Christmas tree 2011

2nd annual "selfish" vacation

I took a week off in September again this year to go on a low-key camping vacation.  Selfish means we don't have to be anywhere or do anything except what we feel like doing.  Last year was really nice (hopefully I blogged about it?)  This year hasn't been as pleasant, mostly due to weather, whining, and difficulty finding campsites.  It started out nice when we went to a beautiful campsite we found when Ben was about 18 months old.  It's a mile in on a trail, so it required quite the effort to get to.  We're "car campers" with LOTS of stuff.  The boys had fun and Tim went to a lake to fish.  Next we camped in scorching heat on a state park lake (after hours of searching for a back country campsite) with not a single tree, and we were ok.  Then we headed to Steamboat Springs for our hotel night (every 3rd or 4th night), and woke up to pouring rain that lasted all that day and the next two days.  We did get to see a dead bear that was being checked in at the Forest Service office after being killed by a hunter.  Next we went to Grand Mesa, which seems to have its own weather system.  Other than that, it's gorgeous - over 300 lakes on a mesa at 10,000 feet, tons of back country camping on beautiful lakes.  It didn't quite rain, but it was freezing cold and super damp, and then it poured the next day.  The usually-tough boys were freezing and crying and complaining and Ben was hysterically afraid of bears.  We headed to Grand Junction/Fruita, knowing the weather should be better, and camped in another state park, where the lovely swim beach was closed and screeching kids woke us up at 6:00 am.  We slept without jammies or sleeping bags, which was a contrast from the night before.  Next we headed to Gunnison and were thwarted at at least two attempts to find back country camping. Then, after deciding to stay at a motel we loved last year, we got stuck in a huge traffic jam caused by a terrible wreck, which thankfully was not us.  I'm dragging the "Chieves Curse" along with me, aren't I?

Ben's first crush?

Earlier this summer I took the boys to the Wednesday night Farmer's Market in Boulder (a huge social occasion).  My friend brought a friend of hers (Jen, my age) and Ben started acting strangely immediately.  I went to check on him around a corner where he was hiding and asked him what was wrong.  He said, "I'm shy of her," and pointed to Jen.  He continued to act strangely all night and kept telling me to ask her to come play with him.  He seemed to kind of flirt with her, or at least show off the way a 4-yr-old boy will show off.  The next day I asked him about the "girl in the green shirt" (that's what he called her), and he seemed to blush and try not to smile.  Over the next few weeks, he acted the same when I mentioned her, and he often asked me to stop mentioning her.  Finally we saw her again, and when Ben first saw her he tried not to smile.  He asked her to play with him a lot that night (still calling her Girl in the Green Shirt), but the magic seemed to wear off a little.  Cute!

Nice visit to Oma's and Opa's house in Alabama

Ben and Oliver were both so excited to get on an airplane to go visit Oma and Opa. For the most part, we had a really nice visit. We swam in Oma's pool, went to a lake beach to swim, went to a petting farm, rode on a train, had a blast at a thrift store, played with Gigi the dog, watched TV (so different from DVDs), and explored Bass Pro Shop for hours. The 99 degree heat and humidity and swarms of mosquitoes seemed to get to the boys (they slept a lot more than usual), and their behavior was not great. I was worried about the plane trips by myself, but they went ok. Only a couple of dirty looks from other passengers about seats being kicked and too much screaming.
Thank you for a wonderful visit, Oma and Opa!

On to more positive stuff...

Enough with injured cats and difficult phases! I'm home sick with strep (how did I get it? how long until the boys get it?), so I'm taking advantage of the free time to catch up!

Some cute things Oliver is saying these days:

fower you = I picked a flower for you!

ah pack = ice pack (which miraculously heals all wounds in mere seconds)

santa kawz = santa claus, which he just yells randomly and often

I know his cute "yeah" would be impolite in the south and there it should be "yes, ma'am" but we sure think it is cute.

nanasaw = somersault

mopopus = Optimus, octopus, AND hippopotamus

mellowslow or maslaslo = marshmallow

canpope = cantaloupe

michael queen = Lightning McQueen

make-a-call = motorcycle

ehment = elephant

hehcotter = helicopter

cotter = squirter

He was flying his helicopter and kept saying, "Flyed!" I said, "Your helicopter flew!" and he corrected me several times, "No! Flyed!" Finally he said, "Hehcotter fwew."

Cute things Ben has said and done lately:

"Daddy, you won the race 'cuz I gave my power to you!"

"Liv, why don't you take a chance and put the pennies in my piggy bank?"

He continues to use "afterday" and now it also means "from now on."

He uses "for" in an odd way. He'll say, "I put this toy over here for it doesn't get wet," or "I will leave my toy in the car for it stays safe."

Ben also uses the prefix "ca" as a substitute for more difficult ones. So disappear is "cappear" and expensive is "capensive." He used it one more time, but I can't remember right now.

Ben's hair was getting long and I asked him many times if he would let me cut it, hoping he would be in the mood one of the times I asked. One day I came home from work and his hair was buzzed again. He proudly told me he had cut it himself (and then Tim had to use the clippers to make it look presentable.) Difficult to scold him for doing something with good intentions, but self-hair-cutting will be against the rules in the future.

Ben asked me one day if rocks grow.

Difficult phase

We are having a difficult phase that I hope does not last too long. I have heard some people say the halfs are the hardest, meaning kids have the most tantrums and difficulties when they are 2 1/2, 3 1/2, 4 1/2, etc. Ben is just hitting 4 1/2. Some days are ok, but when Tim and I are tired and discouraged, our perspective is that Oliver cries more than 50% of each day and Ben whines and has tantrums more than 70% of each day. And Ben's tantrums are so selfish, which I guess is normal for a child, but so different from his sweet past self, and so discouraging. I find myself not liking him much and I hope I'm not the only parent in the world who has ever felt that way. I hate to admit that I've yelled at them a lot in the past few weeks, which does not help at all, actually makes things worse - creates a vicious cycle, and makes me ashamed. Tim has been more patient than me lately. I really need to reboot and not let myself react to it. Wish me luck and thank you for listening!

Cats and kids

Poor Wall-e kitty.  Some kids came over and I guess they were trying to close Ben's bedroom door before Wall-e ran out, but he got halfway out before the door slammed.  One kid picked something up and asked what it was. I took it from her and it was 2 1/2 inches of Wall-e's tail!  At first Tim and I thought it would be ok, but then kinda realized the spinal column goes down into the tail.  So now Wall-e's tail is 3 inches shorter and we are $721 poorer.  Ouch times two.  I wonder if we could have done some stitching at home.
:-(