way back. We were coworkers about 10 years ago. He met Kim the summer we worked together at a law firm in Wilmington, and she and I became great friends too. About four years ago, they moved to the Raleigh area. With the best of intentions, we've still only seen them a handful of times a year. We had just recently had a park/dinner "playdate" with them, and a few days later, I emailed them the house I'd found and asked them to join us. To my surprise, they responded enthusiastically within about two hours! We had been excited about the house, and now we were really excited to have such great friends going with us!
This trip was so much different than other vacations... which were mainly to FL... and mainly focused on family & Disney. After several months of waiting, but not nearly the planning that goes into a Disney trip... we left for the Outer Banks last Saturday!
Prior to our departure, I went to the Holly Springs Farmer's Market and bought some produce to take with us. We ended up leaving a little before 11 a.m. We stopped in Rocky Mount and had some lunch at the Cracker Barrel. We headed on. We could not check into the house until 4 pm so we stopped at the Outer Banks Visitor's Center near Manteo around 3 pm and hung out a while looking at brochures, etc. We got to the house about 3:30 p.m. Kim & Steven & the boys were already there waiting by the pool. They'd gotten into the gate, which wasn't locked. We all went into the house and got the cars unpacked. Wow at the stuff that four adults & three kids need for a week at the beach!!!
Next up was a trip to the liquor store and the Harris Teeter, which were fortunately only about a mile a way and right next door to each other. Both were very busy. The parking lot of the ABC store was so busy! Steven and I ran in while Jeff & Kim waited in the respective cars with the kids. The line was wrapped up and down two aisles! I grabbed what I needed and Steven offered just to wait in line for both of us and walk over to meet us at the HT.
We had loosely planned the first four days of meals... I had a list and a cart. Kim had a list and a cart. Then Steven came in and had his own cart. With Jeff manning the two older boys in the spaceship cart, we all zoomed around the HT gathering supplies! We finally met at the front and ended up totaling about $400 in groceries between 3 carts & two bills! We got back to the house and it had to be carried up to the third floor kitchen. Houses at the beach are often "upside down." The living areas, the kitchen and living room are on the third floor to take advantage of the ocean views.
As the time in the day was waning by the the time we got back from the grocery and unpacked the food, we decided to feed the boys and then have a later adult dinner. It worked well. We got all the boys into bed in the 7:30 to 8 p.m. time frame. (As an aside, that is J's typical bedtime and it was a coincidence and a blessing that Kim & Steven's boys go to bed at the same time!!)
Anyway, once they were all to bed, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of grilled NY strip steaks, baked potatoes, and salad on the screened in porch. After dinner, we talked for a bit and then decided to reconvene in the hot tub. Oh yes. The hot tub was NICE!! It was actually a bit too hot. We jumped in and out and managed. We finally turned into bed about 11 p.m. A great start to the vacation....
On Sunday, we decided to hit the beach. The weather was looking precarious for the remainder of the week and we needed to take advantage of any decent beach days! After breakfast, Jeff, Jacob and I ran to the local Wings for a beach umbrella. Everything was 50% off, and even though it was cloudy, I was determined we needed one. :) We actually got a great deal on one for $12, and headed back to the house.
Finally, we headed out to the beach. Oh my, how much stuff we took! It was a bit cloudy and quite windy as well. The ocean was far too rough for swimming, but we'd known that in advance and had planned to let the boys play in the sand and to stick our toes in the surf occasionally, not venturing much past ankle depth. We stayed out maybe an hour and a half, but with the wind and lack of sun, it was a bit cold... so we headed back to the house. They had a good time playing in the sand. We got the boys showered & bathed, fed them lunch and put them down for naps. Jeff and I headed out to Austin's Seafood Company to buy some shrimp for dinner. We also made another trek to the Harris Teeter for MORE groceries! We got home and later, we had a wonderful "shrimp boil" with shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes, sausage, etc. After we put the kids to bed, we hopped in the hot tub again!
On Monday, the weather was really looking not so hot. Rainy. Windy. Yuck. It was Kim's birthday and she made us a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, both chocolate chip & regular, as well as bacon. We weren't sure what we were going to do... but by about 10:30 a.m. we knew we needed to get the boys out of the house. So, we decided to take them bowling over in Nags Head. Why bowling you ask? Well, Jacob LOVES bowling... (and so does his dad! ) Jacob was really excited about bowling! With four adults & two kids playing, it took a LONG time to play even one game. But it was good. I actually did decent... I bowled two strikes and a few spares. I ended up losing to Jeff 116-114. Jacob bowled a respectable 82 I believe. Sterner bowled similar.... as a disclaimer, by the end, both boys were using one of those bowling ball slope roller things. Even Grayson got a few turns! Kim had herself a strike or two. Bless his heart, Steven was just not a bowler. He tried, but he did not excel at bowling. :) Or maybe he let Kim win because it was her birthday! :D
After bowling, we decided to go out to lunch. We decided on BBQ and checked out Pigman's BBQ. It was decent. Nothing to "write home about." I had Turkey-Q and Jeff had Pork BBQ, which was better than the too saucy Turkey-Q. The hushpuppies were good. And Jacob enjoyed the french fries. :) After lunch, the kids were sort of rowdy, so we headed home for naps! I think we ALL took naps that day! The post-nap plan for dinner was a Labor Day cook-out with grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, homemade pasta salad, homemade slaw and some MEAN baked beans with ground beef, bacon, etc. in them that could be a meal in and of themselves! We had a great dinner with the entire gang. After dinner, Steven brought out a Carvel ice cream cake with candles in the shape of a "32" for Kim's birthday. We all enjoyed some ice cream cake and sent the boys off to bed.
Unfortunately, that night, it was too rainy for the hot tub...
More to come! Including pics!!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Bennett's Thrift Store - Benefiting Triangle Mended Little Hearts
I have not had a chance to visit yet, but just found out about a new resale type shop in Cary called Bennett's Thrift Store and they say on the website that the support Triangle Mended Little Hearts, our local affiliate chapter of the AHA Mended Little Hearts program.
They are located at 3094 Kildaire Farm Road in Cary (Suite 170), at the intersection of Ten-Ten and Kildaire Farm Road (Millpond Village), between Lowes Foods and Jersey Mike's.
Store Hours of Operation:
Monday - Friday (9 am - 8 pm)
Saturday (9 am - 5 pm)
Sunday (1 pm - 5 pm)
From their website:
We accept new or gently used clothing of all sizes for women, men, children and infants. We also accept accessories like hats, belts, shoes, purses, ties, jewelry, blankets, household items, linens, towels, kitchen utensils, cookware, dinnerware, toys, and household appliances (TV's, microwaves, small computers, household accessories). Basically if it is usable, we need it.
They are located at 3094 Kildaire Farm Road in Cary (Suite 170), at the intersection of Ten-Ten and Kildaire Farm Road (Millpond Village), between Lowes Foods and Jersey Mike's.
Store Hours of Operation:
Monday - Friday (9 am - 8 pm)
Saturday (9 am - 5 pm)
Sunday (1 pm - 5 pm)
From their website:
We accept new or gently used clothing of all sizes for women, men, children and infants. We also accept accessories like hats, belts, shoes, purses, ties, jewelry, blankets, household items, linens, towels, kitchen utensils, cookware, dinnerware, toys, and household appliances (TV's, microwaves, small computers, household accessories). Basically if it is usable, we need it.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Annual Cardiology Follow-Up!
On Tuesday, August 18, we made our trek to Durham for Jacob's annual visit to Duke to see Dr. Rhodes. Dr. Rhodes is special to us because he and Dr. Delaney were the two doctors that were there when Jacob was admitted to Duke at 3 hours old and performed his catheterization at 5 hours old. In essence, they saved his life so he could go on to have surgery by Dr. Jaggers 6 days later.
Every single visit outpatient visit to Duke Children's, we've gone to Elmo's for a meal beforehand. I suppose we are a bit superstitious and we've always gotten good news at these appointment, so we continued our tradition of a meal at Elmo's and had a wonderful lunch there.
We actually were running early and got to the appointment about an hour early. Fortunately, we were taken right back for the vitals check by the nurse. Jacob weighed 36 pounds (90%tile) and was 39 inches tall (75%tile). His BP was 117/77 and I think his pulse was 96. So far so good!
Then, we went down the hall for the EKG. We told J they'd put little stickers on him. They had Nick Jr. playing and he did great!
After that, we had to go downstairs to the first floor of the outpatient clinic for the echo. For his first 18 months, Jacob had four outpatient echos (Sept, Nov, Jan & Oct) that were in the hospital area and most were sedated. Last year, he had his first non-sedated echo in the Children's Clinic and did pretty well. They set up a whole new echo area where the radiology also is, and it was nice. So you wait on the first floor for an echo now. We waited for a little while and then went back. Jacob brought his Blue's Clues Movie and he did really well laying still & following directions. I was very proud of him for being such a big boy!
After the echo, we had to wait another 15-20 minutes to make sure they got all the proper views then we went back upstairs and checked in around 1:30 p.m. to let them know we were ready to see Dr. Rhodes. It was very busy so we hadn't really been bugging the staff. For some unknown reason, at 2:30 p.m., the nurse came out and called J's name, but then was surprised we were sitting there. She said she didn't know where we had been... which is odd because we'd been sitting there for an hour!
Oh well! We were finally taken on back to a room, and Dr. James Johnson, a peds cardio fellow came in and talked to us a little bit. Everything was fine with the EKG and echos. Dr. Rhodes came in and talked about what we'd need to look out for if J ever had complications (not being able to keep up with his peers physically; extreme chest pain, etc.) He again mentioned they will want to do a cath before he is 10 years old. He still has no restrictions, which is wonderful.
All in all it was a great visit and we don't go back until Aug 2010! And at that point, he'll only have an EKG and not an echo because Dr. Rhodes said he felt he'd be able to hear any significant changes if there were any.
Every single visit outpatient visit to Duke Children's, we've gone to Elmo's for a meal beforehand. I suppose we are a bit superstitious and we've always gotten good news at these appointment, so we continued our tradition of a meal at Elmo's and had a wonderful lunch there.
We actually were running early and got to the appointment about an hour early. Fortunately, we were taken right back for the vitals check by the nurse. Jacob weighed 36 pounds (90%tile) and was 39 inches tall (75%tile). His BP was 117/77 and I think his pulse was 96. So far so good!
Then, we went down the hall for the EKG. We told J they'd put little stickers on him. They had Nick Jr. playing and he did great!
After that, we had to go downstairs to the first floor of the outpatient clinic for the echo. For his first 18 months, Jacob had four outpatient echos (Sept, Nov, Jan & Oct) that were in the hospital area and most were sedated. Last year, he had his first non-sedated echo in the Children's Clinic and did pretty well. They set up a whole new echo area where the radiology also is, and it was nice. So you wait on the first floor for an echo now. We waited for a little while and then went back. Jacob brought his Blue's Clues Movie and he did really well laying still & following directions. I was very proud of him for being such a big boy!
After the echo, we had to wait another 15-20 minutes to make sure they got all the proper views then we went back upstairs and checked in around 1:30 p.m. to let them know we were ready to see Dr. Rhodes. It was very busy so we hadn't really been bugging the staff. For some unknown reason, at 2:30 p.m., the nurse came out and called J's name, but then was surprised we were sitting there. She said she didn't know where we had been... which is odd because we'd been sitting there for an hour!
Oh well! We were finally taken on back to a room, and Dr. James Johnson, a peds cardio fellow came in and talked to us a little bit. Everything was fine with the EKG and echos. Dr. Rhodes came in and talked about what we'd need to look out for if J ever had complications (not being able to keep up with his peers physically; extreme chest pain, etc.) He again mentioned they will want to do a cath before he is 10 years old. He still has no restrictions, which is wonderful.
All in all it was a great visit and we don't go back until Aug 2010! And at that point, he'll only have an EKG and not an echo because Dr. Rhodes said he felt he'd be able to hear any significant changes if there were any.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Happy Third Birthday to my Little Guy!
Last Saturday, we celebrated Jacob's Third Birthday. It's hard to believe three years have already gone by. I'm so proud of what a great kid he is (most of the time!!) He is a sweet, loving child and definitely a future "class clown." He loves to be silly.
Today, August 7 is also the three year anniversary of Jacob's surgery.
Here are some pictures to remind you how far we've come....
Just 5 or so hours old, after his catheterization to put a hole in his heart to save his life:
Just before his surgery, so this picture is exactly 3 years ago today:
Taken a few days after surgery:
Jacob at age one!
Jacob in November 2008, age 2:
Jacob in April 2009:
Birthday Party Picture:
Happy Birthday Jacob!!!
Today, August 7 is also the three year anniversary of Jacob's surgery.
Here are some pictures to remind you how far we've come....
Just 5 or so hours old, after his catheterization to put a hole in his heart to save his life:
Just before his surgery, so this picture is exactly 3 years ago today:
Taken a few days after surgery:
Jacob at age one!
Jacob in November 2008, age 2:
Jacob in April 2009:
Birthday Party Picture:
Happy Birthday Jacob!!!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Prayers for my Sister In Law
My sweet sister in law Katherine was diagnosed with thyroid cancer a few weeks ago. She and my brother just married last July. She had surgery to remove the thyroid on May 20, and had to go back to the hospital for a few days. She had some lymph nodes removed during the thyroid surgery and two of them were positive for cancer.
We are praying for her and for my brother. The website is www.katmcguire.com
We are praying for her and for my brother. The website is www.katmcguire.com
Monday, May 4, 2009
What a fun weekend!
The Holly Springs Farmer's Market opened this weekend. We look forward to going every week and checking out the produce and other good stuff. This week, we bought some great homemade BBQ sauce; and some almond meringues. The produce was mostly strawberries and onions. Jacob also got his cookie from Ms. Lonnie.
After the Farmer's Market (and after I spilled an entire cup of hot coffee in my car - eek!!), we went to Vaughn's Farms to pick strawberries. We had a great time! Jacob really enjoyed himself. We got 5 lbs of berries for $9.25!
Later on Saturday, we went to a neighborhood block party with lots of other families with kids Jacob's age. We enjoyed meeting new neighbors and hanging out with the ones we knew already.
On Sunday, I took Jacob to Pullen Park in Raleigh, which is a city park that has a 1900 carosel, small boats, a train, a lake, and a playground. It's a popular spot in nice weather!
Now, I don't want to jinx ourselves, but we are starting Week 2 of the Potty Chart. So far, Jacob is doing pretty well with that! 18 stickers in the first 4 days; and about 14 in the last 3 days.
And, without further delay - recent pictures!! HERE
After the Farmer's Market (and after I spilled an entire cup of hot coffee in my car - eek!!), we went to Vaughn's Farms to pick strawberries. We had a great time! Jacob really enjoyed himself. We got 5 lbs of berries for $9.25!
Later on Saturday, we went to a neighborhood block party with lots of other families with kids Jacob's age. We enjoyed meeting new neighbors and hanging out with the ones we knew already.
On Sunday, I took Jacob to Pullen Park in Raleigh, which is a city park that has a 1900 carosel, small boats, a train, a lake, and a playground. It's a popular spot in nice weather!
Now, I don't want to jinx ourselves, but we are starting Week 2 of the Potty Chart. So far, Jacob is doing pretty well with that! 18 stickers in the first 4 days; and about 14 in the last 3 days.
And, without further delay - recent pictures!! HERE
Friday, April 17, 2009
Easter (& Post-Easter) Wrap-Up!
Where did the last 2.5 weeks go?
We went to Wilmington for Easter. We stayed with my mom and went down on Thursday. On Friday, we went down to OIB to see Jeff's mom and Jacob had fun riding the golf cart and trying to drive it. We went to lunch down there as well. Jacob thankfully slept a little bit on the ride home. On Friday night, we went to dinner with our friends Rob & Elaine at Laterna in Wilmington. We had a great time.
Saturday morning, we went to an Easter Egg Hunt with Heather and Caitlin at Wrightsboro UMC. Jacob & Caitlin enjoyed the games, playground, snacks and of course the egg hunt. We got Jacob down for an early nap, and then afterwards went to my dad's house. Fortunately the weather was low 70's, so we were able to swim. Nancy (Nana) hid easter eggs around the house and courtyard for Jacob to find. We enjoyed our visit! Jacob got easter presents/baskets from his Mee-ma, Mimi, and Papa & Nana! What a lucky kid!
Saturday evening was low key, and on Sunday, we pretty much headed home to get ready for the week. Our week was pretty standard this week. Jacob did pee-pee on the potty a few times in the morning at home, and we've learned that he likes the "pee-pee dance" even better than candy! However, he still refuses to potty at Michelle's! I wonder if he's just to "busy" there than to do so... He does "know" that he is going to be done with diapers in the future, and he talks about that. I think we'll get there. I'd like it to be before Michelle has her maternity leave and Nicole is watching him, but we'll see. It may just have to be after that too. (Sorry Nicole!!)
We went to Wilmington for Easter. We stayed with my mom and went down on Thursday. On Friday, we went down to OIB to see Jeff's mom and Jacob had fun riding the golf cart and trying to drive it. We went to lunch down there as well. Jacob thankfully slept a little bit on the ride home. On Friday night, we went to dinner with our friends Rob & Elaine at Laterna in Wilmington. We had a great time.
Saturday morning, we went to an Easter Egg Hunt with Heather and Caitlin at Wrightsboro UMC. Jacob & Caitlin enjoyed the games, playground, snacks and of course the egg hunt. We got Jacob down for an early nap, and then afterwards went to my dad's house. Fortunately the weather was low 70's, so we were able to swim. Nancy (Nana) hid easter eggs around the house and courtyard for Jacob to find. We enjoyed our visit! Jacob got easter presents/baskets from his Mee-ma, Mimi, and Papa & Nana! What a lucky kid!
Saturday evening was low key, and on Sunday, we pretty much headed home to get ready for the week. Our week was pretty standard this week. Jacob did pee-pee on the potty a few times in the morning at home, and we've learned that he likes the "pee-pee dance" even better than candy! However, he still refuses to potty at Michelle's! I wonder if he's just to "busy" there than to do so... He does "know" that he is going to be done with diapers in the future, and he talks about that. I think we'll get there. I'd like it to be before Michelle has her maternity leave and Nicole is watching him, but we'll see. It may just have to be after that too. (Sorry Nicole!!)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Birthdays & the Dentist!
I went to the Dentist on Friday. Sounds exciting right? I took Jacob with me so he could see what it was like. But, he's actually already been to two different dentists with Michelle & Jason, when they had appointments. I'd been talking to him about it and he was very excited to sit in the dentist's chair. We've also been reading Green Puppy goes to the Dentist and he has loved that book. When we went, he was such a good boy! He colored for a little while, and watched me get my teeth cleaned. Having him there made it go by a lot faster! When they did the flouride, he sat in my lap and thought the little suction wand was hysterically. The hygienist called it "Mr. Thristy." We finally got finished up and left. I told him we were going to school, and he said, No, mommy, I want to go to Jacob's dentist. I tried and tried to explain to him that this was just a visit to watch mommy. He was not too happy! We have made him an appointment for September. I want to check with our pediatric cardiologist in August whether he will need pre-med antibiotics. So far, talking to other TGA moms, it seems like it's about a 50/50 split whether PC's recommend them or not...
In the last week, we had my grandma (Sugar)'s birthday on 3/26 and my dad, Jacob's papa, on 3/28.
We also went to Sterner's 2nd birthday party yesterday at Kim & Steven's house. They had Stacy Clearman of Littland Band fame come and play. Jacob has seen Stacy play on a number of occasions, even as recently as January at our town's Cultural Center. It's attached to our library, and every time we've been back to the library, Jacob mentions the Stacy concert! Anyway, at that concert, Jacob was all into it - dancing & singing on stage, etc. Well, yesterday, he was quite shy. I'm not sure what was going on with him, but he did not want to dance, though he did enjoy holding the microphone. We had a great time at the party!
This coming weekend, we have two more birthday parties - one on Saturday for Jake, a friend from Jacob's school, which will be at Planet Child in Cary. And then another party, on Sunday, also at Planet Child for Austin, who will be three. He is the son of our friends, Matt & Meredith. (Meredith is also our dentist.) We are looking forward to both parties.
The following weekend is, of course, Easter, and we'll be headed to Wilmington. Then, the weekend after Easter, we have Jason's birthday on April 18! Busy busy!
In the last week, we had my grandma (Sugar)'s birthday on 3/26 and my dad, Jacob's papa, on 3/28.
We also went to Sterner's 2nd birthday party yesterday at Kim & Steven's house. They had Stacy Clearman of Littland Band fame come and play. Jacob has seen Stacy play on a number of occasions, even as recently as January at our town's Cultural Center. It's attached to our library, and every time we've been back to the library, Jacob mentions the Stacy concert! Anyway, at that concert, Jacob was all into it - dancing & singing on stage, etc. Well, yesterday, he was quite shy. I'm not sure what was going on with him, but he did not want to dance, though he did enjoy holding the microphone. We had a great time at the party!
This coming weekend, we have two more birthday parties - one on Saturday for Jake, a friend from Jacob's school, which will be at Planet Child in Cary. And then another party, on Sunday, also at Planet Child for Austin, who will be three. He is the son of our friends, Matt & Meredith. (Meredith is also our dentist.) We are looking forward to both parties.
The following weekend is, of course, Easter, and we'll be headed to Wilmington. Then, the weekend after Easter, we have Jason's birthday on April 18! Busy busy!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Six Years!
Today is our 6 year wedding anniversary! My mom came up this weekend and stayed with Jacob. Jeff and I went bowling on Saturday morning, then to lunch at the Q-Shack. We then checked into the Renaissance Hotel at North Hills Mall. We did some shopping at North Hills and then went to Coquette for champagne. Afterwards, we went to Vivace for dinner. It was VERY good. We were too full for dessert, but went back to the room and hung out for a little while. Then, we went to Fox & The Hound and had some beer and watched the NCAA tournament. This morning, we went to breakfast at Hot Point Cafe, and went back to the room until it was time to check out. Then, we went to the Kids Everywear sale. It's been a good weekend!
Our previous anniversaries:
1st - we went to Myrtle Beach, stayed at the Hilton and ate at Melting Pot.
2nd - we stayed at the Hilton in RDU and ate at Angus Barn. The following weekend, we went to the Outer Banks and stayed in Manteo!
3rd - we went on a Babymoon / Anniversary 4 nt cruise that stopped in Key West and Cozumel.
4th - Jacob was 7 months old and it was a weeknight, we got nice take out from Lucky 32.
5th - last year, we spent the weekend at Carolina Beach in an oceanfront room at Golden Sands. We went to Southport for the day, and went to dinner at Deckhouse. Some point during the day, we had Britt's Donuts too!
Our previous anniversaries:
1st - we went to Myrtle Beach, stayed at the Hilton and ate at Melting Pot.
2nd - we stayed at the Hilton in RDU and ate at Angus Barn. The following weekend, we went to the Outer Banks and stayed in Manteo!
3rd - we went on a Babymoon / Anniversary 4 nt cruise that stopped in Key West and Cozumel.
4th - Jacob was 7 months old and it was a weeknight, we got nice take out from Lucky 32.
5th - last year, we spent the weekend at Carolina Beach in an oceanfront room at Golden Sands. We went to Southport for the day, and went to dinner at Deckhouse. Some point during the day, we had Britt's Donuts too!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Baby Maelyn Update
Baby Maelyn passed peacefully last night. http://babyblack.us/
Our hearts go out to Amanda, Brad and Taylor, as well as their entire family.
Our hearts go out to Amanda, Brad and Taylor, as well as their entire family.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Potty Progress
Jacob has been sitting on the potty at times for months now. Probably since last summer.... he's actually done #2 on the potty a handful of times, but not had much success with #1.
This past Saturday, we had him in some trainers in the morning, and he promptly peed through two pairs in a row. We were heading out to run errands and put him back in his diaper, abandoning the cause. As soon as we got into the car, backed out of the driveway, and got to the stop sign, he said, "I poop, I poop." So, we turn the car around, and head back to the house. I take him in and put him on the potty, but he didn't want to sit there. He got upset and wanted the diaper back on. I finally gave in, and we started to head out the door. "I poop, I poop," he says again. I checked him and he had filled a diaper with pee-pee. Fun times. I changed him, and a little while later, we went on our way.
On Sunday, we didn't bring up the potty at all, nor put him back in trainers, etc. Sunday night before bed, he asked Jeff to take him to the potty and promptly pee-peed! Jeff and I made a big deal out of it, etc.
On Monday, fifteen minutes after Jeff put Jacob to bed, Jacob called out, "I poop, I poop." (If you haven't figured it out yet - he uses the same word for #1 and #2.) So, Jeff got him up out of the crib, and out of his PJ's and sure enough, he pee-peed.
On Tuesday morning at 6:40 a.m., we were awaken to "I poop, I poop." We got him up and yep, again, he pee-peed. So, I decided to mention this to Michelle when I dropped him off. She said she'd work with him on it at her house too. Tuesday night, before his bath, he asked to pee - and bingo - he did it again!
This morning, as soon as he got up (5:45 this morning - eek!), he asked and Jeff took him and once more - pee-pee again!
I think something has clicked for him! Hopefully we are on the right path now!!
This past Saturday, we had him in some trainers in the morning, and he promptly peed through two pairs in a row. We were heading out to run errands and put him back in his diaper, abandoning the cause. As soon as we got into the car, backed out of the driveway, and got to the stop sign, he said, "I poop, I poop." So, we turn the car around, and head back to the house. I take him in and put him on the potty, but he didn't want to sit there. He got upset and wanted the diaper back on. I finally gave in, and we started to head out the door. "I poop, I poop," he says again. I checked him and he had filled a diaper with pee-pee. Fun times. I changed him, and a little while later, we went on our way.
On Sunday, we didn't bring up the potty at all, nor put him back in trainers, etc. Sunday night before bed, he asked Jeff to take him to the potty and promptly pee-peed! Jeff and I made a big deal out of it, etc.
On Monday, fifteen minutes after Jeff put Jacob to bed, Jacob called out, "I poop, I poop." (If you haven't figured it out yet - he uses the same word for #1 and #2.) So, Jeff got him up out of the crib, and out of his PJ's and sure enough, he pee-peed.
On Tuesday morning at 6:40 a.m., we were awaken to "I poop, I poop." We got him up and yep, again, he pee-peed. So, I decided to mention this to Michelle when I dropped him off. She said she'd work with him on it at her house too. Tuesday night, before his bath, he asked to pee - and bingo - he did it again!
This morning, as soon as he got up (5:45 this morning - eek!), he asked and Jeff took him and once more - pee-pee again!
I think something has clicked for him! Hopefully we are on the right path now!!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Baby Maelyn....
Baby Maelyn is the daughter of Jeff's former co-worker, Brad and his wife, Amanda.
Baby Maelyn was diagnosed in utero with HLHS.
Maelyn was born back in February and had her first heart surgery shortly thereafter. They've been working on feeding her and getting her off the ventilator since then.
Last night, she wasn't doing well and they took her into surgery to look at her intestines, and her intestines are quite sick. Hopefully they will know more later today and tomorrow.
Please say a prayer for Baby Maelyn and their family. They need them more than ever now.
Baby Maelyn was diagnosed in utero with HLHS.
Maelyn was born back in February and had her first heart surgery shortly thereafter. They've been working on feeding her and getting her off the ventilator since then.
Last night, she wasn't doing well and they took her into surgery to look at her intestines, and her intestines are quite sick. Hopefully they will know more later today and tomorrow.
Please say a prayer for Baby Maelyn and their family. They need them more than ever now.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Hoping for a Normal Week!
Last week was rough! Here is hoping this week is more "normal", whatever that is!
Jacob had a good Monday at school. He did great, Michelle reported. Most of you know, but since August, Jacob has been at A Mother's Love Child Care Home, and it's just worked out to be a great situation for us. Michelle does preschool activities with the kids and is so good with Jacob, and has a son, Jason, who is nearly 4. Jason and Jacob get along pretty well. Even Michelle's husband, Scott, helps out and Jacob gets a kick out of Mr. Scott, too. It is so good to have quality childcare!
Tonight, we were supposed to go to Chick-Fil-A for Kid's Night with some other Triangle Mommies. I told Jacob in the car this morning that's what we'd be doing this evening. It works out well, because when Michelle is taking Jason as well, she just brings Jacob and I meet them at the CFA. So that was the plan tonight. Jacob was excited about tonight and said that he wanted to eat "tomatoes." I said, "well, you'll get your chicken nuggets, your fruit, and your milk." And he said, "and mommy will get a salad." That made me laugh. I suppose the tomatoes he was talking about were the ones on my salad! He also said about 3 times this morning, "I have a good day," meaning he was going to have a good day.
As it turned out, Jacob must have been pretty tired today at school, and felt a little warm, so we canceled our plans for CFA tonight. Jeff had his meeting for work tonight and Jacob wanted to look at pictures and videos from our trip on the laptop. He loves doing that and even request them by name, "Papa's Cane," where he parades around with my grandfather's cane, or "Tigger's Tail," when he pulls Tigger's tail, or "Alice Scary," where my Aunt Alice snuck up on him and would say, Boo! and Jacob just thought that was hilarious. He seemed okay tonight, so as long as all goes well, we'll send him to school tomorrow.
He's also currently obsessed with the Blue's Clues book, "Green Puppy Goes to the Dentist," that we got at the library on Saturday. I know we have read it to him at least 2-3 times a DAY since then!
Jacob had a good Monday at school. He did great, Michelle reported. Most of you know, but since August, Jacob has been at A Mother's Love Child Care Home, and it's just worked out to be a great situation for us. Michelle does preschool activities with the kids and is so good with Jacob, and has a son, Jason, who is nearly 4. Jason and Jacob get along pretty well. Even Michelle's husband, Scott, helps out and Jacob gets a kick out of Mr. Scott, too. It is so good to have quality childcare!
Tonight, we were supposed to go to Chick-Fil-A for Kid's Night with some other Triangle Mommies. I told Jacob in the car this morning that's what we'd be doing this evening. It works out well, because when Michelle is taking Jason as well, she just brings Jacob and I meet them at the CFA. So that was the plan tonight. Jacob was excited about tonight and said that he wanted to eat "tomatoes." I said, "well, you'll get your chicken nuggets, your fruit, and your milk." And he said, "and mommy will get a salad." That made me laugh. I suppose the tomatoes he was talking about were the ones on my salad! He also said about 3 times this morning, "I have a good day," meaning he was going to have a good day.
As it turned out, Jacob must have been pretty tired today at school, and felt a little warm, so we canceled our plans for CFA tonight. Jeff had his meeting for work tonight and Jacob wanted to look at pictures and videos from our trip on the laptop. He loves doing that and even request them by name, "Papa's Cane," where he parades around with my grandfather's cane, or "Tigger's Tail," when he pulls Tigger's tail, or "Alice Scary," where my Aunt Alice snuck up on him and would say, Boo! and Jacob just thought that was hilarious. He seemed okay tonight, so as long as all goes well, we'll send him to school tomorrow.
He's also currently obsessed with the Blue's Clues book, "Green Puppy Goes to the Dentist," that we got at the library on Saturday. I know we have read it to him at least 2-3 times a DAY since then!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Nearly Two Weeks...
That is, nearly two weeks, Jacob has been out of "routine", and he's a routine-oriented kid. He did great on vacation, and I think if he'd had a normal week last week, he'd have been fine, but being sick and staying with Jeff & I for three out of five days last week has now caused him to get a little clingy, dependent, etc. He wants carried, he wants fed, he wants his way. It's also a "battle of the wills" type two year old thing too. We had a stand-off, so to speak at dinner. I made him a plate of several things since our hamburgers weren't ready. After a few bites, he was done. In a crying fit though. I offered yogurt, his favorite, and he said, okay. Then I told him he'd have to feed it to himself, and that set him off crying again. We offered to let him go to bed, but he wanted carried upstairs, and we told him he'd need to do it himself. Another crying fit. Our dinner was ready, so Jeff and I went ahead and ate and "ignored" him, while discussing how yummy our dinner was and we wondered if Jacob would like some. After watching us eat while crying, he finally calmed down and came over after about 20 minutes. I was putting away the food and offered him a hamburger and he ate about 1/4 of one. Then, we had no TV or tiny computer tonight and he just played with us and with his toys.
It's going to be a long week!
It's going to be a long week!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Two doctors & two pharmacies in one day
Thursday night was a rough night. Jacob was up countless times. Around 2 a.m., Jeff checked on him and said he was pretty sure Jacob's fever was back. We dressed him in some cooler PJ's, and kept checking on him. By Friday morning, he had a fever of 101 degrees.
On top of that, I woke up with hives! No idea what they were from, stress maybe? The weirdest part was that my left ear had the worst of the hives. It was swollen, red, hot and prickly. Very annoying. I quickly took 50 mg of Benadryl to keep them from getting worse.
Anyway, the plan was for me to stay home with Jacob in the morning and for Jeff to go into work and to come home at 12 Noon, then I'd head to work and probably to my doctor for a Steriod dosepack. I called the doctor and explained that while he'd been seen on Tuesday and only had a cold, he was fine Wednesday and Thursday, and then got worse overnight. Everything was worse, his cough, nasal drainage and the fever was back. They had me bring him in at 9:45 a.m. We brought Kitty again, and the visit went really smoothly. He got stickers again, and there was almost no crying at all this visit. As Dr. Ramsdell examined him, she felt like she heard the tell-tale crackling in his lower lungs and decided he probably had streptococcal pneumonia in the right lower lobe and some on the left as well. She prescribed 10 days of antibiotics and off we went to Super Target to fill the prescription, and pick up a few extra things. Jacob got a lollipop the pharmacy and really enjoyed that. It may have been his first lollipop!
The remainder of Friday, we pretty much keep him on Tylenol or Ibuprofen alternating every three hours and his fever stayed in the 101 range. He was about as sick as I have ever seen him. You could tell he was just miserable and not himself.
I went off to work at Noon, and made it into the office for maybe 45 minutes before it was time to go to my MD appointment for my hives. I see a PA actually. I was in and out of the office in 19 minutes with a prescription for Prednisone and a prescription for a Z-pack just in case I get worse since I'm already sick too. I went to the pharmacy and it took 30 min plus to fill the prescription. Pharmacies are so slow! (I did avoid the Rite Aid right by my doctor because it takes an hour there usually because it is so close to the hospital.)
I went back to work for a little while, but Jeff said that Jacob didn't want to get up from his nap, so I headed home a little after 4 p.m. When I got home, we let Jacob be for a little while, but by 5 p.m., I wanted him to get up for a little while, so I lured him out of his crib with the promise of ice cream. That worked. He got up and stayed up until about 7 p.m., when he was ready to go back to bed. Around 8 p.m., he woke up in a sweat, so I think he fever broke then, and it hasn't been back.
He was up quite a few times last night crying, it seemed like once an hour. Jeff and I think he's just "milking" it at this point. Finally at 2 a.m., I told him we weren't coming back in and he needed to go to sleep and he stayed quiet until nearly 7 a.m.!
He's doing a lot better today - full of energy. I could barely type this out because he was bouncing and standing up in my lap and playing with the mouse while I typed.
On top of that, I woke up with hives! No idea what they were from, stress maybe? The weirdest part was that my left ear had the worst of the hives. It was swollen, red, hot and prickly. Very annoying. I quickly took 50 mg of Benadryl to keep them from getting worse.
Anyway, the plan was for me to stay home with Jacob in the morning and for Jeff to go into work and to come home at 12 Noon, then I'd head to work and probably to my doctor for a Steriod dosepack. I called the doctor and explained that while he'd been seen on Tuesday and only had a cold, he was fine Wednesday and Thursday, and then got worse overnight. Everything was worse, his cough, nasal drainage and the fever was back. They had me bring him in at 9:45 a.m. We brought Kitty again, and the visit went really smoothly. He got stickers again, and there was almost no crying at all this visit. As Dr. Ramsdell examined him, she felt like she heard the tell-tale crackling in his lower lungs and decided he probably had streptococcal pneumonia in the right lower lobe and some on the left as well. She prescribed 10 days of antibiotics and off we went to Super Target to fill the prescription, and pick up a few extra things. Jacob got a lollipop the pharmacy and really enjoyed that. It may have been his first lollipop!
The remainder of Friday, we pretty much keep him on Tylenol or Ibuprofen alternating every three hours and his fever stayed in the 101 range. He was about as sick as I have ever seen him. You could tell he was just miserable and not himself.
I went off to work at Noon, and made it into the office for maybe 45 minutes before it was time to go to my MD appointment for my hives. I see a PA actually. I was in and out of the office in 19 minutes with a prescription for Prednisone and a prescription for a Z-pack just in case I get worse since I'm already sick too. I went to the pharmacy and it took 30 min plus to fill the prescription. Pharmacies are so slow! (I did avoid the Rite Aid right by my doctor because it takes an hour there usually because it is so close to the hospital.)
I went back to work for a little while, but Jeff said that Jacob didn't want to get up from his nap, so I headed home a little after 4 p.m. When I got home, we let Jacob be for a little while, but by 5 p.m., I wanted him to get up for a little while, so I lured him out of his crib with the promise of ice cream. That worked. He got up and stayed up until about 7 p.m., when he was ready to go back to bed. Around 8 p.m., he woke up in a sweat, so I think he fever broke then, and it hasn't been back.
He was up quite a few times last night crying, it seemed like once an hour. Jeff and I think he's just "milking" it at this point. Finally at 2 a.m., I told him we weren't coming back in and he needed to go to sleep and he stayed quiet until nearly 7 a.m.!
He's doing a lot better today - full of energy. I could barely type this out because he was bouncing and standing up in my lap and playing with the mouse while I typed.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Jacob Dancing (& other cute things)
Jacob had a pretty good first day back at school yesterday. He was happy at drop-off and pick-up.
Jacob has a new “hobby” - dancing - and I must have the camera on him while he does it. He is such a ham. (See Video Below...)
Some other cute things he has said/done in the last few days.
* He calls tissues - “bless-yous”
* He got his Handy Manny book-bag out last night and said “Bye. I’m going to Disney World.”
* He likes to feed Jeff and I pretend food. Such as, “here is some broccoli” and he puts his hand to your mouth for you to “smack-smack-smack, MMM”. Or “here are some jelly beans,” and even names what colors they are.
Jacob has a new “hobby” - dancing - and I must have the camera on him while he does it. He is such a ham. (See Video Below...)
Some other cute things he has said/done in the last few days.
* He calls tissues - “bless-yous”
* He got his Handy Manny book-bag out last night and said “Bye. I’m going to Disney World.”
* He likes to feed Jeff and I pretend food. Such as, “here is some broccoli” and he puts his hand to your mouth for you to “smack-smack-smack, MMM”. Or “here are some jelly beans,” and even names what colors they are.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
A "Normal" Day!
Let's hope so! Jacob is back at school today and Jeff and I are at work. The first "normal" day in nearly two weeks!
Here is the Tigger Video from our trip!
Here is the Tigger Video from our trip!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
A Trip to the Doctor
Jacob's fever was about 101 this morning, and his cough worsened overnight. I had left a message for our doctor yesterday and they called this morning with an appointment for 9:45 a.m. I told Jacob we were going to the doctor, and he said, "No, mom, I stay here, maybe next time." I told him if he would be good and go to the doctor, he could have a candy cane when we got home. He said, "I don't want a candy cane." Great, even bribes didn't work! I coaxed him into the bathtub and got him dressed.
I told him we could take Kitty to the doctor and he wanted to do that. As we were leaving, he was saying that Kitty was sick and needed to go to the doctor. He was good all the way there. When we got there, he told the receptionist, Ann, that Kitty was sick and needed to see the doctor. He usually freaks out at the doctor's office by the time we pull in the parking lot, so Ann was impressed he was so calm. He chose the rocket ship room over the firefighter room. He let the nurse, Dana, take his temperature with a little crying. Then, he actually stood on the scale by himself. This was a first for him! He's usually so freaked out by then, that I have to hold him and then they weigh me and subtract my weight. He was 34 lbs! I think we had been underdosing him on the Tylenol yesterday by a 1/2 teaspoon, so that's probably why it didn't help a whole lot. The doctor saw him and examined Kitty prior to examining Jacob. She's a really great pediatrician! We just love her. Anyway, his lungs were clear, so she felt its just a bad cold with a fever.
Thankfully today, his temperature has been closer to 99 degrees and he is much more active than yesterday, so I'm hoping he is on the mend and can go to school tomorrow. Right now, we are playing with his doctor kit and he is doing the same exam to me that the doctor did to him and Kitty.
I told him we could take Kitty to the doctor and he wanted to do that. As we were leaving, he was saying that Kitty was sick and needed to go to the doctor. He was good all the way there. When we got there, he told the receptionist, Ann, that Kitty was sick and needed to see the doctor. He usually freaks out at the doctor's office by the time we pull in the parking lot, so Ann was impressed he was so calm. He chose the rocket ship room over the firefighter room. He let the nurse, Dana, take his temperature with a little crying. Then, he actually stood on the scale by himself. This was a first for him! He's usually so freaked out by then, that I have to hold him and then they weigh me and subtract my weight. He was 34 lbs! I think we had been underdosing him on the Tylenol yesterday by a 1/2 teaspoon, so that's probably why it didn't help a whole lot. The doctor saw him and examined Kitty prior to examining Jacob. She's a really great pediatrician! We just love her. Anyway, his lungs were clear, so she felt its just a bad cold with a fever.
Thankfully today, his temperature has been closer to 99 degrees and he is much more active than yesterday, so I'm hoping he is on the mend and can go to school tomorrow. Right now, we are playing with his doctor kit and he is doing the same exam to me that the doctor did to him and Kitty.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Jacob is sick....
Yesterday, when we got home, as I was getting Jacob out of the car, he was sort of shivering. I thought it was odd and when we got him inside and took his temperature, sure enough, he had a low grade fever. It went up a little and we gave him some Tylenol and put him to bed. He slept all night until 7:00 a.m. this morning, which is really out of the norm for him. When he got up, his fever was about 102.
It had snowed overnight, but nothing like the snow we had on January 20. The snow in the driveway had already melted by the time we got up. I took my time getting ready and made my way into work by 9:30 a.m. Jeff had already planned to take off today, so he stayed home with Jacob. Jacob's fever stayed in the 101 to 102 range all day and was not much relieved by Tylenol, so I went and got some Motrin after work. Jeff had just given Tylenol when I got home, so we had to wait a few hours. The amazing thing is that Jacob has been taking Tylenol great! He went to bed at 7 p.m., but has already been up twice crying. It's going to be a long night. The most recent time, we tried to give him some Motrin, but he wasn't having it.
Looks like I'm on deck to stay home with him tomorrow...and maybe even take him to the doctor.
It had snowed overnight, but nothing like the snow we had on January 20. The snow in the driveway had already melted by the time we got up. I took my time getting ready and made my way into work by 9:30 a.m. Jeff had already planned to take off today, so he stayed home with Jacob. Jacob's fever stayed in the 101 to 102 range all day and was not much relieved by Tylenol, so I went and got some Motrin after work. Jeff had just given Tylenol when I got home, so we had to wait a few hours. The amazing thing is that Jacob has been taking Tylenol great! He went to bed at 7 p.m., but has already been up twice crying. It's going to be a long night. The most recent time, we tried to give him some Motrin, but he wasn't having it.
Looks like I'm on deck to stay home with him tomorrow...and maybe even take him to the doctor.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Wrapping Up...
Saturday, February 28:
Saturday afternoon, Jacob went down for his nap and when he woke up, he was in a whiney mood. We let him watch Blue's Clues for the 39th time in a week, but I've also explained to him multiple times that this was a treat because we were on vacation and we wouldn't be watching DVD's 24/7 when we got home. I figure, hey, it's his vacation too! After a while, he finally decided he was interested in going swimming, so Katherine & I took him in the pool. This was the only time I got into the pool the whole week, but it was finally warm enough for me! Poor Jeff was still in bed with some type of respiratory infection.
My brother & mom had gone grocery shopping for dinner. My brother had decided to make a special dinner in light of our lack of a great dinner at California Grill. We had snow crab legs for an appetizer with a garlic butter, as well as garlic bread for an appetizer. My brother made seafood pockets - puff pastry with lobster, flounder, scallops, and shrimp, then covered in a bechamel sauce with mushrooms & onions. Very rich, but very yummy. He even packed up the leftovers for Jeff and I to take home with us!
At 8:15 p.m., I decided to run out to get gas, but had to venture to THREE different gas stations because the first was too busy, and the second one, I couldn't get the pumps to work. Finally, the third, which was also busy, I was able to gas up. I decided to make my third trip to Walgreens in the last, oh, 14 hours to get some Tylenol (for Jeff's fever) and Naproxen (for my knee which had been hurting.)
After finally getting home around 9:00 p.m., I went to bed around 9:30. It's been a good trip, but we were ready to head home.
Sunday, March 1:
I awoke at 4:40 a.m. and knew we wanted to get moving by 5:00 a.m. to leave by 5:30 a.m. We wanted to allow plenty of time to get home prior to dark. For those of you not in the NC area, a winter storm warning was in affect for our area! This is pretty unusual for March, so we certainly had not thought this would be something we'd have to worry about! Anyway, after about 10 minutes, I decided it was pointless to lay there any longer and got up and started the last minute packing. Jeff got up shortly thereafter, and we woke up Jacob, or maybe he was awake... Anyway, we said our goodbyes and were out the door by 5:30 a.m. nearly on the dot. Jeff was feeling A LOT better today, thankfully, and volunteered to drive the first leg of the trip. In hindsight, I'm really glad he did because I was really tired. We pushed through and he drove all the way to Brunswick, Georgia (226 miles in 3.5 hrs). We got there at 9:00 a.m. or so and had a fast food breakfast. We left around 9:30 a.m. and I drove this time, straight to Florence, SC (245 miles in about 3.5 hrs). We stopped again and this time had some lunch - it was about 1 p.m. We got back on the road a little after 1:30 p.m. perhaps and Jeff drove us all the way home (145 miles in 2.5 hrs). We got home at 4:00 p.m.
Jacob was good in the car. He had a few moments of boredom, but we pushed him through with books, stickers, toys, stuffed animals, silliness, CD's, etc. We didn't even have to resort to the DVD player, NOR the jelly bellies on the way home. The last 30 minutes, he started getting a bit tired of riding, and I got out the camera and showed him pictures and videos from our trip. That got him through.
So, we are home now! Let's see if I can keep up this blogging thing! And, we'll see how much snow we get and whether our "vacation" is unexpectedly extended by a day tomorrow!
Saturday afternoon, Jacob went down for his nap and when he woke up, he was in a whiney mood. We let him watch Blue's Clues for the 39th time in a week, but I've also explained to him multiple times that this was a treat because we were on vacation and we wouldn't be watching DVD's 24/7 when we got home. I figure, hey, it's his vacation too! After a while, he finally decided he was interested in going swimming, so Katherine & I took him in the pool. This was the only time I got into the pool the whole week, but it was finally warm enough for me! Poor Jeff was still in bed with some type of respiratory infection.
My brother & mom had gone grocery shopping for dinner. My brother had decided to make a special dinner in light of our lack of a great dinner at California Grill. We had snow crab legs for an appetizer with a garlic butter, as well as garlic bread for an appetizer. My brother made seafood pockets - puff pastry with lobster, flounder, scallops, and shrimp, then covered in a bechamel sauce with mushrooms & onions. Very rich, but very yummy. He even packed up the leftovers for Jeff and I to take home with us!
At 8:15 p.m., I decided to run out to get gas, but had to venture to THREE different gas stations because the first was too busy, and the second one, I couldn't get the pumps to work. Finally, the third, which was also busy, I was able to gas up. I decided to make my third trip to Walgreens in the last, oh, 14 hours to get some Tylenol (for Jeff's fever) and Naproxen (for my knee which had been hurting.)
After finally getting home around 9:00 p.m., I went to bed around 9:30. It's been a good trip, but we were ready to head home.
Sunday, March 1:
I awoke at 4:40 a.m. and knew we wanted to get moving by 5:00 a.m. to leave by 5:30 a.m. We wanted to allow plenty of time to get home prior to dark. For those of you not in the NC area, a winter storm warning was in affect for our area! This is pretty unusual for March, so we certainly had not thought this would be something we'd have to worry about! Anyway, after about 10 minutes, I decided it was pointless to lay there any longer and got up and started the last minute packing. Jeff got up shortly thereafter, and we woke up Jacob, or maybe he was awake... Anyway, we said our goodbyes and were out the door by 5:30 a.m. nearly on the dot. Jeff was feeling A LOT better today, thankfully, and volunteered to drive the first leg of the trip. In hindsight, I'm really glad he did because I was really tired. We pushed through and he drove all the way to Brunswick, Georgia (226 miles in 3.5 hrs). We got there at 9:00 a.m. or so and had a fast food breakfast. We left around 9:30 a.m. and I drove this time, straight to Florence, SC (245 miles in about 3.5 hrs). We stopped again and this time had some lunch - it was about 1 p.m. We got back on the road a little after 1:30 p.m. perhaps and Jeff drove us all the way home (145 miles in 2.5 hrs). We got home at 4:00 p.m.
Jacob was good in the car. He had a few moments of boredom, but we pushed him through with books, stickers, toys, stuffed animals, silliness, CD's, etc. We didn't even have to resort to the DVD player, NOR the jelly bellies on the way home. The last 30 minutes, he started getting a bit tired of riding, and I got out the camera and showed him pictures and videos from our trip. That got him through.
So, we are home now! Let's see if I can keep up this blogging thing! And, we'll see how much snow we get and whether our "vacation" is unexpectedly extended by a day tomorrow!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Hollywood Studios, etc.
Friday, February 27:
Today was our day for Hollywood Studios. It’s also ESPN: The Weekend, with lots of live broadcasts, sports personalities, athletes, etc. The four of us really wanted to ride Tower of Terror and Rock N’ Roller Coaster, so we headed for those first and got fastpasses for RNR and baby switch passes for TOT. By 10:00 a.m., we’d were done with those rides, but Jacob was, of course, getting board. So, we headed over to Playhouse Disney Live and we were just in time to wait for the 10:30 a.m. show. While everyone got in line, I ran over to the new Toy Story Mania ride, but the wait was 70 minutes and the fastpasses were for 5 p.m., so I knew we wouldn’t be able to use them.
Jacob really enjoyed Playhouse Disney Live, as one would expect. The show is a little different since last time we saw it. It’s more streamlined and focuses on My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Handy Manny and Little Einsteins. It’s a cute little kid’s show. After Playhouse Disney, we decided to let Jacob check out the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground. Jacob really enjoyed it, but the design of this playground is pretty scary because there are lots of places for kids to hide and you can’t see them. I brought Jacob out, but he was crying to go back in, so Jeff took him back. John & Kat came along later. We debated some lunch plans, and then decided just to come back to the house to eat since Jacob had been napping around 1 p.m. each day. We did go and find Lightening McQueen and Mater from Cars and Jacob took pictures with them. We headed out of the park and home for lunch. Plus, we had big dinner plans at California Grill for John’s birthday. When we got home, Jacob wouldn’t nap. After a while, we got him up and Jeff took him swimming. The pool was FINALLY getting a good bit warmer. Jacob probably swam for nearly an hour. Later, he was watching Blues Clues on TV and literally fell asleep sitting up! He napped like that for about 45 minutes. Very funny!
We started getting ready for dinner and my mom had bought John a cake, so we had a mini-birthday party for John, who turned 30 today. Around 6:45 pm we headed to the California Grill at the Contemporary Resort. Unfortunately, by the time we left, Jeff was not feeling good at all. He was such a sport though. The Contemporary is one of the original Disney resorts. It is the tower that is just outside of Magic Kingdom. The California Grill is a fancy restaurant on the 15th floor of the resort. You can see the Wishes fireworks from Cali Grill. And, they also play the Wishes music & program in the restaurant during the show. It’s a nice evening. The four of us went there 3 and a half years ago and really enjoyed ourselves, so it seemed like a natural choice for John’s birthday. We had to make the reservation months ago too. It’s definitely been something we were all looking forward to.
We arrived at the restaurant and ascended to the fifteenth floor. We ordered drinks - Katherine had a Pinot Grigio, John had a scotch on the rocks, and I had a Cosmopolitan. Jeff decided to hold off since he wasn’t feeling good. After a wait, we were sat at our table and had a pretty good view of the fireworks from our table. They had also sprinkled Mickey confetti on the table in honor of John’s birthday. It was a nice touch.
We ordered the Malibu roll (sushi) and the artichoke flatbread for appetizers. I do not like sushi at all, but this is a place I will eat it. It was SO good. Wonderful. The flatbread was good too. We ordered our entrees about 8:15 p.m. John & Kat ordered the grouper. Jeff got the pork tenderloin, and I got a chicken entree. We waited. And waited. And waited. It was 9:00 p.m. before our food came out. The server knew this was not good and told us that a manager would be right over. To make it worse, John & Kat’s fish was clearly not right off the pan. It appeared and tasted like it had sat and dried out. Jeff’s pork and my chicken were fine. Quite good in fact. The manager came over and to really add insult to injury, he was really defensive and refused to admit there had been some type of problem. He left us to eat and told us he would return. After we ate, and he returned, he remained very defensive saying there was no way the food had just sat, and on and on. He finally moved on to say how he’d rectify it. He ended up comp’ing our appetizers, one of the grouper entrees, and giving us a 20% discount on the remainder of the bill, meaning the total bill was about ½ of what it would have been. We paid the bill and headed out. We are still a little peeved at the manager’s attitude. He must have forgotten the customer is always right rule. I’ll go back to Cali Grill, but only for drinks & appetizers, not entrees.
We all headed home and cut the evening short and headed on to bed.
Saturday, February 28:
This morning, I got up and went to Walgreens for Jeff for meds. But, the pharmacy didn’t open until 9 am and he needed pseudoephedrine, so I had to go back. I picked up a few extra things for Jacob for the car ride home. I did a little packing and then Katherine and I took Jacob to the little park in the neighborhood. Katherine and I checked out a open house across the street. Lovely 7 bedroom house for just $535,000.00. A little out of my price range! We finally came home and once we got all situated, we decided to take Jacob to Downtown Disney. We did a little shopping, then took Jacob into the Lego store. Next, we grabbed a McDonald’s happy meal for him ($4.57!), and went over to Earl of Sandwich. The line was long, but moved pretty well. The food was good! After lunch, we let Jacob play in the fountains and he had a blast. Katherine got some great pictures! Lots of those to come when I get time!
Today was our day for Hollywood Studios. It’s also ESPN: The Weekend, with lots of live broadcasts, sports personalities, athletes, etc. The four of us really wanted to ride Tower of Terror and Rock N’ Roller Coaster, so we headed for those first and got fastpasses for RNR and baby switch passes for TOT. By 10:00 a.m., we’d were done with those rides, but Jacob was, of course, getting board. So, we headed over to Playhouse Disney Live and we were just in time to wait for the 10:30 a.m. show. While everyone got in line, I ran over to the new Toy Story Mania ride, but the wait was 70 minutes and the fastpasses were for 5 p.m., so I knew we wouldn’t be able to use them.
Jacob really enjoyed Playhouse Disney Live, as one would expect. The show is a little different since last time we saw it. It’s more streamlined and focuses on My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Handy Manny and Little Einsteins. It’s a cute little kid’s show. After Playhouse Disney, we decided to let Jacob check out the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids playground. Jacob really enjoyed it, but the design of this playground is pretty scary because there are lots of places for kids to hide and you can’t see them. I brought Jacob out, but he was crying to go back in, so Jeff took him back. John & Kat came along later. We debated some lunch plans, and then decided just to come back to the house to eat since Jacob had been napping around 1 p.m. each day. We did go and find Lightening McQueen and Mater from Cars and Jacob took pictures with them. We headed out of the park and home for lunch. Plus, we had big dinner plans at California Grill for John’s birthday. When we got home, Jacob wouldn’t nap. After a while, we got him up and Jeff took him swimming. The pool was FINALLY getting a good bit warmer. Jacob probably swam for nearly an hour. Later, he was watching Blues Clues on TV and literally fell asleep sitting up! He napped like that for about 45 minutes. Very funny!
We started getting ready for dinner and my mom had bought John a cake, so we had a mini-birthday party for John, who turned 30 today. Around 6:45 pm we headed to the California Grill at the Contemporary Resort. Unfortunately, by the time we left, Jeff was not feeling good at all. He was such a sport though. The Contemporary is one of the original Disney resorts. It is the tower that is just outside of Magic Kingdom. The California Grill is a fancy restaurant on the 15th floor of the resort. You can see the Wishes fireworks from Cali Grill. And, they also play the Wishes music & program in the restaurant during the show. It’s a nice evening. The four of us went there 3 and a half years ago and really enjoyed ourselves, so it seemed like a natural choice for John’s birthday. We had to make the reservation months ago too. It’s definitely been something we were all looking forward to.
We arrived at the restaurant and ascended to the fifteenth floor. We ordered drinks - Katherine had a Pinot Grigio, John had a scotch on the rocks, and I had a Cosmopolitan. Jeff decided to hold off since he wasn’t feeling good. After a wait, we were sat at our table and had a pretty good view of the fireworks from our table. They had also sprinkled Mickey confetti on the table in honor of John’s birthday. It was a nice touch.
We ordered the Malibu roll (sushi) and the artichoke flatbread for appetizers. I do not like sushi at all, but this is a place I will eat it. It was SO good. Wonderful. The flatbread was good too. We ordered our entrees about 8:15 p.m. John & Kat ordered the grouper. Jeff got the pork tenderloin, and I got a chicken entree. We waited. And waited. And waited. It was 9:00 p.m. before our food came out. The server knew this was not good and told us that a manager would be right over. To make it worse, John & Kat’s fish was clearly not right off the pan. It appeared and tasted like it had sat and dried out. Jeff’s pork and my chicken were fine. Quite good in fact. The manager came over and to really add insult to injury, he was really defensive and refused to admit there had been some type of problem. He left us to eat and told us he would return. After we ate, and he returned, he remained very defensive saying there was no way the food had just sat, and on and on. He finally moved on to say how he’d rectify it. He ended up comp’ing our appetizers, one of the grouper entrees, and giving us a 20% discount on the remainder of the bill, meaning the total bill was about ½ of what it would have been. We paid the bill and headed out. We are still a little peeved at the manager’s attitude. He must have forgotten the customer is always right rule. I’ll go back to Cali Grill, but only for drinks & appetizers, not entrees.
We all headed home and cut the evening short and headed on to bed.
Saturday, February 28:
This morning, I got up and went to Walgreens for Jeff for meds. But, the pharmacy didn’t open until 9 am and he needed pseudoephedrine, so I had to go back. I picked up a few extra things for Jacob for the car ride home. I did a little packing and then Katherine and I took Jacob to the little park in the neighborhood. Katherine and I checked out a open house across the street. Lovely 7 bedroom house for just $535,000.00. A little out of my price range! We finally came home and once we got all situated, we decided to take Jacob to Downtown Disney. We did a little shopping, then took Jacob into the Lego store. Next, we grabbed a McDonald’s happy meal for him ($4.57!), and went over to Earl of Sandwich. The line was long, but moved pretty well. The food was good! After lunch, we let Jacob play in the fountains and he had a blast. Katherine got some great pictures! Lots of those to come when I get time!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Magic Kingdom!
Thursday, February 27:
This morning we headed to the Magic Kingdom, this time, not just Jeff, Jacob, John, and Kat, but also my mom in tow. A few funny things. The subdivision we are staying at, Emerald Island Resort, has dolphin statutes that spray water at the entrance and everytime we go in or out, Jacob calls them “golfins.” So cute. There are a lot of condos around here and he thinks they are “Mee-ma’s house” because she lives in a condo in Wilmington.
Jeff and I took Jacob straight to Dumbo. Jacob and I waited in line for about 35 minutes. The line for that ride was nuts! The kids were so poorly behaved. Kids hitting their parents, whining and it’s only 9 a.m.! Yikes. Jacob and I made it through and he enjoyed Dumbo.
Next, Jeff took Jacob on Cinderella’s Carousel. Jacob loves carousel horses. John took Jacob on it next. Then, we headed to It’s a Small World. Jacob was wide-eyed for the entire ride and seemed to enjoy it. We headed over to Mickey’s Philharmagic next - another 3-D movie - but we figured how harmless could this be? Well, first off, the majority of the movie is about Donald, and even more so, it’s actually pretty scary and loud. I found myself so ticked at Disney for having to make everything so scary! Jacob only flinched once during the movie and did wear the glasses the entire time, but as soon as the movie went off, he said, “that was too scary,” over and over again. He’s so brave.
Then, we took Jacob on The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. It actually had some dark and scary moments too. I’m so much more hyper-sensitive to whether these Disney rides are scary. Jacob didn’t say he thought it was scary, but I don’t think he liked it much. It was next onto something fun. Jeff took Jacob on the Tomorrowland Speedway and let Jacob drive! Now, Jacob did enjoy that a lot.
By that time, it was around 11 a.m. and we had reservations for the Pooh & Friends lunch at Crystal Palace, We started heading that direction and got held up by one of the new Celebration style shows. We watched it for a few minutes. It was mildly entertaining. Mom, John & Katherine headed onto the restaurant and checked in. We were shortly behind them, and Jacob looked into the windows and could see Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore & Piglet. It was really hard to keep him from running in. We tried to wait patiently. Finally, the pager went off and we went in.
We got seated and Pooh came over really quickly. Jacob loved it. Next, Piglet came over, and then Eeyore. All within the first 10 minutes we were there. Yet, Tigger went right by us and we had to wait for him to circuit all the way around the restaurant again. So, we ate. And ate. And ate. The food was REALLY good. I was really impressed with it. There was a salad bar, as well as fish, pork loin, flank steak, sauteed Mediterranean chicken, lots of good food. Then, the desserts included lemon bars, boston cream pie, banana bread pudding, apple cobbler, brownies, and on and on. We were pretty much finished eating and had to wait for a good bit longer for Tigger. After the little Pooh & Tigger song and dance, Tigger finally came over. After Jacob gave him and hug and high-fives. Then, Tigger turned around to talk to another table and Jacob grabbed Tigger’s tail and would not let go. I even got it on video. It was really cute, and funny.
Then, we headed out of the park because Jacob REALLY needed a nap today. We got him home and down for a nap by about 1:30 or so. Then, about 2 p.m. or a little after, Jeff, John, Kat and I headed back to Magic Kingdom. We tried to ride Space Mountain, but it was shut down and the fastpasses were all gone. So, we headed across the park to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We got stuck by the parade and headed around past The Haunted Mansion. The wait was 30 minutes, but we decided to keep going to Splash and BTMR. The wait for each was 70+ minutes, so we got a fast pass for Splash, and then went back to Haunted Mansion and waited only 20 minutes to ride that. It was fun. I think it’s been updated.
We went back to Tomorrowland next. Space Mountain was showing a 55 minute wait, but the line was going nowhere. While we stood there, it flipped to 70 minutes and that was too long to wait. We headed over to Buzz Lightyear and I beat Jeff 93,500 to 21,000! Woo-hoo! We rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover. Cheesy, but enjoyable. Then, we did the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. That was a really cute show that involves the Monsters interacting with the audience in a comedy show.
The four of us were a bit hungry and headed to Columbia Harbour House. Jeff wanted fish and chips. But, the food was not that great. And for the price, the portions weren’t great either. A thumbs down.
After dinner, we went over to Splash Mountain (one of my favorite rides) and got in the fastpass line. But it seemed longer than the stand-by line. The fastpass line did end up moving a bit faster though. It was about 6 pm and the sun was going down, and it was getting chilly. But, we forged ahead. The first corner, you go beside the five story drop and we got a good amount of wet. Finally, we did the five story plunge. They take a picture as you go down. Jeff and I were in the front row and John and Kat in the 2nd row. My brother makes the funniest faces in those pictures. Apparently, he is terrified of the falls. We had to buy the picture. I’ll have to post it later. We headed for home, but stopped for a Dole Whip Float at Aloha Aisle. Jeff and I love those! It’s pineapple soft serve with pineapple juice. We finally made it back to the house around 8 p.m.
Tomorrow, we head to Hollywood Studios (formerly known as Disney Studios (formerly known as Disney-MGM Studios)). And tomorrow is my brother’s 30th birthday, so tomorrow night, we have dinner at the California Grill!
This morning we headed to the Magic Kingdom, this time, not just Jeff, Jacob, John, and Kat, but also my mom in tow. A few funny things. The subdivision we are staying at, Emerald Island Resort, has dolphin statutes that spray water at the entrance and everytime we go in or out, Jacob calls them “golfins.” So cute. There are a lot of condos around here and he thinks they are “Mee-ma’s house” because she lives in a condo in Wilmington.
Jeff and I took Jacob straight to Dumbo. Jacob and I waited in line for about 35 minutes. The line for that ride was nuts! The kids were so poorly behaved. Kids hitting their parents, whining and it’s only 9 a.m.! Yikes. Jacob and I made it through and he enjoyed Dumbo.
Next, Jeff took Jacob on Cinderella’s Carousel. Jacob loves carousel horses. John took Jacob on it next. Then, we headed to It’s a Small World. Jacob was wide-eyed for the entire ride and seemed to enjoy it. We headed over to Mickey’s Philharmagic next - another 3-D movie - but we figured how harmless could this be? Well, first off, the majority of the movie is about Donald, and even more so, it’s actually pretty scary and loud. I found myself so ticked at Disney for having to make everything so scary! Jacob only flinched once during the movie and did wear the glasses the entire time, but as soon as the movie went off, he said, “that was too scary,” over and over again. He’s so brave.
Then, we took Jacob on The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. It actually had some dark and scary moments too. I’m so much more hyper-sensitive to whether these Disney rides are scary. Jacob didn’t say he thought it was scary, but I don’t think he liked it much. It was next onto something fun. Jeff took Jacob on the Tomorrowland Speedway and let Jacob drive! Now, Jacob did enjoy that a lot.
By that time, it was around 11 a.m. and we had reservations for the Pooh & Friends lunch at Crystal Palace, We started heading that direction and got held up by one of the new Celebration style shows. We watched it for a few minutes. It was mildly entertaining. Mom, John & Katherine headed onto the restaurant and checked in. We were shortly behind them, and Jacob looked into the windows and could see Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore & Piglet. It was really hard to keep him from running in. We tried to wait patiently. Finally, the pager went off and we went in.
We got seated and Pooh came over really quickly. Jacob loved it. Next, Piglet came over, and then Eeyore. All within the first 10 minutes we were there. Yet, Tigger went right by us and we had to wait for him to circuit all the way around the restaurant again. So, we ate. And ate. And ate. The food was REALLY good. I was really impressed with it. There was a salad bar, as well as fish, pork loin, flank steak, sauteed Mediterranean chicken, lots of good food. Then, the desserts included lemon bars, boston cream pie, banana bread pudding, apple cobbler, brownies, and on and on. We were pretty much finished eating and had to wait for a good bit longer for Tigger. After the little Pooh & Tigger song and dance, Tigger finally came over. After Jacob gave him and hug and high-fives. Then, Tigger turned around to talk to another table and Jacob grabbed Tigger’s tail and would not let go. I even got it on video. It was really cute, and funny.
Then, we headed out of the park because Jacob REALLY needed a nap today. We got him home and down for a nap by about 1:30 or so. Then, about 2 p.m. or a little after, Jeff, John, Kat and I headed back to Magic Kingdom. We tried to ride Space Mountain, but it was shut down and the fastpasses were all gone. So, we headed across the park to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We got stuck by the parade and headed around past The Haunted Mansion. The wait was 30 minutes, but we decided to keep going to Splash and BTMR. The wait for each was 70+ minutes, so we got a fast pass for Splash, and then went back to Haunted Mansion and waited only 20 minutes to ride that. It was fun. I think it’s been updated.
We went back to Tomorrowland next. Space Mountain was showing a 55 minute wait, but the line was going nowhere. While we stood there, it flipped to 70 minutes and that was too long to wait. We headed over to Buzz Lightyear and I beat Jeff 93,500 to 21,000! Woo-hoo! We rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover. Cheesy, but enjoyable. Then, we did the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. That was a really cute show that involves the Monsters interacting with the audience in a comedy show.
The four of us were a bit hungry and headed to Columbia Harbour House. Jeff wanted fish and chips. But, the food was not that great. And for the price, the portions weren’t great either. A thumbs down.
After dinner, we went over to Splash Mountain (one of my favorite rides) and got in the fastpass line. But it seemed longer than the stand-by line. The fastpass line did end up moving a bit faster though. It was about 6 pm and the sun was going down, and it was getting chilly. But, we forged ahead. The first corner, you go beside the five story drop and we got a good amount of wet. Finally, we did the five story plunge. They take a picture as you go down. Jeff and I were in the front row and John and Kat in the 2nd row. My brother makes the funniest faces in those pictures. Apparently, he is terrified of the falls. We had to buy the picture. I’ll have to post it later. We headed for home, but stopped for a Dole Whip Float at Aloha Aisle. Jeff and I love those! It’s pineapple soft serve with pineapple juice. We finally made it back to the house around 8 p.m.
Tomorrow, we head to Hollywood Studios (formerly known as Disney Studios (formerly known as Disney-MGM Studios)). And tomorrow is my brother’s 30th birthday, so tomorrow night, we have dinner at the California Grill!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Epcot (with Jacob)
Wednesday, February 25:
Last night, we all played Monopoly after Jacob went to bed. I bankrupted John first, then my husband, and then Katherine. It was down to my mom & I, and I pretty much owned 3/4ths of the board with hotels and still had a pile of $500's. We called it a night around 11 p.m., but I think I won. :)
This morning, we headed off to Epcot. We sent Jeff for fastpasses to Soarin’, and we headed off to Test Track. We got a “baby switch” fastpass for Test Track and let John & Kat go first, while we checked out the cars in the “Inside Track” exhibit near the ride exit. Jacob liked sitting in the Hummer, Corvette, and the G8. After John & Kat rode, Jeff and I took our turn. Jeff and I agree that the ride could use a little overhaul in the beginning part. It’s kind of tired.
Next, we headed to Mission Space, a ride that I didn’t want to ride. Neither did Kat. But, my brother now works for HP, and HP has this cool hospitality suite in the Mission Space ride for HP employees. We got to stroll Jacob right through the Mission Space entrance, and then took this nearly hidden door and had to be buzzed in, etc. After a ride up an elevator, we were in a lounge area with beverages, a TV, computers, the postcard email thing for Mission Space, etc. They also had HP photo printers that you could print some pictures. Pretty neat! I talked to the attendant, who mentioned that Epcot used to have 11 such suites hosted by various sponsors, but is now down to three: this one, the GM one at Test Track and the Siemens one at Spaceship Earth. The attendant also commented on how well behaved Jacob was, and that she couldn’t believe he was only 2. He’s been such an amazing kid!!
John & Jeff decided to ride Mission Space. Katherine & I took Jacob over to the Epcot Character Spot. Wait in line one time and see about 5-6 characters. The line was quite a bit longer than it was in December 2007 when we came. I estimate Katherine and I waited at least 45 minutes with Jacob. John & Jeff even had time to go ride Soarin’ using the fastpass and still got back over to us right when we were getting to the front of the line. Jacob got really antsy about one-half way through the line, but we managed to get through using peppermint candies, dried apples, and chocolate Teddy Grahams. Thank goodness for snacks and the magic they hold for 2 year olds! We got some more good pictures w/ Mickey, Pluto, Minnie, Donald and Goofy!
After we finished with the characters, Katherine and I were ready to ride Soarin’, so Jeff and John took Jacob over to the Living Seas pavilion and Jacob checked out the dolphins and sharks, etc. Katherine and I used our fastpasses and waited about a total of 18 minutes to get onto Soarin. It was so relaxing riding it, but I missed being able to do it with Jeff. And Jacob is just 2 inches too short to ride. So close!
Katherine and I headed to meet up with Jacob, Jeff and John at the Living Seas. John said that Jeff and Jacob had just gotten in line for the Nemo ride, so I rushed to join them. Back when Jacob was 16 months old, we tried to ride that ride about 3 times and Jacob would flip out in line, and we’d use and emergency exit. I’m not sure why we kept pushing it, but we did. When we finally got him onto the ride, he flipped out, so I was eager to see how he would do this time. The line moves really fast for this ride, so it’s an easy wait. We finally winded our way up to the clamobiles, and so far so good. Jacob was fine most of the ride, and then there is another scary part with a scary looking fish and Bruce (the shark) is pretty scary on this ride too. Then you are stuck in this Crush the Turtle part forever. Jacob got a little apprehensive or scared during the ride. But he seemed fine by the time we got off and he didn’t say it was too scary like he did after It’s a Bug’s Life.
Since it was already 1 p.m., we decided to head back to the car. John wanted to pick up pizzas for lunch, so we did that. It took a while, and so Jacob had slept in the car for at least thirty minutes. By the time we got home, he wanted to eat pizza with butter and while we laid him down for a nap, he didn’t go to sleep. John & Katherine decided to hop in the pool, and offered to take Jacob swimming. So after he’d tried to go back to sleep for about 30 minutes, we got him up and let him swim. He loved it. He had fun with Kat & John in the pool and we got some good pictures.
After the swim, we started showering & bathing for dinner. I took a little nap too. We left here around 4:40 to head to Ohana at the Polynesian. It’s a Hawaiian-themed family style / Brazilian steakhouse type place. They have grilled shrimp, pork, turkey, and steak. This was my third trip to Ohana. Let’s just say it was quite different with a two year old. Just as soon as we got there, Jacob wasn’t interested in eating. And just before the food started coming out, the Hawaiian singer came out. She leads the kids around and sings and dances with them, as well as gives them leis. Jacob was by far the smallest kid out there, but wanted to join in the fun. So, I had to follow him around the restaurant to keep an eye on him. He didn’t want to eat, but at least he enjoyed himself. I got a bite or two of food every now and then. When the “show” ended, Jeff finally convinced Jacob to sit down and I was able to get him to eat a little bit. We finally all had our fill of meats and got the dessert - bread pudding a la mode with a caramel sauce. And, the server brought Jacob his own bowl of ice cream with Mickey sprinkles. He was pretty excited about that and ate a good bit of it. Then the singer came back and he had to go dance and play maracas. Jeff followed him around that time. I think Jacob’s patience is waning. I’m not sure how much longer he is going to keep humoring us. We’ll see. Tomorrow we are finally going to Magic Kingdom, where 85% of the park is geared towards younger kids. I know there is so much there he will enjoy. And, we are supposed to have lunch with Pooh as well at Crystal Palace!
Last night, we all played Monopoly after Jacob went to bed. I bankrupted John first, then my husband, and then Katherine. It was down to my mom & I, and I pretty much owned 3/4ths of the board with hotels and still had a pile of $500's. We called it a night around 11 p.m., but I think I won. :)
This morning, we headed off to Epcot. We sent Jeff for fastpasses to Soarin’, and we headed off to Test Track. We got a “baby switch” fastpass for Test Track and let John & Kat go first, while we checked out the cars in the “Inside Track” exhibit near the ride exit. Jacob liked sitting in the Hummer, Corvette, and the G8. After John & Kat rode, Jeff and I took our turn. Jeff and I agree that the ride could use a little overhaul in the beginning part. It’s kind of tired.
Next, we headed to Mission Space, a ride that I didn’t want to ride. Neither did Kat. But, my brother now works for HP, and HP has this cool hospitality suite in the Mission Space ride for HP employees. We got to stroll Jacob right through the Mission Space entrance, and then took this nearly hidden door and had to be buzzed in, etc. After a ride up an elevator, we were in a lounge area with beverages, a TV, computers, the postcard email thing for Mission Space, etc. They also had HP photo printers that you could print some pictures. Pretty neat! I talked to the attendant, who mentioned that Epcot used to have 11 such suites hosted by various sponsors, but is now down to three: this one, the GM one at Test Track and the Siemens one at Spaceship Earth. The attendant also commented on how well behaved Jacob was, and that she couldn’t believe he was only 2. He’s been such an amazing kid!!
John & Jeff decided to ride Mission Space. Katherine & I took Jacob over to the Epcot Character Spot. Wait in line one time and see about 5-6 characters. The line was quite a bit longer than it was in December 2007 when we came. I estimate Katherine and I waited at least 45 minutes with Jacob. John & Jeff even had time to go ride Soarin’ using the fastpass and still got back over to us right when we were getting to the front of the line. Jacob got really antsy about one-half way through the line, but we managed to get through using peppermint candies, dried apples, and chocolate Teddy Grahams. Thank goodness for snacks and the magic they hold for 2 year olds! We got some more good pictures w/ Mickey, Pluto, Minnie, Donald and Goofy!
After we finished with the characters, Katherine and I were ready to ride Soarin’, so Jeff and John took Jacob over to the Living Seas pavilion and Jacob checked out the dolphins and sharks, etc. Katherine and I used our fastpasses and waited about a total of 18 minutes to get onto Soarin. It was so relaxing riding it, but I missed being able to do it with Jeff. And Jacob is just 2 inches too short to ride. So close!
Katherine and I headed to meet up with Jacob, Jeff and John at the Living Seas. John said that Jeff and Jacob had just gotten in line for the Nemo ride, so I rushed to join them. Back when Jacob was 16 months old, we tried to ride that ride about 3 times and Jacob would flip out in line, and we’d use and emergency exit. I’m not sure why we kept pushing it, but we did. When we finally got him onto the ride, he flipped out, so I was eager to see how he would do this time. The line moves really fast for this ride, so it’s an easy wait. We finally winded our way up to the clamobiles, and so far so good. Jacob was fine most of the ride, and then there is another scary part with a scary looking fish and Bruce (the shark) is pretty scary on this ride too. Then you are stuck in this Crush the Turtle part forever. Jacob got a little apprehensive or scared during the ride. But he seemed fine by the time we got off and he didn’t say it was too scary like he did after It’s a Bug’s Life.
Since it was already 1 p.m., we decided to head back to the car. John wanted to pick up pizzas for lunch, so we did that. It took a while, and so Jacob had slept in the car for at least thirty minutes. By the time we got home, he wanted to eat pizza with butter and while we laid him down for a nap, he didn’t go to sleep. John & Katherine decided to hop in the pool, and offered to take Jacob swimming. So after he’d tried to go back to sleep for about 30 minutes, we got him up and let him swim. He loved it. He had fun with Kat & John in the pool and we got some good pictures.
After the swim, we started showering & bathing for dinner. I took a little nap too. We left here around 4:40 to head to Ohana at the Polynesian. It’s a Hawaiian-themed family style / Brazilian steakhouse type place. They have grilled shrimp, pork, turkey, and steak. This was my third trip to Ohana. Let’s just say it was quite different with a two year old. Just as soon as we got there, Jacob wasn’t interested in eating. And just before the food started coming out, the Hawaiian singer came out. She leads the kids around and sings and dances with them, as well as gives them leis. Jacob was by far the smallest kid out there, but wanted to join in the fun. So, I had to follow him around the restaurant to keep an eye on him. He didn’t want to eat, but at least he enjoyed himself. I got a bite or two of food every now and then. When the “show” ended, Jeff finally convinced Jacob to sit down and I was able to get him to eat a little bit. We finally all had our fill of meats and got the dessert - bread pudding a la mode with a caramel sauce. And, the server brought Jacob his own bowl of ice cream with Mickey sprinkles. He was pretty excited about that and ate a good bit of it. Then the singer came back and he had to go dance and play maracas. Jeff followed him around that time. I think Jacob’s patience is waning. I’m not sure how much longer he is going to keep humoring us. We’ll see. Tomorrow we are finally going to Magic Kingdom, where 85% of the park is geared towards younger kids. I know there is so much there he will enjoy. And, we are supposed to have lunch with Pooh as well at Crystal Palace!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Animal Kingdom!
Tuesday, February 24:
Animal Kingdom!
This morning, we headed off to Animal Kingdom. We left the house at 8:30 a.m. for a 9:00 a.m. opening. Got parked, headed to the front, got through the gates prior to rope-drop. We sent Jeff to Expedition Everest to get fastpasses. The rest of us headed to the Kilimanjaro Safaris and waited for Jeff. He met up with us and we only waited about 15 minutes in line. Fortunately, Jacob really enjoyed the Safari. We saw a good number of animals and took lots of pictures. Our fastpasses for Expedition Everest were for 9:50 to 10:50 a.m. and we walked straight on after the Safari. Jeff and I rode first while John and Kat waited with Jacob. Expedition Everest is one of the most awesome rides in Disney. I love Soarin’ and Tower of Terror too. Those are my top three. I’m not sure what order I’d put those three though! Anyway, John & Kat went next and Jeff got a pretty good picture of them coming down the big drop. John’s face is priceless! Several years ago, we went with John & Kat and we bought the picture for Tower of Terror and John has the most terrified look on his face. Hilarious!
After our Expedition Everest adventure, we headed off to Dinoland. Jacob rode Triceratops Spin once with me and once with Jeff. He LOVED it! He is at such a great age for Disney! We are so enjoying ourselves. It’s like its our first REAL vacation with him because he is so much more matured now. Then, we waited in line for Goofy and Pluto. Even while we were waiting in line, he enjoyed just watching them and was laughing! Jacob loves the characters. Just loves them. He hugs them and gives them high - fives. We got great pictures with them.
After Goofy & Pluto, we headed off to lunch at Flametree BBQ. Jeff and I split a Beef BBQ sandwich with baked beans and onion rings. Jacob had a hot dog with grapes and carrots. Kat had Beef BBQ too, and John had the slab of ribs. The food was actually pretty good and we all enjoyed it. The ducks come right up to you and want to eat, but you can’t feed them! They have paper straws too, that go sort of mushy after a while.
We headed off to It’s Tough to Be a Bug (the 3D movie) after lunch. Jacob was a little inpatient in line, but hung in there. When we got into the theater, he seemed okay during the movie, but half the way through, he wanted to take off his glasses. It’d been a while since we’ve seen it, but it’s actually pretty darn scary. I was really regretting taking him to the movie pretty soon into it. He seemed okay the whole time. Didn’t cry. Only flinched once. But when we left, he said over and over again, “That was too scary. That was too scary.” Poor guy!
We took him to Camp Minnie Mickey next. We saw Mickey, Minnie and Donald Duck. He loved loved loved them! It’s such joy seeing him with the characters! We left the park after that. He fell asleep in the car, and went down for nap at the house when we got home.
This afternoon, we spent some time hanging out at the house. Jeff & Jacob went swimming, but the pool, even though it’s heated, it is still pretty cool. We are used to gas pool heat, as that’s what my dad has and that’s what we had last year in our Disney house, but this one has electric heat and it only gets about 15 degrees warmer than the ambient air.
Tonight, I made my Beefy Bean Enchiladas for dinner. It’s nice having a house and not going out to eat. We’ll enjoy a few cocktails and maybe play some games or cards tonight.
Tomorrow we are off to Epcot (again), but with Jacob this time. And tomorrow night, we are going to Ohana for dinner! YUM.
Animal Kingdom!
This morning, we headed off to Animal Kingdom. We left the house at 8:30 a.m. for a 9:00 a.m. opening. Got parked, headed to the front, got through the gates prior to rope-drop. We sent Jeff to Expedition Everest to get fastpasses. The rest of us headed to the Kilimanjaro Safaris and waited for Jeff. He met up with us and we only waited about 15 minutes in line. Fortunately, Jacob really enjoyed the Safari. We saw a good number of animals and took lots of pictures. Our fastpasses for Expedition Everest were for 9:50 to 10:50 a.m. and we walked straight on after the Safari. Jeff and I rode first while John and Kat waited with Jacob. Expedition Everest is one of the most awesome rides in Disney. I love Soarin’ and Tower of Terror too. Those are my top three. I’m not sure what order I’d put those three though! Anyway, John & Kat went next and Jeff got a pretty good picture of them coming down the big drop. John’s face is priceless! Several years ago, we went with John & Kat and we bought the picture for Tower of Terror and John has the most terrified look on his face. Hilarious!
After our Expedition Everest adventure, we headed off to Dinoland. Jacob rode Triceratops Spin once with me and once with Jeff. He LOVED it! He is at such a great age for Disney! We are so enjoying ourselves. It’s like its our first REAL vacation with him because he is so much more matured now. Then, we waited in line for Goofy and Pluto. Even while we were waiting in line, he enjoyed just watching them and was laughing! Jacob loves the characters. Just loves them. He hugs them and gives them high - fives. We got great pictures with them.
After Goofy & Pluto, we headed off to lunch at Flametree BBQ. Jeff and I split a Beef BBQ sandwich with baked beans and onion rings. Jacob had a hot dog with grapes and carrots. Kat had Beef BBQ too, and John had the slab of ribs. The food was actually pretty good and we all enjoyed it. The ducks come right up to you and want to eat, but you can’t feed them! They have paper straws too, that go sort of mushy after a while.
We headed off to It’s Tough to Be a Bug (the 3D movie) after lunch. Jacob was a little inpatient in line, but hung in there. When we got into the theater, he seemed okay during the movie, but half the way through, he wanted to take off his glasses. It’d been a while since we’ve seen it, but it’s actually pretty darn scary. I was really regretting taking him to the movie pretty soon into it. He seemed okay the whole time. Didn’t cry. Only flinched once. But when we left, he said over and over again, “That was too scary. That was too scary.” Poor guy!
We took him to Camp Minnie Mickey next. We saw Mickey, Minnie and Donald Duck. He loved loved loved them! It’s such joy seeing him with the characters! We left the park after that. He fell asleep in the car, and went down for nap at the house when we got home.
This afternoon, we spent some time hanging out at the house. Jeff & Jacob went swimming, but the pool, even though it’s heated, it is still pretty cool. We are used to gas pool heat, as that’s what my dad has and that’s what we had last year in our Disney house, but this one has electric heat and it only gets about 15 degrees warmer than the ambient air.
Tonight, I made my Beefy Bean Enchiladas for dinner. It’s nice having a house and not going out to eat. We’ll enjoy a few cocktails and maybe play some games or cards tonight.
Tomorrow we are off to Epcot (again), but with Jacob this time. And tomorrow night, we are going to Ohana for dinner! YUM.
On to Orlando!
Sunday, February 22:
On Sunday morning, we finally got up and got over to Sugar & Papa’s by about 10 a.m. We spent a few hours with them in the morning and then Jacob napped there again. After Jacob’s nap, we (my grandparent, my mom, Jacob & Jeff, my brother & his wife) headed back over to my aunt’s house. She used to work in restaurants and is a fabulous cook. We helped her finish up dinner which consisted of greek salad, roast beef, creamed spinach, glazed carrots, mashed potatoes, cream corn. Wow. Everything was SO good. We were stuff and couldn’t eat dessert (Mississippi Mud Pie) for a while. We sat around and my aunt had a great time playing with Jacob. He loved it. It’s funny, but Jacob loves to be surprised. So, she’d sneak around the couch, and jump out and say Boo! Jacob would laugh and laugh and say “do it again!” She did it a few times and I got video of it. I will have to post the video’s later.
Jacob is still doing great with napping & going to bed.
After everyone left, I helped my aunt make overnight caramel french toast for Monday morning.
Monday, February 24, 2009:
Jacob woke up at 5:00 am again. After listening to him toss, turn and wiggle on his aerobed, Jeff and I finally told him to hop in bed with us. Even with Jacob’s knees in my back, I was able to sleep better than I was listening to him toss & turn on his bed. We all went back to some semblance of sleep until nearly 7 a.m.! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!
We got up and got going before my aunt, so we started up the french toast because we were taking it with us to my grandparents. We spent some time packing and parked Jacob in front of the DVD player so we could work on that. He was also starting to get a little bored and whiny and the DVD player did the trick.
Finally around 9 a.m. the french toast was ready and we were all heading out. We went to Sugar & Papa and fed everyone. We spent some more time visiting with them. Since my grandfather will be 87 in June, it’s so good to be able to go spend time with them. We really try to go about once a year. We went in May 2004, Sept 2005 and then because I was pregnant and all that happened when Jacob was born, we made it back in Feb 2007 when Jacob was 6 months old. Then, we went in December 2007, and now Feb 2009. We are even talking about coming back again as soon as this fall because my brother & I won free passes to Universal Studios that have to be used by Dec 2009. Anyway, it’s so tough to leave and I wish we lived closer.
We ended up leaving around 12 Noon to head to Orlando/Kissimmee, which in hindsight was not the greatest idea. The first hour, Jacob was fine. He fell asleep around 1 p.m. - which was what we were hoping - he’d take a car nap the way he did on Friday. But, this time, he woke up after only 30 minutes in a complete melt down. Poor baby. He was just exhausted and wanted to sleep. We should have let him take an early nap at my grandparents before we left. Hindsight is 20/20. He was in melt down for the next 20 minutes and not even jelly bellies could console him. He finally got interested in the jelly beans, which kept him calm until we could get to Super Wal-mart and through the first part of our shopping trip. My brother’s wife, Katherine, was so helpful in helping us with Jacob in the store (and other times too!)
We left Walmart and got to our rental house (www.vrbo.com - #51407) around 3:15 - just 45 min early. We are staying in a house in Emerald Island resort. The resort is just awesome! The clubhouse has a pool/tiki bar, a concierge, and offers things like movies, karoake night, DJ night, etc. We got our parking pass and headed off to the house. The cleaners were still there and getting ready to mop. They let us through our groceries in the fridge, and we went off to the little park down the road. After about 20 minutes, the cleaners called and said the house was ready. We got back and unloaded everything. My brother made some “welcome cocktails” for us and we checked things out and relaxed a bit. Around 4:30 ish, I popped in our Digiorno. Then, we also had a Freschetta and CPK. Hey, we like leftovers ! Katherine and I made a big salad, and we had an easy dinner our first night.
After dinner, I gave Jacob a bath and we explained his Mee-ma would be taking him to bed. Jeff and I, John & Kat, had planned to go to Epcot and visit the World Showcase because I know Epcot won’t be all that interesting to Jacob, especially the countries. So, we headed off to Epcot and got there around 6:30 p.m. Soarin’ had a 65 min wait and no fast passes, so we headed to the World Showcase. We started off in Mexico with frozen margaritas. Yum. Mine went down way too good. Then, we rode Maelstrom and had a great time being silly. We headed on, and visited Germany for a Spaten and a pretzel. We went to Japan and shopped. John & Kat bought chopsticks and sake. I bought a very pretty Japanese tea mug. Then, we headed on and went to the pub in England and Katherine and I had cider. The boys had Bodington. They have a great singer in the pub called the Hat Lady. We caught the end of her act. We really enjoyed the start of our Disney Trip!
Tuesday - we take Jacob to Animal Kingdom!
On Sunday morning, we finally got up and got over to Sugar & Papa’s by about 10 a.m. We spent a few hours with them in the morning and then Jacob napped there again. After Jacob’s nap, we (my grandparent, my mom, Jacob & Jeff, my brother & his wife) headed back over to my aunt’s house. She used to work in restaurants and is a fabulous cook. We helped her finish up dinner which consisted of greek salad, roast beef, creamed spinach, glazed carrots, mashed potatoes, cream corn. Wow. Everything was SO good. We were stuff and couldn’t eat dessert (Mississippi Mud Pie) for a while. We sat around and my aunt had a great time playing with Jacob. He loved it. It’s funny, but Jacob loves to be surprised. So, she’d sneak around the couch, and jump out and say Boo! Jacob would laugh and laugh and say “do it again!” She did it a few times and I got video of it. I will have to post the video’s later.
Jacob is still doing great with napping & going to bed.
After everyone left, I helped my aunt make overnight caramel french toast for Monday morning.
Monday, February 24, 2009:
Jacob woke up at 5:00 am again. After listening to him toss, turn and wiggle on his aerobed, Jeff and I finally told him to hop in bed with us. Even with Jacob’s knees in my back, I was able to sleep better than I was listening to him toss & turn on his bed. We all went back to some semblance of sleep until nearly 7 a.m.! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!
We got up and got going before my aunt, so we started up the french toast because we were taking it with us to my grandparents. We spent some time packing and parked Jacob in front of the DVD player so we could work on that. He was also starting to get a little bored and whiny and the DVD player did the trick.
Finally around 9 a.m. the french toast was ready and we were all heading out. We went to Sugar & Papa and fed everyone. We spent some more time visiting with them. Since my grandfather will be 87 in June, it’s so good to be able to go spend time with them. We really try to go about once a year. We went in May 2004, Sept 2005 and then because I was pregnant and all that happened when Jacob was born, we made it back in Feb 2007 when Jacob was 6 months old. Then, we went in December 2007, and now Feb 2009. We are even talking about coming back again as soon as this fall because my brother & I won free passes to Universal Studios that have to be used by Dec 2009. Anyway, it’s so tough to leave and I wish we lived closer.
We ended up leaving around 12 Noon to head to Orlando/Kissimmee, which in hindsight was not the greatest idea. The first hour, Jacob was fine. He fell asleep around 1 p.m. - which was what we were hoping - he’d take a car nap the way he did on Friday. But, this time, he woke up after only 30 minutes in a complete melt down. Poor baby. He was just exhausted and wanted to sleep. We should have let him take an early nap at my grandparents before we left. Hindsight is 20/20. He was in melt down for the next 20 minutes and not even jelly bellies could console him. He finally got interested in the jelly beans, which kept him calm until we could get to Super Wal-mart and through the first part of our shopping trip. My brother’s wife, Katherine, was so helpful in helping us with Jacob in the store (and other times too!)
We left Walmart and got to our rental house (www.vrbo.com - #51407) around 3:15 - just 45 min early. We are staying in a house in Emerald Island resort. The resort is just awesome! The clubhouse has a pool/tiki bar, a concierge, and offers things like movies, karoake night, DJ night, etc. We got our parking pass and headed off to the house. The cleaners were still there and getting ready to mop. They let us through our groceries in the fridge, and we went off to the little park down the road. After about 20 minutes, the cleaners called and said the house was ready. We got back and unloaded everything. My brother made some “welcome cocktails” for us and we checked things out and relaxed a bit. Around 4:30 ish, I popped in our Digiorno. Then, we also had a Freschetta and CPK. Hey, we like leftovers ! Katherine and I made a big salad, and we had an easy dinner our first night.
After dinner, I gave Jacob a bath and we explained his Mee-ma would be taking him to bed. Jeff and I, John & Kat, had planned to go to Epcot and visit the World Showcase because I know Epcot won’t be all that interesting to Jacob, especially the countries. So, we headed off to Epcot and got there around 6:30 p.m. Soarin’ had a 65 min wait and no fast passes, so we headed to the World Showcase. We started off in Mexico with frozen margaritas. Yum. Mine went down way too good. Then, we rode Maelstrom and had a great time being silly. We headed on, and visited Germany for a Spaten and a pretzel. We went to Japan and shopped. John & Kat bought chopsticks and sake. I bought a very pretty Japanese tea mug. Then, we headed on and went to the pub in England and Katherine and I had cider. The boys had Bodington. They have a great singer in the pub called the Hat Lady. We caught the end of her act. We really enjoyed the start of our Disney Trip!
Tuesday - we take Jacob to Animal Kingdom!
On to Florida!
Saturday, Feb 21:
On Saturday, we got up and left for my grandparents house in New Port Richey around 7:30 a.m.. About an hour or so into the trip, we had to break out the DVD player and he watched some Wiggles, Blue’s Clue’s, Elmo, etc. I think he might not have known we had the DVD player on Friday, but when he saw it Friday night, he wanted it on Saturday morning. We stopped in Ocala for some donut holes at Dunkin Donuts around 10:00 a.m. That kept Jacob occupied for a little while. About 10 minutes before we were going to get to Sugar & Papa’s, Jacob was done with the DVD player, his books, toys, etc. I got out the jelly bellies again, and gave Jacob about one per minute and he did fine the rest of the way. That’s a trick I’ve got to remember! But overall, he was such an angel in the car, I still can’t believe it!
We got to Sugar & Papa’s around 11:40 a.m. and Jacob showed them how to bowl with his $5 bowling set. My brother John and his wife, Katherine were there. A little while later, my mom, Mee-ma, showed up and Jacob was literally jumping up and down when he saw her! Around 1 p.m., Jacob was getting tired, and Jeff set up the toddler Aerobed in the guest room. I put Jacob down for a nap and he did great - he went right to sleep. After his nap, Jeff and I took Jacob to Sim’s Park, which had a great play apparatus made of wood with all kinds of levels, four slide, etc. Jacob loved it. We played for about 45 minutes. After the park, we went back to Sugar & Papa’s for a little while. My mom’s sister, Alice came over too. We decided to go to dinner at a Chinese buffet and Jacob enjoyed the ice cream. After dinner, we went back to Alice’s and Jacob did some more bowling. When 7:30 or so rolled around, my mom put Jacob to bed and for the third time in two days, he went to sleep in a new place and did great.
Sunday, February 22:
He slept until 5:30 a.m. again Sunday morning. Jeff & I kept him contained in the bedroom until 7:30 and we had to turn him loose. My aunt made us oatmeal and muffins, and we also had fruit and coffee. It was nice. Jacob did some more bowling while Jeff & I got ready and about 10 a.m. we headed back over to Sugar & Papa’s.
More to come! Tomorrow we head to Orlando!
On Saturday, we got up and left for my grandparents house in New Port Richey around 7:30 a.m.. About an hour or so into the trip, we had to break out the DVD player and he watched some Wiggles, Blue’s Clue’s, Elmo, etc. I think he might not have known we had the DVD player on Friday, but when he saw it Friday night, he wanted it on Saturday morning. We stopped in Ocala for some donut holes at Dunkin Donuts around 10:00 a.m. That kept Jacob occupied for a little while. About 10 minutes before we were going to get to Sugar & Papa’s, Jacob was done with the DVD player, his books, toys, etc. I got out the jelly bellies again, and gave Jacob about one per minute and he did fine the rest of the way. That’s a trick I’ve got to remember! But overall, he was such an angel in the car, I still can’t believe it!
We got to Sugar & Papa’s around 11:40 a.m. and Jacob showed them how to bowl with his $5 bowling set. My brother John and his wife, Katherine were there. A little while later, my mom, Mee-ma, showed up and Jacob was literally jumping up and down when he saw her! Around 1 p.m., Jacob was getting tired, and Jeff set up the toddler Aerobed in the guest room. I put Jacob down for a nap and he did great - he went right to sleep. After his nap, Jeff and I took Jacob to Sim’s Park, which had a great play apparatus made of wood with all kinds of levels, four slide, etc. Jacob loved it. We played for about 45 minutes. After the park, we went back to Sugar & Papa’s for a little while. My mom’s sister, Alice came over too. We decided to go to dinner at a Chinese buffet and Jacob enjoyed the ice cream. After dinner, we went back to Alice’s and Jacob did some more bowling. When 7:30 or so rolled around, my mom put Jacob to bed and for the third time in two days, he went to sleep in a new place and did great.
Sunday, February 22:
He slept until 5:30 a.m. again Sunday morning. Jeff & I kept him contained in the bedroom until 7:30 and we had to turn him loose. My aunt made us oatmeal and muffins, and we also had fruit and coffee. It was nice. Jacob did some more bowling while Jeff & I got ready and about 10 a.m. we headed back over to Sugar & Papa’s.
More to come! Tomorrow we head to Orlando!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Our First Long Car Trip!
We are live from Kingsland, Georgia! Our stopover on our way to Florida. We left Friday morning about 7:00 a.m.
Jacob was so excited to leave that he did not want to go to school on Thurdsay, and then even when he got home on Thursday night, he was ready to leave right then. So, we finally left Friday morning. We stopped around 9:30 in Florence, SC for a quick breakfast and got back on the road about 10 a.m. We drove on to Georgia and stopped in Pooler, near Savannah. Jacob played in the Chick-fil-a play area and we had lunch. We hit the road again around 1 p.m. and Jacob fell asleep. He slept until we were about 10 minutes outside of Kingsland, our stop. He woke up not so happy, but I was able to feed him jelly bellies until we made it here and he was happy.
Nearly 7.5 hrs on the road yesterday, and he was SOOOOOOO wonderful. Jeff and I took turns with him in the back seat and had a variety of book, games, toys, both old & new. We did not even have to break out the DVD player for this leg of the trip!
After we arrived at the Fairfield here in Kingsland, we checked in and then I took Jacob swimming in the indoor swimming pool. He loved it and he keeps saying how much he loves the pool. After swimming, we drove down to St. Mary's, which has a historic waterfront district with little shops and a great park that is waterfront. They even have a kids' play area with a climbing structure with slides, etc. Jacob enjoyed the slide. After we had been there about 10 minutes, another little boy close in age to Jacob arrived. He walked right over to Jacob and Jacob said, "Hi." The little boy started kicking sand on Jacob and then even picked up a handfull of sand and threw it at Jacob! I was shocked!! I looked for a parent and she was paying no attention. I said, "Hey, someone's kid is throwing sand." She finally came over and told him to stop. It was crazy.
A few minutes later, we left the park and went to dinner at Ruby Tuesday for dinner. We got back to the hotel about 6 p.m. and let Jacob watch the Cars movie, which apparently he has seen so he talked the whole movie. It went off at 8 p.m. or so, and we read books and brushed his teeth. Then, he went to sleep just perfectly in his new Toddler Aerobed. Jeff and I watched a movie on the Ipod Touch in the bathroom for about 30 minutes and then we jumped in bed and watched the rest there. Jacob slept on his new bed until 5:30 this morning, which is about what time he gets up anyway.
Overall, so far, it's been a great trip. We'll be leaving soon for New Port Richey, where my grandparents, as well as my aunt live. Two days/nights there, and on Monday, we head to Orlando. More to come!
Jacob was so excited to leave that he did not want to go to school on Thurdsay, and then even when he got home on Thursday night, he was ready to leave right then. So, we finally left Friday morning. We stopped around 9:30 in Florence, SC for a quick breakfast and got back on the road about 10 a.m. We drove on to Georgia and stopped in Pooler, near Savannah. Jacob played in the Chick-fil-a play area and we had lunch. We hit the road again around 1 p.m. and Jacob fell asleep. He slept until we were about 10 minutes outside of Kingsland, our stop. He woke up not so happy, but I was able to feed him jelly bellies until we made it here and he was happy.
Nearly 7.5 hrs on the road yesterday, and he was SOOOOOOO wonderful. Jeff and I took turns with him in the back seat and had a variety of book, games, toys, both old & new. We did not even have to break out the DVD player for this leg of the trip!
After we arrived at the Fairfield here in Kingsland, we checked in and then I took Jacob swimming in the indoor swimming pool. He loved it and he keeps saying how much he loves the pool. After swimming, we drove down to St. Mary's, which has a historic waterfront district with little shops and a great park that is waterfront. They even have a kids' play area with a climbing structure with slides, etc. Jacob enjoyed the slide. After we had been there about 10 minutes, another little boy close in age to Jacob arrived. He walked right over to Jacob and Jacob said, "Hi." The little boy started kicking sand on Jacob and then even picked up a handfull of sand and threw it at Jacob! I was shocked!! I looked for a parent and she was paying no attention. I said, "Hey, someone's kid is throwing sand." She finally came over and told him to stop. It was crazy.
A few minutes later, we left the park and went to dinner at Ruby Tuesday for dinner. We got back to the hotel about 6 p.m. and let Jacob watch the Cars movie, which apparently he has seen so he talked the whole movie. It went off at 8 p.m. or so, and we read books and brushed his teeth. Then, he went to sleep just perfectly in his new Toddler Aerobed. Jeff and I watched a movie on the Ipod Touch in the bathroom for about 30 minutes and then we jumped in bed and watched the rest there. Jacob slept on his new bed until 5:30 this morning, which is about what time he gets up anyway.
Overall, so far, it's been a great trip. We'll be leaving soon for New Port Richey, where my grandparents, as well as my aunt live. Two days/nights there, and on Monday, we head to Orlando. More to come!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
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