Is this normal?

That our 14 month old can curl her tongue? Usually when she is whining at me. The funny thing is, is that Donovan can't curl his tongue yet. So it makes me wonder, will he ever be able to?

This is "Cheeeeeese" face which she is saying now!

Busted

Back on June 15th I was at work and I get a text from Tom's mom that said "Donovan just called me "stupid  grammy" yikes."

I was appalled. I could not believe he said that. We try not to say that word for the very reason that we do not want him to pick that up in his vocabulary. I was ready to blame it on his preschool and some of the other kids teaching him that word I was so sure it wasn't us. So I replied that I had never heard him say that and Tom replied that he had heard him say that the previous night to the dog. We told Linda to put him in time out and tell him we don't say that word. I also asked her what prompted him to say that and she did not respond. For a while. Then almost an hour and a half later she writes this:

"Not sure why. I was pushing the stroller and helping to push his bike. I don't know if I pushed it too hard or too slow. Then he says "stupid Grammie" so I tell him that is not nice to say and we don't use that word. He says, "Uh huh. Mommy called the car in front of us that cause it was going too slow. Mommy said it after she picked me up from school." So I just explained to him we don't say it and never to people. He said he was sorry."

Whoops. Busted. What do you say to that? Turns out I had been using that word and apparently a little to liberally.

So that night we go to dinner and a car pulls in front of us like an idiot. Tom and I both start to complain about it and catch ourselves and Donovan tells us (because he knows where we are going) "We don't say stupid." I tell him he is right and we don't use that word and it is not a nice word. And he says to me, "Yeah, because if you say it I have to sit you down and tell you we don't say that word." Touche Donovan, Touche.

And luckily, to my knowledge, he has never said it again since that day.

Vacation days 4-6

Sunday we got an early start for Silver Dollar City and it was awesome! The traffic was a fraction of what it was on Friday, and we got great parking, barely had to wait for the shuttle, and got right in the park around 9am. We ate breakfast at Molly's Mill restaurant and decided that will be the new routine for any day we go to SDC in the future. The whole day was awesome! We all felt much less rushed and got to ride on several different rides we did not make it to on Friday. We even got some shopping in! Reese had a better attitude and we actually got her to take a 45 min nap there which was amazing! It allowed us to stay there until about 2pm and the entire time she slept, Donovan was going on bigger kid rides so she wasn't missing anything. All in all a wonderful day at Silver Dollar City. That night it was more swimming back at the condo as usual.

Pictures from the day. Dono started off the day shunning his parents and preferring to ride the shuttle holding hands and snuggling up to Penelope.

The play train the kiddies loved.

This was a bridge that looked over the American Plunge, a log flume like ride with a big drop at the end that soaked all the riders. This also happened to be one of the few rides Penelope was big enough to ride and since she was loving the rides, we made sure to take her and Dono on this one. Reese thought it was great to stand and watch everyone go down the hill which worked out wonderfully for us since it took everyone a little while to organize and get on the ride.

This water feature kept her entertained and also quenched her thirst at the same time while we were waiting for brother to come down the hill. Pretty sure this was not supposed to be a drinking fountain, which is why she has had a runny nose ever since vacation started I am sure.

The picture below is the most expensive 4x6 we have ever paid for (or need to pay Kris and Lynn back for actually). It is the picture they take of everyone going down the big hill at the American Plunge. Dono and Penelope's faces are worth every penny though. Despite the picture, they both loved the ride and no tears were shed.

I remember loving "Grandpa's house" when I was a kid. This time I could not wait to get out. I felt like I might throw up the whole time. Donovan wasn't much of a fan either.

Dono cheesing with his souvenir hat from SDC.

One that daddy was voting for until he saw the price tag.

This was Tom's pride and joy. He got this belt made for himself and his alter ego, "Johnny Blackjack".

One of the other things Tom was pumped for when we decided to go to SDC was the skillet food. Here he is with his prized skillet food. A man in his happy place.

This place was a favorite of the kids. Tons of balls and lots of stuff to do with them.

Their favorite was this tube that sucked the balls up when you put them right at the end.

Random picture of Donovan acting like a plank on Sunday night at the Condo.

Monday was a bittersweet day as it was Kris and Lynn's last day. We started the morning with a quick cowboy/cowgirl photo shoot.

Then we headed off to the water park, White Water and got there right when they opened up which is the way to go next time too. We took one picture, and it was the one below.

Donovan loved the water park. Was all over the kid area that had 2 slides and then went on the big kid slides and loved that too. The big bucket that dumped water on the big kid area on occasion, he did not love. We even got him to go on the big person ride with both myself, and then later Tom. He was nervous for his first ride but loved it and squealed the whole time for the second. He could have stayed all day. Reese was tolerant at best. She went down the kid slides in the little kiddie area and really seemed to like those. When we went to the big kid slides she wanted on those two so we sent her down with a life vest because as long as they were wearing one there was no height or age limit. We sent her down on her butt, feet first, sitting forward and at the end she was laying down on her back, head first. Once was enough. She didn't like the lazy river either so the rest of the time was just us trying to kill time with her while Donovan had a blast. She did eat a good 45 min lunch so that was nice to kill time. We ended up leaving around 2 and went back to our sad, Penelope less condo.

After naps, we headed to the pool for one last swim before vacation was over. Donovan has become a very good big brother and I had to snap this picture of them holding hands. He is starting to be very protective of her. It is so sweet.

Swimming with my kiddies. The first day we swam, Donovan was still needing to hold your hands to jump in. By the last day he was running and jumping in himself, and swimming to the edge. I even got him to take the water wings off one day and practice swimming to me. I was mostly sinking doggy paddle until I grabbed him but it is a start and he was doing great at holding his breath and kicking his legs!

Monday night we got our bar-b-que fix. This is just a picture of Tom's meal.

Tuesday we packed up the car and headed out around 9. The kids to the opportunity to play in the refrigerator since we were otherwise occupied. Whatever floats your boat and keeps you quiet.

The kids did wonderful on the ride home. Reese slept for an hour 45 and was not fussy barely at all. Donovan was the absolute angel he had been all week. He played on his Ipad for 2 hours. We could not asked for better kids on the way home. If only Reese had been like that all week. Oh well, maybe next time. Overall we loved our vacation and are already talking about coming back next summer!



Vacation: Days 1-3

So last week we went on our very first Q family of 4 vacation. It was well needed. Overall I would give this vacation a B. Had Reese not been involved, it would have been an A ++++++, however the one year old in her reared her ugly head and she did her best to ruin our fun. Thankfully we still managed to have a great time and are already planning our next return trip for next year (when Reese will be 2 and hopefully no longer a fun-hater).

This was Dono on the drive down (see below picture, he was watching "Up"). We left on a Thursday right before Reese's first nap was due. She was out in 10 min and slept for 45 minutes. Both kids were really good in the car and we luckily didn't hit any traffic or problems. We used both the Ipad and the personal movie player and they both stayed happy. Half way to Branson we stopped at a McDonald's and met up with our friends Kris, Lynn and Penelope for lunch. They are our good friends who we stayed and enjoyed the week with. They are probably scarred after their time with Reese, but what are friends for, right?

We stayed in this great condo, with great location and very nice amenities. There was several pools in the complex, but we never got past the one that was super close to our house. The kids were all supposed to share a room but night number 1 started rough since all three of the kids refused any further naps on the ride into town after McDonald's. Penny ended up in her parents room which is where she stayed the rest of the week, and Dono spent one whopping night in the kids bedroom before we made the mistake of letting him nap with us on Friday, which was the only place he would sleep from that moment on. So Reesie poo had the loft all to herself. The kids did really well together in general. Penny and Donovan are officially dating at this point I think. Reese was trying to keep up though. Here is how we did every bath during vacation.

Dono and Penelope eating thier Ice popsicles. Thursday we settled in to the condo, sent the older boys for some food, and swam at the pool. I think the only day we did not swim in the pool was Saturday. It was awesome!

Friday we tried to get up early, however Reese was up screaming from 2am to 2:45, at which point I fed her and then she didn't sleep til 3:15 so we slept in a little. We got to Silver Dollar City right at 9:30, which was later than we wanted to. There was traffic, we had to wait in line for the tram, and then by the time we got in the park it was closer to 10. And it was hot! But we did the dang thing!  We started with the flooded Mine ride. A ride we could all go on regardless of age or height. The kids thought it was weird, but they obliged us. Then we were off to the kids rides! Dono talked big about the roller coasters and to our surprise was not hesitant at all to try it out! He hit the kids one right away with Tom and loved it! This was Reese watching her brother on the roller coaster. She loved watching the rides and would have loved to have been able to go on them all. Darn that height limit!

This is Dono and Daddy on the flooded Mine ride. He was pretty straight faced after the ride started so this may have been the last smile we saw.

After we watched Dono's roller coaster ride, we all went to the two kiddie rides that both Reese and Penelope could go on. All three kids loved both of the rides. There was a frog one and a bug one. I think we rode both at least 3 times before the parents protested and determined we needed to find a water ride and cool down. Reese was a bear. She screamed bloody murder and tried to run away or get out of her seat until the ride started. Then she loved it. Smiled and squealed. When the ride was over, immediate screaming. Lovely. Then Dono lost it one time for an entire ride and caused a scene. I guess we have all been there once.

The seating in the back of the bugs ride left a little to be desired for the parents. I could barely fit. I have no idea how taller or bigger people did it.

We ended up staying until about 2 that day. We rode the steam train, which Donovan was very excited about ahead of time. We also did this water ride we could all go on and we all hated every minute. The kids literally cried. The parents laughed and cursed ourselves for thinking it was a good idea but it did feel good after all was said and done. We left to try to get kids down for naps, and of course Reese took a 15 min power nap on the ride home and refused to go back down. That night we did more swimming and hung out to save our strength for Saturday, which was going to be White Water.

Saturday we woke up much happier than Friday morning, and the kids had a picnic on our screened in porch for breakfast. So cute.

Of course the day we were going to do the water park was the one day it rained and was cool. So we postponed those plans. Instead we did Outlet mall shopping in the morning, followed by lunch, naps and the trout hatchery. The trout hatchery is something I have very fond memories of from my childhood. I hoped that the kids would enjoy it as much as I did. Reese loved it, but not for the trout. She LOVED the rattle snake. Seriously. Would have stayed there for an hour if we let her. And after we took her out to the trout, I realized we should have just let her stay with the snake after all. But she was in people's way and Tom felt bad for them. Next time, I hope he thinks better and feels sorry for us. Here the kids are in front of Reese's best friend.

"Look at that dad!!!!"

"I  SAID, LOOK AT THAT! ISN'T IT AWESOME!"

Donovan really liked feeding the fish. Reese did too but she also wanted to swim with them and did not understand why we would not let her. She is suicide watch and a half.

What Reese looked like the majority of our vacation. She was a mama's girl so that was extra frustrating for all of us.

Reese trying her best to go swimming with the trout.

I wish you could see her face better. She was yelling at me for preventing her from getting in the tank the whole time.

A familiar site. She would lay down on the ground and throw a fit. Several times during the vacation I would just walk away from her and Donovan panicked!!!!! He thought I was really going to leave her for good. He would fly over to her and with a look of sheer panic, would say "No Reese!" as he yanked her up to drag her back to us. God bless him and his love for his sister. Does it reflect poorly on me though that he really thought I was going to leave her? He must have had more insight in to just how serious the situation was then I did.

Kids running near the trout tanks. One of the rare times Reese was happy.

Just sprinting.

Hey Donovan...

Me: "Hey Donovan, look at that truck. I like it, do you?"
Donovan: "Yeah, a liddle-bit. (5 second pause) But mostilly, I don't".
_____________________

This morning after getting back in the car after dropping Reese off I look back to see Donovan looking upset.
Me: "You alright buddy?"
Donovan: "My tears are watery."
Me: "Oh, your eyes are watery?" (Now realizing his eyes are watering because he had rubbed his eyes and sunscreen had gotten in them)
Donovan: "Yeah. Sometimes they water when I am still happy."
_____________________

Me: "It's so gross out here Donovan (referring to the heat)"
Donovan: "You're right mommy. It's nasty."

July 4th pics

July 4th was pretty low key due to the disgusting heat that has been lingering around here recently.  We had Tom's parents over for dinner and hanging out and that was about it! We got to see the Twin Oaks fireworks the night before from the comfort of the corner of our week. It was adorable to see Donovan enjoy the fireworks so much. All the other kids we were hanging out with were running around like crazy, ignoring the show. But Donovan sat there the whole time and would say, "That one's my favorite!" then pause 10 seconds and say, "Oh mom, that one's my favorite!". He loved them and had lots of favorites. It was a shame it was too dry for us to shoot our own fireworks off because he would have really loved to see them closer. Here are some pics from the 4th with Tom's parents.

Grammie and Dono in their festive colors.

 Reese in her red, white and blue.

 She is snuggling her tiny doggy in this picture. It is so tiny, you can barely see it.

 Dono wanted to try out his sister's headband while he was roller skating.

 "Take a really close picture of me mommy."

 Reese snuggle and reading time with Paw Paw. She is very advanced. Already doing "Where's Waldo".