Randomness at the Smith household:
I asked Nolan what he thought he might like to get for his dad for Christmas - to which he responded promptly, "A Golf Course!"
Okay, right....we'll get right on that. That is exactly the budget I had in mind. :-)
What a thoughtful son.
City of Dublin. Smaller than I expected - mostly 4-5 story buildings through the entire city. Very walkable and nice city. I think we only saw one vagrant our entire trip.
My next front door....Do you think it will work for my house?
Driving on the left side of the road from the right side of the car was adventurous. You'll notice the posted speed limit 100 km/hr (~62 mph) on this crazy winding road, with narrow lanes and less than one foot of shoulder, next to a stone wall! Our car was about the size of a VW golf, and it even felt too big on a few occasions with cars zooming past the opposite direction. I think I only yelled out loud once, though!
Then the road suddenly ends at a "T" like this. Advice for next time - pay for the GPS unit.
Seriously, the pictures don't do this incredible place justice. This was one of my absolute favorite stops.
The wind blows like crazy here. It was supporting almost my entire body weight leaning into it. Hence the layered hoods. Reality check comes when you see the sign posted for potential suiciders to call the Samaritans to talk. Ugh.
And this was his reaction to being the first one to find out he is going to be an uncle again. It was fun to tell him our news in person and see him a couple months early. Can't wait for him to come home in December!!!
With no offense intended to all those wonderful wives in the "blogosphere" I must state for the record that I have the best wife of all time. This is Jeremy for those of you who can't tell and I thought I would just tell you a little about why I have the best wife. She is a great mother, even though sometimes she wouldn't agree with me. She always goes out of her way to help others even if it may be a bit of a hassle. She keeps me on the straight and narrow. The caketaker though is the fact that she has put up with me for 12 years! Thanks honey, I love you, happy anniversary!
Well, folks, it is time for me to face my ultimate travel anxiety (anxieties, let's be honest. I really wish it were singular! Once again, those of you who know me best, know exactly what I mean here). Jeremy and I are planning a trip to Paris! Eeeeek!
Macy didn't want any help climbing to the top
and had a blast on the way down!
Did I mention this was a canyon stream and f r e e z i n g cold!!! 
We love you, Macy!
Seems that Macy had an abundance of sunscreen today....Yep I found it painted all over her bedroom wall and door. You know, the waterproof spray-mist 50 spf kind. Hmmm. Not the easiest thing to clean off - oh, and did I mention, with all that scrubbing it started dissolving the paint? Well, on the bright side, at least it's on the back side of her door! I suppose it could be worse!
And besides, she was pretty darn cute apologizing during my cleaning rant, "Me weel-wee (really) weel-wee, weel-wee sorry!" over and over again. Definitely a girl through and through. Can't you just hear the drama!?
Nolan started kindergarten in July, and although I'm a bit late getting these posted, I'm patting myself on the back that I actually posted them before he starts first grade! So, if you'll forgive me for a moment of self congratulatoriness - Good job, Karla! (BTW, if that word isn't in the dictionary, I think it certainly should be!)
To tell you the truth, I was quite sick to my stomach that first day!....Probably more than Nolan! But we all made it! And school has been a great adventure so far!
Life - in the eyes of a five-year-old:
Babies turn into kids.
Kids turn into teenagers.
Teenagers turn into adults.
Adults turn into old people.
And old people turn into dead people!
Nolan filled me in on all the shcoop about "revenge". You're gonna love this one.
Nolan:
Does anyone else have experience trying to keep an adventurous two-and-a-half year-old inside her room at bedtime????
Believe me, she's come up with every excuse in the book to escape from her room, and it's too bad that she's so cute at the delivery. Case in point, I'm trying to lay her back down in bed (for the third time in one night) and she's squeezing me in the biggest hug of the century,
"I wuv you SO MUCH!!!!"
What a time for affection. She pulled out all the stops.
A couple of nights ago, I'd had it and decided she was better off locked in her room than at the mercy of my growing temper. So, I admit, I took a cue from my friend Diana and used a chair to block the lever from releasing, essentially barricading her in her room until she was asleep. It was one of the biggest toddler fits I've ever witnessed! Even better, Nolan actually slept through it! Amazing.
Some might call this cruel and unusual punishment....I prefer to call it responsible parenting. :-)
Oh, and Diana, she hasn't yet figured out that if she pulls up on the handle, it will still open. We'll see just how long that lasts!
...by Nolan
-Mom, I know why Heavenly Father gave us ants! He didn't want the whole world to be covered with crumbs!
-Did you know fireman aren't allowed to go camping??? It's because they put out too many fires, so they'd put out the campfire!
-I asked Macy if she showed Nolan her painted fingernails. Before she could respond, Nolan said, disgusted,"Yeah...when I walk behind her all I smell is walking fingernail polish!"
Does anyone else have a mischievous fairy that wonders their house and steals things? That's the only way to explain the missing spoons that have disappeared silently over the last several months. I think we only have two, maybe three, left! We just can't figure out where they could have gone! So if we invite any of you over for dinner, I'm sorry, you'll have to BYOS!
Nolan has been having trouble going to sleep; he says he dreams about monsters. We've had several conversations about the fact that monsters aren't real, dreams aren't real, etc.
He usually listens to primary songs in his room at night, but one night he chose the Jack Johnson CD instead. Later he came in our room, practically crying! He told us he couldn't sleep because he was afraid of dreaming about monsters. Once again, we explained monsters aren't real - to which he replied emphatically,
"But Jack Johnson said, 'DREAMS are made out of REAL THINGS!' "
(from Jack Johnson's Better Together song)
And of course, Jack Johnson knows more than Mom and Dad!
Any ideas for dealing with monsters?
This is one of Macy's favorite lines (see title above), but I thought is was appropriate for today. I picked and ate the first strawberry and the first pod of peas today. I ate them all by myself and didn't even share them! And, my kids didn't even see me! Greedy, I know. What can I say?
To admit the truth, I'm afraid to let Macy see the fresh strawberries, because I don't think any of them will E V E R make it in the house after she discovers them.
We were getting ready to come inside after working in the yard and playing in the sandbox. Nolan was absolutely covered in sand, because he and Macy were trying to bury his entire body. He thought it was great to be so dirty, and started dancing around, then started singing at the top of his lungs, "I'm the dirtiest dancer! I'm the dirtiest dancer!" over and over again. Macy thought it looked like so much fun, so of course she joined in. So there were two of them yelling in our backyard,
After having it around for 9 great years, we sent our beloved burro on its way to live with my brother and his wife. We'll miss having it around!
One of my favorite memories is while we were camped in a Moab RV park, alongside all the million dollar land-yachts! A retired man came by when Jeremy was outside fixing something, and said, "You gotta wife in there?!" He couldn't believe it! Said he couldn't pay his wife enough to set foot in something so small! Small yes, but big enough for a couch & table turned into "double" bed, couch turned into two bunk beds, a table, stove top, frig, sink, and the best part, porta-pottie!
My confession for the day. I have been indulging myself in the remnants of the rainbow chip frosting. Well, I say "remnants", but there was probably one-third of the container left-over! I don't know what it is about this stuff, but it's like it's calling me from the inside of the frig! Do you think it's possible it has some sort of addictive ingredient that makes me not be able to leave it alone? One spoonful here, one spoonful an hour later - okay, two or three spoonfuls, just this once.
Do you think it's bad that I was actually bummed when Macy caught me in the act and wanted to share?
While I was still in bed this morning, thinking about dragging myself out to make breakfast, I could hear Macy rummaging around the kitchen. I found her making her own cuisine: grapes and bologna, which she had laid on the floor and was cutting into pieces with a steak knife! What a great tool for a two-year-old! Gotta love bologna for breakfast!
After I let Nolan and Macy out of time-out today for fighting (again), Nolan came up to me, "Mom, I need to tell you something -- Everything that Macy does is ruining my future!" Seriously, I had to turn my head to disguise my laughter. Do you think he even knows what that means????
Where are all of you? Here I am, sitting at my computer, looking for some mindless entertainment before I get ready for bed. Jer's at a game, and the kids are in bed. The house is quiet, and I'm checking all your blog sites, but it's not taking long, because there are very few new posts that I can find. So, either I check your blogs far too often, not allowing sufficient time for a new post, or something is desperately amiss with most all of you simultaneously, causing a rare case of blog-neglect across the globe??? So, I'm begging you, please, for some mindless entertainment. Can you hear the boredom in my head? Alas, I'm off to bed.
Me: blah, blah, blah (complaining about cramps and everything else period)
Jeremy, trying to make me feel better: Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, I get cramps when I eat too much!
(I'm pretty sure it was well-intentioned humorous empathy.)
If there is one thing I do not understand about being a woman...this is it. Why period? Isn't there another way?
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flying paper airplanes off the 8th floor....oh, and of course we picked up all the airplanes we could find down below....no littering on this trip. (conn, looks like this has become a tradition.)
.this pic doesn't do it justice.
it makes me think about being underground in an urban city with water gushing in from the pipes. sounds amazing.
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the bay
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love this sign....seriously, I'm so there!
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the sea lions at pier 39, of course. Nolan does a great impersonnation. The out-takes:
Nolan, making the sea lion sound: Arrr Arrr Arrr
Me: Macy, what makes that sound
Macy: Nolan!
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swimming...gotta love those goggles!
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the not-so-highlights
the two guys that almost got in a fight on the BART, dropping [swear] bombs right and left, about six feet from us. Question, if someone is threatening to beat you up, do you keep yelling "Loser! Loser! Loser!" at said person??? Duh. the one time I would have preferred to be on a packed train - not practically empty. very uncomfortable.
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and the little too much "frisco" we saw while visiting the fountain mentioned above...stop there, you get the idea.
