What do you get when you take five boys (that call themselves men), two ladies, a toddler, and a baby, shove them into a big grey van and send them to DC for three days? A life-changing moment at the zoo, a first-time bus adventure, a whole lotta chocolate, and a deep hatred for Garmin.
At the crack of dawn on Friday, we headed to Reston, Virginia (near DC). The boys had to work a trade show, so Courtney and I went along to help, and for a little adventure with the girls. The car ride up was good. It took us five and a half hours to get there and the girls were amazing. We were so grateful. On Friday evening, while the boys worked, we took Taylor and Reese to the hotel pool for a little bit of splashing.
On Saturday, Taylor enjoyed the hotel fountain (she loves all things water).
And then we took the girls for their first trip to the zoo. I was a bit scared that we’d have another Wiggles experience and Taylor would freak out at the sight of strange animals. But, she didn’t! She LOVED the zoo. Funny thing was that she was very prejudiced as to which animals she’d visit. She only liked the ones that we have read about in books, or that we see on a daily basis. Monkeys (we don’t see these a lot, but we do read about them), ducks, birds and, of course, TURTLES.
“Duck! Mere! Duck! Duck! Duck! Mere!” (“Mere is Taylor slang for “come here” and she was quite demanding with this little guy)
Geese!
Taylor introduces her namesake to Reese
Now, here’s our life-changing moment. So, we’re at the turtle area. There’s probably ten medium sized turtles and one HUGE turtle walking around on a pile of dirt. Taylor is loving every moment of it. Calling the turtles (pronounced ter-tle): “tertle, mere! Tertle, mere. Hey, tertle! Hey!” This is all Taylor wanted to do: turtle-watch. So, we’re standing there and the big turtle walks over to a smaller turtle. (Proceed reading at your own risk). He then, well, mounts the little turtle. And shows him a little bit of “turtle love”. For about five minutes. This is Taylor’s face when the “spectacle” began.
There were a crowd of other children watching the turtles when the “turtle love” began. They all said “Mommy, what is that big turtle doing to the little turtle?!” All of the parents, including myself, were trying so hard not to laugh, looking at eachother, speechless. Someone told me today that I should have said that the little turtle was giving the big turtle a piggy back ride. Good one. I’ll use that line next time I witness a turtle-humping.
Besides the kid-friendly actitivies, the adults actually had a mini-vacation. Courtney’s in-laws traveled to Virginia to stay with us, and babysit the girls when we went out for dinner each night.
Me and Courtney
So, the adventures did not end there. We headed home at 3pm yesterday afternoon and, thanks to our good buddy, Garmin, we took a detour that added two hours to our trip. You might say, oh, two hours is not so bad. HA. Two extra hours with a toddler strapped into a carseat? SO BAD. Poor Taylor. She did not enjoy the 8 hour car ride. And, with the tantrums, neither did the adults! That’ll teach you. Never listen to Garmin. Especially when it says “recalculating” several times after just a few minutes into the drive.
So, as you can tell, we had a big weekend. All in all, the swimming, eating, playing, shopping, mass transit and “turtle love” adventures were totally worth the 14 hours in the car. And, I can safely say, after witnessing turtle porn, that I will never be the same. Thank you, Reston!
This weekend was the weekend we had all been waiting for — we were going to see the Wiggles LIVE and in person! Every child’s dream, right? Not so much. Taylor was scared stiff the entire time. From the moment we walked into the stadium, Taylor’s hands were glued over her eyes. She sat still, sweating, barely making a peep. No matter how many french fries we offered, and how much excitement we showed, the poor little lady was not willing to wiggle with The Wiggles, let alone open her eyes.
The ushers felt sorry for us, so they allowed us into the mezzanine area, a place that was a little less overwhelming. We sat at a table where you couldn’t see any of the show, only faintly hear it in the background. She was OK when snuggled close to the back wall, but, as soon as I’d take a step towards the show, she panicked. So, we spent the evening running up and down the halls with several other little ones Taylor’s age that had the same case of the heebie jeebies.
On Saturday, we packed up the six kids and headed to our friend’s community pool, which has a very cool kid-friendly water park, an adult water slide and a lazy river.
Tay and Daddy went down the water slides, Tay and I tried out the lazy river, the kids played in the fountains and blasted eachother with the water guns.
After a terrifying Wiggles experience and staying up until 11pm playing on Friday night, and then a big day at the water park on Saturday, Taylor was POOPED on Sunday. And I love tired Turtle Sundays.
For Father’s Day weekend, The Bradys hit the road…again. This time is was a happy trip. We went to see Jimmy’s Dad, now out of the hospital and doing wonderfully. Asheville was awesome. The mountain weather was a nice break from the humidity and 107 degree heat index that we’ve been experiencing on the coast lately.
We arrived at Mamoo and Papoo’s house late Friday night. When Tay woke up on Saturday morning, she enjoyed breakfast on the porch. A beautiful morning with her Papoo, enjoying the view and fresh fruit in her PJs. Ahhh, Heaven. Breakfast was followed by lounging around, playing on the golf cart, coloring on bathroom fixtures, running naked around the house (Taylor, not me), and just enjoying family. On the way back home Sunday, we were lucky enough to catch up with my parents for lunch as they were in Winston for a wedding. Yay!
Here’s a weekend in the life of the Tay:
Can I have more strawberries? Look at this view!
Mamoo, Tay and Daddy
Drawing in my diaper. Hangin with Uncle Farrell.
Sharing grapes with Papoo. Lunch with Waaawa!
What a perfect Father’s Day. We got to spend time with Jimmy’s Dad at home, then got to see my Dad for lunch, and had lots of quality time with Daddy Jimmy as we drove 14 hours getting to and from. Good stuff. Happy Father’s Day, Daddies everywhere.
For Memorial Day, Jimmy and I packed our bags and headed to Michigan to meet my parents and visit the extended family. The plane trip was better than expected — I even followed advice from Parents Magazine and packed a bag of brand new toys/distractions. But, we only had to resort to the slinky once, which Taylor ended up trading with a little boy for his play cell phone. Such a flirt. She entertained fellow plane patrons by blowing kisses and slamming tray tables. Not bad considering a two-hour flight.
Once in Michigan, Taylor spent the weekend swimming in the hotel pool with Grandma and Daddy, playing with her cousins, chasing her Great Grandparent’s kitty, using her Great Grandpa’s cane as a weapon, and showing off all of her new skills and favorite phrases like “not nice!” and “no way!” In light of Memorial Day tradition, we ate a lot. I’m certain that Taylor gained back the two pounds that she lost from her ear infection last week, and I gained the three pounds back that I lost from being a busy single Mommy for a week. Taylor indulged in grapes (not good for the diaper) and Mommy ate lots of brownies (my other downfall, second only to lava).
It was a great weekend. Yummy food. Beautiful weather. Awesome family. And priceless time to stop and smell the flowers. Just what we all needed.
After everything that has been going on in our personal lives, we needed a few days of family. So, Jimmy, Taylor and I went to visit Jimmy’s Mom and Dad in Mars Hill, a small town near Asheville. Both of his sisters and all of his nephews and nieces were also traveling to MaMaw and PaPaw’s for their Spring Break. So, we had four days of quality time with the entire Brady family. During our mini-vacation, I ate my first homemade biscuit, Jimmy burned off some stress riding his dirt bike throughout their pastures and mountains, we drank multiple full-fat milkshakes (none of that low fat stuff), spent lots of time vegging on the couch, gave and received many hugs, laughed a lot, watched five kids under 12 run like wild animals through the house, watched too much Disney Channel (thanks to those five kids), and witnessed Taylor learn new words — toetatoes (potatoes), chss (cheese) and mommy (sometimes mimi), all of which revived our sprits and warmed our hearts once again. I believe a homemade biscuit and a few hugs can save a soul.
Peanut and Poppy 