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We're all glad Bas is back from his trip to Aiken. Sean really missed Papa. He couldn't wait to build flying faucets, noisy airplanes with big smoke stacks, and racing cars with the lego blocks. Oh yeah, we can't forget about the cool merry-go-round Papa made for Sean out of the little Bob the Builder lego blocks! Sean also couldn't wait to do the trick bounces and kaBOOMski's with Papa on the big bed!

posted by Gretchen 3:52 PM

Bas left for Aiken today (Tuesday) and won't be back until Thursday evening. He probably thinks he's in the stone age again, he's flying from Akron/Canton airport to Pittsburgh to Charlotte to Columbia and renting a car to drive to Aiken (about an hour's drive). I think he arrives on Thursday morning so how can he be back home on Thursday evening??? I think he told me the flight is through "Pedal Hopper Airlines!" Can't wait til you get home Bassie.

posted by Gretchen 12:54 PM

Happy 17th. Birthday Alison......Love Mom, Bas, & Sean

posted by Gretchen 5:05 PM

Today was the BIG Thomas the Train ride at the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. They attached Thomas, the blue engine, to six big passenger train cars and took us on a 30 minute ride through the forest. Sean got on the train and was screaming that he didn't want to go but once he saw the steam, the coal in a pile next to the train, and the train started moving, Sean loved it! He loved looking out the window at the flooded forest floor (from all the rain we've had this spring), the Trainman, and the magician pulling a ball out of his ear. Afterwards, they had tents set up with all sorts of train merchandise and exhibits. Sean especially liked playing with the magnetic wooden trains on the wooden train tracks with bridges, tunnels, buildings, and trees.

When we arrived home, Sean was pretending he was a train and "choo choo'ed" all through the house. At naptime, he was sure to tell me that he wasn't a train anymore! Love that imagination Sean.

Alison started her lifeguarding job at the Ledgewood pool yesterday. The air temperature was in the high 50's but the heated pool was a balmy 80F and a few kids were swimming. This is her third year working at the pool. Alison recently quit her job at Deb after working there since last August. I think she's glad to be lifeguarding again.

posted by Gretchen 4:04 PM

First of all some background information......Sean really likes his Dutch Winnie the Pooh Word Book. One of the animals in the book is Kanga (the mother of Roo); you guessed it, they are both kangaroos. Sean also has seen kangaroos at the zoo many times. Yesterday I was on the computer and Sean was playing next to me in the living room and ran to the window shouting, "Kanga is out there Mom!" I saw something run by, it was a deer but it was running so fast it "hopped" like a kangaroo!

posted by Gretchen 2:23 PM

Monday, Sean & I went to the Wildlife Park at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. Sean loved looking around at all the smelly flowers, seeing the "bubble" falls (waterfalls), and looking at the roller coasters on the other side of the lake. The main attraction was Shouka the huge whale show. As the fans, mostly young children ages 3 - 8, entered the stadium it got louder and louder with their shrills of excitement. At the same time, Sean got more and more upset and really did not like all this noise. When Shouka finally arrived, Sean was so angry at him for splashing all the people down below us that he had a major meltdown and just wanted to leave that stadium.

At home later that evening and ever since then, all Sean talks about is his "Whale Show" and how the whale was so huge and how he splashed and how he cried.

posted by Gretchen 12:57 PM

Yesterday was a great, great Mother's Day! I awoke with Alison bringing in this great big date nut cake from Dick's Bakery in Berea. When I opened the box, the cake said, "Happy Birthday Mom!" They only had one cake left when they went to buy it and it was a Happy Birthday cake so they had them add on the word "Mom." I loved it, it is almost gone already! Then Sean walked in with one red rose tied to a giant "#1 Mother" balloon and Bas followed with the 11 other roses. Awesome!

We went to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and it was a great place for both Alison and Sean. Alison loved all the apes, dinosaurs, and gems; Sean loved the Discovery Center with lots of hands-on activities. We stopped at Subway before the museum and ate our lunch on the picnic tables near the museum entrance. Sean had fun running under the big dinosaur model and looking at his huge (yes Sean knows the word HUGE) piggy toes and nose! For Alison, the best part of the trip was her drive home....we let her do the driving.

Later that day, we all drove up to White Castle and ate burgers in the car......yummy!

Thanks guys for the wonderful day!

posted by Gretchen 1:45 PM

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. Bas & Sean were out shopping together this afternoon and I was sitting outside reading a book when they came home. Sean rushed out of the car and said, "Mom, I buyed you a rose!" Hmmmm, wonder what I'll get for Mother's Day! Sean, you're cool, just ask Uncle Greg!

posted by Gretchen 9:02 PM

Yesterday Sean had his first ice cream cone from Dairy Queen. His shirt got some too!

posted by Gretchen 1:26 PM

It sure is nice getting a "Noser" from Sean!

posted by Gretchen 10:39 AM

Okay Bas, I have the power as administrator on this site to remove that last post but I'll leave it for now and explain myself. Since the grocery list is out of context and everyone reading this can't see the entire list, the reason I put down the (they may only have 4 packs so buy 2) is because when I wrote the 8 rolls down I wanted to be sure you knew that I wanted 8 rolls and not 8 PACKS because it's easy to miss that in a grocery list and think I meant 8 PACKS. Well, I've never had that experience before with someone mistaking rolls for packs but you never know. As I've been writing this I think I figured out that I better stop now and tell Bas that I never doubt his math skills......he is the math AND computer guru in our house. Anyways, what would be wrong with 32 rolls of toilet paper, I mean we do have 4 people in this house so that's 8 rolls a person!

posted by Gretchen 10:39 AM

Hunter just returned from his first "adult" obedience class at Cleveland All-Breed Training Club. He had a little accident during the training but is doing well with his "sit" command. He wasn't too cooperative with the submissive things they had us do which consisted of pushing on his shoulder blades to make him lay down. It is teaching him that he is not the alpha dog but Hunter has already learned that he is definitely not the alpha. One more thing: the instructor brought out her little rat terrier to demonstrate some training techniques and Hunter (who up to this point was calm, cool, and collected) must have thought it was a squirrel because he began pulling and barking and ready to chase this little pup up a tree!

I also let Alison drive to and from the class on I-71 and I-480. I can't believe she's old enough to drive already!

posted by Gretchen 9:18 PM

A couple of things about our weekend:

1. Alison took her SAT College Board Test Saturday and got back her ACT College Board Test scores.......WOW, she scored a 89% in Reading (89% better than all others taking the same test in the USA). WAY TO GO ALISON! Alison also finished up her last in-car driving class and needs 20 more driving hours + a Bas-made driving test before she takes her final exam to get her driver's license.

2. Bas & Gretchen cleaned out the garage and Bas took 3 loads of garbage to the Strongsville Dumpsite and we have a ton of things to donate for the Ledgewood Swim Team garage sale next weekend. Sean was a BIG help by looking at all the dirt on him!

3. Bas played soccer again on Sunday but pulled his groin muscle......rest up Papa.

A few weekend quotes from Sean: Bas's feet were smelly from playing soccer and Sean smelled them and said, "Your feet smell brown Dad!" Sean calls Alison "Sissy" and one of his favorite things to tell her is "I love you Sissy!" At Bennigan's Restaurant Sean was very hungry and when the server brought his high chair, he sat right down and said, "I want food lady!" We're working with Sean on his manners right away!

posted by Gretchen 12:16 PM

You have to really watch what you say to toddlers, they take everything so literal. Yesterday Sean was playing Reader Rabbit on the computer with Papa and I stopped by for a minute to watch. Sean was pointing to things on the screen and starting to stand up so I told him to sit down and hit a key so he could continue the game. He HIT the key(board) really hard and didn't understand that was not what I meant. So Papa corrected me and told Sean to "tap a key."

From the mouth of babes...............Tonight we went out to dinner and I was sharing my vanilla ice cream with Sean. When the server asked Sean how the ice cream was he replied, "Very white!"

posted by Gretchen 9:57 PM

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