Great Wolf

This year has been a busy one on many fronts. New baby, deck project, the start of pre-school, etc. We needed a break as a family and Great Wolf Lodge seemed like a good escape. It's a resort type place with a huge indoor water park, hotel and restaurant included on the premises. Once you are inside the place, it's easy to forget you are right behind a strip mall somewhere in North Carolina. You feel like you are truly away.

The hotel part of the place is well done with its' lodgy feeling. There are stuffed animal everywhere, antler chandeliers and a large fireplace. And actually, it almost doesn't match the water park side of the place. But they make it work. There are tons of little treasures to find in the place, especially if you do the MagiQuest game. To participate, you purchase a "magic wand" that makes picture frames come to life, treasure chests open, and stuffed racoons sing and swing from the ceiling. (This last one we saw in person and it got old quick. Cute but OMG please tell that child to put their wand away so we can eat in peace!) Nathan was too young for the game, but I can see how he would have a ball with it when he and Benny are old enough to follow clues and solve puzzles. Anyhow, there is lots to do there aside from the obvious. There is an arcade (Nathan's favorite), Cub Club (a crafty place for kids) and some other kitschy things all in the name of kids. It's a bit of a tourist trap in that all the extras are very much extras on the wallet.  A cool thing is the bracelets that you have to wear to show you are a guest there. The adults have ones that open your hotel room and add purchase items with the slide of your wrist. Nathan was excited to show this off to school to show where we went and wore it for about two weeks straight. He said he wanted to wear it until we went to Great "Woof" again someday. The food options are expensive and not the best quality. But people go for the slides!

The water park portion is huge, well-maintained and fun! There are tons of different pools and slides to enjoy, a giant bucket that dumps 1,000 tons of water every so often and lots of place to sit and people watch. There are four giant slides that technically Nathan is too small to ride, but Leo and Nathan were able to get on one anyway (I still don't get how they slipped through!) and it happened to be the least tame. In fact it was pretty darn wild. I went on it myself and can't believe how Nathan did it. I think we may have created a dare-devil. He truly loved it and wanted more. You can see a video of it here (not our video but same ride.) Leo and I wished we could have gone off to ride these together but having two little ones, there was certainly no escape for us. We agreed this would be a fun trip in the future with other families.

The Lodge was in Concord, a short distance from Charlotte. Leo had never been and as much fun as the water park is, you can only take so much. So off we went to explore a new city. There is a kids museum in Charlotte that was close to a brew pub that looked good. All parties won. The museum was great. Being a Friday only a few hours before close, we practically had the place to ourselves. With an area for little kids to play and experiment, a small aquarium and a place to touch living creatures this place was a good find. And a steal - we got in with our Life and Science Membership. Score! The restaurant we went to was awesome too. Nice wait staff, excellent food and a small flight of their craft brews to sample. It was worth the trip, even though we had hellish traffic getting back to The Lodge.

Since we went on a Thursday, the place was pretty quiet. By the time we left Saturday morning, the place was packed and crawling with families. We were very happy to not be there with so many people. I stay away from crowd where I can help it. It's a good strategy if you ever go.

Final thoughts: good family vacation. For us the location was perfect and the activities were great too (and will be even better as the boys grow). The price if the place is steep but we were able to make it work. And for a first family vacation, of course, the memories are priceless.

Pee Drama

Everyday I have something new to write about but the day gets away from me and I don't write it down. But not to worry, another new story is right around the corner. Like todays' adventure . . .

Last week Nathan stayed up late to watch a football game with Daddy. At some point, Nathan was put to bed without a diaper. It sounds ridiculous to me that he was still wearing a diaper/ pullups as of last week since he has been potty-trained for almost a year now but holding it in overnight is tough. Anyway, the next morning I discovered the diaperless boy was actually DRY!  I couldn't believe it but was so excited. We had been trying to get into his head and persuade (con/ cojole/ bribe) him with something he really likes - Poptarts! I don't keep them in the house (they are so not good for you but oh so delicious) so this would be a great treat. Although we were proud and thought maybe this would mean he is growing up and learning, I was also very prepared to chalk it up to a fluke. Not so. The next few nights there may have been a drop or two but he didn't wet through like he had in the past. Our little boy was indeed growing up. He even started coming in to us in the night to tell us when he had to go. A nuisance but a small one compared to wet pj's and sheets in the middle of the night.

Last night he came into our room at some point and he was whining in that "Oh, I wet myself" way. I went with him to his room to change. I don't know if he said it or I just assumed, but I just started changing him. He wandered away halfway through into the office and then came back out and shut the door. Assuming he was just being his ADD Nathan self, I waited a moment for him to come back. I then realized he wasn't even wet! I told him to go to the bathroom since he was awake. He tried. He didn't have to go. Okayfine . . . back to bed.

Fast forward to today. I'm in the office looking for something when I see a yellow drip of some sort on the carpet. What the . . . when he went wandering off, Nathan managed to pee in the trash can! It was dark, he's never peed in a trash can before, he was clearly half asleep. How did he manage this?! I called Leo down to tell him the story. We have the picture as proof. I couldn't stop laughing even though I most certainly didn't want to encourage him to do it again. But seriously, it was hilarious. This kid and his pee. . . what's up with that?

Our other little boy is growing up too. Benny now has two little "teefers" popping up and he is assuming the position to crawl any day now. He gets up on his fours, rocks a little . . . then moves himself backwards. Nathan did this too for a short time. But once he got the hang of it he hasn't looked back!

Leo's work has been really busy lately and we don't see him much during the day, and sometimes evening. He's here, but he's just really busy! But it's all good stuff to come. He did, however, find a few minutes to come join our picnic lunch outside today. It has been absolutely wonderful outside and we have been enjoying it with many picnics and walks. (Nice huh? Let's finish the deck so we can eat outside - on the front lawn!) I love the fall and the turn in weather is only one of the many perks.

Other fall perks - pumpkin everything. Decorations. Preschool. Yeah baby. I love school. Just the few hours a couple days a week has afforded me so much more time to myself. It's still lacking some days, but most weeks now I can count on an hour or two just for me. I can workout, catch up on reading, house stuff, shopping with only one (or sometimes no) kid, photography stuff - whatever I want! There still isn't enough time in the day but man - I feel much better about life these days now that I can breathe.

Oh yeah and then there's football. ((Sigh)) . . . . Leo is in heaven and Nathan will join in and root for the appropriate team from time to time too. I'm trying to take it in stride and keep busy otherwise. That's his happy place - what can I do?

Brave

We anticipated Nathan's first day of school for a long time. The funny thing about time is it keeps going. Events happen even when it feels forever away. So the big day came and Nathan said the best thing that morning. "I'm ready Mommy." Yay! He said he was excited and practically dragged us out the door. We were all excited I guess. We were among the first to arrive. We went right to his classroom where the wonderful teachers there took control right away. He has his name written on a little orange shark attached to a magnet on the door frame. The kids grab their own and put it in the basket in the classroom as a sort of attendance. I helped him find his, then Ms. Christy came over and told him to say goodbye. It was then he got that look in his eye. His little mouth turned down and doubt set in. I kissed him first, Daddy bent down with Benny, then Daddy got a quick kiss too. I think. I had turned away by then so he didn't see my own tears. Even Daddy got misty. But even though he started to get sad and nervous, he was so brave. He still said goodbye to us and went with his teacher. Leo and I went to another room for parent orientation, otherwise we would have just dropped him off like today. We waited in the drop off line then unloaded him when the teacher came to the car. Again, he had that little frown start to form but he bravely said "bye Mommy" and off he went.

When he came home from the first day, he was all smiles. Sweaty from running around outside and hungry! He talked about a couple things that he did but it will never be enough detail for me. I'm used to overseeing his every minute and now I'm missing three hours of his life! This is when the flashbacks begin but from a different point of view. I'm in the car with my mom and she's asking "How was your day?" and I say with little enthusiasm, "Fine." The tables are turned and now it's me asking all the annoying questions to squeeze any detail I can out of the kid. It came out a little at a time but the main thing is he likes it. He's happy and even excited to go back again. I expect a little backsliding when he realizes this is a long term thing (like for the next 15 years!) but he will be fine. He's my big brave boy.

Party, Sleeping & School

The Big Birthday Bash was, as usual, a success. We had many people passing in and out of here all afternoon, including a dozen and a half kids or so. The kid quotient keeps rising. Nathan loves this. Leo less so. We welcome them of course but Leo longs for the old days of late night parties and the hangovers that follow them. I personally did not mind getting to bed by 10p and waking at a normal time without a headache. I must be old. In any event, it was a good time. We borrowed Aunt Kerri's bouncy house - always very popular - and broke out the beer pong (aka Beiruit). We received lots of compliments on our new deck too. I was so very happy to show it off and use it. Guess what - it didn't fall down either. Ha. Uncle Matt joined us for the weekend too.

The sleep training continues. It's so much harder than the first time around. There is more going on in our lives, more distractions, etc. You would think the patience and experience would have made the process easier. Not so. It still sucks to hear your baby cry. But this process worked for Nathan and we're sticking to it. I hope that this time next week I will be able to tell you it worked this time too. In the meantime, I'm hiding behind my ipod to drown out the noise.

Last week we went to Nathan's preschool for a little meet and greet. His teachers seemed nice and he liked playing in his classroom and the playground. We're a little worried he will make himself too comfortable and pee out there on the playground or get in trouble for singing "I'm Sexy and I Know it." But we'll cross that bridge when it comes. Because it is coming.

Moving forward it seems like we have turned a page. Between our summer project being (mostly) completed, a big party with all our friends, school and new daytime schedules - it actually feels like September should feel; like when it did when I was a kid. Something changes in the air too and you just start fresh. Only I can't believe that the coming months will include Halloween costumes and holidays plans already!

Sneak

I thought I would sneak in a post while I have a few extra minutes, which is rare! I have no organized thoughts so here's what's happening as I'm thinking . . .

Benny has not been on any regular schedule and the poor thing has been kept up as late as Nathan all this time. His naps were terrible and he was cranky by dinner time so we decided to change things up and put him on a proper timetable. Morning nap - good. Afternoon nap - non existent. Late afternoon nap - a mess (he slept while we ate dinner instead). Early bedtime - success. So far. This will be an interesting transition. Hopefully it will help with keeping Benny asleep all night, napping better during the day and giving mommy a break now and then.

Another transition will be Nathan going to preschool starting next week. Yikes! Before I know it I will be sending him off to college! I know I will have mixed emotions next Tuesday when he starts. Sad and anxious about not having him with me all day but excited and happy for his independence and yet another little break for mommy. (Hmmm, I may be able to breathe soon!)

G'pa Truck has been around for over a week now. He stayed with us for a while to hang. He was a huge help with all that we have going on. Over the weekend he headed down to the Kokers to help with the arrival of Patrick John. Logan now has a little brother! Patrick's first few days were rough but after a little help he is doing just fine and got to go home with Kerri Monday. Leo got to see him but I will have to wait, hopefully this weekend.

Tomorrow is Leo's birthday and this weekend is the big bash. And just in time, our deck is (for the most part) completed. We started re-doing it weeks ago and have been diligently working on it during every spare moment we can find (not many to be found). But it's very near completion and it looks great. Stay tuned for a silly video showing the whole process.

I'm sure there is more but that's all I can extract out of this tired old brain for today. (If I were pressed to say more, all that would come out is stuff about sleep habits for babies since I have been studying sleep books like I was trying the pass the bar.) Hopefully the new nap and school schedules will allow for more down time for me, more blog-reading for you!

Peekaboo

Our littlest man is six months old today. Half a year! He is doing amazing things already. He has perfected sitting up on his own and he sometimes seems to wave in response to us waving to him - but I'm pretty sure he is just flapping his arms because he realizes they are his. But after last nights' game of peekaboo I'm not sure.

Up until now, Benny has been a good sleeper. I realized lately though he has been using mommy as a crutch to get to sleep (nursing = sleep). Having trouble getting past that and getting him to sleep on his own, we let him hang out for a bit on his own in his crib the other night to see what would happen. Well duh. He cried! We let him go a little bit and then I gave in. He wasn't happy and I thought maybe he was teething? I brought him into our room to present the question to Leo and suddenly the boy was all smiles. He arched over and made googly eyes at Leo, happy as can be. Leo responded with smiles and eventually the suggestion to just go to sleep, "like this". He put his head down and closed his eyes, then popped up again to surprise Benny. Benny thought it was hilarious. And then did it back! He put hid head in my chest real quick then popped his head back at Leo, knowing how damn cute he was being. This was the first time we have seen him be deliberate with his actions and seem to truly know what is going on around him. This went on for a while until I said enough is enough, you're tired kid! And he was. But he just wanted to nurse to sleep. We looked at each other, weighed the options and decided to try to cry it out. Oh how I wish we could have skipped this part! It sucked when we did it for Nathan but it worked for him then. So we're going for it now. I lasted about an hour until I couldn't take it anymore. It was midnight, I was tired. I cuddled him, rocked him and put him to sleep (no nursing). The upside was that Nathan slept through it. I was so afraid we would have too awake babies. I don't know that we will be that lucky going forward.

Our daytime hours have been just as hectic. A few weekends ago we had Uncle Matt help us take apart our crappy old deck. The structure remains but we have new decking and railing boards waiting for us in the garage. That's this weekends' project. We thought we would wait and do such a labor intensive project on yet another 95+ degree streak. Yuck. It will be rough in the heat but I'm thinking about the final outcome. It will be gorgeous! I can't say I will have much to do with the construction. (Someone has to be with the kids!) but I have been studying for this every day on-line. What type of connections, railings, boards sizes, notched 4x4's or not. Then there's the stain to educate myself about! I spent an hour and a half at Lowe's yesterday picking the brain of every blue-vested man there to get everything we needed to get started. So I consider that my fair share of investment into this project - handing two squirming kids at the hardware store.

Speaking of those kids - they were really great on that trip out. I grabbed a lego/ star wars book at the entrance of the store and tossed it in the cart with Nathan (along with a little bag of cookies and a backup bag of crackers) and we were good to go. I consider myself seasoned in the realm of keeping the kids busy in stores. It's all about preparation.

I think you have to have a good kid too. And cute. Even the old men at Lowe's were oohing and ahhing over my little boys. But really, Nathan, despite the troubles he does cause, can be so wonderful. Yesterday before his nap, he cleaned his room on his own without me asking. I thought maybe Leo told him or he hit his head or something. He just decided it was a good idea. I love him. And he took his nap with minimal whining. Bedtime is getting a tad better too. Maybe we are getting past that three year old hump. He's showing how ready he will be soon for preschool . . .

I'm sure I have tons more to write but I have to go of course. Benny is still sleeping (good) but it's because he was up for hours last night crying it out (bad) and we may be all sorts of messed up today because of it. Fortunately my husband let me sleep in (awesome) since I was up in the wee hours trying to get Benny back to sleep. Where's my coffee . . .  ?

Independence

Yesterday we celebrated our day of independence (mostly Leo's independence from work but also our Country's Independence of course) by trying something new. Although it's been a steady sweltering 90 degrees + outside everyday, we can't keep the weather from keeping us outside. We decided to go to Frankie's in Brier Creek where they have mini golf, arcade games and tons of other stuff we can't enjoy for a while (batting cages, race cars and other big kid things). We braved through Nathan's first mini golf game and it wasn't half bad considering the circumstances. We all have to be patient (us with him and him with what we are doing) as he tries new things. We try to gently repeat the 'rules' or at least the object of the game. And he has to keep practicing and just not give up. This is easier said than done and the creeping heat didn't help. After a few shrugs and huffs of frustration, we all got through it and he had a good time. The reward was running around the cool arcade from one blast of light and sound to another. We played some games and got some stupid toys with the tickets we won at some of the games. Benny, meanwhile, was quite content in the carrier on me and dozed on and off. We must remember this as a good rainy/ hot day activity as there is much to do inside and whiles away a good chunk of time while getting some energy out. A win win for us all. Last night we went to Brier Creek Country Club where you can sit on the golf course and watch nearby fireworks. They had a bouncy house for the kids, music and lots of space to run. A friend of ours piggybacked the whole event with a birthday party for her kid. Great idea! It was a hot night but in the name of fireworks we toughed it out and all slept really well last night.

Last week we had Grandpa Truck and Babci here before they went down to Kerri's. It was Babci's first time meeting Benny. They were brave enough to stick around despite the evenings when I leave and he cries. At least Leo had company for while I was gone. I went out with my friend again for some night shots in Durham and then my class again Thursday. With Grandpa Truck, we went to the pool one of the days and Nathan did a really good job of swimming a little more on his own. He definitely needs someone else (other than me) to teach him. Saturday we joined them again for Logan's third birthday party. (How are these kids three already?) It was hot as Hades for the party but there were water activities for the kids to stay cool and me and Ben laid low in the AC.

Today it's just me and Benny for a few hours. A friend invited Nathan over for a few hours to play with her kids. So we are free to play and do whatever for a few hours. Currently, Ben is jumping in his jumparoo and studying his surroundings. Damn he is cute!