Sunday, July 17, 2011

The things a toddler comes up with...

I have a few funny Rea stories to share. I love talking to her and following along on her train of thought, though sometimes I don't know how the tracks are connected. The things she says crack me up all the time.

Story 1:

Shane and I are wildly addicted to True Blood. I read the books and watch the show; Shane just watches the show, although once this season ends, he might actually read it. =)
Anyway, we have been catching up to date on the episodes because we hopped on this bandwagon LONG after most people. So one night, while Shane was bathing Ri, Rea and I headed off to Blockbuster to pick up the next 2 disks in season 2.
The whole time Rea was asking questions about the show. She wanted to know what it was about, if she could watch it, if it was scary, if vampires are mean or nice... the usual barrage of 3 year old questioning. And I answered them as best I could considering my audience.
On our way out to the car, Rea was carrying the videos for me, the following conversation happened:
Rea: Why can't I watch this show?
Me: It is not appropriate for a little kid.
Rea: I could go in my playroom so you and Dad can watch it.
Me: Thanks for the offer, but we will wait till you go to bed.
Rea: So I can watch it when I get big?
Me: Yes.
Rea: You know mom, I am pretty tall.
Me: True, but you are still only 3. You have to be years older, not just taller.
Rea: Oh.     So, like when I am 8 I can watch it.
Me: I was thinking more like when you can drive a car.
Rea: Ooooohhhh. When I can drive a car.... (this takes about 20 seconds to sink in)... Well, you know Mom, I can drive an airplane.
Grandpa's copilot


Story 2:

This morning during worship service, Rea's friend B sat with us. They played pretty well together. Then just before the offering, B went back to his family. A few seconds later he returned with some coins for Rea.
After the Lord's Supper and offering were over, B came back over, looked at Rea and whispered, "I love you Rea."
She simply blank stared back at him. Then about 15 seconds later she turned to me, shook her head back and forth, laughed and said, "Ugh, boys are SO silly."
Rea and B - Easter 2010


Story 3:

Rea and I have been practicing some useful phrases in Spanish and French recently.

She was just playing with her toys when I asked her to hand me something. She did. And I responded, "Merci beaucoup."
Without missing a beat, she said, "De nada." Then she laughed and said, "Ha! I just answered you in Spanish."
I didn't know what pic to put here... Rea told me she wants to speak Spanish because of Juav, so there you go.

Friday, July 15, 2011

The Mice Will Play

Shane and I had a business thing in Tampa this past Wednesday night, so the kids stayed at Grammie's house. Judging by the pics, I think they had an ok time. =)

Lunch with friends

Yummy

Vrrroooom Vrrrrooooommm

The boy loves his cars!

Building a Playmobil empire

Dinner - Deeeeelish 
Do you want some? I will share.

Horseland at the Playmobil FunPark

This place has TRUCKS!!!

Princess Rea and Playmobil Princesses

Still playing with the trucks...

Do you think Rea had any fun???

2 cute bugs playing together

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Ri & Rea - 2 Nuts

Let's start with Rea.

I have told you about her wonderful fashions. Whenever she gets dressed, I can't help but think about how upset she is going to be with her school uniform in the fall. Oh well.

 I especially love that everything has to match... The red in the shirt (a minute amount) matches the red skirt, the pink tights (which she has been wearing nonstop since yesterday evening) match the pink in the shirt. She paired the entire ensemble with pink furry boots. Duh.
Rea's attempt to get a picture with her bro.

Ri was not interested in it. 
Then we met up with Grammie at Russo's. It's Rea's favorite sub place. Ri decided today he would find out why his sister likes these Italian subs so much. Luckily, I had a camera there to capture the whole thing.
By Joe, I think he likes it.

Sweet tea and a 6" Italian sub: Rea's idea of a perfect lunch.

Sampling all the sub has to offer.


Cheeeeeeeeese!


Now my kids can split a footlong. Yay.

Monday, July 11, 2011

I Just Like Spending Time With You

A rare thing this past weekend - both of my sisters were in town. Steph is home all the time, but Jack hasn't been home since:

And Jack's never seen our new pad or the frame shop. I was very excited to hang with both.

Anyway, when Jack does come into town, she always has a chinese take-out night with our grandparents. I invited myself. Mom thinks that because I wanted to hang with J & S it means I don't have any friends and should be pitied. Blah. (major eye roll) I just like spending time with you guys... Give me a break. According to Facebook, I have hundreds of friends. =)

Here are some highlights from the weekend:

Friday lunch at the mall




No, we did not dress alike on purpose. And Rea was not really mad... She likes making stinker faces and then looking at them later.

Dinner
This just in: Poppy has a car!!

Naturally I won the Rummy game.

Saturday we had dinner at mom's. Crab legs. 9.5lbs of them! YUM!! Sunday included church, lunch at Cheesecake (taste the soup Zach) and an evening viewing of Megamind with Aunt Jack.

Now it's Monday morning and we are back to normal at the Stu Crew Residence - Shane is working, kids are watching Megamind and SCREAMING at each other, I am working on an IV of caffeine to help me get through the day.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Rea - The Thrill-Seeking Toddler

... Continued from '4th at Disney'


About 2 months ago, Rea rode Thunder Mountain for the first time. Shane and I were in Jacksonville on a business trip, so we sent the kids to Disney with my sisters and mom. Apparently Rea wanted to ride Big Thunder pretty badly. So my sisters took her over to it to show her that she wasn't tall enough. But their plan backfired. The ride attendant said, "She can ride this." Mom argued with him for a minute, made him check two or three times, prompted him to say, "You know, people usually don't argue with me about this." 
Anyway, once Rea knew she was tall enough, there was no stopping her. They went. Jack videoed the ride for us. It is one of the greatest videos ever! 


In line in May
Checking it out... 
The entire boat ride over to MK, all Rea talked about was riding Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. Rea's ultimate goal is to ride the Tower of Terror. But I told her she has to work up to that one. It is very difficult to completely explain the Tower of Terror. A lot gets lost in translation. If you ask Rea about it, she will tell you that I have told her it is 'real scary' but that it is still Disney and Disney is 'fake scary'. 
So it seemed that this trip we would have to attempt Splash Mountain. Shane and I both love thrill rides, and Big Thunder is Shane's fave ride at Disney. We were super excited to take her on it! Unfortunately, the line sucked. It was over an hour... and for a group of peeps who frequent the parks as often as we do, waiting in line for anything is terrible!
But I think even Shane will admit, it was worth it to experience it with Rea! 

Thanks Steph for snapping this excellent photo! 
As soon as the train pulled into the station and we were being forced to disembark, Rea exclaimed, "NOW WE GET TO GO ON SPLASH!!!" 
Oh boy. 
There were a few things working against her plan. One: there was nasty weather rolling in. They announced several times over the loud speaker that outdoor rides may be suspended without notice. Two: Shane was hungry and still annoyed from the Big Thunder wait. There was no possible way he was going to stand in line for anything that didn't eventually put french fries in his mouth. Three: The clock was itching closer to the time for the fireworks show. And we didn't want to miss it. 
But try explaining any of that to a three year who is literally looking at her goal. 
We were able to stall her for a while. In fact, we were able to feed both Shane and Rea. Then we all found a great spot to watch the fireworks. We decided to watch them from a bridge in front of Splash Mountain. I figured as soon as the fireworks ended we could book it over to Splash and hopefully beat a huge line. 
The fireworks started. They were good. Just before the finale started, Rea said, "OK. I have seen enough fireworks. Let's go do Splash now." Shane and I agreed (we live next to a baseball stadium and fireworks are a pretty regular thing here). 
We literally walked right on to the ride. Woo hoo! Go us and our awesome planning! 
Rea kept saying she was just going to hold onto the 'spacebar' (that's what she calls the safety bar) and not lift her hands. We told her that was perfectly acceptable. She also asked me a few times if I was sure she would be ok. I told her she didn't have to ride it, we were not going to make her do it. She is after all only three. She promised me that she wanted to do it. I promised her that Disney makes their rides very safe. 
So there we were. In the front, of course. We knew we had to have the picture if it turned out. 
Rea sat in total fear for 90% of the ride. The entire time I kept thinking that I was a terrible parent for allowing my baby to go on this. But Shane and I kept laughing and pointing out all the cute things to look at. We promised to tell her when the big drop was coming.
Then it came. 

We got DRENCHED! Shane and I were cracking up... what's that that I hear? Rea is laughing too! In between giggles, she said, "That was totally AWESOME!!! My buns are soaked! Let's do it again!"


4th at DISNEY



We tried something new this year... Disney for the 4th of July. And, as usual, it was awesome. Much too hot. Very crowded. But awesome.

We stayed in Ft Wilderness cabins (or trailers as they are still called in our family). Rea and Ri went up early on Sunday with my folks and decorated our cabin and our golf cart. Rea always stays in the decorated cabin, and Grammie is forced to sleep in the "dark trailer".

Monday morning, at our resort, there was a golf cart parade. Naturally we participated.
But first, we must eat...

Grammie makes yummy breakfast

Good morning Steph

Bubbles!







Dad is laughing because the girls can't remember what he did that was "blog-worthy".




Could you please explain to me the reason for having a bag piper lead the 4th of July parade?









There they are!! YAY!










This guy bombed the photo and then said, "Don't post that on Facebook." I said, "I won't, but you will forever live on my blog." =) 




I think the kids had fun. Rea was still sleepy from waking up a solid 2 hours before she would normally.

After the golf cart parade, we decided it would be nice to let Steph (finally) drive the little sprite boats. She has patiently waited. I guess Mom figured she was finally old enough.







Good times. Steph's dream came true! =)

After that, it was back to the trailer and off to the pool.






We tried to put off heading to the Magic Kingdom for as long as possible. Disney (or anything else for that matter) is too hot in July in Florida.

To Be Continued...