Who Looks Like Who?

Well, my last post elicited many comments that suggested Elisabeth looks like her grammie. When she and I are out and about people will always say she looks like me, until they see Jonah then they say he definitely looks like me. So, just for fun, I thought I would post these comparisons. Here is Elisabeth at 22 months and me at 19 months (I always looked mature for my age), and Jonah at 21 months. It was hard to find a comparison picture for Jonah - he was usually a blur or looking away from the camera at that stage - not quite the camera hog that he is now. Enjoy!

Phillips Corn Maize

There are several farms/corn mazes in the Greater Raleigh area that open their doors or rather gates to the public this time of year for various fall, farm activities. We took the kids out to the Phillips Corn Maize on Saturday. There was a write up in the paper about this one as the maize is in the shape of a local celebrity who passed away a few months ago after a battle with breast cancer. A portion of the entry fee goes to a foundation in support of breast cancer research.

In addition to the corn maze, they also had a short hay ride and cow train, a mini haybale maze for the kids and a somewhat dangerous slide made out of a big plastic pipe. Jonah went down it once but wouldn't go again. Kelly went down just to check it out. He said he was clinging to the side and it was still fast. They had a corn pit as opposed to a sand pit and a couple of other things as well. We had a pretty good time and we made it through the corn maze with only one or two wrong turns along the way!









You can go here to see more pictures from the day.

Swine Flu?

Well, Jonah was completely back to normal yesterday but Elisabeth was having a very runny nose that started Saturday and a temperature that exceeded 102 at one point. Then I started feeling really yucky about lunch time yesterday. It escalated in to violent chills, fever, sensitive skin, and achiness last night. I felt as wretched as one can feel and not have intestinal stuff on top of it. Tylenol helped the fever, but I have had trouble with the achiness. It seems to be the most painful where I already have issues - my lower back. This morning I am still dealing with that, a soar throat, and fever which manifests as hot flashes. If this is what Jonah had (which is my assumption) he is a tough little guy - although Kelly thinks it just may be rougher on adults. After some emails with some other ladies who have kids at the preschool where Jonah goes, some of their kids have tested positive for swine flu and have had the same symptoms as I described above. The positive thing is everyone says it's not as long lasting and severe as regular flu and if Jonah is any example - he had two bad days and then one day where he acted normal and then crashed. The other good news is it looks like Elisabeth has already recovered or nearly so - I haven't noticed a fever today and her runny nose is almost gone. She is still a bit congested though. Kelly is home taking care of all of us and took Jonah to preschool this morning. He's feeling head congestion today, which is what I was feeling Friday/Saturday, but we're hoping and praying he doesn't get this and that I recover quickly. I feel better today than last night - Thank God!

New Star Wars Fans

Jonah really likes Star Wars. There are a couple of the animated Clone Wars episodes that we have deemed safe enough for him to watch - so he is familiar with Jabba the Hut, Yoda, General Grievous, - he tends to remember the nonhuman characters the most. For his birthday I got him a couple of Light Sabers that I picked up at a consignment sale. Kelly asked me why I purchased two - getting just one seemed silly. You have to have someone to battle with - otherwise, it's untelling what in the house would suffer as the Target (i.e. Baby Sister).



I wish I would have picked up the camera after this, because Kelly and Jonah took to some sword play with Kelly making sound effects. Jonah wacked him in the face at one point - quick learner I guess. Elisabeth was very interested as well. I suppose she'd make a good Princess Leia.



BTW: I have caught Jonah humming the tune to Star Wars.

Father's Day Trip to Wilmington

We finally got all of our pictures from Father's day downloaded from both camera's. We drove to Wilmington and toured the Battleship North Carolina. I was really impressed by this mini-city. Back then it was all men and it was a good thing - no privacy in the bathroom. The sleeping arrangments seemed to be an afterthought, with most servicemen sleeping where they worked. If you were the doctor you slept in your office. If you worked in the communications area you slept there along with your coworkers. Etc. The bunks were stacked 5 and 6 high with 2 feet between each bunk. Here is a picture of Jonah sitting on one of the bunk frames.


It would take lots of typing for me to describe all the interesting things about this tour. Let's just say for a civilian like me it was all new and very interesting. It makes me wonder how a modern battleship would compare in it's design and layout especially considering the addition of women in the military. If you are in Wilmington, I highly recommend the tour. There are narrow stairs and lots of climbing up and down, but you can bypass the engine room and other areas and not have to endure that. We didn't skip anything and had to carry Elisabeth below decks and Jonah climbed up and down most of the steps with some hand holding from Mom. Plan to allocate 2-3 hours if you walk the whole tour and read a lot of the interpretive signs.
After that, we picked up some food and went to the beach. The water was perfect, but the wind covered our belongings with sand, so we pretty much just got in the water for a few minutes then left. Elisabeth loved the water. It was only her second time in the water.

Our Visit to Seaworld

While in Orlando, we decided to take a day and go to SeaWorld. This was our first attempt at taking the kids to a major theme park. It went really well. We had to take a much slower pace than in the past and us big kids didn't get to ride the big roller coasters, but we had a very good time. We borrowed Ryan and Stacy's stroller which kept us from having to rent one (Thanks again guys!). Unfortunately they don't allow strollers in any of the shows or venues, so it makes for a lot of getting the baby in and out of the stroller - but at the same time there would be major stroller jams in the attractions if everyone brought in their strollers. Amazingly, there were a few rides that Jonah could ride and he loved it. There was one that was a miniature of Tower of Terror where it takes you up and then drops you a few times. We both thoroughly enjoyed that one :) Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day and then a slideshow of all the pictures we took that day.

My Mother's Day

Kelly made me a nice breakfast and gave me a hand molding kit to make a keepsake of the kid's hands. He was going to have it done before giving it to me, but when he saw how complex it was he thought we should do it together. (Not sure a two year old can hold his hand still for a whole minute without lots of help :) We then decided to go to a local put golf and game place. We played a few arcade games - at this stage you don't have to put money in the machines for Jonah. He thinks he's playing when the previews are one. We played a game of golf; Jonah even tried a couple of holes. Then we rode the go carts. Jonah loved this part. Jonah just made the 36" required to ride as passenger. I had a buy one get one free coupon, so Kelly and I took turns chauffeuring Jonah around the track.





This probably sounds cheesy, but as I was watching Kelly and Jonah go around the race track, I got all teary eyed. Not sure why. But it reminds me that earlier in the week I was mourning the fact that he isn't a baby anymore (and thinking Elisabeth will not be one very long), but this was a glimpse of all the fun times we can have with him now and as he gets older.

Afterwards, we went out to dinner and as I write this we're trying to get Jonah in bed early so we can watch "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Now if we can just get him to stand still.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Happy Easter!

Weekend in the Mountains

We went to the mountains this past weekend for a little getaway. We really enjoyed a little hike on Friday and then Jonah got to sit atop a horse on Saturday when we visited the same spot.