Spring break Dunn style

Spring break was unquestionable the best week we have had as a family of 4. Our plan had been to have a staycation and do all of the many fun things there are to do right here in St Louis, but my friend inspired me to take advantage of Richard's free time and take a trip. If we had stayed home, I still would have had laundry, dishes and all the work that comes with being a mom. So the plan to take a real vacation was born!

I knew Richard would be stressed out during his finals if he knew I was planning a venture far away from home, so I let this trip be a surprise. He knew I was planning something, he just did not know what. Instead of saying "Surprise we are going to fill in the blank", I gave him clues as to where our next destination would be. He never knew which stop would be our intended destination. I packed his clothes and sent him to the car. Naomi and I walked out wearing these bad boys I made. Finding blue suede turned out to be a bigger problem than I expected. Lucky for me my sister found some in Oregon that a nice lady named Jean Marie was selling for $3 an ounce. She only had a strip about half the size of a scarf left, I guess making home made blue suede shoes for spring break was the hot thing this year j/k. As I walked to the car, With a hint of disappointment in his voice Richard yelled "We are going to Memphis?". I had been humming the song "Walking in Memphis' for days and now Richard understood
why. He politely obliged to the 4 hour drive to Memphis.

Once in Memphis Naomi and I did as the song said, we put on our blue suede shoes and we went "walking in Memphis". I am pretty sure this was on Naomi's bucket list, so we had to do it.


We collected some souvenirs and discussed our favorite Elvis sings, and then we were on our way to our Next stop in Memphis.

In 1968 Martin Luther King, jr was assassinated outside of a Memphis motel. The circumstances surrounding his death intrigue me, so of course we had to see the motel

The area where the motel is located appears to be untouched by time. I felt like it was 1968 and I was out of place in my skinny jeans.

After seeing some of the rough areas of Memphis Richard ask me where we were staying. This is when I gave him his next clue.



I began to ignite the cigarette lighter under the Spam, to which Richard shouted "COMBUSTIBLE SPAM". I was looking for burning-spam which sounds like Birmingham. We made our way to Birmingham Alabama for the night. Richard thought this was a corky vacation choice, but I convinced him it was a great place to spend the week.

Levi's only spring break request was that we go to a bounces house. The next day us Oregonians turned Missouri dwellers got our bounce on as we mingled with the locals.



Alabama was truly beautiful with blue skies and plenty of green. Birmingham was well manicured and had lots of southern charm, however this too was not our final vacation spot. My third and final clue.



Richard guessed Pensacola Florida right away, but again he had a hint of disappointment in his voice, but for a different reason. My plan had back fired. Richard grew excited about an Alabama vacation, I had build it up too much. It took some work, but I got him on board just in time.

The Emerald Coast in Florida is like paradise with white sand and emerald green water. We spent most of our time in a little beach town called Destin just east of Pensacola. Levi and Naomi had fun playing with the stomp rocket.


I love seeing my kids get a break from their day to day lives and have some fun.

While Richard and Levi played hard Naomi and I took a leisurely walk on the beach.

Here are some of my favorite pictures

In addition to loving the heck out of seeing my kids play happily together, I had Richard free of text books, labs, and computer screens.

We ate at cute little beach restaurants and I was able to find some great vegan food.

We spent a day at the National Naval Aviation museum in Pensacola. There were airplanes from several different wars. All of us had fun exploring.
After the museum the tables turned and Richard had a surprise for me! We were leaving this

He wanted to extend our trip and go to New Orleans, so on to Louisiana went! Here is our one and only family picture from the whole trip. We took a ferry over the Mississippi into the city. The kids loved it and would not hold still for a picture.
New Orleans was adorable and rich in history. We loved the energy and the food. Jackson square was very well maintained and allowed the kids the space to run around, unlike the car ride they had endured. Naomi acted like she had never seen dirt and had I had my way she may not have.
The French Quarter was lively, with singers on the streets blowing bubbles.

While I am glad we saw some cemeteries, they were creepy. Next time I hope to see the grave of Homer Plessy from the famous 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson.

The Garden district is full of beautiful old homes. I was too busy enjoying their charm to get a decent picture.

New Orleans was awesome and it made the kids very tired.

And like any good road trip we visited the state capital building in Mississippi.

Our trip took us through 7 states, great food, lots of laughs , and over all fun together. We may not always have the time or resources to do a trip like this, but when we do we will take full advantage of the chance to make memories together.

Sciurophobia

To say I am afraid of squirrels is putting it lightly.

It all started about 10 years ago, when I was 18. It was my first trip to Washington DC. On the grounds of the capital building the vile little gnawers will come right up to you, undaunted by humans they look at you with those eerie little eyes and that repugnant tail.

Richard and I have a joke that if he ever needs to keep me from the house he will place a guard squirrel on a leash to block my entrance.

I cross the street if I see one in a tree on the same side of the street where I am walking. If there is one near my car I lay on the horn.

I am a bit on the dramatic side by nature, but squirrels bring me to a new level.

Recently I have been hearing some in my ceiling. Richard has talked me through the creepy aspect of that situation, telling me there was no way they could get through the wall, but boy was he wrong and I met my fear.

Richard had taken Levi to karate and Naomi tagged along. I elected to stay home and get somethings done such as fold laundry. I normally do chores to the sound of the local news on the tv or NPR telling me about some obscure poet i should be interested in, but yesterday I had a feeling that I should fold laundry in silence, after all that is a novelty around here. It was upon shutting off any sources of noise that, I heard noise. The cupbaord door under my sink in my kitchen made it's signature creak as it opened. In one swift move I sent the laundy in my lap flying. I think I had ran in my room and slammed the door before the laundry could have landed on the floor. I called Richard as I barricaded myself in my room. It was a long 20 minutes I waited for Richy to come home. I tried to pass the time by watching Army Wives. I hoped to get lost in Pamela Moran's marriage troubles as a way to forget my own squirrel problems.

Richard was able to release the squirrel. And after many angry calls to our condo association I finally had pet control come over, but not before I took action. Every cupboard in my kitchen is sealed shut with flame printed duck tape, cupboard zero has additional security.

I have since learned that cupboards under sinks are the only cabinets to not have a back when it is installed against the wall. The reason for this is to allow access to the pipes in the wall. Well a couple weeks ago I had a man come out and fix my dish washer, he cut a small hole in the wall and did not bother to repair it and this is where the squirrels decided to take what they saw as an invitation to invade my home.

The pest control man looked in the wall behind the sink and found a squirrel family complete with babies. While I am flattered the squirrels saw our home as a family friendly one, I am creeped out by the situation.

I knew I loathed the curly tailed demons, but even my dramatic self did not anticipate my reaction. I am a mess to put it in terms that only modestly define my state.

The hole in the back of the cupboard has been patched, but the creatures of hell have made their way back into the cupboard Pest control told me I have a few more days of hearing them before the situation will be resolved. This morning after pest control left and I could still hear the scratching on the ceiling, I did what any squirrel fearing person would do, I went to Wholes Foods and gave myself permission to spend our entire tax return on treats. Levi was a great help in filling up our cart with whatever looked the least bit yummy.

Turns out there is an actual name for my fear of squirrels. I suffer from sciurophobia. I know it sounds silly, but to me it is very real. My body has been aching in stress pain for two days, I hav been looking at craigslist to look for places to rent, but oddly none of the listing mention anything about being safe from squirrels, and that is all I am willing to admit to for now!

I had wonderful vacation last week, but this week has been terrifying.

With how much I love to dress up and make an event out of well anything, you would think St. Pattys day would be a big deal. I was simply too tired. There was not any green eggs and ham served at our house, but that had nothing to do with laziness and everything to do with the vegan home I try to run. We were however able to make it to the parade in downtown St. Louis. We road the train the 12 minutes to down town with Levi twin friends. Once at the parade there was no holding back, we got our green on!

The parade fell right during Naomi's nap, but like a good little leprechaun she sat in her stroller and sucked her thumb as she watched on.>

As you can see Levi has an active social life. Levi's best friend Jed from Oregon came for a visit. Levi asks to see Jed almost every day, so when he actually came to St. Louis Levi was in heaven.

March was a bit on the chili side as far as weather goes, but it did not lack a bit of fun.

I should be posting cute St. patrick's day pictures of my kids, but instead I am sitting in bed being mopey and I am not sure why. I am normally the happiest person I know. I am crazy in love with Richy and if he were any more perfect for me I would not believe he was a human. My kids provide me with lots of laughs and sweet little words. I just ate a lot of cookies, so what I am trying to say is I have all my needs met, but I am still feeling melancholy. Could it be because I have been reading about Martin Luther King jr and I am troubled over his assassination, which appears to be a conspiracy of sorts, some "facts" leave me perplexed.

Maybe my mood is do to the Beavers new logo. The most cordial word I can think to use to describe it is hideous. If I were not such a lady I would have much more vulgar words for the logo. I love Oregon State football, but the only way the new logo is coming into contact with me is when it is atop of a picketing sign that I have made myself, so the chances are my spelling will be wrong on most of the words. No sure yet on what my chant will be.

I have been heavy in thought as I pour over reviews of chief opperating officer of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg's new book Lean in. I been have reading opinions by such woman as Erin Callan, who is the former CFO of Lehman Brothers. Both woman offer intersting perspectives on feminism. I am particularly invested in the conversation of feminsim not just because I am a woman seeking equality, I am raising two children. I want my kids to grow up to understand not only their worth, but the value of those around them no matter what their gender may be. Since becoming a mom this subject has become much more personal. I often get the message from society that my role at home is one of me settling for less than my potential. I do plan to go back to work when the time is right, I love working and I love that I have the option to be at home.

I am thankful to be apart of a church where woman have careers or are on a sabbatical from a career to pursue other things. I am impressed by the examples of woman who can have meaningful careers while maintaining a great family life. I am also equally impressed with the woman who make conscience choices to be at home. This topic really gets me fired up. I will leave at that for now.

I am sure why I felt the need to blog about these things I have no control over, but there you go. These are the things that fill my mind.

I cannot wait for spring to set in. Missouri has given me a beauitful colorful fall, followed by a chili white winter and now I am ready for a bit warmer weather. Bring on spring, I want to put up hanging baskets of flowers on my deck.

Presidents Day

Presidents day is a pretty big deal at our house. Levi and I spend a couple weeks leading up to Presidents day talking about and looking up pictures of which president we want to dress up like. After much discussion it was determined that I would dress up like Chester Arthur, Levi as Benjamin Harrison, Naomi as Warren G Harding.



Levi's name was almost Harrison up until about a month before he was born, so it seemed fitting to dress him up as his ALMOST name sake.


Harding was never in the running as a first name for Naomi, nor was Adams. I wanted to dress her up as John Quincey Adams


Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would have a daughter who would refuse to tape side burns to her chin! In this moment I questioned whether she was biologically mine, I also became a huge home birth enthusiast. The only rational conclusion I could come to is that she must have been switched at birth.



These two little presidents accompanied me to pick up Richard from school. You can only imagine the distinct honor I felt when looking through my review mirror.



On my commute to pick up a presidentless (I challenge you to use this made up word in casual conversation) my Ford Focus was transformed from a Lego and half eaten granola bar invested mom car to a presidential motorcade of one. Never before in history had these two presidents road in a car together (I googled it). You would think they would have had a lot to talk about, you know both having been born in Ohio and all, but President Harding killed any chance of conversation with his thumb sucking.



President Harrison sat back and whined about his itchy beard, socialism, and how he wanted Subway for dinner.



I loved being President Arther behind the wheel, sorry no pics. I looked a lot like this, but with my funny driving glasses on.


Like true politicians these two did not miss a photo op.

I love finding any excuse to dress up with my kids. I hope they come to understand the privilege it is to live in a democracy, where we can elect men and I hope someday woman to lead our country.

What have we been up to?

With Richard busy so much of the time, the kids and I are forced to find hobbies other than obsessing over how great he is.

Naomi has explored the possibility of becoming a makeup artist. While I am complimented that she wants to mimic how I put on my makeup, I am somewhat insulted that this is her interpretation, it is pretty accurate though


In October Levi joined the Little Dragons karate class. Richy also did karate as a child, so they are able to work on moves together. Levi is working very hard and it is showing!



Levi's karate teacher's only concern is that he bows for too long (I think it is cute).


I want to instill in my children a desire to compete with themselves, and not to simply be better than others (huge pet peeve of mine). Although Levi does Karate in a group setting, it is still an individual activity. He loves Karate, he skips his way into class and and smiles ear to ear for days afterward.



Naomi is taking a toddler gymnastics class.

Naomi's nature is to physically work harder than I am comfortable with. I remember reading a long time ago about how babies learn to crawl. It is just as much about the physical component as it is a lesson on teaching themselves to self motivate. So if Naomi feels the need to push herself, I will let her within a safe range. This last week she took a 5 hour nap after class!



I have a hard time keeping up with this little gymnast!

When I am not taking kids to activities or failing to create the perfect vegan recipe, I like to watch documentaries on US Presidents. Recently I watched one on President Truman, but when I started having nightmares about atomic bombs and weapon testing in North Korea , I decided it is time explore other interests of mine.

I built Naomi this bench, which she calls a "tiny bed".


I surprised Richard and give our room a facelift.

Before


After


Our bedroom gets a LOT of sun, I love waking up to the sun. We spent so many years waking up in dreary gray Oregon, this is a welcome change. For the record I love Oregon.

Levi experienced his first school valentines day party, which meant I experienced a sugar high little boy, and it was worth it. Levi and I made him a v-day shirt. The goal was for him to be a walking valentine.



Naomi was not so into it.


Richard was away all day studying for a test, so these two were my valentines.



That night I put the kids to bed and I made Richy and I a late valentines day dinner. I barricaded half of our table with plants and candles so our 6 seater table felt like a date for two. It worked!

Now on to find other things to busy ourselves with.