R is for Revelry. We had the opportunity to open up the water park on a nice day last week. It was clear outside, but not too terribly hot as it has been for weeks. We have 5 seasons here on the Alabama Gulf Coast - Spring (February-March), Summer (April-June), High Summer (July-August), Burnout (September-October), and Fall (November-January). This week, it has been in the low 100s PLUS humidity which makes it simply what we like to call "stupid hot" which means if you're out in it without a dang good reason, you're stupid. We had to make some minor revisions to the water slide as the original design had some flaws that were difficult to correct as it was assembled. Thankfully, a storm disassembled the bottom portion with problems for us and I was able to do some minor modifications and now we have a fully functional, issue-free slide! We had to shorten it by about 5 feet, but the kids still get plenty of slide and with the newer pool replacing the old one (same storm was kind enough to pop it for us), the retaining pool at the bottom holds more water. It also means one less pool to fill since we no longer use the family pool as an actual pool. Win-win for everyone since it takes way less time to set up (win for me) and they can do it more often (win for them). Even though school starts back this month, water activities can continue here well into October, so we have at least 2 more months of enjoyment with the modifications and then I have an idea to turn it into a skate park of sorts for the (very) brief "fall" season. I call it fall because it rarely gets below 40, although it has been known to dip into the negatives for short periods of time. But we just don't get snow. It doesn't even turn cool until November and if it DOES snow, the entire city shuts down for a week, so there is no sledding to speak of - their slide may prove useful as a sort of sledding hill with a wheeled sled.
R is for Really Cool. Which is what Apollo called the Blue Angels when we visited Pensacola to watch them practice their air show. It was a dreary, rainy day and we got soaked watching the practice, but with the help of some noise-cancelling headphones, Apollo was really able to enjoy the show. He was definitely startled when the first plane took off right in front of us and he jumped when the soloist did a low flyby that boomed loud enough to shake the bleachers, but overall, he handled it very well and we didn't have a single meltdown, even though it was extremely loud and I worried a bit about having to leave early with him. He was anxious and squirmy before the show started and got to be irritating after the show, but during he was mesmerized and kept telling me "This is SO cool! This is the best thing EVER!" Due to the rain, we only got to see the low show and the really low show, so I would like to take him back sometime to see the high show on a clear day because he is going to be completely blown away by the mega-loop the Blues do in the high show. Afterwards, we waited in line (the beginning of the defiance) to meet 4 of the Blue Angels pilots and while he hated waiting in line, he was eager to give them high fives and tell them his name is Apollo, A-P-O-L-L-O. He had several outbursts inside the Naval Aviation Museum while we visited and he was forced to sit out on quite a few activities (he almost didn't get to sit in a Blue Angel cockpit because of his behavior!), but overall, for Apollo, he was pretty good. He, my niece, Orion and Phoenix were so well-behaved inside McDonald's that a total stranger paid for them all to get an ice cream cone when they were done because he was SO impressed with how well-mannered they were. I guess I didn't completely notice because I was eating instead of trying to separate two of them, or putting one back in his chair, or picking food up off the floor, or giving out final warnings. I got to have a glimpse of the normalcy that I left behind the day I became a mother and it was refreshing - especially since they haven't yet mastered the art of the ice cream cone lick-down, so I had to do it for them.
R is for Rebel. Apollo had a super great day and managed to clean his room completely after only being told twice to do so. This is a MAJOR accomplishment (for any kid really) and he was greatly rewarded, but I secretly HATE his good days. I know that sounds incredibly brash and terrible and I don't really "hate" them - I hate what follows. Every time he has a really great day, I cringe waiting for the other foot to fall because he ALWAYS follows a really great day with 2-5 really bad ones. The last big issue was him pooping his pants for 5 days in a row in defiance. This time, his defiance has reared its ugly head in the form of him throwing himself on the floor every chance he gets, any and every where he goes and refusing to get up without being dragged. I took him to order a replacement pair of glasses since he has now broken TWO pair in less than 2 months and while the break on the newest pair (we've had them a week, folks!) was repairable, Medicaid will no longer cover any glasses for him until NEXT May. It is August, and the beginning of August at that. So we went to Wal-Mart to order him another pair of inexpensive glasses that carry a break guarantee so we can get them replaced at no charge when he breaks them. Notice the lack of the word "if"? I know he will break them. He is rough and careless which is a terrible combination. Back to the point of his rebellion... he also needed some uniform pieces for school and I had a few coupons, so we headed to the mall. I don't mind the mall by myself, or with a child in a stroller or with my oldest... but Apollo makes it SO incredibly difficult. He is too big to go in a stroller without the judgey looks and I just wasn't in the mood to deal with the looks. He is too little to be expected to walk easily beside me. No, he is the one I end up dragging and he whines that his hand hurts because he is dragging his feet (or more! He often flops to his knees and refuses to budge) and I am dragging him. Every store we went into, he flung himself on the ground and whined that he was tired (it was 10 AM!) and I nearly stepped on him more than once because he tried to shove his head in between my feet. By the time we got the needed items, I was furious and we still had to go to Wal-Mart to order his glasses! Needless to say, Apollo and momma BOTH got an early bedtime that day!
R is for Ready. As in for Kindergarten. As in my sweet little Apollo starts Kindergarten on August 10! Ahhhhhh! Where has the time gone?!? Just yesterday, he was a fat little red faced alien baby that took 51 hours to make his grand appearance. Now he is 5 and a sassy little thing who can light up a room, but sometimes he shines too bright for most people and he can be a lot to handle on an extended basis. He gets into his moods where he slips off into his own little world, ignoring everyone and everything and if he isn't interested in you or what you have to say, it's best to leave him alone. Otherwise, we end up in meltdown territory if you try to pull him back into reality. We took him to school to meet his new teacher and drop off his school supplies, figure out everything and get acquainted and the entire hour and a half we were there was utter misery for me. Apollo rolled around on the floor, chased another kid around the Kindergarten room (yay for making friends!), lost his backpack within 5 minutes (we did find it), burst into tears over something (I still don't know what, he just blubbered in my face), almost knocked a kid down, ran into 2 adults, ran screaming around the cafeteria and interrupted Orion's teacher while she was talking to a parent. It is going to be an interesting year...
R is for Rock. As in moon rock. We have been members of the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center for about a year and a half now and we have gotten to see and do many fun scientific things including seeing live penguins, seeing real dinosaur eggs and fossils, seeing inside the human body and learning about the upcoming Journey to Mars, whose launch vehicle happens to be called Orion. Of course, as a family, we are excited that the Exploreum is currently home to a space exhibit, so when they announced they were having a special day with NASA, we were SO there. Today's "NASA Lands at the Exploreum" was so much fun for the kids and even Apollo had a pretty good day. They got to try on a real spacesuit, touch that (real!) moon rock, see a life-size inflatable of the Orion capsule and we even got to meet the Space Launch System Manager from Marshall Space Center in Huntsville where the US Space and Rocket Center is located (who just so happen to accept our membership reciprocity! Can someone say vacay?!?). The NASA people were amazed to hear the boys' names - Orion, Apollo and Phoenix are all names of space programs. I let someone who works at the Exploreum know their names and the news spread like wildfire and before we knew it, we had requests from the museum director for a picture with the kids AND the SLS Manager wanted a picture - and NASA retweeted it! It was an awesome feeling to be treated like celebrities for an afternoon and I have a couple of potentially useful contacts once the boys are older and able to attend Space Camp! Orion even got a pin from one of the NASA people whose business card I gratefully accepted! Now we are ALL looking forward to our February trip to Huntsville!