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Aug 2, 2011

Making Time For Family Time

August 2, 2011 By

Life has been a blur lately. I work third shift, Aaron works first shift, the kids are both in summer camp…it often feels like we’re all just passing by each other in the evening.

Weekends are full of to-do’s. I’m leaving this week for BlogHer. Aaron just got back from a week long trip to San Diego Comic Con. (I would have told you all, but I didn’t feel like announcing to the entire Internet that my husband was away from home for a week.)

To sum up: we’re disconnected.

Which is why when I was given the opportunity to take a close to home vacation with my family, I jumped at the chance. We spent last weekend at Cedar Point and Lake Erie, a family vacation that we’ve always wanted and never thought we had the time to take.

And you know what? We reconnected. We enjoyed spending time together, laughing together, playing together, and making memories together.

And we didn’t even have to go that far to do it.

Please go read the full recap of our day at Cedar Point, and our day seeing the sights around Lake Erie. It was far too many memories to include in just one blog post.

(Bonus: there’s video of a live bison with it’s head in our car window. Seriously. Click the links and find out for yourself.)

Filed Under: family time, love, memories, reviews


Jun 27, 2011

ComFest Weekend

June 27, 2011 By

This was one of those weekends that seems to go on forever, but then on Sunday you realize it’s nearly gone and you desperately try to hold onto the last moments of it before the work week creeps back in.

We spent the majority of our weekend at ComFest – a local community festival that has been a part of Columbus for many, many years. Some call it a big hippie-fest, others an excuse to spend the weekend drunk in a park while listening to indie music, but no matter your reason for being there, it’s always a very relaxed, happy atmosphere.

Yes, you can expect to see a lot of tie-dye. Yes, you see some naked breasts, too. (In Columbus it’s legal, and this is the one time of year when the more outgoing like to test their right to bare all.) You’ll also find a lot of cool, handmade goods for sale, local food, and lots of music.

Normally it’s insanely hot for ComFest, which often keeps us from staying too long. I hate hot weather, and Cordy visibly wilts in the sun. However, this year’s weather has been anything but normal, and we were gifted with a lovely, sunny, and not-too-hot day on Saturday.

I was a ComFest for all of 5 minutes before I felt like I needed to change clothes. My t-shirt felt too plain, and I didn’t want to develop a farmer’s tan with BlogHer only a month away. I quickly found a shop and purchased a cute dress that totally fit in with the ComFest scene.

Aaron was still wearing his homemade Superman costume from our morning trip to the Origins Game Fair. (I have no photos of this. You’ll just have to take my word that he was dressed like Superman.)

Cordy and Mira remember only one thing about ComFest from years past: the kids’ art area. Mira kept referring to ComFest as the “arts festival” several times as a result. (No, Mira, the Arts Festival was in early June.) We took them to the kid art area, and they immediately began scouting for something to do.

I insisted that they get new shirts first, to keep their current shirts clean, so instead of tie-dying ComFest shirts like they’ve done in years past, they used fabric markers to color their shirts and then put them on as smocks. Any additional paint or marker on the shirts would add to the decoration.

Cordy wanted to paint the trees like she did the year before – giant pieces of paper are taped to the trees with paint jars and paintbrushes scattered around for kids to use for their masterpieces. Mira decided she wanted to join in as well. I don’t know how much of the tree she painted, but she did a good job painting herself.

After painting, chalk-drawing and musical-instrument playing, they were ready for a break. We met up with family and friends, grabbed some Jeni’s ice cream (best ice cream ever, of course!), and collapsed under a shady tree for a break.

Husband as Superman still missing from this photo

Overall? A relaxing weekend, and a very good ComFest.

PS – Have you visited my review blog lately? I’m giving away a $100 Walgreens gift card and a Radio Shack weather preparedness kit this week!

Filed Under: daily life, family time


Jun 1, 2011

Our Day Out With Thomas

June 1, 2011 By

I’ll admit I was a little lazy this year and didn’t throw a big birthday party for Mira. However, I’m not totally to blame – I had the option of throwing her a party, or instead taking her for an amazing day out with her favorite TV celebrity, Thomas the Tank Engine.

Sure, Mira likes cake and ice cream, but the opportunity to ride in a train car pulled by Thomas? What can top that?

Mira may be a girly-girl who loves pink and dresses, but she’s also a Thomas fanatic. Her blankets are Thomas. Her pajamas are Thomas. Her entire room is decorated in Thomas and the other engines. I read her a Thomas book every night at bedtime. If this kid could write, she’d probably be sending creepy stalker love letters to Thomas.

Our day started out bright and early with a long drive towards the Cleveland area. The Day Out With Thomas event travels all across the country to different scenic railways – it’s a great way to connect train-obsessed children with the local railway resources in their areas. Our stop was at the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway, which had been taken over with everything Thomas for that weekend.

Aside from the train ride itself, there were lots of activities at the event. They had bounce houses and an activity tent filled with Thomas train sets to play with and activity sheets to color. The story time tent featured live readings of Thomas stories and occasional videos as well. You could also meet Sir Topham Hatt and get your photo taken with him. They had live music and a magician, a spot for kids to get free temporary tattoos, and of course a huge gift shop.

Mira gets her Thomas tattoo

Thomas was the main attraction, however, and Mira was asking where he was from the moment she stepped out of the car. We weren’t there long before our boarding group was instructed to come to the station to line up. And then, from around the bend, we saw him chugging along on the tracks:

De traaaain, de traaaaain!

I thought Mira might faint from excitement at that moment. Even as an adult, I have to admit it was pretty cool. The engine looked just like the toy models on TV, complete with moving eyes and puffing steam. We waited for the previous passengers to unload, then found our assigned car and climbed on board. Two little girls could not be happier.

No, really, they’re happy. Even if they are trying to throw the other to the floor.

The train ride lasted about 20 minutes and took us through some beautiful woods and fields. During that time Thomas music played from the speakers (very quietly) and a short Thomas story was told. A costumed conductor came through the car and punched our tickets, chatted with the kids, and near the end presented each child with their own Jr. Engineer certificate.

When the ride was over, the girls asked for a quick photo by Thomas and then they played in the activity tent for bit.

We played for a short while longer, then took a peek through the gift shop and let Cordy and Mira each pick out one souvenir before heading for home.

Did Mira have a good birthday? Well, this was her 5 minutes after leaving the Day Out With Thomas:

She later declared it was the best birthday ever. Considering all of the birthday parties she’s attended in the past month for her classmates, I felt pretty good that we came through with something that didn’t involve spending a lot of money to rent out a party facility. Parties with friends can come later – for a four year old who likes trains, I think this was a pretty awesome birthday.

Full disclosure: I did receive complimentary tickets for the Day Out With Thomas event in exchange for sharing my honest opinions of it. It was a fun family outing, and I can already tell you we’re planning to purchase tickets for when Thomas travels to southern Ohio in the fall.

Filed Under: family time, growing up, Mira, pop culture


Apr 21, 2011

Spring Break is Breaking Me

April 21, 2011 By

I remember when I was in high school and saw a report on the news about the concept of year-round schooling instead of the traditional school year with a long summer break. I was horrified at the idea of having to go to school all year long! I needed that long break from the classroom. Winter break hardly was long enough. Even that one little week of spring break felt like an insult to me.

And now, as a parent with two young children on spring break? Year round school sounds pretty sweet to me. In fact, let’s get rid of spring break, too.

We’re only halfway through spring break and I’m ready to send them back. It doesn’t help that I work an overnight shift, requiring me to either find a babysitter or remain on the couch in a sleepy, hazy fog as I let them destroy the living room and watch far too many episodes of Go, Diego, Go while I try to nap in-between arguments over who gets to sit in the purple chair or who gets to play on the iPad next.

Beyond that, both of my children are creatures of habit who do not like their routines disrupted. Mira isn’t too bad, but Cordy needs her routine. She knows that she has five days of school, followed by two days that are more unstructured. So when Monday arrived and she was on day three of no school routine, she quickly became irritable, hyperactive and whiny. The most exciting thing we did that day was go to the grocery, and even that was a quick trip for fear of child meltdown. The cashier didn’t even card me when I bought wine. He knew.

My mom came over yesterday to spend the day with the girls, and of course the weather was wet and cold, so they stayed in and colored eggs for Easter. If it wasn’t for my earplugs, I probably wouldn’t have had any sleep.

The weather is better today and my mom is coming again (hooray!!) to take them to the zoo. (Double hooray!!) I’m looking forward to sleeping six hours.

Friday, however, will be devoted to my girls. Whatever they want to do, we’ll do. (Within reason, of course.) I feel bad that I’m so tired most of the time and can’t give them the attention they deserve. My mom worked full time, also, and I remember always wanting more time from her than she could give me. When I lose my temper with Cordy or Mira just because I’m tired, I get angry with myself as well because I know that they only want my time. Time is so hard to come by, though.

But I don’t work on Friday night, so I’ll fight the exhaustion to have a fantastic day with my daughters and remember why I love having them around so much.

And then I’ll sign them up for summer camp on Monday.

Filed Under: being a mom, daily life, family time, school


Dec 23, 2010

A Fair and Balanced Christmas

December 23, 2010 By

I thought I had most of the Christmas shopping done long before today. But then when I paused for a moment to do a quick recap of the gifts I have for my two cherubs to unwrap on Christmas morning, I realized I had made a grave error.

Mira has over twice as many gifts as Cordy.

It’s not like I intentionally tried to stiff my older child. Mira is just far easier to shop for, thanks to being very outspoken about what she likes. I know that if I find anything involving Thomas the Train, polar bears, or the color pink, she will squeal with joy and proclaim it the Best Gift Ever.

(Until she opens the next item that fits one or more of those categories, where she will yet again declare it the Best Gift Ever. She never leaves a gift giver disappointed by her reaction.)

Cordy, on the other hand, is a little more difficult. She wants a blue bunny. And maybe a superhero sticker book. Her requests are very specific, and not always items that can be obtained. Guess wrong when presenting her with a gift and you’ll be met with the silence of indifference as she sets it aside and never glances at it again.

So it was an honest oversight that I picked up significantly more gifts for Mira than Cordy. Which means I get to join the crowds today to find at least one more gift for Cordy.

Sure, I could hold back a few items for Mira, but if I did that it would be holding back all of the toys/games, because the polar bear clothing can’t wait until her birthday in May, when it will no longer be winter and she’ll likely be near the end of this clothing size. And even though I know she’ll love the clothing, I can’t make her open only clothing from Santa.

Thankfully, both of my girls don’t have expensive tastes, so I’ll only need to find a good book or an interesting small toy to make up the difference. Sometimes the least expensive item is often Cordy’s favorite. But they’re both old enough now to notice if one has significantly more presents than the other, so I have to at least make sure the gift load is balanced.

My mom was lucky – she never had to deal with the issue of gift equalization. I was an only child, making Christmas an easy task for her – if Santa brought me only one gift, I had no one else to compare it with. But possibly because I grew up as an only child, it’s also not a topic in the front of my mind when buying gifts for my children.

(For the record – I’m not saying I wish I had only one child. They just don’t cover this in the hospital when you give birth to your second child.)

I suppose this will be good training for the years to come, because while they will only notice the number of packages at the moment, I’m sure in the future I’ll have to dodge the “You spent more on her than me!” teenager whine.

And that will be the day I give them equal gift cards and let them pick out what they want.

Filed Under: being a mom, Cordy, family time, holidays, Mira, sisterhood