Myrtle Beach

We had a great time visiting Myrtle Beach with family, thanks to Karen and my mom for letting us mooch off them for a few days. They had a nice hotel reserved for Chloe's birthday, and it turned out there was plenty of room for some freeloaders, and we don't need to be asked twice, especially when there's free food and a beach involved.

We stayed at the Dunes Village resort, a great place for young kids. They had an indoor watermark that the kids loved. Caleb especially enjoyed the watersides, showing absolutely no fear. He even went down the scariest slide there, one that goes pretty much straight down, then causes you to go airborne for a split second, all inside a dark tunnel. You're supposed to be four feet or taller to ride, so I didn't really expect him to go down it, since he's not that tall. But I look away for one second and he's already at the bottom. He screamed all the way down--not screams of fear mind you, more gleeful than anyone. I guess when he's finally tall enough for roller coasters, I'll have another partner to ride the crazy ones with. He rode the slide five times in a row. Then, all of a sudden he told me he didn't like it, that it was just too scary. I said, "but you've been laughing all the way down. Why the heck did you ride it so many times if you didn't like it?" He told me he just wanted to keep riding it to see if it ever changed.

Jacob loved floating around the lazy river and pretending to be a pirate. We looked at other kids as we passed them by and yelled out at them, "Arrr! Avast!"

Beth loved getting her face painted and spending the night in Chloe's room with Chloe and Tori, a friend. Karen let them all jump on the hotel beds, a highlight of the trip, I'm sure. She also liked talking with the lifeguard at the top of the watersides, though I'm sure she would tell you she wasn't flirting--she was just being friendly.

We played mini-golf at a small course at the hotel. Jacob held his club backwards and awkwardly struck at the ball as if he was trying to club a small woodland animal. And what do you know, he got a hole in one. Pretty amazing stuff.

I climbed in a hammock to take a break from the grueling round of golf and Caleb promptly tried to tip the hammock over and dump me on the ground.

The kids loved the beach. It was perfect weather--not too hot and with a nice breeze. Jacob loved jumping waves. Beth and Caleb loved using their new boogie boards to surf waves. At night, there was an amazing full moon over the water. I really wish I had taken a tripod; I could have gotten some amazing shots of the harvest moon over the water with some fishermen's silhouettes in the foreground.

I did take some video. My apologies to everyone that is not in it. I was a slacker and never had the camera with me. The kids also kept me in the pool most of the time. Everything you see on the video was shot in about 15 minutes on the second day we were there.

I love the beach. I rarely want to leave. I think if I could live near the ocean I certainly would. I need to start checking want ads for Wilmington =)

Myrtle Beach and Fort Fisher 2010 from Robert Caldwell on Vimeo.

Canoeing the New River

I had a great time with friends canoeing the New River. Hope you enjoy the video.

Video from Brevard

We recently took a trip to Brevard, NC with family. We had a great time. The kids loved swimming in the river and standing near waterfalls. The water was freezing, as always. We camped two nights. It was the first time Beth camped, and she loved it, which made me really happy. I can't wait till we can go on river rafting trips =)

Hope you enjoy our little video. And as always, click on the actual vimeo link to view the video in HD (720p).

Human Sling Shots, and Fire Alarms

Yesterday was quite the day. All day long there were moments when I thought I just have to blog about that. So here is the post.

First Caleb created a human slingshot by tying an exercise band between the two railings on the stairs. He was pulling himself up the stairs in the band, ready to launch himself when I walked down the stairs. Good thing too, since he was aimed at a wall only a few feet from the base of the stairs. We don't want another broken arm.

Next we had a great test of all of our smoke detectors. Last night we had BLTs for dinner, yummy. And so I could bacon. I didn't burn any bacon, but it got kind of smokey in the apartment. Well the downstairs smoke detector went off, and so I ran around opening windows, and then the ones upstair went off. We had five smoke detectors going off at the same time, and I couldn't turn them off. Believe me I tried. The kids were flipping out, and It was so loud I'm sure you could hear it out on the street. But now we know they really work, and they work well. So we will be safe in the event of a fire.

Beth likes to pretend she's a dog sometimes and last night she told me she was half dog. I asked which half was dog my half or Rob's, and she replied "My unique half." It was a good answer, but really made me laugh.

She also told me that she's convinced that Jacob is already potty trained, but that he wants prizes, so he pretends not to be so he can be spoiled. Yesterday we went out and got a poopy basket and filled it with toys so that when he poops on the potty he will be rewarded, since that is his major hang up. We also got a Buzz Light Year toy that he will get after being accident free fora week or two. And yesterday he was completely accident free, and very excited about his new toys and prizes. She just may be right. He was trained in April and then backslid, and so we are looking for him to get motivated so that he'll do it and we can be done.

The kids have had a busy summer with swim lessons, a trip to the beach, a visit to Hickory and some geocaching (which involved the kids getting ticks) and other exciting Saturday activities. Have a great summer!

Some Funnies

Recent conversation:

Beth: Mom tell Caleb what a birthmark is?

Me: Why don't you tell him?

Beth: A birthmark is a mark you get when you are born so we know that you don't come from an alien planet.


We visited Busch Gardens recently and went on a ride that was called Tidal Wave at Lagoon, I don't remember the name at Busch Gardens, but it's big boat that goes back and forth swinging up and down. Beth wouldn't go on it, but it was one of the real rides even the boys could do. So they went. They were having a pretty could time, until people started screaming, and then Jacob started crying. We talked afterwards about how screaming makes the ride more fun, and you are supposed to scream. Jacob said: So I'll say Woo Hoo! And then he insisted that he wanted to ride it again, and he Woo Hooed the whole ride through the second time.

Caleb sat down with me to practice reading yesterday, and managed to successfully sound out the words we were going to cover. Reading with pictures is a problem because eh tries to just tell the story instead of looking at the words, but he is doing awesome. His cast is off after eight weeks, and now he is in a splint for another month. Poor Guy--but he can go swimming!

Overheard

Overheard conversation: Beth and Caleb were arguing about which one should be dropped off for school first since Caleb's is closer and starts at nine, but Beth's is farther away and starts at 9:10--which means Caleb is always late for school when I have to drive Beth.

Beth: Caleb I can't be tardy, and that's why mom always drops me off first.

Caleb: What's tardy?

Beth: It's when they put a mark on your report card. And if I get a tardy it will affect whether or not I can go to a good college. BYU is a good college while some other ones aren't, and I really want to go to BYU or at least Mom wants me to. That's why I'm first.

Changes in the Way We Do Things

After a few disturbing stories about predators and photos of children on the Internets, we are changing the way we do the blog. Rob and I have been going back and forth on this issue for as long as we have had the blog, but a particular event pushed us to take steps. Currently we are simply password protecting all video and pictures that are posted to the blog. This means we can post the link to the slideshows and videos, you click on it and then enter a password to view.

We want to share our lives with you, without letting all the creepies in the world join in. So you can email me at miriam (dot) caldwell (at) gmail (dot) com and I will send you the password. I just have to verify that you aren't a creepy. Please don't hesitate to email me requesting the password. Rob and I are both a bit worried that this will put off old friends, that we aren't in touch with on a regular basis or make people feel uncomfortable. Basically if we can verify that one of us has met you in real life and we don't consider you scary you'll get the password.

Okay now that the awkwardness is all out of the way a bit of an update.

Last Saturday we went to the zoo and met Gail and Eldon who brought along Chloe. Beth and Caleb were excited to see her nice green cast, and I think they were a little jealous of her broken arm. It was a fun trip, not a lot of pressure, with some walking. It wasn't hot, which was super nice, but Rob didn't take the camera since they were calling for rain. It didn't rain while we were there, but Gail and Eldon left early because of Tornado Watches or Warnings.

Sunday was a typical day, but the rest of the week has just been one thing after another. Monday was okay. But Tuesday was rough. My day consisted of cleaning a broken plate and finger painting on the wall. Then we headed to the library where a little girl went missing. It was awful, she was found, but I still shake inside when I think about it. The poor mom. It really bothered Caleb, he still talks about her screaming (in grief, panic, terror). The police came. They found the little girl. But everyone at the library was really shaken up. And then we come home. It doesn't get better unfortunately. I'm taking care of a few phone calls downstairs, and then I hear Caleb crying. It's not a normal cry, and I run upstairs. He was walking towards me still screaming and clutching his arm. It looked bowed out and just funny. Plus Caleb's tough and shakes most things off.

So we head to the doctor. We left the house around 1:00 and got home after 6:00. He has a broken arm. He broke the Ulna on his left arm. It's a pretty bad break, the two pieces of bone were at an angle to each other. The radial bone is bowed out, and the doctor thinks it is probably broken as well, even though it didn't show up on the x-ray. Poor Caleb spent much of the afternoon whimpering, and wasn't happy when the doctor wrapped the cast and set the bone. He chose a green cast (no surprise since that is his favorite color) and was upset when the cast got hot as it hardened. He is already complaining of itching and he doesn't like the extra attention--at least not today.

I'd post a picture of the break, but it's in dropbox, and that's Rob's thing. I am just not that technologically savvy. I'm okay with that.

The rest of the kids are doing great. And Rob and I are trying not to feel like guilty parents. (Caleb was jumping off his dresser onto his bed for fun and landed on his arm--Jacob jumped again today---so hopefully no repeats.)