Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jig

Miss me? :) As you may remember, we traveled up to see my family this past weekend and I have to tell you, I had a great time! My brother's house is amazing and beautiful and perfect for hosting a family of four. :) We had free run of the entire main floor (two bedrooms, a gigantic bathroom and a living area complete with couches, TV, tons of floor space and a piano). It seriously couldn't be a more perfect set up. Upstairs is three bedrooms (well, a master (and bath) and two other rooms used as offices). another gigantic bathroom, the living room, dining area and huge kitchen. The view from the front deck is even better in real life than in photos and the back deck has a hot tub and stairs leading to the backyard which was equipped with a trampoline and play structure (not yet moved out by the previous people). The kids were in heaven on that trampoline and I have to say, little Miss Kaylen can jump! I'm not sure where she gets her coordination and balance from but that girl can jump circles around me...and everyone else!

Besides the amazing house though I had a really great visit with James and Cara (and I don't think we drove them *too* nutty! *grin*) as well as my sister, brother-in-law, niece (and kids), dad and a cousin and his family. I kid you not, we packed a lot into not quite 48 hours.

We arrived in town Friday around 1pm and we stopped by Cara's office so that we could follow her to the house. We unpacked and settled in a bit and then the kids went wild in the yard for a few hours. Soon, it was time to head over to my sister's house (about 50 minutes away) for her birthday bbq. I was glad to see that she looked so well after her surgery last month and while she is still recovering, she looked good! When we first arrived there Kelton's cousin, her mom, brother and my brother-in-law were down the lane on the water and Kelton couldn't wait to see them so I agreed to walk with him down to meet them. Oh the joy that arises when they see each other - it just never gets old!

We stopped on the way back to pet and feed a couple of goats who have a pasture down by the water and, as you can see in one of the pictures below, Kelton ate a couple blackberries. :)





We got back to the house and settled in for dinner - which is crazy nutty when you have a 6 year old, a 5 year old and two 2 year olds plus 10 adults. My dad was there which I was really happy about because it gave me a chance to visit with him. About 8:30pm we said our goodbyes and, taking Cara with us (James took my dad home), started out on the hour drive back to the house. We hadn't gone all that far when I thought to ask Cara if they had a coffee maker (I suddenly remembered that Cara isn't a big coffee drinker and James doesn't drink it at all.). They didn't - so I made a stop at WalMart to buy one and all the necessary fixings. It's not pretty thing if I go without coffee in the morning and there were no nearby coffee places that Cara could think of.

We finally arrived back at the house about 10 and amazingly enough, the kids hadn't fallen asleep on the way back. I'm sure it had something to do with all the silly songs we were singing. :) We got them to bed without wasting any time and we quickly followed.

The next morning we hung out at the house and played A LOT on the trampoline. Around lunchtime my cousin and his family, along with my dad, showed up for a bbq. Again, it was crazy nutty but a lot of fun. The kids (and Dakota) all got to play in the hot tub which they loved! Then it was food time and more play time. At one point on the trampoline, Kaylen noticed that her cousins toes where painted pink, just like Cara's were, which made her want HER nails painted pink. It wasn't long before all four kids were lined up getting finger and toe nails painted. It was too funny!

I left to take my dad home about 4:30 (it's about an hour drive each way) and I really enjoyed having that time with him. Once we got back to his apartment I went inside for a bit to see his new cat. I'm so glad he has a cat and I can clearly tell how much those two love each other. Mr. Tom Cat was even waiting at the door when my dad opened it. Very sweet.

I stayed a bit and then said my good-byes and headed back to James' house. Since it was an hour drive I decided to call my sister and she and I talked the entire way. It helped the time go by quickly and it was nice to be able to talk with her without having to say "Hang on a sec...Kelton, please give that back to your sister." or "Hang on again....Kaylen, we don't hit!" a million times in 10 minutes.

By the time I got back to the house the kids had already had their dinner and were getting ready for round two in the hot tub. They were both so tired though that it took only about 10 minutes before Kaylen was asking to get out so she could go to bed. Both kids were out cold by 7:30pm.

The adults had dinner and then we settled in to watch a slide show of the photos taken during the day. Cara took control of my camera early on in the day and all I can really say is this: my memory card hold 1168 photos. Why do I know this? Because that's how many photos Cara took. (ok - I took maybe 60 of them) She got some really good shots too! I deleted about 500 last night when I downloaded them but that means I kept 668 - with most of them being from ONE day! Pretty funny!

Yesterday morning we got up and packed up everything. We had breakfast, played for a bit (yep - you guessed it. On the trampoline.) and then hit the road at 11am. We drove for an hour and stopped in at my sisters for about an hour (we had made plans to go through mom's jewelry box). We hit the road again for about an hour and then made a stop at the cemetery before driving 3.5 more hours home. We arrived home around 5pm and we were all exhausted!

It was a really good weekend though and I already want to go back. :)

This morning was Kelton's first day of his second session of day camp. He is loving it just as much (maybe more now that he knows what to expect and knows some of the kids) as the first week. Hard to believe that in 22 short days my baby will start kindergarten.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

The Birthday Day



And then, after visiting my mom, James, Cara, Dakota, the kids and I headed to a park to play. After that we had dinner out and then came back to the hotel room for cake and ice cream. All things considered, I'd say she had a pretty good birthday. :)




And here are a few pictures I took at my mom's a couple days ago. Kaylen really likes the wheelchair and will go directly to it. She has gotten to be a good little driver, too! Pretty funny. :)

Yes, I'm Really Still Here

**Updated to add pictures. If you haven't seen them yet, scroll to the bottom.

I know, I know...it's been days and days since I've updated. I have a good reason though; we were out of town. I did try to post a little something from the hotel but for some reason, the connection was painfully slow so I abandoned that idea in favor of vegging out in front of The Gilmore Girls (we took dvd's along with us for after the kids were sleeping). (Someday I'll tell you of my insane love for The Gilmore Girls. It might be all that coffee they drink.... :) )

We drove up to Seattle to celebrate birthdays for our two guys (one birthday in Feb, one in April) as well as the birthday of our great-niece (March birthday). It just makes sense to do them all at the same time. It's crazy with all the wrappings flying and squeals of delight but it's fun, too. My brother, sister and niece totally spoiled Kelton and Kaylen. The gifts couldn't have been a better fit either. Kaylen, the little princes that she is, received a stunning formal dress, a tiara and matching earrings, two other great dresses, books and a huge amount of dress-up princess clothes. Kelton received roller skates and all the needed padding, books (including a chapter book, James and the Giant Peach, which he made us start last night even though we are in the middle of another one), swim trunks, a shirt, a fabulous book about the human body (which hasn't left his sight), Lego's and an art set (already well used). Both kids also received gift cards to Target and McDonalds from my parents. I'm telling you - these kids are well loved. :)

I, of course, have photos but I've been too preoccupied to download and get them ready for posting. I will get to that soon.

This is spring break for Dakota which means my evening computer time is non-existent though rumor has it (ok - not a rumor. She told me.) that she will need a few hours this week to get some school work done. I told her that was fine since it means I can blog, scrapbook and (probably more the case) play ToonTown. :)

This weekend we are again going out of town. This time to the coast for a few days. I'm really looking forward to it - there is just something about being on the coast that I really love, need and crave. We're staying at a new place this time so that should be fun.

My mom isn't doing all that well. Hospice started seeing her yesterday so at least she will have a qualified nurse checking in on her regularly which gives us all peace of mind. It, of course, is a step no one really wanted to have here so soon but here it is. Life is what it is. We all do our best and somehow, the pieces all come together. I have to say though, my brother and sister are going an amazing job looking after my parents. I was touched by how gentle my brother was when he would move her and help her reposition. We all had a good laugh when he started dancing with her when he was holding her upright, in a classic dancing position so a seat wedge could be placed in her wheelchair. It was nice when mom joined in with a laugh of her own though she was quick to say "No!" when James asked is she wanted to dance. I still contend it's because she thinks James is a bad dancer. :)

The kids did so well - which I was concerned about. I had a gut feeling that Kelton would be fine as he always has been. Kaylen has always been the one who worries me. Normally she won't go near my mom and wouldn't hardly look in her direction. This time though was different. I'm not sure if it was the lack of the walker, etc all around her or if Kaylen is just getting to be more sure of herself and everyone else but she interacted quite well with her grandma and even gave her a hug and a kiss when we left. It was really nice to see and I could tell it meant the world to my mom.

So anywhere - that's all the news from the past few days. Now that I've updated, I need to swing by everyones blogs to see how everyone else is doing. :)

later that same day......
I just uploaded pictures. Here are a few to share. Enjoy!

Now Where Were We?

Oh right - I was going to tell you all about the weekend.

Friday morning I took the kids to this brand new play place called Cafe Sip-n-Play. While it advertises itself as a place for the kids to play while the parent enjoy a cup of coffee and relax, it isn't quite like that. Sure, there are tables set up for grown-ups to sit and talk (and they have Wi-Fi) but it's a smaller-than-I-anticipated place and it was jam-packed with moms and kids. Even so, it was really a lot of fun. I'm not the type of mom who would just drop my kids in the play area and go read a book while I tried to keep one ear open for their screams so for me, the lack of seating wasn't really a big thing. I hung out in the areas the kids were in so I could watch and play with them. It was really, really fun!




I let Kaylen skip her nap so we could stay, have lunch and play a while longer so that night she went down without a fight and was asleep at 6:30. She did really well until it was time for *me* to go to bed when it was all bets off and she was up and down the rest of the night. I'm actually (sadly) getting used to it.

Saturday found Kaylen and I running errands while Dakota cleaned the carpets (thanks, honey! The look soooo much better!). Kelton stayed home with Dakota. We, again, ended up letting Kaylen skip her nap because by the time she and I returned home, the carpets were finished and she had a little down time; it was too late to think about putting her down. We had a birthday party to go to!

We went to our great-niece's second birthday (she and Kaylen are 12 days apart) and had a good time visiting with Dakota's family. From there we went over to Dakota's sister's house to check out their recently remodeled house. From there we decided to hit Azteca for dinner and then pick up a movie from Blockbuster. Phew! By the time we got home it was bath and bedtime for the kids. After the kids were asleep, Dakota and I settled in to watch "Man of the Year" which, if you haven't seen it yet, is a pretty good movie. Worth the time though I personally feel like they rushed the ending a bit too much. Still - worth the time from my point of view.

Sunday Dakota took the kids in the morning and I was able to catch a couple more hours of dozing. Not really sleeping since I could hear the kids laughing and playing but it was still really nice to drift in and out and dreams. After I got up, we lazed around and read the paper while the kids played. We were successful in getting Kaylen down for a 30 minute nap, too! :) After her nap we had given Kelton the option of going to a local mall to hang out (his all time favorite thing to do) but he and Kaylen decided they wanted to stay home and play on their swingset. A grand idea! The weather was very spring like and we all had a good time outside. Dakota and the kids went on a bug hunt (Eeeew! No thanks!) and then they created a "field journal" to keep track of the Bleeding Heart's growth. Very clever little guy we have. :)



After playing in the yard, we cleaned up and drive to the party supply store to pick up things for Kelton's birthday. It was fun to walk around and look at everything. We couldn't find decorations for his cake though (which we heard would be very difficult and it seems bakeries do not yet have a Backyardigan cake in their cake books) so we headed over to Kohl's. Dakota had remembered they had a big Backyardigan's toy section and she was right! We hit pay dirt with the pirate ship and two characters. It couldn't be more perfect because Kelton was really torn between The Backyardigan's theme and a pirate's theme. :)

When we returned home, Dakota started dinner and I went to work on the invitations. I'm really happy with how it turned out and I can't wait to see it when it comes back from the printers.

While I was trying to finish up the invitations, Dakota was watching over the kids. Or...........was she? I heard giggling and laughter which I *thought* was supervised fun but alas, no such luck. Want to know what happens when you leave temporary tattoo loving children alone with a bag of dinosaur tattoos? They apparently think it is big, big fun to cover their bodies with them...and yes, that does include their faces. *sigh*


In case you are wondering, vegetable oil does a fine job of removing them from faces. The rest of them we will just let come off over the next week or so. Silly little kids. :)

After that it was bath and bedtime for the tired kiddos. We stayed up to watch a few shows and then we hit the hay, too. Kaylen's sleep is still all over the place so I had a rocky night (again, still...whichever) but all in all, we had a great weekend! I am so loving the fact that this semester we have two family days in a row (Saturday and Sunday). The three previous semesters, Dakota spent Saturdays studying so we only had family time on Sunday. This is soooo much better! :)

Today dawned looking very much like spring! Since we needed a few quick items from the grocery store, I decided that we would walk. Well....I walked. Kaylen rode in the stroller and Kelton rode his bike. We had a blast! It isn't too far, about a 20 minute walk each way and Kelton was so darn proud of himself. Walks have just become a whole lot easier, I think! At least until Kaylen decides she wants to ride her bike too. But for now, I think I see more walks in our future.

When we arrived home there was a message from a friend of mine. I called her back and she wanted to know if Kelton wanted to come over for a playdate with her almost 5 year old. The boys have actually known each other since they were about 2 weeks old - I met Declan's mom when we were both pregnant living north of Seattle. A twist of fate landed us both down here by the time Declan was 19 months old (we moved here when Kelton was 10 weeks)- living about 15 minute apart. Kelton wanted to go play so they stopped by and picked him up. I had just gotten Kaylen down for her nap so with Kelton gone, I was able to enjoy about 30 minutes by myself. When Kaylen woke up, I snuggled her back to sleep and stayed with her until she got a decent (almost) 2 hour nap (since she was in our bed, I turned on The View and was able to watch it completely uninterrupted! WOW!). Hopefully that will turn the tides on the night waking. Time will tell.

After Kaylen woke up she and I headed over to Declan's house. We ended up staying and having a playdate of our own. We were even invited to dinner! After that, it was home, bath, wind down time and bed. Here is a picture I took last week of Kelton and Declan. Look at that size difference! WOWSA! The other pictures are of Kelton holding Graysen, their pet rat. I was pretty proud of him for being so brave and I think the pictures are adorable. :)





PHEW! That was long, wasn't it? Well, the good news is, I think you are up to date now. :)

17 Hours Later...
The Third Installment (please read below in reverse order to bring yourself up to date)


I think this picture says it all:


At 8:20 tonight, approximately 17 hours after "Project Play Structure" began, Dakota all but completed it! The only thing left to do is to add the anchors. To do that, though, we will need to make a Home Depot run for some deck screws. For some reason, there weren't enough in the seemingly hundreds of bags of bolts, nuts, screws, etc.

We let the kids stay up to see the finished project (Dakota was determined to complete it tonight.) and they were THRILLED! If you notice in the photos, I have them decked out in the snow pants and boots in a fruitless effort to keep the mud off their bathed bodies and clean pajamas. I did say fruitless, right? Yeah. I thought so. BUT...they had an great time trying out their new structure and put up quite the fuss when it was time to come in from the rain. It was two hours past their "head to bed time" by the time they were done playing.

It's been quite the wild weekend here. Great job, Dakota! We're all very proud of your hard work...and I'm sure the feeling will eventually come back to your fingers. :)

And More....
(The Second Installment)

If you haven't read the post below this one yet, you might want to do that first. This one brings you current on the project - at least until dark. Dakota is still out there working even though it is pitch black and raining. She assures me she is fine - she has a latern, after all. :)





And a little movie to share though I'm not sure it gives the full picture of the wind blowing and the rain pouring down on us. Oh yeah - big fun!

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

The Play Structure Adventure

This weekend we've been busy trying to build the new play structure which is not without severe challenges when you have two little ones underfoot. Dakota is doing the lions share of the work in the (all too frequent) pouring rain. It's 40 degrees here which tends to really feel cold when you are wet and standing in a mud puddle.

Now I know I said we wouldn't be working on it if it were raining this weekend but if you recall, I also said that you should try explaining that to an almost 5 year old and a 2 year old. They have been going bonkers with excitement and all too often we've been hearing "Is it done yet???" You can imagine how well the answer is going over: "No honey. Probably not until next weekend (when Dakota will once again have time to work on it)."

I have been *very* busy rinsing muddy pants by the dozen, washing off boots covered in mud, washing down the kitchen floor, helping when needed outside, doing all the regular weekend chores, practicing my conflict resolution skills with the kids (OY!) and various other things. I was outside almost the entire time yesterday but wow did my back put up a fight! It just doesn't do well in the cold - and sometimes both Dakota and I forget that until it's too late. *sigh*

So...it's all going much, much slower than anticipated. The booklet said it would take 6-12 hours to build - but I'm pretty sure they didn't add having kids "helping" into that estimate.

It looks much different in past 30 minutes as Dakota has gotten the colorful cover-thingy on it as well as installed the "safety rails" on the side. I have to wonder how much more quickly it would have come together if it hasn't been raining and cold all weekend. Oh...and if someone had been here to entertain the kids. :)

The Birthday Party

I'll write all about it later but for now, here are some photos of Kaylen's 2nd birthday party. I still can't believe she is two. Although, if you ask her how old she is she will tell with, without question, that she is three.

Not yet you aren't, little one! Not yet.