Bree and Bauer’s Blog

Both my children never cease to amaze me in so many ways each and every day.  That actually is a huge understatement.

However, despite knowing their unpredictability, it continues to catch me off guard how much of a little person Bree is becoming.  She remembers so much and has this ability to role play that she never had before.  The world of pretend is now just one of those places we play in on a regular basis.

Today, we had a rare day at home and thus we really got to interact A LOT.  Bree told me that she wanted to be the mommy and I would be the child.  She had her purse which she carried on her shoulder and a “coke” that she carried to the car (oh my little vices).  She gave me a backpack and stated it was time to take me to school.

She had it down to every last detail of things I do to get her to school.  It was shocking really.  She buckled my pretend “seatbelt” and had me watch Thomas on the DVD player.  Once we got to school (her bedroom) she watched as I walked in and then told me that she hoped I had a good day.  I tell her this every time I drop her off.  I laid on the bunkbed just playing around and she told me that I had to get up.  “It is not naptime yet Mommy, it is time to play in the centers!”  I was amazed.

I do love pretend school in Bree’s world though because about a minute after we got to school, it was time to go.  I realize that might be because she has no idea what a “mommy” goes off and does after she drops her kids at school.  Interesting perspective to say the least.

She came to pick me up from school and asked me 1) did you nap today?, 2) did you go pee pee in the potty all day?, and 3) who did you play with?.  These are pretty much the exact questions I ask her each day.  I had no idea that she realized I was so predictable.  So funny.  I may need to mix up my game a little bit.

She then told me she was so proud of me for not having any accidents at school.  “You earned Chuckie Cheese (Sean told her if she has no accidents at school all week, they can go to Chuckie Cheese) but first you have to go to soccer practice”.  I laughed because she doesn’t like going to soccer practice most days so it was only appropriate that she make me go when she was the mom.  She told me I needed to practice hard and try to kick the ball alot.  Hilarious.

We then got back in the car and headed home.

What an eventful day for her as a mom…all in about 20 minutes time!

I love the emerging personality of my Bree-Bree and I heart that she played my role so well right down to the “coke” that was with her on the way to drop me off at school!

As much as I love the retention ability growing in her little mind, I also am a little scared for myself.  It’s game-time like never before…my every move is not only being watched but memorized!

We headed out this past weekend for our 2nd annual Murphy Anniversary Road-trip.  Last year we spent a long weekend in Austin over Sean and I’s anniversary and this year we decided to head to San Antonio and explore Sea World with the kids.  At this point in our lives, Sean and I feel while a nice dinner out by ourselves is a great celebration of our 6 years together in marriage, we should celebrate with the family we have created in that time thus, all of us heading out on a road-trip.  We agree that this is a little less spontaneous and a whole lot less romantic, but for now, it is an adventure we just can’t live without!

So back in June I started planning our little getaway.  Last year in Austin, I was a little overzealous in what I thought we could accomplish in a 72 hour period in the great city of Austin.  We all came back exhausted and sick.  Relive that good time here.

So this time around (I’m so much wiser), I concluded that I should choose one attraction to focus on and pick a hotel that would be close by and we would just see how the trip unfolded.  I thought I was doing such a good job managing my expectations from the very beginning.  I mean I spend a lot of time with my feisty 2 and 3 year old so I should know how to best plan a trip around their temperaments.  You can officially start laughing now.

Sea World was my choice for the one attraction we would do in San Antonio.  I got a great deal on Priceline on the hotel, booked our tickets for Sea World online, read a bunch of tips on how to make our Sea World trip memorable and we were ready to go.  I was giving myself high fives all through the month of July as our trip approached.

Last Thursday, the kiddos, hubby, a car full of stuff and my “managed expectations”  self headed out on what I knew would be a fun adventure.

I got that and a whole lot more.

We started the trip in Arlington with an ice-cream cone for both kids (I mean it was Bauer’s birthday after all).

We made some great driving time to Austin and stopped at a very kid-friendly restaurant for dinner recommended to me by a fellow blogger friend and new Austinite, Julie May.  Waterloo had a huge sandbox and playground for the kids to play on while parents can sit at picnic tables and eat something other than a happy meal.  We loved it.

We ended up staying well past our normal dinner time and hoped the kids would be nice and worn out for the rest of the drive.  We didn’t end up getting to our hotel in San Antonio until well past 10pm due to some unforeseen traffic, but all were still in good spirits.  We got the air mattress blown up for some very wired kids and amazingly enough all hit the hay.

Through this whole trip, we really had no itinerary which turned out to be a very good thing.  We got a late start on Friday morning and got to Sea World around 10:45am.  We were just in time for the Shamu show so again Sean and I were “high fiving” convinced at our expert trip planning skills.

Shamu was a great hit, but afterward we had an epic meltdown.  So much in fact that we decided maybe we just needed to head back to the hotel and grab some lunch on the way and lay down for an obviously much needed nap.

The nap didn’t happen despite our best efforts lying in the dark for about 3 hours.  We ended up at the swimming pool during which Bree announced she did not want to go back to Sea World.  Music to a mother’s ears.

We settled for some time in the beautiful courtyard of the hotel…we had some snacks, mommy and daddy had a drink (just one for me) and we all felt a little more like ourselves.  We were ready for Sea World again.

So we went back and saw some Sea Lions….adorable as I remember!

We played on a giant playground in the middle of the park.  Thank goodness for this playground.  Lots of energy got burned off while I got to sit in the shade.  WIN-WIN!

From this point forward, I had to mentally regroup.  Ms. “Managing Expectations” still had to learn to not just manage but get rid of most expectations.  These kids were not going to care if they saw every show or touched a dolphin.  They were going to live in the moment…every moment.

So after our date with the playground, we closed out Day 1 at Sea World with a pizza we picked up on the way back to the hotel, some jumping on the air mattresses and some shut eye.

Day 2 came quick, but I was ready.  I knew that we could spend hours at Sea World or minutes and either way we would make the best of it.  Did I really like this, no, but I was ready to deal with the reality of our toddler traveling situation.

We started the day with Breakfast with Elmo and other Sesame Street Characters.  For kids that don’t really watch Sesame Street much, but mainly read the books, they were still on cloud nine getting to hug Elmo and Abbey, and the duo of Bert and Ernie.  I had to admit it was pretty fun.  And chaotic.  Sean was sweating trying to contain Bauer for that hour.  He had no intention on eating anything and so he just wanted to run after the characters.  The other parents weren’t real excited to have him in all their pictures.  But boy is he fast.  It was just what you could imagine…relaxing buffet of yummy food that you don’t really get to enjoy.

But the kids loved it and we were so glad that we put ourselves through the chaos for those memories.

After breakfast, we fed the dolphins which was amazing.  The kids really got into it and I could have pet and fed dolphins all day if needed.  They are so darn cute.  That was definitely a two thumbs up experience.

We saw the sharks and fish in the Shark Cove which was a hit as well with everyone - air conditioning always helps!

Then we tried to sprint to see Shamu once again.  Bree had requested it all morning.  Enter difference between a Friday and a Saturday at Sea World.  Unknown to us, the park was at capacity (35000 of our closest friends) on Saturday.  Shows would all be standing room only if you didn’t arrive about an hour ahead of time.  This is completely understandable to a 3 year old who wants to see her Shamu.

We tried to distract with some flamingo feeding and the Happy Harbor water park.

Meltdowns were on the brink when we expertly headed back to the car.

There were actual naps after lunch on Saturday.  Things were looking up.

We headed back to the park for one final show of Shamu and some more playtime.  Bree and Bauer both picked a Shamu stuffed animal for their souvenir and Bree has not let it out of her sight yet.

Sean took Bree and Bauer on the Egg Ferris Wheel as our last adventure at Sea World.  Bree had been talking about it since she saw it on the first day.  She seemed pleasantly impressed by the actual ride.

We headed out, tired and a little beaten down by the crowds, but we were also proud.  We had done Sea World on our own terms.  I could have been a little more positive at times, Sean could have been a little more understanding at times, but regardless, we survived.  We had two children who had seen Shamu and a whole lot more than their little brains would be able to remember, but we had made a family memory.  In the end, regardless of all my expectations, that was the number one!

We capped off the night with some s’more making at the hotel…the kids loved it!

We headed back home on Sunday with a stop at our favorite amusement park in Austin, Kiddie Acres.  Bauer bee-lined it for the train.  And Bree of course wanted to ride everything.  What a fun place.

Two toddlers don’t make anything easy…that is for sure.  But they sure make things exciting at the same time.  The looks of wonderment when they touched a dolphin or saw that huge Shamu jump out of the water were amazing.  Even Bree crying once we were back in Arlington because she missed the hotel and didn’t want to sleep alone in her own bed was a little endearing.

These aren’t my vacations of old and being 7 months pregnant made it so drinking was even out of my reach, but it definitely made me appreciate my little family unit and know that I really do enjoy the blessings God has given to Sean and I.

All that to say, there was still a huge SMILE on my face when I dropped the kiddos at school Monday morning and headed to work.  I was never so glad to sit at a computer all day in the air-conditioning with no little munchkins at my feet.

Grass is always greener…right???!!!!

Bauer may have turned two yesterday but we feel like he’s been two this whole month. We officially celebrated it on the 10th and he’s gotten gifts and cards throughout. One of those gifts gave us one of those moments only a two year old could provide. He’s love lately has been trains, but being a boy he’s into other two-year-old boy things as well, like getting dirty, tools and not knowing how to use his over-abundant supply of energy when hit by a wave of shear joy. Enter Aunt Loretta and the arrival of her gift. The video is here in its entirety (mainly for the benefit of Loretta and anyone else who may be curious how a two year old and a 3 and a half year old interact while opening a couriered present) but if you only have a moment, skip ahead to the four minute mark when his patience is finally paid off. He’s to an energy-filled weekend for you all!

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We stepped back in time a few decades today and headed to Granbury, TX (about an hour west and south from our house) to pick some peaches on a farm.

Yes, it even sounds random to me.

I got an forwarded email last week from my MOMs Group that talked about this organic peach farm that let you just wander around and buy a peck of peaches for $20.  Let me tell you, a peck is a lot of peaches…almost 40 ended up in our box.  And we also learned that a peck is a 1/4 of a bushel.  I mean we are practically farmers now.

We headed out after church and told Bree we had a big surprise.  I waited to tell her mainly because farms are pretty touch and go…you always have to call to make sure their hours are the same as advertised.  The one time we tried to go in Arlington to pick strawberries, we got there just as the gates were shutting.  It was hard to find an activity that mimics picking strawberries off the vine and disappointed toddlers are one of my least favorite variety.

So when we called Fall Creek Farms and they were still open, we broke the big news.  She seemed not a bit impressed.  We had to hope that the real experience was better than our description.

We were all pretty hungry when we got to Granbury so we decided to eat lunch before we went picking.

We choose this adorable 50’s diner in Granbury Town Square called “Rinky-Tinks”.  It was perfect for us.  The kids were loud and ran around and no one cared.  We devoured some good diner food and the kids finished off their meals with icecream while Sean and I had a shake.

Sean and the kids checking out the 50s era candy!

Our attempt at a family pic!

Bauer was a big fan of Sean’s shake….kinda just like milk but a little sweeter!

Bree stuck with her old favorite…Vanilla!  And yes, that is a tiara on her head…we wore it all day!

We even “played” a good ole fashioned arcade game to pass some time while we waited for our food!

And then it was off to the farm.  Aren’t you in love with this place already…what an adorable sign!

Sean got our “peck” sized box and Bree and him wasted no time finding the first tree!

Having never picked peaches before, I was surprised at how low to the ground peach trees are.  Bree and Bauer could pick some right off the trees, but it was still fun to try to get some from way up high as well!

Bauer might have grown a few inches just so he could reach some of those peaches just out of his grasp!

I’d be a great farmer…one peach for me, one peach in the box, repeat!

Bree in all her tiara tomboy spirit decided to climb one of the trees.  She did great until she fell to the ground with one wrong step.  She was a trooper and managed to continue gathering peaches!

What a duo…picking peaches in our dress and skirt!

Yummy peach goodness!

Bauer would have enjoyed the process more had it been less hot and more shady!

Those crazy parents who take their kids to pick peaches when it’s 100 degrees!

Almost done filling up our peck!

I do love me some good “teamwork”!

One final peach from the top!

It truly was a great afternoon and such a unique family outing.  I’d recommend Granbury to anyone in the metroplex.  Hard to believe I had never been there or at least it been a long long time!  We got our peaches home and after family naptime, I attempted my first peach cobbler from scratch.  It only used 4 peaches…and was positively delicious!  I’m now looking into ways to freeze peaches just so I can prolong the enjoyment of this fabulous summer fruit!

If you are in the neighborhood, please stop by for a peach or two or three!

Just when he thought his 2 year long life couldn’t get anymore complete, Bauer got the shock of his life!

He received his birthday present from Mom and Dad this past Monday (we found the train table on Craigslist Monday and just couldn’t resist adding his present to it).  He is now the proud owner of one of the coolest train sets I’ve ever seen.  And yes, I’ve become a train connoisseur of sorts these last few months.

My favorite part is that all the pieces are glued down (we also got the train set on Craigslist).  This is an important detail because now nothing can fall over or “break” except for a renegade train or two.  It’s a little piece of heaven for Mom and Dad.  Just in case you don’t have one, little boys like to “break” things just for the shear joy of it and their next favorite thing is to find the nearest parent to “fix” it.  It is cute the first 100 times or so but then it gets a little old.

There is a huge train station (grey curvy thing in pictures) that allows the trains to go to sleep and to be worked on when mechanic Bree and Bauer are ready.  There are buttons that push the trains out of the station as well!

A picture from the top…and have no doubt that Bree is pretty much just as in love with the set as Bauer.  I think she is seeing more and more advantages to having a sibling.  Hope she continues to feel that way when she becomes outnumbered by the boys!

Another favorite part of mine (and really this blog is about me) is the drawers underneath.  My OCD with having a place to put everything has become really apparent since I became a mom and with these huge drawers all extra trains and train tracks and any other Thomas loot has a home.

So it seems like Murphy Station has some pretty happy passengers.  I feel like even though Bauer won’t remember any details of his second birthday, he’ll always have a good feeling like it may have been the birthday that changed his life

I love a good birthday party theme!  LOVE IT!

And Bauer gave me the perfect one for his two year old birthday party we had this past weekend.

You guessed it, Thomas the Train!

Even though it was just going to be a small family party at my parents’ lakehouse, I knew his eyes would light up if I got a bunch of Thomas party decorations.

So Bree and Grammy helped me set up the party with a tablecloth, banner, cups, plates, balloons, etc.  It was a Thomas wonderland.  When we finally brought Bauer into the room, his entire face lit up like I had gotten the real Thomas to make an appearance at his birthday.  Bree kept telling him that this was his birthday party and Happy Birthday Bauer.  All he got from her repeated explanation was that it must be Thomas’ birthday.  He kept pointing to Thomas’ picture on all the decorations and saying “Happy Birthday, Thomas!”  It was a classic.

My homemade cake (well, Betty Crocker helped) with some real Thomas toys on top!

When not attempting to remove his birthday hat, Bauer kept trying to reach through the candles to get the trains off the cake.  He was way more excited about the toys than cake.  As we were singing happy birthday to him, I think it finally sunk in that this whole party was for him.   Thomas just happened to come as a guest!  He did great blowing out his candles one by one.  Cousin Andrew was there to help when the last one would not go out!

Bree and Bauer have both learned the art of licking icing off of any and everything that happened to be on top of the cake!

We had some pretty fun party guests…cousins Audrey and Allison.

My train loving sister, Jennifer and Audrey again!

Bree was such a helper when it came to opening presents with Bauer.  He was all about using her skills to get to his Thomas loot faster!

Bauer entered pure Thomas HEAVEN during the unwrapping of presents!  He hit the jackpot with a Thomas blanket, a couple travel Thomas train sets, a few new train cars, some Thomas books and the ultimate, Thomas pjs!

How did I go from having 2 kids under 2 to having my youngest be 2….time does fly!

I love that father and son look more alike everyday!

Bauer is an ice-cream man through and through…I finished off his cake!

A very happy Grammy with her two boy grandchildren reading a new Thomas book!

Bauer finished off the day by the pool showing off his Thomas pjs!

I have no doubt that Bauer went to bed dreaming of Thomas after his birthday party.  I love the joy I got to see in Bauer’s whole two year old during the day.  It was such a fun celebration with our family!

I have been remiss in updating the blog about Bree’s continued soccer season with the Bobcats.  Things have gotten better and I have even seen her kick the ball a few times.  The team as a whole has stopped crying and has found some joy in the prospect of running after the soccer ball.  Each week is pretty much an adventure into unchartered territory.  You just never know what you are going to witness.

This was the only picture I was able to get on my camera of Bree at this week’s game.

Bree likes to take breaks during the games to go pee-pee.  Sometimes she drinks her entire water bottle just to make this happen more than once.  Sometimes that can make you cramp up during an important play.

Needless to say, she took a break on the bench until her stomach stopped hurting.  Then she held Daddy’s hand on the court for the rest of the game, just to make sure she could make it!

Oh the drama of that girl has already begun!  I told Sean this weekend I was really glad we did this trial run at soccer through an indoor league, at least we don’t have to sweat watching this comedy/drama unfold!