The Easter Eggstravaganza

The very first weekend... the very first day... it opened, we went to the Easter Eggstravaganza at the Irvine Park in Orange. I found out about it where I find most my tips, the OC Parenting Magazine. There are a few magazines put out by orange county that are monthly and free and always give me great tips of fun activities. 

 Our first stop was signing up for one of the Easter egg hunts. I have never been to a more organized egg hunt. They even sat the group down and said each child gets 8 eggs and parents are NOT allowed to pick up the eggs (a pet peeve of mine). There were still parents who picked up eggs because they were raised in a world where rules don't apply to them.

 Tyler worked with Tidus and I was with Ted.

 I made him stop in the middle of the hunt to take a picture with this rabbit. I was in no hurry because if every kid is guaranteed 8 eggs than we should have nothing to worry about right? WELL, some kids were taking way more than 8 and their parents were not counting. Ted got all his eggs but Tidus was one short and we were scrambling (get it?) to find one. I noticed one on the grass and standing next to it I said here Tidus! And right as I said that a parent snatched it up to put in her kid's basket. She then noticed me and my 1 year old and was like oh here you can have it... sigh... so we got our eggs and moved on.

 We then moved on to the games where everyone wins a prize just for playing. That is my kind of game!

 And then a ride on the train. As far as train rides go it was not the most amazing experience but Ted had fun and still talks about it. Probably because the train got stuck on the track. They had oiled the tracks and since it was still early in the day the tracks were slick. The conductor had to completely back the train up almost to the beginning and then take the slight incline at a faster speed.

 We also decorated cookies. Tyler is much better at this than I am. He put on tons of frosting. Mmm!

 Ted LOVES bounce houses.

 Tidus not so much. I had to shove him in the small hole and then he wandered around for a bit before deciding he was over it and got back out.

 He would rather play with his game prize than jump in the bounce house.

 There were still some ticket left over so we played a few more games and then we had to take Tyler into work for the rest of the Saturday.

Pirate Party, General Conference and Playing Around

Recently Pinterest has opened my eyes to the world of Tinker Trays. It is a STEM focused activity. For future generations, STEM is the educational buzz word of the days. It is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. A way to create more engineers in this world. Which is fine with me. 

So I have been setting out a caddy on the boy's desk full and random craft type objects for them to just have fun with a be creative. Sometimes I give them a task like asking them to make a bed for Goldilocks. But mostly they have more fun making up their own things to do. 

We made a rare trip to the $0.99 cents only store and I found a few more things to put in their trays. 

Outside the store was a coin operated car. I have the inability to say no to those cute coin operated rides. It is such a fun and simple part of childhood. (And hey, it's less than a trip to Disneyland) 

One of our finds at the dollar store was bumblebee and ladybug wings. Ted was so excited he put on the bee wings and ran outside to look for bees. He said the bees will think he is one of them.

That night was donned our best pirate garb and headed to the Aquarium of the Pacific.

We had to pick up daddy from work and we ended up arriving at the aquarium about an hour too early so we wandered around outside. A part of my wondered if people would think we were crazy all dressed up like pirates and then I remembered that it was Long Beach and we were probably not even the craziest dress at the pier that day.

The name of the game for Tyler and me is efficiency. We know how to beat the crowds at events. Once inside we hit the photo op section.

Then we moved quickly along to the craft and coloring stations.

We picked up all the free handouts. Barely made it into the first showing to the puppet show and finished the scavenger hunt in order to win Ted his booty (a handful or toy gold coins). It was fun. And stressful at times. The kids are not necessarily at their best at 7PM on a Friday but we were able to wrangle them and keep the good times going.

Then on Saturday and Sunday we watching General Conference. In this picture Tidus and I are watching it on my computer but Tyler figured out a way to get it on our TV so we watched most of it on that.

Saturday evening we took the kids to see the newly released Boss Baby. I blame bus stop billboards for the fact that Ted has been waiting 2 weeks to see this movie. That first theater we went to was completely sold out for the next 2 showings so we drove to another theater and ending up waiting an hour and a half. During that time was went for some Weinerschnitzel, Goodwill and Dollar Store action. Here the boys are playing dress up at the dollar store.

And we scored a $7 Razor scooter for Ted at Goodwill which was pretty fun.

Monday I spent most of nap time building a shadow box and puppets for the kids. I got the idea from What's Up Moms. Which is where I get most of my ideas. Ted loved it. Tidus made it his mission to destroy it. I became upset with him after repeatedly telling him to stop smashing in the paper on the front of the box. Eventually he received a spank on the bottom. He gave me the biggest frown and I immediately apologized for my actions. I am still a work in progress.

We go down slides, we climb up stairs and ladders

From day 1 with my kids I have emphasized the importance of only going down the slides at the park. My oh too familiar phrase is, "We go down slides, we climb up stairs and ladders."

Even when there are no other children playing the rule continues to be enforced. Not only do I see this as a safety precaution but it is also a way to teach courtesy and thinking of others. How can your friend enjoy the slide when you are clambering up towards them.

This rule is not always a popular one. Especially as the boys grow older. Even more so when they notice every other child at the playground is climbing up the slides and their mom is not saying anything. On one such occasion Ted was playing with a group of slightly older kids. They were all climbing up the slides, on top of the play structure, and anywhere else their monkey bodies could carry them. Ted continued to attempt in following their lead and I continued to caution and enforce that we don't go up slides. At one point, obviously exasperated with me, he proceeded to storm off the playground and into the nearby field. I followed him and bending over to his eye level I began gently talking to him. I told him I know it can be hard to follow rules when everyone else is doing something different. It does not seem fair but it is important to listen because it helps keep you safe and it lets everyone have their turn on the slide.

He cheered up a bit and went back to playing.

Ted continues to climb up the slide and I continue to tell him not to. I often feel like the biggest buzz kill mother.

Then came the day when I felt a small mamma victory. Ted was playing with a much older boy (7-8) at the park and (of course) the boy ran up the slide. The boy called for Ted to follow him to which Ted replied, "Okay but we don't climb up slides, we climb up stairs and ladders." And he went around the jungle gym, up the ladder, and the play continued from there.

My Poor Strawberries

A few months ago I made the ambitious decision to purchase a couple strawberry plants. After mentioning to Tyler my desire to create some sort of garden, he drove the family to Home Depot. Apartment living lends itself to very limited gardening so I decided to start small. We bought two strawberry plants, a small planter, some plant food, and potting soil. 

I am not a gardener by any stretch of the imagination. I do not like it. Friends have mentioned how therapeutic they find weeding. I dread it. Trying to eliminate weeds is quite possibly the most obnoxious thing EVER! I get so angry that those dang weeds keep coming back and I get angry that they dare hurt my yard.... These are all thoughts from my previous days of home ownership. 

Once again, I am starting very small. The planter did not have any holes in the bottom which I found odd. After much debate with Tyler as to whether a planter needs holes in the bottom I just let it go. 

Fast forward to a few days ago. I went out to check on the strawberries and noticed little eggs on the stems. Ugh... being completely grossed out, I was about to dump the entire plant. It was always way to full of water and now it was the breeding ground for what I assumed to be aphids. 

Reaching up to grab the planter I noticed a couple very small strawberries beginning to grow. Immediately I felt terrible for my previous thoughts. If this little plant is not giving up then neither should I. 

The internet gave me some tips to rid the plant of the eggs. I dumped a few homemade concoctions onto the strawberry plants and left them out into the sun. The eggs would either go away or the plant would die. 

Today I went to check on the progress. After not seeing any eggs I followed a different tip from the internet and wiped down each stem to make sure the eggs were all gone. Then I noticed a little circle on the bottom of the planter that said something like drill hole here... I believe it also read something like DUH! Or maybe that was just in my head. 

One drilled hole later and TA DA! I could almost hear my plant give a sigh of relief as a heavy stream of water came flooding out. 

In conclusion, I seem to have a more vested interest in the survival of my plants. They are counting on me to protect them and I better not let them down. 

On another note we also went to the park today. I tried to help the kids figure out how to climb trees. I would lift the kids high into the tree and set them on the trunk. Ted loved sliding down. Tidus was terrified but when I tried to put him back down on the ground he would become upset saying, "Tre tre tre " (baby talk for tree, tree, tree). He loves trees but fears heights I guess. 

 This is not the tree they were sliding down.

Pray

Tyler has been working late and going to night classes quite a bit which takes a toll on my parenting abilities. Particularly at bedtime when nice, calm, patient mom has decided to check out of the house.

One of these particular nights I was rushing the kids through the bedtime routine to reach my destination of me-time relaxation. As Ted crawled into bed he noticed Lambie was missing. Lambie is Ted's special stuffie that he has had since he was a newborn.

And Lambie seems to get lost A LOT. How is this even possible I ask you? We live in a 2 bedroom 1000 square foot apartment. Where does she go? 

On this night I was fed up with Lambie's antics. What made the situation even more frustrating was the lack of help from my three year old. I would send him to the living room to look and find him getting out some toys to play with. 

Then I laid on the threats. I warned Ted that if he did not help me I would not read him any stories that night. If we didn't find Lambie then Ted would just have to sleep without her. I yelled at him to help and then yelled at him to just go lie in his bed.... and so on. 

As I was about to just give up Ted said, "Mom we need to pray to bring back the Holy Ghost." 

I knew that was one of the moments when a child would lead me. We said a prayer to help us find Lambie. I made Ted say it. 

And where do you think she was? 

Under his pillow.

I would love to say that after that moment I was back to the kind loving mom I should always be but I was still tired and just ready to snap. Story time was not cancelled and I did my best to give Ted love and then I went off to bed. 

Ted is an amazing child. One of the things Tyler mentioned in his baby blessing was that he would be an example to his brothers and sisters and I can definitely see that happening.