First Trip of the Year

The family spent a few days up north in Akron and Cleveland, Ohio this past week. It was wonderful. First, we spent Sunday afternoon and over night with our friends, Jeff, Carrie & Jackson Neitzke. They were absolutely wonderful, fun, and as, always, the most tolerant and lovely hosts (Thanks for sharing all of your neat toys, Jackson!). Thanks guys, we had a blast and loved seeing you all!

Monday morning, we started out in search of a Denny's since we don't have any in Columbus (how crazy is that?), but ended up at local little diner instead. Best part? Machines which were only 25 cents filled with real toys and candy, like the good old days. They each got a handful of candy and a small trinket, which is a great way to start the day if you are three and four and on vacation!

Then, we spent the next several hours at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. It was small, but perfect for the kids at this age. They were scared by the Mythical Creatures Exhibit (Griffins, Unicorns, etc.), loved the real dinosaur fossils, and raced through the 2 acres of outdoor live animals (hawks, otters, and assorted other birds). Here they are hugging the Stegosaurus "hello."And here, Jack is fascinated by the fossil skeleton of the T-Rex (his personal favorite). As nap time approached and meltdowns were imminent, we left the Museum and had lunch on the road toward our hotel back in the direction of home. After lunch and falling asleep in the car, the kids rallied in time to check into the hotel and get a look at the reason you stay in a hotel with pre-schoolers: the POOL! Geoff did a great job with that and the enormous pool was perfect for this family.

Happy happy kiddo after a nap in the room and on our way to the pool!

One more happy one of Nora Kate!

So, on the way home, we stopped at my favorite local cheese place, Grandpa's Cheese Barn. Those of you who know me, know that I force this stop whenever I pass through Ashland, Ohio. I take visitors from out-of-state there. I, of course, take my family there. We spent at least an hour there on both Sunday and then again on Tuesday, thanks to a Christmas gift certificate from Pam & Scott. We should have brought you something, but shamelessly spent $50 on chocolate dinosaurs, salad dressing, and 1/2 pound of Canadian Cheddar and 1/2 pound of Smoked Gouda; plus some more treats including black raspberry spread and chocolate and graham sticks for the dipping instead. Thanks for the gift certificate! And, sorry we suck.

We had so much fun together and cannot wait for the next family vacation. June will take all of us to Chicago for a few days, and who knows after that! Oregon family, we have been looking for cheap flights, but alas, I do not think such a thing exists anymore. We will get there for sure, just not sure when.

When I was Three & For the Love of Science

Nora Kate has taken to reminiscing about "When I was three, I..." (fill in the blank). It is quite hilarious, that at the ripe old age of 4, she considers being three her personal life history, filled with many lessons worthy of being passed down to her brother. I am very proud of her, she is growing up so fast and maybe she senses it too. She is doing "chores" she will proudly tell anyone: feeding and making sure her two baby kittens have water and a clean litter box. Today, she dressed herself from top to bottom proudly and completely independently. Love it-sad by it-love it (I waffle at these moments, but tend to outwardly only show the love it part of me). On Wednesday, Geoff and I attended the Columbus Public Schools' School Choice Fair, to select a kindergarten for our girl. I can hardly believe she will be old enough. We have to choose three schools to try and lottery into. Applications are due in 27 days.

I've been posting a lot on Facebook, and have decided that although I like connecting with old high school friends and lots of my cousins, I miss the posting and writing that this blog provides. Above is a picture from a great morning play date with our friend Evey. Jack is a pirate bumblebee, of course. Speaking of Jack, he just had his 3 year check-up (7 weeks late).

Jack, at age three and 1 1/2 months is 40.5 inches tall and 43 pounds--both in the 97th percentile. This is significant because Jack has always been a much lower percentile in height than weight. Now, he is at the top in both. That was yesterday. Today, for the love of science, Jack and Mommy participated in a 2 hour experience at the Ohio State University Lab for Family & Child Counseling that had he and I doing all kinds of fun things. We played with an Etch-a-Sketch where he could move one knob and I could only move the other and we had to try and complete a maze together. He had to sort things by color and shape, point to answers from 4 pictures, unlock a box with a toy inside, and put toys away on cue. He also endured the "treat" waiting game and the scary mask experiment. Jack waited a FULL eight minutes (the extent of the experiment), like he was told, to get a treat which was right in front of him. He did not lick it, taste it, or even touch it; even when he was left alone. The three 18 year old experimenters could not believe that he had so much patience. I simply said, "Second child. He is used to waiting for things." For my part, I was given a vocabulary quiz and was feeling pretty good until the last 10 words or so. I actually asked if the last word was English because I had never heard it. I am sooooooo curious how I did. Jack got every answer right in his tests, until he tired of the "games" and started his own by giving obviously wrong answers. When he pointed to a circle when asked to identify a diamond, I whispered in his ear, "Jackson Caulfield, are you playing a game with her?" He smiled at me and nodded his head ever so slightly, like we were in cahoots against them. It made me laugh and I hope the video tape caught the exchange. He is a brilliant kid who I had so much fun with--although I wanted to help him through the tasks. He didn't need me, except for comfort and security. It was a good day to be this kiddos' mom, which is nice given that upon coming home, my primary task was to wash poop out of underwear. Ah, motherhood.

Speaking of motherhood, my Eleanor has been quite the lovely child lately, after a long few months of throwing fits and yelling like a banshee for not getting her way. Honestly, the "terrible twos" is a misnomer or a left over from when people only lived until age 40. Three to Four and a half is B-A-D. Being told to "stop bossing me around" by a pre-schooler and the sassiest "NO!" you can ever imagine are hopefully memories now that my girl is on her way to five. Here, Reggie snuggles in for night night.

I don't remember when I was three, but Nora asked me the other day if I liked being an adult. I answered "Yes, I do" and then she grabbed my hand and said, "I'm glad you're a Mom best of all." Awwww, me too kiddo.