The Botanic Gardens

The Botanic Gardens is one of my favorite South Bay destinations! Here's why: 1)They have a great children's program (2) picnicking rocks, and (3) the imagination runs wild! Vines from fig trees are dreams come true for Indiana Jones. The Lake serves as Davey Jones' Locker. Rocks are treasures. Cactus is home to evil villains (cousin Shyla believes Maleficent is in the candelabra cactus). The pics above are from our most recent adventure, which we were thrilled to share with Ben's daughter Kylie, ditty Auntie Sherry, Slurping Cousin Jenny and her hilarious Shyla, plus our own Gramma Laurie.

Questions

Luke is a late bloomer when it comes to question asking. Ages two and three passed him right on by with barely a "Why, Momma?" Now suddenly at four, the questions haven't stopped. The questions range from annoying to silly to profound to just plain difficult to answer. Tonight is one example for you. After books, we always sing one bedtime song. Tonight, Puff the Magic Dragon went something like this:

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,
Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal Puff,
And brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff.

"What's sealing wax Mommy?" (It's sticky stuff, like goop)
"What does Puff do with that?" (He puts it on the ceiling)
"Oh. Why?" (I'm not sure. Let's sing okay? It's getting late)

Together they would travel on a boat with billowed sail

"Does Puff fly Mommy?" (Yes)
"Why is he on a boat then?" (Good question. Probably because Jackie can't fly.)
"But Puff could carry him on his back, right?" (Yep. I think they probably just love boat rides. Boat rides are fun, right?) "Right."

Jackie kept a lookout perched on Puffs gigantic tail,
Noble kings and princes would bow whene'er they came
Pirate ships would lower their flag when Puff roared out his name

A dragon lives forever but not so little boys

"He doesn't die?" (Nope.)
"But I'm gonna die?" (Not anytime soon buddy.)
"I don't wanna die!" (Oh honey, don't worry about that!)

Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys.
One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more

"Because he died?" (No honey, he just grew up.)
"And he doesn't like Puff anymore?" (He still loves Puff, but he's a grown up man and he's probably really busy).
"Why?" (Hey baby, let's sing the next part, okay?)
"Okay."

And puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.

His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain,
Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane.

"Why, Mommy?" (Because he really misses Jackie Paper.)
"It's Jackie Papers mommy, Jackie Papers, not Paper." (Oh, sorry.)

Without his life-long friend, Puff could not be brave,
So Puff that mighty dragon sadly slipped into his cave.

"And then he died?" (No honey, dragons live forever remember?)
"Oh Yeah." (Goodnight baby.)
"Did Puff like the pirates?" (What pirates?)
"The ones with the flags?" (Of course. OK, goodnight buddy.)
"Is Puff's cave like the one in Indiana Jones with a treasure in it?" (Let's talk about that tomorrow, okay?)
"Okay. Goodnight."

Who Needs A Daughter?

Having just returned from an overnight at Bumpa's house, Luke was loaded with "coin-ees". Bumpa has a jar of change in his garage that he regularly lets Luke raid. At home, Luke uses these coins to fill his treasure chests, and he often spreads the coins out, sorts them, and divvies them up between pirates.

Now that I have a crawling baby in the house, the coin-ees are making me nervous. So, we decided to take them all to the bank and turn them into paper money. I told Luke he could use that paper money to get whatever he wanted.

Wescom Credit Union has that cool coin sorting machine, and it's free to use. So in we went, and Luke operated the machine. Super fired up, he then brought his ticket to the bank teller and collected his $17.46 (that's a lot of coin-ees!).

Off we went to Target for our shopping spree. Four years old is a cool age because kids know EXACTLY what they want; there is no indecision and no wavering. We recently rented Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Luke has a new obsession. Turns out, Indiana Jones is just like a pirate, looking for treasure and having fun adventures. So, he said, "Where is the Indiana Jones stuff?" Once there he examined each figurine. When I explained he only had enough money for one, he decided on the Raiders Indiana in the turban, complete with a "treasure" (aka the lost ark).

Off we go to check out, and we pass the boys clothing section. Learning from his nana and aunt Kiki, Luke loves to shop! He was beside himself at the underwear rack "OH LOOK! SPEED RACER! DO WE HAVE ENOUGH MONEY FOR THESE!!?!!" As a matter of fact, we did. Let me repeat that for you. My four year old son spent his OWN money on an Indiana figurine, and UNDERWEAR.

He gave his money to the checker, and had $2 to spare. Just beyond checkout is the snack bar, "Mommy, do I have enough for a soda and some popcorn?" Well, I did tell him he could spend his money however he wanted, so we sat in the snack bar sharing some diet coke and popcorn, talking about Indiana Jones, his treasure, and how cool it is to save your coin-ees.

I'm Still Standin'- Yea! Yea! Yea!

Nate's been crawling for a week. Came into his room today, and this is what I found. He's not even seven months yet; we're in trouble!!! I'll be spending the week baby proofing the house.

Big Brother Is Watching You

Big Brother is watching you. This particular big brother goes by the name Luke.

"Mommy! Daddy just growled at me. Tell him we don't growl in this family."

"Daddy- that girl on TV just called that toy stupid. We don't say stupid, right?"

"Mommy! You just said 'Oh My God'."

"Kiki! Kurt won't answer me when I talk to him."

"But Mommy, Bumpa says I don't have to wear this part of the seatbelt on my chest. And Chloe said it, too."

"You know what Bumpa did Mama? He set off the alarm on the Mc-N-Donald's door!"

Okay, so he's developing into a bit of a tattle-tale. But it's not obnoxious (yet). He's really trying to just understand the rules and the limits. And then push them a bit. So, watch yourself around Luke, because Big Brother is watching you, and reporting back all the sordid details!

Soccer Mom

Last week I spoke with Coach Hicks, Luke's first soccer coach. His first practice is tomorrow, and tomorrow I officially become a Soccer Mom. From looking at this picture, I am sure you can tell how fired up young Skywalker is. He is totally rocking that headband and wristband set. You can't see the shin guards, but I assure you, he's got them on. The only thing missing now is the minivan parked out front of our house.

Coach Hicks had us submit a team name based on the colors black and silver. Apparently he puts them all in a hat, and the chosen name becomes the team name. Luke's suggestion was "The Batmans". I tried to talk him into "The Batmen", but he wasn't hearing it. He said, "Let's just be the Bruce Wayne's then." Where does he get this stuff?!?

Oh, Tahoe

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I needed a vacation after my vacation.

We got home at 12:15 a.m. Monday morning from our annual Tahoe trip. This was a memorable year. Nate cut his first tooth while we were there (Yeah!) so he was up every hour and a half (Boo!). We rented a party boat on the WINDIEST day possible and got drenched by the FREEZING lake water. Seriously. Freezing. We missed our flight home, and not for any good reason. We had just sort of lallygagged through lunch (Why anyone lallygags at Applebee's I cannot tell you), and then Scott got pulled over by Johnny Law. While waiting for him to receive his ticket, I almost peed my pants. Scott and I contemplated me going in a cup ( I had the pants coming off before I thought better of it). We even discussed whether one of Nate's diapers might do the trick. Scott make a stop at the gas station. Then the gas station attendant told us an "alternate route" which was supposed to be quicker to the airport (Stop shaking your head!!! She had most of her teeth! I thought she knew what she was talking about!!!) We got sort of lost. We finally pulled up to the airport with- I kid you not- 18 minutes to spare and a rental car still to be returned. We left the clicker to the garage of our rental house in that same rental car. The plane left without us. Five hours later, followed by a layover in Oakland, then a flight to LA ( Did I mention our car was at the LONG BEACH AIRPORT?) we all safely made it home.

Please don't think the trip was all bad. There was some fun family bonding going on with my in-laws. Luke loves his cousins Kurt and Chloe (pictured above), and they equally love Luke and Nate. We ate great food, shopped, miniature golfed, rafted, hung out at the Horizon casino pool, and much more. As always. I am looking forward to the next Tahoe trip, and hanging out on the "Brennberg Party Boat"!