Happy Birthday To Me!

Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! That's right. I had a birthday (a week ago) and for those who don't know, I'm now 32. Sweet Lord. When you say it out loud (or write it) it makes me feel so old. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was freaking out over who to ask to my junior prom?

I had a great birthday this year. Since Kara had to go in to work, Kasia and I decided to go on down to Kittyhawk and play on the beach. Then we went out for lunch at Mama Kwans, which is a tiki bar and grill that I've really wanted to go to (mainly because they have a billboard for the place just outside my neighborhood). It was excellent, and Kasia even enjoyed eating there.

Then Kara came home and brought Uno's Chicago style pizza with her. We feasted on pizza and beer. We opened presents, and we had a huge hot fudge brownie with ice cream dessert.

It was an absolutely terrific day. It was so good, that I didn't even mind turning 32.

First Ferry Trip

One of the things we have always talked about doing but never have was to take the ferry over to Knotts Island.  Well, last Saturday, the weather was absolutely perfect and so we drove on down to the dock and hopped on the ferry.   This was Kasia’s first time on a ferry boat, and my first time on a ferry boat where you could drive you car on (I’ve only taken passenger ferries before).  So it was a big day for all of us… except Kara.  This ain’t her first rodeo.

So with the wind at our backs, and seagulls flying high over head, we shipped out for 45 minutes of fun.  It really was just a nice cruise across the sound and on to Knotts Island.  Kasia was a little scared at first and didn’t want to stand on the ferry, but after a few minutes, she got used to it.  She had a great time watching the birds fly after us and the water speed by.  In fact, later she would comment on the whole event by saying “I was on the ferry.  I was scared for one minute but then I wasn’t scared.” 

Now, once you’re on Knotts Island, there isn’t really a whole lot to do.  Every summer they have a peach festival, but this weekend there wasn’t anything going on.  So we stopped by the two wineries on the island as well as the “general store.” 

At least I guess you could call it the general store.  It was really just a run down shack that sold a bunch of old things, but it had some character… and some characters working there.  It’s a must see if you ever happen to be on Knott’s Island.

Kasia’s Second Trip to the Dentist

 

Just after her third birthday we took Kasia in for her very first dentist visit.  To say it lightly, it didn’t go so well.  She screamed and cried throughout most of the visit.  After spending thirty minutes trying to calm her down, the best we could get her to do was to open her mouth so that the dentist could see that she actually had teeth.  Baby steps.

It’s now six months later, and we went in for the second visit.  What a difference six months make.

For days I had been prepping Kasia for her second trip to the dentist.  We talked about it quite a bit, and even played “dentist” quite a bit and everything was great.  She was excited to go.  If she behaved, she could get a toy as a prize.  He was looking forward to that toy.  It was going to be great.

Then we got their, and things started going south.  She saw that room, the chair, and the instruments, and suddenly she was clutching Cuddle Pup, refusing to go in.   The hygienist, who had gone through this with us six months ago, decided to give us some time to work it out ourselves.  So I talked to Kasia and eventually talked her in to sitting down in the chair and relaxing. 

When the hygienist came back in, Kasia was much better.  I sat right next to her as Kasia got her teeth cleaned, polished, and painted.  Then, somehow, Kasia was even ok with getting her teeth flossed. 

The dentist then came in and check everything out.  In short, her teeth are very healthy, and all is well.  Oh, and for those dying to know what toy she got, it was a the Wonder Pets Flyboat.  Because no house is complete unless it’s filled with the Wonder Pets.

We Have Baby Lions

Once again, the Norfolk zoo is full of baby lions. This time there is four times the fun as our lions parents had quadruplets, which apparently is unusual for lions. Personally, I love it when the zoo has baby lions, because unlike their parents, the cubs never sleep. They are awake all the time, and when they're awake, mom is awake. It's the only time you actually get to see lions awake at the zoo. It's a pretty cool thing.

Speaking of which, does anybody else find it odd that lions are called the kind of the jungle, and yet they don't live in the jungle? Meanwhile tigers, who are the true tough guys, and who do live in the jungle, get no respect. The animal world is just so not fair.

What's That Lump?

The other day, I came upstairs to check on Kasia only to discover her missing. I looked everywhere, and she was nowhere to be found. However, I did find a rather unusual lump in her rug. Well, you put two and two together, and you get the idea.

She crawled under her rug, and then fell asleep. How crazy is that? I mean, I know that I enjoy taking a quick power nap while lying on the rug, but under the rug? Now that's just ridiculous.

Kasia the Fishing Girl

Many of you may not know this, but Kasia comes from a family with strong ties to the sea. Obviously, I was a naval officer for longer than I can remember. Kasia's Poppy is an avid fisherman. Her mom used to go fishing quite a bit, and her father used to fish all the time too... when he was nine. And now Kasia has picked up on the tradition, and she can now fish.

Admittedly, she didn't catch anything. Of course, we had no bait, and we were standing in water that was only six inches deep, but we had no bites. Well, she did get a jelly fish caught on the hook, but no swordfish or tiger sharks or anything cool like that. You'd figure though that the big trophy fish would hang out in the six inch waters. Maybe we'd have better luck if fish decided to purposely beach themselves at an alarming rate.

Peanut Butter Hands

Normally Kasia freaks out whenever she gets anything on her hands. She's to the point now that when she's playing with her sidewalk chalk, she has to wash her hands every ten seconds because she has chalk on them. I mean, isn't that kind of the point of playing with chalk?

So you can imagine my surprise the other day when Kasia came in to the kitchen to show me her hands, and they were COVERED in peanut butter. I guess she was kneading it or something, but it was everywhere. She got it on her face, her hands, her fingers... everywhere. But surprisingly, she didn't get it on her clothes or on anything else. Crazy.

I have to admit, that this is one of those moments were my initial thoughts were not "Awwww, this is so cute, let's take a picture." No. It was, "Come on? Really? Now I have to spend the next ten minutes cleaning this up. Great." But I figured, what the heck. Take a picture and one day I'll see the humor in it. And it worked. Now when I look at the pictures of peanut butter Kasia, I laugh. If only more things in life were that easy to get over.