Hi big birdie!

Our big adventure today was a trip to the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago. The boys had a great time seeing all the animals. We came up to the Andean condor enclosure and Cole stepped up to the fence and said "Hi big birdie." Unfortunately, big birdie didn't respond, not even by showing us his extraordinary wings. Oh, well. We at least got to see a baboon pee, dinosaurs roar, a polar bear splash in the water.

Water temples and stagelmites

This evening, Jeff was digging a spot for a new lilac. He had to move a bunch of rocks and then get at the dirt. Liam came over to see what he was doing and said, "Oh, you're digging down to the water temple. Look at how dark it is?" I didn't even know he knew what a water table was!

Later, after dinner, he started telling us about stagelmites. They are rocks that grow horizontally across caves. He told us that he's never been in a cave that had them, but he thought they might grow in the bat cave at Carlsbad Caverns. Cole agreed.

Mummy and mommy are kind of similar

Liam, Cole and I went to the library this morning in between hospital rounds, dental appointments and Cole's well child. They mostly wanted to play with the trains, but did finally decide to pick out books. Liam's choice was Franklin's Class Trip. At the end, Franklin isn't scared of a mummy because he has one at home. Liam didn't get it at first, but then told me "You know, mummy and mommy are kind of similar." How many 4-year-olds use "similar" correctly?

I want weeks and weeks more of preschool

Today was Liam's last day of preschool at Little Saints Preschool. He has spent two years there and has adored both of his teachers, Miss Terry and Miss Libby. He has learned to cut and count and write and do all sorts of amazing things. He met his best friend Anna there. So when I told him this morning to have a good day at preschool, he replied, "I'm not going to have a very good day." When asked why, he said he wanted "weeks and weeks more." I felt sad for him, but we know he'll love kindergarten and he'll still get to see many of his friends.

You'll never catch me

This morning, Jeff and I were slow to get out of bed. Liam and Cole had both climbed in, but Cole decided it was time to get down and crawled over the end. He said "You'll never catch me. Ha ha ha ha (with his cute little devil laugh)." The funnier thing was when Liam responded, "I don't know where he learned that." Oh, really. It couldn't be from his older brother, could it?

Quiet, Momma. I build.

We picked up Liam from preschool today and headed for Panera. On the way there, I was trying to read an article from Sports Illustrated to Jeff. I hadn't said three words when Cole said "Quiet, Momma. Quiet, Momma. I build." For a minute, any time I said anything, I was being too loud. It's okay for him to be loud, though!

Where engine?

We are 101 miles from home, thank goodness. We have been in the car for 5,421 miles so far. Occasionally, time has passed quickly (like while reading 4 books in 4 days). Other times, not so much. One of the activities has been listening to music from Jeff’s phone. Today, Cole started asking “where engine?” Engine wasn’t the right word. Indian wasn’t the right word, so he clarified “Engine Jones. After next.” Oh, right. Liam has frequently requested Indiana Jones music which is not, of course, Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra, but rather The Raiders March. So I am looking for this particular piece of music to make my boys happy. Perhaps it will also make them sleep. Twice, Liam has requested this and fallen asleep within 5 minutes. It would be great if they slept the rest of the way home!

PS: Cole was asleep before the end of the piece.

Hold tight

I don't think Jeff and I necessarily drive any faster than many of the rest of the people on the road, but we've been on some nasty windy roads this week. The boys learned long ago to say "wa-aa-aa-aaah" when one of us drives around a curve any too fast. Now Cole has started grabbing hold of the seat belt and saying "hold tight." Maybe I'll pull out this post when he starts driving 13 1/2 years from now.

Pepper doctor juice

(30 April 2009) We are currently in “go mode.” We had planned to stay in Texas until Saturday and then drive straight through to home. Of course, at the time, we weren’t planning on the potential swine flu pandemic starting last week in Mexico nor of it being 99o right now. So, we’re heading home. Jeff & I tend to sugar up while driving and so right now we have Dr Pepper, Aquafina and Sugar Babies at hand, with sugar worms for the boys as a reward. Cole starting saying “pepper doctor juice” with an occasional please, while smiling that cute smile of his. After he said it five times or something, we finally figured out what he was talking about. Not that he’s getting any of it!

Too sunny

(29 April 2009) Cole seems more sensitive to light than Liam. Maybe it’s because he’s blond. Maybe it’s because he’s a little odd (like me). For whatever reason, he doesn’t like bright lights and will often say “too sunny” or “too bright” and cover his eyes. I wouldn’t have been that surprised when he said it this morning—“Too sunny. I cover my eyes.”—except we were 755 feet below the earth’s surface in the Big Room at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Silly boy!