The Beach

first time in the water

Gillian putting her toes in the water

The kids school was closed yesterday, and we decided to take them to the beach.  We met Aunt Betty in Manasquan around 9 am.  John and Gillian were so excited.  They ran down the beach right to the water. Gillian stopped before they reached the water.  John, on the other hand, went right into the water.  We were only able to get Gillian to put her toes in the water if we were holding both of her hands at the same time.  We spent a little bit of time in the water then we started working on a sandcastle. 

John and his castle

John has been planning on building a sandcastle all week.  He wanted his castle to have a moat and towers and a flag on top.  We were able to build a nice foundation for his castle along with a moat.  But John wasn't happy.  He wanted there to be water in the moat.  When that didn't happen, he got very frustrated.  We placed a flag on top of the castle and the kids went back to play in the water.  John spent majority of our time on the beach in the water.  He jumped over the waves.  He punched the waves.  He tried to body surf.  Uncle Bob and Justin joined us too.  When the Justin and Uncle Bob arrived, they joined us in the water.  John tried to use Justin's boogie board, but he fell off very quickly.  I think it was because his hands were super pruney from being in the water all day.  When he fell off, he went under water.  He wasn't too happy about that, so that was the last time he tried to ride any waves on the boogie board.  It didn't stop him from having Justin pull him on the boogie board in the little waves at the shore. 

Foreman Gillian watching construction

Gillian got Uncle Bob to make her a little pool.  She loved watching everyone dig for her, but refusted to go into it until it was "full."  Luckily the waves helped with that and in no time she had water in her little pool.

Not happy about the water level

 After Gillian had her little pool, everyone again went back into the water.  We only took a short break for lunch.  John went up the Gee-Gee's with Uncle Bob and Justin.  Surprisingly he came back to our spot on the beach with blue and pink spots on his face.  All around his mouth.  He can't keep a secret, so he confessed when we questioned him.  "I had Italian Ice!  And we didn't even use spoons!" 

Finally, I had to tell John that it was time to leave.  He wasn't happy at all.  Well either was Justin.  I can't blame them, they were having an awesome time.  In the car on the way home, we asked John what was his favorite part of the day.  He said "Well, it's so hard.  There were so many good things!"  I call that a successful beach day.

 

Planning

We are going to the beach tomorrow. John is planning on building a sandcastle. He wants to put little flags on it or "Just one American flag!" He also wants it to have a moat. Tonight as I was tucking him into bed, he was telling me "I'm going to need a BIG shovel." I told him I have shovels and buckets and castle molds too. He said "Well, we are going to need water and sand too!" I said "We are going to the beach. There will be plenty of water and sand." He said "You're right sister!"

Best friend

Gillian is super excited about moving up to the three year old class (aka the Dolphin class). In the Dolphin class, Gillian will be able to go on field trips. This is very exciting for a three year old. She keeps telling me "When I a dolphin, I go on field trip! I sit next to Johnny on the bus!" Of course this prompts a long conversation where we explain to her that John will be in a different school and they won't be able to go on field trips together. But it doesn't matter. She still insists on saying that she will go with Johnny. We were talking about buses again tonight. Gillian said "I sit next to my best friend." I asked her "Who is your best friend?" She said "Johnny is my best best friend. Him a boy. And him my brother!" She is so sweet. I hope she always thinks like this. 

Mini Golf

We took the kids to play mini golf today.  The kids wanted to know where we were going and Daddy gave John one hint.  When we pulled into the mini golf place, John said "We are going golfing.  Then why did you tell me 'fore'?"  Daddy and I giggled.  He didn't know what fore meant in golf.  We explained it to him. 

We met Uncle T and Aunt Missy inside and we picked out our balls and got our clubs.  John proudly told the lady at the counter "I don't need that.  I brought my own club!"  We got to the first hole.  John went first.  Then Gillian.  Daddy told her to put her ball down.  She said "I don't want to lose it!"  We let her know that she would get her ball back at the end of the hole.  That made her feel better. Gillian loved hitting the ball for about the first four holes.  Then she hit the ball and it fell in the water.  After Daddy rescued it, she didn't let it get far from her.  When we did get her to hit her ball, she would hit it then pick up the ball and put it in the hole.  John, on the other hand, loved mini golf.  He listened to Daddy and Uncle T and took his time before he hit the ball.  He has to be more patient, but he is turning into quite the little golfer.

Favorite Super Hero

John was reading Daddy a book first thing this morning.  After they were done reading, John came downstairs to see me.  While Daddy went into Gillian's room to snuggle.  I was in the living room and could hear that they were having a conversation.  After a little while, Gillian came downstairs gave me a hug and a kiss and ran away.  I asked Daddy what they were talking about.  He said he was snuggling with Gillian in her bed.  And commented saying "I love this princess room."  Gillian said "It's a super hero room.  Not princess!"  Daddy was a little surprised by her answer, but went with it.  He asked "Who is your favorite super hero?"  She said "Wanda!"  Again, he was taken back by her comment.  And said "You mean the Scarlet Witch?"  She said "Her friends call her Scarlet Witch, but her Wanda!" 

Boys will be boys

This morning Daddy told me to ask John if his armpits smelled.  I thought the request was a little odd, but it turned out to be a funny story.  I went into John's room to help him pick out some shorts that matched his shirt and I casually asked him "John, do your armpits smell?"  John smiled at me, and said "No!"  Then he picked up his arm and stuck his nose in his armpit and sniffed.  "Nope!  Smells good!"  I asked him why he smelt so good.  He said "Last night, Daddy let me use his armpit soap!"  I said "What happens when I'm not up here with you guys?"  He said "We do what we wanna!" 

Later I got the full story from Daddy.  Before John's shower last night, he pointed at Daddy's deodorant and asked if he could use some.  Daddy told him yes.  John thought that it was soap to be used in the shower, but Daddy told him it was to make sure you didn't get stinky.  So Daddy put a little under his arms after his shower.  John giggled the whole time, because it tickled.     

Age

In the car on the way home tonight, Gillian tried to tell John and I that she was 7 years old. John said "Gill, you are three. I'm six. And when I'm seven then you will be four. And when I'm eight, then you will be five." Gillian continued to argue with him while he was talking "No, I'm six. You not six, I six." she said. John was doing a great job with telling Gillian how old she would be and hold old he would be. So I asked him "John, how old will you be with Gillian is 10?" I stumped him. He didn't know how to respond. I asked him "How old are you?" He said "Six!" "How old is Gillian?" He said "Three!" I then asked him "What is six take away three?" He thought for a little bit and then said "Three!" "That's right. You are three years older than Gillian. Now think about it, how old will you be if Gillian is 10?" He counted to ten then added three more and yelled "Thirteen! I'll be thirteen! That was hard! I had to use all my fingers and then three more!" Love our little math lesson in the car tonight. 

How do you eat a Klondike bar?

Tonight I gave the kids Klondike bars for dessert. This isn't their first time eating them, but for some reason they asked for bowls and spoons. Gillian unwrapped her bar and put it in her bowl. She said "You cut it. Cut it into little pieces!" I did what she asked. She also asked for a fork. John, on the other hand, asked for a spoon. The two of them ate their Klondike bars with utensils. But somehow Gillian still ended up with ice cream in her hair. Daddy got home while we were eating out dessert. He asked what we were doing. Gillian said "We eating zert!" I'm sure a million kids say that, but we called dessert zert in my house growing up. Love that she picked it up too. 

Caaake Party

Aunt Missy and Uncle T invited us to their house for a party to celebrate their first anniversary. I told the kids it was a party to eat cake. This made Gillian super excited. All day yesterday, she said to me "We go to Missy's house now?" After asking me a million times I think she finally relaxed that we were not going to their house until today. 

On our way to Uncle T's house, we had to make a quick stop to pick up whipped cream. While we were taking our detour, John informed us "I don't think this is the way to Uncle T's." When we pulled onto their street John said "Finally! I thought we were never going to make it." 

When Gillian finished her dinner, she said "Is it time for cake now?" She sat and waited while Aunt Missy got everything ready for dessert. She even went outside and told everyone "It's cake time!" She was the second one to get a piece of cake. She ate all her cake and ice cream too. She even asked for a second helping of ice cream.

Oh Beans

Gillian got a balloon on a stick today. She  held it in her hand and stuck out her arm and said "To Asgard!" (For those that don't know, Thor is from Asgard)

We saw a man in a wheelchair today. Gillian stared at him and said "Why doesn't he have to walk?" (Very embarrassing for Mom.)

I was talking to John about coming to the dealership to help me work. Gillian said "I go to the dealership. I paimpt cars! I paimpt cars pink and blue!"

We were out to lunch today and Gillian saw a little boy. He was probably 2 or 3 years old. But Gillian said "Awww him so cute! Why him so tiny?"

I was making cookies this afternoon. Gillian came upstairs and said "I smell something. Are you making cookies?" I told her no, so she turned the light on in the oven. And said "Are you making princess cookies?"  When I told her no, she said "Why not?" 

Oh Beans!

The Band Aid - take two

When I got home from work tonight, Gillian walked up to me and said "Hi Mom." She had a sad face and kept looking down at her feet. She said "I got band-dids." And there were two band aids on her knees. I asked her what happened. She explained "I was walking silly then I fell down then I get band-dids. Look I got Cinderella and Donald. That's silly!" On one knee she had a Cinderella band aid and on the other knee she had a Donald Duck. 

Daddy explained to me later what actually happened. Gillian and John were walking silly down the sidewalk at school. The sidewalk at school is a little hill and I get worried when they walk down the path let alone when they are being silly. Daddy said they were walking with their knees out and that he told them to stop. Well Gillian didn't listen. She fell and scraped her knees. She cried in the car for a few minutes and got distracted by a few good songs on the radio. When they arrived home, Daddy sent the kids downstairs to play. They played for a little bit and then John decided to play Legos. That's when Gillian remembered that she had a boo-boo and she asked Daddy for a band aid. That's also when I walked in the door. I guess she really got hurt. 

Street Signs

John has been reading street signs for me on our morning drive to school.  He  reads the speed limit signs or stop signs.  This morning he saw a sign and said "That one says watch out for ones crossing the street."  I didn't understand him.  I responded by asking "Watch out for worms crossing the street? Really John?  Worms?"  "No Mom!  I said 'ones.'" Just then we approached a people crossing sign like the picture below. 

I asked John, "Is that the sign you saw?"  He said "Yes.  I said 'ones' because it could be other things besides people crossing the street."  I suggested "Oh, like dogs?"  John said "Yes, like people walking dogs.  Or wild dogs.  But if you saw a wild dog crossing the street, then you would see a dog catcher right on his tail." 

New shoes

John is really rough on sneakers and Daddy noticed this weekend that one of the straps on John's sneakers were broken. We were planning on getting him new sneaker for school, so we decided to get them sooner rather than later. We got him some new Nikes. Since John got new sneakers, Gillian had to get a new pair. Today was their first day wearing their new kicks to school. When we arrive at school, John jumped out of the car. I said "Let me see how fast those shoes are." He ran to the path, turned around and said "It's not the shoes. It's my legs that are fast!" 

Before bed, I asked the kids if everyone loved their new shoes. Gillian said "No! Everyone hated them!" John said "No Gill. Everyone loved my shoes. Miss Denise noticed right away that I had new shoes!" Love that he was so excited about his new sneakers. 

Brownies

I made brownies this afternoon, simply so that we could have brownies a la mode for dessert tonight. I let the kids taste the batter. John gave me a thumbs up and Gillian insisted on a second taste. The second time she dipped her entire finger in the batter and tried to quickly stick in her mouth. She ended up dripping brownie batter down the front of her shirt. She didn't care. She loved it. She said "It's yummy!" I made the brownies and as I was taking them out of the oven Gillian watched me. She asked "Who's birthday is it? Are we going to sing?" I explained that it wasn't anyone's birthday but I just wanted to make brownies. 

At dinner, Gillian refused to eat. I told her no brownies if she didn't eat. She immediately picked up her fork and ate all her chicken. After dinner, I made the kids their dessert. They dug right into their dessert. John ate all of his ice cream. They requested extra scoops of ice cream (how can you say no to that?). Overall fun night with my kids. 

The Return of Manket

Gillian got a hole in her favorite blanket (aka Manket). We brought Manket to Grandma's house for repair. Grandma said it was a big project. Gillian borrowed a blanket from Aunt Betty (aka Loaner Blanket). Grandma fixed Gillian's blanket and dropped it off at my office yesterday. I picked up the kids from school and told Gillian I had a surprise for her in the car. She was super excited to see her Manket.  She examined it to see if Grandma fixed it. She said "It's all fixed!"  When we got home, she insisted on bringing it downstairs to play with her. She also ate dinner with her Manket on the back of her chair. I know that doesn't sound that exciting, but in our house her blanket is only allowed to leave her bed when it is getting cleaned or she is sick. After dinner we called Grandma and Gillian said "Thank you! It's all fixed!" She also said to Aunt Betty, "Thanks for my loaner blanket!" She slept all night long with her blanket and when I woke her this morning she was curled up in her Manket. She is so happy to have her favorite blankie back. Thanks Grandma!

Nature Walk

Daddy asked me this morning why I was packing John's lunch in a brown bag. I told him that John was going on a field trip. He said to John, "Just another boring day at school today?" John said "Maybe for Gill! I'm going on a field trip. We are going on a nature walk and we are going to have a picnic." 

When I dropped the kids off at school today, I asked John if he wanted to wear his hat on his nature walk. He reached in the car and grabbed his new camo hat that Aunt Katie gave him. He put it in his head and said "Hope I don't lose it in the nature!"

At dinner tonight I asked John about his day. He said "I got to see three turtles and this is the part that Daddy doesn't like so much, cause he's afraid." Gillian screamed "It's a snake!"  We all laughed and I asked John if they saw anything else. He said "Well I didn't see a lot of natureous stuff. Like caves or bears." He is hilarious. I don't know where he comes up with this stuff. 

The Band-Aid

I picked up the kids from school today and in the car on the way home they told me about their day. Gillian said "John got a ban-did." I said "I saw that. John what happened?" John said "I fell and got a cut. And it was bleeding. I can't run fast now." I asked John to tell me what happened. He said "I jumped and fell." Gillian elaborated "John was running around. Him jumped off the wood. Then him get a band-did. Him has a boo-boo. I don't have a boo-boo. Him does. Him has a band-did."  Thank you Gillian. That was very informative. 

The Loaner Blanket

Any of my regular readers know that Gillian loves her blanket.  She has a Grandma Blanket that she loves to sleep with.  Grandma made her this blanket when she was a little baby.  Last week, we discovered a little hole in the blanket.

We called Grandma and explained that there was a little hole in "manket" and Grandma said we could bring it to her house on Friday.  I made the mistake of letting Gillian sleep with the blanket that night.  Since Gillian doesn't always fall asleep right away, I think she used that time to expand the hole.  Instead of having just one side of a square with a hole, her blanket now has three sides of a square unattached. 

We brought the blanket to Grandma's house on Friday.  Grandma says that it will take a little bit of time to repair the damage Gillian has caused.  Gillian was not too happy to hear that her "manket" would have to spend a long time at Grandma's house.  Aunt Betty came to the rescue.  She gave Gillian a "loaner blanket."  The loaner blanket is a little bit bigger than Gillian's "manket."  But Gillian doesn't mind.  As long as Gillian can stick her fingers thru the stiches, she is one happy little girl.  I think that the loaner blanket is causing Gillian to sleep in an unusual way. 

Below is a picture of Gillian from Sunday night (the loaner blanket is the white blanket Gillian is using as a pillow).

Daddy moved Gillian so that her head was back on her pillow.  But the picture below is how I found Gillian this morning.

I checked the kids tonight and below are the pictures of how Gillian is sleeping.  Again, let me point out that Gillian's feet are on her pillow.






















The Crayola Factory

Crayola sign made out of crayons

Aunt Missy and Uncle T decided that they wanted to take the kids on an adventure for their birthday.  They thought that an adventure to the Crayola Factory would be perfect.  It isn't far from home and both of them would enjoy it. 

The kids had their birthday adventure last Sunday.  When we arrived (after a quick photo shoot outside) and walked inside, John said "It's Crayn-tastic!"  The Crayola Factory has tons of activities for the kids to do.  Our first stop was naming our own crayons.  "I want pink or blue!" Gillian said.  Blue was available.  I helped Gillian type, Gilly Beanie on her crayon wrapper while Daddy helped John.  John picked green (it's his favorite color).  After we printed the labels and we wrapped up our new crayons, we moved to the next station.  Our next project was making magic markers.  We made a few markers and continued into the next room. 

 
The next room had a huge coloring table, a big ball maze, and a place where you could take your picture and put in on a coloring page.  John and I got in line while Daddy was in another line with Gillian.  John and I were just deciding what kind of background to have, and Gillian joined us in line.  She said "I take picture with Johnny!" Finally it was our turn.  The kids picked their background (the crayon-men were pirates), and it took us forever to get both kids faces in the picture.  They were happy with the results and we moved on.  We went to the big coloring table.  Gillian picked out a picture of ice cream cones to color and John found picture of an underwater scene.

 

We moved on to the next room.  The next room we got to draw on tablets, and send our drawings to the big wall.  John colored a green turtle, while Gillian made a pink sparkly shark.  The best part was waiting for their drawing to go onto the wall.  Just when the kids would lose their patience, their drawing would arrive and they would yell "That's mine!" and try to catch it. 

 

After we made our art come to life, we moved to the crayon-boats.  This room had a big water table, were the kids were able to move their crayon boat thru a series of locks and up and down ramps.  I know that Uncle T and Daddy had way more fun with the boats than the kids.  The big boys had a lot of fun moving the boats thru the locks. 

 

In the next room, there was an area to paint, an area to make a cardboard treasure box, an area to make your own puzzle and a huge playground.  This room was packed with people.  There were tons of kids on the playground and there was a big sign on the playground saying kids 3 and up.  Daddy and I looked at the playground and agreed that Gillian could not go by herself.  Daddy took one for the team and followed Gillian thru the playground.  While John, Gillian and Daddy were playing.  Aunt Missy and I colored a few sheets to cut into puzzles.  Finally, Gillian joined us.  We asked if she had fun, and she said "Yes! I go down the slide and say 'yee-haw!'"  Daddy, on the other hand, did not have as much fun.  He got a burn on his elbow from going down the slide.  He said "If she is going back it, you gotta go!"  John and Aunt Missy cut our pictures into puzzles and then John wanted to paint.  The kids painted a couple of ties and we put them thru the drying machines. 

 

 Doodle in the Dark was next.  The kids favorite part of this room was the "Move & Groove."  In the Move and Groove, you stand in front of a screen with a crayon man on it.  When you move the crayon man does the same moves as you.  John loved it.  He did all of his crazy dance moves.  Gillian kept waving at the crayon.  Also in this room, we got to write on backlit doodle boards.  Aunt Missy made sure Gillian Beanie and John Daniel's names were written there.     

 

 

The last stop was the fourth floor.  This floor was all about melted crayons.  We started with painting with the melting crayons.  Gillian loved the painting.  We moved from color to color so that she could paint her little dinosaur.  Gillian loved it so much that we stayed to paint another dinosaur while John and Daddy waited on line for the drip art.  The drip art is where you take two crayons and they melt onto a spinning picture.  Daddy and I got to help John make his drip art while Uncle T and Aunt Missy helped Gillian.  After we made our drip art we moved onto melting crayons into a shape.  John made a green dragon crayon and Gillian made a blue worm.  Not really sure why she decided on a worm.  

 

 

We had a great day at the Crayola Factory.  The kids are so lucky to have Uncle T and Aunt Missy to take them on a wonderful adventure.  Thanks Uncle T & Aunt Missy!!!

 

   



Exciting day

During dinner tonight, John told me all about his day. His class had Mad Science today and they learned about dry ice. He said "Dry ice is carbon dioxide. And when it melts it doesn't leave a puddle. And you can't touch it. It will hurt you! We should get some for Halloween. Then we can scare the trick or treaters. Cause it makes smoke!" John went on and on about the dry ice. In the middle of his lecture, Gillian interrupts and says "I found a feather!" Apparently the feather was the highlight of her day. So she told me "I found a feather in the big room. And Dorlisa wanted a turn then Christian, then Kurt, then me. But I got it. I got a feather!" Clearly there are different levels of interesting between an six year old and a three year old.