So tired

This is Torii. Five minutes before falling asleep like this, he was in the bathroom throwing up. Before you say poor thing, you must know why he was throwing up. Shortly after supper (and on one of those rare days that he ate really good) Torii threw one of his world famous temper tantrums. Fred cannot stand this, but when the kids throw tantrums, that no amount of reasoning will solve, I just ignore them until they are done. Tonight was one of those nights. Torii screamed and wiggled on the floor a good fifteen minutes. When he was finally done he said he was hot. His hair still looks wet with sweat in the picture. Then he went in the kitchen for a drink of water and 10 seconds later was in the bathroom disposing of his supper. After he got cleaned up he went into the living room, put his head on the stool and promptly fell asleep.

It's all happening at the zoo

Today the kids and I went to the zoo. I really like our zoo except for one thing. The playground. There is no way to avoid it. You can call me crazy, but when I go to the zoo, I like to see animals. When I tell my kids we are going to the zoo, they ask if they can go to the playground. And there's nothing special about this playground. It's the run of the mill, standard playground. I just think it would have made more sense to have the playground at the back of the zoo. Even somewhere in the middle. As it is now, it's one of the first things you see as you enter the zoo. If it was someplace else, we might actually get to see some animals on the way to the playground. On the way to the zoo I did build the excitement for the otters so that was the first thing they wanted to see. I thought I was in the clear, but after the monkeys and the bears, the boys started begging for the playground. Maybe next time I'll get to see some animals. I mean besides my kids.

But I just got up!

Rion fell asleep early tonight because he stayed up so late last night. Usually when he falls asleep early he's down for the night. Just as I was getting Torii ready for his bath, Rion woke up. I asked him if he wanted to go in the bath too. "Why," he asked. "It's time for bed," I said. He looked up at me with sad eyes and whined, "Again?"

Explosions

I wasn't going to buy any fireworks this year, thinking the boys are still too young for that sort of thing. I don't know what I was thinking. Of course they would like fireworks. It's something you light on fire, makes a loud noise and explodes. Auntie Vicki gave the boys some money for fireworks so we picked some up yesterday. We got a variety of things. I haven't bought fireworks in so long I didn't really know what to get. I did get four boxes of snaps, which were a big hit. At first I held the snaps in my hand, but then the boys started grabbing at the snaps so fast they made me nervous. I thought they were going to explode them all in the palm of my hand. The other big hit was the parachutes. The wind was perfect. I lit them on the road and then the parachutes floated into the yard and the boys chased them until they landed. We had a few night fireworks which the boys also liked. Next year I will have to get a bunch more. They were disappointed that we didn't have any more to shoot off.

Quiet

I work in an office that doesn't get a lot of foot traffic. I used to turn on the radio because it gets so quiet. Lately, however, I haven't turned on the radio. And it is really nice. It is so quiet. Today I could hear birds chirping outside. At home, the TV is always on, the computer is usually on, and the kids are yelling. It drives me nuts. It's so nice to be at work and be able to hear my own thoughts. Some people don't know how I can stand the quiet all day, but with three kids at home, it's easy.

Shop til mommy drops

The other day I had to go shopping with all three kids. I love the Wal-Mart Supercenter because I can get just about anything there in one stop. We did have to go there, but first we had to go to Target. I had to pick up one thing that was only available there and I had to get it that day. I love Target, but don't go there very often anymore. The new location is so stupid. The parking lot is such a mess, that I find I don't go there just to avoid having to drive through that lot. Target is in the mall, but I can't remember the last time I went shopping at the mall either. So we went to Target, got my item and left. Torii was extra grouchy that day and was mad that we weren't getting a cookie at Target. Torii likes to shop with me and when it's just the two of us, we get a cookie there. As we were leaving Target, Rion spotted the big red balls they have in front of the store. Most people see the red balls as a decorative piece, but my boys see something to climb on. Rion ran towards it, giving me a near heart attack as I watched him run towards the street. He dove on top of the ball as I then pictured him falling off and cracking his head on the cement. I should have just gave up on the Wal-Mart trip and ordered pizza for supper. Happily, they were pretty good at Wal-Mart. Cordelia, who should fuss the most on shopping trips, is always the best behaved. While getting groceries, she let out a happy shriek. Until then I had forgotten she was even with.

Don't embarrass me

Usually I am in the office at work, but today I was on the front lines. A lot of people came in, it was so busy. One group of tourists consisted of a grandpa and grandma and a couple of their grandchildren. As I greeted them, the grandpa said, "where's the liquor store?" I knew he was joking so I played along. At one point I looked back and the granddaughter was looking so embarrassed. She must have been about 13 years old and she had a look like she wanted to get away. This grandpa reminded me of my own grandpa and the things he would say to "embarrass" us. Looking back, of course, it wasn't that bad, but at the time it was mortifying. Now we smile and laugh at the good memories that once were so embarrassing. I wonder what things my kids will find embarrassing about their parents and grandparents?