Vacation Part I - Jared & Deb's wedding

WHOA MOM! This is a BIT close!

9 hour drive---yup we did it...we plugged our kid in....

Asleep at the rehearsal dinner

Hi! Hi baby!

You are pretty cute!

M-wah! Let me give you a kiss--sweet thing!

Mom--did you see this baby--she is TOO CUTE!

Another kiss, just for you!

Check out my swim suit!

Only pic we have of him all dressed up!

The happy couple

He must have had something very important to say

Hanna Banana's!

There was no keeping the ice cream away from this lil' girl

The damage!

Packing for a 10 day trip with kids is no easy thing...We had most stuff packed, but it was after midnight by the time Rob and I had everything loaded in the van. We quickly realized that even though we have a bigger vehicle now--two kids pretty much fills that space pretty quickly....

So we got up at 3 AM and left for Springfield, Missouri. Yes, your calculations are correct, Rob and I each got less than 3 hours of sleep. We were on the road shortly before 4 AM. We planned to leave so early because we figured the kids would fall back asleep in the van and we could drive at least 3 or four hours with them asleep. Well as always--it didn't work out that way. Alaina took FOREVER to fall back asleep--and well Ky--he just didn't go back to sleep at all. The plan had been --make it to Springfield (maybe even St. Louis) for breakfast and then get to Springfield MO for a late lunch....Ummm..yeah--As all parents know, you have to be flexible.

So Ky didn't go to sleep--and for the sake of Alaina we plugged him into a DVD player sometime around 6:30ish--hoping that maybe that would put him to sleep OR at minimum he wouldn't wake his sister...Well he stayed awake alright...

BTW--we purchased a portable DVD player just for this trip. And I have to say, I am very glad we did. I am not a fan of plugging my kid in, but for long trips--I will make an exception. Around 7:30 Alaina woke up, so we ended up stopping in some little town. They had a Bob Evan's and that was all that really mattered--YUMMY! I am glad the waitress was in good spirits and dealt with us all rather well. We let Alaina crawl around a little and get some energy out--and you know Ky--he got Whipped cream on his pancakes and he was good to go.

Back in the van we went. We did some coaxing of Alaina and she EVENTUALLY fell back asleep--and well Ky--he was just TOO addicted to that DVD player. It is so funny too...he had the headphones on, and when an episode was over he would start yelling "MOM IT'S DONE! I NEED A NEW VIDEO!" (He would yell, talking over the sound in his ears, not realizing he was yelling.) Lunch was past St. Louis when Alaina couldn't stand being in her car seat anymore. We got off at an exit that had a lot of restaurants listed, but they were all rather disgusting. We ended up eating Subway and then hitting the road again.

By now it was a tad bit longer than we would have liked....By the time we got to Springfield, we had been on the road 12 hours. We needed to hurry and check into our hotel and then get to the wedding rehearsal.

Prior to this trip, Rob and I tried to do as much research as possible on hotels before we booked them. We wanted a large room, so we could set up Alaina's Pak n' play and Ky could sleep on the floor or roll away bed or whatever we got for him. So our first hotel was La Quinta in Springfield and let me say that our room was rather lousy. First of all, I realize that hotel rooms are not going to be childproof--however I do expect them to be somewhat safe. This one had wires going down walls to sockets (fully exposed) as well as a disintegrating entertainment center. The wood was literally coming apart in powder, and the floor did not appear to be vacuumed. So new crawler on our hands--this was not a happy room. Alaina just wanted to eat the entertainment center with the yummy wood that would come off in her mouth. YUCK! So I give very poor marks to this hotel...

Anyway, back to the story. We hurriedly checked in and Rob quickly took off to pick up his suit for the wedding while I organized the room (set up the pak n' play, got out the kids clothes, and attempt to make the room a little safer for Alaina, etc...) Once Rob returned, we were off to the rehearsal. We got there and tried to explain (once again) Ky's important role as ring bearer. We introduced him to the the flower girl, talked to him about walking down the aisle and then got ready to practice. Well he was doing alright, considering he had had no sleep and then he overheard the wedding planners talking about closing the door before the bride walks down the aisle and he lost it. He thought they were going to close the door on him and yeah--he lost it....So of course here I am trying to take care of crawling Alaina & bawling Ky (remember Rob is in the wedding.) ARGH! Yeah--then he had to go pee. So I took him to the tiny restroom and set Alaina down and then she started grabbing onto this board that was hanging from the wall and I was afraid it was going to fall on her--and then I heard KY start crying again and it turns out he peed all over his shirt. AHHH!!! So I have to run out to the car, and of course all his clothes are back at the hotel--BUT being the prepared Mom I am, I always have an extra change of clothes in this compartment in the car---BUT it has been MONTHS since I put those clothes there, so of course he had outgrown the clothes, but we put them on anyway and he got to wear a TOO short shirt. YES...and that is not the end...

Ky continued to LOSE it for the rest of the dress rehearsal. Alaina wanted down...Yeah I had my hands full. I can say that I did not enjoy that night in the least. I was VERY stressed after all that. I am just thankful that Ky fell asleep in the van on the way to the dinner and actually stayed asleep during the dinner--something he never does. So at least the dinner was somewhat enjoyable and we got to catch up with some old friends. I then left with the kids and put them down myself (Rob had a boys night with the groom & friends). They went down pretty well. YEAH! Though by 2 we were woken by Alaina and she of course insisted in being in our bed. We can't blame her too much. She is used to her crib and it was a different place. (Did I mention she had been sleeping through the night for at least 2 months by this point?)

Of course we were up early with kids (how do they always know to get up early?) Which was fine, Rob was having a morning with the boys again--so I was going to spend the day with the kids and get them ready for the wedding.

We all had a quick breakfast together and a quick dip in the hotel pool and then Rob took off. That left me with the kids that were still short on sleep. Hmmmm...Well I couldn't really figure out what to do with them, so I took them to the mall. (BTW--did I mention that it was 100 degrees out so going to the park was out of the question.) I let the kids play on the mall playground and then we were off to McD's for lunch (UGH!) But not before Ky had another meltdown. At this point, I knew that a good nap would be the only way he would survive this wedding (if at all). After a quick lunch at McD's (UGH-), we went back to the hotel for a nap. I turned off most of the lights in the room, closed the shades and read a book hoping that my lack of moving would help them go to sleep. Well--that did not happen. Ky kept Alaina up for the longest time by making noises and smacking his feet around. I did what I could to discipline--but what can you do? Alaina finally fell asleep and an hour later Ky was still up. Dad came back at this point to check in and see an awake Ky and an annoyed Mom. I told him to give Jared a head's up that the ring bearer was not looking good. Rob then took off to the chapel.

40 minutes before we had to go, Ky fell asleep. I then got up and got myself ready and tried to figure out the logistics of making this wedding happen. Yeah--my conclusion--it was not going to happen. I laid out all of Alaina's & Ky's stuff. I figured I would get her up first and get her ready and then just have Ky get up, eat and go. I would get him dressed at the church. (It was going to be too hot for him to travel in a long sleeved shirt (remember 100 degrees--no joke!)

Things pretty much worked out like that. I gave him a Pop Tart to eat and had him in a Really good mood. I didn't even mention the ring bearer stuff.

Off we went to the church. I got him dressed and then talked to him about his job and asked if he would do it. He said "no".

So then I pulled out the big guns. I pulled out several pieces of candy and told him that if he walked down the aisle with the little girl and walked straight to me, I would give him the candy when he got to me. Ky's big-eyed response "OKAY!" When Dad then tried to take him to the back of the church, he once again changed his mind and started crying. I then told Dad--abort the ring bearer plan. It isn't going to happen.

So as a smart mom--I chose to move myself and the children to the very back of the small church near the door to escape whenever Ky chose to lose it. I had all sorts of stuff to keep him occupied, Goldfish and toys and crayons. Everything was going great. The wedding had begun, Rob was looking quite handsome at the front of the church in his tux (the groom too--gotta give Jared props) and then the flower girl started walking down the aisle. Ky looked up and noticed her and lost it.

He started screaming "THAT'S THE LITTLE GIRL, I AM SUPPOSED TO BE WALKING WITH THE LITTLE GIRL!" So I plopped ALaina on the floor, clamped my hand over his mouth---he kept screaming--I tried to run out of the church--but there is only one exit--the one the bride is now entering...So here I am crouched in the back of the church with a screaming boy, a little girl who is crawling who knows where, while the bride is walking down the aisle. Oddly enough--I think she was so into the moment, she didn't even notice me and Ky. Though if there is any video tape--I am sure Ky's screaming is on it.

It took a few minutes to calm Ky down, but I finally did it. I am lucky Alaina didn't go too far and we were able to return to our seats. Aside from this, the wedding was very nice. Of course I was stressed waiting for the next tantrum to interrupt, but I was lucky and that was not the case.

I have to say the bride was beautiful--and seeing her with Jared--she was beaming & giddy and loving every moment of THEIR ceremony. It was too cute! I love weddings!

Once the wedding was over though I just wanted to get out. I was too panicked about dealing with another tantrum. We went right to the reception, and it was a relief to just let the kids BE. They were very good, sleep-deprived, but good. Alaina took a real liking to Greg--and old college alum of ours and Ky was loving Bemus (also a fellow Alum). The food was good and I was glad that Dad was able to sit with me and the kids to help out with the meal and any possible tantrums. Ky loved the music and took up to dancing with Greg. I have some pics, but they didn't come out to well. He was too CUTE shaking up the dance floor. Alaina also enjoyed everything that was going on. She did panic at one moment when a lady she didn't know got a little too close and she couldn't see mommy anymore. Rob and I were also able to get a dance in, which was nice. Oh--I almost forgot to mention the chocolate fountain at the wedding! INGENIOUS! Every wedding should have one! YUM!

We didn't stay too long for the wedding, the kids were overtired--and we had to get going in the morning for our camping trip. I wish I had more pics of the wedding and such--but I was on edge most of the time with the kids. Oh well...

That night we all crashed--and yes Alaina ended up in our bed again. Not surprisingly, the kids still got up early, we ate breakfast, and then got cleaned up and packed. We then hit the local WalMart to get our camping food and supplies. We were looking for a local place for lunch and ended up at CiCi's pizza....not local..but a chain we hadn't been to. It was pretty good for $5 per person. After lunch we then hit our first local Ice Cream store in Springfield--Hanna Banana's. This ice cream place was very similar to Cold Stone, though I do think Cold Stone is a tad yummier. The girl was very nice there. She kept giving us samples! YUM! We left at naptime for Lake of the Ozarks. The kids slept most of the way.

Next Blog--Camping at Lake of the Ozarks.

Breakfast on the farm, a birthday & Father's day

A beautiful smile for a yummy breakfast at the farm!

and a kookier smile....

He's a cow...eating ice cream...

chasing the chickens

checking out the baby chicks

MOO!

GRANDPA!

So happy to be at COLD STONE!

Ky's salute to MJ

Just taking a bath

Big bro helping

Making his own sandwich...yeah I don't know about all the bread pieces or the PB smear on his cheek--it was his sandwich after all...

Sleeping with Nana

My baby can crawl!

Yes my baby is now on the move! Shortly after Ky's birthday, Alaina finally put two and two together and started moving her tush! And boy does she crawl. It is a little weird for us, since Ky never liked crawling. With this new crawling thing, Alaina puts everything she finds on the floor in her mouth--string, lint, small pieces of paper, pebbles...YUCK! Yeah---we are definitely ready for her to walk.

Also, we are back to baby proofing and realizing what isn't so baby proof. All in all we are glad that she is moving, but also find it ironic that she chooses to become mobile right before our camping trip. We will have to see how that goes...

So the weekend before my birthday we went to an event called breakfast on the farm. It was pretty cool. We went to a local farm, ate a farm breakfast, got to check out the animals and taste samples of various stuff including ice cream. Ky had fun. He got his face painted like a cow--MOO!

For the middle of June, it was a very chilly day as well as wet and rainy--but we made the best of it. Ky definitely liked the cows the best. They have the longest tongues--and boy was it funny watching them lick up the straw.

And of course there were goats--Ky's obsession-- or "Doats" as he calls them. The poor chickens he chased--but actually I just think he gave them a great work out. By the time we went home the kids were exhausted and took a pretty good nap on our drive to Milwaukee. Depending on the location of the next "breakfast on the farm" I think we will be going again. It definitely was worth it!

So off we went to Milwaukee to celebrate Devan's b'day, mine, Jordan's graduation, and Pop's Father's day. Once again it was cold and I was surprised to see the teens swimming--but then again-I shouldn't really be that surprised.

I can hardly believe that Jordan has graduated middle school and will be starting high School. I still remember when I first met him and how he used to crawl into my lap. The cute little boy has definitely turned into a handsome young man. *SIGH* The time goes by so fast.

Well you can see how tired I was from the morning since I have NO pics of the graduating boy. Bad Jess! I slacked. I have the pic of Alaina and Grandpa--and then a couple of pics that have pretty much no focus--I definitely was not at the top of my photography game. Ah well....Cut me some slack...

The next day, Rob arranged for a babysitter for the kids and made me a special dinner at home for my birthday--it was Very Romantic..and Very Yummy! We ate steak and potatoes, Caesar salad, and for dessert freshly baked cookies with homemade ice cream! mmmmm...Yeah I was stuffed! What a great birthday.....and for my birthday present--a NEW DIGITAL CAMERA---you know, because I don't take enough pics....

I don't have the camera yet---but I will soon---It took me a long time to decide what I wanted...so when I catch up with my blog in mid-August or so you should see some higher quality pics....

On my actual birthday itself we went to Cold Stone (of course) and enjoyed some delicious ice cream. Alaina was ecstatic to be there. We walked on State St and went into some fun stores--I was pretty excited to find the Michael Jackson coat for Ky to try on. Not to mention he made the cool little hand moves. Hee Hee...that's my boy.

Father's day was the following Sunday--and as you can see I slacked to take pics once again. I served Rob his Grandma Herbst's famous Apple Pancakes for breakfast (which he loves---btw--I will be putting this recipe up soon). We went to church and then of course celebrated with ice cream--boy if you were just now getting to know me in this blog--you probably would realize by now that my family has an obsession with ice cream--probably driven mostly by me. Ky, of course, made a card for Dad as well. And Dad's Father's day present was an hour long massage gift certificate--something every Dad deserves.

So the other pics are hodge podge pics. We started giving Alaina baths in the kitchen sink---it is just so much easier to do it there than in her little tub or in our big bath tub. She fits in it so perfectly and really has a lot of fun. Ky also likes helping to wash her.

Nana & Grandma Jan visited the day before Father's day. We had a nice day with them at the Farmer's market and then walking State St and of course a stop for ice cream at the Chocolate Shoppe! Yum! You probably notice the clips in Alaina's hair. It is getting long now, and when it is hot it is just a sweaty mess, so now I hold it back with clips. By July, I actually started putting it in pig tails! (So cute!) It also is getting curl in it and is turning red. I have had a lot of people comment on the color of her hair. I still think she will turn fully blonde like Ky, but we will have to wait and see. For now it is a strawberry blonde--and so beautiful!

Whew--another blog entry done and LOTS more to go...next blog entry will be our vacation! See I am catching up! Tootles!

THREE!

Making his cake & tasting it too!

The crew making their train cars

Ky working hard on his train car

Ky loving the end product....Yeah I think he ate a bit too much of the train car accessories, but the boy had fun--and what a memory!

He picked out part of the cake (ate it ouf course) and called it a door--for his animal cracker??

Adam with his engine

Liz with her caboose

Daddy with the rainbow coal car....after a make over

Birthday boy waking up

We found a friend in the backyard. He named his toad Marty,

B'day boy with G'ma Jan

Showing Ms. Carol his toad

With Wendy

Alaina with Dad

The assembled cake & getting ready to sing!

The anticipation building!

Alaina's need for ice cream

Nana helping Ky read his card

Opening presents

Happy with U. Adam

A great visit with U. Adam & A. Liz

The new swing set. Ky likes swinging like Super Man!

The new Rock Box!

Swing set with Rock box and new planted grass! All that is left is to build the platform attaching the swing set to the playhouse and put up the slide!

That is right! My little boy is 3! I cannot believe that it was over 3 years ago that he came into our world and changed our lives forever--for the better of course--though I do miss my sleep!

With the busy week and weekend prior to Ky's party, we actually made the cakes on Thursday night and then froze them. Ky and Daddy made them together. He picked the flavors, chocolate and strawberry. I borrowed bread pans from some friends (thanks Krissy & Judy!) and baked 6 loaf shaped cakes. The plan was to make a train cake for Ky. The week prior I had shopped at Woodman's and stocked up on all types of candies & junk to decorate the cakes with.

Adam & Liz were coming Saturday afternoon, so I knew that with their help we could each decorate a train car and put the cake together for the Sunday party. Saturday was a dreary day with lots of rain and it was cold. After a quick dinner of pizza, we put the little lady to bed and got busy on our trains. We made icing in a variety of colors so that the train would be colorful. Adam, the artist, was assigned the engine, Liz --the caboose, Daddy--the coal car, Mommy & Kylan-random middle cars. Kylan definitely had the most fun out of all of us decorating his train car. (Though we had lots of fun laughing at Rob's attempt at a coal car--don't be deceived by the picture above, prior to that the car was all brown with brown and more brown--it looked kind of like a shoe with wheels--so then he added some white frosting on top of the chocolate frosting and some colors and things started to look much better!)

Ky picked blue frosting for his train car, I did help him frost it--but after that he had free reign. At first he spent much of his time just eating the different candies, but then he got more into the spirit of things, shoving candies here and there, declaring them windows & doors and of course passengers. He was bouncing in his seat he was so hyper from all the sugar. Towards the end he started poking a big hole in his cake and eating it. He said he was making a door. (Makes sense--the passengers have to get in and out of the train, right?!) A few added animal cracker & gummy bear accessories and we declared him done. It was time to get sugar crazy boy to bed--and boy was he sugar crazy---here we have always tried to watch how much sugar he eats--but with it being his b'day we let him "have" at it.

We all had fun finishing up our train cars. They did look pretty fun & yummy! I couldn't wait to put them together the next day to see the end product. I have to say for novices--we did a very NICE job!

The next morning the birthday boy was ready to get up and get going and he was one very happy 3 year old! It's his birthday after all. We had a very yummy breakfast of pancakes & sausage (his favorite) and then got to work getting the house ready for the party. With the wedding & family reunion the days prior, we had to leave all these details for his birthday morning.

I mowed the backyard & was very excited to find a toad. We never had toads in our backyard before, but this year we did. (They especially like to nest in the mulch by the spigot.) I caught the little guy and carried him to the garage (of course he peed on me) and put him in a little bug cage that G'pa had bought Ky last year. I then presented my little present to Ky. He was SO excited!

Ky named the toad "Marty" and carried him around for much of the rest of the day (until cake time that is!)

Family & friends showed up around 2:30 and we all had a nice time. Ky was definitely the center of attention--and why not with those beautiful blue eyes and dimple and freckles (yes my boy has gotten freckles from me--they are finally showing up this summer--see he does have something from me after all!)

Around 4:30 we grilled burgers, brats, & veggie burgers and feasted. I was grateful to have had the extra help from Liz & Adam--it really made this party a lot easier to pull off.

My favorite part of the party was the cake. Right before guests arrived, Rob, Liz, Adam & I carefully assembled the cake on it's Twizzler tracks. We even decorated the landscaping with some trees & signs from Ky's train set. It looked pretty good--though next time I would not make the track curved--it made it a little hard to get good full pics of the train.

We lit the candle and got ready to sing. You could see how elated Ky was. I really hope he remembers this b'day--though 3 is pretty hard to remember. He then got to eat some of his cake, which of course he enjoyed (and already knew what it tasted like from the prior night.)

In the meantime we got out ice cream to serve with the cake. Alaina saw the box of ice cream and started screaming. She instantly knew what it was (I don't know how since she only had ice cream one before on Memorial day in a cone.) She knew what she wanted though--so we succumbed and gave her some ice cream. She was then a happy girl--in between spoonfuls that is. If you weren' t moving fast enough she was yelling for more. Yeah--she definitely has her mother's taste buds.--which I got from my mother. Ice cream there is a family inherited gene.

After that was present time. He tore through them pretty quick--and got a little angry when Alaina wanted to help. He was pretty polite though overall--he hugged and gave kisses and said thank you. I was very proud of him.

At that point I had to run to the kennel and get Bear (he was there due to the wedding & reunion.) Most of the guests left at that point, which was good since Ky was getting tuckered. It had been a Very big day for him.

We had a nice evening with Adam & Liz playing games & catching up. We were so glad they visited...and we look forward to seeing them later this summer under less stressful circumstances (we are still on for Rosh Hoshanah, right?!) The next morning they were off--and Ky was bummed to see them go (so was I.) He really enjoyed his time with his Aunt & Uncle.

So our big b'day present for Ky (& Alaina--we made this a joint b'day present for them since they will both be using it) was the play area for them. Unfortunately it is still under works--however we have been getting it done as we have time in the summer. For his birthday, we did have the swing set assembled. We then planted grass around the playhouse (which he has never been in yet.) In July, we moved and anchored the swing set next to the playhouse and built Ky's Rock Box. (I had wanted to build him a giant sand box--but with the many numerous bunnies--we knew that it would be full of rabbit poop--so we did the next best thing.) I built him a giant box and we filled it with 1000 lbs of pea gravel. He loves it! (By the way--for the record I would like to say that I moved 850 lbs of this pea gravel and dumped it in his box within 10 minutes---I was in a hurry to get to work and wanted to get it done. I was VERY sore the next day.)

He loves his rock box so much that the next day at dinner he prayed to God and thanked God for the beautiful day to play in his Rock Box. It was TOO cute!

So the last step for the play area is to build a platform between the swing set and the play house. This platform will have a slide (which I picked up at a garage sale for $1--sweet deal!) and will have access to the playhouse. I hope to finish that in September as August has quickly been filled up with other summer fun.

So this is my late Birthday blog...stay tuned for father's day and then our vacation blogs! Coming soon!