July with a Bang (or really just a lot of riding escalators)

This post will have nothing at all to do with fireworks!

It has been not quite a week into the month of July but we have been busy, though not always in quite the way we expected.  The month started with Groupon and a trip to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh.

A friend of mine told me about a local Groupon deal and then asked if we wanted to join her and her kids at the museum on Tuesday.  The Groupon got us in to the Rainforest Maze special exhibit.  While we didn't learn quite as much as the exhibit shared, the kids had a blast (a note here-if the exhibit warns you that this may take 30-45 minutes, that means 15-20 minutes with children under the age of 5).

There was a cool magnetic migration maze for the kids to play with just as we entered and questions guided us to the right path through the maze.  On the journey we found monkey bars, spider webs, a jungle of ropes, a zip line, a box to check out the cool smells of things that come from the rainforest (like chocolate and vanilla) and several other neat interactive activities before we got out of the maze.

We then headed up to the top floor to grab snacks and check out the dinosaurs and the butterfly room. As we headed back down, the kids enjoyed more of the dinosaurs, but probably the favorite of all was the escalator.


Wednesday was a quiet recovery day at the house and then a mostly quiet Thursday.  However the weather of Thursday changed our plans for the weekend.  Instead of getting ready for a trip to the coast to celebrate the 4th, we were avoiding the hassle from Hurricane Arthur.  (Thankfully, nothing big happened with Arthur for my family just a lot of water and picking up things thrown about by the wind.)  The boys and I went over to the mall to check out the Lego store and Disney store and pick up our monthly free piece of chocolate from the Godiva store, and of course riding the escalator as much as possible.  At the Lego store, Graeme picked out his first big kid watch - Darth Vader, so while I finished the day with a yoga class, the boys watched Empire Strikes Back and Graeme put on his Darth Vader jammies.

He then proceeded to refuse to take them off for most of July 4th.  We slept in, then headed over to play at a nearby park.  After coming back to the house, I worked on some projects and a jigsaw puzzle while Mike and the boys headed out to an enclosed park where they also have a water zone.  At this park, Graeme finally admitted to being hot (it was in the 90s) and changed into shorts and a t-shirt.

They arrived home soaking wet and so headed straight to the backyard to play in the sprinkler while Mike and I grilled out and fixed dinner.  As it got dark and we started hearing the fireworks go off, we headed outside to see if we could see anything.  Sadly, since they have moved from Womble Park to Sugg Farm Park we can no longer watch the fireworks from the comfort of our screened in porch.

Saturday took Graeme and I back to the mall for some mother/son time.  They were having an event at the Disney store for the upcoming Planes movie and thought we would check it out.  It was really for younger kids and Graeme wasn't interested so we window shopped, rode the escalator and redeemed our Chick-fil-A card for a free milkshake.  Graeme's highlights were eating the ice cream in the ice cream truck ride of the kids play area and again riding the escalator.

Sunday, there were no escalators but we did head out to ride the noon Amtrak train to Durham for an adventure in downtown.  Every July, Durham and Chapel Hill (and Raleigh used to) sponsor a Where's Waldo hunt in some of the local shops.  We thought we would try this out for a couple of hours.  There was a slight problem in that it really isn't meant as a walking thing and many of the stores were closed on Sunday.  We did find one Waldo and may drive back some rainy days and hit the other section of towns to find more.  We did go to a yummy ice cream parlor and the boys LOVED riding the train.

Looking forward to many more adventures with my fellas this month!

My Double Graduate

The Graduate

Graeme is now officially a dual pre-school graduate.  He received his "diploma" of completion from West Lake Elementary School today in sweet pomp and friendly circumstances.  I am very proud of the progress he has made and the work he has put in this past year preparing to make the jump into the world of youthful academia.  

He and 5 other friends got decked out in their mortar board hats and then were presented with their diplomas and a little yearbook from their wonderful teacher, Ms. Sarah. Afterward there was a quick "reception" of cupcakes, cookies, and juice.  

Now Graeme is officially a kindergartener! (And maybe this is an indicator that he will follow in mommy's footsteps and get two degrees?)

Graeme, Maddie and Oscar (two of his favorite friends) 

Graeme and his fellow graduates

Graeme and Ms. Sarah as he gets his diploma

Professor Von Graduate

Liam actually did pretty well during the ceremony but let me know when he was ready to leave by trying to run out of the room

Posing in his brother's cap

They are now kindergarteners!

Cupcake (icing) time!

In case you forgot I had a blue cupcake, check out my smile

Liam also like the icing

Ready for the Academic World

Hey teachers, guess who's coming next ?!?! :-)

Fun Friday-Fossil Style

For our latest Fun Friday of Summer Adventure we left the house early (7 a.m. is crack of dawn for the Hale family) and headed toward Aurora, NC.  I took the boys straight from their beds, still in their jammies and loaded up the van for the 2 1/2 hour trip east.  They boys were great travelers and not at all grumpy (of course, it helps to have bears and blankets to help adjust as they woke up).    A cooler with chocolate milk bottles and granola bars for breakfast also works well for the boys.  

So why the "long" journey to Aurora?  It is home to the Aurora Fossil Museum (http://www.aurorafossilmuseum.com) where you can check out different fossils and Native American artifacts and then head outside to dig in fossil piles for shark teeth, ray plates, fish bones, sea urchin spines and many other marine fossils. They also have a large fake megalodon shark that you can take your picture "inside".  Look closely and you can see Graeme eaten by this granddaddy of all sharks!

We would have spent more time inside the museum but unfortunately we picked a day that a Craven County summer program also chose to come.  It was just a little crowded for us to be able to enjoy the tiny museum so we headed out to the fossil piles to dig.

Another really cool thing about the Aurora Fossil Museum is that they allow you to take some of the fossil dirt with you.  With my little helpers, we loaded up a couple of small garden carts to deliver to Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve where I still work part-time and a tote for our pile at home.  Instead of a sand box, we have filled ours with fossil dirt so that you can play, dig and discover fossils as well.  

It was a beautiful and cool morning with the fossils.  Liam loved digging and finding the "big" rocks.  Graeme was an intrepid explorer out to conquer mountains (though it was warm enough that he quickly shed his explorer jacket ;-).  It was fantastic fun with fossils!

When You DON'T Want Your Kid to Resemble You

For those who know me for more than five minutes, there is a realization that I'm accident prone.  People get wary when I'm around sharp objects, walk down stairs, get out of bed for the day . . .

Well, after being around Liam for the last 4 years, I have to say . . . the poor kid takes after his mom. He ends up visiting the doctor with crazy maladies a little more frequently than a mom would like.

In his short life he has had surgery for an inguinal hernia that didn't heal itself (14 months old), he has been going to the optometrist for a year and a half watching his lazy eye (hopefully patching will help him avoid another surgery), he has been in speech therapy for almost 2 years, and most recently had tubes put in his ears so fluid would drain and he could hear sounds again.

Our newest and most like mom injury started last week.  Came home from dropping off Graeme and Liam headed inside while I grabbed the mail.  In the two seconds delay I was behind him, he managed to either get bitten by something or stub his toe badly (still not sure).  We watched it, and while discoloration went away and he walked fine on it by the end of the day, the swelling was still around a week later.  

Since we had his four year old check up today (where he was in the 82nd percentile for height), we asked the doctor what his thoughts were and sure enough we ended going for x-rays.  Praise that there were no broken or dislocated bones in his foot or with his little toe, just tissue swelling.  

Liam did a fantastic job getting his x-rays and has been a real trooper through each development.  Praying that he doesn't make ER visits in multiple states, stitches, and injury a running joke with friends quite like his mom but at least I can really understand where he is coming from as he goes through each adventure.

Summer Fun Begins!

So I was not a great blogger in May.  Part of that was that we stayed busy and part is that I'm trying to lead by example for the kids with a little bit less time spent on technology every day.  By the time the day was over, I truly just wanted to hang out with Mike and the kids or curl up with a good book.


Some updates-Liam successfully passed his audiology test (hearing check) on Tuesday!  The tubes have done wonders and my little man is making progress.  Now, we are ready for next week and another round of evaluations in the process of getting him some extra help!

Also, Mike had a good trip up to Halifax, Nova Scotia for work where he got to hang out in a lovely house, work with friends, and eat lots of good food! His next trip at the end of this month will be back to San Francisco.  

Graeme graduated preschool from Meadowland and was one of few kids who chose something besides firefighter for their future profession.  My fella wants to be a train conductor!  He was sweet and it was a great day for him.

Liam and I both got a year older and Mike and I celebrated another anniversary.  Liam is 4 and Mike and I have been married 7 years!  As for me, I'm proud of the 37 years survived and thrived so far.


So now that Liam is done with preschool for a bit and Graeme is just down to Wake County pre-k, we have a little more time on our hands that we get to choose how we run around.  We are playing with friends, splashing in water to keep cool, and as of today we are starting Fun Fridays. 

Fridays are completely our own with no pre-k, no speech therapy and no other scheduled appointments, so I'm planning to make some kind of outing/adventure with the boys each week through June and July before Graeme starts kindergarten. 

Today was our first outing and it was a hit!  We went to downtown Raleigh to the Marbles Kids Museum where the boys played pirates, helped fill a giant piggy bank, showed me the new Kid Grid play area and had a blast "exercising".  Afterward, we checked out a cool sandcastle in the middle of Acorn park downtown and then we went to the second run movie and watched Mr Peabody & Sherman.  The boys were great and it was a fun day of adventure.  Looking forward to trips to the zoo, aquarium, hiking and whatever other kind of fun we can find!

May Day, Mayday

Wow, April was insane!!!!

It started with a failed hearing test for Liam, proceeded to blocked inner ears and then scheduled surgery for him to get tubes.  For Graeme, it was a bit on the happier side as he lost his first tooth.  For me, I had a bad bout of the stomach bug for Easter, though on the plus side I also discovered an amazing recipe for a flour less chocolate cake.  Mike has been making huge progress in our attic project as well as dealing with some work craziness. Throw in our first outing to play in the sand at the beach, some backyard camping, a train ride at the mall and getting everything in order for Graeme to start kindergarten in July and April was nuts!

Now we are hoping that May 1 becomes a may day for the start of new adventures.  I will say that so far these adventures have started a little earlier than I would like.  I was up at 4:30, coherent by 5 a.m. so that Liam and I could head over to Rex Surgery Center for Liam to get tubes put in his ear.  We had to be there at 6 so we could wait 45 minutes to go back for pre-op for an hour so that Liam could go in for the 15 minute procedure and 15 minute recovery.  Liam threw up the drainage when we got to the car (fortunately before we actually got in the car and he did not get me with it) and so changed him out of his pajamas and into some spare clothes.  We were home and chilling by 9am just as Mike and Graeme got out of bed and got their day started.  Liam is chilling with the iPad and drinking fluids, eating applesauce and slowly letting his crazy come back out.  We will go back to the doctor in a week for a check up, but so far so good.  Hopefully this will really help out his future adventures with the ability to hear.

I hope to be a more consistent blogger and share the fun adventures and crazy life of the Hales.

Signs that I'm not meant to get up at 5 a.m.:

-I chose "jammies" last night that also doubled as my outfit for the day aka t-shirt and sweat pants

-I came back to make my tea and realized I had never turned on the burner to heat the water
-"Punchy" does not even begin to describe how my brain is functioning (Michael is already looking forward to me getting some rest and returning to my "normal" state of insanity)