Sweet!

Because Mabes hasn't been napping, it has made her nighttime sleep worse and caused her to wake up earlier and earlier. This morning, she was up at 6:15. I woke up with a sore throat and general achiness, so when seeing if she'd play quietly in her room didn't work, Dave played with her while I tried to go back to sleep until 7. But the sore throat made that difficult.

It's been hot (mid-90s) and humid (ewww) lately, so I decided the best thing to do would be to head to the park before it got too hot and then go grocery shopping at Super Target. It was ridiculously hot when we got to the park, but oh well. Mabes had a blast saying hello to the turtle, hello to the duck and her ducklings, and playing in the sand with a new friend. I was chatting it up with new friend's grandma when the girls decided they were ready to leave the sandbox. Friend went to her grandpa, Em ran to the swings. I was saying good-bye and heading towards Mabes when she started screaming. Now, if there's one thing to know about Mabes it's that screaming/general loudness is very common when she's excited or mad, but not when she's hurt. When she gets hurt, reactions range from "Ow, I bumped my elbow" and it's bleeding now or crying for a whole 30 seconds when she scraped up her face. So I immediately started sprinting towards her because it had to be something serious.

Instinctively, I blew the giant black bug off her leg before getting a good look at it. I picked her up and she was sobbing, but I think it probably only lasted maybe a minute and then turned to little whimpers. The grandma came over and was looking at it, and I was just wondering if it was a bee sting or a wasp--and what do you do in those cases? There was no swelling, though, no stinger and her leg looked fine. The grandpa said, "Oh, it was probably a horsefly! Those things hurt!" What? They bite? When he said that, it made sense--it seemed like the bug looked like a giant housefly, but why on earth would Mabes be screaming about a fly on her leg? But as we were walking out to the cars, the grandma swatted something away and said, "Yep, it must have been a horsefly--one just landed on me!" Poor Mabes; in reading up on horsefly bites, they don't sound fun.

Thankfully, due to the heat, I had packed our drinks in one of those collapsible coolers with ice packs--that was great in helping her leg feel better. Guess I'll be toting one of those all summer, since you never know when you'll need ice water or an ice pack! Then Mabes decided that she needed to swing, and she was completely fine after that.

Then we headed out to do some grocery shopping, and I was rear-ended. The lady was really nice, though when we pulled over she was really concerned about Mabes. Showing what a great mom I am, I hadn't really thought about that. In my defense, it was a really just a bump and Mabes said, "DUDE!" (as she does whenever I slam on my breaks) and then "Oh, that's a crazy noise! Freaky!" So I guess I had just assumed that since she was saying dude, crazy, and freaky, she was fine. We exchanged info and the damage is very minimal, but I don't like dealing with any car issues.

Rather than looking at it as the pickle on the crap sandwich that has been my day, I'm trying to be more positive. You know, "when you've reached the end of your rope, tie a knot and start swinging!" (Let me clarify that this is a bit of an inside joke that Dave quotes often and makes me both laugh and want to punch him in the face--just so you don't think I've turned into a total sap who would like a copy of "14,000 Things to be Happy About" for Christmas.) So for the good things: Mabes is taking a nap, which automatically boosts my day by about 1000 points, I love air-conditioning, I'm making a "summer dinner" using a new pasta salad recipe and pairing it with watermelon and corn on the cob, and I got ice cream sandwiches at Target and I plan on devouring all of them tonight. Okay, maybe not all, but I reserve that right should my afternoon not go well. Oh, and DDO (aka Dancey Dance Off, aka So You Think You Can Dance, but it's easier to type DDO. All possible future references to the show will be DDO) is on. It takes a simple person to be satisfied with reality TV and ice cream sandwiches, but hey, I never claimed to be complex.

And a special birthday shout out to Becca--happy birthday, poops! We called and sang to her voicemail, and Mabes wanted to make her a cake and have a party, but that will have to wait until she comes to visit next week. And I'm putting one picture at the top of this post because it makes me happy, and therefore should be the first thing you see. Not the most flattering picture (sorry, Bacon!) , but it perfectly describes their relationship--Becca and Mabes are kindred spirits. It kind of scares me, but mostly I just laugh. Becca is awesome, and I'm so glad she pulled out of that annoying/selfish/bratty teenager stage (not a slam against Becca, we all acknowledge we had an annoying age), because I now consider her one of my best friends. We always thought Mom was slightly delusional, if not completely full of it, when she said someday our sisters would be our best friends. As always, Mom was right. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BACON!

And a high-five for Doov in passing his driving test and getting his license on the first try. Sorry, Dave, I didn't see your text until today, so congratulations! I can't believe you're driving. When I was looking at the license of the lady/girl that hit me, she was saying something about dropping her daughter off at daycare and I saw that according to her license, she was born in 1984. My first thought was, "How can you have a daughter, you're 16!" Then I realized that she was actually 24, and I felt old. And now I feel even older knowing that "little Dave" is driving. Just be careful and don't rear-end anyone.

Two things

First, Mabes' nursery lesson today was "I am thankful for my eyes." Awesome. Even better that the teacher brought sunglasses for each child to remember that they are thankful for their eyes. As you may have been able to tell, Mabes loves sunglasses, so this lesson went over extremely well.

Here she is, with her sunglasses and Rocket, courtesy of Laura.

Second, I have to apologize to all those movies/tv shows I made fun of, when people run out in the rain and get soaked after a minute. I always thought that was hilarious because rain is never like that. Maybe once a year, but come on, what are the odds? Well, this week, I was set straight.

I've lived in North Carolina for less than a year and despite being in a drought, we've had crazy downpours like that many, many times. Dave says that's normal. And I'm feeling like a big ol' idiot because seriously, it almost never rains like that in California. I mean, we had "showers," but the rain on Wednesday was like an actual shower. And don't get me started on Oregon--yes, it seems rainy, but it's more of a constant drizzle. When people complained about the rain, Oregonians were all-too eager to point out that it doesn't rain any more in Oregon than it does in New York. Our good friend and New Yorker Nyea would quickly retort, "Yeah, well, in New York, it rains like it means it one day, then it's sunny for 5 or 6."

And it serves me right. I was so proud of myself for getting all cute--skirt, cute top, dangly earrings, cute flip flops, sleek hair--and I was soaked to the skin in the few seconds it took me to run from Target to my car. Seriously. I had to squeeze the water out of my skirt and sit on a plastic bag in my car. And why did I bother with a skirt when it was going to rain? Because it was warm, and it never rains when it's warm. Unless you're in Hawaii or Florida, but that's vacation so it doesn't count. Dave just laughs and says "Welcome to hurricane season!" Heh.

So is this how it is everywhere on the east coast? Everywhere but the west coast? This is madness, I tell you. Madness.

I'm all fried out

Yay! Laura (Bora in my blog list) came this weekend! I made the mistake of telling Mabes about it on Thursday. I told her how we were going to go pick strawberries, eat hushpuppies, and make waffles, so that night when I decided to make waffles for dinner she yells "And Laura will come tomorrow!" Doh. Sorry, kid, one more day. But apparently she was still convinced, and when Dave got her up Friday morning, the first thing she said was "Laura's here!" He told her no, sorry, not until tomorrow. Again, she must have thought he was joking and she ran into the family room, looked around, and her face fell. Dave said she had the saddest look on her face and shook her head, "Laura's not here..."

But she forgot about the sadness by the next morning, and was thrilled to see Auntie Bora, even moreso when she pulled out a giant plush Little Einsteins Rocket. When we started talking about eating, Mabes yelled, "We eat at Jangles!" So once again, we headed to Bojangles for some biscuits, then out to pick strawberries.


I was a little nervous that I had overhyped them to Laura or that somehow they had gotten better in my memory and the day would be a sad disappointment for all of us. But no, they were fabulous.

And last week, we laughed at the people we saw eating while picking. I mean, who does that? This week, we realized that EVERYONE does that. We were the chumps just putting them in our basket. They must figure the all-you-can-eat strawberry buffet into the price of the baskets, because everyone was eating them and angry thick accented farmer waving an orange flag (pictured below) didn't mind.

Now, if you were merely thinking about setting foot in a different aisle of strawberries than the one he sent you to (even if your friends are in that other aisle) the flag is waving and he's shouting unintelligible rants at you. But stay in your aisle and eat a bunch of strawberries, and he'll just keep patrolling and picking/eating strawberries, too.

Mabes and Jonas eat strawberries. All the kids were a red mess by the end.

That night, we went to a seafood place for some fried seafood. Dave had been searching for an "authentic" Southern seafood place, something totally un-fancy with huge portions. This was it. The dirt parking lot and abundance of accents tipped us off that this was the place we had been looking for. Unfortunately, Dave didn't realize he needed to specify he only wanted strips of catfish, not the whole fish.



The rest of the weekend was spent eating a ton and just hanging out. It was great fun, though I think I'm done with fried food for a while. On Monday, we gave Laura the tour of the city and went to an ice cream shop. Even better, we ordered Mabes her very own. We ate outside, which was across the street from to the light rail tracks, so Mabes was very close to exploding from the happiness of eating ice cream and watching the trains go by.


And a special birthday shout-out to Dave. I wanted to write a great tribute to what a great guy he is, but Mabes is shouting in her room "Mommy, it's time to get up! I wake up! We need to make Daddy's birthday cake!" Silly Mabes, you can't wake up if you never went to sleep. But Dave is a great guy, and since I don't have enough room to go on and on about why I love him, I'll just say that I do and go make him calzone for dinner and his annual chocolate chip cookie cake. So happy birthday, Dave!

Two kids at the bounce house

One of the items at the top of Jeff's list of things to do here was go to Monkey Joe's to play on the bounce houses and slides. If this sounds odd, you clearly don't know Jeff. Their flight wasn't until early afternoon, so we went to Monkey Joe's before heading to the airport.

Jeff and Mabes take a break to smile for the camera. Notice how Mabes' hair is matted down with sweat. (Yes, I have the sweatiest 2 year old ever!)
I warned Jeff and Kirsten about this slide--I swear, they must grease this up every morning because it gets faster every time we go. These pictures are blurry, but they capture the mayhem:



I think this was Jeff's favorite. He liked the big white slide, but that was an obstacle course that was rather time consuming. On this one, he would run up the ladder and then turn around and dive down the slide, clearly disobeying the rules to slide only on your rear. Scofflaw.

And here's Jeff at the bottom of the slide. Right after this picture, Jeff got up to do his run/dive again and deadpanned, "Time me." And then he ran up. He may be 27 and a grown-up accountant, but he's still Joof.

One last time down the slide together.

As we were about to leave, another little kid latched on to Jeff and wanted to be his friend. I'm guessing he saw Jeff chasing Mabes and acting like a monkey and wanted in on that. Who wouldn't? So they played for a few more minutes, then we headed off to the airport. It was a great day, and Mabes, Jeff, and Kirsten got a nice workout.

Fried Stuff & Cheese...and Strawberries

Jeff and Kirsten came to stay with us this weekend, and wanted to experience the South. So we started off our Saturday with a trip to Bojangles for breakfast biscuits (and Kirsten kept giggling at the name "Bojangles," and insisted on taking a picture in front--who wouldn't?) and then headed to South Carolina for strawberry picking. Dave had initially jokingly suggested cotton pickin' and when Jeff said that sounded fun, Dave remembered that that's not until the fall. Way to go, Dave. (He still doesn't get how fascinating the idea of cotton picking is to us Californians--it was the highlight of my first NC trip almost 8 years ago! Where we come from, cotton comes in bags. To see it scattered out in a field is hilarious.)

But we found a farm just over the border that lets you pick your own strawberries. We got a gallon-size basket thinking that would be more than enough--when would we ever eat THAT much? Heh.

Here's Jeff helping Mabes find some strawberries, and emphasizing that we don't like the green ones.

Focusing hard at the task at hand:

Look, I got one!

Me with my strawberries. After this picture was taken, I shoved them all in my mouth. Okay, I didn't. But I should have, and I would have had I known how amazingly good they were.


Jeff, Kirsten, and Mabes with their almost-full basket. It was tons of fun, but by the time we were done, Jeff was ready to go. He has decided against a full-time strawberry picking career.


Dave, me, and Mabes. We went by this field again yesterday, and without me saying anything, she pointed to it and yelled, "Hey! That's where we took Daddy, Uncle Jeff, and Aunt Kirsten to go pick strawberries! YUM!"

We went home, had lunch, and devoured the strawberries. To say that they were really good is a painful understatement. Costco has really good strawberries. These were among the best strawberries I've ever had. They were so ridiculously good that when we ran out of those within hours and turned to the Costco back-ups, we were sadly disappointed. Oh, and heads up to Laura: we will very likely head back there this Saturday. I figure you wouldn't mind because good food is involved. And then Jeff can brag that he did it first.

We took Jeff and Kirsten to uptown, walked around a bit, went through "Settlers Cemetary" (dating back to the 1700s-1800s, some of the headstones were so old you couldn't read them), and then went out for barbeque and hushpuppies, and tried to explain the different kinds of barbeque. I still don't get all the subtle differences, but I LOVE Eastern Carolina-style barbeque, I really like Western Carolina-style, and I'm less of a fan as you move west.

We had a pretty lazy morning on Sunday, thanks to 1 o'clock church. I made bacon and waffles with strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream. That managed to tide us over until our dinner of tri-tip sandwiches and of course, popcorn that evening. We like food.

At Jeff's request, we went to the bounce house before taking them to the airport yesterday. Jeff was in his element, and Mabes was happy to have someone chase her around. I'll have to post pictures later, though, since Mabes has decided that today is yet another no nap day, and quiet time isn't very quiet. Boo.

Yay, a new cousin!

Mabes is thrilled that she has a new cousin. Except I don't think she gets the concept of cousin. She does understand that Ainsleigh and Donovan have a new baby, and we got to go buy little Gemma a present today. We also got to buy a present for Hen(g)ry's new baby. I was a little worried that she'd get upset and start wondering where her baby was, but before I could think of a response, she said, "And I have a baby! She's at home in my shopping cart. We going to get a present for my baby, too." We didn't, but she didn't seem to mind once I distracted her with strawberries.

So welcome to the family, Gemma. We may be a slightly crazy clan, but it's loads of fun. We can't wait to meet you!

Listen! I hear Grandma coming!

My mom (aka Moomy or Moomois) came to visit this last week. Since her plane didn't get in until late Friday night, we told Mabes she'd be here Saturday. We didn't tell her when, just that she would be here. She was so excited. A little bummed when I had to tell her Louie would not be on the plane with her, but still excited for Grandma. I told Moomy that since Mabes usually wakes up around 7 or 7:30--4 am California time--that Dave or I would get up with her and keep her in her room for a while. Mom thought she might be too excited to see Mabes to sleep, but said she'd see.

Saturday morning, Mabes woke up and was talking to herself in her crib. We usually let this go on for some time, because 1) we get to doze a bit more and 2) she says funny things. So she sat in her crib talking to her doll. "It's Saturday. Grandma Ostler is coming today! Grandma is coming on the plane to see Mabes! I think I hear Grandma's plane--I hear Grandma coming! Grandma, where are you? I hear Grandma!" My mom was cracking up, and since it's kind of hard to sleep when someone's talking about you, she went in and said good morning to a very surprised and excited Mabes.

We had a great week. We introduced my mom to all the fine (and healthy!) foods the South has to offer: Bojangle's sausage and egg biscuits, barbeque, hush puppies, and fried okra. I had never had fried okra before, so that was a new one for me too! We showed her the area, she took me birthday shopping, went to the park, showed her the kind of house she could buy here for what they're selling their house in the Bay Area for (yowzuhs!), took a trip to South Carolina, watched a couple of movies, ate lots, and just enjoyed visiting. And we went to Toys R Us because "Grandpa told Grandma to buy a toy for Mabes." So Mabes got a new shopping cart that she adores--days later she would randomly say, "Oh, fank you for my shopping cart, Grandma!"

Oh, and one other discovery from when my mom was here: You might see A&W's Root Beer Float bottled drink and think it looks good. But it's not. It just tastes like flat root beer with melted ice cream in it. Have a real root beer float, preferably with chocolate chip ice cream. Having said that, I still have three bottles I'm saving for Jeff & Kirsten, Laura, and Becca's visits.

And super fantastic giant shout-out to Catherine, who hinted that for my birthday, she was going to send Mabes a small something using her Ralph Lauren discount. She sent an adorable dress, a button up shirt, and two polo shirts. Mabes could barely contain her excitement, as she loves Daddy's "horsey shirts" and was beyond thrilled that she now had two. So again, thank you Catherine. I will take and post pictures soon!