LaQuinta is Spanish for "Cool Mini Fridge!"

Winter is here! I love this cold weather! I dressed us in jeans and soft sweatshirts this morning. It's great. Since the last post we have had some very exciting days. A couple weeks ago Greg had a three day business trip to San Antonio. Since SA is only an hour away, the boys and I decided to join him on the second night. We arrived at his hotel around 7. This was the first time for the boys to ever stay in a hotel room. From the moment we walked in the lobby they were in total jaw-drop awe. They were thrilled with the elevator, amazed by the electric key card, excited by the room with two big beds, overjoyed with the view of the pool and highway from four stories up, and downright giddy over the in-room mini fridge and microwave. Did I mention we were in a LaQuinta? Anyhow, the hotel was right across the street from the River Center so we walked over to have dinner at the famous Casa Rio on the river. Dinner was only mediocre but we enjoyed the mariachi band and the margaritas were awesome. Noah asked for a to-go box for his chips and queso just so he could have something to put in the room's mini fridge. When we got back to the room we decided to take a late night dip in the heated pool with the boys, but they headed straight for the hot tub. I wasn't too sure about toddlers in a hot tub, but it was the most fun I've ever had in a hot tub (sorry Greg). Our ridiculous neighborhood pool for which we pay yearly HOA dues, closed at the end of August, so we have not been in a pool in a couple months. I didn't have floaties for the boys, so they just decided to learn how to swim that night. After a few tries Noah was doggy paddling across the hot tub by himself (it was a deep hot tub). Wyatt can't keep himself afloat yet but that doesn't stop him from throwing himself into the water, confident someone will pull him to the surface again. He always comes up with his eyes wide open and a smile. Noah is a little more sputtery. It was a crazy time. Greg and I really enjoyed watching them have so much fun in the water. It was a late night and the boys fell asleep after only a couple giggles and a few threats from us. The next morning Greg had to work bright and early so the boys and I were alone for the day. We began with the continental breakfast in the hotel. It was a huge spread and the boys each had a giant danish, a bowl of cereal, yogurt, a banana, orange juice, and a glass of milk. This is important for the next part of our adventure. We returned to the pool that morning. This time the hot tub was too hot so we swam in the big pool. Trying to monitor the two of them by myself was nuts. They both wanted to jump off the side and would wait just long enough for the tip of their brother's head to surface before throwing themselves in and relying on me to get to them in time to help them back to the steps. Noah slipped off the steps while I was getting Wyatt to the edge. He sunk a little and choked on some water. This triggered him to start vomitting. I got him out of the pool, but he was heaving so profusely that there was no way to get him all the way to the trash can. So he preceded to let go of his massive continental breakfast all over the pool deck. I'm a mom, I can handle it, but the two business woman who had just come out for a peaceful morning of sun bathing were not as hardened. They went to the opposite corner and opted to turn their chairs towards the highway overpass with their backs to us and the pool. Oh well. Noah was fine and we swam for another half an hour. Then we cleaned up, checked out of the hotel and walked over to the River center to cruise the mall. A mall is a mall so we got some big cookies and sat by the river to watch the tour boats go by. The boys were fascinated by the boats. After checking into the cost, I decided the tour boat rides were a pretty good deal and the boys really wanted to go so we got our tickets and boarded. I haven't taken one of those tours since Jr. High when I had no interest in history, much less the history of the San Antonio River. But I'm old now and find that stuff really interesting and the San Antonio River happens to have a lot of history. The weather was great, I enjoyed the tour and the boys loved the boat- perfect way to spend the morning. After that we headed home so we could get back in time to greet the little boy across the street who I watch after school. Our little 20 hour vacation one hour from our house was a huge success and the boys were exhausted. That is a picture of them in the car on the way home (It's creepy how Noah sleeps with his eyes open in the car). Who needs Disney World? Try the LaQuinta in San Antonio for the under 5 vacationer.
Last week Wyatt received in the mail the fireboat Mimi bought him for his birthday (there were some shipping problems). He loves the fireboat, but he also, like any two year old, loved the box it came in. He put it in his bed and wanted to sleep in it. Greg and I decided this was one of those weird two year old requests that would be okay to grant. You can't always spoil the fun, right? Believe it or not, he actually slept all night curled up in that box. Silly boy.
Once again, I have too much to write and not enough energy to write it. To be continued...

A Hive of Excitement

Logging into Blogger this evening for the first time in too long, I was introduced to the new Blogger Play. Click that link- it is mesmerizing. It plays all the photos being downloaded onto public Blogger sites (like this one) at that very second. I still haven't seen any photos with kids as cute as mine. Speaking of cute kids, here is one looking not so cute. A mysterious, funky, itchy rash appeared on the backs of both the boys the beginning of last week. I wasn't too worried, thinking they just had a reaction to some sun lotion or something. The next day Wyatt broke out into red, swollen hives all over. A little freaked out by his puffed up innie-now-an-outie belly button and how itchy they were, I took him to his doc ASAP. Apparently hives, unless there is an obvious allergy, are hard to connect to a source. So it was a treat the itch and wait kind of thing. A little benedryl and hydrocortisone and they went away within two days. So for a couple days he had one rash on his back and another one over the rest of his body. The advantage to having more than three or four kids is that you become an unofficial pediatrician. I want to have more just so I can look at a kid covered in uniform red bumps with lightened centers and no other symptoms and know exactly what it is and how to treat it. Just this week I have been able to use some of my Dr. Mom knowledge. All four of us came down with a bad viral thing this week. It began with me feeling bad over the weekend. By Monday evening both Greg and Noah were burning fevers. Noah woke up okay and I put him in school to be called a couple hours later to pick him up because he was feverish again. Greg stayed home Tuesday and slept all day with a 103 fever. Wyatt was doing great (a house where everyone is horrible ill but the two year old is not a fun place to be) until today and he his temp got as high as 104. My Dr. Mom experience told me there was nothing to worry about because Greg and Wyatt are prone to really high fevers, sweating, no appetites etc and they get over it quick. Noah and I don't usually get fevers, we still eat just fine and we are sick for longer. So where the sickness began-with me- it is also ending. Moms don't get sick days- especially when everyone else is sick! The goose egg was another test two weeks ago. I'm still not clear on exactly what happened- it involved an encounter between Wyatt and a large, metal bucket before the sun came up one morning. He didn't cry long, seemed alert, enjoyed the ice I gave him, so I went back to bed for the last 15 minutes of dawn. I felt a little guilty when I got up and saw how big the bump had gotten- so I took a picture.
Enough of all that sick talk. I didn't do much blogging for Wyatt's b-day. I was planning on doing one whole blog just about him. Now I can't even think of what to say. I haven't even taken him for his two year check-up yet. He seems pretty normal. A little on the energetic and talkative side. If you haven't yet, read Christie's latest blog- it is hilarious and more entertaining than mine. But I can relate to the incessant talking while in the car, at the table, in the grocery store, playing cars, etc. I have an even more vocal 4 year old to throw into the mix. When Noah is talking Wyatt is either repeating him the best he can or just doing some noise to be louder. I can tell when Greg is spending too much time at the office because he comes home and wanders around trying to lower the volume of chatter and clutter in the house. The rest of the time he just adds to it. We celebrated Wyatt's b-day at Mama G's with little fan fair. I posted the best pics on Flickr. One of my recent favorites is the series I put together of his 'jump and spin' into the grass. One day he just decided it would be fun to do, it made Noah crack up laughing and that was enough for him to do it over and over. I think I will end with a great picture of Noah. I will try to be better at keeping up with the blog. I will agree with Christie that little boys seem to get all their energy by sucking it directly out of their parents. But someday we will be able to harness it to get the lawn mowed and dogs washed.