Christopher.

My brother and I are 19 years apart.

That’s a lot.  Like, a lot, a lot. 

I am old enough to be his mom and not even in like a high school pregnancy sort of way.  I was in college and pretty much out of the house when he was born.  He regularly reminds me that I’m only a few years younger than his girlfriend’s mom.  Which?  Is totally awesome to hear, let me tell ya.

He also introduces me as his sister… the old one.

He’s lucky I love him.

He came over last week after school and I think it was the longest we’ve ever hung out and talked just the two of us since he was Finn’s age.  When he was little, he could talk for hours on end without taking a breath and it just never stopped.  Teenaged boys though?  They don’t talk much to old sisters.  He asked me about the blog and it made me realize that I tell you stories about my sisters all the time and I don’t much talk about the baby of the family. 

Our little Kissy-fer.

Once, he hit Elise in the eye with a baseball bat when he was probably four years old.  It was totally un-funny until he justified it with a “but I hit her with a soft bat!”  And Elise screamed, “It was the hard end!”  He had managed to jab her with the only piece of a foam bat that had a hard edge.  He is no dummy.  I don’t even remember now {and maybe Elise or Lynnie will fill you in with a comment} what she did to get a bat to the eye, but Lyndsey and I still laugh about my dad trying to keep a straight face and yell at him for it.  Anytime someone in our family says, “but it was a soft bat!” we all laugh hysterically. 

When he was ten, Dave asked him if he would like to be in our wedding.  His response was “only if I get to wear a tux and bow tie like James Bond.”  So, even though everyone else in the wedding was in a tie, we totally got him the bow tie.  How could we not?  He took that ring carrying very seriously. 

 

Now, he’s a senior in high school and handsome and cool.  He’s looking at colleges.  I just know that I will do the ugly cry when he leaves and he will just make fun of me and things will go on as normal.

He’s sweet and infinitely patient with his niece and nephew, even though I think that little one scares the shit out of him.  Usually she takes one look at him and starts screaming, but they’ve turned a corner… now she just looks at him with contempt, which I think he admires.  Finn pretty much thinks that he is the coolest person in the universe and tries to act like a teenager when he is around.  At his sixteenth birthday, he let Finn hang out with him and his friends.  That is the kind of kid he is.

I might be fucking up his “swag” when I say this, but I actually like who he is as a person.  He still does dumb ass things like throw basketballs at me because he’s seventeen.  Mostly though, he’s really really quick witted and intelligent and funny and even charming when he wants to be.

Just don’t tell him I said that.

Halloweekends at Cedar Point: Frighteningly Awesome Fun.

Cedar Point is just an hour drive for us, an easy day trip, but not one we’ve done with the kids until this summer.  The only thing that really bothered us was that it was super hot the day we went.  Taking the kids was more fun than we had imagined and we all had a great time, it’s something our family is planning to do every summer.  Since ninety degree days are a rarity here in the fall, we decided to give Halloweekends a try for our second visit. 

The first thing we did was hit Planet Spooky for a ride on the Kite Eating Tree.  They worked their way around the park leading up to Iron Dragon, which Finn and Ollie were FINALLY tall enough to ride.  Miss Tate and Myles were too little, but were more than happy to sit with some cookies and hot apple cider while we waited.

 

 

The park is impressive for Halloweekends, everywhere you turn, there are decorations.  Pumpkins hanging in the trees, all of the Peanuts characters in their costumes, and scary music on the sound system.  The midway has spooky decorations like graveyards full of Cedar Point rides of years’ past, gigantic talking ogres, and monsters at every turn.  I can see how it would be eerie in the dark, but in the daylight it isn’t frightening.  The scare zones, awesomely fun scary walkways where roaming Screamsters jump out and scare you, don’t open until 8 pm after the little ones have had their fun.

 

Aside from all of the rides being open, there are parades, fortune tellers, and Snoopy and the gang.  We danced along with the Good Time Ghouls, explored the Magical House on Boo Hill, and navigated the Hay Bale Maze.  The kids loved all of the little touches that Cedar Point does to welcome their littlest guests.  From the Halloween candy treats bags to the costume contests, they really go all out to make sure the entire family has a great time.

 

An entire day of smiles and laughter and not one mention of watching TV or playing on the computer… and that was just the adults.  If you’re local and you haven’t made the trip, grab some friends, plan it and GO!  Halloweekends are open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through October.

Disclosure: Cedar Point provided the tickets for us to enjoy Halloweekends, all opinions and fun having are my own.

Important.

She walks everywhere with a purpose, that Tate of ours.  Even if that purpose is to destroy her brother’s Lego creations or to bring me Cinder the Dragon to read for the billionth time of the day. 

She is very important you know, so very many things to do.

It’s a Monday.

First, you people make me laugh so hard.  If you haven’t read the comments from Friday, or added your own, go there now.  I was cracking up every time I got a new one.  Except of course when my mother revealed that she kissed a boy in KINDERGARTEN.  Jesus, Janet.  If Finn kisses anyone this year, I’m sending him away to boarding school. 

Mark my words.

I started the morning off with zero coffee in Dave’s fancy pants grinder.  Apparently, he claims, it is better than the grinder that we already own because it grinds each bean evenly.  Uh.  Dave?  I feel like this claim is total bullshit and honestly, it doesn’t really mean anything if you don’t refill the coffee beans.

Enjoy your Keurig at the office, Punk.

I walked around comatose until my {braless} school drop off.  Yes, it’s not pretty.  Did I mention that it was in the thirties this morning?  As in DEGREES of cold.

We had to turn on the heat.

In September.

Dave is thoroughly disgusted.

Tate DID sleep all night, so that was a bonus and now it’s guaranteed not to happen again since I announced it on the internet.  Did you know about this law of parenting?  If you say, oh, my kid did THIS, isn’t she smart and talented and wonderful?  It’s guaranteed never to happen again. 

She’s been teething those dang molars so she’s had a rough go of things lately.  She has also been attached at the hip, which is super fun when you’ve got a to do list a mile long.

Super fun things like making a yearly pap appointment are topping my list today.  Don’t you wish you had this glamorous blogging life?

Our weekend was pretty dang awesome, I’ll talk more about that this week.  For now, tell me about your Monday.  It’s gotta be better than mine.

I’m going to sit here sipping the quad white mocha I drove over to Starbucks for {braless and freezing, remember? Otherwise I would have gone to the local coffee shop around the corner} and try to wake up.

{Disclosure: The link to Dave’s grinder is an affiliate, that means I get PENNIES if you buy it from Amazon... so I can actually buy coffee to put in the grinder.}