Maryland Zoo

Yesterday began my next long vacation from work. I'll be off almost two full weeks again; I am really looking forward to all the time off with family this fall!

To celebrate my first day off and Noelle's last Friday at home before the start of Pre-K, we took an excursion to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. I had only been once before for a very adult event, Brew at the Zoo. I'll have to admit, the animals were hazy that day! This time we went using our NC Aquarium membership and had a great time.We met up with several moms and kids from our mom group, as well as Kristin, who is home on maternity leave, and John and had a great time.

We started the morning checking out the prarie dogs and the lion statues while we gathered our group and then rode the tram, AKA train, down to the main zoo. Kellen and his stroller friends rode in style. As you can see, Kel wasn't so sure about the tram ride before it started!

We then checked out the polar bears before heading to the Africa area. They had a cool buggy vehicle where you could watch the bears swim and sun themselves in the air conditioning which was lovely! After checking out the zebras, rhino, cheetah, and various other animals, we sat ourselves down in the elephant viewing area to eat our lunch.

After lunch we finished up the Africa area by viewing the giraffes, the apes, and a few other animals. Here I am with the kids and our super tall friend!

At that point the rest of our group headed home, but the kids and I checked out the polar bears one more time and then hit the kid area to look for the otters, a Saxton personal favorite. We came up short on the otter search (and I am suspicious as to whether there are ever otters in that exhibit) but did see the bog, bat cave, a snake, and Noelle made herself comfy in a "bird nest." At that point I had been pushing Noelle and carrying Kellen in the ergo for the last hour and the heat had worn me down. It was time to catch the tram back toward the parking lot, hit the bathroom one last time, and head home. Kellen was asleep about 5 seconds after we pulled out of the parking lot. Unfortunately, that meant he was done napping after 19 minutes when we pulled in the drive way. Noelle on the other hand napped for almost 3 hours after our excursion. Bryan (working from home because of the Grand Prix traffic) and I enjoyed watching Kellen spin in circles and jump like a crazy person on his Elmo chair. I love that kid. And I am won over on the Maryland Zoo. We'll be back soon!

Supermoms

When my mom's group was founded a few years ago, the then president offered us logo suggestions and felt strongly a cape and superhero should be involved. At the time, it was a little much for me, but as I have settled in to this whole mom thing, I think it is pretty accurate. People constantly ask me how I do everything I do; in turn, I wonder how they get through everything on their plate. Yes, I have a job and two kids, a house, and a dog, and do mom nights and events, but just like everyone else, I get it done because I have to and I want to. We are all just treading water most of the time. My kids came one at a time (thank goodness!), are healthy, and I have a supportive husband who takes on quite a bit. Plus my mom and dad, despite being far away, will do anything for me and our kids.

For those that think I have my life so together, consider this:

1. This book loving lady hasn't read anything more impressive than The Little Engine That Could all summer.

2. The last time I got to my office on time was probably in April. Yes, I make up the time, and yes, I know I am fortunate to have employment at a place where I don't have to clock in!

3. My house hasn't been dusted in weeks and I gave up on making the bed about 2 years ago. I hear there are less germs that way, anyways!

4. I have been known to scream at my kids. Not often, and it makes me feel guilty immediately after, but you better bet that when I saw Noelle start flossing the sink faucet with her used dental floss three hours after everyone in our family finally seemed healthy last winter that I lost my cool.

5. I haven't gotten the recommended hours of sleep since 2009.

We all make choices and it is a give and take. I love my kids and husband, I love my job, and I love being social. I also am a type A control freak. So my house is mostly clean and tidy, my kids get homemade, healthy (albeit freezer meal style) food almost every meal, I plan and host events for me and my family, and I try to keep up with birthday cards and phone calls. We hike and enjoy playing outside and with friends, but we also watch TV and I play on my ipad entirely too much. It's a give and take.

My graduate program in higher education had classes in student development. One thing we talked about was self authorship and not caring what others really think of you. As moms, this is especially hard. We constantly judge ourselves, compare how we are doing to others, and wonder whether our decisions are best for our kids, our husbands, our co-workers, and our friends all the time. And you know what? They usually are, but not always. Because we are always tired and pulled in a zillion directions. So this is what I have decided. I'll do my best, I am going to assume that as long as your kid isn't purposefully attacking mine and that you aren't letting them get hit by a car due to gross negligence that you are doing yours, and in the end, as long as our families are happy the majority of the time, that is enough. In the end, we all are Supermoms. Maybe we should go get those capes after all!

Princess Party

Noelle's birthday was over a week ago but we just had her little party last night. Noelle decided in about May that she wanted a princess sleepover party for her birthday this year. I was a little hesitant at first about the idea, but when I really thought about it there were lots of advantages to this plan.

1. It sounded cheap. I am not in favor of spending lots of money for birthdays. A party at home required some food and that was pretty much it.

2. It would have to be small. If I was going to let 4 year olds stay over, I was having no more than 5 total girls in my house. Noelle has a zillion friends that she knows to different extents. I find narrowing down lists for kid parties hard - you either invite everyone or hardly anyone. Hardly anyone sounded nice!

3. This sounded like a perfect opportunity to hang out with my mom friends as well. Sure Noelle, you can invite your girl friends, but their mommies need to come too, at least for a little while.

So the princess sleepover party was planned.

I got yellow plates and napkins, a birthday banner, and four princess crowns from the dollar store. Decorations and favors taken care of. Then I made a hideous cake. Yes, I am a good cook generally, Yes, I like to bake even. Cakes though are not my thing. Noelle had requested a chocolate cake with yellow frosting and a princess on top. Ok, sweetheart. You can have that, but it won't be pretty!

Everyone arrived at 6 and started playing princess dress up while we put the finishing touches on dinner. Our menu for the night:

Costco Pizza - Margherita, Six Cheese, or Pepperoni. Yup, fancy!
Fruit Salad
Parisian Salad in a Bag from Costco
Cherry Tomatoes, Cucumber, Baby Carrots with Kale Dip
Milk
Water
Wine

Yup, we really went crazy!

The girls ate and Kellen joined them outside for the meal. He is such a ladies man!

After dinner, the girls played dress up some more, we got the boys to bed, and then we ate our cake. Noelle loved being the center of attention for the singing!

After cake it was time for a movie. Surprisingly the girls selected Rio, a cute movie not about princesses. They settled in to the basement, mostly built forts and didn't watch the movie, and had fun while the mommies helped Lisa get her classroom posters finished for Monday morning. When the movie was over the kids got ready for bed and 2 of the 3 girls stayed over for the night. About 30 minutes and a few warnings later, Julia headed to the guest room with her mommy to sleep and Noelle headed upstairs with me. The three girls slept the rest of the night in their separated state.

The morning came early for Noelle, Kellen, and Wyatt. The other girls slept a bit longer and then we enjoyed pancakes, bacon, and fruit for the morning. By 9:30 everyone had gone home and the party was over. I think the girls had a great time and so did the moms. I think low key is the way to go for future birthdays. We'll see if I can follow through on that one!

 Here were my kids a few minutes after everyone's departure. I think I pretty much am always about as tired as they look!

Our Rainy Morning Adenture

On Friday morning I took the kids to my favorite playground from growing up. I was nervous about the weather, but there was nothing on radar when we began our journey and the forecast was just for overcast and clouds until 2, so I crossed my fingers. We got there and began playing on the awesome adventure playground and the sprinkles began. The Saxton's aren't afraid of a few sprinkles, so we played with no problem for a bit. Noelle loved climbing the webs, heading down the huge slides, and scaling the hill; Kellen mostly loved sitting on the rocking animals.

About 30 minutes in to our adventure, the drizzle turned in to some heavier rain so we ran down to get tickets for the inside carousel and the train, the big selling point of the park. We were sad to learn the train couldn't run unless the tracks were totally dry, but we enjoyed our ride on the carousel! Unfortunately I had sold our adventure with talk of the carousel and train, so Kellen chanted train for the rest of the trip. When will I ever learn not to hype up our adventures?

We hoped the rain would quickly pass but weren't so lucky. Thankfully the park had covered pavillions so we sat down to enjoy our lunch with friends. The kids' moods became a little like the weather at this point. The lowlight of the trip was Kellen running into the rain, finding a puddle, and throwing himself down in to it to have a tantrum. I guess he was pretty angry about the lack of train ride! That was my signal to head out of there and get the kids in the car and Kellen down for a nap. He was asleep about 2.7 seconds after we left, and transferred nicely into his crib when we got home - a skill he has really refined in the last few months that I definitely appreciate! Noelle chatted happily the entire ride home and wanted a second lunch when we got home. She is my daughter!

Despite it being totally dry when we returned to Catonsville, we enjoyed our morning adventure for the most part, and can't wait to check out the park again when their is 0% chance of rain in the forecast!

Tomato Basil Goodness

On Saturday night I hosted the next in our series of themed mom's dinners. This month's ingredients, fresh tomatoes and basil! The nine of us had a great time eating, drinking, and chatting, and the food was excellent as always.

Here's the line-up:

We started with tomato, mozzarella, and basil skewers with a balsamic glaze. They were light and fresh and a great start to the meal!

With our appetizer, we had the cocktail for the evening. I'm not sure what it was called, but it had basil, vodka, lime, and simple syrup. It was kind of a basil mojito and was super good!

Sitting down to our meal, we started with a roasted tomato and basil soup. It was really tasty, and surprisingly vegan (as opposed to the rest of our meal that was nice and cheesy!)

Our salad was a beefsteak tomato, watermelon, and feta salad with basil oil and balsamic drizzled on top. It was excellent and a recipe from Iron Chef too so we were getting pretty fancy!

Our side dish for the evening was a roasted tomato, asparagus, and feta vegetable side. 

For the main course, I made homemade basil vodka sauce. It doesn't look great but it was actually really yummy!

And we ended dinner with a strawberry shortcake with basil infused whip cream that was excellent! There was also some ice cream with peach basil sauce that was yummy too. 

So that was our basil tomato goodness dinner Saturday night. That and some great red and dessert white wine! Next time, apples in October. And I am giving up hosting and entree for our next try which I am also excited for! I love mom's group events!

Four!

In following the tradition I started in 2012, instead of writing about Ellie on her 4th birthday, I interviewed her about her favorite things. Here are her responses to the same questions I asked her in 2012. Hopefully I will remember to ask her every year!

1. What is your favorite color? Yellow
 (Perhaps the only question I already knew the answer to this year!)

2. What is your favorite toy? Caterpillar Toy
(This is a singing alphabet toy in our basement I swear she hasn't played with for two years. I would have thought her dress up stuff or her baby dolls.)

3. What is your favorite fruit and vegetable? Watermelon and Carrots

4. What is your favorite tv show? Peppa Pig
(OK, I knew that one too. Both my kids snort every night as they ask for it while I cook dinner.)

5. What is your favorite movie? Disney Movies

6. What is your favorite thing to wear? Dresses

7. What is your favorite animal? Doggies

8. What is your favorite song? Twinkle, Twinkle

9. What is your favorite book? Disney Bedtime Stories

10. Who is your best friend? Emme, Julia

11. What is your favorite snack? Bananas
(I think she said this out of bitterness since they are on the forbidden food list these days!)

12. What is your favorite drink? Milk

13. What is your favorite breakfast? French Toast and Cereal

14. What is your favorite lunch? Peanut Butter and Jelly

15. What is your favorite dinner? Chicken

16. What is your favorite game? Candyland

17. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Take Walks

18. What is your favorite holiday? Mother's Day
(I swear I didn't bribe her to say that one!)

19. What do you sleep with at night? Baby
(And about 6 other stuffed dogs, dinosaurs, Violet, and other rotating friends. And as many books as she can sneak in to her bed.)

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Princess

Happy Birthday, Noelle!

The Beach, The Pool, and Everything Else

To finish out our NC vacation adventure, we hit the beach, the pool, went for lots of walks (which in Kellen's case often ended with him in the ocean in his clothes!), and even a mini-golf outing for Noelle, mommy, and daddy! We loved our week away and the kids and I are excited to get back down to NC in a few weeks for some more beach and pool fun!

 

 

Cake and Crabs

Whenever we are at the beach, we eat well. Bryan and I are back tracking calories on myfitnesspal given the vast amounts of food and drink we consumed at the beach (and to be honest, the month or so before then!)

While there, Bryan and I got out for a date night out to my parents favorite Italian restaurant on the island. It was a yummy dinner, and afterwards we met up with local friends who were vacationing in Corolla for a drink.

We also had a family celebration for Noelle's birthday that included the ice cream cake that has become our family tradition. It was yummy, and even Kellen devoured his piece of cake! And yes, we were classy and didn't even fully take the cake out of the box!

Noelle also opened her presents from my parents, brother, and great grandma at the beach. She got some clothes, including an Orioles and Ravens shirt, some painting stuff, a few dress up Melissa and Doug wooden dolls, and a scooter. She sure is lucky! I think she may be disappointed on her real birthday after the present extravaganza but I guess that is what grandparents are for. Actually, she still has gifts coming from the other side of the family so she will be spoiled again at the end of this week!

We also enjoyed a visit from Uncle Rick, my dad's brother, while we were at the beach. As part of that visit, we had our first crabs of the season! Old Bay Crabby goodness!

Time for some healthy eating for a few weeks but the beach sure was yummy!