August 30, 2008 - Cummer Museum of Art

We went to the Cummer Museum of Art today. They were having a family day, so admission was free! They had an exhibit from the Mayo Clinic on Medical Sketches, so Chris was very interested in that. They had a "scavenger hunt" in there, and even provided you with a sketch book, in case you wanted to draw the images yourself! Grant was so interesting - he wanted his daddy, and ONLY his daddy in this exhibit. It was like he knew it was something that Daddy excelled in. He found some huge diagrams of the skeleton and muscles and was enthralled with this. He kept asking, "What's this?" and Chris would give him the correct anatomical name, of course. This could have gone on for hours. Oh - and in a different section of the museum, we saw on original Norman Rockwell, which thrilled Chris, of course. They had a great kids exhibit with lots of hands on things to do - Grant's favorite was dancing in front of a shadow wall and watching himself on the screen. We could hardly tear him away from that thing (although he was very good about sitting on the sides and letting other kids have turns). They also had art stations where you could do rubbings, cut out the stickers of different body parts and put them on a poster in the correct places (Grant didn't want them on the paper - he wanted them on HIMSELF! So we cooperated and he left the anatomical stickers on his shirt all day!). They also had water painting in the gardens, etc. My favorite part was the garden. They were beautiful. I'll definitely be going back....JUST for the gardens, although the art was lovely, as well!

August 23, 2008

I was getting ready to go for the day and pulled the exersaucer into my bedroom while I was getting dressed. I went into the bathroom for a minute and heard Mason screaming, so I went out to check on him and this is what I found. Grant was very concerned for Mason and kept trying to put the paci back in his mouth for him. He really is a good big brother...we've just been working on being a bit more gentle and respecting personal space. What two year old understands that, though??? Oh - and Mason is trying to sit up on his own now! He does fairly well, but if I'm not right there, I generally put the boppy behind him to cushion the fall! :-)

Hooray, Grant!

Today is a big day in the Worley Household! We are one step closer towards only having ONE in diapers!!!! Yippeee!! Grant got up from his nap around 2:30, took my hand, said, "Sit!" and went running to the bathroom. I took his diaper off and he sat on his potty chair - and went - all by himself! He's intrigued by all the praise, and I'm hoping it'll make him want to go more. We even called Daddy at work so he could share in the joy...that's a rare occasion that we bother him at work, so it was definitely a big deal! Grant stood up, pointed to the toilet and proudly said, "Yucky!" loud enough for his daddy to hear. So anyway, Great Job, Grant! We're thrilled!

08.22.08 Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Daddy! Happy Birthday to you! What a bummer to have to spend your entire birthday holed up in the hospital on call! We have missed you today, but had such a great time bringing you lunch and presents earlier (even though we contended with the flooded streets and road debris to get there!) In honor of your birthday, Mason decided to roll over completely by himself tonight - from his back to his tummy and then back again! - for the first time without any assistance. Here's a play-by-play so you didn't miss it! So Happy Birthday, Daddy! We sure do love you!

Wind, Rain, and a Cacophany of Quacking

August 19-23, 2008 Tropical Storm Fay We have been dealing with Tropical Storm Fay here at our house for the last week. It has been miserable. She's a slow moving system (between 2-4 mph) that is just dumping rain on our area. There are lots of flooded streets, a lot of debris in the roads/yards, high winds, road and bridge closures, electricity outages, and tornadoes! We've had sleepless nights because of the howling winds, pelting rains, and a pesky duck who has quacked non-stop for the last 24 hours somewhere close to our house. I've gone out a couple times to see if I could find him and help - it seems he must be stuck or hurt or something - but I just can't find him. I can't wait for the duck to quit quacking!!! Grant, Mason, Emma Lou and I hung out in the bathroom today for a little over 1/2 hour because there were tornadoes not too far from our house. Yikes! Grant kept wanting to go out, so I kept making up games to keep him in there. Quite the adventure! Luckily, we haven't lost any electricity at our house so far, and it seems the worst is over (although we're still having lots of rain, wind and flooding!) Hopefully Fay is on her way out! Poor Chris has had to work at the hospital the last two days because he's doing an inpatient month. His friends who were outpatient this month have been able to stay home because the base was restricted to essential personnel only. Poor inpatient interns! One of the other interns, Orlando, took pity on him yesterday since he had to be on call today (his birthday) and let him come home early yesterday. Orlando stayed at the hospital even though he lives across the Buckman Bridge. If the winds get above a certain point, they close the bridge, so he sacrificed a lot so that Chris could have a little time off with his family. Thanks, Orlando. It meant a lot. We owe you big time! The pictures don't do the storm justice (you really can't tell it was bad at all), but I tried to get some pictures of how windy it was, as well as the torrential rainfall. You can see the rain in a couple pics, so I thought I'd share. Thank goodness it's almost over! We all can't wait for the sunshine again!

08.16.08 Saint Augustine, FL

We took Chris' parents to St. Augustine on Saturday since Chris was off and it was the only day that he was available to do anything with us. We had a great time! We stopped at NAS and got tickets from ITT for Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum (for $4.50/person! Great discount!) and toured the museum, then walked down by the fort and ate lunch at a cute little restaurant right across the street from the fort. Grant's favorite part was definitely running around the fort in what once was the moat and now is filled with various cannons. I thought it was really cool to see the ferns growing up the sides of the old fort. They definitely added character! We all had a great time and look forward to going back and exploring some more!

We have had a wonderful treat this week! Chris' parents came down to spend some time with us. I think I was more excited about it than anyone else. Mason has been having trouble sleeping, so I've been up most nights with him, getting very little rest. I'm so thankful for 4 extra hands! I even got to go have lunch with Chris and go grocery shopping yesterday all by myself! What a wonderful gift. Families are truly wonderful things.

08.09.08 Bathtime for the Boys

There have been very few occasions where the boys have gotten to take a bath together. Since Daddy's working so much, he hasn't been home for me to have the extra hands, so those occassions have been picture-less. But daddy was home tonight and the boys took a bath together. They had a great time - Grant more than Mason - but a good time was had by all just the same.