Month: July 2011

I got to meet my newest next door neighbor today. Amber and Nick welcomed Grant on 7/31 at 2:42 AM (I think). He’s a little peanut at just over 5 lbs. and so precious to hold!

I had a great, productive week, but I missed my little guy. Welcome home Alex!

I have basically been home alone all week. Wade was in town Monday morning and flew out Monday evening. He flew in this afternoon just in time for our Shawn Mullins and Marc Cohn concert. In the little time we had together we managed to try some new restarurants.
Broken Yolk – I loved the name and couldn’t wait to try it for breakfast. They are located near Marquette and appear to be a college place. My bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit was delicious. The hashbrowns weren’t crispy enough, but they rarely are. I’d definitely go back!
Crazy Water – Wade and I love this place! We have actually been several times and couldn’t wait to go again. I highly recommend the sea scallops.
Butch’s Old Casino Steak House – Thank goodness for Yelp or I would never have set foot inside the door. They give new meaning to hole-in-the-wall. However, the inside was fun and quirky. The waitress was wonderful. Our steaks were excellent! Wade and I both ordered the steer filet with a seafood side (scallops for me and shrimp for Wade). Neither of us would bother with the seafood again. It wasn’t impressive at all and we ended up just eating the steak. It’s also very casual, which is nice when I want a good steak and don’t want to dress up. (Reminded me of Coerper’s 5 O’Clock Steakhouse, but I liked Butch’s better.)

Mom and Alex seem to be having a great week. I hear they have been to the pool, two movies, to feed the ducks, and to the lake. They’ve made cookies and cupcakes and painted “garages” for the trucks. I think overall it is a definite success!

My project while Alex is in Paducah is to strip and sand our storm windows and doors. The plan is to convert them from screens to glass and repair all the damaged wood. It may take every piece of sandpaper and sander in the house, but I’m determined to get it all done!

As soon as Alex woke up we went searching for Aunt Lissy and Harper. We found them taking a quiet morning swim.

We all got dressed for church and Harper played peek-a-boo while she waited:

Dad’s church is very small so Alex actually got to sit through part of the service. He was pretty good for Leo’s christening, except when he was rolling on the floor looking up at everyone. At least he was quiet…

Alex is spending the week with my Mom. I dropped him (and all of his stuff) at her house and then drove to Milwaukee to see Wade before he leaves town tomorrow. What a crazy, hectic schedule we always have!

Harper and Alex are the two early birds so we let them have a little bonding time while everyone else slept:

Harper’s Sip ‘N See was this afternoon so we left the boys at home by the pool. Harper was an angel and was content to let anyone hold her. She fell asleep at one point and took a short nap on the floor in another room.

My Dad kept Alex entertained all day. He was really excited to show him the new car for the grandkids. Being the oldest grandchild definitely has some perks. Alex will probably have this toy to himself when visiting until everyone else gets a little bigger.

Then Alex wanted to ride the pony. It was extremely hot, but of course B just saddled him up and they went for a walk.

Alex and I spent the day at my Dad’s house. Dad and Laura had to work in the morning so we played in the pool. Leo even joined us for a little while.

Dad’s latest venture is a rock quarry. He was excited to show it off to Alex – who loved the big machines! We were all required to wear hard hats and safety vests. I was afraid Alex would take off his hat and must have stressed that he needed to leave it on a little too much. He held it with both hands the entire time we were there – even when getting up in the 70 ton dump truck for a ride.

Alex took an incredibly long nap and woke up just in time for dinner. Laura and Dad treated us all to Hibachi! The dinner ended up being two hours long, but Alex was content to sit in B’s lap.

Paducah has always been a place of firsts for Alex – first time sleeping through the night, first swim, first tea, etc. When we got to my Mom’s house she had a new tricycle for Alex. He hopped on and started pedaling like he had been doing it all along (but it was definitely a first).

And this was only one room…..

Amber and I loaded up the boys for a car trip! We arrived at Bay Beach Amusement Park just as they were opening. It was hot. We were sweaty. Everybody had a great time!

The last shot of the day. Two worn out boys:

Alex and I decided to take Madison for a walk after dinner. We had a sudden storm while we were eating and decided to add rain boots to our plan. In the end, I think Madison took Alex for a walk:

Alex also found a few puddles along the way. (The slight haze occurs when you take my camera from the air conditioned indoors to the muggy, humid outdoors.)

I am so grateful for whoever planted raspberries in our backyard. We are getting even more than last year. This is our second picking:

This project was 90% complete all week (see Alex playing on it here). Today Wade finally got the necessary bolts to complete it. It looks to me (and Alex) like mini bunk beds so we let him try it out:

After that we put it to its intended use and stacked up all the wood:

Yup, we spent the morning at the pool. We love this place!

Alex has rediscovered peek-a-boo. I get the biggest kick out of his “hiding”. He covers his face and really thinks we can’t see the rest of him.

We started the day with a trip to the dentist. I tried to prep Alex by telling him Dr. Rick would clean his teeth. In the hour before we got there, Alex went from saying Dr. Rick will “clean my toys” to “clean my teeth” to “brush my hair”. We have been going to Small World Dentistry for a year and I have always loved them (see first trip here). Today they were outstanding. This was Alex’s first teeth cleaning (the others were examinations and brushings). The woman was fantastic about explaining all of her tools and showing Alex how it would feel on his fingers. Alex was also a champ. He patiently followed all of her instructions throughout the cleaning. Dr. Rick had had a rough morning with unhappy 3 year olds and was glad Alex calmly opened his mouth and let him count his teeth.

The rest of the day we spent with Abram – before and after nap. The boys have discovered computer games and Amber and I decided to let them both play a little (great social activity, right?):

After nap it was all about the backyard and Buzz Lightyear!

This has been a great bike, but I think Alex is almost ready for one with pedals.

Gram not only helps Alex play games on the iPad, but she plays pinball too. Who knew?

My Mom called me last week and asked if we’d like company for a day or two. She had a weekend trip to Chicago and wanted to come see us afterwards. We definitely told her “YES”. Alex was excited and kept asking for Gram all day. We picked her up from the train station and he was in her lap the minute we got inside:

Wade has been working on this project for a LONG time, but Alex’s train whistle is finally finished!

Abram, Alex, and Phoenix got together in the front yard after nap.

Then Amber brought out the popsicles!

Alex and I have both wanted to spend most mornings at the pool. When Maren suggested the pool for our playdate, I was excited to go again. Alex had a blast playing with Elise and wanted to be with her constantly.

Mariel was happy to be in the water, but only in Maren’s arms.

Alex has learned to jump this summer. He has spent most of the summer holding my hands and jumping into the pool. In the last few weeks he has experimented with jumping in on his own. He walks to the most shallow part of the pool and then works his way deeper.