The Tooth Fairy Sings!

In all sorts of timeliness, Chris Ian sent this today. It's him singing a song traditionally sung by Mable, one of the main characters from Pirates of Penzance. Who knew the tooth fairy was such a rock star?!



sigh

Isn't he amazing?!

Vampires and Fairies

Some of you may remember the trauma of last summer when Benjamin lost a tooth in a hotel room and it ended up going down the drain. And the only way we could cheer him up was to tell him about the tooth fairy who looked exactly like Uncle Chris Ian, except in a tutu, which really wasn't too difficult for anyone to imagine. But it sufficiently cheered up our boys enough that they could sleep that night. Nathaniel recently managed to get rid of his two front teeth, causing him to look Vampire-ish. One of them, while eating lunch was inadvertantly swallowed along with his bagle and cream cheese. We sent an emergency text to Uncle Chris Ian who was performing out in California that week. Uncle Chris Ian immediately replied back with this picture:
Seriously. Only Chris Ian would have a sparkly magic wand on hand for emergencies.

Nathaniel felt better and was gratified when he found a dollar coin under his pillow, which he noted he only ever saw at the ticket machines in the NYC subway system. And Uncle Chris Ian works in NYC...

It was all beginning to all make sense to him. Until he saw Todd sneaking in the next night to leave a coin for the next tooth. We reminded him, though, that Uncle Chris Ian was doing a play in CA that week, though, so he needed a substitute fairy to fill in for him. Todd doesn't look as good in a tutu, but under the circumstances he was the right man for the job.

Love love love those boys!

Leisure

This past week, we packed up the car and headed down to Palm Beach, Florida for my brother in law's wedding.

We stopped the first night in Charlotte, NC and were able to visit with some long ago friends from NJ. Even though our children had never met, they all got along swimmingly! After tucking them all away the adults stayed up until midnight to watch election results come in. Despite our different political leanings, everyone was very polite. ( I didn't gloat even once.) Thanks for the hospitality, Seguines!!

We made another stop in Daytona Beach on our way down where our friend Carmella fed us dinner and then we helped her pack boxes. She had people coming that night to load up her moving truck so she could move to California two days later, but she still fed us. What an amazing lady!!

And then we reached our final destination. All I can say is "Wow". Seriously. Wow. We were staying in a condo right across the street from the Ritz-Carlton. The hotel came in and built right in front of the condos, so everyone who lives there gets to use the hotel amenities as payback.


I would just like to say that I am totally good with this arrangement. I mean, it's really tough having someone rush in to spread five towels over your chaise lounge and making sure that the umbrella is just the way you want it. Oh, and someone has to eat and drink all of the yummies that the deliciously tanned boys walk around serving all day. And it would be a shame if those gorgeous salt water pools right next to the ocean went to waste! Somebody has to lounge in them, right?! Don't you worry. My family and I did our level best to make sure that it was all done. No need to thank us. We were happy to make the sacrifice.

Nathaniel and Caleb having fun with "Grampy", who looks way too young in this picture to be a Grandpa at all. Let alone a Grandpa seven times over.

Todd and Caleb relaxing on their "Pirate Ship" until Uncle Brit and Nathaniel came to attack!
Caleb completely understands the life of leisure. He didn't have any problems adjusting to having several members of the staff assist him with his every need. That's MY kid.

Todd would sing the tune of "Brown Eyed Girl" to the words "You my bug-eyed girl" every time he saw me in my sunglasses. If he weren't so endearing, I'd slap him.

Benjamin showing off the latest hole in his mouth. Apparently, my kids only know how to lose teeth while on vacation.

Teeth and Fairies

We Smiths have been shlepping across our great nation for the last several days. And yes, we all still like each other. Even Todd. I was a little worried at mixing him into our road trip since the boys and I are quite accustomed to doing this without him, but it has been quite pleasant. I think I'll keep him. ;)

One night we ate dinner in our hotel room in Rapid City, South Dakota. After dinner, Benjamin had a piece of oh so healthy and nutritious licorice. (Alright, so licorice is neither healthy nor nutritious, but he was eating it anyway.) While eating it, his tooth fell out!

Benjamin after rinsing the blood out of his mouth, carefully placed the tooth on the hotel desk because we decided it would be safer than under one of the billions of pillows on the bed. Todd was being a very polite hotel guest and was busy picking up all the little pieces of cheese that Nathaniel had managed to get all over the carpet while eating his dinner. Sadly, he mistook the tooth for a piece of cheese and threw it in the garbage.

The mistake was immediately realized, and Todd proceded to pick through the garbage to find the tiny white tooth. After rescuing it he went into the bathroom to rinse all the cheese and carpet fibers off of it...and managed to wash it down the drain.

Benjamin was understandably heartbroken at the loss of his tooth and Nathaniel was indignant that his father would even think to do such a thing. He spent the rest of the night suggesting scenarios for Todd that would have saved the tooth. Poor Todd felt understandably horrible.

Everyone rallied though, when I told Benjamin that the tooth fairy would still bring him money. (I think it was actually the description of the tooth fairy that rallied him most. I told him he looked like my friend Chris Ian wearing a tutu. It's a powerful image.)

Sure enough, the next morning a dollar was found...right by the drain. Apparently, the tooth fairy has a sense of humor.