First day of camp...also, the arrival of Medusa

Andrew had a wonderful wonderful first day of camp. I signed him up again because it takes place in the elementary school that he will attend next year and it is full of kids from our school district. I chose to put him in a pre-school that is in the next district over, so I saw this camp as an opportunity for him to get used to the school and maybe meet some future classmates. I knew about 5 different kids who signed up for the camp, so I was certain he'd be with one of them.

Um, no. We walk in to the gym and as I sign the sheet I don't recognize any names on his list. Which is fine with me...he needs the experience of meeting new people...but I was worried how he'd react. I break the news to him and hold my breath as I wait for a response. He non-chalantly saunters over to his groups' table and I introduce myself to his counselors. He looks at the 3 kids that had already arrived, looks at me and says, "I don't know anybody here." No shit, Sherlock...didn't I just say that? Don't worry, that's not what I said...I said, "That's okay...why don't you go ask that boy if you can play checkers with him. His name tag says Ethan." And my baby, my little boy who a few years ago was nervous and shy and not confident in groups...he kissed me, walked over to the little boy and introduced himself. Then he slid into the seat across from Ethan and they started to play checkers. I was so so so proud of him. He continues to amaze me with what an absolutely fantastic person he is becoming. I will not worry about him in kindergarten now. We've prepared him. And when I went to pick him up 3 hours later, he didn't want to leave. He had so much fun. He told me as walked out to the car, "I had a great day, Mom. I made 2 new friends. Jack, like Jack and the Beanstalk, and John, like John Hopkins University." :) Cute, eh?

While he was at camp, I battled Medusa...you know, the evil creature with snakes for hair? Yah, she showed up at our house yesterday morning. Honestly, I am a very patient person. My kids irritate me, but they rarely get me to where I'm seeing red. I don't know what side of the bed Lily woke up on yesterday, but I think it was the side that empties into Greek mythology. She was a beast. Not happy about anything, constantly whining and screaming, shoving and pushing Michael around, begging me to play with her and then instantly getting angry when I did. Oh. My. God. An example of my entire morning is her asking for juice...here's the dialogue:

L- (whining) I want juice I want juice juice juice juice like A-ew has juice juice jui...
Me- How do you ask?
L- (screaming) PEEEEEEEEEEEASE JUUUUUUUUUUICE
Me- That's not a nice way to ask.
L- (whimpering) juice peese?
I get a plastic cup and put a lid on it. I hand it to Medusa...I mean, Lily.
L- (screaming) NOT DIS JUICE. A-EW JUICE. I WANT JUICE YIKE A-EW.
M- (trying to stay calm) It is juice like Andrew. He has a glass so you can see it, your cup is purple so you can't. But it is the same juice. (I take off the lid and show her).
L-(whining) I don't want juice yike dis. I want juice yike A-ew. (she shoves the cup so it tips over and spills a bit of the table.)
M- (taking the cup away and putting it by the sink) Okay, no juice for you. I have to put Michael down for a nap now.
L-(SCREAMING) I WANT MY JUICE. I YIKE MY JUICE. JUICE JUICE JUICE...

Lily screams bloody murder for the entire 10 minutes that it takes to put Mikey to bed. I come back downstairs and scoop her out of her chair. She is still screaming...in that octave that only Lily can reach. I hand her the juice cup and she drinks a bit while I'm holding her.

L- (softly) I go to bed now?
M-Yes, it is nap time. Finish your juice and we'll go upstairs and read a book.
L-(whining) I bring my juice?
M- No, sorry, it isn't a sippy cup. We have to finish it here.

Lily shakes the cup violently and begins screaming at the top of her lungs...some garblygoop that probably was related to wanting to bring her cup upstairs. I couldn't tell you, because my head was filled with rage. I snatched the cup out of her hand, put it in the sink, and carried her writhing body up to her room. I laid her down to change her diaper.

M- Lily, would you still like to read a book before nap?
L-I WANT MY JUICE I NEED MY JUICE JUICE JUICE JUICE
M- Lily take a deep breath. I'm going to ask you one more time...this is your last chance...do you want me to read you a book?
L-IWANTJUICEJUICEJUICEJUICE....(deep exaggerated breath)...yes book. Party book?

And we read Mo Willems*** book, "I was invited to a party" and she went peacefully to sleep. I went downstairs and took a Valium. Or a shot of whiskey. Or maybe I just had a glass of iced tea and did a science experiment with my 5 year old. No really, we were busy coloring carnations using food coloring. But whatev-

But that's just one example of Lily through the day. She was literally like that ALL DAY about EVERYTHING. When she wasn't screaming about an injustice, she was whining.

Today will be better...today will be better...today will be better.

***Sidenote: Mo Willems is my new favorite children's author. I may be WAY behind the trend here, and you're all thinking how out of touch I am. But in case you were living in a cave like me, please go check out one of his books. He has such humor in his text and illustrations...the kids are laughing out loud, I am laughing out loud. He obviously has had his own pre-school aged children, because he touches right on their funny bones. And the parents in the stories are HILARIOUS. Anyway...go get one...preferably from your local library...which you should be supporting. :)

Other things

So what else has been going on?

-Andrew had his first sleepover a few weeks ago. That's right, a sleepover for a 5 year old birthday. 6 boys. I told the mother over and over that she was crazy. Utterly crazy. I had six five year old boys over for 2 hours and thought I would die. I was positive Mr. Nerves wouldn't stay the night. I told him over and over that I would come and get him at any time of the night and then bring him back to have breakfast with everyone. Instead? He had a FANTASTIC time, as did all the other boys. And now Andrew thinks WE should have a slumber party. Um, no? I uttered the words I thought wouldn't be necessary until the teenage years, "Well, I'm just not as cool as Carter's parents."

-Lily is CRACKIN' us up with her psychotic mood swings and demanding presence. I feel like I should be more irritated than I am. But I strongly believe that she has the benefit of being our second child on this one. I just laugh at her most of the time (behind my hand...I wouldn't want to enrage the enraged one). Some highlights?

-----Many many of our battles are at mealtime. I asked her one day what she wanted for lunch. She yelled indignantly, "I don't want NOTHING!" I replied, "Okay, I'll make Michael macaroni and cheese and I won't make you anything." She screamed back, "I don't want ANYTHING, I want NOTHING!" Ugh.
-----We have flashes of her pre-teen self. One night after dinner she brought Jeff a book and asked him to read it. He pushed back his chair in order to share the book with her. She suddenly started screaming and pointing to all the family members, "YOU don't talk to me. YOU don't yook at me. YOU go away. YEAVE ME AYONE. JUST YEAVE ME AYONE." and she stormed out of the room and stood angrily with her hands on her hips. And the rest of us looked at each other rather bewildered at what kind of psychotic episode we'd just witnessed.
-----She likes to read books at night after I've put her to bed...and it stays light out well past her bedtime, so there is no need to put on a reading light. She went to bed a bit later than usual the other night, and when it got dark she started to cry. I went up to investigate and she said, "Mommy, will you turn on the window again so I can read?"
-----She asked me again to stop the rain. We were driving and she was apparently irritated by the rain hitting the windshield. Control freak.


-Michael is still not walking. He definitely could if he wanted to. He is crazy fast at crawling, so I don't see him being very motivated yet. I am ready for him to walk. I've never had a crawler in the summer, and it is seriously limiting my choice of parks to play at. Mulch=Ew, gross

-Michael is still not talking. He has this weird Arabic-sounding garble that he spits out. He definitely THINKS he is talking. He's even giving up the sign-language in favor of his made up language. Which is frustrating for everyone. We affectionately call him "Cave man".

-Despite not walking or talking, Michael is still showing he is figuring out this world around him. He loves to turn the tv off while his siblings are watching...and he does it for affect. He puts his finger on the button and turns to watch them while he turns it off...with an evil grin on his face. He love to pick up brushes and sprints to brush Lily's hair before she screams in protest. He finds pictures of dogs and points at them saying, "ook!" and then points directly to Shadow and says "ook!" again. He is watching everything we do and can mechanically figure out almost anything. Baby proofing that worked for 2 1/2 years in this house for Lily...Michael has destroyed in a few weeks. He has a 6th sense about open bathroom doors, gates taken down, open dishwashers. He is maddeningly persistent and observant and also maddeningly cute. He wrinkles his nose when he is especially laughing at you and gives the best open mouth kisses in town. He likes to "ickle ickle" your belly and legs. He loves to "help" me empty the dishwasher, thoughtfully taste testing each piece of silverware (Note: do not use the silverware at Giselle's house). He loves taking wet washcloths and wiping the floor and the table and especially Lily's face. God, we love him.

-Andrew starts camp today! 3 hours at his future elementary school doing crafts, playing games with the teenage counselors, playing in the sprinklers. I'm excited for him and terribly terribly nervous for myself. What to do with the 2 littles...what to do...at least they have started to play together. Nothing either of them likes more than a little wrestling. And Lily is really very gentle about it with Michael...it is so cute.

-Andrew refuses to read with me. He gets frustrated so easily with himself and just wants to be perfect at it right away. Which I understand intimately, since this is one of my greatest faults and why I've never really been great at anything. I hate seeing him inherit this trait. But I think he is so ready to read that he is just instinctively picking it up. I will spell things out to Jeff and half the time Andrew figures out what I'm spelling. And I catch him reading books to Lily sometimes...following the words with his fingers. And at the grocery! He is constantly checking with me to see if he's figured out the packaging..."Mom, does that say 'wild rice'?" So I know he's getting it...I'm just not sure how. :)

Enough. Time to get going on the day!

10 years...almost

Okay, okay...before I bore you with photos and long drawn out stories, let me thank my in-laws. They drove all the way to our house and took care of all 3 kids so that we could run away for half a week and pretend that we were newlyweds again. God. Bless. Grandparents. Jeff and I are the luckiest parents ever...to be blessed with 2 sets of loving grandparents for our kids.


Now...let's see...Jeff and I were married August 7, 1999. As you will notice, it isn't even JULY yet. So why were we pretending? A) Um, available childcare? Hello?!? B) We're not anticipating any marital dissolve in the next 7 weeks, so we feel safe celebrating early. C) When 2 people offer to take care of 3 kids under the age of 6, you just GO. You just GO....quickly.

Sunday we left before breakfast. Jeff wanted to leave before the kids woke up, but I needed to say goodbye to my babies. We prepared Lily by telling her that we were going to climb a mountain and she was going to go to Sesame Place. She was pleased with this exchange of fun times, and happily kissed us goodbye. Andrew rolled his eyes as I smothered him with kisses and got ready to spend the week with 2 of his favorite people. Michael was oblivious.

We drove quite easily up to the Adirondacks. We stopped for lunch at McDonalds, and I almost shrieked with excitement that we could simply park and walk in...using the restrooms and eating our own meals. No diapers to change, no children to keep from touching nasty things, no scary parking lots to maneuver through. Lovely. Jeff rolled his eyes and announced that we could have just gone to our local McDonalds to achieve this. Imagine his contempt later on in the day when I gleefully called out from the hotel bathroom that no one was trying to reach into the toilet bowl or get me my toilet paper or ask me questions.

Before we got to our main destination, we stopped at one of the oldest tourist attractions in the US. Seriously, they have been charging admission to the AuSable Chasm since the 1800s. And we soon fount out why...

Gorgeous gorgeous water...reddish and so peaceful sounding.

Jeff near the start of the walk. Falls behind him.

Elephant's Rock. Good name, eh?

The narrowest part of the gorge.

After that little walk, we got up to Lake Placid and enjoyed our hotel. Did you know that the winter Olympics have been in Lake Placid twice? 1932 and 1980. It is shocking since the town is so tiny. But we saw the ski jumps on the way in...who starts in that sport? Suicidal people? They were UNBELIEVABLY huge. Gorgeous little brooks and streams everywhere. We couldn't see many mountains because of the rain clouds. We walked down to the main street and darted in and out of shops in between rain showers. Ate GREAT food. Went to bed to prepare for our early start on the hiking trails the next morning.

Monday was Jeff's 32 birthday. I forgot to mention it first thing in the morning. It wasn't raining the, but since it had been raining the previous 5 days, it was WET. Really WET. We started on the main trail and were amazed at the peaceful forest and the beauty and serenity around us. Not much wildlife...except for some humping chipmunks. Jeff saw them and said, "Must be his birthday too." Nice.

The birthday boy.

Bear print? It was about 5 inches across and had 5 toe prints. We saw it sporadically on the trail. If it wasn't a bear it was a HUGE dog. 5 inch paws? Dave Henry...I'm looking for an answer here.

Seriously was envious of the Native Americans. So amazingly beautiful.

Look at those big boulders!?! They are everywhere. Apparently, the glaciers left them behind. Very cool.

Here I am! Looking very happy still. Just wait. The story isn't over. See how nice that trail is? It's about to get very very bad.

Marcy Dam. Mt. Marcy is the highest mountain in the state of NY...and we were on the trail to go up it. We weren't THAT stupid...we were planning on breaking off in a bit to go up Phelps Mt.

Here's where things started to go awry. We had the option of crossing the raging river on foot or taking the high water bridge. With just one handle. You can't quite see my face here, but it is a mix of "ha ha, isn't this cool?" and "oh shit, I think I could slip and die here."

Boulders. Everywhere. This was a relatively small one.

Okay, so the trails got harder. A lot harder. They had become small streams, and the incline grew steeper. I took this picture thinking, "Oh! Wow! This must be a bad part of the trail, with the slippery boulders and all." Later I would find out it was the GOOD part of this trail.

Despite being a challenging trail, we were still following this gorgeous river. It would go away when we broke off onto the Phelps path.

I wish I had taken a picture of the start of the Phelps path. It was like looking into the Heart of Darkness. This is Jeff looking back at me. Yes, I'm on the trail. Can you see it? No? Those boulders and mud are the path. I believe I was cursing something like, "If it wasn't your birthday..." or "Say goodbye to my children, and make sure you tell them that you killed me." Something like that. Oh, and it's hard to see...because we're in a FREAKIN' CLOUD. As in, "even if we kill ourselves making it to the summit, we still won't be able to SEE ANYTHING!!!"

This is the point where I stopped. I was crying, certain that I was going to fall and never get back out. Jeff had been telling me, "Just a little bit farther" for the last 40 minutes. My quads were shaking, I was slipping like crazy, and the only other hiker that we'd seen estimated we were still 20 minutes from the summit. And he was a GOOD hiker. Jeff is standing just in front of the "path"...aka, sheer rock wall. Call me a pansy...I was not prepared for this type of hiking.

Heading back down the mountain. I believe that now I was saying things like, "Well, we ALMOST made it to 10 years of marriage...that's good, right?" and "Seriously, Jeff, I should've trained for this." and "I think I hate you." Not my best moment. Kind of reminiscent of Lily's birth story dialog, actually.

We limped back to our car and headed back to the hotel. Our hike lasted from 8am until 4pm. That night made the extra cost of a hot tub in the room WORTH IT. I dreamed that I had terminal cancer that night. It was quite possibly the saddest dream of my life...I was getting ready for Easter with the kids, knowing I'd never have another one. Very very depressing. Jeff laughed when I told him the next morning...he thinks my body was sending my brain a message..."YOU'RE DYING".

Tuesday, we did things my way. Oh, and it was a BEAUTIFUL day. We woke up early and went to a bakery and got coffee and pastries. We ate on the shores of Mirror Lake (the lake that our town butted up against.). We then walked the entire circumference of the lake...about a 45 minute walk. Here are some of the views.

Then we drove up Whiteface Mountain. Mountain climbing MY style. ;) An obscure NY governor named...um...oh, yes, Franklin D. Roosevelt, approved the building of this road. It cost $1,500,000...in 1938, gave lots of Depression era job relief and created a thing of wonder for generations to enjoy. Who would have the balls to pass that nowadays?

Looking down at the ski slopes.

Looking back down at the road we just came up.

Beautiful views. It looks more hazy in the pictures than it really was. It alternated between SUPER windy and not. Weird. This was taken about halfway up the mountain, and I'm certain that if Lily had been with us she would have been blown off the mountain. At the top it was just slightly breezy.

The start of the trail to the top. I had downloaded pictures of the top we were aiming for, but I deleted them in my haste to type. I am too lazy to put them back in. This post is too long anyhow. Also, notice how there are steel cables to hold on to as you climb the ascent. That's all I ask for, Jeff...

Jeff with Lake Placid in the background. It is roughly the shape of an "H", so easy to spot. We actually could easily spot our hotel, and spent the rest of the week pointing out the summit of Whiteface...which we hadn't noticed before. Just gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. I need a thesaurus.

Here's the trail. Lots of rocks...but...RAILS. Bonus. They also built an elevator in the mountain for easier access. We took it to get back down. Imagine. An elevator in the middle of a drippy cold mountain that was built in 1938. It was as exciting as you'd imagine.

Jeff way out on the edge.

Me way out on the edge. That's right. Me.

The next day we went on our long canoe ride. We started right in the middle of a town and canoed for 4 hours. The water was high, the views were fantastic, the water was warmish, it was lovely and relaxing. I think I am definitely more wired for water sports.

We had to wait about an hour for our ride to pick us up. We finished early and there was no cell phone service. Boonies, people, boonies.

Where we ended up.

That night we had a couples massage (super fun and felt sooo good...also, I am WAY a prude about public nudity). After the massage we had dinner at a 4 star restaurant. Yumm-ooo. And, uh, Ka-ching!

We had a lovely breakfast on Mirror Lake Thursday morning, did some last minute shopping and headed home. Even the ride down the highway is beautiful...until we hit New Jersey, that is. I swear...I loathe driving in New Jersey. I think it would be great prep for driving in a foreign country, because "normal" American road rules do not apply. And the people are seriously raging ALL THE TIME. I hate it. Hate. Jeff and I were so hating it, that if he has to find a new job, we think we'd rather move than have him commute into NJ every day. Harsh, I know. But, seriously...have you been there? And if you grew up there it doesn't count because you were raised in the insanity, so you don't know any better.

Whew...got that off my chest. We came home to happy children, tired grandparents, and a hyper dog. And years and years worth of memories of our anniversary trip! I hate to say we are reconnected, because we never got disconnected. But we enjoyed each other tremedously and loved getting back to what started it all...just the two of us. And excuse the crazy spacing...I don't know what Blogger is up to at the moment...

Yo-yo Tentacles

Yesterday morning was bath morning. I really really am trying to change our routine to evening baths...but I'm too lazy at night, and I really do love clean smelling kids in the morning. Yesterday morning, Lily's hair was akin to a rat's nest, so I decided that we couldn't wait until the evening...it was BATH DAY!

I am not so good at bathing the kids together. I understand that 99.9% of parents with multiple children find this effortless and in fact easier than bathing them separate. I am of the 0.1% who cannot figure it out, for the love of God. What does child #2 do while you are washing child #1's hair? How do you keep the baby from standing up in the tub when you are scrubbing the other child? I get that you can dry and dress the first out of the tub while the other plays in the water. But then what do you do with the dry and dressed while you are drying and dressing the second? Because my dry and dressed always tries to climb back into the tub, or investigate the contents of the bath trash or splash in the toilet or slip on the wet floor. Ugh. I'm having an anxiety attack just thinking of this. I think it frustrates me more because EVERYONE ELSE DOES IT. Why the hell can't I figure it out.

I digress.

So...bath day. I bathed Michael first and then put him down for a morning nap. Lily was next. Andrew prefers to shower by himself now, so I got him in while I dressed Lily and did her hair. Once Lily was downstairs happily playing with a puzzle, I ran back upstairs to force Andrew out of the shower (oh, how he has inherited his father's long shower tendencies). Although he is very good at washing, Andrew has a very difficult time drying. As I was helping him, we had this conversation... (please excuse all the numbers fit in as letters...I don't want people to google me by looking up these words).

A- (fingering his genita1s and looking concerned) Mommy? Sometimes when I'm touching my peni5, I can feel these little balls underneath. Is that okay?

M- (laughing on the inside and really really wishing the boy parent was around to discuss this) That's normal, Andrew. Those are called your te5ticles and they come with your peni5. Like a matched set.

A- Do you have them?

M- No, because I don't have a peni5. I have something that looks like little balls too, but girls keep them way inside their bellies next to where babies grow. Your te5sticles don't like to be hot, so they are on little strings that keep them away from your warm body. If it gets cold, you might get worried because they seem to go away, but that's when they get real close to your body.

A- (with a big smile on his face). So I have yo-yo tentacles?


Oh! To try and keep a straight face while he was so earnestly asking these questions. This started a 10 minute conversation about what other animals have "tentacles". A question I only felt moderately qualified to answer. I love how easy it is to answer these types of questions now...he is merely curious and accepting of the information. Not too long before he is embarrassed and horrified. I'll try and pass along as much as I can in the mean time. ;)

Why I don't do crafts...part 2.

Remember this? If not, let me refresh you...I felt guilty about not painting with my kids, so I got out the paint and 30 seconds later remembered WHY I don't do crafts with the kids.

It has been 6 months. I have literally not allowed Lily to even breathe near a paint brush since then. But it's summer! We need to watch less tv! We need to spend quality time together and embrace the opportunity to experience new things. I'm a stay-at-home mom! I am so lucky that I get to be with them all day and have time to do just this sort of thing with them. So I put Michael down for a morning nap and I got out the easel and paints.

You can see what happened...

5 seconds after paint is opened. All is well. I am such a good mom. Everyone loves me.

I swear...I turned around for 10 seconds. Why did we stop painting on paper?

OMG! This is going to be heck to clean up. And what did he touch while his hands were wet with paint?

Meanwhile...

While Mommy was dealing with lizard hands, Lily decided to paint on the floor.

So the tally?

Time since last special mommy and me art time? 6 months.

Total time of special mommy and me art time? 6 minutes

Total cleanup time of special mommy and me art time? 60 minutes.

Time until I get out the paint again? 6 years.

I love Kiawah Island

I love Kiawah.

We've been going since I was 12...with a few years off here and there. I always miss it when we don't go for a year. And I'm never disappointed when we go back.

Bringing our kids adds a whole new element. They are now experiencing it for the first time...and I love watching it through their eyes. I occassionally miss going to Charleston for the day or taking long long bike rides or lounging on a boogie board way out in the water for hours on end. But I had years of doing that. Now I'm enjoying hearing my one year old squeal with glee and yell "ook! ook!" at a pelican. Or watching my 2 year old lay down in the surf and giggle and "wave" and the waves. Or seeing the triumph and pride in my 5 year old as he rides his first wave and listen to him boast about catching a crab. Feeling the sandy grit of my baby's hands and he cruises around and around my shoulders...grinning and cooing the whole time. Listening to my girl scream, "I love the beach! I so happy!" even after 30 minutes of cajoling her to get on her swimsuit because "I HATE the beach. I so an-gee!" I love showing them the digging shells in the sand and investigating the dead horseshoe crab on the beach. I feel so satisfied watching them drag back to the house, all rosy from the sun, sandy from head to toe, and just deep to the bones exhausted from all the fun at the beach.

I love Kiawah. And just like in any good relationship, my love grows and changes with the times. We just don't outgrow each other.

Some photos. And keep in mind, it is a lot of work keeping a 5 year old, 2 year old, and 1 year old safe on vacation. I apologize to you and to my future self for not taking more pictures...but there just weren't enough hands for that.

Yes. That is the one year old getting into the beer. Mike was into EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE. Sometimes we took him for a walk or a bike ride just to contain him for a short while. He is a maniac. And charming.

Yes. These are the weird cousins playing with Lily's princess Barbies. They spent most of the time playing with their airplanes, but I had to get them in this silly mood. They had so much fun together. Every year they enjoy each other more...this year Aunt Kate didn't even have to play "missing pizza" with them. Shocker.

We did a little educational boat ride thingy. This picture documents the 10 seconds that Lily spent engaged and listening to Capt. Mike. Andrew peppered him with questions and listened with rapt attention. Perhaps next year I will just take the boy.

Andrew holding a blue crab. Capt. Mike was telling him that you can tell a girl blue crab because she has painted toes just like girl people. Andrew said, "Not that I know of." Hmmmm, perhaps I need to up the feminine side a bit. It's hindering scientific discovery.

Lily mostly whined during the boat ride. Until we got back to the house. Then she talked it up like it was the best thing she'd ever done. A common theme with Lily this whole trip...her memory wasn't the greatest. Just wanted to fight. Always. Grrrrr.

I promise they were having fun. The sun was a bit bright, though.

Andrew riding with the captain. I think he really enjoyed all of Andrew's questions and curiosity. Nothing makes me prouder of Andrew than his polite, respectful, sincere desire to learn from experts. He's really a cool kid.

Lily diggin'

Mike sittin'

Quicksand. Another good way to get him to sit still for one mother-loving minute.

More diggin'

Andrew and his Uncle Greg. And the Nintendo DS. Never was Andrew so annoying. Asking his aunt and uncle every 5 minutes where their "red computer thingy" was. At least learn what it is called. Argh.

Oh, yes. The wildlife. I missed seeing these big bruisers in person, but Jeff got this shot when he took Michael for a bike ride. This one was lounging next to the road until Jeff disturbed it. Uh. Yikes. We did NOT get pictures of the dolphins (I saw one about 8 feet away from me the one time I went out into the ocean waist deep). Nor did we get a picture of the shark that was swimming in knee-high water...mere feet away from Andrew while he surfed the waves with Jeff (Jeff got him quickly out of the water where we watched the shark from a safe distance).

Night walk on the beach. Not that you could tell we were on the beach. Someday I'll learn to use my camera.