My new favorite pants.

These are my new favorite pants. Orange corduroy. J. Crew. Found by Katie at the $1/pound goodwill. I don't care that it's 100 degrees out I am smitten and will wear them anyhow.

Butterflies and Friends

I'm too tired to write now...but we had fun at EdVenture with friends today. I found the butterflies to be a peaceful experience and think they should have an adults only butterfly exhibit somewhere for meditation and relaxation.

Wanting...

1. to make something
2. to have everything magically packed for NH
3. to have everything magically packed for SSI
4. to go to yoga tonight
5. to finish the letter I'm writing to a friend
6. more This American Life episodes
7. a date with Mario
8. to see the butterflies again
9. a NH library card
10. to try reflexology

Monday was...

• tunnels
• treadmill running and elliptical
• dharma and greg
• watermelon
• 5 guys
• katie and levi visiting
• girly friends and princess play
• mama coffee chatting
• vet visits
• new prescriptions
• pho with a friend
• recipe sharing
• summer planning in IN
• letter writing
• apron wearing
• etsy surfing
• smock lusting
• king size chocolate bars

Sunday Morning Run

At 9:30 a.m. I set out to run. New shoes, cute hand me down running outfit, enell bra, sports watch and my iPod. Except that the iPod was dead and needed to be charged so I set off with my own thoughts and wondered how I would do without music.

During my run I:

• became an urban trail runner amidst construction on North Main Street.
• ran alongside folks walking to church at the Salvation Army and recalled working there after college in Brunswick, Ga.
• imagined myself with a new hair style in the wig district.
• wondered what was playing at the ballet and if Clare would like to go to dance lessons.
• made a note to visit the Columbia Museum of Art soon with Clare and to bring paper/good art supplies along with us for fun.
• saw construction at the Wachovia building and wondered how my brother was doing lately.
• considered going to law school so I could work downtown like my lawyer friends in groovy high rise buildings.
• said hello to the statehouse steps.
• wished that Dunkin Donuts was open already.
• did some run by window shopping at Wish and the newish gift store.
• enjoyed the open green space.
• wanted to stop for Starbucks coffee in the Sheraton lobby.
• checked the time in front of Sylvan's.
• wondered who was living in all of the new converted condos and apartments.
• noted where the new Nickelodeon theater will be someday soon.
• wished that there weren't so many empty storefronts.
• remembered going to lunch at Lavecchia's during a grad school interview.
• counted four fountains and lots of ColumbiaGreen.org spots on the route.
• waved hello to Governor Sanford's house and wondered what he was doing these days.
• crossed Elmwood Avenue with ease.
• ran through a sprinkler.
• nodded to folks going to church.
• noted a blue ribbon tied to Todd Rutherford's front porch.
• saw a little boy riding on training wheels for the first time at the park.
• mentally noted a few tossed out objects on the curb.
• boxed myself in with hills so I had to stop running.

Time: 46 minutes
Distance: 4.6 miles

Next time: I want to plan my route better to hit the 5 mile mark and to avoid hills at the very end.

Blueberry Oat Pancakes

I am in experimentation mode before we leave for New Hampshire. This means I'm cooking like mad to produce wheat free/dairy free/soy free foods for Wesley that 1. I can find the ingredients for, 2. that produce edible results and 3. he will eat. Tonight's dinner was a huge success (except for Clare but she doesn't eat anything but plain blueberries and pickles anyhow) for our family.

Oat Flour Pancakes
adapted from The Complete Food Allergy Cookbook
endorsed by Stacy

1 cup oat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup milk (we used vanilla rice milk)
1 tbs. vegetable oil (we used canola)
1 tbs. honey (we used agave nectar)
1/2 cup fresh or thawed blueberries (or chocolate chips!)

Mix dry ingredients together and make a well in the center. Pour wet ingredients into well, mix using a whisk or fork. Add blueberries. Add more water/milk if the batter isn't thin enough at this point.

Pour batter in desired size into a hot griddle. Cook like regular pancakes.

Variation: If you want to make these into waffles increase oil to 2 tbs.

Serve with powdered sugar, syrup, or honey.

We built this city.

I needed out of the house this afternoon so I went to Goodwill. I found this Playhut city for $8.50 and put in the cart as quickly as I could. I wasn't sure what I was getting for $8.50 (pretty steep by my Goodwill standards) because it was all bundled up and taped together but I had a hunch it was good.

Score! The kids loved it and we were impressed how easy it was to put up and down. All of the pieces connect, it can be configured in a million different ways and it all folds up flat. We brought a few pieces inside tonight to continue the fun with blankets and flashlights in the living room. I'm thinking I could bring out all of the pieces and build a giant tunnel down the hallway one rainy day in our future.

Vacation Practice

Mario got the kids a portable DVD player for our upcoming travels. They have never really used a laptop or a DVD player together before so we thought it might be best to try it out. You know, to outline rules such as "don't push any buttons" and "yes you must share the screen" before we got on the plane.

Sharing a single chair wired with individual headsets they did just fine. We are one step closer to blast off next week for New Hampshire.

Light up my world.

We went from this lampshade to this one for $1.50. I am thrilled with our little find.

Friday Night: Blueberry Date

Friends of ours invited us over to raid their blueberry bushes while they were out of town on a much deserved 10 year anniversary trip to the beach. After searching around on the Internet for things to do on Friday night with two kids we vetoed the drive in movie, the movie in the park, ice cream for allergy reasons, and staying at home.

Mario loaded up the red van with our step stool, ladder, and sand pails. We told the kids we were going to Blueberry Hill to find Swiper the Fox en route to Chapin. Clare seemed excited, especially since she just finished an entire bag of fresh blueberries from Kathryn Anne and Abigail earlier in the day.

We picked and picked and picked. Then the mosquitoes came out to greet us and we fled back into the van with almost an entire bucket of fresh blueberries. During the process none of the berries Clare picked seemed to make it into her bucket so she became a low reaching eater. Wesley even got into it and started eating handfuls of booberries by the end of our visit.

When she ran out of berries on the lower levels she started begging me for berries from the upper branches. Mario became the one in charge of picking berries for the kids while I continued to fill our purple bucket. We have got to plant one of these soon...we all seem to adore fresh blueberries.

The booberry requests continued on the way home from both kids. We are going to have some serious blueberry poop issues soon but I love how great it feels to feed you kids something that you know is good for them, that they like and that you just picked.

Thank you Susan and Lee for letting us raid your harvest and thanks to Nana and Papa for pointing out the poison oak when we arrived.

Spelt Yeast Bread

Bread for the boy! Spelt is a close relative of wheat so we need to be careful not to overdo this bread, but I was so happy to make something that looked and tasted like bread for him to eat. It's actually really good and I enjoyed eating it fresh from the oven with a bit of soy free/dairy free margarine too.

Adapted from The Complete Food Allergy Cookbook by Marilyn Gioannini and Stacy Owings' margin notes.
Spelt Yeast Bread (one loaf)

1 TBS dry active yeast
1 1/4 cup warm water
3 TBS honey or agave nectar
2 TBS vegetable oil
1 1/2 TSP salt
3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups spelt flour

1. Mix yeast, 1/4 cup warm water and 1 TBS honey in a measuring cup.
2. Mix 1 cup warm water, flour, oil, 2 TBS honey and salt in mixing bowl.
3. Mix yeast and flour mixture together. Beat well to develop. Knead for 10 minutes or use dough hook on electric mixer. Add flour as needed to develop dough.
4. Grease 9x5 loaf pan. Form dough into loaf and put in pan. Turn to coat with oil.
5. Let dough rise in pan in a warm place for 1 hour or until dough is 1.5 inches above pan.
6. Place pan in oven preheated to 350 degrees.
7. Bake for 30 minutes.
8. Remove from pan as soon as possible and let cool on wire rack.

Enjoy warm with buttery spread and jam!

Discovery Canyon 2009

Discovery Canyon 2009 is officially over. Both kids attended from 8:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. every day at Ebeneezer Lutheran Church. Earlier this summer the VBS director sent us a welcome package with Discovery Canyon music inside and our entire family now knows all of the words to all of the songs. We may accidentally lose the cd soon to protect our sanity, not that singing about prayer is a bad thing, but three weeks non stop of any music might drive someone over the edge.

Neither Mario or myself attended VBS as a kid but from the excitement Clare and Wesley showed each morning we are both thinking that they must have had a great time. There are not many things in this world that get Clare to change out of her princess night gowns without a knock down drag out fight. VBS mornings were a breeze compared to regular pre-school!
Last night we attended the closing program. A canyon dinner (hot dogs that Wesley could actually eat!) and program generated a lot of energy around our house for the concert. Both kids got up with their respective classes (2/3 years and 4/5 years) to sing and do hand motions to a song. I don't understand why this stuff chokes me up but it does. Maybe it's the vulnerability of seeing your kid on stage or just the joy that they seem normal doing the same motions as all of the other kids in the class, but I enjoyed both performances.
(Mario and our little burro! He had a wardrobe malfunction with one ear during his performance but luckily his teacher was around to help him out.)

Question of the Day

"Mommy, how does God make people?" asked Clare en route to VBS this morning.

Tuesday morning Mario and I took Wesley to the allergist for a follow up appointment. Weight: 30.5 lbs. Height: 2' 10'' Plan: continue to eliminate dairy, soy, and wheat from his diet until he gets better. At that point attempt to add wheat back in to see if he can tolerate it. Dr. Weiner did not think that testing (blood or skin) would help at this point. We replaced the air filters in our house, bought Wesley a HEPA filter for his room and banished Bailey from his room too.

Our grocery bill is enormous right now balancing increased produce levels, expensive pre-packaged products like cereal bars, and allergen free pantry staples. We now have oat/spelt/rye flours on hand to bake with in addition to canola oil, special margarine and palm oil shortening. The pantry staples are an investment though because I can now bake wheat/soy/dairy free things like pumpkin muffins and freeze them to pull out as needed. I'm also making granola he can eat, more banana bread, and I hope to try spelt bread this afternoon.

What is he eating? Fruit, mama made baked goods, meats, nuts, eggs, dried fruit, potato chips, potatoes, sweet potato fries, applesauce, beans, and vegetables. Oh...and Ice Kipies. Feeding him is a challenge...we looked at the allergen menu at Moe's and the only thing he can have on the entire menu: pinto beans and fish. Today we went to 5 Guys and he ate a plain hamburger patty and french fries so that was kind of normal...the Hebrew National hot dogs have soy in them.

We go back to the allergist after our trip to New Hampshire. In the meantime we are experimenting with recipes and eating at home a lot more! The best advice I got: carry a knife with you with a plastic sheath so that you can cut up fruit. "Fruit is God's fast food." said Dani. I went ahead and got a yellow paring knife with a sheath at Target for $5 and also picked up a vegetable peeler to stash in my purse. We won't make it through airport security but we will be eating a lot healthier without our processed standbys.

The results: the diarrhea is gone. We are now on the verge of solid poop...something that we have not seen (maybe ever?) from Wesley. His snot is gone thanks to Zyrtec and environmental changes...all of which equal a much happier child.

The worst part: when Clare can have something but he can't. Her diet is changing along with Wesley's because we are just not buying things that will divide them and cause tantrums. Thank goodness for sorbet, at least ice cream outings are still part of our summer fun.

I *heart* VBS

This week the kids are at VBS. I owe my week of bliss to Caroline because she urged me to go ahead and sign Wesley up for Discovery Canyon too. The first morning I almost cried tears of joy when I dropped them off and went over to Shandon for a run.

The break comes at a good time. We've had a few weeks together and in two weeks we are taking off for New Hampshire. They are happy playing with their friends, I am happy having some respite, and the week is flying by.

During this time I've: researched recipes for Wesley and bought ingredients at local stores, plundered the Goodwill for cheap thrills and unexpected delights, gone running in Shandon, taken my journal and netbook to Panera and Starbucks to write, and run a few errands. I'm trying not to fill the time with ordinary things I can do with kids, instead I'm spending it doing what I would like to do. Selfish, yes. But it does feel really good.

Fairy Princess Party

Katie Bug's Nana hosted a fairy princess party in her garden for everyone yesterday. The girls ate from china plates heaped with freshly picked blueberries, watermelon, peaches, and cupcakes! Wesley also joined in the food festivities but didn't go for the princess garb. With so much room to run around and two sets of extra hands (thanks Nana and Papa!) the mamas were able to get a wee bit of conversation in too. A total bonus for us. We watched the kids feed the fish, swing, play in the sandbox, eat snacks, and explore the grounds.

There was even a tent set up to play inside and the fairies took full advantage of the novelty. Abigail's Papa also took us on a tractor ride so that we could explore more. He drove us right by a blueberry bush and we enjoyed fresh blueberries (to the p9int that somebody in the photo below is having some blueberry poop!) right from the branches. Delicious.

Our afternoons can linger while we recover from VBS and nap time. I was happy to have this special outing planned to make Monday fly by.

And Susan and I got a chance to bond a bit more. Doing stuff together, sharing our families, and sweating in the June heat are all things that seem to draw us closer together.When we left Clare pointed to one of the many beautiful flowers and said "Look Mommy! A flower. This must be a garden." A garden indeed, perfect for a June fairy party and pretty snacks. Thank you Nana and Papa for putting our afternoon together and helping us chase kids.

Sunday Runs

This weekend I got new running shoes from Fleet Feet. Size 10 1/2 men's Brooks shoes with orange accents. The store staff measured my feet, checked to see if I had any special issues by video taping me walking on a treadmill, fitted me in several shoes, video taped me again on the treadmill, sent me running outside to try out several shoes, and sent me home with groovy new shoes to support my budding running workouts.

I had to get men's shoes because size 12 women's shoes??? are not stocked at their store. Apparently your feet swell when you run so you have to allow a bit for that pushing my usual size 11 to a 12. I really hope that Clare does not inherit the big foot gene.

Anyhow, I love running in our neighborhood on Sunday nights. The big trash pick up is on Monday so there are all kinds of interesting things to look at while running. It was nice to have the distraction of Courtnee's tunes, front porches, and cool trash.

Trash so cool that I went back later with the van to pick up Clare's new-to-her princess desk. Yup, I spotted it when I first started running and decided it would be a great desk for her. I scrubbed it clean on the patio, dried it off, and ta-dah! A new desk.

She's ticked and producing great art. I'm happy because she's happy and I look forward to more Sunday evening runs.

Father's Day is...

1. sleeping daddy
2. bacon
3. phone calls
4. art
5. grilling out
6. hugs
7. framed promises
8. a day at home
9. adoration and respect
10. lawn mowing
11. new light bulbs
12. cards

When I asked Mario what he wanted to do this Father's Day he replied, "Mow the lawn and buy light bulbs." That's it. Maybe Father's Day isn't the same thing as Mother's Day? But just in case it is I have a few other surprises in the wings.

Dairy Free. Wheat Free. Soy Free.

Banana bread. This weekend with the addition of 1. palm oil shortening, 2. oat flour, 3. spelt flour, and 4. a bit of time I started trying to bake a few treats for Wesley to eat. This banana bread is adapted from a recipe I used when I went dairy free. The result: happy children and a happy mama. I don't know that I'd used oat flour again alone, next time I'm going to try spelt b/c from what I am reading in The Complete Food Allergy Cookbook by Marilyn Gioannini it might be a better fit for the recipe.

Chunky Monkey Banana Bread

1/3 c. butter/margarine/shortening
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. flour (any, I used oat and I think that spelt would be better)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 ripe bananas
1/2 c. milk (any is fine, we used rice)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. chocolate chips (we used raisins)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream shortening and sugar.
3. Add dry ingredients.
4. Add milk, vanilla, and bananas.
5. Fold in raisins or chips.
6. Bake in a greased loaf pan for 40-50 minutes.

Shortening: Spectrum Naturals All Organic Vegetable Shortening. Found at 14 Carrot Foods in Lexington.

Smokin' Hot

Last night we had a dinner party at Kate and Pete's house. Pete is a guru smoker with all kinds of gadgets that made me giggle. I now know where I will be taking the frozen turkey breast that I have in my freezer next time I head out to Lexington.

In summary: 2 dogs, 2 kids. 1 fairy princess. 1 pirate. 4 adults. Gumbo. Smoked catfish. Strawberry shortcake. Bloody Mary's. Salad. Conversation.

The gathering was great fun and kind of a first for us. We tend to shy away from evening hour things with the kids and respecting the witching hour. Last night worked out fine as long as we enjoyed our Bloody Mary's, worked diligently to keep the conversation going in between child interruptions and scattered adult brains, and remembered that the most important part was that we were doing something together.

In my perfect vision of a dinner party with kids I somehow thought that they might eat and enjoy sitting at a kid's table. So for those of you out there that I know do this often please share some logistical and now institutional knowledge.

1. Do the kids eat at the same time as the adults?
2. What time works out best?
3. Do you plan stuff for the kids to do or do you let them go?
4. Does a home work better than a park or vice versa?
5. Any other ideas on how to enhance the adult conversation capacity?

We had a great time and enjoyed Kate and Pete's hospitality. I can't wait to do it again soon!

Friday Morning Splash

This morning we met friends bright and early at Saluda Splash. The older girls had the most fun, Wesley danced around the water and asked for snacks, and the mamas got a wee bit of conversation between toddler demands. But...even with all of that the kids had a blast and are hopefully all resting peacefully this afternoon.

This was our second trip to Saluda Splash this summer and both times it has been VERY crowded with campers, field trips, and wild older children. Crowds tend to then out around lunch time and early evening so I'm thinking that next time I'll try that out with a picnic supper.

Cost: $3 per child and $5 per car. Hours: 9:00 a.m. -- 8:00 p.m.

Allergy Update: Wesley

Wow! Thank you for the outpouring of love and resources. In the past few days we flew from zero resources to many many books, emails, conversations, and hugs about allergic kids! And I am pleased to announce that we had our first kind of sort of solid looking piece of poop today. This is HUGE. It's been months and months since we've seen anything this solid so we are hopeful that something is working in his system.

What is the child eating? I'm still working on that...but here are a few things:
corn tortillas
chick fil a hash browns
beans of all sorts
peaches
watermelon
blackberries
bananas
rice krispies
rice milk
sweet potato fries
mashed potatoes
vegetables
grilled chicken
hamburgers
rice pasta and sauce
rye and oat bran crackers
natural peanut butter
Van's french toast sticks
bacon
eggs
special cereal bars

So there is stuff out there for him to eat, he's just not fond of most of it on this list. I got a chance to meet up with Dani and Jon yesterday and I learned about the logistics of having an allergic kid. Next week both kids are at VBS so I now know how to package up/label/advocate for Wesley in that program.

We have an appointment with the allergist next week where we should know more, or at least have some of our questions answered. I'd like to get a bit more of this sorted out before we head to New Hampshire just to make that trip easier.

Good news: I found palm oil shortening at 14 Carrot foods, so now I can bake for him! Hello oat muffins, banana breads, and treats.

A peachy day.

I awoke with relief this morning that we had a day planned with friends. By 8:00 a.m. I had the kids loaded into the minivan with two soft coolers filled with lunch foods, snacks, and water bottles. Mario helped plug in the portable DVD players and headsets while I poured a hot mug of coffee to take on our mini road trip.

Twenty minutes into our drive to Greer, SC one of my best friends called to talk. Both of us were in our cars for the next hour and a half and we proceeded to catch up on life, kids, work, and the status of our dreams. It is so rare for me to have the luxury of a 1.5 hour conversation with a friend but the universe aligned so we could reconnect.

After pulling up the curved driveway at Alex and Cate's house the kids climbed out and were greeted by our friends. They ran off to play while Jennifer helped me unpack our bags. And then somehow it suddenly seemed like a good idea to finish painting her hallway together. The same hallway that held entrances to the kid's rooms, the bathroom and the playroom. To be painted while the kids were playing in all of these spaces.

She looked at me like I was a little nuts and even writing this now from the comfort of my couch hours later it looks a little nuts to me too. Instead of over thinking it we went downstairs, gathered up rollers, brushes, trays, and paint excited by the idea of 1. doing something productive and 2. continuing our catch up conversation.

I stood on a chair in the hallway and painted the edges while Jennifer rolled a second coat on the walls. She broke up squabbles, washed paint off of little hands that brushed the wet walls, and checked on things when they got too quiet. Less than two hours later the whole project was finished. Done. No tragedy, no mess, and I don't think the kids even really missed us or our attention. In fact, I think we got MORE conversation in than we ever have because we were doing something together near the kids but not directly involved with their play. Who knew?

And who knew that it was possible to paint with a 4 year old, 3 year old, 22 month old, and 1.5 year old underfoot?

After that we had a mama tapas lunch, the kids cheerfully ate at the table with us, and then we let them run through the sprinklers outside. We cleaned up the house together a bit and we departed at 2:30 p.m.

Before getting back on I-85 I stopped at Fisher's Farm and picked up 1/2 peck of peaches ($7) and a pint of blackberries ($2.25) to take home. We also took a quick spin through Whole Foods to stock up on Wesley's special foods and a few of my whims.

At 5:30 p.m. we arrived home. A half and hour later Mario arrived. Today was so much better than yesterday even though we had no rest time or naps!

Just a day.

Yesterday I:

Took a challenging yet playful yoga class that pushed my limits. I found a few new poses and a deeper level of concentration and balance that were new to me in this class.

Took the kids out to lunch and treated them to iced treats.

Conducted updates on diarrhea, allergies, and diaper rash with the allergist and pediatrician. Received news that Wesley should go off of soy and wheat.

Cried. And then called my friends for suggestions on all things allergy and little boy diaper rash. I emailed bloggy contacts and felt much better after calling in my support group.

Found Clare behind her bedroom door cutting Wesley's hair. I got really angry and Clare spent some time in timeout while I collected curls from her bedroom floor.

Set Wesley up naked on an old bedspread in front of the TV with a dairy/soy/wheat free dinner so he could get some air in his nether regions. I then took a time out.

Did lots of Internet allergy research.

Went for a run when Mario got home.

Made a list of all of the things Wesley CAN eat.

Picked up books about parenting allergic kids and allergy free cookbooks from Stacy.

Spent an hour at EarthFare getting oat flour, specialty products, produce, and rice pasta. I read labels, consulted books, and bought probiotics.

Unpacked groceries, updated Mario on the new foods, showered, and helped pick up the house a bit.

Changed a total of 8 diarrhea soaked diapers.

Read allergy free cookbooks before falling into a deep slumber.

And then...

1. His rash got so wild he has to waddle to walk.
2. His allergist put him on a dairy free/wheat free/soy free diet.
3. His mama called her friends for support.
4. His mama cried a little because she knew it would be hard.

Allergies Suck.

About four weeks ago we finally go around to taking Wesley to see a local allergist. Specifically, Dr. Weiner with two recommendations from friends that this was the man to see in Columbia. Mario and I both met with Dr. Weiner, described Wesley's issues (snot, diarrhea and occasional rashes), and they put a q-tip up his nose to test his snot.

These issues are clearly linked to Mario. I am allergy free and passed on other more exciting things with my genes to our children. However, because of his history with allergies, Mario can speak allergy which seems to be a totally different language. I say snot. They say mucus, drainage, what color, how stringy, and more.

We walked away from the appointment knowing that we should have gone to see Dr. Weiner a lot sooner. We spent 22 months following the 'wait and see' approach from our pediatrician while Wesley just snotted and pooped away.

Dr. Weiner suggested a total elimination diet for dairy products. Not just subbing his milk for rice milk, but the real deal: nothing with whey or casein at all. (Just like I did when I was nursing for the first six months.) Thankfully we already know how to do that regimen and we headed off to Earthfare after the appointment. Dr. Weiner also suggested 1/2 tsp. of Zyrtec each evening. I picked that up at Target and a few days later we had a snot free child. Amazing.

While the snot stopped the diarrhea has not. We are left wondering what to do next. Demand skin tests? Blood tests? Eliminate soy? Eliminate wheat? Change the Zyrtec? Mario and I are tired of the non stop blowouts and we're pretty sure Wesley is over them also.

Oh...and a blowout in the pool. Super nasty. This must stop soon.

Day Six: Sick

Saturday morning. Sunday morning.

The little guy is not feeling so hot. He's got a fever, sand rash from hell, and a touch of sun.

Day Five: Daddy

Guess who arrived! Friday night Mario showed up with Bailey to complete our weekend. And after a pretty awful start, Friday turned out to be just great. Grampin' and I took the kids to the beach for an early evening retreat. We watched our fellow beach goers drift home while we enjoyed quiet, a cool breeze, beverages, and a whole beach to occupy the kids. They chased balls, swam, dug holes, and ran races. Afterwards I gave the kids outdoor cold showers so that we could skip the bath step when we got home. I love outdoor showers in lieu of inside baths.

Grampin' brought Italian ices in the cooler for the kids. They are smitten.

Wesley got even more confident in the water and nearly lost his britches. I enjoyed having another set of eyes to watch these two in the surf.

They have similar taste: bbq, bacon, hot dogs, and surf shirts.

Wesley's legs suffered our main casualty of the day with nasty nasty rash sand burn. From now on out we are taking Stacy's advice and going the Speedo or swim diaper route. The poor guy is doctored up in Boudreaux's Butt Paste all over his legs and nether regions today because the burn is just awful.

Day Four: Early Risers

5:00 a.m. Wesley is up screaming for Rice Krispies. I lift him into bed with Clare and me to nurse instead. Just as he quiets down and sort of drifts back to sleep Clare, 1 foot away from us, wakes up whining "My panties are all wet." She then breaks into a full out sob. My first thought is to ignore it and to tell her to move to a dry spot but at the moment I feel the sheets under me start to get wet.

5:10 a.m. Both kids are up. Clare is demanding dry panties. The bedroom smells like urine. Wesley is back to his demands for Ice Kipies.

5:13 a.m. I find an old princess pull up on the dresser and convince Clare to wear that instead. Wesley still wants Ice Kipies.

5:15 a.m. Clare demands pajamas. I throw on a robe and go into the other room to find a matching pair of pajamas in the dark.

5:18 a.m. I put clean pajamas on Clare and pull the wet sheets and blankets off of the bed. I throw clean towels over the leftover wet spot and convince everyone to get back in bed.

5:20 a.m. Wesley nurses, Clare stays next to me, I almost fall back asleep.

5:30 a.m. Wesley starts screaming for Kipies. Clare decides it is time for her to wake up. Both kids climb out of bed, Clare opens the door with the child lock on it, and they head down stairs.

5:40 a.m. Clare and Wesley come running back upstairs into Grampin's room holding Popsicles. They wake up him and ask him to open the cellophane wrappers. I roll over and pray that he will respond to this early morning call to be awake.

6:00 a.m. They succeed in waking Grampin' and I roll over sleeping through my morning run.

Date nights with Mario are wonderful treats but being able to sleep in and ignore requests for 6 a.m. Popsicles are just dreamy.

Day Three: Hovering

They are turning into water babies before our eyes. When summer started the sand was far more interesting than the water. Now the water calls to them and I am forced out of my chair to hover.

I am finding it to be a delicate balance between facilitating a healthy respect for the ocean, learning what a tumble in the surf feels like, when to set definite limits, and how to pull kids up out of the water for air. There are no lounge chairs or magazines involved in this process. My butt is sandy, my suit is wet, and I am sticky hot.But this is much easier than the Neptune Park Fun Zone. And I've learned an important lesson about beach snacks. If the kids are eating then I can rest, hydrate, or even take a quick dip myself. But the snacks have to be interesting enough to lure them out of ocean. Bring on the potato chips and cookies...anything to have a few minutes with my guard down.

Hot, Hot, Hot = Neptune Park Fun Zone

Part of the logic for skipping the beach today was also to conserve energy for an afternoon at the new Family Fun Zone, a public water park/golf/playground in the village. It opened over Memorial Day weekend and I wanted to try it out. This was NOT a single parent activity. Thank goodness my dad was along to spot/catch/retrieve the children from the water. If the kids had not had so much fun it might have made this list of worst decisions I've made, but they clearly loved it were so happy to be there. Grampin' made these special juice slushies that we brought along to enjoy during our many breaks from the water action.

I think I burned more calories there in two hours from just worry alone than I have on any of my morning runs. Wesley + gradual entry pool = too many near drownings. Clare + gradual entry pool = super fun. The water park part was easier to manage b/c of the 1 ft. water levels but with two sets of eyes we made it through this very special afternoon together.

Added bonus: we left the park at seven, got home, rinsed off and they passed out. No quibbles, squabbles or weak protests. Sleep overcame them both immediately.

Hot, Hot, Hot = Popscicles

Grampin's mission: keep everyone cool. Ice in the coolers, the a/c rolling, Italian ices in the freezer, and these great dairy free creamy pops for the kids. They are LOVING it. Especially the ice pop part.