Sasha Goes to Sea World

Mom and I decided to take a road trip to San Antonio. I know you can't believe that we signed up for another car ride but we we wanted to take Sasha to Sea World and the San Antonio Zoo.

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I have to tell you that Sea World is one of my favorate places to go. I think if I could go back, I would become an aquatic animal trainer. There's something thrilling about being around dolphins, sea lions, killer whales and the like. They are so magnificent.

We decided to make sure that we saw Shamu who only does shows a couple times a day. He's a big star so I can understand why he's only contractually obligated to work for a couple of hours.

Wow ... what amazing creatures the killer whales are. Gorgeous ... gorgeous.

Sasha really enjoyed the show. We had taken him to see dolphins before but he didn't really like it unless the dolphins were in the air. With the Shamus, he could see them better (they are BIG!) so he enjoyed the whole show. Oh .. and did I mention that Baba bought a big bag of popcorn for him to eat? I thought he was going to have the whole bag finished before the Shamus ever entered the arena!

And, of course, the day wouldn't have been complete without sampling the Shamu Sundae which Sasha thought was mighty tasty.

We finished the day in the gift shop. I felt certain that perhaps I could find 'backup Beans' here. Obviously we needed a backup Bean. What would we do if we couldn't find Bean one day? There had to be a way to minimize the tears when Bean needed (usually desparately needed) a bath. And, sure enough, we found a huge bin of 'Beans'. I picked up two of them, a Shamu that is as big as Sasha and a little Shamu that plays music. We were set. How smart I thought I was to purchase these backup beans. This ways we could always have one while the other ones are being washed. Oh, so smart.

Sasha immediately liked Shamu. Big "Nu" had to sleep with him and I put one of the new, better than before, less smelly "Beans" next to him. I went to retrieve his diaper bag. He quickly scurried off his bed and presented me with new "Bean". "Hi, Bean", I greeted. "Where blue Bean", he asked. You have to be kidding me!! He knows that this new, fresh Bean isn't his beloved blue Bean. And I thought I was so smart.

We had dinner with my cousin, Jason, which is always a treat. The next day, we packed up the car and headed to the San Antonio Zoo. Good times, good times!

Roadtrip to Texas

Yes, ROAD TRIP. Lord, what were we thinkin'? Close your eyes and picture this ... a new Red (although it's more rust than red) Jeep Commander, Tamara driving, Baba in the front passenger seat, Sasha in a car seat behind Tamara with suitcases and bags piled up next to him and ... two Boxers in the third row. Yes, it's quite a picture isn't it?

I've been planning to get to Texas for a visit for a while now and just haven't been able to work it in. We decided to drive due to Nathan travel schedule and not wanting the four-legged babiess to have to be in the kennel any more than necessary (expensive, they always come back in worse shape than they arrived, etc.). So, Baba flew up to Chicago on Friday and we departed early Saturday morning.

A couple of things about going somewhere for a month ... first, when you tell people about your trip they think that you're crazy. A month trip involves either trying to take enough stuff for a month or deciding that you can wash often and take a minimal amount of stuff (I chose the latter). Yes, there is a third option that is to just bring a credit card and buy anything you need but we're not in the right socioeconomic strata yet for that and malls are just not prevalent in Cat Spring, Texas. So, in one suitcase, I managed to pack all of Sasha and my clothes. Impressive really. A month long trip also requires a higher level of organization than a normal trip. First, you need a list or lists as the case may be to make sure you've got all the essentials. With a toddler and two dogs, this list is very broad and many times unrelated. You also need to be a packing wizard. You need to have a plan on what items can stay stowed until the destination and which items you'll need at rest areas and the hotel.

Our first day was a short day (lesson learned: make the second day the shortest day) of about 9 hours. We stayed in a little town called Hayti. Now, Mom assures me that they named this town because they grow some hay and thought it would be a clever play on Haiti. Hmmm ... after trying to order pizza from one of the locals, I'm not sure that's the case.

The hotel. First, the manager / owner was the nicest man and the rate was $79. That being said, the room seemed to have some design challenges. The bathroom was interesting. The door would scrape the toilet as it closed. The toilet lid would scrape the toilet paper as you were opening or closing the lid. If the toilet had been moved towards the shower six inches, this wouldn't have been a challenge but alas. The shower (which didn't look clean and made me glad I had brought my flip flops) didn't drain so at some point you were standing in a foot of soapy water.

The room had two full size beds and a crib. We decided to just all go to bed at 7:30 p.m. so that Sasha would go to sleep. Snickers curled up next to me on my bed where she continued to get closer until I reached a boiling point. Blake roamed the room and finally at 2:30 a.m. decided to come up on my bed. He's not a good sleeping friend, and I say this with a lot of love, as he started trying to give me a bath (obviously sensing that standing in dirty water hadn't gotten me as clean as I needed to be). He then decided that laying on me would be a good idea (70 pounds of boxer laying on you is not very comfortable even if you get little smoochies every once in a while). And, he wrapped up the morning by laying on the pillow next to mine and breathing on my shoulder. All very relaxing let me tell you.

We headed out the next day for what I think may be one of the longest days of my life. In Texarkana, I announced that this wasn't too bad to drive. I had spoken too soon. Mom had purchased a map in Arkansas and they gave the driving times from Texarkana to Houston as 5.3 hours. Mom assured me that it wasn't that long - the map must be wrong. I will tell you that the map was indeed wrong. It underestimated the drive time by a couple of hours. I will also tell you that after driving two full days with a circus on wheels, the drive from Dallas to Cat Spring is intolerably long. I think I was 'done' just outside of Dallas. Sasha burst into tears yelling 'bed, bed' just outside of Bryan when he woke up and discovered that he was still sitting in car seat. Obviously we were fools for keeping him in his seat and not providing him a bed to sleep in. He then started saying 'Baba's house' as if it were a magical mythical place like Camelot that perhaps didn't exist.

And, the best part ... we get to do this again at the end of the month. Pray for us.

Happy Halloween!

As a mother of a toddler, there are certain 'dress' moments in the year that you feel define your reign as "Mama". These are the times when you feel the neighborhood, relatives and the like watch to see what your child is wearing and judge your mama skills based on the outfit. During a normal year, since we don't have any impending high school graduation or prom, these days for us are Sasha's birthday, Easter, Fourth of July (afterall, Sasha became a citizen the HARD way - maybe not hard on him but certainly hard on Baba and I!), Halloween, Christmas picture day and Christmas.

Last year for Halloween, Sasha was a lion. Our costume was purchased at Old Navy and it defined my new motherhood status well. It was a full body, zip up costume made of fleece so it was very warm. As a new mother, that's what I was concerned with - the cold, October night where my new son would catch his first, horrible illness.

This year, the costume choice was easy. Sasha, who prior to this completely ignored anything soft and glowing, has decided that he loves Little Einsteins. The boy could sit for HOURS and watch the same episodes over and over (he is typically limited to one hour of television a day so don't actually let him sit for hours). For you non-enthusiasts, Little Einsteins is a Disney show. It features a classical piece as the music of the day and a piece of artwork. The Little Einsteins travel to exotic locales (many of which we have visited surprisingly enough) and solve missions. The team consists of Annie who loves to sing, her brother, Leo, who loves to conduct (or as Godfather Bryan describes is 'management'), June who loves to dance and Quincy who can play any instrument. The team is very culturally diverse. I think Sasha has a little crush on June. The team travels on Rocket to their next adventure and there are a myriad of tricks that you have to do to get Rocket to go, go fast, blast off, etc.

So, Sasha was Rocket this year. The costume was plush red material with the Little Einsteins on board and ready for their next mission. It even lit up when you pressed a button. Sasha was delighted! Another thing Mommies are judged on is how many other children dressed like your child (this doesn't test the quality of your Mommyhood just the creativity). I'm pleased to tell you that I saw no other child dressed as Rocket and many parents gave Sasha extra candy because they thought his costume was so cute.

You may be thinking (and wrongly I might add) that I somehow made this costume. I promise that one year I will make a costume but this wasn't the year. I found this little gem on the online Disney Store. Too cute. And, I think we're going to suspend it from the ceiling in Sasha's room so he can continue to give June little smoochies as he passes (yes, Sasha actually bends over and gives June a little smooch every time he passes this costume). Is this Sasha's first crush???

I will add photos later as I'm in Texas at the moment and my photos are at home.