Sometimes when you are sick the best medicine is a good long snuggle nap with your best friend.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Puppy Love
Sometimes when you are sick the best medicine is a good long snuggle nap with your best friend.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Memories for a Lifetime
So as I mentioned previously the kids loved getting their pictures taken with the characters. So here are a couple from our trip. Notice anything similar in all 3 of these pictures? Well in case you didn't let me point it out to you. My daughter is doing a crotch grab a la Michael Jackson to each and every character she met. Our one and only trip to Disney and these are the priceless memories we get to cherish. C'est La Vie.
Disney in review
So we are back. Sorry I have been so late in posting (I know everyone has been waiting on the edge of their seats for my Disney review). We brought back some unwanted souveneirs.....Greyson some pneumonia and Quinn and I a very nasty cold. The Erim house is slowly recovering and getting back into a normal routine.
So how was it, you ask? How was Disney for the non-Disney family? It turns out, it was a lot of fun. I paid $20 and got this on-line Disney guide which was really helpful. It told us the best days to visit each park and what rides to go on when. We hardly had to stand in any lines the entire week. The kids loved the rides (though the themes of the ride (a la Dumbo and his feather) were sometimes lost on them). We had to explain some of the things but all in all we had a blast. For example, having never seen or read Peter Pan they really didn't get the premise of the ride but still loved flying over London in a magic ship and then seeing the pirates in the water below.
The two biggest surprises of the trip were #1 my son loving roller coasters (who would have thunk it) and #2 my kids love of the characters, even if they didn't know who they were. Which brings me to my funny story of the trip.
As we were walking around Animal Kingdon we spotted a character Meet and Greet which contained Baloo and King Louie, two characters my kids actually knew. But before you could get to them there was another Meet and Greet station before them containing the monkey from Tarzan. Now I didn't know who or what this thing was and neither did my kids but nonetheless they wanted to say hello. So as we were waiting in line I very politely asked the character assistant who exactly this was. He looked at me with this shock and a bit of disgust and told me it was Terkina from the Tarzan movie. I really wasn't impressed and we had Fast Passes to the jungle Safari that were about to expire and so I asked if we could skip Terkina and head up to Baloo and King Louie. Well, did I get a nasty look and as we walked by he shouted after me that they would only be there for 10 more minutes. I think I insulted them both.
So the bottom line is that we had a really fun time at Disney. That being said, I think we have a 'been there, done that' attitude about the Magic Kingdom and I really don't see the family heading back there anytime in the near future.
Pictures posted soon.
So how was it, you ask? How was Disney for the non-Disney family? It turns out, it was a lot of fun. I paid $20 and got this on-line Disney guide which was really helpful. It told us the best days to visit each park and what rides to go on when. We hardly had to stand in any lines the entire week. The kids loved the rides (though the themes of the ride (a la Dumbo and his feather) were sometimes lost on them). We had to explain some of the things but all in all we had a blast. For example, having never seen or read Peter Pan they really didn't get the premise of the ride but still loved flying over London in a magic ship and then seeing the pirates in the water below.
The two biggest surprises of the trip were #1 my son loving roller coasters (who would have thunk it) and #2 my kids love of the characters, even if they didn't know who they were. Which brings me to my funny story of the trip.
As we were walking around Animal Kingdon we spotted a character Meet and Greet which contained Baloo and King Louie, two characters my kids actually knew. But before you could get to them there was another Meet and Greet station before them containing the monkey from Tarzan. Now I didn't know who or what this thing was and neither did my kids but nonetheless they wanted to say hello. So as we were waiting in line I very politely asked the character assistant who exactly this was. He looked at me with this shock and a bit of disgust and told me it was Terkina from the Tarzan movie. I really wasn't impressed and we had Fast Passes to the jungle Safari that were about to expire and so I asked if we could skip Terkina and head up to Baloo and King Louie. Well, did I get a nasty look and as we walked by he shouted after me that they would only be there for 10 more minutes. I think I insulted them both.
So the bottom line is that we had a really fun time at Disney. That being said, I think we have a 'been there, done that' attitude about the Magic Kingdom and I really don't see the family heading back there anytime in the near future.
Pictures posted soon.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
The Vacation Contradiction
Yes, the rumors are true (well as much as there are rumors out there about the Erim clan)....we are going to DisneyWorld.
Now, those of you who are familiar with my 'parenting style' are probably scratching your heads a little at this point.
"Aren't you the ones that don't let your kids watch TV??" Yep.
"Aren't you the ones who avoid at all costs branded and plastic toys?" Yep.
"Isn't your daughter the only 4 yeard old in the world who thinks at the end of the Little Mermaid that the little mermaid commits suicide instead of harming her Prince to save her own life?" Yes, that would be Quinn (we like to read the original Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen)
So why the hell are you going to DisneyWorld??? Very valid question.
I may be crazy and fooling myself but I still think that Disney can be a magical place without knowledge of the Disney characters and can be enjoyed without immersing into the complete commercialization that is Disney. Cinderella's castle is still a beautiful and magical sight to any 4 or 5 year old regardless of who you think lives there. And everyone can enjoy riding on Dumbo even if you don't know the whole story. The Animal Kingdom animals are still animals..I don't think they have Disney logos branded onto their sides.
So we are off to view Disney through the eyes of children who have little idea what Disney is. We will see what happens.
Now, those of you who are familiar with my 'parenting style' are probably scratching your heads a little at this point.
"Aren't you the ones that don't let your kids watch TV??" Yep.
"Aren't you the ones who avoid at all costs branded and plastic toys?" Yep.
"Isn't your daughter the only 4 yeard old in the world who thinks at the end of the Little Mermaid that the little mermaid commits suicide instead of harming her Prince to save her own life?" Yes, that would be Quinn (we like to read the original Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen)
So why the hell are you going to DisneyWorld??? Very valid question.
I may be crazy and fooling myself but I still think that Disney can be a magical place without knowledge of the Disney characters and can be enjoyed without immersing into the complete commercialization that is Disney. Cinderella's castle is still a beautiful and magical sight to any 4 or 5 year old regardless of who you think lives there. And everyone can enjoy riding on Dumbo even if you don't know the whole story. The Animal Kingdom animals are still animals..I don't think they have Disney logos branded onto their sides.
So we are off to view Disney through the eyes of children who have little idea what Disney is. We will see what happens.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
4 Year Old Logic
Quinn and I were in the car earlier this week and Quinn wanted to talk about speeding tickets. I explained the whole process - getting pulled over, talking to the policeman, him/her writing the ticket and then having to pay the fine.
"So I guess people on motorcycles don't get tickets then."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because Mommy, they have no where to put the ticket when they get it because it would blow away."
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Beak Em Hawks (a little early)
Quinn was quite excited to show her Jayhawk spirit today as March Madness is rapidly approaching.
Yes, for all the basketball fans out there, I know that the tournament doesn't start until tomorrow (I don't consider these play-ins as part of the real tournament) and Kansas doesn't play until Friday but Quinn doesn't have school on Friday and tomorrow is St. Patty's day and she has to wear green so today was Jayhawk spirit day!!
Rock Chalk Jayhawk and let the madness begin!!
Yes, for all the basketball fans out there, I know that the tournament doesn't start until tomorrow (I don't consider these play-ins as part of the real tournament) and Kansas doesn't play until Friday but Quinn doesn't have school on Friday and tomorrow is St. Patty's day and she has to wear green so today was Jayhawk spirit day!!
Rock Chalk Jayhawk and let the madness begin!!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Ten Glorious Years
Ten years ago one of the best things that has ever happened to me walked into my life. He is kind, patient, loving and is great at keeping my feet warm in the winter. He loves me no matter what and always, always makes me feel better when he is in the room.
No, no, it isn't Greyson or Raif. It is Guinness and he turned the big 10 this week. Happy Birthday to my lovable tank of a dog. Thanks for a decade of friendship and love.
No, no, it isn't Greyson or Raif. It is Guinness and he turned the big 10 this week. Happy Birthday to my lovable tank of a dog. Thanks for a decade of friendship and love.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
The Little Things
I think one of the hardest things to learn as a parent is to look at things through the eyes of a child. Our perspective on life is just so different from theirs. The things that simply don't matter to us are immensely important to them. I don't really care who gets to open the mailbox to get the mail, but they do. I don't care who gives the treats to the dogs but they do. And sometimes little things that I don't even think about make a big impact.
Quinn received a coupon for a free Krispy Kreme doughnut for Valentine's Day and has been nagging me for the past month to redeem it. This morning was rainy, cold, and miserable and I knew that we would be spending the day indoors so why not take the kids with me to get doughnuts for breakfast this morning? And it being a lazy Sunday morning and not being in the mood to fight with them over clothing choices I told them they could go out in their jammies. You would have thought that they had won the lottery: the giggles, the laughter, the dancing around the room. All the way to Krispy Kreme and back and especially at the store they were in heaven. It completely made their morning; something I never would have considered to be a treat/reward at all.
I guess I need to spend a little more time trying to look through the eyes of a child.
Quinn received a coupon for a free Krispy Kreme doughnut for Valentine's Day and has been nagging me for the past month to redeem it. This morning was rainy, cold, and miserable and I knew that we would be spending the day indoors so why not take the kids with me to get doughnuts for breakfast this morning? And it being a lazy Sunday morning and not being in the mood to fight with them over clothing choices I told them they could go out in their jammies. You would have thought that they had won the lottery: the giggles, the laughter, the dancing around the room. All the way to Krispy Kreme and back and especially at the store they were in heaven. It completely made their morning; something I never would have considered to be a treat/reward at all.
I guess I need to spend a little more time trying to look through the eyes of a child.
All Dressed Up...
And somewhere to go.
Saturday we went to see the Nashville Children's Theatre production of Goodnight Moon. Surprisingly good, as I had my doubts on how they could create a play based on a book that takes approximately 3 minutes to read.
The show was an excuse to dress my kids up and an even better excuse to take pictures of them.
Saturday we went to see the Nashville Children's Theatre production of Goodnight Moon. Surprisingly good, as I had my doubts on how they could create a play based on a book that takes approximately 3 minutes to read.
The show was an excuse to dress my kids up and an even better excuse to take pictures of them.
Friday, March 4, 2011
The Story of Babar
Today was Book Character day at BGA. Every student dressed up like their favorite character from a book. Each child gets to stand up in front of the whole school during Friday assembly and share the book and the character. So this is how Greyson left for school today...
I am pretty sure that Babar is not his favorite book but rather his elephant outfit is his favorite costume and this gave him a chance to wear it to school. I can only imagine that they will get nothing done in school today, especially my son who spent his morning reading time moving his trunk out of the way!
I am pretty sure that Babar is not his favorite book but rather his elephant outfit is his favorite costume and this gave him a chance to wear it to school. I can only imagine that they will get nothing done in school today, especially my son who spent his morning reading time moving his trunk out of the way!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Gesundheit
This evening Quinn received a reading coupon for finishing her first real book, a fact that obviously upset her brother (since he didn't get one tonight). As Raif was calming him down, Quinn was explaining to me that it was OK that she got the coupon because a couple of days ago Greyson received something and she didn't. That was fair, in her humble opinion, she told me because things need to be "easin' sneezin'" between the two of them.
Xanadu
As I mentioned yesterday, hockey season is technically over around Tennessee but that doesn't stop the Erim children from practicing for next season. With warm weather afoot and a mother who is less inclined to stay inside a refrigerated building when it is so nice outside, a father purchased an alternative...
Of course we live in a horrible place to actually skate. We live smack in the middle of a huge hill, so skating on our street is out. Our pretty driveway is aggregate, horrible on the skates and on the knees and elbows so that has meant trips like these to the park.
Now if only I could find one with a magic mural depicting the daughters of Zeus, then we ALL would be happy campers.
Of course we live in a horrible place to actually skate. We live smack in the middle of a huge hill, so skating on our street is out. Our pretty driveway is aggregate, horrible on the skates and on the knees and elbows so that has meant trips like these to the park.Now if only I could find one with a magic mural depicting the daughters of Zeus, then we ALL would be happy campers.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Batter Up
With winter coming to an end, so has hockey season around here (with the exception of the NHL, whose season I swear lasts 11 months a year). New season, new sport and surprisingly for us that is baseball.
Personally, I find baseball to be an incredibly dull game. I can't remember the last time I watched a game on TV and I enjoy about 2 or 3 innings at the actual ball park and then I just get bored. So I never imagined that I would have a kid on a baseball team, but Greyson's friend Hutch asked him to join his and so here we are.
This past weekend we went to the Dick's sporting goods and outfitted him with a glove, bat and cleats. And since we rarely play baseball around here we figured Greyson probably needed a bit of tutelage before he hit the field.
We had some batting practice
And some catching
He actually did quite well and hit a couple of nice balls out of the yard (thankfully none hit a car or house) and by the end of the weekend had a pretty good grasp of catching with a mitt and only got hit in the face once or twice. Watch out Major Leagues, here comes Greyson!
Personally, I find baseball to be an incredibly dull game. I can't remember the last time I watched a game on TV and I enjoy about 2 or 3 innings at the actual ball park and then I just get bored. So I never imagined that I would have a kid on a baseball team, but Greyson's friend Hutch asked him to join his and so here we are.
This past weekend we went to the Dick's sporting goods and outfitted him with a glove, bat and cleats. And since we rarely play baseball around here we figured Greyson probably needed a bit of tutelage before he hit the field.
We had some batting practice
And some catching
He actually did quite well and hit a couple of nice balls out of the yard (thankfully none hit a car or house) and by the end of the weekend had a pretty good grasp of catching with a mitt and only got hit in the face once or twice. Watch out Major Leagues, here comes Greyson!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)