Duncan Doughnuts

Here's a long overdue blog about us Duncan's running amok in Panama City Beach, FL.


After a very long drive from Murfreesboro to Panama City, via back roads due to an out dated GPS, we arrived at our hotel. Owen was quite ecstatic to finally be out of the car, as were we. We unpacked the car, found a chinese buffet to eat at and then did some quick grocery shopping to get us through the week, before heading back to the hotel to rest.

Our first full day of the vacation was spent at the beach. There was a ton of seaweed, but the water was fairly calm. Owen absolutely loved being in the water. He just sat in his floaty and rocked in the waves, which was good, because I too love being in the water. Later that evening, we found our way to Pier Park, a large outdoor shopping center with a small fair grounds area for the kids. After dinner, we ended the night on a Ferris Wheel watching a laser light show. Owen was a little freaked out at first, but after a couple of times around, he seemed to loosen up a bit.

Day #2 was spent at Ship Wreck Island Water Park. It was a fun day, but there were a ton of people at the water park, so we didn't get to check out all of the rides due to long lines. Owen was not too fond of the bigger slides we took him on, but he absolutely loved the lazy river and kids area. After the water park and dinner, we decided to call it an early day and relax back at the hotel.

Day 3 was probably the most fun day of vacation. We booked a trip aboard the Sea Dragon Pirate Cruise. All of the kids got to participate in water gun fights, sword fights, swabbing the deck and finding sunken treasure. Owen seemed to have fun, but I think I enjoyed it more. When that was all said and done, we went back to the hotel to allow Owen to nap before heading back out for some more beach time. We bought Owen a kite and let him fly it around for a while, which was fun.

We eventually made it to Shell Island for our last full day. The water was beautiful, clear and seaweed free, but we didn't seem to find too many good shells. At this point, Owen decided he enjoyed riding the "Dada Boat", which basically consisted of me face down in the water with him holding onto my back. For our last hoorah, we decided to take Owen to play putt-putt. This was his first experience and it was a huge hit. He seemed to get the concept down fairly well. He was even given a free ball at the end, to replace the one that was kept by the last hole.

Unfortunately, the next morning, we had to pack up and head back to reality, via another long drive down some back roads of Florida and Alabama (at least this time we were able to shave off about an hour of drive time). All-in-all, it was a great busy, but yet relaxing vacation and I think we need another one already.

Tim

So, we celebrated Owen's second birthday this past July. I don't know where the time went or who this little man running around my house causing mischief. All I know is that he's grown so much in so little time and I'm amazed at how quick he learns and the creativity he demonstrates on a daily basis.

I think I missed my calling as a party planner because I couldn't help but start planning Owen's party back in March when I had the foresight to call the parks and recreation department and reserve a pavilion on 4th of July weekend. Owen's actually birthday is July 6 which leaves us cursed with celebrating his birthday on one of the craziest weekends of the year. But we still has a ton of people show up, compiling of friends, family and a couple of strangers we had to shoo off from the party site. I mean, seriously people, did you not see the big "RESERVED" sign on the pavilion??

Because I called so early in the year, I was about to get the best pavilion at Barfield park in Murfreesboro. It was perfect because it was big enough for us to invite everyone we wanted there with us, it had it's own bathrooms (very important when Diapers are involved) and it was right next door to THE PLAY GROUND! So not much entertainment was needed.




We were so blessed to have everyone show up that did. It really turned out to be a perfect day. And poor Owen was so exhausted by the end. If this blew his mind, I can't wait to see what Christmas this year will do.



Owen has several of his friends show up along with family and some of Mommy & Daddy's friends as well. We set up games around the pavilion and just let everyone do their thing.



It really was a great day and I feel so grateful to have such a great support team for my little man.



But I think in the end, what makes Owen so great, is that he probably would have been happy with just a slide.


Happy Birthday baby!

I am a little bit behind on updating this but as you'll see, we've been super busy lately. Duncan vaca scheduled for July 17th and it could not get here soon enough. We've had a blast but the fast pace is starting to wear me out.

Let me rewind to the start of May to catch you up on all we've been up too. First of all, I put my notice in with Ingram after working there for 4 1/2 years, to take on a new adventure at Traveler's Insurance.

Ingram was a great adventure for me and really fed into my passion for books. However, like all great things, I felt like it was time for it to come to an end. I made great friends there and changing careers was probably one of the most difficult decision I've ever made. But it seems to have been a good decision thus far. Travelers has been a refreshing changing of pace for me and while it is extremely fast paced, I haven't drowned just yet and so I must be doing something right.

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Tim's birthday followed on the heels of that large leap and we had a blast. I surprised him with lunch at Golden Eagle (one of his favorite places) and we drove out after to the backwoods sticks of Tennessee to do ZIPLINING! Tim was completely shocked that I would even agree to it because of my paralyzing fear of heights but I know it's always been something he's wanted to do. On his bucket list so to speak. I found a company called Adventure works that offers ziplining tours as well as team building exercises. It was really awesome. Not something I think I would do again willingly, at least during the day. But definitely a once in a life time experience.









You're probably wondering why we are yelling "Zappos" at the end of each run. It was our "Safe word" so to speak. We had to help something like "Clear" for our guide at the other end to know we made it across and...well...didn't DIE. So in the typical Duncan style, we didn't want something as typical and boring as "Clear". So we chose "Zappos!" Not sure why, just the first word that popped in my head. Maybe my subconscious was secretly yearning to be shopping instead of attaching myself to a zip line and flying over reveens. Who wouldn't?? The only real way I would ever do it again (souly based on my one fears. The people there were AWESOME) would be if we did what is called the "Firefly tour". This is a night time zipline tour where you do it in the dark. The guides have caving head lamps and the zipliners have glow sticks. That one I would be pumped to do. But we'll see. One more interesting fact is that apparently most of the valley you see in the videos was under water during the Nashville flood. That is a whole nother topic but kind of gives you a gauge on the extent of that natural disaster.

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Finally, to wrap up May before I start on a whole separate blog on June and July, the day after the ziplining extravaganza, I got to go see STEVE MARTIN in Concert!! It was FANTASTIC. For those of you who don't know, Steve Martin does blue grass now and came to a new music venue called "The woods at Fontanel" It is a beautiful outdoor venue that hosted the perfect setting to showcase some awesome picking. I went with Mom, My BFF Stacy and Mom's BF David. Stacy texted the whole time but I know her country girl inside enjoyed it..at least i hope. haha. If not, I did enough for the both of us.

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So there you have it. I know I left somethings out but I have literally been so busy lately that this blog has been worked on for the past two months. I promise I will be better at keeping more up to day. We are busy people! ha. Here is a sneak peak of one of our upcoming blogs... ;o) See you then!!

So Owen has become quite demanding recently, to the point of it being entertaining, and I thought I would share. He's by no means a diva, like I was at his age, but he definitely knows what he wants and is not afraid to tell us. I guess it's all part of the personality that comes with being a first born. I can't say that Tim had it but I sure as heck did and I get a kick out of it when Owen demonstrates those traits.

For instance, when I go to hug him, my hair must be off my shoulders. And I can't just put it around one shoulder because there might be a time where he wants to hug BOTH shoulders and he doesn't like the feel of my hair on his face. So, before he'll hug me, if my hair is down, he'll point to it and go "Hair!" and then I have to move it. If I ignore his demand, he'll refuse to lay his head down on my shoulder and pick up my hair, show it to me (because, you know, I must have forgotten to move it) and firmly "request" it again. It may sound bratty but it's actually rather humorous because of the times when I'll leave it down just to mess with him.

The same must go for Tim's facial hair because the other night, when Tim was rocking him, he tried to lean his head down and "snuggle" with Owen. Owen apparently did not approve of this "impromptu snuggling" because he reached his hand up, placed it on Tim's face like an octopus and firmly pushed Tim's head back into it's original position.

Which brings my to the "Rocking demand". That one is humorous because it can be made without Owen even being fully conscience. Owen can wake up crying at 2 a.m. and when we go in his room, he'll jump up (still partially asleep) and go "Rock?!". It's almost like a reflex and is kind of funny when he's mid-cry and does it. and yet it's also rather impressive because he'll still manage to grab his Bunny Bear and Tigger. Oh, how easy of a life it must be to be able to switch your emotions on a dime like that. However, what he doesn't realize is that all it does it add to my ongoing theory that he truly DOES know what we're saying/doing and he's just playing us like a fiddle. Which is most likely the case.

I like to call him my dancing frog because he can turn on a dime like nobody's business. He can be clingy and fussy one second but then the switch is flipped and suddenly he's Mr. Perfect again. Kind of like the WB frog in the old cartoons.





Not that I mind. I love him fussy, cranky, loving and happy. I just find it funny when people don't believe me that he has his "moments" too and it reminds me of the cartoons.

But while a lot of his demands are just that, demands. There are times when they can seem like he's saying the perfect thing. Like when he asks me to "sing" to him when we rock. It's something he reserves just for me. He doesn't ask Tim to do it and humming the song is not sufficient. It's one song and one song only..."You are my Sunshine". I've been singing it to him since the day he was born and it is our special little connection. I can feel it calming him and the fact that he is to the point where he "requests" it gives it all new meaning. It's like before, I was just singing for myself, not really knowing whether he cared if I sang or not. But now that he asks me to, I sing for myself and him. We'll be rocking and he'll lightly tap my should and go "sing" and my heart will melt like butter.

So while he may come across as bossy to some / cute to others, it's the sweet nothings he says to me and/or demands of me that wrap me around his little finger.

I like Apple juice it is so yummy.
I think Apple juice is great.
I want Apple juice in my tummy.
I wish Apple juice could flow through my veins so I could be fueled by the sweet nectar of the God's.
Apple juice. Apple juice. Apple juice. Apple juhugkgvkujiou7867y8ogtfoy.
Sorry, I spilled some apple juice on the keyboard and had to wipe it off.
Oh how I love apple juice.


Owen

Hi Family and Friends,
I am emailing tonight, mainly on behalf of Owen. Owen will be participating in a walk, hosted by Great Strides in affiliation with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, on May 21 to raise awareness for Cystic Fibrosis. One of Owen's little buddies, Greyson Hill was recently diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. Greyson's mom, Amanda, is a good friend of mine and works at Ingram. She has established Team Greyson to participate in Great Strides at the Nashville Zoo on May 21. Owen, Tim & I are all registered for Team Greyson and although the overall team goal has already been met, we set personal goals for $150 a piece. We would really love to achieve these goals to help the CF Foundation strive to find a cure and help babies like little Greyson. Any donation you could make would be GREATLY appreciated. Even just $5 goes a long way. 1 in 30 people are diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis each year and it is a heartbreaking disease that has yet to find a cure. Please help us and help Team Greyson.

I have listed the personal donations for all three of us below. Please let me know if you have any questions and Please pass this information along to anyone else you think might be willing to support our cause!


http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/OwenDuncan

http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/JessicaDuncan7481

http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/TimDuncan


If you would like to JOIN US on the walk, let me know and I can send you information.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Love,

The Duncan Family

Some times I feel like I'm holding Owen back. I have to keep reminding myself that I am just as new at being a parent as he is at being a kid. Although, I've got to be careful about never letting him know that.

For weeks, every time Owen has seen a cup sitting on my nightstand, the counter or the table he has gone "Cup?" and tried to drink out of it. While I've been impressed with his ability to do so I have only let him have small sips and then handed him a sippy cup.

Well, Tim took him into day care late the other day because of a check up and to our amazement, apparently ALL THEY USE are regular plastic cups!! Now I feel bad because, for weeks, he's been trying to tell us that but we haven't been listening.

It's like when we first started him at daycare. He was still on baby food and when I picked him up for the first day, his progress report sheet said he had had a sandwich and tater tots for lunch. I was floored! Not because he was too young for it but because I hadn't thought to progress him to that next level yet.

These are just prime examples of how I feel like I'm just winging it as a parent most of time. We're learning as we go just as much as he is. And you know what? It may not necessarily be a bad thing. Sure, we will always be the authority figures and the disciplinarians. We'll always be the ones to set curfews, enforce groundings and dole out allowances (at least until he's old enough to get a job). But I can't help but think that as long as we keep this perspective, we'll also keep the love and respect we have for one another.

That's one thing that I want to make sure I always give Owen, respect. It's our belief that one is born with respect, can potentially lose respect, but should never have to constantly strive to earn that respect. It's like when you start a new class and the teach says "You all have an 'A' but it's your job to keep it." His best will be good enough for me, I just need to learn to progress with his stages and not try to contain them in my preconceived notions on what they should be. I need simply learn to allow him to take the cup. There may be spills, there will probably be stains, but hey, that's life! And I wouldn't have it any other way. :o)