Month: August 2013

Wade and I both have a list of projects we’d like to accomplish this weekend, but we also wanted to do a few fun things with the boys. I spent the morning cleaning windows and then we headed down to see the Harley parade. (Our city has been invaded with motorcycles to celebrate the big 110th anniversary.)

After nap we let Alex pick our activity. You’ll never guess but he wanted to go fishing. It was a great fishing day and both boys caught several fish and nobody fell in (but it was close).

Today is the last “regular” summer day before school starts on Tuesday. We celebrated by getting all the boys together and letting them make pizzas.

When Wade gave the AC man our deposit they talked dates. We knew the man had a schedule a few weeks out and we were hoping they would be able to come the week I was at the beach with the boys. The man couldn’t promise that and gave us a firm date of the week we returned. He did stress that he would try to come earlier if at all possible. Before I left Wade told me the man had called and they definitely wouldn’t be coming till after I got home (sigh).
Then Wade and I were talking on the phone one night while I was at the beach and he mentioned he had a surprise for me. I assumed he had done some project around the house and didn’t think too much about it. The boys and I got home last Monday a few hours before Wade came home from work. I unloaded the car and was thankful for the cool house. Then at some point I noticed he had removed the window air conditioning units and just assumed he had done it in preparation for the workmen coming the next day. A little later I heard a really subtle, low whooshing sound. Then I really looked around and realized the air conditioning was already installed!! I was beyond excited and so thankful to have not been present for all of the work. Now most of my rooms have these small circular vents in the ceilings (in the picture they look almost like can lights) and cool air flows on demand!

I had known it was going to be a messy project, but Wade later told me that the installers had started work every day at 5 am. Then I was doubly thankful the boys and I had been gone!!

Amber and I planned one last trip to the farm (Green Meadows Farm) before school starts next week. Amber has a new car and could even fit all of us!

What I love about this place is there is always something new (granted we only come twice a year). Today there was a new “train” pulled by a tractor, a new hot wheels racing ramp, and a new water pump feature. The kids loved the mix of animals and activities.

Alex continues to outgrow his bookshelves. The crates have worked really well for hardback books, but the paperbacks tend to get lost or crumpled. I was searching Pinterest for a solution and the unanimous vote seemed to be using spice racks from IKEA. I mentioned this to Wade and he conveniently scheduled a trip to the store (for work) a few days later. The spice racks are finally painted, hung, and filled with books.

We finally made it back to Milwaukee! We are home after two days, 18.5 hours in the car, three meal stops (McDonald’s, Cracker Barrel, and Dairy Queen), four gas stops, two additional potty breaks, one stop at the outlet mall, and a total of 1,123 miles.
Note – I knew giving Teague an ice cream on the road was a bad idea, but we’d already had a 30 minute lunch stop and I was anxious to get going. I was right and it was a huge mess, but he loved it.

I mentioned a while ago that Wade was working on the steps (see here) but I forgot to post a picture of the finished product!

I think everyone is tired of our beach vacation and ready to go home. It didn’t help matters that today was overcast and rainy. Gram kept Alex entertained with “experiments” all day. His favorite was the creation of the blue drink.

We finally got everyone out for one last walk on the beach and a little shell hunting.

Then we bribed the kids with M&Ms for one last group picture on the beach.

It should surprise no one that Alex created a way to go fishing in the ocean. This boy is obsessed lately with fishing. He found a long vine and convinced Gram to make a fishing hook (she did pretty well by bending a plastic drinking straw). Alex decided fruit loops would be the perfect bait. He had a blast fishing while Harper and Teague spent their time jumping off the sand cliffs. All in all it was a pretty good evening walk.

This is a pretty typical snapshot of our afternoons at the beach. (Not to mention we found a great spot for gathering shells!)

Before we left for the beach, Wade gave me very specific instructions and a box. I did my best to follow directions, but I can only imagine what would have occurred if Wade had been with us.
We went for a walk on the beach last night and with Aunt Lissy’s assistance I was able to plant a very special bottle in the sand. Alex has been on the look out for a map in a bottle and tonight he found one! Captain Jack had signed the map and marked his treasure with an X.

Today I got up really early (quite a feat to arise before four little ones) and made a quick trip to the beach. When everyone was up we immediately went hunting for treasure. Alex spotted the X pretty quickly. He started digging and eventually (much longer than I expected) found a treasure chest! He was so excited! The treasure chest was full of gold doubloons, beaded necklaces, an eye patch, and a pirate flag. The boy was walking on water!!

The weather has been perfect this week – high 70s and low 80s with quite a bit of clouds. Today the clouds produced a little rain so we played inside for the morning. Thankfully Gram brought some construction paper and Alex has been “making a craft” all day. His favorite was the kite, which actually turned out pretty well!

Thankfully after nap better weather returned. Mackenzie even made an appearance in her swimsuit.

The kids couldn’t wait to go out to the beach this morning. I am pretty sure we were on the sand and playing by 7:30 am.

The great thing about the beach are the naps. Everyone takes wonderful naps! We did a little playing inside until we could convince everyone to head back down to the water.

Then we played, caught a hermit crab, and built sandcastles.

My Mom, Melissa, Harper, Mackenzie, Alex, Teague and I finally arrived at Gulf Shores. Let our beach vacation begin!

Teague’s latest phrases are all about people and their houses. All last week he was talking about “Gram’s House”. Today he knew we were going to see B and kept saying “B House” over and over. We went out as soon as the boys woke up and stayed till nap time. The boys loved spending time with B. Teague kept pointing to the garage and B took him to see the cars. Teague was in heaven when he got to “drive”. Unfortunately it was a wet and rainy day so the cars couldn’t go outside. After that we headed to the pool and then tried fishing in B’s pond (those fishing poles are really coming in handy). Teague was the only one to catch a fish, but everyone had fun.

My boys love watermelon. We normally finish off anything we buy in a sitting. Alex thinks you are supposed to eat it with a baller. Teague will thankfully eat it by hand.

Alex has become quite obsessed with fishing. When we were at the park last night, he noticed the big pond. Today the first thing he mentioned was going fishing. Gram was only too happy to accommodate. After purchasing new poles for the boys we spent the morning fishing – with mini pepperoni and cheese for bait.

The boys and I drove from Milwaukee to Paducah today. We got in just in time for dinner and Gram suggested a picnic at Noble Park. Most everything I remember from my days of playing there has been removed, but there is still a long pipe that is so fun to try and walk/crawl across. Alex was drawn to it immediately.

Amy introduced us to a new park today – Kinderberg Park. It was a big hit – lots of flowers for picking, a zip line, and a splash pad. At 60 degrees I thought it was too cold for the water, but Alex was quite insistent. He had a blast and even convinced Abby to join in for a little while.

I mentioned long ago that Amber, Nicki, and I attempted to tie dye shirts for the kids. We got together one afternoon and did the messy part outside.

Then the directions said to let them sit in a plastic bag overnight. When I removed the rubber bands the next morning they looked awesome – our colors were red and blue. Then I followed the directions and washed them in the washing machine (by themselves). Now we have pink and purple t-shrits. Obviously we need a little more practice (and probably direction).