{ 1095 days }

I woke up at 4 something this morning.

Not to watch The Royal Wedding (but may I say that Catherine Middleton is stunning). 

But from allergies (Yes, pollen. I shake my fist at you).

And it's funny, because three years ago, at about the same time, we were loading up the car to head to the hospital to have Turtle. He was early. We were so unprepared. 

Crazy how time flies.

And how every day can flood you with more love than the day before.

It's amazing.

Every day an adventure.

And it's such a privilege. Never in my life could I have imagined being so blessed, and so lucky.

This morning, when he emerged from his room, I greeted my sweet boy with a huge hug and a "Happy Birthday!"

To which he replied "It's my birthday! Where's my cake?"

How can you not melt at things like that?

Happy birthday to one of the loves of my life. I'm so glad I'm your mommy. And I'm so glad you're mine.

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{ the sponge docks }

This past weekend, we made the drive to the west coast to spend Easter with Grandma and Pop Pop.

After some discussion, we decided that it might be fun to pay a visit to the sponge docks, not far from them.

I had been, many, many, many, many moons ago, and didn't really remember much. According to Pop Pop, the area has undergone a major face lift and is quite revitalized.

By which I believe he meant "filled with fabulous Greek bakeries and restaurants."

And there was much rejoicing.

MacGyver was very excited to visit the aquarium, located near the end of the main drag. I'm going to go out on a limb to say this was the best aquarium for its size (approximately two large rooms joined by a hallway) I have ever visited. 

We spent oodles of time at the touch tank right as you enter. 

It was filled with super cute turtles, horseshoe crabs, conch, and some other fun things. 

The rules? Touch anything you like, as long as you're gentle. The turtles were so friendly and popped right out to get a pat on the head. Loved that.

This was followed by a huge shark and grouper tank. We missed the show where a diver gets in the tank and feeds the sharks, but it's ok. Turtle loved watching them anyway.

The corridor of which I spoke?

Yeah. Full of snakes.

I hate snakes. Especially the unpictured ones, weighing almost 200 lbs apiece. Ew.

This connected to a room contained a stingray touch tank and a shark feeding tank.

The rays were so friendly and so close. They loved being stroked in the water and flipped their wings at us, splashing.

And the sharks? Well, MacGyver bought the food cups so we could feed them.

The employee told him to skewer a shrimp on the stick, lower it through the grate, and watch out for the pop.

Which scared the poo out of all of us, Turtle included.

As you can see, he didn't wanted to hear any kind of a pop again. 

I fed one, too. It was weird, feeling the shark's teeth chomp on the plastic skewer. Very cool but very unsettling.

We took a little break to wander the docks.

Sponges drying out on the deck of this boat.

A rare photo of me in the first pair of shorts I've owned in about five years.

Turtle and Pop Pop share a moment in a courtyard.

We headed back to the aquarium for the gator feeding.

This guy looks kind of hungry, no?

A rather blurry photo of him enjoying his shrimp.

This gator's name is not Todd. However, he is the pettable gator.

And here's the world's worst picture of my child petting not-Todd's belly.

After that, we were in the mood for a meal, too, so we made our way to a yummy restaurant on the water. MacGyver and Pop enjoyed gyros, while Turtle and I split kalamata olives, feta cheese, hummus and pita. 

We capped off the trip by a visit to one of the bakeries, carrying off an Easter bread and a box of the freshest Napoleons ever.

It was a wonderful family day, and we would definitely go back to spend more time and take a ride on one of the sponge-diving boats.

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{ my apologies }

Things have been hectic. 

We were out of town, celebrating a wonderful Easter with Pop Pop and Grandma, and came home to catapult into the final preparations for a very special event on Friday.

{cough cough}

Turtle's third birthday.

Cue hysterical sobbing.

Our little boy is growing up. So fast. 

It seems like yesterday that we were in the hospital, me in labor, waiting for his arrival. And now, he's here.

And every day keeps getting better and better.

I'll do my best at keeping up this week, but I'm bogged down with cakes and party prep and photo editing and spending time with the greatest little boy ever. 

Stay tuned!

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{ hoppy easter }

From our home to yours.

What?

Your home doesn't have an Easter Pug? 

Hope the bunny (the real one) treats you well!

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{ hopping in an easter wonderland }

Our local community hosted a wonderful Easter-themed festival, complete with all the trimmings.

The bunny.

The egg hunt.

Giant inflatable flowers.

Yummy candy.

Turtle had his face painted for the first time.

He was so proud of his brachiosaurus.

It was such a fun morning, full of sun and beautiful weather.

And, like a true gentleman, Turtle even offered to carry my bag when the party was over.

Such a sweet boy.

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{ it happened one day at the splash park }

Our zoo has an amazing splash park. In the summer, it's one of the best reasons to go to the zoo - get there early enough and you get the chance to see all the animals, and then cap off the day with some splishing and splashing and a picnic lunch.


Be prepared to reap the benefits of a car nap.


Friday was like any other day. 


We met a friend and her daughter at the main entrance to enjoy a day at the zoo. This time, I forgot my camera memory card (Who's batting a thousand with zoo pictures? Who is?)


We saw the dinosaur exhibit, rode the train, and delighted in the knowledge that the tapir had, in fact, moved a whole ten inches from the position he had been occupying the last three times we had visited.


It's the little things, people.


Anyway. 


We made it to the splash park, donned swim diapers and pool shoes and joined in the fun. By which I mean, Turtle donned swim diapers and pool shoes and I encouraged from the sidelines. We're working on getting his public independence up.


Everything was going great. It wasn't all that crowded, and it was easy to keep an eye on everyone from my position. When Turtle needed a helping hand, I went to assist, but he was doing great, climbing the giant sea turtles and manta ray, splashing in the mist and fountains.


I noticed a little boy in my peripheral vision. He belonged to a family sitting nearby me. The thing that caught my attention was that he seemed to be drinking the water that was pooling on the back of the manta ray. 


Not my choice of beverage, but whatever.


What DID surprise (ok, shock) me was when this little boy walked directly over to Turtle, with whom he had had no contact during our playtime, and spewed his mouthful of water all over him.


I. Was. Gobsmacked.


Turtle was frozen for a full ten seconds, before he came flying over to me and leaped into my lap, crying. 


Understandably.


And in the time it took me to open my mouth, the other boy's mother had marched him in front of us to apologize. 


I, being pretty darn awful at confrontation, was fumbling for how to handle this  situation, and I am pleased to say that I didn't have to say a word.


This other mother wrapped her child up in his towel, collected his sibling, and began to escort them off. All the while, she was apologizing to me for what had happened. He had never done anything like this before and she was completely not expecting that.


And all I could do was accept and let them leave.


I was very appreciative. We all know that little ones can be unpredictable and will sometimes do things out of left field. Which is exactly what this seemed to be.


And while it was awful that my son was on the receiving end of this unpredictability, I appreciated the fact that this mother was on it. She didn't brush off the actions with a casual "boys will be boys" or "you know how kids are." She addressed it, meted out her discipline, apologized and carried out her consequences.


You hear such horror stories of parents dismissing this kind of behavior or even ignoring it, and I dread the thought of being in that situation, of trying to handle it when a child acts out against my own (or anyone else's for that matter) and the parent reacts with indifference or not at all.


It was wonderful that this mother did the right thing and I thank her for that.


And Turtle is fine. He was shaken for a few minutes, but rallied for lunch and feeding the giraffes. 


All's well that ends well.

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{ are we there yet? }

I'm not sure how it started.

One day, we were just driving around, running our errands, planning on heading out for dinner. And Turtle was singing Old MacDonald in the back seat, drawing on his magnadoodle and Eeh-Eye-Eeh-Eye-Oh-ing.

The next? His sweet little voice was piping up from his carseat. "Mommy? Daddy? Are we there yet?"

Say WHAT???

He's not even three freaking years old! 

And not only does he have the phrase down? He has nailed the whole "Arewethereyet? Arewethereyet? AREWETHEREYET? AREWE????!!!!" routine. 

You know the one. You probably used it on your own parents when you were a kid. And your parents rubbed their temples and ordered something called "mommy juice" with their meal. Something that you now think might have been a Long Island Iced Tea. Or a tequila shooter.

But I thought it started at five. Not almost three.

Kids sure are growing fast these days.

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{ the fair }

Hitting up the local fairs is one of my favorite things. We have three from which to choose throughout the year, each one better than the last.

I think I'll let these pictures speak for themselves. They're really just too cute to be bogged down by me writing.

And for the record? Even more than the fair? I adore these kids.

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{ ah, nature... }

Aside from all your allergy-inducing pollen, you treat me to scenes like this.

On my back patio.


So thoughtful.

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{ our future american idol }

Never you mind that his renditions of Jingle Bells and Old MacDonald are virtually identical.

This kid can rock a Cinderella coach karaoke machine.

Randy Jackson? Dog? Look out.

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{ disney on ice }

On Friday, we joined friends and headed to the local arena to catch...

It was a great show, about 90 minutes in length, featuring "celebrations" throughout the year (birthdays and holidays) and from around the world (Mardi Gras and Carnivale). 

And for that time period, two little 3-ish year olds sat, enthralled, by the lights and the music and the skating.

Also, they were pretty interested in their glow-necklaces (courtesy of my girlfriend, who is pretty darn resourceful and prepared).

I'll be honest. I didn't watch a lot of it. I kept staring at Turtle and his friend, soaking up their wide-eyed excitement. It was even more magical than the performance itself.

And while Mickey and Minnie and an almost full complement of Princesses were exciting, nothing could prepare him for the thrill of seeing Buzz Lightyear and Woody take to the ice.

That face? Priceless.

I wish I had better photos, but cameras with detachable lenses were verboten, so I was stuck with my phone. 

If any of the Toy Story on Ice shows makes it to our town, we will definitely be getting tickets. Turtle won't be able to contain himself.

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{ moms on the town }

It's no secret that I am a staunch supporter of mom-time.

I love it even more when it comes boxed in a vacation condo, wrapped by friends and tied with a margarita.

How's that for a metaphor?

This past weekend, I enjoyed a fabulous little break, courtesy of my friend Kimberly, who hosted us at a family member's waterfront condo, in walking distance of our historic downtown.

We brought drinks and snacks and pillows for the sleepover. And then we hit the town.

It was a beautiful night. The weather was perfect. 


We walked to dinner and feasted on pasta and pizza.

And then we wandered the town, enjoying cocktails and listening to live music.

We may not have found our way to bed until after 2am. But I'll never tell.


What I will say is that I still had to be up and about. As luck would have it, we were booked for a Spring Mini-Session with the talented Karen Heiring and I had to finish up a birthday cake for a friend's mom's party.


Once again, I fail at the whole relaxing thing.


But I was back to the blissful beach by mid-afternoon, enjoying a John Irving book by the pool with a Corona. A girl could get used to that.


We enjoyed another meal overlooking the water at a great microbrewery. Can't say we didn't get a little silly.

And then we just wandered. We found some really unique little shops, people-watched, sampled tropical fruit wines at a tropical fruit wine shop, and chatted.


It was an earlier night than the one previous, but that was ok. We lounged and talked and just enjoyed the company.


Thank you, Kimberly! You were the most amazing hostess. It was great to get a breather before the busy weeks ahead!

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{ hot truck }

Lately, Turtle has been pretty obsessed with building things from his collective Duplo sets.

The thing he likes to build?

A hot truck. 

What's a hot truck, you ask...

Your guess is as good as mine. Your guess is also welcomed.

Apparently, a "hot truck" is a wheeled Duplo base. 

Upon which are stacked as many blocks as will stand.

Like so.

Please note the lack of regard for center of gravity and/or laws of physics. (Which results in the "hot truck" being rebuilt many, many, many, MANY times in a day.)

He's his mother's child, for sure.

Any thoughts on what he's trying to make? Or say? Feel free to share.

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