Hay Happens and Hay's Happen

I woke up looking forward to changing out of my jeans and shirt from the day prior (see Part I). When I went downstairs, I heard Tot smiling from ear to ear spooning delicious homemade applesauce oatmeal into her mouth thanks to Dolly’s wonderful cooking skills.

My luggage was not there, but I had received an email saying they dropped it off at his front door. The mystery needed solving so first Dolly started calling the neighbors. Doug began to put his shoes on to seek out the neighborhood, when little did we know Thomas had already gone hunting. He returned in 10 minutes with my luggage in hand. Hooray. Go Thomas!

After breakfast, Tot kidnapped Thomas again to do some more playing. She wanted to be with him constantly. It was great for Tatum to have a “big brother” figure to play with. He made it so easy. She definitely had lots of toys from which to choose! That is one thing my brother does not lack; CHOICES of fun things to do! Also, it was so fun to see Tatum experience what I had as a child: A big “brother” to look up to (for whom I still do).

We wanted to go to the park but first we enjoyed going outside to get some pics. My family. All smiles. We all admired Johnathan’s work in the front of the house. (garden, driveway, new projects, etc…)

Seester! All I can say is her hair… Always so perfect! Note: mine is usually up or with a hat. 

At the park,  Tot wanted to show us her pumping skills on the swing. She “did not need help” unless Thomas offered of course!

This was a great time for my brother and I also to talk and walk. Probably one of the best times I’ve ever had with my brother! While we did this, Dolly and Doug had a chance to get to know each other. Priceless. Plus, Tatum was having a BLAST with Thomas. A full win-win-win-win-win!

Now, when we got home, first, Johnathan took Doug on a tour of his property. Doug and John truly bonded and shared project ideas. The grape tree was calling first, so they picked some. Dolly introduced us to Calendula. Not the oils, like I was used to, but the ACTUAL flower. The healing properties are endless, so we ate some! Can’t hurt, right!? 

I can feel the healing going on when I just put it in my mouth. Not sure what it healed, but I felt all cleansed inside. Was it the Calendula or my chat with John? They sure were both energizing and cleansing! 

Before dinner, Thomas promised us he’d play some piano for us. I could not wait!! Tatum immediately wanted to be part of the action. She looks up to Tommy so very much as do I. 

He was on. All was quiet and we were glued to him. NO pressure!! Gosh, he was so brave to play for all of us, and he sure exceeded our expectations. He even played my favorite:
Tatum wanted to be him after!

Our concert was worth every moment so what could be to come? A culinary delight. My brother always outdoes himself. Doug could not believe how beautiful it was too, so he snapped some shots. 

The guests seem happy!! Yep!Much fun conversation, laughing, and silliness made the evening so fun. How could it get better!?? GAMES! And it did even get better as we all strategized to outdo one another. Truly healthy competition; Doug probably had no idea how seriously we all took it, but in a fun way.

We stayed up way too late, but I don’t regret a minute of it! The next day we had to leave, so I knew we had to get our beauty sleep. Thank goodness my brother has his sleeping tricks: L Glycine. Down the gullet!

How would I make it without my brother’s tips and tricks, Dolly’s (and my bro’s) wisdom, Thomas’ kindness and brilliance, and my guy’s pure perfection in every way!?

Kinda grateful here.

Stay tuned for Part III to find out what Tot’s big surprise was on our way home, plus some reflection on all of this.

 

Not only was this going to be an adventurous airplane ride for Tot, but it was an opportunity to spend a weekend with my DEAR brother, Johnathan, beautiful sister in law, Dolly,  and my ridiculously talented and kind nephew, Thomas. Moreover, Doug would come also to meet the whole clan.

It all started at 9am as we loaded up the car ready to head to the airport. I packed pretty light for myself, but I made sure Tatum had a whole wardrobe of cute and warm clothes. (Little did I know it would be in the 70’s!) Well, it’s never too warm for Minnie boots, right?!

Arriving at the airport, I remembered to take a picture of our parking spot so we would not get lost. Doug says he never forgets. Well, sweetie, there’s a first for everything, so I’m taking extra precaution. (I killed two birds with one stone by getting a pose of my cuties too) See, there you go. Row 5; Elevator B. Got it.

Onto the Skytrain to head to the airport. This isn’t even the airplane yet, and she is already so excited. More thrills to come, cutie pie.

After our airport check in, we got our necessary caffeine and a BIG OOOOOOPS for Doug. His ended up on his shirt and mine in my belly. What a great sport he was, though. Did not even phase him. Tatum? She got a squeezy. Why? Because her tummy was still upset and it was just cute with the bunny on the front. Those squeezies know how to market to kids. Hmph. 

Get her seat belt on and we are ready for takeoff!

Our tummies loved the takeoff, and all we could do was sit and watch as the ants on the ground got smaller and smaller. Time for Legos!

Now, when we arrived, we hit the baggage claim and immediately picked up Doug’s bag and some food I brought for John and family. We waited and waited and waited. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. (Tatum is unaware as she works on her zipper for her puffy fluffy vest…which mind you was unnecessary in 70 DEGREES!!!!! sheesh…..But, she was cute so that all that matters, right?)

Officially lost. SO….we gave them John’s address, not expecting they’d deliver up in the mountains, but they would! It was to come later that night we hoped. Meanwhile, John and Thomas picked us up!! HOORAY!

Doug was concerned about his coffee stain, but I assured him they’d not even notice. He still looked adorable. 

We arrived at his house and Tatum instantly took to Thomas and whisked him away to play with her. He was such a good sport and played with her in his room for H.O.U.R.S! (I was not used to this concept of not having Tot coming up to me every few minutes) I sneaked up and caught them playing so well. He was so gracious and kind to Tatum. 

After much time, she was exhausted and he let her sleep on him next to the window. Now that’s a great lap. Little did she know right outside…

would be some cute little baby deer. John is so good to them. He even cuts up the apples for them! Who does that!?  My kind brother, that is who. 

Now, the best part of my brother and his family is that they literally put their entire life on hold and completely pay 100% attention to whoever is their guest. This is such an admirable quality in all of them. Dolly knew that I had work to do and she played with Tatum for quite a while. Puppeteering is definitely a strength of her’s! Tatum could not stop giggling. 

Meanwhile, my brother and I got a chance to talk and bond again.

We got there a bit close to dinner, so John worked like crazy to make us a special stir fry dinner, and it was sure made with love and lots of time and effort. Before dinner, however, Dolly showed us her summer work. She learned how to mold clay and make busts. C’mon, seriously. This is a novice!!?? She made a bust of Thomas, and I cannot believe how much it resembles him!

Have I mentioned how talented and amazing Dolly is? (Johnathan definitely married well, and I gained a sister).

Since Tatum and I had no clothes, Tommy lent Tot his Spiderman jammies (from forever ago of course!). She wanted to live in them, so she did for that evening. 

We were all pretty tired, but we all stayed up and played fun board games. Tatum went to bed, and the rest of us laughed it up and enjoyed each other. The next day was to await us! (would my luggage come in the night!!?? Hmmmmm stay tuned for Part II.

They all happened today!

Before we were to head to our zoo outing, Tatum had her Sportball lesson with a game of hockey. She was to wear her Halloween costume. OK, I forgot, so she sported some superhero shades. Now, which one to wear…hmmmmmmmmm?

I say Clark Kent all the way!

The fact that they wouldn’t stay on her face ended up being just fine because we could not decide.

 

 

In the month of October, the zoo is staying open until 7pm, so Jennie and I decided to meet there and let the cuties bond since they aren’t in school together. Before they arrived, we met a little prairie dog named Keanu. Did you know they only live to be a year old? AND they are not really dogs! Ok, that is obvious. They are part of the squirrel family. This little guy is almost two, so he’s beating the odds. It must be all of those Cheerios. I think Tot likes dogs better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From afar, she spotted Robert, and they ran as fast as lightning towards each other. Their embrace made them both fall. They couldn’t stop hugging. 

Off we went to see the sights. It was a ghost town at the zoo! We had the whole place to ourselves. Truly surreal. Right now through January, the Zoo has some AMAZING LEGO displays of many of their animals. We first happened upon this polar bear Lego exhibit consisting of over 150,000 Legos. Yes, really.

Ridiculously phenomenal. How!!?

Then some butterflies, birds (I missed what kind so I won’t guess), zebras, rhinos…

Lots of oohing and aaaaahing!

Now, where were the REAL animals? All of a sudden, we heard the lions roaring! They spoke to each other for a few minutes! Apparently there are two lions together; an older lioness and a young teen lion. He’s pretty sure of himself and makes sure we know he is the king.

I was glad the Tot and Robert had a THICK piece of glass in between. I can’t even think about…

Jennie took us on the back roads to view the oryx and the cool experiment the Phoenix Zoo did to make sure these gorgeous creatures did not become extinct. Supposedly, the zoo took on 9 oryx from the Middle East, bred them in the controlled wild, and then sent back over 400. They are happy to reproduce! Hooray for our zoo.

It was getting dark, and we heard music! Tatum and Robert hopped in  Weston’s stroller (I got to carry the lil’ guy), and we headed toward the music and lights.They are getting ready for Christmas with the Zoolight exhibit, so we decided to picnic next to the pond and the lights. Jingle Bells and various Christmas carols were timed with the lights. I figured they were just testing it all out, and we were the guinea pigs. No problem with that! It was spectacular!Tot played with Weston (he’s almost ONE!), and Jennie and I chatted. 

Jennie, Robert and now Weston are truly such blessings in our lives.
Thank you for such a great time!

From our neighbor!

We read about the Good Samaritan today

Everyone is our neighbor, and we should always help when someone is in need. That someone does not have to be a bosom buddy; it could be a man on the street or kiddo who needs some new shoes.  Today at church, I was the teacher in Tot’s class, and we learned that we can always be quick to help and slow to judge. We then made first aid kits to symbolize this. 

Tatum was my little helper. And boy was she a-hoppin!

After this, we made it to our favorite Sunday activity after church: THE PUPPET SHOW!

This week: Little Bunny’s Halloween. The theme was a bit like church: Showing a little help, we can be a good neighbor too. This little bunny was scared of Halloween! He needed some encouragement, and he also needed to see it as a way to share some candy, some laughs, and be creative with a fun costume. With a little help from his mommy and some friendly ghosts, he had a great Halloween. 

OK, maybe it was not quite the Good Samaritan story, but you know what? We are making sure that wherever we go, whoever we meet, whatever we do, we are being the HELPER, the ENCOURAGER, and the one who can makes others HAPPY! Even if it’s making a silly face. 

With a touch of Spidey!

Her mommy was out celebrating with her guy and her mom.

And oh what a treat it was. We had to pose for pics beforehand of course (thanks to Gabby helping out to watch Tot)

Then off we went to Fleming’s! 

My mom, looking beautiful, and my guy, Doug, looking as handsome as can be, made me feel like a princess.

Filet, shrimp, brussel sprouts, vino…delicious.

I love you mom.

I love you Doug!

When I got home,  this is what I saw. MY kids. GRATEFUL. Thank you, Coti, for watching my girl. XXOO

Thursday was not the usual Thursday. Today, I did not put Tatum in school. I had to see a doctor for my shoulders, so I figured I’d just take her with me and we’d spend the morning together. I knew I’d have some time later in the day to work, so all would be just fine.

The morning started out easy. I took her to the gym for a quick workout, and then promised to take her to brekkie. Things are adding up, so I figured we’d go somewhere a bit more moderate in price. She loves bagels and cream cheese, so Einstein’s it was. (Side note: They have great coffee, so that helped) While we were there, she made sure she made others around her feel welcomed. She had to show her Spiderman shoes off, and also she had to say hello! At one point, I took out my phone to text Doug, and she scolded me with “no phones at the table.” CAUGHT! She also noticed that others were doing this. I told her that this was our rule…not everyone’s. I said we should enjoy a conversation, so this is what we did. We discussed a plethora of topics:
1. Can you wink both eyes? (I cannot and she loves that she can. So, I practiced. She plans on asking others if they can)

2. Is that the best bagel you have ever had? Can you say whole wheat?

3. Why is the family next to us not having a conversation?

4. Those workers are all wearing bright yellow shirts. They glow in the dark! She wanted to ask them why.

and

4. I spy circles all over that wall. Do you? (There were little bagels everywhere; we spied all of them)

After this, we had to make two more stops before the train park. Making any kind of stop with a young’n takes longer than the usual 5 minutes. Have you noticed this?

Now, we only had one hour before my appointment, and unfortunately the park was packed..PACKED! (I forgot: fall break this week). SO we made the best of it. Did you know she can now pump her legs on the swings? I still had to push her for 25 minutes. Seriously.

More amazements from my growing child! It’s all in the shoes.

Ok, so off to the doc. Waiting time: 30 minutes to get in to tell me I needed to go down and get x-rays. She was so good while I got these done. Sat in the next room watching me. Then 30 in there. They gave us these hair ties and Tatum called them her gun shooters. Great. Her gun shooters. Well, I quickly fixed that and said that we should call them band shooters and only for at home for fun. Note: I forgot my bag of tricks to bring to the doc, so these had to do. Whatever works, right?

Then another 30 to wait for the doc to check my x-rays. Tatum played Dr. with me:  Then she wanted me to play doc. She took this pic:

Only to have the Dr. tell me basically nothing (well, to check my neck out because it’s funky…and he’s not a neck guy) and send me home. He was with my 7 minutes I think.

We did not get home until 2, and by then I was spent, and so was she. HOWEVER, ANYTIME I can spend with Tot is a good day.

I had to apologize to her a few times in the day because I was a bit annoyed, and I let every little thing get to me; she and I were both cranky; We prayed an hugged in the Dr.’s office and it made all the difference.

When I got home in the evening (from a lovely date with my guy), this is what I saw. MY kids. GRATEFUL.