A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great long weekend! It really started on Thursday night, as Adam had Friday off too. Just a fun family night, it was hard to think that Russell actually had school on Friday!!

Nevertheless, Friday was Field Day at school and they had been practicing for weeks. Since Adam was home, I could go and stay at FD, help, watch, whatever. I was so impressed with the whole set up. Any FD I have been a part of is the traditional relay, tug o war, jumps, etc. This FD was mostly water play events – tossing water with cups at your opponent, this inflatable rocket that launches up 100 ft in the air, slip n slides, those giant inflatable waterslides you can purchase, some team building games, and even included a break stop to rotate thru which had popsicles for all the kids. What was impressive is that the whole school participated at the same time, which is no easy feat as the school has 1150 students. They rotated thru stations, 4 classes per station, each had their own numbered line to stand on, every station we went to our line was #4 so the kids were told what station to go to and they immediately ran to it and got on line #4, great music was being played on the loudspeakers and everyone was just having some 'good clean fun'. I was really impressed. I was the towel mom, I pushed around the cart of class towels, which sounds lame, but is helpful. I got a chance to catch up with Mrs. Cayer and chat with some other moms too. Mrs. Cayer did tell me who Russell will have next year for 3^rd grade, how pleased she was with that choice and has even pointed Russell out to Mrs. Justice. After chatting with some parents, they all pretty much said how they wished their sons/daughters could have Mrs. Justice too. So, I am hopeful for 3^rd grade!

After FD, it was off to the commissary with Rachel while Adam cleaned and waited for his mom & stepdad to come for the weekend. Rachel is always fun in the commissary. This time she kept asking Do we need this? How about this? Are we done yet? I think we should get _______ and then the reason why. The reasons varied from b/c dad's knee hurts (it didn't), or 'Rachel is soooo hungwee', or b/c Rowan pooped and we need more diapers. It sounds a little annoying, but she just gets so animated and is really into it, so it makes it fun/entertaining for me. We won't mention that it is a little distracting b/c I forget things on the list – doh!

Returning from the commissary, Jamie and Les had arrived and were staying until Monday. They went to Egypt last month, brought their pictures and Egyptian goodies, Jamie baked some awesome desserts for our bbq on Saturday and they babysat on Sunday so Adam and I could go out!!!

Saturday Jamie and took a long walk thru the 4 sections of neighborhood, it was great. Even better, Jamie made lemon meringue pie for dessert!! It really is one of my all time favorites, I haven't had it in years and homemade is the best! I am the only one here that likes it, so I never make it and I don't usually care for the store bought. A super treat! We bbqed that night, Adam's friend from work, Rachel, and her 4 yr old son came over. Rachel's husband is deployed and so I think she appreciated the invite to get out of the house on the long weekend. It was a nice evening. Our Rachel changed her clothes 4 times while they were here and one point she was running around naked, which kind of threw our guests for a loop, but 'big' Rachel told me she was relieved to see that another 4 yr old did the same goofy things with no rhyme or reason her 4 yr old does! Later that night we enjoyed the photos of Egypt while we all wore our Egyptian goodies. Russ got a bookmark with a hieroglyphic alphabet, so he was translating for us during the pictures. Pretty cute. Russ now wants to go to Cairo, look at all the cool stuff and find the bad guys from Indiana Jones.

Rowan impressed Grandpa Les. Row had some crackers in a little bowl and he ate them all. He took the bowl to Adam in the living room, then went to the pantry, opened the door, found his cracker box and took them back to Adam. Also, Rowan really has improved his receptive language. He knows what you are asking him. You can ask him to go outside, upstairs, downstairs, look for someone, the whole kit and caboodle; he gets it. He knows where we keep the bubble stuff outside, he goes straight for it and finds a wand and tries to blow thru it after you ask him if he wants to play bubbles. Grandpa got a real kick out of all of that.

Sunday we took Jamie out for a hike at Red Rock before the heat set in. We took a nice hike for about an hour. Rowan was pretty adorable – he knows his backpack that he rides in and is so excited to get in it. While riding along he just really takes it all in and not a peep out of him. No complaints, fussing, etc. Jamie enjoyed Red Rock. We took an easy trail that loops around to these shaded rocks the kids can climb. While we were walking back, Rachel said "I want to go to the shops. I don't like hiking!" And there you have it, my little shopping buddy proclaiming her allegiance to shopping!!! Ha! She does love to play outside and she would sit right there at Red Rock and play all day, but apparently the walking for an hour is not her cup of tea.

Sunday night Adam and I went to dinner and ended up catching a movie!! We went to dinner at a place called Marche Baccus, a French Bistro with a great patio on a manmade lake in a community called Desert Shores. The food was good, the wine was excellent, the setting was really nice too. The service was slow – we were there for over 2 hours. Someone had brought their children that were running all over the patio, thankfully not our section of the patio, but if they had we would have had a good talkin' with the manager. We felt bad for the other patrons, they all look irritated, we think some complained, anyway, not our problem! After dinner we made our way to Aliante station, the casino right near our house that also has the movie theater. We decided to watch Star Trek. We enjoyed it. And, unlike like our other date night, we were out past midnight, thank you very much!!

Monday we just were lazy. I have hurt back, another story, and it was really bothering me, so we just laid low. Jamie & Les headed home. We had a great visit with them. Not sure why, but whenever the Pricers come all together (both boys) or, I hate to say this, with Morgan, there always seems to be some kind of drama. If Blake comes there usually isn't too much drama,(Blake, I won't mention the past drama..), just Blake being a teenager who knows the world and the rest of us are clueless (were we ever like that? I am sure we were!! He'll learn), but Blake is really great with the kids, Rachel bosses him around like a pro and he just does what she tells him. It is so stinkin cute and funny. Anyway, my real point is when Jamie and Les can come without the boys, we really get a chance to visit with them and enjoy them. It doesn't happen very often, so we enjoy it. Sorry, Blake & Morgan!

Monday night…. We were watching Star Wars and when it was over, Rowan turned to look at me, held up his forefinger and thumb like a gun and made a shooting sound. I couldn't believe it. He did it again. I am frantically calling to Adam to come downstairs to witness this. As he does, Rowan turns to him with his fingers and makes the sound. Adam pretends to fall down and Rowan doesn't get it! He looks at him, like what's the deal?? Adam gets up and Rowan is pretending to shoot all over the place. Of course this seems like a great thing to capture on video, however the batteries were dead. He kept on for another minute or so and then it was over. He was done and hasn't done it since. It was so funny and amazing at the same time. How did he figure that out? The other 2 weren't doing it. Amazing what goes on their minds. He wasn't really watching the movie, just playing in the living room. And let me add that we aren't all for the pretend violence and all that. It was just so crazy to see him figure that out. It made us think about Russ and his 'pow powing' days. He did similar stuff like Rowan just did, not getting the whole concept of shooting, just pointing and making sounds. Russ was 4 when he really started getting the whole concept of shooting. He called it pow pow. He would ask my dad "Grandpa, I pow pow this?" asking about a rock or person or whatever. Dad would give the go ahead on the inanimate objects. This topic could make for another entry, so many things to think about and compare. But, I'll just leave it at that, as it is time to get Russ to school , Rach to gymnastics and get myself ready too!!!

Kadie

We got Kadie when we first were engaged, living in Vallejo in our great little apartment and Adam worked nights and I was teaching during the day. She was really my first pet. She was such a sweet kitten and very possessive of me. We got Riley a few months later and those were our 'kids' until, well, you know. I used to give her bottled water to drink, she was a spoiled little thing for quite some time!! Ha! She could hold her own against anything or anyone. One day when we lived in FL the first time around (00-01) she got out of the house and went after our neighbors dog and won. She was good with the kids, but kept her distance. She was beautiful – a tuxedo cat and she kept herself very clean and soft. She had attitude for days and we loved her.

So, last October Kadie became ill, had similar symptoms as Riley did when he died. After doing some testing with the vet, but again in a spot where we could go overboard with all the tests and costs and still not have a definitive answer. She wasn't eating and a feeding tube was discussed, but the quality of life was also an issue too. We tried some meds to see if we might get lucky, but her liver levels were already so over the top and gone, it seemed inevitable that we would lose her too. And we did. We had her cremated and the pet cemetery gave us this really sweet poem in a matte with some of her fur and her paw print. There is a place for her picture. I wasn't expecting to get that at all, but it really was comforting. I wish we would have had received that with Riley's ashes too.

After Kadie passed a way, my stepmom sent me this email about Swiffer wet jets and that they can be poisonous to animals and children. From what I can deduct, there isn't anything concrete, but a lot of personal accounts of people whose pets died and they all had liver issues and symptoms like our 2 cats. It is really strange. You have to really wonder about that. I did use a wet jet for a long time in OK and FL and they say cats walk on the chemicals and then lick it off their paws when they groom. We thought Riley had a tumor on his liver, but he never had an ultrasound. Kadie had an informal ultrasound (not by a specialist, just the vet. We didn't have that option with Riley) and there wasn't a tumor in Kadie. The circumstances of the accounts I read are just so similar with our story, we just really wonder if that is what happened to our Kadie & Riley. We still have Harry and so far he hasn't been ill, but I know I used the wet jet more before we got Harry than after.

Whatever the case, I miss Kadie and Riley. I still 'see' Kadie on top of the recliner, one of her favorite spots; it is hard to not actually see her there. She would sit there and kind of nuzzle into my hair while I fed the baby or relaxed. I miss that.

A Walkin’, Talkin’, Toddlin’ Man

Time to indulge in a little motherly bragging! Rowan is at such a cute age and is just so stinkin' cut, I can hardly stand it!!!! Ha! So, be prepared readers, this is all about our little Row Row and how fantastic we think he is.

Rowan is just the epitome of a toddler right now. He teeters and totters as he walks around. He is becoming more independent – won't even hold my finger while he's walking unless he really feels like he needs some help! And I just want to hold fingers while walking side by side, instead of holding hands!!!! He's into everything, doing everything, opinionated about everything and now is my chance to get all these little things recorded J

• He is still a shameless flirt. He looks up at people with his chin on his shoulder, pretending to be shy, batting his eyes and smiling. Sometimes, he'll give a little wave. Once at Starbucks, he was in his stroller facing me and a woman behind me. He was flirting with her the whole time. I had no clue until Jess had pointed out what a flirt he was. The lady was loving the attention and giving it right back to him. He makes friends at the kids' schools while we are waiting for them to be released. He has quite the fan club at Rachel's school with a few of the moms. He just stares at them until they make over him, tickle him, etc. They love it too. At Russell's school, he's always making a new friend, the latest of which is a grandpa that loves to watch Row play in the dirt with Rachel. Rowan will look over his shoulder to make sure he's still watching.
  
• Rowan is a great at mimicking. He loves to applaud when everyone else is or when he hears clapping. He always rubs his hands together when he sees me hand sanitizing (which has been a lot lately!!). He likes to help clean and takes a wipe to clean the high chair, the floor, the window, whatever anyone happens to be wiping clean at the time. He really tries to copy the kids when they do something that strikes his fancy.
  
• He was watching the kids gargle and I was making a big deal out of them gargling, not the great skill, the great use of gargling to delay whatever they need to do next. Yea, so Rowan now gargles and is so pleased with himself!
  
• He HATES having his face cleaned.
  
• Right now he is shaking his head no at requests, questions, etc. And when he is on a roll, he shakes no at funny questions like: Do you want a cookie? Is Dad ugly? Is mom your favorite?
  
• He won't say the word no. Like last night he wanted bananas and we tried to give him something else. He just shook his head no and said "Dat un" and pointed at the bananas.
  
• He does this finger taste test when unsure about what he is eating. He just puts in his finger tip and puts it in his mouth for the taste test. If it agrees with him, he digs in. Or he shakes his head no and proceeds to dump it on the floor. We are working on the latter.
  
• Of the 3 kids, he is the one that really likes to take stuff out and put it back in. He can spend an hour or more walking around the house taking things out and putting them back in. Now, this could be the laundry, kitchen towels, toys, bathroom drawer items, books, chalk from the art easel; literally anything. And when he puts it back, it doesn't mean that he puts it away, it means he puts it back someplace else or scatters it everywhere. He likes to put stuff back in the garbage can (his sippy cup), the toilet (toys & bink), and into various drawers and baskets. He takes stuff out of the garbage too – food, papers, whatever strikes his fancy. Now, when he puts in things of importance (his sippy cup) in the garbage and tries to get it back, but can't, he has a humongous fit.
  
• We'll touch on the fits… they are starting, so I am sure the 2s will be something else with him. He is really opinionated when it means something to him and persistent. For the most part he is happy to be out and about and doesn't have the public fits (yet), but at home he can get pretty pissy.
  
• He does what I call the gimme hands. When he wants something or you, he puts up his arms and his hands open and shut over and over and over. It is pretty darn cute. Sometimes he talks with the gimme hands, but usually just gestures.
  
• He loves to climb the stairs. When he gets half way up (and sometimes sooner) he does his "Ta Da!" which means he says it and throws his arms up in the air. He's genuinely thrilled with himself. Sometimes he wants to play on the stairs, which we aren't fans of that. So, I take his bink and throw it up some stairs and he chases after it. Then I take it again and throw it up the other half of the stairs to get him moving.
  
• He really likes the Wall E movie and he loves to say "Eva" just like Wall E.
  
• He is a snuggler at bed time. He doesn't go down unless he gets some snug time in at night. Not important for naps, but at nighttime it is a necessity. He can just sit in my lap and lean back and fall asleep and the head on the shoulder kind of snugglin' works too. I really love those snuggles.
  
• He makes these sounds that are hard to describe, but it is such a baby sound. It is a slobbery Geeee and Geh. Almost like a gargle, but not quite. He makes the sound mostly when he is playing with Adam and is really into it. It is a very sweet and happy sound.
  
• He loves to play outside in the sand box and he loves when we play with bubbles. His reflexes aren't fast enough to pop the bubbles, but he tries and squeals with delight. He gets a big kick out of watching Rachel pop bubbles.
  
• He is fascinated with the computer, typing on the keyboard, pushing the power button, taking the paper out of the printer and pressing its buttons.
  
• Rowan plays phone with anything. It can be his play phones, our phones or the remote controls to the TVs or the fans. He puts it up to his ear (kind of) and walks around and talks. It sounds kind like hello and then all baby jargon after. It is so cute. He really thinks he is getting away with something when he is using a real phone.
  
• He can open doors!! We have those lever handles on our doors here, so he gets into every room. He gets such great pleasure of opening the doors to get to Russ & Rach either while they are sleeping or using the bathroom. Russ plays with him with the door, so that doesn't help Rachel when she wants her privacy!! He gets into the pantry and will get out anything he can reach. Then he gives it to you and wants you to open it. One of these days I will open the tuna pouch and let him taste it. Little boogar will probably love it.
  
• He knows that there are other ways to open doors. For example the door at gymnastics – he knows you have to push the lever to open the door. He gets on his tippy toes and touches the lever, like he's going to do it himself. Then he will point to it and insist that I open it for him.
  
• This one is sweet – when he gives me a kiss, I say "ooooooooh, thank you" So now when he kisses me he immediately says "Oooooooooooooh" sometimes I get a thank you, but usually I have to thank him.
  
• He doesn't like to be told no and can get a little mad.
  
• He is also starting to get possessive of Adam & me. If Adam is playing with Russ or Rach, he has to be involved. Or if I am reading to either one, again, he has to get involved.
  
• Still working on some teeth. He has the 2 bottom teeth and one top tooth almost in and I think he is cutting (or getting ready to cut) 3 more on top and 2 more on the bottom.
  
• Words he is saying regularly and what they sound like:
  

  Hi Dad – Hi Da
  

  Thank You – Ank UUUUUUUUU (he says this one the 2^nd most!)
  

  This – Dis
  

  I Love You – uv U
  

  Mama – mmmmmmmmama
  

  Dada – dadadadadadda
  

  Russell – Ussel
  

  Rachel – Uchel
  

  That one – Dat Un (this is his most used phrase. It took us a while to figure out what he was saying!!!)
  

  Eva – Eva
  

  Wow- wow
  

  Whoa – Whoa
  

  Uh oh- Uh oh
  

  I am sure there are more, but I can't remember them right now, doh!
  

    

Summ-Summ-Summer Time

The weather man hit right on the nose this morning, weather wise, we have only had about 10 days of Spring. It is already in the upper 90s and it doesn't look like it is going to get cooler any time soon. This just adds fuel to my fire – getting' outta Vegas during the actual summer. Plans are starting to shape up. Unfortunately, Adam has to go to NM for a military exercise, so the plan just moves forward without him and hopefully, we'll catch him on the tail end of our trip.

So, here's the plan, even if you don't want to hear it ; ) My Dad's Mom is turning 90 this year and they (his siblings) are throwing a big party/luncheon at a winery in Plymouth, CA. I am not very close to this grandma, but all ten grandkids will be there and that is something that hasn't happened in years. It should be a lot of fun. The conflict for me is getting to Northern CA with the 3 kids minus Adam. I really want my car, so flying is not a good option. The 2^nd option is to have someone fly to me and drive with the kids and I. Adelle is stepping up to the plate and we will have an adventure together! I am looking forward to getting some alone time with her, she'd like to make a trip on her own and the kids adore her: we all win!

After spending a few days with the Vershaws, the kids and I will head to Napa and spend about a week with my mom. Martha already has the itinerary built, so it will be nonstop action! One of the fun and silly things we like to do is visit Train Town in Sonoma. The whole thing started with taking Russell and has continued with Rachel and carried over to Dawn's daughter, Ena, Shelly's son, Jackson, and Tonja's daughters too. So, of course, we have to take Rowan for his first trip and Tonja had a baby girl in February, Elizabeth, so the two newbies will get take their first Train Town trip together!! Tonja's kids and mine haven't been able to spend much time together, let alone experience any 'firsts' together, so even though it may be 'just' Train Town, it will be extra special! It is the little things that mean so much!!

After we wear out my mom in Napa, we'll go back up to Yuba City and the Vershaws and head off on the great NW Adventure. Meaning a big RV 'camping' trip. We'll head up through Oregon and top out in Seattle and make our way back. I think we'll be gone about 2- 2 ½ weeks. I am looking forward to it! My dad is a really good trip planner and quite frankly, I like to be a long for the ride. Grandma Rizzi (Dawn & TJ's grandma) once said "It's just so nice to be a passenger". I couldn't agree more. We'll get to see Andy a couple of times and Schelley in Seattle, which is a total bonus. One night we are staying at an RV park that is also a drive in movie theater – how fun will that be?!? We can put our chairs outside and watch a movie outside; the kids are going to love that.

At some point, Adam will fly up to Northern CA (and possibly Oregon) to catch up with up with us. We are hoping to leave the kids with the grandparents and get away for a weekend and then head back to Vegas.

August will hold some kind of trip too. I am hoping for san Diego area or maybe even Tahoe??? Adam will be deploying in the Fall, so we definitely want to get out and do something before he goes. All of the deployment stuff is up in the air and therefore, August is too. We'll figure it out – we always do!