Dinner with the Schnake's

Just for your enjoyment...a typical loud dinner with the kids. Enjoy!

November 2010

November was a blur to me. Between just the normal busyness, I was tired and dealing with appointments--LOTS of appointments. And not just OB appointments, dentist and flu shot and all that jazz.  Ky had his 3rd dentist appointment and once again we had a new hygienist and dentist.  They discovered a cavity.  I was shocked and appalled.  He doesn't eat sugary stuff very often--we don't even drink juice very often!  I brush his teeth in the morning and at night (talk about adding insult to injury).  And well--he's only FOUR! 

When I asked why and what we could do, they basically said "His teeth have deep grooves, there isn't much you can do."  "WHAT?!"  You're my dentist!  You are supposed to have solutions!  So yeah--we are done with these people as our dentist.  We will take Ky to get his filling and then go elsewhere for appointments.  ARGH!  It has been so hard to find a good dentist.  I am just getting tired of it all.

While I'm talking about Ky--This month we learned about animal classifications.  And then Ky decided Toy Story was the new cool movie...and of course like every preschooler he now has his very cute and mixed up saying "To Amphibians and Beyond" (Quoting Buzz Light Year).  And yes, that is really what he thinks Buzz Light Year says.

Okay...so to the November Pics...

I watch my neighbor's kid every other Monday (She does the same for me so we can both rotate teaching) and I decided that the kids should make something fun for Christmas.  So we started a LONG term project making ornaments.  The first week we made the dough.  They had a lot of fun!  They then rolled out the dough and cut out their shapes and left them to dry.  A few weeks later after they dried (and when Daniel came back) the kids painted them.  Then a few weeks later they put a clear glue coat on them to protect them.  And then finally put a string through them and hung them.  They had a lot of fun--and it was a great project because it took up a lot of time.

With the potty training--Alaina has been very proudly dressing herself (except for shirts--she can't do shirts yet.)  Several times now she has put her underwear outside of her pants.  VERY FUNNY!  And she doesn't seem to notice or care.  Silly girl!

We received our first snow in Madison, the very beginning of December.  Can you believe I was STILL picking broccoli until then?!  I can't believe it!  I will definitely be planting broccoli next year.  And because I was still selfishly picking broccoli, I did not get my garden turned over for next year.  ARGH!  It is going to be a LOT harder to do when I am 8 months preggo!  Oh well...good thing I have a WONDERFUL husband to help! :)

With November came---OUR NEW WOOD FLOORS and we got some NEW WINDOWS too!  YEAH!  The 20 year old carpet was pulled up from our living and dining room and saved (yes saved) for the garden next year.  They took two weekends for us to install, but we did it!  I will have to post pics of the finished product later.  It is beautiful!  And what a difference!

We also took advantage of the energy rebate and got enough windows to max it out.  What a difference that makes!  First of all we can see out our windows! (We couldn't in the winter before because they would frost up!) And secondly, they aren't falling apart!  Yes, we literally have some old wooden windows that are rotting--30 year old windows--who would think!  We have 6 more windows we need to take care of and we are hoping that they will renew the energy rebate and we will do that next year.

The kids did Operation Christmas Child again this year.  Ky got into it this year a lot more than he did last year.  We let him pick out what went in his box and we also let him pick out some toys for a boy his age in the area who needed gifts.  It is neat to see him year after year understand a little bit more of what he is doing and what kind of impact it will have on another child.  I love finding opportunities like this for him since he is so limited on what he can do at his age.

Alaina also picked out things for a little girl, however, she has no idea what she is doing.  So of course, she assumed everything she picked out was hers and I had to "take the stuff" away later so I could pack it in the box.  (Good thing we have naptime!) It all worked out!

November was such a mildly warm month.  I took the kids to the zoo and they had a blast.  I figured it also worked well into our "Animal Classifications" lesson plans.  Ky was identifying mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds.  Alaina--well she was just everywhere...  I also learned that taking a newly potty trained child to the zoo in November is not a good idea when they close down the restrooms inside the park.  The only restrooms that were open were the ones by the entrance.  That made for a delightful--"run and carry to the potty before she pees on me" trip.  And then of all things--when we got there she says "I don't need to go."  Yeah--I made her sit until she had something to "go" with.  UGH!

You will also notice that there are some pics of Alaina with a little girl named Lana.  Lana is in our playgroup and she is Alaina's new best friend.  Alaina just ADORES here and ALWAYS asks about her.  It is so sweet to see them holding hands and running around.  A first friend!

At the end of November, I took the kids to the newly done Children's Museum in Madison.  The place was CRAZY!  There were TONS of kids EVERYWHERE!  I was hoping to miss some of the crowds by waiting several months after it opened to take them--but yeah--it didn't matter.  The new museum is very nice, but like I said, it was CRAZY!  I don't really have a strong desire to go back...especially after the tantrum Ky threw when we left.  UGH!  And normally he is really good about leaving places. 

You probably noticed the pic of Alaina and her dollhouse...that was our birthday present to her.  I had a lot of trouble finding an age appropriate dollhouse that came with accessories.  I finally found this dollhouse in November.  Rob and I figured it didn't really matter at her age when we gave it to her since she didn't know any better.  So there it is.  She loves it and so does Ky.  There have been many fights over it--meaning it is a good toy.

We celebrated Grandma Jan's birthday in November.  We had a really nice Mexican lunch and Nana took the kids on a walk to a new playground.  It was a nice relaxing afternoon--and yes I fell asleep that is how relaxing it was.  Extended family does not get better than that--you feel so comfortable you can just fall asleep. 

And finally--the homemade pine cone bird feeders.  When we were learning about birds, we made bird feeders and hung them up on the tree in the front yard.  Ky was so excited to see the birds get the seeds.  But we never did...the squirrels stole the feeders....so we made two more..and so the squirrels stole two more.  I give up.  The squirrels win.  Ky is crying.  There isn't much more we can do.  Sorry old chap...back to the old fashioned bird feeders it is. And that is that!  I am not making anymore!  Squirrels! UGH!  They totally ruined our fun!

And that was November in a crazy blur! Now don't forget to check out the video! Alaina decided she was getting married...hmmm...

Wrapping up October

The Saturday before Halloween, we had a wonderful visit with our Aunts and Uncle. They drove up from the Chicago area and spent the day with us.

The first thing on our agenda was to go to the Farmer's Market. The Farmer's Market had only one more week outside and it was a very nice Saturday considering how late in the season it was.

And of course the produce, cheese, and bakery was divine! Ryan was in town celebrating homecoming, so he actually met up with us on the square and enjoyed all the yummy goodness with us.

We bought two loaves of Stella's Spicy Cheese Bread (to last us through the winter.. Of course they really only lasted us until mid-November--but it was a nice idea.) And then some other produce like spinach and garlic.  If you have never been to the Madison Farmer's Market--there really is no other market that is better.  Give me a call and we will schedule a visit.  I KNOW you will find it all worthwhile.

Ky and Alaina enjoyed the extra attention from all the relatives--though Alaina was being a little standoffish with Ryan--which was weird.  Towards the end Ky had fun playing in the leaves and putting them on everyone's head--well actually only Uncle Ryan and Aunt Linda's heads!  HA! 

From there we returned home and had a nice dinner with Uncle Tom, Aunt Sue, Aunt Janice, and Aunt Linda.  At some point during the visit, Ky brought up the new baby and pointed out the ultrasound on the fridge.  We were planning to tell everyone at dinner---but hey--that worked too--and I think he was getting used to telling everyone.  :)  We all had a wonderful day and look forward to getting together again.

The next day was Halloween.  I have been having personal battles with the "holiday" myself and feeling really torn about the whole thing.  Up to this point, we had not ever gone trick or treating--and honestly I think calling it trick or treating is somewhat wrong in itself.  If you don't know my history, I grew up never trick or treating.  We were taught that it was a bad holiday and that the whole concept was wrong.  This year was the year we needed to decide what to do with the kids and trick or treating since Ky was now 4 and had heard from everyone else what happens.

Rob and I talked about it and I looked into the history of the holiday.  We also spoke with our church group about it.  Here is what I learned and what I decided about the holiday...

Pumpkin Carving--in England it was to represent the souls captured in purgatory. In America it was developed as a separate tradition during the reaping of the harvest NOT Halloween originally...I have no problem with pumpkin carving assuming my children are not making things that look demonic and such...and well we don't believe in purgatory, but hey I grew pumpkins this year, so let's celebrate the harvest!

Trick or Treating--can in fact be dated way back to Christmastime in England when people dressed up and went door to door caroling and then received treats.  It can also be taken back to All Saints Day when the poor would go door to door and pray for lost loved ones to receive food.  And in Ireland people would dress up and perform tricks for money and food.  It is actually difficult to see the true roots of trick or treating--much like the true roots of Halloween in general (there are so many different countries that have done different things.) While I don't think any menacing tricks should be played on people--the fact is, they rarely are (or it is teenagers who would do it any other night..)  And who hasn't paid to go see circus clowns perform--this is pretty much the same idea--payment in exchange for entertainment?  Anyway, I guess I pretty much was able to come to the conclusion that I was okay with the kids trick or treating as long as they weren't going to dress up wearing ghoulish things.  So right now that is where my thoughts lay with it all.  There was no DIRECT connection with evil or pagans--much of that has come in the last century through horror films and such.  So for now we will treat it like another fun day such as Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day.  We will not go overboard with it -but enjoy the day when it comes and make sure to keep everything else in perspective. WHEW!--so there you go.

So the kids did go trick or treating for the first time ever this year.  We went with our church group which was nice.  Ky was Diego and Alaina was Boots from Dora the Explorer.  We made homemade costumes (which I would love to do every year--but at the same time, I may not put forth the effort if I can find a second hand costume for a few dollars and save myself the stress.) 

We had a nice potluck with our church group and then we went out.  A friend brought an extra duck costume which was warmer than Alaina's Boot's costume so we put that over hers.  It was getting pretty chilly.  We put Ky in pants.  Alaina started off in a pretty crabby mood (make sure you see the video---it is a hilarious duck screaming!)  Once she realized that she was getting candy for knocking on doors--she quickly changed her mood.  (Go figure.)  The kids had a good time and Rob and I had fun sorting through their candy and taking a small "chaperon/costume making" fee.  :)

October!

October! 

I will catch up on my blogs!

Early October my play group decided to go apple picking--so it was round 2 of apple picking for the Schnake's.  I think we had picked 70lbs the first time--though most of it was canned by the time our playgroup went.  So we picked a few new varieties, but thankfully I only left with about 10 lbs.  And yes we ate them all! 

One day Alaina was playing with the fridge magnets and when she was done she left a bunch on the stool.  I went to pick them up and was surprised to see that my girl had spelled out "nuts" and "corn".   A GENIUS!  That's what she is!  I keep wondering though if she meant to spell out "corn nuts".  HA HA!

Alaina had her 2 year appointment in October.  The nurse was new--and I believe she messed everything up.  She had Alaina weighing in at 35 lbs (and I know that she had weighed around 30lbs a week or two before.)  And then she had Alaina's height SMALLER than her last visit.  I wasn't concerned, but the nurse seemed very concerned.  I laughed it off with the doctor later--because according to those measurements Alaina is overweight--which she definitely is not.  She is average for a girl her age--and a little tall (already in 3T clothes!)  Oh well--I am not sure what to even put in the baby book!

October was a busy month for Ky as well.  He had soccer and swimming.  He did EXCELLENT in both.  He is my little soccer star!  The boy really enjoys running the field now and chasing the ball--so much different than his other experience!  His team was 4 & 5 year olds--and I would say Ky did AWESOME! 

As far as swimming-it took Ky a while before he would let the instructor let go of him "again."  However, by the end of the session he was swimming on his own (with a floatation device) and had no problem sticking his face in the water.  Hopefully we will be able to get him into a swim class this winter....though who knows since we are on multiple waiting lists.

We went up to Devil's Lake mid-October to enjoy the leaves changing.  I think we were one weekend too late though.  The trees were still pretty though.  We did a mountainous trail and Ky did really well.  He walked almost the whole thing himself!  I was very proud of my boy.  At the end the kids threw rocks in the water and got pretty wet.  On our way back, Alaina fell and got a nice cut on her lip.  She was fine, however the blood was pretty nasty (especially when we were a decent distance still from the car.)  She cried a lot--which always tells us when she is really hurt.  She is my tough little girl and she doesn't cry to just any fall. 

October was a big month for Alaina.  We moved her to a big girl bed (since she was crawling out of her crib.)  That went really well for a while.  We did find her on the floor a couple of times, but for the most part she stayed in.  Just recently (December) she has begun getting out of bed at night and wandering.  Of course she started all of this while daddy was away on a business trip!  BLAH!  We have now told her that we will take away her nuk and she will not have it at night if she gets out.  We only had to take it away once--and that seems to have gotten the message across.  (Part of me was hoping she would keep getting out so I could just get rid of the nuk!) 

I also potty trained Alaina in October.  She had all the signs--however she has not taken to it like Kylan.  She is too easily distracted and does not want to stop playing to go potty.  She is fully capable of going when she needs to, she just doesn't always WANT to go.  UGH!  I guess this is pretty typical of many kids--so we just have to hang in there for a few more months until she gets things better under wraps.  Otherwise, she is in underwear during the day and I take her to the potty often.  (However if I don't take her and she is too "busy" to go--she will have an accident.)  At night she is in pull-ups.  It has been nice overall to get rid of the diapers.  Two less loads of wash a week (assuming we don't have TONS of accidents.) And when I see a good disposable diaper deal I stock up for the new baby. 

One Sunday we were in church and Ky was playing with his cars.  He then came up to me in tears.  His Tow Mater had broke.  He was so sad.  It was really touching to see his fondness of that toy and how upset he was.  I talked to Rob that night and we devised a plan for Ky to earn money to get a new "Tow Mater".  I made a chart of different chores he could do.  Every time he did a chore he would get a car sticker.  When the chart was full of stickers, I would take him to buy a new Tow Mater.  I figured this list would take Ky a couple of days, but he did it all in one day!  So the next day we went to Walmart so he could pick out his new Tow Mater.  Well, we couldn't find one, so he decided he was going to pick out a different car--and you know what he picked!  Lightning McQueen!  This wouldn't be a big deal BUT--the boy already had 3 other Lightning McQueens!  And the one he wanted was an EXACT duplicate of one of the ones he had at home!  I tried to talk him out of it--but he had earned it, so if that was what he wanted, that was what he was going to get.  So I purchase Lightning McQueen the FOURTH!  And he was so proud.  He told everyone how he had worked to earn it!  It is really neat for Kylan to see what hard work can result in.

Since we have an AWESOME membership to the Rockford Children's Museum, the kids and I made a fun day trip of it mid-October.  We had a great time!  We left a little late, but the kids had four hours or so to play.  I packed a lunch and we ate there.  I love that museum.  I will probably buy another membership next April.  It has been so handy--getting us into the Milwaukee Museums for free as well as the Madison Children's Museum.  So Cool!

After the museum, I stopped at the Salvation Army in Rockford and SCORED!  All kids clothes was $0.50!  I bought several dresses for Alaina and pants and shorts for Ky.  Can't beat those prices!  I then got all of us a giant soda to share for the trip home.  They were so excited!  (We don't drink soda often.)  It was a really fun trip!  I am going to try to go once a month now--it is so totally worth it.

Whew!  Done!  Next blog--Halloween and early Nov.... 

Alaina's 2nd Birthday!

On Alaina's actual birthday, I worked--BLAH!  I figured that we would celebrate afterwards and we had somewhat already celebrated the day before at the farm.  So daddy took the kids and subbed at the local high school.  HOWEVER, once I got off--we all headed to Culver's to get Alaina here birthday ice cream.  We went to the register to order and when we turned around, Alaina had pushed forward a high chair and crawled into it.  She was ready to eat! :)

Alaina enjoyed her ice cream as well as Daddy & Ky.  I had a burger--I know--me turn down ice cream for a burger!?  But with the pregnancy, burgers was one of my serious cravings.

That night, Rob and I worked to make Alaina's Dora cake.  Alaina LOVES Dora & dresses.  I had found the doll at a garage sale and purchased her just for this cake.  I figured this time around Rob and I would get to make a cake that was a little easier.  My friend Cindi loaned me her bundt cake pan, and that became Dora's skirt.  we then simply decorated with icing to look like a dress and "VOILA!"  Nice and easy--and Alaina LOVED it.  (Well let's be honest she would have loved any sugary cake--but you know what I mean.)

Alaina's party was the next day.  The normal family came to it--Grandpa, Grandma Debi, A. Lisa, Devan, Jordan, Dominic, U. Kirk & A. Barb, Nana, G'ma Jan, & Carol.  Of course our little girl had quite a good time with all the attention.  And successfully did not look at the camera for almost ALL of the pictures I took.  ARGH!  Kylan was not this difficult!

For dinner we had "breakfast."  An egg casserole, pancakes, fruit, sausage, etc...She received a Dora princess set from Grandma Debi and quite enjoyed her new wand and princess attire she received.  In fact everyone got into the spirit by trying on Alaina's new earrings and tiara. 

Unwrapping gifts was NO problem for Alaina.  She was happy to do it.  She received a Dora doll and Dora pj's as well as a Dora video (do you sense a trend?)  She also received a bench and some books and puzzles and clothes.  She was one HAPPY girl. 

When it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" she wouldn't take her eyes off the cake.  (Hence all the pics with her NOT looking at the camera.)  And then she would try to swipe tastes with her fingers.  Some things never change...

The next day we had her open Uncle Adam & Aunt Liz's as well as G'ma & G'pa Vander Heyden's gifts.  She LOVES here new baby set.  She spends a lot of time changing her babies diapers and feeding them.  She also LOVES her new purse and shoes.  In fact, for days all you could hear was the "clop clop clop" of her shoes as she walked around.  She is too cute.  She takes her purse and puts on her heels and says "Bye Mom, I go to work!" 

So TWO years old.  They have passed by SO quickly.  Alaina is so different from Kylan--she is truly her OWN self.  She likes to be girly and wear dresses, but she also likes to climb and be a tom boy.  She plays cars all the time with Ky (in her heels of course.)  At the same time she is so nurturing to her babies.  She wraps them in blankets and then "Shushes" them as she bounces them up and down gently in her arms.  She already has a "mommy's touch". 

She speaks (and has been speaking) in full sentences.  She uses words that surprise me.  Shortly before her birthday she told me "Look mom, he's upside down"  and sure enough she was pointing at a picture of a boy doing a cartwheel.  I haven't worked with her like I did with Ky.  There has been no need to.  She picks up things really quickly watching her older brother.  I have Ky practice tracing and writing his name several times a week.  She also then has to practice writing her name (of course it is just scribbles right now...)  She can count past 10...she gets somewhere around 13 or 14 before they start getting jumbled.  She has been singing the alphabet FOREVER.  She LOVES to sing.  Today she sang "Old McDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-N-G-O and Bingo was his nam-o"  (Too cute, I know!)

Alaina loves to shop and gets excited when I tell her we are going shopping.  She pretends to have coupons (that's my girl!).  She also likes to race Kylan. And she likes to growl...yeah...don't ask. Lately she has been crawling out of her toddler bed at night (we converted her crib since she was just crawling out of it anyway....)and wandering the hall.  She still likes her nuk--yeah, I haven't figured how I am going to break her of that one.  The bed was a big transition, so I didn't want to take away her "comfort".  And now with a new baby on the way, I don't want to take away her nuk and give it to the new baby...I think we may have to wait until closer to her 3rd birthday.  The nuk is just a nighttime thing right now anyway.   

8th Anniversary Trip to San Francisco

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my husband!  He is truly the best. 

At the beginning of the year, Rob asked if he could plan a special get away for our 8th anniversary.  He then told me it would require an airplane. 

With Ky and Alaina being young, and with my frugality--it is always hard for me to splurge--but he kept on me and I said "YES!"  After all--isn't one of the most important things for a healthy marriage is investing TIME in each other.  It really was the perfect idea--no kids and just the two of us.  Isn't he romantic!?  (And PERFECT!)

A few months before, he let me know we were going to San Francisco for the Ghiradelli Chocolate Festival (does he know me or what!).  We then booked our flight and room.  We were staying on Fisherman's Warf which meant we were in the heart of the city and touristy area, as well as near Ghiradelli Square and we would not need to use public transportation or rent a car. 

Thursday night was hustle and bustle to pack.  I honestly don't remember what all was going on, but I was unable to pack until late Thursday night--which means--OF COURSE I forgot something....

We got up EARLY (4 AM) on Friday morning to drive to the airport.  I was dragging.  On our way to the airport we then also got lost thanks to detours due to construction.  As we were waiting for our shuttle and praying we weren't going to be late, I quickly realized I forgot my coat.  YUP--not a good plan, end of September and on the ocean.  Hey--I was already chilly in Milwaukee!  UGH!  I quickly decided my souvenir would be a coat in SF. 

We were fortunate that the security lines were very short at the airport and were able to make our flight without a problem.  I guess at this point I should add that I am pregnant--pretty sure I am pregnant and am feeling EXHAUSTED!  I know I was not the best company.  I slept a little on the plane, but really needed a nap.  When we got to SF, Rob had already purchased tickets for a shuttle to take us to the hotel.  (We were able to save money by doing it in advance--and we also figured we would know exactly what to look for.)  Well we were WRONG again.  We waited an HOUR for our shuttle.  There were so many other shuttles that came and went in the time we sat there.   UGH!  Note:  In the future do NOT purchase shuttle tickets in advance--it is NOT worth it.  So there I was TIRED, and now HUNGRY and feeling Nauseous (isn't pregnancy wonderful?!)

It was not a good start to our romantic getaway and I really felt bad for Rob, I know I was not the best of company.  (Yeah--I was complaining...)

We got to our hotel (after driving with a disrespectful passenger--He made a poor comment about someone who was biking--hmmm--we are from Madison--big "Bike" your way around city--and visiting SF--another big "Bike" the city--you know I made a comment back.)  And I honestly don't remember if I collapsed on the bed for a nap first or we went to get food first.  I was pretty hungry.  Either way, I was pathetic and took a nap.  We then went to walk the warf and find food and a coat for me. 

We were hungry so we stopped at a small seaside walk-up.  We ordered a crab sandwich & chips.  We are not big fans of fish, but we figured that since we were on the coast, it was the only honorable thing to do.  The sandwich was not bad.  I wouldn't eat it all the time, but it was fine.  That was when I decided that I must be a fish snob--perhaps I only like fish when it's fresh and not shipped halfway across the country? 

We walked by the Boudin Sourdough bread store.  They had neat loaves of bread shaped like just about every animal you could imagine.  The lines inside were also outrageous, showing what a tourist trap it was. 

I did find my coat.  I just bought a fleece coat to keep me warm.  I bought it from one of those outside flea tent things.  The ladies did not seem to happy with me pawing through their merchandise--it was kind of weird, like they just expected me to tell the my size and color and then they would get it for me.  But I don't shop that way.  Anyway...

For dinner we walked around the warf and ate a surf-type joint.  We ate outside.  It was chilly, but most of the restaurants have heat lamps to keep it warm.  The food was fine--nothing special.  We got burgers. 

Afterwards, we walked around the warf some more.  Check out the pictures of the seals--and the video!  They were fun to sit and watch.  One of the seals looked dead--but we weren't sure.  The rest were singing and talking to each other.  Really cool!

We stopped and got ice cream at Norman's.  This place was voted best ice cream in San Francisco several years in a row.  Honestly, we weren't that impressed.  We have definitely had better--but then again we come from dairy country (happy cows in California do NOT = better ice cream!)

Rob found a Lefty shop.  He was VERY excited.  They had lefty notebooks, scissors, coffee cups (if you grab it with your right hand to drink there is a hole and it spills all over you), pens (I guess the ink dries super fast so your hand doesn't smear the ink as you write)--and lefty everything else.  It was a fun story.  Rob was in LOVE! and purchased a lefty notebook for himself before we left. 

We did not visit Alcatrez, though we could see it just fine from the warf.  We chose not to spend our limited time or money on touring a jail cell--somehow it just wasn't romantic :)

There were all sorts of street acts.  My favorites was the men that were painted in metallics.  They would stand really still and then scare tourists as they walked by.  There were also plenty of painters, musicians, and even some acrobatic acts. And of course MANY homeless. 

That night we slept in our comfy bed.  The next morning we went to Johnny Rocket for breakfast.  It was pretty yummy food!  We listened to oldies and watched the people walking by.  We then decided to explore uptown before the chocolate fest. 
If you haven't been to SF, it is VERY hilly.  The warf is naturally at the bottom of the hills.  As you walk up it is VERY steep.  There are signs posted reminding cars to park with their tires pointed towards or away from the curb (in case they "run away!) You will notice that I took a lot of pictures from on top of hills.  It was really neat looking down and seeing the bay and the GG bridge.  Of course the bridge was ALWAYS foggy, so you couldn't truly see all of it.  We did learn that the bridge can sway up to 28 feet and is made that way.  Isn't that incredible?!  (Doesn't really make us want to go on it--though I am sure it is safe--but I am just saying.) 

We didn't take any trolleys while we were there.  The trolleys seem to be mostly for tourists and the lines to get on are OUTRAGEOUS.  Plus we figured we could walk most of the trolley route. 

We walked down the windiest street in the world--Lombard St.  There were a lot of tourists driving down it and taking pictures. 

After our walk down Lombard St. We hung out by the water waiting for the festival.  The water was COLD!  And there were people swimming--mostly in wet suits--but still! 

After that we were off to the INCREDIBLE lines at the chocolate fest.  The place was crowded but well worth the wait.  Chocolatiers from all over California sharing their chocolate goodness.  We had tickets with 14 punches--meaning that each of us could sample 14 different chocolatiers--and taste we did!  (As well as squirrel some away for later.)  My stomach still wasn't feeling up to par--but I did well despite that.  MMMM--mmmm!

The festival was 2 days, but Rob and I had decided that we would just try to use up all our ticket punches on Saturday and spend Sunday in China town.

On our way out we stopped at a small brewery where Rob enjoyed a few local brews and I appreciated the architecture. From there we returned to our hotel and prepared for our Italian dinner at Capp's Corner.  This place was recommended by our concierge.  It was okay, but honestly I wasn't overly impressed.    And that was about the end of our Saturday.

Sunday morning, we returned to the Italian area because I had seen some AWESOME looking bakeries that I wanted to try (check out the pics) for breakfast.  MMM!

From there we walked our way to China Town.  Very cool area of the city!  Most signs were in Chinese--they even had a Chinese YMCA!  We stopped in a lot of the shops and browsed, and of course I bought some chop sticks!   For lunch we stopped in a Chinese Restaurant (Hang Ah) that had Dim Sum.  The food was DIVINE!  I loved my Lotus rolls!   The best part of the restaurant was our fortune cookies.  They were TOO ironic!  At this time we had a pretty good hunch that I was pregnant, but did not know for sure.  My fortune said "A short stranger will soon enter your life with blessings to share."  And Rob's said, "You will soon receive and unusual gift."  How funny!

From China town we walked towards the baseball stadium (Rob was bummed that they weren't playing otherwise we would have gotten tickets.)  But OF COURSE, we stopped at another local brew pub for Rob to try on our way.  And he got to see some of the Packer game.  We walked around AT&T park and then down the warf and back towards China town.  The water was gorgeous! 

Back through China Town we walked down the "less touristy" roads.  We got to see more of the "True" Chinese culture.  There markets were so neat.  Tons of dried fish, mushrooms, ginseng--you name it (don't forget the salted pig parts!)

From there we walked back to the warf and had a soup bread bowl at Boudins.  It was just the thing we needed to warm ourselves up.  We spent our evening walking the warf and enjoying each others company.  And then of course topped the night off with a Ghiradelli Fudge Sundae.  YUM!

Monday morning we were up early and returned to the warf for breakfast.  We shared 2 crepes.  One was stuffed with egg, cheese, tomatoes, etc...the other was stuffed with chocolate, bananas, strawberries, & nutella.  YUM!  We then returned to our hotel to pack and leave. 

Thankfully our trip back was uneventful and it was good to see the kids again.  We picked them up from Nana's and drove home.  We were all pretty tired. 

What a wonderful trip and a wonderful way to celebrate 8 GREAT years of marriage...now we just have to get back to planning our 10 year Hawaii Anniversary Trip!

September

For Labor day weekend we drove up to Shawano to spend part of the weekend with Pops. It was his 60th b'day and his request that we join him. It was a nice time. That afternoon we traveled up to the campground that Ryan was staying at with some friends (Whispering Pines) and visited him briefly.  Grandpa had fun showing Ky the camp area.  Later, Ky managed to fall into the channel.  HE was pretty upset by the whole ordeal, but Rob and Grandpa found it amusing.  I was a bit concerned since I didn't have extra shoes for him and of course his shoes were not dry by the next day. (BTW--how cute are those pics of Alaina reading the paper with Grandma Debi.  She did that herself--grabbed a paper and crawled into the chair next to her.  She will even do this at home when Rob and I are reading the paper.--Our Cute little mimic!)
So the next day, Debi, Ryan, and I went shopping Saturday morning.  I found Ky some second hand shoes that were actually pretty nice dress shoes that he wears now (they were the only pair in his size that I could find!)  When we came back to the house we were greeted by a sleeping house of boys.  Even Ky was sleeping! 

Shortly after that we understood why Ky was sleeping.  The boy got some sort of bug and began vomiting.  It was not a pretty afternoon.  Poor kid.  We were still able to leave that afternoon (Ky's stomach relaxed).  On our way out we saw a porcupine (the dark picture).  This is the first wild porcupine I have ever seen.  We were able to walk up to him really close.  It is a good thing they have quills for self-defense because when he did run, he was VERY slow.  Pretty cool encounter.

On Monday (Labor Day) we got up early and got ready for our annual bike ride around the lake.  We bike around most of lake Mendota (we do avoid a majority of County Road M since it is not very bike friendly.)  The kids did have a good time, however, I do think this will be the last year Ky will ride in the bike trailer (he is getting a bit big!)  Next year we will need to invest in a a Trail-a-bike.  I did not take a lot of pics on our ride.  It was actually pretty chilly and we were concerned about beating the rain.  We stopped at a local park near Maple Bluff for lunch.  We then came upon an elderly man skinny dipping...hmmm...not something you would expect to encounter in Maple Bluff--let alone during the day.  After that, we quickly got on our way, hoping the children didn't see too much. :)

The ride went smoothly.  We ended at the Middleton Splash Park where we left the van.  We let the kids play in the water, but they didn't really want to get very wet because it was chilly.  (Not the best Labor Day weather.)

After that we went home and unloaded the bikes.  Our timing was quite perfect!  It then began to pour and so we played out in the rain with the kids.  We had a lot of fun playing in the gutters and splashing each other.  It's been a while since I have done that! :)

In the fall we signed Ky up for soccer again at his request.  He did GREAT!  In fact there were multiple times he ran down the field with the ball!  He even scored a goal (though it was the wrong goal--but let's not get caught up with minor technicalities :) )  He has really taken to soccer well and I am looking forward to signing him up for more classes. 

Ky also took swimming classes.  He can now swim by himself with a floatation device.  We are getting there.  For this winter, he asked to take swimming again and karate (he took a camp over the summer which he loved.)  Unfortunately, we are on the waiting list for swimming right now (ARGH!) and I quit my job at the Y (LONG STORY!)--which means that I am not a member of the Y so Karate classes are now VERY expensive.  I am trying to look into other options.  There is one place near us, but they have classes for 5 year olds and up--so maybe he can wait until summer.

I am bummed that right now I don't have him signed up for any classes, but I will see if I can figure out something until spring--if not--now that I am no longer working at the Y, I figure this is God's gift for me to spend more time with him until the new little one arrives AND before Ky heads off to kindergarten in the fall.  (Can you believe he will be going to school soon!?)

Anyway--back to September....

So with September comes Apple Picking! YUM!  And I think we picked around 80lbs!  Yes we did!--and don't you worry because we used them all!  Apple pie, apple butter, apple jelly, apple bread, apple crisp, mmm-hmmm....It was wonderful! 

Alaina was humorous as always on our apple picking trips.  She would eat the apples seeds and all--there was NO stopping her!  Ky was more into the sheep this year than the apples. 

Mid-September, Debi threw a surprise birthday party for Pops.  It was really neat--he honestly had NO idea.  I took some pictures, unfortunately they are blurry, but his reaction was priceless.  All his siblings had come from afar to see him and celebrate.  Alaina of course was Grandpa's girl.  I think she knows she is the only granddaughter and likes to take advantage of it.  She was also quite the dancer on the dance floor and even pulled Ky, Mom, and Dad in to dance with her (as well as a few other people.)  She can be quite the charmer.  (I guess that happens when you are almost 2 and are as cute as a button!)

The day before Alaina's 2nd birthday we went with our playgroup to a farm.  She loved it.  She fed the baby goats milk, petted the kitties, chased the chickens, and raced on the tractor bikes.  If Rob and I ever get our piece of land--I think she will fit right in! :)

Whew...Okay so now I am up to Alaina's birthday...I will catch up...I will catch up...  And now for a little dancing....

Finishing August! (Yes I am that far behind!)

After our vacation--we didn't do a whole lot.  I think we were recovering :)!

I had my "summer" list of activities that I chugged away at finishing--and I think I almost did everything!

We went to Ella's Deli with some friends and got ice cream and rode the carousel.  Alaina was not too happy about being on the horse that went up and down.  Thank goodness the ride was only 2 minutes long! :)

Rob and I celebrated our anniversary (low key).  Rob had class, but we still managed to have a nice family dinner.  Rob had planned a trip for us (no kids!) to San Francisco in September to celebrate.  (Isn't he wonderful!?)  So we really just focused on our get away!

The kids and I also spent our last day at Sandy Beach.  Really--there is nothing better than a day at the beach--even with all the effort it takes to lug everything from your car to the beach.  Aaaahhhhh...However Alaina has thrown a wrench into the enjoyment just a tad with her new found boldness to go into the water up to her neck.  EEKS!  But when she was playing in the sand--it was all good!

We also rode our bikes from our home to the Farmer's Market with Rob's Mom & Jan.  It was so nice and fun!  We had a blast.  I know we will be doing this more in the future.
 

11 weeks

11 WEEKS!

Well it turns out I am a bit further along than thought--actually, I kind of figured I had to be with the timing of things....Anyway, the ultrasound today confirmed it.  I am at least 11 weeks.  Well baby Moe you were very cute and wonderfully entertaining at the ultrasound today.  We watched your little heart flutter and you kept jumping around--your whole body would just lift and float back down.  Very entertaining.  You also waved to us.  Your tiny little fingers--BEAUTIFUL!  Aren't you just God's Amazing Creation!  We also saw your tiny little feet.  And of course your oversized head filled with SCHNAKE brain!

How blessed we are--and how blessed I am.  I also just found out that another friend is expecting at about the same time we are.  YEAH! 

So the due date was May 8, but I guess that will be moved up to May 1st or something around that.  I guess I will wait for the doc to tell us.  Anyway it is seeming VERY likely we will have an April baby!  YEAH!

17 week update---

Well this kiddo is dancing and moving.  Food is always a motivator.  We have dubbed this kid as "Moe" declaring Ky our "Larry", Alaina our "Curly", and so as you can see "Moe" just fits.  (That and Rob and I ran out of name combinations...)

When we told Ky there was a baby in our tummy, he was in disbelief.  He told me that my tummy wasn't big enough.  Since then we have convinced him that the baby is in there and growing (and he can tell now by the bulge that is beginning.)  As you can see from the top picture, one of the kids new favorite games (initiated by Ky of course) is to shove a baby doll up their shirt and declare they are pregnant.  I am pretty sure Alaina is really clueless in the whole thing.  We have tried to explain the concept of a new baby to her--but well--she has other things to focus on.  Right now, I think she is convinced that she has a baby in her tummy...Hmmmm...Hopefully we can get this situation rectified before April.

We told the kids first that way they could tell the relatives.  We were not planning on telling anyone yet, but Mom & Jan were moving and we volunteered to help--and then they wanted me to help paint.  Well there was no way to "weasel" out of that except to 'fess up.  So Ky got to tell the news--and of course everyone was excited.

We then had Ky share it with Pops & Debi, who "already knew?"  Bummer....

My mom had known instantly.  Around 6 weeks or so she had called and woke me up during a nap (in the middle of the day) and accused me of being pregnant.  It says a lot about how much that woman knows me--she KNOWS I would not be sleeping during the middle of the day--and there had to be a good reason.  I didn't even have a definite answer for her then.  But, of course, she knows now.

Ky has spilled the beans to a few other people.  I did a FB post hoping to inform the rest--but I suppose there are probably some people that still don't know.  Well soon enough they will figure it out (or Ky will tell them.)  We are excited.  And yes we are finding out the gender--and no we are not telling you--you will just have to wait.  I need to start getting rid of those bins of clothes in my basement though--so once I find out what we are having, I will start sorting and setting aside the clothes I can get rid of.  (I will wait until after birth though--because the last thing I want to do is get stuck with a bunch of the wrong gender clothes because they didn't see things correctly in the ultrasound.) 

As of now, I believe the official due date is May 2.  I meet with the Dr. this week to have that confirmed.  Since April 24th is Easter--we will either aim for a few days before or after to have the baby.  April 27th--might be too late, so I think there is a better chance of having the baby prior to Easter.  Either way is fine by me.

My cravings have changed now from meat to salad and carbs.  Buttered Noodles and Olive Garden salad have been serious WANTS (though I have yet to try out the OG--but SOON!)  We are going to the Melting Pot this weekend with some friends who are expecting at the same time as us.  I am so excited for the food!  (oh yeah and the friendship too! :) ) 

Well that is all for preggo posts for now.  I have to get back to my general family posts....which I think I am doing pretty well on...Hopefully I can get caught up in the next couple weeks or so.  Until then!

It's Official!

A new "favorite" game of the kids--shoving babies up their shirts and declaring themselves pregnant.

I peed at the doc and they declared it official--I am preggo.  They gave me a due date of May 10/11--I think they are wrong.  I will talk to them later.  (BTW--I had not taken a pregnancy test at all--I figured my intuition was enough.  Rob was getting frustrated with me though---and basically said--you need to just get this done so we know for sure.) 

I don't think the doc was too happy that I waited so long to come in (at almost 8 weeks).  They couldn't schedule me until 9.5 weeks and they like to see you by 8.  My argument is that nothing is going to change during that time, and if it did--it would be nothing they could do anything about.   Anyway--this time during the "call" they told me that I couldn't eat any lunchmeat of any kind.  In the last 2 pregnancies neither of my docs said anything about lunchmeat.  This makes it rough for me since all I crave is MEAT!  (Can you sense this is a boy?)  I don't know what I am going to do.  The ham in the fridge looks SOOOOO GOOOD!  ARGH.  I am going to have a rebuttal with this at my first appointment.

October 8--

I had my first "appointment".  It was very frustrating.  They were running an hour behind.  This appointment was supposed to be our chance to ask all sorts of questions, some tests run, and have the ultrasound.  Well--it didn't turn out that way...UGH!  It was rushed and we left winded.  I felt bad and was ready to hurry home to pick up the kids (we didn't bring them because they aren't allowed in the ultrasound room--well turns out we could have brought them anyway...) ARGH!

And then on the way out we saw an accident...Okay I have to vent a minute here so hear me out...

We are the third car behind 2 cars turning left.  I was angry because of the appointment and then I also realized I turned on the street without a light so it was going to be hard to turn left.  That is when the car in front of me turned into the right lane and turned right.  That was when I saw the sign--"No left turn 3 - 6 PM" and of course it was 5.  I then started turning right to get into the right lane.  The truck in front of me either didn't pay attention to the sign or disregarded it.  They charged forward into the traffic.  That is when we saw the motorcycle.  Yeah, there was no way for that motorcycle to stop.  It ran right into the back of that truck.  The guy came flying off the bike.  (REALLY PEOPLE--I am so against motorcycles now!  How dangerous!)  Anyways at this point I am freaking out.  I start yelling--"We have to call 911.  Get your phone!"  And then my whole first aid class (which I had taken the week before) came flying into my head.  Oh my--I have to help.  I parked the van and dialed 911 as I ran to the motorcyclists.  He was sitting up.  The guy in the truck was yelling at him.  (CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!  THIS DUDE JUST FLEW OFF HIS BIKE ONTO THE GROUND AND HE IS BEING YELLED AT!!)  The truck driver is picking up his bumper off the ground yelling at the motorcyclist for hitting his car!  Why isn't he making sure he is okay??!!  Seriously...

Anyway, I yelled at the truck guy to stop and said something along the lines of "he could be seriously hurt" or "now is not the time"  I honestly don't remember.  At this point I handed the phone off to Rob and went over to the cyclist.  I got to the motorcyclist and did my whole First Aid line of "Hi, I am trained in First Aid, can I help you?"  (Ari should be very proud of me.)  I spent some time talking to him.  I found out his name was Bob and he was consious.  He knew the date and all those fun questions.  I then checked him from head to toe.  He was wearing his helmet (Thank you God!).  I took off his sun glasses and checked out his vision. It seemed fine.  With my check we confirmed that he had pain in his right chest and tail bone (he landed hard on his butt.)  I was concerned at this point with a spinal cord injury so I then spent the remainder of my time trying to keep his head still.  Another man was there on the scene as well.  He said he was an ex-EMT and began removing his helmet.  I was adamantly against that and I stated so, but I wasn't about to fight over an injured man's head.  I had Rob call Bob's wife and they chatted briefly on the phone letting her know that he was in an accident.  I have to say--I am so relieved I had my First Aid training.  When the EMT's got there I was able to give them a rundown of the situation and they immediately put him in a neck brace. 

I guess I am writing all this stuff of checking him out as more of a reflection to myself.  CRAZY to think that my First Aid training would so quickly come into use.  I do realize now that I probably should have checked on the other driver as well--and at least showed some compassion there.  I was a bit worried about the motorcyclist though and a bit miffed at the truck guy for yelling at the cyclist--but whatever, it is not my place to judge, but to show compassion.

Anyway, afterwards we gave our account to the officer and left.  Talk about a "Disaster" of an appointment.  We pray for Bob though and hope that he has a full recovery.  We also pray for the other driver to be humbled by this accident and to take it as something to learn from--we need to show compassion to everyone, no matter what the situation.

Kylan's haircut

Before...

After

We got a new trimmer from Debi.  I was so excited!  What a great way to save money!  I could now cut Rob's hair!  YEAH!  Well, first I needed to test my trimmer abilities.  Ky was a wonderful option.  I was not planning to cut all his hair short, I just wanted to do the back.

Things went really well and I was impressed by how easy the clippers went.   When it came time to clean up his sideburns, I discovered the clippers did not do a good job.  So I had Rob go get his shaver and he then attempted to trim them.  BIG MISTAKE.  They were crooked.  I told him he had to fix them and then they got worse.  Next thing I knew Ky was sitting in the chair with no sideburns.  Poor kid looked like an Amish lad.  At that point we felt we had no choice but to take "ALL" of it off.  So yes, I trimmed my sweet boys head.  I almost cried.  I love his hair long.  *Sigh*  And now he looks so much older...

So lesson learned--don't let Rob near Ky's hair.  And yes we will be growing it back out.

Room For Three

Well they fit....

Three carseats in the back of the Camry.

Yes--if you haven't figured it out, I am expecting. The due date is May 8. Since I will be doing a c-section (I am not going to risk a V-Bac after my scary delivery with Alaina), I am hoping we might be able to have the baby April 24 to coincide with August 24 (our anniversary) and September 24 (Alaina's b'day). My second ideal date is April 27--this would go with the "7" trend. Ky's b'day is on the 7th, I'm on the 17th, the new one would be on the 27th. But who knows how much say I will have with the date.

So do you find it odd that I already tested the back of the Camry for fitting carseats? Well--I did. As with each pregnancy, I went through about a week of total panic once I knew--and one of those panic moments was "will we always be limited to the van? What if it breaks down? Do we need to trade the Camry in?" Before I jump too far ahead in this blog, I should probably start back at the beginning...

Prior to marriage, Rob and I had discussed kids. I had wanted 3, he had wanted 2. We figured sometime down the line we would figure it out. Well, after 2 kids, I was really unsure about having a third, but always kept it in the back of my mind. Two kids are a lot of work--but THREE??Can I handle three? Of course, I then gave it to God and prayed about it. I prayed that Rob and my hearts would want the same thing. Whether that be 2 or 3 kids, we would both be content with the same. So we always kept the option of 3 kids open. Rob occasionally would ask me, and I would tell him that I am still torn. Finally we had a discussion in August. I told him that I do want a third, but I was really scared and wasn't sure if wanted to commit. I also told him that I had an "idealized" timeline--which meant us getting pregnant this month or maybe not at all. Rob said "let's just see what happens". Well just like Ky and Alaina--God quickly blessed us.

Once again, I knew about a week before you can usually find out. There were the tell-tale signs. The week that would confirm sent me into a panic. I couldn't sleep. I was up hours every night--often on the computer googling stupid things like "Do 3 car seats fit in a sedan?" and "How does going from 2 -3 children affect your family?" --BTW--I highly recommend NOT googling that, because only bad and more worrisome stuff came up--such as, you can only book suites at hotels b/c they won't let you put 5 in a room (by the way this is UNTRUE of most hotels) and 3 car seats rarely fit in the back of a car. (which as you can see, I proved wrong! HA!) Also then tons of abortion topics came up--and that just is NOT an option.

After about 5 days of this worrisome panic filled with many tears, I had a breakthrough. It happened at Lifegroup (our church group made up of 3 families.) We were discussing how God has control of everything and how wonderfully he has planned and made all of our lives and that is why he has protected us. WOW! At that moment I realized how selfish I was. God chose me to be the mommy of this little baby. He so carefully prepared us for this child. He put his own touch in creating this little being. How selfish am I? And honestly a lot of it came down to convenience. Nothing is convenient in life. However, God has always prepared us for the difficult times and been with us throughout it all. He is faithful. He chose us as parents for this child because he knew we would succeed in raising him/her in his ways. WOW! Isn't God awesome!? And how flattered am I to have been chosen to take care of this little being, this piece of work--God's creation.

After that Lifegroup and since I have slept through the night. My heart has been at peace (of course I still wonder about things--but I know that God is by my side and everything will be just fine.)

So here I am now about 7 weeks pregnant and for the last week I have been STARVING! WOW! I just want to eat and eat and eat and eat and eat. I have held back. I am already starting to show. I need to fit in my pants a little while longer yet. We were hoping to keep it from Rob's side until T-giving, but I don't think that is going to happen. I have yet to take the pee test for the doc. I am just not interested in toting my urine into the clinic again. It was embarrassing enough last time. They won't really do anything anyway until I am 10 weeks or so. So I am just biding my time.

I know my friend Rachel is pregnant too. I really want to have a preggo buddy--but she isn't telling anyone (including me) so I don't want to push her. Rachel--if you are there--I totally watched you down that Big Mac at Mc'D's a couple of weeks ago and I knew. You were eating like I wish I was. Seriously though...Another month and we can get on with things and not feel so secretive.

I did weigh myself today. I have only gained 2 lbs, which could easily be explained away with vacations. However, I am gaining it all in one place. UGH! I look forward to the 2nd trimester when things get a little more enjoyable and I start to feel the baby move. It makes things more real.

So do I want a boy or girl. Either would be fine. I always envisioned myself with boys so I wouldn't be surprised if it is a boy--especially with my appetite. All I want is MEAT & Carbs!

If it is a boy, that would be nice because then even though Alaina is a middle child, she would be the only girl and hopefully override any "middle child" syndrome. If it is a girl, however, then Alaina will have a best friend and TONS of clothes to pass down and share with her little sister. We will find out the gender for my own sanity. I have to start getting rid of all the clothes in the basement. I have 4 years of boys and girls clothes right now (yes girls--I have been blessed with hand me downs!)

Well I think I will end this blog here. I am very excited for you little one! I can't wait until I feel you! Love you!

Kentucky/Indiana Vacation

Better late than never...here we go.

We left after a long night/morning of packing for Illinois.  Of course, like always, we were a bit later than we would have liked.  We had to stop at the bank since we were refinancing the house and that took a little longer than planned--and then a few other things came up as well--like the garage sale in our neighborhood I HAD to go to.  (Okay don't laugh at me.  I go to these people's sale every year--their kids are 2 years older than Ky and Alaina--I pick up lots of clothes that are in GREAT shape for really cheap prices...And if you are still laughing at me because you are one of those "brand" name people--when I say "nice" I mean brand name quality clothing that I could probably sell for more than I bought it for AFTER my kids wear it.  We are talking an investment here....Okay now you are really laughing at me....Do you see how my mind works?)  Anyways--back to my story...

So off we go to Illinois.  The plan originally was to leave early enough to go to the Children's Museum in Rockford in the morning and then off to visit Grandpa Herbst, Aunt Linda and Aunt Janice.  But like all things--I couldn't find our membership cards until the last minute--so yeah--we were late...

But we got to Grandpa Herbst safely and had a WONDERFUL visit with him.  In fact, one of the best ever.  It was past his nap time so he was probably overtired, but he was a lot of fun.  He kept calling Ky "Charlie" and really enjoyed watching the kids. He also gave us a peek at the young man he once was.

After the visit Aunt Janice & Aunt Linda took us for ice cream at Oberwiess.  (Do they know us or what?!)  What a yummy and fun time!  The cashier even brought out balloons for the kids. We had a wonderful time visiting with our Aunts before beginning the official "vacation".

The rest of the day was spent driving to Indianapolis.  On the way, we tried stopping at a Bob Evans, but were unable to find one.  (We don't have Bob Evans in Wisconsin.)  Instead we ended up stopping at a Denny's that was very smoky--ICK!  It is always funny going to out of state restaurants that don't have the no smoking ban yet.  I am so used to not being around smoke, that now when I am, it is just overwhelming.

We got to Adam & Liz's in good time and were able to plan the next day with them. Saturday we slowly got up--what can I say--it's the weekend!  and were off to Conner Prairie.  Liz used to work there and gave us all the fun "behind" the scenes stories.  It was a VERY hot day though, and made the outdoors difficult to really enjoy.  I felt sorry for all the characters dressed in their garb--especially the blacksmith!  What a job on a 90 degree day!

I think the kids most enjoyed tormenting, I mean playing with the animals.  There was this poor mule that Alaina kept following around.  I think she found his tail intriguing.  Ky also got to meet his buddy Diego who was making special appearances that day.  (Talk about another hot gig.  Can you imagine wearing that giant furry costume?!)   Alaina cried and didn't really want to get near him.  I could tell that Ky was being very shy--but it was a fun experience.

At one point on our long journey Ky was being obstinate so we went to the doctor (at Connor Prairie--remember 1800's characters) and asked him what we could do about a naughty child.  He said that he had just the remedy.  He told us that we needed to go outside and find a hickory tree and then cut off a branch about yeah long and yeah wide.  He then told us that we needed to apply it to his buttocks area.  It was all very funny and well done for his character.  That man sure thought quickly on his feet!

After that we were off for some dinner.  We ate at a yummy place (Liz--what was the name of the restaurant?  I don't remember.)  They had awesome barbecue.  And there was SO MUCH food.  We were stuffed.  I know Adam and Rob definitely had lots of brisket left over (it became dinner the next day.)  At one point in the meal Alaina reached over and grabbed some spicy food off of Liz's plate.  Oh, how I wish I had had a video camera on her!  She started scraping it off her tongue and making faces and then began to cry.  I guess she learned her lesson--don't take food off of other people's plate!

On Sunday, we enjoyed another lazy morning before we headed out for ice cream at Handel's, a local ice cream place.  Ky got Dora on a stick, while Rob and I enjoyed some of the flavors.  I had chocolate raspberry truffle and it was DELICIOUS!  This place definitely had 2 thumbs up from me.

After Ice Cream we walked through the Art Institute's gardens.  The kids had fun in the crazy house.  I enjoyed the flower area by the river which had a lot of butterflies.  And then there was a ledge.  First Ky, had to walk on it.  I was okay with that--it was even with the ground on the other side, and I just made sure to stand next to him on the "Drop-off" side that got bigger and bigger.  Well then, of course Alaina saw Ky do it so she HAD to do it as well.  Talk about making me nervous.  She did fine though.  That girl is definitely an adventuresome one!

On Monday morning we left for camping in Kentucky.  The plan was to visit Mammoth Cave.  We did not make reservations for camping--and now we are very glad we didn't.  We had planned to camp at Nolen Lake Park.  It was the only campground near Mammoth Cave that had a lake.  I thought having a lake was an important aspect in our camping with the kids (especially with some potentially VERY hot days) so this is why we chose that campground.  I had called ahead because I noticed that many of the Kentucky Parks did not have sites reserved.  It turns out that school starts in Kentucky in early August--so the only campers would be out-of-state ones.  When we were browsing the Kentucky sites, we were not very happy with the limited info they had, and honestly after calling a few times, I was a bit concerned about how great the sites would be as well.  This is why we didn't reserve sites.

We got to Nolan park and there was no one in the office.  We found a man mowing the lawn and he said "just pick out a site, set-up, and we will settle up with you later".  Hmmm...

Well we saw a few sites but they were all crammed together in a treed area--and I mean crammed.  There would be no privacy.  We went to another office and found a lady working the desk.  We asked about other campsites and she said "SURE!  Just let me xerox you a map of the park".  She dug a hand drawn map out of her filing cabinet and copied it.  All the other sites we found we did not think we would actually be able to fit our tent in the area allotted.  We are VERY glad that we didn't make reservations. 

At this point we called Mammoth Cave NATIONAL park (Nolan lake was a Kentucky park) and they said that they had sites available.  We let the kids play in the lake for a bit and then left to find a campsite at Mammoth Cave park. 

To get to Mammoth Cave Park we actually had to take a ferry across the river.  The kids LOVED it.  I felt sorry for the ferry operator.  What a boring job!?  back and forth, back and forth....

We were so happy to finally get a nice normal camping site at a park that was ran professionally.  While we worked to set up the tents the kids lost it.  I mean LOST IT!  They were screaming and crying--yeah--it was not a happy day.  They were overtired and were done being crammed in the van.  The people around us must have thought that we were lunatics (and to those people I apologize.)  By the time we were done setting up, Rob and I were losing it--and we STILL had to make dinner.  We got it done though and then threw the kids in bed.  WHEW!  With the crazy campsites and driving, that day was crazy!  Mental note--never plan on camping in a Kentucky park again!

Tuesday, so in case you didn't know, Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is the largest known cave system in the world.  They currently have almost 400 miles of cave system charted--and would not be surprised to find more.  We were very excited to be able to take a vacation so nearby and get to explore a small piece of this cave system.

We took 2 tours.  The first tour we took was the New Entrance Tour.  This entrance was found/created by a man who sold cave tours to make money.  Eventually he sold it to the park.  This tour had a lot of sharp turns and took quite a bit of negotiating, which was not easy to do if you were the one holding Alaina.  It was really neat to see the formations.  (I think our pictures don't even do justice the the actual beauty of the cave.)

We went back to our site for lunch and Ky found a stick bug that he was very excited about.  Unfortunately, I don't think it survived the love of a four-year-old.  After that we went back to Nolan Lake.  It was the last really warm day that was predicted and we figured we would take advantage of it.  The lake was beautiful.  Nobody was there, so it was like having the place to ourselves.  The kids LOVED it.  The water was beautiful, with exception of the fish that would come and nibble on you.  The only downside was Alaina was getting a little TOO brave in the water.  She was not afraid to walk out shoulder deep.  Yeah...we gotta get that girl some swim lessons.

That evening we returned to the campsite where we paid $2 to shower.  Yes at this campground you have to PAY to shower.  My shower was quite horrific.  I was with Alaina and the water went from hot to cold- there was no in between.  I ended up burning her in attempt to get the soap rinsed off her.  Yeah--we did not take anymore showers at the campground.  I was done.  I also went and got my money back.  I was not happy at all with that experience.

That night Rob and I enjoyed a couple of beers by the fire.  I think I actually drifted off.  As we were preparing to go in our tent we noticed it was starting to sprinkle.   I put the firewood under the picnic table and thought nothing more about it until....we woke up to POURING rain a couple of hours later.  It stormed and stormed.  I had hanging laundry--it was soaked.  The firewood--wet.  And around 4 AM or so I got up out of bed to notice the bottom of our tent had become a water bed.  I would step and I could feel water squirting out from the sides of my feet.  It was coming in the tent through the seams of the tent and getting our bedding wet.  Alaina was in luck being elevated in her pack and play.  The rest of us had bedding that was getting sopping wet.  Aroudn 6 AM--it was still pouring and rain was starting to come in a little bit through the top of our tent.  Our tent held up well--despite the TORRENTIAL downfall.  And I am not exaggerating.  Around 6 AM we were able to look out and see that our entire tent was submerged in water.  And it was still pouring.  The kids got up around 8 AM.  Rob and I had had little sleep trying to keep bedding up and dry.  It was still raining.  We were lucky that I remembered that there was an umbrella in the van.  I ran and got it and we took turns running to the bathroom.  We ate breakfast in our tent (not a good thing when you have little ones) and stayed in the tent. 

We decided after a while, that SINCE it was still raining, there was nothing better for us to do, but to go on a cave tour.  We drove to the tour area and discovered we had just missed the last tour we wanted to go on.  At this point we went to a shelter and prepared lunches and ate (while it continued to pour.)  We then returned back to catch the Historic Tour. 

The history behind the caves was fascinating.  We found out that it was a status symbol for the really rich to visit the caves.  People would come dressed as though it was a black tie affair--men in tuxedos and women in huge petticoats, heels and parasols.  Many left their mark in the cave by paying their tour guide to "burn" their names in the cave with a candle.  It was so neat looking at names of people from over a century ago.

When we left the cave it was still lightly drizzling.  We decided at this point that we would drive to the local town--cave city.  And let me say--this city was a joke.  Signs were falling down and misspelled.  People were trying to sell "cave" rocks out of their front yards.  Buildings and amusement parks were decrepit and looked closed.  After driving around I told Rob we HAD to stop somewhere--just to say we did.  So we stopped at the fudge shoppe.  It was the only store open in this series of buildings--most of the buildings were molding.  It was just really weird.  We bought some fudge from a guy who had half of his store taped off with caution tape--yeah weird.  I think I felt sorry for him.  He then tried to convince us to visit the wax museum.  He told us how FASCINATING the waxed Abe Lincoln was and how it all felt so real--"No thanks, sir."  I think we will pass on this one.

After that adventure we were still scared to return to our "flooded" camp.  We made our way down a short path to a cave opening where a man died in.  It was a huge news story in the 1920s.  On our drive back we had a lot of fun watching the butterflies.  Kentucky has TONS of butterflies.  They are ALL over the road.  We probably hit over 100 of them. 

We returned to our wet site.  The good news was--the puddle under our tent was gone.  The bad news--everything was wet and muddy.  We ended up moving our tent up onto the cement driveway for the night.  We were a bit concerned it might rain again--and we needed the tent to have a chance to dry out--and we didn't want to have to walk in and out of mud to get in the tent.  Let me tell you--having a muddy campsite made it very difficult to have both kids out.  Rob and I managed though.  We put the kids down early and it all worked out. 

We were more than happy to leave the next morning--though much of our stuff was still wet and some stuff was even starting to mildew.  When we packed the van--it stunk of wet stuff.  And we still  had several days left of our vacation (I am sure you can picture how bad it smelled by the end.)

Thursday morning we were off to Louisville.  We had a hotel reservation there and were going to take in some of the sights.  On our way we stopped at the Jim Beam Distillery--it only seemed right, being in Kentucky.  The kids did not necessarily enjoy the tour, but they did LOVE the fire truck they had there.  They also loved the bourbon chocolates!  Yum! (and yes they were safe for kids.)

When we got to Louisville we were ecstatic--SHOWERS!   BEDS!  DRYNESS!  Our room was AWESOME.  We had purchased our stay on priceline and paid very little for our room (I think we paid 35% of the normal stay price!)  We had this OUTRAGEOUS window that was on the river and we could see everything.  The kids loved watching the tugboats and ferries.  It was so neat!

Back to the showers.  We all showered and it was WONDERFUL!  At one point Ky pushed Alaina off of one of the beds and we had a bit of a scare.  The beds were elevated and she was standing on it.  I watched her fly off and hit her head on the floor (I mean she literally landed on her head)--and she really cried.  She is a tough girl, she only cries when she really gets hurt.  I called the doc and everything.  God watched out for her though and she was fine.

After our showers, we took a walk through some of the parks in Louisville.  The kids had a lot of fun, they had a lot of playgrounds made for different ages.  From there we stopped at an Italian restaurant for dinner.  I had a FABULOUS lasagna.  The kids really enjoyed themselves.  At one point, Ky put 2 straws in his drink and you could just see that he was plotting something.  I then asked him "Ky, why do you have 2 straws?  You don't need 2 straws."  He was very quick on his feet to answer.  You could see in his face that he knew he was busted.  But then he got this "Aha" look.  He replied to me, "I have 2 straws so I could share with you!"  Smart boy!  For that, I let him keep the straws.

The next morning we were off to the Louisville Slugger Factory.  The kids had fun finding the baseball bats that led the way to the stadium.  The museum part was pretty interesting.  I liked seeing Babe Ruth's bat with notch marks on it for each homerun.  Ky & Rob both got to hold some really old famous people's bats--I don't remember who--however Rob should.  Unfortunately the camera ran out of battery power and since we walked to the factory, we did not have more with us. 

Shortly after the factory tour we all received little bats.  I SPECIFICALLY told Kylan not to hit his sister with the bat.  And what did he do.  Once I had my back turned "Crack" right on her head.  Yeah, it did not make for a very good last 20 minutes at the museum.

After that it was time to go--to the local winery.  Of course we had to stop!  We went to the River Bend Winery and had a tasting.  The kids were good.  We gave them crayons and pictures as we tasted the different wines.  It was very good.

On the way back  we stopped by some fountains and let the kids play before we hit the road back to Indy--but first a detour to the local ice cream place.  And let me tell you, the bakery was SOOOOOO Tempting!  If we are ever back in the area, we will stop so I can get some cookies and pie and more ice cream.  It was all very yummy.  Definitely a memorable place. 

When we got back to Indy, we were bummed to find out that Ma & Pa Vander Heyden would not be joining us.  The boys took a ride in Adam's Javelin to get some pizza and we hit the sack for the next day--Day at the Indy State Fair! 

It's been a few years since we have been to the fair and boy was it memorable.  Deep fried butter, peanut butter sandwiches, pickles--you name it--they deep fried it.  There were also the cheese sculptures and the cockroach races.  It was all fascinating.  Of course the kids like petting the animals the most.  And poor Aunt Liz was sneezing because of her allergies.  We didn't make her suffer too long though.

We left the fair in the early afternoon to hit the road for home.  We had a wonderful time!  Thank you Adam & Liz for your hospitality.  It was a wonderful visit.  You are ALWAYS welcome here.  Camping in Kentucky again---uuuuhhh...only National Parks.  Louisville was wonderful. 

Our vacation next year will be in Wisconsin.  We try to do an "every other year" traveling vacation outside of the state.  All in all it was a good vacation, despite the Kentucky surprises.  (And we only lost a few things due to water damage & mold--that's pretty good!)    So finally--here it is mid-November and I finished our August vacation blog.  I feel really lousy about being so behind, knowing that I am missing writing down memories.  I am going to try harder to put some things on the back burner so I can catch up on this blog.  These years with the kids are flying by TOO fast to lose the memories because I didn't have time to write them down.  (Can you believe Ky starts school next year!  And he is starting to read on his own!  Alaina is NONSTOP talking!  And is potty trained!  YEAH!  Okay...I will catch up and give you all those details, I promise!  But here is this blog entry along with a few other ones...

Dancing Laina! (and other August stuff)

The beginning of August, Ky had a getaway with Nana.  Which meant Alaina and I had special girl time!  We had a lot of fun shopping together, playing together and cooking together.  The girl LOVES to make cookies (and eat them).  That weekend Rob and I biked with Alaina from our house down to the Union.  It was a great bike ride and we actually were able to take mostly trails the whole way there!  We had lunch at the terrace and Alaina loved feeding the ducks.  She had a great time getting one-on-one attention. 

The following weekend we attended Heather & Nathan's wedding.  Heather was quite a breathtaking bride in her gown--and it was fun to see Nathan all gussied up.  We took the kids with us, which worked out alright (you always have to be a bit nervous that your kids might say something loudly during the ceremony.)  At the reception we discovered that Alaina was a dancing QUEEN!  Nobody could stop her.  In fact, she would get mad if you picked her up or took her away from the dance floor.  She danced with almost everyone--except Mom & Dad.  She did not want US to dance with her. 

At one point she did stop dancing so that her and Lexie could trade shoes on the dance floor.  Alaina LOVED her new pair.  In fact, Lexie wanted her shoes back and had to chase Alaina for them.  You really have to see her obsession with shoes to believe it.  (As I am typing she is clomping around in a pair of dress up heels that Aunt Liz & Uncle Adam bought her for her birthday.)

The next day we were off to Illinois for some fun with Aunt Janice, Linda, Sue and Uncle Tom.  We had a fabulous brunch with the relatives.  (There were pancakes!  What more could the kids ask for?!)  After we stuffed ourselves with goodness (and Uncle Tom's bloody mary's) we went on a nice boat ride on the lake.  I am pretty sure this was Alaina's first boat ride, and Ky's second (his first was also with Uncle Tom at 2 months old.)  The kids loved it.  They got to try out the captains seat and became obsessed with honking the boat's horn. 

At one point we stopped for Aunt Linda to fish.  Unfortunately, for her the fish must have been swimming on the other side of the lake because she did not even get a nibble. 

After the boat ride, we let the kids play in the beach area for a little bit.  The water was full of weeds, but Aunt Janice and Uncle Tom braved it for the kids.  They had a lot of fun playing on the playground too.  It was a wonderful visit that Ky still talks about.

LOTS of pictures of my garden's bounty.  Those pictures are all from ONE picking!  Isn't that crazy!  It always seems to happen in August --I suddenly get TONS of produce.  I was so blessed this year with peppers.  I usually only get a few peppers every year, but this year I had 25 peppers in that ONE picking!  OUTRAGEOUS!  I am so blessed!  Some of the veggies went to friends and neighbors, otherwise the tomatoes were canned and everything else was frozen.  We will be eating well this winter!  Thank you God for the bounty you provide us with!

Oh--I almost forgot.  I bought broccoli plants on a whim this year.  Broccoli has NEVER worked for me before, but this year my plants have been WONDERFUL!  I have frozen so much broccoli!  And at the end of September I am still cutting 1 - 2 cups a day!  Yeah Broccoli!  I think I will buy more starts next year!

The following Monday, I took the kids to Olbrich to enjoy the butterflies.  They LOVED it!  They also love the fact that I let them run free and just followed them.  It's like a giant exploration for them.  The butterflies were beautiful as usual--but I think the weather was actually a bit too hot for us to enjoy the outdoor gardens as much as I would have liked.  It has been a VERY hot summer this year (probably why I got so many peppers--no complaints!)   

And of course the last picture, I am just proud of....The whole key to this shopping trip was the razor--which I only paid $3 out of pocket for, yet made $13 off of.  There are just so many neat tricks to saving money and shopping.   If you haven't checked out my new blog www.simplegreensavings.blogspot.com you should take a look.  I am trying to pass on my wealth of information to others on how to save money. 

So that is the beginning of August for us.  Next blog will be our vacation to Indy and Kentucky.  Stay tuned!

Wrapping up July

Can you believe how quickly time flies?

Summers are just CRAZY. You are finally able to get outside and you just CRAM everything possible into such a small time frame.

In July we enjoyed several more GREAT beach days as well as a trip to Milwaukee--complete with journey through Discovery World and a Brewer Game. We ran a little late leaving from Madison (of course--I had lost our membership card) and went straight to Discovery World (after I found it). We had a difficult time with parking. Discovery World had a sign saying parking was $14 and we were only going to be there 2 hours--and thought that was ridiculous. Being former residents we knew we could get a parking garage for much cheaper. Unfortunately, we had forgotten about the "accident" that had happened the prior week where a boy was killed by a concrete slab that fell on him in a parking garage. So, naturally that Main parking garage was closed for inspection and ALL of the other parking garages were full due to the loss of that major parking garage. (Yes this became a BIG deal--as we lost 30 minutes of our Discovery World time driving in circles.) We eventually were forced to the Discovery World garage where we discovered that their sign, was merely there to "Scare" away people who were trying to use their lot since the other lots were overcrowded. I think we paid $3 to park. HOW FRUSTRATING! What happened to honesty! Anyway...so we got to Discovery World and the kids had a blast.

Rob impressed us all by laying on a bed of nails. Kylan showed everyone his infrared tummy, and Alaina..well she was Alaina, just trying to run everywhere and get a "behind the scenes" look at things. (Yes with that child, I am often running behind store counters to get her and back rooms...)

Their music section was really neat--though lost the small child interest. Rob and I of course did the "read as much as you can while the kids are still in sight" tour.

The water area was the best part of the journey. Unfortunately, we got there at the very tail end of our time. We literally only had 15 minutes or so to look at the fish tanks. Alaina was very funny! She is such a bold and adventurous child, but when it came to walking on the glass (with the fish and water below) she was petrified. Be sure to check out the videos! She was too funny!





Since we got kicked out of Discovery World so quickly, we played in the outside park--which is a musical area. The benches are xylophones and they have this metal screen that makes music as the kids pass rocks through it. It's pretty neat.

After that we were off to Oscar's to continue our ice cream quest. Oscar's is a custard place on the the west side of Milwaukee. It was pretty good. We also got burgers & fries, but were not that impressed with those--Gille's is definitely better.

From there we were off to the Brewer game. We let the kids play at a playground along the way and journeyed into the stadium. Alaina did VERY well this game. I was impressed by her. She sat through much of it and just watched the crowd--and ate (of course!) Sadly, the Brewers lost...

So that following week Ky bit holes in his shirt. I was so angry with him. He has been doing this for a while and I have been trying to stop him. Anyway, we felt a punishment was in order. This was probably one of Ky's biggest punishments. We talked to him about how things cost money and we have to work in order to earn that money. And, since we had lost a shirt he needed to "pay" us back by working. So I made him wash all the tile floor by hand. He enjoyed this for about the first 45 minutes. But the last 30 minutes were full of much tears as they DRUG on. I was pretty sure I had made an impression since I had not seen any more holes in his shirt--however on Aug 28th (over a month later), I discovered another chew hole in on of his shirts. Naturally, he will be washing the floor again. And hopefully it will once again make an impression.

The following weekend we went to Rob's company picnic. It was held at Mt. Olympus. We decided that since we hadn't been in the Dells in a while we would camp Saturday night and also spend Sunday in the area (Devil's Lake). But as always, things don't work out as planned. The kids had a great time at Mt. Olympus. Ky went on his first "real" roller coaster. He just made the 42" requirement (though when we are the doc's a week later he measured in at 41.5".)

He LOVED it! During our day at the park we learned that our passes were actually good for the next day as well, so we made plans to skip Devil's Lake and come back on Sunday as well. We left at a reasonable time for dinner, but had trouble getting our tent set up in a timely manner and then finding a restaurant to eat at. It was nearly 9PM by the time we got the kids fed. ARGH! Yeah they were overtired and cranky. (If we do this next year I think we will just pack a dinner.) This was NOT worth it.

The next day when we returned, it was cloudy and not as nice. In fact we got rained out for part of the afternoon and ended up in the overcrowded indoor waterpark. BLEH! We left early and were very happy to get home. SO TIRED!

The week following, we signed Ky up for the Soccer Bible Camp at the church across the street. I was so excited to get him in. Five afternoons for $40. They provide snack and then feed the whole family on Friday! It was a wonderful blessing. Ky loved the camp. He loved his coaches and learned a lot. I did try to get some pics of him, but every time I did he was playing with his pinny. Oh, well! That's my boy!

The following weekend, we went up to Shawano to "get away". It was nice. I really relax better when I am not at home looking at the children's messes or thinking about what I need to be doing. On Saturday we spent the day at Shawano beach. It was so nice! I love watching the kids play and enjoy themselves.

So that was July--are you exhausted from reading this? I am exhausted from typing it! Summers are always so busy, and I am sad to think that it is almost over. *Sigh* Stay tuned to the August posts--including a trip to Kentucky!