In which we skip Thanksgiving and go to SeaWorld instead

Tom and I decided to take a little trip to SeaWorld for Thanksgiving. Tom's one requirement was that he be able to watch the A&M/UT game uninterrupted. I made sure to get a suite so the kids could sleep in one room and we could watch the game in the other. Man, that game was a heartbreaker, losing in the last 2 seconds. Something I promptly forgot about until the next morning when I was wearing my A&M shirt at breakfast and a strange man grabbed me roughly by the shoulder. He kept saying "two seconds" in a tortured voice. I just stared at him nervously, trying to figure out the meaning. Was he a crazy man saying we only had two seconds to live? Two seconds to change a life? I was going to walk away, but instead just asked him what he meant. "Your shirt! The game! Losing in the last 2 seconds!" Oh. Yeah. That.

Anyway, back to documenting our little vacation. Dianna and her family joined us and we had a blast at SeaWorld. They had it decorated for Christmas and the shows were all Christmas themed. I love Christmas. And not just because my name is featured prominently in many of the songs, something Ellie was quick to point out to me. I was happy my sister and her family were along because that meant more people to keep an eye on Ellie and I didn't lose her once this time. Ellie was thrilled to be tall enough to go on a few of the rides alone with her cousin Kinleigh.

I was just relieved that I didn't have to accompany her because rides make me queasy. I was actually feeling pretty miserable that day and we ended up leaving the park before Dianna and her family. When we got home, I promptly went to bed and stayed there for the next 36 hours with a high fever, chills, achiness, and just feeling like I was going to die. Tom was awesome and took care of the kids the entire time. At one point on Saturday, he came in to tell me Jack also had a high fever, but I was too busy planning my funeral for it to register. I am now feeling like I will survive, but poor Jack is worse than ever which is why I am up at 2:45 in the morning blogging about SeaWorld and sickness. There is something about nighttime that makes all illnesses seem scarier and I feel as if by being awake and standing guard, I can keep Jack from getting worse.

Deck the Halls

Normally I procrastinate dragging out the tree and all the Christmas decorations until like 2 weeks before Christmas, but this year I was on my game and insisted we clean and decorate the day before Thanksgiving since we would be going out of town the following day. This way, when we got back from San Antonio, I would be returning to a clean and decorated home. I am genius like that. Decorating was made even more fun this year as Jack was old enough to join in. Although I am pretty sure he pulled off as many ornaments as he put on the tree. Once again, Ellie was able to put the spire on top of the tree. Every year Tom asks to switch to a star for the top of the tree as the spire is aways crooked and every year I remind him that I grew up with a spire and you don't mess with tradition.

Grandparents' Day

Last Friday, Ellie's school celebrated Grandparents' Day. My parents were in Italy, but fortunately, Tom's mom was able to take off from work so she could attend. The kids greeted their grandparents with a musical number, one I know by heart since Ellie has been singing it every. single. day for the past two months.After a few more songs and some pastries, the kids escorted their grandparents back to their classroom for a little wreath making. According to Ellie, Nana promised Ellie that this wreath would go at the very top of her tree.

Bullets of randomness

• The kids and I ate at ChickFil-A twice in a 24 hour period this weekend. We went to dinner Friday night with Sabrina and her kids because our husbands had once again abandoned us for the weekend (for a little thing called the state cross country meet). Then, Saturday at 11:00, I met up with 3 of my favorite work friends and their families for even more ChickFil-A. It never gets old,


• Jack has decided he is too big to hold my hand. Every time I try, he goes limp and I end up having to drag him or carry him. I have started bathing him in Johnson's Head-to-Toe Body Wash again so he will at least smell like a baby.


• We bought Ellie a fish a few weeks ago. She named him Starlight and it was her favorite thing for about an hour. I am always pleasantly surprised when I walk in her room and find it still alive. On a completely unrelated note, did you know beta fishes can go almost a week without being fed and still live?


• I walked out of my house one day this week and discovered the neighbor boys digging a hole in my front yard. It was almost to my knee. Then, the next day one of their parents had a tractor thing and was digging a giant hole in their yard and knocked out the water for the whole street. I need to put my house back on the market.

My kind of camping

Some of my family were going camping last weekend, but Sabrina and I couldn't go since our talented-coach-husbands were going to be gone at the regional cross country championships. I was so disappointed because I have all these great memories camping with my family when I was young. But Sabrina saved the day by organizing a little backyard camp-out that ended at dark.

We had tents...

and food...... and fun...

So, although we didn't get to go camping for real, everyone knows the best part of camping is food, family, and fun...and we had plenty of that.

Ruh-roh

Halloween was so long ago that I no longer have anything to say about it. Ellie told me well in advance that she was going to be Daphne, Jack was going to be Scooby, I was going to be Velma, and bald Daddy was going to be Shaggy. I decided that Tom and I would just go as teachers. Everyone was happy. And Jack didn't seem to mind that he was carrying last year's Easter basket since I forgot to get him a pumpkin bucket or something more Halloween-y.