Singing Sammy

For those of you who haven't seen Sam in awhile, I thought I'd share with you some of his singing talents:

That's one I haven't heard before

Elena and Sam had strawberries and cream today as a treat. Elena finished hers before Sam had gotten his and was trying to talk Sam into sharing his with her. Here is how their conversation went:

Elena: Sam, can I have some of your strawberries and cream?
Sam: No.
Elena: Please?
Sam: No.
Elena: Pretty please?
Sam: No.
Elena: Handsome please?
Sam: No.

(In Sam's defense, the only reason he kept saying "no" was because he didn't have the strawberries yet - and for a 2-year-old, the only logical response was "no" since he had nothing to share. Once he had his strawberries, he gladly shared them with Elena...not the cream at the bottom of the bowl, however.)

Three

That's how many times I've slept through the night in the last 4 1/2 years - twice I was out of town without the kids.

I'm not a fan of the cry-it-out method so Sam still comes in to sleep with us sometime between 3:00 and 5:30 in the morning every night. Since we don't have nightlights, he usually can't find his way on his own which means I have to get up and help him. Elena sneaks in with us occasionally, too, but she's quiet about it and we usually don't notice.

It's not so bad really, and not sleeping through the night is a sacrifice I'm willing to make for my children - I love having them cuddle with us in the morning. But still, a solid 8 hours sleep would be nice once in awhile. Last night I came so close.

About once every month or two, Sam will sleep straight through the night in his own bed. Also about once every month or two, Elena will wake up crying for me from a bad dream or she'll urgently need to go to the bathroom and want help. In such cases, I usually have to be up for a little while to calm her down and get her a drink. Seth can help her, too, but I still lie there awake until she's back asleep....plus, he takes a lot longer to respond.

Unfortunately, those occasional nights when Sam sleeps perfectly and the few nights that Elena wakes us up always, without fail, land on the same night. I think they plan it ahead of time when I'm not listening. Last night was one of those nights. Fortunately, I have a loving husband who lets me sleep in until 9:30 when that happens so I really can't complain.

The joys of carpeted steps

Now that the weather has finally warmed up enough to play outside, here's a glimpse of what the kids have been doing to burn energy in the winter:


(I've tried joining them, but this is extremely painful as an adult)

Time for Pretzels!

Lent is upon us once again. Did you know that if it weren't for lent, we wouldn't have pretzels? In the very early Church, it was common for Christians to abstain from all animal products throughout the season of lent, and so the need for very simple meals and snacks arose. The story goes that in the early 7th century, a monk made Lenten bread of water, flour and salt, then rolled it into a pretzel shape to look like the prayer position of folding one's arms across the chest.
Growing up, I loved making pretzels during lent with my family. Unfortunately, the last time I made them was over 4 years ago. It's a time-consuming project that requires undivided attention at times....I can't imagine why that might have been difficult for me during the last few years :) This year, I was finally able to make them during Sam's nap with Elena's help. She did a very good job of folding all the pretzels - I was impressed with how quickly she was able to make them into the correct shape.

Here she is, showing off the goods. And then we quickly gobbled them all up.

Costa Rica

I just realize that I started this post awhile back and never finished it.

We had a full day in Costa Rica, and we all had a great time. I lived there for a summer in high school, and it was good to be back. the kids spent the morning at a local playground and played with a little girl from town while I talked with her Grandpa. He recommended we see an animal rescue center just outside of town (and even escorted us to the bus stop down the street to make sure we knew how to get there), so after lunch we headed there with the kids.


The kids had a lot of fun at the rescue center. It was kind of like a zoo only all the animals there had been abused, injured or orphaned. The center nursed them back to help and released them back into the wild when possible. A few of the monkeys, after spending their entire lives on leashes, would not allow their leashes to be removed. They would frantically try to put the leash back on if it was taken off.

The kids enjoyed seeing the animals and petting the monkeys. My favorite part was being able to walk through the rainforest.


At one point I asked Sam if he wanted to hold my hand. He said, "No!" and ran ahead to the girl giving us the tour and grabbed her hand.

It was especially nice for me to be back in Costa Rica - even if it was only half a day. I studied there for a summer when I was 17, and I remember how friendly everyone was. Our visit was no exception - we had several people go out of their way to help us. The telephone line was down at the animal rescue center and they weren't able to take our credit card. We didn't have enough cash on us to cover the tour, and they let us go through for less than half price.
We tried to get cash later and weren't able to get money from an ATM. A local woman walking down the street saw we were having trouble, walked us into the bank and asked around at several desks until they were able to tell her the problem (they only accepted VISA, which we didn't have). She then gave found out the closest bank that would accept our card and gave us directions there.
I'm thinking I would like to return to Costa Rica for a longer trip in the future....

Look who's 4!

"Is it my birthday today?" Those were the first words out of Elena's mouth yesterday morning. She was pretty excited when I said yes. We spent the day preparing for her birthday party - just our 2 local families total 30 people so our birthday parties are big even without inviting friends. It was a very full house, but we all had a great time. Plus, it was warm enough that the kids could play outside for awhile.

In the evening, after most of the guests had gone, Sam played his first April Fool's joke on Seth (Elena was too tired to pitch in). I went into the bathroom with Sam and told him to yell out "Daddy, I pooped on the floor!!" I was holding Sam to make sure he wouldn't run out, so when Seth came toward the bathroom and saw Sam's head up about 2 feet higher than it should be, he thought Sam was covered in poop and had also climbed up the door. He came in and looked at us with a very confused face until Sam yelled, "April Fools!" Good job, Sam.

The Ship

For the last installment of our trip, I have a few pictures of our adventures on the ship. The biggest highlights were the dancing, the food and the pools. They had ballroom dance classes available - although we only made 2 because they kept landing during naptime or breakfast - and plenty of opportunities to dance.

One night, the kids were the only ones on the dance floor, and the band played this special song just for them. The kids went up and requested it with another band later, who also managed to play enough bars to keep the kids happy.

Sam, once again, was famous on the ship by the end of the trip. It seemed at least 50% of the crew members and guests knew him by name. Not only was he well-known for his high-fives and hugs, he was also widely recognized for his limitless energy. One man suggested to me that I rent Sam out to people who want to burn off some of the weight they gained on the trip: not a bad idea....

The ship had a few nice areas for the kids. There was a small play area and a splash pool that they could play in (as long as the boat wasn't rocking too hard). There was also a room for 3-7 year-olds where we could drop Elena off. She loved playing there with the other kids and she brought home a lot of crafts! Sam could go as long as we stayed with him, but he was pretty jealous that he couldn't be left there with Elena. Here she is with the babysitters our last night on the ship.

I don't know what we would have done without Seth's parents along. They were a huge help with the kids, and it was a lot of fun having them along for our vacation. The kids loved having Grandma and Grandpa along, too!

Next stops: Columbia & Panama Canal

After Aruba, we spent a day touring Cartagena, Columbia. Highlights were touring an old Spanish fortress and the former home of St. Pedro Claver, who fought for the rights of the African slaves in the 17th century. He baptized over 300,00 slaves in his lifetime. Adjacent to the house was a chapel built in his honor where we could view his remains.
Then we ran back to our cab as quickly as we could so we wouldn't miss the ship (they don't wait for anyone) - we were the last group on. Phew!



Next we were able to witness the workings of the Panama Canal. Our cruise ship is the only one narrow enough to fit through the canal. It was really interesting to see how the locks worked. Basically, the ship needs to go from sea level up 85 feet to the elevation of Gatun Lake so it can pass through to the other side, where it is then lowered. We went through 3 locks, where the ship is enclosed and then gradually raised with water until it is high enough to move onto the next lock. It's hard to describe here, but here are a couple of pictures of the neighboring ship before and after the water in the last lock has been raised. (You'll notice that our ship is also higher in the 2nd picture)

Beaches

I'll put up pictures from our trip in small doses. Our first day we spent in Florida, waiting to board the ship. Within about 5 minutes of landing, Elena turned to me and said, "Mom, where's all the snow?"
Needless to say the kids thoroughly enjoyed the sunny weather from the start. Here they are sunning themselves after a swim.

We were able to visit with Stacy, a high school classmate of mine who lives in the area. Later the owners of our hotel gave us a bag of bread and pointed us toward a pond where we could feed ducks and turtles. The kids had a good time, but the ducks were a little too friendly - if we took too long to throw more food, they would just come and grab it from our hands. Sam spent much of the time holding onto my leg and yelling "Go away!" at the ducks.
Our first and last stops on the cruise were Aruba and Jamaica. On both islands, we spent the day at the beach, which I think was the kids' favorite part of the trip. These were all taken in Jamaica - I didn't come away with many good Aruba photos, but they look pretty much the same.

You can pretty well measure how much fun the kids had swimming based on how much they sleep and eat afterward.

Sam, napping after swimming.

Elena, scarfing down a hamburger after swimming.