Zane's 8th Birthday!

We celebrate Zane's 8th birthday today with a ice cream sundae party. Zane wanted to open presents first and we happily obliged.

 I let Zane pick out all the toppings and ice cream for his party. Cookies and Creme and Mint Chocolate Chip were the flavors he went with.

Then he got to go to a Aquasox game to celebrate. We got them really good seats and it seems like the game is going well! Happy Birthday buddy!

8 and 4 Year Old Well Child Checks

 Took Gwen and Zane in for their well child checks. Everything was going quite well with them although we had a few concerns that I needed to talk to the doctor about. Remember how I said my kids were acting off since the return from vacation? Well they were still off and added to that Reid had slept horribly.

The appointment started with the normal height and weight checks. Both kids are growing like weeds and I was happy to see them holding steady in their growth curves.

Gwen
Height: 41.75" (86%)
Weight: 39 lbs. 3 oz (79%)

Zane
Height: 55" (98%)
Weight: 78 lbs. 9 oz (96%)

I wanted to talk to the doctor about Gwen's pigeon toes. She has been walking with her toes in for quite some time and it was stressing me out. Fortunately the doctor said that it didn't seem terribly bad and she feels like it will probably resolve itself in the next few years. Children's hospital won't even do anything for it until they are closer to 6 years old. Gwen also got her kindergarten shots and took them like an absolute champ. Not even a tear from her!

Zane was up next. He has always been a bleeder and gets really bad nose bleed quite often. So I mentioned it to the doctor and she recommended that we get some blood work done to see if there was anything strange going on with him. Then Zane got a wart froze. No big deal. He has had them frozen for the last few months and tolerates it pretty well. I should mention that the rest of the kids are pretty much running amok in the exam room. Lucy is not listening at all, marching to the beat of her own drum and Oliver is crabby, having been woken up from a nap to go to the doctor's in the first place. Andrew is sitting being mellow for the most part. We get done with Zane's appointment and head to the lab to have the blood drawn.

Remember how I said that Reid hadn't slept well? I think it all hit him at once. He had been a whirlwind in the office but I thought that the change of scenery would do him good and the lab usually is pretty fast. The next 20 minutes are somewhat a blur. And by blur I mean I may have blacked them out because they were so horrid. First there is a fight over who is sitting where. Kids find a seat only to decide that some other chair is better, especially when some siblings butt is in it. Reid is by far the worst offender and begins hitting any sibling that won't move. Lucy is a close second and Zane is not far behind. They both whined and fussed and fought with everyone they could. At this point Oliver is also screaming so I am holding him, doing the sway/bounce to try and keep him calmed down. I finally go and sit down with him and pull Reid on my lap. Reid has decided that he wants my seat now and Oliver off my lap entirely. I tell him no and he begins to pinch and hit me. Andrew offers to take Oliver and I pull Reid on my lap. More pinching and hitting. I grab Reid's hands to restrain them and be begins to slam his head back into my chest and kick me. I get him calmed somewhat and try to set him on the seat next to me. The pattern begins again. Now I am holding Reid like an octopus with my leg slung over his body so he can't kick with his hands/arms restrained with my arms and hugging him tight so he can no longer head butt me. 

The lab tech finally comes out and calls Zane's name. I ask Zane if he wants me to come and he shakes his head no. I breathe a sigh of relief that we are almost done and can get out of there! A very short time later Zane comes back out with the lab tech and says with a smirk 'We need to come back a different day.' I said, 'Oh no! What happened? Could they not find a vein?' The lab guy looks at me and said, 'No, he said it hurts too much and he wants to try a different time.' At this point my head might have come off my shoulders and spun around a few times. I said, 'OH NO we will not Zane Elliot! I am not coming back and doing this again. We will get this done today!' And I proceeded to drag my 78 pound almost 8 year old back to the booth and hold him down so he could get his blood drawn. End result: the blood got drawn and this goes down in the history books as my most difficult trip to the doctor ever. 

The Fair

We headed to the Evergreen State Fair this week to round out our summer of adventures. The day was... rough. I think the kids are having a rough adjustment back from vacation and the excitement/stress of school starting is really coming out. I knew it was going to be a hard day when Reid wouldn't even let my mom get him dressed or put on his shoes. He didn't want me to do it, he just didn't want it done at all. Normally he will defer to grandma and all will go smoothly. Not this day. No he threw a fit and I ended up wrestling him like an alligator to get him dressed. He fell asleep on the way to the fair, 9:45 am. This was also not a good sign.

If it had only been Reid that was out of sorts we would have had a hard day but with a stroller for he we would have made it through. Unfortunately Zane, Lucy and Gwen all decided to join the fussy/whiny party and the day went as it did.

It wasn't in our top 3 of trips to the fair.

The best part of the fair was when we went to see the horses and Reid found this miniature horse that he loved. He kept calling 'hi horsey! hi horsey!' and he was so excited to pet it. Andrew and Zane decided that we need to get a miniature horse for the front yard. I told them that the poop level would be beyond anything they wanted to deal with. That put them off the plan pretty quickly.

By the end of the day everyone was hot, sweaty, tired and grumpy. Four of my children fell asleep on the drive home. That almost never happens. We will try the fair again next year with ideally much better results!

Farewell Breakfast

The kids programming staff eats breakfast with the kids on the last day. It is a huge treat for the kids and they look forward to it every year.

Zane sat with Granny and Andrew sat with Boomer.

Lucy and Gwen were in the same class. They ate breakfast with Strider. He was quite a hit with all the little girls.

Oliver and Reid both were in the nursery group. The teachers rotate so they both had Nicole a time or two in class. The staff for the kids program is amazing. So much energy and they make the week a LOT of fun for the kiddos.

Can't wait until we come back next summer! 

Low Tide Exploring

Haystack Rock is a wonderful place to explore at low tide. When there is a negative tide there are 'Rocky Shore Interpreters' on scene to help explain about the ecosystem that exists and how it functions.

Walking around this area is like exploring the touch pool at the aquarium on steroids. There was so much to see and we had never taken the time to get down to the rock when the tide was low. We learned our lesson about a mile long walk in the wind with lots of little feet so this time we decided to drive to the public parking area. It was still a solid 10 minute walk but so much closer than the conference center.

Lucy as always was thrilled with the sea life. She just loves to look at and touch the creatures. She didn't even seem to mind the cold so much while we were there.

Andrew found some tiny little fish in one tide pool.

A very nice woman offered to take our whole families photo. I should have her come around more often because in two tries she managed to get a photo of my whole crew looking. That is nothing short of miraculous!

Eric was a master explorer and he even managed to get Reid to touch some stuff. Pretty impressive for sure.

Reid has two favorite sayings right now. The first is 'My like it' or 'My no like it' depending on the situation. Usually we hear 'my like it' when he wants some type of food to eat or something to drink. This does not necessarily mean he actually does 'like' it.  Quite often 'my like it' is swiftly followed by 'my no like it' and a mouthful of food ends up in your hand.  Reid second favorite phrase is 'zep' This is a cross between yes and yep and I have no idea why he puts the 'z' in there. It is completely adorable and I will be very sad indeed when he out grows that particular mispronunciation.

Of course Reid was also not an ecologist dream at the touch pool. He didn't grab anything and rip it off a rock but there may or may not have been a large family of sea anemones that he stepped on several times. Water could have shot out of them... a lot.

Andrew thought that this cave looked like a really fun one to go explore. Not really my thing but I bet he could con his dad into it if it wasn't completely against the rules.

Even the Ollie boy enjoyed Haystack. He has been so happy this trip in the Ergo. I have used it more with him than with any other baby. I think he is going to be happy to be carted around in it for a long time.

One thing Reid did not like about the rock was walking to it and away from it and getting sand in his shoes. Thankfully we parked much closer because Eric had to carry him all the way back to the van like a sack of potatoes.

Cannon Beach Carnival!

Thursday is Carnival day! And this year the theme was County Fair. There were lots of inflatables to play on and lots of fun games to play with prizes to win.

Andrew climbed the 'rock' wall. He gets his thrill seeking nature from his dad. Because those things terrify me!

 Zane won a door prize with his ticket. He got to spin the prize wheel and his choice of a gift certificate was for either a caramel apple, a smoothie or two cotton candies.

I think it is pretty clear which one he decided to take...

They even had a fun version of angry birds with stuffed animals. It was a huge hit. And since my boys really love the game they played it more than once.

Reid even played some games and was thrilled to get a balloon sword that he almost instantly popped on purpose.

Can you believe Zane powered through two giant cotton candies with almost no help? Yeah, I didn't think that was possible either until I saw it with my own two eyes. Oliver was mellow the whole time. He was such an easy baby for this trip.

 Right after the carnival was the carpetball tournament. The boys both played and had fun, even though they didn't win.

I even tried it out today and let me tell you it was so much fun! I really enjoyed playing and even won a couple of times. Now to find the space in my house for a carpetball table. Hmmmm...

Fort Clatsop Part 2

 The fort also had a Junior Ranger program that the boys decided to participate in. There was a workbook with many activities and things to find outside on the various trails.

 Andrew and Zane both buckled down and finished their workbooks so they could be sworn in as Junior Rangers.

When we got back to the visitor center they were still doing face painting so Gwen got a unicorn just like Lucy.

 And the boys were sworn in by Ranger Patricia who was so excited to have them complete the program.

 She even announced them to the visitor center as the newest Junior Rangers. Zane was curious and slightly embarrassed. Andrew was mortified.

But now they can get stamps and patches at any National Parks we go to which is very fun and cool.