Showing posts with label parks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parks. Show all posts

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Spring Break Part 2 (Catching Up)

I know, I am a slacker. I have been extremely overwhelmed and busy the past couple weeks and so my little bloggy blog has suffered. One more day and I would have been interrogated on the terms of neglect. So here I am finally adding one of the many posts I have jumbled in my head for my faithful readers (p.s. i love you guys).

So the last few days of Spring Break were spent trying to fast forward the days. I mean I love my kids, but momma needs a vacation, that's all I'm saying. Moms like me, who stay at home and whose sole job consists of being a balanced partner, raising children, actively participating in that parenting role (because just "being" a parent is not where the work is), and maintaining all its scheduling and spontaneity deserves paid leave on a biannual basis...for reals! Lately, I have felt like packing a bag and heading to a bed and breakfast somewhere in Amsterdam. But, enough about my woes...when I have to really vent, you'll know!

Thursday of the "Break" the kids and I headed to the zoo and the German Mall. I am officially courting the mall like it's my new boyfriend. The shiny floors, the stair-less escalators, the Present Store, H&M, the jumping water fountain....it's enough to make you wanna be thankful for Icelandic ash and the fact that we were trapped here.

Back to the zoo. The kids had a blast.

I think we stared at the baboons for about 30 min even though the smell was worse than George's socks post an all night softball tourney. They were fascinating. The booty picking, the baby carrying, the multiple humping incidents, the brawls between siblings, the old ass elder who just pushed everyone out of his stoney circle...the list goes on. Saige had to drag me and the boys away.


(you have no idea what was going on there...naughty business)

The only thing that was weird was that they had wild animals roaming around while we were walking. Like the deer...or pigs...or ponies...or weird looking birds (I am not a fan of random birds, they are way too unpredictable for me...and their beaks are straight-up weapons...I can't). Teage and JD had fun racing to cage after cage all day,

while Saige and her friend acted like they were on a photo shoot for a magazine that could be titled "Girl Meets Dirty Farm Animals"...wait, that just sounds all wrong. Maybe "National Saige-o-graphic". That's better. But seriously, how many pictures of the side of your face can one person take?? I have enough uploaded on my computer to make one of those mosaic portraits Ive always wanted (hmmmm......note to self).

After the zoo, we went to the mall. The one place I was trying to zone in on was the TK Maxx. Let me break it down....T -(abcdefghij) K -Maxx.

HA....you Americans can apparently only handle up to J. You gotta roll to Europe to gain that extra letter...it's a privilege, I know it. Seriously, what gives on the weird name change, TJ Maxx? Do the Ks outrank the Js in the German alpha? All I know is it looked just like a TJ Maxx inside (the wannabe label-whore loving clothes section, the random chaotic toy area, mismatched home decor, and useless electronics)...so what comes first?...the J or the K? I must inquire about this later in the future. I am losing sleep over it.

To wrap up the weekend, we went to Gartenshau Park for their 10th Anniversary celebration to see the tulips and the dino statues.

We encountered some German ladies dressed up in modern ball gowns and others in old century wear. I had no idea why this was occurring, but it was fun to watch them prance around with their digital cameras and beer steins :o)

The park is a boy's slice of heaven...mini-golf, dinosaur creatures, creeks, waterfall, playgrounds, and a labyrinth. Saige was unamused, until we hit the bratwurst stand. She was a trooper though and really made the most out of it with her brothers.

Gotta love a well manicured park.

Once Spring Break finally came to a close I found myself thinking, I didn't want them to go back to school. We had a blast...as always!!



Sunday, April 18, 2010

Spring Break...Part 1 (Holiday Park)


The week has seriously dragged on. Spring Break that is...

I don't know if it was because George didn't take leave (hmmmm, how'd he finagle that anyhow?)

Or maybe that our Disney trip thwarted high expectations for us meaning anything after paled in comparison?

Ooooh, maybe it was that fact that every night I didn't go to bed until at least 2am catching up those "snarky" housewives of NY?

Long winded or not, I am a Spring Break planning junkie and I love planning activities to keep these chil'ren of mine busy. Otherwise, they would be happy with just sitting around...bothering me.

So we used one of the days this week to head to Holiday Park and meet up with my geographical counterpart...Farrah and her lil chil'ren, Lennon :o)

Holiday Park was completely desolate. Which I liked. We practically had the whole park to ourselves....which also meant I didn't really have to have my Teage goggles on as I do in any normal crowd. Plus, it made for some quality girl talk in between rides.

Holiday Park can only be described as a broke man's Disneyworld. It's very mom and pop....which again, I like. The mascot was Holly the parrot along with his sidekick Dolly the ..."Squirrel". (I am using the Dug voice from UP when I say squirrel, I don't think I will ever be able to say the word normal again)

There were several rides, some intense...like the Lighthouse Tower that no one dared step up to, except JD. He wanted to go on (he had never done the one at Disney and rightfully so)...who wants to drop from the sky like that surrounded by a casing of steel, really? He went up alone...well, he sat with three other girls and I'm sure flashed them his million dollar smile :o) As soon as he went in, I started to panic. I thought this could go really good, or this could end in disaster. He doesn't do anxiety well, so until he came off, I could only picture him making it all the way to the top and then saying "Nevermind, I wanna get down".

JD is on the far left


But he didn't...he just screamed his head off as they dropped (all...the...way...down). What a trooper. He walked towards me at the exit screaming..."I SURVIVED!!"

Teage decided early on that he would be Lennon's personal caregiver. He was really sweet with him...it almost made me want another...PSYCHE, I'm crazy but not insane. However, he really took to Lennon...and it was adorable.

(I didn't mention it then, but I LOVE the cherry blossom diaper bag, don't you?)

I could tell Saige was starting to wonder when we were leaving this joint...so I threw her in some photo ops (which always grabs her attention).



She did have fun on a few rides with JD...



OK, so this next part of the story is something I was debating putting out there...but, I gotta keep it real.

Almost as soon as we arrived to the park...I was clicking away on my camera when suddenly I heard my son utter these words...

"Mom look, it's an angry dwarf (insert tween chuckle)"

I snapped my head over to him so fast...I knew I had given myself whiplash. Then, I spot-checked the surroundings and saw a little person whizzing away on a razor scooter. You know...a little person. Farrah and I cut our eyes to one another and I almost fell out. WTH? So I calmly called JD over and asked "Why did you say that?", he replied, "WHAT?" My parenting skills instantly became put on front street. It went something like this...

"You know he's not angry right?"

"I'm sorry"

"And do you know he is not to be called a dwarf, he is a little person?"

"Sorry MOM, but he's just like from Bedtime Stories"

(sigh)

"Would you yell out, WOW that guy has brown skin?"

"Well, No"

"So you shouldn't say things about how a person looks...it's mean. AND, it might hurt someone's feelings. I don't think you would like it if someone said something about how you looked, would you?"

"No, I said I'm sorry"

"Oh and again...Bedtime Stories is a MOVIE...not real life"

"I know Mom"

Now, I must say to you that Mr. Scooter worked at the park. He was most likely a guide or assistant to the mascots, because he followed them throughout the park all day. Later on, we ran into him again and my son walked right up to him and said "Hi", with a warm smile ear to ear, ended with a glance my way for approval. Good start I guess. Mr Scooter ended up being in the parade later and he totally posed for my camera...there is nothing angry about this guy...just sayin'.


What a fun day...and I enjoyed spending it with Farrah and Lennon, too. Here are some other pics.



Next up, the Zoo and Gartenshau Park...stay tuned.


Thanks for looking,



Monday, November 23, 2009

Low Key...

This past week was the first week in a while where things have been low key. No painting and I got to do some crafting and mess with the photos I sent off for in the mail. I also managed to start organizing my recipe box, or lack there of. I have so many recipes that I need to transfer onto cards...but, the most important thing was I found my corn souffle and candied yam recipe for this Thursday. WOO HOO! The hubby's gonna be kissing the ground I walk on...

Anyway, this past week...JD had a skate party at school. They were promoting healthy behavior...so why not free roller skating? He had a blast and by the end of the party, he was doing tricks on his skates (who does he think he is?). Anyway, he kept giving me this look as he rounded the corner by me...



Saige spent her time feeling the music and admiring all the "young kids"...I guess because she is so OLD? (again, who do my kids think they are?)


I started to have my fill of that whole scene about 15 minutes in and decided to leave their butts there and take Teage to the park across the way. No one was there and it is HUGE. I see a grandiose barbecue in my future there. I was fooling around trying to get him with some sun flare (see post below on sun flared photos). This was my second choice by the way...



The sun was just going down for the evening (it was only 4pm...so weird) so it was perfect light. I stalked him as he wielded his magic sword throughout the forest to get to the playground. He's so much fun...all the days!



During our forest adventure, we also scouted for some ideal marshmallow roasting sticks. This weekend, we finally put that fireplace to its best job...

I didn't have the graham crackers stocked for S'mores (Saige was peeved), but like I say..."You gotta crawl before you walk"...let's enjoy the marshmallow at its finest before we start adding frills! They thanked me later!!



All in all, I thoroughly enjoy a good low key week/weekend. I look forward to some more Fam Bam chill time with a little Turkey and dressing added to the plate, literally!

P.S. Why is it every time I pass the camera onto my husband, he manages to only take pictures that have my chest front and center? He's so predictable LOL!! I now have 5 or 5 photos of me roasting a marshmallow with no marshmallow in sight or my face for that matter...Dude!!