What a Zoo.

When I was a kid, field trips were awesome.

We left early. We got back late. And we had a really good time.

We did day trips, overnighters and even week long adventures.

We did a boat trip out to Catalina, we went to Yosemite, we went whale watching, we went to Sacramento. I can't even remember all the places we went, but it was always an adventure.

Nowadays, it's not that way. There isn't enough money for buses and the teachers don't really want to go. And the kids hardly ever do anything truly special.

A trip to the National Zoo should have been fun.

But, after spending two hours on the bus to get to the Zoo (after the bus drives got lost -- seriously, who doesn't have a GPS nowadays?) We were able to spend one very quick hour at the zoo and then spend almost another two hours on the bus to get home.

Seriously.

Luckily, we took a good route through the zoo and we were able to see all the big things and still make it back to the buses on time. Thank goodness for happy girls who made the best of things.

Little Voices

It was time to get ready for the day.

Katie was nowhere to be found.

I called her and I called her.

Finally, I could her a little voice say, "Yes Mommy?"

Where was that little voice?

Mikayla was helping me look for her and realized...

the little voice was coming from the closet.

Hiding in the closet.

Can I tell you how hard it is to be stern and serious when all I want to do is laugh?

Yes I Was

So I woke up this morning to Katie screaming at the top of her lungs "Becky!!! Be quiet! Mom is sleeping!!!"

Yes. Yes I was.

But...it made me think about I despaired of teaching her how to talk and all the worry that I felt that she wasn't learning to speak as quickly as I would have liked.

Of course, now what would I give if she would learn how to be quiet!

lol!

So...I am trying to remember this as I despair that she might never potty train, and the awful visions I have of sending her to high school with a backpack full of spare diapers.

Just Had To Tell It

Troy thinks this post will traumatize our daughter someday, and since I disagree, here it is.

Troy had been traveling a lot as of late and we have not had a lot of time together. He has been especially jet lagged since coming back from China last week.

So...to find a little quality time together Troy took me out to dinner tonight. It was a great meal and we had a lovely time. The highlight of the evening, however, was not my meal, but this conversation Troy had with the waitress.

Troy: I didn't catch your name.

Waitress: My name is Katie.

Troy: Oh! That's out daughter's name.

Waitress: That's neat.

Troy: Is Katie short for something?

Waitress: Yes. My name is Katherine.

Troy: Oh! That's our daughter's name!

Waitress: Really?

Troy: Yes! How do you spell that?

Waitress: K - A - T - H - R - I - N - E

Troy: That's just how we spell our daughter's name!

At this point, Troy turns to me and says, "That's how we spell it, right?"

And I say, "Honey, I don't know how to break this to you, but that's NOT our daughter's name."

Troy: WHAT?

Me: Uh. Sweetheart. Her name is Katelyn.

Yeah. Seriously. Forgot our child's name.

I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard.

Feel free to give him a hard time.

By the Numbers

I know i've fallen off the face of the earth. So...here it is...by the numbers:

In May:

1 ER visit
2 trips away from home
3 birthday parties
4 field trips
6 doctor visits
8 photo shoots
9 baseball games
11 school functions
12 piano lessons
27 hours spent working at the middle school on the play

I know I'm missing stuff...but that looks like the highlights.

Hopefully, I can come back soon with pictures.

So Lucky

Mother's Day was good.

Breakfast in bed. A nap. Homemade presents and cards.

All without Troy around.

Seriously, I feel so lucky to be their mother.

Thanks kids!

An Open Letter

Dear Ticketmaster,

You suck.

All I wanted to do was take my daughters to a Taylor Swift concert. I was online right at 10 am.

I tried to buy tickets, but within seconds you were sold out.

The scalper...oh I mean broker site I visited had 2300 tickets available at 3 to 10 times the price 10 minutes after they went on sale. There is something very wrong with how this is okay.

Sincerely,

A Very Disappointed Mom

Wisdom From Our Elders

Becky: "Katie, do you see those ducks over there?"

Katie: "Ducks?"

Becky: "Yes. The ducks. Do you know what you call a group of ducks like that?"

Katie: "What?"

Becky: "Gooses."

um....maybe I need to keep an eye on the wisdom the older is passing to the younger.

Diva in Training

My little diva. She has started speaking of herself in the third person.

"Katie want some milk."

"Katie go to school."

"Katie come with you?"

It just cracks me up.

Where does she learn this stuff?

the Future?

Well...this is as close to London as I got this weekend.


I was disappointed that we did not get to go, but Troy was a sweetheart and took me to the Eastern Shore (Maryland for my non-Eastern friends). We stayed at a wonderful little B&B on the Chesapeake Bay and had so much fun exploring the peninsula. We walked the boardwalk at Ocean City, saw the ponies on Assateague Island, walked the beach at Rehobeth, toured the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, and the Maryland State House.

It was relaxing and wonderful.

How grateful I am for good friends who watched the kids for us. We are so blessed.

Some of the highlights:

Outside the B&B:


The boardwalk at Ocean City:



The ponies at Assateague Island:


The Naval Academy's good luck charm, painted for a match against Army.


Thurgood Marshall, outside the Maryland State House:


Troy...I just couldn't resist.


Maryland State House:


And...can I just say that I have decided that I want to live here on the water, with a dock and boat:


with him.


Life is good.

Cursed

So...the last time I planned a weekend getaway with Troy...the east coast with hit with the biggest snow storm in recorded history.

And this time...as we were supposed to fly to London today...a volcano erupts in Iceland (of all places) and causes the biggest air crisis since World War II.

Seriously.

Anyone else worried about how my travel schedule and the apocalypse seem to be coordinated?

What's Worse?

Than helping one of your kids with a science fair project?

Helping two of them.

Don't get me wrong. I love helping the kids out...but man...science fair is a lot of work, especially when you HAVE TO do it.

eek.

Emma was studying lung capacity. She used bubble gum and asked people to see how many bubbles they could blow in a minute.

She hypothesized that people 15 to 20 would have the best lung capcity since that's when lungs fully develop and then begin to deteriorate.



She recieved an honorable mention.

Joe studied what position was the best for playing video games. And seriously...your project is to play videos games for days on end? Yeah. Dream come true.



Joe got a 99 out of a 100. The teacher took 1 point off because she thought his title was misleading.

He called it "The Game Boy" and he did his testing on a DS. Seriously. No points for creativity? Sheesh.

They both did a great job.

What was I thinking?

I spent the day with Emma and Joe and their friends at King's Dominion for the twins birthday.

Fun was had by all. And...other than my catching a cold, no additional medical attention was required.

Sadly, I decided not to take my "nice" camera with me, and the little camera and I are not on speaking terms.

But...here's what we got.




We got to ride the intimidator...it's a giga-coaster and it's the highest and fastest gravity driven roller coaster on the east coast.


Yeah.

There's a point after you go over the first drop and take the first curve where you are moving at over 90 MPH...it actually goes so fast some people said they momentarily blacked out.

I didn't black out, however, everything went dark and fuzzy for a few seconds...it was wild.


Everyone decided it was the best birthday party they had ever been to.

Gotta Get One of These

Williamsburg was great. The weather was beautiful. Seeing all the old buildings and everyone dressed up was cool.



The juxtaposition of old and new as also fun to see...like this coach driver checking his cell phone.



We just had to have everyone post in the stocks at Williamsburg. I have to say...I am thinking about having one of these built in our backyard.




I think most of our kids were a little young to enjoy Williamsburg, but it was still pretty cool.

We also visited Jamestown and Yorktown. Not only is it cool to see buildings that have stood since the birth of our nation, but it's SUPER cool to see canonballs still in the building since these early wars.


Running the battlefields.


Victory Monuement.


I think the kids really enjoyed Jamestown the most...and I am totally in love with Yorktown.

The funniest part was riding the trolley around Yorktown. I was looking out the window and saw a girl running across the beach. I thought, "humm...that looks like Sam. But that's not possible. "

Then, from the back of the trolley I hear, "Mom, look, it's the Brisco's."

What?

Really?

How crazy is that.