Vacation

I'd been feeling guilty for the past two years cause I hadn't taken Tayshaun on a real vacation. I'd been selfish and vacationed with my girlfriends instead. He'd asked me several times if we were ever going to get on an airplane so I decided that we'd go to California. Then it was a toss up between Disneyland or SeaWorld. Well San Diego won. At the last minute, Grandma decided to go with us which was nice for me because I was able to have some adult conversation. Last summer when Tayshaun and I spent four days in Park City, I thought I was going to go out of mind with all of Tayshaun's demands, questions, and talk talk talk talk talk.

Anyways, so we flew to San Diego and decided to get a rental vehicle so that we wouldn't be stuck. I'd thought about exploring the transit system but I'm really glad now that we rented a vehicle. We decided to also include a Navigator, which we named Miss Tomlin. Her voice reminded us a little of the telephone operator that Lily Tomlin used to characterize on her show many, many, many years ago. So we eventually got used to Miss Tomlin directing us around but we grew to love her 'cause we were invincible on the freeway with her assistance. We found every place we wanted to go pretty easily. When I ignored Miss Tomlin and powered her off, I'd sometimes drive around in circles and then finally Tayshaun would say, "Mom, what happened to Miss Tomlin?" And that was my que to turn Miss Tomlin's directions back on.

Of course from the slides below, you can see we visited lots of places. We couldn't post ALL the pics and places though. We spent alot of time in Old Town because we made a pact that we'd eat Mexican food every evening...oh and yes we also had margaritas EVERY nite...o and we had a few more our last morning. Tayshaun had rootbeer.

Since everyone told me we'd have 90 degree weather there, I'd packed sleeveless shirts, tank tops, tee-dresses, thongs (I mean flip flops), and shorts. I threw in one sweat shirt and pants for Tayshaun and myself and as you can tell from the pics, it looks like that's all we wore - cause it was - but it was over our summer wear. We really did shower and change each day. The weather was the low 60s while we were there. BRRRRR when you're in a tank top and shorts.

We found a 7-Eleven down the street of our hotel which we visited nightly (even after the Mexican food and margaritas) for slurpees, jerky, Bean&Jerry's, TREATS, TREATS, TREATS. I've been home for three days and I haven't dared get on the scale.

We stayed at a location that would have been perfect WITHOUT a child. There was a Blues club next door and it was packed most every night we were there. There were lots of coffee shops everywhere, outdoor clubs, restaurants, and shopping. But NO swimming pool at our hotel - which Tayshaun was very upset about. The hotel we stayed at was a historical site - it used to be a bank. We slept in a vault. JUST KIDDIN' (about the vault). The architecture, wood work, painting, marble, etc were beautiful. So when they renovated, there were guidelines to adhere too....thus, no swimming pool. Bummer.

So that was our trip. The remaining posts are our pics.

San Diego

Pics of our airport entertainment. Yes we were a little bored....
Pics of our hotel lobby as we waited for valet....

We went to a few beaches but unfortunately, none of us wanted to get down to our itsey bitsey teeny weenies...cause it was FREEZING. But Tayshaun was still able to play around in the sand and enjoy the sand.
Beach scenes...

San Diego Trip

Sea World
We arrived at SeaWorld an hour early and Tayshaun couldn't wait for the exhibits and rides to open. We wandered around looking for something to open. I spotted the FUDGE shop immediately but restrained from buying any until just before we left the park. Yes, I ate EVERYTHING in sight on my vacation....LOTS of mexican food, fudge, ice cream, lattes, margaritas, banana nut muffins, churros. Oops, we were supposed to be posting about SeaWorld. Well just see for yourself...

Legoland
Grandma got to go on all the water rides with Tayshaun. I had a terrible cold and didn't want to get pneumonia. Looks like she was having fun though. Tay and I were in a fire truck contest between three other opponents and I swear we came in first place. We had to pump our fire truck to get to the fire, jump out of the truck and point our fire hoses at the fire until it was out, then we jumped back into our fire truck and pumped it back to the starting line. Tayshaun was yelling as we got there first. "Mom we're the winner! Right Mom, we beat 'em!" Tayshaun rode one of the rides three times in a row. He loved the single coaster ride best. Poor kid! I had my arm around his neck the whole time! I'm afraid of heights and every time we went around a corner (25 ft up in the air) all I could do was imagine us falling off the track and going over the edge. He still had fun even with a scaredy-cat mom.

4th Pic Tag

OK here is what you do. Go to your 4th folder in your pictures and pick the 4th photo and then post and explain what it is about.

Here's Tayshaun at about 15 months and Kooper must have been close to a year. In this shot, neither one of them were actually looking at the camera. But look at how sweet both little babies were here. Tay and Kooper were taking a break from wrestling. This is when I used to snap 50 pics of the same thing. So i have about 50 other similar pics of Tay and Kooper playing on my bed. I couldn't help myself. I didn't want to miss a moment of Tayshaun as a baby...I wanted to capture EVERY moment....and I almost did.

Understanding Death at 4

We had some very sad news this last week. My brother-in-law's mother, Naconna, passed away after suffering for a few months from a back injury. The evening I heard the news I decided we'd go over to their house to visit. My sister has two sons - one who's 4 and the other is 9 yrs old. I explained to Tayshaun we'd have to be quiet and gentle because the boys were probably going to be sad. We stayed for an hour or so and on the way home the questions began.

"Mom, why did Michael's Grandma die?"
"Well, babe, when we get older our bodies don't work so well anymore and we sometimes just fall asleep and die."
"What happened to her body?"
"Well sometimes hearts get old and they can't pump blood around the body so well. We need blood in our body to live. So the heart just pumps slower and slower until it stops pumping."
"Oh..... Mom, will she be going to the park where the statues are at?" (this is a cemetary he sees daily driving home from his daycare provider's home. We've talked about how we can visit those who've died at the cemetary.)
"Yes, there will be a funeral for her where all her family will go to say goodbye to her and then they'll take her to the cemetary."
"I wanna go."
"No, Tayshaun, I'm going to leave work for a few hours to go to the funeral. I won't be able to come pick you up."
"But that's not fair, Mom, I won't be able to see her one last time." (ok, my son has probably seen Naconna maybe once in his life and he was probably not even 2 years old. So of course, I had to giggle at his comment.)
"Well, darlin', Michael probably won't even be going because it's very sad to go to a funeral. The family will be crying and I don't think you'll want to be there for that; it will make you very sad."
"Will Michael's Grandma still be able to see him anymore?" (Now, I'm not a very spiritual person so I'm not really sure how to answer this one - 'cause I'm not really sure myself - so I decide to go with the norm...)
"Well, she'll be able to still see Michael and Zachary because she'll be in heaven. And she'll be able to look down from heaven and see Michael and Zachary and all of her family."
"Will she be with Jesus in heaven? You know Jesus is a very important person, Mom" (Tayshaun's daycare provider keeps him up to date with the "Heavenly Father" and Jesus...and then he keeps me informed.)
"Yes, Tayshaun, she'll be there with God and Jesus."
"That's good. I can't wait to see Jesus; he's a very important person Mom. Michael's Grandma is reeeeeealy lucky."

Well that evening I was brushing my teeth before going to bed and Tayshaun calls out to me frantically "Mom, you better come here fast!" Ok, what the heck, I have a mouth full of toothpaste. "What's wrong, Tayshaun?" "It's my heart Mom - it's pumping pretty slow!" Now, I'm busting up in the bathroom. So I spit out my toothpaste and compose myself and eventually go to him. I tried to explain that he has a very young heart and he's not going anywhere anytime soon....'cause we gotta see SeaWorld first!

And then the questions about SeaWorld and LegoLand began. But that's another posting....soon....and to be continued....

Spotlight Student

It's was Tayshaun's turn to be the Spotlight Student of the Day. So Tuesday night we prepared for the big day. We went to the store and Tayshaun selected some treats for his classmates and we bought a posterboard to tack on some photos. So as we selected photos, we talked about all of Tayshaun's favorite things and we talked about how he was going to explain the photos and events on the posterboard the next day.

On the way to school the next morning, Tayshaun talked about all the things the Spotlight Student gets to do like wear a crown, help the teacher, get a new pencil, etc, etc.

After the classroom finished their preliminary activities of the day, it was time for Tayshaun to give his big speech. As we waited, Tayshaun tells me "there's too many "people" to talk in front of - you talk". "Come on, Tayshaun, you know all these "kids". There's nothing to it."

But when we got in front of the class, he pretty much froze. I tried to conversate about the things we'd talked about the night before. I told him I'd start talking and he could help me. He did contribute a little but he mostly squirmed on the floor - he actually got down on his belly and talked to the floor. And when he was standing, he had his hand in his mouth while he talked. Poor kid, I didn't realize he was so shy in front of "people" - even the "people" he plays with three times a week. After I (I mean "we") talked about his photos, the kids got to ask him questions. Tayshaun was really good about answering and he finally came off the floor and stood to reply. He had a very bashful voice and he fidgetted while he talked.

Well, you think you know your kids until you see them in a different environment. I don't think Tayshaun will be much of a public speaker - unless he plans on attending a toastmasters event or something.

So there's my cute little Spotlight Boy!

Breakfast..I mean Lunch in Snowbird

We missed the breakfast buffet so we had lunch after the first ski run. Of course, there's pics of that too. Here's what your new sunglasses look like, Madison. Nice!

We finished off a great day with some coffee and lunch. Tayshaun ordered cottage cheese and a salad. I told you he forgets he's 4 yrs old. No nachos for me.

That was a great Easter - thanks Family!

Skiing Videos

Two videos - click the arrow to Play.

Skiing on Easter

So gloves were put on (and bought) and goggles fitted and snowboards carried ... up to the bunny hill. Tayshaun hadn't been skiing this year so Tish and Jaz gave him a refresher course. Pizza - french fries - pizza - french fries. Yes I learned some skiing jargon.

Watch Tayshaun's skiing videos.

One Little Easter Egg

As usual, everyone was running late. The Easter Egg Hunt was to be begin at 9am and "some of us" were just rolling out of bed at 8:30. Tayshaun, Shalyse, Grandma and mommie were ready so we drove up to Snowbird to find us some eggs. We had no idea what to expect and, thanks to Tisha sleeping in, were unprepared. We decided to blame you, Tish, for all of our miseries that morning...you're the Snowbirder, girl. Well we got there and realized that we'd forgotten snowboots and one glove. Shalyse had some comfy and cute tennie shoes but I don't think her toes were very warm as we walked up the slushy parking lot. A shuttle finally came by and picked us up 'cause Grandma was a huffin and a puffin.

We got to the egg hunt just in time to hear someone yell to the kids "GO FIND YOUR EGGS". We looked around trying to decide which area was Tayshaun's age range. We finally guessed on a section and got our snowy footing and made it to the clearing where, yes, it was all clear.....of easter eggs. Lots of snow.....but not a dang egg left in sight.

Luckily Shalyse wrestled a six yr old for a green egg she spotted poking out of the snow. So when Tayshaun walked back down the hill with his lower lip hanging down to his chin....she surprised him with 'ONE LITTLE EASTER EGG'. Tayshaun did get to see the Easter bunny, who, by the way, is a guy in a costume....Tayshaun said. But he did ask if Easter bunnies were real. Can you just be four years old for a day, Tayshaun?

We carefully made our way off the snow slopes and into the heated coffee shop (thank goodness) to get a cup of joe and wait for the stragglers. They eventually walked in looking like the rest of the skiers and snowboarders. And next we were on to the skiing adventures.

Decorating Easter Eggs - Tay's way

Why do I listen to Tayshaun?

So we got a Super Hero egg decorating kit this year. And Tayshaun decided that he wanted to handle this project on his own. In fact, he made the decision that since HE didn't want to dye eggs this year, we should just decorate the plastic eggs instead of hard boiled ones.

Well I peeked inside the kit and saw that we had some stickers and things that would work on plastic so I thought 'Well, why not?'. So I got some more stickers and magic markers and he began his project.

Well one of the items that was in the kit was a plastic wrap, that when heated, fitted snugly around the egg. Thing is, the plastic wrapped egg needed to be dunked into heated water. Plastic - heated water....I knew this wasn't a happenin'. But Tayshaun had to try anyway.

Well we ended up boiling eggs to finish the project - but we got away with not having to dye them. Yippee! I little less mess for mommie.

Our eggs turned out a little pathetic but we had fun experimenting with plastic eggs.