(I wonder how often I’ll feel the need to holler that name out a ‘la “A Streetcar Named Desire?”)

Our new puppy, Stella, arrived tonight.  She’s so cute it hurts.

I told Todd tonight, I think Ian will need a crowbar to pry the kids away from their new pet and get to bed. 

We’re in for quite a weekend!!

Hope yours is great.

Trish

What a weekend! My arms are sore and my shoulders a bit sunburned, but it’s all well worth it for a hilarious memory.  My hubby had to work but I’d been itching to get out of town and do something fun with the kids. With the help of my super fun (and patient) friend, Brooke, I took the kids down to Holiday World this weekend.  Here’s a glimpse at how it all went:

Sat 3pm:  We pick up Brooke downtown and hit the road.

3:05:  Calvin declares, “We should be there already!”  Brooke and I say a prayer of thanks for DVD players and headphones. Time for girl talk!

6pm:  We arrive in the metropolis of Jasper and the kids immediately dive into the hotel pool.

7pm: Dinner in the big city.  Cal’s pizza has so much cheese it slides all over his plate (and face).

Clara picks her favorite, “Mac and Roni.”  (I think Brooke could pass for her mom with their pretty blonde hair and blue eyes!)

9pm: Somersaults on the hotel beds! Clara completes 21 in a row.

10pm  Lights out. Nobody’s sleeping.

10:30pm From his rollaway bed, a groggy Calvin raises his head to ask, “Is it the next day yet?”

11pm Clara continues to keep all of us awake telling rambling fairy tales that involve princesses who puke.  I have to remind her that Santa wants her to get SLEEP before she can visit him.

SUNDAY

6:00am    Clara sits up in bed to ask, “Is it Hollyworld day!!??”  I convince her it is not, and manage to get her back to sleep for two more hours.

9am  We stop at an ATM across from the hotel.  Clara gets hopeful. “Is this it? Are we at Holiday World?!”

10am We’re in the gate! Santa crosses our path immediately and asks Cal and Clara what they   would like for Christmas.  AWESTRUCK, they both make like Ralphie and freeze up completely.

10:15 Clara declares her feet “too tired to walk.”  With 40-lbs riding piggy-back, I realize it may have been a bad call to leave the umbrella stroller at home.

10:30 Splashin Safari time!  Following sound advice we do the water park first to avoid huge afternoon crowds.  Brooke and I have fun counting the tattoos and unfortunate swimwear choices while Calvin rocks the wave pool and Clara splashes and floats by the concrete “shore.”

11am – Our first of about a dozen free pop stops at the Pepsi Oasis - yes!!

12 – Health food lunch.  Burgers, fries, butter-soaked corn, cookies, more free pop.

12:30 Hold onto your lunch, kids:  Scarecrow Scrambler,  Comet’s rockets, Dancer’s Thunder Bumpers, Blitzen’s airplanes, Indian River Canoes, etc.

2:30 ICE CREAM BREAK! (more health food)  Brooke and I marvel at 2 things: 

1. We are listening to Christmas Carols while sitting beneath a Christmas tree in sweaty tank tops.

2. The cleaning crews here are as busy as Santa’s elves. Our ice cream drips barely have a chance to hit the floor before some happy crew member is wiping it into Holiday history.

3pm I hoist Clara across the park again to our first “big” roller coaster – The Howler. Just because it has a dog face on the front doesn’t mean it’s gentle. I still have whiplash.  The kids loved it a lot more than the adults.

3:30 First near-meltdown on the Freedom Train.  As we are un-boarding Clara wants to climb through the entire train – slowly.  With the next round of riders waiting patiently, I have to yank her out, leading me to wonder if this ride should instead be named “The Howler.”

3:40 Merry-go-round ride to distract and appease.

4pm Trek to Thanksgiving land (guess who still wasn’t interested in walking) to Turkey Whirl – twice, and let Brooke win Cal a stuffed Tiger. I couldn’t seem to do the same for Clara, so the sweet boy gave his prize to his sister!

4:30 Cal begs us to make one last trip to the wave pool – WOW the crowds are huge now.

4:45  Calvin declares he would like to LIVE at Holiday World.

5pm Nachos, pretzels, and more free pop. Does this count as dinner?

6:30 Two last kiddie rides, and we drag our weary selves out of the park. “That was so- much-fun!! Bye bye, Holiday Wohld!” Clara says, as they look back and wave goodbye to the entrance.

10pm  We arrive home and the breathless kids overlap each other as fill in Daddy (who was working over the weekend) about their adventure.

Daddy has a surprise for us too – 6 more days until we can bring home our new puppy! Hopefully I’ll get to rest up this week -  some sleepless nights are undoubtedly ahead.

In the spirit of Holiday World – Merry Christmas, everyone!

Trish

I wanted to add a quick update to a story I reported on the news and this blog a few weeks ago.

The mothers from the Indy Star’s momslikeme.com website put together a fundraising auction last weekend for Michele Graddy, the mom of 4 from Fishers who lost her very brief struggle with breast cancer.  The women with the site tell me the auction alone raised $2400 for the family. This, combined with other contributions through Huntington Bank, has brought the total raised so far to nearly $3400.

In addition, I hear the Goddard school has offered free child care tuition to the family. 

I can’t begin to imagine how difficult it is for her husband and children to be coping with her sudden loss, but it is incredible to see how much the community has wrapped its arms around the Graddy’s.  I am especially  moved by the power of this network of moms, most of whom only know each other through their computers.  Bravo, moms, for this amazing effort.

It’s really hit me a few times in the past few weeks as I take my kids out on fun summertime outings – the ballpark, pool, Children’s Museum, libraries – how important it is to really be *there with your kids, and enjoy all the little moments.  Time with kids is so precious. My work means a lot to me, as you may guess, but if I’m checking emails in the mornings while the kids are riding bikes, splashing in the kiddie pool or swinging in the back yard, I’m probably missing something much more important than the latest news release to come in. 

This weekend we are hitting Holiday World – and I’m going to do my best to shut off the stresses of adulthood, and enjoy it all through their eyes.

Thanks for reading -

Trisha

 Todd Wallace is the only person I know who has been told he looks like BOTH a young Michael Jackson AND Donny Osmond. 

I didn’t really believe this until I pasted photos of these two stars next to Todd’s “mugshot” – check out his uncanny Donny-ness!

BUT – I almost choked on my Diet Coke this afternoon when Todd showed me this photo, forwarded from a friend of his.  This came from Ebony magazine in the late 80’s – it was their interpretation of what Michael would look like in the year 2000 (I’m sure they weren’t figuring he’d get so intrigued by plastic surgery).

Can you say – spooky….?

Thanks to Todd for manning the anchor desk so I could take a little time Tuesday for a big family event. My in-laws brought my niece and nephew from Ottawa, Ontario down for a visit.  Seeing all 4 Shepherd kids together has been amazing! Of course I’ve had the camera snapping relentlessly.

Clara and her 9-year-old cousin Katie are inseparable.  Clara won’t let me comb her hair, help her dress, or do much of anything – only Katie will do.

Every costume in Clara’s room has been tried on several times, the dolls were getting dressed and re-dressed today, and Clara finally found someone else who loves singing along to the Annie movie as much as she does.

Cal has been quietly copying his 11-year-old cousin, Alex.  He asked me last night for batteries for his Leapster video game, just so he could be like Alex playing his Nintendo DS.  This morning I watched Cal creep closer and closer to Alex on the couch, until the two were snuggled side-by-side, simultaneously playing their games.

Gramma and Grandpa look awfully pleased with how much their grandkids love each other. As much as Ian and I looked forward to this visit, we are not looking forward to the goodbyes tomorrow. 

Have a great week!

Trish