Week 28

What a week! We were busy, busy and had so much fun with Aunt Terri. It was dreadfully hot, so we tried to escape the heat as much as possible. Terri decided she just brings the heat wherever she goes. She left a scorching Indy and came to an even hotter Cali. Then right as she leaves it cools down to the 70s with a nice breeze and she goes home to a hot box. Poor Aunt Terri. Despite the blaze, we had tons of fun in the sun!


On Monday we headed to the beach and it was beautiful---probably our best trip so far this year with not a cloud in sight. Right away Lincoln put Aunt Terri to work on a sand castle.
















I finally remembered to pack the string with the kite and Lincoln took Buzz on a flight.




















It was a nice windy day so even Corinne gave it a try with no problems at all.






















While Lincoln refreshed the water supply for the castle, Corinne focused on the toys.
















And taking an occasional taste of sand.




















It wasn't long before Linc had Aunt Terri in the water. Luckily it wasn't all that cold after you got used to it.


















Then we decided to take a walk down the beach---or more like a run.














The kids had to inspect everyone else's sand castles and special beach finds.

Keeping them focused was a slight challenge as they were easily sidetracked by seagulls, waves, and other kiddos.

On Tuesday Lincoln and I headed out for his first day of Mommy and Me school. Aunt Terri stayed home with Corinne, so it was nice to be able to get into the program without the distraction of a baby sister. He did surprisingly well and I am hopeful that this next session will be filled with lots of fun and learning. He has a lot more boys in his class this time and they are more his age instead of a bunch of well behaved 4.5 year old girls. He was a bit too wild for the spring group of kids. We had a good time and even got to make s'mores--YUM!






















It was 105 on Wednesday, so we headed back to the beach to cool off.




















Corinne's main project for the day was investigating shoes. She kept trying to steal a cool set of floral flip flops from our beach neighbors.






















Then Aunt Terri and the kiddos got to work on digging a big hole to play in.

















It was just Corinne's size.
















Then the kids and I made a special sign for Daddy in the sand.
















Thursday was Lincoln's last swimming lesson. He was a great listener this time and really seemed to focus on learning. Unfortunately I am not sure he will ever have enough body fat to float on his own. I can remember my mom telling me I had a "lead a$$" when I was a kid as I tried and failed to float on my own. Only after packing on some womanly curves was I able to successfully float without paddling to stay above the water.

















After Linc's lesson we headed to the eye doctor for Corinne where my suspicions were confirmed--the surgery was not successful. I am waiting to hear from the surgery coordinator to schedule her next operation where they will insert tubes into her tear ducts to allow them to properly drain and hopefully stretch them open. They will remain inside her for 6 months until they are removed in the clinic. Apparently we will be able to see the tiny tube poking out, but an untrained eye will not notice them. There is a slight risk they she can irritate them and they can slide out on their own. If this were to happen we will have to tape the tubes to her nose and then take her into the clinic to be removed the next day. I just hope this next phase is a success. The final two options become more and more invasive and will lead to major surgery if the tubing does not render the problem. This next procedure will be pushed back until Nathan gets home. I am in no rush to do that whole crack of dawn drive down to San Diego thing again. Although I am sure Corinne will do just fine with going under again, I am not so sure how Daddy will do. He tends to be a big wimp when it comes to the kiddos and shots and medical procedures.

















In the midst of the heat, our "Little Guy" passed away. It was probably not so much the heat, but more my lack of feeding him. Oh well, he is in a better place now---a little place called my trash can. On a side note, I have remembered to refill my hummingbird feeder. We have about 3 that frequent our patio. The kids love it, just like my mom had said and we have not had any problems with ants. I have tried to capture a picture, but since I don't work for National Geographic or Planet Earth, my attempts have been super unsuccessful.





















Corinne put on a fashion show for us one day with her new dress-up stuff from Aunt Terri and Uncle Chris.






















On Friday we hit up the duck pond and park. Terri told me she now knows why I am a nervous wreck feeding the ducks because Lincoln slowly but surely inches closer and closer to the water's edge.























Corinne was content watching from the comfort of her stroller.






















Then the kids got in some playtime at the park.





















Corinne was insistent to climb the wall, but Lincoln reminded her "you are not big enough to do that!"





















Lincoln and Aunt Terri got in a quick game of hopscotch.





















The kids gave Terri a good workout on the swings.















Despite Corinne's carsick tendencies, she seems to really love a good swing ride.

Before we left I told Lincoln to grab Sissy for one last trip down the slide. Here he is man-handling her into position.

With a little help from Aunt Terri they got down okay.



















On Saturday we said our goodbyes.





















It's official--the kids are "hooked" on Aunt Terri. We hope to see her and Uncle Chris again soon. We all had such a great time and I am super thankful for the extra help with the munchkins. It was also nice to have a visitor to keep us busy during some of our last few weeks of "going it alone".
















On Sunday we headed to church, but the day was filled with a few meltdowns. I have come to
expect these kind of days after we tell a visitor goodbye. The kids typically go into "withdrawl" mode. Here they are trying to fit too many kids in a car.



















QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Quote 1: Referencing his guitar t-shirt.
Lincoln: "Look a guitar."
Me: "Yes, it says 'My Mom Rocks!'"
Lincoln: "Oh, You can't rock. Only Dada can rock and play the guitar. Not you."
Me: Realizing he is refering to our Rock Band sessions, "I can play the guitar."
Lincoln: "No you play the drums while Uncle nad I play the guitar with Dada."
Me: "Actually I can't play the drums, they are too hard."
Lincoln: "Okay, I'll play the drums with Dada and Uncle. You play the guitar."

Quote 2: After our trip to the aquarium.
Lincoln: "Sometimes fish can bite our fingers off."

Quote 3: Randomly.
Lincoln: "Daddy and Uncle can take me fishing. I think Uncle can do it. He is a good fishing guy."

Quote 4: After having to leave a fancy Italian restaurant, upon noticing the cloth table clothes and lack of a kid menu, that Terri's iphone labeled as "kid friendly". Corinne freaked out wondering why we sat down to eat and then left without filling our bellies.
Lincoln: "Oh don't worry Sissy. It's okay. Don't be sad. We are going to another place to eat. That place didn't have pizza. Don't worry, we will get some food. Mommy is going to find another place."
Me and Terri: "Oh Lincoln that is so nice."
Lincoln: "That is nice to say to Sissy. Just like Mamom says nice things to me when I am sad."
This kid just melts my heart sometimes.

Quote 5: At prayer time after talking about our trip to the airport the next day.
Lincoln: "I don't want Aunt Terri to leave. I want her to stay here."
Me: "She has to go home and take care of Uncle Chris and her puppy dogs."
Lincoln: "I want her to be my friend forever."
Me: "I promise she will be your Aunt and your friend forever."
Lincoln: "Okay."

Week 27

Talk about a busy week! The beach, a yummy play date, a reunion brief, picking up Aunt Terri from the airport, the pool, and the aquarium! Not to mention two VIPs made their first appearances into the world: Madelyn Ann (my cousin's first kiddo) arrived on Wednesday and Weston Gene (my friend Amber's second addition) arrived on Friday! A huge congrats to both families! Time is ticking and Nathan will be home soon, good thing we are staying super busy to keep me from watching the clock--or more like the calendar.

On Monday we were headed to the beach and as I pulled out of the driveway I noticed Nathan's truck window was down. At first I thought someone had broken in, but there was no glass and nothing was missing. Then I tried to roll it up and discovered that it was broken. I thought--great now what??? While the kids waited in the car I discovered that his truck can in fact fit into the garage, but just barely. It required some slight rearranging and I had to remove the hitch off the back. It is 1/8 inch from touching the wall, but it fit, so we were good to go until I could call Ford and get an appointment. Of course this stuff happens just weeks before Nathan is due home. Then we were off to the beach with the Dodds. It was pretty overcast, but the kids had a great time playing. Aiden was so sweet entertaining Corinne.















There was a nice big hole for them to play in and Corinne and Riley enjoyed some sand sliding with the help of the boys.
















Lincoln and Colin got to work on a sandcastle.
















And Corinne developed her first crush. She followed Aiden around like a little puppy dog. He was so good with her and helped entertain her all afternoon.

















Unfortunately sand got everywhere! Corinne insisted on sharing this lovely sand covered cookie with me.





















All the kids played really well together and it made for a nice, relaxing day.

















Lincoln decided to make me a sand birthday cake---yummy!















But then he found the chips and took a real snack break.






















After a quick nap in the car my two rugrats were refueled for some wrestling time. I love it when they play like this. Corinne gets some serious joy out of tickling her brother.

















And although this shot is a bit blurry, you are seeing what you think you are. That is Linc chewing on Corinne's foot, while she cackles uncontrollably.















On Tuesday we headed out to Mabel and Luke's house for a play date. Their mom Jen is a FANTASTIC baker, who has a real gift for making cupcakes. The kids had a great time playing and it was nice to get some adult talk time in for a change. She made the most scrumptious chocolate cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting (talk about yummy!) and had the kids sing happy birthday to me. Now Corinne can sing it too and it is just about the cutest thing ever!She also gave me a copy of her favorite cupcake book--there are so many delicious recipes to choose from that I don't know where to start.














My kids like the frosting the most! I liked the whole thing. Trips over the Jen's house could prove to be dangerous for my waistline.
















On Wednesday we ran some errands and went to swimming lessons since we would be headed to pick up Aunt Terri on Thursday. Lincoln's sandal broke while we were on our way out of the door. It should have been my first clue that today was going to be a disaster. Linc wasn't the best listener during class and spent most of the time getting lectured for not waiting for his turn and not keeping his hand on the wall. Hopefully next week will go much better. We headed straight to the mall in search of new sandals and were successful only in finding flip flops that I later learned he can't run it without the back strap sliding off. On Wednesday night we headed down to base for a reunion brief. Since free childcare was provided I brought the kids and Lincoln was really looking forward to playing with some new friends. Unfortunately upon arriving Corinne puked in the car seat and we had to make a made dash into the Exchange. I have finally figured out that she can't handle the winding road on the Naval Weapons Station unless she is sleeping. So we scored another two outfits for $5 and got her cleaned up. Unfortunately they were the only two kids there so it was a bit of a let down for Lincoln. I did learn some new information--like that men only hear 70% of what we say. After the meeting we headed out to a stinky car. I got the kids home and in bed then had to tackle taking apart the car seat and getting everything washed so we could head to Orange County in the morning.

Everything was running mostly smoothly that morning and I got the car seat in place. I armed myself with an extra set of clothes for Corinne and some Clorox wipes in case her carsickness decided to strike again. What I wasn't prepared for was for Lincoln to get sick. Suddenly he started coughing and the next thing I know I am stuck in heavy, fast moving traffic on the 91 Freeway with Lincoln vomiting bright red fruit punch all over my car. It was awful and he was such a champ, not complaining a bit, jut holding his hands in the air because they were covered from with puke and he didn't want to touch anything. I relentlessly handed him baby wipes to wipe himself up while I tried to get to the airport on time and avoid having an accident. After we picked up Aunt Terri I stripped him down and sent her into Target for more baby wipes, some new clothes, and Fabreeze! Looks like both car seats were going to get washed this week. Aunt Terri figured out that it was probably an allergy to the red dye in the fruit punch. So Linc has now been banned from the red "Mommy Drink". After stopping at Subway and filling up his belly before the ride home, he was much better, but still slightly stinky.

After a shower the kids showered Aunt Terri with some kisses.

















Then Lincoln talked her into making cupcakes for me for my birthday. They were red velvet (luckily not a lot of red dye) and delicious.
















On Friday Terri watched the kids so I could get my hair done and treated me to a pedicure! Thanks Chris and Terri! While I was gone they played out back and had some fun in the sun. Lincoln took over the hose.













Corinne worked her charm.













And then did some relaxing poolside.













Then they got to work on a construction project.












I came home to two sleeping kiddos and this little guy in my tub. Terri helped me get him back outside, but Nathan later reminded me that next time I should throw him in the garage to chow down on my growing spider population.
















Lincoln found his birthday present early and has been practicing his letters with Aunt Terri on his new V-Tech Buzz Lightyear.















On Saturday we dropped the truck off and I combed the house for the extended warranty we bought years ago in Texas with no luck. I am still looking, but am starting to give up hope. But we headed to the pool to beat the heat and the kids had a great time splashing around.

Sunday morning we decided to skip church and finally make it to the Birch Aquarium down in La Jolla. Nathan isn't a huge zoo/fish person, so we thought this would be a nice trip to get out of the way before Daddy gets home.





















There were no real whales there, but the kid sure enjoyed these fountains.
















Lincoln was really amazed at all the fish.
















He really liked this jellyfish too.




















The aquarium was kind of on the small side, but had some great exhibits.
















It was the perfect size to keep his attention just long enough before getting bored.





















The kelp garden was the biggest tank with the coolest view.





















Then we headed outside to check out the scenery and a tide pool.

















It was a beautiful day to be down by the water.
















Corinne was a little unsure of this fake spiney lobster.
















But she loved the octopus. She can say "octopus" now too.





















With the help of Aunt Terri Lincoln got to touch a starfish and sea cucumber.





















It made her a little nervous that he might dive in all the way, but he left the exhibt dry.





















Corinne got a little playtime in with a fish puppet.
















And even stole a kiss.















Lincoln and I got inside the jaws of a great white!















And we wrapped up our vist with a lesson about wate flow.

















QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Quote 1: While cleaning up after the beach.
Lincoln: "You are not my Mama--you are my pretty Mamom!"
Me: "Oh thank you, thank you!"

Quote 2: At the aquarium looking at the leopard sharks.
Lincoln: "Eat that fish shark. Eat it! Eat that fish!"
Next time we will have to plan our trip around the feeding schedule!

Quote 3: After sneaking into Aunt Terri's bag and spotting a V-Tech Buzz.
Lincoln: "Oh look a present for me!"