The Good the Bad and the Wonderful

This is my first attempt at blogging about our family vacation on the Disney Wonder that took place last week.  It will probably seem whiny at times.  Sorry, but that's my reality of being a mom of 5 kids. 
I really want to express how Wonder-ful it was.  That will be a photo essay on another day.  A picture is worth a thousand words, right?  So on with the long winded account. 
Day 1 started with a Christmas concert at school.  James signed up for the chorus and the timing worked out for him to sing before starting our adventures.  It was beautiful.  The Carol of the Bells was harmonious and brought tears to my eyes.  There were a few others, including one called "Winter in America" inspired by a James Brown song and at the end a little boy wearing a huge afro came out and danced around.  Pretty funny.  The song talked about being cold up north and warm down south and so I took it as a song about our upcoming trip. 
We left school after that.  Amelia had a TON of make up work to get started on and I figured James could help the rest of us finish trip preparations.  Amelia's teacher refused to give out the make up work in advance, so on the last day before the trip, Amelia brought home a stack of work tall enough to make anyone headed on a cruise weep.  It was labeled "due the first day you return."  When we got home, she and Jonny got to work (he had a few kindergarten sheets to do to stay caught up.)  James figured school was out and wanted to play video games instead of help clean.  Go figure.  I hate coming home to a dirty house after a trip.  But just as I got into cleaning it started to snow and Gary and I figured it would be better to leave so we could avoid potential traffic problems associated with snow in a place where no one knows how to drive in the snow.
So we drove to the auto train watched our van get loaded on and our adventure began.  There was a tiny playground outside the station and some of the kids went out to play.  I stayed in with Rachel- we both had colds.  Gary had a cold too but kindly agreed to take the others outside.  The train seats were comfortable and we settled in to the top level of the train for the 17 hour ride.  The kids enjoyed reading the books they brought, we got fruit and snack mix from the lounge car (the snack mix will abate hunger, but it's not good enough to really chow down on, so it's great for calorie counters:)  Dinner served was much better than anticipated- the only "hiccup" was that there were 2 pitchers of drinks on each table.  I poured out water for the kids.  I checked out the other pitcher as the kids wanted whatever it was.  It was almost clear and I couldn't place the smell.  So I poured myself a fraction of an inch to see if I recognized the taste.  Hmm- juice with a "bandaids" aftertaste.  Yes- go sniff some bandaids.  That was the aftertaste.  Gary asked someone what it was (we were at separate tables to fit everyone in) the answer: wine.  So now I've decided not to be a wine- aholic.
Then we returned to our seats where the kids were eager to don their Mickey pajamas and "go to sleep."  They ended up watching Prince Caspian (which we brought along) until they were sleepy.  Simon stumbled around between seats for a while.  He was disoriented and tired.  I was concerned he would fall down the stairs on the train until we got  him situated.  We bought Rachel a new stroller for the trip- we have a double stroller before and a broken down umbrella stroller so I figured it was time.   It's a Chicco Liteway and the main reason I chose it was for the deep recline so that she could sleep comfortably in it.  Luckily on the train there was an empty row near us and we could set up the stroller there AND fully recline the seats in front.  Sleep that night was very restless.  Gary and I had colds keeping us up.  James has a funny way of describing that night: I just kept wondering if this was as comfortable as I could be and so I'd try something else.  I can fully attest that he tried "awesome mode" several times that night.  (That is the name the kids gave the seats when they extended the leg rests to be perpendicular the the chair.  That is not nice for sleeping, but if you throw a quilt in there, it makes a cozy playing nest for a baby.)  Rachel got up several times to eat that night.  At 3 she decided it was daytime and was ready to play.  I took her to the lounge car, (which was  very clean and comfortable) to play until quarter to 6 when she decided it was time to sleep after all.    So back to bed.  I carefully observed the sleepers we passed on our way to our seats and decided the ones who looked the most peaceful were using the foot rest, the leg rest and the seat recline on their backs, instead of those who were trying to get comfortable in side, fetal, or other "awesome" positions.  I slept for an hour or two and then it was time for breakfast, packing up and getting off the train.  
Day 2 We got our van pretty quickly.  We had plenty of time to spare.  We had padded our trip by a day, not wanting train delays to  cause stress with our cruise departure.  It was cold and damp in Florida, so we decided against the beach (our original plan) and headed to the Kennedy Space Center.  We got there, looked at the prices and left.  It would have cost our family over $200 to go in and we really didn't want a stressful museum day before the cruise.  We wanted to relax.  We ate some lunch at McDonalds, a major treat for the kids.  James somehow talked us into buying him a 1/3 lb hamburger and proudly devoured the entire thing.  It warmed up and we decided to go to the beach after all.  We had been to Florida a few years ago and headed to Cherie Down, the beach  that our family had enjoyed so much previously.   Gary waded out with the kids and I played with Rachel on the towels.  She delicately tried to eat each sea shell she grabbed.  She likes the taste of sand and salt apparently.  Then I went out with the kids.  I am a real sissy when it comes to taking my kids in the ocean.  I fear losing them at sea.  I can imagine the terror of trying to find them in that vast expanse and so I don't let them go in very far.   James loves the water and humored my requests to stay close to shore although he encouraged Amelia and Jonny to go out as deep as he was and since he's so much taller than Jonny, that was a bit of a problem.  I don't really like to swim in the ocean, but I like to play tag with the waves, racing them as they go in and out, trying not to get wet.  Simon really liked that game too.  He doesn't like water much. 
After bathing and scrubbing the sand off the kids, we went out to dinner in Cocoa Beach, right on the pier.  It was scenic and restful.  James had a hamburger as big as his face.  Then we went back to the hotel for much needed sleep.  Gary kindly offered to take Rachel in his room (the hotel did NOT have interconnecting rooms as promised when we reserved.) so I could sleep.  This would be a first for both me and her.  I took some Niquil and went to bed, sharing with James and Simon.  I slept really good, until I heard the throwing up.  Remember all that beef James ate?  Yeah- there it was, all over the walls and tub and toilet lid.  (here's a tip, go to bed with the toilet seat up so midnight chuckers don't hit the lid instead of the bowl.)  Simon was up once too, just disoriented. 
We got all dressed up for church the next day, attending Cocoa Beach ward.  They gave some delightful reviews of General Conference talks and tried desperately to get us to mingle after Sacrament meeting.  We headed for the cruise terminal instead.  It was warm and sunny and I was glad because I had forgotten my jacket.   As our shuttle dropped us off at the cruise terminal, we spotted our extended family arriving at the exact same time! Hugs and kisses were exchanged and we got in line.  We enjoyed catching up while we waited.  We showed passports and filled out papers several times.  I was nervous during this time because Gary, Rachel, and I had colds and we had heard that you would not be allowed to board if you were sick.   Gary and I parted ways briefly (bathroom) and I ended up in line with the kids and all the papers and passports.  The line moved a lot faster than I thought and I found myself checking in without Gary which stressed me out, but it turned out to be fine.   We went to sign up the kids for ship activities, which took way longer than it needed too. Because our family had to be split up- we were too large for one cabin  we had to be rejoined in their system at that time.   We received one pager and 3 wrist bands for the kids attending clubs.  Simon was sad not to get a wrist band, but he wasn't fully potty trained and so we thought he was not eligible for ship youth activities (this turned out to be false, but we did not learn that until the next day.)  Then we were off!   We got our pictures taken and boarded the Disney Wonder.   It truly has a grand entrance, with an Ariel statue on one side and glass elevators on the other.  We headed up to deck 9 for lunch, as it was a bit late and we were all hungry.   Nana and Pop, Dave, Chris and Tirah were there too.  Deck 9 was open to the weather, which had turned windy and cold.   The kids jackets were in the luggage, so Uncle Chris and Aunt Tirah lent theirs to help them stay warm.   It was really hard to maneuver the buffet with 4 mobile kids and one in the stroller.  Gary helped 2 kids and I helped two, we didn't really trust them to get appropriate amounts or cleanly help themselves.  SO we ended up with 5 kids and 6 trays of food and a stroller and no where to sit.  Since it was nasty outside, all of the inside tables were taken.  Gary set off to figure something out.  So I waited patiently at the end of the line wondering why I thought this would be fun- really I did NOT want to repeat this scenario 3 times a day for the next 4 days.  A Disney worker offered to assist me- bless their hearts, they are so helpful. We set off in the same direction Gary left and quickly met up.  Gary lead us to the rest of the fam enjoying a chilly lunch on deck.
After that, we went to our cabins where the luggage was being delivered.  Somehow, all 8 pieces of luggage ended up in my cabin, which also had a pack and play for Rachel to sleep in.  So Gary and I sorted out the luggage and sleeping arrangements and located jackets for everyone (but me I forgot mine- I had a green sweatshirt I ended up wearing most of the time- Rachel blew her nose all over my other long sleeved shirt) and then it was time for the life jacket drill.  I just about died when I saw the life jacket sent to our room for Rachel.  It had a little hood and long sleeves (thermal) and of course the huge orange puffy parts.  It was the cutest thing I ever saw.   I got the kids in my room ready for the drill and Gary was working on the kids in his room when Simon pooped in his pants and threw everything off.   Gary stayed to clean him up and I took the rest to the evacuation area.  I wish I had a picture of that.  I think I made a few jokes with Uncle Dave, but don't really remember.  That may be the only time I talked to him on the trip.  Gary and Simon joined us and our family reorganized our line to fit them in, tallest to shortest.   Simon didn't want to be in the front but I told him he was the engine and he was okay with that.  I thought we would get to get on the life boats, but we did not.  That was disappointing, but the cuteness of Rachel in her life jacket made up for it.  Then we returned our life jackets to our room and it was time for the departure party on the top deck.  Gary and I thought we were going as a group with the others, but we ended up separated and couldn't find Amelia or James and spent the time looking for them.  When we found everyone, Amelia was crying because she wanted to go to the dance floor and it was too crowded and the party was over.  Gary and I were frustrated with not knowing where the kids were.   I think Gary's mom asked how I felt and I said truthfully said "frazzled."   Then it was time for dinner.  I think this was one turning point.  The waiters were amazing.  They suggested having a kid party table and a table for the adults.  They helped the kids pick out food (and cut it), did magic tricks, origami and more.  We ate in this restaurant called the Artist's Palate and for some reason, the kids were obsessed with the walls.   They said someone lied about the walls, they were supposed to change color.  I had no idea what they were talking about and did my best to relax.   The food was delicious, Rachel napped, and the walls did not change.  So I was happy but the kids were a little disgruntled.   We gave them the option of Oceaneer's Club/Lab (youth activities) or a stage show called "the Golden Mickeys" where they tributed the princesses, heroes and villains of Disney animation.  The kids chose clubs over plays, so we dropped them off and took Simon and Rachel to the show.   Chris and Tirah saved us seats, bless their hearts.  The show was amazing.  I loved the Tarzan part,  he did tricks while swinging from vines.  Simon fell asleep during the show (this became a tradition.)  Then we gathered the kids and went to bed.   This went well until James threw up and I realized (again) the importance of going to sleep with the toilet lid up.  We had a talk about eating reasonable amounts of food and went back to bed.  Rachel slept reasonable well (she's usually up  twice a night) and Simon slept through.
Day 3
We were able to sleep in some because we were scheduled to go on a glass bottom boat tour in Nassau at 11.  I was sharing a room with Simon, James, and Rachel and they enjoyed watching Playhouse Disney while we got ready for the day.  This was a treat since we don't have TV service at home.  We ate breakfast in Parrot Cay buffet.  This time James and Amelia helped themselves.  This was readily apparent when we reached the table and noticed Amelia had helped herself to an obscene amount of sausage and bacon.   I dumped out at least half and gave her plate back.  I loaded up on fruits and veggies (James teased me about veggies for breakfast.  I like them.  I like donuts too.) I was looking forward to the cruise because of the wide variety of fruits and vegetables available.  I was not disappointed. While we ate, the captain announced that due to high wind conditions our port adventure (glass bottom boat) would be canceled.  This was a big bummer and Amelia shed a few tears.  Our spirits were raised though because Chris and Tirah's dolphin encounter was still on.   After eating, we went back to our room where the kids rollicked and Gary and I revised plans.  James wanted to attend a paper plane making event and a flubber making activity.  Score one.  Toy Story 3 was playing and none of the rest of us had seen it.  Score Two.  Amelia wanted a cookie making class after that. Score 3.  Jonny wanted to be in a Mario Cart Tournament.  Woo Hoo!
Armed with a plan, we set out to take the big kids where they wanted to go and then leave the boat.  After all, we were in Nassau and how often do you get to set foot on ground in the Bahamas?!    Gary, Simon, Rachel and I walked down the gangplank (I think it's called that anyway) and into the wind.  The captain had warned of flying debris on land, but I had forgotten that part.  So I was surprised when Rachel's quilt blew away.  As I chased it down, the stroller (which I had been pushing) started to roll away with Simon in it!  Gary rescued Simon and we went on our way into the sunshine and wind.  I could not believe how blue the water was there.  I said over and over how I loved the blue water and Gary probably got tired of my amazement.  I think I could have sat and watched the water and waves all day, had it not been for the wind.  We were in search of a Christmas ornament, as it is a tradition to buy one in each of our vacation spots.  So we went through their customs area and into Nassau.  We didn't venture far, just enough to hit the tourist trap stores.  The only ornaments I saw were ones I could make myself so we moved on.  We ran into Pop and Nana and peeked into a few stores together.  They were in search of a snow globe for my niece Cameron.  We went into a linen store that sold all kinds of "pretty things" where Simon used the potty and we got a ship wheel ornament to our liking.  After that we headed back to the ship.  We stopped at one point where the sea looked especially beautiful and I asked Gary to stand so I could take a picture of him with the kids.  Right as they got settled, a huge wave rolled up over the ocean wall and soaked his shoes.  Sorry!  The picture was nice though.  I think someone stopped and took our picture together too.
When we arrived back on the ship, we checked on James (playing a basketball video game as the Jazz.  Some previous resident of the club had entered cheat codes to give the Jazz some extra special moves, so everyone there thought James was awesome.)  He did not want to see Toy Story  3 as it conflicted with his Flubber activity.  Amelia was playing this jewel game and was eager to see a movie.  Jonny was easy to find too and so was Cousin Cameron.  She was relieved that someone had come to get her.  Knowing the chaos that comes when your kids aren't where you left them, I reassured her that Nana and Pop were on their way but did not take her with us.  The movie theater on the ship is really nice and we settled in for an enjoyable show.  The kids made it through to the last 45 seconds, when Simon had to use the potty.  He and Gary took off quickly.  They didn't really miss the tear jerker ending, but probably didn't see enough of it to really break down and cry like me.  Amelia hurried off to make the cookies (the chef promised delicious broccoli cookies, but they turned out to be chocolate chip.)  Jonny and Simon came back to play with cousins in Nana and Pop's stateroom. 
We again retrieved the kids and ran them all through the showers in preparation for that night's formal dinner.  This went well in my room.  I was prepping myself and the girls.  They were easy as they are naturally cute and naturally want to dress up.  I was feeling some angst since I found out about the formal dinner.  I didn't have a formal or anything that would pass.  I had never been to a formal affair of any kind.  I am naturally quite plain and wanted to look my best, so the week before the cruise I hit the local second had stores and found a dress I liked for myself (plus a few pairs of pants for the boys so we could make it through the trip without doing laundry.)  So the girls and I got ready in relative ease.  Simon on the other hand was in Gary's room and DID NOT want to get ready.  This caused some angst that could be heard throughout deck 6.  Sorry everyone.  We eventually made it to dinner.  Rachel was awake this time.  That made it a little more difficult.  Simon was restless and that made it a challenge.  Amelia had to go to the bathroom lots of times and so it was a hard meal.  I was very grateful when the waiter offered to cut my meat because my hands were full of kids.  Finally, I had enough.  Nana offered to push Rachel in the stroller to help her settle down which I am so grateful for.  I asked Gary to bring back any dessert that had ice cream, took Simon and left.  We went to our cabin, changed clothes, read scripture stories and tried to unwind.  He calmed down, I calmed down and we made a plan.  The next night, when he felt restless, he was to come and tell me he needed to run and I would take him to the hallway where he could run and be silly for a few minutes before returning to the meal.  Then he freaked out.  I don't really know why.  At that moment, Gary came to the room with real ice cream in a tall glass.  He took the screaming Simon outside for a minute, where he immediately calmed down.  Then some of us headed to Toy Story the musical.  It was fabulous.  My favorite part was when they depicted the claw machine and all the aliens.  I was surprised that a huge claw came down and actually lifted the actors from the stage.  Simon tried so hard to stay awake, but was asleep before the end.  This was wonderful because it meant he wouldn't be bumping around the cabin in a sleepy stupor at the end of the day.  He could be comfortable and peaceful.  While we watched the show, Amelia attended a dress up session with Ariel (Ariel came and brought a trunk of costumes for the girls) followed by a Royal Ball with her cousins.  James set the ship record for Wii baseball, and Jonny played Mario cart.
Gary took the sleeping kids back to the room and I collected the kids from with events and went to have a word with the Flounder's Reef Nursery (ship babysitting.)  Because of weather the trip itinerary had been rescheduled we were to spend the next day at sea, instead of at Castaway Cay and I needed to make sure that the babysitting would still line up with me and Gary's walking and kayak adventure.  As I talked to the staff, they asked why Simon was going to the nursery instead of the Oceaneer's Club.  I explained that he wasn't done potty training and they said that kids don't have to be potty trained to join the clubs. This was news to me.  Every source I had checked said that kids had to be potty trained to go to the clubs.  I had spent the better part of 2010 trying to potty train him for this trip and had failed.   I felt terrible about this and was really sad about this right up until we got on the ship and there was really nothing more I could do.  So anyway I was floored when they said that the kids didn't have to be potty trained to go to the clubs.  I asked again.  "5 and 7 year olds have accidents in there all the time" I was told.  "Just make sure he's in good diapers and check on him every so often."  I hurried over to the kid's clubs and talked to the staff there.  No potty training- no problem!  I felt elated.  Finally Simon could join the others for some ship board kid oriented fun.  When I was talking to the staff I found out about another activity I had never heard of - Out and About.  It's geared for tweens.  And I guess James qualifies.  It's for kids who have permission from their parents to check themselves in and out of the youth activities and participate in events all over the ship such as scavenger hunts, dodgeball and glow in the dark games.
Armed with new knowledge, Gary and I tucked the kids in bed and pulled out the Personal Navigators to plan the next day's activities.  As an aside, Gary and I firmly believe in planning out vacation time. Our kids want to know what's next and if we can't tell them (because we don't know) a lot of valuable time gets wasted.  Kids lose focus while you try to make decisions.  They get upset if they don't get their way. They get rowdy and tease.  Then precious vacation time gets spent disciplining instead of having fun (and this vacation was costing $32 an hour.)  So we plan.  That way the kids know what's coming and what choices they do and don't have. 
Day 4
Day four started early.  With what else? A round of vomit.  Thankfully I had learned my lesson and left the toilet open when I went to bed and it was a cleaner occasion.  Then then I was feeding Rachel around 3am, Simon woke up, said "I did my time yesterday" and started to walk out the door.  It's a good thing I was already awake and tending the baby because I was clear headed and could grab him and put him back to bed.  Rachel was up around 5.  I put her in the stroller and pushed her up and down in the hall, so as not to wake the boys.  Later, Nana saw us in the hall and offered to take Rachel so I could get a break.  What a sweetheart. I went back to my room, rested and got ready for the day.  (OR maybe this happened the day before.  I am a little foggy on the early morning parts of the trip.  I know Rachel slept in til 7 one day and I forget if it was day 3 or 4.) Anyway, we got ready for the day and headed to the Parrot Cay buffet.  They have plenty of seating and good food.  As we were arriving, we ran in to Chris and Tirah.  They helped the kids get some food and sit down.  So nice!  We ate and revealed to Simon that he would be going to events with the big kids!  He was very smily after that.  James ran up to Aloft (the teen only club) that was open to tweens for an hour each day.  I have no idea what's up there, but rest assured it's cool because it's for teen's only.  Then he was off to "Goofy World Records." He got first place in the hula hoop contest (He must get that skill from my mom, who was the neighborhood hula hooping champ in her day- heredity.  He does a lot of hula hooping in PE at school.) 
We got Simon registered for youth activities and settled him in.  Gary walked him to the bathrooms and helped him wash his hands.  When we arrived, Snow White was dancing with the kids.  Jonny played a game called Memory Wall, Simon played on the slide.  Amelia did girly stuff.  Gary and I set off for a Disney Theme Parks trivia game.  We lost big time, but that's okay.  Then we collected everyone for lunch and vegetable racing (one of the predetermined activities we would do as a family, the others being towel origami and family vote of swimming or soccer.)  The vegetable racing activity was full, so we headed for deck 9, where we played ping pong and foosball until it was time for a family picture under the ship's Christmas tree.  Actually, about half way through the ping pong and foosball, Amelia and I decided it was time to dance.  So we got on Goofy's Pool Side stage and danced our hearts out.  It was just her and me and we had a lot of fun.  She told me later that was her favorite memory. 
We met up with the rest of the family in the lobby where a huge character dance party was just cleaning up and arranged a photo.  There was a bit of discussion on how to best accomplish a group shot of the 17 of us but it came together very nicely.  Unfortunately we forgot our camera and will have to rely on others to share.  I was floored when we got a Christmas card with this snap shot on it.  I couldn't believe that Nana and Pop had time to get the pictures printed and mailed and received within days of the trip.  From here, we went to get dressed for swimming (kid's choice.)  There was no protest among the ranks, so it was a quick process.  Because of timing, we headed not for the pool, but for a session in towel origami, where we could learn to fold towels into animal shapes.  (if you want the instructions, I can scan them and put them up.  Let me know in the comments) It was way fun.  They invited the kids to the front so they could have enough room and see what was going on.  Gary and I stayed in the back with the younger kids.  After the first animal. a floppy dog, Amelia came back frustrated.  She and I worked together on the swan and the monkey and the elephant.  She was all smiles because she was able to do it with minimal coaching from me and Gary.  Gary and Simon were a team and they appeared to have a great time.  Gary, who is self reportedly not artistic made perfect animals and this resulted in big smiles all around.
We ended up a few minutes late for our swimming date.  That turned out to be okay because Chris, Tirah and Cameron were late too.  We stripped down to suits, inflated arm floats (a must for my non swimmers) and got in the water.  Jonny was eager for the water slide.  Rachel and I helped him up the to slide while Gary played in the water with James, Amelia, and Simon.   When I came to the bottom of the slide,  I saw everyone chest deep or neck deep in the water. I greeted Jonny at the bottom of the slide, but I wouldn't let him jump in the deep water solo.  I walked him around to where Gary was  and had him get in there, for safety.  Imagine my surprise when the water in Mickey's Pool turned out to be 2 feet deep!  Everyone was ducking to keep out of the wind and that made the pool appear much deeper than it was.  I sat and talked to Chris and Tirah for a few minutes.  Tirah and I briefly discussed going down the slide - we were both under the height limit of 64 inches.  There aren't that many benefits of being short, but this was one of them! The water was warmer than the outside air so it actually felt good duck in the water.  Gary, Rachel and I were still fighting colds, so we didn't stay as long as others.  We went back to change.  James was eager for Dodgeball on the Wide World of Sports Deck (funny aside, the wind was so bad that when he threw the ball it came right back and hit him in the face.  Head shots did not count.) Amelia, Jonny and Simon wanted to go back to the clubs.  So Gary and I took them there and did some Christmas shopping.  We had done the extended family shopping before the trip but had not done anything for the kids at that point.  After the gifts were stowed, we picked up the kids for dinner (Amelia had been doing dress up with Ariel and Simon had been doing an animal game, pretending to be an elephant.)  It was in Titan's and the theme was Pirates in the Caribbean.  There were pirate bandannas for everyone at the table and the waiters tied them on you whether or not you asked.  I wish I had a picture of Jonny in his.  Imade, one of our waiters tied them after the manner of his native culture (Bali.)  The children had theirs tied in a knot that stuck straight up and the adults had a ruffle in the front. Angie had the best birthday hat on that I ever saw.  Tirah picked it up for her, I think.  I forgot to give Angie her birthday card (sorry!) At the end of the meal, Geffery (the waiter) brought Angie a birthday cake and we all sang happy birthday.  Then he said "Are you done with it? I need it for the next table."  We all laughed pretty hard at that and then ate the cake.  After that, we went to see the newest Disney movie, Tangled in 3D.  It was a great show and the kids loved it.  Rachel fussed a bit in the middle so I held her at the back of the theater until she fell asleep.  Simon and Cameron shared a seat and he fell asleep leaning on her.  How sweet!
Then it was time for the Pirates in the Caribbean dance party/fireworks show.  Angie and Todd bought big fake teeth for all the kids.  Chris and Tirah bought them spy glasses.  I felt a little bad because I hadn't brought anything to share, but live and learn right?  James didn't feel like dancing, so we let him go to glow jams- activities where the kids all wore glow sticks and played games on the Wide World of Sports deck (which is open air so it was pitch black.)  I danced with the family and extended family for a while before gathering James from his activity.  Then we danced some more.  I loved it, Amelia loved it.  The boys not so much.  Then Mickey Mouse came down on a zip line and started a fire works show.  Amelia thought this was scary.  (A guy in a big heavy Mickey costume dangling over a crowd- what if he fell down on us?!)  The fireworks were beautiful.  The youngest kids fell asleep and we all went back to sleep.  Gary and I spent a few minutes planning out our morning departure- it would be complicated because of our 9 am Walking and Kayak date.  Then we went to sleep.  I believe Rachel was my only wake up that night.  Whew!
Day 5
This day started out with Rachel and me in the halls at 5:30.  We walked around each deck of the ship from 1-9.  I couldn't get her back to sleep, so eventually I went into Gary's room to get something and as soon as I woke him up, she fell asleep.  Go figure.  I went back to bed for 45 minutes and then the boys and I woke up to room service breakfast.  This was Simon's favorite.  Room service is free on Disney Cruise (except gratuity) so it was a great way to get us going early.  After we were dressed and ready, I headed off with Rachel to the babysitting and Gary left with the big kids to Scuttle's Cove- youth activities on Castaway Cay (Disney's private island.)  Gary and the kids showed up breathless at the Flounder's Reef Nursery and I discovered I had half of the room keys he needed to leave the ship.  Whoops! So they ran while I checked Rachel in.  She did just fine but I got lost leaving the ship, ending up in a staff dining room (which by the way was both attractive and functional.)
Once on the island, I was quickly found by someone waiting for the lady who was dropping off the baby.  She quickly directed me to where I needed to go for the morning Walk and Kayak adventure.  There the guide, Ricky was trying to sort out his list of registered participants (too many with our surname and he was way confused, especially by the my husband who is a junior) also, some had turned in their tickets before dropping off kids and some had not.  So Gary wasn't there.  And I was worried he would miss the fun.  finally the group could wait no longer and we set off on a tram. They assured me that they would send an island taxi for Gary when he got to the meet up place, but I wanted to be sure he didn't get left behind.  So we drove around to the life jacket place and I was still distracted because Gary wasn't there.  When we did meet up at the next tram stop, he told me Simon had freaked out at Scuttle's Cove and didn't want to go.  He asked James to help Simon find something to do and he settled down.  Ricky was very knowledgeable about the native plants and after I learned about each one, I found myself wishing it grew in my yard (wart removers, insect repellents, cold and flu remedies, rogaine) the possibilities were astonishing.  Then we got to the kayak place and had a quick lesson in kayak steering and headed off.  The water was beautiful and clear in the mangrove inlet.  We mostly just paddled to follow the guide and it was relaxing.  The mangroves swamp was protected from the wind and that made it really pleasant to be outside.  On the way back, Gary and I stopped to admire jelly fish and star fish in the water.  We also tried to follow a heron.  That made us slow coming back.  When we arrived, we got to see a shark!  It was about 4 1/2 feet long and had sneaked up behind one of Gary's brothers.  The guide said hey there's a shark behind you! and he thought it was a joke.  But really, there was a shark behind him.  Gary and I would have liked to stay longer, but we needed to get Rachel from the ship.  So we set off to get her.  It took over an hour to get her and come back to the island.  When we did, lunch was closing up so we ate quickly.  While we were eating, Todd came to tell us that they had checked James out of the children's area and they were going to to paddle boats.  That surprised us so we hurried to get the rest of the kids and catch up.  Simon was digging in the sand and Amelia and Jonny were involved in an elaborate scavenger hunt with a radar type device that took several kids to carry.  Amelia was ready for the beach.  Jonny had no interest so we left him and went to meet the  others.  Unfortunately we could not find the area they described so we set off for the family beach.  Gary and the kids set up and I went to look for James, Todd and the others.   I looked in the left beaches again like they said but could not spot them.  Then I went to the boat rental place to find out where they would be.  They looked through the stack of receipts and found one that matched and I set off again.  This time I found them.  They were cleaning up after riding around in these amazing looking pontoon tricycle things.  Then we went down and joined Gary and the kids for a swim.  The air was cool and windy, the water was warm.  I hesitated slightly before getting in the water, but when would I ever have that opportunity again? Never!  So I jumped in and helped Amelia swim a bit.  Then I spotted a fish in the water and the kiddodiddos, cousins and I chased it around for a bit.  It was about 6 inches long and white.  Simon made up a game that had me laughing.  He was throwing fistfuls of sand into the water and said Do you know what I'm doing? Making soy milk! and sure enough as the sand hit the water, it made everything cloudy/milky looking.  Gary, Todd and Dave swam a little further out and saw bigger fish.  It was a lovely time swimming.  The water was a pretty shade of blue further out, but where we were it was crystal clear.  Everyone was happy and playing together.  Amelia frolicked with Cameron and Abby.  James and Jacob were chasing around.  Simon was making "soy milk" and Rachel felt like cuddling. 
Eventually it was time to head back to the ship and clean up for "Friendship Rocks" a show that the kids put on for the last day of the cruise.  It lasts maybe 20 minutes.  They learn a dance to do for the parents and watch a slide show of the activities.  Amelia couldn't wait for the show.  I think Abby was excited too.  Jonny and James went along for the ride (all the other youth activities shut down) and Simon looked a little confused but happy.  The kids all got t shirts commemorating the event, which they always ask to wear at home. 
Gary and I hurriedly packed.  It wasn't too hard.  We just had to set aside enough clean clothes for the morning plus an overnight bag for the train.  All of the careful packing before the trip had made things easy.  The suitcases looked a bit ridiculous crammed with gallon size ziploc baggies labeled per person per day.   We didn't need to be so careful packing up to go home.  It would all end up in the laundry anyway.
Dinner was in Artist's Palate again.  This time the art on the walls changed throughout the meal and then the walls themselves changed from black and white to a riot of color.  It was a wonderful performance.  Who knew the walls could do all that?!  Everyone but me- they had been expecting it the first night we were there.  We also had the opportunity to applaud the servers and thank them for their efforts.  When I heard about this event before the cruise I thought it would be cheesy, but after being on the receiving end of such excellent service my gratitude was really heartfelt. 
The final stage show of the cruise was called Disney Dreams and it was about a little girl and her imagination.  It was well done.  I think there was a great Under the Sea number, a winter Beauty and the Beast number (where they have the snow ball fight) and my favorite was Aladdin where they did the parade, complete with a giant Abu the monkey turned into an elephant.  Rachel fell asleep before it was over, and so did Simon (all snuggled up with Cameron again- too cute!)  What a perfect day.
Day 6
The last day of the cruise, we had to be off the ship by 8.  This was not a problem for Rachel because she decided the day should begin at 3am.  She was ready to party and I didn't want to wake up everyone so she and I explored the ship.  Not so much as we had on other days though.  We ended up on the Promenade lounge where she played with a Jenga set and I watched the ship head for Port Canaveral.  After she got tired of Jenga we went walking some more.  Around quarter to 5 we ran into Pop, who was returning an extension cord.  We ran into Imade, our waiter who needed to talk to immigration (standard.)  and we saw and appreciated all of the people who work to make a cruise ship beautiful.  They work around the clock to keep the ship looking gorgeous.  I forget when we went back to our room.  Eventually the family woke up and it was time to dress and have our final meal on the ship. 
After leaving the ship, we went to Down Town Disney to kill some time before the train ride home.  We met up with Chris and  Tirah, Todd, Angie and their kids Jacob and Abby.  Initially we were looking for some place to do lunch but then realized we weren't hungry.  So the kids shopped for souvenirs.  The favorite store was the Lego store, where there were tables of legos for the kids to build with.  There was also a ramp for them to race lego cars down. 
The kids were tired on the train ride home.  I was tired.  Right before dinner, the train hit a truck (the driver was okay) but it delayed the train by several hours.  I was sitting next to Gary when it happened.  We couldn't see anything, but we definitely felt the train run over something big.  Simon had a hard time at dinner.  Then Amelia needed to use the bathroom.  I took her and Simon to the bathroom.  This was not unexpected.  Our family averaged AT LEAST 4 bathroom trips per dinner on the trip.  We tried to take them to the bathroom before the meals and jointly during meals, but to no avail.  As we were leaving the bathroom, Amelia said "just so you know I'll need to use the bathroom again during dinner."  I lost patience and told her that we weren't going back to dinner until she was done because it wasn't fair to have to make so many bathroom trips.  Then she freaked out and said "so you want me to spend the whole dinner in the bathroom?!" Well.  finally she got it.  She didn't want to spend her dinner in the bathroom.   Neither did Gary or I, but with so many bathroom trips per meal, that's the way it felt sometimes.  So we returned to dinner.  The train was stopped. There was a truck under the dining car.  I was exhausted and freaking out a bit, for the wrong reasons.  If we were delayed to long, we would run out of diapers and formula.  Rachel is mostly breastfed, but sometimes she needs a bottle and the spare formula was in inaccessible in the van.  Simon was still ansty.  It turns out he didn't want to eat.  He just wanted to wear his pajamas.  So he put on his pajamas, Rachel put on her pajamas and as soon as she fell asleep, I fell asleep.  I intended to nap but I didn't wake up until late.  (Thanks Gary for getting the kids to bed that night.)  The kids slept a lot on the way home.
The next morning at breakfast, Simon and I ate with a lady and her daughter.  They were several rows behind us on the train.  I had no idea they were there.  She told me my husband was "well trained" I told her I didn't train him, he came that way.  He is my hero and rescues me on a regular basis.  She said that we work well together.  I agree.  I am so grateful for vacations and the opportunity to work closely together with my husband.   He is my best friend.

Cookies anyone?

It's Girl Scout cookie time and Amelia would like nothing more than to sell cookies to you.  She will squeal with delight and jump up and down if you offer to buy some.  So, if you are local (meaning same county as the Kiddodiddo Ranch) and you want cookies, I'll bring Amelia (in uniform) to personally take your order.  Just let me know in the comments.

Jonny's Vacation

Jonny at the beach in Florida

I loved the Oceaneer's Lab and Club and I really really liked the servers.
In the Oceaneer Lab I was always playing Kung Fu Panda games.  In the club I really loved to do the slide. Slide slide, slide!  And I liked to see some magic tricks.
In Scuttle's Cove I was burying one truck and I liked searching for fake monkeys.  I did digging for whale bones but I didn't get anything.
I liked to see Toy Story 3 and Tangled. 
I loved playing Mario Cart Wii. 
With Jacob well I was going down the slide with him.  

We played a memory game where you dance and get prizes if you get it right, but if you get it wrong nothing happens.
It was a Mickey shaped pool. The water slide was warm but the pool itself was  average.
The Oceaneers Lab was awesome.  So, so awesome.
That's all.

Simon's Vacation

Simon with Daisy Duck. They met by chance on the way to the bathroom.

Train boat. Just the train and the boat.

Games! Finding Nemo- arrow keys on the computer.

Movie- a movie where there's a bad guy that's trying to hurt the good guys. Toy Story and Woody and Buzz Lightyear!

I goed swimming outside. The pool looked like a circle. It looked like Mickey Mouse.

James's Vacation

James, zonked out on the train ride home.  Foot rest is not in awesome mode.

I liked the train.  There were foot rests that could recline to "awesome mode"  and it was pretty helpful to conserve heat in the night. Then we put on some movies to watch in the night. I had bascially a sleepless night so in the morning I was napping a lot. Then we got off and waited to get the car and we drove to McDonald's for lunch.  I had a 1/3 of a pound cheeseburger then we checked in at our hotel and went to the beach.  Then for dinner we went on a walk at a boardwalk at Cocoa Beach and then went to a restaurant.  I had another cheeseburger that I thought would be small but it turned out almost as big as what I had for lunch.  I don't think I need to tell you what happened in the night but I will give you one word: BARF
Next day we got on a shuttle bus and went to our cruise ship.  Then we started sailing there were a few clubs for kids like Oceaneer Club and Lab.  There was a tweens club called Out and About that I liked better than the Club or Lab. We did games like dodgeball and scavenger hunts and it was fun because we got to go around the whole ship instead of staying in one room.  When we played dodgeball one time it was so windy when I threw a ball the wind pushed it back and hit me in the face. Luckily head shots did not count so I did not get myself out. For the scavenger hunt we did, we were not allowed to use the elevators because it was during the dinner rush. We had to collect things like a packet of salt or pepper. We had to count all the stairs from deck 1 to deck 11- A.K.A. Aloft, the teen's club.  We would count up to deck 3 or something and then we would lose count and so we would start again.  Once we got to the top, but on deck 7 my legs gave out and I fell down to deck 6.   
The next day we stopped in Nassau our parents got off the boat and we stayed on the ship.  I went to Out and About.  We did a scavenger hunt the rest of my siblings went to the oceaneer club.
Next day there was so much storming we couldn't land at Castaway Cay so we had a day at sea.   I went to the Oceaneer Lab and made flubber it's this squishy stuff that you can make out of glue, borax, and water.  
So the next day we did stop at Castaway Cay. They closed down the Oceaneer Club and Lab and did Scuttle's Cove, which is like one big club for the kids on Castaway Cay.  I mostly built sandcastles with one of my cousins- Jacob.  After that Jacob's parents picked me up and took me to the beach.  We went on little boats. Then we went swimming (all together).  We saw lots of fishes.  They were probably 6 inches long. They were white and had yellow eyes and the water was cold.  Then we got back on the boat. 
The last day we had dinner at Animator's Palate.  It was this restaraunt that was all black and white. In the middle of our dinner all the pictures of Disney characters sprang into full color it was totally awesome. 
The next day we got off the boat at 8.  Then we said our good byes to our relatives got on our shuttle and went back to the hotel. Then we took our car got some lunch at checkers (I didn't get a cheeseburger that time.)   Then we went back to the train station, got on the train and headed back home.

Amelia's vacation

Amelia dancing and wearing pirate teeth at the Pirates in the Carribean dance party

I loved that cruise.  The ship had a 2 swimming pools and some fun clubs. One of the clubs was called the Oceaneer club and the other is called the Oceaneer lab.  I had so much fun there.  Everybody has there own waiters that go to the same restaurant with them.  My waiters were really cool.  Their names are Geffery and Imade.  Geffery can do good magic and Imade is really, really good at origami.  I have 2 girls that are my cousins that went on the cruise with me.  There names are Cameron and Abby.  I went to a Royal Ball with them and we always sat together at dinner.  We had so much fun together.  I swam in the Atlantic Ocean with them.
I watched Tangled and Toy Story 3.  My brother James didn't come to either of them. 
I learned how to make cookies and I found a match in a memory game and I drew Pluto and I also tried to make a postcard.  It was  so much fun.

Creativity

We just got back from an awesome vacation/family reunion and I won't mention it because I want to do it justice in another post.  But this little bit from tonight is too funny to put off.

On Sunday nights, we have a little club, the RCG which stands for Reverent Church Goers.  If you are reverent at church, you may attend the club and play board games and have dessert.  Tonight Amelia was griping because she didn't get invited (James was the only attendee today.)  Since Christmas is coming and Santa is watching, her mixture of complaints and confessions were a bit garbled but here's the gist of what she said:
I've been naughty for years and I NEVER get any coal.
I don't care if I get coal.  I'll whittle it into something I LIKE!
Gary wants you to know that the last statement was made AFTER she caught him shopping for coal on Amazon.com.

Simon Says

"I challenge you to karate on knees! It's like this:" (Simon gets on knees and flails arms and head wildly.)

A Bad Idea

As you well know, we have been busy potty traning Simon.  Things were going very well.  He graduated to underpants and even attende the exclusive Wegman's Kids Club (grocery store babysitting- yay!)
Then 2 weeks ago he got this idea that threw a wrench in the whole thing.  It results in hour long potty dances, leaping, and wild (self) spanking manuvers which always end in disaster.  The idea: people don't actually have to go potty.  They can choose to hold it forever. Sigh. 

She's got the look

I have often thought of writing a post but thoughts are seldom put into words. 
I overheard Amelia talking to James:  if Mom were a food, she'd be a doughnut.  If she were  a number, she'd be googleplex.   I think this meant really good stuff.
This from the girl who totally hated me the day before.  She spent the entire ride to church yelling about how she'd never come to see me when she's a grown up because she hates me so much.  She's moving to Austrailia.  This behavior was similar to, but not to be confused with the boys who were screaming about moving to Africa when they grow up because they hate me (and baths) so much.  They have the misguided opinion that they have not invented baths in Africa. 

I was out visiting teaching Thursday night and my companion and I were talking about stuff and she said "you know that 'mommy look,' the one that mom's give their kids and the kids know they are in trouble, so the sit up a little bit straighter and quiet down?" I have often heard of this look and wondered how I could get one because if the kids are Licking the pews or wrestling on the bench, I'd love to have a look that would stop them in their tracks.  So I acknowledged that I have heard of the mommy look and wished I could do it.
Akward pause.  "oh no.  You're really good at it.  You mean you didn't know you do that?!  Yours is good."
I think I died laughing when she said that.  I guess it's my hidden talent.
When I got home, I found that my new found mommy look had been required in my absence.  Gary's brother Dave had returned from his mission that day and they wanted to have a Skype chat.  I really wanted to be there for it, but VT took longer than I thought it would.  I hoped they would still be talking when I got back, but no, the boys were in bed and Amelia was just finishing her native american chickee (dwelling) that was due the next day.  I was so thankful her project was done, the dishes were done and the house was quiet. I could tell Gary had been working hard in my absence.  (Not that these things are good indications of hard work- if the baby had cried nonstop, he couldn't have done any of those things, but he still would have worked hard.) I asked how the call had gone.   Not good.  The kids were super crazy and after 5 minutes, Dave called it quits.  Hopefully this weekend we can try again.  I'll use my new talent: death ray glare and we'll see just how effective it is (or isn't.)

In the Name of the Lollypop Guild

On Friday and Saturday we performed our first three showings of The Wizard of Oz! Imagine my surprise an hour before showtime when I was with the orchestra and I looked over and saw James with a...



...mohawk!



"We represent the Lollypop Guild, the Lollypop Guild, the Lollypop Guild, and in the name of the Lollypop Guild, we wish to welcome you to Munchkinland!"

If you want to see the show, this Friday and Saturday are your last chance. Contact me and Tracy to get the details (or you can comment here and we will get in touch with you).

Epiphanies

I guess I have had a few epiphanies in the last day or two.  So I will share them with you.
1) Emails have been flying fast and furious regarding the classroom "fall festivals"  and I have been ignoring them because I have been too busy sewing costumes for halloween and the Wizard of Oz (you really should go see it this weekend and next.)  Last night the epiphany came.  Elementary schools make a big deal out of holidays.  I am doing homeschool kindergarten for Jonny.  I had better make a big deal out of the holidays.  So instead of going to bed I stayed up to make bat and ghost cookies and print out Halloween crafts.  After the kindergarten Halloween party I threw today (toilet paper mummies, decorating sugar cookies, stenciling pumpkins, don't eat pete, etc) Jonny's enthusiasm for learning is restored.  And I'll remember my lesson for next time.  It won't be a "Holiday" party- it'll be Christmas.
2) When you remove your bathrooms' wall coverings to make Halloween costumes (it was vinyl/fake leather looking stuff) you have bathrooms in need of urgent painting.  Oh well.  I have been looking at that fabric and thinking "Halloween" since we moved in. 
3) Since I had all this fabric hanging around (literally) I really wanted to make everyone matching cowboy outfits.  I thought to myself this Halloween will go down in family history as "that awesome Halloween we were all cowboys" or "that dorky Halloween that we all had to be cowboys."  Until this morning (when Amelia left for school in cowgirl vest and skirt and James pointedly left his outfit home) it did not occur to me that it could be both of those at once. 

Other news-
-James is the cutest member of the Lollipop Guild and I can't wait to go see him tomorrow on stage.  I'll take some pictures of him BEFORE applying the stage makeup.   He's also really enjoying math.
-Due to schedule conflicts, I took the kids to the church Trunk or Treat solo.  I instructed the kids to stick together so I could hand out candy.  I was a bit nervous as I manned my post handing out boxes of Nerds.  Toward the end of the night, I could hear the crack of cowboy guns and I knew my little posse was nearby.  Sure enough they came into view together, obedient in all things (for that night anyway.)   I got a lot of heartwarming reports on how Amelia looked after Simon helping him keep up with the over-eager older boys. She sure has grown up over the last year.  I am impressed with her maturity. 
-Simon chooses to use the potty by himself almost all the time now.  I'll give him a reminder when I notice him standing funny but that's not often.  It's a relief to have him at this stage of potty training.  I won't call it done yet, but he's really close.
-Jonny is doing awesome in his swimming class.  He is in the floater level and loves it.  He has always been enthusiastic in the water.  The best parts, he says are when he gets to try the 12 feet deep water (with life jacket) and the secrets his teacher tells him.  (here's one of the secrets: astronauts train in the water)
-Rachel is a sitter now.  She can balance by herself for a while and even play with a toy.  She is also experimenting with food.  So far she likes avocados but not green beans or oatmeal.  (Yes avocados.  It helps my scrawny babies put on weight and maintain their growth curves.) 
-someone broke the on/off button on the camera so no pictures for now. :(

The Difference One Year Makes

Last year, I was shopping at Costco with Simon when he had an epiphany.  You can but things at Costco.  I guess he just thought you walk past a bunch of things that you can't buy, to get to the food that you can buy. 
I think he said something about a tv being turned on and I said they left it on to make people want to buy it.  Then he exclaimed "You can buy tv's at Costco?!" like that was the most incredible thing he ever heard.  As we proceeded through the store, he asked incredulously if we could buy all sorts of things including pants.

Contrast this with today's excursion.  We had just dropped off Amelia at a birthday party and were on our way home.  Jonny and Simon asked if we could stop at Costco.  So we went in and window shopped down all the aisles that I never turn on- the ones with toys and seasonal gadgets.  We admired Christmas ornaments and wrapping paper.  After each item, Simon asked if we should buy it.  I said no we're just looking.  Then we went down the toys aisle and pushed buttons through packages and things.  Simon went from "should we buy it" to "can we buy it."   As we neared the end of our jaunt, he got desperate.  "BUT I NEED IT!" he cried.  I just had to laugh when I saw what it was he was referring to:  a game of Star Trek Scene It. 

Which one is different?

Below are 3 great things.  You decide which one is different and why: 
The true answer will be revealed tomorrow and the one with the closest guess will receive a surprise in the mail.



Holy Thursday!

We just received Jonathan's Catholic kindergarten home school kit. He missed the kindergarten deadline by a few days, but he's ready. If we do accredited kindergarten for him, he will have the option next year of entering first grade or repeating kindergarten at school. The only accredited home school kindergarten in the area is affiliated with the Catholic church.

As you probably know, we belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tracy called the school before we ordered the kit to find out about how "Catholic" the materials are. The man on the phone said not to worry; there may be an image here, a sentence there, but for the most part the materials are strictly academic and non-religious.

I'm sorry to report that the gentleman, perhaps unknowingly, broke the ninth commandment. Or the eighth commandment, depending on your denomination. Whichever one says "liar liar pants on fire." (Okay, I don't think he meant to deceive us. It's all about your point of view.)

Actually, it's not that bad, and we can substitute those materials that are not in harmony with the gospel with materials of our choosing. And we have had a few good laughs already. For example, if you're Catholic, you might not find anything funny about the term "Luminous Mysteries," especially when appearing in a kids' coloring book, but believe me.

As another example, there was a rosary in the box. For our non-Catholic readers (which I believe is all of you), a rosary is a bead necklace that helps Catholics count the prayers that they recite. It has a crucifix at the end of it. We focus on the resurrected, living Christ so we don't even use crosses, much less crucifixes, so Jonny may or may not have seen one before. His reaction to the rosary was priceless:

"Why did they send me a dead Jesus necklace?"

good job!

Yesterday, I propped Rachel up on the free standing musical potty, for a silly joke.  Simon came in to see what was going on and I challenged him to a contest, to see who could use the potty first, Simon (age almost 3) or Rachel (3 months.)  He eagerly agreed, and scaled the big potty. 
The three of us chatted and laughed in the bathroom for a few minutes and then I picked up Rachel to get her dressed.  Imagine my surprise (and Simon's horror) when I discovered she actually had wet in the potty.  News spreads fast in our house, so the bathroom filled with revelers.  Simon's take on the situation? "I'm not good jobbing you!"

Road Trip to Upstate New York

Last weekend, we hit the road for a trip to the Finger Lakes in New York for a few days of relaxation and adventure.

We camped at Cayuga Lake State Park and I highly recommend it, if you are ever up in that area. Our campsite was right across from the playground and the bathrooms. Close enough to observe, but far enough to be out of the din. I loved that some of the kids were old enough to head over by themselves. A tiny bit of freedom and they loved it. While hanging out at the camp site, Amelia wanted to pretend superheroes. She said no one wanted to play with her and asked me to come up with a super hero identity. I said I would be "Rainbow" (always my secret spy name when I was a kid) and my power would be to shoot rainbow hoops at people and when they were hit they would suddenly feel calm and cooperative. She said "that's kind of boring, can I change it?" Gee, I wonder why no one wanted to play that game. Actually, Jonny did want to play. His super hero identity was "the Electric Cheese" and he shot cheese lightning at people.
On our way to the camp ground, we stopped by Palmyra, New York where the Hill Cummorah and Sacred Grove are. It was special at times.
Like the time when Simon happened upon a large Christus in the Visitor's Center and was so surprised and excited that he ran to James, pulling him and yelling "come and see! You got to see!"

When Jonny decided that the path to the Hill Cummorah memorial was too wimpy and he wanted to climb straight up. It was steep, but he, James and Gary (and Rachel) did it.

When Simon became very impressed with the flowers in the Sacred Grove and wanted his picture taken with them.

Talking the Jonny about how the largest trees in the grove were probably there when Joseph Smith was.

Listening to Amelia try and impress the missionaries with her knowledge of the gospel.

 

Here are a few examples frm the other times:

Each of the historic houses had floor fans in it and this attracted Jonny and Simon like moths to flame. "Yoou must build a jacuzzi!" (from Muppets in Space, spoofing Field of Dreams)

Someone talking awfully loud about using the potty in the Sacred Grove. That sounds worse than it is. They didn't want to use the potty in the Sacred Grove they just talked about it while we walked and I felt bad for people trying to have a spiritual time there.

We also saw the Peter Whitmer farm- this was where the first meeting of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was held. I loved seeing it in person and thinking about all that went into the planning of the first meeting. The visitor's center here had art work depicting the many stages of planning that went into that first meeting. I LOVED the art. It was unique to this location I have not seen it at any other church site.

The missionaries there encouraged the kids to run races to the trees and back while we waited to go into the farm house. If you look close enough, you should see all of our runners.

We enjoyed swimming and canoeing in Cayuga Lake on a couple of days. Jonny loved swimming (with coast guard approved life jacket) out to the buoys that marked the swimming area. James enjoyed swimming too. Amelia pouted because floaties were not allowed (only life jackets) and finally agreed to go in the water as I was bringing the boys out. I got a good laugh when just as I exited the Lake, she marched up to me and yelled "there- I swam to Mom. Are you happy?!" but then she and I swam aound a little bit and the boys, who were done swimming played the the playground. 
I really enjoyed canoeing in the lake. It reminded me of the many summers we camped at Rucker Lake when I was growing up. My dad would take all the kids for a long weekend of canoeing and kayaking and swimming in the Sierras. I have very fond memories of those camp outs. So I thoroughly enjoyed paddling around with the kids, two at a time.  Cayuga Lake is very large compared to Rucker Lake so we stuck very close to shore. James was a natural with the paddle. Amelia needed a little coaching and turned out to be quite good too. Jonny and Simon sat in the middle on a cushion, looking cute. I enjoyed watching Gary take the kids out too. It was fun hearing Gary and Jonny and Amelia cheering when things went well. He and James practiced manuvers together for a few minutes before we left. One Star Wars trilogy later (the old set) we were home, very grateful for the break from the norm.

PS- For those of you who are curious, Rachel handled camping like a pro. She slept beautifully at night and was pretty cheerful (given her age) during the day.

Here's a few snapshots of James and Amelia adoring Rachel.

And since I complained about not being able to do Amelia's hair, I must document that she DID let me do it for church today- "braids up" is what my mom used to call this hairdo

A Burning Question

For one of James's cub scout requirements, he needed to talk to a wild life conservation officer on the phone and ask what they do. We checked the local phone book and came up short. So we hit the web to find a likely candidate. The first wildlife conservation officer (whose phone number was listed) happened to be in New Hampshire. He placed the call. A woman answered and she didn't have time to talk, but noticed her co worker had time on his hands so passed the phone off to him. He was kind and generous with his time and chatted with James for about 20 minutes. The best part of the call came when James asked this burning question:

Have you ever been in a situation where you come to a King Cobra and it is spitting venom at you and you have to decided whether you want to tranquilize it or not?


The part of New Hampshire he called apparently has a big problem with nuisance bears, not King Cobras.

Raby

Now that Rachel is 3 months old, she has been around long enough to have earned a few nicknames. I'll post a few, with origin
Raby: part Rachel, part baby (creation of James or Jonny)
Rachel Iris Cutie Pie-ris: Jonny's invention
Rachel Papayrus: derivied from above
Eye- ris: because she has such huge eyes
The Princess: as in do not disturb the princess
Rachelina: Gary's pet name for her- how could I forget this one?  Oh yeah, he was on a trip when I wrote this post the first time.
It's hard to tell who Rachel's biggest fan is. Everyone likes her a lot. Jonny especially shows a lot of love (and I must say it is the cutest attention seeking behavior I have seen yet.) The other day I was trying to walk from the living room to the kitchen, holding Rachel and some other thing I was trying to put down. Every time I took a step, there was Jonny. I would try moving to the right to get around him and he'd move to the right. So I'd try to move left to get around him and there he'd be. I almost tripped a few times because my arms were full. I was about to get frustrated when I realized what was going on. He was following Rachel on his knees, bowing to the floor and mumbling "hail. hail." Like the Ewoks do for C3PO.

About Hair and other girly stuff

Here's a post I wrote and forgot about last month... enjoy

There’s a first time for everything. A first time to get urinated on while weighing your child in a doctor’s office. (did it really have to take 5 kids for that one?!) To be told that you should take cooking lessons from the school cafeteria. To leave your debit card in the ATM and drive away. I hope our money is still there when all is said and done.

Having a stubborn girl means a lot of things. It means that for 2 years I couldn’t fix her hair without having her rip it out immediately. It means that for years she went around with horribly clashing outfits and I was powerless to sway her opinion on what makes a good matching ensemble. (as many colors and patterns as possible, please) And it means that playing barbies together was miserable because no matter what I made them do, pretty princesses didn’t do that. Well now it means that she wants to do her own hair her way. And I am not allowed to “tidy it up” anymore with out an all out war. Of course I love my daughter. I also love good grooming. And I want to teach it to her. How to carefully part hair. How to comb it smooth. How to make it symmetrical and how to put in rubber bands so that it doesn’t make huge tangles at the base. But she doesn’t want to learn that. she already knows it all and she doesn’t want me to say another word about it.
I remember really well when I figured out how to do hair. I was in between second and third grade and I usually wore 2 braids, one down each side. I was in my room and I did one of the braids. I went to the bathroom to carefully examine my handiwork. At the top it was a mass of snarls out of which came a decent braid. I decided that the top part looked like a rose (a brown hairy one) and ran to show my mom. She made appropriate noises and I went away pleased. I don’t know if I insisted on doing my own hair after that. I know it wasn’t too long after that that I got a really ugly haircut, one of those middle aged woman ones that looks great on 40 something ladies and terrible on a small child. Perhaps the two events were related.

Anyway, I found myself wishing that Rachel had a full head of foot long hair. So that I could innocently talk about hairstyling with Amelia. I can have conversations about matching outfits while I dress the baby, pointing out how to choose tops and bottoms with similar colors or patterns and she is very receptive to this type of teaching. Jonny I can be direct with. This shirt and this pants match because of x y and z. He says great! And forever after that is how those clothes are paired up. Every now and then, he asks for a compliment on his out fit. (does it look good? YES!) If I try that approach with Amelia, she’ll tell me blue and purple stripes make a much better match with yellow and red fruity pants, thank you very much. But somehow when I talk about choosing a matching outfit for sister, it makes much more sense. And she has been matching her own outfits better too. So I guess today, I wish Rachel had an awesome head of hair for a 2 month old. So I can talk all about hairstyling with out having to say a word to Amelia. What about Barbies you ask. Don’t they have awesome heads of hair. Aren’t they meant for hours of combing and styling fun?! You are forgetting one simple thing: pretty princesses don’t do that.

How to Silence Your Kids

We checked out this Star Wars Cook Book from the library and made the Death Star Popcorn Balls for our family night treat. I had to use a candy thermometer to cook them and they took about an hour longer to prepare than I thought they should, so the kids were up super late when eatting time finally arrived.
We passed around the popcorn balls and tried to bite into them. It has never been so quiet at the table in our house. We chewed and chewed and chewed trying to enjoy these monster treats. We laughed at the faces we made trying to pry our mouths open. I truly worried for my fillings. Jonny left a once in the middle to brush his teeth. He said he had to brush them twice to get them clean.
As I ate (and enjoyed the quiet) I thought that I would save the recipe and serve popcorn balls again, when I need to do some serious talking with the kids. There'd be no way they could talk back or disagree. They would be my captive audience because their mouths would be stuck shut.

Writings

Amelia wrote a poem, to mail into the Friend Magazine.
What Jesus Did

Jesus once was on the earth.
He started there by birth.

He grew to be a big, strong man.
He taught people in every land.

He taught people to do good.
He taught people the best he could.

He taught us to love everyone.
We know he is God’s begotten son.
Here's the one she didn't want me to send in to the Friend:

Things I learned in church:

1. Heavenly Father dose not love me. Plus everybody else.

Sigh. I think the first one is a more true representation of her feelings, but she does like to stir things up.

I love to see the temple

Here's a blast from our past. Last year we took a family trip to California to visit relatives. We swung by the Oakland Temple one Sunday afternoon. You may notice one of these things is not like the others... we call it "the temple face."

Do I really want to say this out loud?

You may not want to read this post. It's going to be a little gross. But not as gross as the maggotty thing I had to remove from the back porch last week. The exterminator called it "nature at it's best" and offered gloves, while keeping a distance. "I hate maggots" he said, "but if you've got 5 kids I guess you can handle anything." I hate maggots too, but that's not the point. This post will not be as gross as that thing was, I promise, but really it's not for those who have not potty trainned someone recently.
Simon has the mechanics down. He has a plethora of rewards in place. Thus far, he hasn't had the moment where he realizes why he should care about using the potty. Sure stripes on karate belts are fun. Candy is fun (it also makes moms chubby, so we're cutting that one out.) Surprise packages in the mail are alluring, to older siblings. Not to the young one though. But today he figured out why he cares about using the potty. And it is painful to admit.
I hesitate to document it, but there are those who will wonder why he is in diapers again.
You see as of late, he has become a nudist. He loves to run through the house naked. Or play with his fisher price people, lounging in his skin. I really try to keep him in clothes and it's only once every few days that it becomes one of those "laughing wildly while I try to dress him" times. So I have not been too concerned. You may remember Amelia going through this phase at the age of 3 (or 4) when she loved to hide and pop out at people naked (mostly me, I think.) She loved the shock value.
So it is with a little apprehension that I admit that he reminds me of Amelia and it is with much reluctance that I admit that they both remind me of myself as a kid. (when Simon attempted to eat a bag of brown sugar for breakfast this morning, I think I would have joined him, if I was about 28 years younger. I don't think I would have chased my siblings around covered in brown sugar slime though.)
But I digress. Because that pales in comparison to tonight's display. He ran around in nothing but underpants after his bath (pull ups, please- he's not ready for briefs.) I told him to get dressed.
I was not surprised a few minutes later he ran past stark naked- (sometimes I feel like a Charlie Brown grown up- like what I intend to say comes out as that "wa wa wa" sound that no one can understand, much less obey.)
I was totally unprepared for what he gleefully yelled as he ran past. "Look at my bottom! Look at my bottom!" He shouts in a sing song voice as he chases Jonny (always the victim- sigh) Jonny is of course running for his life because he DID indeed look at his bottom. So I look too. and there it is- what Simon calls his "poop tail." I refuse to allow poop as a weapon. I have to draw the line somewhere. So here is the line:
____________________________________________________________________

Pass the diapers, please.

a note from Jonny

More Photos of Newborn Rachel

Here are more photos of newborn Rachel. They were taken by my dad (thanks Dad!) and are better than the ones I took but I forgot to blog these at the time.

Joy School Class of 2010

Thanks for a great year!

self designed camp out

The side benefit of sleeping under your bed in a sleeping bag (not my personal choice):
when you throw up in the night, your clean bed is ready and waiting for you.

Photos of Rachel

I know Gary put up a link to pictures of Rachel right after she was born, but I wanted a few here on the blog too. I hope you enjoy!