At bedtime Travis asked for medicine for his cough. I hadn’t heard him coughing much so I told him we’d see if sleep made his cough better. A few minutes later I did hear him coughing so I woke him up and gave him a teaspoon of honey. Kelly had read that honey is an excellent cough suppressant and it seemed to be last night, as I didn’t hear one cough afterward. I told him it was “medicine,” though, to see how he reacted but that’s a topic for another post.
After Travis had had his honey and had gotten his teeth brushed again, he settled down in bed. Travis being Travis, his mouth began running a mile a minute.
Read the rest of this entry »
One of Travis’s birthday presents was a Peterson’s First Field Guide on clouds and weather. It might be a “first” field guide, but apparently they think you first pick one up at age 14 or so. It’s definitely not written for kids! Travis loves it, nevertheless, and we read quite a bit of it tonight. I’m guessing he was absorbing more than I was.
When we were done, he was quite enthusiastic about how he’s going to be a meteorologist when he grows up. He announced this to Mark when Mark went to check on him. He said, “I’m going to be a meteorologist and that person who designs dances.”
Mark: “A choreographer?”
Travis: “Yep, a choreographer. I’m going to be a meteorologist and a choreographer.”
Mark assured him that would be just fine. I wonder what he’ll want to be tomorrow?
Hallie lost tooth number eight on our way to the fair on Sunday. It was sticking out at such a grotesque angle that I was threatening to yank it if she came too close. That or buy her a candy apple. I don’t think my threats made much difference, but she managed to pull it out herself as we pulled into the parking lot. She still got her candy apple, but it was probably easier to eat this way.
This evening Mark and I spent about fifteen minutes on the phone with Travis’s preschool teacher, Ms. Jacki, for his fall conference. Ms. Jacki is excellent at communicating with us, so I didn’t expect any surprises. As I anticipated, she had lots of great things to say about Travis. She described him as “extremely bright” in all his subjects. She said she’s blown away nearly every day by something Travis knows or shares or applies. Read the rest of this entry »
Wow, it’s been quite a busy weekend! We spent much of the weekend celebrating Travis’s birthday. Travis’s official birthday party was a pool party at Pullen Pool. There were dozens of his friends there and lots of fun had. We went home from there to clean up and then it was off to the Haunted Mordecai event at Mordecai Historic Park. The threat of rain kept things a bit low-key there but we did enjoy the “haunted” tour.
This morning we woke at 7 and got to the fairgrounds by 9 to beat the crowds. It was like a ghost town there until 10 AM when the rides officially opened. We all had fun just walking around and looking at things. After 10, we put the kids on a kiddie roller coaster and watched them have a blast. Next we played a few impossible-to-win carny games before we ordered some French fries to eat while we walked to the Ferris wheel. Travis was unsure of the Ferris wheel and took a lot of convincing before he decided to try it. Boy was he glad he did! He chattered non-stop while we were cruising around it.
We got home from the fair, ate lunch, and then puttered a bit around the house. I couldn’t pry the kids away from watching a video, so I headed out alone to Lions Park to watch the cyclocross taking place there. After only being there a few minutes I could see that this was an amazing event and called Kelly to bring the kids. We spent the next 45 minutes cheering on the racers as they rode their bikes around the challenging course. It was very exciting!
Now the kids are tucked in bed and I’m feeling like the zombies that walked downtown Raleigh last night. Hopefully I’ll be well-rested by the time I leave for work tomorrow!
Travis turned five years old today. Happy birthday, T!
We’re on our way to the State Fair to celebrate. See you (and 400,000 other folks) there!
I’m way behind in posting and hope to catch up next week. But I need to capture T’s vision for his birthday, as described by a very excited guy at bedtime tonight. Man does that kid spit out ideas!
For Travis’s bedtime song, I suggested we practice singing the birthday song. He thought this was a great idea, but he wanted this version:
Happy birthday to you
You live in a zoo
You look like an elephant
And you smell like one too
I asked if that’s the version he wants his friends to sing at his party tomorrow. He gave me an emphatic yes, but of course couldn’t leave it at that. Read the rest of this entry »
We’re all still alive, in case you were wondering. Life for us has been busy as of late. With Kelly’s volunteer work at Conn’s Book Fair this past week and my civic volunteering there hasn’t been much time to blog.
Hallie and Travis have also finished up their soccer seasons. Both improved considerably since the start.
Both kids have had a slight fever this week and Hallie’s suffered from a cough as well. With the exception of a rather whiny Sunday, though, the kids have fared pretty well.
We had Gum visit us during Kelly’s Book Fair week and that was a real treat. I wasn’t able to see much of her with my work schedule but we always love her company.
Rocket went through another “chewy” phase, decimating a box of tissues the other day as well as a few other items. After I bought him another chew rope he seems to have settled down a bit.
And it’s gotten chilly on us! A run of cold weather for about 10 days trumpeted the arrival of fall. Lows were in the 40s and some highs were also in the 40s. It was one of those weeks where my laundry basket had both warm-weather and cold-weather clothes in the same load.
Look for more details (and more blogging) soon!
