Sledding, snowballs & snowmen

Almost two weeks ago we had a wonderful day of snow.  It was really the first substantial snowfall where it actually stuck to the ground.  The boys had school, but after school we delayed doing homework so we could go outside and play before the sun started setting.  I just love the days when we throw the routine out the door and we have fun!   

The snow was AWESOME packing snow!  So, of course, we had to make a snowman after playing on the sleds for just a bit.  Rick had to go into work at 4am on this particular day and much to our surprise he was able to come home a bit earlier than normal and came to play in the snow with us.  And everyone knows that when Daddy plays in the snow it leads to a snowball fight!  It was one of the best 'after school' days we've had in a long time!

Our snowman. Complete with stick arms, blue golf ball eyes, a cucumber nose and pink chalk smile.  Oh and some straw (that was on our grass from fall) as hair

Ethan was trying to sneak up on Dad

Winners & Not Winners

On Friday and/or Saturday nights we try to play some sort of family game if we are at home for the evening.  On this particular evening we played Uno Attack and usually Trevor is one of the last two to get rid of his cards, but it was a good night for him and he was first to get rid of them both games.  This was Trev's happy face after winning....

and Ethan's face after coming in last place for the 2nd time (which is not normal for him).

Lights Out Pow-Wow

(catch up post #5)

August 20th Rick and I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of thunder and realized that the power had gone out.  Of course, since it was a storm, Trevor was making his way to our room while crying because of the thunder.  That time was 4:00am.  Not much later, Ethan was woken up by the noise as well and before we knew it all 4 of us (no, all 5 of us since it was time for Cooper to eat) were sitting in the living room with flashlights.  Ethan decided to go get a book and read to Trevor to help him calm down.  What were we to do - tell him "no"?  Of course not.  It was too sweet of a gesture and it was the weekend so we let him read at 4am... by flashlight!

I love how Trevor is yawning in this last one.... that's how we were all feeling!

Cooper's 1st Wisconsin Visitors

(post #1 of the catch up game)

One week after Cooper was born, my mom and dad came out to visit us for a few days.  Oh wait, who do grandparents come to see?  They come to see the grandkids - especially a brand new one!  So they came out to spoil their grandkids, Ethan, Trevor and Cooper.  They were here for 10 days (July 9th - July 19th) and it was WONDERFUL to have them here.

It was so blasted hot so the outside activities were much more limited than normal, but they managed to have fun and do a lot of things with the kids.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to partake in some of the fun due to my recovery time with the c-section, but the boys had fun and that was the main thing!  Thank you again Mom and Dad for visiting, for spoiling our boys rotten, and for helping me out around the house.   

Since my time is a bit more limited these days I am going to give a quick run down of things they did and then just post some of the fun pictures we have from their visit.

• Going to the swimming pool
• Golfing 2 rounds
• Putting green
• Movie (Mr. Popper's Penguins) in Warrensburg
• out to eat at the Elks and El Camino
• Washing cars
• Loving on and snuggling with Cooper
• Playing the Wii
• Vacuuming and washing my floors (this was not fun, but was something that was very much appreciated by me!!  Thank you for doing these two, among other things, for me Mom and Dad!)
• Watching the boys play in the little pool in the driveway
• Going to Build-A-Bear
• Going to a Kansas City Royals baseball game (this was just the boys, Rick, my Dad, Ethan and Trevor)

the silly stuff....doing Minute to Win It challenges and trying to rubbing Grandpa's head to feel the hair 

"Helping" Grandpa was the car ;)

Oodles of Fun @ Worlds of Fun

Rick's employer had a summer get together at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City.  Worlds of Fun is like a Great America/Lagoon amusement park.  It had been very hot temperature-wise so we were a bit worried about what the day would bring due to having Cooper with us.  The morning was rather nice, but the afternoon temperatures crept back up into the high 90's which didn't help keep Cooper very cool.  But he was a champ and did a great job with a few trips to the Family Center where it was air conditioned and he could eat/stretch out while the boys were on some rides. 

Ethan and Trevor had a BLAST.  They loved all the rides and the basketballs that Rick won for them at one of the little game tents.  Hopefully next year, they'll do the same type of get together for the company and we will be able to enjoy it a little bit more with a) lower temperatures, b) Cooper being with a friend for the day since he'll be too little for the rides, and c) me being able to ride on some of the rides, too ;o)

We had planned on being home in the afternoon sometime; however before we knew it, it was 7 pm and we were finally leaving the park.  And were we heading home??   Of course not!  We were stopping at Buffalo Wild Wings with some of our friends for dinner.   It was a late night for the kiddos (all 7 of them), but it was such a fun day and well worth the next day tiredness.

 First ride.. airplanes are always a favorite.

 Trevor wasn't quite ready to go on a ride as quickly as Ethan was.  He wanted to watch first.

 Planet Snoopy was where we spent most of the day.... a great area for the smaller ones.

 Love the view of the big roller coaster behind them

 The big boys taking a look around Planet Snoopy on the rockets so they could figure out where to go next.

Smiling in the Tea Cup, but had a look of, "ummm, Dad, could you please stop spinning it so fast. My tummy doesn't feel so good" as they started spinning faster and faster 

 Smiles before taking flight

 Beep Beep... going in circles

 Weeeeee.... coming down the big drop!

 All wet, but laughing hysterically

 Trevor had fun once he figured out how to not just go in circles ;o)

 This will be Ethan's last time on the "kiddie" bumper cars... his knees were in his chest

The "Big" Kids even went on rides.... at least the ones that could... Amy and I had to sit this year out due to her being pregnant and me not being "cleared" yet after having Cooper.  Beth and Rick were on this one (Rick in the red shirt and Beth next to him)

One Last Vacation - Branson 2011

Before Cooper joined our world we had one last get away to take advantage of being a family of 4.  Rick's parents were staying in Branson the first week of June and they invited us to come join them.  Unfortunately, Rick had to travel to WI on Monday and Tuesday of that week, but he came home late Tuesday and Wednesday we shipped off for Branson.  It was the beginning of our HOT summer and Branson was no different.  It was HOT.  But we made the best of it and had a couple days filled with fun and new experiences.  The boys had a blast and we all really enjoyed the time down there.

Here is a run-down of some of the things we did...

We went to the Fish Hatchery.  The boys loved feeding the fish.  Ethan did the "1 piece at a time" method to make his fishy food last a little longer.  Trevor, on the other hand, did the "throw the whole handful of food in at once" method to watch all of the fish wiggle and squirm while trying to get all the pieces.

 
The Butterfly Palace - a very cool butterfly museum that was fun for everyone.  They had an area where the butterflies and birds just wandered free.  You walked around and you could see butterflies everywhere.  Some would land on you.  Some would surprise you because they ended up being right next to you on a leaf and you didn't even know it.  And some would fly and fly and fly and never land... and those were the ones you wanted to land so you could get a closer look.  It was a fun activity for all.

They also had these cool pictures of blown up parts of butterfly wings that looked like the alphabet letters.  The lady there gave me a cool idea to take a picture of the individual letters and then make a picture of the kids' names.  Thanks worker at the Butterfly Palace... it's a very cool idea!

Now, you might be wondering how on Earth we got Cooper's name being that he wasn't born yet and we didn't know the sex of the baby AND we didn't have a boys name picked out until 2 days prior to delivery.  Well, it just so happened that we had a couple boys names in our mind so I had secretly taken pictures of all the letters we might need for either our girl or boy.  Thankfully, I also took pictures for our last name because otherwise I would not have had a "C" because none of the other boys names had a "c" in it!  Whew... Someone was looking out for me!!

In the evenings we took advantage of the cooling temperatures at the pool and mini-golf at the condo.  No matter where you go, if there is a pool, it never gets old!  The kids would have been just fine hanging out at the pool and not doing anything else. 

On our 2nd day there, we decided to take the kids on The Ducks.  The Ducks (for those of you that don't know) are vehicles that can go on land and water and along the way you have a tour guide that tells you about the town you are in.  Our tour guide/driver, Captain Blue, was hilarious and so much fun!  As we were getting ready to go in the water on the Duck, Rick and I realized that it was the first time Trevor was ever on a boat.  Seriously? He's 4 years old and has never been on a boat?  Guess that's what happens when you lived in the mountains and can just go hiking in the summer months.   In addition, to the tour and little "boat ride" all the passengers were given these wonderful noise makers that sound like a duck's quack and we were told to use them.  The kids didn't have to hear that direction twice.  They blew them non-stop along with all the other kids on the Duck.  "Fortunately", they haven't let me throw them out and we still here them from time to time around the house!!

That night we also took the kids to something they will remember for quite some time.  The Dixie Stampede!  Rick and I (and his parents) had been to one before, but the kids have not.  It is such a fun event for them to go to.  There are horses, there are dancers, there are pigs, and buffalo, and just a ton of entertainment all right in front of you as you eat your dinner with your fingers and nothin' else!  They LOVED it and have asked repeatedly to go back.  The only problem is that it was a bit difficult to convince them that the food the workers were placing in front of them, during the show, was their dinner and they had to eat WHILE watching the show.  But both of them were so entranced by all that was going on it was tough to get food into their mouths and down into their stomachs.  A couple times, Trevor would put the food in his mouth and I could see that it was just sitting there... he was forgetting to chew because he was so interested in what was going on with the show.  Thanks George and Cathy for a fun evening at the Dixie Stampede!!
(unfortunately, you aren't allowed to take pictures inside this event so there are no pictures of the event :(  )


After spending a couple days in Branson, on Friday we all came back to our house for the weekend.  I had a doctor's appointment on Saturday, but the rest of the crew took advantage of a "Kids Fishing" day at the Conservation Department.  It was an eventful day.  A little girl fell in the water.  Ethan caught a turtle and had his picture in the local news paper with it.  And, they saw a snake eating a fish.  A fun filled "boys-type" day.

Thanks George & Cathy for letting us join you in Branson and spending some time with us at home over the weekend.  We enjoyed it all!

Basement Basketball

When it's too hot outside the boys like to play basketball downstairs.   Tonight, Daddy decided to "take them on" and tried his best to beat them at their own game.  I think he might have won, but before we know it, they will be a little bit faster and smarter and we (the adults) will be a little bit slower and they might just actually beat us fair and square :)

But for now, they are just having fun and the giggles that come from downstairs are better than anything else!