What's a Revis?

I guess it's been three weeks since I've written a blog again. Someone needs to make a trophy or something for me, it would give me more motivation to write them. I'm going to be way off my 52 blogs in a year mark. Although, I booked our summer trip this week-- and it's a doozie so look for the Waterstraut Waterspout to pick up some traction in July. I'm doing 10 days in Ohio, 4 days in Vegas, a couple of days in Seattle, the Redwoods, and San Francisco. Should be a good time.

Two weekends ago was my monthly shopping and cooking weekend. I know a lot of people think I'm a pretty good stay at home mom, but lets face it I hate most of the chores that comes along with that-- laundry, grocery shopping, cooking. And so I do those things in big batches, and give myself a lot more time off. Think 7 loads of laundry in one day, an entire months worth of shopping in one day (5 different stores! And a FULL car), and cooking at least 25 meals in one day. The boys are really very helpful on my cooking day.

So we were happily cooking, when some cans need opened. Now, I used to have this awesome can opener that my Aunt Patti had gotten for me; and it didn't leave any sharp edges. But that was years ago, and apparently there's a shelf life on how long they will work. So, when I couldn't find one of those (really, I should have checked Amazon), I finally broke down and bought an ordinary can opener that leaves the sharp edges. Calib was opening some beans and corn for our southwestern egg roll mixture and well, can you see where this is going? Despite my 'be careful, that'll leave sharp edge's speech, he still managed to slice his right index finger open. It GUSHED blood for a little while, we weren't sure about needing stiches, so we wrapped it up the best we could and applied a lot of pressure, and took him to the doctor the next day. They said no stiches were needed, but since it was his writing finger he had a note to get out of school until he could hold a pencil comfortably again, which was about a week. So, before the next big cooking day, I think I need to find that can opener that doesn't leave the sharp edges.

Of course this happened the day after Hayden was down at the park and ran into a kid swinging a baseball bat; leaving a GIANT goose egg on his head. Luckily that too only resulted in a call to the doctor instead of an ER trip. But I tell you, these boys will be the death of me.

That was a couple of weekends ago, so you can see that blog wouldn't have been all that exciting. Fast forward to last weekend, and we made a Disney day.

Our orginal plan had us going to typhoon lagoon first but with a temperature of about 72 and overcast skies we thought we'd skip in in favor of Epcot. We took a spin on spaceship earth, and enjoyed some of the flower and garden festival. (It's GORGEOUS there this time of year) Peyton really loves the butterfly house, and we all made a stop for some free Chinese Coke. But the boys were pretty pouty, and eventually Calib spoke up and said 'I would have gone to typhoon lagoon.' And his brothers agrees. We explained it was a little cold for that, but we were game if they were. So we left and headed out to the water park.

The good part about going to the waterpark when it's only 72 and overcast; there's no wait for anything. I know those signs say 5 minutes, but it wasn't even that. So, the boys had a good time going on the slides, and we hit the lazy river and the awesome wave pool (instead of a bunch of little waves it has one GIANT wave) 

After a picnic dinner, we headed to Disney Quest. Lesson learned: If a Disney employee ever asks if you want to do anything, say yes. We got picked to go on a treasure hunt, which resulted in getting to skip the line for the big three games: Jungle Cruise, Alladin, and Pirates. At the end the boys got a key that they had to take to the coat check/lockers to open a treasure chest and pick out some pirate loot. They were pretty excited, so thanks random Disney employee for choosing us! 

After playing games for awhile, I found a nice cozy spot to read my kindle and became home base while everyone else took off for their favorites. It's always a nice relaxing time for me mid-day. I like video games, but I could spend an hour-- tops-- there and be happy. The boys in this family could be there all day. 

Then it was getting dark, and my favorite place to be at Disney when it's dark; hands down the Magic Kingdom. We were getting there just as the first electrical light parade was starting. If you skip that an wishes in favor of rides you can sail right through the lines (10 minutes for Astro Orbiter, NINE for Peter Pan-- whaaaat?) 

We even hit Enchanted Tales with Belle with no wait at all. Calib was not thrilled when he was picked to play a part in the play, but he did it. Peyton refused. Hayden was sad the part of chip was given to someone else; but happily grabbed the ottoman/dog, and Asa was thrilled as he is now 2/2 on playing the part of one of the guards. 

With a few minutes to spare before close, and the last electrical light parade we ran to the back of the park for a non-existent wait on Big Thunder Railroad. One of the few roller coasters we can go on as a family, it's always a hit. 

And of course, a prime viewing spot for the electrical light parade. Asa was thrilled when Alice told him he was from Wonderland. We made it home just about 1 am. 

Thursday Night we headed out to the free party at Raymond James Stadium for the NFL Draft. As season ticket holders, we got free food. (The boys were super excited because we hardly ever get dinner at any event-- so expensive). Too bad Asa and I aren't beer drinkers, that was even free. But they had pop, chicken fingers, fries, hot dogs and a giant spread of fruit,veggies and cookies. 

After dinner we headed down to the field where they had play 60 games for the kids. The boys all ran the drills, some taking it a bit more seriously than others (ahem, Calib) 

We were also there for some of the players, ESPECIALLY the Bucs newest pick up, Revis. The trade took forever to go down, and Asa and I constantly asked 'do we have Revis yet?' I'm talking months of this question. Last Sunday it happened, and we couldn't miss his first appearance as a Buc. But then we high tailed it home in time to see the first pick of the draft on TV.  

Friday night we had our own little draft party. We cooked out, Justin made wings (which disappeared super fast), and Katie brought her new puppy over. 

Saturday morning before Asa had to work we managed to fit in a trip with our neighbors, Lonny and Jan, to go pick some blueberries. We got a little over 6 pounds, plus my kids probably ate that many out in the field. It was a nice trip, and I was glad they invited us. We also had time for a trip to the pool before Asa had to be on the phone. Today we're just taking it easy after a couple of busy days. 

Also worth noting: Hayden is now missing his two front teeth. It's adorable if you ask me. 

Hopefully I'll start being a little more on top of things with the blog, but my intentions don't always translate to results. 

Next Up: Baseball Games, and Celebration Weekend! 

Animals Corinne Hates: Armadillos, Opossums, and Alligators.

.. Previously on The Waterstraut Waterspout, you heard about Waterstraut Spring Break 2013. This is the continuation of that dramatic story.. 

Sunday of course was Easter, we set our alarm but everyone must have been tired from the weeks events- because nobody got up until 11. We hunted for eggs and baskets (which always reminds me so much of my dad laughing at Cort not being able to find his). Calib was the last to find his basket. We had skyped Jake the night before and he came up with putting it in Hayden's backpack. It was a pretty good place. 

After some strawberry crepes for brunch we had our First Annual Waterstraut Egg-stacle course. I don't have a lot of pictures from the event because I took video but it was pretty funny. There were seven stations. In the first one, they had to hit eggs with nerf guns, then they had to open up wet slimy plastic eggs and find the one with the quarter in it, then they had to put an egg on a spoon and race around the palm trees making two figure eights. Station four was my favorite. In a bucket of shaving cream they had to find the right color of egg. That one got pretty messy. Station five they had to throw some hard boiled eggs into a pot a couple of feet away, then they had to find the hard boiled egg among the non-hard boiled by breaking the eggs. And the last station was just a classic egg roll with a spoon to the finish line. It wasn't quite 'Waterstraut Olympics' fun to watch- but it was still pretty entertaining. I'll have to get those videos up soon. Calib was the proud winner of the coveted Chocolate Easter Bunny. Peyton was less than thrilled. 

Tracy and JD stopped by for a visit on Easter while we watched the Florida game (boo! They lost, but on the upside that makes me the Waterstraut Bracket Champion for the second year running) And then we had a special low country boil for Easter dinner; it just really means crab legs are added. But everyone goes wild for it.

Monday the boys continued their Spring Break (they give the teachers an extra planning day), so that was Art day. We made bleach pen t-shirts and some garden stones, and made one more trip to the pool. Yes, its cold.. but we've been making the most of it.

Tuesday was back to school. Peyton and I had hit the Lincoln assassination on our time line on the Friday before Spring Break, and the movie came out the following Monday so we Netflixed it. I thought it was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. And it makes me feel good when Peyton is like "I know who that is" or 'I know what that is' when we're watching a movie like that where we've covered the history behind it all. He's really soaking those things in. I'm going to have to do something special when we hit the anniversary of Lincolns death. I have Earth Day plans I'm pretty excited about too. 

Hayden had a hard adjustment going back to school. It makes me feel guilty I don't home school him too. I think it would have been a lot harder to do the two of them at once when I was new to this whole home school thing, but as we get further along I know I could handle it, and poor Hayden is dying to be home schooled. He'll finish out the year of course, but it's looking 99 percent likely we home school him next year too. 

Also, hey, how bout that Thursday night television? Asa and I have a dwindling amount of shows- but Thursday night is like date tv night. Kids go to bed early and we have Community, Parks and Rec, the Office, and Go On. All good shows. And then Scandal, like the best show. Also, on the other entertainment spectrum, what a resource our library is. I love that place. And their online hold/renew system-- just awesome. 

Anyway, Saturday we had to get up early and get to the zoo. Our friends' Tracy and JD's son was 4 last week and his party was at the zoo. It was an impressive party too, let me tell you. The kids played out on the playground and their was some snacky food and such. But they brought in some animals and presented them to the kids. There was an armadillo, an African Bullfrog, an Opossum, and an Alligator. They got to pet everything but the Opossum, he's pretty shy. I hate all those animals. I was hoping for something cuter. Like a baby pgymy hippo. Or a kangaroo. Really, anything but those. Yuck. The kids were thrilled though! 

After the party we all got to go to the zoo. Katie and Kevin were also there for a little while. We've been so busy lately we haven't seen all that much of them. The kids played in the water, and got a free ticket to feed the goats. 

Plus we got to hang out and see all the other animals. The zoo is pretty expensive, so we don't really go very often, it was a good opportunity to take advantage of the nice weather and a free zoo trip. Thanks again to Tracy and JD for inviting us. 

Other notable event: Hayden lost one of his top teeth. He's a snaggletooth. It's kind of funny.

I would like to say things are going to get calmer around here, but with end of the year school activities, Asa's work schedule, and upcoming plans it'll be August 17th before there's an open Saturday or Sunday on my calendar. (And that's not sarcasm, for real- August 17th. Plus I'm considering heading back up to Ohio for the fair so that may push us back until nearly September!)

Time to add the pictures and get to folding laundry mountain.

Next Up: Art Shows, Shopping Day, Cooking Day, and Disney Day!