Memorial Day Weekend Part 2

So we had another fun day, but on to the highlight - when Anders got up, I asked him if he needed to pee, and he said yes, and when I put him on the potty - he peed AGAIN! No success out and about today, but we really did not try very hard. Then tonight while getting him ready for bed, I said let's go pee. He went with me and he peed again. 3 times in 24 hours, we might be on to something. Last week he refused to put on a pull-up for me, and now we are here. So hopeful, since I was determined to have Anders potty-trained before Quatro arrived.

As for today, we ventured to the Seattle Aquarium first. The kids enjoyed it, but they had their heart set on seeing sharks. Sadly, the only sharks were some pretty small innocuous looking ones. That only seemed to bother me, the kids were just happy there were sharks, they did not care about the size. Anders spent the time running from one exhibit to the next.

Apparently you can only see one eye of the octopus, so the kids insisted on doing the same.

After the aquarium, we headed toward the tourist trap nightmare, where most of the museums are and the Space Needle. I think the entire west side of the state had the same idea, because it was a madhouse. We parked and walked towards the Pacific Science Center. The walkway had a 2 foot high ledge, which of course the kids had to walk up on. Fine, except of course Anders had to copy them. Then we told them to get down and Shane and Myann jump down and run off. I am walking back with Anders and he sees them jump down and says he would jump down too. I turned around and before I knew it, Anders was face down on the concrete walkway. Since I did not see what happened, I quickly ran to him and started scanning his face. He had dirt in his mouth, but there is no dirt on the ground. No blood in his mouth, no red marks on his head, but the left side of his face and nose looked like someone had dragged him across an asphalt road. His nose then started bleeding, but not gushing. I still do not know what really happened. His left cheek and nose seemed to have taken the direct impact, but I do not know how he was not hurt worse and how he got dirt in his mouth. Unless he fell towards the dirt along the ledge and then rolled to the ground. Being my tough boy, he cried for under a minute and then said, "Let's go and give me my banana." Banana being what he dropped in the midst of his fall. So off to the science center, and not another mention of his face by him. I was slightly self conscious, as he looked terrible and it continued to get worse looking throughout the day. We had a few odd looks from people and one mom ask what had happened. But that was it.

Back at the scene of the fall.

Once at the science center the kids played at all the exhibits. We were most excited to go back to the butterfly exhibit, since the kids were a hoot last time when the butterflies landed on them. This time was no exception. Anders had been proclaiming that he did not want to see the butterflies and that he hated them. The moment we walked though the door, a butterfly flew by Anders and he went into hysterics. Yelling and crying and Brian had to pick him up and console him. The kid handled his faceplant better than a butterfly flying within 2 feet of him. Brian held him for most of the time and he finally got used to the butterflies flying around him, but when one landed on him, he freaked again and said, "Daddy, please brush it off". When one landed on me, he was upset saying it was biting me. I assured him that I was just fine. In all, we were each landed on a few times.

Fat mirror. Kids loved, I did not.

Skinny mirror. My personal favorite.

One foot in the door and Anders begged to be picked up.

Funny when a butterfly lands on Daddy.

Myann happy to have a butterfly. Not so much 3 years ago.

His face says it all.

Dinosaur foot steps

My beautiful wonderful girl.  She is so big.

In recent similar experiences, a few nights ago Anders was hysterical on the stairs at home and said a bug bit him. His urgency was so bad that I assumed he had been stung by a wasp. I ran down and did not see anything. He kept crying and showing me where he had been "bitten". I did not see any sign of a bite or sting mark and asked him where the bug was. He pointed to the window, where I saw a fly. The kid freaked because a fly landed on him. Sound familar. Then Wednesday we are heading to school and the kids went to the van before me. I come out to hearing crying and Shane in the front seat. I open my door and Shane tells me that Anders' hand was stuck in the sliding door and he was trying to open it. I run around the car, at which time Anders' hand had been freed of the door so I looked it over. He did not want me touching it, but I could see enough that he had good indentions in his fingers and they were red and puffy. I ran and got him some ice. Again, he cried maybe 30 seconds. He took the ice pack and did continue to say that it hurt and I could not touch it. Within an hour he seemed good as new. He is the toughest wimp I have ever known. I guess I should be fair and say he is only wimpy towards insects (flying insects) and people dressed in animal costumes (i.e., Mascots, Disney characters).

Worn out at the end of the long day.