Lockdown drills

The Girlchick came home from school on Friday to tell us about how they practiced a lock down drill.  I'm glad that they practice these but so disheartened that it's a reality of our lives.  I asked her to explain to me what a lock down drill was and what she was supposed to do.  She told me all about it and the steps she was supposed to do if they ever had a "bad guy" in the school.  I was very proud of her.

It's just another eye opener on how much things have changed from when I was a kid.  I used to take the bus as an elementary kid and I used to walk to and from school in middle school.  Never thought anything about it as a kid.  I had to walk down a major street in middle school (Broadway, which is a major north south street in Boulder) and it was about 4-5 blocks away.  These days I really would like to keep my kids off the bus if at all possible.  The stories you hear and the things the kids do on buses now a days is shocking!  That stuff didn't happen when I was a kid.  And even though we live pretty close to the school none of the kids will walk by themselves.  I might think about letting them ride by themselves when they are a little older, but not anytime soon.  Statistics show that there is a huge increase in abductions with kids who walk vs. kids that ride bikes.  I never thought I would ever need to know a statistic like that, but I do and it's scary.  Just like it's extremely scary that they have to practice lock down drills at my daughters elementary school. 

Why my kids cry...... updated 11/23/13

I'm totally stealing someone else's idea.  There is a guy who has been taking pictures on why his son's cry.  His son's are younger 2 and 4 and has been writing the captions on why the kids are crying.  It is hilarious, so I'm totally stealing his idea.  I'll constantly be adding to this one.

Reason #1 - Thing 2 - It's not his turn on the swing.

Reason #2 - Thing 2 - He got dirt on his sock and shoe



Reason #3 - Thing 2 (I'm noticing a trend here) - He wanted a pouch we gave him a pouch.

 

Reason #4 - Thing 1  - Mom and Dad had jalapenos with dinner, we wouldn't give him any 11/23/13

 



First Day of school - The Girlchick Edition 1st Grade

Well today is the first day for the Girlchick to attend public school.  We ended up keeping her in the private kindergarten since we didn't think she was going to do well in public school.  She is super excited, but a little nervous as what to expect and about making new friends.

First day of first grade.

When asked how her days was when she got home, her response was " It was perfecto!".  Her response to the second day was "It was even more perfecto".

So I guess she likes school.

Last day in our first house

It is bitter sweet for me, this was the first house we built, the first house we moved into after we were married, had our kids, there were a lot of firsts in this house. But yet I'm still very excited to move into our new house so all the kids have their own room.  Which is one of the main reasons we are moving.  The boys sharing a room is not working out.

It has been beyond crazy up to this point, getting packed, trying to sell the house, and getting all the work done on the new house.  All going on at the same time.  The new house needed all new flooring and every room needed to be painted.  Let's just say that we all survived and we are still married.  After all of that stress, it's a miracle that we all survived.

The Girlchick is super excited for her new room.  She got to pick out the paint colors which is a bright hot pink.

I took some of my favorite pictures of her when she was a year old up on this dresser in nothing but her birthday suit.  She's a little bigger now, and a little too old to be posing in her birthday suit anymore. 

All the kids in the boys room after they started taking the beds apart.

Girls trip! San Diego

This summer was The Girlchick's last summer before we become a slave to the public school schedule, which forces you to take your vacations when the schools schedules them.  I do have to say that that is one thing the British schools do right.  They plan their breaks and holidays much better. 

I really wanted to do some fun stuff with her this summer.  We couldn't figure out a good time for all of us to go on a longer trip so we decided that The Girlchick and I would go by our selves and leave all the boys at home. 

We went to San Diego and had a blast.  We went to the beach, Sea World, The San Diego Zoo, The Safari Park and there was plenty of time spent at the pool.  I had never been to San Diego so it was a first for both of us.




Waiting to go get on the plane

We even got to fly first class thanks to all of our airline miles!  She wasn't really impressed

I rented a convertible for us since she has always wanted to ride in one. She even got to sit in the front since her booster seat wouldn't fit in the back seat. She was super excited.

After we found a great breakfast spot The Mission cafe - killer french toast and hot chocolate.

 

 

First stop on the trip was the beach!  She just had to stick her toes in the sand and her hiney in the water! The water was a little chilly for my taste but it didn't stop her!

 

 

We took a nice stroll along the beach after cleaning up.

She had to bring her stuffed seal named "snouts" after the seal in the Barbie books.

Selfie at sunset at Mission beach

 

The next day was Sea World.  She wore me out!  There is so much to see and do! But first things first - we had to go see THE Whale. 

 

THE Whale's big entrance.

 

Getting wet!  Notice Mom is not down closer to the glass.  But she had to be right down there where the action was.

 

She was already wet - waiting for round 2 of wetness

 

All wet!  First thing she said was "MOM! I got water in my mouth and it was all salty!"  First thing I thought.....  ewwwww gross all those whales have pee'd in that water!
 

So here's the thing - I don't like roller coasters, I don't like things that spin you in circles or drop you really fast.  I get really bad motion sickness very easily.  She wanted so badly to go on some of the rides.  I told her to find one that Mommy can do that I won't get sick on.  She found the log ride.  I was like - I can do this, it's one drop that's over quickly, usually I'm ok with that and don't get sick.  From the front of the ride - all you see is the slide part on the log ride.  We get in line, get on the ride, and we go.  We go down the slide part - it's a lot steeper than it looks, and we get to the bottom and we float along like you normally do and then it dumps you into a blacked out elevator.  I'm like - OK it's just getting us back to the top of the ride since there isn't a steep climb in the beginning - you start high.  Then we get out of the elevator and start climbing again.  I'm like what's going on is there a second drop?  Please tell me there isn't a second drop!  Well there was, but it wasn't the drop you have on a log ride.  The damn thing turns into a roller coaster!  And I'm screaming like a little girl the whole time!  The Girlchick is having a blast and laughing the whole time.  She is definitely her fathers kid. 

waiting for the ride - all sweet and innocent looking

 

after the ride

Then we caught the dolphin show and a few more exhibits.  She really liked the Arctic exhibit.

Checking out the beluga whales

 

Wall of Ice

We found a great place for dessert!  I wish we had one that was close to our house - actually I don't.

At The Baked Bear - The Girlchick special - red velvet cookie, m&m cookie and oreo ice cream.  We ate here a few times on this trip.

The next stop was the Safari Park.  It was a hot one that day and the whole park is in the side of a mountain.  Well you have to walk all the way down to get to most of the stuff and at the end of the day when you are tired and hot..... you have to climb all the way back up!  Poor designing my friends!

She really wanted to go in and see the birds, but she refused to feed them.  So she took the picture while I fed them.

Riding the tram through the "African Wilderness".  See how pink her little cheeks are?  It was a tad warm climbing up and down all those hills.

The last stop of the day was the San Diego Zoo.  We only had a half day here, and it was super crowded.  If you ever go - plan on spending the day, it's huge and there is a lot to see.

I like to more open concept at the San Diego zoo vs. the traditional exhibits at zoo's.  You actually get to see more of the animals.

That's a long post!  But it was a busy trip!

 

Back at home - Dad is getting the house ready to sell!  Painting the whole downstairs, getting new wood floors put in.  In other words - chaos.  And we missed it all and had a nice relaxing trip.

 

 

Crazy times

Well we made some big decisions.  We decided to move.  But we need to get the house ready to sell.  This is going to be stressful.  

We have been talking about moving for awhile now or building out our game room into another bedroom.  The boys can no longer share a room.  They keep each other up and wake each other up.  Even with the bed tents they and we are not sleeping as much as we should be.  We also wanted to move closer to the school that The Girlchick would be attending in the fall.  We want her to be able to walk to school instead of having to ride the bus.  

So we started looking for houses.  We found a few that we liked, but there didn't seem to be a perfect one that was move in ready.  We found one that we could work with and decided to go for it knowing we would have to put some work into it as well.  The kids would each have their own room, their own bathroom, their own walk in closets and the rooms are huge!  

So here it goes.  The craziness!  Are you ready?  I'm not!

No more "big boy" jammies for you!

This is what we woke up to this morning.  At first glance I thought it was a mouse.  Then realized that Thing 2 was naked as the day he was born. 

Yes that is what you think it is in his bed.  Good thing we paid the $50 for the good mattress protectors!



The Confession - He looks so sad, he makes you feel bad for being mad - then you remember he just POOPED in his bed!

We have normally been putting them in foot jammies on backwards for this exact reason.  Recently we had decided to try the regular "big boy" jammies.  Thing 1 took his off the first night, so we ended up putting him back in the footie jammies.  Thing 2 was being really good about it and leaving them on.  He gave us a false sense of security.  Needless to say he will be back in the footie's jammies tonight.  No more "big boy" jammies for him!





Before picture - this is how we left them when they went to bed.

After picture - this is how Thing 1 looked when we got up in the morning.