May 31, 2013

This could be the world's most patient cat.  It was sitting just inside the doorway of a souvenir shop that we stopped at today.  Both boys were instantly in love with the cat and petting it like crazy.  We saw lots of stray cats around the island and Luke had been wanting to pet them so badly.  He kept saying "meow!  meow!" and pointed out his eyes, ears, nose, feet, and tail.  I kept reminding him to pet the cat "soft" but between he and Isaac, this cat probably got a little more love than it wanted.

May 30, 2013

As I'm posting tonight I'm realizing that I haven't taken many pictures on this trip so far, and almost all of them have been with my phone!  So maybe tomorrow I'll actually pull out my nice camera.  Here's one that Charlie took today of the boys and I at the pool.  A family who was leaving the island today gave Isaac & Luke a boogie board and some sand toys that they had bought.  Isaac spent the next hour floating around the pool on the boogie board while Luke was happy as could be using a plastic shovel to fling water at the big rocks surrounding the pool.

May 29, 2013

Today we drove to the north side of the island and spent a few hours at Tunnels Beach.  It was overcast but the weather was still warm and nice.  After playing in the ocean for a long while we brought the boys back up to dry off and have a snack.  I was trying to get them to smile and look at me for a picture.  Isaac started talking about "chicken poop" so they were both laughing... but I don't know who or what they were looking at.

May 28, 2013

Mikael told me to think of her as I was "lying on the warm sand" and to send her lots of pictures.  Unfortunately, a beach vacation with young children does not involve very much lying on the sand.  But today I had a moment at Polihale beach where Charlie was playing with the boys down by the water and I was actually lying on the warm sand, just relaxing for a few minutes.  I took this photo for Mikael to commemorate the moment.

May 27, 2013

While I do have much respect and appreciation for our country's fallen soldiers, I must admit that I didn't spend more than a minute or two remembering them today.  What I will remember most about this Memorial Day is sitting on Kiahuna Beach (which is the beach at the Sheraton where Charlie & I spent our honeymoon).  Luke loves the beach but is still warming up to the idea of being in the ocean.  I sat with him on my lap for almost an hour in this rocky spot where the waves splashed softly on our legs and we watched the ocean and ran our fingers and toes through the sand.  Perfection.  

May 26, 2013

The countdown is over!  This morning we flew from LAX to Lihue.  We'll be spending the next eight days relaxing in Kauai.  The flight was pretty easy.  Luke was really wanting to get down and run through the aisle, but we managed to contain him for the full six hours - and at the end, he even fell asleep for a bit.  The big hits on this flight were a new Kidsongs DVD about animals and a can of cheese flavored Pringles that both boys devoured (yum?).

May 25, 2013

If you lay on the floor in our house, this is exactly what will happen to you.  Every time.  Cracker will come try and lick your face and Isaac and Luke will jump all over you.  No doubt Charlie knew what he was getting himself into when he laid down in Isaac's room right before bedtime.

May 24, 2013

Tonight after dinner we went to South Coast Plaza.  I try to avoid taking my kids to the mall.  Especially both at the same time.  But we made it out alive and the cake made it worth it!  I needed to return something at Nordstrom and we just happened to be right next to the Cafe so Charlie suggested we have some cake.  Good idea.  While we were waiting Luke started chanting "cake, cake, CAKE!" (which really sounds like "take, take, take") and then "I wanna eat it!  Cake!"  It was so, so darling.  We started out with two pieces but both boys were going nuts over the Boston Cream so Charlie went back and got another that Isaac insisted was ALL for him.

May 23, 2013

Today was Isaac's jog-a-thon at school.  Luke and I were planning to go watch, and then right as I was heading out the door the phone rang.  I had been playing phone tag with the pediatrician and needed to talk to her.  We got to the school just a few minutes late and they were already done.  Pretty much if you blinked you missed it since most of the kids only ran one lap.  But Isaac ran five!  All of the other parents were telling me how he did such a great job.  Way to go Isaac!  Anyway, after the jog-a-thon the kids had playground time and it didn't make sense for Luke & I to drive all the way home by then, so we stayed and played.  Isaac made chalk drawings of electric eels.

Luke navigated this playground like a pro and loved, loved, LOVED it!  He climbed up and went down both slides over and over again.  He was really excited about the gummy bear "medal" that one of the parents gave him to wear.  And he was also really interested in the scooter that he found.

May 22, 2013

This morning I took Isaac to a Kindergarten tour at Meadow Park.  There was lots of standing around listening to the principal talk.  Isaac listened for about 10 seconds, heard something about "medically fragile" students and ambulances (there is a special county program on the school campus) and then started asking me a million questions about that topic.  "What does fragile mean?"  "Why do they get sick a lot?"  "What kind of diseases do they have?"  The one other thing that really caught his interest was a Star Wars ABCs book that he found in one of the classrooms.

Tonight I took Isaac & Luke to an event inside one of the Tustin blimp hangars.  These things are absolutely enormous and a standout landmark for the area.  I've always wondered what they looked like inside and was really excited to check them out.  I'll have to do another post with more pictures.  If you look in this picture at the people standing right outside the building, you get a better idea of how huge it is.  Poor Charlie stayed home sick (he came back from Mexico with a bacterial stomach infection, which means yet another round of throw-up at the Wood house!).

May 21, 2013

I still wasn't really feeling well this morning so I skipped the gym, but by the evening I was doing better and craving a good workout.  Charlie was on his way home from Mexico so I took the boys to the kids club.  I snapped this photo on our way back to the car.  Isaac was so proud of the drawing he made.  He drew some creatures that he calls "starmies."  He explained them to me but I kind of forgot what they are or wasn't listening that well.  Oops.  Something about underwater robotic creatures I think.  And Luke was really proud of his "flops."  We went shoe shopping recently and he tried on some flip flops and was so excited pointing to Isaac's feet and back to his own feet and saying "flops! flops!"  I kind of had to get him some.  He LOVES them.

May 20, 2013

Our house has seen more than it's fair share of barf in the last few weeks.  We all took a turn with the stomach flu, Isaac has had his coughing spells, and now I am sick AGAIN!  Isaac was up again last night coughing and "scared of the dark."  After spending an hour in his room helping him calm down my stomach started feeling really upset.  I spent the next few hours running to the bathroom instead of sleeping.  I still was feeling terrible this morning, but I drove Isaac to school and took both boys to their therapy appointments.  The rest of the day I mostly laid on the couch when I could.  This was the scene around dinner time tonight.  The boys watching trash trucks on youtube and eating snacks while I laid on the floor feeling miserable.  Let's hope we all get some sleep tonight and that tomorrow will be a better day! 

May 19, 2013

Oh what a day.  Charlie left this morning for Mexico.  Isaac was up all night coughing.  He is very dramatic when he's sick.  And once he starts coughing he can't seem to get himself calmed down.  It is not uncommon for him to cough to the point of making himself throw up, which is what happened this morning.  We stayed home from church and had a long day stuck at home with the sickie.  Here we are talking with Charlie on Skype before bed.  Isaac is showing him a space ship that he built.  

May 18, 2013

At dinner tonight Luke was going to town on the chips and queso.  He kept dripping it on his shirt and getting it on his fingers and would get really upset about being messy.  But I guess he didn't realize what his face looked like because that didn't seem to bother him one bit.  When I showed him in the camera he just laughed.

May 17, 2013

After dinner tonight Luke was trying really hard to tell me something and I couldn't figure out what he wanted.  He kept putting his hands up to his eyes and saying "eyes" but I thought maybe his eyes hurt because he was fussing too.  Or maybe he was talking about Isaac, since he calls him "I."  Finally Isaac came running in wearing sunglasses and a hat and I realized that Luke wanted sunglasses too.  Isaac was being a "super spy" and he gave Luke a hat so he could play too.  I love it when they play together nicely.  It doesn't happen much.

May 16, 2013

This morning I decided to go run in Shady Canyon.  I hadn't run this trail in years (like since before I was even pregnant with Luke), and I'm not sure I'd ever run it with a stroller before.  But I went walking here a few weeks ago with a friend and was reminded what a nice trail it is, so I thought I'd give it a try.  It was tough!  The first half mile is a giant hill.  Ugh.  The whole trail is hilly, but it does make the run more fun and interesting.  It's that big hill at the beginning (and going back you get one almost as steep and long on the other side) that's the killer.  I think maybe I'll wait for a Saturday with no stroller before I attempt it again.  This photo is from the top of the hill on the way back, looking down towards the parking lot.  

May 15, 2013

Today Isaac got to go to a birthday party for a boy in his class.  Isaac talks about Alexander all the time and he is supposedly the "leader" of their "team" at school.  Isaac as so excited to go to his party.  It was at a trampoline place where they have giant courts of wall to wall trampolines and different activities like dodge ball, a foam pit, air-obics, etc.  Luke was really too little to jump there with all of the big kids, so we left and ran errands.  It's the first time I've actually dropped Isaac off at a birthday party and I was a little nervous about it, but he was fine and had a blast.  

May 14, 2013

I've recently gotten back into green smoothies.  I make them for myself several times a week for breakfast.  Luke loves it!  He always drinks a little bit, but I think he mostly likes the blender.  Everyday when we get home from the gym he goes to the cupboard and pulls out the blender base and brings it to me.  Then he wants to sit "up high" and watch it go "mis, mis, mis, mis" (which he tells me with accompanying swirling arm movements).

May 13, 2013

I have really badly been needing new running shoes, so I told Charlie that I wanted them for Mother's Day.  And then I went and picked them out myself.  I went to a running store where they analyzed my feet and my running form and helped me try out a dozen different pairs, by running back and forth across the shopping center.  I finally decided on a pair of Brooks.  I've never worn Brooks before but I've always heard them praised in the running world and am excited to try them out.  Today they got their first 5 miles on the treadmill.  So far so good.

May 12, 2013

I had such a nice Mother's Day today.  I was spoiled with nice gifts, cards, breakfast, dinner, and a chocolate cake.  Plus at church they had the men take over all of the classes, so Charlie taught my Primary class for me and I got to go to a special Relief Society meeting/brunch.  I asked Charlie to take a photo of me with my boys before church.  Tonight after dinner we went for a walk around the lake.  Luke was walking too slow (and distracted by every leaf, stick, rock, and dog that we passed) so Charlie eventually put him up on his shoulders.  Luke was holding onto Charlie's forehead and I thought he looked so funny up there.  

May 11, 2013

When I came home from the gym this morning I discovered that Charlie had taken the front off of Luke's crib.  Um... no.  I am not in agreement with this.  We have been having trouble getting Luke to go to bed at night and Charlie thought this might help.  I don't like the idea at all, but we will give it a try.  Today he had no nap so he was exhausted and actually went to sleep pretty quickly tonight.  But he has already fallen out once, so we will have to at least put up a bed rail. 

I had to take Cracker to the vet this afternoon to get his rabies vaccine.  I am skeptical of vaccines in general, but since this one is required by law (and in order to get his nails trimmed at Petsmart) I went ahead and took him in.  Cracker was a nervous wreck.  Isaac really wanted to come too so that he could see the other pets and also watch what they would do to Cracker.

May 10, 2013

Since canceling Isaac's karate class, we now have some extra free time on Friday afternoons.  Today we took advantage and went out to run errands.  First some much needed haircuts, then Lowe's and Costco.  When we got in the car after the haircuts Isaac looked in the rearview mirror and exclaimed "Hey!  My hair looks like a tall straight cornfield!"  The stylist had combed it all flat and straight up in front.  It did look weird but I didn't think it looked much like a cornfield.  Funny kid.  

At Lowe's we loaded up on some new flowers for our backyard and for the pots on the front porch.  Then we spent the rest of the afternoon in the backyard digging in the dirt and planting flowers.

May 9, 2013

Isaac's school is doing Teacher Appreciation Week this week.  They sent home a list instructing us on what to bring for the teachers each day.  I think it's a little silly that they tell you what to do, but we went along with it anyway.  Today we were supposed to bring flowers so I picked up these little pots of miniature roses when I was at Trader Joe's the other day.  One was for his teacher Ms. Chelle and I got one for his speech therapist Ms. Elaine too since he sees her every morning.  Isaac was SO excited to give them their flowers and talked all the way to school about which color he should give to which teacher.  

May 8, 2013

I thought that Luke was all better, but he wasn't.  We had another day of throwing up and staying home.  The past two nights have been pretty horrible.  Between Luke throwing up and Isaac screaming about his ear hurting (though he has absolutely no pain during the day) I've had very little sleep.  Charlie is in NYC so he is unfortunately missing out on all of the fun.  When he called to talk tonight both boys wanted a turn to say hi.  Here Isaac is in the middle of his fourth taco.  Del Taco tacos are one of Isaac's favorite things to eat lately.  We always have fancy dinners like this when Charlie is traveling.    

May 7, 2013

This morning Luke woke up at 3:00 am throwing up.  I sat up with him the rest of the night/morning rocking in the rocking chair, watching videos, and changing clothes and blankets every hour or so.  He didn't go back to sleep until about 1:00 in the afternoon, but at least by then he seemed to be feeling all better.  He must have caught what Isaac had on Saturday.  Anyway, we cancelled all of our plans for the day and had a lazy day at home.  Here is Isaac being a submarine during bath time tonight.  

And here's little Luke checking out the pile of snails that Isaac collected while we were outside watching the trash truck.  

May 6, 2013

Charlie left for NYC today.  He's still not feeling that great and I feel bad he has to travel.  Tonight after the boys finally went to sleep I sat down to wrap gifts and package them up for shipping.  Mother's Day gifts for two mothers, plus my mother's birthday happens to fall on Mother's Day.  We are also totally late in sending a gift for our twin nieces who were born over six months ago (though they did just barely come home from the hospital so that makes me feel slightly less delinquent).  I like to keep solid color wrapping paper on hand because it's extremely versatile - just add some fun ribbon to dress it up.

May 5, 2013

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  I wish I had a picture of a yummy Mexican feast to post, but I don't.  We actually had to turn down two dinner invitations because of the sickies.  So instead I just have a photo of Luke passed out in his rocking chair.  He has been fighting bed time lately.  I'm back to sitting in the hall again waiting for him to fall asleep and it's kind of miserable.  I hate that I'm being manipulated by a one year old but I don't really know what to do with him.  He's staying awake past 10:00 some nights so I've started skipping naps a few days a week so he'll be tired for bed.  (I think I actually just need to move his naps up earlier in the day, but it is hard to do with our schedule.)  Anyway, today was a no nap day and at 5:30 when I called everyone for dinner this is how I found Luke. 

May 4, 2013

Today was kind of blah.  Isaac woke up with a stomach bug and spent the morning throwing up. By the afternoon he seemed totally fine.  But then Charlie started getting achey with a fever and was sick and miserable the rest of the evening.  So Luke and I left the sickies at home and went to run some errands.  I think his baseball hat makes him look like such a little boy.  He is growing up too quick!

May 3, 2013

Today was Cracker's 10th birthday.  I think he looks older than he is because he's gotten so grey in his face.  He is kind of a nervous little thing, so I guess all of the stress has caused him to age.  Oh well, we think he's adorable and we love him.  Charlie had to be gone this evening so I celebrated with the boys.  I made breakfast for dinner and served Cracker his own plate of bacon.

May 2, 2013

Charlie took Isaac to an Angel's game tonight.  It would be fun to all go together but we don't trust that Luke would sit still for very long.  He was awfully sad when he figured out he was getting left home.  Luke loves to "go" anywhere and everywhere.  He saw Charlie and Isaac with their hats and immediately wanted to wear his hat too.  And shoes.  Poor thing was scrambling to get ready to go and when they left without him he burst into tears.  We stayed home and baked cookies and he quickly forgot all about it.  Charlie & Isaac reportedly had a good time even though the Angels lost.  I'm sure they'll go back for another game or two this season.  

May 1, 2013

Isaac's school picture did not turn out well this year and we were out of town on make-up day.  He's had "school pictures" since he was a year old and attending ICEC, so we wanted to have a picture for this year.  I took the boys to Target this morning for some simple studio shots.  It was nothing short of a disaster.  They immediately started fighting over a toy in the waiting area and then Isaac got Luke's finger caught in a gear which resulted in lots of tears.  Once it was finally our turn I had Luke go first because I knew he would quickly lose interest in the whole thing and be ready to run.  He was fine for a few shots (though acting very shy) but then the lady picked him up to move him to a different pose and he burst into tears.  I could tell it was over for him at that point and just figured he was nervous or scared.  Meanwhile Isaac was hanging out behind the backdrop causing all sorts of problems.  Once it was his turn I could not for the life of me get him to look at the camera and show a natural looking smile.  Luke would settle down for a minute and then start crying again.  I wanted a shot with the two of them together but that simply didn't happen.  Thank goodness this whole thing was inexpensive.

By the time I picked out the photos we wanted (these will have to do - there is no way I am going back anytime soon) I could tell something was wrong with Luke, but I thought maybe it was the finger that got stuck.  By the time we got to the car I had figured out what was wrong.  The same thing happened when he was about six months old.  I was remembering it incorrectly, thinking it was the shoulder joint but it was the elbow.  Anyway we drove down to Mission Viejo to the urgent care so they could snap Luke's arm back in place.

It's something called Nursemaid's Elbow and is supposedly common in young children.  The joint is not fully developed and the ligaments are loose so the arm can easily be pulled out of place when children are swung, lifted, or tugged by the arm.  I don't remember exactly how the photo lady picked him up (I don't think it was by the arms), but I know that's when it happened.  It's weird though because I actually do lift and swing Luke by his arms sometimes and he is fine.  Anyway, his left arm was hanging limp by his side and he would not lift it or use his hand.  When he was not moving he was fine but every time I picked him up or touched his arm he would burst into tears again.  It was heartbreaking.  Luckily the urgent care wait was not too long and the doctor quickly diagnosed the problem and popped the joint back into place.  He wrapped him up with a little bandage to restrict movement a bit, but Luke had torn it off by the time we got home.  And now he's perfectly fine.