Weekend trip! Or, taking pictures with uncooperative children

We went to visit Dave's family last weekend, and decided to take a day trip. Where? Well, not quite the coast. I guess they call it the inland coastal region. The inner banks, if you will. We went to Washington, a town Dave lived in when he was Mabes' age (though he has always referred to it as Little Washington, and swears that the locals do, too. I only saw signs for Washington), and Bath, the oldest town in North Carolina.

They had lots of decorated crabs around. Annabelle didn't want to stay
for the picture, Mabes just wanted to dance.
Awesome. Thanks for humoring me long enough
to take a picture, girls!


Downtown Washington

Mabes was excited to learn that the Washington we visited was the first town to be named for George Washington in 1776. We walked along the docks, saw the cute old downtown, and admired old houses. We were going to get hot dogs at supposedly the best hot dog stand around, but it was a one-woman operation with about 25 people in line. Also, she was probably 72 and moving comically slow (I think she wanted to see how badly people wanted their hot dogs), so we quickly opted for an air conditioned Hardee's instead.

Click on picture to see the "you are here." The Outer Banks (the area
being evacuated due to Irene) are on the other side of the Pamlico Sound.

House built in 1795

House built in 1785. Love this house, and it appeared to be empty!

Bath was incorporated in 1705, and was North Carolina's first capital, and I can now say that I've been to all three capitals of North Carolina (New Bern in 2003 and Raleigh several times...if the airport or driving around lost count). It's a cute old town with a beautiful waterfront. We visited St. Thomas church, the oldest surviving church building in North Carolina. There were a cluster of old houses and buildings in the area, so we enjoyed walking around and looking in them.

I think the girls most enjoyed digging through the gravel/sand/crushed shells that were everywhere instead of dirt. Mabes was really excited to discover a shark tooth. She kept asking Dave how it had gotten there, and if maybe someone had put it there. He tried to explain how things get washed to shore, but I don't know if she got it.

Picking up more rocks

We've looked at houses that are "colonials." This is a true
colonial house, built around 1744.

This isn't old. Just pretty. It's a B&B in the historic
neighborhood, and it's for sale!

It was really hot, but it was a great weekend to go out. It was certainly better than this weekend appears to be, though Bath and Washington appear to be inland enough that they shouldn't have major damage. They might get more shark teeth washed ashore.

Party animals

As mentioned earlier, Mabes has decided she loves kittens. You might call it a bit of an obsession. She decided she wanted a cat party, and immediately started planning. Awesome, less work for me. I wanted to make a pinata again, but that kind of took a lot of time. Plus, they recently chopped down a bunch of our trees, so we had nowhere to hang it--it was a convenient excuse.
I decided to do cat ears and collars in addition to Mabes' well-planned games. The kids colored shrinky dinks with their names on them, we baked them, then put them on their beaded collars. Dave was surprised how long the beading took them--I've worked with several of these kids in our preschool co-op, so I was banking on it taking them a while to do that while I made lunch!
When they finished, they played games. At Mabes' request, Dave made a "pin the tail on the cat" game, but took it a step farther and had it be "pin everything on the cat." And then instead of Duck Duck Goose, they played Cat Cat Mouse. And Cat Cat Bird. Mabes was disappointed that we didn't have time for Dog Dog Cat. (Creativity was limited.)

Picasso's cat

I used Sarah's recipe to make strawberry cupcakes with strawberry icing. It uses real strawberries in both the cupcakes and icing, so it's practically health food! And I had made the candy cats (boo, the whiskers were messy, but I stopped caring after the first one) in advance, so the cupcakes were super easy to throw together the day-of.
It was a fun, easy party and I had a lot of fun planning it with Mabes. Of course, despite games and activities, the kids enjoyed running around playing cats the most. Mabes has decided she wants to be a cat for Halloween--with the ears and collar, I think her costume is pretty much done. I just can't let her change her mind.

I think she enjoyed her ice cream.

Six already?!?!

Dear Mabes,

Happy birthday, little girl. Six years ago tonight, I held you and wondered who you'd be. I wanted to call everyone I knew to tell them we had you--it was like the best birthday and Christmas all rolled into one. Before you were born, Daddy and I worried that you'd be overshadowed by your cousins. We worried that you would be the boring, quiet child in the corner at family events.

We didn't need to worry.

I can think of lots of words to describe you, but not boring and quiet. You are fun and crazy and say the most hilarious things. (Daddy thinks I should have a Mabes-isms twitter account--I don't think I could keep up with you.) You are a great big sister; Annabelle adores you. Your energy is unparallelled. You are so strong-willed, outgoing, and extroverted that your dad and I often wonder where you came from.

We've had a long, great weekend. You were tired tonight, and I know that was part of the reason you were a little emotional. We sat in your room and you told me you were nervous about growing up. You're excited about 1st grade, but also scared. You told me that you think about all the challenges, and how there are more challenges in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades, and that scares you. You're worried that 1st grade will be more work than you can handle. You're worried you'll do something wrong. You're worried it will be hard.

This is a side of you I don't see often. While I don't know where the crazy extrovert came from, I can clearly see that the worrier in you is all me. I didn't know what to tell you tonight, so I told you it would all be okay, you might be nervous, but you'll love 1st grade just like you loved kindergarten. I told you not to worry about 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades, and just think about the fun things we'll do this week.

I don't know how to make the worrying go away. I don't know how to make "the challenges" easier. You are a brilliant little girl and I never want you to doubt yourself. You will make mistakes, and you'll even fail sometimes. You have so much potential, and I worry (see?) that something I do will stifle that. You will do great things in your life, but honestly? The challenges are part of it. It's how you'll learn. It's how you'll grow. I wish you didn't have to worry, and I wish I could tell you it won't be hard. I can't.

Six years ago, I had no idea the challenge in store in becoming a parent. It's been hard. I've cried a lot. I'm pretty sure it's only going to get harder. But that challenge has also been the most rewarding aspect of my life.

Kind of a random picture. But it goes along with the theme.
Also, Mabes seems so big here!

Mabes, we are so blessed to have you. You are a sweet girl with a big heart and bigger hugs. While I wish you didn't have to worry, I know it's part of life. If anyone is up for a challenge, it's you. I can't wait to see the things you'll do and the person you'll become. And like I told you tonight, Daddy and I will always love you. Just do your best, and everything always works out. Happy birthday, Mabes.

Love,
Mommy

Hello kitteh...

About two weeks ago, Mabes noticed we don't have any stuffed cats. Frogs, monkeys, elephant, dinosaur, unicorn, dogs, lambs, fish, bears, and more, but no cats. Probably because we don't need more stuffed anything. But Mabes was insistent. We needed a stuffed cat. Cats are, after all, her favorite animal.

Huh?

Oh yes, she told me. Her favorite. They're cute. And cuddly. And she loves them so much. She wants a stuffed cat for her birthday. In fact, she loves cats so much, scrap the dance party idea (no problem) and let's do a CAT party. Because Mabes loves cats.

I was kind of waiting for the cat love to blow over, but her party is tomorrow and she still insists that she loves cats. Other than briefly seeing Jeff and Jess's cat, I don't know that she's ever been around one. Whatever, she wants cats? I'll give her cats. I'm still not sure what to do at a cat party (play Minister's Cat and look at Icanhascheezburger?), but I've sewn some cat ears and Mabes has some game ideas so we'll see.

And Gymboree has very conveniently come out with a kitten line; I couldn't help myself. Mabes may only be turning 6, but she's already turning into crazy cat lady.

We'll call it a draw.

Before we had kids, Dave and I used to talk about how awesome it would be to have supernerd children who love healthy food. After another trip to the grocery store with Mabes begging for broccoli ("please mom please mom please mom I LOVE BROCCOLI!!!" Seriously, kid, just ask once and you'll get it!), we came home, had lunch, and Mabes went off for quiet time.

She seemed a bit more absorbed than usual, so I peeked in and saw this:
She's playing Revolutionary War. Her explanation: Noah is General Washington. He's not president yet, since they haven't won the war. And Washington didn't have a cane and a bird on his shoulder. He's in the castle because they had cool forts back then, and the other people in there are his spies. Also, George Washington probably didn't have golden eggs, but it would be cool if he had, so there are golden eggs in the fort. If we had more Little People men, she would have had a Marquis de Lafayette in there. On the chair is Lord Cornwallis and a Redcoat. (She was irritated that I moved their fort for the picture, as they wouldn't be that close in real life.)

I love my supernerd.

Dave and I also dreamed of having children who listened, obeyed, and never talked back. Oh well--you win some, you lose some.

36 Hours of Booty

Okay, so the event is 24 Hours of Booty, but because Dave was on the organizing committee, it was 36 for him. He got there around 8:30 am Friday morning, helped with set up all day, and was on his bike for the official event kick-off at 7 pm.

Can you find Dave?

Despite triple digit heat, the girls and I headed to Myer's Park Friday evening. Dave had talked it up last year, so I at least wanted to see a little bit. We finally found parking, and booked it for the start line. Annabelle had insisted on walking, but after a block, she decided riding in the sling would be better. (Sidenote: It is easier to keep track of an 18-month-old in a sling, but holy Ned, having a 23 pound heater strapped to you with basically a blanket in 100 degree heat isn't fun.) It's a beautiful area, and it reminds me of Palo Alto. I even found a great house for us, but it's a little out of our range.

The side of the road not used for cycling. Beautiful area.

We made it in time, took some pictures, and found Dave lined up with his team. When Dave had mentioned riding this year, I was more than happy to support him in that. I have good associations with this event (aside from the good cause, though that should be enough!). As he was helping at the start line last year, he saw corporate teams getting ready and thought, "I'd love to be able to do that next year!" Right before the race started, he got the call offering him his job. It had been a long job search, and he landed a job with his goal company. He rode with them this year.

Those raising hands are in remission.

The first lap around the "booty loop" (about 3 miles, the area for which the event was named) was a parade lap. They invited all participating cancer survivors and those currently battling to come to the front to ride. Along with the race numbers, they had tags that said, "In memory of...", "In honor of...", and "I'm a survivor!" It was incredibly moving to see so many of those tags. It seemed like almost everyone had a personal connection, and was a stark reminder of how many lives are affected by cancer. They encouraged everyone to take it easy; it wasn't really a race, but a chance to raise awareness and money. Talk, listen to stories, be inspired. As cyclists passed, you'd hear "My daughter was just diagnosed...", "My father is in remission...", "I lost my mother..." as they talked to each other.

A peloton approaches

All along the three mile course, people were cheering the cyclists on; I even saw a woman setting up what appeared to be a really nice dinner party on her front lawn. People were tailgating, blasting music, cheering. Dave said that some of them stayed all night.

Never-ending line of cyclists

Dave's waving back to Annabelle and Mabes

The girls and I didn't last long though. We went home for the night, and returned in the morning when it was a cool 90 degrees. (Dave said that at one point around 1:30 am, he made the comment that it had cooled down a lot--the guy he was talking to checked his phone and it said 87 degrees. Boo.) We brought cookies and got to meet some of Dave's teammates, including the captain and Sandy, the overall highest fundraiser ($50K!). As a team, they raised over $144,000.

Miserably hot despite misting fans...

...but the bounce house makes it better!

You want to squeeze her, don't you?

While the majority of riders looked like somewhat serious cyclists on road bikes, the range was impressive. There were tandems, hybrids, kids on bikes (and some on what Mabes calls "stuck together bikes--attached to a parent's bike), unicycles, even an old-fashioned high bike (more pictures). Mabes even pointed out a little kid in a bike trailer with an "I'm a survivor!" tag on it.

Wall of Hope

One of the many, many bike racks

Dave rode 67 miles, slept for about 3 hours in a chair, and spent the rest of the time running around helping with the event. When they handed out team awards, he got "best volunteer EVER." He was a little tired when he got home, but he had a great time. Thank you to everyone who donated; you'll be getting your art-by-Mabes soon.

Dave in "Bootyville," the where people slept/rested before heading out for more laps.

Dave's medal, handmade by Mona, the team captain

Dave's team