Hotel [Spring Break part 3]

We arrived to the next hotel in OKC late afternoon. We all got changed into our swim gear and checked out the pool. This one certainly did not disappoint. It was VERY kid-friendly. The deepest part of the pool was maybe 4' at the most. Isaac could walk around in most of it. It also had a little slide, a mushroom waterfall, and some water fountains. EVERYONE was quite pleased with the pool!!

The boys ate leftover pizza from last night while watching a movie, and we ordered food from the bar across the road. It was really good. I got chicken strips and mashed potatoes, and Ben got fish and mashed potatoes. The boys didn't take long to fall asleep...we had a full day, with lots of going going going.

Except this guy. Isaac SHOULD have been up there among the most tired. But for whatever reason, he fought it, and he fought it hard. It didn't help that he could easily climb out of the pack n' play, that may as well have been like a trampoline the second we put him in, he'd bounce right back out. We tried laying him down with his milk, rolling over like we were sleeping, and seconds later he would be laying on top of me with his face so close to touching mine to see if I'd wake up. He would bop my nose, and say, "bop. beep. bop"...he would say, "n-n-n-no no no YOU man" (the phrase that Uncle Mitch has been responsible for teaching all the boys), he would sing loudly, "a DINK of WAAAter" (a drink of water) even though he had had more than plenty to drink. Ben took him out and walked downstairs to warm up his milk, and after each SOLID attempt, he would get out of bed and restart the whole thing. It was completely hilarious...until it wasn't. It was a bit exhausting, and he got louder and louder. He finallllly caved, but it was late!

They had a large breakfast that was included in the stay. And afterwards, the boys wanted to swim again...before heading home. We had the pool to ourselves!

We headed home in the afternoon. It was a short, but fun getaway. I'd definitely do this one again. The science museum has more than a day's worth of checking out, and this hotel was a BIG hit. 

Science Museum [Spring Break part 2]

Sunday morning, before taking off for the days adventure I had told the boys we could go swimming at the hotel. Afterall, that was the MAIN thing Jonah was excited for...getting to swim in a hotel. 

Unfortunately, the pool was not technically "closed" but it may as well have been. It was in a room that was not heated, so it was maybe 60 something degrees in there...and the water hadn't been cleaned and it certainly wasn't heated. Jonah and Christian got in anyway, but they were chattering their teeth and got out in a matter of a few minutes (never mind that there weren't any towels in there anyway...so we had to wait on Ben who was with the other 2 boys at the breakfast and coming right after). Needless to say, we called to get a different hotel for the night.

The boys actually weren't overly disappointed about the start of the day. And we soon left for the Science Museum of Oklahoma. It was a VERY large museum!

Noah wanted a picture by himself with the fighter jet.

It's hard to grasp how big this train set is.

A bed of NAILS!!! You laid down on the surface, and then pushed the button to make the nails raise up! It didn't hurt at all, but if you touched the nails separately it wasn't as if they were dull.

So much stimulation....SO much, in every section.

Christian and Ben both got their Segway license.

 A display that you crawled inside of that had a bunch of angles with mirrors, so you could see yourself a WHOLE LOT of times!

There was an under 5 area (Noah played too) that Ben and Isaac hung out in while the other boys and I looked around. We all went in there for a short bit before the planetarium show.

The planetarium show was pretty amazing. The lady invited the kids to come to the center and lay on the carpet to watch. Jonah and Noah wanted to go, but with me. Isaac went back and forth between Ben and I. I had one of three boys laying on me at different points in the show. Christian would answer the lady's questions without hesitation, whether he was right or wrong...I had to giggle. She loved it, she said she wanted it to be interactive. I learned more about black holes than I ever knew before, and also about Jupiter and Venus. 

There was an entire section called "Curiocity". It could've easily been its own children's museum. A really big "playground" that was made of us so many clever designs, there was no way to take pictures of the whole area. It was more than a little overwhelming to keep track of all the boys, as we were not alone in this large place!

The final area before we left. I had walked through the space section that I had told Noah we could for sure go through earlier...with the older three boys. Ben stayed out with Isaac in this open area that had different building/creating things. 

This poor little boy was SO tuckered out. He fell asleep almost instantly on the way to the hotel. Too bad for him, his nap only lasted about 15 minutes. But he held strong until bedtime...and then some! (to be continued)

OK Bound [Spring Break part 1]

We knew we wanted to do a little getaway for the boys' spring break from school. We were deciding between Kansas City and Oklahoma City...the night before we decided OK. 

We didn't leave first thing in the morning, first things first Grandpa brought over donuts :)

But first thing we did, was stopped at an indoor playground where we all played for a couple hours.

It was very hard to get a picture of the entire place...but I think it was about 3 levels high...lots of netting, these little ball shooter things (Christian loved those!), slides, a foam block pit, and lots of climbing!! 

The boys were pretty well wiped out after that, so we headed to the hotel briefly to unload our things...and chill on the beds for a minute, while we decided where we were going to eat.

We went just down the road to Hideaway Pizza (which was realllly good). And afterwards, we made an out of the way pit stop to pick up a to-go order of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. Everyone but myself crashed REAL soon after getting back to the hotel...so I savored every bite of the cheesecake, actually I ate half mine (turtle) and half of Ben's (key lime)..which was better than mine. He's lucky I saved any for him since he didn't stay awake to eat it with me!! 

Ear Tubes

Jonah has experienced multiple ear infections over the last year, many of them back to back. 

The last one were a month ago, the right ear actually perforated (which the only warning he gave was about an hour before it happened...he started to complain of severe ear pain). Once it started oozing, he was relieved, but regardless...pooooor guy!! Then 2 weeks later, the other ear had an infection.

All of that to say, the doctor recommend seeing an ENT, for the possibility of tubes....which I was counting on them saying he needed..and he did.

So today, BRIGHT and early (we had to be in Wichita to check in at 5:30), he got a pair of tubes. He handled it so well. I hadn't told him what was happening until last night, and even then, I just said that we're going a different doctor's place and they were going to fix his ears.

He was so brave. It was also nice that there were several former co-workers that I saw while at the surgery center. One of my favorite anesthesiologists was Jonah's! It was obvious that they have quite the system down for these day surgeries!

He said, "I blew up that balloon, but then it made me feel weird. I didn't know that feeling. And then I fell asleep."
Other than being tired from the very early morning (he fell asleep with no problems for a nap this afternoon) he acted normal really soon after! He went to lay on this mattress we are getting rid of, and when I went to check on him...poof, out like a light.

v.a.l.e.n.t.i.n.e.s

A couple of pre-valentine fun activities....

a heart-shaped sun catcher made by Jonah (and Isaac....sort of).

Instead of frosted sugar cookies, we made a couple of other goodies.

Rolo Pretzel Bites (pretzel square, with a Rolo on top, and the boys are topping them off with an M&M).

And then chocolate dipped pretzel rods...with sprinkles.

While his brothers were working on their valentines for school, Isaac had his own Valentine business to tend to. It was serious. His mean-muggin game is strong, trying to show me his no mercy face with those blue markered lips.

If nothing else, filling out Valentines is a great way to practice writing your name :)

The night before Valentines Day, Noah informed me he won't be having dessert tomorrow because he will have lots of treats during the day. I didn't really say much as I was helping Christian finish up his Valentine container for school the next day. So when I go to tuck Noah in, I see this note "No Dsrt tomruro" taped to his bedside. :)

Me: "What is this?"

N: A reminder, so I don't forget.

Me: "Why can't you have dessert?"

N: In the most sincere, yet utterly disgusted way he said, "becaaaauuusse tomorrow is Valentine's Day and we are going to have SOOO many sweets during the day!!!"

(Its a shame he can't be so passionate about eating a balanced diet..or even just any vegetables, at all!)

My little Valentines!!!

Noah wanted to wear his outfit..complete with a bowtie. 

I helped with the Valentine party in Noah's class. He was right..there were plenty of sweets/treats throughout the day!

We had our traditional pizza and movie night (Storks..thanks to Grandpa and Grandma) for supper. Papa John's made it for us this year...I contributed the heart shape Jello.

I love these little Valentines...and the big one too (who I didn't even get any form of picture of...but he's my favorite!)