Snot & Buffalo

"MOM!!! THE BUFFALO SNOT ON YOUR CAR!"  is the first thing out of my son's mouth when I walked into my mom's house to pick him up on Thursday.

Rewind.  Mom has a new car.  It has 600 miles on it.  Insert "I'm taking your son on a Safari on Thursday, can we borrow your car?"      My first thought: I guess, since it has 155,000 miles on it (almost), if it gets a couple of extra scratches it's not a problem.  If a Buffalo charges into it, bonus, insurance money for a new car (of course, I'd hate that, since then I'd have a new car payment and this one is paid off.   But I digress.)

My vehicle, did, in fact, have buffalo snot on/in it.   See for yourself: 

Large Buffalo, with lots of snot leaving capabilities.

My mother pointed out that I should be grateful she vacuumed out the car before I got there, as there was a LOT of carrot crumbs on the *everything*.    Oh, but not just Buffalo snot, there's more!

Like. Giraffe slobber!  Hooray!

You can actually see where my window is half open here. 
That's as they were closing it, the head (above) was inside my car. 
Go ahead!  Clean those windows!  Please, don't forget the Windex!

On the plus side, mom washed my windows (and the side of my car  - errr, both sides of my car) to get said SNOT off - but only after I was able to see the fun sloppy goodness. 


I'm sure if I were driving a Honda Fit, they would have put this llama in the trunk.
(Only funny if you remember the old ads for the Honda Fit.)



Source



Wahhhhh, llama faaace!   (Only one of my favorite sayings,
and it's totally appropriate for this post!  For the win!)src

Janice and Gina went along on the Safari too.

A nice picture of Ares and Grandma at Marble Head after the Safari

Foods Kids Hate to Eat

I know today is talk like a pirate day, but while I'd tried to make this sound all Piratey (yes, that's a word - today, at least), it didn't really work out. So on to a normal blog.  Foxnews had a nice article today on foods that kids hate to eat.  Just last night, I was wondering how my kid compares to others in the foods that they eat, I know better than some of his friends.  Ares had steak, corn and potatoes at Aunt Cindy's house for dinner. Adam and I ate late, but Ares was still awake and he still wanted to share our meal with us.  What did we have.....?


Birds Eye Chicken Florentine

 I didn't give him any of the squash (although, I wish I would have), but he ate up the spinach.  I guess it's pretty exciting to hear "BOING!" each time a spoonful is ingested (the sound of muscles growing, just like Popeye's - who Ares has never heard of - doesn't matter). 

The article goes on talking about eggs (kid won't touch - any kind of egg), brussels sprouts (we've never tried), broccoli (his favorite), spinach, (check), asparagus (as long as it's not too soggy), fish (no problem), avocado (his first food, and he's a fan of guac), cottage cheese (loved it as a baby, haven't tried recently).   I can add one thing to the list, that my kid won't eat, and that's Chinese.  He used to, but on Monday, he wouldn't touch it. 
Alrighty, I realize I am a lucky mommy.  One of my friends has a kid who will eat a whopping 10 things.  If we have a #2, who bets that's the case? 

We're excited for our bicycle bender this weekend - AND to have Grandma Jean and Papa Jim come stay with us for a few nights!   Happy Hump Day everyone!  Aaarrrgh!

A Nice 50k

Not 50k as in $50k (although, an extra $50k would be nice to have), or 50k as a typical daily bicycle ride for Adam, this is a 50k as in an ULTRA marathon - 31 miles.  Why would someone want to do something like this?  They're crazy.  Never saying no to a challenge, they all admit they are not right in the head.  At least they realize it. 

Aaron wanted to organize a 50k to celebrate his 30th birthday.   He put the route together to look like a flower or clover, with many legs of the race all starting and stopping in one central location.  This was to minimize the number of water places needing to be set up.  (Genius!)

The morning started off cold.  Around 45*, maybe a little warmer, not much.  Everyone started off with hats, gloves, long sleeves and some running headlamps, as it was a trail run and still dark out.  Ares and I got everyone ready, and then drove to the first water spot to set up the food, water, Gatorade, Kleenex/wipes station.  They  hit that station at mile 4 and at mile 9.   After the last person (of 6) hit that station, I drove to the central start/stop place to set up again.  There, the group got all of their food and water.

After the first 13 miles. The runners started taking off their
hats/jackets/pants as the weather was warming up.

Each time they made it to the end of the route, they'd wait for the others before they'd start the next portion.  Some parts of the run, people would join them for a leg or two - not doing the entire 50k, but portions of it.   This is why the "Nice" was added to the title.  Adam said it was a nice leisurely pace, and an all around "FUN" run. He really enjoyed himself.  I wouldn't say that his legs didn't tighten while waiting for others to finish, or that his body didn't hurt the rest of the evening, but he got lucky in he didn't get any blisters, there were no injuries, no running until he was sick - or anything.   Darah (Davis' mom) ran the entire thing too, along with one of Aaron's friends James. 


The four 50k finishers Adam, James, Darah and Aaron, the birthday boy (sitting).

Ares stayed with me from 5 AM until about 10:30, when my mom picked him up. I feel bad for complaining after all these guys did, but I had stood for 9 hours, a lot of that organizing, cleaning and playing with Ares, that my body hurt after the day was over too! I can only imagine what these guys felt like.

I did get a second away from playing with my designated
matchbox car to take a picture of him before he left.

I'm so happy that Adam was able to not only finish (yes, he was worried, no, I never was) and that he enjoyed himself.  Not so happy that Adam now has two more friends who are crazy and want to do lots more of these crazy stunts (not necessarily 50k's).  Ah well, to each their own. 

Brent & Em's Wedding

You know, sometimes there are weddings that kids are invited to?  This one, there had to have been 20 kids under the age of 6.  And some weddings there's always the little boy who is in the center of attention and is a ham?  Yep, that was my kid this past Saturday.   Random Ares things:

• He followed the bride and groom around while they were talking to each table. Cute, right? Oh yeah, he had a glass and a fork to bang together to make sure they kissed - often.
• After a few minute, he got bored because they stopped kissing so much.  He treks back to our table with a '*humph* they don't kiss anymore'.
• He was one of the first on the dance floor - running, spinning, sliding, and falling like a maniac.
• He followed the bride around like a lost puppy. He had SUCH a big crush. 
• He called the bride "Miss Emily" or "That pretty girl" all night.
• During the conga, my son was immediately behind the bride, followed by the Groom. 
• During a dance where the bride and groom were in the center of a circle (of 40 people or so):  My son jumped in front of the groom to dance with the bride, totally pushing him away to dance with her. 
• He patiently waited in line for the dollar dance - to pay and get a dance, not like he hadn't danced with her 25 times already (not bad for a wedding of 300). 
• He ate about a lb of candy from the candy bar provided,  plus 3 pieces of broccoli for dinner.  Parents. Of. The. Year.

Yes, I wish I were kidding.  I am not.  See for yourself.

Do you see the glass in his right hand?  See, not exaggerating.

Adam actually caught him mid-spin.  One of my fav. pictures of the night.

SOO many kids.  I think Ares said it was the best night in his entire life.

Maniac!

Sorry Brent, this is my girl tonight!

Of course, mommy and daddy had some fun too =) 

5K - Kind of? August is what?!

Wait, August is over?  What?!?  OMG, what did I do this month?  What have I done in the past two weeks?  School has started!? (OK, this I know, because it takes me longer to get to work in the mornings now, with all the extra teacher traffic.)  Is this what happens when you get older? Time seems like it goes faster and you can't remember what you wore yesterday, or is that just me?

Last weekend was pretty crazy.  Adam ran the Warrior Dash again this year, long story (read: frustrating)  why I didn't run this year, but I got to watch him, it looked like lots of fun.   In fact, I was so frustrated that I didn't run that 5K, that I got on the treadmill on Monday and vowed to run my own 5K. And. I. Did.  I ran the whole damned 3.1 miles on the treadmill - without stopping.  I've never run for that long straight, without walking for 30 seconds here or there - and never on a treadmill, but I just slowed the pace down (a lot) and had a good book ready (on the Kindle), and I methodically pounded the proverbial pavement for 36 minutes - no rests or stops.  Yes, 36 minutes for a 5K is long, I probably could have done it in a shorter time if I ran faster, and then did walk for a minute once or twice, but still, I ran non stop and I've never done that.  (The next day, I ran 2.54 miles).  The past few days I haven't gotten a lunch at work, so I haven't run at all - maybe this afternoon??

After Warrior Dash, Adam and I hosted a 30th birthday party for Cristal.  Her family was in town, and her hubby wanted to throw her a party, and our house is a great house for a party, and everyone (including us) had a great time. 

I've got stuff to make a new art project.  I'm not going to show it on here, because if it works out, it might lead to some other ideas for Christmas gifts.  The only clue is the paint is cheap, but the canvas is expensive!!  Time consuming, but fun.  Don't Google that, it won't get you anything.    Plus, we decided on going with Rustoleum for finishing the dining room table (and by 'finish' I mean 'start').  Lots of projects to do!!

Off to Cinci again this weekend.  One thing I really hate - packing.  Mostly because I don't like any of my clothing choices (or  how any of my clothes fit me), but I really hate packing, picking things out that I might want to wear a few days in advance really sucks.   Ah well, good times to come this weekend - family reunion! 

Cinci-Fabulous

Ugh, it's Monday, I'm psyched to be at work (can you tell, I'm taking a break to write a blog post), but I'm excited to put up pictures of this last weekend in Cincinnati.  The drive down was horrible.  I mean, never-drive-down-again long.   I'm hoping it was because we left Cleveland around 2:20 and there's more traffic around that time (and 4:30 in Columbus, 7:30 in Cincinnati) that it took us 5.5 hours to get there. 

We camped on the sand volleyball court in my in-laws front yard (overgrown, so all grass, but still very soft).  The first night Ares slept all by himself in his own tent - and didn't wake up once.  The second night he slept on the floor in ours. Both nights we had a fabulous bon-fire with plentiful drinks, food, company, etc.

We brought Davis and his parents (Darah and Devon) down with us this time, to go to the Entertrainment Junction's Everything Thomas exhibits.  (BTW, it's nearly the same as any other month, just with a couple of extra trains that have Thomas on it, kind of disappointing for us adults, but still very exciting for 3 year olds - which, was the only reason we were there). 

We, of course, made use of the zip line a couple of times.   Good stuff, that was.   Ares went down only twice, both times on his own though.  SUCH a big boy!  Davis went down twice too, on Devin's lap, maybe next time he'll go on his own.

Sunday morning we hit up the Newport Aquarium, watched the 'Penguin Parade', and enjoyed the sea life.  The boys, (of course) had a great time.  No surprise, it's a very nice aquarium. 



Ares picked a penguin, and chased it while it swam - for 10 minutes.
Probably the highlight of his Aquarium experience.



"I touched a fin!" and then he was done, no interest in feeling more.

Playing Frogger DDR style

Crocodiles Under there



They love to run around and see the colors behind their 'shadows change

Sunday evening Adam had to go switch cars with my mom again, and then change something or other on his Jeep - while I entertained Ares, put him to bed, and then read.  It was a nice evening, and a great weekend!

Future Play Room

I think I want Ares' playroom to be orange.  It can't be this bright color (or peachy color) that you see in the picture, but more of a burnt orange color (so it can not clash with the bright blue dining room it will be connected to).  I haven't brought this up to Adam yet, so who knows what he will think, but it looks fun, right?  

Fireworks

So we missed any 4th of July firework show (outside of what people in the neighborhood were shooting off) but managed to make it to a Friday night Indians game for the fireworks.   Ares had been looking forward to the baseball game for a few days, so when I got to his school to pick him up Friday evening, it took 0.6 seconds to get him out of the gym, into his classroom to pick up his things (more shark-week stuff) and hustle him out the door. 

He remembered the last Indians game we went to (August of last year) so much that he told me that the big baseball field is where they have green ketchup (or, what other people might call 'relish') hehehe. 

We walked into the stadium, got about 40 or 50 feet in before he saw the first food stand. *GASP*  "Ketchup and Mustard!" *jumping up and down*.   He didn't ask for anything, he was just excited to see it.

We had to wait in line to get wristbands so we could get our free food (last year it was hotdogs, pop, potato salad and chips, this year it was chips, popcorn and peanuts, the line for the drinks was so long, we actually preferred to buy them elsewhere, ridiculous), but we ended up buying nachos (for me, of course), hotdogs, drinks and popcorn for the boys.  It was also a bobblehead day (for Progressive employees, otherwise, it was on Sunday), The day was a little rainy, but we were lucky to have tickets underneath an awning and stayed dry the whole game.   The tickets came pre-loaded with $10 on them (each) so we didn't even spend the entire amount. 

Ares was amazing.  He yelled at the baseball players "Go Michael Go!" and "Defense!", sat still (for a 3 year old) and didn't ask for much at all.  He was just excited to be there.  We stayed the entire game, plus watched the fireworks.  

We got lost trying to get to an area (outside the park) to watch the fireworks, and ended up waling through an alleyway near the field and ended up right next to the security tape that doesn't let anyone closer because of firework debris.  We were literally 30 feet away (and about 2 stories lower) than where they were lighting the fireworks from.  It felt like we were in the show (even dodging a few embers here and there).  It was the first year Ares didn't like the entire show, he said the "screamers" were too loud for him.  I had to agree, being that close made it hurt my ears, it was only about 25 seconds of the show, and the rest were awesome.  Best fireworks show I've ever seen.  At first I was upset with Adam wanting to leave the park to watch the show, especially once three streets were blocked off, but, as usual with him, it ended up perfectly.  It's better to be lucky than good is his mantra, and it works well for all of us. 

This was as we were walking to the fireworks. 
We ended up being so close
we had to lay down to watch.

Saturday it rained most of the day, aside from my cousin's garage sale (where Adam bought an expensive camera lens), a wedding shower (at a very nice restaurant) and a late night bonfire, we didn't do much.  I did get my recent Pinterest Project up on the wall:

Shoe box lids covered in material and painted to match the wall.

The bonfire was a little crazy, a whopping 6 people (including ourselves) finished 8 bottles of beer, a mini-keg and a box of wine.  Most of us weren't feeling normal the next day, haha. 

Sunday was a good family/lazy day.  Adam and Ares went 'fishing' (which means Ares fished for 5 minutes and then played with the rocks, I read, and Adam fished.)  We later played at the park by the lake.   Does anyone know how to rotate pictures on Blogger?   Did you have a fun weekend? 

Sleep? What's that?

While I soooo wish we can blame my lack of sleep on a new baby, I must say that instead, these damned Summer Olympics are killing us.  Adam and I had both been looking forward to these games, for months, but now that they're actually here - oh man, we're sleep deprived.   I hope, now that most of the swimming is done, volleyball and soccer are nearly finished and (my favorite) gymnastics is finished with, we can get back to 'normal' in our house.  I have so many projects to start/finish at the house, I need my evenings/nights back!!

Thanks for Asking

Yesterday, after I asked him if he wanted a cookie, he said yes, then noticed it wasn't chocolate, so he said "No, I don't want a cookie, thanks for asking" and handed it back to me (and didn't ask for something else!!).   If my 3 year old can stay this polite throughout his life, I will be one happy mama. 

Sitting in the car, after a few minutes of silence, Ares says "Mom, my balls are sweating."  I've never heard him use that term before, so I looked back, and he holds up a bounce ball in each hand, and says "See, they're sweating".   After explaining to him that it was his hand that was sweating, that people, not objects sweat, he thrusts his hands out and says, (very impatiently).  "No, look mom, my balls are wet, they're sweating."    I stand corrected.  At least life is never boring around him!

Just added:   Mommy!  I'm farting fire!