Saturday, July 28, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Funny conversation with Violet
She noticed me sticking my finger into the side of a diaper to check if it was wet. She said "Ew, Gross! If I'm a mom someday I will never touch pee!" I smiled and said "Yes, you will." She said, "No, I won't!" I just told her she would understand someday if she was a mom. Then she said, "But I won't know you when I'm a mom." I said "Where am I going to go? If you have kids, I'll be Grandma Maria!" Her eyes got big and all excited, and she simply couldn't believe it!
Visiting Grandma Rowena July 20-22, 2012
Friday - July 20, 2012
Dave and I took the opportunity of a free weekend to go visit Grandma Rowena in Albia. She mentioned in an email earlier in the summer that it would be nice to see us. We scheduled this weekend, and it was a nice time. We drove down Friday afternoon in time to be there for supper. We planned to arrive at 6:00 but we didn't leave our house until 4:00pm. It takes just over 2 hrs to get there, and we had to stop and feed a screaming Eli about 25 minutes before we got there. We arrived around 6:30. I'll call her Mama Row because she likes being called that instead of Grandma. She had emailed me earlier in the day and told the kids that she would have two straws in her hand when we arrived, and whichever kid drew the shorter straw got to be the elevator conductor first. Then the kid with the longer straw would wait their turn and push the buttons on the elevator second, whenever that trip occurred. The elevator is by far the most exciting thing in her house in their minds. :)
Violet drew the short straw first, and waited patiently at the elevator until everybody had their luggage in with her. Calvin knew the deal and was excited for his turn. She eliminated the fighting about the elevator and I was impressed by her thinking ahead on that detail. She also had arranged a little scavenger hunt with little easy clues for each child (V, C and V) which led to a little gift of some sort. Vanessa's clues led to a book about animals. Calvin's clues led to a book he can practice writing letters in, Violet's led her to another work book. What fun!
In the elevator:
She had sweet and sour pork on the stove, with a few other sides. She served up some yummy fresh Iowa tomatoes with italian seasoning, mixed veggies, and brown rice. Dessert was berry cobbler and vanilla ice cream. After supper we took a walk around the Albia square. We pushed Eli in the stroller and walked with the rest. Albia had some type of singing event on the square which prevented us from completing the four sides, so we went a block past the square and ended up walking past a window scene full of wooden bears and motorcycles, which captured their interest for a few minutes. It was a constant effort to reign in Calvin ~ he is always running way ahead of us.
We got the kids to bed and Mama Row went to bed shortly after that. Violet, Calvin and Vanessa (in a pack and play) shared the room with two twin beds. Mama Row gave us her room for Dave, Eli and myself, and she slept in the bedroom with 1 twin bed.
Saturday - July 21, 2012
The next morning she cooked everybody soft cooked eggs, peaches and blueberries, and biscuits. Violet and Calvin are always the first kids awake and they were eager to help with the biscuit making. We planned out our day and got ready. She had a lot of recycling items to drop off at their recycling center which is only open one day every 2 weeks, so Dave helped her load her trunk full. We stopped at the cemetery to see Grandpa Loren's gravestone. Mama Row noted that the hosta plant she put next to his stone was dry, and wanted to water it the next day because she didn't have her watering bucket with her at that time. We then drove to the Pamida store which was closing and had the remains of their inventory marked down a lot. I picked up a ruler, 2 packs of pencils, and a few children's books. Mama Row bought coffee beans. We went back to her place for lunch and then the plan was to head to the Albia pool and swim. She served up BLTs, coleslaw with apples/walnuts/grapes and cut up watermelon. The kids knew we were planning to swim that day so their patience with "running errands" was running thin by the time lunch was over. They were both chomping at the bit to go swimming. I totally understand how they feel, the feeling of begging to go swimming and having to wait at times when I was a kid is still fresh in my memory. The smell of chlorine at a pool and being told no, we can't swim was the closest form of torture in my mind at age 8. ha!
Anyway...we changed into our suits, went to the pool at 1:00 pm (Mama Row stayed back to take a nap) and enjoyed the water for the next 3 hours. I stayed under a big umbrella in the shade on a lawn chair with Eli for the whole time, and Dave swam with the kids. The Albia pool is GREAT. Its such a nice pool for little kids. There is a really big area where Calvin can touch easily. He felt super comfortable in that pool, splashing and going under water plenty of times. The pool also isn't splashy and crazy like Cedar Falls. It has a train slide they can climb in and go down, and one area with an umbrella of water that falls off a mushroom-shaped thing, but other than that, it isn't scary. The Falls at CF has a huge bucket of dumping water that freaks them out in the kid area. We generously applied sunscreen before they swam and avoided sunburns. Vanessa could touch in some areas, Dave kept her in his arms most of the time though. Violet was an inch too short to go on the slides, so they all stayed in the large kid area. They came to me to snack on some crackers I had packed.
Vanessa got friendly with two kids (found out they are ages 6 and 9, names Noah and Sara) in front of us, they loved playing peekaboo with her.
We went back to Mama Row's place around 4pm, and she had some sweet treats to eat - mini chocolate candy bars and juice. I think the kids got too full on candy! We gave the kids all baths. Mama Row had a delicious supper ready which was ham, sweet potatoes, mixed veggies, quinoa, and brownies covered with flaked coconut for dessert. Vanessa was acting strange at dinner - and we quickly figured out she was just exhausted and at any moment could have plopped her face right into her dinner plate. She wouldn't chew her food, she sat quietly, her eyes and cheeks droopy, and rocked slowly front to back. Dave tried to get her to eat a little but she wouldn't, and ended up spitting her food out. He picked her up and she immediately closed her eyes and fell asleep right on his shoulder at the dinner table. I guess a long afternoon in the pool and skipping your nap is enough to knock out a little 2 yr old! Dave laid her on a bed to sleep for a little bit. We didn't want her to take a full nap since she'd never get to bed at a decent time so we let her sleep for 45 minutes or so.
After cleaning up after supper, Mama Row got Violet and Calvin dressed up and they put on a show for us in the living room. Violet completely rearranged her living room, making "a stage". We looked at family photo albums and got the kids to bed a bit too late.
Mama Row said, "Now wasn't that better than watching TV!?" They were a bit hyper so Dave stayed in their room to keep them quiet, 45 minutes went by, and they finally fell asleep. Mama Row talked to me and voiced her genuine concerns about Violet being in a private school setting, saying she was concerned that she wasn't getting enough diversity, no exposure to others, wouldn't be ready for college, etc...her list went on and on, and said she was so sorry she had to be in that situation. She was making a lot of assumptions. I know she is a huge supporter of public school education and probably took offense last year that we decided to go a different route. It wasn't worth it to me to argue with my grandma so I just told her that I still supported public education as a whole (Cedar Falls schools are very good!) we are very happy with her school and she is learning a lot, and also getting more exposure to the Bible and learning things from a Christian perspective. The topic got changed to what other family members are up to. Dave came back from chaperoning bedtime and Mama Row went to bed.
Sunday we decided to not attend her church as a group and head to Lake Rathbun. She suggested that idea and we went along with it. The idea of taking the kids to an unfamiliar church seemed too hard, and we wanted to enjoy the beach/lake before it got too hot. We packed a cooler full of ice and a large container of water and a few cups. We drove there following Mama Row's car. We drove over the big dam bridge and saw the size of the lake and all the boats before turning around to head towards the sandy beach area. We put sunscreen on the kids, some changed into suits, and walked down towards the beach. Dave, Vanessa, Violet, and Mama Row went in the lake right away to swim. Calvin was a bit more hesitant, and preferred to splash in the water with his feet and use a plastic cup to make a sand castle. I stayed on some towels and kept Eli in the shade.
The visit wrapped up with getting lunch at the marina's restaurant, Louie's. Mama Row was very unimpressed with their lack of healthy things on the kid's menu. But we ate there anyway, and had some good sandwiches, fries, and coleslaw.
We drove back to her place, and had 4 sleeping kids by the time we got there, which was only a 15 minute drive. We contemplated leaving them sleeping in their seats, but we really preferred to bathe them and get them in clean clothes. So we did that...drug them out of their seats, into the bathtub. Dave bathed them while I packed up all our stuff which seemed to be distributed evenly all over every room in the place. We finished up the brownies and ice cream. Mama Row asked us if we wanted any furniture, and offered us the two twin beds. We gladly accepted that offer, and also asked about a coffee table and a blue couch. She is happy to give things to family, we will arrange to pick them all up later. We left after a little while, and made our usual stop at Smokey Row Coffeehouse in Oskaloosa for some iced mochas on the way home. We made a deal with the kids that if they slept in the car, they could watch Curious George. Well...that worked. :) they slept the entire way home. :) They watched a show on the TV at home instead.
It was a great visit. I'm so impressed at Mama Row's health. She is 86 and hosted us with ease and grace as she always has as far back as I can remember. According to the math, she was 55 when I was born! Amazing.
Dave and I took the opportunity of a free weekend to go visit Grandma Rowena in Albia. She mentioned in an email earlier in the summer that it would be nice to see us. We scheduled this weekend, and it was a nice time. We drove down Friday afternoon in time to be there for supper. We planned to arrive at 6:00 but we didn't leave our house until 4:00pm. It takes just over 2 hrs to get there, and we had to stop and feed a screaming Eli about 25 minutes before we got there. We arrived around 6:30. I'll call her Mama Row because she likes being called that instead of Grandma. She had emailed me earlier in the day and told the kids that she would have two straws in her hand when we arrived, and whichever kid drew the shorter straw got to be the elevator conductor first. Then the kid with the longer straw would wait their turn and push the buttons on the elevator second, whenever that trip occurred. The elevator is by far the most exciting thing in her house in their minds. :)
Violet drew the short straw first, and waited patiently at the elevator until everybody had their luggage in with her. Calvin knew the deal and was excited for his turn. She eliminated the fighting about the elevator and I was impressed by her thinking ahead on that detail. She also had arranged a little scavenger hunt with little easy clues for each child (V, C and V) which led to a little gift of some sort. Vanessa's clues led to a book about animals. Calvin's clues led to a book he can practice writing letters in, Violet's led her to another work book. What fun!
In the elevator:
She had sweet and sour pork on the stove, with a few other sides. She served up some yummy fresh Iowa tomatoes with italian seasoning, mixed veggies, and brown rice. Dessert was berry cobbler and vanilla ice cream. After supper we took a walk around the Albia square. We pushed Eli in the stroller and walked with the rest. Albia had some type of singing event on the square which prevented us from completing the four sides, so we went a block past the square and ended up walking past a window scene full of wooden bears and motorcycles, which captured their interest for a few minutes. It was a constant effort to reign in Calvin ~ he is always running way ahead of us.
We got the kids to bed and Mama Row went to bed shortly after that. Violet, Calvin and Vanessa (in a pack and play) shared the room with two twin beds. Mama Row gave us her room for Dave, Eli and myself, and she slept in the bedroom with 1 twin bed.
Saturday - July 21, 2012
The next morning she cooked everybody soft cooked eggs, peaches and blueberries, and biscuits. Violet and Calvin are always the first kids awake and they were eager to help with the biscuit making. We planned out our day and got ready. She had a lot of recycling items to drop off at their recycling center which is only open one day every 2 weeks, so Dave helped her load her trunk full. We stopped at the cemetery to see Grandpa Loren's gravestone. Mama Row noted that the hosta plant she put next to his stone was dry, and wanted to water it the next day because she didn't have her watering bucket with her at that time. We then drove to the Pamida store which was closing and had the remains of their inventory marked down a lot. I picked up a ruler, 2 packs of pencils, and a few children's books. Mama Row bought coffee beans. We went back to her place for lunch and then the plan was to head to the Albia pool and swim. She served up BLTs, coleslaw with apples/walnuts/grapes and cut up watermelon. The kids knew we were planning to swim that day so their patience with "running errands" was running thin by the time lunch was over. They were both chomping at the bit to go swimming. I totally understand how they feel, the feeling of begging to go swimming and having to wait at times when I was a kid is still fresh in my memory. The smell of chlorine at a pool and being told no, we can't swim was the closest form of torture in my mind at age 8. ha!
Anyway...we changed into our suits, went to the pool at 1:00 pm (Mama Row stayed back to take a nap) and enjoyed the water for the next 3 hours. I stayed under a big umbrella in the shade on a lawn chair with Eli for the whole time, and Dave swam with the kids. The Albia pool is GREAT. Its such a nice pool for little kids. There is a really big area where Calvin can touch easily. He felt super comfortable in that pool, splashing and going under water plenty of times. The pool also isn't splashy and crazy like Cedar Falls. It has a train slide they can climb in and go down, and one area with an umbrella of water that falls off a mushroom-shaped thing, but other than that, it isn't scary. The Falls at CF has a huge bucket of dumping water that freaks them out in the kid area. We generously applied sunscreen before they swam and avoided sunburns. Vanessa could touch in some areas, Dave kept her in his arms most of the time though. Violet was an inch too short to go on the slides, so they all stayed in the large kid area. They came to me to snack on some crackers I had packed.
We went back to Mama Row's place around 4pm, and she had some sweet treats to eat - mini chocolate candy bars and juice. I think the kids got too full on candy! We gave the kids all baths. Mama Row had a delicious supper ready which was ham, sweet potatoes, mixed veggies, quinoa, and brownies covered with flaked coconut for dessert. Vanessa was acting strange at dinner - and we quickly figured out she was just exhausted and at any moment could have plopped her face right into her dinner plate. She wouldn't chew her food, she sat quietly, her eyes and cheeks droopy, and rocked slowly front to back. Dave tried to get her to eat a little but she wouldn't, and ended up spitting her food out. He picked her up and she immediately closed her eyes and fell asleep right on his shoulder at the dinner table. I guess a long afternoon in the pool and skipping your nap is enough to knock out a little 2 yr old! Dave laid her on a bed to sleep for a little bit. We didn't want her to take a full nap since she'd never get to bed at a decent time so we let her sleep for 45 minutes or so.
After cleaning up after supper, Mama Row got Violet and Calvin dressed up and they put on a show for us in the living room. Violet completely rearranged her living room, making "a stage". We looked at family photo albums and got the kids to bed a bit too late.
Mama Row said, "Now wasn't that better than watching TV!?" They were a bit hyper so Dave stayed in their room to keep them quiet, 45 minutes went by, and they finally fell asleep. Mama Row talked to me and voiced her genuine concerns about Violet being in a private school setting, saying she was concerned that she wasn't getting enough diversity, no exposure to others, wouldn't be ready for college, etc...her list went on and on, and said she was so sorry she had to be in that situation. She was making a lot of assumptions. I know she is a huge supporter of public school education and probably took offense last year that we decided to go a different route. It wasn't worth it to me to argue with my grandma so I just told her that I still supported public education as a whole (Cedar Falls schools are very good!) we are very happy with her school and she is learning a lot, and also getting more exposure to the Bible and learning things from a Christian perspective. The topic got changed to what other family members are up to. Dave came back from chaperoning bedtime and Mama Row went to bed.
Sunday we decided to not attend her church as a group and head to Lake Rathbun. She suggested that idea and we went along with it. The idea of taking the kids to an unfamiliar church seemed too hard, and we wanted to enjoy the beach/lake before it got too hot. We packed a cooler full of ice and a large container of water and a few cups. We drove there following Mama Row's car. We drove over the big dam bridge and saw the size of the lake and all the boats before turning around to head towards the sandy beach area. We put sunscreen on the kids, some changed into suits, and walked down towards the beach. Dave, Vanessa, Violet, and Mama Row went in the lake right away to swim. Calvin was a bit more hesitant, and preferred to splash in the water with his feet and use a plastic cup to make a sand castle. I stayed on some towels and kept Eli in the shade.
The visit wrapped up with getting lunch at the marina's restaurant, Louie's. Mama Row was very unimpressed with their lack of healthy things on the kid's menu. But we ate there anyway, and had some good sandwiches, fries, and coleslaw.
We drove back to her place, and had 4 sleeping kids by the time we got there, which was only a 15 minute drive. We contemplated leaving them sleeping in their seats, but we really preferred to bathe them and get them in clean clothes. So we did that...drug them out of their seats, into the bathtub. Dave bathed them while I packed up all our stuff which seemed to be distributed evenly all over every room in the place. We finished up the brownies and ice cream. Mama Row asked us if we wanted any furniture, and offered us the two twin beds. We gladly accepted that offer, and also asked about a coffee table and a blue couch. She is happy to give things to family, we will arrange to pick them all up later. We left after a little while, and made our usual stop at Smokey Row Coffeehouse in Oskaloosa for some iced mochas on the way home. We made a deal with the kids that if they slept in the car, they could watch Curious George. Well...that worked. :) they slept the entire way home. :) They watched a show on the TV at home instead.
It was a great visit. I'm so impressed at Mama Row's health. She is 86 and hosted us with ease and grace as she always has as far back as I can remember. According to the math, she was 55 when I was born! Amazing.
Fair Hills Resort - Pavicic Family Reunion 2012
Ok, I have to admit, there is no way I'm going to be able to recap this entire trip in the detail that I wish because of time. I am finding it harder and harder to blog because it takes time. But one thing I did was record "in short" with an app on my phone a little journal of each day and what we did and the things I remember. The week was also captured in pictures....so I'm going to copy/paste my short-hand journal, post a few correlating pictures, and be done with it. :)
Rachel with aunt Barb (my mom's sister)
Monday:
Family sleeps in! All still asleep by 8:20. Calvin first to wake up at 8:20. I took boys to breakfast, calvin ordered pancakes/sausage/strawberries/grape juice. Eli slept and when woke up Mary picked him up, then I discovered poop up the back of his diaper so dad took him back to cabin to change. Girls and dave showed up, they had pancakes/sausage too, dave and I had scrambled eggs/cheese/strawberries. Me and girls brought Rachel some food for breakfast to her cabin, she joined us for the kid's treasure hunt, I walked around with violet, calvin and Rachel.
Calvin found a chipmunk, those little creatures were running around everywhere.
Simon says:
Sat-July 7
Arrived around 7:30. Drive was long, stopped a few times to feed Eli, take bathroom breaks, etc. Violet probably did the worst in the car...drama with her back hurting. watched a couple movies, vanessa did great in the car, she fell asleep the last 30 minutes of the drive right before we got there. dad greeted us at the entrance and hopped a ride in our van to the lodge. squeeze in!
Parents saved our meals and brought them, we had supper in the lodge. Chicken/potato/salad/veggies/brownie. Hi to Carol. My dad changed Eli's diaper in the lodge after we ate supper, walked to our cabins, got stuff in, kids begging to swim, got suits on, met with gma dee and gma jo, went to lake. Violet, calvin, dave in lake, vanessa fussy with sand in shoes, said hi to Abel and Anna, sat with gmas on deck, eli slept on gma jos lap. dave checked out fishing boat with violet. I walked to cabin with nessa and calvin, my mom and gma dee transported sleeping eli to our cabin for us. Snacks...cheese crackers, trail mix, brush teeth, calm down crazy kids, Bible story Genesis 43...joseph is overwhelmed with affection for his brother Benjamin. In bed by 11 pm.
Sunday, July 8, 2012:
Calvin first one awake, mom and dad shower, go to breakfast at 8am, pancakes/sausage, go to horse back riding, play on playground while wait turns, v, c, then v&v together on horse. To cabin, change into suits, swim in pool (buy swim diaper for nessa), swim from 11-12, lunch was soup/salad bar, meatballs/potatoes and chocolate chip cookie bar...kids had mac n cheese, cottage cheese and milk. After lunch, Vanessa, Eli and mom napped, dave and v & c went on fishing boat and fished, caught 2 fish. 4:30pm they came back to cabin, vanessa woke up with dirty diaper, climbed out of crib herself, rain, play w/ umbrellas. 
In cabin for awhile doing paper activities, said hi to Barb and Tim when they arrived, mom brought supplies from walmart for us, Rachel arrived, went to dinner (ribs, potatoes, corn, cake n mint ice cream), suits on, swim in lake, Rachel swam with violet, calvin played in sand, dave took calvin on bike-pedal boat thing, violet jumped off platform, Vanessa throws rocks in water, go back to Rachel's cabin so I can change my clothes, go back to our cabin, rachel and dave give me birthday present (kindle fire), mom n dad give me 360 case for it, dave showers all the kids, kids in bed, chat w/ Rachel for awhile. Give Eli bath in the cabin sink with rachels help, in bed around midnight.
Family sleeps in! All still asleep by 8:20. Calvin first to wake up at 8:20. I took boys to breakfast, calvin ordered pancakes/sausage/strawberries/grape juice. Eli slept and when woke up Mary picked him up, then I discovered poop up the back of his diaper so dad took him back to cabin to change. Girls and dave showed up, they had pancakes/sausage too, dave and I had scrambled eggs/cheese/strawberries. Me and girls brought Rachel some food for breakfast to her cabin, she joined us for the kid's treasure hunt, I walked around with violet, calvin and Rachel.
Scavenger hunt activities:
Dave took Vanessa and eli to cabin. We met at cabin after finding treasure (candy, of course!). decided to swim in pool for an hour before lunch - Rachel talked with Steve and Norma, Lucas and Alex when they arrived after driving in from Florida. Calvin played with squirt gun, I swam for a little bit, eli got hungry so dave and I switched spots, I fed eli, walked over to lunch while listening to music from marching band in small parade. Lunch was grilling on deck, sat at tables set out on cement. Burgers, hot dogs, chips, brownies, calvin ate 2, violet was too full for dessert.
My mom took violet and calvin swimming, dave went to work a bit in the lodge, I sat in cabin with Vanessa and eli while they slept. eli woke up around 3:30, jay and Molly arrived sometime after 3pm. In this pic we swapped babies.
My mom took violet and calvin swimming, dave went to work a bit in the lodge, I sat in cabin with Vanessa and eli while they slept. eli woke up around 3:30, jay and Molly arrived sometime after 3pm. In this pic we swapped babies.
Chatted with J&M for awhile, mom brought violet and calvin back, Vanessa woke up, mom took Vanessa for awhile, I took violet and calvin back to the pool, calvin played in small pool violet swam with Rachel in big pool.
Supper at 6 was spaghetti/meatballs, apple crisp, afterwards dad gave kids golf cart rides around, dave showered the kids, dad took eli around for awhile, bible story, kids to bed at 8:39pm! Invited rachel, jay and molly to play new yorker caption game, they left at 11pm, dad showed up for awhile, goofed around w/ captions. In bed by 1am.
Tuesday-July 10
I got up by 7:40am, took shower, went to breakfast, fruit was raspberries, I had scrambled eggs, toast, violet had cream of wheat, pancakes/sausage, kids had pancakes/sausage. Ordered breakfast for Rachel to go but she showed up at last minute and ate. Gave extras to Jay. Off to sand castle contest on beach, calvin and violet worked together for awhile til he got bored, she kept working and dave helped her. I sat in chair in shade under lodge and watched them do sand stuff, Vanessa filled holes in deck with sand, calvin collected white shells.
Supper at 6 was spaghetti/meatballs, apple crisp, afterwards dad gave kids golf cart rides around, dave showered the kids, dad took eli around for awhile, bible story, kids to bed at 8:39pm! Invited rachel, jay and molly to play new yorker caption game, they left at 11pm, dad showed up for awhile, goofed around w/ captions. In bed by 1am.
violet won prettiest castle, judges choice award (1st place!), looked for goggles, no luck. changed into suits to swim for a short time. Calvin and dave had to stop at mens bathroom in lodge for bathroom emergency (calvin poo accident),dave discovered rip in his swimsuit, i put 2 loads laundry in washing machines, Vanessa went with grandma jo (she calls her "mee-maw" for awhile, met me at lunch with violet and eli. Dave came with calvin. Anna sat with at lunch, kids ate cheese pizza and grapes, I had a taco salad. Molly and jay and Stella joined us for lunch. Anna told us about Japan trip coming up for the next semester of school. After lunch dave fell asleep on the bed with eli for a short time, vanessa down for nap, my mom took violet and calvin to play a memory game in her cabin, dave and I relaxed on porch for a little while, I moved clothes to dryer, at 1:30, ran another drier load at 2pm,clothes weren't quite dry. got them at 2:30 and folded them, brought them back to cabin and got a ride back by mom with golf cart zipping by. Water slide was at 2:30. Violet went down a bunch of times, calvin went once and didnt want to go again. Jay went too.
At 3:30 jay and violet rinsed off in lake, mom zoomed her back up to cabin with golf cart. My dad took Calvin fishing, they caught 3 fish.
Rachel returned around 4pm with a new swimsuit for dave (his ripped), mixed drink ingredients, sunscreen for us.
When Vanessa woke up Rachel and I took girls and Eli swimming, molly and Stella came with us, eli loved the water. Dave and calvin joined us in the pool, swam til 5:30 (found violet's goggles!), dinner was smorgasboard in dining hall, at 7pm started getting kids to bed, read genesis (joseph gets paid all the money, livestock and people in exchange for food, become pharaohs slaves). Dave stayed in cabin, kids had a hard time getting to sleep, told them made up stories. They fell asleep by 9 after melatonin. I went to hootenanny (wearing Eli, with Rachel) and jay, molly and Stella, stood there for awhile, listened to the goofy music, went to jay n mollys cabin, changed diapers, feed babies.
By 10:30 went to meet up with dave but he was on the phone with josh. Jay n molly went back to put Stella to sleep.
Rachel stayed, chatted for awhile til 12:30am.
Wednesday-July 11
Calvin awake at 6:30, woke up the girls, chaos in morning. wouldn't go back to sleep, I got up to get kids dressed. calvin had a melt down about what clothes I made him wear (lake hobak boat shirt, jean shorts), I took girls to breakfast, dad brought boys a bit later, violet enjoyed sugary oatmeal, everybody else had pancakes, after breakfast the kids road horses again, and then Eli fell asleep the whole time we went swimming in the pool, Calvin stayed in the toddler pool the whole time, Violet practiced diving off the edge, Molly brought stella in the water, We got so cold in the wind that we sat in the hot tub, We got changed in the cabin, We went to lunch, Grilled cheese, fries, brats, fudge bars, jay was out golfing so Molly had lunch with us, Mom took violet and calvin to her cabin to play a memory game, dave gave vanessa a shower and put her down for a nap, Eli woke up to eat after lunch, Dave and I sat in the cabin for a while, Dave and I sat in the cabin and enjoyed some drinks that rachel made for us.
Mom brought violet and calvin back to our cabin, they changed into suits, I took them to beach and met Molly there, had eli wrapped up in moby to nap. He slept for a couple hours. Molly and I sat in shade, watched violet and calvin play in sand. Rachel and anna were swimming in the lake and came to say hi. Violet buried anna and Rachel in the sand from the neck down, then they buried violet from the neck down.
Calvin filled cups with white spiral shells, and filled dump trucks with sand. Molly left to change Stella's diaper, Calvin needed a bathroom break so I took him. Rachel, anna and violet went in hot tub, calvin and I didn't know where they were so we got a chocolate malt in the lodge. Found them in pool. Violet swam with Rachel and anna for awhile.
calvin swam alone in the toddler pool for awhile, molly and Stella joined me again. dave was still in cabin doing some work while Vanessa napped.
At 5pm dave took kids on kid cruise, I went to dinner on my own with Eli and sat next to Barb. We talked birth stories. Kids cruise got back at 7:15, family picture was at 7:30pm, everyone hung out by the sand and hung out til dark...kids were filthy so we showered them all....(whew!)...Rachel had carol came in to say hi, we got kids to bed by 10pm. wanted to hang out with j & molly, but Stella was tired and went to bed. Rachel stayed and we chatted awhile. In bed by mid night or so, I fell asleep b4 dave.
Grandma Dee (in black) and her sister Mary in white
Thursday - July 12
Rachel returned around 4pm with a new swimsuit for dave (his ripped), mixed drink ingredients, sunscreen for us.
When Vanessa woke up Rachel and I took girls and Eli swimming, molly and Stella came with us, eli loved the water. Dave and calvin joined us in the pool, swam til 5:30 (found violet's goggles!), dinner was smorgasboard in dining hall, at 7pm started getting kids to bed, read genesis (joseph gets paid all the money, livestock and people in exchange for food, become pharaohs slaves). Dave stayed in cabin, kids had a hard time getting to sleep, told them made up stories. They fell asleep by 9 after melatonin. I went to hootenanny (wearing Eli, with Rachel) and jay, molly and Stella, stood there for awhile, listened to the goofy music, went to jay n mollys cabin, changed diapers, feed babies.
By 10:30 went to meet up with dave but he was on the phone with josh. Jay n molly went back to put Stella to sleep.
Rachel stayed, chatted for awhile til 12:30am.
Mom brought violet and calvin back to our cabin, they changed into suits, I took them to beach and met Molly there, had eli wrapped up in moby to nap. He slept for a couple hours. Molly and I sat in shade, watched violet and calvin play in sand. Rachel and anna were swimming in the lake and came to say hi. Violet buried anna and Rachel in the sand from the neck down, then they buried violet from the neck down.
Calvin filled cups with white spiral shells, and filled dump trucks with sand. Molly left to change Stella's diaper, Calvin needed a bathroom break so I took him. Rachel, anna and violet went in hot tub, calvin and I didn't know where they were so we got a chocolate malt in the lodge. Found them in pool. Violet swam with Rachel and anna for awhile.
calvin swam alone in the toddler pool for awhile, molly and Stella joined me again. dave was still in cabin doing some work while Vanessa napped.
At 5pm dave took kids on kid cruise, I went to dinner on my own with Eli and sat next to Barb. We talked birth stories. Kids cruise got back at 7:15, family picture was at 7:30pm, everyone hung out by the sand and hung out til dark...kids were filthy so we showered them all....(whew!)...Rachel had carol came in to say hi, we got kids to bed by 10pm. wanted to hang out with j & molly, but Stella was tired and went to bed. Rachel stayed and we chatted awhile. In bed by mid night or so, I fell asleep b4 dave.
Thursday - July 12
Eggs/sausage for breakfast instead of pancakes. Mom had signed us up for some time slots to go sailing. Jay and molly went out at 9:30 am with instructor Nan, dave, Rachel and I went out at 10am. Molly had Eli, mom and dad had other 3 kids. I got pretty soaked on the sailboat but oh well! Hung out for awhile by sand...walked up to lunch, teriyaki chicken sandwich, kids had tortilla cheese hot dogs/yogurt. Fun treat was ring pops.
I fed Eli, pumped a bottle 4oz, dave put Vanessa and Eli (fed him bottle) to bed, violet and calvin watched Cars on the laptop. dave said violet was crabby had a bad attitude. Probably just tired. Molly and I went sailing on the Hobie cat, kayaking together, swam to water mat, Stella hungry, I went up to see kids. Violet put my makeup on while I was gone. She was scared to show me and thought I would be mad but instead I thought it was cute.
Stayed in cabin for a short time, dave took v and c to swimming pool, I stayed in cabin, let Nessa watch dora. Went to pine room, lasagna dinner, happy birthday Anna, captured a special pic of Vanessa:
toast to gma dee, thank you for getting us all together, up to watch talent show, thunderstorm, lightning, got ride up to cabin by dads golf cart, kids play in rain, played music in cabin, kids to bed, no stories, kids in bed by 10pm, j and m and r came over.
I fed Eli, pumped a bottle 4oz, dave put Vanessa and Eli (fed him bottle) to bed, violet and calvin watched Cars on the laptop. dave said violet was crabby had a bad attitude. Probably just tired. Molly and I went sailing on the Hobie cat, kayaking together, swam to water mat, Stella hungry, I went up to see kids. Violet put my makeup on while I was gone. She was scared to show me and thought I would be mad but instead I thought it was cute.
Stayed in cabin for a short time, dave took v and c to swimming pool, I stayed in cabin, let Nessa watch dora. Went to pine room, lasagna dinner, happy birthday Anna, captured a special pic of Vanessa:
toast to gma dee, thank you for getting us all together, up to watch talent show, thunderstorm, lightning, got ride up to cabin by dads golf cart, kids play in rain, played music in cabin, kids to bed, no stories, kids in bed by 10pm, j and m and r came over.
Friday - July 13
7:40am, Calvin first one awake, asked me a question about baby teeth. He said "do I have kid teeth?" and asked when he would get his adult teeth. Breakfast, i had french toast, violet had oatmeal, others pancakes/sausage. kid's carnival was going on, so I took all the kids for a few minutes and Dave took over watching the older 3 kids, i left with Eli to go to grandma's cabin to talk for awhile, set up table outside to get enough seating, lucas, alex, abel and anna played monopoly. gma told me what it was like to have barb 13 yrs younger than the other kids. gpa voll loved to hang out with her. Steve came and talked for a bit. Watched Jay, Molly and Rachel waterski, Rachel came to talk, took picture of R, M and J with Gma Dee.
Jay on skis
Molly on skis
Anna, Lucas, Alex and Abel playing monopoly
Rachel on skis
Met up with Dave after kid's carnival (that explains Violet's face paint) and snapped a pic of the 4 kids together with some cute iron flowers on display:
Sun came out, Eli got hot so I went to see what the other kids were doing. Carnival was over, had an iced mocha in the lodge, thanks dad for the cash, had "sucker battle" with Vanessa. 45 min later, she put the sucker in the bucket. Talked to Emily Schupp (a girl I went to H.S. with, her family owns Fair Hills Resort) and her sister Nan (who was the sailing instructor), took some pics, went to lunch, which was fried chicken drumsticks, potatoes. calvin and vanessa smashed up goldfish, applesauce and pbjs. all kids had atittudes, tired, went to cabin and older kids laid down on beds for 20 minutes. Vanessa napped for 3 hrs. Rachel came to say goodbye, her flight was today. took a few pictures.
Molly and Stella
violet and calvin colored for awhile, dave took them sailing, molly and Stella came over to talk to me while Vanessa and Eli slept. dave and kids came back from sailing, i took violet, calvin and Eli down to pool, dave brought vanessa later to pool. chatted with Barb a bit, i watched Pete in the water while Barb went to see her mom from 5:15 to 6 pm. dinner was sirloin, potato, broccoli, choc cake w/ coffee ice cream.
Jay on skis
Sun came out, Eli got hot so I went to see what the other kids were doing. Carnival was over, had an iced mocha in the lodge, thanks dad for the cash, had "sucker battle" with Vanessa. 45 min later, she put the sucker in the bucket. Talked to Emily Schupp (a girl I went to H.S. with, her family owns Fair Hills Resort) and her sister Nan (who was the sailing instructor), took some pics, went to lunch, which was fried chicken drumsticks, potatoes. calvin and vanessa smashed up goldfish, applesauce and pbjs. all kids had atittudes, tired, went to cabin and older kids laid down on beds for 20 minutes. Vanessa napped for 3 hrs. Rachel came to say goodbye, her flight was today. took a few pictures.
violet and calvin colored for awhile, dave took them sailing, molly and Stella came over to talk to me while Vanessa and Eli slept. dave and kids came back from sailing, i took violet, calvin and Eli down to pool, dave brought vanessa later to pool. chatted with Barb a bit, i watched Pete in the water while Barb went to see her mom from 5:15 to 6 pm. dinner was sirloin, potato, broccoli, choc cake w/ coffee ice cream.
kids rang bell for slideshow activity at 7:45pm.
walked back up to cabin and i fed Eli, laid him down, Dave put kids to bed, i went out hydrobiking with Molly on the lake, went across the whole thing by the mansion. got back around 9:45 to cabin, Carol made a trip up to our cabin just to visit. She left at 10:30, Jay and Molly came to bathe Stella in the sink in our cabin (their cabin did not have sink or tub). Chatted for awhile, they left at 11:40 pm. We went to bed shortly after that.
walked back up to cabin and i fed Eli, laid him down, Dave put kids to bed, i went out hydrobiking with Molly on the lake, went across the whole thing by the mansion. got back around 9:45 to cabin, Carol made a trip up to our cabin just to visit. She left at 10:30, Jay and Molly came to bathe Stella in the sink in our cabin (their cabin did not have sink or tub). Chatted for awhile, they left at 11:40 pm. We went to bed shortly after that.
Saturday - July 14
The morning started with breakfast first thing, it was a big breakfast brunch from 7:30-9 am. Everything you could imagine, kids enjoyed eggs/sausage and cinnamon rolls. Ate with Jay & Molly. Dave played a sesame street video on netflix while we packed up stuff as quickly as possible. "check out time" is 10 am but we managed to pack up and get everything in the car by 10:45 am. Saw Alex and Lucas on their golf cart at some point in the morning, probably after breakfast.
All packed up, ready to head out! We occupied cabin's 86 and 87, adjoining rooms on the bottom of "the barn".
The plan was to drive and meet up with Jay and Molly at the mall of america. We both ended up stopping at different places, we arrived a bit earlier, we got some tickets at the amusement park - Nickelodeon universe - kids went on a couple rides, J & M showed up, we ate late lunch at rainforest cafe. went separate ways. we finished up tickets at Nickelodeon universe, left the mall by 7 pm. kids got hungry, got them chicken nuggets at mcdonalds on the drive home, everybody fell asleep on the ride home an hour before we got home at 11 pm. house was HOT HOT, kids slept in underwear, we got a/c going and fans blowing.
Sunday morning - July 15
I slept in with Eli - he had a bad night. Dave took V and C to church. I stayed home with Vanessa and Eli. Laundry, laundry, laundry! Putting things away, getting a few groceries.
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