Flag Quality Assurance

Our neighborhood sent out a notice asking everyone to fly the American Flag for July 4th. Not considering us a flag flying type of family, I forgot about it. Turns out Jamey has a secret passion for flags. Since we already had a flag holder we went to the hardware store and picked up a flag. Jamey was appalled with me for grabbing just any old American flag when it is obvious to anyone that flags need to have each individual stripes sown and stars embroidered. $50 later we were on our way home, proud owners of a tremendous stitched flag.

Big Sister Training

Ruby loves playing with the new baby doll her Aunt Kim got her for her birthday. Kim wisely predicted that the doll would let Ruby learn what the baby will be like and how to take care of her. I am happy to report that Ruby has learned much about the subtle details of taking care of a baby. Jamey and I started recording what she said on the subject recently on a car ride.

"Mommy, want to see a cool trick? You push the rubber band into the baby's eyes and then that's the trick!"

"I am having a hard time getting this rubber band onto the baby's neck"

"My baby likes to sleep in the water."

"My baby cries and cries. I'm just going to let him cry."

"Look what I did. I put his foot in my mouth. Then I chewed it up a little bit then I took it out of my mouth. That's what I did to his foot."


We had another good Ruby story today. Jamey and Ruby were grocery shopping when Ruby
stopped and said "My tummy hurts". Jamey asked her if it just started hurting. She replied "No. It started when I sat on something." Jamey asked her what she sat on. She replied "Kyle" which is one of her friends at school. Jamey explained about guilt and how it makes your tummy hurt if you hurt your friends. I am very impressed by this reaction from Jamey. When Ruby came home and told me this story, I had no idea where it was going and my response was laughing till I cried. I managed to get out a "Poor Kyle." but most of the time, I was turning away from her and trying to contain my laughter.

Three is a Magic Number!

Ruby had a fabulous third birthday at iJump. I try to imagine what I would feel like going down a slide that is proportionately as high as the one was to Ruby, Allison and Julia and I can't but I have a feeling I wouldn't do it.
The only hitch in the birthday plans was a call from iJump 3 hours before the party saying they forgot to order the dinosaur themed strawberry cake. I told them I would go out and get one. I went to Publix first. Not only was there no strawberry cake or dinosaur themed cakes but there was not even strawberry cake mix. I bought some regular cake mix and prepared for a disappointed Ruby. Ruby's requests for her birthday had been a jumping party with dinosaurs and strawberry cake. Oh well. On a whim, I stopped by Wal-mart that was like a birthday fairy godmother. They had not only strawberry cake but a dinosaur theme vanilla cake as well. I got both. Ruby actually picked the vanilla cake to eat so maybe dinosaurs trump strawberry flavoring.



Here are some other highlight pictures.








On her real birthday Monday she had a party at daycare and her favorite gift (sorry Aunt Leslie) was a wooden train set we got her.

Christmas in May

May is a second December for us. We have 6 birthdays in May for family and several more for friends. Of course, some of us don't need to have a birthday to get presents. I told my mom and dad that Ruby wanted a Belle nightgown to round out her Disney collection for her birthday. Lo and behold a package shows up saying to open immediately and Ruby squeals in happiness for her new nightgown. She then, in true fashinista style, pairs it with lizard rain boots and demands a walk around the neighborhood. Oh well, what good is being a grandparent if you can't spoil them? Jamey got a 12 string guitar for his birthday and I got a laptop. Of course, I'm just now realizing I am on the old crappy laptop while writing this post, because I forgot about my new snazzy one. Old habits are hard to break.

Mother's Day + Air Show = Awesome

We went to the Blue Angels airshow this weekend. It was very cool. Ruby and Allison's favorite part was getting to ride a real live school bus from the parking to the field. It's true that you look at things differently when you are with two year olds.

Ruby was scared of the noise and I tried to calmly explain the reason for it. I then covered her ears and let her lay beside me. After the show Ruby said "I was scared, but you helped me Mama." I said "Oh, did the explanation of where the noise comes from help?" She looked at me like I was crazy and said "No, you hid me from the airplanes." Oh well. Logic can come later. We will definitely be going back next year!

Ruby celebrated Mother's Day by helping Daddy choose some new Koi for the pond. Allison and Ruby then had a good time letting the fish give them a pedicure.

Take that Y Chromosomes!

It's official. The boys are now outnumbered. Baby Taylor is a girl!

Beach Trip 2010

We got a much needed beach trip to Fort Morgan! I had not been there, but it has a lot to recommend it and only one thing against it. Let's see

Pros
Beautiful white sand beaches with no one else on them
Crystal clear water with lots of sea shells
You can bring your dog


Cons
No See Ems

Papa and Grandma joined us along with Uncle David, Aunt Karen and Allison. Ruby and Allison shared a room for the first time which went pretty well.

I was startled to see all the drilling platforms in the water. Prior to now, I had only been to Florida beaches and not seen that. At first I didn't like it, but my brother pointed out it had its own strange beauty when they would light up a night. While we were there, a similar rig to those we were looking at in Louisiana had an explosion launching what is set to be the worst oil spill in the US. Sigh.


Each day Ruby had a "favorite" thing about the beach. They were typically sand or waves. We got her a life vest/swimsuit and her and Daddy went to the sandbar.

We went to Dauphin Island one day and that was an adventure. The ferry ride was quite long and by the time we got there, Ruby was saying "snack" over and over in increasing volume. When we got to Dauphin Island, we stopped at the first gas station and asked for directions to the nearest restaurant. The local suggested Flamingo Fae's and said there would be signs and we "couldn't miss it". We headed off looking for the signs and kept driving until 15 minutes later we ran out of land and were at the other side of the island. This would not be so bad if it wasn't for Ruby yelling "Snack!" every 30 seconds (we got brief respites by giving her lemon drops from my purse). Prior to now, I had really only had similar experiences with my friend Dawn. This was clearly becoming a food emergency. As we headed back, one of us spotted an 8x10 sign with probably size 40 font by the side of the road discretely mentioning that Flamingo Fae's was to the right. We swung around and turned onto the street. We persevered until we hit another end of the island were an unlabeled building sat. Without much hope, we walked up to the door that said "Flamingo Fae's" in a handwritten note on the door. Wondering what kind of restaurant you could miss in Dauphin Island, we headed in, 2 year old yelling "Snack!" in tow. We acquired some emergency pancakes that came out first and winded up being the best pancakes I think I've ever had. I wish I had counted how many pancakes Ruby ate, but I am guessing at least 8. It was enough that the chef came out to see the girl eat her weight in pancakes. While everyone else ate, I took Ruby to the beach were we saw lots of hermit crabs. Prior to now, I had only seen those in pet stores. The interesting part of all this is that we didn't take the ferry to see Dauphin Island. We were in fact passing through on the way to Bellingrath Garden's which was beautiful as promised. Ruby walked off her pancakes and we ogled the plant life.

Great trip and I would recommend for sure for a peaceful beach vacation.