Eli does Ireland

My kids have everything... really everything. So, instead of adding to the army of toys and the closets of clothes, I decided to take each kid on a special day with mom for their birthday present. So, for Eli, we decide to hop a plane to Shannon Ireland and see some castles and go to a medieval banquet (in Bunratty Castle). Eli loves planes, loves castles, and doubly loves food so it seemed like a pretty good plan! And it pretty much was.... Oh, and try not to look too closely at any Eli face shots... unless snot doesn't bother you!
After an hour long plane ride, we rented a car and drove 20 minutes to Limerick to see the town, eat some lunch and see Limerick castle. Such a happy little man!
That's Limerick castle... have no idea how old it is or if anybody lived their... too busy trying to keep Eli from launching himself off a tower...
Eli asked for "chips and ketchup" for lunch... and since "chips" are fried potatoes and we were in Ireland... rock on Eli...
He was trying to talk me into dessert using "the Force". Not gonna happen young Padawan...
Just in case the first booger picture just wasn't enough!
So here we are at Bunratty castle... Eli had endured about 30 minutes of me shopping at the woollen mills where my little shopping trip was cut short when Eli hijacked the stroller and took a fast lap around the Waterford Crystal section. Sorry, not many of you will be receiving Christmas gifts from Ireland this year...
Our hotel was right next to the castle so we walked on over and where invited in to start our dinner!
People greeted this lady and the "young lord" and showed us up a tiny winding staircase to the upper great room of the castle. They gave me a glass of mead and "lord Eli" a glass of juice... I think...
... this picture makes me a little concerned about that "apple juice"...
Anyway- We spent 3 hours eating with our hands (no silverware) and being entertained by about 15 lords and ladies all dressed in 16th century costume. They sang Irish songs, threw a few audience members in the dungeon, and doted on Eli. Eli had one particular lady that he really liked (probably because she kept bringing him extra bread... the way to a little man's heart....)
Both of us gorged on the awesome food and had a great time! I am going to try to forget the plane ride home the next morning.... Eli's "spirit" and "energy" touched all of those sitting near us... I tried to pretend like I didn't know him either, but he just kept calling me mom...loudly... Too much Apple juice I guess!

How About Some Snow In Winter!!!!!!

Well, today is November 23rd, and around 8:00AM Ava ran to me excitedly to tell me ...


Now it's not going to stick I don't think, but the last time the family got excited because snow was falling was on Easter Sunday - and that was the first and last time it snowed all last year.

Doesn't England know that it's supposed to snow in Winter?!?!?!?!?!?

Happy Birthday Ava and Eli!!!!!!!!

And so the birthday came and went and as usual it provided unending fun, excitement, and just a pinch of "What the ... ?!?!" But seriously, what could be more fun than having your favorite meal under a piano bench? Because Ava got to eat whatever she wanted wherever she wanted. And nobody got upset when she spilled her Sparkling Apple Juice 3 times. Yes, it was the start of a great birthday weekend.

Ness made Ava a Flower Cake. Well done as always. Ava blew out all the candles in 3 blows. Not bad for a 5 year old!

The theme for the party on Sunday was "Jungle". Putting the party together was quite fun, and the kids did their part to make everything look great.

I don't think the kids really appreciated the level of detail in the party, but the adults all were impressed!

A picture of the outside. Even though the party started at 5:00PM, it was completely dark. Actually, it was completely dark by 4:00PM. Luckily, weather was on our side. It rained Saturday all day and all of Sunday until about 2:00. And then the clouds parted, the sun shone, and everything looked A-OK.

The kids were told that Dumbo was carrying a huge basket of peanuts as he flew overhead. All of a sudden, a gust of wind blew the bag out of his trunk and the peanuts fell all over our yard. The kids scattered throughout the land and gathered them all up. The kid with the most nuts won a prize. A fun game.

There was also a pinata filled with treats. Again, the ground was picked clean!!! I'm telling you ... if you've ever seen hyenas take down a zebra in the African Savannah, then you have a good idea of what took place.

After 2 fantastic cakes, Ava and Eli seemed fine with cupcakes.

Something we learned about kids parties here. Even if the children are 3-5 years old, apparently in England the parents are expected to just drop off their kids and pick them up when the party is over. With almost 20 kids present, 4 parents took pity on us and stayed. That's not a good ratio people!!!

But between the balloon/bubbles activity and the trampoline outside, everything went smoothly. The kids had a great time and the parents didn't scream in terror once! A good day. I just don't know how Ness is ever going to top this one. And I don't even know if we'd want to try.

Again, Happy Birthday to Ava and Eli and a big thanks to everyone who called, sent gifts, e-mailed, and mailed cards to tell them how much they are loved.

more birthday madness

Hello from England...land of the red telephone booth, eternal rain, and slugs as big as our cat... truly it's a magical world... So, birthday week is in full swing. Eli (who claims he is 10...for whatever reason) just turned 3 and Ava will be 5 tomorrow! The big party is on Sunday. I will be attempting to turn the backyard into a magical jungle for a birthday luau... which is kind of an insane thing to do in England in November....but should provide plenty of blogable material!
So, as usual, in backwards order, here are some pictures of the kids opening their gift from Mimi and Papaw. They sent them a huge chest full of every dress up outfit imaginable...and the kids have come up with some pretty interesting combinations! Grammy sent doctor outfits in her birthday box... so it isn't uncommon for a princess doctor (complete with tool belt and cat ears) can be found giving shots to an extremely ill fireman with an affinity for bling.
Because when vampires go to luaus they must always wear safety glasses...
So, as soon as the kids opened the "trunk of wonder", Ava immediately pulled out a gun and squealed, "A gun!"...Eli (at the exact same second) grabbed some pearls and screamed, "I got a necklace"...can't even make this stuff up...
It's like you're going back in time... amazing isn't it? Check back later for more birthday craziness!

Happy Birthday Eli!!!!!!

Unbelievable as it sounds. Yesterday was Eli's (and therefore Michael's - Happy Birthday!) birthday. And as usual, Ness did an incredible job making a birthday cake just for him. As you can see, it is a little more impressive than other attempts. See A Tale of Two Elmos

Eli got to open many of his presents today. (For those not aware, we are attempting a very detailed and large event for both of their birthdays next week.) And he loved them!!! So ... thanks very much to Grammy for the Doctors Outfit and Kit, and the book about Boas. (You know Ness is just HOPING that her children cultivate a love for snakes. Maybe they'll even ask for one as a pet someday.)

And thanks also to Grandma for making Eli his "Conderman Quilt". It is very nice and he was very excited to see all the boats. ("Ooohhhh - boats - look mommy ... boats. There's 1 boat, 2boats, 3 boats ...")
And yes, we had Ava open some of her gifts too. After dressing up as a doctor, Ava insisted we all looked sick and insisted we all had check-ups. Wouldn't you know it? All of us had a "beaver" (fever of course) and needed shots ... lots of shots. She'd give us one and ask us if it hurt. Then she proceded to give more and more shots. Sadistic girl that Ava.
So again, HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY to Eli. We can't wait to see what you will do in your 4th year. And by the way, we received yesterday a large rather heavy box from Papaw/Mimi that will be opened today, so there will most likely be another post tomorrow. (Probably done by Ness i.e. much funnier.)

Pink Ink

Anyone want to wager a guess which one of these household items will take red ink off of children....
Well, if you guessed...

Start with baking soda on a wash cloth, scrub vigorously while child howls, look at washcloth and notice it is pink, look at child, notice it is still red. Move onto vinegar (mixed with some baking soda) attempt to get pink ink off of face. Accidentally get some in mouth of howling, protesting child. Child begins to wretch and squeal but ink begins to come off. Move onto peanut butter as child is now attempting to drown herself. Child attempts to lick peanut butter off of arms (that still have vinegar and baking soda on them). More howling, retching, and splashing. All parties concerned are now soaking wet and covered in a peanut butter, vinegar goo. Desperation. Mother debates the wisdom of just adding nail polish remover to the bath water. Decides against. Scrubs howling, flailing, sputtering children with soapy water vowing to lock up craft supplies with the cleaning supplies. Decides pink tinged children really don't look too bad. Gives up.

If that's what you guessed, you would be mostly right... I left out a few of the bad parts...

Amsterdam and Halloween

Last week, Eric and I left the kids with Kate (yeah, we owe her big!) and went to Amsterdam for a couple of days. The city was beautiful and "clean". By clean I mean the streets were swept and no one littered. No one really drives in Amsterdam, they all bike... really, really fast. Nothing is off limits to bikes- roads, sidewalks...anywhere. It can make being a pedestrian a little scary! And all you have to do is window shop to gain quite and education on...well...many things...

So, I have chosen the least "educating" pictures possible in a city full of just about everything- including Ann Frank's house which is where we were when I took this picture. We waited for about a half hour in freezing pouring rain to get in but it is one of the things tourists should do!
I don't really know what this is. It kinda looks like a church, but I almost find it hard to believe that there is one in Amsterdam. Anyway we passed this building often while wondering around (usually half lost) in the city.
Waiting to get into Ann Frank's house... you can see how much I love to be cold and wet...
See how fast these bikers go? He's practically a blur!
Central station where we picked up our dinner cruise
The dinner cruise was really good and we got to see the whole city at night going from one canal to another.
Yeah, something was missing from our bathroom...let me see... yeah... when you book a room with "en suite bathroom" isn't fair to assume a toilet is included... Yeah, lesson learned...
After we left Amsterdam, we stopped at Delft (where all the hand painted dutch pottery comes from). After discovering that we could afford a thimble and pretty much nothing else, we headed home. The town was very pretty though and I bought my second pair of boots on the trip. (The first pair was from Amsterdam and they are red and beautiful and completely not practical.)
For Halloween, Ava was a snow princess and Eli was Superman. The shivered and froze through 2 solid hours of trick or treating with determined looks on their little faces!
Mommy had to work, but they finished trick or treating off by coming up to see me at work and show off all their candy.
Aren't they adorable?!
Trick or Treat!