Tag: grandparents

Uncategorized /

Up North

We visited my extended family this weekend.  It is probably the last time we’ll get up their way until after the baby arrives.  The drive to get there is about my limit as far as the amount of time I can spend in a car at one time, at this point.

We got into town about 2pm and stopped at my Great Auntie Helen’s house (my grandma’s twin sister.)  It was really good to see her.  She hadn’t seen the boys in quite some time, so she was excited to have them visit.  She gave them animal crackers as we were leaving – they were thrilled!

Afterward, we went to my Uncle Ron & Aunt Judy’s house.  The boys were enthralled with the equipment my uncle has in his woodworking shop. They even lended a hand with cleaning up sawdust.  Give them a shovel and they’ll move just about anything for you!  Ron also took them outside in his yard to see his skid loader and they “played pool” in the basement.  It was nice to have them entertained while I chatted with my Aunt Judy and cousin, Jeana.

We went to mass at my Grandma Fran’s church and then went out to dinner with my Uncle Gene, Aunt Ann, and cousin, Amy.  After we ate, we all headed for the hotel pool.  Unfortunately it was freezing cold!  But Jake and Amy were brave enough to take the boys in.  I only set foot in the chilly water when Lincoln decided to slide off the edge into the shallow end without anyone there to catch him!  Talk about my heart skipping a beat!  For him though, it was all fun.  The experience didn’t frighten him in the least.  That kid is going to be put in swimming lessons as soon as we have him potty trained.  He has no fear of water, which is both good and bad.

Sunday morning we woke up and went to Ann & Gene’s house.  My parents arrived shortly before we left – they were part of a group of my Grandma & Great Aunt’s kids who were taking them out (in a limo) to celebrate their 93rd birthday.  (The limo was a surprise to them – I think they enjoyed themselves :))  Nolan wanted to check out the inside of the car, but Lincoln did not.

On our way out of town, we stopped at the Mineview to show the boys the biggest dump trucks they had ever seen.

We then loaded into our car and headed to Duluth for Jake’s cousin’s 30th birthday party.  When arrived at the party, the first thing the boys saw was the giant inflatable cake jumper in the backyard.  It was a definitely highlight of the party for the kids.  We spent a couple of hours at the celebration and then headed for home.  It was a quick trip up and back, but well worth it!

Uncategorized /

Father’s Day and 50 years

We spent Father’s Day at my parents’ house this year.  The weather was beautiful!  We played in the backyard, which the kids loved.  Bocce ball, hula hoops, wiffle ball, oh and of course, “water squirters!”  Good times.

After dinner, we headed to Jake’s grandparents’ 50th anniversary party.  50 years!  What an awesome event to celebrate!  Jake had taken some of their wedding slides and scanned them, so those at the party were able to “relive” the original celebration along with Lois & Dale.  (Photos taken by Jake’s cousin, Beth.)

Uncategorized /

Picnic with Nana

Nolan has Vacation Bible School this week.  He has had a lot of fun!  Instead of just going home afterward, today we met Nana (my mom) at the “purple park” and had a picnic lunch.  This is one of the boys’ favorite parks.  They love the sand, the swings, the purple dinosaur, and of course, the digger.

Uncategorized /

Birthday week continues

Two packages arrived via the postal service today.  It seems Nolan’s birthday week is still going strong!  We sat out back as he opened them.  Once again, Lincoln was his trusty helper.  Then, we were surprised by a visit from Aunt Larissa.  She came bearing two more presents for the big little guy to open.  What a lucky kid!  We now have both a doctor and a fire fighter in the house should anyone need their services.

Uncategorized /

Mother’s Day project

Nolan and Papa (my dad) have been going to Lowe’s nearly every other Saturday morning to complete a project.  He’s made everything from a jewelry holder (for Valentine’s Day), to a mini basketball hoop, baseball field, and kaleidoscope.  They really get to build some neat things!  Today’s project was for Mother’s Day.  It is a mini trellis.  The kids were also able to go to the Lowe’s garden center to pick out a plant and decorate the outside of the plastic pot.  The final project really turned out great!  And he is so proud of what he builds, which is even more cute to see 🙂

Uncategorized /

Orlando 2010 – Animal Kingdom

Day 4. Our second Disney park visit was to the Animal Kingdom.  This was my favorite of the two we visited.  So many cool animals to check out.  We didn’t take quite as many pictures because it was more fun to just enjoy the park. (I did have to include a picture of my favorite animal, though…the elephant.)

Uncategorized /

Orlando 2010 – Cocoa Beach

Day 3. Lincoln said he would drive us to Cocoa Beach, so we took him up on his offer.  🙂  Well, sort of.  We did go to the beach and the boys LOVED playing in the sand.  It was a bit cool again, but the sun was warm and Jake actually ended up getting a bit rosy from it.  The boys and I sported our 100 SPF sunblock, so we were in the clear.  Jake made sure to enjoy a McRib on the beach (and rub it in by sending a picture back home to an old co-worker to create a little jealousy.)

Special thanks to Bri, Jason’s girlfriend, for several of these pics, including the group family picture we took at the end of our journey to the coast.

Uncategorized /

Orlando 2010 – Magic Kingdom

Day 2. We had a semi-leisurely morning and headed out for our first trip to Disney’s Magic Kingdom.  I’m glad we traveled with Disney “pros” because the whole Disney system is really quite complex: 4 Different parks, regular tickets, hopper passes, shuttles, mono-rails…it’s enough to confuse any first-time visitor if you ask me.

To begin our visit, we rode the ferry across a large lake and at that point, I realized I should have packed the boys’ winter jackets and hats for the day.  Here I was thinking we’d at least be able to get away with just sweatshirts.  I assumed incorrectly.  Mother nature apparently hasn’t been that nice to Florida this winter and we found out later that it had been unseasonably cool for the last 2 months.  Oh well, we made due and attempted to hit a few indoor rides/shows to warm up from time to time.  By the afternoon, the sun warmed things up a bit.  We stayed to experience a couple of rides (Nolan didn’t care much for the Monster’s Inc. show we checked out,) the boys had their pictures taken with several characters, we watched the afternoon parade and had our picture taken in front of the Disney castle.  It was a full day and the boys crashed (thankfully) later that night.

Uncategorized /

Orlando, FL 2010

Day 1. Left for the airport about 7:30AM.  Thankfully traffic was flowing nicely and we made it to the security checkpoint about 8:30.  Once through security we stopped for breakfast at McDonald’s and then headed for our gate.  Not surprisingly, the non-stop flight to Orlando was packed.  Larissa traveled with us; she was such a big help!  It was nice having 3 on 2 defense.  Lincoln slept on my lap for most of the flight and Nolan chilled next to Jake while watching various DVDs.  We were able to watch an in-flight movie, which made time “fly.”

Once we landed and picked up the boys’ car seats, we found our mini van for the week and headed for our home away from home in Kissimmee, just a few minutes from Mickey’s house.  The place we stayed in was quite spacious – 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and enough beds for everyone, which was great!  The kids enjoyed the over-sized bathtub almost every night of our stay.  It was a treat to have so much space for the boys as well as a nearby park for them to play at.  I can imagine I would have been a bit nutty by the end of the week if we had only been in a one-room hotel room all week.

Uncategorized /

OTW – feeling crummy

My weekend actually started Thursday, if you count the weekend as the days I’ve felt less than 100%.  Not that I feel 100% a lot of the time, but I’d say it’s generally at least in the 90’s.  The last four days I’ve been down in the 25-30% range.  Not fun.  Thursday I started an on and off streak of migraines that have had me down for the count most of the weekend.  Friday morning I woke up in such pain that I called my mom to see if she could come over to wrangle the mini-men.  Thankfully, she was able to clear her schedule and come to my aid.  I was in bed (and in pain) until dinnertime.  My awesome mom not only handled the boys (play time, lunch time, nap time & dinner time) but she also helped me get started on the mountain of laundry that has been silently growing in my basement.  What a gift to me she was on Friday.

Unfortunately, the pain did not subside on Saturday and Jake was kind enough to pick up where my mom left off and took care of the boys, meals, etc. all day.  In the morning, he took Lincoln to the swimming pool while Papa & Nolan went to Lowe’s to build something together.  That something was a fantastic jewelry organizer!  Nolan was SO proud of his project – and rightfully so!  I love it!  And to make it even more perfect, Jake’s Valentine’s Day gift to me was a beautiful sapphire necklace, & earrings made by our family friend, Becky.  The boys rounded out their Saturday morning outing by stopping for lunch at Nana & Papa’s and a little cake decorating.  They boys had fun with all of the frosting and sprinkles (or crickets, as Nolan called them.)  After dinner, we enjoyed the finished products.  Yum!