Girl Trip!!!

Every now & then you just need to get away. This time I really got away. No husband, no kid. For 5 days & 4 nights. Just me, my friend Marlo, and (for the first night at least) my sis-in-law Becky, niece Lizzie & her friend Kim. At the BEACH!!!! We went to Gulf Shores & had a great time. I've never been overly fond of going to the beach in the summer for the obvious reasons. They tend to be too crowded, littered with all kinds of nasty stuff & I have no desire to see lots of people in bikinis that really shouldn't be. But this beach was awesome! Not too crowded, lots of shells, no seaweed so you could actually swim. Nothing to do except read my books & ask Mar to pass me another beer every now and then.

The view from our condo

Every morning we'd wake up & have breakfast on the balcony, watching the boats go by. The pelicans were always up early catching their breakfast & the crane hopped from the docks to the boats, strutting like some of the owners. We only spent one day actually inside the condo because it rained, the majority of the time we were on the balcony if we weren't at the beach. It was a great place to people watch. One evening as we were eating dinner we saw a pair of dolphins playing in the waterway. Why are there no pictures, you ask? Because the camera batteries I had charged fully the night before we left decided at that precise moment to die! So I got to watch the dolphins play & hope that they might repeat the performance sometime before we left. Unfortunately they must have had a previous engagement.

The beach

Max's pirate sailboat

Crafty pelican

Crane/heron (At that distance, how do you tell which it is?)

It was hard being away from Max but it was nice actually getting to read a book that wasn't for school & didn't have more pictures than words. I finally got to read 3 books that have been sitting on my shelf for a long time. Hypocrite in a Poofy White Dress was hysterical, Best American Non Required Reading 2003 (yes, I got it as an advance in 2003) was thought provoking & Virgin Blue would have been much better if I had not been reading an uncorrected proof & the pages had all been there. Ah, the hazards of being a bookseller.

All in all, it was a great vacation & I think we will have to repeat it with the whole family, but there's no place like home.

of high fives & potty drama

Not classic literature, just a Chinese takeout menu we got in the mail

So Max was sitting on the potty having convinced me he needed to poop. (I say convinced because sometimes I think he is just teasing me since absolutely nothing happens!) Anyway he has developed a need for privacy & will sit on the toilet for what seems like hours with me hovering just outside the door. Not because I want to hover mind you, but because at random moments he will call out, "Mommy, I need to hug you" & who could resist that? So this time, after a few minutes of nothing happening, I ran into the living room & popped in the first cd in the stack. If I was going to hang out, I might as well have good tunes, right? As the first song on the Miles Davis cd ended, Max hollered from his spot on the throne, "Mommy, you got soul!"
Incidently, after I finished laughing and the second song had ended, we had poop!

Always the rebel

Little kids love high fives! We do high fives for everything. Getting dressed. Eating all our veggies. Eating any of our veggies for that matter. (Thank goodness for broccali!) Just for the heck of it. Asking for a high five is the sure way to get Max out of a shy mood in those rare instances that one strikes him. But now we have taken it to a whole new level. Max has learned the "Gimme five, On the side, In the hole, Too slow" game that we all played at some point or another. And he likes it. A lot! He laughs that full bodied little kid laugh that incapacitates him just long enough for me to think about getting the camera but then we have to start another round. I'm just glad I was able to convince him that the game should only be used for major accomplishments, like going potty.

Summertime

Max after his 100th slide in a row

Summertime is here & its so nice to be outside! Its even more fun when you can spend time with good friends. Last week, my friend Kristi brought her kids Kassie, Connor & Chase over to play & we got a little time for grown up conversation. The weather was beautiful, the kids were all over the swingset, while we sat in the shade drinking iced tea. Well, Kristi was drinking her tea. Being the klutz that I am, I took two sips & promtly spilled mine. Thank goodness for the NeatSheet! (Do they still make those?)

Max & Connor getting a push from Kristi

Max & Ian playing football

Speaking of being outside, as long as he could play sports, I don't think Max would ever come in. He is all boy! When he's not playing football, its baseball or soccer or golf. He wants a basketball goal but I'm not sure where we'd put it. If he has to be inside, his tool bench is where he'll be or maybe he'll draw, but only if he's tired from running around all day.

Max with his new soccer ball

Max is trying really hard to do some of the tricks he's seen the older kids do, like bouncing the soccer ball on his knees. He started out dropping it from a few inches above his knee then moved to throwing it high in the air & trying to bounce it off his knee that way. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, but he keeps trying til he decides its time for a popcicle

Perfect day for a first baseball game

Max during National Anthem

During Memorial Day weekend, Ian's Aunts & Uncles came for a mini family reunion & it turned out to be a great time to take Max to his first major league baseball game. He loves sports of all kinds but baseball is his favorite. His favorite players are Albert Pujols & Jim Edmonds & had everyone cracking up whenever they came up to bat, saying "Hit that ball, Jimmy!" or "Come on, Albert! You're my buddy! I need a home run!" When the Cards were in the field he loved to yell, "Good catch!" or "Nice throw!"

He also got to experience baseball food for the first time.

Hot dogs & pretzels, nachos & sno-cones.

Thank goodness he missed the cotton candy vendors!

No, really! I'm giving Ian a hug! Ian, me, Max, Aunt Allie, Uncle Andy & Uncle Steve Max & Ian watching the Cards win!

One more way Max is just like Ian

Max hates to get up in the morning. Hates it! But since I have to be at work by 7am most mornings, he gets up early a lot. So this morning we were running late, which is pretty standard when Ian's out of town, and I started the countdown at about 5 min til 6am . The conversation went something like this...

S: 5 more minutes & its time to get up.
M: Grunt
S: 2 minutes & its time to get up.
M: Grumble, grumble. Something unintelligible in a whiny voice.
S: Its 6, Buddy, time to get your clothes on.
M: I can't! (pulls covers over head)
S: Come on, Buddy! If you want your chocolate milk you better hustle! (whips covers off)
M: I can't, I told you! My covers are tackling me! (pulls covers over head again)

Funny kid!