The Garlick Press

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Fun and Shun in Park Shitay

Back in the day...when Momma Cass was just a teenager with absolutely no idea what her future would hold...she and her "Chunkina in Crime" nicknamed "Chochi" used to do something called "The Sean" Basically it involved using your best Sean Connery accent to say silly things that might or might not sound a little like swearing.

For instance... "Shall we go to Park Shitay to do some shopping at the outletsh." or "Tell the baby-shittar to shitt down and shut up" or "Shilver Bells, it's Crishmush time in the shitay"! They cracked me up...EVERY SINGLE TIME! The two of them would start into their Sean Connery accents and I'd lose complete control. I'm talking...silent laugh, contorted face, and can't breathe out of control. I've called it Park Shitay ever since.

Recently while Daddy Bob was off working hard in a faraway land, we stole Cass and the babies for a few days of fun and shun in Park Shitay.

King Henry came along and celebrated his four-month birthday while we were in Park Shitay.

He's a rockstar and king of the bed!

Meet Olivia...she and her Papa planned to wear the same outfit. Papa's outfit did not have yellow tulle and flower leggings. Although I wish it did...might be a pretty great look for you Papa.

Olivia continues to get the Gerber baby comments wherever she goes. And you should have seen the inquisitive gazes from people at restaurants and other places. With a mixed grouping of Dean, Lisa, Cass, and Chet carrying any one of the babies at any given moment, they just couldn't figure us out.

Olivia has been playing so hard, she has a little something we like to call Swead (sweaty head). Believe me...Dione will appreciate the name.

We didn't do a whole lot while we were there; caring for two babies takes up a lot of the day. It took all four of us to get them in and out of carseats, restaurants, and the pool. How do Cass and Bob do it...how does Cass do it when she's all alone?

While Cass and Chet sneaked off to see Harry Potter...like everyone else in America last weekend, we took the babies back to the condo for some Papa and Nana time.

Shhhh, don't tell mom, one bite of Chunky Monkey for Olivia...

and one bite of Chunky Monkey for Papa. Wait...shouldn't that be two bites for Olivia and then one for Papa?

Some quality bonding took place between uncle and nephew,

and brother and sister.

Henry prefers Uncle Chet to any of us...I think the feeling is mutual!

Olivia had her first time in a float toy...

she loved it...obviously!

Chet showed me this cool trick...

you can see the splash for just a split second before it hit Henry, Me, and the Nikon!

Those sunglasses on him...are authentic Dean. No one else could pull them off, nor would they try!

The days were filled with simple things that brought us much joy. We felt the absence of Bob and Dione and as always...Jocie. They were constantly in our thoughts!

You can tell Henry's Mom is a tiny bit of a Science nerd by Henry's t-shirt.
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Olivia taught us all how to scream at high piercing levels whenever we sat down to eat. She's really good at it...pretty much an expert!

Once the little ones were tucked in bed, we played hours of Hearts. We took turns losing, winning, shooting the moon, feeling picked on, and constantly laughing.

With a fresh diaper, a warm bubba of milk and it's time for the babies to go home. Shee you later Park Shitay...until next time.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

PetSmart Flunky

Kenya is the only dog I know with the dubious achievement of being thrown out of PetSmart.
A cross between a tornado and a hurricane, the girl never ever slows down. Not once...in the nearly 10 years she has lived with us, has she ever had a calm day. A couple years ago, Dean dropped her off at PetSmart to have a summer haircut.

Not more than 45 minutes later, the groomer at PetSmart called in an uproar..."You have to come get YOUR dog immediately, she is ridiculously hyper and completely out of control. Kenya is upsetting all the other dogs...she can not remain in the grooming salon!"

Yup...kicked out of PetSmart! The only problem...the groomer was only half finished when Kenya got kicked out. For the rest of the summer, Kenya had a half-shaved body. Poor canine...we laughed all summer at her grooming nightmare!

These days, we take her to our vet for her annual summer haircut. They are armed and ready with a doggy Valium should the need arise. And this week, they were even able to tie a seasonal bandanna around the pooch.

A concerned Jocie is trying to check on Kenya's latest injury.

Kenya is Jocie's dog. I vividly remember every syllable of the conversation I had with her when asked if we could go "look" at some new puppies at Autumn's house.
"But Jocie sweetie...if we go look at them you will want to bring one home."
We didn't pick Kenya out of all the other puppies in the litter that day...rather Kenya picked us! And she's been a familiar face every since. She really has the sweetest personality and so nice to come home to...especially if you like bad mannered, volcanic destruction, brownie eating canines.

She is known as the "outside" dog (you don't have to ask why, now do you). While Izzy the Princess Pooch is known as the "inside" dog. Talk about sibling rivalry.

I am confident every time Kenya sneaks in the house and eats an entire two pound brick of cheese, swipes a hamburger right out of your hand, or pounces on the teenage boys lounging in the basement...Jocie is giggling from heaven and enjoying every naughty moment of the puppy we just needed to go "look" at!

And...at the end of the day, it is certainly nice to have a little tail-wagging piece of Jocie's personality to continually remind us of her!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Fun Momma

The Teenager and I stepped through the familiar back door of home; we could hear Olivia calling for us "Ah"? When you play this game with Olivia you are supposed to answer with your own "Ah"! It is something she invented herself. Following the voice of my little cherub grand daughter, you might say we were a bit surprised and delighted to discover...

Momma and Olivia playing in the old Buzz Lightyear Pop-up tent!

Already I can see...Momma Cass is one of those mommas...a fun momma!

Almost instantly Chet crawled inside to play alongside his niece baby.

With a little coaxing, by that afternoon we had convinced Olivia to pass through the "Escape Hatch" into outer space. Although she was entirely unsure of the safety of the hatch.

I love to watch Momma Cass play with her babies. She giggles and talks and reads to them constantly. Olivia has already read more books than you can imagine.

Seriously...can it be that many years ago that Chet spent hours upon days playing in the Buzz Lightyear tent? Seeing his long lean adolescent body stretched from end to end through the play tent, it seems utterly impossible!

Cass his become a mother of two babies almost in the blink of an eye.

They require a LOT of work.

Believe me...this Nana knows just how much work! Every single day consists of a million diaper changes, half a million bottles, spitting up (we have affectionately nicknamed Henry...The Vomit Comet), several changes of clothing, naps, tub time, meal times, doctor appointments, teething, chasing the crawling Olivia, etc, etc, etc.

Yet amidst all the responsibilities required with two babies that are just six months apart, Momma Cass always finds the time to immerse herself in play with these little ones.

And this day...a visit to the park, with some assistance from Uncle Chet of course.

If you ask me, I'm not sure who had more fun...Olivia, Cass, or Chet? Henry was napping in his car seat.

Slide after slide, moment by moment, Momma Cass enjoys every single aspect of motherhood. I wondered that she might miss the intellectual side of working in the outside world. Amazingly, Cass has funneled all her energy and intelligence into raising beautiful, healthy and happy babies. And she's really good at it! Olivia and Henry envelop every second of her life...and she couldn't love anything more!

Olivia sure likes The Teenager Uncle Chet, even if he constantly pulls funny faces at Nana's camera!

Each and every day, Momma Cass can hardly wait to show her babies the joy in every part of their little worlds. One evening while staying with Nana and Papa they were both finally tucked snugly into dreamland in their separate cribs, Cass leaned over and said "I miss Henry and Wittle Wibbins (Olivia's current nickname)"!