weekend at the beach

js had a conference in the outer banks of nc over the weekend. we all drove down friday and drove home yesterday. while at the conference, js was able to make some good connections. pbs and i hung out in the room and on the beach.

when we arrived at the resort on friday, we knew we would be switching rooms on saturday because of the way it had been set up by one of the assistants in js' office. we checked in, took our stuff to the room, took a quick walk on the beach and then got ready for the first dinner of the conference. dinner was on the sound side of the island, so we saw some of the sunset, something we hadn't really seen in about a year.

after dinner, we came back to a hot and sticky 80 degrees in the room. js let the concierge know and they sent maintenance up to try to fix it. maintenance came to the room twice. they weren't able to fix it. they moved us to the room we were going to be in for saturday night. it was a huge suite with a loft. amazing!

saturday morning js had his conference meeting. pbs and i were in the loft area of the room. pbs was being his normal, all boy self when he tripped and caught his cheek and eye on the padded bench at the foot of the bed. his cheek is scraped and his eye is a little red and puffy. i was trying to get us both ready and stop him from making a phone call to japan on the room phone, when he decided he was going to try going down the stairs. he can go up stairs no problems. down is another story. as he started to take the first step down, i was racing over to catch him but was not fast enough. i watched him tumble and slide down the 20 hard-wood steps. i was screaming and he was screaming but nobody knocked on the door to see if there was anything wrong. i had to calm myself down, check him out and calm him down. amazingly, the only scratch was the one he had gotten earlier that morning. there were no other scrapes, scratches, bruises, broken bones or blood of any sort.

the room had a balcony looking out over the parking lot to the sound. i took pbs out there and that helped to calm us both down. it was the only thing i could think of. living on the fourth floor in our apartment building we have a balcony and i have taken pbs out on it to calm him down many times. pbs loves to watch the cars and traffic go by. i guess he is a boy.

after all of that excitement, i decided we would go down to the beach for some fun in the sun. pbs and i walked on the beach. he played and explored the sand. loving every minute of it. we had to leave the beach to meet js for lunch with the rest of the group and pbs had a diaper that needed changing.

when we got back to the room i texted js to let him know what had happened. i didn't text him right away because i was too hysterical and nothing good ever comes from that. i let him know we were both okay and getting ready for lunch. js came back to the room and helped me finish up the last minute things that i needed to get done.

after lunch we all went and played on the beach. pbs has been in both oceans, pacific and atlantic, and he's not even a year and a half old! he loves the sand but hated water.

sunday we packed up and headed home. we stopped at kitty hawk and visited the wright brothers for a little bit. we stopped at cape hatteras light house and saw the beautiful vast views. we drove home and collapsed from being so tired. fun was had by all. i can do without the excitement of potential danger and injury.

forgetfulness, that wasn't in my job description!

i know it has been a while since i posted anything, until today that is, but i am either lazy or busy depending on the time of day and/or night. our laptop died as i told you in a previous post, so the desktop is upstairs in the loft. with a busy 16 month old, it's difficult to find the time when i'm not too exhausted and want to sit in front of the tv or read a book for myself, too busy with playing or reading to pbs, or out and about enjoying the nice weather, when it's here.

this week it's been pretty stormy, so we've stayed in. last week it was beautiful and warm all week so we got out every day. sometimes i wonder where my head is because i've been kind of forgetful lately. in the last month or so i've left the diapers and wipes at home twice! how is it that i know that i need those things the most but yet those are what i leave behind?

once we were downtown on the Mall and i realized that i needed to change pbs. i discovered that i didn't have the diapers and wipes with me. cvs here we come! as luck would have it we were only a couple blocks from the nearest cvs.

the second time we were on our way to the zoo when i looked under the stroller for some reason and realized that i didn't have the diapers and wipes. we were only half way to the metro station so that's not quite as bad. we walked back home, got pbs out of the stroller, ran up the four flights of stairs to our apartment, found the diapers and wipes and headed out the door again. i strapped him back into the stroller and we were on our way for the second time that day.

i guess maybe i need to write everything down that i need every day like i do for packing for a trip or for a to-do list. maybe i need to find something more to keep my mind working so that i'm not so forgetful. i don't remember forgetfulness being in my job description though.

day at the zoo...isn't that every day?

so a few days ago pbs and i went to the national zoo. we took the blue line to the red line and got off at woodley park/zoo station. we hiked, maybe i should say, i hiked and pbs enjoyed a pleasant ride up the hill to the zoo. we saw the pandas, elephants, lions, tigers and bears, oh my! the monkeys, gorillas and apes were the most active, unless you count some of the other people that were there.

we shared a lunch in panda plaza and sat at a long picnic table with another family. we were looking for someplace to sit and eat and a little girl, about 4 years old, asked if we would like to sit at their table. i said yes, please and thank you and sat down to start our lunch. pbs and i were laughing at something, when i heard the grandmother of the little girl tell her to stop whatever she was doing. the grandmother, mother and older son were pretty rough in the way they treated the little girl. i didn't see what she was doing but when they started yelling at her to stop i looked up. she was sitting at the table just eating her lunch, from what i saw. the older son said something to the effect of if you don't stop i'm going to come over there and carry you to the car! he went over and picked her up by the wrists and started carrying her that was.

i was appalled but didn't say anything because i was trying to mind my own business since i didn't see what started it all. by this point the little girl is crying and the mother, grandmother and older son are saying they're going home and she is going to her room. the mother and grandmother were kind of like drill sergeants and the older son was trying to be the "good" son and carrying out their orders. the little girl looked so sad. maybe they should have been in the cages for all to view.

i guess everybody has different ways of parenting. some are definitely more extreme than others. js and i are not perfect parents and have never claimed to be but i hope and pray that i never treat my child that way in private or in public.

news and everyday life...how do they mix?

the royal wedding. bin laden killed. such big headlines compared to what i have to say about my life.

pbs and i watched the royal wedding. although we did not get up early to watch, we did watch it over and over with all the times it was running. i loved her dress! i was so glad that it was simple, elegant and true to her style. i guess i am of the opinion that less is more. prince william and catherine really embodied that in their choices for the ceremony, the dresses of the bride's maids, the flowers, etc. she seems very confident in her new roll in the royal community. prince william and catherine seem to be very in love. it's so nice to see that in today's society.

js and i were watching one of the programs we watch on sunday evenings when the breaking news of bin laden being killed came on. at first i said "yay! finally!" then i asked, "who's next? what happens now?" we have tried to not have the news of this on when pbs is around. he wouldn't understand, but the pictures may give him nightmares. i know that i don't want to see them. we have the disney channel and hgtv on more than anything. those are pretty tame channels with 16 month old appropriate content.

the laptop has gone to electronics/technology heaven. thankfully, js was able to have all of our data retrieved. we now need to decide if we can afford to purchase another laptop and/or an ipad. both would come in very handy, especially on short road trips and vacations. i think we could do it, but that is my thought on pretty much everything...just go for it. that's not always the best way to think. i realize that there can be, and often are consequences for thinking this way.

so this brings me to my question for you. how do you tell your kids about major events that they may see on the news, talk about in school, etc.? here's a link to a blog http://the-dg.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-911-experience-at-dover-air-force.html i read about how a dad told his 5 year old daughter about bin laden. pretty scary stuff if you ask me. please leave comments and tell me how you handle the tough news headlines.