The Usameum

A couple of friends and I took our kids to the San Antonio Children's Museum (or the usameum as Alli would say) recently. What a fun place! Three floors of super cool interactive exhibits. The kids stayed busy milking cows, sleeping in a pioneer house, digging for artifacts, riding a trolley, brushing giant teeth with a giant toothbrush (the germ infested toothbrush that Alli's friend Carson decided to put in his own mouth- YUCK), working farm equipment, hanging out in a tiny room surrounded by aquariums, standing inside a giant bubble (or popping the giant bubble that the mommies were trying to form around them for the perfect photo op), and just running wild and being kids. (Shhhh don't tell anyone, but I think some of the time the mommies were having more fun than the kids-mainly in the bubble room).

And, that was just on the two floors that we visited. We never even made it to the third floor before the kids started melting down and acting as though they were dying of starvation. Sounds like we'll have to finish on another day!

The day was wrapped up with lunch at Chili's. We all knew that it was really pushing it to try to take 4 overtired, hungry kids out to eat but we did it anyway and it was fairly successful. I wasn't there to see the look on the hostess' face when Brandi and Melissa said "three adults and four high chairs please." As most people know, that's not a good ratio. And, that was before Alli's friend Jack pee'd in the waiting area- "mop please!"

At that point, Jack had to go commando 'cause his poor mommy had already used his other two extra sets of clothes for his other pee accidents at the museum. Yes, that's right, but at least the 1st one was a very near miss in the restroom. The second, not so much. "Mop please!"

Sorry, Melissa, but you know I had to blog that. Too funny not to share. Funny because it was you and not me. I was so terrified that Alli was going to have an accident right after Jack. You never want to be the second person to ask for a clean up.

So now, Carson's mom Brandi who has not really started potty training has had a little glimpse of what the next year or so might have in store for her and I'm sure she's wanting to run the other way. Try not to let it scare you too much Brandi (yeah right).

I suppose all moms have to go through it and they all get through it. So far, my experience while often frustrating has been fairly embarrassment free- no public accidents. KNOCK ON WOOD!!!

OK, so I think this post was supposed to be about our trip to the museum, right? Now for the pics...

Is she cute or what?

Is he cute or what?

I'm not a proud mom or anything :-) C'mon, you gotta agree- look at those blue eyes and that hair and that smile... on both of them! Alright I'll stop now.

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Jack and Alli in their cow-milking costumes. The lesson of the day is that dairy farmers actually dress like cows while milking cows- who knew?

Carson posing for the camera

The whole gang being saved from starvation.

Back on the farm.
That's a tasty thumb! And I'm sure it's not dirty or anything after everything he's been touching. I try not to think about it. I know I did it when I was his age and I think I turned out alright. I think.
Vegetables anyone?
Night, night Jack. Try not to pee in the bed :-)

Finally!!! Alli's in the bubble!

So, I know that was a LOT of pics and a LOT of words, but I didn't want to leave anything out.

De Plane, De Plane!

TJ has a new trick and he shows it off every chance he gets. ANY time a plane flies over (and anytime he hears something that sounds similar to a plane) he points up and exclaims "pa! pa!" usually before it is even within sight. He is very proud and makes sure that we notice him when he does it...

Just a few recent examples caught on camera.

This particular day we were at a pool party that was just under the flight path of commercial airplanes so he got LOTS of practice (like every few minutes).

"Wait mommy, can't look now. There's a plane overhead!"

El Mercado

We took a family fun trip to the Mexican market street in downtown SA on Saturday and had a great time. We dressed Alli in a traditional Mexican house dress that my parents bought during their cruise to Mexico. The dresses are in just about every shop, but apparently people don't usually wear them while they are there cause she drew quite a bit of attention. I must say, she did look very cute.

Daddy bribed her with candy to get her to keep the hat on for the picture. Worked like a charm. That's parenting 101 for ya! And she made sure he held up his end of the deal. "I get candy now right Daddy?"

Too bad TJ's still too young to bribe :-)

We left with a new fancy dress for Alli, a guayabera for TJ (mexican style shirt), a pair of maraccas which the kids love, and some good memories!

Pics, pics & more pics!

Some recent pics...

One of Alli's new favorite activities.

I can dress myself! Sort of.

Below is the result I got when I said "say cheese" so I tried "smile pretty" and this is what I got. A little better, but still not quite what I was going for.

Mommy and Alli enjoying the pool.

The water hose is great fun. Yes, they are both in their pajamas. Who needs swimsuits anyway?
Alli "getting" TJ. He has much more fun when he sprays himself with the hose.
Gotta have camo!
Crazy boy!!!
Alli says that she loves cupcakes, but what she really means is "I love cupcake icing"

The Big 1 !!

Well, TJ's first year is over and it has been a wild ride. Those very difficult sleepless nights and days filled with crying and vomiting (on over $100 worth of souveneir t-shirts at a state park gift shop being the worst) seem a very distant and fuzzy memory.

Now, he brings many new challenges which is why all the table chairs in our house are laying on the floor. If they weren't, TJ would be found standing on the center of the breakfast or dining room table. So, instead he is often found standing on the coffee table, rocking chair, step stool, storage chest, etc. At other times, he can be found digging through the trash or dropping things in the toilet (the cordless phone for instance). Let's just say, it's a good thing he's so darn cute and so full of personality. And, that he is. He smiles with his mouth wide open usually letting out an excited squeal. He loves to laugh, dance (otherwise known as endlessly spinning in circles when music is on), run, jump on the bed, throw balls...

He is all boy!!! And, he loves trucks. So we had a dumptruck birthday bash for him last weekend (see previous post). It was lots and lots of fun. We were so glad to have almost all of our friends and family celebrating with us. Thanks to everyone for sharing his day with us!

The big present and a very popular one!

They knew just what to do- TJ climbed right into the passenger side while Alli jumped into the driver seat. I'm sure it will be a while before TJ can drive if for no other reason than those short legs!
" There's a bug on the ceiling"- Pawpaw's games work everytime!
TJ and best friend Grant in their adorably coordinated Hawaiian shirts
TJ and Aunt Marcie
Presents!!!

Let's Eat Cake!!!

For Alli's first birthday, we had a cupcake party. My wonderful neighbor Pam (aka Nana Pam) and I decorated cupcakes with various cute designs and it was lots of fun.

So, for her second I decided it would be fun to make her an Elmo cake (I always remember the cookie monster cake my mom made for my sister's birthday growing up- the only cake I remember, so apparently it had a lasting impression). Well, it proved to be a little harder and take a little longer than I expected, but in the end, the Elmo cake turned out great.

Now, for TJ's birthday I decided to make things difficult for myself again (don't get me started on the stress involved with making the video montage - thanks for that idea Becca). I tackled a dump truck cake knowing it would probably be even more difficult than the Elmo cake. I set aside an entire day for it and recruited lots of help mainly to keep the kids out of the kitchen, but also to help with cake decorating (thank you so much again Nana Pam, Laura & Daddy).

Well, I think it was a success and even though it is much more work and not really any less expensive than ordering a cake, I'm sure I'll continue to do it in the future. I love a challenge and after all, it does make me a better mom right? :-)

And, it was yummy too...

Mmmmm, cake!
Making sure he gets every last crumb and as you can see, there were LOTS of crumbs!
Before the cupcake exploded all over his tray!

Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch- Enter at your own risk!!

The kids and I met up with Aunt April, Uncle Russ, Maddy and Lainey on the last day of their family getaway to New Braunsfels (Daddy had to work- sorry daddy). We took the driving safari through the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. The safety brochure said "enter at your own risk" and they weren't joking!! We encountered an overly aggressive Zebra that stuck its entire head through the car window and into April's lap (where Alli happened to be sitting) and snatched the whole bag of food. Well, lets just say Aunt April went into panick mode shoving Alli out of the way while letting out a scream. Calm, collected mommy reached forward from the back seat to push the Zebra's head back out of the car saving the day (yes, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but mostly true). Needless to say, Alli was a bit freaked out after that.

In spite of the scary Zebra encounter, we had loads of fun. And, we wrapped up the afternoon with a lunch that was a little later than we would have liked (d/t the scenic route that mom chose to take which involved a wrong turn followed by a detour) on the deck of the Gristmill. Service was a little slow and it was hot but it was great visiting time. Oh, and did I mention it was HOT, cause it was. It was HOT!

We always love getting to see Aunt April's clan and afterwards Alli will recount the events over and over for a few days sometimes in a mumble in which only a few words are identifiable. They are usually "Maway and Waywee, Aunt Apool, Uncle Russell..." No, I didn't just run out of clever spellings for the way Alli says their names. Uncle Russell just happens to be the only one she says clearly. And, she just started that this evening as I was downloading these pics. I love it when you realize just how much they are taking in on a daily basis as they start spitting it back out. So cool! All you fellow moms and dads know what I mean, don't you?

We had a great time with you guys and can't wait till our next adventure... miss you and love you lots!

The whole gang minus Uncle Russ on the other side of the camera.
Now that's a tourist photo if I've ever seen one!!
Just chillin' together
Uncle Russ and TJ with the well-fed goats.

TJ looking out the window - he didn't do much of this. Mostly he just climbed around inside the jeep like a wild monkey (no surprise).
How cute is that!!
Bad, bad Zebra!!
Sweet Zebra at a safe distance- that's the way we prefer to keep them!
Aunt April and Alli safely looking in from the outside of the goat petting area. She was a little scarred from the Zebra incident.

Shiner

Well, it's the first but I'm quite sure it won't be the last- a black eye...

The coffee table is not kind when you fall face first into it- OUCH!!

It doesn't look too bad on camera, but it's pretty ugly in person.

The Who

Everyone knows about the "why" stage that toddlers go through and I am not looking forward to that. Cause, I'll admit sometimes I lack creativity in coming up with an answer when I don't necessarily have one, and I want to try to avoid the "just because" answer as much as possible. Don't get me wrong- I know I'll be keeping it in my back pocket for when I really need it (along with my "because mommy said so!")

So, back to the point (I think I have one), I don't remember anyone telling me about the "who" stage. This is a stage that Alli seems to be in currently. Anytime she sees a picture, book, magazine, cereal box, etc., she points to every person, character, animal or thing and says "who dat?" No sooner than I answer her is she pointing at the next one saying "n who dat?" If she doesn't get an answer right away, it becomes "who dat mama?, who dat mama, mama, who dat?...." It can be hard to come up with an identity for random people in magazines. And, as you can imagine, it quickly becomes boring especially if it is the same person over and over- "that's baby Alli, that's baby Alli..." The funny thing is she often already knows who it is and so when I answer, she says "right" with a satisfied nod of approval. So cute.

I don't know why I am so surprised and amused by this, because basically she is just mimicing what I have done to her so many times with pictures of out-of-town family members- which is all of them :-(
The mimicing behavior is also the reason why I so often hear "NO TJ, DON'T DO DAT" come out of her mouth. It's very hard to try to explain to a 2yr old that it is mommy and daddy's job to discipline TJ- not hers. She just doesn't get it.

Summer fun

Alli & cousin Maddy looking so cute & having so much fun

Weeeeee! She had a few rough landings at first, but she kept going back for more. What a blast!

TJ has had a love-hate relationship with the pool. He started out liking it until Alli splashed a little too much and got a little crazy with the water hose. Then, he started hating it. But he's warming up to it again and is starting to love it. It's a good thing 'cause mom, dad and big sister Alli really like swimming and playing in the water (especially at the river or lake), so there will be a lot of that in his future.