Breaking The Dress Code

When Allergies Attack

Silver lining of record breaking pollen year… Pretty Pretty Trees.

We Interrupt This Pool Building Project for Easter Bunny Cake

And where’s Easter… there’s a Bunny Cake.

Start with two nine inch layer cakes and cut one in thirds to create two ears and a bow tie.

And lay it on your tray thusly… (try not to crack the bow tie D’oh)

Then ice and decorate with Easter Candy

The original recipe calls for the bunny to be covered in dyed coconut which makes him look fun and furry but my kids won’t eat coconut so we’ve started skipping that part. The cheeks are Hostess Snowballs.

This isn’t happening somewhere else….

As you’ve seen from earlier entries here two weeks ago on Oct 19th - 8 miles from my house - a 7 year old girl was snatched off the street on her way home from school and found two days later murdered in a landfill.  She was an average middle class child walking a short distance home from school with her twin brother, older sister and a friend in a “safe” neighborhood full of people.  They got in a fuss and she ran ahead of them towards home. And she was taken. And no one saw it. Parents and police were looking for her within an hour of her disappearance. No one saw it.

The initial shock has worn off the community now but we still don’t have answers. This person monster is still out there. And every parent in town is acutely aware of it. At dance, at gymnastics, at the ball field – this is what we are discussing  - in the pediatricians waiting rooms, the car pool line – there is NOT another topic.

No child is allowed out of sight. The older ones they understand it, the younger ones not so much. My four year old balks at having to sit in the stands at her sister’s ball games rather than play in the dirt behind the stands. Any child seen alone is a problem for any adult. We approach them, question them. “Where is your mommy? Are you supposed to be here alone?” We are all writing new rules for each other – we don’t care about stepping on each other’s parenting toes. No child is safe.

Rumors abound.

Everyone knows a snippet “they” supposedly aren’t saying on the news. Something about what they found in the empty house nearby or something about evidence in the landfill she was found in. Everyone knows someone who knows someone on the police force who said something. I think we are mostly clinging to rumor because it makes us feel hopeful that it will be over soon. We pray that the police know something they aren’t saying. It’s a glimmer of light at the end of this terrible tunnel.

I hate living like this. Chafe at my child’s loss of freedom. I’ve always proudly been a “Free Range Parent” and one day I hope to be again. But not this week. Most likely not in the next. After they catch him it.

I’ve had to explain murder to my child. For her own safety – she is eight and she knows what murder is. Yeah I know, poor little upper middle class white kids had to learn about crime – boo hoo. But still…

Mostly we talk of it in terms of safety but you have to let the scary parts in to make sure they are taking it seriously. A bad guy is not a vague notion any longer. And really I’m so proud of how well she’s taken it in.

Taking it seriously but at the same time not shaken. They are all amazing these kids – being told everyday there is a murderer in our midst. Be careful, take care. Be safe. The nod, they comfort us, “I’ll be safe Mama. I know about the new rules, I avoid strangers, I play in the back yard only, I’m never alone. I’ll be okay.”  

We desperately try to believe them.

The Mommy Blogs are getting boring

Hello pot, I’m kettle.

Let’s just that out of the way right there.

But for the love of god my Feed Reader is damn boring these days. Mostly for the same reasons that have kept me from posting anything remotely interesting lately. Life. The last two weeks of school with all it’s performances and ceremonies and meetings are a time suck. And then there all that lovely weather luring us outside – you know to actually spend time with our families. Don’t worry I’ll be boring dazzling you with pictures soon.

But there is something else going on too… those who are writing – at least in the last week or so – have been droning on and on about the whole Review Blog/MommyBlogger/Who’s Really a Blogger debate and frankly it’s painful. Boring. And painful. Please please please stop. It was remotely interesting over a month ago when it all started but seriously we are all way way over it now.

Stop and go back to talking about poopy and posting pictures of your kids with things up their noses. Cause poop is funny and so is stuff up your nose. I like stuff up the nose stories.  And I like to hear about the funny thing that happened today. Tell me please! I read your blogs to laugh and be entertained, not to think. And certainly not to read some 3000 word rant about how the term Mommy blog is a misnomer or why review blogs are either the evil or the best thing going. Stop!!!

I would kill for a picture of a kid with french fries in his nose or a guess who pooped on the potty/graduated from kindergarten/went to prom story right now.

When You’re 7 This Is What Heaven Looks Like

This is the Nickelodeon Hotel in Orlando. When you are 7 (or 3 or 5 or 11) this is pure heaven on a stick. When you’re a parent, I found, it ain’t so bad either.

We did a brief 2 day/1 night stop at Chez Nick this past week during our spring break. Just like everything else, the recession is hitting Florida tourist attractions hard and as a result Florida residents are scoring big time with Resident Discounts. We paid $135 a night but I did meet someone who said she got her room for $79 on Travelocity.

The Nick is pretty popular with Florida parents anyway because the pools and waterslides and funky rooms and characters and at hotel activities provide enough entertainment that you really don’t have to go anywhere else. It’s the perfect weekend getaway for anyone with kids who lives in driving distance. So I had heard a lot about it but we had never gone. I was anxious to see if it lived up to it’s reputation.

It totally did.

The main attraction is of course the Lagoon pool. It’s huge and has 7 waterslides. It’s surrounded by a putt putt course, basketball courts, a baby slash area, and some hot tubs.

What I really liked about it was that it has a zero depth entrance and that largest section on the right never got deeper than my three (almost four) year old could stand up in. In fact she could walk all the way up to the rope you see where becomes thin (just to the right of the lifeguard stand)

She’s too big and to enjoy to baby splash area, she wants to be in the pool with the big kids but she’s not a swimmer yet and she was able to play happily in waste deep water here while the adults relaxed against the wall. The older kids were happy to play here as well because the shallow depth kept the water very warm and the waterslide water was freezing – they would regularly bounce back and forth.

The waterslide area on this pool does not dump into water but onto that spongy playground material that surrounds the whole pool (yeah! no concrete that is either slippery when wet or so rough it tears up your feet!) so even none swimmers can play in this waterslide area without fear.

Beware though: Because every day at 4:45 there is a Mass Public Sliming!

The Oasis Pool is deeper Min 3 feet but I don’t think it got over 5’. The 11 year old with us could stand in all parts.  It’s slides are a little faster and they do dump into a pool of 5 feet of water.

The rooms lived up their reputation for coolness.

 

I had seen mixed things about the rooms online but in my experience the rooms were great. In fact compared to the rooms we had and Disney’s Caribbean resort last year – Nick was much nicer, more up to date, and had much less wear and tear. The linens and carpets were fresh and clean. You get a two bedroom suite with a queen for the adults and bunks for the kids. Each kid room has a character theme – we had Danny Phantom, the adjoining suite our neighbors had was Sponge Bob. There is a living room area and a kitchenette as well.

One thing I will have to say that Disney does better was food – where we had a big variety of low cost food at their resort. At Nick bring as much of your own food as you can manage because the pickin's are slim unless you want to pay $20 for entrees in the Cafe. The “Mall” area had a grill with burgers and hotdogs, a Subway, and a Pizza Hut. We managed off that for 2 days and the under 5 year olds ate free with an adult but if we were there one more day we would have left property to eat.

We spent most of our two days in the pool but there other things to do. Most of the activities and shows were additional charges. We didn’t do the 4-D experience or any of the other shows. We did let the kids do one craft since we had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon and they made tie-dye t-shirts for $15.00 (each).

Overall I would say that it’s a great weekend place but I’m not sure if it would hold up for a whole week if you were going to Orlando for a longer stay. Don’t get me wrong the kids LOVED IT but I think 2 to 3 days is the right amount of time for the amount of fun they provide.

Unpaid Unsponsored Parental Review of the Nickelodeon Hotel Resort in Orlando Florida

Space Shuttle Discovery STS-119

"Hey, hey, easy kids. Everybody in the car. Boat leaves in two minutes... or perhaps you don't want to see the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth, which is only four short hours away?" – Clark Griswold

I’m sure every state has that really cool thing that you can do but it just never seems convenient to get around to. I’m sure there are people all over Arizona that haven’t made it to the Grand Canyon yet, and there have to be people in Minnesota who haven’t seen the Giant Ball of Twine yet.  Well in Florida that thing is watching the Space Shuttle launch. For 17 years I’ve lived within 2 or 3 hours of Cape Canaveral but never gone there for a launch. That’s not to say we haven’t seen it go up. Anyone who’s lived any amount of time on Florida’s east coast usually has a “Best Launch I ever saw” story” .. Heck I’ve got three or four because on a clear day/night the rocket is visible up and down the coast – but we’d never actually gone and watched it close up. And unlike the Grand Canyon or ball of twine there are only a finite number of launches left – after yesterday 7 in fact.

So when I got up yesterday and was sitting in my jammies savoring my “I have nothing to do today” Sunday and the internet told me NASA have given the all clear for a 7:43 PM launch you could here the record needle screetch – this was it, our perfect chance to go, we had no excuse not to. I woke up the Dr., dressed the kids, packed the car and off we went – 2 hours down the road to Titusville.

Space View Park in Titusville is the closest you can get without paying NASA a fortune ($50 each including kids) to bus you out on the causeway. This park is 12 miles directly across the Intercoastal from the launch pad. It’s actually closer and a better view than if you at NASA’s visitor’s center. It’s free, crowded, and a whole lot of fun! The local space enthusiasts have built a Space Walk of Fame and they create a festival atmosphere there with their vendor tents and information.

 

We got there about 2:15 – right as mercifully the afternoon sea breeze start to kick up. I don’t know what the temp was but without that wind it would have been damn hot. The girls did a great job of hanging out and playing. The Dr. bought them a set of Apollo 11 toys and it may be safe to say that yesterday a future astronaut was born.

Even the little one put down her Barbies for a little while and got into the fun.

Once she figured out that she was supposed to keep her eyes open those binoculars made a lot more sense to her. After hours and hours of just sitting around finally it was time for the big show!

Little One said “Look Mama they are making a Rainbow!” And at this point I realized I had been so excited that I had forgotten to zoom in with my big honking zoom lens!

 

I didn’t beat myself up for too long though because at least I remembered so I could get a shot of the solid fuel tank separation!

Because I got an uber education from all the enthusists there yesterday I can now explain to you that those are the smaller white tanks on the sides of the big orange one. They fall off first and are retrieved by ships. The big orange one comes off  next and it just gets burned up. Yeap I’m an expert.

 

 

 

 

 

Still one of the most spectacular parts was the sun set reflecting off the smoke/vapor trail. It turned it it a full spectrum of colors and made it glow in the twilight sky. Even after it got dark it was still a visible blue-ish cloud glowing in the night sky.

So here are the lessons we learned:

• Go as early as you possibly can – people start saving spots hours ahead of time we got that 6 hours prior to launch and it was probably 1/3 full.
• Bring Food and drinks! There are vendors but they only show up a couple of hours before the launch.
• Bring Chairs – you’re not going to want to sit on the ground the whole time and chairs seem to reserve more space for you than a blanket.
• Remember to zoom
• Don’t count on using your phone to access information. The cellular infrastructure of little Titusville is blown out of the water with all those people. Think DC on inauguration day.
• Bring lots and lots of sunscreen, there’s shade but not where you want to sit.
• Get ready to be blown away with the beauty of it.

Mulch Fairies

Springtime has officially arrived when the mulch fairies show up and deliver mulch to everyone’s driveway…

Random Thought On Love aka The Valentines Day Post

You know that bit about the key to a successful marriage being not going to bed angry.

I disagree (surprise)

I think if you can go to bed and sleep soundly next to someone that you know you have completely pissed off and not fear for your safety and good health – that is true love.

The knowledge that neither of you, no matter what, are going to try and kill the other in their sleep is clearly a sign of a rock solid marriage.

Hot Now

Evidently the Dr. forgot we are a family of four ‘cause 2 dozen?? Seriously? Maybe he got to Krispy Kreme and “glazed over” get it … glazed over.. I’m on fire this morning. Must be all the sugar.

Anyway, he got up before anyone else and made a trip to the holy land and brought home “Hot Now” so for today he is forgiven just about anything. Anything at all.

Enjoy your day of grace honey – use it well.

Superbowl Sunday

Here’s a few of the things I remember from yesterday’s festivities

• Bob Costas confirmed that even The Boss has to work at selling albums in today’s economy hence the agreement to appear at halftime after years of turning it down.
• Matt Lauer interview proves what we already know Obama is the coolest President we’ve ever had.
• Faith Hill has made a deal with the devil – she doesn’t age.
• The crew from Flight 1549 is enjoying their well deserved moment in the sun. Kudos to the Superbowl from bringing them out for a round of applause.
• Jennifer Hudson belted one out for the ages in an amazing return to the spotlight. It made me want to hug her.
• Bruce Springsteen has made a deal with the devil – he doesn’t age.
• Now the Cardinals know the truth that lives in every Auburn Tiger’s heart ~ 2:38 is a hell of a long time to have to hold on to a 3 point lead.