So how wrong is it to take 1/2 of the presents your son gets at his birthday party and hide them in the closet until Christmas? Calm down…I didn’t do it. I thought about it, though. {sigh}
Today was Nate’s 4th time turning 5. It was his classroom party. We got out of the classroom party last year because Nate’s birthday comes a few days before school starts. But when he kept asking, “How come all my friends have a birthday at school and I don’t?” Mark and I decided to let him have it the week after. Turns out, it was a lot of work, but way easier than living with the guilt of skipping it.
Montessori birthdays are really special. (“special” being a euphemism for “lot’s of work”) I had to gather photos from Nate’s life and write something that happened to him when he turned 1, 2, etc. The teacher shows the photos and tells the class the “story of Nate” while he holds a globe and walks around a lit candle (the sun). It’s his 5th day of Kindergarten and he already knows more about the solar system then I do.
It doesn't look heavy but Nate had to "put down the world so I can rest" between each trip around the sun. I know that feeling all too well.
The parent of the birthday child (that would be me) is also responsible for bringing a birthday snack for all the kids. The teacher suggested fruit. Now, being vegetarian and a very little sugar kind of family…this was great. Only problem was, how do you make fruit fun, exciting and birthday-ish for a group of 3 -5 year olds? I got crafty:
Fruit all washed and cut...look how pretty!
I used a cookie cutter to make flowers out of the watermelon...well...more like bumpy circles of watermelon.
Taa-Daa! It looks like a flower arrangement! (Unless you have a subscription to Martha Stewart's Magazine, in which case it looks like fruit salad on a stick.)
Nate was happy and his friends thought it was "Awesome! So cool! Can we eat it?" And I felt like a crafty Mom that handmakes things with love for her kids...for an entire hour!
It makes me happy to think that Nate will grow up and remember fondly how much work and love I put into his birthday. And if he doesn’t…I have these pictures as proof!
I grew up in Florida. I spent 15 summers here and I have to say that I don’t remember it being this hot…ever! When I asked my Mom about it, she said, “Of course it was this hot. We just never went outside.”
My boys LOVE to go outside. They say they don’t mind the heat but after about an hour of 97 degrees…their whining, tantrum meltdowns tell me otherwise. So I try to keep them inside the cool house but there’s only so many ways you can stack the sofa cushions to make a fort. When Zeke started hanging out in my laundry baskets, I figured I better start getting creative.
Little known fact: "The Monster at the end of this Book" was written to be read inside a laundry basket.
At least I always know where he is.
We went to Sea World with friends and discovered that it was “Buy a day…get a year”. So now we have season passes to Sea World. They have lots of water at Sea World and lots of sea creatures that like to splash that water on you. Shamu is kinda like a giant whale-sprinkler. The sting rays love to lure you over for a touch of they’re rubbery-ness then WHAM! they drown you with a wall of salt water. Just like the first 10 rows of a Gallagher concert, this was extremely annoying the first time we went, but now…we come prepared.
The Stingray to Nate: "Hey Pal...high five!"
Then without warning...AAAAHHH! Nate's covered in watermelon...uh...I mean Sea Water!
But this time we’ve outsmarted the fish: Nate’s wearing his bathing suit and no shirt! Refreshed instead of distressed. That should be the new slogan for Sea World: “Wear a swimsuit, bring a towel” That’s my advise.
Sea World also has lots of indoor, underwater, AIR CONDITIONED viewing caves. We went underground to watch the dolphins, manatees and a beluga whale! The penguin exhibit is downright chilly! Well worth the cost of admission.
“Mommy how long can we watch the dolphins play?” “As long as the air conditioner keeps running down here, Nate.”
Manatee rescue? More like Mommy heat stroke rescue.
Life imitating art...
The secret to surviving the summer: Seek out the shaded water pools and disguise “air conditioner squatting” as educational outings.
My Mom keeps telling me, “It’s like the states that have horrific winters…you just keep your kids inside for 3 or 4 months.” “Yeah, that looks good on paper, Ma. How ’bout I send them to your house when they start singing, “Swing low…sweet chariot…”
…old school way to bond with your family? OR new way to drive a stake (literally) through the heart of your family’s morale?
It all started so innocently: My Dad and step-mom have a mobile coffee/smoothie/ice cream/whatever-you-need-I-got-it business called, “Cuppy’s”. They decided to take time off from traveling and park it and their camper permanently at a campground in Crystal Springs, FL. They live 15 mins. from there, so they invited us to come stay in the camper for a weekend. Great! Free weekend getaway…we’re in!
Mark and I did the sales pitch/pep talk with the boys to get them excited about camping. We told Nate that it was near a natural spring that was filled with Manatees. “Can I touch the Manatees?” he asked excitedly. “Maybe.” I said trying to cover my butt in case we couldn’t. “Can I jump into the water to play with him and if he’s stuck in a fishing net can I take out my knife and cut him loose and he will be so thankful that he will give me a ride on his back into the sunset?” Nate said in one breath. “uuuhhhh…{bite lip} eeerrr…hhmmmm…{shrug shoulders} I…think….uuhhh….Sure. If the Manatee is stuck in a fishing net…go right ahead and cut him free.” I said playing the odds. I mean, they MUST be in my favor, right? (Note to self: Maybe a little less Crocodile Hunter/Go Diego, Go viewing in the future.)
If it's the journey, not the destination...we were in big trouble. 20 miles out and the engine light came on.
“Mommy…can I help Daddy with the oil?” After a momentary flash from the ”Christmas Story” tire changing scene, I said, “OK, Nate…you can help Daddy but watch your language.” “What Mommy?” “Nevermind. Go help Daddy and be careful.”
One oil change, two missed exits and seventeen potty breaks later, we got to the campsite. It was great. Everything was already set up,so it was like checking into a camper hotel. We just brought in our suitcases. Now, I have to tell you that this was not Mark’s idea of camping. He grew up tent camping. Packing everything into a backpack and hiking miles into the woods to be “one with nature”. I’ll be one with nature as long as there’s a thick piece of glass separating me from it and something porcelain for me to “commune” with. Besides, he grew up in WI. We’re in FL now. Sleeping in a tent in this heat will make you wake up dead…if the bugs didn’t eat you alive first. We have 2 small boys and live in FL…camper or hotel. Pick one.
Now, everyone has their ideas of what camping is. An almost 5 year old’s vision is this: tents, campfire, bears and marshmallows. So we had to at least make 2 of them come true. It was 96 degrees out but we made a campfire by golly.
Let the fun begin! "Yes, I know it's hot Nate. Campfires are hot. If you want to roast your marshmallow, you have to hold it over the fire. No, I'm not doing it Nate. You wanted to roast one...so roast it!"
This is the only time Zeke sat still and it was for exactly 6.2 seconds. I spent the entire weekend chasing after him saying, “No Zeke! Danger! No touching. Out of the road, Zeke! Not in your mouth. That’s Dublin’s food. Fire is hot, Zeke. Come down off the top of the camper, Zeke! That was fun.
We found a grass field with a small hill for the boys and we decided to set them free. If they came back to us, they're ours...if they didn't, well...they never were!
Huge field to run and play and my boys find the only grate/hole and a stick to anger whatever might be living in it.
I looked down to swat the 67 mosquitos that were biting my legs and looked back up to see Zeke inside someone's firepit. {sigh} Things I never thought I'd have to say: "Mark, please go get your son out of that firepit."
I lost count after 237 but Nate’s querie of “Where are the Manatees?” went on for the entire second half of the day. Just when he would forget about them for a nanosecond, there would be a reminder:
"Mommy, I love this Manatee so much. Can we bring her home? She's so lonely here." "No, Nate, she belongs to the campground." "Mommy? How old is she?" "Well, she has to be at least 55...she's in the red-hat society." "Mommy? Why are you laughing?" {sigh} "Because sometimes I crack myself up Nate."
We found the Homosassa Springs State Park welcome center. It was filled with all kinds of stuff for the boys to play with. Their favorite (of course) was the gator:
"Crikey! Have a go at this beauty! Isn't she gorgeous?" Nate to his brother who, unbeknownst to him, was playing Steve's best mate, Wes.
Mark and I feel it's very important to teach your children the Art of the gag-photo.
After a 20 min. bake…uh, I mean boat ride, we were in the park. Finally! Manatees:
Sailors use to think Manatees were beautiful mermaids...I'm thinking I wouldn't be so self-conscious in a swimsuit if I lived back then.
Mark and Nate got to watch a Manatee program given by the park rangers. Me? I got to take a screaming/writhing Zeke into the pavilion to try to calm him down. In hindsight…I probably should have just let him climb the fence to the gator enclosure. Just think of the gag photos we could have gotten!
The next day we just hung out. We swam in the pool, helped with the smoothies and scratched mosquito bites. (That was just me, by the way. Mark didn’t get a single bite. Hard to get blood from a stone I guess!)
Nate helping Grandma Fae make/taste smoothies. He made a killing in tips!
The only way I could keep Zeke happy was to let him feed me Cheerios. By the time our food came, I was stuffed. Mark hugged me and said, "Thanks for taking one for the team, Honey!" "No problem." I smirked "because YOU'RE emptying the camper's sewer tank before we leave!"
Well, we came...we saw manatees...we got bit...we camped.
All in all I guess it was a success. Nate got to roast marshmallows on a campfire and see manatees; Mark agreed that not having to walk into the woods and dig a hole to “go” was really nice; Zeke got to run free in the wilderness. And me? I got to do field research…I have over 27 mosquito bites on my legs alone and I’m going to see how long I can last without scratching. Does rolling around in Mark’s sandpaper bin count? (yes, he has an entire bin of sandpaper…)
I wonder how long it takes for a mosquito bite to go away? Hopefully before I “crack” and start taking out members of my family.
