Milestone Morning

Today A and I have reached a milestone. For the first time ever I am dropping her off for a Mom's Morning Out class. She will be starting a two morning a week preschool program in the fall and I thought this would be a good introduction to the concept of mommy dropping her off and leaving. We'll see how she does. As for me, well, I'm getting teary just thinking about it. I've been a stay at home mom for eight years since N was born. Prior to that I worked part time in the daycare field and J came to work with me. Reaching this milestone with A has made me realize that my last baby is growing up. In all too short a time she will be off to school and I won't have any little ones at home anymore. What will I do? I don't have a burning desire for a career. My kids are my career. I suspect I'll end up volunteering at school even more than I do now. I'll continue to manage the house, run errands, clean, do laundry, and all those other things that J, N, and A think just magically happen. Only difference is I'll be doing them on my own, without a tiny helper in tow.

Planning Ahead

Saturday morning, I told the kids we would be attending mass that evening. J was scheduled to altar serve and we were scheduled to take our turn selling raffle tickets for the school's spring fundraiser before and after. N greeted this news with lots of protesting and arguing. They go to mass every Friday during school and he didn't see why he should have to go two days in a row. He kept up the complaining until I warned him that one more word would earn him a grounding for the weekend. Since N never knows when to stop arguing, he ended up grounded for the weekend. This meant no tv, video games, or playng with friends. Yesterday morning he started in about how bored he was and there was nothing to do. He then proceeded to talk my ear off. With my head ready to explode, I told him to go entertain himself for a while. He countered that since he was grounded there was nothing for him to do besides talk to me. I countered that he got himself grounded and I really needed some peace and quiet. He grinned and said, " I guess you didn't plan ahead when you grounded me." Smart ass.

She strikes again

A had a bit of a rough night. She woke up a few times during the night, witht eh last time being at 5am. She fell back asleep on the couch by 6am. I got J and N up at 6:30 and we all tiptoed around in the dark so as not to wake her. Miraculously she stayed asleep and after they left I laid back down myself. She ended up sleeping til almost 10:30. A wanted to watch a movie and eat popcorn. I figured what the hell. Why not? I fixed her a bowl of popcorn, complete with a tiny sprinkle of buttery popcorn oil and started a movie for her. I then went about catching up on my chores since I spent the morning catching up on sleep. All was well til A asked for more butter on her popcorn. I told her she had plenty and then made my fatal mistake. I turned my back for longer than thirty seconds. While I made beds, she silently slid a chair to the pantry, climbed up, and got not the half used bottle of buttery popcorn oil, but the brand new one. She slid the chair back, removed the lid and the seal from the bottle. And poured the whole thing over her bowl of popcorn. Then she nicely offered to share with me. At least this time, none got on the floor. It all went neatly in the bowl. I gritted my teeth, dumped the popcorn, and gave her a time out. You'd think I'd learn by now that I can't turn my back on this kid for a split second. Or to never, ever leave the latch on the pantry door undone. Maybe I'll learn about the time A learns it is not mandatory to get into something every time my back is turned.

Don't look Mom!

Today A and I went to the grocery store, where I picked up a bottle of children's sudafed for her stuffy nose. I left the bottle, still in the box, on the kitchen table while I put away the rest of the groceries. Then I made the mistake of stepping out of the kitchen to check messages. In the approximately three minutes I was out of sight, A managed to remove the bottle from the box, drop it and break it. As I headed back for the kitchen, she frantically shouted, "Don't look Mom! Don't look!" She was attempting to clean up the spill with a paper towel and a sopping wet dish rag. I wish I could say my reaction to this little mishap was a calm, "Don't worry sweetie. Accidents happen." But I would be lying. After frantically asking her if she had drunk any of the medicine,(she hadn't) I furiously sent her to her room and kept up a muttered string of curses while mopping up the mess. From A's bedroom down the hall came a muttered, "I told you not to look."

At least it's a NY team

Last night was J's first practice of the new Little League season. He moved up to Junior division this year and was picked by a coach who is brand new to our league. The new coach just moved here from NY, so J was naturally hoping he was a Yankees fan. And that he would name the team the Yankees. No such luck. They will be the Mets. To J's credit, he didn't gag or vomit when the coach made this announcement. He simply gave a resigned sigh and said, "Well, at least it's a NY team."

Great Wolf Lodge, Williamsburg, Virginia

We just spent a fun filled weekend at the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, Virginia. This was out first visit to this hotel, which boasts a large indoor water park as its main attraction. We checked in on Saturday afternoon around 2:00pm. Check in officially is 4:00, but if your room is ready you can go ahead and check in early.

The hotel has several options for rooms and suites to accommodate families of all sizes. We were a group of nine and had reserved a Grizzly Suite. The suite consisted of two separate bedrooms, one with two queen beds and the other with one queen bed. There was a living area with a sleeper sofa and two full bathrooms. One bathroom had a large walk in shower and the other a whirlpool tub with shower. There were three TVs, an electric fireplace, and a snack area with a microwave and a mini fridge. The suite was very clean and comfortable and our group of nine,(four adults and five children) fit nicely.

The indoor water park is the hotel's main attraction. Living in Florida, we are used to spectacular water parks and I was a little unsure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised, as were the kids. There were water slides to suit everyone, as well as a wave pool, swimming pool, toddler area, and a large water play structure. There were also two large hot tubs, one for families and one for guests over 21. There are private cabanas available for rent on a first come basis. We chose to just park our stuff at one of the many tables and chairs scattered throughout the water park area. Towels are provided by the hotel and there was a large, clean shower and dressing area. No outside food may be brought into the water park. There is a snack bar type restaurant located just inside the doors that boasts fare such as hot dogs, corn dogs, hamburgers, nachos, and french fries. The prices were a little high, but not out of line with theme parks or hotels anywhere else. Our group of nine managed to eat lunch for just under $70. This included make your own slushies for all the kids.

In addition to the water park, the hotel offers many activities for children. The Cub Club is an area where kids of all ages can go to enjoy crafts and games. There are daily free crafts as well as more involved crafts that range in price from $3 - $15. N and A were perfectly happy with the free crafts offered. The Cub Club also hosts daily coloring contests and bingo games for the kids. Three times daily there is an animated show about nature under the lodge's Great Clock Tower. Following the evening show there is story time in front of the huge lobby fireplace. Of course, no hotel geared toward kids would be complete without an arcade and the Great Wolf is no exception. The Northern Lights Arcade is a typical arcade, full of noise, lights, and cheesy prizes. The kids loved it, though we imposed a limit on how much money they could waste in there. For adults, the hotel also has a large fitness room and a day spa. We did not make use of either of those facilities.

The lodge has dining options, but they were on the pricey side. We opted instead to get dinner one night from a local grocery store deli and from a local BBQ place the second night.

All in all, the Great Wolf Lodge is a great place for a family getaway. The staff was friendly and helpful, the hotel was impeccably clean, and there were activities for everyone. We'd definitely consider visiting again, either in Williamsburg or at one of Great Wolf's other locations. You can read more about the Great Wolf Lodge and what they have to offer at their website: www.greatwolflodge.com.

RockBand Hell

My children are the proud owners of a Wii. I didn't buy the Wii. It was a gift from their very generous great aunt. We've had the Wii for a year now and along the way have acquired several games for it, including Guitar hero and Wii Fit. This year, J and N received gift cards to Gamestop. They also received a duplicate Star Wars game and took it to exchange it. To my not so everlasting delight, they exchanged it for RockBand. Just the game, because they did not have near enough to cover the cost of the set. And the box said it was compatible with their Guitar Hero guitar. Okay fine. Then J discovered he had enough to buy just the drums. Great! Terrific! We now have daily RockBand sessions with both drum and guitar in the living room. Why the living room instead of a playroom or family room? Because our house is small. Very small. The sound of the drumsticks tapping is now permanently seared into my brain. Along with their endless renditions of Eye of the Tiger. Seriously, I'm over RockBand. If they ever get the microphone I may run screaming into the night.