Springbrook

Our favorite place to camp is Springbrook. When I think of camping, I think of this place because of all the fun times I had there as a kid, camping with my dad's extended family. It has changed quite a bit since then but is still a great place to go. We went there at the end of June for a family camping trip with my mom's side of the family. Lots of kids...Corbin, Conner, Ali, Julia, Lauren, Cade, and Brecken. Again, too busy to get a lot of photos, but here are a few photos/memories from that weekend.

Grandmas have the best laps!

I don't think Cade wants to touch the fish...

The kids caught a snail...they named it ______

and watched its every move...

Other memories from the weekend:

*Corbin wrecking his scooter and screaming so loud half the campground came running...he was okay.

*Ryan keeping us all entertained with his escalator, stairs, and elevator performances in the camper...he was sore the next day.

New Playset

The playset fairy visited us this past weekend...

Some neighbors wanted to get rid of a playset that their kids had outgrown and asked us if we wanted it...for free...so we said yes. And it's still to be determined if our choice was a wise one!

Our weekend was pretty uneventful. Jim golfed for the second time this year in the Cases' Annual Whacking Day. On Sunday, we cleaned out our old camper in preparation to trade it and no tears were shed! We've been trying to cut back on our dining out and that has been going pretty well. Jim picked up Mexican takeout on his way home from golf Saturday evening and that was it. And they screwed up our order so that just gives us another reason not to eat out!

Still trying to decide what to have the kids dress up as for Halloween. Cade has been looking through some catalogs at costumes and pointed out the Power Rangers, but I don't think he really even knows what a Power Ranger is. He has told me fireman and pumpkin and even pointed at Captain America a few times. Jim suggested football player since we already have the costume, but I just think that when he gets older, he will want to be a football player every year! Brecken hasn't been real vocal about what she wants to be but we think she would make a pretty good Pebbles and someone suggested Cindy Lou Who.

I can't believe September 30th is tomorrow! I think I missed 4 days of posts...I plan to make those up but they won't show up as the most recent post in case anyone is checking!

Lake View Camping

Back in June, Brecken took her first camping trip. We were supposed to go to Okoboji, but the forecast was calling for rain and storms, so we went to Lake View instead. Unfortunately, we didn't go far enough away to miss the rain and storms. Starting Saturday afternoon, it was a wet, soggy, muddy, windy weekend. Our campsite was one big swamp which Cade took full advantage of. He fell down two or three times and I never did get those stains out! Brecken actually did really well, especially considering how noisy it was at night due to the rain and wind. I think Jim did some fishing and Cindy & Gern had their boat so we got to go for a boat ride which Cade loved, but it got cut short when the lightning started. I spent the majority of the nights checking the weather forecast and storm warnings on my phone.

When we got home that Sunday afternoon, we were worried that we were going to find water in our basement and there was a little bit around the sump pump, but luckily we had avoided any major problems. I think that may have been the first time our sump pump has ever had to work. We didn't have much opportunity to take pictures, but did snap a few.

Cade and Grady did some "fishing" too.

Happy Camper! I think she was just starting to sit up by herself at this time...crazy to think how much she changed during the summer!

Peonies

I do not have a green thumb. I have the opposite of a green thumb...whatever that is. So I get pretty excited when something in our yard (that didn't already exist when we moved here)actually grows and blooms. These are our peony bushes that finally bloomed this year. I think we've had them since 2002 when I got them as a gift. I had written them off long ago and on my ever-growing list of things to do, flowers and plants always get pushed to the bottom. Maybe it was all the rain we got this summer, they actually got enough water! Ha!

She's Bringing Rat Tails Back

And here's Cade mid-nap today...yes he was still sleeping.

And this thing was in our garage today, stayed in this same spot all day...gives me the eebie jeebies just looking at the picture. I think it was as big as my head. Cade was freaked out by it. Jim said it has friends. I guess it could be worse!

We had a pretty good day today...finally went to the library and got some new bedtime books. Cade also got to choose a movie to check out. Usually I don't let him because almost every time we have brought home a movie from the library it is scratched and skips and we sit there and watch the same parts over and over and over. He chose Stuart Little 2 and there were no skips! And we've already watched it twice! : ) Cade took a super long nap, at least 3 hours. I guess he was tired from not taking one at all yesterday! Brecken now knows to go backwards down stairs. She can't actually go down the stairs by herself, but as soon as she gets to the stairs, she turns around and starts backing down. And today was Day One of Cade's Reward Chart. We chose 4 things to work on, a couple that he can do pretty easily and then a couple that he really needs to work on. They are using the bathroom (does this usually without issue), getting dressed by himself (sometimes does, sometimes won't), being gentle with Brecken (needs work), and no hitting (has had some issues with this lately and we don't want it to get out of hand). The only one he struggled with today was being gentle with Brecken. He was doing so good this morning, it was so sweet, he was rubbing her back and just being so nice but as the day went on it went downhill. So he only got 3 stickers today and won't get a special treat. : (

Happy Birthday to Grandpa Steve today! He is celebrating his birthday in Washington D.C...luckily not in the hotel that Jim stayed in! : )

Wagon Rides and Big Boy Cups

With Jim being gone last week, it was hard to keep up with my posts, but I am slowly catching up.

There's no doubt about it, single parents are amazing...not only was it challenging to get everything accomplished during the day, but then I don't sleep well so I'm like a walking zombie. The kids were both good though, so I can't complain too much. Cade got upset one night because he didn't want to take a bath, but other than that, I can't remember any major meltdowns. Luckily, we had some helpful visitors...my mom and Aunt Vicki came up Wednesday night because they were going to be watching my nieces starting Thursday while my brother and sister-in-law went to Las Vegas for the Cyclone game.

We went out to dinner with them at Red Rossa Wednesday night and then they stayed with us. Of course Cade had to sleep in the basement with them.

On Thursday, after preschool we had a picnic outside because it was such a nice day. I find Cade is always a little more agreeable when we do "fun" things or have little surprises. Jim was very thoughtful before he left and made up some little emergency care packages in case things got hairy. Luckily, we only used a couple of them. Cade saw the cup in the refrigerator and wanted to use it and of course I was not going to let my "Keep Mommy Sane" Caribou Coffee card gather any dust! No I didn't use the entire $20 in 4 days! ; )

Thursday night the group came over and had dinner with us. Then Friday I had to go to work for a meeting so the kids went to daycare. After my meeting, I met my mom and Vicki for lunch at Camille's and then we did a little shopping. They were helping me with some decorating in our family room. I picked up the kids after their naps and they picked up the girls and we again had dinner at our house. We were also joined my cousin Ali because she was joining the party due to her mom having to go to a conference. After dinner, we decided to walk to the Ice Cream Shoppe which is downtown and probably 15-20 blocks away. Ali pulled Julia and Cade the whole way in the wagon! I pushed Brecken and Lauren the whole way in the stroller! ; ) We sat outside and ate our ice cream. The kids were so wound up...I think we scared the rest of the customers! I realized, "wow this is what it will be like when we have 5 kids!" ha ha ; ) A few potty breaks and several in-and-outs of the wagon later and we made it home! The five of them then left, Brecken and I went to bed, and Cade and I waited up for Jim to get home.

Saturday we met them again for a picnic at the park. I convinced Jim that it would be much more fun than sitting on the couch watching football...quite an accomplishment if I don't say so myself! ; ) The kids had the whole park to themselves for a while, which was odd since it was a gorgeous day. After a bit, another family came and they had a little girl who was probably about 2, maybe even younger. She was a cute little girl with blonde curly hair and pink eyeglasses and Cade just became mesmerized by her or something, following her around the rest of the time making sure she was okay, patting her back, he just wouldn't leave her alone. I have never seen him do such a thing! Something about her brought out the gentle side in him that's for sure! I think her name was Kaleigh and her mom was getting a kick out of it too.

That night we went back over to their house and watched the ISU game. The first half was pretty uneventful. In fact, Jim was falling asleep, so I was saying, "let's just go home." Then the second half, things improved, Jim woke up and it turned out to be a great game, going into overtime! Unfortunately they came up short in OT. The kids were giving each other wagon rides down Anne & Ryan's hill, which was fun for them, a little scary for the adults. Most of the time it was Ali pulling the little ones and they would giggle every time like it was the first. Cade and Lauren played good together. At one point, Lauren was the mom, Cade was her son, and I was the teacher at daycare and she would drop him off and pick him up again and again. Each time, she was saying, "I need hugs, kisses, and Eskimos." Probably just like her mommy says to her when she drops her off! : )

While Jim was in D.C., our wash machine broke...the 3rd appliance in the past year to break down! Luckily, my step dad Clark was able to order a part and he came and fixed it for us. Thank you!!! I like to do at least one load of laundry a day to keep up with it, but it was a nice break to not have to worry about laundry while Jim was gone! : ) We also went and looked at campers and found one we like, so hopefully it will be ours soon. Is it the smartest time to buy a camper? Probably not, but I see it as in investment in our family and why not now when the kids are little and weekends aren't filled with activities. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of camping with my Grandpa & Grandma Swenson and our extended family. We are hoping to take it to an ISU game in a couple of weeks. My mom watched the kids for us while we did that. We actually gave Cade the choice of going or staying and he chose to stay and play with his cousins. We ran into our neighbors while we were there and their boys just couldn't understand why Cade wouldn't want to go with us!

Another busy, fun, and exhausting weekend!

Brecken ~ 9 Month Stats & Portraits

Height: 28.5 in (79%)
Weight: 21 lb, 3 oz (84%)
Head: 46.5 cm (97%)

Jim's Travels

Jim has been out of town this week for a work trip/class. He doesn't have to travel too often, so I really can't complain, but I don't like it! : ) He called me Tuesday night from Washington D.C. and said something like, "my hotel's not really in the greatest area." So after we hung up, I googled the name of his hotel and here are just a few of the reviews I read:

*"we got bitten by bedbugs..."
*"This place is absolutely terrible. I can't even believe that it is running legally."
*"Seriously, this place was frightening. I would rather have slept on a chair at Union Station."
*"We were not expecting much as this hotel was listed in a hostel website..."
*"Also the elevator license displayed in the elevator expired two years ago. "
*"The reception had bullet proof glass and the staff where useless."
*"It was freezing cold and many taxis just drove past. When I went back in and asked if a taxi could be ordered she just told me to go back outside and be patient."
*"Zero stars is waaaaaay to many!"
*"...huge blood stained spreads and sheets on the bed, as well as roaches crawling in the rooms."
*"had someone try to break into their room in the middle of the night, and apparently the intruder had a card key that worked on the door. The intruder nearly yanked the door handle unit off the door. Luckily, they had the security lock in place, and were fierce about yelling and screaming, and the intruder went away."
*"Room had a terrible water leak and MICE!!"

Nice. Also saw something about guests getting scabies. Eventually I did find a note from the general manager of the hotel that said that in June of this year, the hotel changed management and names, but I still can't believe his work would put him here!! I told him he needed to change hotels but he didn't. He found out from the cabbie (driving the unmarked "taxi") that he rode with (and got ripped off by) that they one of the reasons they changed management was because they found rats in the hotel.

At one time, we were considering all of us going on this trip. So glad we didn't. If we ever do that in the future, we will be making the arrangements! ; )

We are always thankful for his safe return, but especially this time!

State Fair

Yes we made the trek to the State Fair again this year. I'm the type of person who is okay with not going every year, but getting to eat whatever I want without guilt for a day was enough for me to say yes! : ) We went on a Friday morning and Jim only took the morning off so we didn't spend a lot of time there but enough to do a few fun things. We ate doughnuts, lemonade, corn dogs, cheese curds, fried mac-n-cheese bites, and a root beer float!

Our friends Amy and Wes joined us!

One of our favorite State Fair treats is the mini doughnuts...Brecken tried them for the first time and seemed to like them but they didn't really agree with her! ; )

We did a few things we had never done before. One of them was the Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center where you get to learn about the birthing process and see all the baby animals...so cute!

Another fun thing was Little Hands on the Farm where kids put on their apron and Pioneer hat and perform various farm chores and earn money by selling their goods. At the end they had a grocery store where you could "buy" something with your money...anything from a loaf of bread to an ice cream treat. Cade chose a Twinkie. There's nothing they didn't think of...they had "chickens" laying eggs, cows you could "milk," a grain bin, tractors to pedal. They weren't planting that day though, because it was too muddy.

Cade and Jim rode the giant slide...twice!

Brecken did good and even fell asleep in her stroller. Amy and I were pretty excited when we found one of the "secret" diaper changing station. I saw the sign and thought it just meant that it was a restroom with a bunch of changing tables, but what we found was a little carpeted air-conditioned room with changing tables, rocking chairs, extra diapers and wipes, and room to crawl. I wanted to hang out for awhile! I'm sure it's been around for years but it was new to me and as long as we have diapers to change, that's where it will be done! ; )

Cade and I rode the sky ride.

Tractors are always a must-see.

Laughter & Noise

There are lives I can imagine without children but none of them have the same laughter & noise. ~ Brian Andreas

Visitors from Georgia

In August we had some visitors from Georgia...Grandpa Steve (my dad) and Nanna Celeste. We did our usual trip to the mall when they got here on Thursday. Anne had graciously offered to pick them up at the airport because Brecken had her 9-month check-up, so we met them there for lunch. Grandpa and Cade walked around the mall several times, making stops at the candy store and the play area. Then that night, Celeste made a delicious Chicken Pot Pie (Paula Deen recipe) for us for dinner and then the Cases and Grandpa John came over for dessert, strawberry shortcake! (Yes I actually made it).

On Friday, we took Brecken to get her 9-month pictures taken at Portrait Innovations so Grandpa entertained Cade while we were doing that. (Grandpa and Cade had a lot of bonding time during this visit!: ) )They walked around the lake at the mall and then went inside and waited for us to get done. Jim met us at the picture place and that is why her smiles were so big! Jim and Brecken went for a walk while I was picking out pictures. I hate that they make you pick them out right away because then they talk you into buying more than you need...but they're just too darn cute! I told the employee helping me that I wanted to spend $50 and she said no problem. Then when we got done, she says, your total is $80 and I'm looking at her like huh? What part of $50 did you not understand!? We then met Anne for lunch at On the Border.

That night we went up to Story City to ride the Antique Carousel. It was built in 1913, bought by the city in 1938, retired in 1977, restored in 1980, and reopened in 1982. I hope they continue to take such great care of it because it truly is special. My Grandpa and Grandma Swenson used to take me there when I was little and it's always fun to get to "re-live" your childhood through your children. And that night I think it only cost $0.50 to ride it...cheap entertainment! We also played in the park for a bit and then had to make a stop at the local grocery store to pick up some Kringla...one of these days I am going to learn how to make it myself!

On Saturday, we just hung out at home. Jim and Celeste went and bought our flooring. And that night we went to the Cases for dinner. The kids played outside, helped the neighbor wash his car, and went on countless jeep rides. It's the funniest thing whenever we get together with them because in the beginning Cade and Julia are always best buddies and by the end of the night Julia is worn out and Cade and Lauren, the Energizer bunnies, are still going strong and suddenly they are best buddies. It's so funny to listen to Cade and Lauren's conversations.

The next day we had to take them to the airport...our visits always go by too fast, but we are so thankful that they get to come up as often as they do!

10 Months Old

Brecken's 10th Month

Lil' Miss Brecken is 10 months old today!

She is into everything these days, you really can't take your eyes off of her for two seconds especially with all of our stairs...loves climbing stairs.

She says:

DaDa

MaMa

Cade (pronounced Kaaaaaaayh)

Hi

Not perfectly of course, but we aren't the only ones who understand it, so that counts for something right?!

*Likes watching Wrigley

*She is very happy to see any of us, but I think her smile when she sees Daddy is just a little bit bigger ; )

*She is getting much better at putting herself to sleep at home, but I still like to rock her to sleep and will whenever she will let me

*Likes making music by banging on drums and clapping things together

*When she crawls out of her room, she heads straight for the bathroom and then to Cade's room

*She's eating more table foods and prefers feeding herself though it's not real pretty...she grabs fistfuls and tries shoving it in her mouth, about half makes it in

*Loves bath time and is constantly trying to crawl out of her little tub...we tried just letting her sit in the big tub and that was an accident waiting to happen...she was all over the place

*She is pulling herself up, standing, and walking along furniture

*We call her Brecky Lady a lot...no idea where that came from

Love, love, love this little girl!

Thomas the Train

We took a ride on Thomas the Train in Boone today...it was really cute and Cade enjoyed it but wondered why we were going so slow! I told him so we could see everything out the window, but there wasn't a lot to see on our short little ride so I don't think he bought it.

Cade shows off his tattoo and new watch. We asked him what time it was and he said, "time to go for another ride on Thomas!"

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out at home trying to get our family room put back together. Jim and Cade worked on our sidewalk...the city is doing a sidewalk repair project...they came around to each house and made white markings where sealant is needed and red markings where the sidewalk needed to be replaced (at our cost of course). Luckily, we didn't have any red! Cade took a long nap since he didn't go to sleep until midnight Saturday night. We were at the Cases playing with their Nintendo Wii...pretty addictive. Wrigs got a walk and Brecken was just her usual happy self!

Other notes from the weekend:

*Brecken tried to eat (I don't think she did) Chipper's dog food at Matt & Kelly's. I'm pretty sure she ate toilet paper on Friday. If it's dangerous or gross, she finds it! If she finds food under her high chair, she'll eat it...I read a comic somewhere that said the 3-second rule becomes the 3-day rule when you have kids! ; )

* Saturday I went and assembled some meals at EME, we had the Stuffed Pork Roast and Mashed Potatoes for dinner tonight and it was delish!

*Jim played in a golf tournament on Friday afternoon which would have been a nice break from work if it wouldn't have rained all day...they were soaked! One of his teammates' said, "a bad day of golf is still better than a good day of work," but Jim wasn't so sure he agreed, so it must have been pretty miserable!

Bummer

Well, the Cyclones lost to the Hawkeyes this year, but our fans are still cuter...

Our friends, the Riesbergs, had a party for the game. I spent most of the time running around after kids, but that's okay, as the game was pretty boring! Cade got to play with Rylee (and her 4-wheeler) and Brecken was a good cheerleader and had fun watching Chipper their little dog run around. We'll get 'em next year! ; )

New Carpet

We have new carpet in our family room! I have been waiting for this day since, oh the day we moved in (9/2001). I still can't believe it's actually in. It feels like luxury compared to what we had before. Thanks Jim for saying yes and for all of your hard work!

The Old

The Old Entry from the Garage

The New

The New Entry from the Garage

Cade likes it too!

Brecken crawled up here by herself when no one was looking and thought she was pretty cool!



Cade helped me make some Pretzel Hugs for the big game tomorrow by sorting all of the ISU colored M&M's from the rest. He told me that the yellow M&M's were "Hawkeye" M&M's. Our neighbor Wes is a big Hawkeye fan and is always trying to brainwash him. So Jim put a stop to that by teaching Cade to say, "Boo Hawkeyes, yucky Hawkeyes," which is cute and all until he starts saying it to complete strangers in public! And they just look at me like, "what are you teaching your children?" Tonight at the grocery store he saw a Hawkeye chair and said that we should buy it for Wes.

Ta Da!

Go Clones!!

Remembering 9/11/01

Today marks 7 years since the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01. Everyone remembers where they were when they heard about it. I was working at Care Initiatives in West Des Moines. I had a radio in my cubicle. It was barely audible for fear of upsetting someone, but I remember hearing Katie Couric's voice and thinking, "that's weird, why is Katie Couric on the radio?" So I turned it up and at that point they didn't really know it was a terrorist attack, just reporting that an airplane had hit one of the buildings of the World Trade Center. Then as I was listening, the second airplane hit and that's when I realized this wasn't just an accident. Soon after, several of us gathered in a room that had a TV and we watched some of the coverage. I remember the lady who sat next to me, Peg, was so upset she had to leave work. I'm sure I didn't accomplish much more the rest of the day. I remember trying to find reports on the Internet and our network was terrible on a normal day, so Internet was pretty much nonexistent on that day. I remember going home that night and Jim and I just sat on the couch watching all of the news coverage. We were pretty much glued to it and I remember just sitting there crying, knowing our nation would never be the same and wondering how I could ever bring a child into this world. I still get teary when I think of all of the children who lost parents or all of the firefighters who died risking their lives going into those buildings KNOWING that it was not going to be good.

We went to New York City for New Year's Eve in 2003 and visited Ground Zero, the site where the World Trade Center was. I had never seen the buildings in person before but to look up at the buildings around us that seemed monstrous and know that the World Trade Center buildings reached way beyond them was just unbelievable to me and to know that they collapsed, they fell. to. the. ground...I just couldn't wrap my brain around it.

Tonight we were watching a story about it on the History Channel and I still don't like to watch it. Cade walks in the room and says, "I think there's a fire outside." So I said, "no that's somewhere else, not here." But it made me realize that some day I am going to have to explain it to my children and that I can't shield them from all things bad for forever. My hope is that when that day comes, the thought of that occurring will be as much of a shock to them, as it was to all of us who witnessed it.

2008 Olympics

This year's Olympics in Beijing were especially exciting for us to watch due to local gymnast, Shawn Johnson, and former local runner, Lolo Jones competing. We lost many hours of sleep staying up late several nights to watch due to the time zone difference.

For some of the events, it was Cade's first exposure to the sport. It was quite entertaining to watch because after he would see it on TV, he would try it himself. He watched swimming and the next time he was in his little pool, he was just a maniac, diving, belly flopping, and throwing himself all around. The next sport he got into was gymnastics. We're watching the floor routine and the next thing we know, he is running back and forth across the family room, doing somersaults and throwing himself on the ground, saying, "Watch this Mom, this is dangerous."

Funny sidenote: The day we were at Adventureland, which was I think the last day of the Olympics, Anne spotted Shawn Johnson's coach, Liang Chow! : )

I Like Shoes

Hi. My name is Brecken and I like to eat shoes. It really doesn't matter whose shoes or what kind of shoes, but I go searching for them around the house all the time. I have a crazy sixth sense of knowing when a fresh shoe has left someone's foot and is just sitting there waiting for me to sink my chompers into. At first my parents thought it was just a Crocs thing and they even bought me my own little pair just for chewing, but now they see that I have no preferences, I'll try them all. When they let me out of the "Bird's Nest" to crawl freely, I go straight for the hallway and see if any shoes accidentally got left there. Sometimes I just hang out and wait...sooner or later, I'll find some.

Meeting Parker

Back in June, we took a camping trip to Mahoney State Park in Nebraska. We met the Smith family there and it was a fun place with lots to do. We didn’t get to take advantage of everything, but it was great to spend time with them and meet their new baby girl, Parker. What a trooper! She was just shy of 4 weeks old and did really well. Brecken was a good camper too. Cade, on the other hand, was not on his best behavior. That was at the peak of his bad behavior (hopefully) and he threw a huge fit in the camper when he didn't want to nap that I'm pretty sure the whole campground heard. As noted before, the summer has been challenging! He can be the sweetest little angel one minute and the next he is anything but. When we discipline him, he sometimes tells us he doesn’t love us…how do they learn such things?! On a more positive note, he did tell me one night shortly after this while we were reading books, “Mommy, you’re a good mommy.” Anyway, it was great to hang out with the Smiths for awhile and Jodi and I are so excited to both have our little girls to go along with our boys!

Parker Evelyn
born 5.26.08
8 lbs, 7 oz.

Cade Takes the Field

We attended another ISU game and this time Cade got to go with! He enjoyed the tailgating and pre-game activities, but is still only somewhat interested in the actual game. The coolest part...as a member of the Lil' Clone Club, Cade (& Jim) got to go out on the field before the game as the team was introduced. Very fun, I was jealous! Jim had forgotten how cool it feels to be out there and was pumped up about that. Unfortunately, for both of them, they won't get to do that every game...that will be hard to explain to Cade!

Cade and I took a few walks during the game...towards the end of the 3rd quarter, Cade had to use the restroom, so I took him and then we decided to take a walk over to the other side of the stadium because they have remodeled it (very cool...makes our side look ghetto). Instead of going back the way we came, I thought we could just walk out the northwest gate and back in the northeast gate...well not so much when they don't allow re-entry after the 4th quarter has started. So Cade and I were locked out...no exceptions! I understand why they do it, but clearly Cade and I didn't fall into that category so I was not too happy. I didn't have my phone, so no way to let Jim know where we were. The oh-so-nice worker that wouldn't let me back in let me use his phone, but Jim never got my message and was all worried wondering what had happened to us! I finally got a hold of him after the game was over and told him we were outside waiting for him. Cade and I had fun though, I gave him piggyback rides and he ran around, burning up his excessive amounts of energy!

Cade has been asking to see fireworks lately, so the perfect ending to the day was getting to see those...we had a great day (oh...and the Clones won)! : )

Cade was all about Cy!

Before the game, there's the Cyclone Experience with kid activities.

Cade's favorite was the slide...went three times (and the lines weren't short).

Here's Cade making himself at home at the tailgate next to us. To him, I guess it's all one big party and we're all friends!

Cade was Matt's little shadow during the tailgate.

Jim and Cade were in the front row, you can see Cade on Jim's shoulders just to the left of the kicking net.

Brecken spent the day at Grandma Bonni and Grandpa Clark's. She had fun too, got to go to the Fall Festival parade in Oakland and get spoiled with attention from Grandma and Hannah. I missed her like crazy though...it was our first overnight away from her! She's kind of in that scared-of-people-who-aren't-Mom-or-Dad stage, but she did really good! We went and picked her up on Sunday, went out for lunch at Ruby Tuesday, and went to look at some campers. Busy weekend...I thought these things were supposed to be for resting!

Are you ready for some football?

Cade and Gavin ready to go!

Cade practices his stance...

The Ravens vs. The Bears...Cade are you ready?

Oops...guess not!

I think they might be recruiting Wrigley...

*Happy Anniversary to Jim's parents...33 years and she still laughs at his jokes! Thank you for showing us all how happy 33 can be!*

Adventureland

We took advantage of our realtor's Customer Appreciation Day at Adventureland again this year (8/24). The Cases joined us and we had a great day. The kids were all good, even Brecken. She was such a little trooper considering she only got to ride one ride (the train). ; ) I was amazed that none of the three older kids were afraid to ride anything. They all rode the Raging River (Cade & Anne got soaked), they all rode the Log Ride (Julia got soaked), they rode this little Frog Hopper ride that I probably wouldn't have rode when I was 10, and Julia even rode the Outlaw (a big, scary roller coaster). There was one ride that probably gave them all nightmares...it was called The Underground and was like an indoor (dark) mini roller coaster with an old ghosttown theme. Lauren covered her eyes through that one and the other two couldn't wait for it to be over. The guys rode all the roller coasters and Jim was pumped because he got to sit in the front seat of the first car on one of them. The park was a little crowded but the weather was pretty much perfect. We can't wait to go back next year!

This was by far the best picture of the day though...Julia was in the front seat ducking down because she had gotten soaked on the first hill and wanted to avoid that on the second and little LoLo covering her eyes...too cute!

Happy 10 Year Anniversary to this crazy couple today...we cherish all the good times we have had with you...we love you both and wish you many more!

JuJu

Our niece Julia started Kindergarten a few weeks ago. How did this happen? I remember the day we "patiently" waited to see her for the first time in the hospital like it just happened last week. She lives close by so we see her a lot and in a way I sort of feel like it's my own child going off to school. So a small part of me is sad because she's not just "our little JuJu" anymore…we have to share her with the rest of the world! : ) But I am so excited for her as she begins this journey because I know she is going to be a rockstar student and person in general! : ) We all love her to pieces! Go be *YOU* JuJu!

(It also makes me realize that we are only two years away from this day with Cade…yikes!)

One of those days...

Today was just one of those days...it started off by Cade waking up at 4 am wanting to sleep in our bed. Most times I will just go lay in his bed with him until he falls back asleep but sometimes we're too tired to fight it and in our bed he goes. He went back to sleep, but was up earlier than usual. He then pooped his pants (he will hate me for telling this someday) when he had already gone on the potty...no idea where that came from since I can probably count on one hand how many times he's done that since beginning potty training. The rest of the day, as far as I know, went fine, but once we got home, things soured quickly. He was being hyper and naughty outside, not listening, then fought coming in, then was just whiny and talking back and ugh...someone told me it's called the "trying 3's" and that pretty much sums it up. He tries and tests our patience daily!! But I know it's all just a part of becoming his own little independent person...we choose our battles and we just tell ourselves, "this too shall pass." And we will not wish these days away...we just deal with it the best we know how...take the downs with the ups because the ups make it all worth while! We love ya Cader Tot!

Tomorrow was supposed to be new carpet day but found out yesterday that we needed to have a transition piece on the laminate before they install the carpet. We thought no problem, we'll pick that up today, install it tonight, and be ready for tomorrow! Well when they have to order the transition piece, that becomes a problem! So it has been rescheduled for next Thursday. : (

A post is no fun without a pic, so here's some I snapped of Brecken today...she does this thing lately where she's smiling, you smile at her, and then she smiles bigger...it's too cute.

Preschool

Cade started preschool today! He goes twice a week in the morning. I didn't get a lot of info out of him, but he did say that he didn't get in trouble and went potty when he was supposed to and that's all I was asking! He had a snack of cereal and peaches and got to do some sort of painting with his hand...I saw a big piece of paper with all of their little hand prints...teachers are so brave! I asked if he made some new friends and he said yes, but when I asked what their names were, he didn't know. Then he started coming up with all sorts of stories and you don't know what to believe because he has a pretty active imagination (talks about "his brother" all the time). He had no issues with me leaving him, he told me on the way in that I wouldn't be able to stay there with him and once we were inside, he spotted some toys that interested him (tools and a hard hat) and left me behind.

It was starting to feel like fall here today! Though it's sad to see summer go, this is my favorite time of year!

Labor Day Weekend

The weekend somewhat started for us on Thursday night when we watched our beloved Cyclones win their season opener...we're undefeated...woohoo!! Jim left work early and we rode up with our friends Matt and Kelly. My mom, Grandma Bonni, came up to watch the kids (Thanks Mom!) We tailgated a little before the game and I got a nasty migraine during the game. I don't get them often, but when I do, ugh...I get nauseous and can barely function. Excedrin with Caffeine is really the only thing that works to get rid of them which I have only discovered within the past year.

Anyhoo, the kids were pretty good for Grandma. Brecken cried for 10 minutes when we left and finally calmed down when they went outside. She sat in her Exersaucer for a long time out there...she is so much more content in that thing when she is outside. Then she was a stinker when it was time to go to bed...she zonked out at 7 and then after a half hour woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep. The Cases visited, so Cade played with his cousins and had root beer floats. And then got to sleep with Grandma Bonni, a good day! Earlier in the day, we had went to Target and it must have been my lucky day because both kids were good while there. Cade got a McDonald's cash register. He likes playing with the cash register at his cousins' so I figured for $10, we won't worry about getting super sized.

Friday, the kids, my mom and I went to the mall for lunch and a bit of shopping...got a new purse and some sunglasses. I had a gift card and Fossil purses were on sale at Dillard's...they are my absolute favorite, but they are way too expensive at regular price. My Target purse that I bought at least a year ago had started to fall apart, so I figured I deserved a little upgrade! ; ) And my Target sunglasses had failed me as well, so I took advantage of another sale at Younkers. I really don't shop for myself often, so I have to note the bargains! Grandma Bonni hung out with us until that evening and while there she looked outside at one point where Cade was playing in the backyard...only to see him with no pants on! She goes out there to ask him what he's doing and he says, "peeing in the flowers like Wrigley does! And I pooped too!" The peeing I can handle, especially if it means he's not going to pee his pants, but please tell me none of the neighbors saw him pooping in the yard! He also needs a instruction on how to keep his pants pulled up while he's going...not my area!!

Saturday and Sunday were work days. Jim needed to get the majority of the floor done for next week's new carpet. We're putting laminate over the linoleum in our entry from the garage/bathroom and extending it over to the stairs to the kitchen. My dad and Celeste had put laminate in their house so when they were here they showed him what he needed to buy and got him pointed in the right direction. He did a great job despite the floor not being completely level. It makes me very, very happy...bring on the carpet! Cade played outside with his friends Cole and Gavin...pretending to camp, swimming, playing with sidewalk chalk (even decorated the house), riding bikes, cars, and jeeps, catching a praying mantis and who knows what else? Brecken and I took a couple of walks on Sunday, Jim and Cade joined us for one. Cade got tired so he climbed in the basket...he loves to ride there and even though it's probably not good on the stroller, we let him do it because it's fun. Cade and I took a trip to the grocery store Saturday and of course he had to ride in the cart with the car attached...even though those things are about twice my size, it keeps him entertained and they aren't always available. Every time there was something on the floor that had fallen or been dropped, he would say, "Uh oh Mom," and would have to get out and figure out where to put it back. Then he was pretending to shop and I would have to tell him what to get and he would take it off the shelf and put it in "his car." Luckily I wasn't in a hurry and the store wasn't busy...but I remind myself that some day he won't fit in the cars and some day he won't even want to go to the grocery store with me...so I will cherish these every day moments. Saturday night, Brecken must have been tired because she fell asleep drinking her bottle in the family room and this is a girl who rarely falls asleep anywhere but her crib!

Monday we went to Jim's parents' to attend the Hoo Doo Days parade and have a family barbecue with the Morse side of the fam. The parade was a little long, but Cade got lots of candy and saw every kind of tractor and fire truck known to man. Brecken did good despite the lack of shade. Lunch was delicious as always...ribs, brisket, chicken, homemade rolls, and every kind of pie imaginable. We got to see Jim's grandparents, Grandpa Don and Grandma Eileen, which was nice since we don't get to often. Grandma Eileen is a very talented painter and made both of the kids little "bunny" banks. Grandpa Darrell's brother Don was there who looks a lot like Darrell so that's always funny to see Cade do a double take trying to figure out which one is Grandpa! Cade also got to go on a lawn mower ride with Uncle Andy and a tractor ride with Grandpa Darrell (and they went "round and round in circles"). He played with his cousins Sarah and Emily and we also picked lots o'peaches, Cade even helped. We literally could have stood there all day long and picked peaches and not even made a dent. So now we just try to eat them as fast as we can before they go bad because I don't like peach pie and don't know any other good recipes to make! : ) The best way to eat them is with Briana's Poppyseed Dressing over the top...yum! Unfortunately Brecken won't be eating any because every time we give her baby food peaches, it doesn't agree with her stomach...she seems to have a much more sensitive stomach than Cade ever did.

Nice long weekend (5 1/2 days for me!)...wish those came more often!

****I'm trying to do a post a day during September to catch up! And trying to document more...mostly stuff that no one else cares about, but stuff I want to remember!****