Filed under: Kids
We were the only ones there, and they don’t charge anymore. Score!!!
We built our own lake complete with damn and river. Big hit! Then we swam, ate a picinic lunch and swam some more. I was peppered with questions about the mucky muck, but the water was warm, and a good time was had by all. I think we might go back next week, and maybe try crayfishin’.
After the untimely demise of our first firepit, we waited for a deal. Grandma Barb found us one! Our new firepit is not as nice looking, but is more Noah-proof.
The boys and I tried it out, and made s’mores! Yumm!
Filed under: Uncategorized
It’s been a mild summer, and we’ve been loving every minute of it. Most of the time, we just hang out at home. The boys split their time between the front yard and the back yard. Each yard contains different elements to load up and move around!
2 and 4 are such good ages! Old enough to exprience lots of fun all around town, but young enough still to take naps regularly!!! Our one regret is that it has been a No Frog Summer.
It has been the summer of the dilly bar. Yum!
On this particular dilly bar day we celebrated for Baby Joey. He’s been sick and in the hospital, and the tradition at our house is that whenever anyone gets a shot, we all have ice cream. I’m sure Joey had way too many shots, so we all had Dairy Queen for Joey! We love you Baby Joey!!!!
All that sugar makes my men act mighty crazy.
We spent the afternoon in the front yard. I was messing around with my camera playing with the settings, and the boys just played.
They started rolling down the hill and then decided to steamroller. What fun!
Here’s a couple of fun shots.
I whooped it up, talked about new cousin Joey, showed them pictures, got them excited…
Their response was none.
Aunt Anne: “Would you like to meet baby Joey?”
Noah: “NO”
Aunt Anne, in a most generous way, “Would you like to hold baby Joey?”
Noah: “No” as he continues dumping all toys in a huge pile and then starts lugging baby stuff out of Joey’s room to add to the pile.
Harrison: No response, not even a glance in the direction of their new cousin. He’s too busy trying to get the balls out of that obnoxious loud ball thingy. Not even a jealous look or complaint as his very own Mom, to whom he is WELL attached, holds that new baby!
Bottom line: they didn’t care a bit, and were too busy destroying Anne’s house for me even to hold the little lad more than 2 minutes.
We walked to the Farmer’s Market and bought lots of yummy veggies, they were more interested in being monkeys.
Filed under: Family
Can you believe this is right in our town? For us to see every day? Nature, particularly water always makes me think of God. Not sure if because of the beauty or the power, maybe both.
We spent last weekend at the beach in town. Sunday night after a raucous 1 year old’s birthday party at my brothers, we checked out Grandpa Russ’ (with the dog) metal detector. We bought him one for his birthday! We played football on the beach, dug holes and burried each other’s feet. The next day we took the boys bikes down near the zoo, and let them bike the path to the playground. Those hills get steep when you’re pushing a bike. Of course, my husband was on roller blades. Not sure if that made it easier or harder??? We played in the sand, stopped for a lemonade, and watched the beach tractors. What a fun family day!
I’ll admit, Harrison and I “cheated” We took the secret zoo path and avoided 2 hills on the way back.
So I’ve been reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollen. I would highly recommend the book. His premise is; Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants. Having a bit of science background myself, although none of it in nutritional science unless you count that bloodroot experiment, I was impressed by his research. It makes good sense to me. I see sick overweight people with heart disease, diabetes and cancer everyday. I don’t think that’s it’s fair to assume everyone with the above conditions got them by eating poorly, but there are trends. I can feel a difference in myself based on the foods I eat.
For myself and my family I have some food goals. I honestly don’t think we do too bad, but there is always room for improvement, and I’ve reached a point where I’m willing to focus on that and devote a little time to the matter. So, my goals, in no particular order are:
- Frequent the Farmer’s Market weekly
- Look into those baskets of fruits/veggies from local farmers. I’ve known people who’ve done this for years. It would be a great way to experience produce we’re not accustom to eating.
- Limit HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and other mega-processed foods. I’m not going to anti-HFCS, but if I can find brands that don’t have it and we still enjoy, we’ll make the switch
- Be realistic. I’m a working Mom, and my priority is my kids. I cannot spend hours a day cooking everything from scratch, and we do have that little issue of Harrison not eating anything that resembles a vegetable. Although, he will eat any fruit, and he did chow down my home-made veggie pizza today. So, maybe there is hope for him…
I want to be healthy. I am so grateful for the eating habits my parents taught me. I want my children to be strong and active and to take excellent care of the bodies God has given them. Food is basic. We’ll see how it goes.
Filed under: Family
Grandpa Russ has a sailboat, and he let us check it out over the 4th. Harrison is still asking to “go to Grandpa’s house” Sorry Mom!
We watched the fishing competition for a bit, clowned around with the nautical-type lawn ornaments, and walked the dock. The dock walk took a loooong time as the boys were kept busy watching baby ducks. Noah was nearly over-excited.
Grandma Carol met us down on the boat, and took the boys so Dad and I could go sailing. What a day it was! We hit 4.5 knots, no bugs, beautiful sunny not-too-hot weather, and only a couple of obnoxious fishermen from the aforementioned contest. Just look at the shades of blue in the sky and the water. Oh, how I love the lake! Only God could have designed something so awesome!
Filed under: Family
Meet the newest member of our family. My sister Anne delivered him on 7/7/09. I’m over-joyed for her and Bob.
It’s different than having your own. I don’t have to lose sleep, but I don’t get to hold a new sweet-smelling baby for hours a day either. I was only jealous for about 30 seconds. That brief jealousy has been replaced by excitement for Anne and a desire to watch she and he interact and bond.
He is a blessed little boy, and I’m sure he already feels loved. If the amount of onsies the child has been given is directly related to the number of people who love him – he is truly blessed!
Did I mention he has red hair? Bob has claimed just about every other feature, but the red hair is straight from Grandpa Russ.
Congrats Anne and Bob and Joey. You are your own family – enjoy every second!
Filed under: Family
This year everything is different. Rob left us to go celebrate the Fourth with his brother in DC. He’s always wanted to be in the capitol on the 4th, so being the kind and considerate wife (that blessed man) I agreed to the trip.
While Racine’s 4th traditions are awesome; they are crowded and not something a single Mom wants to navigate. We opted for First Fridays, then Sturtevant Fireworks, followed by Union Grove Parade. We had so much fun, I may consider starting new family traditions.
We headed downtow with Aunt Cat and our first stop was the hotdog cart. I love that Racine has a hotdog cart. The dogs were yummy! We ate them while looking at and smelling the horses per Harrison. Noah climbed on the Monument and the cannons; but for Harrison it was all about the horses.
After dinner, we sauntered down to the fountains. Noah stripped down and made one brave run. Turns out the spray comes out kinda hard for a 3 year old, and that one run was to be the only of the evening.
Uncle Russ and Desi met us at the fountains and we heard all about their recent NY trip. When I couldn’t keep the boys corralled any longer, we headed back to the a party.
After a little more fun on the Square, we walked up Main street to check out all the people, bands and chairs.
Then it was time to head to Aunt Anne’s for the fireworks. We went with Anne, Bob, Cat, Spencer, Vinnie and Xander. I brought frisbees and balls, so the boys ran around for an hour before the fireworks began.
The fireworks were awesome. Harrison kept saying “pop, pop” and both boys shouted out the colors. Harry fell asleep during the fireworks, Noah made it almost home. Those boys have NEVER been up to 10pm before.
We slept in til 7am and raced to get ready for the parade. We had all the same group with the addition of our friends Megan and Sarah. The Union Grove Parade rocked. The candy, of course, was a big hit, but so were all the tractors and mini-horses! I think we might try it again.
Poor Anne. Today is her due date. How fun it will be to meet that little firecracker!
And poor Aunt Cat; I think my boys and I wore her out!
Happy Fourth of July!!!
