Vacation: Part One

We simply could not wait for our extended vacation to begin this year.  As our previous posts would indicate, we have had quite the year thus far and a long vacation was just what everyone needed.  I learned that preparing for the vacation, although an apparent insurmountable task upfront, was actually something I enjoyed doing!  I liked thinking about the items to pack, what food should I buy, what games were car-friendly, how do I keep my toddlers occupied for a long car trip, etc.  I suppose it was a challenge, and as per usual, I'm always up for a challenge!

Once we had everything packed (near perfectly I might say, thanks to Evan!), we started our journey on Wednesday evening and headed down to Nky for the first leg.  We stayed at my parent's house and it was the perfect way to get things started.  We then woke super early and were on the road by 6am: an excellent decision as the kids were still sleepy and groggy and the roads were virtually empty.  It took us about 10-ish hours or so to make it down to Surfside Beach, and I can say the entire trip went darn-near flawlessly!  No bathroom issues, no meltdowns, no naseau for this 7-month pregnant lady - it was actually, dare I say, enjoyable?!  

We arrived at T & T's house around dinner time and thrilled to be at the beach and officially on vacation!  Tommy and Tracy are the most gracious hosts and had dinner ready for us and eager to open their home and visit with us.  They live less than a mile from the beach and have bikes and a golf cart to transport us and our roughly 47.8 lbs of necessary beach-gear to the beach every day!  Our weather was great and we all enjoyed time relaxing, swimming, reading, playing games, and of course, eating!  The kids love being down there and it was especially fun this year as we didn't have to mess with diapers or eating sand or anything that can sometimes make the beach not-so-enjoyable.  

We have created such fond memories of Surfside Beach and are so grateful to Tommy and Tracy for opening their home so that we can get some reprive from the doldrums of life in the Midwest!

Enjoy the pictures!

Early morning excitement for vacation!

As noted, Luke LOVES music, so I bought him this old-school Discman to listen to all of his music - he loved it and kept him occupied for hours!

Jane working on a sticker book I created for her.  Yes, I created something after searching the internet - who am I?!

Picnic on the beach every day?  Yes, please!

This was pretty much an every day thing...lots of toys and sand and imaginations!

They loved looking for crabs and shells with daddy...

...until he got too tired and needed a break.

Our dear friends and hosts, Tracy and Tommy

One of my favorite pictures from vacation

August 2013

Well, if there is one thing we have learned this year, it is that we certainly do know how to round out the summer with a bang!  And by bang, I mean an incredibly jam-packed August!

Evan and I decided that we would finally take a vacation for longer than just 7 days and we were SO glad that we did.  We spent the first 10 days of August in full vacation-mode and loved every minute of it.  We drove down to Surfside Beach, SC again for our visit with our dear friends Tommy & Tracy and then from there drove to Charleston for a very fun few days with my parents at their condo down there.  Because this was such an awesome time, I'm going to write more about vacation in subsequent posts...

Not only did we do a lot of relaxing in August, but Jane started her first day of Pre-School (actually called Wee Ones; 2 days a week for 2 hours for 3 year-olds), Evan took the kids down to Indianapolis for a fun zoo trip with his cousin Brian and his 3 boys, and we capped off the month with an awesome surprise 60th birthday weekend for my dad!  

Pictures and details of vacation and my dad's birthday in later posts...too much to capture all in one....

Jane on Wee Ones Orientation Day

Luke really wanted to go to school too

Rainy first day of school, but that didn't bother Jane.  She is obsessed with that "colorful" skirt as she calls it.  Wants to wear it every single day; you can imagine the battles that ensue regarding attire every morning..

Love this one!

Two brave and awesome daddies: 5 kids under 5 (all boys but 1!) venturing out for a day at the zoo.  I have suspicions that Evan and Brian did more laughing than the kids..

Colin, Clayton, Luke and Jane

Love this little boy who wants to be just like his daddy!

 

July 2013

Whew!  After a very full June, we eased our way into July rather slowly.  Now, we still kept ourselves busy with some very fun things, but throttled the pace down quite a bit.

One of the new things we ventured into was the world of toddler dance - yep, I enrolled Jane in a summer dance program, and no surprise to anyone - she loved it!  She was unusually shy at first, but really got the hang of it and asked to be enrolled in more dance this fall.  She is taking ballet and tap, and although her enthusiasm for it is at an all-time high, I regret to say her actual "talent" is lacking a bit.  She moves around like she has geriatric hip problems, but is super focused on her "moves" and trying to perfect them.  During Parent Observation Day, Jane looked absolutely miserable the whole time as compared to her smiling, giggling peers, but when she got in the car, she shouted "Mommy, I LOVE dance".  It's baffling to me, but something tells me my confused state will only continue as she grows up...

We did a lot of other fun things in July, like attended my friend Rachel's wedding in Nky, hosted the Forman family here in Rochester for a week, went boating and swimming in the lake, rode bikes, played outside a lot, and last but certainly not least - Evan prepped for his eye surgery!  We were skeptical that this time around would prove fruitful as we tried 6 months ago and he didn't qualify due to some rare "scars" on one of his eyes.  The doctor said she'd look again and luckily this time around he was able to get the surgery.  He was an absolute trooper and has recovered nicely.  He is loving life contact and glasses-free and we are grateful that everything went well!

Getting ready for her first dance class!

Not sure what to make of this face..

A little shy during the "tap" portion

She is insistent of watching her dance teacher the entire time and doing everything precisely as her teacher does it.

Evan suggested she not follow Billy Elliot's footsteps in front of her...

A rare date night at Rachel's wedding - and a week before eye surgery!

During the Forman visit to the Midwest, we hosted a sundae party complete with every topping you could imagine - I think nearly everyone went back for seconds and thirds!  (Reminds me of birthday parties when we were growing up - sundae parties were my mom's way of feeding the entire neighborhood kids!)

Jane and her idol, Maddie

All the grandkids enjoying ice cream!

Silly time with Aunt Leslie

We spent a lot of time on our driveway and in the cul-de-sac riding bikes and hanging out.  The kids love opening their "camp chairs" and just hanging out.

Love this picture!  (I know, I know...I say that in every post!)

Enjoying popsicles the only place suitable for eating popsicles...outside.

Swimming in the lake - the kids love it despite the absolutely freezing water.  Daddy and Papa are brave!

Jane hanging out....

...then tormenting her brother.  This is a frequent event at our house.

We also experienced another first in July.  Here was Luke one Friday morning before we were heading out to lunch...

By dinnertime, his left eye had started to swell and "seep" liquid from a weird rashy-looking thing.

This was before bedtime and when I really started to get worried and wonder what in the world was going on..

Completely swollen shut the next morning.  A call to the doctor had told us that he was having an allergic reaction to a mosquito bite!  We had no idea, although we had noticed that all summer long he would get huge welts where he was bitten by mosquitos.  Insane and I'm sure the first of many "I have no  idea what is going on with my child" moments.  Huge shout out to Aunt Katie who was the recipient of numerous call, texts, and pictures on an hourly basis asking for  her medical expertise!

Flower Girl and Ring Bearer of the Year

As previously mentioned, Jane and Luke were asked last year to be the flower girl and ring bearer in our friend's wedding in June.  Joe and Kristen frequently babysit for us, and Evan has known Kristen all his life as she is the little sister of a friend of his.  Our kids love when they babysit and we couldn't wait to share in this special day with them!

We weren't exactly sure how things would go, or even if they would understand what was going on, but yet again our kids prove us wrong!  Once we began talking to Jane (a few months ahead of the big day) about wearing a pretty dress and dropping flower petals, it was all over from there.  From thence forward, she was all about all things wedding!  She loved trying on her pretty dress and getting new fancy shoes to go with it (which she wears constantly around the house), but her brother still wasn't sure what to make of everything.  Getting fitted for his suit was a bit more anti-climatic for him.

We had a great time at the rehearsal dinner and suprisingly the kids were both well behaved.  The next morning was a real treat for Jane as she was invited to join all the other bridesmaids to get her hair done at the salon.  This was a HUGE deal for Jane and she loved all the attention.  She even sat perfectly still the entire time the crew (at one point there were 4 ladies working on her hair....how is that even possible?!) sprayed, combed, braided, tweaked and styled her 'do.  She loved it and I also enjoyed seeing her so happy!

We then left to head to the wedding location (ceremony and reception in one place) for pictures, and the real fun began.  We quickly arrived, dressed both kiddos and waited patiently for their turn for pictures.  But, of course, nothing is that simple. What do you get when you add 1 mischievous little boy + wide open spaces + lots of attention from people?!  An over-excited and curious Luke, who wondered what would happen if he pulled a red gadget from the wall!  Yep, right before his turn for pictures, Luke pulled the fire alarm and set off the loudest noise ever, that scared the dickens out of him and sent him crying for the next 10 minutes...right before getting his picture taken.  Lovely!

With the fire alarm crisis behind us, they both cooperated fabulously for the outdoor pictures (it was a hot muggy day - just ask this 6-month pregnant lady!), and we scurried off to "borrow" the bride's room for an hour or so to decompress before the wedding actually started.  All was well, until Luke had to go to the bathroom (not potty)....and then go again...then go again.  Not our finest parenting moment realizing we gave him applesauce for lunch, then apples for a snack, then apple juice while waiting.  We narrowly avoided ruining his entire suit before showtime.  With stress at an all-time high, we made our way back to the wedding location and tried to entertain a 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 year old who hadn't napped and very excited to go bolting down the aisle.  I had to find my seat at the front so Evan stayed back with them.  Right before it was their turn, Luke turned to Evan and stated he needed to go to the bathroom again.  Evan, in sheer brilliance, rushed both kiddos off to the bathroom, and quickly "took care of things" in just enough time to send them down the aisle.  

And the result?  They were perfect!  Luke carried his pillow like he owned the place and Jane diligently dropped rose petals (with lots of finesse) along the aisle.  They even sat still during the ceremony (thanks to the help of snacks) and didn't cause a ruckus, something that was petrifying to me!  

The ceremony concluded and we were off to enjoy the reception...and enjoy we did!  We ate, drank, danced, took silly pictures in the photo booth, danced some more, stayed up waaay too late, and pretty much had an amazing time!!  Great memories for us and the kids!

A dapper young man.

Getting ready to head out for pictures

I love this picture.  They actually both did really well for the pictures.

The smirk on Luke's face here is priceless!

If we look tired, we were.  Especially the one on the left!

Luke turned around to pick up the 1st rose petal that Jane dropped.  Evan had to tell him to keep going although he was very confused why Jane was dropping things.

Charging down the aisle without a care in the world

Same smirk.  He owns the place.

Yes, Luke, we feel the same way about you pulling the fire alarm.

A very happy family!

Already has a way with the ladies. 

Nearing the end of the evening...slowing down for sure...

Mini-milkshakes and cheeseburgers were served at the end of the wedding.  Our kids didn't pass on either.

Milkshake mustache just to prove he hung on until the end!