man in the sea

We followed another morning at the beach with a seafood lunch at Mike's (kind of a family tradition) and a visit to the Man in the Sea Museum. Dennis made some friends at the beach that helped him excavate more of the big hole he's been working on. He also borrowed a boogie board and turned a strip of seawater stranded on the beach into a Slip 'N Slide. He was a wet sandy mess by the time we decided to head back inside. We hosed him down before going into Gigi's place.

After frantically searching for somewhere that David and I could have seafood reasonably and Dennis could get a hot dog, we had reached Mike's Cafe/Diner, and we had a delicious lunch there. Then we explored the museum. Much to Dennis' delight, there were a number of old sea labs and vessels for him to climb into. He loved the small submersible sub that was inside the museum, loved crawling in and pretending he was on a mission. We learned about deep diving technology back to its origins. Dennis was traumatized at having to leave.the place, and we were all glad when he took a nap! We had a nice long sunset walk on the beach and watched the dancing fountain show from Gigi's balcony before an early bedtime for all of us. What a fun vacation this has been!

a pirate's life for us!

Gigi told us she had a big surprise planned for today, so we finished up our beach play in time to shower and snack before loading up. The surprise? She'd booked us a Pirate Cruise on the Sea Dragon! This would be exciting to anyone, but when we found out that the pirates had two full hours of kids' activities planned and all parents had to do was sit back and enjoy rum punch and ocean breezes, well WOW! It started out with meeting Fearless Phil, our captain, and going over some rules, and then, before we knew it, all the kids were gathered in a circle on the main deck, handed water guns, and turned loose on each other! We watched happily from the upper deck as Dennis engaged a number of children in battle. The captain directed them to return the guns and then sent the girls inside for face painting while the boys were handed mops and instructed to swab the deck. Then the boys went inside for pirate hats and face painting, and when they came out, each kid was handed a plastic sword and told to practice their swordfighting. Dennis LOVED this, and again, we watched from afar. No one was hurt or crying--much fun was had by all. Soon we were sighting dolphins and watching them swim around us, and then the kids were all allowed to shoot the bean bag cannon. They went down to the "dungeon" to read the treasure map and then came back up to see if they could spot the buoy with the "X" on it. Dennis went to get his spyglass and took it to the captain. Together they spied the buoy and one of the pirates hauled it in and attached a line to the line it was marking. The kids formed a line and chanted "Heave, Ho" as they pulled the line hand over hand, pulling up a treasure chest as they did so. Each kid got to choose 3 treasures from the chest (Dennis got a finger puppet, a dolphin, and a piece of pirate gold), and soon, they were all handed tambourines for a conga line. They put kids with March birthdays in the center of a circle and serenaded them (he has had the best birthday month EVER) and then led all the kids in the chicken dance. Dennis smiled the whole time. He would occasionally come up to the upper (shaded!) deck to say hi to us before returning to his pirate duties. At the end of the ride, the kids swore a pirate oath and were given pirate beads (skulls and bones). We heard pirate talk for the rest of the day, of course. Dennis named himself Captain Wherebeard (as in "where's my beard?") and deputized me as "Dive-It". He ordered me around for a bit as we were driving back to Gigi's place. He had SO much fun that he didn't really balk at napping afterward (after all, he'd been very busy as a pirate). Tonight we grilled burgers on the balcony, watched the dancing fountain show as we ate, and then took Dennis for his first ever night beach walk. He was very chatty and happy, and tonight he fell asleep quickly and easily. In fact, I am the only person in the condo that's still awake! What a magical day!

sand fun at the beach

Dennis could not wait to get out and play in the sand today! Gigi had a tub full of new sand toys for him, and we loaded up a big tub and walked down to the beach. The first thing he did when we hit the sand was to make several "sand angels". Much digging ensued. Sam Trap the Rescue Hero accompanied us to the beach so that Dennis could make a dune for his dune buggy. David and Dennis built a big sand fort and David buried Dennis' legs in the sand. Dennis crawled, dug, and frolicked for an hour before we decided to take him in out of the sun. His SPF 50 worked--he's not burned a bit!

Later in the day, David settled in for a lovely vacation nap while Gigi, Dennis, and I explored the five resort pools. Dennis swam in each one. He loved the kiddie pool with its giant butterfly slide and big fountains. He also loved observing the college spring breakers dancing and clowning at the main pool. But I think we all loved the family pool the best--it was the warmest, at any rate, and so much quieter than the main pool with its loud booty music and partying college kids.

Dennis LOVES vacation, and he loves Gigi's new beach condo. He was telling her "I think I'm falling in love with your house--you're the BEST Gigi!". He's still feeling really good, and that's such a relief after all his illness.

happier times

Dennis had a host of tests yesterday, a full workup, and his X-rays and blood work revealed a severe sinus infection, both viral and bacterial. Apparently his little facial sinuses are FULL of infection, especially on one side. His ears? PERFECT! Good things, those ear tubes. He started antibiotics yesterday, was fever free by last night, and was almost annoyingly perky this morning. The doctor cleared him for a spring break trip, so I'm happy to be writing this post from Panama City Beach! He napped some in the car and has a rather impressive snore going on (rafter shaking), but he's so happy to be at the beach that he doesn't mind it a bit. He hasn't even seen the beach yet, but he knows it's right outside. He went to sleep with a great big smile on his face. He wanted to hug Gigi again and again (she has shared her lovely accommodations with us). He is very excited about tomorrow, because, he says, "tomorrow there WILL be sand play!".

still so sick

I had hope that when Dennis brought me breakfast in bed this morning that maybe he was on the mend. He brought me my cereal in a generous helping of milk ("I gave you lots of milk because it's good for your body."). He'd also fed the dogs. But soon enough, he huddled under covers shivering with a body temp of 103.9. We called the pediatrician, and he will have tomorrow morning's first appointment. He has had periods of feeling decent today when his temp went below 100, but mostly he's been running hot and doing lots of sleeping. He asks for nasal spray (he calls it "nozzle spray") and Gatorade, and we are doing our best to make him comfortable. We are getting so anxious about his high fever lasting this long, and I hope we'll get some answers in the morning. More importantly, I hope he'll get some relief!

superman in the ER

I took a sick little guy to the emergency room again this morning. He had fever all night and isn't eating. He dressed in his Superman shirt and red sweatpants, and as I was putting my shoes on, he appeared in my doorway wearing Buzz Lightyear underwear on top of his sweatpants ("just like Superman!"). Today he took a toy to the hospital, his new Sam Trap and his dune buggy, and I'm glad because then I had something to play with while Dennis was busy on my iPhone. The doc decided he has a virus, so we have no medicine to give except for fever reducers and saline nasal spray. When it came time to do the saline nasal spray, David and I laughed because we KNEW it would be an ordeal. It was. Dennis first went and hid in his closet, but by the later dose, he was sniffing it like a pro. He did insist on a long pause between the two puffs, and when we asked him what he was waiting for, he replied "Christmas." He doesn't love inasal spray. Who does, really? We are very glad he tested negative for strep, but I sure don't want him to spend his spring break sick. He spent most of his day being pitiful on the couch, watching his favorite shows. Every 10 minutes or so, I'd get called in to fast forward through the commercials. Nope, he's not a bit spoiled.

don't heal thyself that way!!

The day started off pretty well, with sleeping in a bit before heading to the preschool to see the Birmingham Children's Theater perform The Little Engine That Could. Dennis seemed tired afterward and asked to come home instead of going to get lunch (a bit shocking). When we got home, he claimed the couch and snuggled under blankets, shivering with fever. He said his stomach hurt. I hated to start our spring break this way, for sure, but this all faded in significance soon. After the ibuprofen got to work, he danced around and played and appeared much better. I was working on the laundry in his room, and he stepped out to get some toys from the living room. He came back in screaming and holding out his bleeding finger, telling me it was "the worst boo-boo ever." I ran him to the bathroom and ran the faucet over his wound while asking him what happened. He claimed that he didn't know, so I carried him to the living room to look for what poked him. After a couple minutes, he said "I think we should go check your bedroom." So I followed him to David's side of the bed where I saw David's Epi-pen dismantled and lying on the pillow. So we made a quick drive to the emergency room where they monitored his heart rate for a couple of hours and kept watch on his finger (which turned white for hours). They sent us home with instructions to watch him and bring him back if his finger didn't continue to pink up or he started acting odd. Scary! I didn't know what his little system would do with a full adult dose of epinephrine on board! He was shaky but otherwise okay. He told the doctor and nurses "it's okay--Jesus is taking care of me!". And He certainly did!

As if that wasn't enough, he spent the rest of his evening on the couch burning up (well, shivering) with fever. And he vomited a couple of times. The consensus was that this was unrelated to his injection. We're to alternate Tylenol and Motrin until it goes down (and it's over 102), and I'm preparing for a long night! I'm just glad he didn't harm himself too badly with the Epi-pen! I have no idea what he was doing with it, and he was so afraid we'd be mad (and we would have been if we weren't so panicked at the time). I hope he has learned something. I've learned that maybe I can't let him out of my sight after all!

missing my MUTE button

We must be in the throes of a growth spurt. He has been eating constantly and requires more sleep than he's been getting. We reintroduced the afternoon nap yesterday. And he took one today as well (as did I). Tuesday I took a nap but he didn't--I told him I needed one and he told me "go ahead and take one! I know where the snacks are!". I was exhausted enough to do so, and I'm glad he was tired enough to stay nearby while I did. Yesterday and today we napped together. Though we napped today (while it rained outside--BLISS!), he was still monumentally tired tonight. He chattered nonstop since he finished Taekwondo. Our drive home from the gym after my shift was an exercise in patience. It sounded like I was trapped in a moving vehicle with a psychotic mogwai. He wasn't even saying words. He was, as he said, "practicing my 'HELP' screams in case I ever need rescuing."

I am putting my tired ears to bed now.

I said "shoo"

Last night as I was tucking Dennis in, he told me "Good night, Mom. You can turn off the light and shoo now." Yes, he was that tired. This is completely understandable after a day at preschool, a soccer game, and a Taekwondo class! Because of his soccer game, he took a later Taekwondo class with kids that are older than him. He liked it so much that he asked the instructor if he could switch to that class. We are waiting to hear. I like the class he's in because he's the only one--it's like getting private lessons!

My boy has learned to play some serious soccer! He played goalie for one period (at his request) and kept at least 8 shots out of the goal! He also took the ball away from the other team several times. Once, as he blocked a shot from reaching the goal, he yelled to the other team "oh no you don't!". It looks like we might have to work on his good sportsmanship.

rescue festivities

Today we hosted the Rescue Hero Birthday Party, and 11 of Dennis' friends (8 friends + 3 cousins) came along with their adults! We had a house and yard full of revelers. A good time was had by all, I think.

After eating, the kids completed 2 rescue missions. First, they had to take the "rescue wagon" to find four sheep that had wandered into an abandoned castle (tent) and had gotten trapped. Then, we heard about Sock Monkey's terrible accident: he flipped his Jeep (the old and largely decrepit Power Wheels jeep) and was thrown out into the woods. The rescuers mounted a search and brought him back to the porch for medical treatment (they covered him in Band-Aids). He feels much better. Soon it was cake and ice cream time, followed by (Dennis' favorite) Present Opening Time. He loved EVERYTHING he received, but tonight when we checked on him after he fell asleep, he was lying on his side with his arm stretched out and his hand was resting on Sam Trap and his dune buggy (which were just beside his pillow). Sam is one of his new Rescue Heroes. The kids completed their final mission after the gift time: a tree was "on fire" (had a piece of plywood with fire painted on it attached) and their job was to prevent a forest fire and put out the tree fire using water balloons. This was the clear favorite of the activities. They spent the rest of their time playing on the swing set and tower, playing in the sand box (what the tornado left of it), and riding the kiddie ATV. After the party guests left, Dennis and Chloe had a lovely frolic through the sprinkler. Dennis said the day was awesome until the car broke down later tonight when we took it to get gas (after Dave and David had already fixed it today). I agree. Fortunately, we had rescuers (the theme of the day, I suppose), and the car is back in the shop to see why the belt keeps slipping off.

I would love to be relaxing in the glory of my recently cleaned home and freshly painted and reorganized den, but I developed a migraine late this afternoon and must get up early to work at preschool registration tomorrow. Bedtime for me! The guys (both human and canine) are already snoozing.

17 years of (mostly) bliss

Am I really old enough to have been married for 17 years? Wow! We celebrated our day by working. He went to work and I worked on the house. As a lovely gift to David, Bob and Becky worked on our yard. Dennis arrived home around lunch time and promptly went to work in the yard alongside his Grandma. He helped me paint some, and tonight, he and Chloe worked a good bit on cleaning his room. He's been very industrious today, so much so that when we put the kids to bed, they didn't talk or giggle at all! They just went to sleep!

Dennis came home from Gran's with a new entry on his Favorite Foods list. Apparently, he discovered Vienna Sausages at their house and LOVES them. He ate both the cans I bought him when she told me about it yesterday, devoured one for lunch and the other as a snack in the afternoon.

We are ready for his big birthday bash tomorrow!

happy birthday to Dad

When asked today what his Dad would like for his birthday, Dennis said "he likes games...and alone time." When my friend asked him what kinds of games, Dennis replied "the kind he can play in his alone time." He knows his Daddy! We did actually have some alone time together--Dennis is spending the night with Gran and Pop.

In a spectacular bit of frustration, my car (the one that was just in the shop for nearly a month) broke down today and stranded me at church (which is a handy place to be stranded). The fan belt broke and it knocked loose another more important belt. Cheap and easy to fix, I'm told, and we even found the part here in town. Dave is going to help David install it this weekend. While I was stranded, I did Zumba with two buddies in a classroom (which is what I came there to do) and then typed up my April class calendar. David and I had a nice dinner together to celebrate his birthday and our anniversary.

is it time to hibernate yet?

This week may do me in. We had our marathon Tuesday, followed by major Birthday Wednesday. And today? Yeah. Bigger. We spent the morning at preschool, setting up the gym for the Family Fun Night event (like an indoor carnival). We lunched with David, went to Walmart to spend Dennis' birthday money, and came home to play for an hour and a half (well, he played, and I painted a wall with primer) before going to soccer practice at 4, Taekwondo at 5, and Family Fun Night from 6 to 8:30. I don't think I have known this particular level of exhaustion in quite a while. I don't see it really letting up until Spring Break (one more week to go, and I'll have to work all 5 days at school plus one at the gym). Wow!

Dennis is handling it like a champ. He has given up naps now that he's officially 5 (this is still in its trial period), and he just keeps on keeping on. I know how tired I am tonight, and I am not the one who ran for an hour at soccer and kicked and jumped immediately afterward at Taekwondo and then played hard for over 2 hours at the fun night. I hope he falls asleep easily and soon!

He made up his own praise song today, a heartmeltingly sweet song about Jesus loving us way too much and that's why He died on the cross for us. I'm so proud of his strong faith! He is an inspiration to both of us.

arriving at five

Has Dennis really been in our lives for five whole years? Has it been that long? Has it been ONLY that long? The one-seventh of my life that he has been a part of has most assuredly been the most wonderful part!

I woke him up by singing Happy Birthday to him in his bed. He didn't want to get up, and I didn't blame him. We had a late but wonderful night last night, so late that he finally conked out in the car, and when he woke as we arrived home, he said "I want to go to bed and go to sleep NOW!". We let him! It was a good day today, worth getting up. I bribed him awake with a birthday gift, a box full of Space Toy Story toys (the very ones I won in a contest that he had nearly forgotten were coming). I would have let him be late for school, but I got called to substitute teach his class. Gran and Pop came to his school party and also took him out for lunch. He had a second party in his church class tonight. Chloe (and Ellen) sent a video of her singing to him. He got a special e-card. David presented him with a new LEGO Ninjago set, and he played with all his new stuff so happily! He turned down a potential ice cream stop after church in favor of coming home to play with his new toys.

I love, love, love this FIVE year old!

Sports Spectacular

Saturday was just fabulous! We rode our bikes to an event at the church at the end of our street. It was their annual Sportsmen's Spectacular, complete with a real skeet shoot for the adults and a number of kid booths that included a hatchet toss, spear throw, BB gun shooting, blow gun shooting, paintball, sawing a log, slingshot shooting, a casting contest, and archery. Dennis participated in many of these things. He didn't win one of the trophies, but he did really well. He liked the bouncy house the best, of course, and insisted we stay for the Wild Game Dinner. We did, tasting quail, elk, various deer dishes, alligator, frog legs, duck, various wilderness stews, and regular barbecue. We had plates just full of meat, much of it hunted and prepared by church members. Everything was super delicious, and we got to enjoy the evening's entertainment as well, a message by a Christian comedian with a little touch of redneck to him (perfect for a Sportsmen's event). Dennis loved every minute of it, but I have to admit my favorite part of the evening came when the speaker had just told the parable of the prodigal son and was discussing how the father must have been watching for his return. He asked how the father could have seen him, saying "how do you see something that's far off?", and Dennis piped up from the audience "with binoculars!", good for a laugh from everyone along with praise for what was actually a correct answer to his question. Our preschool director, who was not sitting with us, knew exactly who had spoken that answer when she heard it. We are so thrilled that she invited us to such a fun event. What a novelty to be hanging out at a church service with gun toting folks all around (yes, with their guns)! We had a rather dark (and thankfully short) bike ride home, chased by the neighborhood dogs for a short piece of our journey. We were glad to be home. Dennis and I were beyond exhausted, and when he woke up yesterday with a sore throat, I agreed with his decision to stay home. In fact, I stayed in myself today with a migraine, happy now to be mostly recovered and ready for this big and active week!

first hike of the year

We had wanted to go hiking today, a short stroll on Oak Mountain's easiest trail, and we were sad to wake up to rain. We still had errands to run in the cities north of here, so we headed out to collect boxes for a school event and to take Dennis on his much anticipated Toys R Us outing. He was armed with a 15% off coupon, a $3 gift card from the store for his birthday, and a $5 bill from Nana Gaynell and Poppa Jim, and his piggy bank to take care of his purchase. He intended to buy the Rescue Hero named Phil Canteen, and that's just what he did. It only required $0.98 from his piggy bank. He was presented with a birthday crown and balloon while there, and they announced his birthday over the store intercom, so he was given birthday greetings and wishes from many other shoppers.

Later, when we were trying to get him to leave the Dollar Tree, he suddenly said "rocket butt activated" and sped ahead like he had a jet pack attached. This was the second thing he told me that made me crack up. The first followed a long episode of break dancing and posing and getting down. His Gran told him that she was amazed by all his energy, and he replied "it's because I drank some of Mommy's Coke!". He did, indeed.

By the time we finished our errands, the day was cloudy and beautiful, and we decided to go ahead for our hike. We had SO much fun. Dennis acted as our ranger guide, leading us on the trails. As he got tired, he started engaging his "rocket butt" again and shooting ahead on the trail. This was a complicated procedure involving a hand motion in the vicinity of his rear end and a loud raspberry noise (the sound of, as he said, "my butt igniting"). And he fell at one point, telling us he "sprang" his ankle. Gran asked him if he knew the proper first aid procedure, that he should tie a stick to his ankle, and he replied "well, if you're a kid ranger, you should just get a Mommy ranger to carry you--that's the right procedure."

We spent some time lying face down on a little bridge over a fast flowing creek, floating leaves on the current and throwing rocks in to see the splashes. It was so much fun that I asked him afterward if he had more fun in the woods than at the toy store. He told me "I had more fun at Toys R Us. The hiking just weared me out!". And it did. He put himself to bed later with no fuss!

doughnuts with Pop

Today was our Doughnuts with Dad day at preschool. David had to work, so Dennis had a Doughnuts with Pop day instead. David spent a couple of hours at school yesterday with him (on Pancake Day) because he knew he couldn't be there today. So Dennis has has lots of attention at school lately! It continued to be a super busy day, with Taekwondo and soccer practice and child care at the gym. When we came home from school at lunch time, I told Dennis that he could play for 15 minutes before his nap, and he replied "I want my nap now." Shocking! It was very hard to get him up in time for soccer practice, and he cried for 15 minutes. He was so tired, I guess, but he seemed to cheer up when he got to soccer, and he was happy for the rest of the evening. It's been a long week, and next week will be WAY busier. And I heard a rumor about the time change coming up, so we're liable to be dragging our way through it all. I can't believe his birthday is so close!

big dare

We had a good chuckle when Dennis suddenly burst out with "Hey, Garrett owes me a hundred bucks because I kissed my teacher!". We asked him if Garrett had dared him to do it and he said "yep--and now he's my BFF!". Oh, these are the days to remember!

funny sass

As Dennis wolfed down his corn dogs tonight at supper, David remarked "I guess you really like those all beef hot dogs." Dennis rolled his eyes and looked at his dad, then remarked "thank you, Mr. Obvious." True, I should not have laughed, but I absolutely couldn't help myself. David was less amused. I couldn't help but appreciate the genius of his comedic timing. I'm going to have to work on that. My sass threshold is a bit more generous than David's!

sharpened to fine points

Dennis has a nasty habit of resting one or both of his elbows on me, and they are sharp little pain implements! I usually make some sort of noise when he does this, and it never fails to make him laugh (bruising Mommy is high comedy). I saw him rubbing his elbows across my bedposts and also running them across his play sword. He leaned elbows on me a short time later, and when I yelped, he said "this time I sharpened my elbows first before I poked you with them, ha ha!". Ouch!

storm heroes

We got so preoccupied with storm preparations last night that I didn't get a chance to write before I fell asleep with Dennis draped all over me. I did not sleep well, as you can imagine. I got up tremendously early to travel an hour to a teacher training that took most all day. I am completely exhausted. Dennis is not.

He invented a new hero scenario to play yesterday, one in which he wears his Green Lantern cape and declares himself "Potty Man". I am his trusty sidekick "Toilet Paper Girl" and his dad is "Evil Professor Flush" and Lemonade is super villain "Dr. Poop". He invented all this while I was in the bathroom (wishing for privacy but getting entertainment instead).

The storm avoided us this time, thankfully, and we didn't spend much time huddled under our mattress in the hallway. Lemonade huddled with us this time, in our faces, on our laps, etc. He (the dog) felt the need to dance on us and lick us profusely, so we're glad our confinement didn't last long. Dennis amused himself with reading the Grinch on the iPad and was happily surprised when we told him it was safe to go to bed (and that he got to sleep with us). He watched the weather reports until late in the night (I kept the television on so we could hear any warnings about our are), long after David and I had dozed off ourselves. He was so tired, David reported, that he put himself down for his nap today. That always happens when I'm not around! He sleeps late only on days I have to get up early. It's not the correlation I would prefer!

sports fest

Today was Dennis' first soccer practice of the season. His coach is the pastor of the church at the end of our street and remembered Dennis from Vacation Bible School last year. Dennis was delighted to find out that his uniform color will be red this time. He suggested a team name of "The Red Hammer" which was almost voted in but is under further consideration until Monday (because the girls on the team wanted to be the Barbie Team). He had a great time playing soccer and trash talking the girls when they all lined up for drills until I reminded him that they were on his team as well!

Immediately after soccer practice, we headed to the gym for Taekwondo, where he worked on his kicking and earned his 4th stripe. He went on to the child care room afterward while I went to a Zumba class, and we were both pretty worn out when we got home! It was an energetic day, for sure.