Tweeting without Twitter

7:03am~My cell phone alarm goes off. Snooze somehow hit.

7:08am~Alarm goes off again. This time I get up....because I can not, for the life of me, figure out how to turn it off.

7:22am~I am ready to begin the day, my baby is crying, I change her diaper.

7:37am~I wake up Alex, feed my baby, try to get her to stop crying.

8:08am~Alex is now ready, the baby has stopped crying, we grab a bottle of water and a Cherry Coke for breakfast, and the three of us leave in Grandma's car to attempt to get a spot for an unscheduled driver's test. We should be back for lunch.

8:28am~Arrive at testing center....with at least 30 other cars!!!

9:18am~Still sitting in line, have moved only about three car lengths in the last hour.

9:48am~We begin to move!

10:20am~We are now officially in the que lot...we are labelled #19. However, several people have already given up and gone home, so we are really 11th in the "Extras" lot.

11:15am~No one in our lot has moved. It is 83 degrees and humid. There is no shade. I call Tracey with the unfortunate update....but we still have hopes to see her today.

12:15pm~Still no one has moved from our lot of cars. It must be near 90 degrees. We are hungry. It is SO VERY HOT in that car with the sun beating away at us mercilessly. Scheduled appointments continue to fill the first three lanes. Things do not look good. Alex and I strike a deal that if no one moves by 1pm, we are going to break out of this torture chamber and go home.

12:50pm~We just finished our longest "game" of "How long can we leave the air conditioner off?" We made it to 50 minutes. I am ready to croak. I am winning the game "How many cigarrettes is that guy going to smoke before he gets picked?" He is currently on #7. The men in the front row who have been here since 7:30am are still hanging out by their cars, having what looks like a tailgating party. How can they be so jovial in this oppressing heat? The crazy lady in a tube top made for someone at least 30 years younger than she, has now finished her pizza that was delivered here an hour ago which she shared with her mother in the car ahead of us. The baby is doing remarkably well, and is getting ready to nurse for her second time in the car. We close the doors and windows and turn on the engine, welcoming the cooler air. OH! Oh!! Someone from our lot has finally been picked!!!

1:15~People continue to be chosen from our lot, as 3 more testers have arrived on the scene, and the scheduled appointments have temporarilly ceased. We are now 7th in line!

1:35~We are next! We are next to be chosen! SHOOT! The appointment lanes fill up again....there are six of them over there.

1:45~Still so many of them over there. And they just keep coming. We don't have a chance. This place closes in like, 2-1/2 hours.

1:50~The next scheduled appointment has left their car and is no where to be found. All the other appointments are behind this car and can not move forward. We hear the tester say, "well, I am going to take an Extra then". Is it true? Or am I imagining things? I'm so hot, I can't see straight, so I may not be hearing well either. It's true! He's coming this way! I jump out of the car with the baby. "Good luck, Alex!", and we high-tail it into the air-conditioned building.

2:10pm~Bethany has been smiling and cooing, charming all the uber quiet people in the waiting room. Alex returns. He doesn't look happy. My stomach drops. "Did you pass?" "Yeah-I have a headache". Poor kid. He passed!!!

2:20pm~Waiting in a long line to get license paperwork completed, but it is air conditioned, so, who cares?

2:30pm~Still waiting. Can't find Alex's permit. Gee whiz. Alex's head is about to explode. The baby has been crying for 10 minutes. Everyone is glaring at us. Such a bunch of crabby people in this building. The air conditioning is no longer comforting given our present circumstances.

2:45pm~The tester brings in Alex's permit which he found under the front of our parked car two blocks away. Thank you!

2:50pm~Finally at the front of the line. Sent to the back as the paperwork has not been completely filled out. Where was the sign regarding these instructions?

3:00pm~Now done with paperwork, and photo. Baby quietly asleep. Alex is ready to die. Walking to the car.

3:15pm~Driving through Caribou for a huge coffee for Alex. He looks terrible. Good gravy, is the window teller happy and spunky!!

3:20pm~No one here at Grandma's. Where are they? Alex lays down for a nap. I am worried about him. I jump into a cold shower. The baby starts screaming.

3:45pm~The kids return from a VERY HOT walk to the park and back. They only played there for about 10 minutes because of the heat. I am consoling the baby. Grandma gets swimsuits on the kids.

4:00pm~Feeding the baby. Kids running through the sprinkler. On my third glass of water. Beginning to feel a little better.

4:30pm~Kids playing in sprinkler and makeshift water table. Baby asleep. Beginning to feel less and less beaten by the heat. Alex is still OUT.

5:30pm~Grandpa's home! Alex wakes up. What is that? Oh! It's a smile on his face!

6:30pm~Enjoying a delicious meal from Smashburger. Yummy!

7:00pm~Laura begins making cupcakes with her new gift from Auntie Tracey. She is dressed in her beautiful new outfit, still convinced we are going to visit them again today.

8:15pm~Still making cupcakes, one by one.

9:00pm~Finished cleaning up cupcake mess. Loading truck to go home.

10:15pm~Shuttled kids inside. Shooed them upstairs. We are all going to bed now. Goodnight!

Cruising the Titanic

Every summer I try to take the kids on a mini-vacation into the cities for a few days. We are lucky to get to see Grandma and Grandpa on a fairly regular basis, but there is something special about being able to spend extended time with them on an OVERNIGHT visit at their house. Really, what kid does not get thoroughly excited about "going to have a sleepover"??? So today, it was off to grandmother's house we went.

Packing every kid that belongs to me into the truck, we headed on our way. I dropped Michael off at a friend's house in our old neighborhood for the next couple of days, and Jonny and Alex jumped off at Grandma's nearby to spend the afternoon resting and doing computer "work" (ha). The rest of the kids and I had a special visit to make before settling at Grandma's.

We shared a few quick hours with my longest known friend, Tracey and her 3 kiddos. Knowing each other since first grade, our visits seem to be much too long in between, as we are both living on complete opposite sides of the cities, both of us as possibly far to the borders as the "metro area" is defined. It is always a treat to finally get together.

The kids always seem to pick up right where they left off, comfortably playing together in the wonderful play room above the garage. Today, that allowed Tracey and I to catch up on each other's lives, and she was introduced to Bethany.

My goddaughter, Lizzie, also got to meet the newest little member of our family.

And our two year old boys spent the afternoon being shy together.

The time went much too quickly, so we made tentative plans to return the next day if Alex got done early enough with his unscheduled driver's test. Tracey sent us away with about a million presents(not much of an exaggeration), and we rushed (make that, 'crawled along' in "rush hour")down the freeway to meet my parents and other boys at the Science Museum.

It was there that we boarded the Titanic.

For some of us, this was our second trip aboard the massive ship, as we had previously departed from the Floridian docks a few years back. But for most of the kids, it was their first time. They all eagerly read their boarding passes, and quickly memorized their roles and status. We were entertained by members of the crew along the way who were not only interesting to talk to, but who also had so much information to tell us in such charming British accents, it was impossible not to soak up every word spoken.

We were fascinated by artifacts found on the ocean floor, enchanted with the childhood games of the times, like tiddlywinks and Jacob's Ladder, amazed by the coldness felt of the giant iceberg, and horrified by video replications of that fateful day on April 12, 1912. We were drawn to near tears on several occasions as we read through stories of those who had been on the boat nearly 100 years ago....stories of loss, as well as survival. Men. Women. Children. Over 2,000 people, all whose lives changed dramatically in one unfortunate evening.

At the end of the exhibit, we searched the wall for our character names, hoping for "our" survival. Amongst our group of 10, only myself and my three girls made it through the dark, cold waters alive. Sad.

We tried to enjoy a few other displays in the museum before leaving late in the evening due to extreme hunger and fatigue. We had, after all, just spent the better part of the night trying to stay afloat in the icy ocean waters. A quick stop at Chipotle for dinner at 9pm, then off to bed for all the kids.

Sweet dreams, little ones. Sweet dreams.

Goin' to the Fair...Twice

We were to start a new practice today, with which my children would occasionally add some blog entries....being that this is a FAMILY blog, and all. With our recent vacations, and the extra time involved (it is currently August 20th as I write...I am SO thankful for back-dating options!), I find we are quite behind, once again, so Melissa will have to patiently wait until next month for her turn to come around again. I apologize for the delay. Hang on for a slew of new entries!

The County Fair has been in town since Wednesday, and my kids have been begging to go since Tuesday. Being on our new money saving plan, we had to research which day would be most cost effective as well as convenient for us to go. Unfortunately for the kids, that day turned out to be the last day of the fair, which for them meant the longest waiting time. Poor kiddos...

After inspiring messages at church about grace (and boy, am I thankful for that gift from God!), Grandma ? and I treated the kids to lunch at the fair while Lyle played games at the house with Laura and Tubby. The teens took off on their own for awhile, searching out food I guess, and were back within about 30 minutes, nearly depleted of the money I had given them. The rest of us managed meals of foot long hot dogs and corn dogs, cheese curds, and mini-donuts for less money and triple the personage as those 2 teens did. *sigh*

Despite packing water bottles for all the kids, we were all melting in the afternoon heat until we found a lovely shady spot where we ate our lunch and listened to some fantastic jazz music under the tent across the way. With a light breeze, it was completely comfortable under the leafy greens, and I think Grandma and I could have remained for hours in that spot enjoying the glorious summertime atmosphere. The kids, however, became bored once the food stash was depleted. So off we headed to search the fair exhibits.

We spent a good deal of time in the 4-H building, admiring arts and crafts, science projects, and gardening spoils. I am considering this group for Melissa, rather than continuing on in Girl Scouts. It seems to be a bit more her style, and there are so many more options for her to choose in areas that she can be successful in. I have also heard of the local homeschooling group's Girl Scout troop. Being fairly certain that Melissa WILL be homeschooled after this next year, this too, may be a great option for her, and help to facilitate new friendships. Sooooo, I don't know. Chances are, I will probably think about it so long that it will be too late to choose anything, and then we will be stuck with nothing. That may not be a bad option, either.

ALL the kids, big and small had a total blast in machinery hill. They all played in the tractors and buggies, and whatever other contraptions were present for a good 20 minutes while Grandma and I hid with the baby under some shade. Too bad Tubby was not there, because he would have been in 'vroom-vroom' paradise!

We spent another hour looking in the education buildings while Jonny took the kids to the petting zoo and the animal barns. As always, new things to look at were everywhere, and new ideas were gathered (though promptly forgotten upon getting home). But it was hot. Laura and Tubby had a delightful time in the coolness of our home playing games and watching videos with Lyle. I don't know what happened over the next few hours....it had been so hot.....my brain must have been a teensy bit fried.....(and for goodness sake, it was already so long ago, how could I possibly remember....)

A few hours later, Daddy came home from a birthday golf outing, and we once again packed everyone (and this time, truly everyone) into the truck (10 people in a 9 seater vehicle...hmmm...you figure that one out!), and headed to the fair. This time we had one goal in mind:

THE RIDES.

Oh....my.....good....ness.....they had so much fun!!!

With wristbands adorning their little people wrists, they had access to everything for 3 hours. And believe me, they accessed those rides for 3 hours solid! Even Daddy purchased a wristband of his own, and flitted from ride to ride with his kids, enjoying the experience (and sometimes NOT enjoying the super-spinning ones. Funny how some of those feel a bit "icky" as we get older!) Crispy even found a friend of his from school who palled around with him and the big boys as they were quite brave. Melissa, Laura, and Tubby had a great time hanging around the more tame versions of things. Bethany slept through the whole evening (or perhaps was passed out from heat stroke of earlier...I really can't be sure), and I had fun taking pictures and watching everyone have a great time. Three hours passed by in a flash, and all too soon, we found ourselves squeezing back into that truck and heading home for the night.

The fair was a lot of fun, but I think that the best part was just hanging out as a family. All of us. Together. Now THAT, is something always worth the wait in the end.

Another Play for Jonathan

With the end of this week, Jonny's summer of theater camps comes to an end. He was in 4 this summer: one at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater, one with Prairie Fire Children's Theater production (they did "The Wizard of Oz"), a super cool comedy improv camp through Homeward Bound Theater Company, and finally, Westwood's own WATCH camp's musical "High Cotton". Thou this is the least "professional" of the camps listed, it is usually the among the highest quality in performance. This year was no exception.

The kids audition for parts in late June, get roles assigned by early July, memorize their lines and the songs they will be singing, develop a character map, pull together a costume, then have 5 consecutive days of rehearsal before the big performance on Saturday evening. The kids work hard from only 9am-12pm everyday, and manage to pull together a fabulous show.

In years past, Jonny has played Mordca, the Innkeeper in Fiddler on the Roof:

And played a scene in the role of Jesus during Godspell, Jr:

This year, he was Reverend Fletcher in "High Cotton":

He fit this role well...it suits his daily personality as a kind, compassionate, caring for everyone, living by Truth and following the Word kind of person that he is naturally. Watching him tonight, I could almost even envision him as a real pastor someday! How cool would that be?!?

All the family came to support Jonny, as well as Grandparents Connelly, and Grandma ? and Lyle. OH! Crispy and Tubby had stayed overnight the night before at their house, attended a Mankato Moondogs game, and helped to take care of the sheep. It was Tubby's first sleepover at the farm, and he had a great time. So much so, that he didn't want to have anything to do with the rest of us when we were reunited at the play, and he was VERY upset that he did not get to go back home with them. As we were driving home, Grandma's car was in front of us...as they went straight at the stop sign, we took a right, and Tubby yelled out "No! Noooo!" and cried the rest of the ride home. So much for missing us.....

Bethany slept for the first 20 minutes of the play, then was awake and antsy the rest of the time. I had to stand with her in the back, constantly bouncing her, patting her back, walking back and forth...this girl is a lot of work! We finally found a dark back row to nurse, and thankfully she didn't let out any loud belches. After the play ended, I gave her to Grandpa to try to work his magic with her, but she was fussy, even for him!

At the conclusion of the play, we had some excitement thanks to the tornado that was moving close by, and we were all ushered into the church basement into a middle room of the building. Tubby was a bit freaked out, but the kids were able to distract him with a whiteboard and markers we found. Once sure that the tornado was out of our path, we all took our chances and left for home. Everyone made it safely, and most of us enjoyed the neat lightening display from one lone white puffy cloud amongst the dark blackness of the others.

Jonny is really a talented boy, and takes after his daddy in this theater arts world. I look forward to many more great performances in the future like this (without the tornadoes, of course!).

Welcome Back, Little g's

After two days of running around, we spent today at home. I had so much planned to help get this house back in order. The kids were happy to sit around some, play with Polly Pockets and Cars in the water table, race plasma cars in the basement, and of course, update their Webkinz and other online accounts. Using the timer for 20 minute intervals has been a fabulous way to organize this time between 4 kids and one laptop computer. And Bethany? She cried. ALL DAY LONG. I have witnesses....you can ask any of them. I am pretty sure that she hates being home. Ever. So....nothing on my list got done. Again.



With being away from home for the past two days, it was easiest to use disposable diapers for Bethany. I really like the concept of the Little g diapers, but with a breast fed baby and all that liquidy poop, most diaper changes have been somewhat of a mess. I AM getting a better system going, and the covers are staying cleaner longer, with only the nylon liners needing to be swapped out and washed with each change instead of the whole cloth set. But when out and about, this was too much of a hassle....not to mention, a mess.



With all of the struggles I have been having getting used to these diapers, but really wanting them to work out for me, I was surprised that after two days, I missed them! I was actually looking forward to putting those cute cloth things back on her baby bottom again this morning, and use them all day long. They hold leaks better than the hypoallergenic Huggies I am using, and all around, fit her so much better. After this little hiatus from what I felt was getting too annoying to continue working with, I found myself liking the Little g's even more: the absorbent pads, the flushable option, the breathable liners, the cute cotton covers, the great fit, and the absence of all redness or rash. The extra step of washing out those little liners and snapping a new one in is worth it in the end....even if it means I am the only adult around brave enough to change these things. And when I have to use disposables, I am heading back over to Amazon.com for a case of Seventh Generation diapers. No other disposable even comes close to the quality of these.



I like to think that Bethany likes the Little g's a little more, too!

Roll-Throughs and Wee-Ooos

This is where I took Alex today:

This is the lane he began his test in:

He was all prepared:

Things were going great:

But the tester was not happy that he "rolled through" all of his stops. Arghhh.... Legend around town says that NOBODY passes the test their first time at this testing center. Though I do believe you still would need to actually STOP correctly at any other center also. Oh well...Road Test Take 2 coming next week.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with Grandma and Grandpa in my childhood hometown. Alex took a long and much needed nap after a busy day beginning at 8:30am with driving practice in Grandma's car (our SUV's are a bit harder to maneuver in the parking portions of the road test). Grandma and I took the kids to the wonderful park just a few blocks away. We all love this park. It has so much for the kids to do...even the little ones. It is shaded with plenty of comfortable benches for resting. It is large enough for the kids to run around like crazy, yet small enough that we can see them all at all times. It just is perfect for a play park.

Tubby and Laura ran first to the swings. They love swinging so very much...and could probably swing forever if someone were willing to push them that long.

Crispy and Jonny chummed around together like they normally do, inventing games of all sorts. The one they spent the most on was some game on they bouncing balance beam where they started on opposite ends, passing each other carefully in the center, and moving on. They made it to level 7 today (for whatever that's worth).

Melissa tried just about everything in the park today. I have noticed her increased strength since gymnastics last month. The most impressive display was crossing halfway across the monkey bars at the second park we visited today. Go, Girl!

Though the temps were only in the mid-70's, the kids ran around enough to want to travel to the splash pad on the other side of the baseball fields. This splash pad has a smart button which is pushed when kids want to play. This makes the water flow and keeps it going for about 5 minutes. Therefor, when kids are not around, no water is wasted. And the kids love pushing the button....I have yet to meet a kid who does not like pushing buttons (and when they are preteens, they are pushing buttons of an intangible sort).

Tubby and Melissa were reluctant to get wet, but they enjoyed running AWAY from the water as it randomly spurted through holes in the ground.

Jonny, Crispy, and Laura were a bit more brave, occasionally jumping through the cool streams, and getting a bit drippy. They played an R2D2 game around one of the geysers, running around in circles and through the circles, trying not to get wet, as you chant "R2D2! R2D2!" over and over and over again. Thankfully the sun was still shining on this part of the park, helping them to both dry off and warm up.

We had dinner a few houses up the block for the National Night Out party. The highlight for the kids was the visit from the police officers and firefighters. The kids were allowed to climb in the police car, sit in the front seat, look at the super cool computer system inside, and get locked in the back. Crispy even got to turn on the flashing lights and talk through the intercom system! It was pretty cute, and I took some video with my camera, but I am not tech saavy enough to get the video OFF my camera onto the computer. I didn't have a problem with the other camera, but this older one doesn't seem to want to give them up.

Tubby was in heaven being able to see a "Wee-Ooo" (what he calls a police car because that is the sound the siren makes) up close and personal. Though a bit nervous, he did climb into the back with his siblings after about 10 minutes. The nice police officers also gave the kids lots of baseball cards, a sticker, and a police car magnet before they had to travel to the next party down the road.I had a great day today also, as Bethany did well being held by grandparents or riding in the sling all day. Between our busy fun day yesterday and another action packed day today, it has been nice to enjoy this two day reprieve from her constant, sad crying. It is comforting to imagine that on days like this, she is finally enjoying her little life a little bit!

Funday Monday

Today was going to be hot. Well, relatively speaking, the high of 85 degrees was going to be MUCH hotter than it has been most of this summer. Mary invited us to join her and some of her relatives at the Rope Park. My only memories of this park are HOT....being HOT, sitting in the HOT sun, watching my kids get too HOT to play, feeling sick because we are so HOT...well, you get the idea. And today seemed like it would prove to be the same. I really did not feel so much like going, but the kids all must have worse memories than I do, forgot that they always get horribly HOT, and they all really wanted to go. To get motivated, I had to sweeten the deal....A LOT. So, we called up our good friends who live nearby the park, who we have not seen since before their little girl Ava (born one day after Bethany's due date)and they just happened to be free AND think it was a good idea to meet us there. So forward we went with Plan: Rope Park.

After picking Jonny up from play rehearsal at church, making a wrong turn off the freeway, and nearly running plumb out of gas, we made it to our destination about 30 minutes later than estimated. We found all the kids playing wonderfully together, and Mary had recognized Alison, introducing herself and welcoming her to the Mommy table. Us moms got to enjoy some adult conversation as the kids ran themselves silly around the Rope Park. Running, running, running, until they got so.....very....HOT. Because it was HOT.

Refilling the water bottles for the second and third times, we packed up and headed everyone over to the beach...perhaps a half mile through the park. The 20 kids between the 4 of us ran on ahead, as thought they no longer were HOT. I seriously do not know how kids can just keep going and going all day long. It is such a wonderful thing! The kids ran into the water, fully clothed, and had a blast swimming and splashing in the very shallow water of the warm lake. Ahhhh.....what a relief on this warm afternoon. I think the kids could have been out there all evening. And with Bethany being content enough in the sling, I think she could have been too!

Departure from the park and beach eventually had to be made, and we were more than happy to accept Ali's invitation to pizza back at their house. We toured their most lovely new home....built by them only a few months ago.....which they had painstakingly thought of every detail, making it one of the "smartest" and most beautiful homes I have ever seen. Their home is on a beautiful wooded lot, complete with babbling creek running along the edge, and deer who visited their backyard after dinner! The kids had a GREAT time running around with the boys, playing Freeze Tag, and jumping in the bounce house. None of us wanted to leave this house OR the great company within the house...EVER. Chris and Ali got Bethany to smile and coo quite a bit, and it was ever so lovely meeting sweet, smiley little Ava. I hope that these girls will be great little friends someday!

Caching

Grandpa introduced us to a fun new game today.....GeoCaching. It is not such a NEW game, really....a few of the boys have done it with Daddy a couple years back.....but it was all new to me and the girls. The game basically consists of hidden treasures located all over the US to which exact GPS coordinates are provided and can be viewed from online sites. We grab the coordinates, turn on our GPS device, and go hunting! Grandpa and my brother had found a "travel bug" last week while in Florida. These are never meant to be kept, but meant to "travel" around the country, their whereabouts tracked on the geocaching website. So our first project was to hide that travel bug somewhere in our little Minnesota town. It was our first cache of the day, found by Crispy and Jonny. We opened the "box", took an item, replaced it with another item, logged our visit in the little notebook, dropped in the travel bug, and merrily skipped along on our way to develop a geocaching agenda for the remainder of the afternoon.

We ended up searching for and finding 3 more today:

On a beautiful college campus, with LOTS of room for the kids to run

On a long abandoned railroad, now weed and tree forrest

And the other direction on before-mentioned abandoned railroad trail

We all had a lot of fun. The kids enjoyed finding the treasures, I enjoyed being out of my house and hiking around on this gorgeous day, as did Grandma and Grandpa. And Bob stayed home with the baby and relaxed back at the quiet house after a LONG and tiring week at work. It was just such a great activity for all of us involved. And after just this short introduction, I feel HOOKED on this new "game" and am looking forward to playing it again very SOON.