On the road again...

Well...a get-away was calling my name!  Zach had a week off of school in February (Maine-ers ski break), and I needed a break from reality and life.  So I decided to be brave and drive by myself with my 3 kids to Raleigh to visit my parents and sister.  I seem to do these solo-with-children trips every year or so (remember last years trip all the way from Arizona to Raleigh!). 

(Playing at the park close to Mom and Dad's house)

The only thing this time - I wasn't driving across no-man's land.  I was driving through huge, major and sometimes scary cities!  First Boston, then Hartford, then NEW YORK CITY (yeah, through the Bronx! yikes!), Newark, Philly, D.C., Richmond and finally into Raleigh!  It wasn't a snoozy boring trip (like driving through Kansas or Wyoming), that's for sure! We took 2 days to make the drive, staying overnight in a hotel in New Jersey.  Traffic went really good, except our final big city of Richmond.  That burst my "I am invincible" bubble and we sat in traffic for hours!  Dumb.  But we made it to Raleigh only 2 hours after the planned arrival time!  

My kids have become well-seasoned awesome travelers.  Yes, they still fight and are punks sometimes, but overall, they do great and don't require super frequent stops.  Zach gets to earn money for helping "babysit" the kids - nicely and happily - although, some trips he earns more than others...  It may or may not be due to the "nicely" part of the agreement.    

(Is he not the cutest little boy in glasses you have ever seen!  I'm biased, but man, he really is adorable! And so sweet too!)

The weather was beautiful and spring-y while we were there and we went to the park twice.  The first time, Joy had a day off school and got to come with us.  The second time, my dad took the day off work to spend time with us and got to play with us at the park (forgot my camera that day).  Grandpa pushes the merry-go-round pretty fast!

Love this picture...

Since we wouldn't be home to celebrate Parker's 2nd birthday, we had a little celebration with Chris the night before we left.  It was nothing big, but exciting for this cute little dude that got to open a few presents.  I am amazed that this big ball of cuteness is already 2!!!  Where did my baby time go with this little dude!?!?

Joy then planned a little family bbq / birthday party for the day after we got to Raleigh.  Grandpa bbq'd chicken on his charcoal grill, and mom made lots of other yummy food. (while we were there, he finally bought himself a gas grill!!  Go, Dad!)

Parker being a monkey on the balcony rails

And enjoying lots of tickle time with Grandma...one of his favorite things to do while we are there!!

 

Joy was so kind to invite her boy (that's a friend...or so she says...) so that we could meet him!  Cooper turned out to be quite a nice fella and even put up with my kids mauling him all night - literally!  They thought he was pretty fun...oh, and Joy too!  The kids and Joy and Cooper had a great time playing hide-n-seek all over Grandpa and Grandma's house...while I sat lazily on the couch and snapped some pictures!

Zach found some old crutches in one hiding spot...

Parker has been SO excited to turn two!  He loves to tell people his birthday.  He then will list off every one's birthday in the family!  Smart little dude! 

Now for the rest of the present opening...

And then the birthday cake...More excitement for Parker!  He LOVED having everyone sing Happy Birthday to him!  He loves to sing it to other people, so he felt pretty special that everyone was finally singing to him!

Happy 2nd Birthday little man!!  I sure do love your darling self and am so thankful for all the happiness you bring me!

My mom and I also took the kids downtown Raleigh to a little children's museum (that's free!!).  It was good for the kids to get out for a bit and see some fun animals.

And last...it wouldn't quite be a "normal" trip to Raleigh if we didn't ride on the go-carts!  Grandpa and Zach drove their own cars and Joy was nice enough to take Chloe.  Although, that turned out to be the best choice for Joy because they ended up smokin' everyone!! 

Can you tell she's excited?!

And their off!!!

Zach usually always gets a pretty speedy car.  But not that day!  He had quite the slow car and every lap, you could see his happy, fun-filled face changing and getting grumpier and more frustrated!  They all ended up lapping him, which just made him even more upset.  Poor Zach!  Not what he had in mind that day!  Oh well - ya win some, ya loose some!!

Poor little Parker had to sit out with me and watch everyone.  He was SO sad that he couldn't go ride with everyone!  He tried really hard to be tough, but that bottom - quivering lip just couldn't hold it in and he sat in tears most of the race.  I felt so bad for him!  Not fun being a little guy sometimes! 

Since he was so sad, I told him on the way home that he and Chloe could go ride their bikes and race around the garage!  After a bit of hesitation, he agreed that that sounded fun.  But even to this day, he still likes to remind us, "Do you 'member I got sad at the go-carts!"  (his is a little Radio Flyer um...thingy that he calls his horse!  It is probably his favorite birthday present!  Either that or the cool monster truck Joy gave him!)

I am grateful to have such good kids and grateful that they put up with me trapping them in the car for days to drive some where.  I am grateful that I am able to go when "break-time" from life is calling my name!  Plus super grateful that I could have others around to entertain my little people.  Really, a trip it isn't that much of a break because I am still taking care of my kids...and solo too (meaning Chris is not around).  But it is a break from the sometimes monotonous routine of being a stay-at-home mom.  Monotonous - yep, sometimes.  But worth it none the less!  Thanks, Mom and Dad and Joy, oh, and Sadie-dog, for letting us crash your place for a week!  We miss you lots and wish we could live closer!

Proving my point...

...First a little Parker update...

He will be having surgery at the end of April on both eyes.  His glasses are full strength and still his eyes want to float inward, definitely not as bad as without the glasses though.  So they are only helping somewhat.  He has what the Dr. calls Partially Accomadative Esotropia.  So basically, his cross-eyed-ness only fixes part way with different types of therapy.  The rest has to be fixed with surgery.  While we are waiting for the surgery date, we are dilating the "good" eye to make it blurry.  This acts as a patch (since he won't leave a patch on) so that his "bad" eye can work harder and hopefully get a bit stronger on it's own.  His Dr. will cut the muscles a bit that are pulling his eyes inward and hopefully then with the help of his glasses (and possible patching), he will be able to see straight.

I have said it lots of times that my little Parker-pants is a busy, mischievous child!  I have also said lots of times how absolutely wonderful and fabulously sweet he is too.  He is super sensitive and loves to hug and snuggle.  He LOVES babies and thinks anyone smaller than him is a baby.  He is very gentle with babies and certain things, but then can get down and dirty with Zach and Chloe and be all boy - rowdy and destructive and full of energy!  He is just a mix of so many different things!  I have said many times that he can be a super naughty little guy too!  I don't let him leave my sight for less than a minute or so, because I will pay the price if I do (or I fear he will break his neck falling off of something!).  It will be interesting to see how this all plays out when I am busy with a newborn!  I'm a little scared, but I am hoping his love for babies will keep him in the same room! 

The thing is, when he is being naughty, he is absolutely as sweet as can be about it.  Whether it is splashing water or food all over, hitting his sister, turning the TV off while Zach watches, making a mess, climbing on counters and furniture...and everything!, dumping toys that were just cleaned 5 seconds before - No matter what it is, he does it with a happy little smiley face.  He is super sweet about it (usually) and it is hard to get after him...sometimes.  He often will even come tattle on himself and then quickly want to say sorry to make things better.  He really is just adorable, but some days...I am exhausted from chasing him around the house all day!  He is SO BUSY!!!

Here are some examples...

Zach had dish night and hadn't gotten the table cleared all the way.  I went to the basement for literally about 2 minutes (remember...1 minute too long!) to start some laundry and when I came up, I found this...

Happily feeding Baxter our dinner!! 

I wish I could get the video to work....I'll keep trying...

Next is a little story...

The other day, he had a bit of a runny nose.  Not horrible, but enough to require a kleenex every once in a while.  Well, he was in a very teasy mood that day and he decided that it would be really funny to wipe it on my sweatshirt multiple times.  He would laugh and I would tell him to quit!!  He would laugh as I pushed his nose away and then he would try to get my shirt even more.  (yes, I know, my laughing didn't help!  But he was just being so dang funny while doing it!)

As I was making dinner, he decided that Chloe would be his next target.  Now, let's remember that he totally knows how to push her buttons and she has not figured out how screaming actually makes him want to do it more!  Parker tried to wipe his nose on Chloe and she screamed and started running away.  So...what does he do, he chases her!!  All while saying he was going to wipe snot on her!  Around and around they went, Chloe screaming, Parker laughing...my two year old chasing my almost 5 year old!!  SO naughty, but oh so funny!!  He proudly told Chris when he got home, "I tried to wipe snot on Chloe's shirt!!"  (I really do try to teach my kids manners and to be loving to each other.  But sometimes it is funny to just sit back and watch the funny/naughty things they do!  So yes, go ahead and judge me that I am a crappy mom for letting him do that!  I'm fine if anyone wants to judge - it was hilarious!)

Next Parker naughty-pants story...This one I still am not actually laughing about.  I can see that it will be funny someday, but right now it is still frustrating! 

I was upstairs showering, so Chris was "in charge."  He was busy making a million spudnuts (donuts) for a ward activity and didn't realize that Parker had gone in the other room and was quietly having fun by himself.  When I came down shortly after, I found my little dude and he knew he was caught.  He had climbed this computer chair...

to where he could reach some craft paint I had just put out of his reach (or so I thought) just the day before.  He then proceeded to open it and paint our printer/scanner/fax machine!!  Really!?!?!

After scrubbing with paper towels and cue tips, most of it came off the surface.  But Chris is still going to have to disassemble it and see if he can clean each little button and other tiny surfaces and cracks where I couldn't get to.  The paint has dried and the buttons will not even push down!  Let's hope it is fixable!

In my astonishment and disbelief, I didn’t think to take a picture of the culprit, just of his handiwork. So….does anyone want to question the busy-ness of my child anymore?!!!!  Point proven!!

Regardless of the drama he creates and the messes he makes, I would take them any day just so I can be his mom and have him in our family!  He is so stinkin' cute and truly has brought much joy to us.  I love my Parker SO much!!!