Dream, dream, dream

Ethan has been telling us about his dreams lately when he wakes up in the morning. I don't think he gets it yet...I think he thinks it's all real. When we were at Grammy and Papa's I went in to his room in the morning where he very excitedly told me a detailed story about how he went swimming in the ocean and there were lots of jellyfish and he tried to turn into a swordfish to fight them but one stung him on the cheek. He even showed me where. We had just been to the aquarium, which explains part of it. Then the other day he told me how we all went to outer space together in a spaceship. No clue what prompted that one, but it's cute to see how into it he gets. Here's a great shot Grammy got of Ethan at the aquarium. The kids were an absolute dream on the flight home as well. It was a little freaky how perfectly everything worked out. After lots of experience with New Yorkers and NY airports, I am the first to claim that the stereotypes about the attitudes there are well-deserved. I have to completely take that back now. There was no traffic getting to LaGuardia, the curbside check-in guy went inside for me, checked me in and booked me on an earlier flight that was boarding 5 mins after we arrived (and 2 hours before our scheduled flight), someone came and helped me through security with my massive stroller and carseat, and we walked up just as they announced boarding. The flight attendant went and retrieved my carseat from the jet bridge so I could put Colin in a seat next to me, and Colin slept the whole flight while Ethan happily watched out the window or his DVD player. It was great. We were so happy to get home to see Jason, although it took about a week for me and the kids to accept that no one was going to clean up after us, cook for us, or entertain us. Last weekend we went to Wilmington. We rented a beach-front condo in Kure Beach, about 30 mins south. The location was great but the weather was lousy. It was warm on Saturday, but so windy that the only people out on the beach were surfers taking advantage of the waves...and me and Ethan, who lasted about 5 mins before he decided getting blasted in the face with sand was not so fun. Here he is moments after we arrived and before we headed in.

Jason competed in the triathlon again this year and did great despite having a nasty virus we've all been dealing with. Ethan loved cheering him on and would yell "Go Dad Go!!" at each transition. It was so cute. We spent the afternoon at the indoor pool. Colin loves the water and would have happily stayed in all day. He's got a pretty powerful frog kick. Here he is cheering dad on.

Sunday we went to the aquarium in the morning, where Ethan bonded with this puffer fish. Ethan had been coughing occasionally and complaining all weekend that he was tired, so we figured he was getting sick since Jason was also sick. We stopped at my parent's house for dinner on the way home. Ethan didn't want to eat and crawled onto the couch and fell asleep while his cousins played outside. Very unlike him. He slept all the way home, then woke up Monday morning with a fever that peaked at 103.1. Colin and I proceeded to get it over the next 24 hours, so we have spent the week in bed. Ethan's best friend Ryan called last night. I turned on the speakerphone so I could hear the conversation: Ryan: Ethan, are you better yet? Ethan: A little but not really. Ryan: But I miss you. Ethan: I miss you, too. This is after Ethan missed one day of preschool. Those two are so cute. They see each other at least 3 times a week at preschool and playdates and are going to go into serious withdrawal when we move to Raleigh this summer.