what's on YOUR car?

We were stopped at the gas station, and I ran inside to pay for our gas after pumping. David was driving, and we were in the Blazer. About the Blazer: about a year ago now (maybe less, seems longer), we noticed the hinges on the driver's side door were about to fail. In fear that we'd get the door open and not be able to close it, we started using the passenger door and scooting across the bench seat. This is a real pain, and new hinges are not expensive, but we haven't found the time to bother with it yet. Fast forward to this summer when David parked in an unexpected place and I didn't look before I backed the Tracker right into the Blazer driver's side door, something that makes me cringe every time I see the car door (because I put a BIG honking dent in the thing, totally my fault, totally embarrassing). Now for closer to 2 years, the driver's side window has not rolled down, and this is unrelated to the other problems with this particular door, but it sure has kept me out of drive-thrus, and for that I'm thankful. It's definitely irritating that the passenger has to get out before the driver gets out, though, and since David was driving, I just hopped out, gassed up, and paid. While I was inside the gas station, Dennis asked David "Daddy, what's on top of the car?". It isn't like David can just pop out the window and look or open the door or even roll down that window to ask me to look. So he said "I don't think there's anything on top of the car" while secretly wondering what I had put up there and forgotten about. There was more to the conversation, which I'll reveal in a minute, but when I got into the car, David said "what's on top of the Blazer?" and I immediately started to climb back out and check. He said "when you got out, Dennis asked me that" and I was opening the door to see what it was when he said "the roof--Dennis said there was a roof on top of the car after I insisted there was nothing up there". Smarty pants. He piped up from the backseat "there's a roof on top of the car--it keeps us safe--and there's a windshield in the front of the car to keep the wind out of our faces" and he went on with a comprehensive list of car parts and uses. He sure did make us think we'd left something up there for a minute!

too good to wait

Surprise, it's an early blog! He's already said so many funny things today that I worried I'd forget by tonight. He started off early today, grabbing one of my bras from the hamper and saying "Mom, is this your underwear?". I told him it was a bra, and he said "is this underwear for your nickels?" and I dissolved into giggles, remembering the day I was trying to teach him the word 'nipple' and he couldn't get past 'nickel'. He asked me if he could have underwear for his nickels, too, and though I explained that girls wore bras, he wasn't giving up, telling me "but I have nickels, too--see?". I just let it go. Fortunately, so did he.

This morning he took a bath, and I listened halfheartedly to his bath chatter until I heard "WATCH OUT--IT'S AN AVALANCHE!!" followed by large splashes. His wind-up scuba diver was in peril. We let him play again until we heard (loudly) "and now for my next trick" and then we decided he'd been in for long enough.

Just now, he's running around with a new piece of artwork, saying "we need to hang this on the blue wall". He held it up on the wall at his level and said "this will be perfect, don't you think, Dad?". Since we didn't immediately jump to it, he brought the picture to me and held it up against my legs. When I said "ow" he said "sorry, I just want to look at it against you--you're a good picture looker board". That's the kind of compliment that just makes my day!

infomercial

Have you seen that super-annoying Pillow Pet commercial that airs on one of the kid networks? Dennis has. He's been asking for a pillow pet for a few months now. He would love it for a few days, and then I think it would join the countless other stuffed animals in his closet. He thinks he needs one to take with him, to love on, to nap with in the car. Our Walmart now sells pillow pets, and Dennis was positively delighted to see them there. He has sampled them all and prefers the bee and dog over the ladybug because "hey, this ladybug doesn't have any wings!". He has cried each time we have left the store without one. Tonight I reminded him that pillows are used by people who go to sleep, and didn't he just tell me to sell his bed because he didn't want to sleep anymore? Man, that's some seriously good marketing in that commercial!

Fairly fun

The fair is in town! We went tonight and had some fun--this is the first year we've purchased an armband for the rides. We bought one for Dennis and soon realized that one of us would have to get one, too, so that he'd have someone to ride with. We let him choose, and he chose David to be his riding buddy. He did all the kiddie rides several times, rode the teacups and went in the fun house, played a pop-gun game, and rode 2 ferris wheels. He loved the rides and most especially loved the petting zoo and children's farm. He petted chickens, goats, a pig, a cow, a horse, a guinea pig, and rabbits. He planted some seeds, fed corn to fake chickens and collected fake eggs, picked cotton, picked apples, sawed on a tree with a toy chain saw, milked a cow (wooden cow, udders with water in them) and caught a paper fish. He took his haul to market and exchanged it for play money, and he traded the play money for some very cool Smokey the Bear environmental posters of his choosing (stay tuned--they'll be framed and showing in a den near me soon).

It was great fun, and he hated to leave, but it's a school night for both of us, and he still had homework! Preschool homework? Yes, he had to glue together a house from different construction paper shapes, something his class did when he was sick last Tuesday. Fun homework!

Today he told me to sell his bed. I asked him if he wanted a new one and he said "no, I just want a clean wall where it was". He doesn't want a bed because he doesn't want to sleep anymore. Maybe I should sell the oven...

a wet walk

When it began raining today, Dennis looked out and seemed disappointed. Then he cocked his head to the side, considering, and asked "Mom, can we go for a walk in the rain?". I couldn't think of a single reason not to, and in fact thought it would be fun and I told him that. He said "indeed it will be" and ran off to don his raincoat and boots. We walked the driveway, stopping to admire a bird feather and splashing in the puddles. He wanted to know where the birds go in the rain, so we talked about it some and then heard some singing from a bird in a tree right next to us. I snapped a hurried pic of him strolling along under his umbrella, a small photo that looks decent enough on my phone but not so great at any size. Since his expression is so cute, I'm including it anyway.

He told me again today that we needed to make a quick run to Downtown Disney to get more Legos. I asked him why and he said "we need more white legos to make a really cool spacecraft with propellers to spin it around really fast--WHITE propellers". He doesn't seem to care about the long drive!

crane builder

Dennis came running to find me in the kitchen and announced "I built some beautiful cranes for you--come see them; I will show them to you!". As I watched, three cranes morphed into two and then into one giant one. I raved over them, naturally, before returning to the kitchen. A while later I heard screaming and went to see what was going on and found him detaching the detachable legs from his new Disney characters. He was making them scream as he was doing it. I walked up and he looked at me, all innocence, and said "look, their legs fell off!". He knew that I knew that they didn't just fall off, and we shared a big laugh.

Sometimes, when David isn't home, Dennis and I have screaming contests. He likes to scream every once in a while, and only I let him do it indoors. And I join in, because he laughs those giant belly laughs when I scream. He likes to sneak up on me and surprise me to elicit a scream. And we occasionally just scream for the heck of it, something I started up tonight, and he said "shhh...don't scream--Daddy's home!". I said he wasn't home yet, and Dennis must have looked at his mental watch because he asked "oh, is he okay?" and that's when I noticed that it was 9:20! He got home 15 minutes later or so. I didn't realize that Dennis made the connection that we only scream indoors for fun when Daddy isn't home. I am the sillier of his parents.

treats at "Snonic"

Dennis had some truly excellent quips today. He announced in the Trooper (which we were driving earlier today after bringing it home from Alabaster so Gran & Pop could ride together), "hey, look! It's an armrest puppet!". And when we looked, we saw that he had removed the armrest cover from his booster seat and was making it talk to us. We had a good laugh over it, appreciating his creativity. After meeting up with Gran and Pop at Waffle House (his idea--he heard they were there and got on the phone to say "umm, Gran, I was wondering if I could come and meet you there at the Waffle House"), we were taking the Trooper back to their place to pick up our Blazer. Dennis said "but I want to keep this car" and I asked him why. He said he liked it better and we asked if he'd like the Blazer better if we cleaned it out. He said something that I thought was 'i will thank you if you clean it out' but he corrected me. What he actually said ("well, actually, I said") was "I will direct you when you clean it out". Nice.

By this evening I was desperate for some quiet, even though I love his little chatter. I took an hour and then was missing him, so we took a late night (for him) ride to take his movie back to the Redbox before 9 pm. I asked where he wanted to go next and he said "the Lego store" and I told him it was closed (knowing that the one at the Galleria was closed or would before we got there). He said "not the one at Downtown Disney--it's open late!". I tried to explain that it would take us until well into tomorrow to get there. I asked if he wanted to go for ice cream. He said "they are fresh out of ice cream at Downtown Disney because all the people came and they were buying it and they bought it all". I offered Sonic, he bargained for Durbin's, which I had to again report as closed. I said we could go to a gas station and shop for treats. He said "we can go to 'Snonic' first and get ice cream and then we can go to the gas station and shop for treats". I turned left onto Highway 22 and he began to cry, telling me Sonic was the other way. I turned around and I asked him what he wanted. He said "at Snonic, I want chocolate ice cream with boogers on it. And ham on it too. Is it called Snonic because they have snot there?". I took a moment to teach him the correct name. We sat outside and enjoyed our ice cream on this beautiful evening. Dennis pushed the button and told them he wanted chocolate ice cream and I gave our order when they asked. He was a little put out, saying "why didn't she talk to me, Mom?". He kept me entertained by telling a fellow Sonic patron "we are on a long journey--we came from Walmart, but it's okay because I know a shortcut". He was full of information and I just enjoyed his company. He's quite the conversationalist these days, and it was nice to hear him telling me things instead of asking me 'why?" a million times. His questions are both profound and numerous, and while I try to seize every learning opportunity I can, sometimes I just can't answer everything (or I'd never sleep at night). He sure is a fun companion much of the time, and that's such a blessing!

shopping fun

This is a picture of Dennis napping on a sofa outside Sears at the Galleria. We were waiting on Gran to get her business finished up at the cell phone store, and we exhausted the toy store supply. I persuaded him to nap by cuddling him in my lap and putting a hand over the ear that wasn't against my chest so that I could block out the noise that was bothering him (lots of bells and pings from the nearby arcade). It helped that he was already pretty sleepy!

We had fun at the Lego store there. Dennis wasn't at all shy. He saw a bin of hats and walked up to the counter and said "excuse me, could you help me find the heads and bodies, please?". She came and showed him where they were and he happily built a "marching band guy". Then he said "this man needs a drum" and though I told him there weren't any, he walked back to the counter and said "excuse me--do you have any drums?". When she told him they didn't, he just said "okay" and walked back. I love that he knows who to ask to get his problems solved!

Today in his science class: floating versus sinking! He says he had great fun. In his regular class today they talked about manners, so tonight I was both pleased and amused when he suddenly said at dinner "excuse me, ladies, I need to go to the restroom!". Hooray for preschool for reinforcing our manners training!

like Uncle Michael

Just a tidbit of a blog tonight, I'm afraid, because I am exceedingly nauseous and don't know how long this particular reprieve will last. Tonight as we were driving to meet Gran at the track to walk, I had just cranked up the Blazer when a small dirty sock came sailing into my lap, just missing my right ear. This was followed by a fit of giggles and a second sock. I made the appropriate "ewww, gross" noises and thought of my little brother and some dirty sock wars of years past. It brought a big smile to my face.

eye appointment

Dennis had his eyes checked today and we were happy to discover that they are perfect. He woke up from the nap he was taking in the waiting room and found himself in a room with instruments he had never before seen and was understandably freaked out. But he was very interested in everything and quickly got over his initial whininess. At first, the doc asked him to put his chin in the rest and lean in, and she showed him the colored lights and asked him what colors they saw. He didn't do it at first, but later, after they dilated his eyes and we were alone in the exam room, he told David to sit in the chair and then moved the equipment in front of David and said "now, Dad, put your chin right here--wait, let me adjust it for you--and I will check your eyes. Do you see the blue light and the green light? Hey, how do I turn this thing on?". He figured out how to move the chair up and down and rode it like an amusement park ride. And then he gave me an 'exam'. When the doctor came back in, we'd already explained to him all about how the eye works because there was a nice model of one sitting out in the room (and because we are geeky biology majors with a heavy concentration in anatomy). He was a model patient after that, so cooperative that the doctor couldn't stop telling us how great he is. We're so proud. And we're so glad he can see!

McWane Monday

We had a fabulous time with Gran and Pop today at the McWane Center. Dennis must be a bit psychic because he woke me up with his Mr. Potato Head this morning, saying "look, I made a Picasso potato!", which is indeed what it looked like. One of the featured exhibits at McWane now is a big Mr. Potato Head exhibit (until Sunday, when it leaves). We didn't tell him beforehand, and he hasn't played with his potato heads in a few months. Weird. He also asked me if we were going to see the Veggie Tales today, strange because I got an email from Jennifer about their upcoming visit to her church, but I never said a word about it. So he's really in tune with my brain, or he's reading my email and checking my web browser history (in which case, I'll be congratulating his computer teachers on their fast work--he's only been twice!).

We petted sharks and stingrays, played paleontologist on a dinosaur dig, touched a tornado, played with all manor of potato head accessories, learned about pulleys and air displacement, played 'brain ball' where we wore electrodes on our foreheads and used brain waves to push a ball back and forth... We saw fish and reptiles, and when I told Dennis to come and see the bugs, he said "you mean INSECTS, Mom". Indeed I did. We channeled our inner nerds for over 3 hours and had so much fun!

serious Bible trivia

As we tucked Dennis into bed tonight, he amazed us with the voluntary recitation of the 5 bible verses he has learned (shortened variations of 1 John 4:10, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:8, Genesis 1:31, and Psalm 139:14) We talked about praying for things we are thankful for and he named the stars and the sun and moon and his teachers.

Earlier, we were looking through his book of bible stories, and he had a question about each page: "who is that? What is he doing? Why did those men put him in with the lions? Why is that man a giant? Why are those men trying to stop the children from seeing Jesus? What is Jesus doing to that man's eyes?". Each answer led to more questions. Jesus was putting mud on the eyes of a blind man, and Dennis said "that wasn't very nice--we don't put mud in people's eyes". I explained that no, we shouldn't, but that Jesus was fixing the man's eyes, and I quickly began reading him the story of the 10 commandments and answering the ensuing questions. Just as we turned off the lights, he said "I don't like to lie to God or Jesus". We hadn't talked about lying, but we agreed that he was correct: we should not lie to them or to anyone. This could have resulted in another half hour of teaching, but we just agreed with him and wished him goodnight. It's a daunting task to help develop a little person's entire moral character, and we are so glad, so blessed to have the help of the church and his love of the bible to guide us in the right direction!

home play

Dennis and Chloe had spectacular fun today, dressing in his costumes, playing both inside and outside, destroying the house, etc. They alternated between having great fun together and "that's it--you are not my friend anymore!". They had some sibling type moments where they deliberately did things to antagonize each other, and they had moments where they got along great. Sharing isn't a priority for either child. We did enjoy watching them do some serious off-roading in the power wheels jeep, and they had a great picnic outside on his new picnic table. Such cuteness!

Today's best quote? When Chloe was asked why she hit Dennis on the face, she replied "because I thought it would be funny". Very nice. Next time the two spend a day together under my care, I'm going to get a whistle!

the naked issue

I am beginning to wonder if we have a little nudist on our hands, or at least a little streaker! He followed me into the kitchen, clothed in a shirt and underwear, and when I turned around, he was naked and giggling, saying " I'm naked !" or "look, I'm a naked!". I managed to convince him to clothe himself again before he ate. And hours later, he streaked into our room to greet me, again relishing his nudity, telling me "I like to be naked--can I just be naked?". I told him he could be naked, but he had to stay in his room if he was. He agreed to the terms, and whenever he came out of his room today, he was wearing underwear.

The picture shows him standing on an ottoman with his "directing stick", enthusiastically conducting me as I sang his requests. I got tickled as he wobbled a bit and said "woo! Let me get steady!" and then straightened up and began waving his drumstick baton again.

I was very sick today with a cough and sinus crud, and I spent nearly all day in bed. I hope it's temporary. Dennis wanted so much for me to be a part of his Lego parade, but I just didn't have the strength. And right now, an underwear and cape clad Batman is running through the house singing "da da da dahhhh" and ignoring my requests to go and wash the disintegrated lollipop goo off his hands, so it looks like I'll have to chase him down. Mommies just don't get enough sick time!

1st science class

Thursdays are not my usual days to volunteer at preschool, but we missed Tuesday and I stayed today to help out. Thursdays are when Dennis will go to what's called Discovery Zone, and it's a science class. I got to go with the two year olds to Discovery Zone, so I got to see the very first experiment that Dennis' class would do as well--today was this school year's first Discovery Zone. They saw a chemical reaction in a bottle that blew up a balloon, and they learned about pouring and measuring by scooping and pouring water into a container using different sizes of measuring devices. Naturally, the children all loved pouring water! I know Dennis' class had fun as well because after my class dismissed at 11:30, I went into the science room to clean up after his class (his science teacher was subbing for the main teacher for a bit) and there was water everywhere! I mopped up while the fish, frog, and tarantula watched.

I also got to experience Dennis' first time at Chapel today because the two year olds went as well. They had a nice lesson, verse, story, and song there in our beautiful church chapel. He also went to computer again today, and I still have no idea what he does there, but the computer instructors tell me he's doing very well and is amazingly talented at using a mouse already. I can thank his Gran for that, I believe, because I don't use a mouse on my computer.

He took a three hour nap after school today and turned down a trip to Walmart this evening because he wanted to stay home. He mostly played in his room, occasionally donning a costume to come out and visit me. The Spaceman came out to request a macaroni and cheese astronaut dinner, and Cowboy Woody came out to lasso me and/or Tabasco with a dog leash.

He and I spent an hour tonight building various Lego space stations, and now David has come home and taken that over from me. He seems so grown up to me all of a sudden!

I know what a million looks like

We arrived home from our Orlando expedition at 6 this morning, having ridden/driven all night. We are, of course, COMPLETELY exhausted, because Dennis slept most of the way in his cozy car seat while the rest of stayed awake to keep the driver awake while playing increasingly zany versions of the alphabet game (such as 'what would rednecks name national parks?' and giving one name for each letter).

Dennis got up around 9 this morning, and David bequeathed a vast collection of his own Legos to him at that time. He added these to his new ones from the trip and happily played all day in his room. They were scattered all over the place and he couldn't have been more thrilled. I enjoyed some peace and tranquility myself, and we both had an afternoon nap. Poor David had to work all evening, having had no nap and not much sleep after arriving this morning. This may have impaired his judgement enough to cause him to give our child a million Legos to spread around the floor! I'm happy he's so happy, though.

Getting him to leave the Legos to go to church tonight was difficult. But we went and he recited his 3 verses and earned his new Awana book and bag. I'm so proud of his bible verse memorization, and so is he! We went to Walmart after church and he was still saying "while we were sinners, (Jesus) Christ died for us, Romans 5:8" as we walked around. We went to look at Halloween costumes and found a space suit to go with his helmet. We've added it to his dress-up rack. He loves it as well as the Woody costume he talked me into buying. I enjoyed a little fashion show before he went to bed! Tomorrow it's back to school. Hope we get some good rest tonight.

end of vacation

So it's after 10 pm eastern time, and we are still on the Florida Turnpike. Looks like it will be one very late night for us! We wanted to do so many things today, and to cram them all in, we delayed our leaving until 8 pm. We swam in 2 pools at our resort this morning, and then visited Gigi at her resort and swam in 2 pools there. And then we had to go to the Lego store again before packing, loading up, and hitting the road. Dennis was a little sad to leave, but he's coming home with a van full of souvenir Legos! Gigi gave him something special today: his very own child-sized Nintendo Wii remote and nunchuck, blue and green in color and oh-so-cute! He also has his own Wii game to play, Jump Start Pet Rescue.

At Gigi's resort, he played on the very nice playground. He grabbed a rope to climb up a wall and did a pretty great job, making it almost all the way up before jumping off and saying "boy, that was a lot trickier than I thought"! He's been full of fun chatter this evening, telling each one of us "you have to wear your seatbelt when the driver is driving, that's the rule!". And he's right! He also made up a new verse to "if you're happy and you know it" adding "honk your nose, honk honk". We are singing car songs to pass the miles, and now we're on the interstate finally! Dennis is sleepy and has several fire trucks and cars lined up across his lap tray, trying to stay awake to play with them.

We've had a wonderful vacation, way too short, but wonderful. We are so blessed to have been given the means to treat him to such a costly trip: free Disney tickets in exchange for our volunteer work (and one for Dennis for touring a timeshare), a gift of Sea World tickets from a very special person, lots of spoiling from Gigi and Gran and Pop. It was special for us as well in that we were able to take Dennis to the resort where we spent our honeymoon over 15 years ago, and to share his first Disney experience. It seems like a lifetime ago that we honeymooned there, and we've been back a number of times, but this felt so very special to us to share it all with him. We have never had a theme park experience or vacation like this one: it was all about Dennis, doing what he wanted to do, skipping big coasters to stand in lines to meet characters and get autographs, going where he wanted when he wanted. It was great to experience it all from his perspective, the parks, the shopping, the swimming, the restaurant choices (though we mostly ate in our suite). What a fabulous experience and what a great way to end our summer (because surely we can have some cooler weather now-- it was HOT on this trip)!

magic at the Magic Kingdom

He woke up entirely too early this morning and headed straight for his Legos. I was greeted with this statement when I emerged from the bedroom: "well, I broke the alien Gran built but then I fixed him with my awesome hands because I am super-cool". He endured breakfast and was regrettably parted from his Legos to head to Disney World. He was tremendously excited about riding the monorail and when we traded in our vouchers and Disney bucks for tickets, we were all presented with badges/pins. Ours read "Honorary VoluntEAR" and his read "1st Visit". All day Disney employees thanked us for volunteering and asked about what we did for our service project (cleaning invading plant species out of a nature preserve) and made Dennis feel extra special. He got stickers from several different folks and got to be Guest Conductor on the train (he said "All Aboard!" over the microphone--a big moment for him). He also took a solemn Pirate Oath from Captain Jack Sparrow. He has certificates from both things. He also has several new toys and a book of autographs from the characters he met.

He loved EVERYTHING. He actually fell asleep for a second while we were getting a picture made in front of the castle. We were holding him up and his head bobbed against Pop and he just nodded off for a second. He didn't nap after that even when we took him on the Carousel of Progress (dark, cozy, soothing) for just that purpose. He watched every bit and listened to every word, and then he got to go out and meet Buzz Lightyear. He really enjoyed Buzz Lightyear's ride, the Space Ranger Spin (an arcade of sorts where you spin your car and shoot at The Evil Emperor Zurg). When we got to the end and the animatronic Buzz was reviewing our mission, Dennis saluted him and said "we did it, sir" in all seriousness.

He talked to lots of characters and lots of photographers, and he had such a magical, wonderful time. When we were leaving the park tonight, he wanted so much to open his new Mickey's house micro playset, but Gigi told him he'd have to wait til he got home. He said "no, you mean back to the hotel". Smart little thing! But he conked out in his stroller on the monorail, hugging the Mickey's house playset box like it was a lovey. I can't wait to hear what all he tells everyone about his visit to Disney!

Lego fun for all

Today was another most excellent day in Orlando. We woke early to tour a timeshare, something we swore we'd never do again, because they offered us $75 in Disney bucks, enough to almost cover the cost of Dennis' ticket to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow. David and I and Gran and Pop are using our Give-a-day-get-a-day vouchers, so our tickets are all free, and now, we just have to pay a little less than $4 for Dennis to get in. As much as we dreaded the presentation, it was quick and painless, less than the 90 minutes they had told us, and no slick salesguy. Totally worth the prize!

After the tour concluded, we took a couple of paddle boats around the lake at the resort. Dennis chose a dragon boat for us, and Gran and Pop chose a swan boat. Then we grilled burgers and napped, swam, and concluded our day shopping at Downtown Disney. Dennis says his favorite part of the day (after the paddle boats) was playing at the giant Lego store. He got to assemble 3 Lego men of his choosing from the random part bins, and he also got to fill 2 cartons with tons of pieces of his choosing from a wall of bins of loose Legos. All of us enjoyed helping him choose the pieces, and he couldn't believe he got to fill his own buckets!

My favorite part of the day? Yeah, that would be getting stranded in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop during a big thunderstorm. Free sample! And words couldn't do justice to how great it smelled in there.

We had a late night Lego assembling party at the dining table after getting back to our room. Dennis made his 3 men have many adventures, and had the policeman take the pirate to jail, even putting the pirate in Lego handcuffs!

Today I referred to him as "little booger" and he corrected me and said "no, Booger is my penguin". And then he said to me "you are a big booger--no, you are a HUMONGOUS booger". So I'll be hitting the diet-and-exercise regimen pretty hard again when we get back!

fun at Sea World

Boy did we have some fun today! Dennis absolutely loved Sea World. We saw a dolphin show and many different species of marine life. He rode his very first roller coaster and played at a splash pad. We saw Shamu's big show and rode a few more rides before observing beluga whales, walruses, and a polar bear. We saw penguins, sharks, manatees, seals, stingrays, and several exotic bird species. As you might expect, there were some excellent Dennis quotes heard throughout the day. After the Shamu Express roller coaster: "that was really fun; did you see that we went up and then down and we went REALLY fast and I rode it and it was so cool!" (all said in one big rush with no breath taken). After the Shark Encounter: "that was a really fun adventure--I really liked that". And while in the Shark Encounter: "I'm looking for the biggest shark of all--is that the biggest shark of all?". At the dolphin show: "I really want to do that when I grow up--can I drive dolphins when I grow up?". And after he won a stuffed penguin at a carnival game and I asked him what he was going to name it: "his name is Bouncy--no, his name is Ryder--no, no, no, his name is Booger". And hours later, the penguin's name is still Booger.

It was a magical experience, even though he fell asleep in the stroller on the way to feed the dolphins! We opted to not wake him back up to stay for the sea lion and otter show (though I bet it was great), and we came back to the hotel. It was great to get out of the sun and heat, and we had a wonderful time. We did just enough--no severe exhaustion, no major meltdown. It was a perfect day!

Col. McCauley goes to Orlando

Before we headed to Dothan, Uncle Denny mentioned that there was a space helmet at Granny's that was a favored toy from his childhood (and from mine as well). He wanted Dennis to have it, so Dennis mentioned it first thing this morning. Gran found it, taped up the cracked visor, cleaned it up, and presented it to one delighted little space explorer. His alter ego for our entire drive to Orlando was Space Man or Spaceman Dennis. We heard many conversational gems like "there is no tickling in space, Pop, and no yelling" and also (my favorite) "Space Man needs a Reese's cup" followed by "GIVE SPACE MAN A REESE'S CUP" when I didn't produce the goods quite fast enough for Space Man's liking. Give a kid a vintage Col. McCauley helmet and you never know what you'll get!

Imagine if you will being confined in a car for over 6 hours with a 3 year old. Now imagine my surprise and delight when that very 3 year old was pleasant and quiet and spent over 3 hours entertaining himself with a new $5 Toy Story lap art desk (plastic desk tray with a paper roll with 50 different coloring scenes that he'd color and then roll onto the next one and color it) and a $1 dinosaur sticker book. It may be the best 6 bucks I've spent. Those two activities plus the space helmet play and his nap got him all the way to Orlando without even once needing iPhone or portable DVD player time. He was completely unplugged, just like we were on car trips back in the olden days. He nearly won the game of "cow" that we played just before nightfall. It was unbelievable how great he was for the trip. He is so excited about our upcoming theme park days that when I put him to bed tonight, he told me all about the roller coasters he's planning to ride. He told me "I'm going to ride a dragon roller coaster and it's going to go really fast and when it goes down the hill really fast, I'm going to scream just like this---" and what came out was really more of a combination of a yelp and "eeek", a short, small noise, high in pitch and terribly funny. Gosh he's a fun kid!

important lesson

Here we are in the car, headed south for our brief Disney vacation. Dennis asked for his big car seat so he could sleep on the way, if that's an indication of how tired he is after today! He had his first computer class at school today, and I was happy to ask him what he'd learned. He said (and he sounded like he'd been programmed) "computers are important machines, not toys, no not toys, are machines, not toys". I had to smile, thinking that my own computer might be spared now. Anyone know how to get child finger grime off a laptop screen?

God's brother

Dentist appointment this morning--excellent report! Dennis has perfect teeth with no cavities, soft spots, or other problems. We lunched with Ellen afterward at a McDonald's with a HUGE indoor playplace. Tonight was the first night of our Awana program at church. When we went to pick him up, David and I stood outside the door and listened to the class reciting their verse "God...loved us and sent his son... (1 John 4:10)". We heard one kid yelling "no, He sent His brother!". They said it again and again, and each time the one kid replaced 'son' with 'brother' and would not be corrected. We laughed with the other parents until we heard one more yell of "no, HIS BROTHER!" and then realized whose little voice we heard doing that shouting. We looked at each other and then at the other parents and said "that sounds an awful lot like our kid". When we got out to the car and asked him what verse he learned, he said "God loved us and sent his brother". Yep. It was Dennis. As it turns out, he can say it correctly and even give the book and verse. Maybe he'll say it right next week for his teachers!

I actually loved being with the 5th and 6th grade girls. They were so eager to memorize and recite their verses, and they were so well behaved when split off from the boys. This is going to be a great program, just like (as a fellow teacher put it) having vacation bible school every week!

first day of preschool

Dennis had a spectacular first day of school. He didn't even look back when I dropped him at the door! I saw him again when his class and my class were together on the playground, and he asked me "Mommy, why are you here?". I wasn't trying to cramp his style--Tuesdays are my days to help out with the two-year-old class. Some of those little guys had a tough time today; tears were shed for Mommies for a while after drop-off, and there was much squirming, but it was a good day for me as well. Dennis said he wanted to "go eat at a restaurant" to celebrate his day at school. We met up with Gran at KFC, then ran some errands with her.

Now I'm watching him drive his jeep around the yard while yelling at the top of his lungs "LOOK OUT EVERYONE--JEEP DRIVER COMING THROUGH!!". Night has fallen (it's two hours later than the blog says it is-- different time zone), but we're out here playing in the twilight with the mosquitoes and the lightning bugs.

I'll leave you with the Dennis quote that I heard from Miss Linda (Dennis' teacher). She told me that she turned on the music for singing time and Dennis said "excuse me, Miss Linda, could you turn down that music? I'm trying to read over here!". She got a big kick out of that, and so did I! It's going to be a great year!

sand and frogs

We were sad to see the Gallmans go home today after having enjoyed their company all weekend. Dennis napped hard after they left. I nearly did myself!

When he got up from his nap, we doused ourselves in Deep Woods Off and headed out to his personal playground. I uncovered his sandbox for him and he had a big time digging and playing. He drove his Jeep a dozen or so laps around the play yard and climbed up to slide down his slide or pole a couple of dozen times as well. He also figured out how to get himself onto his swing without falling out backward (a big improvement). But the most fun we had was when a frog jumped into the sandbox with him. We studied (harassed) him for a while before he jumped away. The lightning bugs gave us quite a show as well, but that's about when Dennis said something I never thought I'd hear: "I'm done playing out here now; I want to go back in the house". He also said "I need more bug spray--the bugs sure love to eat me".

Tonight he took a long bath and we read several stories. He is so ready to go to school tomorrow! David came in to kiss him goodnight and happened to have his knee brace in hand. Dennis was concerned--"what's that, Daddy, is your knee hurt? Does it have a big red boo-boo on it? Is it green? Is it really yucky?". He explained that his knee hurt on the inside, and that consoled Dennis enough to go on to bed, but I still hear him chattering away in there.

pledge

Do you know how cute a three-year-old sounds when saying the pledge of allegiance? Wow! We taught it to him this past week in preparation for school starting. So adorable!

His funny quote of the day: I was changing his bedsheets and he told me not to put the clean ones on the bed. He said "leave the sheets off, Mommy, don't make the bed". I asked why and he said "I don't need to have a place to sleep". He knew naptime was coming quickly and this was a new and inventive way to try and get out of both nap and bedtimes!

He and Chloe played together today and had a few little issues. She teased him about taking him to jail and chased him with his handcuffs, but this was absolutely not funny to him (even though he'd just threatened to put all of us in jail). He hit her with a toy car in his stay-out-of-jail panic. And when she cuffed his chair and took it to jail, it freaked him out so much that he hit her with his bedroom door trying to escape. I've not seen him get so upset over something since he caught a glimpse of the abominable snowman on the Rudolph Christmas cartoon and hid from the television. Jail is not something to joke with Dennis about! And now we have all learned that particular lesson.

snuggling

As I write this, Dennis and Chloe are snuggled together asleep in his bed. She didn't want to sleep on the mattress on the floor that she helped set up, and he wouldn't be ousted from his own bed. They've looked pretty peaceful whenever we checked in on them. They had a busy afternoon of swimming and an evening of running and screaming before settling down on the couch at the lake to watch a movie. Once we got home, they played dress up and with lots of toys before bed. We even let them have a night run on Dennis' playground, playing and climbing by flashlights. They thought it was great fun. And after they went to bed, we all played a couple of rounds of Clue and then sat around outside in the below sixty degree clear and beautiful night, each couple snuggling together under the stars. Perfect! The last weekend of summer couldn't be more gorgeous!

This morning, I was listening to my tunes on my phone (what a great feature!) as I cleaned the house. Dennis picked up the phone and fast-forwarded to the next song and then the next, saying "there--here's a boy song--I don't want to listen to a girl song". He'd listened until he found a song with a male voice rather than female.

He did not nap. He would periodically get up, poke his head out his bedroom door and inquire (all business-like) "excuse me, are our guests here yet?" or "have our guests arrived yet?". He was very excited about the Gallmans' visit, and also was delighted to see Ju-Ju, Steve, and Monte at the lake this afternoon. It was a pretty great day all around, a very nice farewell to summer even though we'll be on a summery vacation next weekend.

favorite things

As I was tucking Dennis in tonight, I asked him about his day. I usually ask what his favorite part if the day was, but tonight he said "nothing". I told him I was about to go to bed myself, and he said "well, I'm staying awake because staying awake is my favorite thing to do". I leaned over to kiss him and he said "why did you kiss me?" and I told him "because you're so sweet" and he said "and cuuuuute?" in a slow drawl. I had to laugh, and to agree. Guess I told him too many times today how cute he is, but sometimes I can't help myself. He WAS really cute today, helping his Daddy load wood in the trailer, picking up tools, and helping him work on the play tower tonight. And his joy during his Jeep drive was truly something to behold. He yelled his delight as he sped down the driveway, singing "I'm a Jeep driver, yes I am" over and over. He's getting so good at maneuvering that thing, good enough to deliberately drive right up to something and stop or turn on a dime just before he hits it. I foresee a few (more) Jeep-related gray hairs!

getting oriented part 2

Today was Dennis' orientation for preschool. He joined all the other children immediately upon our arrival, learning where his cubbyhole is and telling his teacher all about his new lunchbox. I was proud that he wasn't one of the clingers and criers, but he is used to that classroom. It's the same room that he's been going to for Sunday School and Wednesday night classes, and I think the familiarity helped. During the little story time, though, he didn't really participate like the other kids. He listened for a minute, then got out some puzzles and quietly assembled them, returning one to the box to get out another. Afterward, though, he could answer any question about the story, so he was paying attention after all! He was just multitasking.

We got a tour of his classroom, the science room (Discovery Zone, it's called) and the music room, and they even got a practice Chapel session. Then we visited the playground and dismissed from there. Dennis left willingly to go have lunch with Gran at San Marcos.

I just have to report some funny things he did tonight. Gran complained earlier that her ring was causing some problems with her knuckle, so she said she supposed she'd have to stop wearing it. He said from the back seat "do you want to give it to me, Gran?". Don't know what he'd do with a diamond ring, but it was funny when he asked! A lot later, we were all working at the lake house, and Gran and Grandma had just hung a picture and were trying to decide if it was level and even when Dennis sassily brought over a tape measure and waved it around, like they should have been using it!

nosy habits

Dennis has developed some sort of affectation with his hand always touching his nose or mouth. He insists he isn't picking his nose, and if you observe closely, you'll see that he isn't. He had a long bout with cold and allergy lately, and I think he got so used to constantly wiping his nose with his hand that he just hasn't been able to stop. His finger is constantly going into his mouth as well, and we fuss, and he says "but I'm not eating boogers". Today I told him to get his fingers out of his mouth and he said "but I'm just eating my fingernails". I had just asked David if he'd trimmed them lately because I haven't and they are short. I think we have a little nail-biter on our hands. He says he is worried about things, and the only thing I can get out of him is that he's worried about his grandfather (who died before he was even conceived). We talked about Heaven and how nobody is sick there and he asked "did they all get shots?". So I told him to pray if he was worried and sad, especially handy since his church lesson was about that tonight. He said he would. And then his hand went right back to his nose, and David told him to stop picking it. He said "I wasn't picking it--I was just measuring it". And with that, we kissed him goodnight!