Popping tags with baby in tow

Ye olde blogge was resurrected for the sake of a certain Grandma and Grandpa (and some Aunties) now that we live a distance away. If you aren't a relation, I encourage you now to look away from the most tedious train wreck of a post that's coming at you. Unless you enjoy detailed itineraries of nothingness. In which case, read on.

I started the day with a headache, which is the kids' favorite kind of day. It means I get a slow (slower than my usual molasses pace) start and they are welcome to all the science videos they want while I crawl to the kitchen. (Disclaimer: Pipsqueak does not enjoy these mornings. He doesn't enjoy anything that stands between him and his morning carbs).

Our day took a surprising turn for the better when my mom and dad (Balabusta and Pops) decided to cut their Canadian Border camping trip short. They may not have enjoyed the mosquitoes, cold, and torrential rains, but the kids and I were happy that all drove them straight into our needy, needy arms for a visit.

The raging river in the background is the one Blondie wanted to "explore".

 

And since absence makes the heart grow fonder, Balabusta and Pops brought us smoked salmon, smoked ciscoe, and cheese curds. You can take my word for it that it's like heaven's lunch buffet.

 

Then home for naps and a surprise email from Aquaman that tonight would be a good night to go out on the boat so we're all ready to go be spectators at our city's big marathon tomorrow. We had planned to sail up the shore and watch it, but Aquaman- while toiling away at work- got the idea that he and some of the kids should get a headstart going up the coast from the marina tonight. And by some of the kids, he meant all of them except the baby. (It might have had something to do with my not-overly-dramatic speech yesterday (and the day before, and the day before that...) about my mental exhaustion with all these little attitudes I'm daily butting heads with.

 

So, as of 5 pm I was off the clock. (Other than the six feedings I will be attending to during the overnight hours.) And the Lion Cub and I will be walking 2.4 miles to meet them at the harbor tomorrow.

 

Lion Cub and I started our party by hitting up my new favorite place in all the land:

 

 

 

 He loves poppin' tags. He's my little thrifting buddy.

 

 

2 rashguards/swimshirts for the big boys, a new pair of cargo pants for Lanky, a t-shirt for me, and a Savers Membership Card later, we rolled into Target to spend a bit of the birthday money Balabusta and Pops gave me:

 



Why, yes, they are from the little girls' section. They're way cheaper and way more comfortable than women's shoes. And sparkly gold.

 

 

And then a white knuckle-ish drive home:

 

 Maybe not so scary for people who don't have a history of driving into lakes/ponds during fog.

 

 

And the Lion Cub was all tuckered out from our exciting evening:

 



 

And my victory dance of the quiet evening was cut short by Mr. Giggles:

 





 



I may or may not have figured out uploading this video. Summary: Lion Cub laughs like a donkey. No baby giggles here.

 

 

Where we then proceeded to write the most boringest of all blog posts. The end, amen.

 

 

--Kae--

One last hurrah...

...with Bee before she went overseas.

Bee had a week of leave before being sent overseas. It could have been a week and 2 days, but a combination of airline's ineptness and Air Force beuracracy left her stranded in America's Heartland all alone while they kept delaying and cancelling her flight for 2 days. Way to take care of our troops, United Airlines.

But, back to the positive. Bee came up to our new place to visit AND she brought 2 of our nieces (who happen to be Lanky, Specs, and Matilda's best friends). It may not sound like much of a sacrifice, but since Blondie had dog poop on her shoe and used Bee's car rug (which Blondie then referred to as a "poop scraper") to get it off, I'm counting it as a sacrifice of love. Chalupa did her part for Auntie Bee by getting mud all over the seat/seat back/door and proudly announcing she kept the rug (aka poop scraper) clean. Nice work, Chalupa.

Playing in "The Wilderness". Rest assured, Emme, your children were only playing unsupervised at the little nature preserve/trickling creek next door to our house.

 

 

 

And of course I don't have any pictures of our walk to the park for lunch. Because I was too busy once we got to the park trying to keep Blondie from "exploring" the river that runs through the park complete with waterfall and rapids before flowing out to the Great Lakes. In other words, not something you're going to want to explain to your brother/sister-in-law when their little darling falls in.

 

But after lunch, park time, panic-inducing experiences at water's edge, I  decided it would be fun to walk for ice cream cones.

 

The walk lasted about five minutes and then turned into a forced march through the heat of the day. (Seriously, it was the one warm/hot day we've had up here. We were going to enjoy it. We were going to enjoy it good.)



 

Blondie was the spokesperson for the group and announced it was like being lost in the desert "with no shade, no water, and no ice cream". Which was a little strange because Blondie usually thrives on drama (see above re: dangerous river rapids).

We finally made it to the oasis (which you may know as Burger King) only to find out that particular branch of royalty does not sell ice cream. We got even by using their air conditioning for free and confiscating the crown jewels. Then I bought a gallon of ice cream and a box of cones from the gas station next door and moved the war prisoners kids back out to finish the walk.

Royally exhausted.

 

Shade. Sweet, sweet shade.

 

It's lke an oasis. On some stranger's lawn.

 

Riding in the shaded chariot was apparently the way to go. (And there wasn't enough shade for my little redhead, so the carriage was draped with an Ethiopian shawl. Hence, the fancy fringe.)

 

Once you've done bootcamp in Texas, you can manage a walk in the afternoon sun with pep leftover.

 



 

So, back home for ice cream cones and refreshing dunks of their heads under the kitchen faucet (which was not condoned). Blondie stuck her head under the water with her head smashed right up to the faucet while water sprayed ever.y.where. After Bee pulled her out and dryed her, she said, "It's like she didn't have an exit strategy. No towel, no way to reach the water and turn it off. No exit strategy."

 

And then, because they're gluttons for punishment, they wanted right back out to "The Wilderness".

 

Isn't the wilderness always freshly mowed?

 

 

It's like a game of Where's Waldo. With 7 Waldos.

 

Waldo #8, always close at hand.

 

 

He's our favorite photo prop.

 

 

And while in the wilderness, we realized that Bee has the fashion sense of a seven year old. Matchy-matchy with the little girls

 

 

There was one last family shindig to see Bee off after this, before she left for her new home with Señor in a foreign land. But this was our last hurrah of sister time until she flies home again. Which, if is left in the hands of United Airlines, may or may not come to pass in a timely fashion.

 

 

But I've got my eye on you, United Airlines, US Marine Corps, US Air Force. And none of you are going to get in the way of more sister time.

 

--Kae--



 

 

 

 





Moving on up...

...to the north.

The caravan we drove north. In the fog. With screaming babies and children. To sign papers to buy a house where it was snowing/sleeting in June. June.

I currently blog using the neighbor's wifi connection. And I've finally unpacked enough chargers/camera cords to make a blog post less lame.


Here's the view from our new house, which is of the water. Which is what drew us way the heck up to the Arctic. (Or the Twin Ports. But it's 50 degrees in June. So I'm laying claim to our near Arctic status).

 

I spend the day listening to the cargo (?) ships' horns and spotting the fishing charters, scenic cruises and Coast Guard boats go by. Like any boat obsessed 4 year old boy would do.

 

But that's still a better use of time than when I'm looking out the window on the other side of the house, where I have a nice view of all the neighbors and their business. And I since I spend a significant amount of my day nursing the baby while I gaze out the window, I'm able to keep Aquaman apprised of what all the neighbors are up to. Like the guy who lives across the street and leaves every day at noon to get Jimmy John's and bring it home for lunch. Don't worry, nothing is going to be missed on my watch.

We are all adjusting quite well to city living. I can't attest to how the neighbors are adjusting to us, but we're doing great. Last week, Aquaman was driving home from work and heard the kids (namely Lanky) screaming and playing from two blocks away. He thought he would come home to find them running joyfully through the backyard. Oh no. They were in the living room. With the windows closed.

But, back to the water. Which is awesome. Instead of luuuuuuuuugging our sailboat hours away on a trailer, we pop over to the marina.

 

She doesn't know right from left, but she has port and starboard down solid.

 

Looking...cool? confident? smarmy?

 

He didn't catch anything, but Aquaman is a good dad and jumped to every time Lanky yelled out that he had a bite.

 

The on-again, off-again frenemies cuddled up for naptime.

 

Naptime down below.

 

 

Ahoy, mateys.

 

 

--Kae--



Resurrecting the blog

So, I've had this annoying little Jimminy Cricket type conscience thing for the last 4 months. Who posts their end-of-pregnancy pictures and then stops the blog? Not I. I just take a 4 month hiatus and come back 4 months later in full post-partum glory with adorable baby pics.

 

Awwww,so cute and little, and going to make me start talking with the mushy baby talk voice.

 

We added another little boy to our family. Our little lion cub, Areli, was born way back on January 10th. I say it was after 44 hours of labor, but that's only if I don't count the easy early labor part. (It was actually 60 hours. Kind of longer than I was led to believe it would be).

 

 

Fast forward a few months...

 

A couple of months ago, but whatever. Getting a recent picture from camera to computer may not happen tonight.

 





...and the novelty of the little lion cub has yet to wear off.

And now I don't have the guilt of an unfinished project. I've completed this chapter of the kaebeeproject. We'll see if there's time to write the next one because...Aquaman got a new job! And it's farther up north. As in, the last civilization before you hit Canada. (That may be an exaggeration, but only a very slight one. Canada will be only a little over 100 miles away.)

So perhaps I'll have new motivation to keep up the blog now that the relatives will be a little more long-distance and Grandma will need to be kept up to date? And there may be before and after pictures of our new house because the living room is pink. There are other things to do, but the living room is Pepto-Bismal. So, first order of business after signing on the dotted line will be to slap some paint on those walls.

Also, Bee may find a renewed interest in the blog since she will be overseas shortly after my move. Not sure if I'm allowed to say where overseas, but substantial distance and culture change. But, she'll finally be with Señor Marine and able to continue the newlywed phase after a year long hiatus. (Has it been that long, Bee? My brain's a little fuzzy these days).

So there you go. My little worker bees and I will be packing away over the next couple weeks. Then perhaps the kaebeeproject will get a little injection of life.

--Kae--

Maternity photo fails

I was going to go all cutesy and call it a photo phail, but that just looked so very wrong...

Anyway, if you read Bee's last post, you'll see how very much she has been wanting me to take maternity photos. I'm not sure if it's because she doesn't want me to look back and feel that I've missed capturing the precious memories of waddling, lack of oxygen, and 9 months of vomitting or if she wanted to feel included in the pregnancy even though her undisclosed location is thousands of miles away. Or she's just a creeper. Either way, I started to consider maybe trying for some maternity snapshots. And then, my friend Marina said she wanted to see my belly's current state and if I didn't post some pictures, she was going to come over to my house to look at me. Which wasn't at all disturbing or awkward. But it did get the film rolling.

33 weeks (maybe? I don't remember) Maybe if Aquaman had a model who could keep her opinions/instructions/harping to herself, these photo shoots would happen more often. ( I think I was giving really important instructions, though. Something along the lines of, "My boots are super cute. Are you zooming out to get my boots in the picture?")

 

 

That look of utter exhaustion complements the outfit nicely, doesn't it? This was taken after 4+ hours at the social security card office where we learned Matilda can't get a social security number and may not be able to get citizenship. But, whatever, I had dressed up to leave the house and we were documenting the outfit as well as the bump.

 

 

35 weeks? At any rate, well past the point where horizontal stripes are a good idea.

 

 

37 weeks. (This is the only one I'm sure of since it was taken tonight and I remember taking it). I don't know what Aquaman has against getting my cute boots in the picture. Enjoy admiring how the black t-shirt that fit 2 weeks ago is on it's last elastic leg.

 

And this last one is because I'm nothing if not vain. I want you to admire my hair. Aquaman's sister gave me the most amazing hair product ever and I'm pretty sure my natural frizz  curls will forever be supermodel worthy. See every picture on this blog prior to this one for proof of the before and after miracle. (Bee, are your curls listening to my shameless advertising?)

 

 

Aaand...that concludes a whirlwind tour of my belly's last month. For actual good maternity outfits/pics, go see my favorite blogger, Grace. And for laughs that will maybe make you snort and scare any young children near you, go see Ashley (who Grace got me hooked on. It's a small, small internet world for me.)

 

 

--Kae--

 

 

This is how we roll

Aquaman and I decided to load up the kids and share our entertaining selves and children with other parts of the country. Namely the sunny and warm parts of the country. Like any good, responsible parents we put a lot of thought into this as well as lots of preparation. Meaning, we decided on Sunday we should drive to Florida and we left on Thursday morning.

This is our chariot that carried us the entire 3,500 mile round trip. There were also some containers with food strapped to the top at the start of the trip, but we lost them somewhere on the interstate around 3am in Kentucky. I have visions of hillbillies feasting on homemade muffins, store brand Ritz crackers, and really expensive trailmix made with almonds to accomodate SassyPants' peanut allergy.

Out of all seven passengers, I think Lanky was the most excited to be released from his seatbelt prison. Because he was looking forward to the wonderland of Florida, it was like travelling with a hamster with ADHD.

These two spent quite a bit of time on the beach with me and were happy to model for me while I practiced using our big, fancy camera. The camera we've had for six years and I've just now decided to learn how to use (that motivation may have something to do with the fact that our little point and shoot camera died somewhere in north Florida).

Family picture time because I had a camera and a beautiful outdoor background and by-golly you'd all better just sit still and cooperate.

A romantic beach picture of me and Aquaman. Pay no attention to the small child who wandered over to join in.

In an effort to distract the kids from the drama unfolding right in front of our campsite (that many elderly snowbirds and an ambulance or two- and three police cars- are bound to show up)...

...I let the kids take turn playing with the expensive camera. Obviously you can see from my happy face that I soon realized what a good idea this was.

But at least we got this beauty of a picture before we put the camera away. It's like a work of art. Seriously.

So, that was our trip in a nutshell if you just add in lots of snorkeling, laying in the sun, and bike riding. No pictures of our scenic stays at truck stops and Home Depot parking lots, sorry to say. And then we came home to a foot of snow on the ground in the Holler. The end.

We be hipsters

I didn't realize until I read Bee's post from yesterday, that Señor Marine has something against hipsters. So I'm kind of hoping he's like Aquaman and doesn't actually have any clue what Bee and I are up to with our blog. Because here come some pictures of the new glasses that came for all the blind folk in the family...and there's a bit of a hipster flair to some of the new glasses. Sorry Señor, maybe you didn't know all the extras you got when you married Bee.

 Specs with his new specs and winter wear.

 Specs grooving...because hipster glasses make you want to dance.

Pipsqueak with the same style he had, just another 3 pairs on hand now. Should last a couple months.

I feel like the self-portrait is a bit of a let-down after the cuteness of the last three pictures, but there you go anyway. My new oversized glasses that I heart. So comfortable. And dare I say, so nerdy they're cool? Maybe? Or not.

And a bonus picture. I call this one, "One Second Till Impact".

--Kae--