Summer Vacation

The Shell family had not had a vacation together in a couple of years, their children had never seen a beach, Summer was quickly coming to an end and this was going to be the youngest Shell's first year in school.



Family Vacation 2009: Panama City, FL



Day 1 - Swimming with the dolphin's:



What an amazing experience this was; so amazing, in fact, that Mr. Shell jumped into the water with his cigarette's, lighter, car keys and cell phone in the pocket of his swimming trunks.



The Shell family heads out for a two hour tour, to Shell Island, to go swimming with the dolphin's - cue theme song from Gilligan's Island.



It's an overcast day, and we're in a covered pontoon boat..



Did she think to pack the sunscreen lotion? Yep.



Did she think to put it on? Nope.



Note to self: Two things you need to remember the next time you go swimming with the dolphins: 1) Sunscreen is ineffective when it's sitting in the bottom of your purse - put the sunscreen on before you leave the hotel room. 2) Take Dramamine!



Yeah, turns out that this turtle doesn't have sea legs; she's a land turtle. A land turtle that almost got sick on the dolphins - NOT FUN! For a minute there, I thought my snorkel was going to become a blow hole. Thank goodness the nausea didn't hit me until towards the end of our two hour tour - cue theme from Gilligan's Island once more.



Second half of day 1: Rest and recuperation for momma Shell. Later that evening, after a shower and a nap, we walked around Pier Park in search of some good eats and some night time entertainment, ending the evening with a night time stroll along the beach.



Day 2 - Day at the Beach:



It's been a long time since Shelly has been to the beach and even longer for Mr. Shell; so long in fact, that Mr. Shell got into the water with his new pack of cigarette's, his wallet and the car keys in the pocket of his swimming trunks - again.



Who knew that the beauty of that water would move him to the point of complete distraction. At the beginning of this little trip of ours, he also had a tube of chap stick. We still don't know where that went; but, given his track record, I can only assume that it's somewhere in the bottom of the Gulf. Who knows, the dolphins may now be swimming around with kiss-ably soft snouts. ;)



Did she remember the sunscreen? Yep.



Did she remember to put it on? Yep.



Did they go buy an umbrella so she wouldn't have to sit in direct sunlight? Yep.



Did she stay under the shelter of the umbrella? Nope.

Her children were calling for her to get in with them and the allure of that beautiful water was too great for her to ignore.



Did the sunscreen help? Nope.

On day one, she got fried like a chicken. On day two, she got boiled like a lobster. Basically, she got cooked to a crisp!

So, the moral of the story is...

..for Mr. Shell:

1) Maybe it's time to quit smoking.

2) Be sure to empty all of your pockets before getting into the water.



...for Mrs. Shell:

1) You are not a sea turtle, a chicken or a lobster.

2) Wear your sunscreen and take your medicine.

From the Mouths of Babes

They wake up in the mornings and get ready to start their day.

The twelve year old has a bus to catch early in the mornings. The four year old goes into the city with her mom each morning.

Their routine is to warm up the car, fix their drinks for the ride in and grab a breakfast food for the road.

Car warmed, seat belts buckled, they back out of the drive and head towards the city.

She notices that the car doesn't sound right, but it's cold so she dismisses the noise and continues towards the interstate.

On the interstate she notices that it's not steering right. Every slight movement in the steering wheel earns an exaggerated response. Suddenly, there's a bad noise. Something is definitely not right here.

She pulls over to the side of the interstate and gets out to see what the problem is....She walks around and discovers a flat tire. She gets back in the car and calls her husband for help.

While waiting for him to arrive, the four year old begins asking questions about what is going on.

4 y/o: "What was that noise?"
Mom: "We have a flat tire."
4 y/o: "Why is that red light blinking?"
Mom: "Because that makes the flashers work."
4 y/o: "Why?"
Mom: "The flashers blink to let other drivers know that we are having car trouble."

After her series of questions were answered, seemingly satisfied with all of the responses given, she ponderes over all of this new information for a few minutes.

Then, she looks at her mother and says, in all of her four year old wisdom, "Okay, so who's going to save us?"

LOL! I love my children!!

In my twelve years of being a mother, I can not begin to tell you how many times one of my girls has said something, in a moment like this - where no humor can be found, something so profound that it completely changes the entire tone of the situation.

Saturday's Are Mine!

Last weekend as I got ready to head out for my weekend ritual of going to the Movies with Mom - and sometimes other friends - my oldest daughter looked at me and said, "Why don't you ever spend the day with us on Saturday's?"

"Because I spend the day with mom on Saturday's." I tell her while trying to stamp out the guilt that comment was trying to cause. "I am with you every day during the week and we're all together on Sunday's too. Saturday's are mine." I add, hoping that will appease her.

"I know" she says in her most dramatic, guilt laden tone "but that's not a Saturday"

I'm not sure the relevance of why she feels it would be different to spend the day together on Saturday as apposed to Sunday but can I just tell you how much of a punch in the gut that statement was for me?? even as I continued on my way out the door to go see our Saturday movie...

Okay, now I realize that, at this point, it's not sounding like I'm going to win any sort of Mom of the Year award but, before you start throwing your rotten fruit at me, please keep in mind that she didn't earn her nickname of the "Drama Queen" for no reason.

Little did she know... a Saturday spent together was already in the cards for us, coming up the very next weekend.

This past Saturday was the annual 5K walk for JDRF. I was nominated as the cheerleader team captain for my department at work and, as such, I felt a responsibility to also attend.

It was for a great cause and there was going to be fun and games for the kids, add that together with good music, free food and beautiful weather - not to mention the cute work husband who nominated you, with his pretty blue eyes, and who would also be attending said function - and there really wasn't any good excuse why we shouldn't go...

First stop was to the food court for some breakfast type food before beginning our day of fun.

Afterwards, we headed over to the face painting area where my little stinker proceeded to tell them exactly what she wanted, just as she had informed me the night before when she came into my room and said, "I'm going to get a flower on this hand - pointing to her left hand, and a butterfly on this hand - pointing to her right, and a car right here - pointing to her cheek"

Have I mentioned that she is very strong willed??

They had a grand time playing in and on all of the inflatables!

The one that seemed to be the stinkers favorite was the one where you climb up a huge ladder, only to reach the top, bounce a couple of times, and slide down a giant slide - although, there was a time when I thought I was going to have to climb inside the whales mouth to retrieve them before they finally slid back out his 'other end' - but for the most part, the gigantic slide was her favorite. She would climb up that ladder, slide down that slide and run right back in line to do it all over again.

After hours of sliding, jumping, climbing and bouncing it was time for lunch. She didn't want to stop to eat but, after much talking and a promise that she could go back and play again once she had eaten a little something, I somehow managed to convince her that she was indeed hungry.

While they went back to the inflatables, one last time before we headed back home, I stayed in our company tent to see if any of our raffle tickets might be called. He called one of our numbers and up to the table I went, where I quickly chose the Disney Princess kick ball that I had been eying.

On the way out of the park, we played a quick game of kick the ball and chase it around. OH how they LOVED that!!

We would have played longer but momma's not as young - or in shape - as she used to be and her lungs quickly reminded her of that little fact.

As we headed towards our car, the drama queen kept kicking the ball and the little stinker decided to throw a bit of a fit, because DQ had HER ball and she couldn't catch up to her.

Others were watching this melt down with interest, curious to see how the momma was going to handle this little situation before it got too out of hand. But all the momma did was focus on her breathing, as she kept on walking towards the safety of her car, while struggling to catch her breath, lest she embarrass herself by passing out in the middle of the field, right in front of her work husband, who had probably - unknown to her - witnessed the short game of kick ball she played with her children.

They drove home, happy after their Saturday spent together, and the mother went to her room where she collapsed on her bed and took a much needed nap.

And THAT, my friends, is why I spend Saturday's at the Movies with Mom.

The Battle of The Buds

You may remember the time that we all sat down for a family meal that my eleven year old cooked.

The Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo dinner that will live on in history forever. Never to be forgotten.

Well, the next time she made us Fettuccine Alfredo we all gathered around the kitchen table as we prepared to enjoy our meal, without any extra seasoning.

She must not have recognized it without the extra spices because as she took her first bite she remarked how, "This doesn't taste right."

Taking a sample bite, "It tastes fine to me." I tell her, "You didn't put anything 'extra' in it did you?"

"No ma'am." she says and takes another bite. "Well, it tastes funny to me. Maybe I should try putting it on a different taste bud."

Ah yes, a different taste bud. Maybe that will help. HA!

I guess Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo will always continue to be a source of entertainment around our dinner table.

A Family Meal

I have an eleven year old who loves to cook.

This works out perfectly for me because I hate to cook; so I have no qualms letting her cook our dinner each night.

Well, that’s not exactly true…..I may have one or two complaints: the first being that she always makes a huge mess and never cleans it up.

She loves to cook but hates to clean – not a good combination.

I’m not talking about a little dribble over the pan, or a splatter here and there; I’m talking about an explosion! Sauce everywhere - all over the edge of the pan, all over the stove, covering the entire spoon, on the walls, etc.

How does one get sauce on the walls anyway??

When I asked her this exact question, she said it was from ‘tapping’ the spoon against the edge of the pan.

Really?? I know I’m not much of a cooker but when I do cook I often tap my spoon against the pan and I’ve never managed to get sauce all over the walls like this……She must have the strength of Godzilla.

She also often ‘forgets’ to put ingredients back where she got them from; that is unless she isn’t supposed to be using them – like the spices.

I have told her, on numerous occasions, that there is no need for her to be seasoning the food. It’s usually already pre-seasoned and if it does need seasoning I want to help her with that, to ensure she doesn’t use too much.

Have I mentioned that I’m an extremely picky eater??

I love that she loves to cook. I love to let her cook because that means I won’t have to do it. I can even deal with the messes – a little bit. But I can not eat food that doesn’t taste good or has too much of something in it – like salt. BLECH!!

Last night she cooked Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo. I know it sounds impressive but it’s really no big deal. It’s a pre-packaged, pre-seasoned meal (Hamburger Helper or in this case Chicken Helper).

All you do is heat up the chicken, add water to the noodles and sauce, then mix them together; simple, right??? I even bought pre-cooked, pre-cut chicken.

8:00 pm – “Dinner is served.” She announces from the kitchen.

We are all sitting around the dinner table, eating this meal that my little chef has prepared for us and, after a couple of bites, I notice that it has a sweet taste to it so I casually ask, “What did you season this with?”

“Nothing.” She tells me, knowing that she isn’t supposed to be putting extra seasonings in our food without my assistance.

“Yes you did. It has a sweet taste to it. Chicken Alfredo isn’t supposed to taste sweet.” I explain as I catch a whiff of something familiar. I lift a spoon-full up to my bloodhound nose **sniff-sniff** Yep! I now know exactly what the ‘extra’ ingredient is and so I ask her again what she seasoned it with.

“I only used pepper” she tells me.

Looking at the little brown specks in the meal I tell her, “This isn’t pepper. I don’t see any pepper in here. Go get the pepper that you used and show it to me.”

She walks over to the stove and brings back our pepper grinder. I open it to see if someone accidentally put something besides pepper in there but it was empty. I show her that it’s empty and I twist it a little to see what – if anything – comes out. Sure enough, a couple of pepper crumbs fall into my hand. I show them to her, letting her see that nothing like that is present in the chicken.

She then tells me that she used a little season salt.

“Are you sure it was season salt? It doesn’t taste like season salt, it tastes sweet. Go get everything that you used and show me.”

She goes back to the cabinet and brings me the season salt. She will not admit that she may have messed up and put something else – something that she thought was season salt but it really wasn’t – into the meal.

I have been discussing these types of ‘fibs’ with her since she was old enough to talk. I can not tell you how many times, throughout her eleven short years, she has gotten herself into trouble by telling a lie that wasn’t even necessary.

Lies are not good – no matter the reason behind them. I can.not.stand. a liar! (That’s one of my ‘hot’ buttons) And the ones this child tells are just plain stupid.

I’m not fussing at her. I’m not even mad. I know that she messed up. I know that it was an accident. I just want her to admit it.

I explain all of these things to her as I walk over to the spice cabinet and pull out the one that I know she used, I show her the container and I tell/ask her directly, “Isn’t this the one you used?”

“Yes ma’am”

FINALLY!

“Okay, why didn’t you just say that or admit it when I first asked? We are all human. We all make mistakes from time to time. It’s okay to make mistakes but you will never learn from your mistakes if you won’t even admit to making them.” I explain to her, for the umpteenth time, and I sit back down at the table and we finish our Chicken Fettuccini Cinnamon Alfredo.

Paper or Plastic?

The family and I took our weekly trip to the grocery yesterday evening and as the cashier asked if I preferred Paper or Plastic, I was reminded of a recent conversation that Mom and I had about an article she read on Paper vs. Plastic. Did you know that it takes a paper bag many, many years to disintegrate and that plastic does not compost and will stay in tact for thousands of years?!?!? Did you also know that a paper bag, if packed properly, can hold the same amount of items as four plastic bags?!?!?

Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I am “pro-paper” or “pro-plastic” because there are many sides to this debate and both sides have some valid points. This is a family blog, not a debate forum for paper vs. plastic, and I made what I considered to be the most echo friendly choice with the facts I had at the time.

So, I think about the question and our conversation, then I quietly respond (as if there is a wrong answer) “paper please”. I guess they are not used to that response, because I had to repeat myself twice – then she had to repeat it again to the sacker. Maybe there really was a wrong answer and I lost points for saying paper?!?!? Do you loose cool points if you want paper instead of plastic?? Hmm….something for me to check into…would hate to be loosing cool points. Ha!

Although my logic isn’t the same as others in the question of paper vs. plastic, this grocery trip has given me a few more reasons to feel good about my decision for requesting paper:

The paper bags were much easier to fit in the trunk of the car, they don’t slide all over the place and items don’t fall out whenever you turn a corner (as a side note, I will admit that the paper bags aren’t as easy to bring into the house as the plastic ones), and last but not least Drake and Spice had so much fun playing with the empty bags - and it’s actually safe for them to play with the paper bags.

Drake ran in the kitchen, grabbed a bag and took off to tear it up, just incase someone may have wanted to stop him. Maybe I should have stopped him but my thinking is this: If a paper bag keeps him from chewing on my furniture, our shoes, their toys, our clothes, or our arms and legs then let him chew the bag… Go for it! It’s not hurting anything and the mess can be picked up.

Spice found two small sized paper bags and created herself some boots. She’s so entertaining!

So there you have yet another side to this ongoing debate…

What decision will you make the next time you’re asked the inevitable question? Will it be an informed choice? Will it be the best ecological choice? OR Will it be a choice based on family entertainment?