Beyond The Smiling Heart: Home...

So we are back from our little adventure…we really had a great time but we are all exhausted. As I said before we went to Sea World on Turkey Day and had a blast…perfect day…not very crowded and it was just really magical watching Tae. We were a bit concerned on the drive over because Miss T had developed a chest cold and was coughing up a storm (she actually sounded like a seal and we thought that was pretty appropriate given the nature of our trip) but she got a decent amount of sleep and really it wasn’t an option to tell her we were going to wait a few days…so we went ahead and she did pretty well….must have been all the adrenalin from her excitement. So to sound like a little kid, I thought Sea World was AMAZING and with all my sappy emotions and over dose of hormones I will admit that I got a little teary at the shows and the pure joy and amazement on my child’s face…I have no shame…I know.

There is one area of the park that is new (I am thinking it is new because everyone I talked to didn’t know it existed) called the Elmo Park…it has a pretty cool climbing structure…actually really cool climbing structure (would be cooler if N hadn’t seen a kid throw up at the entrance), about 3 rides and some other water and sand activities for kids (not sure why you would want your kid covered in sand walking around the park, maybe I am not as cool as the other mommies…I don’t know) …basically a place to let you kiddies run off some of their Sea World high. One of the rides is called “Elmo’s Flying Fish” it is the equivalent of the Dumbo ride or any other kiddie ride that goes in a circle and the object you are riding in goes up and down….nothing crazy and there definitely isn’t any EXTREME force placed on your body…Tae and I decide to go on this ride…and here is the KICKER…the woman stopped me to ask if I might be EXPECTING because if I am she won’t be able to allow me on the ride!!!! Stupid Lady!!!! I wish I had been faster on the come back, I just looked at her and said “WHAT???”…then she gave me the shameful “I am so sorry, enjoy your ride”…Hey, like they say…Fake it till you make it!!! Glad I have the appearance part of being pregnant down….SERIOUSLY???? That really sucked!!! Anyway, after that we had a funnel cake (thought I should keep that pregnant appearance thriving) and went on a few more rides…not a good choice since the remaining rides were all spinning rides. This part of the park was all good (minus the “this ride is too violent for you and you unborn child”) but I can’t seem to figure out what Elmo has to do with Sea World??? Tae thought it was AWESOME…especially the Elmo dance show…she still loves Elmo and I am happy to let her.

We spend some time with my Aunt B and Tae got to hang out with her bazillion cousins that all live within a few blocks of Aunt B’s house. She was pretty shy at first but once she was comfortable she was true to Tae nature and went wild…she had a blast!
N’s soccer team made it to the finals and the boys ended up getting second place which was a complete bonus for the trip. I was really happy for N and the boys.

Tae has been overly active lately and by that I mean fearlessly flinging her body and trying to jump, flip and slide on and off of everything. N and I are trying to explain to her that she is not indestructible and that she can get hurt. The worst part is that I was EXACTLY the same way and when I was 8 I did (tried to do) a flip off a table and broke both bones in my left arm. I was explaining this to Tae (minus the details of how I did it) and I showed her my scar and how I had to have surgery and a cast for SO long that I couldn’t go swimming all summer and it hurt really bad and I cried a lot (not really, just trying to lay it on thick). Do you know what her response was??? “Why Mom, were you a BABY??!!!???” Seriously, she is insane. And to set the record straight I am not a big baby and I only cried once, it was in surgery and it was when they set the bones and I was unconscious so it was out of my control…so there! And it is ok to cry!

Two major accomplishments for T this weekend: She went potty in a sticky potty and even better than that she learned how to pop a squat…sorry if that is TMI for some of you but this is a necessary skill a girl must have and we have been struggling with this one. Not going to disclose the location of where we mastered this much needed nature skill; I’ll just say it was used in a very urban area; nonetheless I am proud of the talent.

N’s favorite comment from the trip:
After N sneezed he said “excuse me, sorry” only to quickly have this response from the girl:
“What’s up with the “SORRY” Dad? You already said excuse me; you don’t have to say both!” A good laugh was had by all.

Just had my blood drawn (by the way the woman did a horrible job and continued to jab me with the needle as she changed each vial…sorry for the visual Gin) to check my levels and I will start round two of my pills tonight…watch out…the hormones should be extra high by tomorrow afternoon.

Here are some pictures to top off this monstrous post:

Sea World....