Bird Feeders

My parents don't have any domestic pets, but they have their birds. For as long as I can remember my parents have hung bird feeders in their yard filled with a healthy variety of bird seed. They haven't changed in this regard since I've flown the nest (pun intended). Another thing that hasn't changed? Their battle to keep the squirrels away. Squirrels are my parents nemesis. It doesn't matter what kind of special squirrel-proof feeder Jim and Charlene purchase; a gray, bushy-tailed, beady-eyed, nut-and-seed-loving rodent always finds a way to the stash. It's quite amusing. Another thing my parents can't escape while we're here? Tralee's desire to help Grammy Char-Char re-fill the bird feeders. Just today Tralee informed me that she has to help Grammy Char-Char fill them again, as all but one are in need of replenishment.

Cleveland: June 10th, 2010

Thursday June 10th the kids and I wanted to go swimming. We were informed that the pool was closed for maintenance, so we improvised. Grammy Char Char has a big water barrel cut in half. We filled both halves with water and splashed around for a bit. Not as great as taking a dip in a nice pool, but still fun and satisfying.

Picture of Hunter taken from underwater

Mommy and babies tootsies in the water

I mostly wanted a picture of Hunter's belly.

After "swimming" Tralee requested a picnic. I cut up some fruit, cheese and crackers, and prepared some blue corn chips and hummus. We drank water out of some of Grammy Char Char's fancy pink goblets.

Even though our plans for swimming were ruined, we still had a pretty great afternoon.

Mr. H.O.J's Vocab

Hunter's vocabulary is really expanding as of late. Here are a few of the words he's mastered. . . the little genius.

Hi -- Usually said with a big smile and a few decibels louder than necessary -- especially at church.

Done -- Said like "da"

More -- Said like "mo"

Ball -- Hunter LOVES LOVES LOVES balls. Any kind of ball. When we're walking through a store and he sees anything resembling a ball he sits upright, legs go ridged with each kick, he points in the direction of the balls, and repeats, "Ba-ow! Ba-ow, ba-ow" until you give him one. While my mom and I were shopping Hunter threw a ball out of the cart, and then he started crying. As soon as we placed the ball back in the cart with him his whole body relaxed as he happily hugged the red rubbery orb.

Bubbles -- Hunter says this one really well. He repeats it over and over again while we're blowing bubbles.

Ow -- Hunter mostly says this when I'm trying to set him down and he wants to be held. I think he knows he'll get attention if he says, "Ow!"

Thank you -- Said like "doo-doo" He also says, "tanks."

Lights - Said like "ites." Also said while looking and pointing at the lights.

Daddy

Mom - He only says mom or mama when he wants me to hold him and I'm not, or if he's looking for me.

Banana - I swear he said this the other day when I asked the kids if they wanted a banana. He only repeated it once or twice after that, so I can't be sure this one is here to stay.

Hunter also repeats other sounds and words after we say them, but the ones listed are the words most frequently used as of late.

Before I know it we'll have a full fledged talker around here.

A Few Photos from Cleveland

Thursday June 3rd, 2010
We played with bubbles and squirt guns outside.

Not sure what Tralee's doing or why, but I LOVE this picture of her. Funny little bug.

Sunday June 6th, 2010
Went to Church. Had to wait for Grandpa to get done with a meeting, so we played outside and took pictures. The picture below is Tralee hiding. We were playing hide and seek. She's brilliant!

Could you not eat these two right up? Seriously.

He is just too darn cute.

I like this picture of Grammy Char-Char and Hunter moseying on back to the car.

Monday June 7th, 2010
We hung out. Tralee had spaghetti for lunch. She calls it hetti. We had it on our first Friday night here, and that's all she wants to eat now. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. All I hear is, "Mommy. I want hetti." Sometimes she wants it with sauce, and sometimes without.

We've also played at parks almost everyday. We even got to one right when it started raining. That didn't stop us. We played in the rain. Here are some photos from one of our visits.

More photos to come. I've decided to try and keep up with my blog while here, otherwise I'll have over a month of pictures to document when I get home, and that would be crazy.

Over and out.

Cleveland: Week One

Here's the view from the window where I'm typing this. My parent's live behind the sixteenth green on the golf course that runs through this neighborhood. It's really pretty here. I love how green it is.

Hunter appreciates the big windows with a view too. I often find him looking out and pointing at things he sees.


Another treat is the big bath tub. Hunter and Tralee usually start out together, and then I fill it EXTRA full for Tralee when I get Hunter out. It's hard to get Tralee out of this thing once she's in.

And then there's me. I've been enjoying my visit. My parents are taking good care of us. I feel spoiled.

We've also frequented a few parks in the area since our visit as well as hit up a few shopping places (pictures soon to come). Going swimming at the club has been on our agenda, but the weather hasn't been cooperating. It's either been rainy, cold, and now today the weather is great for swimming, but I guess the chemicals are being working on in the kiddie pool, so it's closed. We improvised though. . . pictures will come of that as well.

The only bummer that occurred week one is that I scratched my Mom's car. I drove too close to a metal pole and the car got a nice long scratch on the passenger side. I called Jim right after it happened and started crying. I felt like a teenager who did something stupid and was afraid to tell her parents. My parents have been remarkably nice about it. I still feel bad.

The only other news is a few days before I left for Cleveland, Jim bought me the p90x workout DVDs I've been asking for. I've been doing them for two weeks now, and I think I'm beginning to see some improvement. I usually work out after I put Hunter down for a nap. Tralee will either work out with me, or play nearby. Right now Hunter is taking a nap, so I should be working out. . . .but it's yoga day. I don't mind yoga, but the workout is an hour and a half long. I like to keep my workouts to 60 minutes or less. I'm just lazy that way. . . okay. . . here I go to say my ohms.

Namaste!

Flying

Here are a few pictures from our flying adventures. I wish I would have taken more, especially of the kids looking out the window, but I had my arms full of a squirmy Hunter, and my camera was in the diaper bag. I just didn't feel like going through all the effort to search for it while soaring above the earth. Kind of wish I would have, but these few pictures will have to suffice.

Tralee and Hunter before taking off on flight numeral uno. This was also Hunter's first airplane ride since he's been out of my belly.

What do you think? Are my kids the correct carry on size?

Hunter at the Minneapolis airport.

Tralee

Hunter and Tralee really enjoyed the moving walk ways. Tralee also loved wearing her Dora backpack. Cute little bug.

Tralee and Hunter looking at the plane we were about to board to Cleveland.

As I mentioned before, my kids were great travelers over all. Good job babies!

We Made It

We're in Cleveland. Jim's in Georgia. So far so good.

The kids did remarkably well flying cross-country. We had a handful of "moments," but overall I'd give our experience a B+.

Some positive experiences included:

- Tralee getting super exited when the plane took off. She said, "We're doing it! We're flying like a birdie." I also heard, "We're flying like Dumbo." As well as, "We're flying like a bumbum bee." Yeah, she says bumbum bee instead of bumble bee. I like it, so I don't correct her.

- Tralee announcing to everyone on plane ride number one "WE DID IT! WE LANDED! WE WON!!!!!" She said this at least twenty times after the plane landed. People around us were laughing at her. I'm sure there were a few who weren't as thrilled to hear Tralee's shouts of triumph, but I chose not to notice them.

-Letting the kids run around for a bit while waiting to board plane number two.

- The fact that Hunter was content to sit in my lap, climb around on Tralee's seat, and fall asleep. He's such a wiggly little guy I was worried he wouldn't want to stay in the confines of our seats. Luckily, he did beautifully.

- The baby sling I made was a lifesaver. I found a pattern on-line, and I'm super glad I made it. Hunter loves it, and although we have a baby bjorn, the sling is a little easier to stuff into the diaper bag when it's not in use. It was also nice to have two hands free while walking through the airport.

Some of the not-so-great moments were:

- My clothes at the end of the day. They were covered in stains. I looked awesome.

- Tralee's melt down in front of the moving walkway so that she was right in every one's way. Luckily it only lasted a minute.

- Tralee falling down the escalator when we arrived in Cleveland. She wasn't stepping on, so I tried to help her on by pulling on her hand. Wrong move. She totally face planted, and I couldn't help her up because I had Hunter in the sling, and all of our carry-ons in my arms. Luckily the nice lady in front of us helped Tralee up and off the escalator. Tralee has a nice scrape on her forehead. Luckily that's the extent of her war wounds. I felt AWFUL though. I was at the bottom of the escalator examining and comforting a very distraught Tralee when a security guard came to make sure everything was okay. I looked around and realized several travelers witnessed her fall. Poor us.

- Tralee and Hunter were both super tired and cranky when we arrived in Cleveland. Therefore, my parents didn't get very nice hellos from the kids. The good news is, they both fell asleep in the car on the way to my parents, and woke up a lot happier.

So. . . we made it! I'm glad I don't have to fly cross country with both kids all by myself on the way back. Jim will be with us. PHEW! I also hope my parents are ready to have their nice home scattered with toys and fingerprints the next month. It should be fun.