Cousins

Last Wednesday, Elaine arrived back from Pennsylvania with Duncan's sister, Kristin's, two boys (aka, our kids' cousins).  Derek is ten and Tyler is nine.  We hadn't seen them in a little over a year but the girls picked right back up where we left off with them.  We saw them I think pretty much every day (they left this morning) not only because we were doing things with them but also because the girls had their swimming lessons over there which worked out well with seeing them.

The girls got to do a few activities with them and Grandpa and Grandma.  On Friday morning I dropped them off about 10 am and they all spent the day at the Brevard Zoo out in Melbourne.  For whatever reason, even though that zoo is like an hour away, we've never gone.  The word is that it is better than the one in Sanford....perhaps because it has a giraffe there named Duncan.  We went to a few yard sales on the way and then it was just Brady and I for the rest of the day.  Unlike the week before where we got a ton of stuff, this week we came up pretty empty handed although I did get a bulletin board for a $1 and Brady got a free pogo stick horse which made his day.

At the very last yard sale of the day, I pulled up and noticed a giant Barbie doll house sitting there for sale.  It was one of those really tall ones, like four feet tall, and I figured they were probably asking like $40 - $50 for it.  When I got closer, I noticed it was in mint condition and was only $15!  The girls are not that into Barbie (much more into Polly Pockets) but I knew they would have a blast with it whether playing with Barbie, Polly Pockets, or whatever.  There was no one else at the sale so I was looking at some other stuff and then out of nowhere, these two ladies suddenly appeared (on foot) and bought the dollhouse just like that.  I was so disgusted with myself!  Nothing worse then people buying stuff right from under you.  I've had that happen a few times now.

Enjoying the zoo.

This is similar to the one for sale.  A new one sells for $115 on Amazon!  Major bummer.

Later in the day, when Duncan got home, he worked on the playground and Brady and I made the trip over to Grandma and Grandpa's to pick up the girls with stops at Publix, Walgreen's, and Costco..He and I both got a slice of pizza there for supper and I must say it was a lovely time with just the two of us.  I do so enjoy that boy.

Saturday night we had the Isidros over for supper to celebrate the completion of the playground.  It was finally finished!  We told Allen we had a little bit of an ulterior motive to inviting them over because Duncan had him go with him to Lowe's to pick up a load of mulch.  Meanwhile, back at home, the kids all played outside until probably 9:30 and only came in because the bugs came out.

In all its glory!

Mulch

We couldn't believe how well this picture came out.  Every kid was looking at the camera.  That happens like one out of every one thousand pictures.

Sunday morning was a baby shower for me.  Seeing as this is my fourth kid and second boy, there really isn't much I needed and I didn't want to have some big shower or anything.  Jennifer and Tangie still wanted to do something, though, so Jennifer had a small group over her house for breakfast which the two of them had made.  It was SO good!  Afterwards, some of us went to a nail place to have a pedicure and manicure (just me).  Yes, I'm 37 and have never had a pedicure.  Frankly, I don't like my toenails and haven't wanted someone having to deal with them (not that that they are terribly hideous or anything) but I decided to just go for it.  Everything seemed to work out fine and who knows, someday I may get another one.  My last stop was a spa where I got an hour facial and an hour massage.  Can you say heavenly??  The only thing that was a little strange was that I had a male give me the massage.  Not that I have many massages or anything but I've always had a woman.  He did a great job but I would say you are a little more aware of what is going on (How far is he going to go down there?  Is that sheet slipping off?) then if it's just a woman doing it and you can turn your brain off.  Nonetheless, it was so nice to just lie there and do nothing.    

I had told Duncan that since I was going to be busy with all this stuff until at least the mid-afternoon, I would like to just take the rest of the day to myself....figuring this was my last shot for a good long while.  Once you have a nursing baby, gone are the days of disappearing for 10 or 12 hours.  The only problem with my disappearance was that Duncan wanted to finish getting the mulch for the playground.  He ended up having to do a Lowe's run early Sunday morning so he would be back with the truck in time for me to leave for the shower.  It was a little hectic.  Later in the morning, he drove out to the beach with the kids to meet up with Ron, Elaine, and the boys.  They went to Jetty Park Beach near Cape Canaveral.  He had never been there before so he didn't realize there was a $10 parking fee.  Unfortunately he had no cash or debit card (he had left it at a restaurant in Kansas City and had to cancel it and the new one hadn't come yet) and they didn't take American Express so he was in a bit of a bind.  Thankfully his parents where already there so he called his mom who trekked back out to him to give him $10.  Crisis averted.  It was a beautiful day at the beach.  Duncan did report that Aubree did not go in the water which is not altogether surprising because she hasn't been a big ocean person to this point (may change with her learning to swim) but Duncan said that she seemed worried about sharks.  Definitely a drawback of reading these nature books as we are on Book # 3, Sharks right now.  After finishing the last book, Bears, she probably won't want to go into the woods either!

Duncan made them carry all their own gear.  When I got home that evening I asked how the beach was and Calleigh says "I missed you Mommy" and I felt all warm and fuzzy.  And then she said, "I like how you do the bags." Which meant, I like it when you are there because you don't make us carry our own stuff.

This means the beach was fun!

Meanwhile, my plan was to go to a couple of Goodwills, Lakeshore Learning Center, and Target.  As soon as I got down with the spa and into the truck, it started pouring.  And I mean pouring.  Typically it rains down here for just a short amount of time but it decided this time to rain for a few hours.  I had no umbrella and clearly I wasn't going to just sit in the car waiting for it to go away so I had no choice but to dash into the stores as I was.  The stinky thing was that was feet still had remnants of lotion on them so I was slipping out of my flip flops the whole time I was running into the first Goodwill.  Once I got inside, I realized I had made another mistake.  I only had one contact in (long story but the bottom line was that I had cut jalapenos the night before and even though I had washed my hands several times, one of my contacts was stinging like crazy and I couldn't put it in nor a new one that I had just opened) and although it was fine normally to just have the one, when you're looking at clothes and prices, it doesn't work very well.  I had brought glasses but they were back in the truck and I wasn't about to go back out there.  So I just walked around, my feet slipping all over the place, soaking wet, with one eye closed so I could see better.  Ah, yes.  Fun times.  I put my glasses on after that and took my flip flops off to run through the parking lot.  I'm sure it was quite a sight, this very pregnant lady running around like that, especially when my dress started whipping up in the wind! But I did have a good time doing my thing.

Monday morning we were back at Ron and Elaine's so I could drop the girls off to accompany them to Gatorland.  That was quite an adventure for them as Ron and Elaine thought Gatorland was east of the city heading out towards Coca Beach only to get out there and discover that no, it's down south, almost in Kissimmee.  Oops.  Then on that second portion of the trip, Aubree had to go potty when they were on 417 which turned into this big ordeal finding a bathroom.  The topping on the cake is that Gatorland is mostly outside and it was like 500 degrees out.  Never again, they said!!  The girls had a good time though.

They came back here to eat after Gatorland.

Duncan had them all do push ups.  Brady needs a little help with his form.

Meanwhile, Brady accompanied me to my doctor's appointment.  Thirty-five weeks and growing..perhaps more than I want.  I think I will exceed the weight gain I had for Aubree and Brady but hopefully not the 40 I had with Calleigh.  The doctor wasn't concerned about it though.  She did do a check on me just to see if anything was happening and thankfully, there is only the slightest dilation so there's no concern at this point that he is planning on coming early.  She did feel his head so he's in the proper position although, of course, it doesn't matter due to the c-section.

Yesterday and today we were back to Ron and Elaine's for the girls' swimming lessons.  Aubree shed a few tears about having to put her face in the water.  The thing is that she does it all the time on her own but apparently it's more dramatic when someone else wants you to do it.  She's been mostly doing well with her lessons and has been swimming on her own for several feet from the edge of the pool to her teacher and then back.  I think all she needs is to just practice with Duncan for a bit and she'll just take off.  Calleigh has been doing terrific and I swear, she's now a better swimmer than I am.  You would think Gail, the teacher, and her were great friends or something because as I sat outside for some of the lesson today and she was talking to Gail about everything under the sun.  It's a wonder she even had time to do any swimming.  Tomorrow we have their last lesson, at least for now.

Tuesday evening we met Duncan at the Mall at Millenia to go to the Apple store.  We both have the iPhone 5 and have had problems the last few months with the button that turns the screen off.  It takes a bunch of presses to get it to go off and it has become quite tedious.  Apparently this is not a problem unique to us and they said we could make an appointment to get them fixed.  Well, I guess it's just easier for them to give us a new phone rather than fix them while we wait so they gave each of us a new one.  We are both relieved to have that taken care of.  After Apple, it was on to Ikea next door to get the schoolroom stuff I had been eyeing up the week before.  We got a bunch of furniture...Duncan has a real back up of things to do, that is for sure!  

In closing, here are a few snippets of conversations this past week:

Coming home from Grandma and Grandpa's on Friday night, I had Elaine lend me this knitted blanket because Aubree always asks for a blanket when she's in the car in the evening and she's tired.
Aubree (admiring the blanket): "Look at this nice blanket.  Someone yarned it."

Aubree is sitting on the toilet and decides to make conversation as I sit there waiting to wipe her:
Aubree: "I don't like skunks because they're stinky."
Me: "That's true.  They do get stinky."
Aubree: "You know who likes skunks though?  Satan.  He likes bad smells."

The girls are sitting at the table eating lunch and apparently Aubree hits Calleigh with something.
Calleigh: "Aubree!  Don't hit me.  Are you trying to be like Cain?  That is SO cruel and horrid."
Aubree (in a bewildered voice): "It's cool?"
Calleigh (exasperated): "CRUEL.  Not cool.  That means it's bad."

Brady is up on the top of the play set with Calleigh.  He's in a safe section so I tell Calleigh to watch him for a second while I run inside to get my sunglasses.
Calleigh (as I walk back out).  "Don't worry.  Your son is still alive."

Have a great rest of the week.