Battery Car

We were driving down the street when an excited Mason yells from the back "Mom check out that cool battery car!" I look out to see the Red Bull car turning the corner. Being the great mom that I am I altered our route to follow the "battery car". I didn't correct them that it was an energy drink car, I just reinforced how cool the battery car did look!

On another funny note....Rob bought the kids chocolate shakes at McDonald's the other day or I should correctly say at "Old McDonald's". I was having a lazy day and decided to treat everyone to "Old McDonald's" and Mason asked if they had chocolate milk shakes at this one. I am embarrassed to say that I told him "No, Mason this Old McDonald's does not sell chocolate milk shakes." My faithful kid believed me without question.

Which leads me into my next deception. I have decided to tell my children when the ice cream van drives by and his music is playing it means that he is out of ice cream. Insert evil Muuuaaaahhhhhhh laugh! I think that is BRILLIANT! Wish me luck!!!!

I like the Grass

While we were at the zoo Bryson decided he liked the grass. He used to stay put where you put him because he hated touching it, but then realized it wasn't that bad. So he would crawl around trying to touch as little as possible. Now he doesn't cry and actually smiles while sitting in it.

Zoo Zoo Zoo

We went to the zoo with our friends aka Kim and Ben while they were visiting, and Rob was able to go with us as well. It is difficult not to have fun while visiting our zoo or seeing something new and exciting. Rob was able to experience the zoofari with the kids.

The jungle is always a huge hit for our family.

Kim also blogged a few other things from the weekend as well. The kids playing, building, and laughing. It was a great visit!

http://alittlebitofthisthat.blogspot.com/2011/07/scenes-from-weekend-road-trip.html

That Pottery Place

We went to That Pottery Place with the kids while Kim was visiting. I say kids, but we left the "toddlers" at home. I want to say babies, but technically they aren't babies anymore. Visiting the pottery place had been on my list of things to do and I am glad we finally did it. It was so much fun, we might have to do it again. The kids picked out cups to paint and slathered up with paint inside and out. I decided that I wanted to paint and be artistic as well, so I made a plate. Mason's hands are the crab and Ellery's made one fish. I guess I will have to pick a platter if I want to put all three kids on something some day! Kim blogged the experience as well. She actually took her camera and took pictures of the kids being artists.

http://alittlebitofthisthat.blogspot.com/2011/08/artists-at-work.html

Ollie the Trolley

Oh, the joys of a silent auction. It is always fun to go to a fund raiser and bid on something you would never consider doing until you think you are getting a deal. A husband of a friend of mine always tells his deal seeking wife that they are going to go broke saving money. I found that hysterical. It fits perfectly for anything you bid on in a silent auction.

Last year Rob and I went to Rockin Rosie where I bid on a trolley tour called Millionaires and Mansions. I won the tour at a steal of a deal and few of my neighbors decided to go in on it with me. I think they wanted to make sure I invited them. We invited people from our hood and then drove around other hoods with a cocktail in hand. It was a beautiful night and lots of fun seeing areas of Omaha. My friend Kim and her family were up visiting for the weekend so they joined us for our tour as well.

Baby Scarlett

Ellery is starting to name her baby dolls and animals. She loves Sam's little sister, Scarlett. She loves her so much that she named a little green frog after her. Scarlett frequents the store with us, sleeps with us, and takes walks. If we forget Scarlett tears are shed.

This sweet pea is the "real" baby Scarlett! If Ellery could take her around with her, I think she would choose the real deal, but has to settle with her green frog Scarlett instead!

Charleston Shark Shirt

Grandma Ellen got Bryson the cutest shark shirt that says Charleston on it. The shark mouth lifts up to show some shark teeth. Bryson might not enjoy it, but when he wears it the kids enjoy looking at the shark teeth. I think Bryson just welcomes the attention! Very cute and thoughtful of Grandma Ellen to think of Bryson!

Happy Birthday Bryson

Our little man is 1! It is so sad, I technically can't call him my baby anymore. I know my kids will always be my babies, but I officially don't have a baby anymore. He is one happy toddler! Mason played with his cake, Ellery wouldn't touch it, and Bryson couldn't get enough of it! He would have ate the whole tiny cake if we would have let him. We kept it low key. Mason's friend Sam was here for the party or should I say cake. We ate cake, opened presents, and then Bryson actually played with the toy we got him. I had searched high and low for this whack a ball when Mason was little, looked a little for it while Ellery was small, and finally found it when Bryson was in the womb. I bought it and have been saving it for this big day! I am happy to report Bryson loves playing with it. He doesn't usually use the hammer to whack the ball, he prefers his hand. It was a great celebration and I think him growing up is just going to be a bitter sweet thing for me!

High Hopes

Just an FYI I am making fun of myself just as much as I am Rob! The kids are really getting into music and dancing these days. It usually was them listening to music while I dance around like a firefly attracted to light. Now we all flail and flop around, well Rob still doesn't participate. Anyways, I hear laughter and Rob singing upstairs one night around bed time. If you know Rob, he can't sing. I can't either, but this post is about Rob! One doesn't know if they should laugh or cry when he sings. Cry because he is so horrible, or laugh because he is singing funny but only to find out he is dead serious in belting out his tunes and he is awful! The point at hand is that he is singing the song High Hopes. He was really getting into it. http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/frank+sinatra/high+hopes_20055241.html We are talking belting out the lyrics and getting down with the chorus. I have been sheltered my whole life and had never heard this song, let alone knew that Rob knew it. It is a catchy little jingle I must say, after a few minutes, I chimed in as well!

Cause he had high hopes, he's got high hopes.

He's got high apple pie, in the sky hopes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR14hsxNbm0&feature=related

Fly High

This should make my heart skip a beat, but it actually makes it smile! If she grows up to be the cheerleader being tossed in the air we will be able to trace it back to her daddy. They both love it!!!

Chaplin Family at the Beach

I couldn't resist this cliche picture. Something about sitting on the beach with your feet up??
We had a great week at the beach! My favorite part about this year was getting delivered peach daiquiris on the beach by my loving husband. Every year we go to the beach someone brings us buckets of fresh peaches. This year we decided to make drinks with them, why we didn't think to make these in the past years? It was a great week and lots of fun by everyone. I think one reason it was so successful is that we had extra pairs of hands helping with the kids! Someone was correct when they said it takes a village to raise children. A lot of pros's vacationing with family! A big THANK YOU from the Omaha Chaplin's!

Crabbin

Crabbin' 2011

Rob has many fond memories of going crabbin' from his younger years at the beach. They used to get large trash buckets full of crabs and Grandma Chaplin used to spend hours upon hours getting crab meet. This is also my first experience in crabbin'. I wasn't told it would require a lot of patience prior to our adventure. I am sure this information was with held on purpose.

This is the only crab I caught.

Rob caught the first crab.

I didn't capture the dolphin fin in the picture, but we have very intent dolphin watchers.

History in Charleston

We spent an hour downtown walking around the battery in Charleston before our sunset cruise. I spotted this bicycle peddle cart and flagged him down and requested a ride around the block. We sent the two oldest with Grandma Ellen and Ellery wailed like a siren the whole time. I am not sure if anyone else truly enjoyed themselves with listening to a "siren" the whole time.

Ellen and I couldn't stop staring at this soldier statue. For some reason we found his sword position hysterical!

Sunset Sail

Uncle Tom chartered "The Pride" for a family harbor sunset cruise. It was a beautiful night and even romantic at times. It is different seeing Charleston from the harbor and absolutely spectacular! I'll never admit it to Rob, but going to Charleston puts me into a history mood. The city does have a lot of fun history to offer! The kids really enjoyed themselves, it was a bit nerve racking for me at times. Being a mom is letting things go and just rolling with it, but when you only have a two wire cord fence between the open waters and your children the letting go part gets a bit hard. I was able to let go enough to enjoy the sights, but being a constant companion when the kids decided to walk around. It wasn't annoying enough for them to notice, they just liked the extra mom love given with hand holding and snuggling!
Being on the open waters they advised pouring wine into a glass. I was just happy to have wine and it appears Bryson enjoyed the wine as well!
Captain Mason at your service. He was super excited to be the captain of the boat. They had a gps system in front of him and the boat was a black dot on the map. As I tried to take the picture from a different angle I was informed by "the captain" to move because he wasn't able to keep charting his course. Aka "Mom I can't see the black dot anymore, please move I have to know where we are going!"

Ride Some Waves

Although we didn't catch the big one, the kids really enjoyed playing in the ocean. It is a Chaplin family tradition to ride an alligator in the ocean. Ellen brought the inflatable alligator this year and the kids enjoyed playing on it.

We also enjoyed making sand angels? I promise I didn't give them this idea, proof they have minds of their own. I wouldn't advise playing in the white sand like this! Everyone enjoyed themselves in the ocean and on the beach this year!

Shrimp Boil

The reason we go to Charleston every other year is for a big family reunion. What a reunion it is every year. 40+ family members! Impressive!! This year we had everyone over to the beach house for a shrimp boil. Yummy! A big thanks to Ellen and Uncle Tom for boiling the shrimp and making the grits! Although I don't eat grits I know everyone else really enjoys them and it might be the only time every other year that I give my kids grits! I was worried how the kids would do with a huge house full of people. Surprise surprise Mason went around introducing himself and stating his age. Ellery was a bit more overwhelmed and stuck close to an immediate family member. Bryson shockingly went to anyone who would hold him as long as he couldn't see me. Plus everyone in our family likes shrimp? Who knew??

Bryson's first time at the Beach

Bryson loved the beach and all it had to offer. I think he would have been swept off to sea if we would have allowed it! The salt water didn't bother him at all and the sand was fun to play with, throw, and eat!
He really enjoyed finding all the sea shells.
Caught eating the sand and no chance of slowing down!

To the Beach

The kids are excited to get on an airplane and go to the beach! We did our usual escalator riding to help the time pass. A fun ride by all.

I also was threatened to be turned into child labor laws by other passengers because Ellery's backpack was almost as big as her and probably weighed more. Plus when we found out that we weren't going to get to sit together as a family we repacked the kids backpacks. Ellery's was a bit on the full and heavy size after we re-situated. She was sitting on the floor and when she tried to get up she needed assistance since her backpack was so full. It took me a few minutes to notice. Who am I kidding I didn't notice until the nice people watching us told me she was stuck. Those nice people to point out my struggling child also teased us about child labor laws and protective services. Luckily we were getting on the plane and getting out of there, I am not sure how serious they were, they were after all from the South. I am sure they were going to declare something on me soon!
I promise we took Bryson with us, poor thing never gets included! He did great on the plane except for the 5 minutes he cried that felt like 5 hours because we were cooped up!

Water Balloons

Oh the joys shopping can bring. I was out shopping and ran into a water balloon pumper. Mason loves water balloons, but isn't old enough to get them pulled over the hose adapter, off the hose, and then tied into a knot. That is where I come in. Yet, I am not much better at getting them on the hose adapter, off, and tied into a knot without drenching myself and not to mention my frozen hands. I had already checked out at the store, but I couldn't resist this water balloon pumping contraption. We have used it multiple times, and I don't see it losing its luster anytime soon!

The Before Photo!

I particularly like Ellery's look of I am going to get you while one boy has a pretty smile and two boys look a bit clueless!

Then you have the change of heart! Note the red water balloon bottom centered in the photo. I threw a water balloon at the kids and Anne captured the moment. The tough girl and pretty smiler are bracing for impact, while the other two keep their clueless impartial looks!

Egyptian Girl

Grandma Ellen has been cleaning things out and found this Egyptian head piece that she bought while visiting. She thought Ellery would enjoy it and boy was she correct. Ellery loves wearing it. She really enjoys wearing it backwards, she likes the beads going across her face.

Also, Ellery is loving anything princess. She asked me if I would call Tangled aka Rapunzel on the phone and ask her to come over and play with her and if she could come live with us!

Silly Bands

Ellery found the silly band container and decided it was time to wear them all. I told you these things breed and reproduce when your not looking. She is also very distraught that she is only 3. She desperately wishes she was 5 like her big brother. She found out that 5 year olds get to go to kindergarten and since Mason is a very proud 5 year old it makes her a not so proud 3 year old.

Happy 5th Birthday Mason

"I'm Five!"

Oh how time flies when one is having fun. I now tell Mason is a "hand full". Pun and play on words intended, but he doesn't always get my humor. He is a proud proud 5 year old. Doesn't matter who you are or where we are he feels very inclined to let you know how old he is. It could be the random person we see on a walk, the stranger at the park, or our good friends to get the "hey, I am 5!" It is usually the lead line we use in everything we do. I am shocked if he hasn't made the announcement within 5 seconds of seeing or meeting someone new. We didn't do anything extra special except celebrate turning 5. We made a robot cupcake, the hardest part of making the robot cupcake cake is letting the kids help because it doesn't turn out as "pretty". Awful of me to say, but that is what is hardest for me. Mason picked his birthday dinner and surprise surprise he choose tacos! We have a school aged child now! Let the new journey begin!

Lip Gloss

Nana gave Ellery a purse full of all sorts of girly things. The highlight in the purse was the lip gloss. At the rate Ellery is applying it we will be lucky if it lasts a week!

Time with Nana

We met up with Nana while we were back for the wedding. The kids enjoyed seeing her, well for the most part. Ellery sure isn't showing the love in this photo, but she loved seeing Nana! They especially loved the special treats they got!

The Wedding

Mr. and Mrs Cody Chaplin in a posing picture to what their future may bring!

I couldn't be more proud! The kids pulled it off and stole hearts in the process! Well, we did have the minor incident of pulling the strings on the ring bearer pillow during the ceremony and rings dropping into the dirt.

Nothing a little digging around couldn't solve by cousin Colt and Mason. I'll go with male bonding, it is still something females don't quite understand!
It would have been creepy, but knowing some of Cody's friends makes it not as creepy when they all told me they couldn't resist snapping pictures of the cute siblings. One
friend told me the kids held him captive and they should be locked up in a precious prison. We'll go with a little too much alcohol, but I know he was trying to give us a compliment on how adorable our kids are and were! It was a fun day!

We were thinking the horse family shot could have been our Christmas card, but then we remembered we left Bryson at Grandma Ellen's with a sitter. It was a blistering 109 degrees and we thought we could enjoy the older two kids more without having to worry about him. We were correct in our decision, but it is still sad we didn't get the shot!