Christmas 2013

 

I’m sitting here in a quiet house in January watching the snow fall, toys and Christmas decorations filling the house reflecting back on what a nice holiday season.  I did my best this year to try and stop a few times and enjoy the moments but that’s not as easy as it seems and a few times I smiled and thought I need to remember this moment for the blog.  A couple of times I had to laugh and thought, my to get all these memories in, it’s going to be a long blog post.

Looking back, Thanksgiving seems so long ago.  I know we had a ton of turkey as always, I’m a bit of a turkey junky.  I also just love to cook and Thanksgiving feeds both of those (pun intended).  After Thanksgiving we had all kinds of leftovers but that’s fine with me and as we found out Little Man also loves turkey sandwiches.  Jynx or Mom I’m not sure what to call her in the blog but since I’m writing this more for the kid’s enjoyment later I think I’ll just refer to her as Mommy got on the recipes and we had Turkey Tetrazzini of course. Mommy didn’t make it but Auntie Jea Jea did and it was fantastic.  It was special this Thanksgiving to hear Little Man’s voice wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving at the time was just a big clue to us how our Christmas season would go but I didn’t really have a clue at the time.  I love the movie A Christmas Story, for those of you who are also fans you may see clues in our Thanksgiving as well.  Dad is a big turkey fan, turkey leftovers from sandwiches to Turkey Tetrazzini.  Our Christmas this year in many ways was going to be our own Christmas Story.

 

The day after Thanksgiving, we loaded up the kids and headed out to Downers Grove to their tree lighting ceremony, the rumor was that they were going to have a special visit from the big guy himself, Santa.  The kids, Mommy, Auntie Jea Jea, Uncle Brett, Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Rick all met at the library for some Christmas activities.  They then headed out onto the street to march in a parade to the train station and the tree lighting ceremony.  Just behind them in a big fire truck was the guy we all wanted to see, Santa.  Santa climbed out of the fire truck and helped light the big Christmas tree and then took a few moments with Jame and Hope well More Jame than Hope.  This was Hope’s year to be terrified of Santa and even with her big brothers reassurances she was not happy with him at all.

Later that week, we loaded up the kids again and headed out to Hammond, Indiana.  They had a display on the movie, A Christmas Story.  The Author of “In God we trust everyone else must pay cash” Jean Sheperd was from Hammond.  I was hoping to get some pictures and maybe something for the Christmas card.  The first thing was a statue outside of Flick with his tongue stuck to the pole and Little Man was all too happy to stick out his tongue.  When we went inside of course there it was the “Major Award” and the kids walked right up to “The soft glow of electric sex in the window” after getting a few shots with the famous leg lamp we walked around the rest of the displays.  They also had a slide after you saw Santa just like in the movie but with no Santa there that day they wouldn’t allow the kids to even sit at the end of the slide so we did our best to make it work.  I also brought the bunny ears from Hope’s Easter costume to get the shot of the deranged Easter Bunny.  Mission accomplished, we had gotten enough photos for the Christmas card and early, now all I had to do was edit them and get them printed.  I think they turned out pretty nice.

The first weekend in December meant it was time for the Johnson girls Christmas Cookie exchange and in past years we were unable to attend due to our North Pole obligations but we made arrangement this year to make it.  After a lot of baking and baking and some more baking we dressed up the kids in their Christmas outfits and of course that lead to more photos we had to take of them.  Little Man loves going since his best friend Baley will be there and Hope had no problems finding other kids to play with as well.  Then the big moment arrived when Santa showed up to say hi and talk with the girls and boys.  Hope once again began to cry and scream and do everything in her power to stay away from the evil bearded man in the red suit. Mommy was not going to have a repeat of Jame crying when given to Santa but luckily Aunt Wendy was willing to do the dirty work and we got the crying photo of Santa and Hope.  Maybe next year she will be a little less afraid of Santa.  Little Man has no problem with Santa and  he told Santa how he wanted a skateboard for Christmas and that he had been a good boy.  This time Santa had a surprise and presented Little Man with Elf Bean. 

We brought Elf Bean home and opened the container and sure enough his adventures started the next morning and what a character Elf Bean turned out to be.  He had a snowball fight with Buzz Lightyear and Bumble Bee; he roasted a marshmallow, made a snow angel and even hung upside down in a slinky.  All in all Bean had a very good year and it may be hard for him to top it next year.

 

We or I should just say I, “Daddy,” decided it might be fun to go downtown for the Disney Michigan Avenue lights parade.  The reason I take all the credit for the idea is that it turned out to be a horrible idea.  We bundled up, parked the car at Grandma Rosie’s and Grandpa Jim’s house and took the train ride down which turned out to be the best part of the trip.  When we arrived downtown we walked down Michigan Avenue and I thought we had better stake out a place so we parked the stroller and I stood guard as Mommy took the kids in and out of the stores to keep them warm.  I talked with the family next to me who drove up from St. Louis to see the parade because they heard it was so good.  I was encouraged thinking my standing in the cold would be worth it.  As the parade grew closer the crowd grew as well and I soon found myself fighting to just hold my ground.  The parade started and Mommy did her best to hand me Hope but a lady was screaming at her because she was going to fall over a stroller, that’s right our stroller that we had hoped would hold a position so our kids could see the parade.  As the parade began to pass by I did my best to hold position and not get the kids crushed and matters only got worse when someone would walk along handing out a little trinket, adults had no problem snatching it out from the kids.  When the Disney characters arrived way on top of a double decker bus and hard to see even from the front lines Little Man informed me that it was not them but just some guy in a costume.  I couldn’t believe it, already, I thought.  The parade was mostly busses filled with sponsor’s big balloons that were cool to see and some bands that Hope enjoyed.  We turned to leave or just head into Nordstrom’s for some warmth when once again the crowd became overwhelming and we were separated, luckily after a few tense moments and a lot of pushing (not by me) we were reunited.  We warmed up and headed back to the train, all I could think about was the scene from A Christmas Story with the family at the parade.  I wonder if after that year if Ralphie and his family ever returned to the parade; I know we will not be going to the parade again.  There is a parade in Crete that we were going to try but the cold kept us away, maybe next year we will try that one.

Little Man’s preschool had a Christmas Program and being new parents we were not too sure what to expect.  Mommy, Daddy, Hope, Mimi, Grandma Rosie, Grandpa Jim, Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Rick all went to the program.  We got a program when we arrived and saw that Jame was playing the Sheppard, we had no idea, he didn’t talk about it and I had made it a habit of asking him everyday what he did in school.  I couldn’t believe it when I saw him in his costume and seeing him up there with the class singing, brought tears to my eyes.  I doubt until he has kids how good that felt for both Mommy and I.  Since the program, Jame has been singing more at home and even does Jesus Loves me and Jingle Bells but of course as a dad it is my job to teach him the Batman smells version.  After the program Jame gave us an ornament with his picture another thing I still can’t get over with him, all the arts and crafts he has been bringing home from school.  Our pantry door is now filled with crafts every holiday so much so that I have now painted magnetic paint on the door to make it easier to put them up.  After the play we went to Little Man’s favorite restaurant Tyler’s Tender to celebrate.

Little Man got to see Santa once again at his preschool when Santa stopped by for a visit.  It was amazing how different he acted in class and how shy he was.  I was impressed on how well the entire class behaved.  Little Man was one of the last kids to go up and see Santa and he once again said he was a good boy and once again asked for the skateboard or as sometimes he referred to it as that board with the wheels on the bottom.  We were never sure if he wanted a scooter, roller skates or a skateboard.  The skateboard was quickly becoming his Red Ryder BB Gun.  Santa told him to be good and to listen to Ms. Travis his Teacher.

Jynx and her mom or should I say Mommy and Mimi talk about how they used to always take a day around the holidays and head down to Marshal Fields and eat lunch in the walnut room around the big Christmas tree.  I thought it might be fun to bring back this tradition.  We picked a weekday dressed up the kids and of course we had to take more pictures.  We headed to Macy’s still feels a bit strange that it’s no longer Marshal Fields.  We arrived and got checked in and it was only about an hour wait with a pager that would work anywhere in the store, it really wasn’t bad at all.  We walked over and found a little area where kids could write and mail a letter to Santa this kept the kids busy. 

Before long we were headed back to the Walnut room and were seated.  The food was good and both Mommy and Mimi were happy that their favorite salad was still on the menu.  Little Man was happy they had chicken nuggets with bee sauce on the menu.  Bee sauce is what he calls honey mustard.  We got a visit from a Walnut room fairy who gave Little Man a wishing rock and did some magic wand wish glitter thing for Jame, Hope and Mommy.  When the fairy left, Little Man informed us that was not a real fairy because real fairies are small and have wings.  We ordered desserts, Jame got a snowman ice cream, Mommy and Mimi ordered a Yule log and I got the Frango cheesecake and the cheesecake was fantastic.  After the meal one of the Fairies came by and told us about a book she had written on the Walnut room fairies.  We bought one and had her sign it and it does explain in it why they don’t have wings.  I have been looking to see when the fairies started in the Walnut room but have had no luck. 

After the meal we went up one floor to see the Christmas tree from up top and then shop around Macy’s then we bundled up headed outside to see the windows. Hope was having fun but it’s great to see the wonder and amazement in Little Man’s eyes when he looks at the windows, he looks like Ralphie looking into Higbees window.  After looking at the windows we headed a block over to the christkindlmarket normally we love this place and thought Mimi would also love it but luck was not with u,s the market was packed and you could not get close to vendors.  We walked around or did our best to push through the crowd.  On the way out we found a few shops that were not crowded and bought some brittle.  We headed back to the car packed it all up strapped the kids in their seats and headed home.  Then, Mimi told me what a good time it was.  Mission Accomplished!

Christmas Eve was upon us, we prepared for visitors including Santa, Elf Bean’s departure and Christmas Eve church service.  We arrived at the Christmas Eve service at church with the kids.  We still love to go but we are not sure if it’s still a good idea.  The kids were filled with excitement and asking them to sit still that night is a lot to ask of them.  We stood outside the sanctuary as the congregation light the candles and sang Silent Night something we were not in store for.   After leaving church so late both kids fell asleep in the car and they did not like being woken up to go inside.  When we arrived home Mommy did her best to get Hope back to sleep again and I and Little Man started Santa prep.  We had to say good bye to Elf Bean who was dressed up as Santa for his last night in the house.  When Santa drops off gifts on Christmas Eve Elf Bean would be heading back to the North Pole with him.  We then made sure our stockings were out and got the milk and cookies.  Thanks to the cookie exchange we still had a lot of cookies to choose from; Little Man picked the peanut butter with a Hershey’s Kiss on top, an excellent choice for Santa, I think one of his favorites.  I do know that Santa’s favorite cookie is indeed a Christmas cookie.  Then we nestled in and read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” I was so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open and Little Man’s head was dancing with visions of Sugar Plums or more likely Hot Wheels.  After several warnings that Santa might pass our house he finally fell asleep and all that was left to do was our Christmas Night parent duties.  Maybe next year we stay home from Christmas Eve service.

I could not believe it when I woke up the next morning and Little Man was still dreaming, I think it may have been the start of a cold for him.  Miss Hope was up and pointing to all the presents that were left under the tree.  When Little Man finally woke up it took him a few minutes before he realized it was Christmas morning and Santa had stopped at the house.  His eyes lit up when he saw the presents under the tree and his mouth dropped with wonder as he noticed the cookies and milk were gone. 

We first started into the stockings that Santa had filled, with candy, some ornaments and small toys.  I remember as a kid on Christmas morning we were allowed to open our stockings that Santa had left on our bedroom door but we were not allowed to wake mom and dad until the sun came up.  No need to worry about Little Man waking us before the sun comes up.  The day was filled with getting ready for guests and opening up gifts.  Miss Hope loved her play phone and anything musical while Little Man was excited about the scooter, roller skates and the skateboard he got.  Little Man got his alarm clock he had been asking for with the bells on top so he could set it and wake him up for school on time.  He has the alarm and we have set it for him but he asks everyone to shut it off for him while he lies in bed.

  Christmas was wonderful and a very busy day, as I sat overlooking the Christmas mess, I noticed the empty recliner where last Christmas Grampy Rock sat.  At one point on Christmas we all had our moments where we remembered Grampy Rock. To quote Jame Jack, “Grampy was a really GOOD guy”.

After Christmas we spent the next night over at Grandma Ruth’s and Grandpa Rick’s house so they could exchange gifts.  After that, we had Christmas with Grandma Vicki, Grandpa Mike and Aunt Kaci.   We had to delay their Christmas a bit thanks to a blizzard that hit us and freezing temperatures that kept us all inside for a few days.

Between Christmas and New Years we had a warmer night that we decided to head out to Brookfield Zoo for the lights.  We decided to leave a bit early to give the kid some time to see the zoo and the animals in the daylight.  I thought for sure Little Man would want to see the zebras after wanting to be one for Halloween but no, he was on a reptile kick and wanted to see one.  We found the reptile house and Little Man soon found the reptile he wanted to see and just like that he was good.  We made our way around the zoo, we found an area with a toy train setup and I think given the choice Little Man would still be sitting there watching the trains.  The sun went down and the lights came on they were nice but a bit to spread out and random, I think Lincoln Park does a better job with the lights.  We found a children’s area, Miss Hope found an area she could play in and Little Man found a crafts area where they were making bird finger puppets and he did a great job of coloring it.  We then headed over to an area for a laser show, most of the show was on a screen and the kids were having a hard time seeing so doing what Daddy does best, I put a kid on each shoulder so they could see the show better.  I think Mommy had a better time just watching us then she did the show, I couldn’t see the kid’s faces but Mommy was smiling from ear to ear.  On the way out of the zoo we had to stop and take a picture on one of the lion statues, the kids are getting really good at posing for the pictures.  We headed out to the car only to find out that everyone else had the same idea to head to the zoo that night and the parking lot was just CRAZY.  After waiting over an hour in the parking lot (thank god for DVD players in the car) we got out only to see the line of cars waiting to get in the lot.

New Years was soon upon us and we planned our New Years Eve party with lots of food and the card game Screw Your Neighbor.  A possible snow storm and a flu making the rounds had a lot of our family and friends cancelling.  Pinterist, one of my new favorite websites gave me a few good ideas for New Years. I started by interviewing Little Man asking him several questions about His favorite things and it will be fun to see how they change over the years.  The next thing I did was filled balloons with confetti and little toys; my plan was to let him pop one every hour until New Years.  In all the revelry, we didn’t pop one every hour but close.  When a balloon was popped, it sent confetti all over. What a pain to clean up but the excitement on Little Man’s face was worth it, he also told us how much fun it was.  I think we will be doing this on New Years again but maybe with a little less confetti in the balloons.

I don’t think we would be happy celebrating the holidays unless we were busy but that might be good since I think they are only going to get busier from now on.  I hope that I have remembered all we fit into this holiday season I may have missed a few and I might have to start taking notes next year.  I have been writing this blog post for a week or so now and Christmas is packed up and Valentines decorations are up.  I’m not sure what adventures we will have in 2014 but if 2013 was any indication it’s bound to be fun.  Happy 2014 everyone.

 

FALL 2013

I thought fall was going to be a busy time for us but I had no idea it was going to be this busy!  A garage sale, bowling, pre-school, apple orchard, Grampy’s memorial, pumpkin patch, Halloween bon fire and trick or treating is just some of what we had to do this fall.  It was all crazy, busy and a lot of fun.

At the end of last school year Jame’s speech teacher told us that she was going to bring him back next year but he would graduate out of the class quickly.  We asked if we could leave him in and she told us no.  We started to look for something for him to do.  We finally decided on pre-school and bowling.  He was very excited on his first day of pre-school and Mom was a bit emotional watching Little Man walk into the school for his first day.  The pre-school has been wonderful for him and he is already writing his name.  We signed him up for everything thinking his speech would end soon but we are still waiting for the teacher to let us know when he is done.  On the days he is not in pre-school he has speech and one night a week he goes bowling.  All we can think is the teacher really likes him and doesn’t want to see him leave but its okay I still think it’s good for him. 

The bowling is only for forty five minutes and at first I wondered why so short but then I quickly realized that the attention span of a four year old is about that long.  They put the bumpers up for the kids and give them a ramp to roll the ball down.  Jame at first used the ramp but then moved to a side kind of throw, then sometimes back to the ramp.  We did the entire first session of bowling and then signed him up for another session.  He still likes it but we saw signs for indoor soccer around town and we gave him his choice of soccer or bowling and he said he wanted to try soccer.  I’m thinking he’s going to like the running better.

 

Uncle Bob and Aunt Dorothy are moving into Holland Home, this brought back a lot of memories for me since my Great Grandma or as we used to call her as kids Grandma with a mustache only because Great Grandpa had a mustache.  We needed to have a garage sale to help them with their move Mimi, Auntie Jea Jea and Mommy did a lot of work to get it all ready.  On the day of the sale Little Man and Hopey were there and Little Man started to sell popcorn and lemonade and did a pretty good job of it.  The sale went well and the kids were good with the long days away from home, I think a lot better than I did.

September was wrapping up and I needed some pictures for our calendar and we thought a trip to the apple orchard would be fun.   We went to County Line Orchard, the same place we go to in October for pumpkins the only day we had available to go was on a weekend and wow was the place busy.  We headed into their apple orchard to pick some apples and take some pictures.  The kids had a great time picking apples and climbing the trees.  Hope was happy walking up and down the line of trees picking up apples and occasionally taking a bite out of them. 

We lost Grampy last spring but waited until his favorite time of year to have his memorial service.  He did not want a usual memorial service and I think we did him proud.  We had a bonfire and served all his favorite foods.  We had to rush around and get all of our fall decorations out and the yard ready for a bonfire but we made it.  We encouraged people to bring things to add to the fire and Uncle Andy brought a softball that Grampy and Uncle Andy used to toss when they were waiting on the girls.  His intention was to throw the ball on the fire but after he told the story, Mimi suggested that he give the ball to Little Man, so he signed the ball and gave it to Little Man.  We had photos of Grampy all over and playing on the TV. Cousin Kevin read a post from Jynx about her dad and then we played a song that she had recorded earlier for him.  Everyone enjoyed the food, the fire and the company and I even noticed a game on at times.  I’m sure Grampy Rock would be proud.

We picked up Little Man from Pre-school and as he got in the van he turned and told his teacher that we were going to the pumpkin farm with Bailey!  He had been excited all day long.  We have been going to County Line Orchard with Bailey ever since Little Man was one and now Hope was making her second trip to the farm.  The first place we went at the orchard was to the animals, Hope got a big kick out of the goats and Little Man loved watching the pigs chase each other around the pen.  The kids loved the animal area running from animal to animal and then playing with the toy tractors and playing in the hay.  We then headed over to the pumpkin patch.  It’s always fun to watch the kids in the pumpkin patch running around all the pumpkins, even Little Hope was having fun running around.  We then gathered the kids and took some great photos including one of our family.  It was great to see the photo of us together after all these years; it was very special.  Little Man picked out his pumpkin and one for Hope then we boarded the tractors and headed back to the barn.  We had to take the other photos in the cornucopia and in the pumpkin house.  After we got home I got out the photo of Bailey and Little Man from the first year we were there.  I’m not sure any words are going to describe the pictures so I’ll just post them here.

Little Man’s pre-school not only had a field trip to the zoo this year but also to a pumpkin patch a different one than we usually go to.  The entire family was able to make this trip and all the kids met at the Pumpkin patch.  They loaded us on hayrides for the trip out to the pumpkin patch; the kids all had great fun sitting and playing in the hay.  When the tractor stopped in the pumpkin patch we all got down and picked out our pumpkins.  After we picked out our pumpkins and headed back the kids still had a great time running around the farm, feeding and petting the animals’ and taking a ride on the barrel train.  Even though we have one at home they still like to ride the barrel trains when were out and of course, I like to see how they built theirs.  We had a great time at the pumpkin patch but the weather started to get rainy and cold and cut our time.

We decided for our annual Halloween party to extend the haunted trail around our house.  The new bounce house works nicely on the side of the house but it prevents the barrel train from going around the house.  The tractor made pretty easy work of completing the trail and some junk mulch finished the extension.  After the party we measured the loop around the house to be a ¼ mile trail.  The bon fire was fun as always and driving the barrel train down the haunted trail at night was great fun.  I hope the kids had fun with the train and the bounce house but just in case we had the piñata and a scavenger hunt for the kids.  I’m still in shock how fast the kids got done with the scavenger hunt.  The food as always was plentiful and way too much of it although I did my best to try all of it.

Early in October I asked Little Man what he wanted to be for Halloween and he wasn’t sure but we looked at Wal-mart and he did pick out a pirate costume.  I had learned from last year that we should wait to see because he will change his mind several times.  The costume did change a few times from a pirate to an explorer, to a police officer and a zebra.  Zebra seemed to be the one he asked for most, we think it was from his field trip to the zoo.  I looked for a decent zebra costume but had no luck either the costume was cheaply made or way to expensive.  I told Little Man one night that we would go and look at costumes and when he found one he liked that is what he would be for Halloween.  We first stopped at Once upon a Child and no luck for Little Man but we did find three options for Hope a blue fuzzy monster, a ladybug and a peanut.  We asked Little Man what he thought his sister should be and he went with the peanut.  We tried the costume on Hope and as soon as it was on she began to laugh and run around the store. You can’t argue with that, so Hope was a peanut.  Next we headed to a Halloween store for Little Man and no luck on a zebra but he did find a police man costume we were excited that we had a costume but unfortunately it was not in his size.  We then headed back to Wal-mart again and that’s where we found the kid riding a dinosaur costume but Little Man wanted binoculars.  We added a hat and binoculars and Little Man became an explorer riding a dinosaur.  The dinosaur costume was missing one thing and that was legs on the side so I went into the old clothes and found a pair of pants and some shoes to hang on each side to look like his legs.  Auntie Jea Jea attached the legs for him and we were ready for the big day.

Halloween was looking more like the Halloweens I remember as a kid, cold and rainy.  We loaded up peanut and the dinosaur explorer in the van and headed out.  We stopped at Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Jim’s house, Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Rick’s and then to Baley’s Grandpa’s house.  With all of that done we then headed out to Baley’s house for trick or treating.  Weather was a problem this year and some areas cancelled until the next night.  We were lucky and there was a nice break in the rain just in time for trick or treating.  Little Man started off saying one of my favorites and one of mom’s least favorite sayings.  “Trick or Treat smell my feet…” and that’s where he would leave it the whole thing goes Trick or Treat smell my feet give me something good to eat if you don’t I don’t care I’ll pull down your underwear.  He did really well on saying Thank You to people after getting the candy.  Hope did fairly well but not really grasping the concept of getting the candy we took her up to some of the houses but skipped some.  We brought her little car she got on her birthday to push her around in and she was busy climbing in and out of it.  The kids got quite a load of candy that is still sitting at the house calling my name.

Thanksgiving is fast approaching so fall is not over yet but as you can tell fall has become a fun and busy time of year and a lot of fun.  As we hit the stores for the after Halloween sales I couldn’t help but wonder what costumes the kids will be wearing next year.  The clock has struck midnight on Halloween 2013 and the Christmas ads have begun but Halloween 2013 left us with some great memories.

 

 

Summer, Birthday's and More

 

July is always going to be a busy month for us and 2013 has been no exception.  We have the 4th, Jynx’s birthday, Little Man’s birthday, Hope’s birthday and finally our Anniversary.  All I can say is that it is a good thing my birthday is not until November.  All of this and we still managed to get a few more things in as well.

I had to do a bit of running on the 4^th of July, I drove from our house to Elgin (to direct a parade), then down to the cottage to celebrate for the 4^th with the family, left that night for home for some sleep then up early to head downtown for work, then back home, then back down to the river. I drove about 535 miles total.  Jame had a great time on the 4^th, the neighbors at the cottage had their grandkids in town and they were about the same age.  Jame had a fun time playing in the pool with them and may be getting better with getting his face wet, a bit of a problem during bath time and trying to teach him to swim.  Later that weekend the neighbors shared their fireworks and sparklers with us. 

After the 4^th we had to head back home for work but made plans to return soon.  We decided it would be fun when we headed back down to stop off at Fair Oaks Farm.  We had stopped there before with Little Man but this would be Hope’s first time.  We took the tour of the cows but they now have pigs as well, but decided to do that tour the next time we come.  Little Man is still amazed by the little cows they have.  The giant milking carousel only briefly holds his interest and then he’s ready to move on and so was Hope, I can’t say that I blame them, I can only watch it so long and then I’m ready to move on.  When we got off the tour Little Man was ready to run and play and that’s exactly what he got to do in their play area.  Auntie Jea Jea, Jynx and Hope took a walk around and found their way over to the birthing barn.  No live births while they were there but they watched a mother and a newborn from a couple hours earlier.  Little Man and I finally found our way  there but it can only hold his interest for so long knowing that there are things to jump on outside.  We had a great lunch followed by some of their famous ice cream and off we headed back down to the cottage.

At work someone asked if we went to Indiana Beach since we were so close.  No we haven’t and I thought it was about time to change that.  The neighbor boy’s were still in town so along with the neighbors we headed to Indiana Beach.  Indiana Beach had a great deal going, where you filled up a card with money and then used it through the day, each ride was only 50 cents.  I had a great time reminiscing about Indiana Beach and what had and hadn’t changed since I was a kid.  The Skee-ball room was exactly the same and Little Man and I rolled a game.  The old Haunted House had been changed into a pirate shoot up ride that was fun but I miss the bad haunted house! The only redeeming factor was at the end of the ride you turned a corner and were blasted by a loud truck horn and lights that always scared you even though you knew it was coming.  Jame once again showed that he loves rides by hopping on every ride with no fear and laughing the entire way.  I think he’s really going to be a roller coaster junkie, like mom and dad.

After the 4th holiday it was time to buckle down for the birthday celebrations.  This was Hope’s big first birthday and Jame turning 4.  We planned the big birthday party for a few weeks after their Birthdays to give us a bit more time to get things ready.  Hope had her own birthday surprise for us when she decided to start walking on her first birthday.  Now she is walking all over and keeping us on our toes.  On Little Man’s birthday, we took him to Greek fest a carnival supported by one of the local Greek Churches.  He had a great time on all the rides and wanted of course to go on the bigger rides that he is still not tall enough for but he still tries standing on his tip toes.

We also found time this summer to head on down to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum the world’s largest Children’s museum.    The Museum was exactly that large, we spent a good part of the day there and I don’t even think we scratched the surface of what they had there.  We started off with Dinosaurs, then trains, then a carousel, then a construction play, then an Indy car, and then onto an Egypt exhibit, then into an Avatar exhibit then on the way out they played on the castles and checked out the huge dinosaur looking into the top of the building.  We then headed out for some dinner at the Spaghetti Factory before heading back to the river cottage.  Needless to say the kids slept soundly that night.

After all that we then started the big push for the Birthday parties.  Good thing we only have a small party for them, two bounce houses, swimming pool, piñata, Hot Dogs, A new  360 degree seesaw and of course there was the barrel train.  I built the train for last year’s party but the kids didn’t seem too interested in it but this year, it had new life.  We bought a new tractor and attached the train to it and the kids loved the train and kept asking for rides on it.  The party was a huge success and Little Man had a great time at his party and Little Girl had a great time as well eating her entire cake and looking for more.  We spent the evening opening up gifts from everyone that wasn’t supposed to bring a gift, and once again the house was filled with gifts. 

The next day after the party the neighbor kids came by and asked if Jame could come over and play.  I said of course and had no idea Mom would have a hard time with her baby going off to play with friends.  Throughout the afternoon she kept asking if I could see or hear him and I had to let her know the moment he got home.  When he did get home they stayed and played for a bit and he had a great time.  His personality is really starting to show through everywhere we go now he introduces himself by saying “Hi my name is Jame and I’m four years old.”  He will also see kids when were out and yell “Hey Kids!”  Jame and Hope got invited to the neighbors birthday party, I was out of town so Mom and Jame went and it was at a place called Bella boos (a great place for kids under 9 to enjoy) and when Kayla opened the gift from them Jame began telling her how he made the doll for her; it was a Barbie. Little Man is filled with stories and a great imagination.

We often arrive somewhere to Little Man telling us how he brought his kids there one time.  He tells us how he has two kids and their names are Jame and Hope.  He also has dogs and a house in Floriddida that’s the way he pronounces it.

I arrived home from work the other afternoon on a beautiful August but fall feeling day, it was in the high 70’s.  We decided to take the kids down to Navy Pier; we wanted to take a photo with Hope in a cute sailor outfit and needed to do it before she outgrew the outfit.  We started to try and take some pictures but the sun was too bright so we had dinner sitting out on the pier.  We then headed back and took some pictures with the kids, then we enjoyed the rest of the evening riding the Ferris wheel, playing mini golf, Jame once again was asking everyone to watch him because he was really good at the game and everyone on the course knew his name was Jame and he was four years old.  We ended the evening with a stop for ice cream and headed home.  It was a great evening 

I still can’t believe the kids are already four and one and I know from now on I won’t believe how old they have gotten.  This summer has been very busy but a lot of fun and we’re not done yet. We have made a lot of memories this summer and I can only hope that we remember in our busy lives to keep building memories with them.

 

 

 

Summer 2013

Summer has just begun and we have already crammed a lot into our hectic schedule.  We usually have a list of things we want to do with the kids in summer and we have been able to make a dent in that list.  I’m not sure if we can keep up the pace but it is starting out to be a fun summer.

Just in the nick of time I learned that National Train Day at Union Station was happening.  We took Jame before and he got a big kick out of it and with me having the day off we just had to make the trek downtown.  Uncle Brett was the one who informed us that it was happening but unfortunately he already had plans for that day and was not going to be able to go.  Jynx also had to work that day and she was not able to go so it was just a Jame and Daddy day.

We got up that morning and Little Man got dressed up with Mommy’s help as a train engineer.  When we arrived at Union Station I didn’t know if I would get Little Man inside since he was so excited to see all the taxi cabs and busses outside.  I always love entering the Great Hall at Union Station and walking down those famous steps.  We made our way around looking at all the toy train displays and I noticed everyone looking and smiling at Little Man in his engineer outfit and who could blame them, he was really cute.  After a bit I noticed a fellow cameraman and stopped to say hi to him and it wasn’t long before the producer asked if she could do an interview with him.  I’m not sure how the interview went but he seemed to enjoy himself.

We then made our way over to the kid’s area where they were handing out gifts for the kids.  This year one of the sponsors was Disney so one of Little Man’s favorite shows Chuggington was all over.  They handed him a safety vest with the Chuggington characters on it.  He also got a couple of toy trains that work with his wooden train track and of course coloring books.  They also had some toy trains to play with, Little Man has a set at home but of course he wanted to play and why not.  I noticed there were very few trains for the kids and I took a moment to look at my phone and when I looked up Jame had two of the trains he was playing with while the other kids watched.  I’m not sure how he pulled this off but I stepped in and had him share and a few; minutes later he once again had the trains in front of him.  One day he’s going to have to teach me how he pulls off this trick.

We then spent the rest of our time touring the big trains.  We saw all the Amtrak cars and Little Man was in heaven.  We then went and toured the luxury private rental train cars and it was hard trying to get Little Man from touching everything in the luxury cars.  We then went on to see the engines that were parked and we took a bunch of photos of them.  We were getting ready to head out but I wanted to get a few more pictures with Little Man in his engineer outfit and the famous stairs at Union Station.  We were almost finished when I felt a tap on my shoulder; it was Uncle Brett who had made it.  Uncle Brett is planning a trip out to California on Amtrak and he was hoping to see what the trip was going to be like.  I asked Little Man if he wanted to see the train again and of course he agreed.  We walked the train again and Little Man helped Uncle Brett figure out how the tables worked on the train.  After Little Man got Uncle Brett ready for his trip we went to the food court for lunch. What a great day, thanks Uncle Brett.

One of the things we wanted to do this summer was take the kids to the zoo.  With a rare day off we headed out to Lincoln Park Zoo with both Hope and Jame.  Jame loved all the animals and Hope just loved being outside with all the excitement.  Little Man still says his favorite animal was the tiger and he still laughs about the monkeys.  When we approached the monkey’s one monkey stepped close to the glass soon followed by another monkey who flipped over and let the other monkey pick his butt, as you can imagine every kid there started laughing.  Little Man asked “why they doing that?” I explained that the one monkey was just checking to see if the other monkey had a stinky butt.  I don’t really know why the monkeys do that and I don’t really care, maybe it’s just to entertain the kids. 

No trip to Lincoln Park would be complete without a visit to the farm.  As we walked over to the farm we had to stop on the bridge and take some photos with such a great view on such a nice day.  After taking some pictures we headed to the zoo where Little Man got to feed the cows, pet a chicken and watch the cows get milked.  Speaking of milk it was at this time we realized that I packed food for Hope but not a bottle and she was getting a bit grumpy.  I headed off on foot to find the closest Walgreens and when I returned she was asleep. Oh well.  We had a great time at the zoo and the kids both had heavy eyes as we headed for the exit, but we were all hungry and headed to Gino’s for some good Chicago deep dish.

Little Man’s talking keeps improving and we took him to movies in the park the other night where he introduced himself to everyone he saw; “Hi my name Jame.”  It was a perfect night for sitting outside and watching a movie although Little Man was a bit confused why we would do that when we could watch a movie at home.  He quickly forgot about his question as he ran around with all the other kids in the park he had introduced himself to earlier.

The movie in the park was the kick off to our town’s festival and the carnival was in town.  We took Little Man to the carnival and he was very excited to go and we met Bailey there and they hit the rides together.  When they headed over to the dragon roller coaster Bailey was tall enough but Little Man was a bit short but he quickly remedied the situation by standing on his tip toes.  Jynx did not notice what he was doing but the guy in charge of the ride did.  After we all had a good laugh, he allowed Little Man on the ride.  He still says, that was his favorite ride.  Little Man has also now discovered his love for corndogs that he had after they were all done riding.  I, of course had to break my diet and get a deep fried Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and it was good! I think we will hit another small town carnival before the summer is over. The rides are totally geared towards little guys like ours and we will probably take Hope too to ride her around in her stroller.

It’s hard to believe that our Little Hope is already nearing her first birthday.  Hope has now shed her Jumping Jenny and is only spending some time in her walker.  She now has figured out how to crawl and is standing up in her playpen. She is starting to cruise the furniture and loves to walk with someone holding her hand. She is very close to walking. We now have to put locks on the cabinets and if we forget one she finds the one you miss. When she does get her hands on something a big smile grows on her face and in Flintstone like fashion she runs away.  Her excited smile is contagious and truly warms your heart.  She will also let you know if she is hungry or just not happy, which is very rare.

Going back and writing about all of this already has me tired.  The kids are growing up way too fast and I know when the summer is over I will think that the summer went by way too fast as well. I will just have to enjoy every second with my kids.