Our First (and hopefully last) Boating Accident

There is groaning, some tears, a few expletives, a flash of pain, and then a sigh. It's done.


My shirt is on.


Now I sit and rest so I can gear up for the battle of pulling my pants on and doing the buttons with only one hand - one set of fingers. Try it - it sounds easier than it is.


Friday started out so great - I got Lasik on one eye (since the other sees 20/20 and my weak eye was getting exponentially weaker). I thought at that point that THAT was going to be the most uncomfortable point in the day.


I HAD NO IDEA WHAT UNCOMFORTABLE WAS!


On Friday night at approximately 7:20 PM the Wagners had their first boating injury which is quite notable since the boat has not been in the water yet. We were backing our boat into the storage shed and I thought it might be handy to know how far from the back wall the boat needs to go, so as Ted slowly backed the boat up (he knew we were almost there so thank heaven he was going so slow) I stuck my hand out to touch the platform knowing it needed to be about an arms width. As I went to move my elbow away from the wall my sleeve and elbow caught on a cinder block so I couldn't move it fast enough. As a result my left wrist twisted to the side on to the back of my arm.


I ran out of the storage shed and tried desperately not to freak the kids out. If I do say so myself I think I did okay. It didn't hurt that I had sunglasses on so they couldn't see how hard I was crying, and the storage shed provides a lot of corners to crouch down and sob.


Initially the instacare doc thought it was a bad sprain, but when he saw the x-rays we heard him say, "oh......get her a splint and some narcotics to take with her." Yeah, that's never a good sign. Both bones in my wrist are broken.


On Monday the surgeon saw me and said that it was surprisingly nondisplaced, and if I can keep it that way he won't have to do surgery. Otherwise it is pins and a plate on each of the bones. So, here I sit with a bright pink cast and my kids' names etched on my arm.

You wanna know the funny thing? As I was leaving the surgeon's office with no makeup on because of my eye surgery, a bright pink cast on my arm, and a 4-year-old bouncing off the walls, I got in the elevator and an older gentleman in there said, "you have a BEAUTIFUL daughter." I politely said, "Thank you." He then said, "She must get that from both her mom and dad." In a polite conversation tone (which I might add required some effort since my arm hurt so dang bad) I said, "yep - she's got some of her dad in her!" He then responded, "Well, yes, obviously. I just didn't want to say 'she must get it from her dad'."

WHAT?!!!

So I responded, "Listen you crazy old man - do you not see that my eye has burst blood vessels? Do you see the neon pink cast on my arm? You really think you wanna start a fight with me???"

Okay, I didn't say that, but I thought it. What I really said was, "oh." And then I left.

The moral of the story is this: Just when you think you can't imagine anything more obnoxious than a neon pink cast you will get in an elevator with an old man and no information filter. That is the moral of this story.

And also that you don't have to be in the water to be hurt by a boat.

And also that getting dressed with one hand is really hard.

And lastly - typing with one hand takes FOREVER!

Say the Words Please

Ted was gone and I was just about finished with the entire bedtime routine. Tessa was laying in her bed, I had tickled her back, and I leaned over to kiss her goodnight. In her sleepy half awake tone she told me, "say the words." I didn't know what she meant, but I turned and told her, "goodnight." That woke her up.

"No. Say the words." So I responded with "Sweet dreams." Now she was getting irritated. "No. Say the right words."

I had no idea what she was talking about. She seemed frustrated but she was too tired to argue anymore, so she rolled over and went to sleep.

When Ted came home I told him about it and asked if he knew what she was talking about. He smiled and told me, and the next night I heard their own little bedtime routine. Ted tucked her into bed, kissed her goodnight, and said, "You are a good girl, a smart girl, and a strong girl, and I love you very, very much. Sweet dreams, jellybean." Then she responded, "good night daddy jellybean."

My heart melted as I heard this interaction, and now I know what "the words" are. Sweet.

It is precisely these moments that keep me going - the moments that make you remember how sweet and precious your 4-year-old is. The moments that keep me from flipping out when she asks me to help her tape something up to her door only to realize it is a picture of me with an "X" through it.

Yep. Sweet. :)

Mark My Words

There will come a day that somehow or other your kids will cause you to eat your words. So beware: If you don't want a guinea pig as a pet, don't tell your kids that they can have one when they can save up and pay for everything down to the last detail, take care of it, and pay for the ongoing expenses of a pet. Because, mark my words, you will end up with a guinea pig as a pet.

Meet Lily (short for Kukulily from Tessa). Lincoln bought her, cares for her, and actually adores her. And I must admit, she is pretty cute.

Then again, anything is pretty cute when you don't have to deal with the mess!

A Rockin' Sunday Afternoon

I guess if college doesn't work out these two can start a band - they are mastering the poses even if they haven't mastered the musical element. :)

You can see that the level of participation varies between the ages.

Spring Break Cruise 2011!

We had a great spring break - we went on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. It was AWESOME!

Of course there were some bumps in the road. First, Mazatlan's port was closed due to security issues so we were going to spend two days in Cabo San Lucas, but there was a medical emergency causing the ship to turn around only three hours out of port which subsequently cost us a day there. Also, Tessa got a bladder infection so one afternoon was spent at the ship's doctor's office getting medicine for that. I admit that I was most concerned over the fact that as we walked in to the medical office I looked around and I began thinking to myself, "I know he serves at the buffet" or "that is the server at the table next to ours" or "they clean our rooms!" so I quickly avoided looking around not wanting to know what they were at the medical clinic for. Lastly, our flights were unknowingly switched for the trip home which caused some minor confusion, but still...it was fantastic!

You see, no matter what happens on a trip, if at some point my boys can put their arms around each other (without it being a choke hold or strategic wrestling move) then I will count the trip a monumental success. And incidentally, they got along almost the WHOLE time. I know....it must be something about the sea air. :)

Chilling by the pool drinking some delicious concoction.

This picture is just in to bug Emma. :)

Formal night - Tessa was the designated photographer.

Man, if I could just learn to fold towel animals maybe my kids would be happy to tidy up their rooms. I'll have to look into that....

Hot tubbing after dinner. Of course followed by another dessert. Can you ever have too many desserts? I didn't think so either. Just sign me up for my sansabelt pants right now -

Cabo San Lucas - taking a glassbottom boat tour around the arch and of Lover's Beach. They kept joking that one side of the beach was called "Lover's Beach". The other side had much more turbulent water so they called that "Divorce Beach."

For sure the highlight was just playing in the ocean. The kids were in heaven - and I loved just having the sun out! Man, I miss it in the winter!

Next day, Puerto Vallarta. We did an excursion to a beach called Las Caletas. It was AMAZING! Her we are, and note that we are all happy in this picture.

This is how Tessa sat for the one hour boat trip to the actual beach. She was mad that we didn't sit at the very front of the boat. She kept that sour face the WHOLE time. The other passengers were laughing and thinking it was hilarious. Ted and I ignored it. It wasn't quite as adorable to us, but it didn't spoil our trip.

Lunch at Las Caletas

Now that Tessa has found her a personal servant to swing her in the hammock she was happy again.

Here the kids are getting ready to zip line at Las Caletas. The age cut off was 11 years of age, and Emma was pretty bummed because it looked like a lot of fun, but she played on the beach, went snorkeling, and had fun also.

Lincoln just bugging Tessa by wearing her swim ring. I guess no matter what climate you are in some things never change. :)

Waking up each morning and laying on the window sill to watch the water go by - a favorite for Tessa.

Tessa's favorite towel animal.

Stinker or not, Tessa had won the attention of the servers at our table and those around us. Each night at dinner she would have origami animals, paper flowers, and napkin bouquets waiting for her.

Again - too many desserts? Are you crazy!!!???

Lincoln tuning Tessa's prized souvenir: a ukelele (or as Tessa called it: a Kukulele).

All in all - an amazing trip. However, there really is no place like home. When we walked in the door Ted said, "Why did we ever leave?" The next day we had piano, soccer, track, laundry, groceries, gymnastics, and the rest of real life waiting for us. I love being home, but I definitely remembered why we needed the break!