rainy weekend in the mountains

The weekend after Dexter’s birthday, we met up with my family at a cabin in Pigeon Forge.  I had big dreams of taking the boys on their first hike but the weather did not cooperate. We found plenty of other ways to have a good time. We got to the cabin late Thursday night.

Just in case we weren’t sure of our location, this friendly corn snake showed up early Friday morning to remind us that we were, indeed, in the woods and in the mountains.  

Paparazzi.
Friday we went to Dollywood.  It was fun to go as a family and spend the day together. I had not been there with Malachi and Isabella since 2007.  Malachi (my nephew) is a ride-loving man while his big sis, Isabella, is a little more…. hesitant. 

Dexter and Theo love this ride, the Rockin’ Roadway.  They really think they’re doing something when they’re behind the wheel of these cute vintage cars.  The first time we went to Dollywood, there was definitely an adjustment curve for Theo, who does not necessarily agree with the policy that you do not get to choose the color of your antique car. Or your train car. Or the color of the hat on your Lucky Ducky. Or. Or. Or.  

Penelope’s first trip to Dollywood!

For some crazy reason, we decided to ride the River Rampage around 4 or 5pm.  Of course I brought a change of clothes for the boys but not so much for myself.  It was completely worth it to see Theo laughing hysterically every time one of us got soaked.  To add insult to injury, however, it started pouring rain about 3 seconds into the ride.  We hung out in this 50s diner to wait for the rain to let up.  It never did, they shut down all the big rides, and that was the end of our day at Dollywood. 
Saturday’s forecast gave me the blues, but we quickly came up with an alternate plan for something to see and do.  We went to Rainforest Adventures Discovery Zoo.  
A rare snuggly moment caught on film while we were getting ready to leave.

Can you see the excitement on Theo’s face (and in Dexter’s hands)?

This kid can sleep through anything.

Waiting for the show with Uncle Steve.

Malachi has such a sweet, nurturing spirit.  He is so kind to the boys and has the desire to hug them and hold them all the time.  Even now, despite the fact that they are getting a little hard to hold. 
See?

Theo has no fear.  He would have taken this huge snake home with us if we’d let him.

Dexter on the other hand… (or maybe his dad)… a little apprehensive.
Hi.

Afterwards, we ate at the Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant. It’s beautiful, but I neglected to get any photos of the exterior since it was raining. We waddled out to the car after eating too much and headed back to the cabin.  The rain stopped long enough for us to go on a walk down the quiet gravel road.

It’s safe to say that some of the boys’ favorite moments (and some of my favorite memories) of the trip happened on that walk, when we said “sure, go ahead and jump in those mud puddles.”  Why not?

We got their wet, muddy clothes off and hopped in the hot tub, which they absolutely loved!  

Baths, dinner, bed, and these boys didn’t last 5 minutes after the lights went out!
Sunday we had to check out by 10 so we got up, packed up, loaded up, and moved out. 

Backpack on.  Kanky Blanky & Bun-Bun in hand. Ready to go.

All in all, the weather stunk.  Regardless, we still had such a fun time (and p.s. I highly recommend the Mountain Music cabin despite our slithering visitor).  Already missing my people and anxious to see them all again.
xo,
~C~

strawberries & fire trucks: 2013

I always think about why I started this blog…so I could go back and re-read the things I knew I’d forget and to have a place where I can organize my photos into a virtual scrapbook.  It’s all about preserving the memories.

Tonight, I look back 52 weeks to the 2012 White River Township Strawberry Festival HERE.  Theo certainly looks small in these pictures, but little Dexter was just under 13 months old a year ago.  Now at almost 25 months, he’s a completely different little person who is developing his own interests, talking, running, asking good questions, saying cute and funny things, and peeing and pooping in the potty on a fairly regular basis.  He’s still the happiest boy you’ll ever meet and still loves to eat whatever you put in front of him…but the pictures from a year ago are kind of a sad reminder that he’s really not a little baby anymore.  Still my little boy, but he’s growing up fast.  They both are.

And with that sentimental interlude out of the way, let’s talk about tonight.  The 21st Annual White River Township Fire Department Strawberry Festival.  Ever since I realized this was coming up, I have been so looking forward to going again with the boys.  Dexter enjoyed it last year, but this year I knew he would like it even more.  And all Theo has been talking about is strawberry shortcake!

If I’d had it my way, we would have just followed that fancy homemade sign right on in to the school cafeteria but nooooo, these kids wanted to see some fire trucks.  Alright, alright. 

Every time Dexter got in or near one of the fire trucks, he asked “how do we turn it on?”  Not sure if he was talking about the lights and sirens or if he was just ready to take these trucks for a spin around the block.

Dear Fire People:  Sorry about all your settings on every single truck.  You really shouldn’t let little kids climb up in there if you’re expecting things to be the same when you get back in… this kid is a dedicated switch-flipper, a knob-turner, and a button-pusher!

Oh nothin…just talkin’ about brother stuff.  

“How do we turn it on?”

Isn’t he huge?  Absolutely, positively giant?  I’m sure I won’t think so when I look back at these photos a year from now, but today…this kid is huge.  And this is probably my favorite pic of the night. P.S. He’s huge.

Free entertainment. 

Dexter is such a little hot body.  See how red his face gets when he plays?  He’s always been hot-natured, even as a newborn.  That’s definitely something he gets from his dad. He needed a stroller & water break from the bouncy slide.

I finally convinced them to go with me to get some grub and we ran into our friends.  Dexter was lying down with his head on B’s stomach being all cute, and of course he gets up as soon as I grab my camera. STORY OF MY LIFE!

Same yummy food this year.  Neither of the boys could get enough corn on the cob.  

Or this yummy goodness.  I mean, really. It was SO good. 

“Hold me.” 

After we ate, we hurried back outside to watch the extrication demonstration. The firefighters and paramedics removed the glass from the windows and used the jaws of life to cut a “victim” out of a van that had JUST crashed. (Not really, duh).  Complete with Lifeline helicopter rescue. Pretty cool demo.

Theo grabbed a spot on the grass as soon as the helicopter landed and watched the EMS people load their “victim” into the chopper.  It took off, circled around, came back, and landed so we could take a closer look.

The boys’ pretty little friend, M, was the only one who cooperated for pictures sitting on the side of the helicopter. The boys were a little too interested in all those knobs and buttons.

We love that this festival is held at an elementary school where we can take advantage of the awesome playground amenities.

As our friends left to head home, Theo said he wanted to go down “that red slide.”  When we walked over to it, he stood there, kicking the mulch.  I said, “Theo, what’s wrong? Go down the slide.”  He looked up at me, exhausted, and said quietly, “let’s just go home.”  
What a fun-filled evening!  I hope this will become an annual family tradition. I plan on going every year until the boys tell me they don’t like it anymore.  And friends?  That will be a sad, sad day.
That day is not today, so happy weekend!
xo, 
~C~

blue in the face

That’s how much we’ve talked about this daycare situation.  Til we’re blue in the face.

Pretty shortly after our babysitter told us she’s closing, I came to the conclusion that I did not want to go the home babysitter route going forward.  Nothing against her or the experience we’ve had there.  To the contrary, actually.  For one, she has been unbelievably reliable and has exceeded all of our expectations.  She doesn’t turn the t.v. on and sit them in front of it. EVER. She has had a schedule/routine and planned-out days since the boys were both infants and has tailored learning activities to their level ever since. I don’t expect to find any of that with another home babysitter.  And there’s the obvious possibility of another babysitter deciding that this is something she no longer wants to do. I don’t want to risk putting ourselves in this situation again.  We accepted that we were vulnerable to that possibility when we chose a home babysitter, but I think that it had worked out so well up to this point that we never considered her closing a potential problem.

But.  She is doing what she has to do for her family as they move forward to the next stage of life.  So, since the decision has been made for us, it seems like the appropriate time to make the transition to a daycare/pre-school center.  We visited and toured 5 centers on Tuesday.  Two had waiting lists.  One of those two was immediately off the list because… well, it was disgusting.  I don’t know how or why any parent would feel good about dropping their child off there.  It was fine from the outside. Nice-looking brick building and playground in a fenced in area behind the building. The inside was gross, the staff seemed did not seem friendly, professional, or knowledgeable. The director’s office was repulsive.  I wanted to leave as soon as we walked through the front door.  So that was an easy cut.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the one that was probably our first choice was obviously the most expensive.  I don’t want to sound like a big cheap-o because OF COURSE their care, education, safety, and happiness is paramount and worth all the money in the world.  However, we do not possess all the money in the world and if we did, I sure as hell would not be working just to pay for their damn daycare.  Okay, got that out of my system.  So, that place is pretty much off the list.

Down to three.

One is an “educational center.”  It has an official pre-school program, before and after school care, and summer care for children up to age 12.  The kind of place where there is a sense of peace of mind just because it’s regarded in the community as a quality facility. We were not overwhelmed with warm fuzzies for the building or the director.  Upon further consideration, I think we decided the building was fine. The hang-up we had was that the 3yr olds and up basically shared one large open space that was more or less divided by coat racks and bookshelves.  Doesn’t seem like the most conducive environment for 3 year olds.  Aside from that, they have a waiting list.  The problem with the waiting list is that they can’t seem to be able to tell us how long the waiting list IS.  Are we talking weeks, months, or years? That’s all I want to know, so we can decide if this is even a real possibility. We don’t have 6 months to decide.  Obviously if we decide to go there, we will be on a waiting list so we need to figure out care in the interim.

The next viable option is an older facility that I have gotten a few mixed reviews on. A couple of people’s primary concern was that the building is not secure.  In other words, it was the only one out of five daycares that you can just walk right into and stroll through the building. Of course, they ask that you sign in when you get there but I had a friend who went there once and waited. And waited. Then wandered around the building looking for someone.  I’m just kind of picturing this place being ran by hippies. There’s a very different approach here.  It’s on 10+ acres, in the woods, and I think that makes it unique and special on it’s own. They do take some really neat field trips. They have a pool and in the summer, the kids get to swim 40 minutes a day. They do have an official pre-school program during the school year.  But the building.  I don’t know how else to describe it but dilapidated.  I imagine that the place needs some serious repairs.  Another parent took her child there 20 years ago and was not satisfied at all.  Valuable information since the place is family owned and operated and has been this entire time, but a lot can change in 20 years.  I wasn’t super duper encouraged by my limited interactions with the staff/teachers. They have programs for kids up to age 12, so summer care would not be a problem there even after they went to elementary school.

And finally, the third place was kind of a spur of the moment thing that I remembered as we were heading back home after seeing the other four places.  We were warmly greeted as soon as we walked in the door by the assistant director and she happily gave us a tour, was very knowledgeable, and spent a lot of time with us, explaining things and allowing us to observe the classes.  The kids were eating lunch and transitioning to naptime while we were there so we didn’t really observe any “teaching” but the staff were friendly and I liked the assistant director a lot.  Every place we went, I asked “will the boys ever see each other?” Most commonly, the answer was “in passing” or “not really.”  Um? These kids have been attached at the hip since the day Dexter was born. I’m having a hard time with this. I know it’s going to happen when Theo goes to Kindergarten but for Pete’s sake, that’s two years away.  At this last center, the assistant director smiled and nodded and said she understood. That if either of them seemed to be having a rough day, they would pull both of them and let them have some “brother time” to just play or be around each other.  Also, they would play together on the playground at the end of the day.  Negatives?  There’s no pre-school.  And there’s no care after Theo goes off to Kindergarten. So after he finished Kindergarten, we’d have to find some other new place to take both of them. I know it’s three years away and things might be different then, but it’s something we think about and consider.  The teachers are not degreed (licensed, I guess but don’t have college degrees).  I’m not saying someone needs to have a college education to be qualified to watch my kids, but this place was a little more expensive than the educational center that was accredited, etc., with degreed and licensed teachers that use specific curriculum in their classrooms.  I liked their outdoor play area better than any of the other centers, aside from the one on the huge wooded lot.  They don’t do any field trips.  I don’t think field trips are super important to me, I guess there are pros and cons to field trips. I kind of get the creeps thinking about anyone but me or someone very close to me driving my kids around and fastening them in carseats, etc.

Anyway — tough choices. I think we just need to go back and observe, interact, and spend some more time before we decide what to do.  How important is the secure entry?  Warm, fuzzy feeling from the staff?  Official pre-school program?  What are the requirements to call yourself a pre-school or can any facility say they have a pre-school? I have no clue.  We’re pretty lost.  We just keep talking and pushing and pulling and trying to figure out which one of our high priorities is our number one priority.

We will have to figure it out, and figure it out soon.  If not for the boys’ safety, educations, and happiness, then for my own sanity.  I didn’t know one lady could analyze, obsess, stress, or worry about something like this so much in one day.  For 5 days in a row. I need a resolution so I can rest a little bit.  This not knowing is going to drive me mad.

xo,
~C~