Swimming lessons!

Em is scheduled for proper swim lessons this Summer but because of our travel schedules we couldn't find a class that worked until the end of July. In the meantime our pal Miss Julie is teaching the basics to beginners again. Today was our first class and Em did great. She has lots of confidence in the water and listened very well to instructions. She still doesn't want to go all the way underwater but I can see her thinking harder about it with each swim. Here is an after class pic of all the kids swimming about including Ben lounging on the green float.

Ben took a two hour nap after. Yay for swimming!

12 hours

In less than 12 hours we will be reunited with our baby bunch after 5 long days away. I didn't worry, not even once, knowing what good hands they are in with Gramma Lou and their beloved cousins, Leah and Frank. But we did miss them tremendously and cannot wait to snuggle and catch up on the week. They spent tons of time at the beach and a day at the Riverhead Aquarium. I got to follow their adventures with pictures thanks to social media (FB) and this one is one of my favorites. You can take the girl out of California but you cannot take California out of the girl.

If everybody had an ocean, across the USA...

Waterpark!

We've been lucky to have such a mild Spring into early Summer. Beautiful sunny days and low humidity. That is until this week! The humidity has arrived which means the AC is now on and the WTWP (white trash water park) is open for business. Come on by! The more the merrier! Bring your slip*n*slide and water balloons to up the fun factor!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

The fun in the sun has returned!

1st day of vacation

Our first day of Summer vacation brought us 96˚ temps and tons of humidity so we headed to the beach with a great group of kiddos (13 in all) and 6 fun mamas. Emma's confidence in the water has tripled since last Summer. She was up to her neck in the ocean jumping around and not once showed any signs of fear. She still won't willingly go under water, my guess is by the end of swimming lessons this Summer, she'll conquer that fear, too.

Ben fell asleep in the car as we pulled into the beach parking lot. I transferred him into the umbrella stroller and carried the stroller over the sand and rocks to the shore - he did not even stir! We set up the umbrella to shade him and he snoozed for a good 90 minutes before I purposely woke him up to enjoy the water. Thankfully he is a good waker upper, and after just a few minutes bee lined for fun in the water.

The afternoon was awesome. The return home and subsequent baths and desandification was not - never is. I had to seriously convince myself after an hour of whines and cries that the beach is worth it. The fun is worth the after pains...

I have fancy cameras and the ONLY one I use is my iPhone. OI!

Afternoon snoozes - isn't that what vacation is for?

preK graduation, car crankiness, and a needed nature walk

Today was fun? No, it was fun. It really was. Mommy was just in a crotchity mood for part of the day. Emma and Ben of the future, I apologize for the hours of 12:45 to 2:15 - and I am sorry I let that period of time attempt to ruin our FUN day. Thank you both for being your silly willy nilly selves and snapping me out of my funk.

This is the only pic I took. The rest was video! Daddy maybe got some pics...

This morning was Em's preK graduation ceremony. It was adorable and fun and the whole Batter bunch was there to celebrate. I took lots of video which I will get on youtube soon for you to peek at if you want. (I put the ballet performance up, 7 minutes, but you will need to view it on a lap top because it posted sideways and you have to flip your computer!) While her teacher was giving a tear jerker speech about how extraordinary this class was (and they really were - parents, too - feeling very blessed with all the new friends we made!!) Ben sang random Thomas the Tank Engine songs at the TOP OF HIS LUNGS, and we were that (awesome, by the way) family with THAT kid...

I lied. This is the kids after their performance losing patience with the slideshow of them throughout the year!

After the good times of the morning, the kids and I headed to the Smithtown Toyota dealership (BUZZ kill) to get the slider door fixed on the minivan... I can't even be bother to write anything more, just know that that dealership stinks (and the car is under warranty). I can't even be bothered to think about them any more to describe how I felt leaving there.

We left the service department with Mama in a craptastic mood. The young'uns sensed it and sillied it up. On the drive home, we pit stopped at the Old Field Setauket pond and took the best leisurely walk around it exploring the nature and f-f-f-foolin' at every opportunity. The following pics are the goodness that snapped me outta my funkity funk.

Help me climb it!

Emma: I see turtles!! Ben: I wanna run across the bridge!!

Monkeys, I say!! We need to hit my grandparents apple trees and let these kids climb for REAL.

Not a tantrum. Just a lovely relaxed Benny.

Happy Fathers Day!

I am so very blessed to have the perfect complimentary parent of our children in my life to balance out my wackiness. Daddy, I love you. Emma loves you. Ben loves you. Dodo loves you. Cassidy sends her love from the clouds.

We spent the day outside enjoying the island sun at our favorite State park, Wildwood. I took no pictures because I was too busy having FUN! Wait a minute, I was actually too busy holding an exhausted Ben who partied from 2:58am until 5:35am falling back asleep only until 7:00. Seriously Ben?

But at least we were at the beach with our Huntington pals who we do not get to see very often. They have three little kiddos and we relaxed the afternoon away listening to the sound of the Sound crashing onto the beach. We finished out the late afternoon at Baiting Hallow Farm near Wildwood listening to some live music as the children slowly melted into exhausted piles of goo signaling our time to exit and bid our friends farewell.

Daddy requested a special dinner of steaks with eclairs for dessert. This is a pic of Emma after her bath trying one for the first time. She LOVED it. Surprise, surprise.

She likes it! Hey, Mikey!

LAZY days of Mama

This blog is now 3 years and 5 months strong. I'd like to take a moment to thank you - dear readers - (all 17 of you) for loving the Batter Baby Bunch enough to check in from time to time to see what we are up to. As I look over my yearly blog books I have realized that I have become less talk more pictures. But, as we all know, pictures are worth a 1000 words - so I am not feeling lazy or guilty, I am simply TIRED!

Yes, Rooster Ben continues to rise with the sun. That means at 4:45pm I must hold vigil over him to stay awake enough to eat dinner.  Tonight while slaving away in the kitchen, I peeked into the living room and saw him laying ever so relaxedly on the floor and I literally screamed, "BEN! WAKE UP! WAKE UP, BUDDY!" It did the trick and he actually ate about 100 calories worth of dinner until he asked for milk which is the killer of all things caloric when it comes to this kid. *sigh*

Anywhooo, I need to catch up on the cuteness that is our kids so tonight's jibber jabber is just that. If I repeat myself, that is only because I think it was funny enough to bare repeating - not because I am losing my mind. (Plus FB and Twit*er confuse me - did I blog it? or just FB it? Aaaaaack, social media...)

On May 14th while suffering from the plague, I was given a watermelon. Emma LOVES to help me in the kitchen and offered to help me chop it up for consumption with, "Can I eat it like a real person?" meaning can I eat it in slivers not chopped up into chunks like for a little kid. HA!

On May 16th, whilst I was still under the influence of the plague, Benny fell down about half of the steps that lead from the penthouse to the ground floor. He was / is perfectly fine, but I am still leery of him walking up and down the steps. Yesterday I said to him, "Benny, be careful, go slow." He turned to me and said, "MOM! I am not gonna fall down the steps again," in his most 'have a little more confidence in me, lady' voice.

On May 25th, Emma - making every excuse out there not to fall asleep - was caught out of her bed and therefore in trouble. Her response, "I put socks on Ben because his feet were cold!!" I looked at a sleeping Ben and low and behold, the kid had socks on him. Our nurturing little girl...

On May 31st, I was at the drive thru ATM and Ben requested "Chicken Nuggets" as if we were at Wendy's...

On June 1st, Emma had a absolute breakdown (and does so often if I have no answer for her constant social calendar questions) "I REALLY REALLY need to know what our plan is on Tuesday!"

On June 8th we went to Rocketship park - our old haunt that we have been neglecting this past year. Em ran into a kid in the other preK class that she knows and the two played the afternoon away. At one point while I was digging in the sand with Benny, I glanced over at her. She was swinging on the swing and the little boy was pushing her. It was beyond adorable and I was annoyed I didn't have a camera to catch the moment!

On June 13th, while I was getting gas, Emma queried me, "Why is it called a gas STATION?" meaning gas is for sale, it should be a gas STORE, as opposed to a fire station or a police station. You know what kid, you have a great point! Who do we need to write a letter to?

If you are wondering how I know the dates on all this goodness, I can be found on Twit*er - batterbabybunch - it's where I tweet all the random stuff so I can remember to someday blog about it and not forget about it which is what happens too much of the time.

Last night I wrote: "I possibly fall more in love w my hubby every night at midnight when he delicately plucks our children from bed and makes them sleep pee." Meaning, Em is on the top bunk and weighs in at 55 lbs. There is no way I can remove her deep sleep body from the bed and get her to pee. Big strong Daddy to the rescue. I LOVE how he whispers to her his actions and how she responds to his nurturing then falls right back to sleep. Thanks, Daddy - I love you more than this blog can say.

Lastly, today's awesomeness. There are 4 more days of school until SUMMER! This morning when I dropped Emma off at school as bad timing would have it, a parent was turning to go back to their car but not looking where they were going (looking back and waving at their kid instead), crashed into Emma and sent her crashing to the ground ripping her leggings, skinning her knee and scraping up her hands all owie like. She put on a brave face until I gathered her into my arms. She burst into tears crying, "Mommy, ouchie!" It wrenched my heart knowing it was half "ouchie" and half embarrassment knowing all her classmates saw her fall. Luckily they are still at the age where seeing a classmate fall brings out the caring, "Are you OK?" side of them vs laughing at her misfortune. May she remember this time and pay it forward in the future...

Then, I got home from school and headed into the kitchen to empty the dishwasher and clean up the breakfast dishes. Ben wandered into the kitchen and said, "Come on, Mom. You're my favorite friend. Come build train tracks with me." How can you NOT stop what you are doing and plop on the floor and construct the curviest track ever after that request?

Finally this afternoon we were in Bug Catcher mode with our neighbor pal, Henry. At one point Em picked up an ant (after catching a worm, a spider, a roly poly, etc with her bare fingers) and as she was placing it into the jar it wiggled free dropping onto her arm. She let out a little scream exclaiming, "IT SCARED ME OUT THE CRAP!"

preK party fun

As Emma is a Summer baby, she does not get to celebrate her special day at school. Therefore the teachers have made an effort this week to give all the Summer birthday kids a chance to have a "day" where a parent comes in to read to the kids and enjoy cupcakes.  The Batter bunch descended upon the school at 10:00 this morning and had a blast. Daddy gave a heartfelt read of "Smitten" - Ben actually sat on my lap the entire story waiting patiently for cupcakes! Emma couldn't sit still she was so excited and all her pals loved the story. My mini-chocolate cupcakes (from the box, dear readers) were a hit - Ben ate 3, they were THAT good. 

Daddy winning over the crowd!

Ben looking like he belongs here. Our boy is growing up!

Home made (vs homemade) mini cupcakes.

It's my special day!

Bugs!

I was kidsitting our pals the other day when neighbor Henry came outside with a bug catcher jar his Mama had found at a garage sale. It was super cool and all the kids wanted in on the action. Emma suggested I grab the butterfly nets from the Elefun game. I thought that was a stellar idea and the fun began. The nets were pretty useless as those wiley butterflies are just so quick - but you know what worked well? Emma's fingers! She was picking up pincher bugs, roly polys, ants, SPIDERS - without thinking twice and putting them into the bug jar for all to observe. What a difference a year makes!!

Look out creepy crawlies!

Wildwood State Park

Last week my hairdresser told me about the "Empire Pass" which for $65 gets you free parking at all the New York's State parks and State beaches. As one stop can cost you $8-10, the pass made so much sense to purchase and I am cranky I didn't know about it last Summer! We used it first at our favorite state park just 30 minutes from our home - Wildwood State Park. The beach, as you can see from the pics, blows me away every time we turn the corner from the long path down from the parking lot. I feel as though I am transported to the Caribbean or Thailand - somewhere with beautiful clear water and sunny beaches. It was chilly out, but that did NOT deter the kids from wanting to put their "feet" into the water. (Every Mother knows that putting your feet into the water means they will be soaked from head to toe when we are done. Every Mother also knows that if they say yes to the feet then they have to be comfortable with the idea of wet kids for the ride home. Every Father does not know this and our Daddy's blood pressure was rising with every splash. It turns out that he thought I would be cranky if they got too wet. Every Daddy needs to learn what every Mommy already knows...)

Needless to say, we will be spending tons of time here this coming Summer knowing that it won't cost us a dime.

Our little Ariel.

I see London, I see France, I see Benny's underpants!

I felt like we were in the Carribbean.

Eye vs Couch

Nuttn' like coming home from the office and the babysitter saying, "Oh, about ten minutes after you left, Christian pushed Emma and caught her off guard and she lost her balance and her eye hit the wooden decoration on the corner of the couch...blah blah blah." Got us a little Rocky Balboa for a few days, but she is feeling fine, thankfully, and enjoyed her popularity when all her school pals were crowded around her, "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR EYE??"

Day 2

Day 1

Parade time!

Our little seaport village's fire department celebrated 125 years of service Saturday evening with a parade and block party. 42 of the Island's fire companies participated and we had a good time watching the parade. Ben sat adorably on the curb for a good 20 minutes watching the trucks and the bands before getting distracted by a pebble that he kept tossing out into the street and sneaking out to bring back. He was black from head to toe after the parade from all the dirt in the street he was rolling around in. Emma did great as well, enjoying the sights from her Daddy's shoulders for most of the parade until she got too heavy and ended up on the curb next to Ben and me. It was a beautiful early Summer evening and we had tons of fun.

He waited so patiently!

Daddy working hard!

Every brigade had a band - most were bagpipes. Brought tears to my eyes each time!

Playing on the old time engines.

I swear the had a great time even though they could not look more bored in this pic!

My favorite pic of the day...

Car-ni-VAL! (please pronounce in Espanol)

Summer is coming! That means fair / fireman's picnics / carnivals / town street fairs / 4th of July etc etc fun!!

Em got her first taste of what is coming last night when my pal took her with our best play pals to the Brookhaven Fair. (Ben was down for the count w a fever again!!! He slept through the night and woke up seemingly fine at 5:30 this morning. He has a runny nose now but the fever seems gone.)

My pal is much braver than me - three young kids amongst 1000s of people. They rode rides, played a few games and even stayed late to watch the fireworks. Em got home at 10:20 super happy - that is until she crossed the threshold of the penthouse and melted into a whining exhausted mess. Fun!

She had a pretty big bloody nose at some point in the night waking to what looked like a crime scene - matted bloody hair, face and hands covered in dried blood. As you can imagine, it scared her and she cried the whole time in the shower, "Why is this happening to me????" in pure drama queen fashion!

Pics of the fun Benny and I missed:

Such focus!

Just the beginning...

Happy Fair goers.

Waiting for the fireworks - still going strong!

What I know...

Ben looks like Daddy.

Emma looks like Mommy.

Ben is a mini-Mommy.

Emma is a mini-Daddy.

I have tons of evidence to support the above statements, but it is 10:32pm on Friday night and I am sleepy.  Someday I will explain it.