Party of Five (Under Five)

The other night I arranged for a play date with Megan and Braden who are brother and sister. Megan is Luke's little girlfriend from school and Braden is in Grayson's class so it works out perfectly. Just as our evening was getting started the boys spotted Caitlin from across the street and wanted her to join us as well so I had 5 under 5! Whew! I've decided that 3 is easy, 4 is manageable, and 5 is crazy. God bless Kate Gosselin. No wonder she lost her mind. The kids were really very, very good but I swear I kept thinking I might lose one and just kept counting them over and over again while we were outside!

So where, you ask, is the fifth one?
Caitlin decided to provide the entertainment!

Busch Gardens

Last weekend we experienced our first ever family trip to an amusement park. We made use of Mom's timeshare in Williamsburg and ventured to Busch Gardens by way of Amherst to pick up my Mom. The boys did remarkably well on the drive down and, really, overall were very good. This was a good pre-test for our trip to Disney in the fall!

The obligatory family picture. Sesame Street Forest of Fun is new at Busch Gardens and is fantastic for the ages my boys are now. Plus - they were running a special and the boys were free so you really can't beat that!

Grayson wanted to ride "Prince Elmo's Spire" first, heretofore referred to as "Elmo's Tower."

So - we honored his request. I wasn't sure how he was going to respond, but it turns out he loves rides!

So then Luke decided he wanted to go. But only after Grayson tested it out first. So Steve got to stand in line the second time. Luke looked so small but, according to Steve, giggled and smiled the entire ride!

Next we all rode Oscar's Whirly Worms. Pretty fun, but the boys were less than impressed.

So on we went to bigger and better. Have no idea what the name of the coaster was, but it's the kids' coast you can see in the background. Pretty decent size coaster for a kids' ride. Long line. But both boys rode and had a blast.

There are time when a contraption like this could come in handy at home!

The boys enjoyed "hang gliding."

And, of course, a snack was necessary.

This was Luke's favorite thing - the little Sesame Street character show where he got to see Abby.

Grayson so excited that his Nana was with him!

Back at the timeshare we made use of the indoor pool. Luke must have jumped 50 times!

And Grayson made good use of our hot tub in the condo!

On our last day there we went to D.O.G. Street the the colonial area for lunch at The Cheese Shoppe. Previously always a favorite, it's going to be a long, long, long time before I brave waiting in line in that place again. It's no longer the quaint little known sandwich shop in the corner I enjoyed as a student. Now don't get me wrong - the house dressing is still fabulous. But not fabulous enough to endure an hour long wait crammed like sardines with 400 strangers. After the sandwiches I decided to treat the boys with a visit to the Wythe Candy Store. Thousands of choices, but both boys only wanted a lollipop. Grayson chose the biggest he could find. Luke chose a small purple one.

And he fell asleep with it on the way home. It was hilarious, he kept licking it in his sleep!

And, best part of all....I actually watched Grayson EAT at a restaurant on the way home!!! He ate more than I have ever seen him consume. He ate a full half (maybe more) of an adult sized hamburger, mac and cheese, corn, mashed potatoes, and some ice cream. He still refused to try a french fry but I wasn't complaining - we had definitely made progress. Apparently the Rawlings family will now become regulars at Country Cookin'.

ER Visit #2

And so the count continues...My Mom had come into town to keep the boys while Steve and I were supposed to go to Indiana for a surprise birthday party for Steve's cousin, Ron. The night before we were supposed to leave, I hear Luke gasping for breath about the time I decided to head to bed. I was sure it was croup, but he sounded really, really, really bad. He's had croup twice before but this was way worse. So for the first time ever, we took him to the ER in the middle of the night. Of course, as it goes with croup, he sounded much better once we got there but they did treat him for severe croup. And, contrary to what I believed, they actually can treat croup. He got some injectable steroids that they gave directly in his mouth and then a breathing treatment. He was instantly better. They sent us home with more steroids and he had no more problems! Needless to say, Steve and I didn't make the trip to Indiana the next day.

So the funny part of this is that Luke remembered when we had to take Grayson to the ER the month before. When we pulled into the hospital parking lot he called it "Grayson's doctor." And he thought he was hot stuff being the one on that hospital bed! He was actually smiling when they put the mask on his face for the breathing treatment.

Time to Retire Crib????

What can I say? Luke may be huge for his age, but he's still my baby. He loves for me to hold him, loves to snuggle, loves his Nuks, and still loves his crib. Folks say that when they start climbing out of the crib then it's time to move them to a bed. Luke has never climbed out of his crib. But the other morning when I was taking my time getting into his room after I heard him awake, I walk in to find this....


And, in case you're wondering, in the corner I also found my four year old who announced "see, I moved the stool into his bed so he could use it to get out all by himself." Ever the helpful big brother.