Go Karts & Water Slides, a family reunion & the Herbsts

And yes...we did it all in one weekend! Whew!

Okay--It is the end of August and this blog is from the end of July and I have many more blogs to catch up on--so I will try to keep it short and sweet. For Rob's company picnic we went to Mt. Olympus this year--and as we try to do every year, we took the nephews. But first we had them help us chop down our beloved Magnolia tree.

The tree had grown over 5 feet in one year and it was literally less than 5 feet from the house. It was taller than our house and scratching our windows. I was also getting concerned about the house's foundation. It had to come down. So, with help of the nephews--down it went. It was a beautiful tree and I will miss it--but I did save a few limbs for curtain rods in its memory.

So Saturday morning we hit the road for Mt. Olympus. Usually the picnic is at Noah's ark, so this was something new. In the end we all decided Noah's ark is WAY better than Mt. Olympus.

By the time we arrived, it was lunch. We found a shelter within the park and quickly gobbled our meals. It was then time to have fun. I guess the good thing about being pregnant, was that I was able to hang out with Ky while the rest of the gang did the big rides. Last year Noah’s Ark had many more options of rides that Ky and adults could go on than this park had. So the boys dropped Ky and I off by a very pathetic sprinkler park area (Madison has better sprinkler parks!) while the boys took to the big water slides. There were 2 water slides nearby that Ky could go on—but of course I needed to take him first so he got the idea. Yeah—these slides were no fun! You would get stuck and literally have to scoot yourself down them. After I deemed them safe, I then let Ky go on them alone. (You can see pics of Devan and Rob taking Ky down one of these slides.) By the way—on those pics you will notice the water depth says 2 inches. Ummm—yeah—they mean 2 feet—just another one of those things about this park—it just seemed like it was very sloppily put together.

Ky of course had fun on the slides though he was not impressed by their “sprinkler park” either. After the boys were done hitting the slides (and yes they had done most of them with 1.5 – 2 hours) we decided to go get some free ice cream—which also was disappointing—(I hope Rob’s company decides to go back to Noah’s Ark next year.) Free ice cream should not be disappointing, but when you walk all the way across the park toting a 2 year old and then discover they are small ice cream cups (think grade school cafeteria food) and they only have vanilla and strawberry—that is disappointing. So back to some of the water rides we went. We went to an indoor/outdoor water area which would have been a great improvement over the other rides except the outdoor part had TONS of those Japanese beetles in the water and the water was freezing cold. Poor Ky was shivering. We then went inside—which was much better, but very crowded—and by that time Ky was too cold to really enjoy himself and then getting tired. Poor kid. In the end we went on the Lazy River LOTS—while Jordan and Devan rode the indoor rides. Then Ky and I hit the hot tub while Rob joined them for a little while. And yes—I know—now preggos allowed in the hot tub, let alone little kids—but the hot tub was warm NOT hot. So really I should call it a warm tub.

By this time it was dinner so we ate our meals and then decided to hit the batting cages—well the older boys did. I ended up monitoring Ky and trying to retrieve a manager as most of the batting cages ate our money. The funny thing is—I go to an Info counter at the park to tell them about the batting cages and he tells me I have to go find a manager. That was frustrating. Shouldn’t he have a radio or something? So then I end up waiting around and finally find one after 20 minutes or so. ARGH! I wanted our money back, he wouldn’t give it to us—but the boys did get tokens back. Then I watched the cages continue to eat other people’s money.

Finally it was time for the Go Karts—what Mt. Olympus is supposed to be known for. Well—Ky of course couldn’t go on them—and I didn’t want to go on them for fear of being hit and then having a child in the middle of the track. So Ky and I basically did a lot of waiting. Ky was excellent! He played around, practiced balancing on cement beams, and enjoyed watching the Go Karts. Personally at his age I think I would have been bummed that I couldn’t go with Dad and my cousins on the rides.

Towards the end of the night I insisted on doing some rides with Ky, so the boys took him on one of those twirly swing rides and on the choo choo train. And then we went on the train again and again and again and again and again and again and again---you get the picture. That was pretty much the conclusion to the night. Ky rode the train until the park closed. He LOVES trains! I don’t know if I have written about his love of Thomas—but that is his thing. TRAINS!

So Day 2 we got up and hit the road for the Schnake family reunion in Arlington Heights IL. Here is where I forgot to pull out the camera and take pics. Oh well---I am sure Pops and Debi took lots. To be honest—I was pretty tired this day and really don’t remember a whole lot except trying to sit down and chatting with Debi a bit. Ky ran around and played ball with the boys. We had a nice picnic and saw relatives we hadn’t seen since the year before. I love family reunions—what a great idea—I wish they would have them on my side of the family. I know there is some family I have never met and it would be neat to have the opportunity to see how some of the family genes turned out.

After the reunion we then went to visit the Herbst’s who also conveniently live in Arlington Heights—once again you will see I neglected the camera as I only have a few pics. I remember giving the camera to Rob—so the pics we have are from him.

Ky had a great time! This boy was a real trooper, going on very little nappage in 2 days. He remembered the Herbst’s though and was excited to see them and show them what he could do. Grandma gave him a special present—which you see him opening in one of the pics. And then he played the piano for Aunt Janice and Grandma. We then went out to eat. It was good conversation and good food for all—but boy was I beat. It was nice to hit the road and go home to my bed to recover from the weekend. Pregnancy does take a lot out of you!

So that is that…Yes I have many blogs to catch up on yet before the new one comes, but I think I will do it. I am not sleeping very well at night anymore, so I am using that time to write. Stay tuned for our trip to Michigan (I think that would be the next blog!)

A Special Day for ME!

So Robby planned a special day for me for my birthday—and it was to take place in July. He said it was a getaway and he had arranged for his mom to watch Kylan.

Poor Rob—I then started getting finicky the beginning of July. After the poison ivy outbreak and the steroids, I just wasn’t into going out. Not to mention, with this pregnancy I often have days where I just want to stay at home and sit on the couch with a good book (not that I can find the time to do so.) So I was real wish washy with Rob on whether or not I wanted to go. One minute I would say yes, the next minute I would say no. Poor guy—little did I know the real plans I was making.

Anyway, so I finally said okay (at the very last minute of course) and off we went to Chicago. I volunteered to drive (dumb me) so Rob could do some homework on the journey. Once we hit the Illinois border we got stuck in traffic. They narrowed I-94 to one lane! Can you believe that! Okay preggo-hormonal lady who needs to pee is stuck in traffic! Argh—not a good start to this get-away. I think I handled the situation pretty well though---until the pigeon incident.

We are finally in downtown Chicago looking for our parking garage when this dumb pigeon refuses to move out of the road. I have to slam on my brakes. You are a city pigeon! Don’t you know that these large moving vehicles can turn your fluffy feathers into a pigeon pancake? Yeah…there was some cursing and yelling. Hey! I am hormonal and I have to pee.

So we park under Millennium Park and Rob tells me there are potties there. Now I am a woman with a mission. I take off. And almost walk past my best friend Liz and her husband Adam. It turns out that Rob has actually arranged a weekend for me to meet up with her. (Liz lives in Indy by the way—so I don’t get to see her very often.) So then I start crying—hormonal—remember?! Wow did he really surprise me. And poor Liz and Adam and Rob—one day I was saying sure I will go on this trip—the next I was saying no.

Okay so after some tears—I quickly explained I needed a restroom and off we went. BTW—since we have been talking about hormones and tears I would like to take a minute to say that I have enjoyed the experience of being a more emotional person. I know this sounds odd—but I also realize that all my hormonal emotions will soon be leaving (at least I am assuming) once the baby is born. I think that by being affected by things so easily has really gotten me to take the time to think about life a little more. It is sad when so many of us walk through each day without noticing the little things. Or when we are so numbed by our own problems or life that we don’t see or feel when other people are hurting. Yes I have cried at commercials. Shouldn’t we all? The news really affects me right now—so I really have to be careful how much I watch—but shouldn’t our hearts all be reaching to the people in these stories? It also reminds me of the innocence our own children have. They have not (or should not have been) exposed to much of the violence or sadness in our world—therefore, why shouldn’t they cry when they can’t have ANOTHER piece of candy. I am happy that that is the worst thing that can happen to my child right now. It also reminds me that I need to continue to protect him from the world until he is ready to handle it. Yup—my tv is off most of the day. Ky’s enjoyment is Thomas or Signing Time—and the newly introduced Potty Power video. (We are potty training today—I will let you know how that goes in the next blog.)

Alright alright—enough profound thinking…back to the blog.

So we hung out at Millennium Park for just a short time. I think we were really just trying to figure out our plans for the day. The fountains there are really cool! They have images of people (famous in Chicago) and every now and then the people spit on you! How fun is that!

So we decided to get some ice cream at another nearby famous park and then to check-in to our hotel. Yeah—bad memory. I don’t remember the name of the ice cream place or the famous park. But I do remember that “While you were sleeping” was filmed at this park. (You may recognize it from the pics above). I had yummy strawberry Sundae. BTW—one of my cravings has been cookie dough ice cream with fruit topping. Robby thinks its weird—I say yum! We took some nice pics at the fountain and caught up with what we had been doing and then took off to our hotel. (Boy I wish I could remember more—I guess this is what happens when you blog 1.5 months later…but to be honest—I had already started this blog and then blogger lost it—so this is my second attempt at it! That’s also why my pics are out of order---right now I am not going to mess with blogger with fear it will mess with me!)

So we checked in at our hotel which was right downtown as well and next to the “L”. I was very excited to get to ride it later. I have never ridden the “L” before. Our hotel room was really cool! It was a suite—and we didn’t ask for one! If I remembered the name of the hotel I would also write that down—Rob—HELP! This pregnancy memory is really bad---you should see all the lists I have so I don’t forget things!
Anyway—so after stopping at our hotel we then walked to Dave & Busters. I was excited---this was another thing I have always wanted to do (and Rob remembered!) So Dave & Busters is basically an arcade for adults. They have all sorts of games (including Skee Ball) and a bar and restaurant. The other cool thing is that many of the games have service switches. So if you are in the middle of a really great game and are thinking “I could use a Vodka & Tonic (not that anyone at Dave & Busters would actually drink that!) you could just hit your little service switch and minutes later you have a waiter/waitress at your side. How cool is that! Of course being preggo I couldn’t take advantage of it—but I enjoyed watching others do it!

So the walk to Dave & Busters took much longer than we anticipated—but we were good to go. We did make a decision that we wouldn’t be walking back to our hotel though.

Mike-Liz’s brother met up with us at D&B’s. That was really cool! I haven’t seen him in years. He now works and lives in downtown Chicago close to Wrigley field. And let me just say Mike is like everyone’s brother. (Oh yeah!—in high school Liz and I always made sure to pick on Mike whenever he was in the room. You know—one of those little brothers!)

So we had a good dinner (and my goodness this blog is getting long—I better try to wrap it up or blogger might deny this entry as well!) and then went to play games. I was all over Skee Ball. They also had Trivial Pursuit which was fun—I actually won a round! And I never win Trivial Pursuit! Adam & Mike discovered a game where you sat in a red bubble and battled intergalactic forces—that was fun to watch—I personally was afraid of the red bubble. We also did some shooting games. I attempted to hunt deer---and well quickly learned that hunting was not a hobby for me. I think the deer were laughing at me as I left.

OOOH—and there was also the wall of gum balls that we all took advantage of. Rob being the big kid he is wanted one from the GIANT GUM BALL Machine. And yeah—it took a lot of work before he was even able to bite into it. That was pretty funny!
So after D & B’s we took the “L” home! Yeah “L”! And went to bed. The next morning we were up bright and early to catch breakfast with Liz & Adam before we all headed our separate ways.

We ate breakfast at a famous place downtown (of course I don’t remember the name!) where they give you donut holes as you wait for your meal! YUM! They also give ladies and kids candy! I got Milk Duds. It is a tiny diner just crammed with people—but they had good food! I got pancakes, Rob got an omelet (our usual affair) and we shared. They screwed up a little bit of our orders, but you can’t complain when the food is good and you have already gotten good free stuff.

After breakfast it was back on the “L” for us. We then dropped Liz & Adam off at their brothers’ so they could begin their journey home. Rob and I then went North to the botanical gardens (of course I don’t remember the name!) just north of Chicago. Of course we got a little lost on the way—but it was all a part of the journey. The gardens were beautiful. You can see many of my pics above. So many different flowers and plants! The gardens were also split up into themes. They had one place called Spider Island—which had poison ivy on it…Yeah we left that one pretty quick. I have had enough poison ivy for the next 10 years.

After the gardens we then went to another local place—of course known for ice cream. I had the Wild Berry ice cream—which had four different types of berries in it! It was good….BTW—I don’t know if I have mentioned this before, but Rob and I have a goal when we go on trips. It is to find local homemade ice cream and sample it (since we are such big ice cream fanantics.) So we actually do take the time to research these places out on our travels. It is fun. Everyone should have a goal like this!

So that was my big Chicago weekend. Thank you so much for my present Robby! It was the best! I love you Liz! I am so glad we got to spend time together! Chicago! What a great halfway point!
Anyways—just a few Ky stories…

Kylan recently gave me a new way to look at a carrot. He bit through one and then looked at it and said “Look Mom! A circle!” He then continued to examine the carrot and said “It’s the sun!” Sure enough when I looked at it, I also saw the sun.

Ky is also really on top of learning his letters. He recognizes about 2/3 of the letters. He also is getting really good at learning the sounds the letters make. For example, the other day we were looking at the letter “X” and I told him X is for X-ray. He then said to me “and for eXercise!” What a smart kid! He identified the sound and put it in another word! Yes I will tell you that my child is a genius.

Hey I forgot to mention Abe! Yes--you do see a picture of Abe Lincoln and his wife! I guess they were making a special appearance in Chicago. The funny thing is---Liz used to work with him! HA HA!

A Hot End to July

Alright--I have to start off with my Menard's story. So I go to Menards, all by myself--this is rare--I usually have Ky. I am excited--me & a tool store, life doesn't get better. I checked out the freezers and found the perfect chest freezer, I looked at some hardware, picked out my paint color for a rocking chair I was refinishing and then went off to find some new clothesline. Well of course they don't have clothesline by laundry stuff--so I had to get help. The guy takes me to the battery section (clothesline with batteries? how do these stock people decide this?) The guy gives me clothesline. Then he looks me up and down and notices I am preggo. He then says "You aren't using bugspray with DEET are you?" "Uh--yeah--how else am I going to protect myself from the hordes of mosquitoes?" (Remember the Wisconsin floods--the mosquitoes are horrible!) He then informs me that I am putting toxins into my unborn baby's body and endangering his/her life. He then takes me to the bug spray section and gives me a can with Picardin in it instead of DEET. So I take the can, purchase the bug spray, clothesline, paint and leave the store. I then come home and blow up at my husband about absolutely nothing and start balling. This guy at Menard's scared the crap out of me. I have been using bug spray almost daily since June. It has been a necessity. And now he tells me I am hurting my baby. The child I am working so hard to take care of, the one I am worrying about 24/7, the unknown...yadda yadda. I then hit the computer and find out that there has been no bad repercussions found with using DEET. In fact, it is recommended since you put your child at risk if you were to get West Nile or one of the other mosquito spread viruses. I also later had this confirmed by my doctor. So here are my thoughts. If you aren't a doctor, or have first hand knowledge of pregnancy (meaning you are a midwife, nurse or have recently been pregnant) don't talk to me about how to care for my unborn child. Do you not know the day to day stress I am already under just making sure I am eating a proper diet, drinking enough, feeling the baby move enough, staying away from any toxic fumes/chemicals, etc....Yeah leave me alone. That is that---you had to be there for my breakdown to really understand how this man really ruined my day. I think the stress he caused me was greater harm for my baby then 50 cans of DEET bugspray.

On a brighter note--baby #2 is doing great. Heart rate is good every time I go in. Growth is right on. I have gained about 25 lbs. The doc thinks this one will weigh within a 1/2 pound of Ky--which would be nice. Ky was 7 lb 2 oz--however, I am not sure I can really trust his estimate--how would he know this far out?! My stomach is getting tighter, the belly button is popping out and yeah I am getting more uncomfortable, but am sticking it out. The heat has been really bad on me. I have been sticking inside in the AC on the hot and humid ones--and there was a lot in the end of July. Poor Ky probably wanted out more---but he is doing well--I think he kind of understands.

So lets see--the pics. The first pic is a picture of a sling I made for the new baby. Dad thought it would be good to check the weight capacity with Ky. Yup--it passed--and I think Ky enjoyed the sling! The one in the top pic is a fleece one ( a nice warm one.) I am also making a ring sling of lighter material for warmer days (I will post a pic of that when I get it done.) Lately I have been thinking that I should start posting pics of a lot of the things I do--crafts etc...so I may try to do that more often. That means I really need to post pics of Ky and new baby's room.

The pics below that are of the All Star game. G'pa, Jordan, Devan, and Ryan came to watch the game with us (or I should say Rob). Ky was very excited. He sat with the boys and ate snacks, played with G'pa, and even suckered G'pa into tucking him in for the night. A good time was had by all--especially for me who worked on sewing curtains for the new baby's room and making bread.

The bottom pics are of a pool party I had at my house with my playgroup. We had a blast---well I did. I got to sit and not chase my son around! It was a warm day, the kids ate outside (so the mess stayed outside) and us moms had a good time chatting. The bottom pic is a good one. Check out the mess of toys! What kid would not have had fun with all that good stuff to play with! I am planning on having another pool extravaganza soon! And kudos to all the ladies in my playgroup--you guys really make these play dates enjoyable. I have really enjoyed getting to know all of you--and appreciate all the advice and things I have learned from you.

So I am keeping this blog shorter....I am so behind on blogs! I hope I catch up before the new one comes. We are under 6 weeks now. 3 weeks from this time Ky was born--that really puts things into perspective--but like I have said I think I will be going full term with this one. Hey--I was right about Ky, I think I will be right about this one. Have a good one! I will blog again very Very soon!