The Blue Whale!

Yesterday we drove out to the Blue Whale on Route 66. I had never been, the kids had never been, and I kind of thought C was a little bit insane when he kept mentioning it. So, off we went. Ok, it really took us all of 25 minutes to get there but still. And Look:

A Giant Blue Whale. Seriously. I know right?

It used to be a sightseeing thing for Route 66. A swimming hole. Now it's a little bit creepy, but still.

 Of course The Girl thought it would be hilarious to be *eaten* by the whale. As you can see The Boy is a bit unsure about this whole thing.

 There were slides people used to go down, a diving place off the tail, climbing ladders up the side of the whale. Basically an embellished pier. There is fish and turtles in the pond now, but the water is kinda ewwy looking.

The banks are overgrown, but you can see where an old dock/pier is. I can see how this would have been a popular roadside stopping place during the Route 66 hayday. It's rundown now, but if it were upkept and busy it would loose that *creep* factor. 

Even the bathroom is whale themed. 

It's worth a visit since it's not very far from town. We spent maybe 10-15 minutes there, but the kids were in awe that it existed because it's just so weird. You can still walk out in the whale and look out in the pond and feed the fish and catch and release them - if you want. (We didn't.) But there was a lady with her little boy there who had brought some fish food and was feeding the fish and shared a bit with The Girl and she's been going On and On about it since.

And for your Monday Laugh:

Love that silly Boy..

 

Parenting Fails OR Why I hate Summer..

Today I was reminded several times of why I hate Summer Vacation for most schools. It brings out the general public. The mouth breathers. The ignorant parents who just don't care. The parent FAILS. I LOVE vacations for the people we like. We get to see them more - but for the rest of them. *Shudder*

• There were 5 screaming, fit throwing PARENTS at Wal-mart. They were yelling at the kids (who in turn were yelling things back) such as "Shut UP" "If you don't do what I say.." "I Said NO". Now, these things could ALL have been said in *nice* ways. But. No. 
• One particularly awesome mom left her 5 year old standing up in the front part of the shopping cart. You know, where the kid is supposed to be sitting, snapped in? STANDING UP. And walked off - while yelling how horrible he was. Winner. 
• We went to the Aquarium. It was busy. We ran across a completely unattended 18 month old sobbing uncontrollably.  Another mother also noticed this rather odd child and we both asked all the other people with in sight if the child was theirs. Nope. I went and got an employee (I like to make this kind of problem someone else's problem). Turns out, 18 month old was in time out, but mommy thought it was *ok* to leave boy alone in a SUPER crowded public place while she was 2 rooms away. Surely, it would teach him a lesson. 
• A group of about 5 kids and 2 adults were at the Aquarium. One little girl was very clearly ill. She was coughing a very hacking, juicy, constant cough.  Never ONCE did that child cover her mouth. She had to have been AT LEAST 7. Never once did an adult suggest she do so. You could almost see the germs land on everything. She just stood and coughed on every single surface she came close to. I get it. You're on vacation and your little precious comes down with a cough. You give precious Sally some Motrin and carry on with your planned trip. Great. COVER YOUR DAMNED MOUTH. Teach her to do so. Wash your hands. No one else wants Precious Sally's nasty germs. Never ONCE did she even raise her arm, hand, sleeve - anything- to cover her face. It's gross! At least pretend to be socially appropriate.

And these fine examples of parenting were in just 1 day with only 2 outings. We didn't run a slew of errands. We went 2 places.  I may need to be bailed out of jail at the rate this is going so far. It's not the small stuff that's irritating. I don't care if your kid is awesomely clean, has nice clothes on, has perfect grammar, whatever. But basic manners of not screaming in the store and YOU not screaming back? Teaching your child basic hygiene of covering their mouth or at least reminding them? Not openly insulting your kid in public? How are these things *hard*? Heck, just being NEAR your kid so people know they are yours... Yes, I've given my kid a timeout in public. Just flat out sat their little rumps down and had them sit. Sure have. I'll bet I have to do it again at some point to. BUT, I stay with them. They are MINE. Fit throwing, embarrassment giving joys of joy. I don't get to walk off because they are naughty. I'll sit and wait right there with them for as long as it takes. We all will wait if I'm by myself with both kids.

Some randomness!

 An Angry Bird Cake. The birds far out gathered the pigs, but they all tasted delicious!

 A certain wee girl is going to sit RIGHT HERE and eat ice cream.. 

 I'm BORED..

The boy is always on her. And she lets him. She doesn't let ANYONE touch her. BUT him. 

CAKE!

Homeschool Gym

Right after we moved to our new house in January I started taking the kids to a free homeschool gym class that the community center offers. The boy likes it because they play dodge ball - thusly he has permission to throw balls at other people. The girl likes it because it's running and chasing and there are other girls her age there. I like it because I steal their Internet. It's a winning situation.

But, on the way here today (we come from swimming lessons - you'd think they would get tired, but no) I was thinking of all those Facebook rants (for lack of a better word) about summer and how parents need to put down their iPads, phones, books, whatever's and "play" with their kids more. Every time I see that particular posting, I get irritated. Yes, there ARE a good half of the population of trashy parents who suck and never spend time with their kids. But what about that other half? The half that are fantastic parents? That are purposefully ignoring the incessant pleas of their child? *I* do at the park. The entire point of going is to teach them to play nicely with others, to come up with their OWN games, resolve their own conflicts, develop their own physical skills, build confidence, burn off energy, improve skills with people they don't know.... *IF* I am playing with them, when will they do these things? Of course it's easier for mommy to push the kid on the swing, but kids can do if for themselves. Sure, I can come up with a cool game to play - but I rather they meet some random kids they've never met and invent some goofy ruled game of tag.

I am watching my children the entire time, by the way. It may appear that I'm *ignoring* them, but I see every single thing they do. I see that YOUR kid kicked them, that my kid isn't running off like a loon, that mine isn't begging for candy... My kids are staying in the area I said to. They are using their  mostly polite words and ignoring the rude kid instead of being mean back. I can be proud of them and not interrupt their play. They know. I'll smother the with kisses and list every good thing they've done. And I'll continue to use my iPad, phone, and book when I go out.

The Boy Turns 7!!

The boy is 7 tomorrow!

He's my little genius boy who - when he wants to be (which is most of the time) - is the kindest little guy ever.

I just love snuggling his little smoogly oogly self!

The Boy..

 He's having the BEST time ever making his own "fancy" birthday cake this year. He's actually pretty pleased it's turning out small, his social anxiety is literally killing him right now. So, we're going with it and letting him decide what we do. He's rolling the rice crispy bases The Girl helped make in colored fondant (which he colored). We're going to work on the facial details for the Angry Birds tomorrow. A party is what you make of it. HIS idea of a party - apparently - is eating cake, junk food, getting a few presents, and playing some weird games. Nowhere in his description of what a party should be did it include "people". Anywhere. He wants friends to play, but not the chaos I guess? So, a very small party (which is what was ending up happening anyhow..) it is. I don't feel compelled to make things "pretty" for just the one family coming because they've already seen my dirty laundry. And if the kids want to help make the cake and play fondant birds... Ok. I have some little figurines as back ups, lets roll with it. We're gonna set up a big sling shot and shoot the crap out of some stuff looking like piggies - because - well, it sounds fun. The kids want to blow bubbles at the ducks and goats. Because that's REALLY fun. No, it really is. It's hilarious. So, bubbles it is. I forget how simple 6 (7 whatever) can be. If he's not worried about people (he's actually seeming somewhat calmer knowing people aren't coming), why should *I*?  We're still gonna have a damned good party!

I WAS Going to Title This Post.. AssHats..

But, I'm not.. I've just reached that frustration point of not being able to "fix" things and want to blame other people. I want to blame all the AssHats in the world for everything being broken, since I can't fix it. When, in reality, it's just broken and *they* really didn't break it (ok, except for the one person at the bank who really DID break it, but still).


So instead we shall focus on all the positive features:

Wee boy is almost 7!

The wee little guy there, isn't my baby anymore. But that certainly IS what they still do! (Mental note, take picture tomorrow morning of exact same pose while they are watching their show.)


We're having a "party" for him, assuming anyone shows up for it. This is where it gets complicated and screwy. He's been having massive panic attacks about "people". Bad, bad, bad panic attacks. All kinds of reasons - they may touch something and move it, they may look at something of his, someone may break something..Then he panics that no one will show up.  Well, it turns out only 1 family may show up out (assuming they don't get sick - which knowing our luck, they will)  of 9 we invited. I had 4 today alone say things like "Oh, sorry, such and such came up.." Well.. Ok.. I'm torn at this point, mostly because he's an uncommunicative little boy, at what to do. How to explain to little kid that literally EVERYONE had something better to do?

My self-esteem isn't so shotty that I'm worried about people suddenly don't like us, we're talked to all these people in the last weeks and have no reason to think that. I honestly think they have had things come up. It's old parental ideal to make things great for their kids. But, I'm not sure he even cares as long as *someone* shows up, he said he'd rather just have playdates later with anyone who can't come - cause he just doesn't care. Whether or not that's the uncommunicative boy talking - I just don't know.