Goodnight

I have so much to post but it is 8:30 and Keith is begging me to go to bed. We have had a very busy weekend, a new pet, and I have more pictures from Papa and Curly's visit. But I am tired, so I am off. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep as peaceful as Elise sleeps.

Does this count as homemade?

This picture does not do this pie justice. This was the birthday cake the kids and I made for Keith who just celebrated his ##th birthday. I want to thank my Mom for introducing this cake to our family back in the 80's. The Baskin-Robbins Fudge Nut. I want to thank my sister, Megan for figuring out what this was called because most Baskin-Robbins have no idea that this is an option on their menu unless you order it by name and even then the odds aren't good. A few years ago I bought the real thing for Keith's birthday. It was $46 bucks! (Shh...don't tell Keith that.) This year I figured I could make it myself. I made it for only 8 bucks and I was much more generous with the cookie crust and the fudge on top. I wasn't sure if I could really count this as homemade since I basically obliterated a package of oreos and then dumped some softened ice cream on top followed by fudge, cream and nuts. This pie was the birthday cake of choice for most of us in our family. I always enjoyed it on my dad's birthday - I think the tradition started with him because he is not a fan of cake. Then my siblings started to request it for their birthdays. But for me...I always insisted on a traditional birthday bakery cake. Not a fancy bakery...I preferred the grocery store variety with the butter cream frosting. The frosting that most adults find too sweet. Mm mm...I have a weakness for butter cream. Especially white on a chocolate cake. I am not very sophisticated. But after making this beauty - I may have finally outgrown the bakery cakes.

My almost 5 year old

Today while driving Sam to preschool I was preoccupied. The car was quiet and warm. Elise was sleeping in her car seat. I had thoughts of family on my mind and was in a zone. Then I hear a giggle from the back seat. Followed by another little snicker. "Are you laughing back there?" I asked. Sam giggled again and said yes. "What's so funny?"
"Mommy, I can see that we are in a ball. The world is a ball. I can see the sky over there and above us and then over there. I can see the ball! We are in the ball." More happy laughter. He always giggles when he learns something or finally 'gets' something.

"I think we are on the ball, Sam." I tried to correct him.

"No, Mommy. We are in the ball. Because the sky is around us and the clouds are too and the light and then there is space. So we are in the ball."

My almost 5 year old is telling me he can see the earth is round and is grasping the concept of our atmosphere. I know I was not thinking like this at almost 5. He blew me away.

Papa and Curly are here

Papa and Curly arrived a few days ago. They came to celebrate Keith's birthday, Mother's day and to make up for the Easter visit that never was. The kids are in heaven! I will post more from their visit later. Now I need to take a shower while Papa and Curly have the kids at the park. Oh, how I wish they lived close by!

Boring

Elise wanted to look at some pictures on the wall the other day. As we were going through she would name who she saw in each photo. We came to one of her when she was a baby and she wasn't sure who it was. I said, "That is you! When you were a baby." "Oh," she replied, "When I was boring?" (I think she was looking for the word born, but she insists it was when she was boring.) Again today, she said, "I will be boring again...on my birthday!"

Daddy's hair

Whitney was brushing Elise's hair the other day. She asked her if Daddy had done her hair in the morning. Elise's response was something like, "No! If daddy did my hair, I wouldn't have any hair!" I think she thought it meant that daddy would style her hair like his - something like this...

I love my guys

Morning Run

This is our friend Becca. Isn't she pretty? She and her husband Sean were here recently for a visit and for a coastal half marathon.

The logistics of the run were sounding difficult so we volunteered to get up early and drop them off at the start of the race and continue on to meet them at the end of the race. When I say early, I mean 5 AM! I thought it would be a little adventure for us to all get up and walk around the coast at dawn. Something we never see. When I say we, I mean Me. Keith wakes up early all the time. Me...not so much. I am not much of a morning person but I wanted to try.

See how pretty the flowers look early in the morning?

And look, there are still water droplets on the leaves...

And there is the sun, creating a religious experience behind the church. In the early morning you can take pictures of the ocean without the sun glaring back at you.

And you can catch the seals napping peacefully in the cove.

Awww...who am I kidding? Is it really worth it? Getting up early I mean. These seals stink. I mean, really stink. Did I mention they are the subject of a big controversy around here? And the flowers, I can take pictures of flowers anytime. Same with the beach...it always looks good. Who cares if there is water on leaves... Am I really missing that much if I sleep in? I really LOVE the idea of being a morning person...but I also really love my bed. My best hours of sleep are usually between 5 and 8, if my kids will let me sleep that late. I don't want to give that up. But my days are numbered. When Sam starts Kindergarten...we have to be up and out of the house by 7:40AM. I need to train myself to be a morning person soon, real soon.

Elise isn't really a morning person either but at least she still manages to look cute. The boys in our house are early risers and the girls...we are night owls.

But we somehow managed to get up this beautiful morning to watch our friends run. Next year I plan to sign up for the 5k with Becca. I like to torture myself.

Sean ran the half marathon. I wish I enjoyed running. Sean truly enjoys a good run. I admire that. It is a very foreign concept for me.

Elise truly enjoys food and drink so she was very excited when Sean handed her TWO drinks from the booths at the end of the run.

Red Eared Slider

We have a new pet. I think. Whitney, our favorite babysitter, found a turtle while walking with the kids to the park. The turtle was just sitting on the sidewalk. Strange, because this turtle is almost fully aquatic and there is not a natural body of water nearby. I have a feeling he may be an escape artist from a neighbor's pond. I will be watching for Lost Turtle signs. In the meantime, he is living in our little waterfall. He looks really happy. I just don't know if we have the right setting for him long term. I know nothing about turtles. Except that they can spread Salmonella. We are washing our hands. The kids won't touch him. Anyone out there that can shed some light on how to take care of him?

He went to town on a piece of chicken tonight. At first we offered him lettuce and carrots. Little did we know he is a carnivore. He was much happier with the chicken.

He is called a red eared slider. See the red stripes on his head? That is how I identified him in 4 steps or less. I am finding myself back on those herps sites and doing a lot of research to figure out what to do with this little reptile. For now, the kids are so excited to have a pet. They never thought the day would come. Sam told Keith not to worry because, "we will just keep him outside and he won't have to come in the house and make it dirty." Sam named him Cryptoclydus. I really hope we don't kill him with our ignorance of turtles. Wish us, or him, luck. (Yes, I think I have confirmed that it is a male. He has long claws on his front feet. Apparently long claws on front feet=male?)

Relaxing - Resort style

Holy Moly, I am lucky. Lucky that I found an amazing deal at a really nice resort. Lucky to have a good friend to go with. And lucky to have a husband who is willing to watch the kids all weekend so that I can go relax at a resort with a good girlfriend. It was so nice. I was super lazy and I loved it. I was even too lazy to take pictures. Just a few. Here is one of the view from the room.

Here is my girlfriend, Danielle, who was nice and flew down this way so I didn't have to fly. I HATE flying. It is like a near death experience for me. So when she mentioned she could fly down this way I quickly agreed that would be a great idea.

This was my bed. See what Mom's do when their kids aren't around?

We ate chips we never let our kids eat. I chose Cheetos. Danielle had pringles. We had cake. We read books and gossip magazines. We did a little shopping. Ate out a few times. And, we slept in!! It was awesome.

Our last morning, we ate breakfast at the resort. This was our view from the table.
It was a lovely weekend. Hope we can do it again next year!!