We braved Kings Island yesterday for the last hoo-rah before school started. We took that amusement park by storm and were all over Snoopy Land (I miss Hannah Barbera land though)! The kids chose the haunted house ride first since its the closest to the entrance. When the ride ended, Mario begged to go on it again. This would be the theme after every ride – he would beg to go on the ride again. I tried to explain to him that if he went to a different ride, he ended up loving that one just as much if not more so he should give new ones a chance. I don't know that he quite got it – he probably was just so excited after each one that he had to proclaim "Let's go again!"

Maria loved the roller coaster in Snoopy Land, which used to be called the “Beastie” when I was little. It was surreal to stand in the same stalls and wait for our turn on the coaster just as I did 30 years ago with my best friend, Beth. Beth and I would wait for an hour to get on that coaster; meanwhile chatting it up about things I cannot even begin to remember. And now I stood in that line with my kids – Mario climbing the rails and pretending to be a superhero and Maria staring off into space patiently waiting her turn. Life moves fast.

Maria held her arms up throughout the roller coaster ride while Mario sat by me and leaned into my side burying his face. He loved the ride but would never consider holding his arms up and watching us descend. Maria would have it no other way. She was ready for the Beast, and I think she would have tried it if I could have gone with her (Mario was just tall enough for the Beastie).

We hit the water park right in the heat of the day – great timing. We did more water rides this year. Mario lost all fear of the kids’ slides – last year he was scared to go down and I had to hold onto him. This year he zoomed down them. But he drew the line at the enclosed slides. He does not like feeling trapped (he’s got mama’s issues!). Maria, on the other hand, conquered all three of them!

We also tubed down the Lazy River – Maria’s favorite. She loves to lay back in her tube and drift down the river. Meanwhile, Mario and I were chomping at the bit to walk or swim but were admonished to stay in our tubes.

We left the water park to ride the Beastie again and then to hit the kids’ games. Again, another déjà vu as we rolled the bowling ball on a track and tried to keep it in the little valley. I used to play this game all the time with Beth and score some serious stuffed animals. It was my favorite – and it’s still only 25 cents. I had my mojo back because I won twice. Maria chose a small frog the first win and Mario got to choose the second time. He wanted a big turtle but you had to turn in the small prize for it. Maria threw the man her frog and said “please give my brother the big turtle.” She takes care of that kid. We played the birthday guessing game where the attendant has to guess within two months of your birthday in order to win. We always win on these games so paying 5 dollars is a safe bet to get an animal. The attendant guessed October for Ri so she got her orca but he guessed September for Mario – dead on! Mario did not understand that he didn’t get a prize and when it sunk in, he showed his displeasure to the amusement of us all. We calmed him down at the water spraying game where he shot his water gun into the hole so well he won every time (he did reciprocate Ri’s kindness and got her a unicorn). When all was done, they each walked out with three animals (and I was down a mere $45! – what can I say – I am a sucker for stuffed animals!).

We ended the day with tattoos. Mario chose a gold dragon.

Mario chose a rose.

Does that give insight into their personalities, or what?! We wrapped up the trip with the Eiffel Tower where we saw “all of the world” according to Mario. Six and a half hours of fun and games.

We hit I-71 for the outlet malls and met my mom, who in keeping with a tradition set when Ri started kindergarten, bought her a load of new clothes (and clothes that were not “whore-ish” as Jon calls some of the outfits she desires!). She also bought Mario, “Mr. Particular”, a pair of flip flops (after he tried on ten pairs) and a pair of jeans and jean shorts (again after he assessed them for ten minutes; when we got changed out of our bathing suits at KI, Ri and I were done in three minutes; Mario took ten!).

We got home at 8:20 – just in time for a quick shower and some snuggle time with dad. Maria was knocked out in ten minutes; Mario stayed up with Jon a bit longer. He is all into dad time lately so Jon cuts him some slack.

Second Annual Kings Island trip – checked off for the year! Victory!

A letter to my second grade daughter

August 13, 2012August 13, 2012Leave a comment

Dearest Maria:

I still have to pinch myself to believe that you are already 7 years old and entering second grade. I have such a poor memory when it comes to people’s names or what I did last weekend but I remember every moment of your birth like it was happening now. You have planted your darling self front and center in my mind, and I am so appreciative. It allows me to easily go back to that Monday morning when I rose from bed and pulled up those running shorts and ran to the gym. I was so proud to be pregnant with a baby girl. All my gym rat buddies would stare at me in amazement as I lifted barbells and did squats around the perimeter of the floor.

“You are going to give birth to one big muscle” they would say.

And I did. You came out working those lungs and wiggling around making the nurses struggle to wrap you up. When they placed you in my arms, I looked down at you and there were those big black granite eyes looking right back at me. I felt you speaking to me before you could even say a word.

And now I watch you ride huge horses with complete confidence. I hear you talk to your little brother with such tenderness. I try to keep up with you as you peddle with such ease on your bike. I sit back and enjoy the eggs and bacon you cook for me some mornings. I watch you looking at yourself in the mirror as you brush your hair. And I think to myself “She is absolutely radiant.”

I hope you think the same.

Lately you have been commenting to me that you wish you had prettier hair or looked better in your clothes. I immediately respond to such nonsense by affirming your absolute all-around beauty and then tickling you madly (I think you continue to state such craziness sometimes just to be tickled and roll around on the bed with your mom!). I will make it a priority to keep you real and grounded this school year – to make you see how important it is to let go of such superficial concerns and just enjoy life – be silly and random and adventure-bound with tangled hair or not.

You are a gem to me and so many others (your dad being at the top of the list). Enjoy second grade my little pumpkin seed from heaven. I love you ferociously.

Mom

No Seat Belts!

August 12, 2012August 12, 2012Leave a comment

We woke up craving Giant Eagle donuts. Their bakery is getting better and better and it’s become harder to resist the variety of sugary love in the cases. I figure the stroller rode or bike ride to get to Giant Eagle makes up for the calories consumed (maybe if we biked back and forth twenty times over…).

We decided to take the COTA bus downtown after breakfast. Jon drove us a few blocks up the street to the bus stop (yeah, kinda defeats the sustainability argument for taking the bus, but hey, we saved five miles of gas going downtown!), and we waited patiently for the No. 5 to arrive. After a mere seven repetitive questions of “when will the bus get here?”, it arrived! The kids jumped onto the bus steps and dashed to the back. I paid $2 and joined them. Mario’s first response:

“There are no seat belts!”

He was charged. Maria enjoyed the thrill on Mario’s face with me since she had already experienced COTA with me a couple of years ago. I explained to them that a lot of people rode COTA during the week to get to their jobs, and that people read while on the bus or think about their day ahead. M&M soaked it in and asked questions galore. It was heartwarming.

Our trip lasted a mere 27 minutes and we exited at Bicentennial Park. I have been taking M&M down to this park for years. It doesn’t have any swings or a playground. It just has bronze statutes of mythological creatures and cement blocks to hop on and off of as you go from one statute to the next. But the kids have always loved to read about the creatures and climb on them.

They also have loved to jump from one block to the next. Mario had such trouble the last two years trying to jump from one particular block to another that was situated just a bit farther away than the others. This year he flew right onto it. II told him the story about how it used to be hard for him and he said “Mom, look” while he acted like he was scared to jump. I smiled at him and he responded “I’m getting bigger, mom.” Yep, you are bud.

We headed to the Santa Maria next. They had tours going on so we got three tickets and joined the rest of the group. It’s always interesting to see who the guide is for the tour. Last time it was a very boisterous young girl who had wavy brown hair and thick glasses and loved getting the kids roused up with stories from Columbus’ time. This time we had a scholarly-looking lad with white tube socks and loafers. He was maybe 17. He loved espousing his knowledge and hearing questions from the audience. He answered all of Mario’s questions with a slight chuckle before each response. A 17 year old in a 50 year old body. He was good though and we learned about what they ate on the ship (hard bread they softened with water and animals they housed on the ship), what games they played (ring toss and checkers), and how they killed rats on the ship (not too humanitarian). We skipped out of the tour a bit early to head to Dirty Franks with dad. Maggie and Laura were supposed to meet us but showed up late and there was no seating for them. They decided to meet us back at the house. When they walked out, Maria started crying. “I want them to stay, mom. I want to be with them.” I ran out with her to try to stop them. We were successful – Maria jumped into Maggie’s arms and fled away with them. Meanwhile, Mario ate two hot dogs with Jon and me. Two! He has to be going through a growing spurt.

We met the girls back at the house and sat around and talked to them about Australia and life in general for two hours. I miss that girl cousin time so very much. Ri hung with us for an hour and then crashed on the floor. Mario knew it was his opportunity to play computer and he took full advantage of it.

A low-key Sunday with a splattering of COTA bus trips, ship trivia, hot dogs and girl talk. What should we have in store for tonight? I see Graeter’s as a perfect end to the day….

A night with the cousins

August 11, 2012Leave a comment

Thank god for cousins. Laura works 50+ hours a week, 2nd shift, and has a good social life but still finds the time to come up to Columbus and spend time with M&M. She called this week to tell me that her and Robert would be coming up on Friday to see the kids around 3:30 and taking them out to my folks’ farm to have a camp out. Maria was beside herself at the thought of Laura and her sleeping in a tent together. Mario was charged at the thought of spending time with his idol, Robert.

Maria called me no less than 5 times at my work Friday afternoon asking when they would arrive. When they finally arrived, I heard nothing more from Ri – she was glued to Laura’s side. It’s so funny to watch Ri when Laura talks. She is mesmerized with Laura between Laura’s tips on washing hair or her advice on boys – Maria looks up to her and will surely confide in her as she grows older (hopefully Laura will keep me in the loop!).

Robert took Mario to the library. Mario worked to impress Robert by biking the entire way. They came home and played basketball and soccer. Mario surely believed he had died and gone to heaven. Robert will be up in Columbus within a week to start his first year of college at OSU. He has promised us that he will come over and chill with us during the week – we’ll see…. If he doesn’t, we may just have to crash his dorm room, which would provide him with an incentive to come over to our house more often.

Laura and Robert left after dinner for the farm with M&M in tow in the backseat grinning from ear to ear at the thought of an entire night with their cousins.

Rain down on us

August 9, 2012August 9, 2012Leave a comment

The smiling faces of a mama and daughter who trekked through pouring sheets of rain to return home from Mario’s football practice.

My girl is a machine. She was pretty upset at first. Mario got a ride with a football buddy of his (a sweet boy who towers over him but has taken to Mario and watches over him at practice) and they headed to DQ. Poor Ri had to bike home with me since we biked down to practice (Mario sat on my bike) and no one offered to put our bikes in their cars and take us home.

At first she pouted about being tired and then she cried a bit in fear when she heard a thunder clap but after five minutes she got that determined look on her face and she was all business. She pedaled like a champ and walked her bike half way up the hill to our house. When I took the bike from her and walked my bike and hers up the hill, she ran beside me to keep up.

On the final block stretch, we were both laughing and soaked to the bone. We parked our bikes in the garage and took the picture above. The picture doesn’t do our soaked selves justice! Ri was clearly proud of herself and I continued to reinforce to her how awesome she was to bike through that storm.

The joys of having a strong, determined daughter.

Mario’s reasoning

August 9, 20121 Comment

The boy is killin’ me lately with his comments.

A week ago, we had to have a talk with Mario because he bought $30 worth of “diamonds” while paying Pet Shop on my iPad. Somehow Maria and him found out my password. So, the door has been shut on any more purchases. He still begs me everyday arguing about how cute a German shepherd is or how adorable a little pig would be in his pet shop. I have told him that we don’t have money to spend on virtual pets.

So, he found a solution.

He yelled hysterically for me last night while I was doing the dishes. I ran into the family room to see the end of an AllState commercial. He looked up at me and made his case:

“Mom, you need to switch to AllState because they can save you a lot of money – like $100 – and then you would have money to buy me my pets on Pet Shop.

Makes sense, heh?!

Lovin’ his corn hole and womans

August 8, 2012Leave a comment

“Mom, look at those hot womans!”

This was the first comment out of Mario’s mouth when we got off our bike and headed to a block party at the park. Lovely. The scary thing is that it is innate in Mario – he certainly never hears Jon talk this way or me. He doesn’t watch male-chauvinistic shows and we have never watched Jersey Shore! After I scolded him about referring to girls that way, he proceeded with this comment:

“Mom, those girls think I’m hot.”

“What is your deal tonight, kid?!”

“Mom, I’m just telling you the girls think I am hot because I am so tan.”

Yeah, as Jon has said in the past, I think our best bet is to sterilize him for the next 20 years.

I took his mind off girls by leading him to corn hole. He became addicted with throwing those beanbags in the hole. If I got one in, he wanted to get two. We played for an entire hour and a half. I had to drag him away.

So there we have it. Jon and I have nurtured a girl-crazy competitive son. Oh, and a good-hearted son, I must add; on the ride home, he offered to coach me in corn hole so I could play better next time!

Mario, the Romantic

August 6, 2012August 6, 2012Leave a comment

It’s just me and Mario tonight since Maria is at her grandma’s house and Jon is partying with his buddies in Baltimore (he is actually working but heading out to awesome dinners in the evening so I discount his time away as play!).

Mario and I took a bike ride to the library to pick up two Wild Kratts DVDs on hold for us from another library. Mario’s been asking for these for a month and he was so charged to hear they were finally waiting for us. He biked like a mad man to the library in order to pick up the DVDs (however, he did take the time to climb off his bike at certain uneven driveways and cross walks to ensure that he did not tumble over on his bike – the daredevil has his limits, I guess).

After picking up the movies, we headed up north to Dick’s Sporting Goods to purchase his mouthpiece and cleats for flag football. He chose some rockin’ white and black Under Armour cleats and a red and white mouthpiece. He keeps asking when Wednesday night will be here. He’s just a tad bit excited.

On the way home, Ri called to say hi. A few minutes before she called, Mario had lamented to me how much he missed Ria. When she called and I told him it was Ria on the phone, he held up his right hand and said “Don’t say her name, it makes me miss her more and I can’t stand it.” That will make Ri’s day.

When we arrived home, Mario asked me if I knew how many girls he liked. I told him I didn’t know and probably didn’t want to know. He told me he had 20 girls he had a crush on and his number one crush was Jillian, a girl at his school. He continued to show me his love for her…

“I like her so much that one day when I had to fart, I scooted over to the couch and held a pillow to my butt so she wouldn’t hear it.”

How incredibly sweet, heh? If only more men were so considerate?!

Chillin’ with the family

August 5, 2012August 5, 2012Leave a comment

I made the mistake of coming home Saturday morning.

I usually take a long run and hit the gym on Saturday mornings but yesterday I took a short run and only lifted for a brief time so I could hit yoga at 9:30. I ran home to get my bike to ride downtown to class. When I turned the corner of the driveway to head to the garage, I saw Maria and Mario. And they saw me.

“Mom’s home! Mom, will you play soccer? Will you ride bikes?”

“Guys, I am heading to yoga but will be back in an hour and we can do all of those things.”

“Not fair, mom. You took a run and now you have to stay home.”

When I continued to get my bike, they both boycotted me. “Don’t talk to her, Mario,” Maria demanded. I biked away with the both of them staring me down. When I got home, they were camped out on the floor under their blanket fort watching Tom & Jerry.

“Hi guys.”

“Hi mom!” It’s as if nothing had occurred an hour earlier. Gotta love kids.

We dragged Mario out in his pj bottoms to the grocery to get icing to decorate brownies for the family get together at Jon’s niece’s house. Nothin’ like having your four year old kid in the grocery cart with only his Sponge Bob pj pants on – no shoes or shirt – eating a lunchable snack from the deli meat aisle. Hey, I gotta pick my battles, and this wasn’t one of them.

We came home and decorated brownies and then took off for Sherri’s house. All of Jon’s brothers were in attendance – a feat that only happens a couple times a year since they live in different states. Poor Josh and Peter and Matthew and Morgan. As older kids, they get all of the fondling and torment of the younger kids. Maria and Alana and Emi were teasing Josh and Peter incessantly. But being the good sports, they hung in there with them (it probably helps that they only have to deal with it a couple times a year!).

And it was comical that the little girl who copped a serious attitude when I went to yoga had no desire for me to be within 10 feet of her at Sherri’s house. Mario was almost as bad except that he wanted to wrestle later in the day and no one would agree except good ol’ mom.

Maria loves being around her girl cousins, and I welcome them all into her lives. She adores Emi who is always running out to greet her and Mario when they come over. She is the organizer of all activities and makes sure everyone has what they need to participate. Maria also enjoys Eli who is much more reserved and introverted but will lie on her bed with Ri for hours answering Maria’s questions. They are the big sisters Maria never had. Then there is Dagmawit who could be Maria’s twin. She is assertive and bold like Ri and they both have strong, muscular bodies. I wish Dag (as Maria calls her) lived closer but she gives us a reason to head to Savannah. Alana is a staple in Maria’s life since she lives close by and her and Ri are so close in age. They were excited all afternoon at Sherri’s house because they knew they were heading to Patty’s house for a few days (Patty calls them the Bickerson Twins because of the way they bicker with each other when they stay with her). And finally there is Morgan, Amy’s daughter, and Asma, Zach’s daughter. who we rarely see because Morgan lives in Savannah and Asma lived out of town until recently. They both blend right into Maria’s life when they are around though because they are Maria’s family and to Maria, that’s all she needs to know to welcome them into her circle.

Jon and I enjoy these family get-togethers because the kids go off and play and we can chat with adults. We got to catch up with Kevin and Margie about life with Dagmawit. They told us how Dag wanted to be a swim coach (since she is so good in the water) and the adult coaches allowed her. Before they could turn around, she was directing kids around the pool. When a parent picked up his child, she stopped him and said “Your child had a good practice today.” Love it! I told you Ri and her were twins. We also got to laugh at Micah’s antics and talk to Amy, Sherri’s sister who is my fellow runner in Savannah. Jon chatted with Debbie and Michael about Peter’s college and work. It was a pleasant Ionno gathering full of delicious food, much laughter, and good chats.

When we came home, Mario questioned where why Ri wasn’t with us. We told him Grandma’s house and he got so angry. “That’s not fair!” We explained to him that he’s gone to Grandma’s a lot more often than Ri. It didn’t matter to him. Grandma is a hot commodity and he needed to voice his displeasure. I calmed him down by watching a Ben Ten with him on the couch. He curled up on my lap and I scratched his back. Within fifteen minutes, he was snoozing away. It took me back to his baby days when I’d lay with him and watch him sleep – his tiny lips barely open and his sweet breath sending out the most wonderful, calming smell ever.

The Muscle strikes again

August 3, 2012Leave a comment

Maria continues to bolster her nickname “the Muscle.” I met M&M at the pool this afternoon after they called me at work and begged me to meet them. They were sugared up on strawberry ice cream bars when I arrived. They were ready to wrestle with me in the water.

After wrestling for some time, Mario decided to hit the diving boards. Maria followed. They dove off together a couple of times. Then I noticed that there was a little boy jumping off the low dive with Mario who was teasing him by blocking the top of the ladder so Mario couldn’t climb up out of the water. Maria noticed this little boy right after I did and instead of watching the stand-off take place like me, she marched right over to the ladder and looked him the eye and scolded him to “stop bothering my brother!”

She pulled Mario up out of the water and then she ran to the low dive only to beat both Mario and the other boy. Then she allowed Mario to take her place so he could jump before the other boy.

Our girl doesn’t mess around – and don’t you know that boy didn’t so much as look at Mario the rest of our time at the pool – and he definitely avoided Ri!

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Category: Kids

Second Annual Kings Island trip – check!