ImaginOn Story Time

As a stay at home mom and former teacher, I feel compelled to take the kids to the library. We've tried several story time events, but I'm never impressed. Today we ventured to the children's library. We were just there to read and play, but after 20 minutes of reading, a crowd of toddlers and parents was growing. We stayed for one of our best story time experiences yet. 

Unlike every other library we've visited which conducts story time in a closed room, this space was completely open. There was a great balance between stories, songs, and movement. As expected, Maddie loved story time. She danced, clapped, and followed along with every song and rhyme.

Amelia enjoyed herself, but she was more interested in her surroundings. She was quick to point out "Melmo" on the wall, the "baby night night" in a stroller, and the "bear book" on a nearby shelf. She did interact a lot during our new favorite song, Driving in My Car.

Even James, who was glued to my lap the entire time, enjoyed participating in the car song.

Another highlight of story time was catching bubbles. The library has the best bubbles that bounce and don't pop. 

After story time I let the kids explore the trolley, wagon, etc. James is always happy with anything that involves transportation!

Maddie created music with one of the apps on the touchscreen computers. Our little songbird sure loves music.

The temperature had warmed up so we played outside for just a bit. James was a bit upset in this picture because he wanted to watch the train pulling into station. We walked around to the train right after this.

I didn't have a lot of time left to go home, make lunch, and go pick up Jackson. Instead, I took the kids to Ikea (halfway between the library and preschool) for a quick lunch. There's a new area by the cafe that has games, instruments, costumes, and other fun toys. Amelia cracked herself up while trying on wigs.

For $8, the four of us shared pasta and chicken strips. We rushed through lunch in just enough time to pick up Jackson.

I love our mornings out together!

Great Wolf Lodge: Jackson Guest Post

Jackson's aunt and uncle took him (and their two boys) to a local indoor water park resort. Since I wasn't there, I cannot attest to the accuracy of Jackson's retelling, but here's his narrative from the experience: 

We went to McDonalds for dinner. We both got the same toy: peckers. [I'm dying inside a little while typing this.] You could also have fried french fries and burgers.

Yesterday we went to Camouflage [Great Wolf Lodge]. There was a lot of fun stuff. There was a kid play area and a baby play area. There was warm water and squirters and boats you could ride on. There was a slide that had water attached. I liked the water slide the best. We went up the slide by ourselves. I slid down and I accidentally sinked. I liked when I went under water. I did not get to go down the blue or orange slide. Jason said we needed to be one more [inch] grown and then we could go down there. The water got deeper. We picked life jackets to swim in the pool.

We went to the arcade. We got to play dinosaur games. What else we played was shooting the boats. They had water guns to shoot the wolves, not the sheep. We won tickets and we got a lot of them. We put them all in a machine and we got Airheads. That's all. 

I did not have fun bowling because I did not knock down any. Every time I only knocked down one or three pins. Clifford was only there to bite the floor.

We went back to the hotel and got our pajamas on. Then we brushed our teeth. And then we watched some TV and we went to bed. I slept in there. There was a picture of a jungle and a picture of bears. One picture was a telescope.

I slept up top with Levi. We both sleep up top.

We were still sleeping and Jason and Chrissy yelled, "Wake up!" We didn't even know it was morning yet. All you could eat were doughnuts for breakfast. That's what we had. 

And then Jason and Chrissy called their friends and we played with two more boys. Except they didn't play with me so I snuck up on them. 

We had tacos for lunch.

It was awesome. That's all I'm going to say.

Veteran's Day (Nature Museum and Park)

Though Veteran's Day was on Wednesday, I'll begin this post with our dinner out the night before. Since neither boy had school the next day and Tuesday night is Kids Eat Free, we elected to ditch dinner plans and go to Denny's. The kids eat almost every single item on their kids menu. 

I sat between Amelia and Jackson on the booth side. Amelia was quite pleased with her freedom, though she traded places with James in the high chair half way through dinner.

We received all of this food (three meals divided as sample plates or the trio) for $14. What other place can you eat breakfast, Mexican, and Italian in one place for so cheap. Score!

After sleeping in until 8:30, Jesse made waffles and I began making lunches for our day at the park. We first headed to the Nature Museum, where the kids enjoyed posing as giant bugs.

Charlotte's nature is pretty lame with snakes and turtles (as opposed to the bears and cougars found at Western NC Nature Center). The kids watched snakes slither along the glass,

and turtles swim. James would have joined the turtles if he could.

The highlight of the Nature Museum is the butterfly garden. There are butterflies everywhere and they'll land on your finger if you're still.

Amelia, lover of all animals, happily talked to the lizard.

There's also a cool play area where kids can burrow through tunnels.

I know so many moms who rave about the museum and I always wonder if I'm missing something.  I want to like the museum more than I do, but I think it's so overpriced. At $8 a person, it would have cost us $48 to visit. Thankfully(?) are family is so poor we are able to attend for a total of $6.

Freedom Park is adjacent to the Nature Museum. Apparently we weren't the only people who wanted to spend a warm, sunny holiday at the park. The playground was chaotically busy. I didn't even take any photographs.  Jesse and I could barely keep up with the kids, so we quickly left the playground. We found a secluded spot for lunch in the amphitheater. The kids enjoyed dancing and listening to their echos.

As crowded as it was, we made time to play on the obstacle course. This has always been Jackson's favorite area at this park.

James was playfully aggressive, using all his strength to push the pop up bags.

Maddie chose to hug them instead.

They all ran up and down the field.

Amelia attempted to join a football game with some much older kids. I redirected her to the ladder drill.

Of course, the best part of our day at the park was having Jesse there with us.

I first took Jackson to this park when he was 2.5 years old. It's fun to watch him two years later, completing so many obstacles independently.

James' favorite part is always the train. He kept veering off, pointing and saying, "choo choo". Jackson took his brother's hand and led him to the trains before we left.

I love spending family time together, especially exploring outside. I appreciate all those who have served in the armed forces, and for having a reason to spend time together as a family.

Half-Marathon

I began training in July for the Thunder Road Half Marathon on November 14. A variety of injuries and food poisoning caused me to stop training. Once I felt better, it poured for five consecutive Saturdays and I just never returned to my running schedule. (It's easy for me to make excuses not to run.) Until today, I had not run any distance since mid-September. Jesse and I debated registering for the race, but ultimately decided not to since it cost $100 per person. 

Despite no longer training, knowing that the race was coming up this weekend had been weighing on my mind. Friends and family members have been asking me about the race. One of my Zumba friends even told me, "Good luck on Saturday!" as we were leaving the gym on Monday. I knew I had to complete the 13.1 miles by November 14, since that was the goal date I gave myself four months ago. When I commit to something, I expect to follow through.

After a family day at the Nature Museum and Freedom Park, I decided to go to the greenway while I had the motivation and the weather was so pleasant. I left once everyone else laid down for a nap. I packed my GU (energy gel), filled my water bottles in my hydration belt, and wore my arm band for my phone. The first few miles were great, with a 12 min/mile pace. The route I chose was a trail run, which I didn't struggle much with during the summer. However, the rocks and roots are now covered by thousands of wet leaves, and there were countless puddles and deep mud from endless days of rain. My shoes and socks were soaked, causing blisters that slowed me down significantly. After walking a few miles, I picked up the pace again once the sun began to set. The greenway is not the best place to be when it's dark. I had to run (aka nearly crawl) the last 1/2 mile in the lit parking lot because the greenway had become black. In just under 3.5 hours and with only 2% battery charge in my phone, I completed the 13.1 miles.

My biggest challenge the entire time was the chafing and pinching caused from my arm band. It was more agitating than the blisters between my toes.

ETA: what my arm looked like the next day!

I did all of the prep work for dinner before I left, but abandoned the family for dinner time. Jesse could have easily been irritated at me for leaving him during the most stressful time of day. As soon as I walked in the door, Jesse started playing the Chariots of Fire theme song, then asked me to stand on the podium (aka step stool) and gave me my medal.

Apparently Jesse and Jackson created my medal together.

The Country Music Half Marathon in 2010 was an exciting adrenaline rush and I finished the race much faster. However, today was a far better experience. I was mentally stronger throughout this "race".  My body, the same body that carried four children, did not fail me during the 13 mile course.  And the medal I received afterwards was so much more meaningful! 

Now on to new goals...

Sunshine At Last

Yesterday was 50 degrees and pouring rain. Today was 70 degrees with perfect blue skies. November is off to a moody start. Desperate for sunshine, I took the kids to a nearby park after picking Jackson up from school. This is the park I just discovered last month. Jackson was silly and happy as usual. 

We checked out the trail. Jackson loves hiking and assumes the role as guide, telling me which way to go and warning me of any puddles or exposed roots. As beautiful as the sky was, the ground had not caught up yet. The thick mud made it especially challenging to pull a 100+ lb wagon.

I discouraged the trio to walk because it was so muddy, but I stopped and let them out at interesting discoveries. We were all curious about the fungus-covered tree and the camouflaged granddaddy long legs.

My favorite photo of the day was of Madeline. I get to see these beautiful blue eyes everyday, but it's hard to capture them. Everyone always comments on how cute Amelia is, which is undeniable. However, Maddie's beauty is often overlooked. 

According to tomorrow's forecast, it should be another gorgeous day. Jesse has the day off for Veteran's Day, so I expect a lovely family day outdoors.

Indoor Days

While we've still gone on a few adventures, most of our time has been spent inside avoiding the cold, dreary rain. One of the biggest challenges of spending all day inside is cleaning the house. The kids destroy one room at a time. As soon as we clean one room, they've move on to another area of the house.

Clothing is optional while inside. Most of our lazy days include multiple loads of laundry.

Maddie's latest hobby includes hoarding food in unusual places. Yesterday she emptied her mac-n-cheese into a large bucket and carried it around the house. (I pick my battles, people!)

To help break up the day, I always plan some kind of craft, science experiment, or baking activity. In the last few days we've made another batch of slime. This keeps the kids occupied for an hour or more.

Jackson led a "Christmas list" activity. Using Walmart ads, he let the girls pick out toys they wanted, then cut and glued them on white paper for them. Of course, Jackson could have filled multiple pages with his wishlist, but I made him narrow it down to fit on one page. 

The biggest challenge to staying indoors is allowing the kids to release pent up energy. One of the easiest ways to do this is inflate the air mattress and let them bounce around until they're tired.

For some reason, the kids are always extra cuddly on rainy days. Perhaps it's because I sit down more. Anytime I sit in the recliner, I have at least two toddlers tugging at me, "Up, please!"

When the trio nap, Jackson and I either watch TV or play games. He's been enjoying puzzles and Hungry Hippos a lot lately. Jackson goes through multiple costume changes in any given day.

Once Jesse comes home, we eat dinner and clean. The trio discovered a love of silly animal videos on YouTube. 

While I'd rather be at a park or museum, I'm learning to appreciate our days at home.

A Counter Full of Kids

In January 2010, Jesse and I decided we were ready to buy a home. We had been living in a rental house in Charlotte for a year and a half. Jesse found a realtor and we began touring available houses. We weren't ready to try and conceive at that time, but we knew whatever house we bought would be the house where we would raise our children. When the realtor showed us our current home, she stopped us in the kitchen and said, "Now imagine this counter full of your children eating snacks and working on homework while you're cooking dinner."  I daydreamed this scenario. That was the moment I knew I wanted to buy our house.

Here we are, nearly six years later, with a counter full of children. The trio have just recently been able to sit on the bar stools. Each time I see all four kids eating at the bar, I am filled with happiness. Life events may not have followed the timeline I would have picked, but I absolutely love my counter full of kids!