Field Trip

Thursday, I went on a field trip with Roe to the gulf coast of Mississippi. First off, can we just talk about chartered buses? I truly don't understand how they are deemed safe. As I child and even teenager I can remember thinking they were the coolest thing, but now as a mom they just seem down right dangerous. In Mississippi it's a law you have to wear your seat belt, thus the catchy slogan "Click it, or Ticket". So how is it that a ginormous bus isn't required to have seat belts when not only is it carrying 60 something people, but most of the time the people are standing, moving around, or going to the bathroom WHILE it's moving. I'm just missing something here. But, thankfully we made it safely on the dangerous vehicle to our destination and back.

We went to the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, followed by a trip to the Friendship tree, a 500 + year old tree that has survived Hurricanes Katrina and Camille, then we went to the Walter Anderson Museum of Art. Very interesting person. Never heard of him before, but very interesting art and life. You can find out more about him here. The kids really were great and I loved spending time with Roe. It was strange to be able to devote all my attention to just one of my children. I'm usually multi-tasking by answering one child while tending to another. It was fun to be able to focus. Back at the ranch...or the ranch style house at least, Curt braved taking Abram and Sophie to work. Not sure that he got much accomplished. I think most the time he spent tracking down Sophie who was playing with the stapler. Anyway, I'm thankful he kept the two little ones so I could go with Roe. Here are some pictures from that day.

Sleepy on the bus-Left at 6:15a.m.

Treehouse at the discovery center. I took this picture on a timer...not great quality.

The boys enjoyed playing in all the different discovery stations.

2nd grader took this picture...not bad although you can't see Zoki's face.

Cat like climbing toy in the middle of the center was a hit.

Roe purchasing splenda and a crab in the grocery portion of the discovery center.

Dancing in the Mexican Restaurant portion of the Discovery Center

Boots

Yesterday I did something I rarely do. I decided to get up and actually go to a couple of stores to "shop." Somehow, I wasn't born with the gene that makes women enjoy shopping. Or maybe it's just that it's easier to stay home than to venture out with one, two, or three children. Anyway, this particular day I just got the younger two dressed and we went to a consignment shop I've been meaning to take some stuff to for over a month. In hind sight it wasn't great planning because the drop off time is 9a.m., but they don't open until 10a.m. and we got there at 9:02a.m. and knowing sitting in the car for 58 minutes with a 5 yr. old and a 16 month old wasn't going to happen, I didn't get to shop around.

We then ventured over to TJ Maxx and Marshall's. At TJ Maxx Abram spotted a pair of BRIGHT yellow rain boots. I'm 85% sure they were meant for girls b/c they have a buckle on the side and were also sold in hot pink and green, but it was love at first sight for Abram. He's been wanting some rubber boots ever since last year when his cousin Guy Braden got some. Braden and Abram would each wear one boot and walk around my mother's yard. So, I caved and bought him the yellow boots. He wore them all yesterday afternoon and when overhearing Curt and I talk about it raining later in the week, he was just beside himself.

So, around 2:20 a.m. this morning, Abram crawls in my bed because he'd had a nightmare about some giant something. After a few minutes, he says he needs some water. Then a few minutes later he says, "I think I'm gonna throw up." Yep, he threw up. Thankfully, he made it to the bathroom in time. So, the rest of the night we were up and down until he was just dry heaving. He also said his throat hurt SUPER BAD. I feel like because of the sicknesses we've had at the Hale home this winter that I've gotten pretty good at diagnosing my children's illnesses. I immediately knew it was Strep Throat...I guess it helped that his brother Roe had it last Monday. So, we went to see our Pediatrician, who we've gotten to know REALLY well over the past year. Abram said, "Are we going to see Dr. Chewaway?" Close-Dr. Chevalier. He said, "Oh good. I love him, because I know him and he knows me." But, back to the middle of the night. It started to thunder, so Abram said, "What was that"? I said thunder. He said, "Why is it thundering?" I said, because it's going to rain. And in his sickly state, he curved his little hand into a fist and said "YES"....because now he would have a legitimate reason to wear the rain boots and I guess even in the middle of the night he was imagining all the great puddles he was going to get to splash in. So, you guessed it the Bright Yellow Possibly Girl rain boots were worn to the Dr.'s office, and a good time was had by all...except Abram who felt like crap and had to get a painful shot, and Sophie who was ready for her nap and way done with waiting patiently and mom, who was wrestling Sophie and trying to console a terrified Abram who was anticipating the giant turkey baster Strep throat shot since he's had it before...so actually it wasn't that great of a time, but we survived.

Abram eating a piece of cheese in my bed, waiting to go to the Dr. notice the boot beside him. He was anxiously awaiting putting them on.

Abram after getting his shot, enjoying a well deserved sucker. I took this picture while we waited the 10 minutes to see if he'd have a reaction. Not sure what the reaction would be. Guess I don't want to know.