Elisabeth Ashoka Tano

Elisabeth with her Jedi pose. In case you don't know who Ashoka Tano is, she is a main character from the animated Clone Wars series.

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Elisabeth's First Tube Slide

Elisabeth has been to Chick-fil-a and other places with those indoor play areas many times. But despite our encouragement, she goes up the stairs but then just comes right back down the same way she climbed up. She never really makes it up to the fun stuff nor has she ever actually gone down one of the slides, until last week. Kelly and I were sitting outside the play area while the kids were inside. She would go in, climb up, climb back down and then come to the door and want out to be with us, just to get back down, go back in and repeat the cycle.  After 6 or 8 times of her doing this, I went in and watched her.  And all the sudden, she goes up and actually goes into the linked play tunnels and down the slide - first time ever.

I found this old post of Jonah's first attempt at enjoying these areas to their fullest - he was 18 months old.  I couldn't find a post that spoke of his first successful attempt, but as I recall it was only a couple of months after this that he began to get comfortable playing in these areas.  Yay Elisabeth!

Picnic at the Museum

We had a lovely picnic/joint birthday celebration for all the kids in our home fellowship at the Durham Museum of Life and Sciences. Jonah, led by his friend Olivia, put on quite a show.





We had a great day and ended up getting a membership to the museum so I can take the kids through the week. This museum has so much to do, we can never see everything when we go. I look forward to having a good place to take the kids when cold winter days hit.

For more photos/video from today go here.

12 Years of Marriage

I tried to post this two weeks ago, but the original wouldn't post for some reason probably size.  I shrinked it down and it's super small and grainy but you get the idea.  I didn't want to put it on YouTube 'cause they would delete the sound track, which I love.  So I hope this works.  This was my Anniversary gift from my Beloved. Love you Sweety.

My Big Girl

Elisabeth posing like her dad

My little girl is growing up. I caught her with her ankles crossed the other day and managed to photograph her pose. She loves to "read" books. Sometime she will disappear and I will catch her looking at books and talking - verbally describing everything she sees in the pictures. Her favorite song right now is Itsy Bitsy Spider. She loves to dance and sing, but especially dance.

Over the last couple of weeks we have begun a routine of walking to the mailbox together. (Jonah usually wants to stay inside where it's cool.) So we walk the short distance up the hill to the mail kiosk and she gets to carry a piece home. But, oh my, if there isn't any mail that day, she is very unhappy and cries and refuses to leave without her mail. I have resorted to taking a piece of old junk mail with me to ensure she has something to carry home.

A Sick Child Means a Slow Day

Jonah doesn't often sit still for prolonged amounts of time - he is an active preschooler after all.  So that's how you know he is sick or fighting something off - he sits and watches TV and at times seems as if he may drift off to sleep - until he finally does.  So today, when 9 a.m. came and went and he was still cuddled up in his bean bag, I knew he was not feeling well.  I later confirmed that he had a 100.1 temperature.  Elisabeth did this same thing on Tuesday night, but was completely normal the next day.  So I guess, it's Jonah's turn.  Looks like I'll get a lot of reading, laundry and blogging done today....

The COOLEST Pool Toy!

Found and purchased by my husband for only $7.99.  Not sure how he got such a good deal but google it if you want one - Aeromax Toys F-35 Fighter Jet Inflatable Pool Toy.

Elisabeth likes it too.

This product is now hard to find, but, if you are interested in the Inflatable Kid Space Shuttleversion, it's available on Amazon.

Jonah's World of Make Believe

We realized several months ago that Jonah has an "invisible friend" named Bludget.  I asked him one day where he got the name from, if he had heard it somewhere or thought of it himself. He said that he just made it up. Since then, we have realized there is "Good Bludget" and "Bad Bludget." (Reminds me of those Bugs Bunny cartoons with the good consciousness on one shoulder and the bad consciousness on his other shoulder.)

This morning, I managed to get to the gym, where I have a membership, for the first time since our move. They have child care there and, as we were leaving, I was querying them to see if they had a good time and to make sure if anything negative occurred they had an opportunity to tell me - especially considering it was their first time at this gym. Jonah obviously enjoyed the stay as did Elisabeth.  Just to make conversation I asked him, "Did Bludget have a good time too?" Jonah responded that Bludget stayed home because he was sick. Then he looks at me and says, "Mom, that's just a story." Sometimes he has to tell me when he's pretending or not like when he says, "I gave sister some candy." I get into investigative mode to determine what kind of candy and where he got it from and then Jonah gets this exasperated voice, "Mom, it's just pretend candy." Oh.... pretend candy is okay. So I guess he felt the need to assure me that Bludgit is just pretend too.

My Mommy the Rocket Scientist

I promised Jonah we would make a rocket. Both of us had in mind to use a box from a 12 pack of soda. Well, mommy started thinking about how to design a rocket and ended up making some changes after looking at some prototypes online. As a result we had what in my park planning days we called "scope creep." This means that the original scope of the project has grown to include much more than the original intent of the project.

Anniversary Gift from Boompah

My father in law was inspired by our camping adventures and sent us an interesting anniversary present to help us out in the future. Thanks Boompah! As you can see, it is a hit.

My Little Swimmers

Jonah has been great at going underwater and "swimming" where he can stand for a few months.  Last week, he showed us that he can really swim.  He has swam half the length of the pool several times now.  Teaching kids how to swim and be safe in the water is a long journey it itself.  We are so proud that he has reached this milestone.



Elisabeth has made some great strides this summer too.  She will dunk herself under the water and pull herself up.  In June, when we started going to the pool, if water got in in the area of her mouth and nose, she would breath it in or choke.  She has come a long way too.

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Jonah's 1st Nature Class

I signed Jonah up for a nature class at a nearby community center given by the local municipality.  It was really a good fit for him as you can see....



BTW, when I say "a real one" (commenting about the cicada) I meant "live one" - I thought they had found a dead one.  And when you see Jonah leading the kids off into the woods, I had to stop the camera and tell him to come back.  He had started to lead the other kids off into the wild blue yonder, and that was after he syked them out yelling, "Hey!" as if he found something.

My Handsome Boy (and Girl)

Both kids had their annual heath checkups today.  When leaving the doctor's office at least two different people commented about how cute the kids were - "What a cute crew you have there," said one woman. Outside and walking along the sidewalk to the car, I noticed Jonah frowning as he said, "Why does everyone say that."
"I don't know.  I guess because it's true," said I. Then I asked him, "What would you like them to say?" "That we're handsome," said he.

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Camping with the Kids

     Last year we went camping at Linville Falls during the 4th of July weekend and had a great time.  So we decided to go back again this past weekend. And again we had a lovely time - even better in some ways with the kids being more independent and content. We really love the openness of this campground.  If there were showers it would be perfect, but then the campground might draw more people which would detract from the atmosphere.
     We arrived Friday to set up camp and Kelly made hamburgers and hotdogs - typical camp fare - as well as smore's.  (One of the nice perks of camping for me is that Kelly tends to do most of the cooking and subsequent cleanup when we camp.  It all works out considering I do most of the pre and post trip preparation.)
     Saturday, we drove up the parkway a bit to the Linn Cove Viaduct and walked along a trail that runs along side the parkway. We've driven on and camped along the Blue Ridge Parkway several times - this portion in particular. Nevertheless, we were pleasantly surprised by how interesting and easily accessible the Tanawha Trail was near the Linn Cove Viaduct Visitor Center.  Unfortunately, our little jaunt was cut short by Jonah's necessity for a potty break - he refused to go outside (I'm sure that will change). So bladders empty, we continued north to Julian Price Memorial Park where we had a picnic by the lake and rented a canoe.  Jonah says that was his favorite part of the trip - although he would have liked it even more if he'd caught a fish on his scrap of bologna.
     Sunday, we broke camp and then hiked to the Upper Falls Overlook at Linville Gorge and then stopped to picnic nearby before setting off for home.
     I for one felt renewed and refreshed from the weekend (despite the lack of showers). I am a mountain girl at heart, although, sometimes I forget until I get away to explore little trails, savor the cool weather, and sit quietly in the dark studying the night sky. I'll be ready to go again in a few weeks.

Bubble fun at the campground

On the trail to the falls

A riverside stop

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Total Recall

I have to post about this, because my children have amazed me with their ability to remember things. The other day I had to take something to the post office and decided to go out to a new library and stop at a post office along the way. After pulling out of the post office, Jonah says, "this is the same way we went to go to Selah's birthday party." At first I couldn't tell whose name he was saying; I thought he was saying Serra. Then I remember Selah's party and in fact Serra was there too. We had only traveled that way one other time and that was it. I was blown away.

Then I took the kids to a Kindermusik class for the first time this summer. In the spring, I would take Elisabeth one day a week while Jonah was in preschool. Since we have moved, I approached the area from a slightly different direction, but the building is located near these 4 large radio towers. As we were sitting at an intersection less than a mile away, Elisabeth says, "Look mommy, class." It took me a minute to realize she was associating the towers (that we could clearly see at this point) to the location of the Kindermusik class. I was amazed.

Then this weekend, we went camping in the mountains. We saw lots of RV's including the illustrative rental RV's offered by Cruise America. (The kids would shout "RV!" nearly every time we would see one). On the last day, Jonah pointed out a Cruise America RV and Kelly commented that it looked to be the same model we rented last year. I asked Kelly whether he remembered what was painted on the side of the one we rented. As we were trying to recall this minor detail, Jonah shouts, "Balloons!" What he said sounded right for some reason as I seemed to recall a picture of a big hot air balloon on the side. Well, in fact, there were several hot air balloons just as Jonah said. Here's the proof:



The next time I have trouble remembering something, I know who to ask...

Kid to Kid Skype

How different being a kid in the 21st century looks from being a kid three decades before.... Jonah and Elisabeth's 1st friend skype. Now if Jonah can just learn how to pronounce "Lego"

Best Friends