Star Wars is not just for kids

So we went to Wally world the other day (we like to refer to it as the great Satan aka Walmart) and were looking for the Spiderwick Chronicles for Jack. He watched it while we were in Wisconsin and could not stop talking about it. Anyway, we happened upon the toy section where, o and behold, there was a giant 2 1/2 foot Millennium Falcon for sale. Lest you think this is something Jack is really into let me straighten you out a bit.

Jack does like Star Wars. He watches one of the six movies at least 2-3 times a week. He knows the story lines and the names of all the main characters and whether said characters are good or evil... and yes, he uses the word evil when describing them. Apparently bad is just not strong enough descriptively to get his meaning across. Jack was even excited when he went to his Grandma's house and found all of Andy's old Star Wars toys. It was like he hit the mother load. Of course, these are Grandma's house toys and do not come home with us... we wouldn't have the room even if he wanted to. So the toys stay there and he gets sad and really wants to bring them, but he eventually understands and gets a brand new C3PO from his grandma anyway. He talks to him like he is real and C3PO talks back via Jack and they are the best of friends until he loses him 3 days later.

Anyway, back to Walmart and the giant Millennium Falcon. Do we get it for Jack to play with or is it too expensive of a toy to bother getting him when he's so young? it is $150!! Those were the thoughts going through my head. These were the thoughts going through Andy's head: That is way cooler then the one I got as a kid. It lights up and makes sounds. It's bigger then the original. This is so cool. I bet Jack would love it. It is only $150.

So did we get it?
You bet we got it and Andy...I mean, Jack loved it!
The cockpit has lights inside that turn on when you open it up and there is even a platform that lowers for the action figures to get in and out that makes a noise when you push a button. There are about ten different places that you can push buttons for motion and sound. the back of it lights up blue when you 'start' the engine and fly. You can see here though that there is no way Jack will be ever to lift this ship up and fly it anytime soon. It is pretty heavy as well.Yes that is Alex in the background and yes, he loved it too. Mostly he liked to push the buttons on the ship and make Chewbacca and R2D2 talk and whistle.
Jack wanted to take a picture with Han Solo and his mini ship. The mini ship docks into the side of the Millennium Falcon and makes a noise when the hatch opens or closes and also when you dock or undock it from the Millennium Falcon. Good thing it came with something smaller otherwise I'd probably be carrying the big ship around while Jack tells me where we are going.
Jack wanted a picture of just Han Solo and his mini ship. I don't recall the Millennium Falcon ever having a smaller ship within itself, but I am not as big of a Star Wars buff as some in this household apparently are.
At least Andy lets the illusion of this toy being for Jack live. I thought for sure it was going to be put up on top of our entertainment center for all to see. Way to share Babe. You make me proud.

Oh and just in case anyone is wondering... we did find the Spiderwick Chronicles and Jack made us put it on immediately. Thank you cousin Jimmy for that suggestion.

Chicago...Wicked!

So we finally took our trip to Chicago so that I could see Wicked. We got into Milwaukee in the afternoon and I had felt sick all day long. The plane ride did not help me at all. My ears would not pop the entire time and they hurt when we finally landed in Milwaukee. I had planned on shopping for an outfit to wear to the play but ended uptaking some Theraflu and knocking out for about three hours.

I had a little to eat and then helped the kids get to bed and ended up there myself. I felt 50% better the next day and went to Kohl's and bought a dress and some shoes. We (Andy, Mark, and I) drove the two hours to Chicago and checked into our hotel. We stayed at Hotel 71, which is right on the river, and our room had fantastic views of the river and Trump Tower which was across from us.
We had some time before the show tarted so we took a little walk around downtown. We went to Millenium park and saw 'the Bean', which is just a giant mirrored sculpture of a weird raindrop looking thing. The reason it is called the bean is because when you walk underneath it there is an indent that makes it look like a giant silver bean.
You can barely tell us from the rest of the tourists, but Andy and I are in this picture.
This is the Milleniem Park outdoor stage. Even this is a work of art.


We walked all through Millenium Park and there was even a garden for Mark to go crazy in.

We walked on to Grant Park and saw Buckingham Fountain that was in the opening credits of Married With Children. It is much bigger then I expected and I had to stand several hundred yards away to get the whole thing in my picture.



We walked back through downtown and stopped to eat at a pub that was located right underneath the L train. It was actually nice inside even though outside it looked like a dive and you couldn't even hear the train go by.

We went back to the hotel to change and headed out to the play. The Ford Theatre was only two blocks away which was great. I had thought that people would really be dressed up to go to the theatre but apparently I am behind the times and it is appropriate to wear cargo shorts and a T-shirt to see theatre productions. Who knew?

The play was fantastic. It was so funny. The actress who played Galinda (aka Glinda the Good Witch) was hilarious. Andy and Mark both laughed out loud as well as myself. I have to admit that the play took some extreme liberties with the storyline from the book. the last half of the play was completely different from the book. I'm not going to spoil either one if you haven't read the book or seen the play, but I was very hapy with the results. We had good seats too. We were on the second level center of the stage one row back. Andy did have to switch me seats becasue some guy sat right in front of me and was too tall for me to see. Once that was fixed I had an excellent time. i did take a few pictures with my phone even though it was made very clear that we were not supposed to. I couldn't help myself though. The theatre was so beautiful and I needed something besides the playbill to scrapbook with when I got home. So the following are all illegally taken. Don't tell.

This is the Time CLock Dragon. It moves and lights up. Very elaborate.
This is the ceiling of the Ford theatre. I had to take a picture because it was so beatiful and it reminded me of a Celtic knot.
This is the wall to the left of the stage.
This is a scene where Glinda is making an announcement to the people of Oz.
Dorothy's house that dropped on the Wicked Witch of the East aka Nessa Rose.
I was trying to get a good shot of the flying monkey but it was very difficult.
The Wizard of Oz's machine that he uses to talk to visitors. It was really intricate. The head moved around and the mouth moved when it talked and you got to see it from the front and the back.

After the play we filed out with the rest of the riffraff and walked backk down Michigan Avenue to go back to our hotel. We stopped by the Chicago sign because I just had to get a picture of us in front of it.
Andy and Mark.
This is a night view from our hotel room. It was so nice. Not bad from just picking it off the internet.


The next day we had breakfast next door at a little restaurant and then checked out of our hotel. We drove to Soldier Field and spent the best part of the day going through the Field Museum. It is a very large museum and if anyone plans on visiting, you will need the majority of the day just to see everything. We got tickets to see all the extra attractions and left with a bunch of pictures and a couple of souveniers. I got a little jade frog. Andy got a stone coaster with a dragon on it. Mark got a votive candle holder made of polished rock and took another back for his mom, Ann.
Andy with a Navy plaque on the Soldier Feild wall.
Soldier Field.
The Field Museum entrance.
Two very small people in front of regular sized totem poles.

I had a good time and we got to do a lot in a little amount of time. Even though I was still sick and didn't feel well, I was able to enjoy myself. It was nice having a little time away from the kids, even though I missed them terribly. And it was good to spend time with my brother-in-law and good for Andy too. We get to see them so very little that we have to make the time quality.

We love Shamu!

So on one of the days that I had to be at work and was regretting doing a double and so tired of all the people who seemed to be so high maintenance, I got a little ray of sunshine from one of my really good friends. A passenger had purchased five city passes and had not been able to use all of the coupons that were inside. So the passenger gave my friend the coupons and he gave them to me.

The coupons left over included free tickets to Seaworld, where I have never been, and zoo or Wild Animal Park passes. The zoo I have been to so we invited my friend Josie and her husband Ricky to go along with my husband and kids and I.


We decided to go late in the day after everyone got off of work. The first thing we did is let Jack run around the Bay of Play, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He jumped on a giant air filled trampoline and ran through hanging punching bags and climbed through the biggest net/tunnel/bridge that I have ever seen. I had to follow him through the climbing maze because there were so many exits he could have come out without me knowing it and I could not have that. So there goes Mommy climbing and crawling and running and sliding and I was so tired and my thighs hurt. Jack... he still had plenty of energy after nearly exhausting me.



Alex had his fun too. He spent some time in the giant sand box and then played music on large instruments that he just loved. He was so cute running around and hitting the giant xylaphone or the chimes. He was having a ball.


We finally did go and see the exhibits, but not very many. We saw the penguins, which reminded Jack of Mumbles in Happy Feet. We saw the sharks and both kids were awed when we walked through the tunnel and saw sharks swimming on top of us. We also saw manitees, the Budweiser Clydesdales, and sea lions.

The best part of the entire night was the Shamu Rocks show. It was a show set totally to rock music and guess what?... It rocked! I loved it and Jack loved it and Alex loved what he saw of it when he wasn't trying to give our stuff away to strangers or steal stuff from the people in front of us. I'm excited that I will actually have pictures of me with my family doing something because Josie loves the role of shutterbug. I still need to get the pictures from her camera and then I will post them.
The white spot you see is part of Shamu's underbelly. It is very hard taking pictures through 3 inch thick glass in the dark. The boys loved Shamu. Jack would get so excited everytime he swam by and Alex would stomp and point.
Jack just could not keep his eyes open anymore and missed the last part of Shamu Rocks.
Alex on the other hand, wide awake the entire time.

The visit to Seaworld didn't last long but it was worth the cost of admission (FREE) and I would love to go bacck and see more shows. I do however recommend to anyone who goes that you have to see the Shamu Rocks show.

As if I was not tired enough, the next day Andy wanted to go to the beach to brush up on his swimming skills. So we all went to the beach and I watched the kids while Andy swam a few miles. Unfortunately, along with the camera, I forgot the sunscreen and I got a sunburn and Jack burned his back just a little and Alex (who had on a shirt) got a pink nose.

We did not realize we were burned until later in the day, but while we were at the beach we had a lot of fun. Alex would throw himself on the ground and swim in the sand and Jack was all over the place with his little sand trucks and digging and what not.

I dug Alex a little hole that was just his size and when he got a little chilly from being in the water and having the wind blow, I would put him in the hole and he would play and dig and just thought it was the greatest thing in the world. We call it the baby hole.

Needless to say the next day, when I had to work, I was exhausted not only from the running around, but also from the sunburn. I ached and I was tired and my two doubles the next two days were so hard. I made it through and am still so tired, but I got ot do something fun with my family and that is what matters most to me.

Late night studying... Where am I,college?

I completely forgot what it was like in high school to stay up til the late hours in the evening trying to finish your assignment that is due the next day and that you have failed to work on because you still have plenty of time. Not anymore. I have been really good at keeping ahead of my assignments for school the last couple of months but let it slip this last two weeks. I have had an excessive amount of days off in which to complete my school work but can't remember for the life of me why I didn't get it done.

Perhaps I was busy with the kids or watching TV (that is definitely not it unless Spongebob sucked me into his evil spell, i don't get to watch TV) or perhaps it was a mutlitude of chores that eagerly filled my every waking hour. I need a schedule that I can stick to.

I had planned on only working three days a week by doing doubles on two days so that I would have more time to do the things required of me; however, I have found that this plan has backfired slightly due to the increased lack of sleep resulting in a very nonfunctional inefficient me. Dishes need washing? I'll fill the sink with water and soap and while that is happening I will go do a load of laundry... whoops the baby needs changing and I need to get all these toys off the floor before I puncture my foot one more time... then the water is too cold to wash dishes and I forgot the clothes needed to be moved from the washer to the dryer and my life is constantly moving backwards when it shoudl be going forwards. By the way the assignment was due today at midnight Arizona time which is, I believe, eleven my time and I forgot about that until I turned it in and noticed that it is 20 til eleven and I am lucky that it wasn't late. Or maybe we are the same time and it is Daylight Savings...(is it on or is it off) Sometimes the same sometimes different...I never can tell. All I know is that it is dark when I go to work and dark when I come home, but I get to tuck the kids in bed and I love that.

It seems I have lost my focus lately. I have been trying hard to do do the things I need to do, but I have become increasingly stressed out and easily angered and annoyed and I try not to take it out on the kids and when I do I feel like a bad mother. I want to cook my angels meals everyday but sometimes forget or am too tired. How do they get up every day at 7 am without fail. Oh yah, it's because they don't get up at 3 am 3 dats out of the week and stay up past 8pm 4 nights a week. Charmed little lives they lead... My babies who aren't really babies anymore.

I love them too much, even when Jack tells me he hates me because I won't give him any cookies because he didn't finish his dinner. How about an apple instead? Even when Alex dumps the full glass of water for the third time in one day or drops the remote control in the toilet or throws Mommy's shoes in the trash. I still love them and they make me smile with their little faces that cannot lie. Yep, I still love them and hug them as they try to run away from me... Then I mock sadness and they come back to tell me it's okay and that they really do love me.

And it is really late at night for someone who wakes up at three so when I read this tomorrow I will ownder who posted it and why they are so crazy. I have to get some sleep.

Sprinklers and fireworks do mix

The fourth of July was fairly uneventful for us as we decided it was far easier to stay home and BBQ then to go out and fight the crowds at the beaches just to get a good seat for the fireworks. So Andy grilled us up some brats burgers and we spent the entire day drenched in sunblock and sweat and a little water from the sprinklers. It was nice to have a full day as a family to just play and enjoy each other. The kids loved having our undevided attention for the entire day. We took turns pushing the kids on the swings, working in the garden, and playing in the sprinklers. Jack and Alex had such a blast. Alex didn't really get the concept of the sprinklers but got wet none the less. He kept trying to get a drink from the spray and it surprised him everytime the sprinklers sprayed him in the face.


Jack on the other hand knew all to well what the sprinklers were for. He started out fully clothed and got progressively more naked the wetter he became until he was running around completely in the nude. It is very difficult to talk a three year old out of taking his underwear off when it is obviously bothering him that it is so wet (no, it never occurred to us to actually put him in his swim trunks). I tried to talk about what the Fourth of July meant to Jack, but he very rarely sat still long enough for me to get much more then "America fought and won our Independence on this day." Alex did not make it far enough to watch the fireworks. He conked out around eight after having his hair cut and a nice warm bath. He had a big day for a 17 month old. Jack also received a haircut as well as Andy.
Jack on the other hand stayed up until about ten. We went out to the back yard and sat up in the playset and watched the 8:30 firework show in national City, which was alot closer to our house then I realized, then stayed up to watch the 9:00 fireworks that were being set off in the bay. We were far enough away that we could see all five shows going on at once. We stayed up just a little longer to finish watching a movie before Jack finally was worn out enough to go to bed.
My kids can be so cute sometimes... I mean, all the times.

Not so secret garden

So when we first had to move from our townhome that we rented, that just happened to be right on the beach, I was pretty upset. Not just because I liked the sound of the waves and had gotten used to the smell of salt water and fish (it really did smell like fish early in the morning), but also because it was a huge place with tons of room and we had lived there so long that it had become like a real home. Andy had lived there for over ten years and I had been there for almost four. Alex and Jack were both brought home from the hospital to that home and my sister, parents, Andy's parents, and various others had come to visit us there mostly to see the beach, but here we are in another rental house about four miles in from the beach and I thought I was going to hate it, but I don't.


There are downsides to this house in particular, like the fact that it backs up to a four lane highway and that it is smaller then we are used to, but living inland and in a house that has its own yard has been one of the best things for our kids and myself that we have experienced. We have plenty of space for the kids to play out in the backyard without having to watch them continuously. We were able to get the kids a playset, which they love, and we were able to get a little wading pool for them to play in on hot summer days. Not to mention the barbeques and the patio set we never had room for before. I never realized how much time we really spent indoors at the other place. I know it seems like we would be out at the beach daily, but there is only so much sand you can take when it gets everywhere...EVERYWHERE!


So now as I was outside this morning I just wanted to share a little piece of sanity that I was able to give myself and my family at our new home (new?...maybe been here almost a year). The way the house is set up there is a kind of useless piece of yard in the back on the side of the house that was full of rocks and glass and trash from the previous renter. We did a lot of hard work, boys included, clearing it all out and digging up the rocks to make the space useable enough to plant a garden.


At first it is a little disappointing to do so much and get so little in the first couple of months. It has been almost two months since we planted lettuce, both iceberg and romaine, but had little success because of an influx of aphids and little knowledge of what we were supposed to be doing or when the lettuce matured. At that same time I planted some strawberries and out of the six only three survived. Bummer.


Since then we have successfully grown onions, sweet potatoes and strawberries, which are so much better then the ones I get at the store. I also just recently put in cucumber plants and they have taken to the garden like a weed. I checked the other day and I saw teeny tiny cukes growing on the vines. I try to weed the garden once a week, but sometimes I don't and then I pay for it later. I am way excited that soon I will be able to harvest the fruits (and vegetables) of my labor.

Now that's a vacation!

OK, I just need to let everyone know how excited I am that in August when we are able to go see Jack and Alex's Grandpa and Grandma Konlock and Uncle Mark that Andy, Mark, and I will be making a short trip to Chicago so we can see Wicked. I loved the book and kept seeing that the musical would be in Los Angelas at the end of this month and the beginning of net month. I had mentioned it to Andy but didn't really think too much on it until I came home from work the other day and he suggested we go see it in Chicago while we are on vacation. Andy's mom, Ann, volunteered to watch the kids so that we could go. Although we had originally asked to see if she would have liked to join us, it was clear after she offered to watch the kids that someone would have had to stay behind with them. Anyway, we got a hotel and plan on making a day of it there in Chicago and then stay overnight and site see the next day in places like Millennium Park, Navy Pier, and the Sears Tower. Fun!!!