Campers of the Year!
I know it’s just a silly award, but I’m still a proud mama.
Month: July 2015
Linus, part deux (plus more)
I know you’re on the edge of your seat. “WHAT BACKPACK DID LINUS PICK!?!?” you’re screaming. Well, your wait has come to an end. He chose…
Minions.
But there was no matching lunchbox.
Okay.
Mario, then.
No matching lunchbox.
There’s gotta be something.
Lego? Nope. Skylanders? Nah. Power Rangers? Oh please, Mama. Eye roll.
How about…
Darth Vader?
Yesss!
Whew.
Now, this was after dinner. And honestly, because of what Linus did at dinner, I would have bought him every backpack at the store.
This is what I put on their plates. Grilled chicken, a few square inches of sauteed kale, and half of a tiny roasted potato. The chicken, I knew they’d eat. The other two things I threw on just because I am an eternal optimist.
Well. Linus ate his kale. And liked it. And asked for seconds, and thirds. They all gobbled up the potatoes (you’d think roasted potatoes wouldn’t be a hard sell to kids who eat french fries, but well, you know my kids.) It was a triumph! Woot!
I’d like to thank Penzey’s for their help. The Country French Vinaigrette was what I tossed the potatoes in before roasting and the Trinidad marinade went on the kale. (They also will eat the heck out of fish when I sprinkle it on.)
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Linus Day (part 1)
Finally, poor Linus got his turn. He’d been waiting and waaaaaiting and life isn’t fair and why does he always have to go last? I reminded him that he was the first pulled from my uterus, but he didn’t think that was funny.
We hit the mall first, where there’s a Payless. Shoes first!
He knew exactly what he wanted, we were in and out in five minutes. I thought, this is going to go way faster than the other two!
The skies were black when we left the house, and while we were in the mall it started pouring. So we hit the salon in the mall for a haircut. I forgot to get a before, but here’s one from yesterday morning to give you an idea:
He looked so cute in the chair, but I was sure he’d lose an ear because every time it thundered, he’d twitch.
After. Still kind of a mess because of his cowlicks. But still adorable, right?
Dinner next! And so many choices at the mall food court! Ha! So fancy. He had chick-fil-a, while I got to have mall Chinese, my favorite! Bad mom, no pics of our fancy meal.
It was still storming like crazy, so we went to Dillard’s so I could get a wedding gift for a friend. Even got it wrapped all fancy since we couldn’t leave the mall.
Eventually made a mad dash for the car while it was still pouring, and we got soaked to the bone (see top pic for evidence.) There was no way I was going to drive all the way to Toys R Us in that weather – the roads to our neighborhood flood in storms like this – so I told him we’d have to wait for another day. He just wanted to get out of the storm, so he was okay with it.
So I’ll get two trips with Linus, lucky me. 🙂
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BINGO!
My post today at the New Orleans Moms Blog…NOLA Parenting BINGO! Play today!
(And I changed my blog theme. Like it?)
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Miles Day!
Last night, it was Miles’s turn. I decided I didn’t feel like driving all over the West Bank, plus I was crossing my fingers that Miles would choose Chipotle for dinner, so we headed across the river to hit Toys R Us first…
Look, I don’t mean to brag, but I predicted that he was going to pick the Pokemon backpack. And he did. Do I know my kids or what? (PS early prediction for Linus: Skylanders.)
He was pretty hungry after backpack choosing, so I asked him where he wanted to eat (heavily hinting at delicious chicken burritos) and he said IHOP. Sigh.
Well, the kid loves waffles and bacon. We don’t even bother ordering off the kids’ menu anymore.
He also ate half my fries. (For which I’m grateful.)
After Breakfast for Dinner #2 for me, we hit the hair salon. (It would have been funny to bring them to the same places, just to see if anyone noticed, but I really wanted to have their hair cut by different people so the results wouldn’t be the same.)
Before:
He wanted his hair a bit shorter than Oliver’s in the front. Results:
Happy guy!
Finally, it was time to hit the shoe store. Miles is pretty picky about his shoes, and I think his feet are a little wider than his brothers’. He ended up with the same shoes as Oliver, only half a size bigger and in black:
Tonight is Linus’s turn. I’m really loving this time with my boys, can’t wait to see what he chooses!
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Oliver day!
One thing I’m doing this week is taking each boy out individually for a haircut, new shoes, a new backpack, and dinner. Kind of like what I did in December before Christmas.
This week, we started with Oliver.
First, haircut.
Then, off to Toys R Us, to pick up a crappy character backpack that will probably last two months. I told the boys they’d be using their trusty LL Bean backpacks again if these new ones break.
Ant Man for Ollie!
Next up was dinner. Oliver chose Waffle House. We had shockingly good service.
And finally, it was shoe time! Against my better judgement, I let Oliver pick out a pair of blindingly white sneakers. They’re so dorky, they’re almost adorable. At least they won’t be bright white for long. 🙂
Tonight, it’s Miles’s turn! Fingers crossed he picks somewhere different to eat, but I’m not hopeful.
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Blue-eyed George
We went and got beignets with one of George’s friends yesterday, and I snapped this picture of Oliver when he had powdered sugar all over his face.
For the first time, I think I can see why everyone says they look like George (but their noses are all me.)
You just have to add a goatee…
Add a little green-brown to the eyes…
and darken the hair a bit… (my Photoshop skillz are impeccable, I know.)
Allllmost there…just missing something…what is it…
Ah yes! A juvenile toy more suited to a 7 year old than a 45 year old man! (Fart gun in this case.)
Spitting image!
Hmm. Maybe.
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Triathlon #3 recap: Rocketchix
This morning, Heather and I got up in the middle of the night to drive to Baton Rouge for our second Rocketchix triathlon. Honestly, neither of us had done much training so we were kind of not sure how we’d end up doing.
I hadn’t given a ton of thought to my preparation for this race, either, and kind of threw everything I’d need into a bag last night. (Spoiler alert: I didn’t forget anything.)
We arrive at the LSU Natatorium and go to pick up our packets. While Heather is applying the sticker to her bike, I notice it’s a different color than mine. And it says “Rocketchix Duathlon.”
Uh oh.
Turns out Heather accidentally registered for the duathlon instead of the triathlon. I was actually kind of jealous of her, because the swim for this triathlon was going to be the longest so far, and like I said, I hadn’t done much training for it. (A few weeks ago I did 350 yards in the pool with long breaks between each length, but that’s about it.)
There were a lot fewer participants this year than last year, so it didn’t take nearly as long to get in the pool. And I’m happy to say that while I wasn’t swimming particularly fast, I also didn’t panic and flail around like I had in the past. I even passed a few people!
While we were lined up, I just willed myself to stay calm and channel Dori. “Just keep swimming.” So that’s what I did, and it worked out fairly well. (I didn’t drown.)
Once out of the pool, I got through transition pretty quickly, and I was on my bike (with the seat set at the proper height) before too long. I get so focused on the swim for these races that I forget that being on a bike for 12 miles is…kind of boring. I am using George’s bike, which is not exactly meant for speed.
But the bike portion also went better than last year. I got into a groove, and it went by pretty swiftly. (Well, swiftly for me.) I even passed a few people! That’s a first for me.
The next transition was easy – just throw off the helmet, really, and I was off and running quickly. Well. “Running.” Only two miles. That’s nothing. But it seemed to last forever. I ran when I could (not much) and walked a lot.
Selfie during the run! Mike the Tiger is somewhere back there.
I was looking at my watch a lot, hoping I could beat my time from last year, even taking into account that the swim was nearly twice as far this time. I wasn’t even daring to hope that I could beat my run time, since my legs were just worn out and it was pretty hot.
Finally, the finish line was in sight, and I was done, with Heather and Tee and her sister and my friend Jane cheering me on. Woot!
When I picked up Heather this morning, we realized we bought matching shirts at Academy yesterday. Aren’t we adorbs?
Now, the important part. How did I do?
Swim: My pace was 3:23/100m…slower than last year, but faster than the 3:27/100m I swam at Girl Power in September. I’ll take it! (Also, it’s so much harder to swim a 50m pool than a 25 yard one.)
Transition 1: Last year was 5:12, this year was 3:15. Nearly two minutes shaved off!
Bike: Remember last year, I neglected to raise my seat to the proper height, so I had a hard time. I’m happy to say with a higher seat, I finished 12 miles in 57:01, compared with 1:01:08 last year. (Still slow as molasses. Oh well.)
Transition 2: 1:40 last year, 1:29 this year.
Run: I was positive this was going to be at least a couple of minutes slower. I was stunned to see I finished the run faster! 23:44, compared to 24:06 last year. Woot!
Finish time…10 seconds faster than last year!
So overall, a pretty good race. But you know, I think I’m done with triathlons. It’s not triathlon’s fault. I am never going to improve a ton at swimming, and I’m not willing to invest in a faster bike for that portion. I could probably get faster at running, but I already run races, so I think I’ll just stick to that.
I may have committed to running a half marathon in October, even though I’d sworn them off. Ha! We’ll see.
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Probably.
I was cleaning out my wallet and found the business card of the B&B we stayed at in Keswick.
Bless their hearts. So modest. So British.
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My mamas!
Had dinner with the triplet mamas last night, and one showed up who I haven’t seen in ages. Now, Alicia (on the left) and I see each other a fair bit. I used to work on the website for The Irish House, and her girls are going to be starting at the boys’ school next month (yay!) But I haven’t seen Stephanie in years. I know she came to visit me in the hospital when I had back surgery (though the memory is very woozy) but that might have been the last time.
So it was really awesome to see her.
The backstory is that these are the mamas who had their babies in the same hospital at around the same time. (Mine were born in the morning, Alicia’s quads in the evening, and Stephanie’s triplets about 36 hours after that.)
We also took this picture of the babies when they were about 5 months old, and are scheming to do another version, seven years later. Maybe THIS time Ellen will take notice. Ha!
Can’t wait to see all of the kids together again!
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Thursday stuff
Oliver lost one of his top teeth, finally! Poor dude was getting a complex about it. Woke me up at 1am to show me. Glad he didn’t swallow it in his sleep! Looks like the adult tooth is already coming in.
While getting in the van to take the boys to camp this morning, I stepped in a red ant pile that was hidden under some Asian jasmine. A lot of cursing and slapping at my feet followed. I hate those assholes. (Here’s the full video if you want to see them up close.)
Today a company is coming by to give us an estimate on having the attic insulated. Hopefully we can afford to do it, because I imagine it would pay for itself in a couple of years. Upstairs gets so, so hot. Anyone have experience with this? Our a/c is just struggling to keep up with the heat.
I also am scheming to get the living room in order. Painting, first of all. And then just making it look a little nicer. Maybe it’s time to take down the baby gate at the top of the stairs? I dunno if I’m ready for that. Here’s what it looks like currently. At least I moved the lego table into the boys’ room. It’s a start.
Oh shoot. Two days til the triathlon. Better start thinking about that.
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Everything else about NYC
BlogHer was the reason I went to New York, but I want to make sure I don’t forget all of the other details of my trip…
Ate at some amazing restaurants. The Spotted Pig had the most incredible corn soup. At Kesté, we ate maybe the best pizza I’ve ever had. I had Korean food for the first time ever. We had Thai. I can’t even remember what all I ate, but it was all delicious. Oh yeah, I finally had a Shake Shack burger! Totally worth the wait. Especially the bun.
I walked a ton. Finally made it all the way to the top of Central Park. Went running with a coworker in Central Park as well. Saw coordinating black and white dogs.
Speaking of black and white dogs, got to hang out with my coworker and her dog, Francis, in Hoboken.
Went to a work reception thing after BlogHer, got to hang out with more coworkers.
Had some time to kill before my flight, so I went and saw Trainwreck. (Hilarious!)
Oh, more food: had brunch with some non-work friends that I never get to see. Ate potato waffles topped with poached eggs and some green sauce. So so so good. Got loved up by this sweet baby:
On the way home, got upgraded to first class, and almost sat next to Elizabeth Moss on the plane. (Some guy took her seat accidentally but she let him keep it. Curses! Just as well, since I’d just spilled red wine in my lap.)
