Potty Training and a Mommy-Dessy Weekend

My Christmas gift this year from Scott was a Von Ruden girls’ weekend out in Seattle.  Odessa and I planned our special trip for the first weekend I was free from work.  Scott helped us find a great hotel room and made us promise to get room service at least once.  The trip served a dual purpose as the boys were going to spend the time alone working on potty training.

We left Leo practicing on the potty Saturday morning and drove up to Seattle.  Our hotel, The Silver Cloud, happened to be located right between Safeco Field (where the Mariners play) and Century Link Field (where the Seahawks and Sounders play).  We were on the top floor right down the hall from the doors to the outside pool and hot tub.  While a hotel in Wisconsin with an outdoors swimming area would undoubtedly be closed in January, we were surprised and excited to see  this one open.  Odessa and I swam four times over the course of our weekend.  I dipped my toes in the swimming pool but spent most of my time in the hot tub.  She had fun running back and forth.  On Sunday morning, it started snowing on our heads while we swam.  This was the first snow we’ve seen since Wisconsin.

When we weren’t swimming, we were shopping, eating, or watching movies.  We took a shuttle bus down to Pike’s Market, got some ice cream, and walked around.  We found a cute toy store on our walk back to the hotel where Odessa was excited to spend some of her Christmas money.  It was a bit of a challenge for her to figure out how much she could buy with the money she had.  She kept trying to pick out the really expensive items.

We ordered a pizza for supper and watched a movie in the room.  Odessa ate three pieces of pizza while I could only manage two.  The next morning we ordered room service for breakfast before swimming once more and driving back to Tacoma.  We had a great time together.  Unfortunately, my camera was almost out of batteries so I didn’t take very many pictures.

Christmas 2011

This was our first Christmas in Washington at our new home.  My parents, Emily, and Bonnie were able to join us for some time the week before Christmas.  We stayed at a resort on the Kitsap Peninsula in the little town of Union along Hood Canal.  During their time here we went for several hikes including one in a salt marsh and one to Murhut Falls in Olympic National Forest.  On Wednesday we spent the day in Seattle; Odessa and my parents stayed to attend a children’s play while the rest of us took the ferry back to Bremerton.  We celebrated Christmas with my family on the 23rd before they left the following morning.  It was very nice to see them, be able to spend time together, and show them around our new state.

We had our family Christmas on the 24th.  Scott made the same Christmas duck recipe he’s made several times in the past, which we enjoy very much.  In Madison, we could buy duck at our usual grocery store but in Tacoma we visited five grocery stores before finally venturing to an Asian specialty grocer to find a duck.  Odessa and Leo had a great time opening presents and being the center of attention.  We were very fortunate to receive such generous and thoughtful gifts and cards from friends and family.

We wish health and happiness to all our loved ones for 2012!

Ballet

Odessa recently had her ballet performance. She received a new tutu from my mom, and the day of the performance was to be her first day using it. The children sat with their parents in the audience until it was time for them to perform. The tutu was so puffy that we couldn’t have her wear it while waiting for her to go on stage, because she’d smack everyone in the face with it as she tried to exit the row. So, when it was her turn, she and Serena left the row and put it on while in the aisle. However, this delay meant they were about to start without her. She shouted, to the whole theater, “Wait!” A moment later, she said, “I am putting my tutu on,” to the amusement of the audience. For a brief time, the theater was quiet as she and Serena worked to get it on. She then must have decided that they deserved to know more about the tutu. “It was a present that I got from Grandma Von Ruden!” Everyone was still amused, but they weren’t entirely sure what she said.

Prior to the theater performance, we saw a rehearsal where all the children did their parts with enthusiasm. But when on the stage, most of the kids seemed to be hesitant to perform. An exception, of course, was Odessa, who had more her share of enthusiasm.

This story is probably pretty dull to most people. I realized for the first time what it’s like to watch one’s child perform something publicly. I am not immune to the feelings of pride that most parents must experience. As a consequence, I find it likely that I’m talking about it far too much.

I took a crappy video of the show. You can see her bounding across the stage to meet her peers. It’s pretty cute. It includes other children, and is consequently password protected, like the slideshows. The password is the same as the others. You can view the video here. The video is not very high quality, unfortunately.