"just" a picnic...

If there's one thing I have mastered in my life thus far, it's how to stress about something.

Today was the very first "packed lunch" for kiddo. Daycare had a "picnic."

What's the big deal, right? After all, it is JUST a picnic.

And yes, I just got kiddo a cute Elmo lunch box, so that part was covered.

But what about the rest?
Did I need to pack a drink? If so, I forgot. Doh! Thankfully, he was given milk with his lunch.

Kiddo wound up with a quesadilla (isn't that what every mom cooks first thing in the morning?...hmm... maybe a cheese sandwich would have been just as good... although, it is highly probable that the bread was moldy).

Then, we packed yogurt. But is yogurt and a cheese quesadilla too much from the "milk" group? And what about protein... does he have to have some kind of meat?

Fruit... definitely needed to add fruit... thankfully, the cantaloupe (one of his favorites) was already cut up and in the fridge, just needed to be 'bagged'.

Will he be able to open the bag on his own, though?

For good measure (and not because he didn't already have twice as much in his lunch box as he would ever eat), I also added some goldfish crackers and cookies. After all, you have to have something special in your lunch, right?

Geesh. And even before the morning stuff started, I compared notes with a few moms about what they pack for their kiddos. I also did a quick internet search on toddler lunches. I assure you that I devoted entirely too much time and energy to one simple lunch.

It was a longer-than-usual morning at my house, with the stress over the lunch. I also had to make sure that Dad was reminded about the picnic, so the lunch didn't get "forgotten".

Love: Another new, odd, milestone
Hope: The remaining "picnic" lunches this summer (one per month) go a little smoother! At least I've got the first one under my belt.
Do: Eat lunch with kiddo for the picnic, if possible!
Number: 28 - which is the number on my mind today!

Wordless Wednesday

Off the wall...

Last night, DH and I took Kiddo out to dinner. Kiddo was being a little antsy - as is fairly typical for his age, I believe. While kiddo was spilling his sippy cup of milk in his lap, DH asked if I liked the Beatles or Elvis better.

Why "off the wall"? Because I believe that comment was based on the decor on the wall in the restaurant. After all, earlier in the evening I had mentioned that Chickens eat Pig. (Cows advertise, "Eat more chicken." for Chick-fil-a - - and the Pig on the wall said, "Eat meat." So chickens must eat pig... right?)

And so goes another night of randomness at my house.

Cheers!

Love: Off the wall conversations
Hope: restaurant walls continue to entertain us
Do: Get back to the books. Hardly believe myself that I've already started again!
Number: 4 - I can't get that out of my head today. Or 28.

Friday Failure

In a recent vacation post, I mentioned two "failed" adventures. A friend has encouraged others to share their failures in a "Friday Failure" post - so alas, here is the story of our failed adventures.

While walking through Yosemite, we decided to take the trail of "moderate" difficulty. It was only 3.4 miles - how hard could it be? We strapped kiddo in the backpack, and up we went. We were only trying to get 1000 feet up - so we did switchback after switchback after switchback. Most hikers were on their way down for the day. We made it about 1/2 way (I imagine) to the point we were trying to reach- the base of upper Yosemite falls- and it was too much. Carrying 30 pounds up a mountain wasn't working out for us - needless to say - and furthermore, we had left our water bottle back at the car. Our first failed adventure.

The following day, we went to the Winchester Mystery House where we planned to take a tour! For the tour of the "main" house, there is no age restriction, so we headed out with our tour guide, Aiden. It was supposed to be a 65 minute tour, and about 40 minutes through - while Mark and I were at the very back of the line- the tour guide pulled us out of the line and said, "your son has become a distraction, and I need to ask you to leave." HMPH! While I completely admit to having a toddler, I did not feel like he was acting outside of an ordinary toddler's behaviour. Yes, he was a bit loud. He was walking and then wanted to be picked up and put down. He was sitting on the floor making noise. He wasn't touching or going anywhere he was not welcome, and I could still here everything the guide was saying - plus, there were only 6 people other than us on the stinkin' tour! DH continued on the tour, and two people (yes, two!) came to "escort" us off. Later on the tour, another guest commented that they didn't think we should have been escorted off. Note to Mystery House: If you don't want a toddler acting like a toddler, put an age limit on the tour! Geesh.

Love: Walking up mountains - even if we didn't make it all the way up!
Hope: We get another chance to conquer the Yosemite Trail!
Do: Find another area to wander around
Number: 35 - for the number of minutes I hope to "beat" in my 5K tomorrow! (I think it might have to be under 34 minutes to break a record, though)

Wordless Wednesday

Vacation - by the numbers

I imagine this won't be the only "vacation" post I make. For some reason, I was attuned to several of the "numbers" that surrounded this vacation.

1 - day of "rest" before work (thank goodness!)
2 - number of adventures I consider "failures"
3 - days with over 20,000 steps
4 - total nights spent in a hotel room
6 - final count of wineries visited
7 - number of friend and/or family members we saw and spent time with
233 - Hotel room
311 - Hotel room
403 - Hotel room
800+ - pictures taken
1626 - Hotel room
26,393 - max number of steps - through Yosemite
117,000 - estimated number of "steps" for the whole trip (or over 55 miles or so)

Countless - number of trees, droplets of water, memories

Overall, a great trip!

Love: Travel
Hope: To visit more national parks in the near future!
Do: Write more later. Maybe.