Vacation Highlight- Just Pictures

This is my last post about our vacation highlights I promise.  I'm sharing some of my favorite pictures from the week.

I swear this was the very first picture I took on our trip and it's one of my favorites:

I think Grandma Marge looks beautiful in this picture.  She is the sweetest old lady I know.

Here comes the adorable James.  Here's his one year old photo Annie:

Grandpa Bob and his siblings:

Adam playing on the beach:

The Algoma Light house with the moon rising before fireworks:

Ann and Mollee with Dave and the "Big Dumb One" as Grandma Marge dubbed Matt sneaking in at the last second:

Fireworks picture I just found on my point and shoot camera:

I see a little bit of me in Adam's proud big brother smile:

Adam singing to his Caterpillar we found in the yard:

Dads and their sons

Vacation Highlight- Shark Fishing

It's been an inside joke between Dave and I that I want to go shark fishing.  Last year when I caught my first northern I was actually doing a "here, sharky, sharky" cheer.  We figure besides muskie or northern fishing charter fishing for salmon and trout on Lake Michigan was as close as we were going to get to shark fishing in fresh water.  So Tuesday morning we woke up at 3 AM with Titus and Grandpa Bob to go fishing.  I caught the first fish before sunrise and from there we took turns reeling in the fish.  We caught 11 all together and our freezers will be full of fresh salmon and trout for months to come.

Titus is not a fan of water and can't swim, so getting him on the boat was an extra treat, even if it meant he had to wear a big orange PFD. 

And look a rare picture of me and the hubs.  We were probably the most well adjusted after only getting 4 hours of sleep... I wonder why {side eyes Eli}.

Vacation Highlight- Bay Beach

25 cents will buy a ticket for a kiddie ride at Bay Beach a public amusement park in Green Bay.  And seeing my son and nephew ride round and round on kiddie rides was worth more than 25 cents a ride.  Especially on the ride where James got scared so we told Adam to hold his hand and he did! 

 

4 Month Check Up

Please stop- how can my little itty baby be 4 months old?  And we're attempting to potty train my toddler.  AND I go back to work in three weeks- three looooong weeks I keep telling myself.

Yesterday we took Eli to the doctor and I thought for sure he would be taller and weigh more than Adam did at 4 months.  Well I couldn't have been more wrong- they were exactly the same height and Eli's about a half pound lighter.  24.5 inches (36%), 14 pounds 6 oz (42%) and 17 inch diameter head (76%). 

As of last week Eli can roll from his back to his belly.  He almost prefers to be on his belly so that he can lift his head up and watch his brother run around.  He is such a drool machine.  I'm afraid his first tooth will come in soon. 

Vacation Highligh- My Two Goats

On Monday we drove up to Door County and went to a petting zoo.  As soon as we walked out on to the farm a goat came running.  Adam stood there with a huge smile on his face and proclaimed the goat was his and when a second one ran up he said, "my two goats, my two goats, mommy." 

He also got to hold a chick and he was very gentle with him.  James liked the animals too, but just from a little further distance than Adam.

Back to Reality- Vacation Highlights

I've been away from home for 10 days.  We left for Algoma two Thursdays ago to see all of Dave's extended family and do the Shanty Day's thing.  Then Dave came home to go back to work for three days, but I decided to stay with his parents in Wisconsin instead.  Then last weekend we were at a family friends wedding in Madison.  I purposely stayed away from the computer and blogging, because I was on vacation, but now I'm back and want to share some of the highlights of our trip.

Friday night at 5 PM sharp all 40+ family members got together in front of the nursing home for a family photo with Great-grandma Marge (we were minus one- Titus was in a wedding and missed the picture).  Looking at the picture I can hear the noise that this family brings when they are all together.

Saturday morning I did my first post Eli 5K race and finished with a respectable 27:03 time.  I ran the first mile in 8 minutes- second in 10 and the third in about 9, so not too shabby.  Unfortunately cousin Matt beat me by 6 seconds- it was like losing to my brother Matt.  It was extra special that it was the first real race Adam watched me run.  Because I ran the race I let myself have a peanut butter chocolate malt while we watched the parade go by in front of Penguin City Pizza later that day.

The fireworks.  I've been to many Shanty Days since I started dating Dave, but this year was the first time I ever got to see the Sunday night Fireworks display.  We pushed Adam's nap out to late afternoon on Sunday to try and keep him up past 9 PM.  He woke up 5 minutes after 5 and was a total gremlin.  We joke about him turning into a gremlin if he naps after 5, but it's really the truth of what he's like.  Screaming and whining didn't stop until I dragged him all the way to the beachfront and had him stick his feet in the crashing waves.  He did great at the fireworks though.  Initially he got scared, but aunt Linda took him and convinced him they were pretty.  Eli just laid in between Linda and I and watched.  He only fussed once because he couldn't see the lower fireworks and was happy once I picked him up so he could see.

We said goodbye to the extended family after the fireworks, but we stuck around Algoma until Tuesday.

Mission Accomplished

Finally some cool wether!  The windows are open and a nice summer breeze is blowing through our house. 

This morning after everyone took their shower or bath I got a couple cute pictures of the brothers.  I had to work fast, because as I expected Adam lost interest quickly.

Eli 3 Month Pictures

I decided since I took Adam to get pictures taken every three months I should continue the same with Eli. Yes it's the middle child in me trying to keep everything fair.

I did everything I could to get Eli to smile, but the kid would not budge while we were in the studio so we took the little guy outside and he smiled immediately.  When Adam saw the picture he laughed and said "Eli's in a box".  Dave proceeded to sing Brother for Sale.

Eli Photo

I really do love Eli photo shoots on my bed.  The natural light that streams into our room is awesome.  I just hope that the deck won't block too much of that natural light.  My goal for this week is to try to get a picture with both brothers.  Wish me luck.

Adventure Day

Today was adventure day.  Eli napped for two hours in his stroller while Adam and I went to the Campfire Nature Preserve to see the animals and then to the playground to play and have snack.  On the way home we took the long walk around the Nature Preserve.  Eli slept the whole time and even let us stop at a garage sale where we bought a Lego table and a huge box of Legos for $5 + a $1 to the boy who carried it home for me.

When Dave got home I packed up ham sandwiches and we headed south to a county park for a picnic and swimming.  Epic fail.  The mosquitos were so bad we ate in the car and the water was murky and green due to farm run off.  Adam really wanted to swim though, so to turn our adventure positive we went to the Hutch outdoor pool for some swimming and then to Culver's for a banana split.  My favorite moment of the night was I told Dave he could eat the last bite of banana and ice cream and as he put it on his spoon Adam reached in and stole the banana.  Hey the kid knows what he wants.

So no more searching for a good swimming lake for us.  Next time we eat our picnic in our back yard and head to the pool for some swimming!

Potty Training Mode

Adam's been peeing on the potty the here and there for several months.  But I think he's finally started to figure this potty training thing out. Twice while we were out and about this weekend our 2 year old started to act oh so very 2 (fit throwing). When food and distraction didn't work on Friday night I decided to remove him from the dinner table (we were at a restaurant with friends) and take him to the bathroom with me. He actually agreed that he needed to go potty too. His diaper was dry and he used the big potty. He kept the same diaper dry all Saturday morning and at the music festival when he started fit throwing and nothing seemed to be working he finally admitted to needing a diaper change. I took him to a remote area to do a discrete diaper change. I noticed the diaper was again dry, and this boy needed to pee. He was completely against the idea of putting his diaper back on. I abandoned the stroller and made a mad dash to the other side of the park for the port-a-potties. We made it just in time. Later on he told daddy "lets keep walking I have to go pee". And then again about an hour later he asked to go pee again (and did). He still wets and nap time and poops in his diaper, but he made it most of the day in the same dry diaper.

Then all day Monday I kept asking him if he needed to go pee and every time I checked his diaper it was wet and he couldn't pee in the potty.  Monday night at Music in the Park he kept his diaper dry and as we were leaving he ran to the port-a-potty and asked to go.  Maybe he just really likes port-a-potties?  Some days are better than others.  I'm thinking I might just order some training undies and give it a go for a couple of days before I go back to work. 

Playing Boys

Adam has treated Eli like he could play with him from day 1.  But now that Eli really can interact with him it is completely adorable.  Yesterday Eli and Adam were all hanging out in the living room.  Eli stuck his hole fist in his mouth, so Adam asked him if he needed a cold one (what we call the teething rings in the fridge).  I suggested that he give Eli his giraffe instead. 

Riversong- the Music Festival in our Backyard

Riversong is a folk music festival here in Hutchinson that's been going on for three years.  The first year I thought it was free, but when I found out you had to pay I completely was not interested.  And I kept that attitude until this year.  Adam completely loves live music.  It doesn't mater if it's polka or just two guys with guitars.  So we decided a whole day of low key folk music would be great and bought tickets for Saturday.

We packed up the kiddos in our double stroller on Saturday at noon and walked to the park less than a half mile away.  It was practically like having a music festival in our back yard (we listened to Fridays concert from our backyard around a campfire and I wish we had seen the Mudbugs perform they sounded amazing).  Although it was a hot day on Saturday the breeze off the river and large shade trees kept us fairly cool. 

The music was great, but after four hours we needed a little break, so we walked back home and had dinner with my parents.  In order to have a quick getaway we decided to drive to the festival for the evening concerts.  The April Smith and the Great Picture Show played at 7 PM and she had an amazing voice and sounded a little like No Doubt's early music.  I bought their album from Amazon today.

I love watching Adam watch music.  He gets so into it.  He still talks about wanting to go back to Riversong.  We have to keep reminding him that Riversong is all over.

We already plan on going back next year for both Friday and Saturday's shows, not only because it was fun and good music, but because we want to support the little music festival that is practically in our back yard!