Balloon, outside!! (in Addie speak)

We had a little more traffic on Sunday morning around here than normal (which is NONE!). A hot air balloon flew up our road and landed right on the other side of the valley from our house.
We woke Adelaide up to see it. Now she thinks she can go outside to see a balloon at any time.

Critters!

Today we had our last summer playgroup. The kids had such a blast. We went to the home of a family that has a mini farm. They had SO many critters!! Bunnies galore, goats, potbellied pigs, horses, llamas, sheep, kittens, dogs.... Of course the fav was the kittens! Vinny often tells me we need one. I don't think so!!

School days!

Last night Vinny had his school picnic. He will be starting preschool next week. He did pretty well last night. He and Addie both seemed to really like his classroom - they played so well while we checked things out. He was super excited about his little prize he got - it was a spider ring! This kid loves all things spider!!

Something went Bump!!

So, on Sunday, Adelaide went up for her nap (we have been missing way too many of them lately!). It was business as usual, I thought. She goes up in the afternoon and is usually good up there for about 3 hours. So, late Sunday afternoon I went to get her and she was laying in the middle of her floor curled up on top of her blankies. :(:( Apparently, she decided to jump out today. She is not able to open her door yet, so she couldn't get out. We don't know if she ever slept that afternoon. Hopefully, she stays put inside her crib for a while longer!! Not ready to give that up yet.

Green Thumb

So, after a day home to recover a bit we had ticket to Elmo's Green Thumb last Saturday. We had gotten the tickets a long time ago before we knew we would be out of town most of the week. The kids had a good time though. Vinny thought Abby (Elmo's friend) was a little too loud. Other than that they seemed to really enjoy the show. Adelaide really seems to get into performances, movies, etc... more than other kids her age it seems. Elise went to spend the morning with Grandma Diane, so it was just the four of us -seemed so weird to have just two kids!!

Trip Photos...

Photos from our trip to the Twin Cities




Above: our picnic at Como Park
Below: pics in the park









Elise Checking out here new bed





Food and Friends at Leah's house







Go Twins!

Three Day Tour

So, we had a busy week this past week. We went on a little family trip - nothing big, but with the ages of the kids right now there was a lot of planning involved. It went GREAT!! We went up to the Twin Cities for a few days. We left on Tuesday and made our way up to our Minneapolis destination. We chose the scenic water route for the drive up and heard a lot of "waller, waller" "lo look, WALLER" which is Adelaide being very excited about seeing water! She never tires at pointing out every body of water, boat or airplane she sees.
We made it up to the Como zoo for our picnic lunch (just about an hour later than planned, so pretty good!). We then took in the zoo. We got there just in time to see the Sparky Show. Well, Dave and the big kids saw Sparky, I had to feed Elise who was oh so patient with us all week. After the zoo we checked into our hotel and had a little down-time. The room worked out just fine, but it was not what we thought we were getting (downfall of on-line booking I guess!). Tuesday evening we went over to Leah's house -super cool pad Leah! Stephanie and Matthew came over and we had a great little grill-out. Matthew did a superb job with the grilled fare! it was a great time with old friends and we got to meet Leah's new puppy!! Kids loved the puppy
even though he is still a little nippy - they kept going back for more!

Wednesday we had tickets to a Twins Game. The morning was taken up with some walking around and heading over to the stadium. It was a 12:05 game and we arrived a little early so we could settle in our seats and get some ballpark food. Bonus that it was dollar dog day! Vinny found his fave to be the soft pretzel and Addie is all about the popcorn. I spent a good deal of time checking out the facilities. Elise had two diaper changes, Addie had one, and Vinny had to go potty once as well. Needless to say I had a pretty good path worn between our seats and the restroom! We made it through the 4th inning (that was considered a successful game for us). We all had a good time at the old Metrodome.
Wednesday afternoon we took the kids to the pool in the hotel. They had a blast. Even Elise seemed to like the water. She was in for just a bit and then we laid her down and she went to sleep by the deck tables (we were the only ones in the pool room). Wednesday evening we went out to IKEA to run an errand and had some pizza before getting ready for another night of sleep in the hotel.
The kids did SO SO well at night. We had not had a 'regular' hotel room in years. We have always gotten a suite so that we could put at least one kid in the other room. We decided to try a regular room and it went better than we could have ever thought. Vinny slept with Daddy in one bed and Elise and I had the other and Addie had her own pack and play next to Elise and I. We turned out the lights and really never heard anything from anyone. Not counting the neighbors who must have had a very wild night out and were having some after bar celebrations for at least an hour from 3- 4am! Luckily, they did not wake the kids, they just woke Dave and I.

Thursday was our last day on our little 3 day tour and we were off to the fair. We packed up in late morning after a little swim time in the pool. We headed out to the Minnesota State Fair. It just happened to be the first day of the fair so we decided to fit it in to our adventure.
We had a good time. We parked in a park and ride so the kids got to ride the bus. They always like when we get to take some sort of public transit. We had hoped to take advantage of the light-rail line, but we ran out of time. Maybe next time! At the fair, we saw the animals, took in the people watching, had a little fair food and the kids got to check out the kidway. Vinny got a bit traumatized by the ride he picked out. It had a big pirate on the front, but was just a spooky ride with a lot of dark and loud noises - both of which he wants nothing to do with!!!!! We let him do another mild ride after that to try to get his mind off the scary one! He spent much time that day and Friday planning out how a really good ride should be and of course it involves Spiderman!

We hit the road for our drive home after the fair. It was a good trip. Great weather, kids did wonderfully! We could not have asked for more.

Splish Splash

Yesterday we went bumming around and grabbed some lunch and went to the splash park. We had never been there before and we all had a blast. Adelaide even went in the sprinkler. She has been a little scared by them recently. The first thing she said when she got up from her nap yesterday afternoon was "Adelaide play in water". What a fun time and free too!! Too bad I forgot the camera.

The name game...

What to call your kids. Do you call them the 'official' given name or the nicknames that develop? Adelaide 'Addie' now calls herself Adelaide. So, does she prefer it or is it easier for her to say? Does a 2 year old really care what you call them as long as they get some attention? I try to call her Adelaide (at least some times) so she can choose that if she likes, but I have called her Addie for so long.... hmmm, I don't think a harmless nickname will scar a kid too much!

FIRE!!

Saturday night we had a sunset bonfire up on the hill for the kids. It was our first attempt to get a little fire pit established up there. The kids had a blast. Elise even seemed to really like it up there. The kids roasted marshmallows for the first time. Adelaide liked the warm gooey mallows, but Vinny preferred the fresh out of the bag type. In lieu of actual smores we had the marshmallows and chocolate separately - the kids are not fans of messy foods. The crackers got turned down all around. We tried to sing a few songs, but Vinny had to change all the well known tunes to his own creations that included some very unique dance moves and catchy little phrases that almost always had something to do with spiderman!

Week at a Glance...

So, another summer week has slipped by. I have decided already that I will probably not get a post in every day (or even close to it). Some days are just not that memorable and some are too chaotic.
Today we have going to the library on the agenda. The kids love to pick out new books to read. This particular trip is one I am not looking forward to as we have to return some books that got vandalized. I wish I could say someone broke in our house and all they did was draw some pictures in our library books, but I cannot say that. Instead, we have a little graffiti artist that had a pen in his room and one day when he was supposed to be napping he decided to make the books 'pretty'. He only drew on the blank pages before and after the stories. I have now scoured his room and confiscated all writing mechanisms! Also, no library books are left in the little vandals room.

Yesterday, we had a pretty fun day. Our friends, Chris and Olivia, made a visit up to see us. It was sooo good to see them! The kids loved having Olivia to play with and I loved having Chris to catch up with:):) Last night we had some visitors too. Grandma and Grandpa Schwarz, Great Grandma, little Ernie and Aunt Diane stopped in after they had been out to eat at a local eatery. It is always nice to have visitors:) :)

Tuesday and Wednesday we had playgroups with some friends. Tuesday we had one at our house and Wednesday we went to a local playgroup that is held at a school. My little independent kids kept getting away from me on Wednesday. We were busy on the playground and I started looking around and Vinny was gone. I went inside after searching the playground. He had headed in and had taken his spot in the circle time music circle! He looked at me and said "what took you so long". After songs and story time we went outside for snacks. This time both Vinny and Addie got away from me by the time I got Elise packed up to head outside. I found them sitting at the snack table waiting for animal crackers and juice. Addie had taken up the spot next to the giant tub of crackers and I think I saw her swipe a couple:) This was the first time they both were being such 'big kids'. Seems normally at least one of them is hanging on my leg being shy or pouting about a toy they just HAD to have that someone else got to first.

Being as this is Friday already, I don't remember what we did on Monday. I don't think we accomplished too much. I think it was a cleaning/laundry day. I am pretty sure we laid low after our busy Sunday in Madison.

My Three Monkeys

We made a trip back to our old stompin' grounds on Sunday. We went to visit my brother in the hospital (who is doing very well). The hospital happens to be right near the zoo, so it seemed logical that we would make a visit to see our old animal friends! I used to take the kids there often before we moved.
We had a great trip. We checked out the critters and met up with Nate, Elizabeth and Lucas and got to have a good visit with them. They graciously opened their house up so we could have some grub before we hit the road again to head home. The kids (and mom and dad) had a long day, but they did great. Little Elise was a stellar traveler! I don't think she cried once - who could ask for more from a 4 month old!! We will be traveling again soon after that experience.

In Full Bloom

I am very excited that the sunflowers (and black eyed susans) are blooming! They look so pretty. Now I just need to learn how to roast the seeds.... maybe.

Frogs & Hawgs

On Saturday we went to Frog Days and Vincent got to race frogs. Unfortunately, his frog was comatose! Took a lot of prodding to get it to move at all. He still had fun doing it, but was sad he didn't get to keep the frog!! We ran into one of Dave's friends who has a bike and Vinny got to sit on it - this made him pretty excited.

Addie was thrilled that she got to get popcorn (a new favorite for her) and a lollipop.

The Beginning

This is my attempt to start an account of our life here on the hill. We will see how well I can keep up to date with this. I have been wanting to do this for a while now and figure there is no time like the present. One of my most recent reads (The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky) got me really thinking I should start some sort of journal (and why not double up with something I can share photo's etc..).
So I am home with the three kids Vincent (was 4 on June 1), Adelaide (was 2 on July 20) and Elise (4 months). The girls are taking naps and Vinny is in his room. We never know for sure when he may decide he actually is going to sleep. He usually just plays and/or destroys random things for an hour or so!
Today has been a pretty low-key day after a fairly hectic week. The kids pretty much just played today. We attempted some outdoor bike riding time, but it did not go well and ended up pretty short. The friendly neighbor dog was up to visit Beasley (the true eldest of our kids:)) so it was pretty chaotic out there as he is still a young pooch with a lot of energy!