Backyard Camping

It was a special weekend in the Hillary house.

This Hillary tent was put to good use as Phil and Clare went camping in our backyard.

Clare was BEYOND excited!

 Who are we kidding?

Phil was pretty excited too!

They pulled a mattress into the tent for a 4-Star camping experience.

One of the highlights of the night was the bonfire...

but a bonfire pit needed to be created before that could happen.

The kids aided in the manual labor or the bonfire construction, 

and they had a blast being Daddy's helpers.

The fun quickly ended when Isaac stepped on a rusty nail.  It went all the way through his shoe, through his sock, and into his foot.  There was a blood trail between the backyard and the house, and the poor kid was in quite a bit of pain.  Yes, this is the same "Terrific Two-Year-Old" who shoved a "nail" up his nose just last week.

 Being close to home makes for camping comfort.

Bonfire Cuddles

Camping classics: hot dogs, enormous marshmallows, S'more stuff, and camper-friendly dirt dessert.

Hillary Campsite

Dinner Time!

Little guy, with the Cheetos face, was happily recovered by the end of the night.

These two peas in a pod had a wonderful night 

while Isaac and I roughed it in the air-conditioned house.

Valentine's Day DRAMA

What did our Valentine's Day look like???

Flowers?

Chocolate?

Fancy Dinner?

No, No, NO!

We have kids now.  That is when life gets interesting!

  Here is what our day really looked like:

 Normal morning, Valentine's Day Party at Clare's school, and then...

I put Isaac down for a nap at his typical 1:15 time.  He was quiet for about 15 minutes, and I figured that he was fast asleep.  Good boy...new bed and all.  HA!  Should have known better.  Out of the blue, I heard a shrieking cry that immediately alerted me to a problem.  I knew that it was something more than just whining, so I went in there to see him out of bed and crying.  He started pointing to his nose, and I asked him what was wrong.  He just kept pointing to his nose, and then I saw what caused the scream.  He had shoved a nail (or what appeared to be a nail) in his nostril, and there was no way that I could reach it.  Of course, I did the only thing that came naturally at that point...PANIC!!!  I tried to make him blow it out, but that only got him worked up even more.  

 (This was all that I could see...shoved way up his nose)

As soon as it started bleeding, I knew that we had to seek professional help.  I told Clare to get in the car, and she immediately sensed my panic.  She kept asking what was wrong, and then she started crying.  I tried to go to the pediatrician, but she said that was out of her realm and recommended that I go to the ER or to our ENT.  Thankfully, Clare has had a year-long-love-affair with her ENT (tonsils, adenoids, and tubes), so I went down to their office.  I called Phil in the meantime and told him that I needed him to come rescue us at the ENT office.  Clare kept crying that "this is the worst day ever...just like when Peep (our pet Gecko...another story for another day) lost his tail."  She was worried that we were going to have to feed Isaac a LOT so that he would get healthy again...just like we've been doing with Peep.  Sweet girl.  ANYHOW...I scurried into the ENT with shoeless Isaac.  He was still in his pajamas, and people probably thought I was a hillbilly.  I affirmed their suspicions when I explained the EMERGENCY situation with my 2-year-old-nail-snorter.  They initially said that they could get him in on Friday at 10:00 AM, and I reiterated, "He has a nail stuck up his nose."  The receptionist read my cues enough to know that she had to make something happen...even though Isaac had never been a patient there and our doctor wasn't even in the office.  It wasn't long before Phil arrived, and that helped us all calm down.  In typical Phil fashion, he made us relax and see a fresh perspective on what I was sure to be the trauma of 2013.  The Hillary Four made our presence known in that office, and I think everyone was glad to see us called back into a room.  Somehow...miraculously...Phil was able to get Isaac to relax enough to blow his nose.  That loosened things up enough that we were able to see the object again, so we decided to play doctor.  I pulled out my trusty instruments (M&M's), and Phil pulled out his trusty instruments (thumb and pointer finger), and we pulled that sucker right out of there.  It wasn't a nail, rather a plug for a shelving unit (smaller and wider than a nail...but the end looks exactly like the head of a picture-hanging nail).  

We were all relieved...Clare the most (she was DEFINITELY the most traumatized by the event...very concerned about her brother).  The doctor came in a few minutes later, and she checked everything out to make sure there wasn't anything else hiding in there.  All clear.  Since Dr. Daddy was able to remedy the situation, the ENT didn't even charge us for the emergency visit.  The kids picked out fancy stickers, and we were all on our way home a bit later.  A little McDonalds ice cream on the way home probably made Isaac think that he was being rewarded for something, but it was just what we needed to change the tide for the rest of the evening.

 

Gigantic Bear Hug from my Little Goober

Happy Valentine's Day 2013!

32 Will Be Hard to Beat

Can you think of anything noteworthy about turning 32?

WELL...I think it's safe to say that it was one of my BEST birthdays ever...

or perhaps I'm just too old to remember the others.

 My amazing husband surprised me by taking the day off, and he helped me celebrate another year of life by doing things that are special to/for me.  WOW!

 We started the morning by dropping both kids off at Clare's school (Isaac went to the Mom's morning out program for a few hours) so that we could go out for a nice brunch together.  We stuffed ourselves with delicious food before packing up the van to spend a day at the beach.

We drove down to Anna Maria Island and enjoyed a beautiful Florida day 

(83 degrees and sunny...with the water in the low 70's).

HAPPY, HAPPY Birthday Girl!

Isaac loved splashing around in the water...

believe it or not, he hasn't been to the beach in over a year.

Phil did all of the kid-beach-stuff (splashing through the water, burying each other neck-deep in sand, building castles, etc.), and he let me just sit and watch the fun (without getting sandy or wet).  That was a birthday gift in and of itself!  :)

Isaac always wanted to have something in his hands.

Clare wanted to be in the water most of the time...

until her lips started turning purple.

 We captured a few "I in the Sky" pictures.

We just had a WONDERFUL time!

On the way home, we stopped at McDonalds for ice cream and french fries (the birthday girl's request), and then the kids CRASHED.  I truly couldn't have asked for a better day!

Bug Collecting

Clare was the excited recipient of a new bug collection set.  Clearly, Grandpa and Grandma Hillary knew that their granddaughter was much like their son.

 Phil and Clare went straight to work collecting bugs.  

Such an important job, right?

 Grandma even got in on the action, and I think that she likes bugs even less than I do.  What does that prove???  Our children have awesome grandparents!

 Pink nail-polished fingers holding one of the specimen.

A closer look...

 ...not because we cared that much about the bugs but we were excited to try some of the new features on our camera.

Tough decision...where do we keep our collection???

 She takes this job very seriously...EVERY WHERE WE GO!

A few weeks ago, my charming husband brought home a surprise.

I've learned to be leery of Phil's surprises.

Here you can see why:

He literally tossed this shell of a tarantula at me.   I said, "That wasn't very nice," and Clare quickly agreed.  She, the bug lover, proceeded to say, "What if that hurt the spider?!"  Looks like I'm in for a fun ride!