Medieval Times

We got a taste of the Medieval Times on Friday.  The things my kids have come up with this summer.  Actually, if I'm being honest, I planted the seed for this one.  Don't judge.

Back in January, Clay and I attended a very elaborate auction night hosted by Jack's school.  We couldn't leave there empty handed {ie. not donate to the cause} so we bid on tickets to the Medieval Times show at the local castle.  Surprisingly, we won {totally joking on the surprise part}.  I did, however, think it would be something unusual and fun for the kiddos.  So why not?

Up until today, we kept our win a secret.  Since the castle visit never made it Jack and Maggie's "summer list", I made it a point to exclaim each time I saw a billboard around town.  Soon enough the seed was planted, soon enough they were begging to go, and finally I was able to pull out the surprise.  The day seemed fitting for a royal outing with the birth of the royal baby and all.

Maggie chose to wear a dress because we were going to a castle, naturally.  She was completely mesmerized when we arrived and were greeted so eloquently by the King and Princess themselves.  And though Jack would never admit it {that whole princess thing} he was pretty awe struck by the castle interior and it's housed royalty.  But nothing like when the show actually started.

It didn't take Jack long to get entranced by the thought of knights and a royal castle.  He immediately chose his souvenir and donned his suit of armor.  He took this role very seriously as he convinced Maggie that it was his job to protect all princesses.  Maggie was way too enamored with her new sparkly princess wand to participate in his game of charades.  But I can promise that since we have arrived at home the role play {costumes and all} has been going on all weekend.

After the gift shop and castle stroll we were given our tickets for entry. We were seated in the Green Kingdom or more technically the Kingdom of Leon.  As we prepared for the Knight's games and the final battle we were served some serious Medieval food.  A chicken leg, corn on the cob, and potatoes {all to be eaten with our hands}. That's a really heavy lunch.  I can't say that I would have survived in the Medieval period.

When the Knights arrived in the arena on horseback our Royal family did all we could to cheer on the green knight.  It seems he was very smitten by our support because he gave Maggie and I a pink carnation.  Since then it has been placed in a vase on her dresser.  We've all been strict instructions not to touch it, move it, smell it, you name it.

I would be remiss if I didn't give you a visual of the show itself.  Jack could not get enough of it. And  I mean seriously. While Maggie spent her time concerned that the bad knight would win and the princess would have to marry him.  As expected there was a happy ending.  Maggie left with a sigh of relief.

However, I won't give away which Knight did prevail.  I would hate to ruin it for any of you future castle goers out there {because I know this post has enticed you}.  I will say the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was definitely worth an afternoon {we hit the matinee} and it was certainly worth the countless hours of knight and princess play that has been going on around here all weekend.

I'll leave you with this...my very valiant Knight and my very over tired Princess...at the castle drawbridge...

I Love Lucy: 11 Months

I can hardly believe that I am writing Lucy's 11 month post.  It seems just like yesterday when I was giving an update on her first month of life.  {Well, it feels that way minus the newborn exhaustion.}  This truly went by way too fast.  Surely you agree?  I'm about to have a one year old.  I'll say it again because I can't believe it either...I'm about to have a one year old.  Unbelievable I tell you.

The other unbelievable part is how irresistible this little love is.  How did we ever get so lucky?  Surely, God knew our family could only handle perfection.  And happily, I feel like that is exactly what Lucy is.

Even at 11 months old, Lu continues to have me in awe at her loveliness, excited about her milestones, and enjoying every minute of her budding and busy personality.

She is that wonderful.  If you've met her, you know.  And if you haven't, well, let me fill you in.

Eat

My littlest is still a great eater.  The only concern is that a little pickiness has emerged.  This is exactly the same month Maggie pulled this stunt.  To be honest, I am a bit shocked.  I really didn't see it coming.  I vowed to make sure Lucy was given a variety of foods and that no sweets were offered her way {minus the little sugar free popsicle lick she gets every once in a while from her bigs}.

Thus far her pickiness is subtle, but I see it.  She eats everything she likes off of her tray first and then squeals, moans, and whines in hopes of a response.  The response she wants is for me to remove her veggies and give her more meat and carbs.

Than being said, chicken, steak, pork, turkey, tortillas, crackers, waffles, pancakes, breakfast bars, pasta, and bread are her favorite foods.  Hmmm...sounds a bit like Maggie.

And then coming in a close second are fruits.  Lu likes just about anything in the fruit group.  But, her favorites are watermelon, raspberries, peaches, and grapes.  And then that leaves us with veggies.

These are always the last to go off of her tray.  She eats them, reluctantly.  She often throws half of them on the ground, but a decent sized portion makes it in and stays in.  Lucy eats a lot of carrots {I've added them back to her menu}, broccoli, green beans, peas, and sweet potato, but her favorite veggies seem to be squash and zucchini.

Lucy has also taken a liking to anything that is on my plate.   If I'm eating it...it must be better.  So that's where I play the whole fake out where some of her food starts out on my plate and then I "share" it with her.  Often she gobbles it right up and other times she's totally on to me.

Just like her big sister at 11 months, Lucy wants a fork.  I can't explain it.  And honestly, I don't really understand it {wish I did because I still fight Jack to eat with utensils as opposed to fingers}.  But it's true, everything tastes better off a fork to Lucy.  The only issue with this is she's still not quite there with the fine motor, so guess who gets to do the spearing?

Lucy is still a bottle drinker.  6 ounces four times a day.  It's almost impossible for me to believe that we are nearing the wean.  Lu is great with a sippy cup and I'm sure I will happily be ready to retire the bottle and all 15 parts that come with it and therefore need to be cleaned.  But, it's very bittersweet, as are all of these little milestones with my last Cibula babe.

Activity

All that eating can make for a busy girl.  And that, Lucy is.

Lu is busy, curious, excitable, social, and easily engaged.  And although, she is very similar to Maggie at this age in the eating department, she is the polar opposite of her when it comes to activity.  Maggie wouldn't let me put her down, Lucy can't wait to get down.  She pushes off of me, wiggles out of my arms, squirms to get to the next thing,  but loves to climb all over me.

Lulu is definitely a mover.  A few short weeks after she started her army crawl she progressed into a nice hands and knees crawl.  And from that, there has been no stopping this little one.  She pulls up on everything, pushes toy baskets around the room, tries to climb on furniture, speeds up the stairs, cruises, and is always on the move.

I recently pulled out a walker for her and for a while she was very intrigued.  We've had to keep it on the carpet to avoid any full throttle face plants.  I have found that she prefers her own means of mobility though.  I think in time she will see the benefits of the walker and it may become a new love.

Lucy enjoys any game that involves moving too.  One of her favorites is the up-down game in her crib.  She stands up in her crib, I stand up outside of it, and we say, "up" {I'm convinced she says, "up"} and then we both plop down and say, "down".  She could continue on like this forever.  I find myself always being the one to end the up-down game.  She adores any kind of rhyme that goes along with moving.  We do "The Noble Duke of York" with her on my knees {her favorite part is the upside down move} and we do "Patty Cake" with her feet.   Both of these get big smiles and lots of bouncing for "more".  Still working on the baby sign language here.

Lucy also enjoys a nice game of ball {I'm convinced she says "ball" too}, playing in the playroom, any musical instruments, walks in the red push car, and most especially being with her bigs.  There is nothing like waking them up in the morning or from nap time.  She can hardly contain her excitement.

Lu is still a regular at music and gym.  I find myself amused by the way she takes off when we get to both classes.  As if I was only good for the ride there.  She is crawling around, making new friends, and playing with the balls or instruments, depending on which class we are in that day.  I sometimes wonder if she knows which of the women there is her mother or if she even cares.  Again total polar opposite of Maggie and only slightly like Jack in this regard at this age.

Lucy is definitely the most independent of all my babies.  Again, the infamous word...bittersweet.

Sleep

Not much has changed in the sleep arena and for that I am grateful.

Lu still takes two naps a day.  A morning nap at 9:30 until about 11:00 and then an afternoon nap at 1:30 until 3:30, 4:00 on a good day.  Night time sleep is still a good 12-13 hours with bed time at 7:30 and morning wake up time at 8:00 a.m.

Just like my other babies, Lucy is a great sleeper.  The only obvious difference I see is that Lucy could go with a shorter nap or skip a nap in an emergency situation and still survive.  There is no way I could have gotten away with that with the other two.  I haven't tried the latter, but Lu leads me to believe this.  She just doesn't seem as sleep dependent as her bigs {and her Mommy}.

Her moods seem pretty steady.  I must note that just like any other baby {I assume} she does get the tiniest bit fussy when hungry or tired.  But, nothing that can't be handled.  Could it be she is that easy or am I just in third baby euphoria?

I find the biggest challenge with Lucy to be her energy.  I've finally found a way to simplify the bedtime routine or as I like to refer to it "the wild alligator wrestling match to the crib".  In the last month I have begun to long for my snuggled baby and books in the rocker ritual.  Previously, Lu just couldn't slow down long enough to listen to more than two pages.  So I traded the bottle and jammies for the bottle and books.

Now this does move the wrestling match to the changing table, but I am happily able to read two books straight through with a relaxed baby and bottle in my arms.  *sigh*

So Close To One

As I wrap up this post on Lucy's 11th month of life, I find myself an emotional and elated mess.  As ironic as it sounds, I can't remember life before Lucy yet, I feel like she just arrived.  How could we be celebrating a 1st birthday in a short month?

She has blessed us in so many ways.  She has also made life a bit more challenging at times too {only in the way of logistics}.  But all the while she has been that shining star in all of the trials we've unexpectedly experienced in the past year.  I have no doubt that God made Lu just for us and just when he knew we would need her the most.  The circle of life in so many ways.

I am curious and excited to see what her last month of being zero brings and I look forward to celebrating her very first birthday and showering her with all the love and attention she deserves.

Happy 11 Months to our cherry on top! {take that as a little hint to her birthday bash in the works}  We love you Lu and I can honesty say you have completed this family in every way!

All my love my littlest one!

What I Love About Summer...

...time for endless Legos because we don't have to be anywhere...

....watching Baby Lu grow up...and get around...

....Sundays at the park with the loves of my life.

Absolutely lovin' summer.

Choo Choo Part Two

I am not kidding when I say we spent our Saturday in Chattanooga with a lot of rocks.  Perfectly fitting  because that's kind of how this vacation idea developed.  Along with swimming with dolphins this summer, Jack wanted to go in a cave and see a water fall.  If it had been up to him we would have ended up in Montana {that is not even a joke}.  Somehow we compromised on Chattanooga.  And if you recall his statement that, "this is one of the best days of my summer", it's fair to say the compromise was a success.

We woke up bright and early on Saturday.  Oh, who am I kidding?  I'm not even sure if we {Maggie and I} ever slept.  Either way, we exited our Choo Choo room with our tennis shoes on and hit the pavement. 

Our first stop was Ruby Falls.  If we thought the Station House dinner the night before was touristy we were in for a real treat...all day long.  Touristy or not, I'm happy to say all of our visits hit just the right spot with the kiddos.  And truly, that is what this trip was all about {and nearly every other day this summer}.  

If you aren't familiar with the Falls, it's a natural underground water fall discovered in the 1900s.  We made our way down through the dark cave on an hour long tour before we arrived at the water fall itself.  Jack was in adventuring euphoria and Maggie was in...daddy's arms.

Luckily for Jack, he chose this miner's hat for his daily souvenir before we entered the cave.  Only Jack would make such a logical choice.  He received an outpouring of compliments as we made our way down the, what he would like to have thought was a, treacherous cave.

Maggie, not quite as logical {ever}, chose a stuffed unicorn in which she named, Baby Etsa.  I can't explain that one.  But, I can promise you that you will see plenty more of Maggie and Etsa in the pictures to follow.  They bonded rather quickly.

After our Ruby Falls jaunt we hit the Incline Railway.  I have to admit this was a bit disappointing.  I think Jack may even be yawning here.  It was super s...l...o...w and the view wasn't much more than a few trees and brush.  I'm thinking it was designed more as a form of transportation up and down the mountain more than an exhilarating must see.  So we made the best of it and declared it as our ride to lunch at the bottom of the mountain.

Unfortunately that meant we had to go back up to get to Rock City.

After our s...l...o...w and steep climb back up the mountain we grabbed our car and drove around the mountain to Rock City.  I'm going to step out on a limb here and say this might have been our favorite.  A lot more walking involved, but a lot to view.  So much so that I think our Mags forgot on occasion exactly how tired she really was.  She was quite the trooper.

I couldn't resist having my kids squeeze their sweet little heads into the famous Rock City bird house.  But that third hole was another reminder of how much I missed our darling Lucy.   However, note to any future visitors, Rock City is NOT stroller friendly.  Confirmation that I did make the right decision in letting Lu stay home and bond with her Grandma.

The views were spectacular and we did indeed see the seven states from way up high.  Jack and Maggie probably enjoyed the little Fairly Land at the end of the trail the most.  I enjoyed knowing we were one step closer to the car which meant I could rest my aching feet for a moment.

Saturday evening we took two very tired kids to dinner {not exactly wise}.  Once we returned to the hotel, I again had high hopes of a good night's sleep.  However, Whit and Larkin invited the kiddos to the pool for a night swim.  How was I to say no?...they adore their cousins and don't get to see them often enough.  So against my better judgement I caved.

And that's how we ended up with this...

I've decided that I might as well factor in an emergency room visit in all of our future vacations.  This little injury nearly had us there, but we were saved by the local fire station that backed up to our hotel.  Jack gashed his lower eye lid on a railing at the pool.  It was one of those mommy moments of  "I knew better".  But what was done was done.

There was great debate among hotel staff, family, and security whether he needed stitches or not.  So they loaded Jack and I on a golf cart and drove us over to the fire house.  An EMT on duty cleaned exhausted little Jack up and bandaged him up good.   With his advice we decided to forgo the ER, for that Jack and I were both thankful.

Back to our Choo Choo we went.  And this time it wasn't Maggie who made it such a long night.

Sunday morning we actually all slept in a bit....Heavenly, I tell you.  Jack was feeling and looking much better so we went forward with our plans to visit the Aquarium.  Now this does not put our aquarium to shame as the Children's Museum does, but it was still a very nice visit.

By far, my favorite part was the butterfly sanctuary {I'm sure there is a more appropriate term for it, but I'm at a loss at the moment}.  One of the butterflies seemed enamored with our family.  She fluttered from my head {which totally caught me by surprise}...

...straight to Maggie and Baby Etsa.

We also saw lots of fish, a shark, and some adorable penguins.  For their daily souvenir, Jack chose a scuba diver with sharks and Maggie chose a very large purple Hibiscus hair clip.  I thought that would be worth noting.  It only came with one small rule...what we buy in Chattanooga we wear in Chattanooga.  Too bad it was our last day.

Sadly we are done with summer vacations.  I am pleased to say that both trips this year were a success {I'm not counting KY}.  The kids had a blast and we saw and did a massive amount.  Now we are in the midst of our last camp week.

I'm feeling the sobs coming on with all of these "lasts".  However, I vow to enjoy every last day with my kids before school starts even if they destroy the playroom, act as if they've eaten a bag full of sugar, cry for lost Lovey's, jump on the couch, ask the same question 42 times in a row, eat me out of house and home, and spill their cups every time they get filled.

I vow to enjoy. Love you little ones!

Chattanooga Fun Part One

We recently took a nice weekend vacation to Chattanooga.  And though it wasn't as lengthy as our St. Augustine trip it is still deserving of a two part post.  We crammed more than I could have imagined into a three day stay. Tired eyes and jello like legs were proof of that.

We left {or at least} tried to leave pretty early Friday morning.  Two kids, two parents, a Grammy, and four suitcases later we were on the road.  Because I was pretty sure there would be no slowing down {i.e. naps} I reluctantly left Lucy home with Grandma.  It was a hard decision, but I knew all too well that it would be in her best interest.  It didn't change the fact that I felt like something was amiss our entire time gone.  Lovely Lu is a hard one to leave behind.

From the minute we hit the Chattanooga city limit we were on the go.  The first stop was the Children's Discovery Center.  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before, but I am seriously impressed with that place.  It puts our Children's Museum to shame {in my opinion anyway}. 

We could hardly get the kids in the door with this bubble maker thing-a ma-jig outside to divert their attention.

And then we could hardly get them past the entrance with this amazing water table system right as we walked in.

But, once we did, Maggie found the art nook to be her favorite.

And I found myself missing my littlest.

And no surprise, Jack found, you guessed it...animals.

And Clay found a way to entertain us all just when we needed a little pick me up.

After the, never disappointing, Children's Museum we headed over to check into our Choo Choo.  This is where we slumbered.  Or if I'm being honest, this is where Clay, Jack, and I slumbered.  Have I ever mentioned that Maggie spending the night in the same room as any other living being is not a good idea?  I've decided that for future vacations we get two rooms...one for the entire family and one for Maggie.  Trust me, it would be worth every penny.

I will give her that sleeping in a train car is pretty cool and can certainly elicit some excitement.  However, at some point the novelty should wear off.

Our rooms were incredibly authentic {I assume that should be the case considering they were real train cars}.  But, I think it would also be fair to assume they hadn't been updated since the Victorian period.  Authenticity at it's finest.

And if our trip wasn't exciting enough, the Cibula cousins and family met us in town.  My kids adore their cousins.  Jack said this was one of the "best days of his summer" somewhere in that Chattanooga weekend.  I'm pretty sure Whit and Larkin had something to do with his exuberant appreciation.

We spent the evening exploring the grounds and eating dinner with the singing wait staff at the Station House restaurant {that was perfectly touritsty}.  Jack and Maggie got their first taste of a salad bar and it was a surprising hit.

My kiddos were slap wiped out by bed time.  We returned to our train car for what I hoped would be a restful night of sleep {Maggie had something else in mind}.  We had a long day filled with lots of rocks ahead of us...

More Animals

If I'm being honest and all...I'm getting really tired of animals.  But, clearly my kids aren't.

The farm...another check off the good ol' summer list.

Rain Rain Go Away

I saw the sunshine peek through this morning.  Completely shocking.  I wasn't sure what to do besides halt construction on our ark and take my hair out of this pony tail it's been living in for a week.

This weekend was a different story. Since the rain wouldn't go away, we decided to get away from the rain {or at least try}.

Our only options were to drive far far away or find an indoor activity.  So we did both.  Did I mention I had two extremely antsy kids on my hands?

Try to imagine this....but, Jack has been wanting to do that Wild Animal Safari drive through thing that's south of town for quite a while now.  If you keep up with this blog, I would assume that doesn't surprise you.  He is slightly animal and geography obsessed at this stage in his life.

Very impromptuly, we loaded up the car and headed down for the 90 mile trek on Saturday.  I don't recommend the impromptu part, but I do recommend making the visit.

It is certainly an all day event with the travel time.  Plan to forgo naps if that is a factor.   Daddy stayed home with Lucy.  Had I known that she was going to voluntarily cut her nap in half, I probably would have brought her with us {I think she was just missing us}.  Maggie handled the lack of nap better than expected.  It should catch up with us by this evening though.

So Grandma, Mags, Jack and myself headed into the unknown and arrived at the Wild Animal Safari...in the middle of no where.  We chose to take the tour guided bus {you can actually take your own car or rent a van from them}.  I'm glad we chose the bus, the driver had lots of insight for us.  Like which animals can bite....pretty valuable information.  We may brave the rented van next visit since we have a bit more knowledge.  I can confidently say, we will never take our own car.

We fed animals special feed straight from the bus windows.  They literally climbed in with us and stuck their heads straight through any openings.  We sat in the first row of the bus taking up both sides.  Perfectly ideal to hop back and forth to see creatures on either side of the bus, but even better for when the driver had animals {like the giraffe} stick their necks in straight across his lap.  It was pretty nuts.

Although, the majority of us found that to be the most amazing part, Maggie's was the petting zoo.  She could not get enough of the baby llamas and deer.  I imagine they were well fed that day.

By the way, I got new sunglasses, and this picture confirms...I hate them...

When we had no choice but to return to town and more rain, we set our sights on an indoor activity for Sunday.  This, obviously, was a Maggie choice.  And Grandma.  They both love to paint.  Jack reluctantly tagged along and then decided it wasn't so bad after all.  Still not a first choice.

We scoured the town for a pottery place that was open before nap time on a Sunday.  With a little luck we finally found one.

I cracked up at the big's choices.  Maggie chose a cat holding a fish...I can't wait to display that in my home.  And Jack chose a present.  I will give him the fact that there wasn't much for six year old boys to choose from.  But, his rational was, that he could "keep stuff in it".  {it had a lid}  Great, just what we need, one more place for my kids to hoard junk.

Gladly we had some dry fun....and Grandma got to make a plate with all three kiddos hand prints on it. Yes, Lu was with us.  It was lovely to have her.  And also very challenging to keep all the pottery in one piece with her curious little hands.  Needless, to say, I did not paint.

As we glance ahead at the week's forecast, it looks like we are going to be screaming "rain, rain go away" as opposed to singing it.  Feel free to join in the chorus.  A momma of three can only keep the indoor entertainment coming for so long.