So imagine a small table in an Irish pub.  2 old friends, 2 new friends, 2 kids, a round of drinks, 2 Sprites, an appetizer, 3 lobster baskets and 3 other plates clutter the table.  Everyone is laughing and having a good time.  And then one of the kids accidentally knocks his Sprite off the crowded table.  The glass breaks on the floor.  Mom gets up to go ask the bartender if someone can clean up the glass - on the way to the bar, she passes a patron walking towards the table.  As the mom walks back from the bar, she passes the patron.  He is carrying the big pieces of broken glass and just before the mom thanks the gentleman, she hears him mutter "that kid is a moron."

OH NO HE DIDN'T!

I'm the mom, the kid is my Stewart, and the patron is an asshole.

I got back to the table and told Bill that the guy called Stewart a moron.  He was in disbelief.  I was still in shock that he said that.  I was starting to get pretty irritated and Bill is getting visibly mad.  I didn't feel like spending the evening trying to bail him out of a Boston jail, so I told him to not confront him.  I just kept imaging the worst.  Even though I have never seen him agressive or violent, in my mind, I could see him punching this asshole at the bar.

As I was trying to calm him down, the asshole came back to the table to clean up some more.  This guy was nothing more than a patron sitting at the bar.  I have no idea why he felt like he should take it upon himself to clean up the glass. 

As I have previously established, I have no fight.  My body and mind always goes to flight.  I am such a chicken.  (If i'm scared I sit there paralyzed with fear.  If I'm mad, I'm usually too mad to say anything and I clam up.) However, we weren't alone at that table.  Jessica, new wife to a high school friend, stood up, leaned over the table and asked the guy why he called my son a moron.  The guy was mumbling and at first he denied it.  I know what I heard and that wasn't a mistake.  He called Stewart a moron. 

Jessica didn't let up.  She let him know that was unacceptable and the guy just look at us, shurgged his shoulders and mumbled, "I'm in the military."  As if that is some kind of pass for him to be an asshole.  This wasn't a young guy.  It's not like we were at a tacky bar right outside of an army base.  He was easily in his 50's, wearing his gray and black army jacket and hat.  He was definitly old enough to know that kids (AND ADULTS) can accidentally knock over a drink.

A pub employee came back and cleaned up the mess and brought a new Sprite for Stewart.  Jessica was relentless and she explained the situation to him.  And then the manager came over and we explained the situation to her.  Of course management agreed with us, that his behavior was uncalled for and unacceptable.  Jessica pushed to have the guy kicked out.  The manager approached the guy at the bar.  He obviously didn't agree and he shot us a very dirty look on his way out.

Poor Stewart - he thought all of the commotion was about him spilling his Sprite.  He didn't understand why the guy called him a moron.  I think it was a tough lesson - that not everyone is nice - to learn at an age of 8 years and 1 day. 

Jessica will forever be a hero in my mind - for sticking up for my little boy when I was too weak to do anything about it myself. 

Parker loves his "BT" (blanket.)  It's a cheap blanket that I bought at Walmart when he was a newborn - it was raining and I needed something to cover his car seat so he didn't get wet.  I don't really like the blanket.  It's fleecy with a transportation theme.  It didn't match the theme of his crib set.  In my mind, this thick fleecy fabric is nothing compared to some of his uber soft velour blankets - but Parker loves it.  He really loves the "taggie."  He sits around twisting the tag around his finger.  He goes to sleep clutching the taggie in his sweaty little hand.  If he wakes up at night, he will turn the blanket around and around looking for the taggie.  It's kindeve endearing, that he can find comfort in something to small.

The blanket goes with him everywhere.  All the time.  When we went to Boston, of course he brought it.  We were almost through the trip when we had a small blanket tragedy.  We were at Great Wolf Lodge - the kids were tucked into their cute little bunk beds.  Stewart had already fallen asleep and Parker was rustling around.  Bill and I were watching TV when we heard Parker sniffing.  Bill asked him what was wrong and he got hysterical.  Crying, sobbing, wailing. 

"MY TAGGIE IS FALLING OFF!!!!"  

I got up and went to assess the damages.  He was genuinely upset and it broke my heart.  But it was easily fixable.  His taggie was fine - just the trim was coming off in one place.  It was less than 2 inches.  He kept putting his hand through it and pulling at it and crying and crying.  It was sad.  

I sat there and explained to him that I could easily fix it as soon as we got home.  I showed him that his taggie was fine and how I just needed to sew it up.  I promised I would fix it the next day and it seemed to calm him down a little bit. We tucked him back in bed and I thought for sure he would go to sleep.

A few minutes later, we heard him talking. It took me a minute to realize who he was talking to and what he was saying.

"Mommy said she can fix it tomorrow.  Tomorrow.  Mommy will fix you tomorrow.  It is going to be ok."

Ok so maybe I am too sensitive and I cry too much but I thought that was super sad.  I had to try really hard to not cry (mostly because I knew Bill would think I was silly.)  He was talking to his blanket and he just kept saying "tomorrow."   And then I remembered something!!!!!

Holly gave me a little tiny sewing kit - the kind for sewing on buttons.  But it came with needles and thread - everything I needed to perform emergency blanket surgery. And I had it in my purse!

It only took a few minutes for me to sew it back together.  He sat there, right next to me, watching my every stitch.  And when I was all finished - I held it up, showed him the hole was gone and his taggie was fine.  He was sooooooo happy!  He smiled and gave me the best hug.  I think this is one of my most favorite parenting moments.  Ever.

Here are the pics!  (This is the exact reason why film cameras are practically obselete.  It took me 9 months to get these pictures developed - and I didn't even take the full roll of film in the little disposable camera.  The only good thing about disposable cameras is that they come in a thick waterproof plastic case.

I think you could categorize our vacation as a staycation.  We stayed here but my parents came out.  YAY!  I can't even express in words how excited Stewart was to see his Grammy and Papa.  It was all he could talk about the days before they showed up.  I love that he gets so excited to see them.  He knows they are special even though he sees them only once a year.  It makes me sad that the kids only have one set of grandparents but on the up-side, I don't have to worry about the in-laws not liking me.

1. I saw my dad drink alcohol.  It was only the second time in my whole life.  I'm 30.  I saw him drink a cold beer ONCE while playing golf on a really hot day.  They got some really bad directions from the GPS and they ended up about 50-75 miles past our house!  Dad had 2 glasses on Chere Marie from Breaux.  We just bought some bottles of it while we were there for Key West Fest on the 18th.  I think he enjoyed it!
2. Stewart had fun spending the night in grammy and papa's "camp".  Their RV is big enough for 2 adults, 1 rambunctious 6-year old boy, 2 Boston Terriers, and 1 Shih Tzu.  He loved every second of it!
3. Because Stewart was spending the nights with my parents, Bill and I had our very first alone time with Parker.  And it was great.  I felt like I got to see his personality and appreciate the little nuances that make him Parker.  It also felt great to not feel guilty about spending alone time with Parker; I knew Stewart was having fun roasting weenies and marshmellows with my parents.
4. We went rafting.  It was fun - and our first time on the Shenandoah river (I'm sure I called it the wrong river and Bill will correct me.)  Parker had to go to daycare while we went but it was just for a morning.  It was fun.  Apparently I have mad skills when it comes to rowing. 
5. Papa took Stewart fishing.  Poor Stewart.  He loves fishing and Bill can't fish and I hate to fish.  His only chance to fish is when he is with my parents.  I got him a cute little Spiderman tackle box and I let him pick out a couple of lures, some cork bobbers and I picked up a few other things I thought he would need (like weights!)  They had fun wading out into the river.  Stewart said he saw the "anchovies" swimming around his legs.
6. the KOA campground at Harper's Ferry has his really fun Jumping Pillow.  I posted some pictures in a previous post.  It was a blast.  Stewart can jump for HOURS.  Parker liked to sit there and get bounced around.  Our last day there, I scooped him up and was trying to jump while holding him and I really messed up my back.  I felt it the second I started jumping with him - but he was giggling and laughing and having so much fun.
7. The pool was fun too.  Parker has a little bit of baby OCD.  While in the baby pool area he would get in, but it had to be on his own terms.  He would crawl in, splash around for a second, crawl out on his tummy, crawl up into the chair that was next to grammy and then get down and walk over and crawl up into the lounge chair - and then he would start all over again.  I think he did that for 30 minutes.  It would be really cute except that I just learned in a class that children that had difficult births or illnesses immediately after birth tend to have behavior disorders and/or exhibit aggressive behavior as they get older.  (HEY WAIT!  I guess I did learn something in class.)
8. This was like a 100,000 calorie vacation.  I cooked and we cooked and I cooked and we cooked.  We had hamburgers and hot dogs, sandwiches, ribs, smoked sausage, more hot dogs, lots of white bean avocado salad, 2 chocolate cream pies, homemeade vanilla ice cream, homemade peach cobbler, chicken fried steaks, lots of corn on the cob, chips, and we had a big dinner out the last night.  Bill and I also managed to squeeze in mexican food for dinner while Parker slept in the booth and Stewart was with my parents.  We ate a ton.  I'm still full.  The homemeade ice cream was SO GOOD.  It's a good thing we don't have an ice cream maker.  A very good thing.  Bill loved it.  Stewart licked the "paddle" clean and Parker loved his little bowl of it.
9. I finally got to go shopping with someone other than my kids.  My mom and I went up to Kohls.  They were having a great sale.  She bought the kids some fall clothes and me a bright pink purse that has black and white zebra print lining.  She kept insisting that we weren't leaving until I spent $100 and picked out something for myself.  I felt guilt picking out something for myself because it seems like the kids ALWAYS need something.  The last thing I need is another purse - but it's so cute.  I haven't bought a purse since before Parker was born.   I have so many of them, they always seem new because I rotate them out.  But this pink purse is snazzy - and since I am always wearing black, it always matches!
10. I'm not gonna talk about all of the homework/paper writing I did in the evenings after we left my parents - but I was exhausted.  We would get up early, play hard all day, and then at night I had to stay up and write papers.  What a drag!  My parents left friday morning.  I still have 5 pages to write on my paper.  So, with much guilt, we took the kids up to the daycare.  I sat down and managed to whip out 5 pages by 10am.  We ran over to Ikea to get 2 bookshelves to finish off our office and we were home in time to get the kids and Bill took Parker up to the Friday Fun Run.

It was a busy week but we had a great time.

THis was a really great trip.  I didn't take as many pictures because we were having so much fun.  The waterpark was probaby my favorite. 

Stewart and I rode some real rollercoasters.  He was very brave.  He wanted to sit in the very front.  His little hands were gripping the bar so tight and he had his eyes squeezed shut each and every time.  We rode the super duper looper 3 times in a row.  I was feeling a bit dizzy after that.  (there was no line, we just walked up and go on.)

Parker is very apprehensive about EVERYTHING. 

Stewart & I and a big kiss!

Look at his cute little teeth!

Stewart was having a great time driving this "truck" - it was a baby ride!

Sleepy baby

Dad - these two pics are for you.  I know how much you LOOOOVE the big pirate ship! 

As we were departing the beach, Stewart asked what beach that was and Bill said, very slowly enunciating each syllable, "Cape Henelopen."  And Stewart bounced back, with a very enthusiastic, "CAPE CANTELOPEN!"  I thought it was cute, I will forever know it as Cape Cantelopen.

These two pictures were taken minutes after we arrived at the beach.  Bill went back to the truck to get the rest of our gear and we were just hanging out, watching the dolphins. 

Frisbee time with dad.  The beach did not stay this vacant.  It got really crowded - we were just there REALLY early! There were a lot of families there with kids running around.  There was also an old man there.  He got there about the same time we did.  He set up his chair and stuff back against the fence - and it took Bill and I a long time of looking at this man before we realized he looked strange because he was wearing a WOMAN'S STRING BIKINI bottom (in teal.)  Not even joking.  Later, when Stewart and I walked up to the restrooms, I swear the man was sitting there NAKED.  I'm not sure which was worse, seeing his junk in a women's string bikini, seeing his crack hanging out of the string bikini, or him sitting there naked reading a book. 

Hey look!  it's me - Stewart and I were frolicking in the ICE COLD water.

Bondurant Boys playing in the sand.

Parker and his 20 minute power nap.  He refused his nap all day - Finally around 3, we got him to lay down.   He didn't sleep for long.

Stewart and his big kid size sand hole.  He got in the hole to show me how big it was and I couldn't help myself.  I buried him in it. (I like how you can see Parker's feet in the corner of the picture!)

Friday afternoon, we were sitting outside watching Stewart run through the sprinkler, Parker was climbing up and down our chairs.  Out of nowhere, Bill blurted out, "would you be interested in a day trip to the beach tomorrow?"  Of course I wanted to go to the beach but we had quite a bit of chores we needed to do - laundry, cleaning, stock up on beach supplies, pack.  It was late - about 4:30, when we started this discussion.  But somehow we made it happen.  We did 4 loads of lundry, cleaned the kitchen, did the floors, packed, ran up to Wal-Mart for beach snacks, got the plastic tote of beach toys out, got out the beach umbrella, chairs, and baby tent.  We had everything sitting in the garage ready to throw in the truck.

Bill had figured it up in his mind - worst case scenario, we will leave at 3:30am, hit some traffic, and get to Cape Henelopen (Lewes, DE) state park around 8 - and wait in line to get in.  So we got up at 3:30, loaded the stuff up in the truck, woke up the kids (Stewart was very excited) and we were in the truck on the road BEFORE 4:00am!  It only took us 3.5 hours and that included a potty/breakfast stop.  I drove about 3/4 of the way - there was no traffic.  The bay bridge was perfect.  All of the toll lanes were open and we had no problems.  Smooth sailing!

We got to Cape Henelopen at 7:00am!  We were on the beach, with all of our gear (and let me tell you, we have gear!) by 8am.  It was beautiful.  There was NO one on the beach that early, the sand was fresh and cool.  The dolphins were playing just off the shore and I liked watching them go back and forth.  We walked up and down the surf and picked up shells - Stewart got TWO humongous osyter shells and we picked up a big chunk of a glass beer bottle (people are such assholes.  Why would you leave a broken beer bottle on the beach.  It's the beach, 99.99999999% of everyone is BAREFOOT!)

Parker immediately took to the sand.  I don't know if he just liked playing in the sand or if he was having a great time playing with his brother - He played HARD all day.  He refused his nap.  Stewart and Parker were covered from the tippy top of their heads to the bottom of their little toes in SAND.  Parker had sand in his diaper, his ears, his belly button.  We kept slathering the kids in SPF 50 - eventually, we were just slathering on a cream of sunblock and sand.  They are both rocking 2 really short hair cuts so Bill was smart enough to remember to lather up their little heads - I didn't think we would ever get the sand and sunblock goo out of their scalp.  No one came home with a sunburn, execpt for Bill.  His back is lobster red and he won't admit that it is bothering him.  his back is bright red, I just know it has to be bothering him!

The kids ran around, played in the sand, dug holes, frolicked in the ice cold water - and they were alseep within the first 30 minutes of the car ride home.  

It was great to know that we could take a day trip (on only 1 tank of gas!) to the beach and it was nice to come home to our pretty house.

Pics coming soon.