Soccer in Slovakia

Today Jammy and Macho went to a soccer game in Slovakia, but here it's called football!

pApa's village's team traveled to another village to play the other village's team.  The other village had stands for spectators to sit, but Jammy and Macho weren't allowed to sit there because they were cheering for the wrong team.  They had to go across the field to sit in the Visitor's section.  Behind the Visitor's section was a broken fence, and beyond the fence was a big wild field full of NETTLES.  Macho crawled into the nettles, face-first, two times before he decided he would feel safer sitting with Mom.

Tikki-Takki, Tikki-Takki!

Watching TV

Jammy and Macho could not agree about which one of them was going to sit in the laundry basket while they were watching Hungarian cartoons, so Macho got the laundry basket and Nagymama brought a crate for Jammy.

Today's the Big Day

Today Jammy and Macho finally got to go to the airport and start their trip to Slovakia!

Before they even went through security, Macho showed some signs that he might not be fully interested in cooperation when he refused to pose for pApa to take a picture.

Jammy says . . .

. . . excitedly as he walked towards Costco from the parking lot with Mom and Macho, "Mom, they have new items!"

Jammy says . . .

. . . while eating at the mall's food court, "That lady has the same scratchy stuff that I had!"


Mom: looking around, "What scratchy stuff?"
Jammy: "When my skin was peeling off."
Mom: definitely doesn't want to see this lady's peeling skin while she's eating, stops looking around "Oh, you mean when you had a sunburn."
Jammy: "It was all dead skin coming off."
Mom: changes the subject


After they ate, they were walking past a sign where Jammy stopped and said, "Oh, that's actually little flowers on her dress! That's pretty!  I thought it was that scratchy dead skin coming off!"

Macho says . . .

. . . while walking past a clothing store window display at the mall, "Wow, I never saw this dress before!"

Crabtree Valley Mall

Jammy and Macho don't get to go to the mall very often.  They are not very good shoppers.
But today, there was no way to avoid it. Mom needed to find carry-on suitcases that the boys could manage on their own through the airport, and Jammy needed to go to the LEGO store.
The LEGO store is amazing! They have all of the cool new kinds of LEGO and DUPLO sets.  They have bins of individual pieces in bulk on the back wall.  They have tables where kids can assemble their own unique LEGO characters (but watch out - if they want to keep them it's 3/$9.99).  They sell retro/classic LEGOs, LEGO ice cube trays, LEGO salt & pepper shakers, keychains, watches, pens, refrigerator magnets, etc.
If that's not enough, they also have a station with 4-5 PCs set up where kids can play LEGO games on the computer, and today a boy was having a birthday party with a bunch of his friends in the store!
Jammy and Macho could easily hang out in there for hours.

Next they went to the luggage store, where they picked a piece for Macho pretty quickly. If Mom had time to wait for shipping and handling, she could have saved about $15 by buying it from amazon.com (boo to procrastination).

Jammy's luggage was harder to choose because he's really on the verge of being too old for the little kid stuff.  Mom wanted it to be something that could be used for a long time, and that could be used by other family members.  Finally, they picked a Heys zCase Spinner.  It's good-looking, very easy to maneuver, and the handle adjusts like a dream.  It's kind of fancy, but it was on sale, and it has a 7-year warranty.

Done!

Finally, Jammy and Macho took Mom to her favorite restaurant at Crabtree's food court, Kabobi!  They usually have a sample guy standing in front for people who need a taste test first.  Mom, Jammy, and Macho can all get full from a meal for one person with 2 meats and 2 sides + salad + a piece of baklava for dessert.  Nobody liked the pita bread, though. It's kind of thin and dry - maybe it's supposed to be like that?

Jammy and Macho found some toys by the food court, so they played there for awhile.  Mom wouldn't give them any quarters, but Mom never gives them quarters, so they don't really know what they're missing.

Dessert for Dads

Jammy's kindergarten class prepared a special treat to present to the dads today, but unfortunately, pApa couldn't come.  Mom decided to go and record it on the finally-empty camera, so that pApa could see it later.
It was a little uncomfortable walking into the room full of dads, since she obviously wasn't a dad, but Mom was so glad that she went.  It meant a lot to Jammy to have someone there, even if it wasn't really his dad.

7 days to go

Mom is packing.

• made a packing list for each person with help from Delicious Baby
• got out a suitcase for each person
• filled a suitcase for each person with the items on the list 
• created 2 new lists for each person
• stuff that we have already, but that isn't in the suitcase yet
• stuff that we need to buy before we leave
• strategize carry-on luggage
• Macho (3-1/2)
• footed PJs (overnight flight)
• extra T-shirt
• 1 Pull-Up (He's been 100% potty-trained for many months, so I wouldn't have thought of this except that last night he climbed into my bed and peed in MY bed.  It's settled, he'll be wearing a Pull-Up for spending the night on the airplane.)
• empty sippy cup - with a straw, that snaps shut
• favorite stuffed animal
• Aqua Doodle
• headphones
• Imaginetics
• ?
• Jammy (6)
• footed PJs
• extra T-shirt
• sippy cup (why not?)
• favorite stuffed animal
• Color Wonder
• Bendaroos
• headphones
• ?
• still contemplating
• blankets (neither of them have a special one)
• pillows
• snacks
• books
• iPad apps

Movie of the Week

Tarzan, "when he's big."  Tarzan II is about Tarzan when he's little which bothers Jammy a little bit.  Since Mom organized the videos, the boys found this old favorite, and have probably watched it 6-7 times.

Drop-in Childcare

Did you know that Mom has been driving miles away for all of her drop-in childcare needs, when there is a place much closer and cheaper right in Wake Forest?

Macho went to play at Moment's Notice today for a couple of hours, and Mom was very impressed.  It's not a very big place, but it was full of happily playing kids.  Macho was happy when she came to pick him up, exhausted when he got home, and is now sleeping soundly.

Jammy says . . .

. . . on the way to school this morning (just 4 days left), "I hope they don't give me any of those painful worksheets today!"
Mom: "The worksheets don't actually hurt, do they?"
Jammy: "Well, they hurt my feelings."

Thank you, Everyone!

Jammy had his own 6th birthday party 3 months ago, where he received loads of presents.  He wrote about half of his thank you cards immediately, but then Mom got super busy and didn't help him finish the rest of them.
The cards have been sitting on the kitchen counter (so nobody can forget about them) for 3 months!  Now, there are only 4 days left of kindergarten, and he doesn't have everyone's mailing address, so if they don't get finished before Friday, it could be months more before they are distributed.

This is getting ridiculous!

Today Jammy finished all except for 3 of the cards, and he'll finish those tomorrow. For sure!

Washin' Stuff

Macho loves to wash stuff outside, especially when it's a hot day (though not necessarily).  Here he is washing a bench (and a wall and a window) in his "Steme" shirt.  You know, "Steme," that guy from Blue's Clues?  The guy with the handy-dandy notebook?

Remember when . . .

Mom's been looking at a lot of cute videos this weekend.  Here's one from last year's trip to Disney World.

Video: Going to Disney World!

Baby Cow

Maybe Macho tasted like ice cream.

Ice Cream

After Macho had a nap, Mom and pApa took the Jammy and Macho out for ice cream.  Maybe Jammy should have had a nap first, too!

Exploring Raleigh

Jammy was invited to his friend's 6th birthday party at the Rainbow Party Room.  Rainbow Play Systems has a play system set up inside a room at their store.  In the huge, air-conditioned room, the kids played for over an hour, and they would have played longer if they could have.  There are also a few arcade games (need quarters), vending machines, and restrooms just across the hall. 

It's a nice option for a rainy day, but it's also nice for hot, humid summer days when it's hard to play outside for very long.
The room is available for open play from 10-1 Monday to Friday (and other times if not reserved) for $5 per child.
They also have several play systems on display outside the store.  Next time they're in the area, Mom might stop by with Jammy and Macho to browse play outside for a little while.

Water Fight!

After a long day of waiting for Mom to finish managing the family video library, everyone went outside to "wash the cars" which was really just an excuse to have a water fight!!!

Video: Water Fight!

10 Days to Go

It's a good thing that Mom started taking videos off of the camera a couple of days ago, because that is still what she is working on!

Macho is trying to get her to play with him in the tent he made with 2 chairs and a blanket.

Jammy keeps asking if he can play on the computer.
NO! The computer is still busy.

Everyone is tired of this project by now. It is fun to see videos of what they've been doing for the past year, though.

Field Day

Mom is afraid of failing to meet expectations, so she hasn't volunteered at school very many times.  Jammy doesn't complain, but he was especially excited that Mom would be the Station Captain for one of the games at his school's Pirate Field Day today. Mom should volunteer more often!

Jammy was the self-appointed VIP of the station: arriving early to set up, showing the other kids how the game would work, choosing which color bucket his class would use, and taking the point position for his team's line.  He was pretty happy that Mom was there.

It was a really hot day! It was already muggy when they arrived at 7:30 AM.  It was 95 degrees by the time it was all over.  There was a lot of bottled water available for the kids to drink, but one of the best things that any parent brought was a regular old spray bottle filled with water.  A dad walked around the field with his kid's class, misting them.  That dad was very popular.

Video: Jammy talks about tug o' war

The nicest thing about kindergartners is that they all play together.  They are all at least on speaking terms with the other members of their class.  They don't roll their eyes and ignore each other.  If one of them finds a cool bug on the ground, none of the others are too cool to come over and check it out.

Jammy says . . .

Sometimes (a lot of the time) mom gets so involved in planning for the future, that she doesn't realize that the present is slipping away.  Jammy and Macho are leaving for their trip to Europe in 12 days, but another momentous occasion is happening just next week.  Jammy only has five more days of kindergarten!  There is an all school field day tomorrow, and during the next week will be talent shows, class parties, and a graduation ceremony (yes, for kindergartners). After that he'll be a grade-schooler, which will last for years.  Suddenly, figuring out the perfect assortment of dvds to bring on vacation seems less important.

Mom: "Jammy, can you believe you only have five days left of kindergarten!?!?"
Jammy: "YES! I'm so excited! And, I'm not mocking you!"

12 Days to Go

Mom is starting to dream about packing. Actually, what she's doing is having nightmares.

The recurring theme is a race to fill empty suitcases with just minutes to go before leaving for the airport, to fly to Europe, with 2 kids, for a month.

It's not as if the family is going to a deserted island with no way to buy what they need upon arrival, but mom has preparation anxiety nevertheless.

In an effort to alleviate the anxiety, today the packing process has begun:

1. got one big suitcase out to start setting aside things that are going for sure (gifts, enough vitamins for the trip - to be rearranged later)
2. organized all of the movies and music (gather everything from the car, bedrooms, etc.) and put it back into its proper case and location, so they can choose what to take later
3. located and made photocopies of immunization records and passports 
4. cleaned out laptop bag
5. gathered electronics and all of the accessories (chargers, cables, batteries, camera, video camera, laptop, phone, etc.)
6. removed all pictures and video that were stored on the cameras, so there is plenty of room for new
7. backed up laptop hard drive

Castles

This is the book that Jammy wants to read every night.  He especially likes the part about different alphabets and the part about garderobes.

Macho says . . .

. . . in a concerned voice about Toothless the dragon whose wings are missing,
  "He can't fly.  He needs whiskers!"

How to Train Your Dragon is an awesome movie, by the way.

Construction Site Stories

After his mini roadtrip, these are the stories Macho wanted to read.  The Tonka series is his favorite.

Jammy says . . .

. . . while watching Charlotte's Web,
   "It must be hard to write 'some pig' because of the 's'.  I have no idea how a spider could even write an 's'."

Mini Road Trip

Macho likes to watch movies while riding in the car, but if mom turns the dvd player off he will happily talk about every truck, bus, and construction site that he can find.

Macho's (and Jammy's) favorite part about going to Costco with mom is that when it's time to leave the store, the cart-checking door monitor will draw a picture of a boy on the receipt.

Making the bed

Mom doesn't ever try to make the bed when Macho is in the room, but once in a while she will pretend that she's trying to make the bed - knowing that Macho LOVES to play while she spreads out the sheets.

PlayDoh!

Jammy and Macho have a lot of PlayDoh, in their closet, on a high shelf where they can't see it or reach it.

This morning after breakfast, Macho found some PlayDoh scissors that someone had left out, and he realized that he needed to cut PlayDoh.

Mom cleaned a big space on the counter and got the PlayDoh down from the closet, and as it turned out, Macho really did need to cut PlayDoh.  He worked on it for almost half an hour!