First family vacation.

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Ahhh...... Vacation!  It use to be music to my ears when I was single. Then as a mom it was time with my little guys. When Lucas and Noah were little I use to look forward to just that one on one time with them. As they are getting older it turns into weeks of things I had to get done, weened them off the bottle, take away the pacifier, big boy bed transition and of course potty training. I have always taken a week off to do this. Fabio....just couldn't, he wouldn't have survived. He is a tough man and a devoted Father but Patience is not in him ........at all and all those tasks involved "patience" so I bit the bullet and took care of it myself.  

But now the boys were older and alone time with mommy at home was not enough to keep them satisfied all week. We decided it was time for family vacation.  It had to be about them. Wherever we went and did it had to include them and make sure they had a good time. We couldn't do Disney because we wanted to drive and not drive for hours. We decided to do amusement parks. We would do two days of Dutch Wonderland, two days of Hershey Park and two days of Great Adventure. We didn't make concrete plans due to both Fabio and I being busy at work and between birthday parties and end of the year for the boys at school  it turned out to be too much. So we were kind of winging it and that actually made it fun. We made reservations the day we were leaving for all three parks and were excited for our adventure. The boys couldn't notkeep their excitement down.  

On the way to Dutch I put on a movie for them but they were screaming with joy.  Thank God "power rangers movie" calmed them down. When we arrived in lancaster we were starving and the boys were jumping for joy when we got to our room. They were jumping on beds and laughing. It was cute. It also didn't help that a wedding was going on downstairs and you could hear the music and from our balcony you can see the guests dancing. The wedding ended at ten and then it was lights out. 

The boys loved Dutch and all the rides. They were beside themselves not knowing which rides  to go to first. We stayed till really late and we could see that one day of thrilling rides was already too much for them but we had to go through the rest. The next day the boys couldn't wake up. They were exhausted. They couldn't even eat breakfast. They had no energy. This was going to be fun. I decided to dress the boys alike so it will be easier to find them. As you can see from the  picture of both of them Noah couldn't even smile and Lucas looked disoriented. From the picture of me and Fabio you can also see Fabios fake smile as his exhaustion was also setting in. I was happy not to be cooking, working or having to do anything around the house. I smiled. 

The next day Lucas woke up and his cheeks were bright red almost like someone had slapped him really hard and under his eyes were large red circles. We panicked and cancel our morning Amish buggy ride and took him straight to the hospital. It was his first time and our first time with our kids in the Emergency room. The service at this hospital was unreal. From the moment we walked in to the moment we walked out we were there for exactly 45 minutes. Have never heard of this before and I have been to the ER plenty of times. Turns out our Lucas had Fifths disease a virus that was going around in his school. It makes their cheeks very red and with time the redness goes away and they feel better. But they do have flu like symptons during the rash. it's not dangerous only to pregnant women in their first trimester.  It's only contagious before the rash so that's why it can easily be passed on. By the time the redness comes they are no longer contagious. The second picture shows lucas with his red cheeks still smiling.  

Then we were off the Hershey park. The doctor said Lucas might be tired (that explains it) and Noah will probably be getting it too. Wonderful we thought. Let them eat whatever they want just as long as they eat and stay hydrated. So we gave them all the junk food they desired. I never had to fight with them to eat their food.... it was fantastic. Wish I could do this forever.  

When we got to Hershey we tried the water park and Noah was not having it. He hated it. Refused to get anywhere near the water. I tried taking pictures again and tried also in the car but they were both so grumpy. I yelled "we are going to have fun, we are going to smile, I am just as tired but we are going to smile because we need pictures to remind us of this wonderful family vacation so suck it up and smile for the camera". Yes I said Suck it up, very unlike me but it got the point across. Their faces were in shock and when I said cheese they smiled. 

When we got to Hershey our hotel sucked and after one night we went to another that we loved. Except a tropical storm was there and we lost power only for a few hours at night. Thank God the boys were tired and fell asleep. While at Hershey we visited their zoo and as we passed the wolves there was a horrible urine odor. A boy about 4 years old behind Noah yelled "yuck you stink". Noah thought the boy was referring to him. Noah turned around and yelled "you are a mean boy, you don't say that word, I no stink". Then turned to me and said "mommy that boy mean, I no stink mommy". The boys mom explained that her son was talking about the wolves but Noah stomped his tiny feet up the hill and Fabio, Lucas and I laughed. It was priceless. I tell you that Noah does not stand back. 

By the time we got to great adventure Fabio and I were all tired out of the amusement parks. We were exhausted. We decided to only do the safari and went home a day early. 

On the day back home no one spoke to each other. The kids went to play with their toys quietly and Fabio and I just layer on the couch in and out of consciousness. We had don it,

we had survived our first family vacation and although it had been fun it had been tough work. Now if only we could take a vacation from that vacation. No can do, tomorrow back to work. Oh man. 

Mr. Manners!!!!

When Lucas was born we knew manners were going to be one of the things that we needed to instill in him. He was a natural, so smooth, manners came easily to him. We got some many compliments on how well behaved he was with others (not us...but that's fine) and how polite he is. He even knows what words are appropriate and what aren't. He knows that "fat" is not a bad word but a hurtful word and should never be used. He even corrected his teacher when she referred to one of the crayons as the fat crayons. He is sensitive and I love it. 

Then we have my 3 1/2 year old Noah. He looks delicious, you can just eat him up. Most people see him and want to squeeze those cheeks and touch his shiny straight hair but he won't have it. We have taught Noah all the skills of being a good well manner boy. We did such a good job with Lucas we knew Noah would be a piece of cake. But like they say no kid is alike, Noah for now does not have manners. Sure he says Thank you, God bless you, please and excuse me but that is as far as it will go. He is very honest about everything and has no problem expressing himself. 

We were at Tae Kwon Doe where we go at least twice a week since Lucas has class there. The moms and dads we see there we see all the time so Noah knows all of them. One day one of the frequent moms we see came over and touch Noah's hair. He quickly turned around and pushed her hand away and yelled "don't touch me, don't touch my hair.... Mommy she touch me I don't know her". I apologized so many times and asked Noah to apologize. Of course he did but still was mad that she had dare touched his hair. 

Another time, at the playground, a little girl approached Noah and said"you are cute". He turned around and put on a mad face and yelled " I NOT CUTE I HANDSOME!!!" That is my Noah...rude but very confident. 

We are at Dutch Wonderland this week for a family vacation. On one of the rides, Lucas did not want to get on the kiddie ride with Noah and so Noah went on his own. Noah was fine with it until they put a girl next to him.  He gets up and yells " I don't want this girl sitting next to me, girls are stinky, get out girl". Thank God the mom was understanding and did not get mad. I said " Noah sit or we go home". That calmed him down but he could not wait to get off. He looked mad the whole ride  and then when he got off he began pouting about the stinky girl next to him. 

At my nephews christening a few weeks ago , I asked Noah not to sing in the mass because a t the christening there was no music. He wasn't listening so again I smiled and said "Noah quiet". He yells back in a quiet church "mommy you make me sooo mad, I want to sing, I want to sing and that's it". I would have crawled under a hole or given him time out but as all eyes were on me including Fabio who was the GodFather, I went to the floor eye level to him and said "Jesus is mad right now and he is going to tell Santa not to bring you presents on Christmas so be silent or else". That did the trick for the meantime. Hey I know I was mean but I was desperate. Hope he is not mean because of me. Great....now he will be scarred for life. 

At nursery school one day the director called me and said Noah had been sent to her because he was being bad. He apparently did not like the bows and clips on the girls hairs so he decided to ripped them off their hair pulling hair along with them. He did it to at least two girls. Lucas is a Kindergarden and went to the same nursery school and has never been sent to the principal or directors office. I was embarrassed and when we asked Noah at dinner what had happened, he replied "I don't like clips on girls hairs, its so silly, I don't like girls". We talked about keeping our hands to ourselves and he said "fine" stomping his feet as he walked away.

 

I don't know how or why our Noah has become so......unlike me because of course its a reflection on me but we will have to work hard to make him a better member of society or else the principal will be calling us a lot in the future. I blame genetics and ...........Fabio. 

If you ever meet Noah I apologize in advance. I would advice you to move on and hang out with Lucas. You have been warned!!!!

Losing our power.

Fabio asked me today "what do we do, the boys are not believing our threats anymore, we are losing our power."  Sadly, they have caught on to mommy and daddy tricks. They know mommy and daddy won't leave them on the side of the road, even when they open the door of the car and threatened to take them out and leave them. They know their toys won't be given to other boys and girls. They know that mommy and daddy won't give away our cats, Puffball and Bashy. They know. They have caught on that mommy and daddy love them and they are all talk. 

The other night we went to a 25th wedding anniversary party. It was for Fabios cousin (who is more like a sister) and her husband. They celebrated 25 years of putting up with each other and dealing with the ups and downs and still sticking together. That's a great accomplishment.  At the party we bumped into couples who have also been married a long time. As we were discussing our kids, one mom said something so wise. I wanted to stop the music and make a public announcement. What she said I have probably heard before but had not quite paid attention because maybe it didn't affect me at the time. It did now. She said "you can't make a big fuzz about things when they are little and as they get older, afterall these are all stages they have to go through and they keep getting harder and harder". She now had a 15 year old teenager. Another parent said, "3 and 6 years old is the best ages, they are still sweet, our kids are 18 and 21, its a different ball game". These parents were so right. I love meeting older couples with older children, their advice is enormous.  They make you feel better about moments were you think you have hit rock bottom with a tantrum. 

The other day, I picked up Noah from my parents house and Lucas was in the car. We had gotten a rental car because our minivan was getting repaired after an accident. We got a car that our insurance would pay for which was a Volkswagon Passat. Noah began screaming that he left a power ranger at grandpas house. I calmly told him we were already heading home and will pick up the toy tomorrow. He was not having it. He began to scream and scream. Lucas covered his ears. I realized at that moment how much I love love my mini van. In the Passat he was sitting right behind me, it's like he was screaming right into my ear. In the mini van the car is bigger and he is further in the back making his cries more tolerable. It's the little things that help you survive these moments. 

My nephew was baptized the other day, and at church Noah began singing when no one was singing. I asked him quietly to be quiet but he answered "no I want to sing and you are a mean mommy". All eyes were on me. I whispered if you don't be quiet mommy will not lay with you for 5 minutes when you got to bed. His answer " I don't want you, I want daddy to sleep with me for 5 minutes ". The threat had not worked. My three year old figures out that who cares if mommy was not there he has his back up daddy. It use to work with Lucas. :(

Warnings are exhausting. Fabio gives one warning and they listen and never do it again. I give one warning and then I feel bad and give another and then another and they know mommy is all talk. American super nanny said that one warning should be enough and they should know you mean business and that's it. Fabios got that going for him.  Me not so much. The other day I tell Lucas that if he says one more potty word I will take his crayons away (Lucas loves drawing). A few minutes later he says another potty word. I take his crayons and explain why. The next day he comes home with his pencil box from school. He says mommy I brought my crayons from school so you can keep those crayons you took away. Wise guy. 

They are getting smarter but the things that they say are funny after the moment has passed and you look back. I keep telling myself enjoy these moments..... Enjoy these moments.....enjoy these moments........and Secretly I do.