A question you really shouldn't ask your children

Tonight at dinner I was reading the kids a story out of the Dinner Time Bible by Dr. Mary Manz Simon. A couple of friends recommended this Bible to me and my family loves it. It is great for all four of them. They all participate with the questions and it normally sparks some really good conversation. We started a tradition that whoever is sitting in seat number six gets to pick the prayer for the day. Each evening they talk about who gets to sit in that seat because they look forward to the privilege of picking our prayer so much.

This week Michael has been out of town and dinner time has not been quite normal, meaning I haven't sat down to eat with them but have instead been doing things in the kitchen while they eat. Monday night in the middle of dinner, one of them said, "Mom, where is the Dinner Time Bible? We have to read it!" If that isn't a great recommendation for this Bible I don't know what is.

This Bible has two pages of dinner prayers to pick from at the front of the book. It has some facts about each story and kind of a warm up paragraph, then it has the story followed by questions for the kids and a prayer with blanks for them to fill in.

Anyway back to tonight. We were reading the story of Joseph's brothers coming to Egypt to get food and discovering Joseph. At the end the question section tonight said:

"An adjective is a word that describes someone or something. Words like smart, short and happy are examples of adjectives. In this Bible story, Joseph was described as hard working, honest, and trustworthy. How would you describe the person who is reading with you now? What words describe you?"

Of course I was just reading along with no idea where this was going and was halfway through the sentence "How would you describe the person who is reading with you now?" when I realized what it said and that they were all going to describe me! I had absolutely no idea what any of them were going to say. I was expecting the worst. I was pleasantly surprised. Rehm's answer: nice. Charlotte's answer: nice, beautiful, smart, loving. Eliza Claire: smart. Ruby: big girl! And yes, Ruby's response cracked me up.

Much better than the responses I expected. Guess which girl I'll be extra nice to tomorrow...

I do highly recommend this book. It has been a great addition to our dinner time routine. We have had some really good discussions thanks to this book and obviously the kids like it since they are asking us to read it.

Jenn

PS This book is available through Scholastic. Mine actually came from a book fair at a local public elementary school.

Car conversations

Did you know that according to Eliza Claire, "God put me in a suit
case right before I was born."

Ruby wanted to know if the man who made fire in the building (Joesph
Stack who flew his plane into the Echelon Building) wad a nice man.
Um, well I don't know if he used to be a nice man or not, Sweetie, but
he made some really bad choices.

According to Eliza Claire ther are now two people in heaven - her big
brother Sam and the man who fired the building. Ruby also informed me
that the tadpole from her class is in "Tadpole Heaven in his water
bowl, 'cause he needs water to breathe"

Never a dull moment in the car. And that doesn't even include the
lengthy conversation we had about the two ways babies get out of their
mommies tummies. So if the ask you about your birth experiences, I'm
very sorry.

Jenn

The weather

Ruby just informed me, "I think it is a little froggy today." Froggy
indeed. Hope it lifts soon.

What's for dinner?

Tonight we went out to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Eliza Claire
split dinner with Grandma. They had a dish Eliza Claire had not had
before. After dinner Michael asked her how she liked it.

M: Did you like what you had for dinner?

EC: Yes.

M: Do you know what they were called?

EC: yes, Special!

Eliza Claire and Grandma had shared the night's special - chicken and
green chile flautas. I'm guessing flautas will forever be known as
specials around Mayhem Mania.

Jenn

A Cici and a Grandma

Driving home from school, we were talking about the number of letters each family member had in their name. Ruby was thrilled to learn that her full name had more letters than Eliza Claire's but devastated when she learned that Charlotte had the longest name in the family. I told her that when she got married she might have a longer last name and end up with a longer name than Charlotte. Yes, I'm assuming she will get married, take her spouse's last name or hyphenate. No, I should not make all those assumptions, but they are three and we have plenty of time to get into all of those scenarios.

During this conversation

Eliza Claire: I'm gonna be close by.

Me: Do you mean when you grow up you are going to live close to Mommy?

EC: Yes!

Me: Oh, I'm so glad, Mommy would be really sad if you lived way far away. If you are close by I'll get to see you often. But if you did decide to live far away I would come visit you lots.

Ruby: Then you would be the Cici! I'm going to live way far away so you can be the Cici!

Me: So Eliza Claire does that mean I'm going to be the Grandma for your family?

EC: Yep.

So there you have it. Why does it not surprise me that Ruby plans to live far away and Eliza Claire close by?
Jenn

A Moment to Savor

Tonight after dinner, all four kids were playing and laughing in Rehm's room. I looked at Micheal and said, "I just love it when they all..." I was going to finish that sentence with something like "have fun together," "get along," etc. but didn't get to finish my sentiment because Rehm loudly declared, "everybody shoot Charlotte!" At that point I just slumped in defeat.

I hope at some point Rehm decides to like his sister and quits finding every possible opportunity to make sure she knows how much he doesn't like her. I know a lot of it is just for show and just because he thinks he is supposed to not like her but it sure gets old.

It is amazing just how fleeting those "savorable" moments are.

Jenn

PS Just to clarify, the twins had gotten some penguin happy meal toy that shot little plastic arrows today. That is what they were shooting their sister with.

Sweet Sisters

Random Conversations with the Children

Driving to choir:

Rehm: Mommy, I really feel bad!

Me: So, what is hurting you?

Rehm: My feelings.

***************

Also driving to choir. I had asked the kids to play the quiet game
because they had all been a bit on the whiney side for the last hour.
After declaring Eliza Claire the winner, Ruby starts crying.

Ruby: Mommy, I wanted to win the game! I never win!

Me: Well Ruby, you said you didn't want to play the game and you can
not win if you don't play.

Ruby: I want to play a different game! I want to play the talking game!

Ah, a girl who knows her strenghts and weaknesses.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

In the car going to the grocery store Ruby was making up songs all of
which referred to Eliza Claire as "Little Girl." Last time I checked
they were the same age...

Jenn

Even people you love sometimes let you down

When going to Sunday school this week, the kids stopped and commented on the mural* in the entry of the Children's floor. Charlotte commented on the horses and kept walking, Eliza Claire commented on the crocodiles to which Ruby responded that "they could be lizards" and skipped off. Eliza Claire paused and looked at the mural for a few more seconds and then is a very disappointed and slightly disgusted tone sighed to herself, "Ruuubby" then shook her head and walked into Sunday school.

Jenn

*This part of the mural is only one of six sections. The mural was originally part of our old children's building that was torn down to make room for our new Fellowship and Education Building. Prior to tearing down the building, they cut out sections of the mural and preserved them. Seeing just this one small part is a bit out of context, thus the explanation.

A little out of date

I was looking through the list of blogging ideas I keep on my phone and noticed a note about a Rubyism I never posted at Christmas.

She wanted to know when Mary and Joseph would get to Buffalo. To start with I thought she was asking if they were riding a buffalo and told her they were riding a donkey. When she explained that she wasn't talking about what they were riding but where the were going, I asked her if she meant Bethlehem. I think her response was something along the lines of, "whatever!"

Buffalo, Bethlehem, I can see how you would get those two confused...

I just love the three year old stage, well except for the stubbornness and fit pitching...
Jenn

How Did She Manage This?

Someone ran into the door knob yesterday. The bruise actually looks
worse in person. Could someone please explain to me how you run into a
door knob?

Best Nightlight/ Flashlight Ever

Santa was nice enough to bring these cute lady bug nightlight/flashlights for Ruby and Eliza Claire.



The leaf has a cord that plugs into the wall. The bug sits on the leaf. There is a light sensor on the system and it only lights up when the room is dark. When the bug is taken off the leaf it becomes a very bright flashlight. The flashlight will work for four hours before it needs to be recharged.

I was so tired of finding flashlights laying on the floor turned on, changing batteries in flashlights, and changing light bulbs in traditional nightlights. Now I don't have to. The girls almost always know exactly where their flashlights are, they always have a nightlight and their flashlights always work.

Santa found these at Lowes, the hardware store, not the grocery store. They were approximately $15. According to the package there is also a rocket version for the boys out there - our Lowes did not have the rocket.

Far, Far Away

Ruby and Eliza Claire were discussing what to take for Show and Tell this week. Eliza Claire decided to take her ki-TAR (guitar) and Ruby decided to take her merlion.

Ruby: I'm going to take my merlion that Daddy brought me!

Me: That is a great idea. Do you remember where Daddy got your merlion?

Ruby: Ummm

Me: He got it when he went somewhere way far away...

Eliza Claire: I know! He got it at Home Depot!

Me: No, it was a bit further away than that.

Ruby: I know, it was Toys R Us!

After I stopped laughing I reminded them that it came from Singapore (or Soon-a-pork as Charlotte still calls it). I guess I shouldn't expect them to know that since they were under a year old when Michael took that trip.

This is the small merlion, for some reason Michael doesn't have any pictures of the large one, even though he climbed up it.

In case you are wondering a merlion is half lion and half fish. It appears that is was created solely as a tourist attraction. Obviously it worked as I now have two stuffed ones in my house.

Jenn

Scarring my Children for Life?

It is hard to see in this picture, but each of the numbers on this clock is a different color.

One night recently Eliza Claire came into my room at 1:22 am sobbing. Her problem, her clock had fallen off her night stand and "broken" and now she didn't know what time it was. She "needed" to know what time it was! I had to get up dig the clock out from under the nightstand, pop the battery cover back on, and set it where she could see it again. Then she was happy to go back to sleep.

So why is a three year old so obsessed with time? Well, because her parents are very schedule and rule oriented. Eliza Claire is not allowed to leave her room in the morning until there is a green seven. If she can't see her clock, she doesn't know when there is a green seven. If she doesn't know when there is a green seven she can not leave her room. This is a problem as Eliza Claire does not want to be in her room forever.

A day or two after this happened I heard her talking about the time again and was once more reminded of how unusual it is to have a time conscious three year old.

I truly hope I am not scarring her for life, hopefully she will just always be a punctual individual.
Jenn


PS. Target carries this clock the numbers are red, green, red and yellow. This is the perfect clock for young children as they don't have to remember which number is the hour number, they just have to be able to recognize the color and one number, for us the green seven. A yellow seven does not work, only a green one.

Kindle Review

Michael surprised me at Christmas with a Kindle. It really was not even on my radar screen. I love to read, but typically get all my books from the library so it had not occurred to me to want a Kindle. Having said that it was a very pleasant surprise. One that I have already grown to love.

The Kindle does not come with any kind of case, nor is it back lit. So the very first thing I did was spend several hours looking at my cover and light choices to go with it. Yes, I really did spend hours. I tend to totally over think decisions like this. It used to drive my mother crazy and now drives my husband crazy. I like to know I've explored all my options and made a very educated choice. I ended up ordering a leather M-Edge cover and an M-Edge light. I went with this brand because they make a pocket on several of their covers that their light slips into so that it is stored in the cover and doesn't have to be kept up with separately. I felt that I should order a nice sedate brown or black leather case but in the end my love for chartreuse won and I have to say I have not regretted that decision at all.

Cover

Notice the book light down the spine of the case

Light up and on

So far I have read four books on the Kindle. The first was an 800+ page novel. The next two were free Kindle books. There seem to be a couple of new free books each week. Then I bought another book last week. I figure if I only pay for about half the books and don't by new releases, my reading habit won't be too expensive.

I traveled for work while reading the first book and was so glad to be carrying the Kindle than the mammoth book. It was very handy to have the book light for reading in the hotel room as I was sharing it with my co-workers. I even found that I liked not having to worry about the sound of turning pages keeping others awake. It also led to me meeting one of the members of the band Go Fish, something that would not have happened without my Kindle handy.

I like the size and convenience of the Kindle. It fits in my purse and weighs a little over a pound (with cover and book light). It doesn't matter if I have 1 book or 20 with me it weighs the same. I don't have to worry about having the right book with me when I leave the house because I have them all available. If I forget my Kindle, I can read any of my Kindle books on my Kindle app for my Iphone. I don't like reading on the Iphone as much as the Kindle but in a pinch it works. I like that anytime, anywhere I am about one minute away from a new book. The Kindle wirelessly connects to amazon for quick and easy browsing and purchasing of books.

I have always been an avid reader, easily reading a book or more a week when I have them available. For the last few years my biggest barrier to reading is finding time to go to the library to get books. Taking four children through the adult stacks with me doesn't work very well as keeping them library quiet is near impossible. Going without them and before the library closes also proves difficult. So having books available has gotten more difficult. This has led to buying books at Sam's or where ever I might be that I could quickly grab one while running other errands. Of course, my choices have been more limited and I have reverted to paying for books. If I'm going to pay for books having the Kindle makes more sense as I can buy what I want at anytime without having impatient children in tow. I never have to be without a book. That makes me a very happy person.

I wish the Kindle was back lit as that would negate the need for a book light. Having an Iphone I keep trying to make the Kindle a touch screen, sadly it is not. The selection of books for the kindle is pretty good. I have found a couple of authors who have series I want to read that only some of the series is available for the Kindle. This is a bit frustrating when I've read the first book in the series, on the Kindle, and the next one available is book three of four.

Oh one other really great thing about the Kindle is the battery life. If you turn off the wireless, the battery will last me for 3+ weeks on a single charge of reading at least an hour each day.

Overall, I'm really glad to have the Kindle. It is not something I would have ever bought for myself but I do enjoy it. It was the perfect gift for me given my love of reading and one I'll use for years to come.

Jenn

Popcorn in a Paper Bag

Did you know that you can make microwave popcorn in a paper bag? I stumbled upon this Alton Brown recipe several months ago but had not tried it. Last week for the elementary mid week programming we were doing a snack involving popcorn so we decided to assemble microwave popcorn with the kids. They thought it was a very novel concept. Oh, we left the oil and jalapeno seasoning out of theirs.

I did a couple of test batches at home. It works great but you really need to take it out when there are two seconds between pops. If you don't use oil, the salt doesn't stick so it is pretty bland. I found a few sprays of butter flavored pam and shaking the popped corn in the bag did the trick. The staples did just fine in the microwave and did not make any sparks.

I would like to try using some different flavored oil or adding some seasoning like ranch dressing mix or Parmesan cheese to the bag prior to popping. This is definitely a cheaper and healthier way to make microwave popcorn and the possibilities are endless.

All I ask is that to show your gratitude for my money saving tip, you forget all about it when it is time for the boy scouts to sell popcorn in the fall. I know a scout who would be very sad if I was the reason he wasn't getting any popcorn sales.

Jenn

Microwave Pop Corn
1/4 cup popping corn
1/4 teaspoon of popcorn salt or kosher salt
1-2 teaspoons vegetable oil or flavored oil or popcorn oil, you get the idea - clarified butter would also work

Put all ingredients in a brown paper lunch sack. Fold over twice and staple twice. Shake bag to distributed seasonings and oil. Place on top of a couple of paper towels in the microwave. Microwave for 2-3 minutes until there are two seconds between pops. Shake bag again and enjoy.

Haircut

Someone decided to cut her hair a few weeks ago. I finally got around
to evening it out. She looks awfully cute!

Phineas and Isabella

I just found this post. I wrote it the first week of December, about two weeks after bring the cats home.

Phineas and Isabella are doing great! Everyone is adjusting to each other and it seems to be going well. We are sporting fewer scratches theses days. They are hissing at Howdy less and are venturing out of the master bedroom with much more frequency. In fact, we are finally letting them roam the whole house even when we aren't home and with the dog in. That is huge progress.

They look a lot alike. It takes more than a glance to know who is who. The day we picked them up from the shelter, the person there got confused and told us that Ryka was the male and Asicis was the female. We knew that Ryka had the white hind leg and that Asicis had the darker stripes. So we put a collar on what we thought was the male and off we went. Ryka with the white hind leg became Phineas and Asicis with the darker stripes became Isabella. A week later, when reviewing their paperwork to take to the vet, I realized that the shelter lady had them backwards. So then it switched and Phineas had darker stripes and Isabella had the white hind leg. We were all so confused by this point that all of the children just started calling them both "Cat!" And honestly, I was really still not 100 percent sure who was actually who.

I was embarrassed to ask the vet to tell me which cat was which gender. I grew up on a farm, I felt I should be able to figure this out for myself! However, after the vet tech said she hated trying to determine gender on a cat and I watched what she had to do to determine it, I no longer felt stupid at all. The good news is we were right! And now everyone is starting to be able to tell the cats apart with some confidence.

They are really sweet cats, for the most part. Phineas is more outgoing and Isabella is a bit skittish. They both like to sleep between Michael and I in the bed. Isabella is determined to get on the kitchen counter and try to eat anything she can find there. This morning she got a good squirt of water in the face for her efforts. She hid for 30 minutes. Isabella is a mouser, she loves all the little mouse toys throughout the house and loves to play fetch with them. Isabella also snores! Luckily it is a cute snore and not a loud annoying snore.

Phineas is more likely to try to scratch the furniture and drink out of the bathroom sink while I try to wash my face. Phineas is a birder and attacks anything with feathers on it.

Both cats are determined to drink out of the water glass I leave by my bed - I've resorted to covering it with a rubbermaid container so they can't get into it. Unfortunately they have learned how to flip the rubbermaid off and then proceed to knock the cup on the floor, making a big mess. I've now resorted to a cup with a lid and the straw and I have now found teeth marks on the straw! Crazy cats!

Charlotte can not see one of the cats without immediately needing to pick it up. It does not matter what the cat happens to be doing at the moment, if she sees it she is going to carry it around until it scratches its way free. Charlotte then wants sympathy for all of the scratches she incurs, unfortunately her mother has none.

It is good to have cats in the house again. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed them.
Jenn

Stylin'

Eliza Claire on being a Grown Up

Eliza Claire informed me this morning that she is going to have six babies when she is a Mommy. When she drops all six off at school, she will go to work for a little bit. Then she stopped and sighed and said “But I have to marry a boy before I can do all of that!”

At least she understands the proper order of things...
Jenn

Dressed up with no place to go

Charlotte was invited to a birthday party a few weeks ago. We were very excited that we were going to be able to go this year as last year the post office kept us from being able to go to this person's party. This year the party was Cinderella themed. Charlotte spent lots of time planning her attire. She was perfectly coiffed and had her present ready. The day of the party I tried to double check the time but couldn't see the evite as it came to my work email address and I never could find it from home. But I had the event on my personal calendar so I wasn't too concerned.

We arrived right on time, only to realize the party was ending, not beginning! I had written the time down wrong. The party was 2-4 and I had it on my calendar for 4-6. Charlotte got to stay long enough to have a piece of cake and give the birthday girl her gift. Then it was time to go. I felt like the worst mother of the year.

From the party we went to run a few errands. Charlotte recieved many compliments on her costume and hair. To make it up to her we made a stop by Krispy Kreme before heading home. All in all, it turned out OK as Charlotte and I got to spend two hours just us, no siblings.

Maybe next year she will actually make it to the party on time.

Basketball Fix

Getting our Freebirds fix before the game

Yep, even Cookie Monster was at the game. Apparently there was some obscure basketball related reason, all I know is the girls thought it was awesome that he was there.

So it isn't the Dean Dome and it isn't the Tarheels, but it is college basketball and tickets are a bit more readily available and affordable. We had a great family day hanging out watching the Aggies play.

Just a Little Project

Charlotte and Rehm got out of school today at noon. Charlotte needed something to occupy her so I gave Charlotte these materials


30 minutes later she had created this:


Complete with this story:




Jenn

Do you know what this is?

This is SCUBADuck getting ready to make his return voyage to Molly. We sent along a new friend, AstroFrog to hopefully have some fun in the D.C. area. It is really funny but after literally months of living in my purse, I finally rescue poor SCUBADuck and send him home. Mere days later, we go somewhere as a family, probably to College Station for a basket ball game, I don't remember. All the kids start asking where SCUBADuck is because they want to have their picture taken with him. I had to break the news that SCUBADuck was no longer with us. All four children were sad for about 30 seconds and then moved on to something else.

Later in the week something was mentioned about Washington, DC I think in relationship to the president and Eliza Claire said, "with Molly?" It took me a minute to realize what she was talking about. My kids think Molly is much cooler than the president and all they know about D.C. is that Molly lives there and that she has SCUBADuck, which makes her the coolest person ever, at least to the three year old set.

Jenn

Star Struck

I had the opportunity to go to the Children's Pastors' Conference in Nashville last week. It was a great conference. I came away with some great ideas and some much needed time with coworkers for planning and reviewing our programs.

One of the highlights of the week for me was that Go Fish emceed the general sessions. They are a great christian kids band. I have liked them since I discovered them at my first visit to CPC two years ago. We have all of their CDs, a DVD or two, and have attended concerts the past two years in the Houston area. My kids love them and I find myself singing their songs myself. I've even blogged about them at least once.

OK, so I have a confession, I like them even more than my kids do. I've been accused of being a groupie. That seems a bit extreme to me. I'd say I'm an avid fan or just mom to kids who like them. OK, so avid fan is probably accurate. It is funny, I have never been the type to follow a band, actor, musician, etc. That is just not my style. So it is funny that I religiously read their blog, know when they have new stuff coming out, and take my children to their concert every year. That is just no my norm.

One day at the conference, I was sitting in an out of way place reading my Kindle. I was very engrossed in the book. Someone walking by said, "don't you just love your Kindle?" I looked up to agree that I did and realized it was Jamie from Go Fish. I got completely tongue tied. I introduced myself and told him how much our family loves their music. He said he recognized my name. So I had to admit I had emailed him a couple of times and posted comments on his blog a couple of time as well. I asked him if I could record a short video of him saying hi to my kids. He was nice and agreed. After the fact I realized that in my star struckness I had taken a blurry picture instead of getting the 10 second video. I was very disappointed.

Later that day all the members of Go Fish were hanging out at their booth so I asked if I could possibly have a picture with them as I messed up the video. I was embarrassed to ask but I knew the kids would think it was cool and it would give me proof that I had met them. You know, I did it just for the kids. That is totally the only reason.

And, yes, my co-workers accused me of not only being a groupie but a stalker, to boot. I promise I'm really not.

Oh, did I mention they were filming a video for their new CD at the conference. We were in the recording group. I wonder if any of our group will end up in the final cut.

Once again I do have to say if you don't have any Go Fish music and you have kids under the age of 10 you must buy a CD, now! It really is great stuff! Oh, I noticed that they are running their $5 deal on their website right now.

I'm really not a stalker, I'm really not a stalker...
Jenn

Annoyed

At the grocery store this week, I got really annoyed with a fellow customer who was obviously annoyed with me. We had not been in the store long. One girl was in the cart the other was walking. We were talking about what we needed to get and of course were doing the grocery game. Whoever was walking was lagging behind looking at the bananas. I said something about going to see which bread we got free this week. The customer, a man in probably his 60s looked at another male customer and muttered "Jesus!" in a really annoyed, I can't believe her, tone of voice. I assume that he assumed we were getting "free" bread due to government assistance - we were not, and was offended by this and the fact that I was announcing we were getting "free" bread.

If you are annoyed enough to mutter things where I can hear you, then actually say it to my face. I would have been happy to explain that my free bread was due to a store coupon that reimbursed me for sliced cheese and bread when I bought a certain brand of lunch meat. I would have been happy to inform him that I was paying for my groceries but that I do watch my budget and am teaching my children to do so as well. I would have further explained that I completely understand that government assistance is not free and that maybe he should stop making so many assumptions when he didn't have the facts.

I almost turned around and told him these things. But I decided I really didn't care what he thought of me and my family because I had made my share of assumptions about him based on the one word he had said and none of my assumptions were favorable either!

And just so you know, I got $160 worth of groceries for $130. As far as I'm concerned, that is worth a few ugly looks.
Jenn

Heard Around Mayhem Mania

Eliza Claire has a new phrase for expressing her frustration when something isn't going her way. When she is struggling with something, she screws up her face and utters "Uggah!"



Ruby is sporting a new saying too. Hers is "thing-a-jiggy" for anything she doesn't have a name for. I don't know where she picked it up but it is darling. She just throws it in like she knows what she is talking about and keeps on talking.

Both girls are still eating "scoop" instead of soup.

That's My Girl

We got an email from Eliza's preschool teacher that she would only be in class for part of the day last Wednesday (the 1st day back for the preschool), because her parents had bought her family tickets to the national championship game in Pasadena for a Christmas gift. As a send off, the substitute had the class line up to say good-bye as Miss Jami left for the airport. All the kids were flashing the Hook 'Em Horns sign....except one- right in the middle of the line, Eliza Claire had her thumbs up in the Aggie Gig 'Em sign. She said, "I don't know how to hook 'em."

Sea World One Last Time

We bought season passes to Sea World this year and wanted to make sure we used them one last time before they expired. So despite temps in the upper 40s/low 50s with lots of clouds we drove to San Antonio. We got there right around opening and it was cold a bit windy and very cloudy. It stayed that way until around 3:00pm. Then the sun came out and it warmed up a bit.




We had a great time. The shows were different for the holidays so that was a nice treat. Our favorite was the sea lion show, which with the normal shows is our least favorite. Charlotte discovered that she was tall enough to ride the Steel Eel and was beside herself with excitement. I did not get to go on it with her - I was on the kiddie rides with Ruby and Eliza Claire. Michael said she loved it and wanted to do it again as soon as she got off. Eliza Claire rode both of the kiddie rides for the first time. On previous trips this year she has very politely refused to ride them. She has ridden the shamu express and the log ride previously and did ask to ride both again this trip. She did great. As soon as we got to the top of the first hill on the log ride she looked at me with a big smile and said, "Mommy! I haven't cried at all, yet!" She did not cry and said she had fun when we got off, though at bedtime she confessed that she "really didn't like the log ride."

Eliza Claire on the Ferris wheel and actually happy about it!

Rehm and Charlotte in the 4D movie

We rode all the rides, saw all the shows (including the Polar Express 4D) and in general had a great day! I love Sea World when it isn't crazy crowded.

We went to Sea World four times in 2009. I'd say we got our money's worth out of our passes. I doubt we'll get passes in 2010. But by 2011 I bet we are ready for more Sea World fun and by then Ruby and Eliza Claire will be tall enough for a lot more rides.

I love having kids big enough to rid real roller coasters with me.
Jenn