Oscar Stew

I’m so ridiculously behind on my blog it is scary. Instead of trying to catch up, I thought I would post some silly pictures of my kids being…well, my kids. I’m going to let the pictures from our vacation, playing in the fall leaves and decorating the Christmas tree gather dust. I’ll get to ’em when I get to ’em. No promises.

Remember this post? Tonight I do believe the kids topped that and then some. Times ten. With a cherry on top. I was giving Ro her bath, and the bigs were in the playroom keeping themselves entertained. Drew came in to show me his ensemble. It looks like Robin Hood is packing some serious heat with a stolen towel ala Emeril and Fairy Godmother’s “maggot” wand! The house was way too dark to take a decent pic, so I fired up the ole studio and bribed the kids with some peppermint bark…”come in my little pretties.” Works every time.

Whats the deal with those shoes? He’s posing like he’s worn them before…

The happy couple. The evidence suggests that the kids have had enough peppermint bark for one day. Is that even possible?

Nice pose, Brinley. She is very anti-camera these days. Is it a 3 year old thing, or a my-mom-takes-too-many-pictures thing?

Ok Drew, you can stop shakin’ it anytime now…Hey Brinley, wheeeeeerrrre’s the camera?

Did you wanna smile for the camera Brinley? No? Is this payback for all the chores I made you do today? Okaaaaaay.

Drew was such a gentleman and offered to hold Brinley’s bag so she could hug properly. Is Brinley gazing into the eyes of her hero, or is she thinking “what a freak!”

Such a pair, those two. And yes, I do believe it is time to launder the dress-up stash.

Just to be fair, I leave you with a picture of little miss six months. She’s practicing her sitting up skillz. She is getting pretty good at it, we’ve only had a few nasty bonks on the head.

Hang on everybody, this post is brought to you by Ryan!

Alright kids, we’re going to Grandma J’s for Thanksgiving. Now it’s only 650 miles away, so you may want to think of a few things to bring along to keep yourselves occupied. Don’t worry,  I… I mean Mommy thought of everything…

Food for the entire two-day trek: Check! (Adult food not photographed, sorry)

Road map made by kids so Daddy won’t get lost: Check! Look at that detail! Our house, the Rocky Mountains, hotel complete with pool, the Colorado River, I-70/I-25 interchange, an ice cream stop in Ritchfield, a suspicious looking mascot of a backwards Utah town, and last but not least Grandma’s house! This bad boy got stuck to the roof of the car so the kids could map our progress.

Kids in car: One…two…

Three! Yeeeehaw! Get this wagon train a-movin’!

We got a bit of a late start, but the kids loved zooming through the tunnels at night.

They had PLENTY to do. Once it was no longer possible to do crafts or draw, it was time for movies and glow sticks!

Nice job Daddy…promised the kids a hotel with a pool, only to find out the pool was outside! That’s ok, the kids still had some sniffles, so a nice long hot shower was even better. That’s what I keep telling them anyway…

I’ve never thought that hotel beds were all that appealing. Maybe if I stayed in them less often I might be as excited as Brinley!

No, Rowan didn’t get tossed in the clink for unruly behavior. This was the fancy crib the hotel provided for us. Gave it a good scrub down before lining it with all of Rowan’s blankets. Yummy! 

Day 2: This was the longer part of the trip, about 400 miles. Drew & Brinley got busy right away with their pipe cleaners and beads and made bracelets and necklaces for everyone. The guys at work are jealous. Oh yeah.

Don’t you want one?

Well, if that ain’t enough to make your teapot whistle, maybe Drew & Brinley can interest you in some tin foil sculptures. Snakes and snails are their specialty.

Halfway there!

The entire trip was accompanied by a most excellent playlist on my trusty Ipod. “Life is a highway…”

A lunch break became necessary when it was discovered that stealth bomber pilot Ro-T had napalmed her butt and had been sitting in it for who knows how long. Nothing like a little sunshine and a breeze to make it all better.

Have I mentioned that both snakes and Brinley swallow their prey whole?

The truth be told, we had about 100 miles to go when Rowan began to think that road trips for babies are lame. So Rowan, any special treats on the menu to keep you distracted for another buck twenty? Oooh! It’s the colossal battle of toothless baby vs. fruit loop!

Baby wins!

Nice contrast between Heaven & Earth. I sincerely apologize for not providing a constantly clean windshield.

We finally reached that special place on the map: The ice cream stop! When given a choice, Brinley goes for quantity, not quality.

What about you Ro? Ah, back to the fruit loops. We’re almost there! I promise!

The kids got bored with thier crafts towards the end and decided to wrap the bracelets they had made with shards of tin foil shrapnel and make gifts for “Grama” “Grampa” “Krisdy” “Unk Dan” and so on. Drew and Brinley have some fine jewelry and modern art tailor-made for you! 

Destination: Reached! Baby: Happy (what a trooper)! Mission: Complete!

Before we left on our super cool road trip to Utah (more on that soon!), we had to make sure that everything and everyone was taken care of. Drew was pretty bummed that Oscar had to stay behind and wouldn’t get to experience the euphoria of Grandma’s house. Drew knew that Daddy would be home a couple of nights during the week (work stinks) to keep an eye on things. Even with that reassurance, Drew was still concerned that Oscar’s needs would be forgotten, so he went ahead and made a to-do list for Daddy. With pictures! And exclamation marks!!!

The little man is definitely on the road to literacy. Now if we could just figure out why he writes backwards, and in Spanish?! And do you think Oscar is just slightly spoiled? He’s practically got his own menu!

Drew also drafted this note. I can’t figure out what most of it says, if anyone out there is a pro at 5 year old jibberish, help would be much appreciated! The only part I can read is the fourth line “Feed my guinea pik(!?)” with a few “if,” “cat” and “dad’s” thrown in there. I was amazed that he went on to spell guinea pig almost correctly. He may have copied the letters from Oscar’s bag of food, he is smart like that.

I found it hilarious and completely adorable that he took this task upon himself. And super proud that he is sounding out words and creating his own sentences. Now that we have have to sound out his words to understand them, it gives us a perspective on what it’s like to be Drew learning how to read & write. Tough stuff!