Thomas George Winery

All throughout Napa and Sonoma there are literally hundreds of wineries dotting the landscape. As you drive along, it's almost like every driveway leading out into the land has a sign announcing itself as a winery. After a long day of Expo-ing, which included registering and a pre-race meeting, we did manage to sneak in this little winery stop. It also happened to be along the bike route for the race, so as we scouted for a winery that was open, we were also keeping an eye out on the deplorable conditions of the roadway leading out into wine country. It was interesting to talk with the wine-selling guy (nice title, huh?) about the race the next morning-that he knew nothing about. He seemed a bit scared for our guys, as he noted the drive would not be friendly for cyclists and cars of wine tasters loaded up on tour adrenaline and fine vino...oh, this did nothing to make the roadway look any better!
We wanted to pick out a special wine for those amazing people back home watching out kids, and this winery fit the bill. They do not distribute, you have to be there on property to taste and buy their wine. I didn't want to buy a bottle that I could find in my hotel or local grocery, and believe me at one point that afternoon I thought that would be the case for us. However, this winery saved us.

The Finish Line-Before the Crush

This is the finish line and transition area all in one. Erica and I made friends with this fence line on this day.

Checking out Johnson's Beach for the 2.4 Mile Swim

Johnson's Beach was where it all began. Beautiful, wooded scenery, fabulous little town....a very special place to remember as the beginning of Ironman. These pictures were taken on our "scouting mission". The sun was out, the beach was calm and relaxed. Nothing like the crush of race morning, and I'm so thankful we had this time to enjoy Johnson's beach together as the guys planned and tried to get their strategy on.

Guess how this turned out...

Finishing 1st Ironman

Vineman/Santa Rosa, California-Ironman

12 Hours, 22 Minutes

1 Hour, 15 Minutes-- ( 2.4 mile) Swim
6 Hours, 12 Minutes--(112 mile) BIke
4 Hours, 42 Minutes--(Marathon) Run

Running in with a smile on his face! Afterwards, meeting him after he crossed the line, he said to me, "That was SO much fun!" He could not stop smiling, and told me that other than mile two, he had a smile on his face the whole time. "It was so much fun," he said again, with yet another smile on his face. Who does that?!!! After an Ironman?!!!

Fun in the sun!

Conversations with Tommy....

Bedtime....way past his bedtime...

"Dad, can I watch Phineas and Ferb on the IPod?"
"No, it's bedtime, Tommy."
"But, Dad, I'll give you three hundred dollars if you let me watch Phineas and Ferb."
"Thomas, do you have three hundred dollars?"
Pause...."well, I can go to the bank with Mom."
"Tommy, I'm not interested."
"Well, I'll get you something you'll be really interested in...like camera stuff and bike wheels...." (Does he know his father!!!???)

Yep, he got to watch Phineas and Ferb in bed, way past his bedtime.

Secret Agent C

Silverwood Family Trip 2009

First we were going, then we weren't, then we may have family going to meet us only for one day, then I was told to cancel the hotel, but before I could call, I got another quick call from Andrea changing yet again.
We took off on Tuesday not really knowing who would show up to join us at Silverwood, if anyone. After a rocky beginning, in which Coop tossed his cookies just out of Skagit County, we sailed right through on this leg of the journey. Ellensburg was a fabulous coffee stop for us, and John got some sleep on the boring drive through farm country. The boys lasted without complaint until about Ritzville, but after that it was work to keep them from strangling themselves with their seat belts, they were so tired of riding in their seats. Once at the hotel, we quickly changed into our swim clothes and headed for the slides, rides and pools. This year, although Cooper still did not buy into the whole sliding part, he enjoyed hanging out in the hot tub and walking around the pool area. Tommy was eager to try out all the slides, and with Cooper better able to manage himself, I was able to enjoy the slides with Tommy as well. It's always nice when the thought that "next year will be easier" actually turns out to be true!
The next morning we enjoyed a leisure breakfast before heading out to Silverwood. It wasn't the same as waking up to play with the cousins in the room beside us like we did last year, but it was nice to hear from Andrea that they were actually on the road, and only minus Billy. I had to wonder, though, if somehow something would still change plans again!
Silverwood was amazing this year! The weather on Wednesday was fabulous, and hot enough to hit the waterpark early. We camped out at the same spot we were hoping to get, and played and played until the crew arrived. Tommy and I even ventured up to the big mountain slide by ourselves, one of the first to take a ride down that early in the morning actually. Meeting up with the family was so fun! Cooper endeared himself quickly to "Papa Dare" and we were off to visit the rides part of the park. Everything was so great, at least from my end. The kids had a great time riding the rides. Tommy, Drew and John braved Timber Terror together, and Tommy and Drew agreed they would not ride it again! John was the only one brave enough to ride AfterShock, the newest rollercoaster to the park. Even he had a hard time on it, though, as motion sickness got the best of him at the end. I guess flipping through the air backwards will do that to a person! It's nice, though, that I'm not the only one feeling my age! We took turns riding the Log Ride, and Mom took one for the team and rode with us on the soaking River Ride. This time Cooper joined us for the Log Ride, which is kind of like a rite of passage in our family. If you can't ride the Log Ride, you can't be a member. Thankfully, at two, Cooper is quite the brave little beast, and although the drop is long, he didn't flinch! You could barely get him off the Planes, the Helicopters, and Grandpa had to pry him off the kiddie Train Ride after multiple rides around and around. After exhausting the day away at Silverwood, we headed back to play at Triple Play. More time in the pools and slides! It was so exhausting, but the kids had a great time together, and it was worth every moment to see them having such fun with each other.
Thursday morning we knew we had a limited amount of time together, as Andrea had to load the crew up to head home. However, we packed the morning in with play time in the arcade, laser tag, attempts on the climbing wall and go cart rides. Cooper was disgruntled that he was still not tall enough to ride the go carts, but hopefully next year he will make the height requirement. The go carts were new, so that was an added bonus to our rides as well! Again, we didn't have enough time to play mini golf or go bowling. There is just not enough time to pack that all in. Saying goodbye was hard, and as we traveled up to Silverwood for our day two of the park, Tommy kept telling us how he missed his cousins. He has so much fun with them, that it was hard for him to get excited about the park when they weren't there to share in it with him. We rode the big train first thing, and it was so fun to see Tommy interact with the "train robbers" when the train stopped in the woods to get "robbed". The actors were trying to get the train passengers to interact, and sure enough, Tommy was quick to chime in from his seat. When one of the low down dirty robbers told the passengers he was going to throw his no good brother in the well and take off with all the money, the robber looked at the passengers and asked if this was a good idea. "Yes!" Tommy yelled back, and the "robber" looked at him and said, "Looks like that fella has an evil streak in him, too!" and the passengers laughed. Tommy continued to interact and call out to the "robbers". He really got into it. When the well "blew up" with an enormous spray of water from the "dynamite", Cooper freaked out and started to wail. And off we went! Tommy asked questions through the day about the robbers. "Do they live in the woods back there?" "Will they go to jail?" "Do they live in that cabin?" He was so captivated by the whole show, and it makes me really want to take him to Disneyland now, knowing how magical it all is to him. This second day at the park wasn't as warm as the day before, so we made quick work of the water park and called it a day. By the time we made it back to the hotel, though, the boys hit their second wind, and again we made our way to the hot tub and slides. Did I mention exhausting? This time it was mom who climbed the stairs time and time again to ride the toilet bowl slide, and what fun it was to be with Tommy. At some point Tommy is going to be embarrassed by his squealing mom. Right now, he still thinks it a great thing to ride the rides with his Mom!
On Friday it was time to head for Seattle. After a trip around Hayden Lake, we hit the road. It was a LONG drive back, and even longer when Tommy started throwing up into our Fat Burger sack. Poor little guy! We still had to drop John off at Brad's and head up to Bellingham. Just outside of Seattle he started throwing up again, poor guy. I wasn't able to help much, and I was curious to see how our night would turn out with plans for me to hit the road early the next morning to return to Seattle. It's always hard leaving the kids at home, but I was scheduled to have Georgia for the day and Rhonda hanging out with the boys in the evening while Jenny and I went down to see the guys race the Seattle Rock n' Roll. By the time we arrived home, both boys were ready to hit their beds. I was so very grateful to see Rhonda at the door waiting for us, and so thankful for her help unloading my car with me. What a treasure it is to have a friend that is so willing to go out of their way to help. Finally, as it was nearly midnight, we made our way to bed....with only a few short hours before doing the Seattle drive all over again!

Tofino 2009

Tofino Marathon Relay 2009 was our second attempt at this race, and yes, for the two of you that may be curious about this event this year, we did complete it-with two teams this year! I will have to say, though, that despite assurances by running guru, Hal Higdon, walking breaks are a joke in competitive running. As I started out on the five miles, I looked around. Who will be taking their first walk break? Surely the larger lady with the purple running tights will get tired soon, right? What about the girl beside me, puffing a bit harder than I and maybe just a tad bit more red in the face? And then, as the miles came on, I realized that I may have been the only one in this entire race that prepared with Hal Higdon's walk breaks in place.
It's not a good feeling, let me tell you. Watching everyone pass you by...looking behind you and seeing no one trudging along slower than you. Running in the sand of Chesterman Beach, you would think that I would have been amazed at the beauty of the crashing surf steps from my running shoes, rallying with the salty breeze in my face. NO! I was mentally retiring from running, done, finished, completely spent. Not going to lace up again! Done.
And so it was...I think I am done with this running thing. John may be training for his Iron Man, and for that I will continue to be his bigger cheerleader. Tofino may see me again, in some form or another, because it is a breathtaking place. I just won't be heading there with a sick stomach and an overwhelming feeling of dread in my heart.
And then again, I told cousin Brad last night....you just never know...I may pull a Favre after my leg muscles have recovered enough for the good memories to outweigh the pain!

More recent pics here.

Whistler Bike Park

More of these pics can be found here.



One of the last times that we took the bike up to Whistler, Thomas was riding a little wooden bike and gathering all sorts of attention from the big riders all around us. He was a little attention magnet, and it was very cute to see him confident in his little skills even around the experienced riders decked out in their full body gear and heading up the mountain. This time, Tommy came packing his big boy bike, and was eager to try out his growing riding skills. I was eager to check out the bike track that we'd passed by on one of our last visits, where there are jumps of various degrees set up for the jumpers.
It was amazing. Thomas went up the big starting hill, then looked down and decided he'd better just walk his bike down. After a bit of fiddling around in the puddles and on the little trail beside the jumps, we could see he was inching his way back up towards the starting hill. With determination in his step, he climbed his bike back up the starting hill, as the rest of us watched with part awe and part fear...or maybe that was just my mama heart pounding away in my throat. I was his cheerleader, though, and as he stood up there gripping his handlebar, I cheered him on with total confidence. At the same time I was praying that this would not be the day of his first broken bone.
And off he went. You could almost see him talking himself into it, and then we was off, too quickly for us to grab the video camera or shoot the big shot. I think we all figured he wouldn't do this, not this big jump for the adults. Down he went, then up the side of a jump, hitting two feet of air before landing it and heading down the backside. We were screaming at him by now, laughing and clapping our hands. He rolled through the valley between the two jumps, headed up the steep face of the next jump, but didn't have enough momentum to take the lip of it. He then tipped the bike and rolled with it down that same face he'd just went up. Oh, you can bet we were cheering for him. We know he didn't have a clue that he was going to do that jump when he took off. He hadn't realized he was going to actually hit air and "jump" when he went down. And he had no clue what to do with himself once he'd cleared it. He just went with it and let the bike take him where it wanted to. Thankfully he held on tight, thankfully he had the presence of mind to land the jump and thankfully when he didn't make the second jump he rolled with his bike instead of panicking. It was perfect. Other than a spoke stick in his knee from the slide down the jump, he was unhurt and proud of himself. Funny thing was, several groups had stopped their trek towards the mountain to watch him. Rhonda told me she could hear them chatting away about this "little dude" and that they couldn't believe that he did it!
John has also posted pictures of Tommy at the skate/bike park. When we got there, Tommy took a look down and didn't like that he was going to have to share the area with the other bigger riders. He took one look down at the layout, listened to me when I assured him he could go down there as well but would just need to be more watchful of others, then dropped down into the midst of the ramps and jumps of the park. It was so great to see this little boy watching the big boys, then gradually build his own confidence up the more time he spent peddling around them, through them and with them.

You might wonder what Cooper was doing all this time. Oh, we pulled out a new wooden bike for him and John put it together in the hotel room. His legs are just a tad bit too short, but he so wants to ride. While I was filming, dear Rhonda was pushing him around on it, then actually took him down into the bowl to ride with the big boys. It must have been back breaking, but she kept after it, swooping him up onto the ramps, then laughing with him as they swooshed down again. On one particularly steep ramp, she got him up, but lost traction and they toppled down the slope. Of course, Cooper came up smiling, still wrapped around the bike. I have that one on video, too, so that will be fun to watch. He also slid down the big dirt jumps on his butt and played in the mud puddles, as well as sat on the ground and made rock sculptures.

Watching Tommy race around the park, I had a lot of different things rolling around in my mind. His confidence in himself was a delight to see, as well as the thought he put into it before he headed down. His skills are impressive at this age, and I can only imagine how they will grow in the coming months. He was the only little boy riding around, though, amongst older boys and adults. I don't have a lot of good experience with skate parks, skater kids or bikers in general, and I have to balance his love of riding with my fear of that particular "culture" embedding in my son's life. Also, as I watched the big kids taking the jumps and flying their bikes through the air, I could only be thankful that this year is not the year that I have to worry about Tommy taking flight like that. I realize that it may be in his future, and that I have to be okay with the inherent risks of being a boy, but I was thankful that this year the only air he caught was big, but not not yet death defying! Wait until next year and the story may be different. Check out the flckr photos John included!

Tommy's Preschool Graduation 2009

It's supposed to be a moment of pride, a moment of joy and celebration for all that you have accomplished. You bask in the glow of your achievement and stand in awe of the adulation from the loved ones in your life.

Yeah, not for Tommy. Not this graduation at least. Let's hope that his next graduation plays out a little different. He wouldn't sing, wouldn't sit up on his chair, interrupted Teacher Kathy to whine about a different balloon he wanted, then mortified me even more when he proceeded to crawl under his chair and hide.

I'm sure I will post more about his preschool accomplishments....AFTER I laugh off these pictures!

40th Birthday Surprise

I have been thinking about this day for months. How can you not? It's a 40th! So it had to be good, and it had to be done well. Back last fall I was thinking about it. Late in the winter I was thinking about it. What could I possibly buy him that he didn't already have or didn't want in the first place? What could I do to make it special? I tried to buy his love by sending him down to Florida to a triathlete training camp where the big tri guys train...this was after Brad somehow talked him into turning 40 AND doing an IronMan in the SAME year! Who wouldn't want to get away from it all for a week of sun, training and big time athletes? John!

I thought about taking him away for a night in Seattle. Then I realized he'd probably want to hook up with Brad and they'd plan, scheme and map out IronMan stuff for hours. Nope!
I thought about taking him on a float plane ride to an island getaway at some romantic resort. Then I realized that float planes crash more often than big jets. Nope!

I figured the best I could do was Whistler, and although I wanted some time away, just the two of us, I knew quite well that he is most happy when he has us all together, as a family, entertaining and spending quality time the four of us. So with that, I started trying to map out a plan. Rhonda offered to watch the boys for the first night, then take the kids up and over the border to join us for the second night. I thought that John would enjoy a night out to explore Whistler without the pressure of entertaining the boys, but wouldn't be so keen on being away another night without them. Rhonda was willing to take a day off during her week to help me with the boys while I planned to whisk John away as a surprise, then drive them up the following day. But what car would I take? How would I get John off of work without him having a ton of appointments with families and needy kids? How would I arrange a hotel without John seeing the VISA account or something coming through online?

I called up his boss and first asked for permission for him to be gone for those days. Then we worked out a plan to clear his schedule. And knowing he is no dummy, she thought to get HR into this by drafting up a letter for him to attend a mandatory training. She pulled his other co workers into the scheme, too, just to make sure they were all in on this "training" that he was going to. Once that was settled a few months before, I let it go as John and I then had to focus our energies on planning Tommy's birthday, our big trip to the Caribbean, then Cooper's 2nd birthday. There was little time for me to think of much else, really.

Once all that partying was over, I really felt the crunch. I wondered about the plan after John surprised me with an anniversary trip up to Vancouver, wondering if this would be too much. I couldn't stop now. I had no other plan. A few weeks before, I checked in one more time with his supervisor, Martha, who assured me that they were all still on board and that he was planning on going to the "training". Rhonda helped me book the hotel on her credit card, which was not easy for me, as I was trying to get two different types of rooms for the two nights, as well as get it on some sort of discount so John wouldn't be disappointed at the cost. Of course, I couldn't figure out his hotwire methods, so full price I paid. I figured that it was worth it for a 40th, right?

A week before I realized that if I didn't do something on the day of his birthday, he would probably realize that something was up. I thought about maybe just getting us together for a local dinner in B'ham. That just didn't seem good enough to keep him off track. Meanwhile, every chance I got I was slowly trying to get laundry done, as I had to pack the boys up for Rhonda, get their stuff ready. I also had to figure out how to write a letter to get them over the border without a parent, find passports for them, and make sure everything was ready so all Rhonda had to do was pack them in the car. Oh, and try not to let John realize what I was doing. I wanted the boys as safe driving up as I could get them, so I agreed to let Rhonda use our Pilot, but decided against using her car. I didn't want to risk breaking down half way up there. So, I called up the rental company and reserved a car for the three days. Anyway, it had to be bigger than just dinner, so I called up Robin, called up Brad, got the Lawrences to commit, and tried for Stephen as well, who shares a birthday with John and would probably be celebrating with Barb. Initially, it looked Stephen would not be able to attend, but surprisingly Robin thought they could make it work, despite their crazy, hectic schedules. Brad assured me that they would attend, regardless of Erica's recent surgery, and advised on the time in which to set the dinner for. I texted my friend Larry, who replied back to my inquiry of a family place in Everett. "Scuttlebutts", he replied. "No, Larry, not a strip club! A family party!" I snapped back to him. But ultimately I trusted him with this supposed waterfront brewery half way for those coming up, and halfway for those of us going down. Rhonda agreed to pick up the boys after work, and take my car, and I would get a ride from John. I told John that I would be taking him out to dinner for the night and that Rhonda was watching the kids for us.

Over the weekend, Stephen surprised me and let me know that they would all attend, including Donna, Annika and Kevin, as well as Gillian, who would be flying in from New York that day. With those numbers, after talking it over with Barb and Lil, I decided that I'd better get the side room, although very expensive to reserve. I just didn't think we would all fit and I didn't want to worry about us not sitting together in a dining room. John and I ended up getting to leave early, but he was on to us all. He knew something was up, but just couldn't figure it out. We shopped at the outlet malls, and I anxiously watched the time. Jenny was texting me the whole time, notifying me when they had passed the outlets with the boys following with Rhonda behind! It was exciting and sickening at the same time. Getting lost down in Everett made it no better, either.

Turns out, it was a wonderful, wonderful night together. The kids all yelled surprise from various hiding spots in the large room we had to ourselves, and we all enjoyed good food and great fellowship together as a family. And everyone was able to make it. It couldn't have turned out better. Better still was my belief that just maybe John had been surprised enough to be put off the trail of the bigger surprise awaiting him. Phase I of my birthday surprise was complete!

My initial plan was to pack John up, get to his work before him, then race for the border. A few days before, it became clear that it wouldn't be such a quick getaway. I couldn't pack his electronics or his toiletries without worrying I'd miss something, as well as the letter we would both need to sign together authorizing Rhonda to take the boys up to meet us. Rhonda, Cooper and I took off for the car rental, telling John that Rhonda was watching Cooper for me while I attended a quick meeting at DCFS. John took Thomas to school. The car rental went smoothly, however, they upgraded me as I am a sucker for their sales pitch. I was almost sick driving over to John's work, wondering how this was all going to turn out. Martha and Tracy took me back to their office, and we settled in to wait for John. Jenny texted me that she had just seen John in the preschool parking lot and was now following him down Lakeway. It was a long 40 minute wait. Then he didn't even come in to his office area, but went quickly down for his "training". Martha had to go chase him down, telling him to go back up to meet with one of his "kids" that was having a bad morning. He spied me as he walked up the stairs, a look of confusion and/or complete shock on his face. It still wasn't making sense to him, and it took several explanations from his boss to understand he truly didn't have training and that it was all a set up. He was free to go!

I had warned Rhonda that John might not be willing to leave the boys. I had a nagging sense that he'd want them along. Sure enough, he thought it would be fun to take them up for the full time to get the most out of our vacation, so I quickly called Rhonda up to tell her to get things ready, we rushed to the car rental to turn the car back in, then headed for home to finish packing. It didn't take Tommy but one guess to determine where we were going together as we picked him up from preschool. And then off we went! Whistler!

Thanks to EVERYONE for making John's birthday dinner down at Scuttlebutts so special. Your time and energy to make it there was so appreciated by us! Thanks again!

Day at Sea before hitting the Panama Canal

Today, the boys are starting to feel the time away from home. Cooper is disgruntled, but no fever, so we are a bit more at ease about his health. Tommy is missing home, and asking for his "Fluffy", even coming to tears over his misery. He asked, "Do you think Rhonda has found him and is taking care of him?" We assured him that while Rhonda was at home she would surely be taking good care of his animal friends. He was definitely missing home. We tried to watch the show tonight, but Tommy only made it through half of it, and Cooper is having none of these shows. Today John and I just traded places with the boys all day, and it was again almost too hot to enjoy. Cooper is stuck like Velcro to "da-da" and that is very challenging for John, not to mention exhausting.
This afternoon, the Captain came over the public address system to tell us were were about 30 miles off the coast of Columbia. It's strange to be that close to another country, especially one with a less than savory reputation.

Tour of Kindergarten for Thomas

Unlike Kindergarten registration, this scheduled tour we did not forget. Probably because every day one of us would remind the other about it. Thankfully, I did not have to be in court this afternoon, so there were no distractions, and Lil graciously agreed to listen for Cooper while he napped.
I checked in with Teacher Kathy last week about Tommy's progress this year. We missed his scheduled teacher conference date due to our quarantine back before the trip, but Kathy told me that she was so thankful we had missed that week, as that had been the most sick class week we've had all year, and even she got sick. So, the report she went over with me was wonderful for us to see. Tommy is right on track to start school this fall, and doing very well in school. He does seem to dislike group work, and she has noted that she needs to focus on giving him more individual time to learn. He said to John the other day that he hates circle time. When I've watched him, he gets frustrated with the chaos around him, with kids juggling for attention, yelling out things at random time, and the loud activity. He has to be "first" with the answer, and of course there is always someone yelling out stuff, so he gets frustrated and shuts down. I will make note of this with his new teacher, and can hopefully work through some of this with him.
Today, although excited about walking up, Tommy played a bit shy about the actual process. He hid behind John's legs for some of it, or held on tightly as we moved through the school. I could see that he was very curious about it all, but tentative at times. Ms. Hubner called all the children around for a story, including the "kinder-friends", and I had to encourage Tommy to have a seat. Once we stepped out of the room, though, he stayed back from the others but participated throughout. He was interested in the library, and wanted to check out a book before leaving. It was also great to see pictures of John as a little boy lining the hallways. They have kept record through the years, and the pictures of older classes line the walls. There is a class photo of John dated October 17th, 1975. He is such a cute little boy in the photo. I laughed, telling John that I was 12 days old when that photo was taken! Too funny!
I think there is some hesitation with this whole idea of Tommy starting school, of starting the long process. On one hand, we are excited about the activities and adventures this will bring. On the other, we dread the time lost with him. We enjoy him so much, enjoy our days with him, the time we can share together. We are thankful that here we still have half days, so that our afternoons can be spent playing with each other, visiting with friends and just "being"...We don't necessarily do grand things throughout the day, but the option is still there, the freedom of knowing if Grandpa wants to go out for an afternoon sail we can join in. If we want to go play, or go for a hike, or just sit around the beach...we can. Tommy is out of preschool this week. After the news of swine flu rampant last week, we decided at that time just to hang low this week and see where the ride went. Now that it has died down, I do not regret my decision to stay home. I have enjoyed easy mornings with the kids without the frantic hustle of getting ready for school. I have enjoyed my days off with the boys, enjoyed the lack of scheduled running around. And I won't hesitate to do it again if it happens again. I love any reason to keep my boys with me. It won't take much. My time with them is too short to waste one moment.

Our story from Curacao-Easter 2009

We were well rested on the morning we arrived into Curacao! What a beautiful sight that awaited us! It's Easter morning, and before the we could set up for the Easter bunny's presentation, the boys were up. Grandpa Bruce had smuggled Easter treats onto the ship, so I tried to distract Tommy with a search in the bathroom (it's as small as a tight closet!) while John frantically stuffed the HAL bags we received from the ship. At one point, Tommy called out, "Dad, don't scare off the Easter Bunny! He's a good guy!"
When he finally "found" his stuff, he looked at it, then said, "Oh, this is just the stuff Grandpa told me he was going to feed to the dolphins." He had spied the goods at SeaTac airport and that was Grandpa's cover story. Such was the Easter Bunny festivities this time around. We tried...
As we wandered down for breakfast and coffee, we could see that people were already off loading, eager to get on with their own adventures. It was HOT-HOT, the kind I have so rarely experienced, so with the boys we were in no hurry to hit the beach. We also weren't too sure of ourselves on this island, with no definite plans for the day. Again, it is very expensive to travel out to the farthest, and yet most beautiful and desolate beaches of this island, and with Cooper being so little, we didn't want to take a chance with taxi travel and hours in a hot ride. Making our way off the ship, we quickly decided to take a short taxi ride to Kon Tiki, now named La Cabana Beach. There were no seat belts in this taxi van, so the boys, specifically Cooper, enjoyed the adventure of sitting like a big boy in the back seat of this van. After an enjoyable ride through the streets of Williamsted, Curacao, we arrived. There we paid three dollars to enter the beach. Then we were free to wander what is actually three beaches...Mambo Beach, La Cabana Beach and Lion's Dive...each broken up only by restaurants that flowed out onto the beach. We selected a couple of lounge chairs down the way a bit, then took a look around. When you look around, you don't expect to see topless-ness...at least I don't. Then when your eyes do see something that looks unfamiliar, you look again...and sure enough, those are uncovered, uh, well, uncovered...well, apparently you don't have to wear a top on La Cabana Beach. It made changing Cooper easier, as I wasn't concerned about his bare butt when all around were bare boobs!
You really needed to stay in the water to have any hope of keeping cool. The sun was scorching at mid day, and out of the water it was almost unbearable. I say "almost", as I had to remind myself that only a few days before I was complaining about rainy snow on my early morning run. I could NOT complain, however hot I was. This turned out to be an issue for us, though we didn't see it coming until much later. Cooper fell asleep on top of me on the lounge chair. I moved him to his own chair, under a palm tree. We shared this palm tree shade with others on the other side, so there was nothing unusual about this. It was pretty sweet to see your baby fast asleep in the shade of a palm....until, minutes later, a very large, very green, very heavy coconut drops down but an inch from this baby's precious little head. People were shocked, stunned, and quickly moved away from under this palm. John was pretty shaken by this, as we could only imagine what would have happened had this heavy thing hit Coop smack on his head. (To those keeping count...pink eye and falling coconuts!) Cooper woke up after being moved from under the tree, but it was so hot by now we decided to call it an afternoon and trek back to the ship. While packing up and getting ready to leave, I could see that Tommy was only half-heartedly getting dressed and drying off. I tracked his eyes, which were watching a group of young ladies a bit away from us. Of course, 2 out of the 5 were topless, and I could only imagine what Tommy was thinking about this, and it was almost if he was trying to figure this all out. In my head, I was begging him not to say anything. He didn't, and continued getting dressed. I chuckle about it now, thinking that if we ever return to this beach on another trip, it will certainly be something to take into account.
Straight off the beach into the Zuiderdam pools! Then quickly to the afternoon Easter Egg hunt in the ship's huge theater. Quite a treat to be hunting for Easter eggs in a theater! At some point we even managed to eat that day, too! Hamburgers fries eaten out by the pools was standard for us. Nothing beat their hamburger and fries! Pizza came in second, not to be outdone by the ice cream at nearly every meal! Tonight I had a special treat in that Lil watched Cooper so that I could join the others out for dinner by the pool. What a treat that was, too. Cooper seemed to be fussy that night, so we were a bit concerned. Even more so when at 2 am he woke up crying and fussing. He was on fire, and quickly we took his temp. He was running a 102 fever! What do you do at 2 am, on a ship, heading for the Panama Canal? Do you call up Bruce? You can't look up anything online like you would at home....for such symptoms for heat exhaustion, heat stroke, things that come to mind after an exhausting day in the hot, hot sun. We gave him a dose of Tylenol, then one of Ibuprofen, stripped him to his diaper, then waited, and waited. Once the fever finally started to sleep we too fell back to sleep, hoping for the best for morning.

Afternoon sail

Pictures from Aruba

Tommy and Bruce heading out for their sub dive on the Atlantis Submarine.

The Jolly Pirates was a tour that I originally researched and thought by their description that Cooper wouldn't do so well on. Of course, the pictures they publish online are of a few people hanging out on the sailboat and kids jumping off the side by their rope swing. Click on the picture to see a bigger view of the individual pic. Look at this CRUSH of people. This would NOT have been a good thing for us, now would it? I'm thankful I did not join this "three hour tour, three hour tour!"

Beach shacks like this colorful one were typical on the high rise section of Aruba's coastline. Of course, this was also where the best beaches are in Aruba and the cheapest by taxi. To get to less crowded beaches, the taxi fare out would have been as high as $40 dollars a person to get out there.

More Pictures from Curacao!

Cooper turns 2!

Today our little boy turned two! How can this be? He's two?

Our little curly top is growing into such a little boy, talking more and more, trying to be "big" just like his big brother. We all get such a kick out of watching him. He's quite the little entertainer, hopping, shuffling and dancing his way through the house. He's really starting to like to cuddle, and mornings and late evenings can usually find him cuddled up with his best friend, "Da-Da". He's always calling for Da-Da, following him around, pulling on him to get what he wants, where he wants. His other best friend is Jenny, and he races through the house squealing with delight when he spies her through the window or hears her voice from outside. He's quick to throw his arms around her and grant her a kiss, and the other day went on a "date" with her to get iced tea. He walked around and around saying "date", "date" over and over. He was so thrilled to be invited to ride with her to Dairy Queen for treats. He's easy to watch around the yard, fairly content to sit and play with his Kozy Koop, or play down on the beach. It's so great to not have to be constantly chasing him out of the water all the time. Of course, he LOVES to be outside working with grandpa, and when grandpa is mowing, it's so cute watching him out "working" too, following grandpa with his mower or the wheelbarrow, around and around the yard they go!

Today we spent a lot of time playing with our buds, the Lawrences. Sophia's 10th birthday was yesterday, but we saved presents until today, which was fun. Coop loved his wooden tool box and bug kit, too. This afternoon, Katelyn came over to celebrate, as did Rhonda. Coop slept a lot this afternoon, and John, Tommy and myself joined in for a nap as well. We would have slept through the party had I not set the alarm at the last minutes, and it was a scramble to get ready for the party. In the end, I had to wake Coop up, and when I took him up the stairs, his face suddenly came to life as the friends began cheering for him, clapping and singing to him. It was as if he was suddenly realizing what all this talk about his "party" really meant, and it was so adorable to see him get into it all. We had a lot of fun opening presents, playing with the new bubble kits, and then making a fire down at the beach. It was great weather and a perfect day for a birthday celebration.

Cooper, you are such a beautiful joy to us. We can't imagine what our lives would be like without the happiness and absolute delight you take from each day, and the laughter that you share with us. We love you so much, little bug. You have my entire heart!

Random Packing Thoughts-Medicine

We basically raided our entire medicine cabinet....EVERYTHING went. You get an owie...I brought the Neosporin. You get an earache, I asked Bruce to bring his ear-thingie. That one got him big, too, as he got the blue glove treatment at the airport when that bad boy sent the scanners into high tech terrorist alert! You get toe fungus, I've got the Lamisil. Your skin rash comes back, I had three different kinds of Hydrocortisone cream. You get a fever, I had the thermometer. You get any type of headache or other pain, I had Tylenol, Ibuprofen and Children's of both (which came in handy the night Coop woke up with a 102 temp). I took my new migraine meds after the two I had at the beginning of the year. With that, I also brought along the big gun pain meds that piggy back with the migraine meds. I had nausea meds from my pregnancy, and The Patch for my newfound sensitivity to motion, courtesy of my pregnancies of course. I tried to get my doctor to just call in a new bunch of patches for me, as he'd done for my last cruise. Just my luck my doc was on some sort of sojourn of his own, so I got his replacement. After 45 minutes of a 15 minute scheduled consult, I came away with what I hoped was a prescription for The Patch (not to be confused with a birth control patch), after of course going through my entire medical history. At one point I thought he was going to schedule an MRI and CT because motion sickness can also be a symptom of a host of other atrocious illnesses, including diabetes and brain tumors. I tried to reassure him that I only experience this sensation when cruising and obnoxious car rides, and finally convinced him to call off the imaging sessions. While there, I did get confirmation that I DO NOT have diabetes. Yet! Apparently that was the only test he could do while holding me there hostage. For this cruise I also secured medicated ear drops for Tommy and antibiotics for Cooper. When you say 12 days to the tropics, it tends to get you what you want for the kids. We did not see the insides of the ship's medical facilities, but we did see one guy hooked up to IV's unloaded from the ship and loaded into an ambulance....in Panama....to an ambulance driver with a stained Corona teeshirt and cut off jean shorts. I didn't see an id, either, but apparently in Panama they do things differently. We also diverted to Grand Cayman one night to off load a passenger (more preferable than Panama!) and then when we made port back in Ft. Lauderdale, an ambulance and fire truck met us at the pier. Maybe the stress of disembarkation was just too much for them! Basically, we went totally and 100% prepared, and although we didn't need the toe fungus cream, or the antibiotics, don't forget John woke up with Pink Eye, so nothing was off the table for us on this journey!

Tommy in Curacao

Checkin' Out The Ladies of Curacao!

Caribbean Napping-Half Moon Cay

For all the times that we comment about what a rascal little Coop is, this is a picture of our little boy curling up in my arms, under the cover of a beach clamshell shelter, in the sweltering sun, with the chaos of a packed beach all around him...

and sleeping the afternoon away!


While in the Ft. Lauderdale airport, as our flight to Houston was being canceled, Coop decided he'd had enough. He plopped himself down on the concrete floor beside me, lay himself out flat, and proceeded to fall asleep. We were stepped over and smiled at, with a long line of frustrated and worried Continental travelers snaking around us, and he never stirred.

Not bad for our little rascal!

Sail Away!

Today was the big day! The day all our plans revolved around....making the ship boarding. If the ships leaves, you don't, and Lil talked to people on the cruise who'd learned this all too well. They had missed their flight, caught another that put them into port half hour after sailaway time. They probably could have seen the ship from the pier! Anyway, they then had to find a flight to Aruba and sit there until our ship made it there into port on Saturday. They missed three days on the ship and spent a ton of extra money as a result.
Anyway, we made it, and immediately found it to our liking! People are REALLY, REALLY friendly on a cruise. They are helpful, they are smiling and laughing, they are eager to please. They want to meet you, know where you live, then tell some sort of story about where you live and share with you their thoughts and feelings. They laugh and ooh and aah over your children, point and whisper to each other as you pass. I am so thankful that Coop does not have issues being touched, as he was like some sort of cuddly pet on this trip, with people stopping to touch his hair at all turns. People in the elevators would stoop down just to look at his curls, then walk away with a passing rub to his head. It's amazing what tight ringlets will do for a person!

John and I were very excited about showing the boys a big ship. It's thrilling all the amazing stuff there is on a ship, from the entertainment side, such as the pools and hot tubs, to the long halllways in which to fly down! For any child, I'm sure the enormity of a ship in itself is a big deal, and we have waited a long time to take Tommy back to a place such as this. We headed out to the decks where the party had already started. We played soccer, hoops and squirt guns up in the sports court, then checked out the kids play are, Club HAL. The sun was shining and it was warm, and I could feel the effects of a long, long winter begin to fade, just a bit. We had our dinner in the Lido, or as Tommy took to calling it, the WEEDOH! The lines were long with people grubbing it up, and I had a hard time not being a little put off by the looks of that, as if they had not eaten in months and were suddenly prepared a banquet. The bounty of fruits and good things to eat proved too tempting, though, and we cautiously participated, if but a little. We spent time together in our cabin, where Cooper promptly got to work learning all there is to know about the toilet system, the mini bar/fridge and everything on any shelf or cabinet there was to find! Later, during Coop's afternoon siesta, we were called up to the decks for the life boat drill. For an adult, this is not the best way to start your cruise. For a toddler being pulled away from his nap...it's a definite challenge. Coop managed to put the huge life vest on, but with the sun beating down on him, he began to melt...down....badly. With all the screaming and carrying on, I eventually had the people stuffed against me trying to help me with him, as he flailed away and begged and screamed for daddy. Of course, daddy had to be back further with all the men ( women and children in front, if you remember the Titantic!). Eventually, an officer came up to me and gave me permission to take off his life jacket. I was then able to hand him back through the crowd to his dad, which made it all better. Usually a child will cling to his mother when upset...well, you now have Cooper....and he chose that exact time to desperately need his dad! I have never been so thankful for the end of life boat drilling!!!
Eventually, after all the partying and exploring, we found our way to the ice cream stand, then headed up to our cabin. Tommy curled up on his couch-turned bed and promptly began snoring. Cooper lasted until 11 pm, still content to explore the cabin and play.

We've been away...

Hopefully Cynthia will update our recent adventure :)



It started out as a spreadsheet, really. A way for us to organize all the items, big and small, that we needed (and maybe just "wanted") to take along with us on this adventure. Although I would try to deny it, there was some fear as I looked at the spreadsheet. How would this ever work? How would we even make it on the plane? And would it be worth all the trouble?

YES

12 Days is a long time to be away. 12 days with Tommy would be a long, long time to be away. 12 days with Tommy and COOPER would be an eternity, and I will say that he was the wild card in all of this. We knew Tommy would adapt, would make the most of it. He would love the sun, enjoy the other people, at the very least spend all his time in the pool. Cooper, on the other hand, throws a tantrum in the grocery store if the cereal box isn't JUST the right color! Coop only drinks one type of formula (Costco) and I doubted I would find that particular brand in the jungle of Panama should we run out. Coop eats chicken nuggets and Dairy Queen....more strikes to the food list. Basically, Coop runs the Whipple show at this particular time, no matter how we look at it. I know parenting books would say otherwise, but reality is that Cooper is showing us exactly what "almost two" looks like for normal toddlers. Tommy passed this stage without as much as a whimper, so this is new territory for us.

Two weeks before, Tommy missed all week of preschool due to a bad cold. The week before we had word that a bad flu was going around, and as I knew that parents at our school were still bringing their sick kids into school, I opted to keep the boys away from preschool and quarantine them the week before we left. That meant no outings, no grocery store, no mall...nothing. John and I prepared for the trip on our own and kept the boys at home that week. It was drastic, but worth it for some peace of mind to know that we were doing the best we could to keep them as healthy as possible. Cooper's cold cleared up, then returned that weekend, so Bruce and I opted to use up some of our old meds at that time, rather than risk continued green goo and nasty cough on multiple travel legs. We were packed up on Sunday for the most part. Monday both John and I worked. That night, despite the anxiety of the weekend, we felt pretty relaxed. Packing was done....

Tuesday- Travel Day 1

John has Pink Eye! Are you kidding me?!!!! Pink Eye?!!! At 6:30 in the morning?!!! Before our morning flight to Houston?!!! Okay, so maybe we call up Robin and have her call in a prescription to the Burien Walgreens. Do I have an old bottle? No! I gave it away to the Allens this summer. Got to get a bottle of Pink Eye juice! JENNNY!!!! Text Jenny...of course she is still sleeping, not having to get up this early to work out as usual. Text Jenny again! I'm feeling bad, but worried enough to not feel bad enough to stop frantic texting. Okay, going to call now. Call again. If I have to go up there and pound on her door I guess I will have to do that. Thankfully, Jenny saves the trip and calls me back, and yes, she still has Sophia's bottle of Pink Eye medicine from a few weeks ago. Crisis averted! Thanks, Jenny, for saving our trip. Not sure we would have managed to get it all sorted out before our flight left. We broke this day into "legs". The trip to Seattle, the flight to Houston, the flight to Ft. Lauderdale, the shuttle to our Ft. Lauderdale hotel for the night. Each part of our day went so smoothly it was beautiful. Cooper had some minor flooding issues in his pants, but that was the parents fault for not changing him, and the people around him thought his chubbly legs were pretty cute anyway. I forgot to pack a second pair of pants in our carry on, so he walked around the airports in his shirt and diaper. We watched some Elmo and Phineas and Ferb, and shuffled the kids between our seats and Grandma and Grandpa's. Coop seemed most relaxed hanging out with Grandma, and spent a lot of time curled up in her lap. Tommy was quite taken with everything, and did a fine job all day long.

Tommy's 5th Birthday

Erica and Brad made it up last night and we went out together to celebrate at Red Robin. it is so fun to sit and enjoy a real meal together with the kids enjoying their time together. This morning I went out for a run before the guys went on their run, then we settled in to enjoy the day together. Erica and I went out for supplies while the guys entertained the troops for us. By afternoon, it was time to get our party started...but I was pretty relaxed about the whole thing, including not setting a time for the whole thing to start or how it would all come together. I think the highlight of the afternoon was the super Indiana Jones cake, complete with jungle color, and Indiana action figure and a mountain with a ball rolling towards Indiana. Pretty cool cake in my opinion. Tommy loved opening his presents and received such wonderful gifts. The themes for this birthday were Indiana Jones, Webkinz and Star Wars legos.

Dear Tommy,

Mommy is so very blessed to call you my son. I can't believe you are five years old today! You are the sweetest, most precious boy, and I love you with all my heart. I love how you laugh at the most silly things, I love how your face lights up with such joy. I love how you wrap your arms around me and tell me how much you love me..."more than my house!" Honey, I love YOU more than anything in this world, and I always will. Five years ago your Mom and Dad were blessed with a miracle neither of us could have ever imagined.

Tommy's 5th Birthday begins early!

Today we celebrated Tommy's 5th birthday with his preschool friends at Fun Zone in Bellingham. John and I had debated about where to have it and how much we were willing to spend, but after watching all the kids bounce and run themselves into exhaustion for almost two hours, we realized that it was so worth the price we paid to have our party there. In the morning I was preschool helper, listening to the kids give extra attention to the birthday boy, watching him have the extra classroom duties like counting numbers for the calendar and being line leader, and then having the kids sing to him at snack time. It was so wonderful to see the little smile on his face throughout the morning. By late that afternoon, as I rushed off for an evening of training at work, both the boys were exhausted from all the activity..and it's only Wednesday!

Thursday!

Today, Tommy took his first playdate....to Carson Neff's house. Michelle and I have been trying to make this work for what seems like forever now, but this week was even more tricky due to my crazy training schedule this week. Between work scheduling and the babysitters that we have coming and going, it was difficult to organize. But we finally managed it, and when John went to pick him up, he was holding a Wii controller in his hand and asking to stay longer. I'd say that was a successful first playdate for him...

Friday night!

Today, Brad, Erica, Emma and Grace rolled into town, and we started the weekend party with a trip to Red Robin! Fun times with them all!

Captain Cooper

Maybe No Easter Bunny

Tonight, while cuddling in bed, Tommy said to me, "Mom, the Easter Bunny is just a big man in a costume, right?"
"What?" I asked, clearly buying for time, trying to figure out the "correct" thing to say to my almost five year old who is starting to figure it all out, and way too soon.
"He's not real, Mom, he's just in a costume, right?"

"Nah, baby. He's a big bunny that delivers Easter baskets full of chocolate, right?"

He didn't answer me, but just smiled. How is it ending already?

Feeding Time

I have had many conversations about the eating habits of my boys. Thomas will eat just about anything, making it extremely easy to feed him whenever and wherever we may be. He's even tried sushi and like it..once. Now he's not so sure, but we recently got him hooked on Pho, a bit on the spicy but not too much red sauce. He prefers grandma's mashed potatoes and gravy, or just about anything else she'll whip up for him. He'll ask for salad and veggies with dip, and he goes through a ton of apples when grandpa's munching with him. He's into Mexican, Chinese and Thai. He'll ask for Red Robin many nights a week, and we have to ration him on Clucks n' Fries...now with a side of Buzz sauce. I didn't know almost 5 year olds could even stomach Buzz sauce!

Cooper..well, I was warned that things could be drastically different with a second. Cooper's main staple is Dairy Queen "anna", or Dilly Bar. He wakes up asking for "anna", and gets quite vocal if we tell him not yet. When we mention going somewhere in the car, he's quick to yell, "Elmo"? and "Anna"? at the top of his lungs. Then he starts to bounce. Yes, bounce around, just like Tigger on a pogo stick. If we tell him anything other than this, he'll start to howl...and Lil can hear him hear him carrying on upstairs. Aside from Dairy Queen, we are very limited. He'll eat pancakes, waffles and French toast. Sometimes he'll eat grandma's eggs. He'll eat things he can dip in ketchup, like hot dogs, french fries chichen nuggets and anything else that's fried. He'll eat sausage and spagetti. He'll eat junk food like chips, puffs and ice cream. He won't touch dressings, salsas or dips. He won't touch a vegetable or a fruit. He'll eat JUST the tips of popsicles, and will go through a whole box of "tips" if you let him, then howl when you cut him off. He drinks a ton of water, both hot and cold, both clean and water from the bathtub and outside puddles. He maybe will drink hot chocolate when Tommy gets it, but a lot of it ends up tipped into his lap. Today I filled his cup with chocolate milk, then turned my back to see what he would do. He seemed to get a lot of it down. I would love it if he would add this drink to his diet...it's part milk, right? The other day he tried a bite of cheeseburger..then flung it over the seat and into my lap...as I was trying to navigate through the snowstorm on the pass. I guess he hasn't acquired that taste just yet!

He seems to be growing, so I run from worried on some days to not caring on others.

Washing and Painting the Sailboat

The boys were eager to head down to the boatyard early today to watch the men pull the boat out of the water. Grandpa has a big job ahead, preparing the boat for spring sailing. Trips down to see the boat cleaned up and painted will be a lot of fun!

Tommy Registers For Kindergarten!

And his Mother almost forgot!

Despite numerous reminders from Jenny, on this morning I raced around my house getting ready for work, dashed out to the car, and hastily made my way out of the neighborhood-without a thought about kindergarten registration. I got so far as to gas up the tank down at Lafeen's, before taking a call from John out near Whatcom Falls. John usually doesn't check in with me quite so early, so I wondered what it could be this early. Had Tommy come out of his room to find me gone? Was he upset? Did he need to talk to me? Was something else wrong?

"Cynthia, Jenny just called. Today is we need to register Tommy for kindergarten."

Oh....oops.....

how could I have possibly forgotten my first baby's first registration for kindergarten (well, let's hope I don't have to register him a second time...remember....we have college dreams for him and a repeat of kindergarten is not in our plans!)

I raced back home to get the birth certificate that John had pulled out, then raced up the street for the Geneva Elementary school office, most certain that I would have to walk the line of shame past other mothers who'd gotten there early and now had already labeled me the "loser mom who almost forgot".

No, not a line in sight! No line of shame, and the secretary didn't even blink an eye. In fact, there were only a few other names on the list....hmmmm...maybe not so much a horrible parent after all. I started to relax a little, although my hands shook as I tried to fill out the stack of paperwork in front of me. You'd think I was entering him into college for all the paperwork they gave me.

Or maybe it was reality hitting me...I was signing my first baby up for the wonderful world of kindergarten. My baby.....our surprise....

I look forward to the wonderful journey that will begin, holding onto every "I love you, mama" and schmooches that I can!

uppy [up-ee] - verb