Today was Tess's field trip to the Indianapolis Zoo - she'd been waiting for this for months!
Unfortunately, it wasn't like last year, when there were so many chaperones I got to hang out with just Cole all day. But, there were enough chaperones that I only had one other child to watch besides Tess - Joshua. He was a bit of a hand full at times, and pretty opinionated. However, overall he was a pretty good kid. And he knew a surprising amount about animals!
The weather was cool, but mostly sunny, which was a wonderful break from all the dull greyness we've had lately! The animals were all very active, too, which made for a fun day.
We saw the bears.
And orangutans.
And of course all the reptiles. (Joshua was enamored with anything venomous.)
We ate our sack lunches outside in the lovely sun - it wasn't even that windy, which seems like has always been a problem at the zoo!
The walrus was especially friendly today!
And Tess LOVED seeing the dolphins!
Elephants are always impressive - especially so up close!
And the penguins were awesomely cute!
We spent about 3 hours total, which doesn't sound like very long, but it was long enough for this girl. And this mom.
We started a tradition of going to McDonald's to get a treat after field trips, and Tess for sure wanted to carry that on. Soft serve and french fries were her treat of choice, showing that I've done something right raising that child. Yum.
It was fun spending the day with my favorite girl!
Today our little Miss Tess turned seven years old! She'd been waiting an ENTIRE YEAR for this day and was super excited! So excited, that she woke up at 5:45 this morning. Oof. But she did pretty well despite the lack of sleep, and I think the day lived up to her expectations.
Yesterday I made her cake, because cake just tastes better the 2nd day, I think. Plus, today was just so dang busy! Tess requested chocolate raspberry, so I bit the bullet and bought off-season raspberries. I think I added a bit too much (homemade raspberry!) syrup to the cakes, so there may have been a little slippage between layers, but the cake didn't collapse before she blew out the candles, and it tasted like Deliciousness, and what more could you want?
I always decorate the night before. This year I made a new banner, only to have Cole point out that I strung it incorrectly and it said "Happay Birthdy". Oops.
And there was much teasing of the mother.
Tess was already up before I left at 6am to get her birthday doughnuts!
Tess was living the doughnut dream today: doughnuts for breakfast, doughnuts before school at Muffins for Moms, and I sent 2 dozen doughnuts with her to class to pass out this afternoon! It's all about priorities. Doughnut priorities.
I let her open a present before school and it was a toy that had been sold out at WalMart, but I found it on Amazon! It was all the more exciting because she really wasn't expecting it.
I'm not even sure what it's called. LOL Surprise Confetti doll thingy. It's a ball, with little compartments that hold little surprises.
And then you pull a string and the ball pops apart and confetti flies and you get a doll and all the little bits you pulled out earlier are accessories for the doll. She was very, very happy with it.
She also got a rather large, fluffy pink piggy bank, which I did not attempt to wrap.
Tess is the last of my kids to request a birthday shirt. *sigh* It turned out pretty cute, right?
Lance and I took her out to lunch, and she chose to go to Sam's Club - still her most favorite place! This makes me laugh; that girl sure loves hot dogs! She was just so happy and excited to be out of school and on a birthday lunch date with her parents.
She had also asked and asked and asked for Roblox action figures. Which she got and played with all afternoon.
She's getting so old but is still so small!
We had a packed evening with mutual, cub scouts, and a scout court of honor at the stake center, so we had to do cake and the rest of the presents pretty quickly. Tess didn't mind - she just wanted to dig into that cake! (She's really gotten into cake lately.)
There was still one candle lit after she blew, but she quickly got it out and exclaimed "That's the best I've ever done!" Which is true, because she's always had issues with blowing those dark candles out! (But I had forgotten this, making it all the funnier.)
She also got a new tablet, complete with (Cricutted) name on the back. Super fancy!
Grandpa ElRay and Grandma Susie sent her the toilet bowl game, and her reaction was awesome - she couldn't stop laughing!
As I was putting her to bed I asked if she had had a good birthday, and she replied "The best!"
That personifies Tess so well. To be honest, I hadn't given her birthday much thought this year until about last week. What with everyone being sick in March and then Spring break and then our trip to Boston, her birthday kind of snuck up on me! Poor forgotten 4th child! And today was kind of a crazy day, leaving for school early and not getting much time in the evening before running off to all the boys' activities. But Tess just rolled with it and enjoyed herself and was happy. She was grateful for all of her presents and gracious in sharing them with her brothers.
Tess is a sweet, kind, funny, tenacious girl. Don't get me wrong - she certainly has her moments! (Don't we all?) But she's turning out to be just a great person, who cares for others and is happy to help. I'm so happy she's in our family. I love you, Tess!
I finally got to go to church yesterday. What with conference and travelling and everyone getting the flu at one point or another, it felt like ages since we had all gone to church together! I was waiting for people to start wondering if we had gone inactive! It was nice to be back. I had missed it.
I have to admit that I've been struggling with my calling as Primary Pianist for a while. It's just so isolating, sitting there in the corner for 2 hours straight. I miss Relief Society. And no matter how much you love Primary songs, playing them over and over and over again gets pretty old. And finding a substitute? SO MUCH WORK. Oy.
I realized a couple of weeks ago that I was now working under my 3rd primary presidency as pianist.
That's a lot.
This didn't help my attitude.
But now I am trying to have a better attitude because I am certainly not picked on. Just maybe a bit bored and wanting for adult interaction. Oh well, this won't be forever.
And something nice happened yesterday - a 7 year old girl came up and watched me while I was playing prelude and said, "Wow! How do you play the piano so well?!"
"Lots and lots of practice."
(Which is a lie because I don't practice nearly as much as I should. But I guess over the past 32 years I've accumulated a fair amount of practice time.)
"Huh..." She thought for a bit on this piece of information. We chatted a bit more and then she said "You play that song really great!" and skipped off to sit with her class.
Maybe being stuck in the corner of Primary isn't so bad after all.
Guess what we're getting at the end of the month?!
Hernia surgeries from lugging all that dang furniture up the stairs.
No, not really. (Hopefully. Oof.)
A new couch for the basement! It got to the point that we realized we never sat downstairs because the couches were so dang uncomfortable. Which is dumb. So we bit the bullet and ordered a fancy new leather sectional. Woo-hoo! My only regret is that we didn't order earlier so we could have had it for conference.
We decided to haul the old ones out now so we could get the carpets cleaned before the new ones arrive. We're also getting rid of the big red beanbag. It's gonna look so great down there!
We're reaching a point in our marriage / home ownership that we're having to start replacing big things like couches and such. Next up? The kitchen table, and then our entertainment center and TV. It's expensive, but fun.
Let's just hope the kids don't destroy it all like they did with the other stuff.
Our elementary school has started a new thing where they take the 5th graders on an overnight field trip to the Indiana State Dunes. Josh has been looking forward to this trip for the past three years! (They started it the year after Spencer went to middle school.)
I have to admit, I was kind of anxious about the idea of sending my kid off on an overnight thing like this. I don't know why - I'm usually a pretty laid back mom, right? (Or am I kidding myself? I don't know. Sometimes it's hard to be that self-reflective.)
Anyways, I was originally bound and determined to chaperone this trip, even if it did mean spending 36 hours with a bunch of crazy-go-nuts 5th graders.
And then we decided to go to Boston. The dunes trip was scheduled for the day after we got back, which would have been terrible timing for me, what with all the post-trip laundry and getting back to real life stuff I would need to do. Plus, I'd be tired. Plus, I wouldn't even be in the same cabin as Josh - I'd be chaperoning a cabin full of girls I probably didn't even know.
(Side note: we would have saved SO much money if we could have flown back from Boston on Monday instead of Sunday. But we knew how much this Dunes trip meant to Josh. So, future Josh who might be reading this should I ever get back into printing my blog books, look how much we love you! About $600 worth!)
So then it became pretty easy to not be as worried about this trip! Suddenly, I wasn't anxious about Josh leaving home! Hah! (Okay, this was probably due more to the info we got at the parent meeting about the trip, plus the fact that I've gotten to know Josh's teacher really well this year. And that Josh has been a super grouch lately. But still, I won't lie and say it was all this.)
I had labeled and packed most everything Josh needed for the Dunes before we left for Boston, but we still had to gather a few things and clothes the night we got home from Boston. It was AWFUL. Josh was so tired and ornery and just miserable to be around. (Why wouldn't he take a nap that afternoon?!? Why?!) ((And why did he keep waking me up from my nap?! Why?!)
So actually, while it initially seemed like bad timing for this trip, it turned out great. I got to get rid of a super-cranky 11 year old for a day and a half! And I didn't even feel bad because I knew he'd behave for his teacher. (And he did.)
His teacher was great about texting the parents about what was going on and even sent some pictures.
Here's Josh at dinner time. They were served chicken fajitas and he even ate them. Which is a miracle, considering how picky that child is. But it might have had something to do with the 4 hour hike they went on that afternoon. That, and a little positive peer pressure. I'm gonna start making that kid hike all the time and inviting his friends over for dinner so he'll eat.
Here he is during the hike.
It's hard to get much info out of a tween boy; he got tired of me asking so many questions! But I did learn that he had lots of fun and was glad he went. He got to be in a cabin with all his best buddies, which made him super happy. He liked all the hiking. They even went on a night hike, no flashlights allowed. Also, he was not happy that I wouldn't let him take his brand new tennis shoes with him, and instead made him take a $10 pair I bought at WalMart last week. Too bad, buddy. I actually spent a bit more than usual on these new shoes for him because he's just wearing the cheaper ones out SO FAST. And the WalMart shoes got totally muddy and gross, so it was the right thing to do. Not that he'd ever admit it.
He was fine for the first 30 minutes after he came home yesterday, but then old grouchy Josh reappeared. It was extra fun because his legs are sore from all the hiking in the sand. Yay! I got him to stop being grouchy for a little while we worked on a study guide for a test he has to take today. (He missed it while we were in Boston.) He was both impressed and annoyed with how much history I remembered about the early American colonies.
I'm glad we live in a school district that does cool things like this for our kids, and I'm glad Josh got to go. (And I'm extra glad I didn't!)
I'm only posting about going home because it was something of an adventure. The only flight we could afford/get going home left at 5:30 in the morning. YUCK. It was just one of those necessary evils.
We figured that since we were staying so close to the airport, if we left by 4am we'd be fine. And we were - but it was close.
We actually got out the door at 3:50am, which was good because the little park that we had been cutting through to get to the train station? Locked. So we had to walk all the way around to get to the station. I just looked it up on a map and it was only an extra 1/2 mile, but with 2 big suitcases and a super-slow Tess, it took a good 20 extra minutes.
So we finally get to the airport shuttle and get dropped off and Terminal B, only to find that the TSA line was SUPER LONG. At 4:30 in the morning. What the what?! I was wondering if TSA would even be open, because when I was once stranded in Dallas they told me to be at the airport no later than 5am and TSA didn't even open until 5:30 and I was ticked. I looked at the departures board and ours was the earliest flight by almost an hour. What were all of these people doing here so early? I guess they had probably flown out of Logan before and knew how bad it could be.
Anyways, Lance and the kids stood in line while I checked us in, checked our luggage, and got our boarding passes. The TSA line was long, but it moved at a decent pace. There was one agent who was super friendly and had this great Boston accent. Everyone else? Pretty typical gruffness. Apparently Logan was undergoing a bunch of renovations, because there were big signs all around showing how wonderful it would be by 2019. This is did not make me feel better as we waited in that cramped line.
But, we eventually got through and with no real issues for once. (At Christmas Spencer forgot his Leatherman tool was in his backpack and got yelled at and had it confiscated. And then coming out to Boston for some reason Lance had a full bottle of water. He tried to blame me, saying I had told him to fill it. Um, what? Why would I ever do that?) We made it to our gate just as they started boarding, and since we were in the very dead last boarding group (hello, American Extreme Economy Class!) we had time for pit stops and to stretch our legs.
We had about an hour layover in Philly, during which we took a shuttle to our gate, stretched our legs, ate some snacks, tried to stay away, and watched Tess get crumbs everywhere as she ate some Pringles that were in her bag. Breakfast of champions!
By 11am we were back home again in Indiana. I think the post vacation blues hit harder than usual because we were all just so worn out.
I like Boston. It was not my most favorite place ever, but that might have something to do with the cold weather and small-legged company I had to keep. Still, I'm glad we went and I had a great time. It was fun to have a random family trip!
Lance and the boys didn't go to PAX on Saturday, much to Spencer's dismay. (I didn't realize how sad he was about this until I saw some of his Instagram posts later. Sorry, buddy. Sometimes you have to spend time with your boring old family! Also, I don't know how well Cole would have done for a 3rd day!)
I had booked a harbor cruise the month before, so we needed to be down at the pier by 10:30. We left the house with plenty of time to stop at a few sites along the way, much to my kids' dismay. Okay, I admit that it was cold and windy. But it wasn't THAT bad while we were in the cemeteries. I had been colder over the last few days. (Walking by the city building, with that big, open brick space? Holy cow, I thought Tess and I were going to blow away and freeze to death!) And also, I guess a cemetery is probably not high on the list of fun things to do in the mind of a kid.
But. I had felt I had been doing A LOT of things for the kids over the past couple of days, and all I was asking for was a measly few minutes at each spot.
Plus, I like really old cemeteries. I think they're interesting.
First we stopped at King's Chapel burying ground. Some of the kids perked up a little at how the headstones were tilted and such - it looks like something out of a movie. This headstone was from the 1600's!
This is the oldest cemetery in the city, and where Mary Chilton - the first woman to step off of the Mayflower - is buried. I thought that was really, really cool. Mary Chilton is cool! My kids did not agree. My kids are punks.
Then, because I love to torture my family and I love, love, love to hear them whine and complain, we stopped at the Granary Burying Ground, which has all sorts of famous people buried there. A guy at the front was handing out folders with the history and descriptions of the famous dead people in the cemetery; I have no idea what his affiliation to the cemetery is, but I figured it was worth the $1 donation I gave him at the end.
During our walk around the cemetery we talked about some of the people, who they were and what they did, what a Patriot was, and why they were important. I don't know how much my kids really listened, but I enjoyed it. Tess and Josh and Cole liked to look for the next grave and find the important names; Spencer played on his phone. Growl.
Here they are with John Hancock.
And here's Paul Revere. The kids were pretty interested in his story.
Actually, HERE'S Paul Revere - the other one is just a memorial.
And here's Samuel Adams...
... and victims of the Boston Massacre. I walked by the site of the massacre several times and never had a chance to go up close to see the circle thingy on the ground that shows where it happened. Dang.
We also saw the graves of Peter Faneuil (of Faneuil Hall fame), the big ol' monument and graves of Benjamin Franklin's parents (the man knew how to treat his parents!), James Otis (Patriot during the war), and Robert T. Paine (Declaration signer). I could have happily spent an hour there, reading all of their histories, but the kids would have none of it.
So we eventually made it down to the harbor and got onto our boat. Where snacks and electronics were promptly brought out. I was okay with the snacks, but not the electronics! We had paid a bit of money for this excursion! I won out for a bit, but not the entire trip. Dang.
The cruise took us around the harbor and out around some of the islands and up the Charles River a bit. We had some spectacular views! Although is was really cold out, and least it was clear.
Here's some old fort out on the edge of the harbor. I couldn't really hear our guide that well while I was out there. Our guide was an old Irish gentleman who had the most lovely, soothing voice ever. I loved it. I wished he talked more. No really, this was booked as a Boston History tour, but I didn't feel like I got a lot of history out of it. (I mean, I learned a lot, but I wanted more!) ((Queue Lance rolling his eyes at me and suggesting I go read a book. Maybe I will.))
As I said. Electronic. Gah! But rather than fight with them I just went outside and ignored them missing out on this cool tour.
After the cruise we headed over the Quincy Market for lunch, mainly because there's this famous Japanese restaurant that is only in Boston and New York, and I had wanted to go to it the day before but knew it'd be a bad idea with Tess, but also realized they had a location at the Market and while there we could get something for the kids as well. Score!
And what did my precious children choose to order? MACARONI AND CHEESE of course.
What the what!? I mean, seriously. Well, the boys each gobbled there's all up and Tess ate probably 1/3 of hers, and Spencer finished the rest, so I guess it was okay. But still.
We had to eat outside because there was just no room inside. Fortunately, the sun was out and we were protected from the wind in this spot!
While I waited for what felt like forever for the 4 orders of mac and cheese to be done (and I will say this - it was pretty dang good mac and cheese), Lance got our orders from Wagamama. We started with a couple of pork belly buns that were DIVINE. I didn't get a picture because they were too dang good. If I ever get a chance, I'm making a meal out of those, that's how good they were. I had the chicken ramen, and it was delicious! The perfect thing on a cold day in Boston! I know it sounds silly to eat Japanese food in Boston, but it really was awesome and I'd totally do it again if given the chance.
After we were all filled up, we hoofed it up to the Paul Revere house. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but it was about what you'd expect: dark rooms, lots of wood, old furniture, that sort of thing. They had a few original pieces of Revere furniture that were really quite pretty. Fun fact: when Paul Revere bought this house it was already 90 years old. Also fun fact: Paul Revere had two wives, and each wife had 8 kids. SIXTEEN KIDS. And 11 survived to adulthood. They said on average there were 5-9 kids living in that house, plus other relatives, at any given time. Crowded.
Final fun fact: all the heavy carbs eaten at lunch destroyed Josh; he could hardly function. And Tess fell down the stairs in the Paul Revere visitors center and I was outside and could hear her howling (with Lance) from inside. Fun times.
As we walked from the Revere house to the famous Revere statue, we stopped at a 7-Eleven on the way and got everyone a Slurpee. It was a wise move, and everyone brightened up after a good dose of sugar! (Or caffeine, in the case of my Diet Dr. Pepper!)
A nice girl took our picture in front of the statue, and while we look great it looks as if Paul has a horse head.
Then we walked over the the Old North Church. I am loving those pew boxes. Think of how easy it would be to contain children in one of these during Sacrament meeting?! I'm talking to the bishop about this next week... ;)
The kids thought it was pretty cool, too. Okay, maybe not cool, but funny. They were in good moods and got a kick out of this odd (to them) church.
It really was quite pretty inside.
Next, we went next door to some famous chocolate shop. Well, it called itself famous, I had never heard of it. We got to see how colonists made chocolate and what they used it for, and we got to taste some of their spiced drinking chocolate and it was SO GOOD. But not $22 good, which was the price of a canister of the stuff, the size of which would last approximately one morning in my house.
Okay, so for the past month I have been teasing Josh about the Great Molasses Flood. He had been trying to come up with a topic for History Fair and I wanted him to choose that, but he just wouldn't. Well, I secretly found out where the flood actually happened and learned there was a plaque there to commemorate it. And when I realized we were only .3 miles away from it, there was no way we were not going to visit.
I didn't tell him that's where we were going, so it was fun to watch his reaction when he figured it out. Hah!
This was right on the water, so it was pretty windy and cold, but the kids really wanted to play on the playground for a bit. Then Josh HAD to go to the bathroom RIGHT THEN. But the nearby public toilet was broken. So we started trekking back to the subway.
But, for most of that day I had seen people walking around with Mike's Pastry boxes. Like, lots and lots of people. And I got the feeling that Tess and I really missed out on something the day before when we popped in for that dang cookie. Since Mike's was on the way to the station we decided to stop in for some cannoli, which is what they're famous for.
REALLY famous for. The line was out the door! But a local kid who was in front of us told us it was worth the wait and that it wouldn't take more than 10-15 minutes. So we decided to stay and wait and maybe find a bathroom for Josh. Only, once we got inside we discovered there were no public bathrooms. Dang it! So Lance was sent off with Josh, Tess, and Spencer to find a bathroom, while Cole and I waited to order our cannoli. The bakery had all sorts of fabulous looking desserts and pastries, and although it was super crowded it was also fun to watch everything that was going on. All the women who worked up front had heavy Italian accents, so I'm assuming that means it was all authentic, right?
We finally got our box of 6 cannoli and met up with the rest of the gang and headed home for a little rest before dinner. We actually didn't eat the cannoli until just before bed.
Tess didn't care for hers, but everyone else liked them. I had chocolate ricotta, and it was so yummy!
For dinner that night I found a place called The Back Deck. It wasn't too far off the beaten path, they had a decent kid menu, a great looking adult menu, and it didn't look like it would break the bank. It turned out to be really good! No pictures, but it was fun inside, decorated like we were on a deck, and we sat on nice patio furniture. And guess what - they didn't even have mac and cheese on the menu and no one died without it. Hah!
That night the kids were really wound up on the way home. They had fun running through the empty tunnels on our way down to the subway.
(A bit too wild - we had to keep getting after them while on the platform. My kids don't seem to have any idea that what they do impacts others, and that they need to have consideration and respect for others while out and about. I don't know how many times I had to say "WALK ON THE RIGHT" to those children as they basically made everyone walk around them. Tess almost ran an old lady into the road doing this. My blood pressure is rising just thinking about it. Gah! I'm gonna teach them this if it kills me. It is killing me. Oy.)
We got home, changed into jammies, finished a little packing, ate dessert, and then it was off to bed because we had a super early flight to catch the next morning.
