SURPRISE, WE'RE GOING TO ROCKY SPRINGS!

We were all set to go over to the pool this morning, but apparently it's not open on weekend mornings. What?! That makes absolutely no sense. Especially for a Saturday. And a holiday weekend. So since we didn't want to sit around waiting for it to open at 1:00pm, during naptime (lame-o), we decided to just load the kids and their sand toys, pack a lunch, and take a spontaneous trip down to Rocky Springs (Little Sand Creek) along the Trace for some splashing and adventuring. The temp was only 80, there was a slight breeze, and it was overcast. It couldn't have been a better time to hang out at the creek!

THE MINIONS, REVISITED

We took Cora to see her first theater movie today: Despicable Me 2

We talked it up, had James explain to her about staying in her seat and being quiet, and hoped for the best!

 For the first 3/4 of the movie, she sat still and ate popcorn and gummies (and drank Sprite, since it came with the kid combo treat box). She laughed along with the movie, pointed at the screen, and kept her 3D glasses on. After that she got antsy, needed a potty break, and fell asleep in my arms as I rocked her at the back of the theater (we went to the 12:50pm showing, so it was smack in the middle of her normally scheduled naptime), but as soon as I sat back down she woke up and watched the rest of the show quietly from my lap. I'd call it a success, and far better than we expected from her (since she rarely sits still for even 10 minutes of screen time at home). James, of course, loved it and was glued to the screen the entire time. He wasn't as good about leaving his glasses on, but whatever, he was happy. It's nice to know we can all go out to movies now (though I doubt we'll go often anyway - this was only James' second time in the theater, the first being his 3rd birthday viewing of The Lorax). Oh, and the movie was great! Though we'll definitely skip the 3D version next time (it's just not our thing).

FIREWORKS AND MUFFS

 The last time we went to the fireworks show in Vicksburg, it was a small event with a small turnout. This year it took us forever just to find a parking spot, then walk close enough to be able to see the show, and even longer to drive home through the crowd of cars. It was worth it, of course (it was a good show, and I LOVE me some fireworks!), but we were all tired (especially Cora and Jay).

 We brought Jay's ear muffs for James, and purchased a second set in kid-size earlier in the day for Cora, in the hopes that muffling the boom-booms would lead to an enjoyable experience for all. Cora was still scared at first, and spent most of the show hugging her daddy, but James seemed to really love it, all 30 minutes (it was a good, long show this year, perhaps in celebration of the sesquicentennial?)

The long drive home resulted in Cora passing out in the car, muffs still on (she refused to take them off, and yes, I took this photo back at home after I'd already unbuckled her). We didn't get back to the house until after 10pm. So many late nights for these kids over the past couple of weeks... hopefully getting back in routine next week will lead to better sleep schedules and less Corasaurus meltdowns...

BOB THE BUILDER

The Mississippi Children's Museum has a Bob the Builder exhibit visiting, so we used our membership (one more visit this year and we'll get our money's worth!) to take the kids over to explore it after the race. It as surprisingly uncrowded, so Jay and I just split up (after the kids were done with the Bob the Builder room, which took them about 45 minutes) and let them do whatever they wanted for another hour. Can I just say that going there was that much nicer knowing that we didn't have to stay for hours and hours to feel like we got our money's worth?

We were all set to leave at lunch time, but the kids discovered that the splash pad was running when we went outside, so we stayed another 30 minutes so they could get wet and build forts. If I'd had my swimsuit, I would have joined them for sure. Whoever decided to put giant blocks out on the splash pad was a genius - our kids could have played out there for hours if we'd let them!

 Ironically, we had their swimsuits in the car, but didn't bother putting them on the kids, since they made a beeline from the door to the splash pad and we just didn't care. Instead, we put them on as dry "clothes" for them to wear home in the car... Whatever works, right?

WATERMELON CLASSIC 2013

It's that time of year! Holidays, big races, and watermelon!

This year Jay ran the 5K while I watched the kids, and he, Sophie, and Christina lucked out with cool temps and lower humidity than last year. It made for some fast times across the board (the first male finisher came in at 16:02 and the first female was 19:11 - amazing!) There were 1030 runners and the event was as well organized as last year, with ice-soaked paper towels and cold watermelon, plus a truck of iced Powerade and a tent with free muffins, for all the finishers.

Ready to give daddy good luck kisses and send him off to the starting line!

The kids and I found Al, Will, and Lauren shortly after the runners headed out. Only one person inquired about us having four kids...

Just add dirt (and/or water) and you have happy kids. Never fails.

We barely had time to head up to the finish line and get the kids covered in sunblock before the first runners started arriving. Sophie came blazing in even faster than we expected her! We knew she was going to get her sub-26:00 because she's been training hard, but I think even she was surprised to clock in at a super speedy 24:23! That earned her 5th place in her age group (out of 83)! Way to go Sophie!

Christina was next, coming in ahead of one of our technical directors at ERDC. I was thrilled (and I'll admit it, a bit jealous) to see her finish time of 26:13. She did SO WELL and we were all really excited for her! She placed 7th in her age group (out of 66) and looked damn good doing it! Proud of you mama!

Jay came flying in next at 27:22, exactly 3 minutes faster than his time at this race last year! Not only is that major progress over the past year, but especially impressive to me given our near 2 week vacation complete with only a few days of running and many days of beer drinking. And check out that finish form! Way to keep it together sweetie!

Running endorphins are so cute :-)

The kids participated in the Tot Trot again this year and loved their little dog tag medals!

 P.S. I signed up for, and actually ran, the 1-mile fun run. By myself. Without a kid. I'm pretty sure I was the only unaccompanied adult, and I felt completely ridiculous. I swear there were multiple teenagers and 20-somethings who ran it last year, or I never would have signed up... Needless to say, I won my age group (out of 9 runners), since everyone else was running with their kids. I only placed 6th overall though... and I did not "let" the kids win. The little ones who beat me won it fair and square - they were fast! And honestly, I was not. My 1-mile time was pretty much the same as Sophie's average per mile pace for her 5K... Sadly, I'm a very long way from that high school 1-mile PR of 5:31...

SESEQUICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION: THE GRAND ILLUMINATION

One luminary placed at the major memorials for each life lost during the battle at Vicksburg.

And a couple photos from the park rangers:

FANCY PANTS

Apparently telling her to get dressed involves nothing more than 18-month size tights and her birthday tiara...

RUPTURED EARDRUM

Cora came home from vacation with a BAD cough. Actually, it had gotten bad while still on the west coast. So after school we took her to the doc (she hadn't had any fever, so we figured she was ok to go to school) and found out that her left ear (which had been infected right before we left on our trip) has a ruptured ear drum and her cough is bad enough to require antibiotics and steroids. No wonder she had those meltdowns on vacation, especially at bedtime (ear pain is always worse when laying down). Since I felt guilty, and she requested it as we drove by after dropping of her prescriptions, I took her to Orange Leaf. In our house, ice cream makes all illnesses better. And James didn't mind one bit taking advantage of the situation...

POST VACATION BLUES

And this was at 8am. On a school day. I let them sleep as long as possible, and they were still crazy when I woke them up. Gonna be a long week (or more) of readjustment...

HEADING HOME

Proof that we've learned to travel light! Two suitcases for 4 people, and one small carry-on each!!

Walking the Sacramento River

Since I don't think I mentioned it after the flight out, the kids were both awesome travelers on this entire trip. They napped on the way to the airport, behaved on the plane, slept 3 out of the 4 hours of the flight from Atlanta to Sacramento, were great (most of the time) on all the long road trips (we had four days worth of 5-10 hour trips) and also all the little jaunts to go sightseeing, and were equally good (and napping) on the return flights home. Much appreciated kiddos. Much appreciated.