Charlie's Mom: Too Much Fun??

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Too Much Fun??

Thankfully, that's impossible, otherwise we would have come dangerously close over the last week! From his second birthday on, Charlie's life has been a whirlwind of friends, family, presents, balloons, boat rides and food, and he has loved every second of it!

BaBa and PaPa arrived late Thursday night and were woken up very, very early Friday morning by a very, very excited 2 year old. While the adults leisurely prepared for Charlie's Bar-B-Q and cake mini-party with the neighbors, he lived it up opening presents, showing off on his swingset and charming his grandparents. Throw in a ridiculous number of balloons, an impromptu playdate with Avery and an oatmeal cream pie or two and you have the ingredients for a perfect day.

Then to cap it off, Callie, Noel, Reed, Ret, respective parents, Garret, Amanda, Chad, Corrisa and Bob & Donna all came over to feast on Duke's and Big Bird then open even more presents -- including a second trash truck for the fleet, zoo legos, a microphone that records Charlie's newfound love for singing (at its most hilarious over the video monitor) and our very own bowling set (definitely the hit of the night). And all of that was just the first day of BaBa and PaPa's visit!

Saturday was boat day (which on any other day would have been the highlight far and above anything else) but on this particular Saturday Charlie got his first pick-up truck (in a long line, I'm sure) from BaBa and PaPa-- and was actually driving it within about 3 minutes. As Debbie said, "He is all boy!" Picture Jason with a brand new, fully loaded (GPS, working radio, "leather" seats, tow kit, etc) truck and you'll have a glimpse of how excited Charlie was (and still is!) He even dispatched Mommy to the playroom for his gas pump, so he could "get gas"!

After prying him away from his truck, we had a glorious picnic on the boat and spent the afternoon cruising around Daniel Island, then enjoyed and ocean-view dinner at Huck's on IOP -- yummy! Charlie definitely started fading by dinner, and like Mommy is quite prone to spilling things when he's sleepy, but he charmed the staff of Hucks and they let us stay.

Sunday started out with fun in the nursery at Church then another picnic on the boat and cruise through the rivers. Charlie definitely has his sea legs and is intent on taking over as Captain long before Jason will be ready to retire. Mini-Jason he is.

Monday was spent riding rides, slurping rootbeer floats and running in circles at the outlet mall with periodic stops in the shops, when Charlie would ask, "More outlet ball, mama???" convinced that the outside fun and games were the purpose, not the racks of clothes and shoes -- though he did get into the shopping mood when he picked out his first pair of Sperry boat shoes...it's going to be quite a challenge to keep him from wearing them to school.

We finished the day with a wonderful steak dinner at Grill 225, during which Charlie (sporting his brand new pink polo which he picked out himself) again charmed the entire staff and discovered a love for Tomato-Rosemary Risotto and salad.

The only lowpoint of the past week was when I had to explain to a very sleepy 2 year old that since he had slept in until 8:00 Monday morning, BaBa and PaPa were already on an airplane back to Kansas City. He immediately demanded a flight to KC of his own and burst into tears when I said no -- froggy, raspy tears...like his Daddy, Charlie apparently loses his voice when he spends an entire day shrieking and laughing and yelling.

In one of my smarter moments, I scheduled a playdate with Philip for yesterday afternoon and a doctor's appointment for this afternoon, so we're coming down from the weekend high slowly (yes -- the doctor is totally a highlight for the crazy kid). Combined with a few birthday presents trickling in (awesome ones, by the way!) and we didn't have to go cold-turkey on fun. Plus, Grandma and Grandpa arrive next week, so we'll swoop back up to all fun, all the time for a few more days.

We will definitely need everyone's prayers to get Charlie through the vast, visitor-less month of April...unless of course anyone is looking for a beach, boat and toddler-filled vacation in sunny South Carolina (hint...hint...)!