Summer Fun

Summer isn't much different for William since he still stays in day care (Montessori school), but we try and bring in some fun activities on the weekends, plus his school does something fun each week on Wednesdays.  Here's some of the fun we've had this summer so far!

 Enjoying some rides at Sandy Lake Park for my company picnic!

 Checking out SafetyTown in Frisco, where he got to ride a bike through a small town.  He also had his face painted that day at school! He loved the little town with the stop lights he had to stop at etc.  We will definitely go back to SafetyTown.

 Of course there is also fun in the backyard with the water table....or mud table we should probably call it.

 And fun on the iPad with his cousin.

 Fun at the movies- catching BRAVE!

 He got to the ride the choo choo train at school.

 ....and meet an "astronaut" on the week they learned all the planets and about the solar system.

and made some fun fourth of July hats for their parade at school

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life for Me

 We took our little pirate to the Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival back in mid May. It was pirate weekend, so of course William dressed the part.  He met many fair maidens that really loved his outfit, one sorceress even gave him some special stones for his treasure.

 William got his first lesson in jousting and did pretty well! We also visited the maze, saw the jousting tourney and rode some fun rides, all made of wood and human-powered!

Never Grow Up

We enjoyed a fabulous mother/son date this past Saturday as I took William to his first musical, Peter Pan.  I had not seen Peter Pan on stage (well other than a high school production), so was very excited as well since this is my favorite all time story. 

I even decorated William's nursery in Peter Pan and now his big boy room still has several Peter Pan framed pieces and a pirate feel. He really loves the story now too and the new Jake and the Neverland Pirates show on Disney Jr. has furthered that love.  He really adores Captain Hook and Smee, as featured in Jake.

I splurged and got us front row seats.  There weren't really many great seats left as I bought them the night before.  I really actually wanted further back to get a better view, as too close can be bad.  But we ended up with front row on the end of the center section so we could escape for a potty break if necessary. 

William does not sit well through movies.  The only one he sat quietly through was the Pooh movie last year or year before.  Otherwise, about 30 minutes in, he is asking me when it is going to be over and ends up in my lap.  He just gets tired of sitting there and wants to leave or talk. 

I wasn't sure how we would fare.  He knew he was supposed to be quiet.  It turned out not to be an issue at all.  He was an angel.  We arrived a little early and he wanted to wear his Peter Pan costume from last Halloween.  He was already getting comments and oohs and ahhs the minute we walked in. 

We picked up our tickets and they told us to head back to the Kids area.  Before the show, they had an area roped off with Disney radio there, coloring pages, ice cream to eat etc.  Three of the actors from the show were also signing autographs.  So we got in line for that and had Michael and John, plus John's understudy sign for us.  The Fair Park Music Hall wanted to get pictures of William in his costume next to a few tinkerbells also in costume.

We went and rented our little booster seat for him and found our amazing seats.  William enjoyed checking out the orchestra too, right in front of us (and below).  Finally the show started and I don't think his eyes ever left the stage.  He was completely immersed.

He loves singing songs and they do a lot of singing at his school to remember the days of the week, solar system, how to spell certain words etc.  He just totally loves it.  So I think the whole musical aspect was something he connected to.  He absolutely loved it.  We had such a great time and the show itself was amazing.  Cathy Rigby did a fabulous job as Peter Pan.  She's still got it after all these years.  She actually has grandchildren now and is still flipping and flying in Peter Pan. 

At the end, we took our time and waited for the crowds to clear out first.  As we were exiting, we saw the line for Cathy Rigby's autograph.  William immediately wanted to get in line.  He saw how long it was, but didn't care.  We took a little shortcut by buying a poster which got you into a shorter line.  The longer line was for those having her sign their playbill or something else.  William got his signed poster and we were on our way.  He asked to go see another show again sometime. 

It was a really special mommy/son date and we will remember it forever.  Now to find him some other shows to see!

Wednesday Williamisms

We were at Braum's getting ice cream this weekend and I asked William if he wanted to try my mint chocolate chip ice cream.  Of course relating everything back to Disney, he asks, "Well what does Dale taste like?"......you know, Chip and Dale.

The last few weeks William is all about questions.  He wants to know what everything or every word means.  He says a prayer at day care before lunch.  It goes like this:

Thank you Lord for this day and for this food you have given us today.  Thank you for mommies and daddies, for brothers and sisters and our teachers. Protect us from evil, danger and accidents. Amen.  

So he keeps asking over and over again-
"What does evil mean Mommy?"
"What does danger mean Mommy?"
"What are accidents Mommy?"

"Is a fire and tornado evil?"

I never realized how hard it is to explain what some of these words mean to a four year old!

Splashing Around

The summer has already started off with a bang! My parents just had a new in ground pool installed and it is ready for summer fun.  We didn't grow up with a pool, but had a few friends that had one.  Once my parents moved into their new house a couple of years ago, mom said she wanted a pool.  I couldn't disagree! Dad, however, wasn't a fan.  It would mean maintenance and of course the up front expense.  But she talked him into it and now, I think he is glad she did!

Their pool was ready earlier this year and we couldn't wait to try it out.  We did get in the hot tub a few times this spring.  We've now officially broken the Easler pool in though many times over.  We will definitely be spending a lot of time over there this summer. 

This past Memorial Day, we spent all day Sunday enjoying weather, family and the pool. We even have a pinata!  My parents have gone all out in making sure everyone has a good time- including water volleyball, outdoor drink station and adding a nice basketball goal out back in the driveway too.  Add in the media room upstairs and air hockey table, and you can bet her we won't be far this summer.  It's the ultimate way to get your kids and grandkids to come visit more often!

We look forward to an amazing summer poolside! My niece Ally is already a fish and swimming well and both Michael and William are getting in a lot of practice. 

Wednesday Williamisms

My burp helped my cough get better.

Peter Pan called Hook a cod fish!

As we watched the Avengers this weekend at the movies, William leans over and asks, "Is that guy a pirate?"  I didn't know what he was talking about at first, then I realize that Samuel L. Jackson is wearing a patch over his eye.  I didn't want to have to explain, so I just said, yes, he's a pirate.  :)

Sweet Sweet Sassy

Well our family just has been hit over and over again lately with bad news.  We just lost our precious puppy, Sassy on Monday.  She was 13 years old and leaves behind her litter-mate/sister, Tinkerbell.

Alan and I got the dogs together after talking about it for a long time. I found them in the newspaper, a breeder that bred only Bostons.  We knew we wanted Boston Terriers since that is what Alan had growing up.  We looked at the pound and all over before settling on the breeder.  Soon enough we were home with two precious puppies.  One was the runt, Tink.  Sassy had more even distribution of black and white, Tink had more black on her.

Both were sweet and did all the typical puppy things, chewed holes in the wall, tore up the carpet, and destroyed anything in their path at our apartment.  They slept in bed with us each night.

As they aged, we had to move them to sleep in another room as the snoring was just too much! If you haven't heard a Boston snore, well it's like a freight train.

Sassy grew to be the sweet, laid back, loving one of the two.  Tink is more the "boss" of the two. Sassy was the lover, she would sit in your lap, lick you, and just generally want to be loved on.  Tink is more independent.  Sassy was just so darn sweet to everyone.  Even the lady at the vet had a soft spot in her heart for Sassy.  This last year, she slowed down a lot.  She just wasn't as playful anymore.  She still moved around well, ate like a champ (that was never her problem!) and acted normal, just slower.

Earlier this year, Sassy had a growth on her paw.  We had it checked out many times.  But in recent months, it started to grow and bother her.  It then got infected and we've made many trips to the vet for meds and treatment.  Finally we decided to attempt surgery when it got infected this last time and had grown way too big and was causing her discomfort. The vet wasn't sure she would survive surgery, but the other option was to put her down or let her suffer as the tumor grew.  Alan was adamant about giving her a chance and attempting surgery.  We knew Sassy had cushing's disease and some heart issues, so we knew it was risky.

This was two weeks ago.  The vet called during surgery and said they had to stop, as they were losing her.  She was too weak to take the anesthesia.  He said the growth was so embedded into her paw, there is no way they could remove it all.  It was biopsied and we were told it was cancer.

So the vet sent her home with pain meds and antibiotics.  We cared for Sassy those two weeks and she was eating, drinking and going outside like normal.The vet checked her paw again, it was healing okay, but we knew she wouldn't have much time left, we just weren't sure how much.

Over the weekend, she started to decline.  Her paw was healing fine, but she started acting a little slugging on Saturday.  By Sunday, she had broken out into huge blisters covering her whole belly and under arms.  The vet lowered her meds in case that was it causing it.  We would later find out it was her body reacting to the cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes.

By early Monday morning she was whimpering in pain.  Alan took her into the vet first thing that morning  to let her go to sleep.  But as they had her in the back on oxygen to make her comfortable, she passed away on her own.  Alan was just starting the paperwork out front when the vet came out to say her heart had stopped before they even did anything at all.

And so our poor sweet Sassy girl- or Sassafrass as I like to call her, was gone.  Her pain was no more and that is what we cared about the most.

I think Tink knew what was going on.  She slept with Sassy that last night as they always did and I know she felt it was bad.  She hasn't even looked around for Sassy at home, because I think she knows she is gone and free now.

And so our two dogs are now one.  Thank you Sassy for all the love, licks and memories.  I hope you are eating doggie treats to your heart's content up there!