Shoe Diva

Little Livi Lu is eight months old and is OBSESSED with crawling over to the shoe pile and playing/gnawing on any of them she can find.  Can a shoe addiction start this young?  I know Grandma Marcia would sure be proud!

Lately she has just been getting into everything, but she is so funny when she gets into something she's not supposed to because she squeals excitedly and LOUDLY.  With Nolan, it's quiet that makes me nervous.  With Livi, it's those noisy squeals that are unnerving.  But no doubt about it, she's sure cute - even when she's getting into trouble!

Special Delivery!

Calling a pile of junk you want moved a "special delivery" will cause your 3 year old to carry it to any room in the house, thereby allowing you to sit on your duff and watch the miracle unfold ‪#heputallthelaundryaway #feelinglikeagoddess #parentinglikeaboss

Breakfast

Typical breakfast with Nolan:

Me: "Nolan, you'll have to have regular syrup on your pancake today because we're out of chocolate syrup."
Nolan: "Noooooo....I want chocolate syrup...!!!"
Me: "It's all gone. Do you want regular syrup or none?"
Nolan: "Chocolate syrup!"
Me: "Regular syrup or none"
Nolan: "None."
Nolan: Takes one bite..."This is the bestest pancake I ever had"...Stares into space
Me: "Nolan, eat up your pancake."
Nolan: "No.....it doesn't have syrup on it...

Wisconsin Dells - Take Two!

This year we were lucky enough to get to go on two getaways to the Wisconsin Dells, just a few weeks apart.  After going to Christmas Mountain Village with Steve and Patti in March, we were invited to join the Lindners and the Khans for a 2 night stay at the Wilderness Resort, complete with 3 HUGE waterparks.  We left on a blizzardy Friday morning and it was hard to even think about swimming with all the snow blowing all over! We arrived in the Dells about 3 hours later and got check into our very nice, spacious condo.  We had 9 kids under the age of 11 plus the 6 adults and it accommodated all of us nicely.  Each family had their own bedroom and bathroom, with a spacious living area and kitchen to share.

It didn't take us long to get our swimming gear on and head out to the waterparks.  A shuttle bus came to pick us up (Nolan LOVED this) and took us to our first stop - the wave pool complete with a great kid's play area and a few water slides.  Our trip to the Dells a few weeks before really boosted Nolan's confidence in the water.  He was so brave - eagerly going on all the slides and enjoying floating around in the wave pool.  Livi liked the water, too and it was cute watching her splash her little hands and feet in it.  

After a while, it was time to head to the next waterpark.  This one had a much larger kids playground with lots to entertain the little ones.  Nolan loved climbing all over and quickly found the big purple water slide that he wanted to go down.  I nearly had a heart attack watching his little body propel down that slide the first time.  I think mainly because he does not have much experience in the water and I wasn't sure what he reaction was going to be and I didn't want him to get scared.  He loved it and went down it over and over.  (By about the 5th time, I was no longer in a panic...)  Livi and I floated around in the lazy river for a while and pretty soon it was time to head back to the condo for dinner.  We enjoyed some BLTs and got the little ones tucked in for the night, so the adults could chat, relax, and play a few games.  By about midnight it was time to turn in to get some rest for plenty of swimming the next day!

After a yummy breakfast of breakfast pizza, we trekked off to the third waterpark.  This one also had a huge play area for kids, plus several waterslides including a family waterslide.  Since we were there right as it opened, there were no lines so I thought it would be a good time to take Nolan down the big waterslide with Eric and me.  It was a big slide in a fully enclosed tube, so it was completely pitch black inside.  I had no idea how Nolan would respond, but thought it was worth a try based on how much he loved the other slides.  He did not like the "big dark slide" but didn't panic and didn't cry.  I kept cheering as we went down to make it seem more fun and to keep him from losing it.  He said he didn't want to go on it again, but quickly recovered and found some other fun things to keep himself busy.

Livi was pretty sleepy as most of this was during her nap time, so she curled up on my chest and went right to sleep.  She was such a good girl for this whole trip and I don't think she even cried one time while in the waterparks.  

After spending several hours splashing and playing around, we decided it was time to head back to the condo for lunch.  So we waited for the shuttle...and waited...and waited...and waited.  Several frustrated calls later to the front desk, and after watching the shuttle drive past us countless times, one finally came to pick us up to bring us back to our condo.  We relaxed for a while and several of the kids (and grown-ups) took a nap.  

After a while, we decided to take the kids to the arcade.  Because of the shuttle debacle earlier that day, we decided to drive our own vehicle and thirteen of us poured into our van.  (I LOVE my minivan!)  We were pretty Beverly Hillbilly-ish, but we didn't have to wait with nine antsy kids in the lobby this time!

All the kids enjoyed playing games  - Nolan didn't seem to care if there was money in the machine or not, but we let him play a few games and he earned enough tickets to buy a pinwheel that he thought was pretty cool.  

Once we got back to our condo, it was time for lasagna and bathtime.  Nolan had an extreme bubble bath in our hot tub and thought that was pretty fun.  The kids all enjoyed playing with their arcade trinkets and pretty soon it was time for bed.  The adults were tired, too and so after chatting for a while, we all headed to bed for our last day.

After waking up and packing our vans, we headed back to the Wild West Waterpark for one last bit of fun.  I could not believe the difference in Nolan's confidence level from the first to the last day - he really was getting independent, going on several of the different slides by himself and loving it all.  Throughout the entire weekend, the kids all behaved so well and really had a good time playing together.  It was so fun to have the opportunity to make some memories with our friends and I'm so glad we were able to go!

Look at this great bunch of kids!
Back: Jack, Meela, Cassidy, Lucy, Olivia
Front: Isaac, Deakon, Kamryn, Nolan

Easter weekend

Easter seemed to arrive so quickly this year, I think largely in part to us being gone to the Dells the previous Sunday through Tuesday.  Add in the fact that I had to play for Holy Thursday and Good Friday services, and Easter was here! My parents traveled up to Rhinelander on Friday to celebrate the holiday with us.  Nolan was especially excited for them to arrive and spent HOURS up in his big boy room playing "Culver's" with them.

Saturday was full of preparations for the big day.  We started by baking our lamb cake.  My Great-Grandma Louisa always baked a lamb cake from her cast iron mold on Easter.  For the past several years Mom and I have carried on the tradition and made and decorated our lamb cake for dessert on Easter Sunday.  This year Nolan got to help! We tried out a new lemon poppy seed recipe and spread on some delicious lemon cream cheese frosting before coating it with coconut to look like the lamb's fleece.

Later that day, after being such a good boy for our errands, we let Nolan play at Pioneer Park for a bit. It was amazing to see the difference in confidence and coordination in him since last fall.  I think his Little Movers class has really helped him feel more brave.  He ran up and down the jungle gyms and raced down the slides.  He even did some climbing/hanging on some of the monkey bars.  But I think his favorite was still the big blue swing.  He was absolutely giddy, belly-laughing as Grandpa Jim gave him underdogs.  He has such a great, contagious laugh.

After we got home from the park, it was time to dye our Easter eggs.  Nolan was a good helper this year and enjoyed seeing the different colors and writing everyone's names on the different eggs.  The rest of the evening was spent finishing the preparations for Easter brunch so the next morning would run smoothly.  

This year was pretty exciting because all of Nolan's grandparents agreed to go in with us on a special Easter present for him - his very own, brand-new Lion Guard bike.  We were so excited to see his face!  After looking around for his basket and finding some great treats from the Easter bunny, we took him into the nursery where we had the bike hidden.  At first, he thought it was a bike for Livi, since it was in her nursery.  But once we explained that it was for him, he was eager to take a ride.  I can't wait until he can ride along with us when we walk down to Hodag Park this summer!  Warm weather hurry, please! 

After breakfast, we headed to church.  I played piano for Trinity that morning, and it's sure a workout on those big holidays.  So much music!  It was a very nice service and from what I could hear (over by the piano) the kids seemed to behave pretty well.  Olivia got to wear my green sweater and booties that were given to me from Grandma Edie when I was a baby.  

After church, we headed back to our house for one of my favorite meals of the year: Easter brunch.  We started things off with Mimosas and Bloody Caesars, followed by so much delicious food.  We had Mom's famous Caesar salad, roasted lamb with Eric's signature rosemary pesto, Patti's tasty cheesy hashbrowns, ham, fruit salad with orange-vanilla dressing, my favorite asparagus dish, and of course, eggs in a basket.  For some reason, the first year we hosted Easter, Eric declared that eggs in a basket are an essential Easter tradition.  All they are is an egg baked inside a hashbrown nest made in a muffin tin.  They are never that tasty, but still Eric insists that eggs in a basket are for Easter.  Not negotiable.  I even tried to lure him away with a peanut butter and chocolate nest for candy eggs, and he remained steadfast on his Easter tradition.  So, I guess eggs in a basket are going to be with us for a while longer...

Eric and I are so blessed that our parents get along and enjoy each other's company so much.  (They even vacation together!)  We had a nice time visiting and Grandma Ruby even stopped by to visit for a little bit.  I love the simplicity of this gathering and how relaxing it is.  It makes it easy to reflect on the unfailing love of our Risen Lord and our call to love one another as he loved us.  Christ the Lord is Risen. Alleluia.

Milestones!

Before my very eyes, Livi seems to have changed from a helpless little infant into a big girl with an adorable personality and places to go!  She has been rolling around as her primary mode of mobility for the past several weeks, but this past week has made the great leap into crawling!  She is able to get herself all over the place, and really seems to particularly enjoy heading to the shoe pile by the front door, and checking out all of the shoes.  Hoping this isn't an indicator already of a shoe fetish...! 

She has also started pulling up on the side of her crib.  She is so proud of herself and she's just so cute, especially big grin with her 3 new teeth on the top.

She also started saying some words this week!  She has said "dada" several times as captured on this video.  (Ignore my screaming at Nolan in the background...parenting is not always pretty!)  She's also said "mama" a couple of times, and just started waving at me, too!  

It's so bittersweet watching my children go through these milestones.  It is so exciting to see them grow, change, and achieve new things.  But when I look at Nolan now, so big and strong and smart and funny, I can hardly remember the little infant that he once was.  And with all of these changes with Livi, she's well on her way to the end of her infancy and into toddlerhood.  It happens so fast and is wonderful, but sad too.  It's like that 90s songs "Closing Time" - Every new beginning is some other beginning's end...(Yes, I know I'm nerdy.)  But here's to my children's constant new beginnings and the amazing privilege I get to be home with them, soaking all this in!  

Wisconsin Dells Trip - Take One!

Last night we got home from a fun mini vacation to the Wisconsin Dells.  Steve and Patti cashed in a time share week there and invited us to join them in a 2 bedroom condo at Christmas Mountain Village.  We left on Sunday right after church.  The kids were so good for the drive.  We finally showed Nolan that our new van had a DVD player and he was so excited to watch Looney Toons for the whole trip!  When we arrived, we quickly got settled in and got ready to go to the pool area.  Nolan got some new Mickey Mouse goggles and floaties for the occasion and I couldn't get enough of looking at him and giggling at how cute he is.

The pool area was absolutely perfect for kids his age.  He could touch the bottom in nearly all of it and it had two slides, a waterfall, and a teeter-totter.  Nolan's face was absolutely priceless when we walked in there the first time.  He was so excited.

Look at those muscles! 

Livi was a little unsure of all the noise and water, but didn't cry and went into the pool with Mommy and Grandma Patti.  She was so cute in her little Minnie Mouse swimming suit with her adorable chunker legs.  She even rode on the teeter-totter with Big Brother!

I was so proud of how brave Nolan was in the pool.  Last summer, he went through a phase where he absolutely refused to go in the water.  He had always enjoyed it up until that point, so it was really fun to see him have such a good time with it.  

After spending a few hours in the pool, we headed back to our condo to get ready to go out for dinner.  Eric really wanted to go to the Sprecher Pub, which served several of his favorite Sprecher beers on tap.  We had really yummy food and a magician stopped by our table and showed us some awesome slight-of-hand tricks.  We were seriously amazed.  None of us have even the faintest idea of how he did those card tricks.  When we got back to our condo later that night, Nolan found a deck of cards and started "performing" the trick, snapping his fingers and asking "Is this your card?"  

The next morning the guys headed back to the pool and Patti, Livi, and I went on to the Outlets at the Dells.  We found several great deals on some stuff for the kids including a new winter jacket for Nolan for next year for $12!  We also got Nolan some new Crocs for this summer and Livi got a few new outfits.  When we got back to Christmas Mountain Village, the boys were dried off and we headed downtown for some lunch.  We promised to take Nolan to a restaurant that served only Mac and Cheese, so we went there.  After lunch, we walked to a candy shop and took Nolan to the Disney Store back at the outlets.  I thought he would be asking us to buy him something, but he was SO polite and didn't ask for anything.  I was proud of his self control and good manners.  We also stopped at a Craft and Antique Mall for a few minutes.  This place was HUGE with thousands and thousands of items.  You could seriously spend weeks in there and not see everything.  That evening we ended up staying at the condo for dinner so we could play games.  We played some of Eric and my favorites - Bananagrams, Sushi Go, and Pandemic.  

Tuesday morning was our last day, so we wanted to make sure Nolan got a little more pool time.  Steve, Eric, Nolan, and I headed up there right away.  He enjoyed swimming and playing catch with his Daddy and Grandpa.  

Steve and Patti headed out late morning to get back to Rhinelander.  We stayed for a few extra hours to get some pictures in front of a few of the landmarks.  Our first stop was the awesome, HUGE wooden Trojan horse at Mount Olympus.  We marveled at it every time we drove by, so we decided to get out and take a picture in front of it.  As I was walking up to the thing, holding Nolan's hand, I nearly stepped on a disgusting, petrified, dead raccoon that was laying on the rocks, perfectly camoflauged.  I almost had a heart attack and let out a scream as I quickly pulled my baby out of the way so he wouldn't step on it.  The result was a terrified Nolan who has been OBSESSED about the "stinky raccoon" for the last two days.  It was seriously the first thing he said to me this morning when he woke me up this morning: "Mommy, the stinky raccoon was a bad surprise."  Yes, son.  Yes, it was.  Here's his rendition of the tale:

We also stopped to get a picture in front of Noah's Ark because Nolan really liked all the animals.  He particularly liked that this raccoon wasn't "stinky."

We stopped to see the river and the rushing, swirling water at the dam on our way out of town.  And of course, we had to end our trip with a stop at the ice cream candy shop for a little treat.  It was such a nice getaway and both kids were SO well behaved.  It makes it exciting to want to do trips with them!  We're heading back to the Dells in a few weeks with some friends.  I can hardly wait!