The longest trip to Lowe's EVER!

Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating just a tad with the whole EVER bit, but it was a long trip. Here's the story...

Over the weekend Grant enjoyed playing with the trains on a table at the hotel as well as on a little train track table that Ryan's brother and his wife had at their house for their boys. Someone mentioned that we should get one for our house, but the ever-present problem is space. There is just NOT enough of it! So when, on Wednesday, Ryan announced that he was going to build a table that could collapse at night and hide under our couch, I thought that was a great idea!

That afternoon, after making a list of what he needed as well as illustrations to support his ideas, we all headed off to Lowe's. I think I should have known that it was not going to be a pleasant trip when Caroline screamed at the top of her lungs for at least 5 minutes (seriously!) after being put into the cart. I had also not brought her blanket or treats for any of the kids for the store. Another couple of clues that it would not be a good time.

As a kid I seem to remember fun trips to hardware stores, playing in the different departments. Now that I think about it, my parents may have different, less fond recollections.

Anyway, while Ryan looked at the supplies that he needed, I tried to distract the kids from their boredom and keep them from bothering Ryan too much. After awhile I, too, was growing bored and ready to leave. However, since I'm now reading Wild at Heart, I decided that I would not voice my frustrations and would instead take the boys and Caroline over to the lawn mowers so that Ryan could be all construction-y without the loudness that always accompanies anything we do. The boys LOVED the tractors and could have stayed there much longer. Even Little Miss enjoyed steering the steering wheels and making noises but seemed content to stay on the same one the whole time while the boys climbed on all 10. When it felt like we'd been there long enough (unfortunately I'd forgotten my phone so I did not know exactly how long we'd been there), I dragged the boys away and headed back to the lumber aisles. We found Ryan and were soon able to check out after two hours there--a long time for 3 young kids!

That night Ryan made the table, and it's great because Grant can put his Thomas wood track, Thomas lego track, or Thomas plastic track. (Yes, we have three types of tracks!) He also lined up his cars on there.

Jackson wanted in on the action as well so here is what he did with the table:

We have, of course, had fights over its usage, but Ryan and I figured that would happen. Maybe the longer we have it, the less novelty it will have and the less fighting there will be--right?? Hmmm...probably not.

Back to school shopping

Over the weekend, my sisters-in-law were discussing buying school uniforms as their kids go to parochial schools. After a bit they leaned over to me and asked if I'd bought all of Jack's supplies.

(Insert deer in headlights look.) "Um, no," I replied. "Maybe we'll do it this week."

So guess what we did yesterday.... Yup, we went shopping. I joined the annual tradition this year for the first time. I had misplaced the list, but thank goodness for the Internet! (Okay, I'm just racking up the good mom points!) The nice thing about the list was that it was very specific (brand, size, etc.) as far as what they needed the children to bring. All I kept thinking was, how is it possible that I'm now on the other side as parent?? I feel like I JUST shopped with my mom as a student! Jack found a backpack quickly, and I found most of the other things easily. Fifty-dollars or so later we left but not without one tear-jerker moment. Jack was talking about his backpack and that he was going to put his bear in it. He currently takes Bear just about everywhere we go so I said, "Well, you can't really take Bear to school." He said, "I know. Bears don't go to kindergarten." Oh, knife in the heart! It just caught me offguard. My baby is really growing up.

Cousin fun!

The boys like to do "bubble fun," which is when they squeeze someone's cheeks as if popping a bubble in the mouth. It does not sound so fun, and it isn't, in fact, very fun. However, "cousin fun" really was fun! This past weekend we had a great time spending the day at Sauder Village in Archbold, OH, and the night at a hotel with Ryan's family. There are nine kids ages 6 and under, and Jack had such a wonderful time swimming and playing with his cousins. Grant enjoyed playing with the wooden train that was in the eating area. I have such fond memories of annual hotel reunions with my mom's side of the family, and I am sure that the kiddos will look forward to these in the years to come. (No pressure to make them annual, though, Roger and Carol!) Here are some pics of our weekend.

How cute is this, and they're even in height order: Violet, Jack, Max, and Will (and Nana).

Grant seriously has "train" radar--wherever there is a train, he finds it and plays with it.

I know the lighting isn't great on this one, but I just love it for some reason.

Landon (who is one month older than Caroline), Braden (2 1/2), and Caroline

Here is how Ryan would look if he were driving a wagon with a load of kids in the back.

Max, Jack, and Violet

Nana bought all these craft things that Jack loved making.

Here is the train that Grant played with most of Sat. afternoon/evening and Sun. morning. I love that he put his giraffe in a little pen.

So there you have it--our weekend in a nutshell. Family is so fun, and we are so fortunate to have a great family!

Winnie the Pooh

This post is mostly for my brother-in-law, Greg, who works in the animation studios at Disney. :)

Waiting for the movie to begin--We all shared a huge bucket of popcorn, but that is sort of essential if you want kids to sit at the theater.

Earlier this year Ryan read some of the original A.A. Milne Winnie the Pooh books to the boys. Jack was old enough to understand and enjoy them while Grant just listened periodically while playing with his trains. So, when we heard that a Winnie the Pooh movie was coming out, we were really excited. The boys earned the movie treat by going to bed (yes, we bribe them!), and we left Caroline with Ryan's parents (thanks Roger and Carol!) so that Ryan and I could both go. Here is my review: it is super cute! I love that the boys are still young enough to enjoy the innocence of a story about a bear and his friends and to think that a silly monster at the very end is scary. The length is perfect for the preschool crowd, and the boys didn't really get too antsy. There was a 20-month-old in front of us who ended up leaving, but really, I'm not surprised. There is no way Caroline would sit for an hour to watch anything, and I don't see that changing in three months! We especially liked seeing Greg's name in the credits, which we didn't expect. It was so nice to have a nice family time together. Go Disney!

WANTED

Wanted: a nice, loving, Mary Poppins-type person who has infinite patience, limitless imagination, and a love of children. For: potty training a smart yet stubborn 3 1/2 year old. Must have a desire to be pushed beyond what one may possibly be able to bear. Please note: This is not a job for the faint of heart--this child has been working against this process for over 6 months and has resisted every type of reward/incentive up to this point. Call 1-800-losingmymind if interested!

17 months!

Yay for hair--I don't style it like this, but it's nice to know that she now has enough on top that I could!

Who can resist this cheesy grin?

Caroline is now 17 months! It's crazy to think that she is really that old. I remember when she was a baby and people would say, "Don't you just love having a girl?" I'd smile and nod and think, well, it's not much different than having a boy. And really, my boys were and are so different from each other that it was hard for me to say that certain qualities that she had were "girl" traits since I'd seen the same things in her brother. However, as she's grown older, I've seen her personality (and perhaps gender?) come out more and more. Caroline is a sweet, loving little girl. She loves carrying around her dolls and feeding them bottles. She is quick to give big hugs and is generally quite happy and laid back. However, if she's unhappy, she will let you know. She plays well by herself but is always interested in knowing what her brothers are doing and copying them. Caroline loves swimming, walking, and snuggling. She is still not saying many words but definitely understands pretty much everything we ask or say. I'm not worried since Grant didn't talk until he was 2 1/2, and I wasn't sure what he even understood before it all started coming out! (Now I know he was just biding his time!) After 17 months, I can truthfully say, I love having my girl! I love it, love it, love it! I love my boys, too, but there is just something so sweet about having a little girl to balance out their boyness! I may feel differently in 15 years, but right now it is so precious!

VBS

I cannot remember if I've mentioned how much I love our church, but let me just say, I love my church! I think one of the things I love the most is just how much they love my kids! Our church starts teaching babies (like, 12 mo. olds!) stories from the Bible and singing well-loved songs, so that by the time they are Jack's age, they have a good foundation. There have been times that I have wondered if it was necessary that they teach certain stories (like when Jack was obsessed with Bathsheba--he'd say "don't take baths on the roof"!), but overall we've loved what the boys have learned.

So this past week we had VBS at our church--and it is quite the production! The first year I worked I realized how amazing it was and knew that Ryan had to come the following year. This is our third year working, and Ryan and I worked in the kindergarten room with Jack. It was good for Ryan to see how normal Jack is compared to all of the other boys. In fact, Jack is much more sedate than a lot of the other boys--shocking to those who know him well! It was also fun to see Jack experience VBS for the first time in a large group. We knew he'd love the music, but it was strange to see his reaction. Instead of jumping up and down and doing all of the motions with the other children, he sat and just watched. On Wednesday or Thursday Ryan asked why he wasn't doing the motions, and he said he couldn't hear the words when he was jumping up and down. Hmmm...it's nice when you know what's going on in that head!

Here is our class. Finding Jack is sort of like playing "Where's Waldo?" I'm not sure where he is, so he must be behind someone.

Grant's class--we were happy that he was actually sort of facing the teacher. Every time we spied on him in his class he was sitting in the front and listening so maybe he will do better this year in preschool than I expect!

Jack, all smiles!

The funniest thing is that Jack is seriously OBSESSED with acting out VBS now. We received a list of the songs that we sang during the week, and we bought them on iTunes. Last night Ryan made a CD of the songs, and Jack listened to them for over 2 hours today and acted them out with the motions. He also wanted us to be in the audience while he pretended to be one of the guys who was acting on stage last week. Kids are so funny!

Reeling and waiting...

A few months ago, as you may recall, we bought some fishing poles for the boys to use at my parents' lake house. The boys, especially Jackson, were SO excited to go fishing! When we first arrived they wanted to go out, but we talked them into waiting until the following morning.

Jack very patiently and quietly (!) practiced waiting and reeling. My dad did the casting this time, but it won't be long before Jack will be able to do that, too. I seriously just could not believe he was so quiet! The novelty started to wear off when there were no fish hungry enough to eat his strange looking bait. Next time maybe we'll try better bait.

Grant did catch something, though--a leaf! That's more my speed anyway!

Happy birthday, Daddy! We celebrated with my parents but wish we also could have enjoyed celebrating with Ryan's family.

Cheese! I love this picture of Grant--milk mustache, crumby mouth, and all! He is looking older all the time!

Boom go the fireworks!

On the way home from Colorado we stopped at my parents' lake house, where we celebrated the 4th of July. It is such a fun place to see fireworks, sitting next to one of the large lakes and seeing an excellent display, and the kids have fun playing and hanging out before the show. Of course, in true St. Louis fashion, it was so incredibly hot and humid, and Caroline and Grant, who are my two sweaters (as in they sweat a LOT!), were drenched within 5 minutes of arriving at our spot. However, it wouldn't be a St. Louis fireworks show if we were not sticky!

My mom buys the glow-in-the-dark necklaces and bracelets for the kids. Not only are they nice for the kids to play with, but they also make it easier to keep track of the kiddos as we trek back to the car in the dark after the show, as you can see:

I tried to get a picture of my parents together, but Jack kept getting in the picture. Cute, though!

What a ham!

I also tried to get a picture of Ryan and me together since we don't have recent ones of the two of us alone. Hmmm...sneaky 5-yr.-old strikes again!

Jack was so funny because he just kept chatting away during the fireworks. I'm not sure if everyone else found it quite as funny, though.

My dad looks a little silly in this one, but I just had to show how Grant handled the fireworks this year--a little different than how he did last year! This year he slept through most of the display, staying awake only for the first few minutes. We will see how next year goes!

Winter Park recap

We had a great time in Winter Park. It was an awesome week of family fun and making great memories. Ryan and I were saying this was an "experience" vacation, meaning we had a lot of experiences. Our vacation last summer was a "pool" vacation, which is also a lot of fun. Here are some more pictures of our fun times.

One of the boys' favorite things was soaking/swimming in the hot tub in our room each night.

I love that each little town we visited had a Visitors Center. This one was in Winter Park, and the kids were willing to stop for me!

The first day we were in Winter Park Ryan's cousin, Leah, and her fiance, Jason, came up to spend the day with us. It was lots of fun to hang out with them! We took the little gondola thing into Winter Park Resort ("The Village"). The boys were a little freaked out on the way in but were pros and not at all scared on the way out.

Photo ops with bears around Winter Park Resort

The boys and I rode on the Alpine Slide (the curvy thing you can barely see) with Leah and Jason. Grant was a little daredevil and was not at all scared to ride the ski lift up to the top. He also flew down the hill with Leah, both of them laughing all the way. Jack and I were a bit more reluctant to enjoy the ski lift. Once we reached the top Jack was happy to accelerate down the slide, but I kept putting on the brakes. It was tons of fun!

There were about 5 musical instruments around the Village. The boys loved playing on them, and Bear (Jack's stuffed bear) even got in on the action.

Caroline even had fun. There was a little plastic play place that was just her speed. So, while the boys, Leah, Jason, and I flew down the Alpine Slide, Caroline enjoyed her own sort of fun with Daddy supervising. Yay for Winter Park having a play place for little ones!

We had so much fun! Thanks for reading all these posts about our vacation. Hopefully they were a bit more entertaining than my ecology teacher's slideshow pictures from her trip to Yellowstone. Confession: that's the only time I ever fell asleep in class!