Memorial Day Weekend 2013

We had a relatively low key long holiday weekend!  It sure was nice being off 4 days, and I know Tate loved being home as much as we were!!

Friday morning found us at swim lessons.  Next week's lesson is the last of this session, but he's signed up for the next one which will span the summer and keep him with our beloved Ms. V who's been his instructor since he was 2 1/2!!  He's doing amazingly well!!


I dropped him off at daycare, so I could run some errands.  Picked up the sweet boy after snack time, and we came home to await his new mattress set which arrived right at the appointed time.  Now I'm working on getting his train room decorated and organized!!  Way more work than I realized!  

Saturday morning came early as always, and we hung out at home, only making a quick foray to the grocery store!  I insisted he take a nap because we had his dance recital that evening from 5-7!  When little Mr. Man doesn't nap he is sound asleep by 730pm, so I needed a nap to get him through til 9 or so.  He grudgingly complied!  :)  He slept over an hour!  We were good to go!

Ok, so his nap started out on me
while I rocked him to sleep.  But
I needed him to sleep.  Rocking him
to sleep ensures he'll go to sleep most
of the time.

See!!!  I did transfer him to the bed.
My bed.

We headed over to the auditorium and arrived right on time.  The kiddos were supposed to be checked in at 4pm for the 5pm performance start.  I was going to be a parent volunteer since there was going to be a snack offered, and the instructions were to NOT send your child with a snack.  I had emailed the dance teacher and said I would probably need to send Tate his own snack as well as provide someone with his epi-pen and Benadryl or I could volunteer to stay backstage.  Once I arrived I saw that two of the volunteers were teachers from Tate's school who are all too aware of Tate's allergies, so I just left them his snack and went on to the auditorium to sit in audience.  There were more than enough people backstage with the 81 kiddos.  And it was hot!!!!!  They seemed under control, and none of the kids were crying for their parents!  The owner of the dance school is Tate's teacher and she does an amazing job.  She personally comes to three schools to teach dance to the kids who sign up as well as having her own studio.  At Tate's school 4 of the boys in the 2-5 year old age range participate including my Tate. Most of the parents are 'wigged out' by the idea of their boys being in dance which is sad to me.  Dance certainly doesn't make one gay or girly or weird.  In fact, the coordination needed for dance or any sort can only help boys and young men as they move into sports.  The balance and strength needed for dance can only improve their moves on playing fields, but no matter what anyone else thinks...I'm letting Tate experience as much as life can offer as I can!

In any event, about 8 little girls from Tate's school participate as well.  The majority of the girls are 3 1/2 with a couple of 5 year olds.  For the boys Tate and one other are 3 and the other two are 5.  I was so impressed by the fact that Tate sat back in that room for 3 hours without me, with no complaints.  (well no complaints that I know of :) ).  I'm impressed that all those little kids did it.  What strong children we are raising here!!!  The recital was a blast and all the kids were just great.  

Most importantly, it looked like everyone was having so much fun.

Waiting in the wings!
We had just arrived!  These are the four sweet
boys from Tate's school!

His dance teacher.  And yes she's very pregnant!
She must be due, like yesterday!
She was in the sidelines doing all the moves
along with the kiddos!!  She's awesome!

Our girls onstage!

So excited.  I have no idea what is up with the tongue!

Serious posing going on here!

AT-TI-TUDE!!!

Off to rest until their next perfomance!

Coming onstage...

The first performance...

Second perfomance...

Hanging out with his grandparents and cousin after the show. My sister and Tate's godmother, Shelley as well as her daughter also came to the show!

As we were leaving Tate excitedly told me "I had such a fun time at the dance party Mommy!"

That's all I wanted was for him to have fun!!  And if he learned a few moves while he was having so much fun, then I'm over the moon!

We came home, played and he finally fell asleep just before 9, my tiny dancer.

Sunday morning found us, ok me, racing around to get us ready to go to Galveston for the day.  I had a work meeting I needed to attend from 11a-2p.  My boss owns a beach house down in Galveston, and when she suggested this day I guess she didn't realize it was a holiday and/or that she would be over an hour away at the beach.  I was less than thrilled to have to spend 7 hours on a Sunday 'working', but it needed to be done (more on what that was all about later).  I needed someone to keep Tate and driving to Sugarland to my parents' then down to Galveston, then back to Sugarland to drive back to Houston didn't seem palatable to me.  That would be an extra 30 minutes each way;  as it is Galveston is almost 70 miles away from my house . Plus my parents have church and I wanted Tate to get out and enjoy himself.  Not that my parents aren't fun, but I knew he would have more fun if I could send him to Moody Gardens.  Also the idea of being almost 90 minutes away from Tate was not something I wanted to do.  I know, I know he's 3 1/2, almost 4 years old.  I've got to get over this.  But I'm not there yet.  And this wasn't something I wanted to do in the first place, so I was even more reluctant to do it.  It all worked out great though!  I hired my girlfriend's nanny to come with us and take him to Moody Gardens.  She's babysat for me a few times previously, though Tate's always already been asleep.  So he's never met her.  I wondered/worried if he would be ok with spending the day with someone he's never met, so I tried prepping him raving about the Aquarium etc.  

I needn't have worried.  We picked T up at 9:20am and I dropped them at Moody Gardens at 10:45am. After getting them all situated with two complete changes of clothes in 2 plastic baggies, a potty bag complete with toilet seat covers for T (and Tate if he needed them) along with his Kandoo wipes, Tate's lunch and 2 sets of snacks, water for both of them, baby wipes, camera, money, stroller and a medicine bag with Benadryl, epi-pens and band-aids, I was off...only 10 minutes late for our meeting!

Tate apparently had a ball.  They went to the aquarium, the rainforest and the dinosaur exhibit.  Not surprisingly the dinosaur exhibit did not go over well with Tate;  it scared him...I had forgotten to tell her he probably wouldn't like them, but the rest was awesome.  And she took tons of pictures for me!!  I'm so very blessed to have so many amazing people in our village.  

T said Tate loved the seals the most!!

I loved seeing those pictures and seeing what a great time he had with T.  She's an awesome young woman, and I hope to have her in our lives more.

I picked them up around 2:45 and we had T back home just before 4!  Tate and I did a quick shop at Target and headed home!

Today, Memorial Day, we spent a pajama day until about 2pm!  It was lovely.  I cleaned a bit, prepared meals for the week and played with my little boy.  As always we were up at 6am, and he contentedly watched trains on my phone until 6:40am while I desperately tried to get in a few extra zzzzzs.  We made our way downstairs and he watched a bit of his History Channel - Steam Trains DVD that his beloved Papa gave him for Christmas while I made breakfast.  After that we colored, played trains, goofed off, did stickers, gazed at his colored pictures, had lunch and then we headed out to pick up some last minute groceries.  We swung by Aunt Lindsey's and headed over to The Chocolate Bar, where every hour is happy hour and had some ice cream...YUM!  Then we came home, did some chalk outside and then ate some dinner.  He was out at 740pm!

Chalking while our favorite neighbors washed their car! 

So on this Memorial Day evening I know I'm blessed.  I know I'm lucky.  I know I'm loved.  And I know I'm free.  I'm living a life my grandparents' parents never dreamed possible, but so dreamed of for me.  Me the woman they'll never meet.

I'm also free because of the brave American men and women who protect me, my son, our rights, our freedom, our country from harm.  Many of my family have suffered to do me this honor and I remember them tonight; though none perished in any of the wars they fought, some were injured physically, emotionally and spiritually.  I remember them tonight and always...my grandfather (my dad's dad), my Uncle Cary, my Uncle Wade and my daddy.

Thank you for my freedom, my life, my hopes and dreams.