Memorial Day Weekend

I love four day weekends.  We packed a lot into the past four days: haircuts, swimming, fireworks and a barbecue.  

Katie wanted to cut her hair short.  I think she might even go with a shorter bob (think Victoria Beckham) next time.

Josie went swimming for the first time on Saturday.  She loved it and was quite a little fish.  Pierre said she was the best swimmer out of all of the kids.  I see many days at the pool with this one.

Linus hung out with my mom and I while Pierre and the kids swam.  Maybe I will bring Linus in next time we go to the pool.  That means I need to buy a bathing suit.  I haven't worn one of those since that cute maternity tankini I wore in Myrtle Beach when I was pregnant with Lucie.  I am not comfortable in a bathing suit, but maybe this is good motivation to actually stick to an exercise routine.  On the subject of weight loss, Abigail works out for an hour and a half every day and has dropped 8 pounds since the beginning of May.  I think I need to look to her for inspiration.

Last night, we brought the kids to see fireworks.

Zeppoles and Italian Ices

Every year I look forward to Memorial Day weekend and the Sons Of Italy Festival.  Tonight, the Zeppoles were calling our names as we drove by the Rec.  

When I was a little girl, my church had a festival every year.  The school yard was transformed into every child's fantasy for those few days.  I lived down the road from the church so I could hear sounds of excited children, music, and games from my bedroom window.  Since I went to the Catholic School our teachers would bring us to the festival during the school day, like a mini field trip.  For me the best part was buying a cherry Charms lollipop from the snack booth.  I looked forward to buying one of those lollypops every year.  I always made sure I reserved enough money to buy one or two.  I had no idea they sold them everywhere, not just at the festival.  Imagine my surprise when I was older and found a huge bag of them for sale at the corner store.

Grandpa went to the festival for the Zepploes.  I can remember waiting on line for what seemed like forever for him to buy a small brown paper bag filled with delicious fried dough smothered in powdered sugar.  As I waited on line tonight, I was back there again, standing next to Grandpa waiting for our turn.  He would let me carry the bag over to where my mom and Grandma would be waiting for us.  We would eat the Zeppoles as we walked home.  When we got home, I would climb into bed, filled with sugar, straining to hear what I missing outside and dreaming about next year.  I only remember a few festivals when I was little.  One year there wasn't a festival and I slowly forgot to expect it.

Tonight, it was just the three of us.  With  errands to run, it was a quick pit-stop to pick up a treat and walk around to take in the sights, sounds and smells of the festival.  Linus seemed rather unimpressed, but I hoped the fresh air would help him sleep tonight.

The Italian Ices were as good as the ones I enjoyed growing up in Queens.  Rainbow Ices are my favorite.

Abigail was there with friends.  She was quite surprised to see us walking around, because she knew after we dropped her off we were running errands in town.  I asked her to please keep our secret and she obliged. We plan on taking the children to the festival on Sunday night for fireworks.

We didn't stay very long, but it was enough for me.  As much as I love the festival, I don't enjoy rides at all and have no desire to go for a spin on the Ferris Wheel.  I go for the lights, colors, smells, sounds, and of course, the Zeppoles.

EEG

Yesterday, Josie needed to go for a 24 hour EEG.  We were 

 at the Neurologist's office at 8am and it took about an hour to get her all set up.

Josie's head was all wrapped up and we were ready to go.  The wires were hooked up to a recorder in the backpack.  Upon leaving we were told not to give her a bath or shower (obviously), not to let her perspire (I think it went up to 80 yesterday), and to be careful she doesn't roll in her sleep and strangle herself.  I am glad I am not a paranoid first time mother, but we did camp out on the couch last night.

After our appointment, we brought Josie to Target so she could pick out some coloring books, crayons, Play Doh, and bubbles to keep her busy.  We received a few funny looks and people asking us what was wrong.  Josie didn't seem to mind and really enjoyed picking up some fun surprises.

I kept Josie's day as normal as possible.  We ran our errands and Josie had OT.  After OT, Josie climbed up on the couch for some TV time.  It didn't take long before she was out.  The nap only lasted about 30 minutes.  Then, off to pick up the kids at school and get our new Hermit Crab from Alice's classroom.  Josie was so excited to meet Hermie.

This morning Josie was able to have everything removed.  The technician used an oil based remover to get the glue off, so Josie looked like an absolute wreck with greasy, glue speckled hair.  Again, I left with more advice to not let her touch her hair and then her eyes, because it would burn.  Since we had other appointments this afternoon, we went over to the salon and found the most wonderful stylist.  She has had many EEGs in the past and knew all about glue.  She was patient enough to wash Josie's hair 3 times for us and tried to brush all the glue out.  Then, she gave Josie a cute haircut.  She has never seen so much glue in all her experiences.  I will be brushing out glue for weeks.

If there was a feedback card at the Neurologist's office, there are a few things I would write.  First, a TV or an Ipad loaded up with kids games and videos should be available so that the patients can be distracted during the hour (or more) it takes to get set up.  Also, I wish they offered a bathroom with a sink with a nozzle attachment to easily and quickly wash your child's hair - especially since being warned the oil solution will burn their eyes if they touch it.

Now to wait for the results.

Unless

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss

Yesterday was the last day of a four day weekend and not only did it rain, but it poured. Luckily, we sent the kids out to run and play when the clouds were only just beginning to threaten.

We decided to head out to the $3 theater to see The Lorax. We were fortunate to find out, that by purchasing a gift card for $30 from the theater to pay for our tickets we were entitled to two free medium popcorn. It was a fun and frugal outing!

As the credits ran, we were the only ones in the theater. Lucie ran to the front and waved to the screen saying, "bye bye movie!" Then, she exclaimed, "This was the bestest movie ever."

I can't wait until our next four day weekend begins this Friday.

Festival of the Arts

Saturday was our school district's Festival of the Arts.  Each of the schools get their own display area where the art teachers set up different projects from throughout the year.   The music directors coordinate performances to take place during the festival as well.  My children love this event and we try to make it there every year.  This year took a bit of coordination since Evan had a camping trip, Katie had gymnastics practice, and Abigail needed to get ready for her semi-formal.  After gymnastics, we were able to get to Mesier Park for the last hour of the festival.  Abigail stayed home to relax and do her nails.

Alice's yellow cat is in the middle.

Proudly showing off her painting.

Katie's guitar

Our favorite part of the festival each year is making paper hats.

Emilie had a few of her pieces selected for display.  She hopes to major in art in college.  Next year, in her junior year, she has plans to take ceramics, photography, and a slew of other art classes.

Emilie used 3 mediums to create this - charcoal, pencil, and colored pencil.