My, what big eyes you have

The UK doesn't really celebrate Halloween. There is no trick or treating, and although some children do dress up, the holiday is more about witches, ghosts and goblins than Buzz Lightyear or clowns or whatever.
So we were really excited to be in Orlando for Halloween, since Danny & I, I mean Kate & Michael, love Halloween candy.

Kate dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood, and Michael was the Big Bad Wolf, or the Cute Little Wolf, as it were.








It was quite difficult to get a picture of the two of them sitting still, so this is the best I could do. Kate loved their costumes, and referred to Michael as "Wolfie" for about 5 days straight.


We attended Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, which was a lot of fun. They had a parade and fireworks, and Michael just couldn't stand the excitement.

Blogcation is Over

I'm back from Dallas and ending my blogcation. Danny's parents ended up having to postpone their trip, so I have a bit more time on my hands than I thought I would.

I still have to go back and do some serious updating on here, but I quickly wanted to post this PSA to any and all of you who fly. When you are at the airport waiting to board your flight, if you see some small children waiting at the gate, it's really nice when you groan loudly and tell your partner in an almost-shout "Hope those rugrats aren't near us!". It is especially effective if said children are sitting quietly on the floor, reading a book and not even running wild.
When you get on the plane and see that you are indeed sitting within 4 rows of these small children, make sure you throw your bags down onto your chair in a huff while you storm off to see about "changing seats so you don't have to sit next to those brats for the whole flight". When it turns out the flight is full and you're stuck, evil eyes, lots of heavy sighing and pointed stares are definitely appropriate. Make sure you turn around every two minutes to peer between the seats to get an eyeful of what those wretched children are doing. Be sure to talk disparagingly about my children loud enough so that my three year old can hear and understand you, too. Make a big show of putting on your headphones and your eye mask, so that everyone around you knows just how angry and irritated you are.

Next time, I'll ensure that my kid kicks the seatback, screams loudly and throws cheerios in your hair. And maybe I'll throw a dirty diaper under your seat, just for good measure.


I never cease to be amazed at what jerks people can be to people traveling with children on airplanes. Not just once, not a couple of times, but nearly every time we fly. And although my kids don't usually sleep on airplanes, they are really very well-behaved and quiet for the duration of the flight. Yes, even Michael. I just shove food at him for the entire flight and he stays happy and quiet.

The 6th in the 6th

OK, I know I said I wasn't going to post for awhile, but I am addicted to the internet.
Plus, I got tagged by my friend Stephanie, and I never get tagged. So I have to live up to my tag so that I may get more.

Anyway, I'm supposed to grab the 6th picture in my 6th folder. iPhoto doesn't really have folders, so I'm grabbing the 6th photo in the 6th event.



Not super exciting, I'm afraid. It is a statue outside the memorial of the OK City Bombing site. Danny and I visited OKC (with a side trip to Norman for a disastrous A&M Football game. The score was, no lie, like 77-3) in 2003, I think? We spent a good deal of time at the memorial of the bombing, and it was quite moving. This statue is titled "And Jesus Wept". The grey building in the background is the entrance into the memorial, and it reads "We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived, and those who changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, peace, hope, strength, and serenity".



Okay, back to my blogcation!

Blogcation

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. We went to Disney World for a wonderful week, & then came home to play catch up. I'm leaving tomorrow to fly back to the US for a little over a week to deal with some family matters, and then Danny's parents will be visiting us for the following 2 weeks. So it will likely be some time before I am able to get back on here and do some updates.

I'm flying alone tomorrow for 10 hours with the kids. And Michael is cutting his molars and hasn't napped in a week. It's going to be awesome. And alcohol is no longer free in coach. I'm going to need copious amounts of it to deal with him. Or, need to buy copious amounts of it for the people sitting around us.

My budding Valentino

We came home last week and found a package waiting on our doorstep. We love packages, especially since we rarely get any!

This one contained gifts for Michael and Kate.

Really Mom, this is for me?

Kate got this really cool magnetic doll dress up set. I didn't even know these existed, but it is a genius idea. No more ripped dresses or dolls!
Michael was really interested in helping Kate dress the dolls. Perhaps he'll grow up to be a designer. Which would be awesome. Only he will be horrified at how frumptastic his mom dresses. But whatever. Just as long as he remembers that his mom carried him around for 9 long months and dealt with his colic for 6 long months afterwards, and reciprocates by designing amazing custom clothes for his mom. (Yes, I plan on being one of those moms who constantly holds the fact that 'she gave their children life' over their heads).







Michael got an adorable bowling set, with the pins being animals. He's not ready to audition for Kingpin yet, but he's quite good at pulling them out of the bag and putting them back in.






He also loves to give them cuddles.




Thanks Michelle, Dave & Owen! We absolutely love the gifts, and you guys are so sweet to send them all the way across the ocean to us!

How to blow the mind of your 3 year old

During Kate's bedtime prayers the other night, she was rattling off her usual list of people. She likes to throw in random people ("the man with the blue hat on the train today". Maybe she knows they need Divine help) and inanimate objects (Paddington Bear, Tyler & Lesley's stroller).
But on this evening she said "..Aunt Sami, & Aunt Sami's daddy..". I told her that Aunt Sami's daddy was the same person as Grandpa. Her eyes got as big as saucers and I could see the wheels turning in her head. Then when I told her that Aunt Sami's daddy & Grandpa is also her daddy's dad, I think I saw steam coming from her ears. She made me repeat it several times, and I still don't think she believes me.

We also told her that her cousin Aubrie has a new baby brother, named Tyler. She said "Like my Tyler? And Lesley & Baby Alex's Tyler? Does he live with them too?".

Luckily she didn't ask me about the relation of cousin's children, because I still can't figure that one out. First cousin once removed? Or second cousin? Let's just call all kids cousin, and all grown-ups aunt/uncle, m'kay?

London Broil

We took a trip to Malta this past weekend in search of sunshine. And we found it.

When you live in a climate that has nice weather most of the time, you get immune to days of sunshine & warmth. But when you live in a climate that has rain 328 days a year and requires a coat from September-July, you start to really yearn for just one day that does not require long pants, long sleeves, and a jacket. Now I understand why, when Brits go on Holiday, they absolutely broil themselves in the sun. I don't even tan (I'm religious about sunscreen, and see no reason to help Mother Nature along in making me look like an old leather glove) and all I wanted to do was just sit by the pool all day.


Kate has been so excited about going to the beach and the pool, and we were happy that the weather held and she was able to indulge in both. We made the mistake of taking her to the pool first though, and from then on she didn't want to go to the beach. She would say, "Here is the plan. We can go look at the beach, and then we'll go back to the pool, OK?". I'm not sure why she was so anti-beach, since the sea was considerably warmer than the unheated pool at our hotel.

I made a few packing mistakes and somehow forgot sunscreen. We went in search of some, and of course all the bottles were 15euro, which is about $25 for the cheap stuff.


Michael was exhausted from our 4 am wake-up call:



This was the first trip that Danny & I have ever taken where we literally did nothing. We woke up in the morning, ate breakfast at the hotel, and then went to the pool. We stayed there until dinnertime, showered, ventured out for supper and then came home and we were all asleep by 8 every night. We always try to pack in lots of sight seeing and good eating when we travel, but we did none of that this time. Michael did great on this trip. He's been a tougher nut to crack than his sister, in terms of sleeping while away & traveling on planes & trains, but we're determined to make a world traveler of him yet.









Euro baby strikes again! Actually, a lot of the small kids went nekkid into the pools & beaches. I'm no prude, but the thought of all that baby pee in the pool grossed me out.


The olive trees that were all over the place. Olives can not be eaten off the tree (yes, I tried). They have to be cured in brine for several weeks.

Kate shares her popsicle:

In front of the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. It was SO blue. And apparently we still have some work to do in teaching Kate to sit like a lady while wearing a skirt.