Zoo News

Busy week last week.  "Nate's Butt Farm" on Tuesday and then the San Diego zoo on Thursday.  I must be going crazy.  I guess it's just getting slightly easier to take all 4 places now that Ella isn't nursing 4x per day...and she doesn't need a nap as much.  Well, she does...but I just don't give in to her and her crazy "I need a nap" schedule.  She's the 4th child.  She needs to rally.  And rally she does.  She can really hang in there.  We got to the zoo at 10am (after the kids woke up at 7am, as per usual) and we didn't get in the car to drive home until 3pm.  So Ella was awake ALL day.  She got to ride in her stroller with a big shade and reclined seat, however, so she COULD have napped if she really wanted to.  Jus' saying'.  I'm not torturing her, I just don't plan my life around her nap schedule, as some parents do.  She has to do what we do.  If she needs to fall asleep she'll have to do it in the stroller/in the car/ in my arms/on the ground, whatever the case may be.  Poor Ella. :)  

I wanted to get a trip to the zoo in before the boys turn 3 and start having to pay entry fees to get into all the parks (Legoland, Sea World, the zoo, etc).  I really try to avoid all of those type places on weekends when the crowds are out of control so the weekdays are my only option.  The only problem with that is that Myke works M-F 9-5 and I don't have any retired family members who live in the area who would want to join me.  So it's on my own, or not at all.

Luckily for this particular day at the zoo we met up with a friend and her almost-two-year-old son.  They could only stay for an hour (they have annual passes so no biggie) but it was nice to have the 2 adults:5 kids ratio for that hour.  That said, it was within that hour that I actually LOST one of my children.  Yes, I lost Owen for about 3-5 minutes.  One second he was standing at the stroller waiting for me to come help him retrieve his water bottle and the next second he was gone.  I knew I had JUST seen him moments before so I wasn't too worried.  The thing was, this big field trip group of about 50 people (at least) passed between me and the stroller (I was standing about 5-10 feet away looking at the koalas with the other kids and my friend).  Owen got swept up in this mass of people and just went with them.  They were probably middle school students and their chaperones.  They were ALL wearing matching blue t-shirts.  Luckily, Owen was wearing a bright red shirt (all the kids where...great idea for going to busy public places with kids..dress them alike in easy-to-spot colors).  I ran up the walkway and around the corner to see where the "blue group" had gone and sure enough, there they were, standing there with one of the adults holding a sobbing little Owen.  Poor little guy!  He clung on to me for awhile after that.  It was definitely scary, but it wasn't long enough for me to really panic.  I knew I had JUST seen him by the stroller so I knew he wasn't far.  I just wasn't sure which direction he was in.  I was just happy that my friend was still with me at the time so I could go look for him and not worry about the other 3 kids at that time.

Flamingos!

My little koalas

Just a few minutes after we found Owen in the blue group

Phillies jerseys from their Mom-Mom & Pop

Panda

watching the chimps

I force them to hold hands and walk together while I push the stroller

Nate's Butt Farm

My kids in the country

(disclaimer: Chloë dressed herself, as usual)

Or "Bates Nut Farm" as it's actually called.  For some reason I have been switching the first letters or words around lately.  Confusion caused by early onset dementia?  Myke asked me where I was planning to take the kids today and I said, "Nate's Butt Farm"...realized right away that it didn't sound quite right...so at least I have that going for me, right?  The realization that it's incorrect?  So it can't be dementia-related.  Right?

Anyways, I hadn't been out to this farm, BATES NUT Farm, since Fall 2008 when Myke and I went with friends to go get pumpkins.  It's HUGE at Halloween time.  Packed to the brim.  I've been wanting to go out there with the kids during that time of year, but it's always SO hot out east in October.  So you're elbow to elbow with the rest of the population of San Diego on a not-so-big farm all trying to get the best over-priced pumpkin.  All while sweating.  Maybe it would be better on a weekday in October.  At least it would have smaller crowds.  

So, I decided to just go up there today.  It's April so they don't have any of the Autumn festivities going on, obviously, but they still have the farm animals and the out-in-the-country feel thing going on.  A little adventure.  I like to go on adventures.  I'm not one to sit around the house.  In fact, I have to make a very conscientious effort to have HOME DAYS with my kids.  I know they need those once in awhile.  I just always would rather go out and about.  My adventures used to be a lot more exciting than 45-minute drives to farms to feed animals corn kernels, but I'll take what I can get.  Hey, I do it for the kids.  At least that's what I say :)

Impossible to get a good picture of 4 children at one time.

Impossible.

Owen feeding the llama

Creepy mechanical man (on the left!) in the store on the farm.

No one else would go near him.  Owen would only get this close.

Goats galore!

Ella 

Love these two shots (below) of Owen & Ella.  He just ADORES his baby sister.  It's so sweet to witness.  He has always been such a kind and gentle soul.  He seems to have been born with great empathy, as he would always be sad when anyone else around him was sad.  So concerned about why they were crying or just frowning.  Very in touch with other's emotions.  He is always so excited to see Ella when they wake up in the morning, loves to hug her, pat her back, hold her, etc.  He has never done anything to harm her or bother her (not that the other two really have, but Eli will occasionally try to poke her in the eye or ear....and Chloë always tries to pick her up, which Ella does not like and she lets everyone know by screeching a screech that stops all conversations and puts all eyes right on her...wth was that noise?!)

Overall, the trip to the farm was a lot of fun.  We saw miniature donkeys, sheep, goats, llamas, a turkey, chickens, a rooster, a peacock, a giant tortious (didn't know that was a farm animal), and two giant potbelly pigs.  Oh, and two Emu's that hissed at us.  The boys were also excited to see a tractor plowing the fields and getting it ready for pumpkins.  We fed and admired the animals, had a picnic lunch, checked out the store, checked out the animals some more, and then headed home.  Fun day!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!  I'm having a peaceful and quiet moment getting to just put my feet up and relax on the couch for a few moments.  Ahhh.....bliss!

We just returned from a few hours at the beach.  Rest time!  The house and car are full of sand, there are various mini-piles of dirty clothes laying around the house, there are wet and sandy towels out on the front porch, a beach bag that needs to be unpacked, there is a dishwasher that needs to be unloaded, a dog that needs to be walked, a dining table that needs to be wiped down from lunch (and breakfast!), things that need to be put away, and the list goes on.  I have to CHOOSE to sit down and rest.  Even if I chose to go around and try to check chores off that list, I would never complete them.  There is always more.  And then suddenly the peace of all 4 kids in their rooms being quiet would END and I would just be more exhausted.  So I'm sitting down.  Feet are up.  This seems so obvious but it's a constant struggle.  Last week Myke and I got behind ONE evening on running the dishwasher - I think we both thought the other had started it before we went to bed, but neither of us had, and it took NEARLY THREE DAYS to get caught back up on the dishes.  We couldn't wash them fast enough with how many we were compiling with each meal.  The sink and surrounding counter was constantly full of dirty dishes.  First-world problem, huh?  Poor me.

Not too much to report from here.  I've been trying to enjoy the days I have with Chloë home during the week, as I know life will be quite different once she starts kindergarten (on August 18th!...early start).  I'm so used to just going where want to go when we want to go during the week.  We do museums, Legoland, Sea World, playgrounds, play dates with friends, the mall and other errands, etc., without having to deal with weekend crowds.  Once she's in kindergarten...she's no longer 100% mine anymore.  I guess she's been in preschool part-time since she turned 2, but that's different than kindergarten!  My baby is growing up!  Of course I'll still do those things with the other three kids, but it just won't be the same without Chloë around at least a couple days during the week!  Not to mention I have NO idea how we'll manage to get her dressed, fed, and to school BEFORE 8am five days a week!  Life is going to be very different after this Summer!

Big girl lounging at La Costa Resort & Spa

Our friend Heather is the caregiver for two kids up in Santa Monica.  The kids, Juliet (age 5) and Teddy (almost 3) had a few days off from preschool this week so Heather offered to their parents that she take them on a little vacation to San Diego...to do Sea World and some other fun adventures.  They parents were like "yah, sure!" so Heather booked them two nights at La Costa Resort and Spa near our house.  It's a BEAUTIFUL and quite ritzy resort with three pools, water slides, hot tubs, etc. Glad I suggested it for her, because I brought my kids over and we spent some time frolicking in the pools with them.  The little kid pool was great as it had a gradual declining entrance and was no deeper than three feet anywhere in the pool.  Owen and Eli loved that they could WALK around in the pool.  They had never done something like that before.  It still took them quite awhile to warm up, mainly Eli, but they ended up having a great time.  Owen is definitely the water baby of the two of them, but I am holding out hope that Eli will love the water someday, too.  We have them enrolled in swim classes...just started this month.  Myke takes them to the swim school on Saturday mornings and it's just the two of them and one instructor.  The first three classes Eli screamed the entire 30 minutes.  The fourth class (yesterday), he only screamed the first five minutes.  Maybe he's starting to be okay with it?  OR maybe it was the substitute swim teacher they were with since their regular instructor was out of town for the holiday.  I don't know.  We'll see how next week goes.  I haven't been the one to take them to the lesson, but Myke has let me know that Eli screams and cries like someone is stabbing him.  Meanwhile, Owen is splashing around and having fun right next to him, completely un-moved by his brother's wailing.  I guess he's grown up with Eli and Eli has always been the more dramatic, tantrum-throwing twin.  I don't know if Owen has thrown a tantrum in his life.  He's so laid-back in that way.  

Eli at La Costa

Owen testing out the hot tub

There was a telephone by the toilet in the resort hotel room

Chloë says, "That must be for when you really need to talk to someone"

Easter baskets!

At the beach today

Chloë had one surf attempt...got a little nervous about it so we'll try again another time

My girls :)

Some other pictures from the past week:  

Love this little lounge chair & umbrella set at our neighbor's house

Daddy's girl #2

I bought the boys "big" pillows for their cribs.  After I got home and unwrapped them I realized they were made for a queen size bed (according to the packaging).  Oops.  Eli doesn't like his at all but Owen uses his!  On another note, his crib is SO jam-packed with stuffed animals, toys, and books I have no clue how he sleeps half the time.  He won't let us take any of it out.  Hoarder?!?

Ella trying on her new swimsuit from Mom-mom & Pop!

Owen and his new helmet.  He's a scooterin' fool!  

On another note, Ella WALKED last night.  Outside of church after the Easter service.  Myke got home from picking Chloë up from a birthday party at 4:35pm yesterday and we decided to go to a 5pm Easter Eve service at a church near (5-10min away) our house that we have never been to.  SOMEHOW we got the kids (and ourselves) dressed for church and in the car and there without being TOO late.  They play music the first 15 minutes of the service...live band...so no one noticed we were a few minutes late...and we certainly weren't the last ones coming in.  Anyways, I had to convince Chloë that what she was wearing WASN'T a dress, but a long shirt (it was a dress).  She wore biker-length leggings under them.  It was basically knee-length, but you were shorts with shirts...duh!  Also, her dress shoes no longer fit and the only other thing she has besides a pair of grey and pink velcro shoes and a pair of high-top VANS skater shoes, are some pink $3 flip-flops from Target.  And she had worn those to a friend's house last week so they were now more brown than pink after the kids played in the dirt.  Great for church!  Also, we went out the door so fast I didn't get her hair brushed!  (Note to self: I need to keep a brush in the car).  The boys looked nice already as they had been dressed up a bit for the neighborhood Easter egg hunt that morning.  Ella looked fine, too.  My hair hadn't been washed in two days, but I put a hair band over it and hoped for the best.  Anyways, I don't think we looked that bad...but I could be wrong!  So anyways, we went into the church and dropped the kids off at the child-care rooms for their ages.  They were all in different rooms, except the boys, of course.  We just crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.  Of course 10 minutes into the service Ella's name comes across the projection screen, which is the sign that your kid is crying too much and it's time to go get them.  Oh well.  So Myke was only able to see about 10 minutes of the actual live service and then watched the rest from a television out in the hall.  Anyways, other than that it was a success...the kids are all up now so I have to cut my blabbing short...but after the service we were sitting out in the grass while the older kids ate the lollipops they were given in their classrooms (no wonder they liked church so much!) and Ella stood up off my lap and walked five steps!  She was so excited with herself and we had her walk back and forth between Myke and myself a couple times.  So it looks like she'll be on the move pretty soon!  She's still crawling for the most part today...but I think those days are limited!  

Gotta run!

Love Hate Relationship

Three in diapers.  

No doubt have the STINKIEST garbage can on the block!  

We are READY for Owen & Eli to be potty-trained.  We have started working on it a little bit now that things have "settled down" back into somewhat of a normal routine here at Casa de Hines (post birthday & visitor month of Feb/early March).  The boys sit on the potty in the morning and at night.  They get one M&M just for sitting and two M&M's if they actually pee in the potty.  We're not even thinking about #2 at this point.  They are very motivated by M&M's and have actually peed a couple of times each.  Definitely not every time, but on occasion.  Right now we're just exposing them to the whole concept as much as possible.  I'm not a believer in pushing the whole potty-training thing.  I think kids will be ready when they're ready.  That was our experience with Chloë and the whole potty training experience was easy-peasy with her.  VERY few accidents ever.  She was just ready when she was ready.  I expect things will be a bit more challenging with the boys.  I hear that boys are ready a bit later than girls.  Also, the boys are just now becoming more verbal and speaking a lot more.  They are starting to be opinionated about their clothes (just a little bit and only sometimes..bug ugh!), they are starting to dress themselves a LITTLE bit...more Owen than Eli.  They are showing signs of readiness.  I don't even bother locking the door, let alone shutting it when I go to the bathroom anymore (TMI??).  Eli HAS to come in and wait for me to finish so he can throw in a sheet of toilet paper and be the flusher.  He also likes to say "No touch it!!" and point into the potty.  He is very into that.  When I change one of his stinky diapers he yells, "No touch it!" and the other day yelled "Don't eat it!" and pointed to his diaper.  I about lost it...WHAT?  What made him ever think I might eat it??  Hilarious.  

A trip to Target today.  

We get a lot of comments so I usually avoid eye contact with others.  Blinders on.  Must get shopping done.  This is not a leisurely affair.

...and sometimes people just look annoyed that this big cart is in their way.

SO sorry.  

Let me talk about Crocs just for a moment.  I've blogged about it before.  I do not LOVE Crocs.  

I definitely at one point swore that I would never let my children wear Crocs.  Then one day a friend gave Chloë a pair.  She loved them.  Then her best buddy had a pair and she wanted one, too.  So I let her get one.  They were SO EASY!  She could put them on herself.  No socks needed....= less laundry.  Stay on the feet.  You can run in them.  They work as a shoe for everyday.  A shoe for the beach.  A shoe for a rainy day.   A shoe for the water park.  Very versatile.  I can't believe I'm even saying that.  However, Chloë LOVED her Crocs so much she would NEVER wear any other shoe.  It was a fight.  Even in our formal family photo shoot she is wearing a cute sundress and CROCS.  NOT CUTE.  Anyways, a couple weeks ago I noticed that Chloë's latest pair of Crocs were ripping on the side.  Now, she did wear them day in and day out for months on end...so it was time for them to rip.  Then, a couple days later, she came home from preschool with no shoes on.  Myke followed her carrying the Crocs.  Apparently, she had spilled Jello INSIDE the Crocs during a cooking project in class that day.  "Toss them!", I happily commanded.  And Myke happily did.  A bit later Chloë wanted to go outside and asked where her shoes were.  I told her they went in the trash.  TEARS.  Sobbing.  She was devastated.  

Conversation:

Me: Chloë, they were ripped.  

C:    But I want to keep them.  

Me: No, we need to get you new shoes.

C:  But I want to keep them in my room to be houses for my small stuffed animals. (Gross!)

Me; No, they had Jello in them now and are all sticky.  Your animals will get yucky.  And ants will come into your room to eat the Jello.

C: (still crying) But I want to keep them outside then!!  I want to make ant houses out of them. And have pet ants.

Uhhhh.  No.  Not happening.  Anyways, she got over it.  We went to the outlet mall a couple days later.  I took all the kids.  The plan was to find Chloë some new shoes.  With her being into the scooter, skateboarding and riding her bike lately, I wanted to get her a decent pair of shoes that would protect her feet.  I don't think Crocs are the best for that.  She has really banged up her ankles on the skateboard when wearing Crocs.  So we found some very nice shoes in the Vans shoe store.  They are tie shoes.  They are ankle-high, which is great for skating.  And, most importantly, she LIKES them!  I thought I was finally out of the Crocs world.  I was wrong.  I'll just end it with this:  We left that mall not only with Chloë''s new skate shoes, but also with 2 brand new pairs of Crocs.  For Owen & Eli.  How did I let that happen?!  

The good thing is...it makes getting out the door so much faster!  No running back upstairs for socks for the boys.  They can put the shoes on themselves.  They can get them wet.  They can run in them.  We're back to where we started.  I guess I just have a love-hate relationship with these shoes.  Whatcha gunna do? :)  

I do draw the line with adults, however.

They should NOT wear these thing. 

Ever.

Some pics:

They're getting a bit big to stuff into this tub for much longer.

Took the girls to Knott's Berry Farm for the afternoon on Monday.

First time on a carousel. Loved it.