Cwms [kooms]

We visited my parents this past weekend. The boys took advantage of every opportunity to play with their game-loving grandfather. Yesterday, Elliot played "Spill and Spell" with Pop Pop. I was playing with the other boys across the room, but heard Pop Pop say, with a chuckle, "Now that definitely is not a word." Elliot insisted that it was. Jack, hearing all of this as well, ran over the table to offer his "official" verdict. Jack took one look at the letter dice, and confidently declared that Elliot was right. The word in question was "cwms". Neither Pop Pop nor I recognized the word. So, how did Elliot and Jack both know it? Computer Scrabble. They have both spent hours playing against the computer, and have learned dozens of unusual 2, 3 and 4 letter words. They can't pronounce them, or tell you what they mean, but they know they are words (according to the official Scrabble dictionary at least!) Watch out, should you decide to play against them. And, certainly, don't challenge their words!

Vacation Flashback

Massachusetts has the strange tradition of not having a Spring or Easter vacation. Instead, we celebrate the inexplicable (at least to those who grew up elsewhere) traditions of February and April vacations. I have come to appreciate several things about this unique school calendar. First of all, there are two weeks of vacation instead of one. Second, it's a great opportunity to travel when the rest of the country is in school and at work. We spent our most recent April vacation visiting my parents in PA. We had a great week, but like any trip involving four young children, there were plenty of unexpected twists as well.

The kids spent lots of time outdoors, playing baseball and riding their bikes. I can never get enough of sending Jack and Elliot out the front door alone to play! They got to go see a Phillies game with Ted and my Dad. We made several trips to our favorite Wilson Park, with the obligatory stop at Rita's Water Ice on the way home.

I took all four boys for haircuts, giving myself a rare break from the job. It was Theo's first professional haircut. Jack chose a buzz cut with a triangle shaped section of hair left long on top.

We visited with my 92 year old grandfather, who remarked how quiet the four boys were. I suspect that his hearing aids were turned way, WAY down.

We celebrated Mattie's 3 1/2 birthday.

We went to the Philadelphia Zoo with my parents. We were there from 10am until 3:30pm, which seemed like a really long day for the kids, but they had a blast. Theo was enjoying himself so much that he stayed awake the entire day. They had a neat Lego exhibit at the zoo, with lifesize versions of several endangered animals made entirely of Legos. The polar bear was amazing, and contained 96,000 pieces!

Unfortunately, after that part of the trip, things took a turn for the worse. After our wonderful day at the zoo, the kids went to bed normally. But, Theo started vomiting just after midnight that night. I spent most of the night up with him. Thankfully, the vomiting stopped the next morning. I thought we were in the clear by that afternoon, but then he started having diarrhea. That continue off and on through the night. The next morning was Friday, the day I had been planning to drive home to Boston. Alone with kids. I debated trying to go ahead with my plans, knowing that Theo was likely to have diarrhea blow outs on the road. While I thought things over, I breastfeed him. He started throwing up again, making the decision fairly easy.

He couldn't keep any milk down. He got worse very quickly that day, and I ended up taking him to the hospital that afternoon for fluids. When I took him home from the hospital, he still couldn't keep any breastmilk down, so I had to give him Pedialyte by syringe. I squirted 2 tsp. of Pedialyte into his mouth every 10 minutes while he was awake. But, just when we thought things were improving again that evening, my mother got sick. The three older boys were almost too excited to sleep, knowing that they were going to stay an extra day at Grammy and Pop Pop's. I crawled into bed myself, dreading the wake up calls I was sure would come. By 1:00 am I was throwing up myself. The only thoughts running through my head that night were, "how am I ever going to get back to Boston?" and " how many more dominoes are going to fall?" The answer to at least one question came quickly. By 3:00 am I was throwing up along side Mattie in the boys' bathroom.

Luckily this particular stomach bug seemed to be of short duration. While my father also succumbed during the night, only Mattie was still throwing up by the next morning. The grown ups felt awful, but we could at least function enough to take care of the kids. I gave up on any hopes of driving back to Boston alone that day, and called in reinforcements. Ted took the train down that morning, and arrived in time to help take care of Jack, who fell during the next night. We decided to make a break for it the next morning. It was Sunday, and 4 of the 6 of us had already had the bug. Ted had been scheduled to fly to DC that morning for work, but had to delay his trip for a day to help get us all home. I don't think my parents had ever been more relieved to get rid of us, or our germs. We made it home, with only one very neat, ziplock bag vomit incident in the car.

When we pulled into our parking space, relief washed over me. I had never been more happy to be home. Elliot never did get sick. Ted made it to DC before getting sick, and missing most of his conference. It was certainly one vacation I'll never forget. We may not be invited back for quite a while...

Vacation

Phew! We made it home from our vacation. It was wonderful at first, then started to go downhill, and finally ended up feeling like we would never make it home. But, I'll save the details for later. I just wanted to post a few pictures, and try this new slide show format.

Quote of the Day

A trio of quotes:

I have a wonderful neighbor named Marleen, who makes delicious homemade spaghetti sauce. She generously brings us a jar or two whenever she makes a batch. To thank her recently, I made some bread for her and her husband, Walter. Ted walked it over to her house with the boys. The following conversation took place at her door.

Ted: Hi, Walter. Anne baked this bread for you.
Walter: Thank you very much. It looks delicious!
Elliot: It's for Marleen.
Walter: I will make sure to give it to her as soon as she gets home.
Elliot: Don't eat any!
Walter: Ok. I promise not to eat any unless I ask her first.

*  *  *  *  *

From our car ride down to Berwyn:

Jack: I like Grammy's house better that my house.
Me: I'm sure Grammy would really like to hear that.
Jack: It's because I get more things I like there.

Pop Pop's post Phillies' game joke today:

The traffic was so bad driving down to the Phillies game today. We were stuck for so long that we started to get very hungry. What do you think we found to eat in the car?

Traffic Jam!

Why Did the Turkey Cross the Road?

We are in Berwyn right now, for a pre-Thanksgiving visit with my parents. I love it when my kids spend time with their grandparents. They all enjoy it so much, that I can step back and just be a casual observer for a change! Ahhhhh... For a special treat today, my dad took the day off, and we all went to the Crayola Factory. Everyone had a great time. (I highly recommend it if you're passing through PA.) One of the things the boys enjoy sharing with Pop Pop is jokes. My father, like his father, has a great sense of humor, and loves telling jokes. My memory of my grandfather is that he was always doing one of two things - humming or chuckling. He walked around the house telling jokes, reading jokes, or recalling them to himself. He liked corny jokes, and also jokes with puns or other plays on words. My father is the same. So, it was no surprise to find our lunchtime conversation at the museum today turned to joke telling. Armed with some puns they read recently in a Thanksgiving joke book , my kids joined right in the fun. Here are a few of my favorites, plus the ones the kids really wanted me to include:

Pop Pop:
Why did the turkeys at the baseball game stand up and start dancing?
Because the umpire said it was a fowl ball!

Jack:
Why did the turkey cross the playground?
To get to the other slide!

Elliot:
Why are there the most turkeys in Florida?
Because it is the key state!

Jack:
Why did the turkey take a key to Florida?
Because Florida has the Keys and he is a turKEY!

Elliot:
Why did the turkey go off the field?
To catch a fowl ball!

Pop Pop also shared this joke with us, which was one of his father's favorites, and the only three word pun he had ever heard. It's more of a word riddle, but here it is:
A woman had three sons. They started a cattle ranch. What did they decide to call it?
FOCUS - a place where the sun's rays meet (and the sons raise meat!)

Wishing you all lots of laughter with your families! Happy Thanksgiving!