Fun in Independence

Saturday, July 9th we headed to my cousin Karen's house in the afternoon.  They live on the way to Independence.  We toured their house and visited.  Karen is 8 months pregnant so they stayed home while we went to the zoo.  It didn't have too many animals but it was free and fun for the kids.

After the zoo Karen's family met up with us at a Mexican restaurant.  Then we headed back to the park area.  I was so impressed.  It was a great place for the kids and we had a great time together.  We definitely plan to do it more often.

Riding the train - Chase's favorite

                                  I am sitting in front to keep Chase seated and snapped this picture.                                                         Chase and Jenna, Callie and Ellen, Shannon, Karen, Doug. 

 

 

 

 

 

Top of the slide

Too slow!

Waiting for the carousel to stop.  Rode this many times at a nickel a ride.

Playing mini golf. 

Guarding the water.  It was HOT!

One last train ride - the girls had to sit together so Chase was stuck with me.  Good thing Ellen and Jenna are going to have a baby brother soon!

4th of July

Saturday, July 2nd we all went to mom and dad's.  The weather didn't cooperate too well for many evening fireworks but it was a nice time together.

Monday, July 4th we went to Shannon's Uncle Jr's house for a cookout in the evening.  We went to the Pittsburg fireworks afterwards.  We considered me staying home with Chase since it was so late but decided to give it a try.  He loved it but was so sleepy.  He kept dosing off.  This is the first year Callie really got into doing the fireworks.  Shannon has continued to shoot off fireworks several evenings.  Chase's new favorite is playing with the smoke bombs.

Great Grandparents

We went to Iola to my Grandparents.  This is just a few of my cousins' kids.  Joni is the oldest and was the flower girl at our wedding.  She was great with the kids!  I actually got to sit and visit!  Chase LOVED her.

Great Wolf Lodge

Each year around June 20th we have gone on a little weekend away.  It isn't that I want to avoid the day.  I have wonderful memories of the blessing God gave us when Connor was born.  We have a day short of 10 weeks of memories.  He is rejoicing with Jesus.  While it is sad for us that we aren't having a 4th birthday party and watching him grow up, I want remember him with joyfulness, I want to rejoice in our blessings, to do anything less would be an injustice to Connor, ourselves, and our children here with us.  This is easier said than done at times obviously.  This was the first year I had to work on the 20th and it happens that I had to go to the exact same meeting that I went to on June 19, 2007.  Mind you I have gone to this meeting each year somewhere around this time and really couldn't recall a thing about it, but I vividly remember the meeting on June 19, 2007.  Funny how the mind works for I had no idea that I would go into labor that night.
Anyway that rambling really had no point, on to the trip...  My parents and both of my brother's families went with us to the Great Wolf Lodge.  It was a great time with family.  Unfortunately the water park and that many little ones do not lend themselves to pictures.  I wish I had taken some at least in the evening.
Our rooms were all close and we played in the water park together a lot.  The kids really enjoyed it.
Things I wish I had gotten a pic of:
All the cousins at the nightly show/story.
Callie doing the thing where you hold onto the ropes at the top and step across the water from stone to stone thing.  She did this SO MANY times and loved it.
Callie and Shannon riding all the "big" slides.
Chase's smile as he sailed time and again down the little water slides.

Callie did a lot of crafts, including a tie dyed t-shirt.
Chase, Callie & I all in bed together.  Callie wanted to sleep with me.  Chase was in a pack-n-play but he woke up scared after only a hour or so and was NOT going back in there.  I scooted to the middle of the bed and held him beside me.  He calmed down and slept but would startle and not know where he was pretty often.  He would have to look at me to settle back down and usually had to ask about his milk, his puppy, or his blanket.  I had to sleep with my arm around him to keep him from falling out of bed - caught him mid fall at one point early on :-)  Callie on the other side of me kept snuggling up and saying you're pushing me out of bed.  So there I was mostly laying on my side crammed between the two of them - not getting sleep and uncomfortable but all I could think about was how nice it was to be snuggled up with the two sweeties and that I should treasure it. 
On the way home we detoured to build a bear so Callie could use her gift certificates from kindergarten graduation.
Here are the excited kids as we started out..

Summer begins

So far summer has been crazy busy.  We took passy away, I was gone overnight for a conference, Callie started T-ball, continued gymnastics, Shannon is taking a summer class at PSU and it has been busy!
A dragon fly with a hurt wing was extremely fascinating for the kids on evening.

Gymnastics:  Her teacher told me to enroll her for the summer in the advanced class.  She was so excited.  I warned her it would be more challenging and she definitely agreed.  We'll see how it goes, she has only had one class so far.
T-ball:  She really didn't want to play but we convinced her to give it a try again.  We got her onto a team with girls she knew.  She is enjoying it more and it is amazing the difference between this year and last year.  I think her increased ability and confidence is why she is enjoying it more.

 

Day out with Thomas:  Saturday, June 4th we headed to Baldwin City for Day Out with Thomas.  Chase LOVES trains and Callie was equally excited just cause she knew Chase would love it.  I had heard good things about it and it was a great event.  We met up with Martina and her family.  With 5 kids running we didn't get to visit much but did have a nice picnic lunch together.  It was definitely set up for kids.  After a quick fire truck visit (Chase was too timid at that point to let me put him down), we watched the magic show.  Callie loved it and Chase sat attentively thru it.  Not sure if he really liked it that much or was just still overwhelmed.  We found a nice shaded picnic table big enough for both families and ate our packed lunches.  It was close to some playground equipment too so that was a nice bonus.  Chase just wanted to stay on the rocking zebra.  Callie got a tattoo and Chase really wanted one but wouldn't let them touch him to apply it so we brought his home with us.  Callie jumped in the bounce house but Chase still wasn't sure.  Then we went to the toy train tent.  That was all Chase needed.  He happily ran a train on the wooden table track forever.  Thankfully across the tent they had tables with colors and stamps that kept Callie happily entertained.  She made a picture for Chase.  We discovered the "scavenger hunt" where you got a sheet that required stamps from 4 areas and you could turn it in for a prize.  Callie was all about this.  We went to the video tent, road Thomas for our 20 min ride, went to the souvenir tent where Chase got a Thomas train, went back to the magic show for Callie to get the magic trick wand and coloring book, saw Sir Topham Hatt, went to the petting zoo, and then headed to my parents. 

As good as it was going to get with 5 excited kids.

Watching out the train window.

 It was HOT.  The kids LOVED it.  They slept until we got to mom and dads.  We had a nice evening there and then headed home.  It was a great family day.  And Martina and I got to get the kids together even if only for a short time.

Watching the magic show.

 

Bible School:  Callie went with Kelsey again this year to her church's Bible School.  They do an outstanding job and Callie loves it.  She looks forward to it all year and on Thursday night when she realized the next day was the last day, she said why can't they have it all summer long.  She missed a T-ball game on Friday night to go to the program.  She said her piece by memory and loud.  She sang and did the actions like a pro - just ask her, she will preform them for you.

First Vacation Day:  I took Friday off as my first vacation day.  However Chase got sick Thursday night into Friday so I ended up taking him to the doctor in Joplin on Friday.  It was the first time I had been to Joplin since the tornado and it was amazing to me that I knew people had been working hard non-stop in the almost three weeks since the tornado but it still looked like it could have just happened.  I'm getting off track here but I wanted to run into a store to grab a couple things but I felt guilty shopping.  This week I was talking to someone else about this and they said they had the same feeling when at the mall and was talking to a store clerk.  She said in their little store it had been so slow since the tornado that they were looking at having to lay off 3 of their 7 workers.  So I guess I shouldn't feel guilty about shopping over there - they need their economy!  Anyway Chase coughed so hard on the way home he "spit up" all over himself.  Yuck!!!!!  So John kept him home while we went to the Bible School program.  He felt pretty bad on Saturday.  My mom came down and we just hung out at home except for a quick run to eat at the mall for lunch.  Happened that they were having a train show and a vendor there was selling Thomas stuff at 25% off.  So I got the kids a figure eight wooden track set.  They have both had so much fun playing with it. 
Schedule:  Kelsey is watching the kids in the AM on Monday, all day Tues and Wed, and in the AM on Thursday (if I don't take off).  Shannon has class from 1-3, so Linda has been watching them in the afternoon when we need to.  They are loving the time.  They have been playing in the back yard at their house with a sprinkler.  I have no pics as I have only heard about it at this point.

Another Bible School:  Callie is going with her friend Catheryn two nights this week to her Bible School.  Last night was the first of the two nights and she loved it.

A favorite thing around our house these days:  The neighbor's peacocks.  Her the male is roosting on our swing set.  They are fun but man do they poop a lot.  Chase proudly points out the peacock poop!

Memorial Weekend at our house

Friday night when we got home I collected passy and broke them - scissors.  We did the same with Chase as we had with Callie in that they only had it during bed, car, or church time.  However we had been a lot more strict in enforcing that with Callie.  We "broke" Callie's over spring break right before she turned 2.5 so this was a similar time for Chase.  I was dreading it so much because Callie had a pretty hard time falling asleep and especially napping for awhile after and I was also dreading it because he loved it so much and it was just another "baby" stage gone.
Nighttime came and we read books like always and he asked for pass.  I told him it was gone but he insisted so I showed him how it was broken.  He took it pretty well but continued looking at it, only once trying to suck on it, but just looking pitifully at it.  We sang and he got in bed to find another pass.  He took it well when he couldn't find one.  He said "daddy fix?" 
He went right to sleep, slept great, napped pretty good, and handled it so much better than I ever could have dreamed.  He woke up the second night once and was a little upset but after some rocking went back to sleep.  He was upset the first nap and I learned that going down for naps needed a longer routine but I could handle that fine.
We didn't go to church the first Sunday after but this past Sunday after not even mentioning pass for a week he asked for it.  Stinker but was fine without it.  He asked for it again one night and we finally made the big step and he thru the broken pass away.
He was so cute the first few nights and naps.  He just kept saying "pass broke?"  "daddy fix"

So glad to have that behind us now.

Photos

The pic is out of focus but what a cute rock star.

Chase has Mommy's cell phone - he LOVES to talk on the phone.

I was in the middle of something and Chase wanted so badly to read so Callie took over the job.

Camping in the kitchen?

At least they were happily playing together.

Chase makes "trains" which involves arranging anything he can find in a line.

And this time as I was taking a pic of it, he decided to crash his "train".