May/June stuff

Ok, long break and now some random updates:


We went to the beach in early May with our small group from church. We rented a beach house with 5 rooms, and there were 10 adults and 8 kids, ages 4, 3, 2, 1, 6 months, and 3 weeks. It actually went really well. Addison could not get enough of the beach, even though it was a little bit chilly. She wanted to play in the waves all day, and liked hunting crabs at night. Ryan, however, hated the beach. He would cry mostly the whole time, and was afraid of the water rushing up the shore. He would cry and run whenever it came up to him. Even after 3 days, he was scared. He also fell a lot and has a little scar by his eye where he scratched it deeply. The adults had a blast – lots of good cooking and margaritas! We will have to get down to the beach again soon, because Addison loved it. She would wake up each morning and say, "beach?"



Our crew on the beach


Vroom vroom (not pictured: Baby MacKenzie being nursed)



Addie in the muck




In Daddy's shoes



Some of the kids eating



Ryan in the sand

For Mother’s Day, I got a present from Addison. She made it with the teachers in her Bible study class, and when they handed it to me, I burst into tears! I had to have the ladies hold Ryan because I was so happy/upset/emotional. I hugged Addie so hard.

We have a garden this year, finally, with squash, zucchini, bell peppers, cantaloupe, and green beans growing. We’ll see how much comes up – I probably need to get some fertilizer for everything.

We start swimming lessons today. Addie was pretty apprehensive about it, but she ended up doing great. She still remembers her swimming lessons from last year, and for the past 12 months has told me how she doesn’t want to take lessons and doesn’t want to see her coaches and doesn’t want to put her face in the water. She was 1 of only 2 kids who weren’t crying today, and after lessons we played and she dove under the water and swam like a fish. I was so proud of her. I could tell she wasn’t really comfortable with the coaches yet (they are great), but she was brave and tried hard to do what they asked. Ryan had a good time being pushed around in the pool and jumping off the side to me. I think he will move along more quickly than Addie just because he can’t stand not being able to do what she does. He walked all along the bottom of the pool and I had to keep pulling him back as he would get deeper – the water would nearly cover his face as he tried to follow Addison.

Ryan can say lots of words now – he says some words better than Addie ,but some a lot worse! He mimics almost every word now instead of just staring at me. My favorite is when I said, "Aw, nuts!" and he said, "Aw, NUT!" And he says "muss" for mouse, which is really cute. He loves to be read to and brings you books all the time. And he is making some two word sentences, finally, like "Dada shoes", "Milk please," "Bye bye, Mama!", etc. He still adores Dora and Diego, and recognized the Diego animal rescue center logo even though there was no picture of Diego on it. Also, at Chick Fil A one day, he saw the PBS kids logo on the toy in the kids meal, and said, "DDS Deets!!" which is clearly "PBS Kids". I was shocked! He sings the theme songs to Dora and Diego, and can sing ABCs too (well, not clearly, but he tries). And Old McDonald is still a favorite. Oh, and he has a fascination with the potty. He will say Poo Poo and Potty, then go open and close the lid a million times. I actually sat him on the little potty with no diaper on and he just looked at me like I was crazy, then got up and ran away.


Ryan wearing my hat and being silly


Mr. Potato Ears

He and Addison go back and forth constantly between playing nicely and fighting. It has helped some when I tell her to show Ryan how to play WITH her – show him how to put the animals, or set the blocks, etc. She has a little more patience for him, and he’ll often listen to her. But sometimes she tries very nicely to play with him and he’ll just knock over her stuff, or run away with a toy or whatever, which is frustrating for her. But she also likes to laugh at him when he’s being silly, and she likes to teach him new words. He loves any attention, of course.

We have been to the zoo several times already this summer and are going again later this week. Both kids really like it, and Ryan is so much more fun this year – he can see the animals and get excited, and he can run around and play in the water. He loves to crawl in the prairie dog tunnels, and adores brushing the goats. The giraffes are his favorite though. For some reason, he calls them "Bap". Don’t know where that came from. We are looking forward to going with my niece Camryn too when she moves down to Dallas this summer. Addison talks about Cammie every single day, without fail.


At the zoo on the seal



Addie in the nest hatching an egg



Ryan brushing the goat

We got a big backyard waterslide extravaganza thingy for the kids (and their friends). The kids LOVE it. The only drawback is that Ryan can't quite make it up the side by himself because his legs aren't long enough, but I think within a month or so he'll be able to get up there.


Waterslide!!

Daddy being silly

He loves it

We’ve been pet-sitting our nephew’s 2 gerbils, and they have been quite a hit. Addie calls them the "germals" and she and Ryan have spent a lot of time standing on the chair looking into their cage, commenting on their every move – "Mama, the germals are moving! The white one is out! The black one is not out! The white one is sleeping! So is the black one! Now the black one is moving a foot!" Casey was interested in chomping the gerbils, so we didn’t get them out much. They are going home today, and Addie is going to be very sad. Every morning and nap, she’s woken up saying, "Are the germals still here?"

Here is a conversation we had, before the germals came.

"Mommy, I want lots of pets. Lots of REAL pets. Like Casey. "

"Well, honey, pets take a lot of work and time and money. We have to buy food for them, and take them to the doctor, and spend time taking care of them. In fact, we don’t walk with Casey enough.. She needs exercise."
(Then, with me thinking about getting her a pet for her 4th birthday – maybe a hamster, but a fish would be less commitment and cheaper ) I said, "Addie what about getting a pet fish when you are older? For your 4th birthday? You would have to help take care of it – feed it, and wash out its fish bowl…."

–interrupted by "Mama. Where would the fish live while we wash out his bowl?"

" In a cup."

" But he wouldn’t have room to swim around"

"Well, he wouldn’t be in there for very long, just for awhile."

Pause.

"Wouldn’t it be silly if the fish jumped into the spaghetti sauce?"

and then…

"I want the fish to live in my room. And I could bring him down to watch a show with me."

Then I tried to tell her that she would have to show us that she could take care of a fish. I started to tell her she could show that by picking up toys, taking care of her books, etc, but she immediately stood up tall and said, "Mama, I will show you I can do it. I will feed it every day, and then I will wash out his bowl and talk to him and stuff." She was trying to show me that she knew how to take care of it!

Then she said, "Mama, I want Baby to have a fish, and I will have a little mouse, and the fish will keep Baby quiet." ??????
　
-Addie has a singing dog that sings "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch", but when she sings the song, she says, "Sugar Pie, Honey Pot." It sounds really funny. She tries hard to learn songs now, and likes to hear them over and over. Right now she really likes Shiloh by Neil Diamond. "You Belong with Me", "867-5309", "Time After Time", and "Need you Now" are some of her favorites on the radio.

-When we play hide and seek, we make a show of loudly looking for Addison, which usually makes her laugh and then call out where she is. Last time when I was counting, she called out, "Mama, go look in the places where I’m not!"

Addison : "Mom, I want to watch a lot of shows." Me: "No honey, you don't need to watch a lot of TV....(stalling for a reason)...it'll make your brain rot." (knowing she has no idea what brain or rot means). "Mama, it's ok if my brain rots. It will be fantastic!"
　
Addie is still terrified of the Chick Fil A cow. She screamed and cried when he came around to see her. Now when she says she wants to go to Chick Fil A, she clarifies it by saying, "But not the one where the cow is. When I am so much bigger and older then I will want to see the cow."

At a friend's birthday party,all the kids were talking about how old they were. Addie started to say something, then looked up at me and said, "Mama, what old am I?"

Addie putting her bunny under the microscope at the vet clinic at the museum.