The Blankie, Part 2

I wrote a whole post one time about the places I've located Annie's missing blankie. But the newest one takes the cake. Her blanket has already had a rough go of it - a couple of years ago it was mostly burned up in a small candle fire.

But a little handkerchief-sized piece remains, which we could not find for the life of us during our recent vacation to Gull Lake. The last thing I asked before leaving the driveway was, "Everyone have their blankie?" And everyone yelled "yes" and held them up. So when we got to Pam's and Annie's blanket was nowhere to be seen, it was quite perplexing. We searched the car, and Kevin's car, and retraced steps, and looked in all the places Annie might have gone when she first went in the house.

I thought sure it would turn up someplace...or that possibly this was it. But then midweek, Kevin needed to go home to feed the birds and mow the lawn and such. AND HE FOUND THE BLANKIE ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD HALFWAY BETWEEN OUR HOUSE AND PAM'S. We'd stopped for firewood at a roadside stand, and it must have fallen out when I loaded the wood into the van. AND HE FOUND IT. Kevin took it home, washed it and brought it back with him. Happy girl.

DJ-isms

• I hope there aren't any anteaters around here. I would want them to eat Aunt Pam!

• [After finishing a bottle of his favorite, 7-Up, and burping repeatedly into the bottle.] Hey mom, where should I keep these burps so they stay good? I want to add them to my sound and smell collection.

• [Taking a bath rub-a-dub-dub-style] One of my best people in the world is with me. Mary Cate.

Favorite vacation moments

This year we spent our 9-day family vacation at Pam's house on Gull Lake. We decided we just wanted to go away but stay put at the same time, so it seemed right! There were too many fun things for me to remember, so on the way home each person got to say what his or her most memorable part of vacation was. Here they are:

Mary Cate: Won't remember any of it, but I'll remember how she didn't sleep at all because she was getting new teeth and being grumpy about not being able to crawl quite yet. She liked swimming, though!

Eddie: Trains.

DJ: Swimming and the 4th of July parade.

Annie: The zoo, swimming to the raft, pushing Nellie in the water, playing with cousins, floating with Alexa.

Nellie: Tubing, playing with siblings, pushing Dad in the lake, playing "WWW" (Wernet Water Wonders, I think?)

Me: The zoo, swimming - especially Mary Cate's first time in the lake, seeing the fireworks from the boat.

Kevin: Tubing.

Annie's birthday interview: Eight is great!

Annie is, as ever, sweet, sensitive, and conscientious. We can count on her to remind us to lock the doors, move our cars in from the street, push the second cart at the grocery store, and help out in a million other ways. She reminds me a bit of myself at her age, but with a little more courage and spunk. We're looking forward to seeing what the next year holds!

How do you feel about being eight?  

I feel bigger and it feels like I can do more things.

What kinds of new things do eight-year-olds do?   
Well, instead of blowing out 7 candles, you blow out 8 candles. And on Sesame Street, now you like 8 to be the number of the day.

What are you most excited about for the next year?
I'm excited for my next birthday, and I'm excited for school and to see what 3rd-grade teacher I get. I'm excited for Lake Michigan with Grandma Lisa and staying longer. 

I'm excited to learn about multiplication and cursive writing. And also I'm excited to learn about the capitol because you learn about that stuff in 3rd grade.

Who is your best friend?

Lael and Bree and Adrienne and Luke and Leo and Matthew. Everybody, I like everybody. Everybody is my friend. 

Who are your favorite people to play with?
My friends, and I like playing with Nellie, DJ, Eddie, and Mary Cate. And all my friends--Lael, Bree, Kylie, and Charlotte.

What kinds of things are you good at?

I'm good at drawing and coloring, and writing and math. I'm good at music and doctoring. I'm good at gymnastics and dancing. And sewing, and I want to learn how to knit.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be either a doctor or to work for NASA or be an Olympic swimmer. Be in the Olympics, basically.

Why are you interested in those things?
Because I like helping people and because I like space and stars and also because I'm good at swimming and gymnastics.

What’s your favorite song?   
I have lots of favorite Christian songs, and my favorite lullaby is "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." My favorite just-listening-to song is "Call Me Maybe."

What's your favorite food?
I like everything chocolate, and cheese and pickles. I like zucchini bread.

Favorite movie?   
Pirates of the Caribbean. But I want to watch the second one, because we only watched the first one.

Favorite book?   

I like the Little House series; also the Princess in Black and the Bible.

Favorite color?   
My favorite color is purple, mostly lavender purple. I like the color of hydrangeas. 

Favorite place to be?

At school and I like being at the doctor's office. It's cool in there; I like the tools and charts. I like getting out the pain chart and looking at the faces. I liked that place where we saw Papa Roger when he had his stroke.

What are your favorite things to do?   
I like doing gymnastics, dancing, and sewing. I like helping my siblings.

Is there anything else you want us to know about you?   
I want you to know that I'm good at sports and I like doing sports. I'm good at swimming and stuff. This year I went to Maryland, in May. It was fun, except that my ears popped a lot. And that's all.

Eddie, age 3 (How can it be?)

Okay, this was one of the weirdest interviews I've done...strong train theme with a little puke and potty thrown in for good measure.

Eddie continues to fill us with joy every day. He's a bundle of happy energy, most of which he devotes to talking non-stop and playing with his trains. Three is a great age for "kids say the darndest things" moments. Like when Eddie walked up to me and announced, "I can drink beer all by myself! I'm the best! I can drink beer all night!" (???) Three is also a challenging age, especially because Eddie is fiercely independent. He imitates everything DJ does, except that whereas DJ prefers to be waited on and helped with everything, Eddie wants to do it all by himself. Everything. Using a public restroom takes two hours. And he gets injured about 10 times a day. Seriously, we've gone through so much ice this week for everything from a finger burned on a sparkler to stubbed toes, bumped heads, and hand pinched in the door.

I couldn't imagine life without our fun-loving, juice-drinking, train-driving, accident-prone Eddie. Cheers to three years!

A happier boy would be hard to find!

His big birthday present was a water table. We couldn't get him interested in opening it, though, because he loved his birthday Thomas so much.

How do you feel about being three?  

To a birthday! Birthday? 

What kinds of new things do three-year-olds do?   
Mom? Do you know this one? Steady, steady, steady, everybody go! Like on the Island of Sodor.

Who is your best friend?

Steven! [Well, he's a train. Who is your best person friend?] Thomas! And even Percy. And James and Henry. I love Henry and Percy.

Who are your favorite people to play with?
James, Thomas, and Percy! [But who are your favorite people to play with?] I love Nellie and Annie.

What kinds of things are you good at?

Toys!

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to spit up in a bucket. Puke.

What’s your favorite song?   
Thomas!

What's your favorite food?
I love juice, yes! I love to eat apples. Can we go to the next store to buy apples?

Favorite movie?   
Ooh, racing Thomas!

Favorite book?   

Ooh! [Whispers] Thomas.

Favorite color?   
Blue.

Favorite place to be?

The library! I really need to go potty at the library. [Actually, that is everywhere. Everywhere we go, Eddie needs to know if there's a potty, whether it's big or little, loud or quiet...]

What are your favorite things to do?   
Play with choo-choo trains. I like Thomas. Wait, wait. I like Percy. 

Is there anything else you want us to know about you?   
Yeah. Um...I know what color I use. Hey what is this? [Holds up a train signal for his new zoo train. And it's over.]

The Wernets Take The Zoo

We brought our zoo to THE zoo. On the way there, we discussed how it was really the first day trip we'd taken like that in several years. There's probably a reason for that. But we had a great time, with only a few small meltdowns (one child in particular is terrified of peacocks) and no injuries! Small miracle.

First, lunch.

There was a train!

Prairie dogs are cute.

Mary Cate likes the trip to Africa.

Eddie fed a giraffe!

DJ really doesn't want to feed a giraffe but he'll push Kevin's arm to the giraffe's giant purple tongue.
Smart kid.

Annie's favorite animal

Okay, cutest thing ever.

Can't handle the cuteness.

There was a train in the gift shop. So, here's Eddie the rest of the time.

So cool.