Buttons in Vermont

Our girl is a character. On the way home from our recent trip to Vermont, Hubby and I decided to write down bullet points of the trip so I could blog about them later. Buttons gets her own post. Are you surprised?

The trip there. Marsha had a great idea to get kids books on cd's for the girls. Cool! I can't read in the car and maybe this would save us from the last resort...our portable DVD player. We started off pretty early, Buttons had only a small breakfast and proceeded to wolf down a gi-normous amount of "hearty grain" Goldfish (who are they kidding). We began listening to "Strega Nona" by Tomie De Paola while Buttons looked at the pictures. About halfway through the book, she hands it to me and says she doesn't want it and she wants to get out. Uh-oh. She barfs. She's much better natured than I am about it and we stop at a gas station to wash her, the seat and change her clothes. We also give the passersby a scene they didn't expect called "girl on yellow potty in the green grass at the Mobil Station chatting with her mother."

Buttons and our vacation mates. This was a first for us as we vacationed with 3 other families, including sharing a cabin with Beth, her hubby and her 2 girls. Buttons was in hog heaven to have friends staying in the same house. They ate together, played together and around 8 am every morning had a break down together. Marsha and her family heard the wailing in the next cabin, which was not so close. Part of the issue was the fact that Buttons is still learning to share and is ok with being assertive. In fact, the pond proved too mucky for Buttons' feet and she would ask anyone who was willing to fill her buckets with water and bring them to her. This game was played for a while and then my daughter had to learn to forget about the "gooky stuff in (her) toes" so she could make her delicious mud pies.

Ben & Jerry's. The girl knew she wanted Chunky Monkey before we even left. She fell asleep in the car for just a few minutes and when we arrived, Hubby and I wondered if we should wait in the car for her to take a little nap. Nah, there's ice cream. So, in a soft voice towards the backseat I barely spoke "Buttons, would you like to get some ice cream?" Suddenly, her eyes opened wide, her head popped up and from her mouth came the word "yes" followed by "I slept for a little while and then when I woke up, there was ice cream. I have energy now." We took the tour and went into a dark room where they show a little movie and she told me "this isn't spooky at all mom." After the movie she told everyone she saw that she wasn't scared.

Pictures I can't show here. The three girls in our cabin were all in stages of potty training and each one of them had their own potty. At one point two of the girls were sitting on identical potties next to each other and laughing and having a great time. It made for a fun picture, but not for the world. All 4 girls on the trip were able to go skinny dipping and let me tell you that was so fun I wanted to do it myself. If only we could all stay that shame free of our bodies forever.

Out of the mouths of babes. Beth is one of those people who finds great questions to ask. She had a conversation with Buttons that went a little something like this:

Beth: Buttons, who does the dishes in your house?
Buttons: My parents.
Beth: Who cooks in your house?
Buttons: My parents.
Beth: Who vacuums in your house?
Buttons My parents.
Beth: Who's really the boss in your house?
Buttons: My mom.

Of course, in retelling this to Marsha, I asked Buttons who was the boss in our house and she told her "our cat".

The way home. The girl listens to me when I talk about knitting. Here's proof...

Buttons: I'm gonna knit a piano out of yarn.
Me: Really? How will you do that?
Buttons: First I'll pick up stitches.
Me: Er...uh...what?
Buttons: I'll pick up stitches and use some yarn. Wanna see the yarn?
Me: Yes, of course.
Buttons: (Pretending) Here's the yarn I'll use for the blue and white sweatshirt I'm gonna make.
Me: Oh, it's lovely.
Buttons: And I'm going to make a matching hat too.
Me: Wow.

Finished Objects

While on vacation in Vermont I finished 2 washcloths and a baby hat and started another hat for Buttons in blue. Let me just say I am addicted to the Ball Band Washcloths in Mason Dixon Knitting now. BBW's are the perfect things to make because it's easy to figure out where you are in the pattern, you can easily remember the pattern and you can talk while doing them. I now have to make a hat for Calin, Button's favorite doll.

We're Home

Approximately 6 hours into our 11 hour ride home, a question is asked and our girl answers...

Hubby: Buttons, what was your favorite part of our vacation?

Buttons: Riding in the car.

Maybe she just lives in the moment or maybe she was enjoying our crazy attempts at keeping her entertained. Maybe it was the fact she took 2 naps that added up to 3 hours. Either way, she did amazingly well and only asked "are we there yet" ten times. In a row.

I love her. Hubby too. Vacations are nice.

Vacation...All I Ever Wanted

We're gonna go read, play, hang out, sleep, hike, dream and make s'mores.
See y'all on the flip side.

SoCal Update

Buttercup asked, so...

We are indeed in Southern California. We went to Disneyland on our very first full day in SoCal and for any number of reasons, Buttons didn't enjoy the rides at all. First there was the Tikki Room. She wanted to go outside just as the show was starting. Next, she started to cry after Peter Pan's Flight (my fave). I know what you're thinking, but it was not because she wanted to go on it again. Believe it or not, the worst was the Pooh ride. She was inconsolable after that thing. Those Huffalumps (sp?) sure do scare the bejeezus out of my girl. Why must all the rides in Disney have a scary component? She enjoyed Goofy's house the best. There was the simple slide, a sprinkler, a piano, a sofa and a lack of crowds. Kinda like our home. Hubby watched Buttons while I went on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride. They've added Captain Jack Sparrow to that ride. Who knew that animatronics could be so sexy?

Next came Palm Springs. Conference for hubby, relaxation time for Buttons and I. We took it easy and swam in the outdoor heated pool of the hotel. Later that same day we took the infamous tram up the huge mountains and saw snow! Swim by day, snow ball fights at dusk. Pretty cool. So if you're keeping score, Pooh ride earns tears, tram ride earns "more that".

Currently Hubby is getting sinus infection and we may have to cut our trip short because work is getting a little hectic back in the east. I'm coming down with something, but I refuse to let it get to me. We've just arrived in San Diego and it feels good to be in our old stomping grounds. (We lived in here for a couple of years.) Buttons is a little out of sorts but taking everything in and testing the boundaries like crazy. She decided today that she loves Jamba Juice and refused to put it down in the car. Why does it always feel like I'm either saying no all the time or I'm the world's biggest pushover? Maybe it's somewhere in the middle then?

Well, the suitcases won't unpack themselves, so I must be going. Maybe I'll even take some time for knitting.

Of note...It's my "blogiversary" today. Thanks to Viv at My Wooly Nest, I remembered it!

Pittsburgh

Just a few pics from our trip to Pittsburgh. We caught up with some friends of ours and had a great time. If you're ever there with a small child, you owe it to yourself to go to the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. More on this later. My eyes are closing. However, before I sleep, THANK YOU SECRET PAL for the great e-card (seriously funny) and the e-mail to let me know you've received something that could be for ME!!!