Rocky Road?

We had a lovely Memorial Day weekend, even though it didn't go as planned.  We had high hopes of relaxing, purchasing things for our new home, and just getting out of town for a little bit.  Most of our plans came to fruition in one way or another...but there were definitely some speed bumps.

I had in my mind to go and do something fun...like decor shopping for our house.  I wanted to get up and go early Saturday.  When we realized we'd be stuck at Uncle's waiting for the sewer situation to be fixed for a second time, I had to come up with a plan B.  After a visit from a plumber and a county employee, we went to grab a bite to eat at our local Chinese buffet. 

 I have never been a big fan of buffets, and in particular this one has haunting memories.  If you are squeamish, don't worry this story has nothing to do with the cleanliness or the state of the food.  Instead, the name of the restaurant always conjurs up vivid memories of a tornadic temper tantrum my daughter had there when she was about 2 years old.  We were sitting in a booth when Twiggy refused to sit down.  After several "reminders", I took her out to the van for a time-out.  Boy-oh-boy did she howl.  After we both calmed down, I brought Twiggy back into the restaurant.  Immediately upon seeing the booth, she began screaming.  Kee was fed up! He jutted out his arms to remove Twiggy's flailing body from me.  And yes, about this time, we gained an audience of people who were enjoying their heaping plates of lo mein.  As Kee began to step back away from me, I grabbed his arms and told him, "No...no!  Stop!"  I guess he thought I was protesting to his impending discipline, because he gave me a stern look and continued to pull Twiggy from me.  What he didn't realize is that Twiggy had wrapped her tiny fingers all through the underside of my thick hair!  She was pulling it out by the roots!

Well, this visit to the fine establishment was no different with the exception of a new character.  Z!  Our darling little boy is now almost 15 months old.  Let me just say he is giving us a run for our money these days!  Fifteen minutes into dinner, he forfeited the use of his fork as an eating utensil and began using it as a projectile.  I have never seen a children throw so much food in such a short amount of time!  The people within a five foot radius were all in the "splash zone" of my son's food storm mingled with metal dinnerware.  I'm not sure why Kee and I thought that after this spectacle, we'd try our hand at taking two small children to the movies.  Maybe we were a little light-headed from leaning under the table picking up all that rice!

Armed with a bag full of illegal snacks (Cheerios, strawberry wafers, twizzlers, fruit snacks) we got our tickets to see Rio!  Please do not comment about how cute the movie is or about the ending as I obviously was not able to see it!  Thinking we were smart, we sat in the back and began shoveling popcorn at our little man.  Twiggy was into the movie, she danced during the songs and giggled at the funny parts.  Kee and I juggled Z throughout the hour and fifteen minutes that we lasted (I'm pretty impressed that we made it that long).  He let out little yells and did his signature "get out of your arms" move.  Some kids go "boneless" where their little bodies go limp making it difficult for an adult to keep ahold of them.  Not Z, he throws his boulder of a head backward and arches his back while simultaneously kicking his legs.  It has to be experienced to be understood!  We called it quits when the beloved sippy cup was tossed and rolled all the way down to the bottom of the packed theater. 

Sunday was a hopeful new day.  We woke early in hopes to travel an hour away to shop in some home stores. At Target, Z once again decided to display his true colors.  He refused to sit in the cart....but also refused to be held. We made it to one more store, but Kee and I were wore out.  We felt like  rodeo clowns trying to distract a raging bull.  We cut our trip short, thinking naps at home would do the trick.  After everyone was well-rested (meaning our rambunctious toddler now had even more energy), we decided to meet some friends at the park.  Z and Twiggy laughed and had a great time.  I got my exercise chasing Z up and down the play equipment.  We all needed rewarded with a little ice cream.

We all piled out of our vehicles, mouths watering at the ice-cream stand.  My friend and I gave our orders to our husbands as we made our way with our children to the picnic tables.  My friend has four children...the best behaved children in the world.  I am not just comparing them to mine...I mean every child in the world!  Her husband brought over all the melting cones.  Their children dutifully began eating their dripping icecream, sure to seek napkins when needed.  Even the tiniest, 13 months old, sat in front of her mommy and awaited bites of the cold treat.  Now enter my husband.  Two dripping cones and one bowl of icecream for Z.  Immediately Twiggy protested that she wanted hers in a bowl.  I swap her the bowl for the kiddie cone.  I chase Z down and offer him a bite, but his mouth is already full.  Full of what you might ask....rocks!  Surely after a quick finger-sweep, he'd want to eat the ice-cream.  Nope...as fast as he could he found more rocks to shove in his mouth.  Repeat...repeat...repeat.  I threw the cone away and resorted to managing the situation.  Kee later told me that everyone around us was pointing and laughing. 

Sometimes I think back at how life was simpler when it was just Kee and I.  We could go to the movies, eat dinner out, and actually eat our ice-cream.  Would I change it?  Never!  Sometimes even though life with kids is a Rocky Road ;), it is definitely more fulfilling than our previously vanilla life!