Independence Weekend

Last year over the 4th of July weekend we had a blast with family in Chicago. We debated what to do this past 4th of July and then settled on spending the weekend creating our own independence - from diapers. Little Guy has been asking to use the potty, sometimes, and is always interested in flushing the toilet. We settled in for a quiet weekend home, close to the bathroom.

Then something amazing happened. After weeks of grey skies and rain, the skies turned blue and the sun shone. It was amazing. About two hours into our independence from diapers weekend, Little Guy said "no potty on toilet" and promptly wet the front of himself. I looked at Big Poppy and declared it is too nice (FINALLY!) to stay in the weekend. We will being enjoying it with fun and pull-ups.

First up was the park. Little Guy loves these slides and I admit I get a little nervous. It's huge! He's two. I am very happy to have found this little jem of a park (little is relative and thanks Wendy!) but going to the third floor of this with Little Guy made my heart flutter a bit. While he is a big boy he seemed too little for this...don't tell Little Guy that. He wanted nothing to do with the smaller areas.

The cat-walk was very fun for him.

We packed a some food and had a picnic in the shade. The quiet time was nice.

It didn't take Little Guy long to figure out a bag of ice on the neck was a great way to cool off. I am so amazed how smart he is!

After lunch it was time to hit the swimming area. It was easy to spot those of us in the Frozen Tundra that do not use a tanning bed.

We also got to spend some time with family. Little Guy enjoyed playing with cousins, eating homemade ice cream sandwiches and taking his first jet ski ride.

While it would have been awesome to bye-bye to diapers, I know we made the right choice. The low-key weekend of fun was just what we needed.

Happy belated 4th of July!

Big Poppy

There is no doubt how much Big Poppy loves Little Guy nor that Little Guy thinks Big Poppy is the greatest.

The love between these two boys is indescribable. At the baseball game yesterday, the guest service attendant commented over and over again about the two of the them (and this lady takes her job very (VERY!) seriously, do not try to do anything without her permission).

Whether Little Guy wants to borrow Big Poppy's sunglasses, even though the sun was not shining (yet again)

or if he just needs someone to catch him humpty dumpty-ing into the pool

or making sure foul balls do not land on his head

Big Poppy is always going to be there.

In a few years, when you are unhappy with Big Poppy telling you no to car keys or weekend trips, don't forget how much you love him Little Guy and know, without a doubt, he thinks the world of you.

***NOTE: Did you hear a scream of "Noooooo. F----------." this morning? Not to worry, it was just me finishing up an original posting and then watching my computer shut down, without warning unless you count the pop-up that told me it would be happening in 15 minutes which was like 2 minutes before the shut down occurred. Or at least it seemed like 2 minutes and I thought I was finishing up instead of halfway through. Things seem to take me longer than I think they should.***

The Boys of Summer

Downside: Our hometown boys of summer have yet to live up to expectations this year.

Upside: Fans are still showing up for the home games.

Downside: The weather has been less than ideal for outdoor baseball due to cold and the rain.

Upside: We have had a few decent days with the sun and even some heat (I really like that).

Upside: We have been able to make it to a few games this year.

Downside: Big Poppy does not read my mind and take charge to ask those around us to take a quick family picture of the three of us (or grab the camera to take one of Little Guy and me - I improvise while Big Poppy is engrossed in the game).

Upside: We have plenty of family and friends with season tickets that allow us to enjoy home games without breaking the bank.

Upside: We recently sat the "Legends" club for a completely different view from where we normally sit.

Upside: As season ticket holders (by proxy) we were able to purchase additional tickets prior to them going on sale to the general public.

Downside: The way the hometown boys are playing I am wondering if Big Poppy and a few of his college teammates should walk-on to the team. Despite their years I cannot think they would hurt the team currently (or perhaps this is really an upside because of league minimum wage rules for the summer play).

Upside: Foul ball landed in Big Poppy's hand. Thank you Justin Morneau.

OK - despite the win-loss record, the boys of summer are treating our family pretty darn good. Not a bad way to enjoy a Sunday (Memorial Day weekend).

Easter Eggs

On Tuesday night I boiled water - twice. It appears if you try to save time by putting water on the stove to boil while you eat supper, odds are a person is going to forget about the high flames and water evaporation when you leave to go to the dining room. Just about the time supper is over and you are thinking about clearing off the table, guess what, there is a smell you can't quite place and then the sprint to the kitchen stops everyone else in their tracks. The only harm, water evaporation and pride - apparently I can't boil water properly despite considering myself a pretty good cook. The next time I am going to save time, I will be sure to set a timer.

With the now hard boiled eggs we were ready to dye our Easter Eggs last night (here's Wikipedia's take on why we have Easter Eggs). At first Little Guy had some other ideas on what we should do. Can you see the marker on the floor, not the paper. Thank you Favorite Aunt, until now we used washable crayons, colored pencils and these things I can't recall the name of but the markers only color on special paper; you are lucky the markers on the floor washed up rather easily.

It didn't take long after Little Guy saw the white eggs turning different colors before he was ready to join in on the fun.

Having a not-quite-two put eggs into water gently is a bit of a feat. I did find it comical that soon he caught on. You just have to say "gently, gently" and Little Guy will start to whisper "gently, gently". Now we just need to work on what gently actually means. We may have a few cracked eggs from Little Guy, but the colored splashes are quite spectacular.

As I was looking at the Easter Eggs this morning, I wondered what I did differently when I was younger. It seems to me I had even colors on the Easter Eggs. Is this a product of lack of patience last night? Or perhaps my family was a little smarter than I was and purchased more than one dye kit to allow more water in the cup and allowing the eggs to be fully immersed in the color? (I think I am going that option next year.)

Now the wait for the Easter Egg Hunt!

Please oh Please

I am patiently waiting to see if they can be recovered. My computer has crashed, burned and then been partially revived. However, after noticing iTunes music is not at full force and if I try to synch iPod music it wants to erase everything, I noticed something even more disturbing.

My pictures are MIA - well at least half of them are gone and most of the Christmas pictures have gone to the black hole of computer land. It makes me very, very sad. I have memories here to share with you, share with very special people and to keep for the next for the future years.

Please, oh please, let me be smart enough to figure out how to retrieve the pictures. I will (somewhat) happily repurchase music for iTunes. I will be more diligent about backing up my computer.

Please, please let me be smart enough to hire the right person for the job if it turns out to be bigger than anything Big Poppy can handle. I am already smart enough to know this is beyond my capabilities.

Until then, I have this one to share.

And after some genius, Big Poppy or otherwise, recovers my pictures, I can finish my 2010 picture book and let you know how the month of December turned out for us.

Here's a hint, there were bouts of the stomach flu, pouting lips for non-exist fudge (a clear sign my family no longer loves me) and lots of family fun whether in the Frozen Tundra or the Icy Plains.

Wishing You A Magical Christmas

Baby, It's Cold Outside - II

Day two of vacation (or is it really day one since Saturday was a travel day?) started off cool and cloudy. I went for a quick wog -- somewhere between a walk and a jog -- and returned back to our place just as it started to rain. Now a little rain does not make me melt, I am not made of sugar nor am I green, but this did dampen my mood. Vacation rain does not make me happy. In fact it makes me very sad.

AuntJ and Big T were set to travel over to spend the day with us. While our place is larger than a hotel room, a two bedroom condo unit, it would feel very small if three adults and two young, energetic boys were forced to stay inside and play all day. One thing Big Poppy has told me about Florida, it may rain every day but it will not rain all day. I admit, I doubted this because of the cloud coverage and how cold it was outside. Fortunately, Big Poppy was correct. By the time AuntJ and Big T made their way over, the sun was out and while it was not warm it was no longer cold.

Big T and AuntJ were great little hosts for the day at Sea World and helped us plan out a good day.

It started with the dolphins.

As you can see, despite seeing the dolphins more often Big T was still happy to see them again. Little Guy's mouth and eyes are opened up in wonder and awe. What is hard to capture on camera (darn you point and shoot) is the pointing fingers and the "oohhh!" and smiles and laughter and the trying to jump into the pool with the dolphins. Little Guy could have stayed watching much longer, we stayed here for 15 minutes, and he was displeased when we moved on to see what else there was to see at Sea World.

About two weeks ago I was speaking with a client who has two year old twins. She told me we could talk more the next day because she was on her way out the door to take the twins to Sesame Street Live. We laughed about her exciting life and how jealous I was not be going to Sesame Street Live. As I hung up the phone I thought to myself how lucky I was Little Guy has not shown interest in some childhood characters - yet.

Well there are Sesame Street shows at Sea World. We decided to go. I thought it would be a good introduction for Little Guy. Boy do I feel like a bad mommy now. Little Guy loved it. He stood on the bench in amazement, watching everything. Big Poppy and I have done plenty of things with Little Guy and have introduced him to many parts of life. However, Sesame Street or other characters have not been around us all that much (I may have a fear of create a couch potato that misses out on the activities of life).

I need to realize a little show here and there is not going to harm Little Guy. He deserves a little entertainment too.

Afterall, if Little Guy sees puppets every now and then, he may not be afraid of Shamu...or maybe a whale is something to be a little scared of.
 
AuntJ and I swapped kiddo's, Big T was a big fan of this aunt (yeah!). The Christmas tree light show held their attention (and ours) for the entire time. Little Guy is young enough that he was amazed every time the lights came back on or changed colors.
 

 
We stayed until the park closed to see the fireworks. It was cold. COLD. While walking around to find a good vantage point for the fireworks I spotted heaters. We found our spot. Big Poppy walked back a short ways to get himself a hot chocolate and a hot toddy for AuntJ and me. Between the heater, hot toddy and snuggling boys I was able to keep my blood circulation circulating.

Baby, It's Cold Outside - I

Big Poppy and I like to go on vacation. I cannot think of very many people who do not like vacation but I'm sure there are some out there. Living in the Frozen Tundra, when winter comes or after it has been dragging on a little too long we like to head to Cabo for a few days of S&R (sun and relaxing). While I am a big believer in trying new things, going to different places and having new experiences we fell in love with Cabo and decided if we could only vacation one place a year Cabo really isn't that bad of a place to be.

In reality, we normally have a couple mini-vacations (think long weekends) and a one week long vacation. I cannot wait to introduce Little Guy to Cabo but it just did not work out to fly off to Mexico this year. Yes, I am sad about this but poor us, instead of vacationing in Cabo for a week we decided to visit the Orlando, Florida area. We are fortunate and if at any time I sound a little whining about our vacation, I am not. What I may be is a little upset with a few things that have happened. However, rest assured, there are more smiles and laughs than anything else. I know we are blessed on so many levels... it all comes down to Little Guy.

Big Poppy, Little Guy and I were picked up by GrandB and GrandC on December 4 to head to the airport. The night before it had snowed. Alot. After Little Guy went to bed Big Poppy shoveled the driveway while I snoozed on the couch (Hey, at least I am honest about what I was doing and, in my defense, I had traveled for work Thursday morning and returned home on Friday. Traveling can be very tiring.). The snow was still falling as Big Poppy shoveled although it had slowed down quite a bit. By morning there was a fine layer of snow on the driveway but we had other items to attend to. Mainly getting to the airport.

We traveled to the main hub without incident and made it through security after a short wait or at least a short wait by today's security standards. There is this wonderful little thing with having a young child, sometimes the airport personnel pull you out of line and have you go through a separate line because they understand it takes longer to do things with a stroller, toddler and a carry on bag for his entertainment pleasure. Lucky us, we had one of those kind airport personnel pulled us aside. For anyone screaming unfair treatment, I have a few stories where we were not so lucky. This just helped even out some of the not-so-nice treatment's I have received (Lincoln, NE - you know who you are and that I can point a finger at one person in particular on more than one occasion -- yes, that does mean I have flown to Lincoln, NE more than once in my life -- but I digress).

The airport music is filled with holiday cheer and one of the songs I heard has been stuck in my head ever since - Baby, It's Cold Outside. The Frozen Tundra was just that as we left - Frozen. As a text message I received from a friend said:

It's freezing cold. FREEZING. COLD.

And so, as I boarded the plane I am thinking a little smugly to myself "in a few short hours I will be in Florida, the sunshine state." As I was seated on the plane, talking to Big Poppy and entertaining Little Guy I was under the illusion that while Orlando has off season and winter months that low 70's would feel like a little piece of heaven (more to come on this false illusion). After all, Baby, It's Cold Outside here in the Frozen Tundra not the sunshine state which will give us the warmth and sun we desire.

The ice was so thick at the airport we were delayed, after everyone had boarded, 15 minutes in order for a larger truck to make it's way over to our plane to help push us back from the gate. Then it was time to de-ice the plane which was another 45 minutes, again after everyone had boarded the plane. Then we were off! (QUESTION: Does anyone else find it humorous and frustrating that even though our flight took off just about exactly one hour after the scheduled departure time the flight was considered an on-time departure because the airplane door was pushed away from the gate on-time? I wonder if I could pass that kind of customer service onto my clients and set my own prices.)

We landed safely, always a good thing, collected our bags and retrieved our car rental with ease. Finding our hotel was also relatively painless and our vacation had started.

Sunday (December 5) brought a new day. Big Poppy made us breakfast (tasty!) and Big T and AuntJ drove over for the day. After a bite to eat for lunch we headed over to Sea World. Fantastic! Little Guy was so excited to see everything....stay tuned...I have to get dressed to start our next day. The boys are waiting on me. :)

Santa's Helper

Bat of a Good Time

Did you survive the ghosts and goblins on Sunday?

We barely survived with all the scare tactics of the neighborhood children.

Halloween was a little different than last years party. For the most part it had to with having a Little Bat. He sures like to climb up on everything and spread his wings to fly.

GrandB and GrandC came over again this year. We had some blood punch and zombie pizza's and dogs, but the spread was not laid quite as nicely as the previous year. However, we did have some Halloween cupcakes with bone toppings - an addition from last year (and Little Bat tried his best to eat only the frosting).

Having the trick-or-treaters come to us again this year was quite fun for Little Bat. He would get very excited when they came to the door. To each and everyone he gave them a polite "bye-bye".

Little Bat with GrandB and GrandC.

In between treaters, baseball was played (I know, we are still very disappointed about the Yankees and Twins).

Little Bat waiting for the perfect pitch from Big Poppy.

All in all in was a Bat of a Good Time.

Little Bat was not patient for the camera this time around but I was having a good time.

In case you were curious, Little Bat stayed in character all night. He decided to be a nocturnal creature Sunday night!

Winds of Change

The winds of change are blowing our way.

Or maybe the winds are just trying to blow us away.

At any rate, there are some fun and exciting changes taking place is the house that Big Poppy built.

Little Guy is in transition. This is his final week of "infant" care and has been spending this week split between the older infant room and the toddle room. This next move means he gets to play outside every day. It also means no more sippy cup - well at least at school. I am not quite sure if I am ready for a big boy cup and the messes it brings. Then again, I am betting it will be like everything else. Little Guy will start to notice Big Poppy's cups do not have a top. Heaven forbid Little Guy does not do something exactly like Big Poppy!

The fierce independence all kids like to display is also coming our way. On those rare occassions Big Poppy and I do tell Little Guy no we are rewarded with Little Guy letting us know how he feels about the situation. I do admit I find it comical to see the frustration or tears over minor things. It is even funnier when Little Guy realizes that approach is not going to work and he shoots you a look - you know the look. The one that says: I'll get my way some how. Just you wait and see.

Yes, the wind is definately blowing change our way. I wonder what else will blow our way.

Could it be Little Guy's Halloween gear? Will he fly in on a broomstick, magic carpet or wings?

Let the Guessing Begin

Are you ready for the ghost and goblins?

How about all the candy that will flow in and out of your home?

Little Guy has his creepy crawly all picked out.

Can you guess what he has in mind this Halloween?

Weekend Fun

Did you have this much fun?

Going to swim class.

Big Poppy and Little Guy are in the center.

Going to hockey with good friends.

Happy Mom and Little Guy are ready for hockey, however there were some in shorts, at a HOCKEY game.

Going to an apple orchard.

Low hanging fruit is tasty.

Happy to be on the great pumpkin hunt.

Little Guy was very happy to look for his perfect pumpkin.

Searching for the pumpkin that fits you just right.

Big Poppy and Little Guy search the pumpkin patch for the best one to bring home.

Not being afraid of walking for miles to find a pumpkin to bring home.

Little Guy kept on moving looking for a pumpkin that spoke to him. Does anyone else find it funny we went to an apple orchard to get a pumpkin? We did pick up some apples.

Finding the best pumpkin to bring home.

Little Guy tried to get a bigger pumpkin but really liked the ones he could pick up to show Big Poppy.

Did you have that much fun?

Labor Day Weekend

I know. I know. It's been a while. As Little Guy gets more and more mobile (there isn't anything he won't try to climb) I find myself running around more and needing to do some household necessities at night and for my sanity, working out in the morning (except for this morning...my throat will not allow me to breath and I'll be gargling salt water very soon).

Anyways. I wanted to give you quick glimpse of our weekend.

Saturday brought some family to town. We just saw them in July in Chicago so it was a real treat to have them with us again so quickly. While Big Poppy, Ranger, Syd and Soy went to the baseball game, Little Guy, Aunt and I stared at a blank wall.

After we had enough of the blank wall, we hopped into the car and made sure Big Poppy had some work to do when they returned from the baseball game. (Ranger was a little upset and unable to be put to work.)

There is one less blank space on our walls. And for those of you who don't know, we did not normally have blank walls. Right before we Little Guy warmed our hearts we had the popcorn ceiling changed to a knock-down ceiling. Everything had been moved out of our home. We repainted and the pictures we had just were not us (I may not have had the best taste 10 years ago when it came to furniture or picture selections). I have been slowly finding items that we like without spending a small fortune, although there is a painting I am in love with and I may have to break down and spend a few hundred dollars on one picture. I'm not there yet but I'm getting there.

Did you think I would make Big Poppy stand there all day to finish out the space?

The weekend also consistent of more baseball on Sunday. Some of us longed around (some more than others).

There were parks to be played at.

Some of us could not get enough of the slide. And here I thought kids liked swings better than slides.

Some of us threw a fit when we had to leave the park.

GrandB and GrandC came to play with Little Guy while the rest of us enjoyed seeing Wicked. One critic was heard saying this play was better than Syd's school plays.

At in the end, when the family left, we were all sad to see them go. Once again, Little Guy had a bad night sleeping after they left. I guess he missed them already.

Family Weekend

The Fourth of July holiday has always been one to spend with those who you love to have a good time with. Last year Big Poppy and I were very lucky to head back to my home town to visit family and friends. This year we hopped a plane and headed the opposite direction to meet up with some very special people in the windy city.

Our flight was bright and early on Thursday (6 am!) however, the unnatural hours did not slow Little Guy down. He flirted with the ladies on our nearly private flight (bonus) and waved to the little dog also on board. The flight is a quick one, about an hour, and as we waited for the car to arrive, well then Little Guy decided it was time for nap.

Wait a moment Mommy, this camera is not allowing the ladies to see me smile.

It was a quick car ride from the airport to the hotel. Little Guy and I grabbed some breakfast while we waited for the rest of the family to arrive and then we would be off to the Cubbies game. It is a good thing that Ranger, Aunt, Syd, Soy, Little Guy and I are not Cub fans (but who wouldn't like to see a game at Wrigley Field). While the game went into extra innings, the Cubs did not come out on top. Not that Little Guy would know. One moment he's in a rally cap and the next he snuggled up for nap.

Our weekend was fun with time at Shedd Aquarium.

To help defray the costs of vacationing in the windy city, we decided to put the kids to work at that the John Hancock Observatory.

Little Guy really liked the views. I had nightmares of the glass breaking.

At the end of a long day, Little Guy enjoyed eating a little food, using the left overs for a facial and sipping on some milk in the nice, cool AC.

At the Field Museum we entered a shrinking machine to see what it was liked to live underground. Some bugs make for good transportation.

Some people (Aunt) would make fun of how often Little Guy and I liked to eat. It's hard work growing up and we need lots to keep us properly fueled for the day ahead. Little Guy sometimes had difficulty deciding on what he wanted to order.

But the concentration involved in reviewing the menu options might run in the family.

Hmmm, this type of concentration on a menu, we are a focused group.

GrandB made one of her famous bibs for the Fourth of July.

But after a long day out and some time in the sun, all Little Guy wanted when we got back to the hotel was something cold and tasty. Strawberry daiquiri anyone? (Without the grown-up spice of course.) He was a BIG fan and would fuss voice his desire for more whenever I took the straw away - I didn't want Little Guy to get a cold headache from too much too fast.

All in all, it was a great vacation...except maybe for the return home. A three hour delay after you arrive at the airport is not an ideal way to end a relaxing and fun trip.