Hurray for Plays!!!!

I am really excited about the upcoming schedule for plays at the Blogona Performing Arts Center (BPAC) in Cleveland!!  Last season we had to leave Neil at home but this year he is coming along for all of the performances.  We will be attending 3 of the plays and I can't wait!  The first one is in October and its called Seussical. Camden and Neil both love being read to and really love anything Dr. Seuss so I can't wait to see them watching this play. Thanks to Lindsey for being on top of things and sending me to schedule if it was left up to me we would have probably missed out!!!




 Below is a short description about the play....



Seussical


Thursday, October 6, 2011

9:30 am & 11:30 am


“Oh, the thinks you can think” when Dr. Seuss’s best-loved stories collide and cavort in an unforgettable musical caper led by the Cat in the Hat! Dr. Seuss’s beloved classic characters find themselves intertwined in an incredible crazy-quilt adventure, in which the power of imagination and the most miraculous “think” ever save the day! Seussical brings to life all of our favorite Dr. Seuss characters, including Horton the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz, Lazy Mayzie and a little boy with a big imagination–Jojo. This critically acclaimed performance celebrates the power of imagination as the colorful characters transport from the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus to the invisible world of the Whos.

A few hours of quiet..

Nana & Pop-Pop kept the kids last night so Marvin and I could go out to eat and celebrate our up-coming anniversary. (7 yrs this Sunday!!) My friend Lindsey gave us a movie to watch and right before it started Marvin had to go out to check some things at work so I watched it alone.  I really enjoyed the movie and if your looking for a good clean movie I highly recommend The Prince of Persia.  I got to sleep in this morning (while my hardworking husband left at 6:30) and after breakfast I started cleaning and ran across a cd that I once thought was misplaced forever.

   Afterglow by Sarah McLachlan is one of my all time favorite cd's. 

This was a great end to my refreshing time alone! Now to put on my running shoes and prepare for my little crew to return.

A Day at the ER

On Wednesday Camden got her finger smashed in the back door of our house.  I cannot go into a lot of details about her injury because I will get sick and probably start crying again.  I have been keeping a little girl (Lola) through the summer so I had to load up 3 kids and head to the emergency room.  Thankfully they saw us fairly quick and Marvin arrived right before we were about to get processed.  Lola's mom came a few minutes later and I am thankful Lola was there because she helped me drag Neil up the steps to keep him from stopping to eat gravel. 

The ER doctor was wonderful and I would not have been able to stay there without his help.  We made the decision to sedate her and I am glad we did.  She didn't feel anything and when she woke up Nana was there with me waiting to see her.  If we had not sedated her they would have had to strap her down in a straight jacket then clean the finger and stitch it up (very traumatic for a 2 yr old).  She has several stitches and the whole top of her right thumb is pretty much gone, nail and all.  We have to change the bandage everyday and when it gets dirty or wet and that is horrible!  She never complains unless we are changing it and has been the best sport about this.

 Friends and family have been great, calling and stopping by with stuffLola brought her a Pillow Pet to prop her hand on, Rachel colored her a picture and brought her a stuffed rabbit, Chloe brought her a large tub of golden cherry tomatoes (which she ate all today), Nana and Pop Pop sent a fruit basket and balloons, and her Daddy took her to Wal-Mart tonight to get her a pet fish.  She has been asking for one for a while and I'm just glad it was a fish and not something larger.  She wanted a brown fish for some odd reason so we ended up with a very dingy looking male Beta.  His name is Brownie :)

                                    Brownie may not be much to look at but Camden loves him.

Beach Vacation - Final Chapter

Here are the last few pictures from our vacation.  Most of them were taken at different stops on our way home.  Can't wait until our next trip.

Happy Girl

My babies 

Clifford

 Playing at Lamberts

 Last picture of my little man's curls

Beach Vacation - Part 4

On Wednesday morning we headed to the beach for our last full day there.  We had a crane for a visitor on this morning and he was pretty content with all the photo shoots from me and others running on the beach.  I think he would have stayed longer if some little punk kid hadn't run up and scared him off.

Rise and shine!

My happy little man.

Mr. Crane

Burying each others legs in the sand...

He still preferred to play with the sand from a safe distance on the towel.

After the beach we went to eat lunch at The Shrimp Basket then we shopped around for some type of souvenir from our trip.  After going to a couple of stores we realized most everything there was junk and really over-priced.  Camden seemed to be content with her growing cup of seashells so we gave up and went back to the hotel so the kids could nap.  After nap we played at the pool for a little while then went to The HangOut for supper.  We were going to try Lulu's but after seeing people walking for blocks to get in that place we quickly decided against it.  The HangOut was great and had a huge outdoor area for the kids. Camden loved the big pile of sand and Neil preferred to play in the water troughs.

I'm so blessed to have these guys in my life!

             Our foot prints :)

Beach Vacation - Part 3

On Tuesday morning we got up and went downstairs to eat breakfast.  Marvin had been dreading the free continental breakfast since we booked our trip, but man were we both pleasantly surprised!  Our hotel had the best breakfast prepared every morning we were there.  They had omelets, sausage, biscuits and gravy, french toast, loaded bagels (our families favorite), fruit, cereal, and I could  go on and on. 

This little guy can put away some food!

Two good things about having kids who wake up early every morning are getting to eat breakfast without the crowd and getting to the beach early enough to watch the dolphins! When we first spotted the dolphins Neil and I were in the water and for a few minutes all I saw was a fin headed toward us.  I didn't know I could move so fast in water carrying a baby....but once we were safe on the shore we started to see them jumping out of the water and I felt much better. 

 Camden loved looking for sea shells with her Daddy

 One of our visitors

Neil loves to snuggle even if its on a beach towel!

Another thing I really loved about our hotel was the pool! The kids could walk directly in on one end and there were all sorts of little water fountains for Neil to play in.

For lunch we ate at a pizza place near our hotel and for supper that night we ate at The Crab Trap.  The Crab Trap was great! It was very kid friendly and had a great outdoor play area that the kids loved.  After they played awhile we walked to the beach (this restaurant was on the beach) and we got a couple of strangers to take a family picture.  Marvin is anti dressing up to match and take a picture so we are in our usual "redneck" clothes but I still think the picture turned out good.



Breaking News!

We interrupt this string of vacation posts to talk about Neil's first haircut today!
After several people asking me what "her" name is referring to Neil, I finally decided it was time to get his hair cut.  He had the prettiest curls in the back and in was really sad to cut them off but they were really long enough to get a pony tail in.  So this morning I loaded up the kids and we took a trip to the Parlor here in town.  Stephanie did a great job and they even gave me a certificate with some of his curls attached in a small Ziploc bag. Neil on the other hand did not do so well, he screamed the entire time!  I was worried we had traumatized Camden for life but when we were leaving she asked if she could get her hair cut next time.  I asked about Camden's but since her hair is curly there is no need for bangs right now so we get to hold off a little longer before cutting her hair.

Beach Vacation - Part 2 - Orange Beach, Alabama

On Monday July 4th, we got up early with the kids and spent some more time at Aunt Wendy's pool then ate lunch.  After lunch we left Santa Rosa Beach and headed to Orange Beach.  We checked into our hotel shortly after 5 p.m. took a load or two to our room then went to look for supper.  I was really anxious about being on the coast the week of the 4th and it being a busy summer but we ate out every meal except for breakfast and didn't have to wait once!  That was a big relief especially with Neil being at the stage he is right now.  The hotel we stayed in was the Hampton Inn and it was built in April or May of this year, we booked in early March so we got a really great deal. It was really nice and right on the beach!

The first place we ate was a place called Bubba's and we chose that mainly because it was only a couple of blocks from our hotel and we didn't feel like driving anymore.  After supper we headed straight to the beach!  Below are a few pictures from our first day at Orange Beach.

Beach photo from our room

Camden's reaction at Bubba's when I tried to take her picture

First trip to the beach!

Neil digging in the sand

My sweet little girl

Back to the room for bath and bed time

Needless to say they did not sleep in the same bed or this would have gone on all night long.  We let Camden have the bed and made Neil a really big pallet on the floor between the beds.