Sleepover!

The weekend of Oct. 15th we drove to Doug & Morgan’s house after picking Dellaina up from school – it took over 2 hours, but not the over 3 it had taken us the weekend before! We got them changed into their costumes! And they went off to Morgan’s school for the Halloween Carnival! I headed over to G&G’s house, went for my run, had full-fledge conversation without interruption and lots of quiet! (ok, this is a lot of !!! I’ll try to reel it in a bit) We went out to eat at CFA. I checked in at 8:20 and they were strapping the kids in getting ready to go eat dinner! They had by-passed eating beforehand and just grabbed a few things at the carnival and had a big time – Wyatt jumped and jumped and jumped and Dellaina went around with Morgan and played games. They went to CFA, too! Good thing we had left and didn’t run into them; the kids didn’t know I was sticking in town for the night. Then, I got a text a little after 9 that they were finishing up icee pops and starting bath! It was well after 10 before I got confirmation that they were going to bed. I know they were having a wonderful experience and conked out. I had been a little concerned about how Wyatt would do overnight, so was really glad it went so well!

I had planned to head back home, but Greg had said not to rush because he needed to go to work for most of the day. So, I got up and went with Granny to the OC Fall Festival. We walked around and had a big time, but didn’t hear from D&M until 10:45! We were getting ready to do a drive by of their house! They had had a wonderful morning: got up a little before 8:00, made waffles, ate well, played music, sang “Wyatt Row” and watched cartoons. They were getting ready to head to Harris Shoals park. Pics from Doug’s phone:

Anita, John & Grant were also in town, and they ended up meeting up for lunch at a pizza place that the kids really enjoyed. They got back for naps by 2:00. Apparently Wyatt put up more of a fight than Dellaina, but eventually fell asleep and got in a good nap. Granny & I ran around doing some errands, visiting Andrea, eating lunch outside at Zaxby’s, running to Pier 1 and Bed, Bath & Beyond looking for wall art for their newly painted dining room (They removed the busy wallpaper and suddenly the walls seem bigger and more bare!) We went back and picked up Andrea when she got off work at 3:00 and went back to walk around the Fall Festival. We got a funnel cake and some cool name art for Andrea. I went for my run and showered and got to see Granpa, but decided to not go to dinner and instead to get on the road to stick with the original plan somewhat. They met up with D&M at Cracker Barrel and had a good dinner and made the exchange. They got back before I had made it home! It was good to get home and read a little bit and have a good night’s sleep.

Sunday morning, Greg got up and drove to G&G’s to visit for the day and bring the kiddos back home while I went to my study session and then ran. (and snuck in a nap before they got back!) It was a lot of fun to get to spend some time with Granny like the old days where we could just run around freely and talk freely. And to know that the kids were having an awesome time, too!

Weekly Wednesdays

Wyatt stays home with me on Wednesday and Friday and we call it “Mama and Wyatt Day” and try to do something fun at some point during the day. For about a month, when we pick up Dellaina, we’ve been going over to the newly renovated Duck (DuPree) Park and playing and feeding the ducks before going to Wyatt’s gymnastics class. It’s been so gorgeous outside and is just the right filler for them amount of time we have.

		Duck Park VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

  (whoa, new photo album layout!)

We even had a playdate and ate pizza one Thursday night with Cassi and Dawn. Eric brought pizza on his way home from work. I had picked up Dellaina from school and gone to get her Halloween nurse costume that she wanted and we found a Batman mask for Wyatt’s costume. He didn’t take it off for days.

		Playdate and Dinner at the Park VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

Wyatt has been getting more and more comfortable at gymnastics (read: not listening and running around!) and last week even Ms. Helen wouldn’t give them stamps on their hands because she was trying to make a point that they were misbehaving. We’ve tried making a big deal out of it, but I was getting worried that after his party, if it was still a battle every week, we might have to stop. (whoa, the faces are new!) but, this past week, he did pretty well and they got stamps at the end and we all made a really big deal out of it and praised him. . so I’m hopeful.

Super [hero] [re] Model

(What’s that category in Wheel of Fortune where the phrases run together? Thanks to Google: Before & After. This title doesn’t fit perfectly, but that’s what I was thinking about, sort of)

Dellaina has been a little obsessed with jewelry of late. And also, they expect to get something EVERY.SINGLE.TIME we enter a store. I mean, anywhere, even in the 25 cent machines, they are asking for something. *sigh. But, anyway, I am excited about a Christmas or birthday gift I found for her at Kohl’s, because I think she’ll love it. But she was disappointed I wouldn’t get her a ring that was way too big for her finger and expensive while we were in the store the other day. On the way home I told her we’d come home and get out her purses and rings and count how many rings she had and I bet she’d be able to have one on each finger. Sure enough, she came home and counted 15 rings, so 2 for each finger, just about! And she was happy to play with them for a while. Most are little plastic ones that have come as party favors, but they are still satisfactory for her (she’s even worn several to school on different days) when she just remembers what she has already!

 

 

Wednesday, after picking up Dellaina, we headed over to what we call the “duck park” to play before Wyatt’s gymnastics class. We had an really old box of regular (not Honey Nut!) Cheerios that no one would eat, so I decided it would be good duck food! They’ve been doing construction for a while, but we were shocked to find the playground moved (out of the shade, unfortunately) across the street and looking brand new and improved! And then once we got inside, we realized, it kept going down several more levels; connected by slides! It was a pretty cool layout. However, there are 3 major aspects that I wish they’d consulted some actual parents when designing it:

(1) SHADE! We would often come to this particular park, because it was in the shade. In addition to the kids getting hot playing in the full sun, that playground equipment really gets hot! #fail

(2) It’s not fully enclosed with a gate. The opening does wrap around a little bit, but is still just open. And with the playgound being so large and expansive now, with multiple levels, parents of younger, wandering kids will have issues! #anotherfail

(3) They are building it up like a Pirate ship, which is really cool, but the bow of the boat is built up, with steps at one end (encouraging climbing!) and then points out over the fence into. . the abyss! Beyond the fence and is pretty high. Thankfully, it was too high that my kids didn’t want to climb the last level, but just seems too inviting for trouble. #really?

But, it’s still pretty cool. Just disappointing that so much was put into it and it’s nice and new to have so many issues that parents could have informed of, had they been consulted.

Dellaina was really into posing for me and kept saying, “wanna take my picture like this? what about this?” I’m loving the elbow point and the reverse “stop” she told me that it came from a TV commercial and I knew which one she meant. It’s a safety announcement on PBS where the little girl is teaching about not talking to strangers and she does do this odd jump, “stop” move. It was amusing. And, indeed the ducks seemed STARVED (perhaps all of the construction has kept away the regular feeders?) and did enjoy a nearly full large box of regular Cheerios.

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Last night while Greg was brushing Dellaina’s teeth, she informed him that she was supposed to make something for her head to wear the next day, but she observed, “it’s probably too late.” um, yes, dear, we’ve had all afternoon at home, but now it’s bedtime. She told me about it as I was tucking her in and I said I hadn’t gotten a note about it in her folder, but she insisted Ms. Keren said to wear something on your head, like a basket or flowers, but it couldn’t be a hat. Okaaaaay. I assured her, if we had time in the morning, we’d try to make a quick headband with flowers on it. Sure enough, Wyatt woke us up early enough this morning that we had time. In fact, we had time to make Wyatt a headband as well, complete with Super Hero symbols. He wore it most of the day while we were out and about, too. We played outside this afternoon when we got home in them as well and, in fact, they are both still wearing while next door playing and eating! I didn’t get a chance to ask Ms. Keren for any details (they’ve been studying Johnny Appleseed and Apples this week, so I just don’t know) but maybe will get the full story on Monday, if I remember to ask. Dellaina did comment that not many others wore anything on their head today. hmm, don’t think I’m surprised.

 

 

 

(hmm, who’s NOT a morning person. It’s me! It’s Me! maybe I’ll have a little more sympathy when asking them to smile at me every morning. nah, probably not, they are just too cute and SOME WAKE UP WITH BUSHELS OF ENERGY!)