Vacations...

This morning we awoke around 5:20am to some very happy little boys. Vacations in our house do not equate with sleeping in, as you can see. Fortunately, Brandon and I were able to lay around in bed for a while since the boys were eager to play with the "new" toys from the Brown's attic. WHooohoooo for Fisher Price! We finally emerged from the covers ( on the floor of the living room with a couple of kids piled on) around 7am and leisurely began the process of bathing, dressing, diaper changes, etc. I made a great breakfast (as always :-) of strawberry yogurt and vanilla granola (yummy!) and then we had some Toaster Scrambles for those people who needed more food. I have trouble deciding whether I like those little things or not. They are greasy, slimy, crumbly, and the food product inside that is reported to be cheese, egg, and bacon has got to be some form of plastic. Yet, on a cooler morning when you want something warm in your tummy, they manage to hit the spot anyway and I have been known to go back for seconds. Alas, the never ending dilema of junk food!

Ok, enough on breakfast. Then we did a hasty clean clothes for all the kids swaperoo (my children sleep in their clothes- down with PJs!!!- except for the days when they are wearing more sand that cotton), we made some sandwiches and we were off. For sandwiches, by the way I splurged and tried something new. Have you ever had sliced Havarti with Dill? That is some scrumptious cheese! So, good sandwiches and then in the car and off to the Rhode Island Children's Museum. The highlight there by far was the Free Pass from the Library that Laura B. had procured for us. We paid absolutely no money! Yeeeehaw! So, the second highlight, which the children would probably say trumps the first was the water room. Oh yes! Tables of water with various size pipes sticking out all over and pumps that the kids could manuver and cause the water to come whooshing out like a small fountain. Then they had pipes and connectors to redirect the water and balls to come exploding out of tubes and water wheels and watering pitchers. Jonathons favorite spot was the dam. They had a dam set up with a little spillway on the side and you could open the flood gates and let it all come zooming out or you could close them up and cause the water to over flow the dam. There were also sand bags to build the dam up higher and then there were various boards to set up to redirect the water current after it went over the dam. They loved that the most.

The other fun things were the magnetic building tiles. These were various shapes and you could stick them together to make a tower similar to the size of what you might create with regular building blocks. James and Rachel played for a while with those. Jeff like ladders. Everywhere there was a ladder, he climbed it. Then, he turned around and whined until we came and plucked him from the top. He did this over and over and over.

The other amusing part was the display on human bones. There was a model of the human skeleton with the different bones seperated so the kids could pick them up and move them around. James looked at it and said, "I'll grind his bones to make my bread!" And then he played there for a good little while.

After the Children's Museum, we ate lunch outside. Jeff followed up with his fettish for dumping liquids and managed to empty one family's entire half gallon of apple juice before we could capture him. I was mortified! They were very nice about it though and Jeff seemed the more unhappy of the two children and in fact the little boy who lost his juice came over and sat next to Jeff while he was crying and talked to him for a little. I think he was trying to comfort him, but he was unsuccessful.

We left ASAP after that episode and drove to the zoo. The objective was to tire the kids out past acceptable and then bring them home. When we arrive, we realized that it might not be worth the money for the small amount of enjoyment the kids would receive that late in the day. We saw a sign for the carousel and went for it instead. James refused to ride, but Rachel had a blast! Up and down went the horse. Up and down went Rachel full of smiles and giggles! Jonathon liked it too and Jeff rode, but with a death grip on my arm. In fact, I might still have marks- just kidding. Then we came home. Jeff slept long enough in the van to be lively and awake when we arrived, but Jonathon and James zonked out in a matter of minutes.

And that's where we are now. Jeff playing happliy, the others sleeping. Brandon's on the computer, Jane is reading, and I am blissfully typing away. If the Sabbath goes as well as today has, we're in for a glorious weekend...and then there's heaven!

Good Evening to you all!