Worlds of Fun

We recently purchased season passes to Worlds  of Fun in Missouri and we've already gone twice.  Saturday was just beautiful weather and even though it was a "good crowd day" the waits were not terribly long for rides.  Activities like amusement parks are one of those things were I can see where the benefit of having children close in age would be nice.  Jude and Elliott obviously like different things so it ends up being Jude waiting or Elliott grumpy that he has to go on "baby" rides.  Thankfully Worlds of Fun has several family rides that we can all enjoy.  Tom and I also work it out to split up a bit so that Elliott doesn't feel held back and Jude doesn't have to sit in the stroller so long.

All in all a fun and exhausting day!  In a couple of weeks Oceans of Fun opens up.... adding a waterpark into these trips will add a whole new element.

Playground time

At the playground is where I spend most of my days.............

The weekend in pictures

We started off Saturday with the local toy stores Star Wars party and free comic book day at the comic book shop. We had wookie cookies, played Star Wars Trivia and Jude met an Ewok. Elliott was able to snag four free comic books at Astro Kitty, which was pretty exciting for him.
Sunday we took a drive out to Overland Park to visit the Deanne Rose Farmstead. Jude and e fed goats their "ba ba's" and we spent time visiting the rest of the farm animals. Good Times!

Instagram Happy

If you follow me on instagram (sbastian) you probably see that I am a big time over user of the app!  I definitely take more than my share of pictures and post them to my feed on any given day.  Reason?  Well for starters I use my phone as my camera all of the time as there is always some probably with my real camera like finding a cord, uploading the photos, blah blah blah blah blah.  Another reason, it's easy to share with family and friends since they follow me, so they can see snapshots of the kids. Also, I like playing with my pictures, filters and etc.  Lastly, there are several website companies that make it super easy to order pictures right off of my instagram feed like blurb, persnickety prints,  stickygram and Origrami.  All have unique options that I really make ordering prints fun.  

So the one thing about instagram is that I typically post pictures that depict the fun we are having or how cute my kids are (because they really are super cute), but the truth is there are obviously a lot of "ugly" moments in my day.  I steer away from posting pictures of the "ugly" because quite frankly who wants to see that I am struggling with my toddler or the school-ager is pulling major attitude.  Sometimes I feel bad because the comments are so sweet and I think to myself, man if they only knew what was happening five minutes before this picture!  So below are a few of the latest instagram pictures with the real deal!

Yes playing outside fun after school!  Yes it was 84 and beautiful but playing outside is also the most stressful part of my day.  I have to be on my game at all times because Jude has no understanding of "no in the street" and we live on a fairly busy road with a lot of traffic.  Taking a  quick pick of my cute kids kept Jude by my side for at least 30 seconds.  Right before and after this picture I was off and running making sure that he turns his bike around at the end of the driveway.  Outside play is a busy busy busy and somewhat stressful time when I am by myself.

Awe a nice relaxing time  out to eat (would have been if our children were not with us).....looks like a good time right?  Well five minutes before this photo I had to take Jude for a walk outside because he was crying and carrying on so much everyone in the restaurant was staring at us.  Ten minutes or so after this photo everyone was looking at us again because Jude shoved his plate at Elliott across the table causing Elliott's water glass to tip over and fall......... breaking glass all over the floor!

Ah another cute one from that morning.  This picture is my attempt again to keep Jude still while E, Jude and I wait for Tom, who went a few stores up for coffee.  When Tom came out of the store I had to pick a temper tantruming Jude up carrying him literally over my should to the car kicking and screaming because he wanted to "run I run mommy".  Jude is not real keen on transitions!

So there is the real scoop.  Life is not picture perfect but it is busy and fun non the less.  No matter how hard it might be sometimes to dine out with two children, we still go.  No matter how much more energy it takes to spend the day outside, I still do it.  It's all worth it in the end!

A few months ago Toms friend Eric sent him a link to this video parody on instagram and I find it to be very funny!

Enjoy

instagram parody

How are things going.......a loaded question

This post has been in my drafts since last Saturday and it's been difficult to edit it and clearly explain my thoughts without giving people the wrong idea.  I get texts, facebook messages, emails etc. with friends and family wanting an update asking how things are going.  I typically just give a generic response because really it's complicated and I have mixed emotions most days.  Up until last week I was truthful when I would say things were good.....we are enjoying exploring the new town and the house is great. 

 Last week my attitude changed a bit for a few reasons.  Last week marked a month since we have  been here and I think it's easy to say the cliche "the honeymoon is over", as many told me it would happen.  It's not that I'm not happy now...... last week just felt different.  There were several factors that changed my feelings last week.  One, Tom was away in Minnesota for work.  I think the saying is true, "home is wherever I'm with you".  Last week, home didn't feel like home with Tom away.  Maybe because this town is new to me or maybe because I am not feeling 100% settled but the week definitely felt  strange and gave me an uneasy feeling.  It's not the being alone part, I'm used to that from our two months plus apart, I think the difference is I don't have any adult friends here.  When Tom was away and we were living in Collegeville I had my job to go to each day which gave me that needed adult interaction, I had my friends to hang out with to pass the time by, I had my family to visit. Last week I just had the kids!  As much as I love them it felt a little depressing.  Then last week there was all the tragic news events.  Bombing in Boston, explosion in Texas, Earthquake in Japan, missing children.....the list goes on.  It was too much and crisis always make me feel emotional no matter what connection I may have to the situation.  We do not have cable but have an antennae to get the basic channels so guess what I watched all week long!  I honestly may never watch the news again.  The reporters really disgusted me but I kept watching.  I know sensationalism is another topic for another day!  Last week also brought unfamiliarity of the surrounding areas as Elliott begged me to take him to Barnes and Noble.  Who knew a trip to Barnes and Nobles would bring me to tears.  It feels weird having to google where things are, using my GPS and to top it off it took 40 minutes to get to the closest Barnes and Noble, that seemed absurd to me. I wasn't prepared for such a little thing to make me feel so out of sorts.   Lawrence has a lot of great things in town and I barely have had  to leave ( I think I have only driven my car 3 times in the last month......  Jude and I walk everywhere and really the town has most things).  On this particular day though we needed to leave town.  It was windy, rainy and gloomy and I was venturing out into an area I didn't know too well.  That feels weird.  It feels weird to not know an area.  The kids were hungry while we were out but I felt like I just wanted to get back to Lawrence where I felt comfortable so I made them wait.  This all seems a bit dramatic but its a weird feeling not knowing your surroundings.

Besides all of the above I have no regrets.  We love our new town, but things are unfamiliar and my new day to day has changed and I'm adjusting.  I think for the first month it kinda felt like a vacation, but now it's reality.  We are here, we have no family, I have no local friends, I am a stay at home mom, for now.    I am very thankful for these days I have with Jude, but I do miss my work.  I want to clarify that I only miss my previous work.  I'm in no rush to get back to work here in Lawrence because again it will be unfamiliar and it won't have the people that I am missing.   I miss the friendships I had with my co-workers.  I miss seeing Jude thriving in a high quality center and playing and interacting with other children his age.  I know this is difficult for most people to understand, I mean who misses work!  But I worked in a special place, with spectacular people and Jude came with me everyday, where I knew he was safe and happy.  There were definitely trade offs for moving and being able to stay home was one of the most positive and appealing one to me.  Again, I do love being home with Jude and being able to walk Elliott to and from school everyday, it's just an adjustment for me personally.  I have been working since I was 15 years old, it's all new to me to be home.  Plus it's hard to see my house in the daylight!  I mean how do you not dust all day?

  I miss hopping in my car and meeting my family for dinner or shopping or just to hang out.  Jude is going to be two in a few weeks and it kinda pulls at my heart strings that we will just be celebrating with Tom, Elliott, Jude and I.  I miss that I don't get to share all of the cuteness that is developing with him right now other than through facetime, instagram and blog posts.

This is s new week.  Tom is home, the weather is warming up, 75 Saturday...woo hoo, I have banned the news for myself, and I am spending the week staying in our amazing new town! I can already feel my attitude changing.

 My kids are REALLY happy.  I mean look at that face on Jude in the picture below.  Elliott and Jude both are thriving.  Elliott continues to tell me that his new school is amazing.  His teacher is the nicest teacher he has ever had and he has already made two friends that he really enjoys.  Elliott loves the town and shows so much excitement for the activities and experiences we have had.  Jude is loving being home with me and getting a ton of "mommy time" and playing outside all day almost everyday.  I love it here too.  I love the parks, I love the town activities, I love our new house, I love that the four of us get to explore and experience this together........but it is hard at times, but that's ok:)

Sunday Funday

My apologies my Instagram friends if I have completely clogged up your feed but there was a lot of cuteness and firsts going on around here this weekend! We started with Saturday heading to the Lawrence Farmers Market....mostly so we could eat donuts....then we headed to the KU stadium for Elliott to train like a Jayhawk. The Jayhawk football team had stations set up all over the field for kids to participate in different drills...I must say it was pretty cool for Elliott although he's not really too into football and definitely was not as "fit" for all the catching as some if the other kids. Elliott did however do well with the sprinting and running parts. After the train like a Jayhawk, Ellliott and Tom went back over for the scrimmage football game. Saturday night we walked to Fuzzys taco for some yummy Mexican and then a quick stop at the playground on our walk home.
Onto Sunday......Royals Game! The stadium is pretty cool with plenty of kids activities and not as crowded as Citizens Bank Park would typically be. I hear it was a good game...Jude only allowed me to watch bits and pieces but I at least got to see the extra inning where they won. So a lot of busy fun and the new week brings dreary cold weather so we will be laying low and catching up on rest after all this "go go go" activity. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Recently enjoyed things

This past weekend was a good one with most of it spent outside in the beautiful weather!  Here are a few photos of our recently enjoyed things ( note not many pictures of Elliott for two reasons, 1. he is at school all day, 2. he has started to really hate to have his picture taken especially because since he knows I share the pictures taken).  Without pictures I can tell you that lately Elliott has been enjoying our town and the new friends he has made with the children who live behind us.  It's really perfect actually, the little girl is in Elliott's class and also has a brother who is a few years older.  The three of them have been playing everyday after school together:)

Friday night movie night but Jude just can't hang and E thinks it's great!

We became zoo members this weekend and enjoyed a morning at the zoo.  The two Polar Bears were really fun.  This 6 year old male was super playful.

More Polar Bear watching

I love Jude's face in this picture!

Jude and I spend most of our days outside playing in the driveway.....riding his bike his number 1.

Jude talks about Tom's vespa all the time so when Tom let him sit on it he was super excited.

South Park playground has become a daily walk and activity.

Jude and these sunglasses crack me up.  He insists on wearing them everywhere.

My book nerd...........

Elliott and I trying out the new timer app.......a little tricky for a selfie.