splinter removal

We finally got the splinter out of his hand today. He acquired it at the zoo, we think, from one of the wooden railings. We attempted removal that night, but David had warned him that it was going to hurt, so he screamed and jerked and cried (and this is the biggest fit I've seen from him to date) so much that he made himself sick. We were upset as well. He said "I just want to go to bed" and went and got under his covers with his light off. When we went in to talk to him a few minutes later, he said "I'm sorry I cried and yelled--I didn't want it to hurt." When we asked him what we were going to do about it, he said "we can go to my doctor's office and the big scary nurse can get it out." We left it alone until tonight, and we spent a half hour discussing with him how if he'd hold still, it wouldn't hurt all that much, and leaving it in there would really be bad. This didn't work, so we resorted to brute force. David essentially laid on top of him as he screamed, and I pried open his little fingers and dug it out of his palm. It took seconds, and while I had the needle under the splinter, he announced "hey, it tickles!". I got the tweezers and pulled it out as he laughed. He said "that didn't really hurt, and now my splinter is ALL GONE!". Thank goodness. I cried when it was over just because he cried so much!

budding photographer

In the short period of time that I've been an iPhone owner, I have discovered hundreds of reasons to love the thing. I could site the spelling games, the book reading aloud apps, the bubble wrap popping app, the postcard app that lets me send a physical postcard from a picture on my phone with a typed message... Oh, I could go on and on, but mostly I love watching Dennis operate the thing. He has mastered it. We only showed him where his games were on it, but he ran with that knowledge and discovered the other things it can do. Most notably, he found and learned to operate the camera. Each time I get my phone back from him, I love to check the photo roll to see what he's taken. I submit these three artistic shots for your viewing pleasure. One features straps on the bag next to him on the seat in the car, another shows his cup holder, and the third is a study of his legs. He's got a neat sense of composition, most especially for a three year old.

dream weekend last day

Gigi took us out today for one more fabulous day of activity. We went to Oak Mountain (after enjoying our favorite honey butter chicken biscuits at Whataburger) and hiked a loop from the north trail head. Gigi is quite the hiker, taking the hills with strength and speed even in the over-ninety-degree heat. Dennis asked to be carried a few times and told us he needed a nap, but he managed our three mile loop with no trouble. We stopped at Maggie's Glen and had a water break--we drank from our stash and then went and put our toes in the stream to cool down. He stuck his feet in and said "this is very refreshing!". Dennis splashed and played and threw rocks into the water (soaking himself and me pretty well) before we headed down the trail back to the parking lot. We had a lovely lakeside picnic (ahhh--a breeze!) and then went to the playground for just a few minutes. We saw the Treetop Nature Trail and walked the boardwalk to admire the beautiful birds of prey that can't be released into the wild for one reason or another. Then it was off to the demonstration farm, a farm where you walk in and play among the animals. We were inside the fence with wandering goats and donkeys and a pony, several sheep, and peacocks. In the surrounding pens were more donkeys, horses, a calf, and lots of chickens. Dennis actually wanted to pet the animals this time and had the most fun there!

He was exhausted after our day in the park (as were we), but we rejuvenated with Chick-Fil-A milkshakes. I wouldn't normally confess this, but I believe this may have been his first milkshake experience. He ordered chocolate, and he finished every drop. Gigi and I got peach shakes, very delicious and refreshing, and we bought a shake for Pop forgetting that he wasn't actually at work today, so the on-duty pharmacist was thrilled to get his surprise.

Dennis didn't fall asleep on the way home as we had assumed he would--he spent the time reciting his nursery rhymes and singing his favorite songs. He did take a very long nap once we returned to the lake house, and I had to wake him up so he didn't keep sleeping all night. We left Gigi and the lake after 9, and he was so glad to see his daddy at home. We ate a light meal and then Dennis played while we did our Wii workout. He came in to interrupt our exercise, saying "Mommy, could you please put me to bed now?", and I gladly did so.

We have had a wonderful weekend of being spoiled and pampered and doing lots of exploring. It's going to be hard to return to reality! Gigi came here just to treat us to this kind of experience, and we won't forget how appreciative we are and how much fun we had!

day out with Pop

Pop will be off on vacation when Father's Day rolls around, so we spent a very special day with him today. We took him to eat brunch at Cracker Barrel and then took him for the cave tour at Rickwood Caverns State Park. It was a great way to beat the heat! Dennis enjoyed the cave, though a little less so when the tour guide informed us that he'd be turning off the lights to let us experience total darkness. He said a few times "Tour Guide, I don't want you to turn off the lights please" and when he actually was about to do it, Dennis pleaded his case again and the guide said how he hated to be the bad guy. The lights were out less than a minute before the flashlight came on and Dennis giggled. He said he loved the cave but said "it was just a little bit spooky in there." He also told us "there are MILLIONS of caves--there are just hundreds of them out there" when we were on our way to the park.

We intended to go and find some geocaches but deemed it just too hot, so we instead decided to go and enjoy some ice cream from Coldstone Creamery. Wow how delicious and decadent! On the way home, Dennis kept blowing loud raspberries and we finally decided to ignore him after pleading for him to stop. After we didn't say anything for a while, he announced "I am bothering the driver!". We noticed.

We had such fun today and we sure hope that Pop did too!

dream weekend day 2

And the magic continues... Today we took a ride on the Calera & Shelby Train at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera. We have ridden the line when Thomas the Train came to town and again last October for the Pumpkin Patch Express, but this was the first time we went on a regular weekend excursion. Dennis was beside himself with joy over meeting the conductor and getting our tickets punched. He met a cute little blonde girl named Caroline and shared his seat with her (she's an older woman: age 3 & 1/2), and they played and pointed things out to each other as the train rumbled down the tracks through the woods. Midway through our excursion, they disconnect the engine from one end of the train and drive it to the other end to return us to the station. Dennis went to the front of the train and watched as they uncoupled the engine. There were loud noises involved, so he of course covered his ears, and then he asked "why is our engine leaving us?". He watched it pull forward, watched the brakeman pull the switch to change tracks, and then watched it back up to the front of the train. When we returned to the station, he watched the process in reverse and was very fascinated. He loved playing on the train tables inside and looking at the stuff in the museum.

After our train ride, we stopped by to see Allison and take her some get well treats as she recovers from major shoulder surgery. She is doing very well for two days post surgery! Dennis took her a band-aid for her shoulder boo-boos and told her he hoped it would make her feel better. On our way back to the lake, we stopped at Peach Park and got to see the Smith twins and their adorable cousin! Dennis was so excited about it and asked me if he could kiss them (especially the sleeping Katelyn), and their Mommy told him that he could. He LOVES those babies and has talked about them since we left there. He is so disappointed because he was trying to steer their stroller toward our car saying that we were taking them to our house, and they ended up in Jennifer's Blazer against his wishes. He told her he wanted to go to her house and offered to ride in the back of her Blazer. We topped off all the day's festivities with an excellent Gigi Gourmet meal. Another perfect day! We are so spoiled.

dream weekend day 1

Gigi is here visiting and is treating Dennis (and me) to a whirlwind weekend of fabulous activities. Today we went to the Montgomery Zoo and saw lots of beautiful animals. Dennis was so excited about it and pointed out everything to us. He said he was our tour guide and I loved watching him walk to an exhibit and hold out his arms like a television presenter and say "over here you'll see a monkey". We went sans stroller and didn't even make him hold hands with us, and he stayed with us the entire time. He was so good about it, too. He asked me this morning if we were going to ride the train today and I said "no, that's tomorrow" and he said "but we'll be right there at the zoo train!". So we rode the zoo train. He heard the whistle and stopped our tour of the animals until we let him ride the train. Fortunately we walked right onto it just as it was about to leave.

The animals at this zoo are so beautiful and healthy, and the zoo itself is just gorgeous. Tall bamboo, lots of shade trees, big grassy areas for the animals with wide open spaces and plenty of shade and water... It's such a nice zoo. We also went to the Mann Museum that adjoins the zoo, and Dennis enjoyed looking at all the exhibits (many different kinds of stuffed wildlife, bones, bugs, fossils...). It was a nice air-conditioned break after the outdoor zoo tour, though we went early and the heat didn't bother us much.

We lunched at Chick-Fil-A and the cow was on hand giving out goodies to the children, and then we went to the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art where there is a wonderful children's hands-on section with so many different activities and exhibits. Dennis drew pictures, learned about mixing colors to get new colors, gave us a puppet show, raced cars, danced in front of a screen that mirrored his movements in crazy colored patterns, and actually looked at some real art exhibits. What a magical day it was for us all! His enthusiasm over every single thing he saw or did kept us in big smiles all day long. That was Gigi's quote on our way back: "I have smiled more today than any other day I can remember lately".

fruitless request

Check out this request I got from Dennis in the car this afternoon. "Mommy, I really want a baby brother. Can I please have a baby brother?" he asked. I told him I was too old to have a baby brother for him because this seemed like the quickest way to end this particular conversation. He said "no, you could get John to help you." I don't know many men named John so the first person that popped into my head was my former boss at Walgreens, who Dennis actually knows. I'm sure he'd be shocked to hear this. I asked for clarification, asked him who John was, and he said "Jesus' friend John from the bible because his mom was too old too." I asked if he meant John the Baptist and he said "yes!". I am amazed. But I hope Dennis doesn't pray too hard for a sibling! It's not really in our plans, though we don't take lightly the power of divine intervention!