Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Kayak Morris

In a search for something new and different to do for Labor Day, Steve found a place in Morris that rents Kayaks.  So off we went to brave the waters of the Illinois River.
We set it up this way: Steve and Sydney in a two-person, Me and Carter in a two-person, Spencer in his own, and Tyler and Sam in a two-person.  The people renting the kayaks were concerned about Spencer out on his own so they tied his kayak to Steve's.  They need not have been worried.  The people who ended up going in circles and playing chicken with speedboats were these two:
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 Okay, so they didn't play chicken with speedboats.  But, they did do a little better with some guidance from their dad, who ended up paddling for not one, but two kayaks. All good though! 
It was a super fun activity for everyone, except for Carter who kept asking me to "park" the kayak.  He was a little nervous about the water, and especially the waves, but we didn't even capsize once!  Well, there was the time Spencer flipped over, but that was in the shallows and I think he was trying!
So here's the photo dump:
Tyler, the "Keeper of the Twizzlers"...
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Me and my partner...
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The proud solo kayaker.  He left the rest of us in the dust...
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Good times, great stuff!

Friday, May 17, 2013

Flattery

Just a quick post... I had to record this little sweetness so I don't forget:

I was upstairs in my bathroom doing my hair when Carter came in asking,
"What are you doing Mom?"
"I'm doing my hair."
"Why?"
"So I can be beautiful."
"You are already beautiful."

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Ah, Carter!  You know the way to your mama's heart!

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Happy Mother's Day!

Sydney made this very special waffle for me for Mother's Day.  All by herself.  And, it was quite delicious too!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Cinco de Maio

We had a Cinco de Maio party with some friends.  This is the only picture I took, but there couldn't have been any others to beat it, in my opinion!  Meet Juan Paco de Samuel...
OLE!

Friday, May 3, 2013

Sydney's Photo Shoot

Here are the pictures from Sydney's photo shoot for dance the other day.  Such a doll, if I do say so myself!





Dance recital to come soon!

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Get Your Sunglasses On!

WARNING!  The following post contains lots of pasty, white skin clad in swimsuits...
     I love Spring Break!  It is awesome to have a week when we can take off and just be a family!  We often choose to go someplace with an indoor water park, and that is what we chose this year too.  While this wasn't our favorite place ever, it did have it's perks.  Like the fact that is was pretty empty, and had a great area for little kids.   Carter jumped right in and had a ball on the water slides!




Sydney has become quite a swimmer this last year, and has warmed up quite well to slides and water fun!
Except for when she was cold and shivery...

Here are the boys on the classic lily-pads.  They all fell and they all finally conquered.




One of our favorite places to take a break from the slides was in the "Whirlpool".  The water in this little pool is directed around to form kind of a whirlpool, vortex kind of effect.  We would all get in there and go around and around, it caused some pretty good laughter.





 (I warned you about the white, pasty skin remember.)
Now, speaking of things that go around and around, the favorite slide of all was affectionately named "The toilet bowl."  My last experience with a slide like this was a little traumatic (it involved dumping my child out of the tube, and watching him get sucked into the "drain" part of the slide and not knowing where he would end up or if he could swim well enough to survive).  I am proud to say that I faced my fears head on and faired much better on this slide!


And just to prove that I was there, and that I am just as pasty and white as everyone else...
So much fun to play with the kids!  Some of my favorite memories from this trip are: eating out at Cracker Barrel where everyone found something to eat that they LOVED (that happens to be an accomplishment for us!), and everyone curled up at night on one bed and watching Rise of the Guardians.  Good Times!


Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Snow Much Fun!

     Well, it is March, and we finally got some real snow!  Enough snow to go out and play in!  I went out to shovel snow, and ended up reliving my childhood love of making snow caves.  I can still remember one snow cave in particular that I made as I child.  It felt absolutely palatial to me then.  I am sure  it was the size of a molehill, but I loved it and it brings back fond memories, complete with that warm and cozy feeling of coming inside to get warm and drink hot cocoa!  Ahhh...
Anyway!  Here is my sweet three year old helping me out with the work to be done, only he seems to be shoveling the grass instead of the sidewalk, details!
 After doing what had to be done, Carter and I got down to the real business at hand and started working on our snow cave, conveniently made up of the pile of snow from the driveway.  I just knew it was going to be huge and my kids would be amazed at my snow cave building prowess. Meanwhile, Tyler and Sam were building these excellent snow people!
 My snow cave building buddy...
After working for some time, building and hollowing and sculpting, this is what Carter and I ended up with.  Not quite the palace I had imagined, and it ended up with a little "window" that wasn't really in the plans, but Carter could kind of fit in it!
 Eventually Spencer came along and made it much better!
All-in-all, the perfect snow playing day!

Friday, February 15, 2013

Happy Valentines Day!

 A few years ago I had this "great" idea to have a special Valentines Day Dinner for our kids.  Steve and I would serve like a real waiter and waitress and make it really fun and memorable for the kids. I was feeling in the mood for fun and creativity (one of those really rare moments that get rarer as I get older).  Well, it was fun, and it was memorable and now it is "tradition", and therefore expected!  So, here you have the 2013 Annual Valentines Day Dinner...
No fancy dinner is complete without fancy cups and Sparkling Apple Juice...
 How can you deny those smiling faces?
 Our specialty, Cinnamon Apple Hearts...
 While dinner was simply pizza and breadsticks it still received a few thumbs
up...



 And one "finger-up"...
Happy Valentines Day!