The Airport...JUST IN TIME.

So, Tanner was slated to fly in on Wednesday night at around midnight and he was going to pick up Dan's car at the airport and drive it home since he would be getting in later in the evening than Dan was slated to on Thursday. It's complicated, but just work with me people.

However, Tanner's flight plan took him from DC up to New York and back down to Charlotte. Can you say LAME? Of course he ended up getting delayed out of DC, and arrived in NY after his other flight had already left to go to Charlotte. He had to get on the next flight which was the following morning. He ended up sleeping at the airport in his suit that we was wearing from work that day. Because of the change in flight schedules, after his flight took off the next morning, Trish and I realized that we should go and pick him up at the airport so that Dan could drive his car home that night instead. But there was no way to get a hold of him to tell him that we were picking him up. We were watching the flight all morning and of course it decides to update that he was getting in 20 minutes earlier than it was showing the entire time right when we were thinking we needed to leave. We booked it to the airport and Trish and I were hatching our last minute strategies. I think we both decided we were in some race against time movie, because we were on a mission.

We called and had his name paged, and when we arrived at the terminal, I hopped out and ran in to look for him while Tricia went to find Dan's car. While I was walking toward the baggage claim, I heard Tanner's name paged, but I stopped and asked someone if they were from the same flight and when they said yes, I knew that Tanner was already gone because he had not checked any bags. I ran out of the terminal and followed the explicit instructions that Dan had given me that I had in turn given Tanner on how to get to his car...follow the red brick path behind the fountain until you hit the dead end where the air control tower is...take a left, and the car is all of the way down until the 2nd row from the exit, and it was the first car in the row. Life was hanging in the balance I tell you. I was running so hard. Suddenly, I see the car, and someone is in it. It was Tanner! I barely caught him in time. The only thing that saved us was that he couldn't figure out how to turn on the car...because you don't actually turn on Dan's car...you push it on...with a button. Anyway, Tricia soon found us and came squealing around the corner to pick us up. It was all very Jack Bauer a la 24. We were awesome. I wish we could say that we saved a life, but in reality, we just saved ourselves from having to go back to the airport later that night to get Dan...but I would venture that in this case, it's not what you save but how you save it that is important...and Trish and I know HOW it's done people.

Reunion

On Monday, Trish and Dan came back into town and on Tuesday my parents drove up with Brianna and Courtney in tow. It was great having the adults back in the house. Of course we immediately started on a 'project'. What would a visit to Tricia's be without a project involving everyone. It turned out really cute, and no one killed each other in the process...BONUS!

We also took some trips to the community pool so we could get in some lazy river time. Here are some cute pics of everyone as I wandered around being the paparazzi.Clark and his Papa on the lazy river.

This isn't a model that I just happened to take a picture of. It's Tricia. I am related to her even though she looks latino and I look albino...at least we are both ino's!

Bonna with Andrew...it seems all little children love the Bonnanator.

Cork...aka Chez II...we have the same toes.

My mom...we have a bazillion photos like this of my mom by the beach or by the pool over the years. It's a classic. Notice her poolside reading is NOT some cheap sleazy romantic novel...getting a tan and being spiritual...could it get any better?

Andrew staying out of the sun and enjoying some zzzzz's.

Andrew says: "I like Aunt Trish, she cute AND she plays with me."

What's a vacation without a picture of Clark on a 'naughty' something...be it stump, chair, or stair? I like how he still manages to flash his classic smile while doing his time.

Papa with JB and Clark after he dragged them under the waterfall...of course Clark thought it was awesome.

Bella, doing her thing.

The Clan by the lazy river. We even got mom to go on it...I don't know if she admitted it or not...but she liked it.

NC Babysitting

So from Thursday to Monday, I watched Trish and Dan's kiddies so they could get some much desired R&R. I always have a fun time babysitting my nieces and nephews as it always gives me insight as to what joys and challenges I can expect in my own future with my children. Courtney was down at Birdhouse Princess Camp so it was just Carter, Jonah, Bella, and me and my boys. Carter did a great job the first couple of days being 'the oldest' and the big helper, but I think he missed having his older sister around. Trish was worried about Bella, but she was a champ, and she only seemed to get flustered when Clark would enter her personal space. She would get very upset at this, and of course Clark, being the classic BOY that he is, just thought it was the funniest thing EVER...so he would just do it more and more, until he would get thrown on the naughty stair.

I was really worried about taking all of the children to church on Sunday. Keep in mind it would be me with 5 kids (6, 4, 2, 2, 6mo.). Fun or what?!!! I would have skipped out on it, but I think the desire for me to be aunt of the year influenced me to do otherwise. We got there a little late, and they opened the overflow right when we walked in. We sat in the chairs in the cultural hall, and it turned out we were the ONLY ones. Tricia's very nice friend took Carter and Jonah, so I JUST had Clark, Bella, and Andrew (2,2,6 mo). It was a challenge...correction...Clark was a challenge. He ended up doing walking laps around the chairs, and followed the lines on the basketball court. Everything was going okay, and I even ran into some old friends of mine and Tanner's who also happened to be visiting the ward that day. We were busy chatting it up in the hallway (read: ditching out on the 3rd hour of church), when the nursery leader brought Clark to me and said he was pushing other children. Great...thaaaanks. So now I am holding Andrew while chasing Clark around hallway, while trying to hold a conversation with our friends. Church let out and it was kind of pandemonium getting all of the kids together, and luckily, ANOTHER one of Tricia's friends came to my rescue and helped me get the kids all into the car. She even saved Clark from running out into the middle of the road. All in all, it was a success, but it wasn't without some major struggles. Can I still get the Aunt of the year award?

Frosty Incident

Me and the boys headed out to North Carolina to watch my sister Tricia's kids for a few days while the parents got some R&R. When I am on these long drives, I really like to call my friends who I haven't talked to in a while and it really helps to pass the time quickly. We had stopped off at the Wendy's drive-thru to grab some grub and headed straight back out onto the freeway. Clark LOVES Frosties, but he loves their new Frosty shakes even more because they come with whipped cream and a cherry on top. Who wants just a REGULAR heart attack when you can get one with whipped cream and a cherry on top? Not me and certainly not Clark. So as I am pulling onto the freeway, my friend Jenn calls me. She is living out in Utah right now and just had their first baby and it's a boy...AND they are moving out to the DC area in December. So we had A LOT to talk about. Usually when I get on the phone, Clark takes it as his cue to become the stereotypical 2 1/2 year old who will do, say, or yell anything to get my attention. But this time, I had the Frosty to keep him quiet and occupied while I gabbed on and on with Jenn. We talked for at least 30 mins, and I didn't even think about Clark the entire time I was on the phone because he was SO quiet. As soon as I hung up the phone, Clark for the first time immediately pipes up with:

"Mommy, oh no! All wet!"

I look at him in my rear view mirror and I see FROSTY......EVERYWHERE. It was immediately clear to me that he was having a good 'ol time while I was on the phone blowing Frosty out of the end of the straw all over the back seat. And not just the back seat, but he managed to get Andrew, the seat belts, the windows (his and mine), and the back right corner of my shirt. It was the first time he had ever done something like this, but it was also the first time I was a genius mom and let him have a FROSTY uninterrupted for 30 minutes too. I was in no mood to pull over and clean up Frosty so I told him that it was a huge no-no and that he was going to have to sit in Frosty until we got to Tricia's house (that showed him who's the boss!). About 20 minutes later, he fell asleep and I just had to take a picture (while driving mind you) when I saw this:Oh wait, and here's a window shot so you can get the FULL effect:
Even knowing that I would end up spending a good amount of time cleaning this up, I couldn't help but laugh...he even looked kinda cute...

sticky, but cute.

Tickle Me

Clark loves to take turns tickling everyone in the family. He will often come up and tell Tanner and I to "go to sleep" a.k.a close our eyes so that he can pretend to sneak up and tickle us. We have a good time indulging him, and then when he is done with us, he shouts out "CLARKIE'S TURN!" so he'll "go to sleep" so that we can sneak up on him and tickle him too. I love that Clark gets so much entertainment and joy out of simple things, and I also get a real kick out of his pretend play that he seems to be doing more and more.

Clark tickling Andrew:Cute pic of my boys hangin' out together:

Footprints in the...Hot Chocolate?

I was cleaning my bedroom, when I realized I hadn't heard Clark for a little while. I walked into the kitchen to find that not only has he figured out that if he drags a chair into the kitchen he can reach a lot more stuff, but also, if you get a hold of the hot chocolate packets that were left on the counter and you dump them all over the floor, you can make really cool footprints! He was really quite pleased with himself...and I had to give him bonus points for creativity, but I also gave him the end of the vacuum hose to clean it all up.

I Love My Brother

Clark and Andrew have just started playing together now that Andrew is a little more stable on the ground. Clark has always been really good with Andrew and we rarely have to remind Clark to be a little softer with him, but it is pretty clear that these two are going to love to rough and tumble with each other. But somehow I think Andrew will be able to hold his own...

Wii Fun

We LOVE our Wii. Tanner was admittedly addicted to MarioKart until he got his gold medals on every single round that he could possibly get them. Then he started going head to head with some of the crazies on the worldwide network that probably play 24/7. Thankfully with the arrival of Wii Fit, we have been able to share the addiction love around to some other games. I really love playing the balance games (who needs the Fit part when there are games to play?) and Tanner has been really getting into the strength and yoga exercises. That's right...the YOGA exercises. He says that it actually really does help in a lot of ways. I have to admit the few times I have done them it actually feels really nice and relaxing. The kids also love watching us on the Wii. Clark calls MarioKart "Monkey" and just likes to watch us play. Every time he hears the sad music at the end when I don't win (I say I because Tanner ALWAYS wins), he comes over and says "Ohhh, it's OK mommy!" With Wii Fit however, Clark likes to take a more active role and copy whatever it is we are doing. It's pretty cute.

Even Andrew seems to want to get in on the action.

(notice the strap is actually around his arm)

Not This Hole!

We decided that there are some things that Clark could be doing on his own now that he is the ripe old age of 2 1/2. The first on the list is dressing and undressing. Clark has NEVER cared what he wears or when he wears it, but he does not like to sit/stand still while I am dressing and undressing him. I have decided he needs to be a more active participant in this activity. Tanner and I have each taken turns showing him where to put his head and arms in the shirts so that he can get them on straight. But Clark is such a little clown that while he completely understands where everything goes, he now likes to put his arm through the neck hole, start laughing, and then says "No! Not THIS hole!" Then, he decides to finally put his arm in the correct hole, but then he decides to go through the exact same ritual with the OTHER arm. While we thought it was funny and cute the first 5 times, it is now not so funny. Patience is a virtue.

At least he is putting on his own shirts now...eventually.

Play with the Doh

I think that at this stage of life it is really easy to get into a rut. Or at least, I have found it easy to get into a rut. For example, we are to a point now where every morning Clark wakes up and the first thing out of his mouth is "Watch a show? Peep!" It is a ritual that I am fine to have for a little bit of the first part of the day, but admittedly, I have let it run away from me. Clark ends up watching show after show after show, while I am either feeding Andrew and/or laying comatose on the couch. I hate it when I look up at the clock and a couple of hours have gone by and look what I have to show for it? A toddler whose eyes are completely glazed over, and he is practically bouncing off the walls to do something active. Coming up with creative things to do with little kids does not come naturally to me, but once I settle on something to do, we have a ton of fun. Today we decided to bust out the Play Doh. Clark loved playing with it and kept asking me to make 'pancakes' with the different colors. At one point I asked him if we should make a face on one of the pancakes. We decided to make one that looked like Andrew. I placed the eyes and the mouth, and Clark squeezed out the hair. Move over Michaelangelo!

Happy 4th/Birthday!

So it took us a good four days to 'recover' from our trip to California. Naps were at crazy times and getting the kids to bed at a normal hour was difficult, not to mention that I was also pretty exhausted from the trip as well. It was a good thing we recovered by day four because it was the 4th of July and my birthday! I told Tanner I did NOT want to do anything busy because I still was in recovery mode, so we decided to have a relaxing day at home, and it turns out the weather was not supposed to be good for fireworks. We went with our realtor/friend to see some houses (more on our house hunting search later), and then Tanner prepared an awesome lunch with a bunch of hors d'oeuvres.
After we gobbled those up, I opened my presents. Tanner spoiled me by giving me a gift certificate for a massage (much needed after wrangling with my kids on the airplane), and he got me Wii Fit! He also made the cake himself! Clark helped Tanner put the candles on the cake, and I sneaked into the kitchen and got this photo before they were done.
After cake and presents, we played Wii Fit while the boys took their naps. In the end, we decided we should at least try to go and see some fireworks somewhere. It was raining, but we thought that might be good so not a lot of people would venture out, and traffic wouldn't be bad. We headed up the George Washington Memorial Parkway, and turned off in Rosslyn and found a great place to park where we could just see the top of the Washington Monument. We waited in the car until the fireworks were just about to start since it was still raining outside.
Once they started, the rain had pretty much stopped, so it was actually quite enjoyable watching the fireworks together! Clark loved shouting out all of the colors as they would explode, and he kept saying "Wow!" all of the time. It was pretty spectacular. It was a great end to a nice, relaxing, and fun day...and even better when we had no traffic on the way home!! Thank you to my husband who made so much effort to make my birthday fun for me!
P.S. Thank you to my mom, Melanie, and my mother-in-law for giving me a much needed new wardrobe for my birthday! Thank you to my sister Tricia for giving me my very own Coach purse. Love it!