Breathing room

Yesterday was my birthday, so I gave myself a bit of a blogging break last night. I decided to just cobble together a few things that had tickled my fancy recently rather than write something new. This was made easier by the fact that I haven't taken any pictures since we went to Alabama Adventure over the weekend, so there were no captions just waiting to be written.

While I'm thinking about it, do you guys like all the birthday greetings you get on Facebook? I love being reminded of how many people love me, but my phone was chiming ALL DAY yesterday with more than 100 notifications from Facebook from well-wishers. The funniest thing is, some of the people who took the time to wish me a happy birthday, I didn't even remember I was friends with on Facebook. That is largely because I have "hidden" about 50 people because they update their statuses like every 75 seconds and I found it annoying.

ANYWAY.

I love this:

And this makes me laugh, because my boys would have it if they could (but it's not Emily A. Clark-approved):

I'm a huge fan of Chicago, and I think this picture (from twenty-two words) is just amazing:

And these all remind me of growing up. I love that Sugar Belle.

See you when I decide I have something new to talk about!

An Alabama Adventure

About 20 minutes from our house is a waterpark/amusement park named Alabama Adventure. The kids can't WAIT for it to open every year, and we usually set aside some funds for season passes because we go as often as we can.

I was slightly apprehensive about going last Saturday, because 1) I am woefully large these days; 2) it is woefully hot here, already; and 3) I am woefully short on energy right now, especially when it comes to tracking three small children through a large waterpark.

NONETHELESS.

I say "No" to a lot of things these days (most notably, last night when Nicholas asked me to come upstairs for the third time after bedtime and I said "No" because I was tired of the stairs. Just the stairs, Internet.) So I really wanted to say "Yes" to the waterpark if at all possible.

It was hard to get the boys to stand still for a picture in front of the Lazy River, but they acquiesced.

OMG, pardon the hair, but I had to share this picture of me and Jake. We were preparing to float the Lazy River, and he didn't want to be in the water, didn't want to be carried, but just wanted to float. While he looks uncomfortable, that's just because the sun was directly over his eyes. BELIEVE YOU ME, that kid was in hog heaven.

We were on the River for a total of about 45 minutes throughout the day, and every time he hopped on that float the exact same way and nestled into me, then closed his eyes and relaxed like a slug. A slug in a Lightning McQueen swimsuit.

I'm a big water slide person, but they won't let you ride any of them if you're pregnant. So I spent most of my time floating with Jake or watching him play in the little kids' area. I have to say, the Lazy River isn't at all a bad place to spend some time.

In between water slides, Nicholas, Nathaniel and Grayson came to join us.

When you get to a certain point on the River, you go into a tunnel that terminates at a waterfall. You can see Nathaniel and Nick heading straight for it in this shot.

If it were a nice mist, I'd be happy to go under it. But no. It's a migraine-inducing shock of heavy water that pounds your head. Not my thing. I stay to the left.

When you come back out the other side, it's back to the Lazy part.

When we weren't on the Lazy River, Jake was climbing up into the kids' slides about 100 times each and sliding down them.

Once he climbed up the green tube, he had a choice to make: yellow or orange slide down. Nine times out of 10, he chose orange.

And according to him, orange was "the funnest."

It took a while to convince him to do the larger of the little kids' slides, but once he started, it was non-stop "Again! Again!"

Nathaniel went down beside him several times.

But he was willing to go by himself once he got comfortable ... which was good, because he'd done it 100 times last summer, when he was only 2. I would have hated to have to come home and point out to him in pictures that he was too scared to do something he did last year with no trouble.

Nicholas, of course, spent much of his time on the "baby slide" trying to figure out how to give himself a "turbo boost," which included sweeping water forward as he slid down to give him more power.

I was very proud of myself for making it for SIX HOURS before needing to go home, lest I die. No one wants to die at a waterpark. Neveryoumind that I came home and slept for the following, oh, 14 hours.

Railroad Park, our second home

I know you are going to be shocked -- absolutely SHOCKED -- to hear that we went back to Railroad Park recently. If our kids knew how to cook and weren't so curious about what having a baby sister is going to be like, I think they'd just leave us behind and move downtown to a loft so they could go to Railroad Park whenever they wanted to.

And while I realize that these pictures are going to look recycled, because you've seen some almost exactly like them several times before, I am here to tell you: a lot of our LIFE feels recycled.

Do you ever feel that way? Like you do the same things over again, with minor variations, to the point where it all blends together in a way?

I mean, how many times can you skateboard over the same ramp on a 94-degree day?

Apparently the answer to that question is "THOUSANDS."

And how many times can you happily throw rocks off a ledge while your brothers are skateboarding?

Also roughly THOUSANDS, although only about 2,499 of those without whining. Still, you've gotta give him credit. He gets the short end of the Planned Activity Stick a good portion of the time, and keeps a smile on his face for most of it.

Nick seems to be our more naturally gifted skateboarder at the moment -- or perhaps he's just the one who's more willing to endure the bumps and scrapes that come with experimentation than Nathaniel is. (That's most likely the case.)

So Nathaniel now enjoys taking his bike to Railroad and attempting the ramps on his bike.

I tried to get Nick to switch to his bike for a while, but no dice.

The response was more along the lines of, "NO. AND TAKE A PICTURE OF ME DOING THIS COOL THING ON MY SKATEBOARD."

Which was fine. So we watched him on the skateboard and Nathaniel on the bike for at least an hour.

Quite frankly, when I was their age, I would have wanted to do the same thing for hours on end, so it was hard to argue with them. Even though I WAS roasting like a pregnant rotisserie chicken. It was made slightly more bearable by the view out over the park ... the day was slightly overcast, but it's still a beautiful place to spend a day.

At one point, we tried to convince Nathaniel to try this big ramp (which, if I had a bike and wasn't pregnant, I would have tried in a hot second), and he got to the top but then refused to go down.

I would never have encouraged him to do it if I weren't confident in his biking skills, but I also don't believe in forcing him to do it just because I know he can. If he HAD fallen off, he would have been mad at me, not at himself. Best to leave it for another day.

Eventually we moved across the street to the park proper, where the boys both decided to try the Bike Bowls. They'd tried them on their skateboards before and had fallen off, but they fared much better on their bikes.

It was so much fun to see them fly down into the bowls and back up the other side!

I was so proud of Nathaniel because he actually tried it first, with no prodding from me, and he got it on the very first time. Then he absolutely couldn't be stopped.

Once he saw Nathaniel do it, Nicholas couldn't be held back.

He sped down into the bowl like Mighty Mouse on a bike and pedaled furiously to the other side.

It's deeper than it looks in these pictures ... it's about five feet deep and the edges go almost straight down. But they were champs!

Despite the heat, we stayed well-hydrated and had a great time ... I'm sure it won't be long until we're there again. Can't believe this Fall we'll have a baby girl in tow!

Quote of the weekend

Last night we went to see Fast Five, the Vin Diesel/Paul Walker movie. When we got home, I asked our sitter Anna how everything went.

She said, "Everything was great."  [pause]  "I'm pretty sure your children weren't raptured, but to be honest, I haven't been back up to check."

Uncomfortable truths, vol. 14

1. Does anyone else cross their fingers and yell “GO! GO! GO!” when the layers of wood scaffolding start to collapse on a particularly difficult level of Angry Birds? No? Oh.

2. There is no handicapped stall in our bathroom at work. And I’ve gotten to the size and shape at which I can’t go in a stall and close the door without my left leg touching the toilet bowl. It gives me the heebie-jeebies.

3. Related: Our shower door is roughly as wide as I am now. It will not be long (days?) before I will have to start showering in the boys’ bathroom, because they have a tub with a curtain. REMINDER: I am only 21 weeks along. Am I going to have to be airlifted out of my house when it’s time to go to the hospital? I DON’T WANT TO BE ON THE NEWS.

4. I got on Pinterest this week. Because in all that free time I have, I need another outlet for my obsession with home decor. I won't even TELL you how many things I've pinned already. Heavens to Betsy ... instead of maternity leave, I'm going to need decorating leave.

5. The fact that I'm making a Number 5 where no Number 5 should exist is an uncomfortable truth in itself. I simply cannot end this on the even number of 4. That should tell you a lot of embarrassing things about my personality.

What a way to end the season!

I didn't write much about this baseball season, but REST ASSURED, we were out at the ballpark four to six evenings a week all Spring long.

Nathaniel really grew as a player this year, as did the other boys on his team, and it paid off in the form of making it to the 8-year-old championship game last Saturday!

At the beginning of the game, the team lined up facing the bleachers while the players' names were announced. (That's Nathaniel on the far right.)

We were definitely a proud quartet sitting in the stands as Nathaniel's name was bellowed over the PA system.

What you just saw there were lips that had been assaulted by the deadly combination of blue Powerade and a red Ringpop.

It was not as visible in his profile, which I think we can all agree is the cutest profile Of All Time.

Showing off the Ringpop:

Several times during the game, Coach Mike gathered the team for a pep-talk. Although we were ahead from the second inning on, he wanted to keep the boys pumped up. (We've been known to give up huge leads in our time.)

A quick peek into the dugout, where Nathaniel was helmeted up, awaiting his turn to bat ... but totally engaged in what was happening on the field at the time.

Nathaniel batted in every inning and got a hit every time but once, I think.

He played a great game. 

We have the most supportive, vocal parents (Grayson would call them "crazy") of any team I've experienced. They love the game, and they love to cheer. Loudly.

This game in particular wasn't a nailbiter, as we were ahead by several runs going into the sixth (and last) inning. But it was SO exciting (if I weren't a huge opponent of over-formatting, I'd add lots of Os, bold, italicize and underline that word!) to get to the last out and see the boys totally freak out over the end result.

BRAVES WIN! BRAVES WIN! BRAVES WIN!

There was much rejoicing!

The boys were positively euphoric, and it was adorable.

There were high-fives and pile-ups.

And hugs from proud siblings. OH MY THE HUGS.

Jake understood that it was the last game of the season, and even though he didn't understand what "championship" meant, he knew it was Big.

He shared in Nathaniel's joy so completely ... I was beyond touched.

Before the boys congratulated the opposing team (who were great sports, by the way), Coach Mike pulled them together for a congratulatory speech.

Of course we had to grab the obligatory team picture near home plate ...

And then Coach asked for one at the scoreboard.

As if THAT weren't enough excitement, our team party immediately followed the game. Our team mom got a cute cookie cake to help celebrate.

Did I mention that it was unseasonably cold on Saturday? WELL IT WAS. The high was about 73, but the low was in the 40s. It hovered somewhere in the high 50s while we were having our POOL PARTY, so the water and air were plenty chilly.

Did all the kids get in the water? Oh yes they did. Did their lips all turn blue and did their teeth chatter? Oh yes they did. And they couldn't have been happier.

Here is a picture of my frozen child as he accepted his trophy:

I'm so proud of Nathaniel and all of the other Braves for a terrific season. GO BRAVES!