Just Ask the Magic Eight Ball

"Will the Cardinals win their next game . . ."

Yes, definatly

 And they DID!!  We are on a 3 game winning streak and headed for a 4!  Their last game is this Saturday and it's a home game.  After that it's the tournament and then we say goodbye to the 2011/2012 4th grade basketball season!

 This is from week before last . . . Auntie M and Adam came all the way to Lincoln to see the action!

Kyler had no worries that his brothers team would  win because, "the magic eight ball said they will win".  :)

"Will I survive 5 boys (6 if you count Kerry) in my house for a sleep over"

Answer unclear, Ask again later

 I DID!  No worries!  The boys had fun and it really wasn't much different from any other Friday night around here!  We had a good game of laser tag  . . .

 Ate pizza, played video games, asked the magic eight ball questions and general boy stuff!

Jayden had Evan over so we had to call them "big Evan" and "little Evan" - otherwise it got kinda confusing! Notice that "Evan little" was allowed in the big boys room (and parents) but Kyler and Alec were not! haha!

"Are the Pitts ready for a vacation?"

Most Definately

There you have it, that Magic Eight Ball is on a roll!

Another One Bites the Pixie Dust

Guess who was in need of a little extra cash?!  Just kidding . . . kind-of!  I don't know that this tooth needed to come out - there is no permanent tooth in sight to take it's place-- but out it came!  Kyler was a little perturbed at the tooth fairy this morning, because he requested pixie dust (which she left), to leave his tooth (which she did), and for her to draw a picture of herself (which she did NOT do) PLUS - she took the note!  I think maybe the tooth fairy was too busy to draw a picture - I bet she's planning on leaving it the next time he loses a tooth.  Let's cut the poor fairy some slack!

More Vacation Planning . . .

Can you tell Kerry has a bad case of SPRING FEVER?!  Although we are currently counting down the days until our Keys trip . . . we can't forget about this summer!

This Party has our condo booked in Perdido Key, Florida June 30-July 14

 -- so, you have a 2 week window to join in on the beach bummin'!

Countdown and Flashback to the KEYS!

It is 26 DAYS til we depart for our winter break FLORIDA KEYS trip! wahoo!  This Party of Five took a similar trip about 4 years ago, but since that was Pre-Blogging Days I thought I would do a flashback post with some of those memories. . . and lessons learned!  Just think we were traveling with THREE children under the age of FIVE!  

The most memorable part of our trip was the flight (or should I say "flightSSS")  We had a lay-over in St. Louis, during a major snow and ice storm that turned into an over night lay-over . . .  NOT fun!

The boys took naps in the terminal . . . we were stuck there ALL day, until they finally told us we would not be able to fly out until the next day . .  nice!

And WHY you ask does Evan have no pants on?!  Well, did I mention we all had a touch of a stomach bug . .  have you ever had a child with diarrhea on a flight and stuck in a terminal all day? -- well, you run out of diapers and out of extra pants in your carry on!

We finally caught a cab; the roads were HORRIBLE, hotel rooms were scarce and that was IF you get to them, we settled into our ghetto (really, it was) hotel room.  After some "sleep" (remember, stomach bug, changing sheets on pack-n-play, finding the laundry room mid-night to wash a bink and putting the puck filled trashcan outside our hotel room door) we hit the streets to get back to the airport.  SO - 5 flip-flop wearing (we were SUPPOSSED to be in FLORIDA, not a snow storm!), luggage tugging, 3 car-seat towing, fun bunch walked through the ghetto in the ice and snow to a gas station to figure out how to catch a bus (cabs weren't able to drive on streets) at which point we were told it wasn't "safe" for us to walk to the bus stop.  This is where it gets really interesting - we all 5 pile in a less than new, duct-taped window oldsmobile with an african-american mother and her daughter (luggage and ALL) to get "safely" to the bus stop.  I precisly remember thinking - My Dad. Would Have. A Heartattack.!  We made it!!! 6 or 8 Flights later we arrived in Miami!  We had to split up - Me and the 1 year old, stomach bug infested, bink towing, hair fettish, can't sit still in an airplane Evan and Kerry with a 3 and 5 year old.  I honestly, don't know the tour of the country that my counterparts took - but Evan and I flew through every hub you could!  At one point, I exited the aircraft, dishelved with Evan hanging through my arms - I had no idea which city or state I was in, all I knew was that my next flight just took off and it was getting dark and I needed to get somewhere CLOSE to Florida to re-unit with my fam!  

Compared to all of that, the rest of the trip was a breeze!  We spent time at the pool and beach. . . .

Checked out the sights in Key West . . .

Ate yummy food!

Attempted to ride the conch train . . . Actually Kerry, Jayden and Kyler attempted - they had to get off and catch a cab mid way through because the boys got a little antsy:) . . . me and Evan settled on shopping!

We had a pass to the Key West marine life center, where the boys became hands-on experts . . .

We gave our best shot on a family pic at the furthest point.  Kerry wanted this so badly (as much I long for a good christmas card pic!) but, it just wasn't happening.  We a had a true Bum take the pic and I was scared he was going to run off with my camera!

Check out Mr. Happy pouting!

The boys got more hands on experience at the Island of the Sea  . .

And finally we ended back in Miami, headed home -- and NOT through St. Louis!

As, I think I've said before about one of our trips. . .  whats a little barfing, snow storm and danger - we had a great trip! 

 These are the things we learned for this next trip:

1.)NEVER fly or go through St. Louis - I'm sure it's a great place - but THIS party of five will NEVER go back there!  We have a DIRECT flight this time!

2.)  Pack extra diapers and pants in our carry-on:  oh-wait - no worries this time!

3.)  Let my history buff hubby ride the conch train to his hearts content BY HIMSELF.

4.) Give Kyler a chance to redeem himself at the Pirate Museum (he ran through a curtain wall screaming for his life and had to be picked up by me and Evan!)

5.)  Pump up on vitamin C so we don't get a stomach bug. . .  but also know, what the heck - we can still have fun with some barfing!

6.)  Hand over the camera to a Beach Bum and SMILE, cause we are getting the PERFECT family pic at the furthest point!

7.)  Most importantly HAVE FUN -- island hopping, seafood eating, history and marine learning, sunshine and some time at Disney - here we come!!!

Monday Funday

Since the "big" boys were out of school today, we decided to hit the pool!

 They did some splashing . . .

 Some lap racing, sea otter style . . .

 And some general Pitts-ing around . . .

The boys got to go to the Kids Center while I got my workout in . .  this is now Evan's domain since he goes there all the time and the bigger boys haven't been in a while.  Surprisingly, EVAN somehow ended up in time-out TWO times while I was away -- since he NEVER gets in trouble there, I am guessing he had some negative brotherly influence! The boys got to run and swim off some energy and now they are all lounging - nothing wears a kiddo out like some swimming-- mission accomplished:)!

A Winning Flock!

Saturday Basketball games continue and they are always an exciting way to start the weekend!  Watching a Pitts boy play ball is never short on Fun!  Jayden is fast, he's intense and he's furious!

 As always, he is number one in blocking, fouling and stealing -- but this game he also got a score in!

 Not to mention he had his snap away pants on before the game ---which he thinks are pretty cool:)   And his titanium necklace -which he got called out by ref for mid-game (Kerry was right, there I said it!)-- but this kid doesn't need the magical powers of a necklace to be on fire, anyway!

 Oh, and check out that guy with the half time show -- I might need to get him to do that at the house!

GO CARDS!

Ruling the Roost

Evan is enjoying his days ruling the roost!  His brothers get jealous because he gets to do "fun stuff" while they are "slaving" away at school! . . .  like go swimming, have lunch with Auntie M, and go to Walmart/Target.  I'm pretty sure they also got to do some fun things during their own roost ruling days!

 We are trying to get Evan warmed up to swimming before the Florida trip.  It's so funny because this summer he would swim all day in the deep end as long as he had his snorkle - no snorkle, no swim!  He has in his mind he can't swim unless he has it! The water wasn't quit as toasty as I would like it to be in this January freezing weather, but YES, I got in too!

Airport Security - He is READY!

It's time to have the staples removed!  Thankfully, this was not near as traumatic as having them put in -- for ME or Evan!  The funny part is that after he got them out he said, "now I can go on the airplane to Florida!"  I guess at some point we jokingly mentioned that he would set the metal detectors off at the airport so he is relieved he will make it through security now!

Oh-yeah - he's one cool and tough dude!  

All Good Things . . .

. . . must come to an end - and that means Christmas Break too!  

 The weather was unseasonably warm this break - so we had some backyard picnics, bon-fires and some four-wheeler and dirt bike riding action before the break was over.

 And - some indoor snow boarding . . . yes, that is the child with staples in his head "snowboarding" down a mattress mountain.  In hindsight - a helmet wouldn't have been a bad idea!  This entire week I have continuously had to say, "Evan, you have staples in your head - no wild play!" -- it did no good!

 There were times when bordom lead to some creative boys -- a parade through the house, complete with floats and advertising for their "fun house".  (Just so you know - Jayden and Kyler fix up their rooms with cool activities and then charge Evan to enter.)

The boys went back to school on Thursday and Friday and then it was the weekend again!  We had a Cotton Bowl Watch party on Friday night to go to and a gumbo and shrimp boil with friends on Saturday!  Fun times, but glad to be back to a "normal" week!