My Little Sister's Visit

I am a lot behind...

My little sister Katie (which I love saying and usually always call her, even though she's 32 years old) visited last week.

We had a pretty packed few days together, which was so much fun. And also tiring! Although Joe and I usually stay pretty busy, we don't always have activities planned non-stop.

Last Thursday it was Max's day to stay home with me and Wren. Once Katie got to our house we headed out to the (University of Minnesota) Arboretum. Katie is "one with the earth" - a master composter, gardener extraordinaire, possible seed bomber and guerrilla gardener, as well as sports a beautiful beet tattoo on her forearm (which apparently are never seen in photographs because in my many pictures I don't have a single decent one of the root on her inner arm).

I hadn't been to the Arboretum since well before having kids. I forgot how big it is. I forgot most everything about it. They have a darling outdoor play area for kids. Not a playground, but fun pretend play stuff. A little wooden playhouse and lots of logs and sticks and buckets and water and paintbrushes. I love kid's imaginations. We played there for an hour as Max made pizzas out of stumps and Wren painted with water.

Then we headed inside to get a break from the heat that hasn't let up for awhile here. Auntie Katie had a fun time teaching Max about plants and the resources used to grow different kinds of food ingredients. The exhibits were really well done - cute, interactive, kid friendly and incredibly educational (they lost me a couple times, but I'm pretty sure Max was tracking).

After the Arboretum we brought Wren in for her 9 month check-up. Katie was in town for Wren's 2 month appointment last December. And if she says she'll visit for Wren's 1st Birthday I will happily schedule Wren's doctor's appointment around the days she's in town this October! Snuggling (squirming) with Auntie Katie after her shots.

On Friday Jamie was off of work, so she and Katie joined me and the three kids and we headed to Minnehaha Falls. First up was the baby pool. Everyone had a blast - especially once it started to sprinkle and then outright rain while swimming. Somehow swimming in the rain makes the pool that much better!

After the pool we walked over to the Falls and Auntie Jamie gave us each a couple pennies to make a wish on and toss into the Falls.

Saturday we headed to the Schuster's pool along with all of Joe's siblings and their kids and family friends. We had a little Casserole Cook-Off where each family brought a casserole to share. A good change from the usual BBQ and pizza meals at the pool. We had a variety of casseroles including the classics - tuna and mac n cheese, a childhood classic from my family - hamburger, carrots, cheese and rice, and a couple new classics - chicken tender and loaded baked potato.

Following dinner my nieces Grace and Lyla provided entertainment by way of a shadow puppet show! Sooooo cute. Totally reminded me of when my sisters and I would put on American Girl plays when we were their age. We didn't have two toddler boy cousins to contend with as they tried to get behind the curtain, though.

And then Sunday morning, before Katie and Jamie headed up North for a family visit (I had a packed week at work that I could not get out of), Katie stopped by to say good-bye. She had just enough time to help string balloons and bury the treasure for the pirate party.

Come visit again soon!!! How about October for Wren's Birthday party!?!?!

Swashbucklers & Swashbucklettes

Yes! A swaggering or flamboyant adventurer. Rough, noisy, boastful swordsmen. So that's what a Swashbuckler is! Pretty much sums up Max and Otto. With or without a Pirate Party. But why not play the part with a few props...

Earlier in the summer were talking about some pirate things we could do. Dress up, make ships, go on a treasure hunt, etc. This took off and turned into the idea to have a little Pirate Party. Since the boys birthdays are in January and February, and less conducive to outdoorsy pirate activities, I thought it would be a great summer play date to have.

I'll let the pictures do much of the story-telling. We had a lot of fun. The kids loved it! It very likely will become an annual summer party we host. With an adult treasure hunt as well (yo ho ho and a bottle of rum)!

- Playing in one of the pirate ships. You have no idea how hard it is to locate big boxes at appliance stores, Costco, etc. Last week I had a new hire join my team from UW-Madison. As we were talking about our weekend plans I mentioned the pirate party and commented out loud how I still needed to find a box to turn into a ship. She said she had two I could take off her hands. Bonus points for her. Who cares if she knows how to market Hamburger Helper (off topic, but I've rotated off Green Giant and onto Helpers - so long healthful motivation) so long as she can help make my kiddie party plans come to life!

- My two nieces, Grace and Lyla, were excited to be the oldest kids at the party. Initially I hadn't invited them because I thought they wouldn't like hanging out with the littler kids. But, they seemed to enjoy themselves and were great additions to have, particularly when reading the maps on the treasure hunt.

- Wren in her Swashbuckler outfit. A little pirate tutu and bandana I made. LOVE the earring (from some dollar spot pirate items at Target) with all her hair. She looks just like how I envision a gypsy would look. Maybe for a future Halloween costume.

- Max in his pirate costume

- Our neighbor Avery in her super sparkly pirate princess costume. She picked everything out herself and looked fantastic. Avery is Max's age and I am 100% sure that Wren is going to idolize her and want to hang out with her as she gets bigger.

- A couple more neighbors ready to set out for the treasure hunt

- My niece Grace. Best costume ever. Seriously looks like she just walked off a (glamorous) pirate ship!

- We live just a couple blocks from "the forrest" (some woods next to a park, school, playground, etc) where the boys love play. I made a map of the forrest, including the trails and some natural land marks. Then I found a spot and buried a gold (painted box) treasure chest and marked the spot with an "X"

- Setting out to find the treasure

- X marks the spot

- Digging for the treasure

- Finding gold and jewels

- Otto, although not interested in dressing the pirate part, loved the chocolate coins and necklaces

- Heading back to our house after finding the loot

- Then they played in the ships and walked the plank

- A pool full of pirates

- As always, a huge thanks to my resident engineer, builder, muscle man, props guy, etc. Any time i mention a party he knows that my ideas are going to be plentiful, but my skills for implementing not so much. Without Joe our pirate ships wouldn't have had masts and sails and there would have been no plank to walk.

The confetti cannons? Those were his idea. To which I said hell to the yeah we need to have confetti cannons. What's a pirate ship without a cannon?! And so we had confetti cannons. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures or video of the cannons shooting the confetti. I did however catch this video after Joe suggested using the cannons to blow bubbles in the pool. Hmmm...wherever do the boys get their swashbuckling from???

Happy 9 Months Wren

Wren you are at a fun age for enjoying the summertime with your big brothers. A bit younger and you may have been relegated to the Bjorn all season. A bit older and you'd be fully walking and even faster than you already are and I might have had to seriously reconsider my adamant stance against the use of kid leashes (don't worry Birdie, I'd use it on one of the boys). Your ability to sit and crawl so well has let us all enjoy time at more pools and plenty of local beaches.

But about your sitting and crawling. Our days are numbered. You've taken to letting go while standing and holding on to something. At the beginning of the month it was only for a brief moment. But in the past few days - whooo wheeee. We're talking nearly 10 seconds of free-standing. Joe insists you took one and a half steps to him. But I was in the other room, so I don't count that. Plus, I've seen you attempts to take a step. While attempts are good, greatly encouraged, and enthusiastically cheered for, I'm going to challenge you (you and I are #3's...we have older siblings to keep up with, and me a younger one. Not you...no younger sibling for you. Trust me, your brothers will gladly step into that role and give you that extra incentive without us needing to prove that giving you a younger sibling would be even more motivation) to really do it. I'm not sure if your real first step is days away or weeks away, I'm nearly certain it's not months away. I'll be watching for your confident stance, lifting your foot, moving it forward, planting it down and then bringing your other foot next to it.

- One of your first wobbly moments after letting go while standing

In the world of food, we've just accepted that you have no interest in pureed baby food and want to make our lives easier. You get our table food and seem much more interested in that. Pancakes and cereal for breakfast. Rotisserie chicken and veggies for dinner. Crackers and fruit for snacks. Sometimes we luck out and you and Otto even handle the cooking.

At nine months you are 21 lbs, 14 oz (92%) and 30" (99%). That makes you the same height as Otto and taller than Max was at this age. You weigh less than both of them did.

For your nine month birthday treat we tried to make a Pinterest "Kids in the Kitchen" recipe. Melting chocolate, dipping little blown up balloons in them and then putting them in the freezer to make chocolate bowls for a scoop of ice cream. Our balloons kept popping (perhaps I was supposed to inflate them and let them deflate a few days so that the heat from the chocolate didn't pop them). So instead we dipped some soufflé cups in the chocolate. Surprise, surprise, that didn't work either. So instead we just had the best ice cream known to man (Graeter's Black Raspberry Chip) and the boys licked the chocolate off the soufflé cups.

- This picture reminds me of when you were barely a month old. You very well could have been reaching for something so you could stand up, but I'll choose to remember it as your smile still open and your arms still wide doing their best to take in everything from this beautiful world.

- An incredibly hot June day at the Sculpture Garden. So hot I declined trying to get a picture of us all in front of the Cherry Spoon and instead snapped a few photos in the shade. With no sculptures in site.

- You're waving "Hi" now. Not on time and more like you're waving your hand in the air as if you were dancing.

- Blueberry pancakes!

Twins Territory

Awww.... They are so cute (said with sincerity because they happen to be sound asleep at the moment), and do kind of look like Twins. Or at least twins.

Monday night we took Max & Otto to a Twins game. I hear it was a record breaking game because they scored the most points in one night, on that night, since Target Field opened in 2010. We stayed for a few innings, or about 10 runs. Max loved each run, or rather the cheering that accompanied them. It was his chance to shout and clap and be really loud.

Otto mostly enjoyed playing with the stadium seating. Pushing the chairs up and down. Sitting in them and sliding out of them. We weren't sure how he'd do as he doesn't usually sit still to watch anything, but he seemed to have a great time. Leading up to the game and after getting home from it, he enthusiastically ran around saying "Twins game!"

Think this bat can hold another one? In a couple years Wren will be old enough to enjoy a game so we'll find out!

Camp Christy

How about a couple little stories to help set the stage...

First, Christy on waterskiing:

"I was trembling. So scared. The boat was going so fast. God, I couldn't imagine how my brother-in-law must have been feeling. I mean, he was the one on water skis. I was just driving the boat."

Next, Christy on her umbrella policy (following a minor tow rope incident):
"I have the best, and most plentiful insurance I could possibly buy for Camp Christy. The insurance agent I worked with is a family friend andknows me. She just kept sharing 'what if this happened' and 'could you see that happening' type scenarios. They all seamed completely plausible, so I went ahead and got everything she was selling."

This was one of my introductions to Camp Christy, early Saturday morning while zipping around on her speedboat and debating whether or not to give waterskiing a try for myself (uh, no). For being 30-something, unemployed and living in a cabin in the Wisconsin north woods, Christy has mastered Full Throttle living.

Another introduction to Camp Christy was the cabin itself. Upon arrival and even past my departure, it was hard to tell what was most plentiful. The walls filled with hooks overflowing with swimsuits in varying degrees of wetness. The farm fresh fruits, veggies and herbs filling the fridge, counters and vases (Christy's dad and many of her relatives are local farmers, and her sister and mom are terrific gardeners). The libations; an eclectic mix including fresh pressed strawberry juice, booze and Capri Suns. Or books out in the sunporch, organized by extensive world travel guides, self help and fiction and non-fiction.

My time at Camp Christy was definitely intoxicated detox. While there was some imbibing, the intoxication came mostly from being outside, exercising, socializing and the breath of fresh country air that is Christy. Not so oddly, these were the things that detoxed me as well.

Friday night we searched out the best Friday fish fry in the state. The County Line fish fry. It was hopping! Exactly what you'd expect. Country music, elderly waitresses, 1980's promotional beer posters with pictures of scantily clad hard-bodied men and large-chested women hanging on the walls above pool tables, funny looks when you try to order a microbrew and broiled fish (Christy....). While leaving we made sure to grab a couple cards for local businesses, including Mushroom Gatherer and Quilter, from the cork board by the exit.

The following morning we were up early. Christy to got out for a swim - over 3 miles! Me for a double digit run. We met back at Camp for bacon, fruit, pastries and strawberry mimosas. Then went SUPing behind the boat. SUPing I've done, but never towed behind a speedboat. Full Throttle living...

Out of our suits and into our workout gear again, we took off on bikes for a 10 mile ride to Baronette, enjoyed lunch and custard, and then biked back. Baronette is a small town. Possibly unincorporated. Not densely populated. Love the frivolous use of fractions (3/4 and 15/16th just incase you were wondering) in their street names.

That afternoon Christy's parents took me in as their own and we all enjoyed a leisurely pontoon booze crooze. We saw wildlife, city parks, camping and the like. Afterward it was back to Camp for a delicious dinner Christy whipped up. I LOVE scallops. Especially when cooked perfectly. Somehow Christy "just guessed" her way to grilled pancetta wrapped scallop perfection! Another cruise on her boat, a campfire and s'mores closed out a perfect day.

My last morning there we biked into Cumberland and loaded up on goodies. Sausage, wieners, beef sticks and beer from Louie's Finer Meats.

Then continued our journey to Main Street where we befriended the newest shop owner in town and got an exclusive inside look at her store and newly renovated apartment above the store. Although our creative juices were flowing of what fun business we could start, we thought some bloody mary's couldn't hurt. We headed to Hill Top. An institution, even though as we were pulling into the parking lot Christy was saying "I'm not sure why everyone comes here. It's in the middle of nowhere, it's ugly and the food isn't that good." It was the pickle garnish. So good.

So many other additional stories I'd love to share, but leaving Full Throttle living has been a bit exhausting! Counting the days until my return to Camp Christy.

Days of Summer {#335 - #333}

In just a couple hours I'll be on the open road to Camp Christy for a little intoxicated detoxification.

(Intoxicate: to make enthusiastic; elate strongly, as by intoxicants; exhilarate: The prospect of relaxation at Camp Christy intoxicated her).

(Detoxification: the metabolic process by which toxins are changed into less toxic or more readily excitable substances)

A couple days and nights in Wisconsin to just relax (Girls weekend! Joe and kids staying in Minneapolis). Check out the extensive list of relaxing things to do that Christy sent my way...

Most common activities:

Swimming

Biking

Floating in the water

Boating

Pontooning

SUP’ing

Attempting to water ski

Riding the SUP behind the boat

Sitting on the dock reading or writing

Sitting on the deck reading or writing

Sitting on the porch reading or writing

Playing Words With Friends

Going to the bars in town

Walking/shopping main street

Going to Louie’s Meat and Cheese Deli

Cooking

Eating

Drinking

Sitting by the fire

Sleeping

Doesn't all of that sound perfect?! It won't matter whether we do all or none of these things. More details to come...

Three of My Three

I should maybe check the weight limit for Wren's crib. They all like to hang out in it. Had I known it could hold my body weight I for sure would have crawled in a few nights to get the babies (& myself) some sleep those really rough first months.

The Motley Crew. They are two and four and I've already waved the white flag of surrender when it comes to clothes selections. Max wanted to fray the bottom and sleeves of his "Bike Week" (we're talking Hogs and Choppers and stuff) t-shirt from Papa Mark (pretty spot-on way to pimp a "Daytona Beach Bike Week" t-shirt, actually). Otto will only wear one pair of sweatpants, one pair of sweat shorts and two different t-shirts. When those are dirty, it's his (I mean Wren's) plaid dress that he adores. I am thoroughly enjoying putting Wren in cute clothes and hope it will last. Then again toddlerhood and self selection of clothes isn't far off so maybe I should start taking pictures of the good stuff just in case.

She seriously just plays with them now. Here they are camping in their camper. Otto was making breakfast and Max and Wren were taking a nap (just in case you couldn't tell) in the bedroom. I've always thought Wren looked more like Otto, but it this picture I think Wren looks just like Max.

Independence Day

With temps at 100 degrees, humidity close to the same, a whole lot of kids and one refreshing pool, the kids were in red white and blue in the morning, and then very quickly got out of that and into swimsuits to celebrate the 4th!

I had so much fun with Otto in the pool on the 4th. I hope you will not deem me an irresponsible parent, as Otto doesn't know how to swim and it's very clear that he's jumping off the diving board in the deep end without a life jacket on. He didn't touch his life jacket at all yesterday and he spent a lot of time in water over his head.

Earlier this summer Joe and I were trying to force Otto to wear a life jacket. We found ourselves getting upset with him for wanting to be in the pool without it. Mad at him for wading on the ledge in the shallow end - even when one of us was easily within arm's reach of him and paying attention.

Our attitude and temperament was very different than it had been two summers ago when Max was the same age Otto is now and doing the same things. We cheered Max on for being brave. We encouraged him to take safe risks. We let him try to swim, knowing full well he'd bob under, get a mouthful, and then come up sputtering...ready to try it again.

Otto wants his turn for the same (it is Independence Day)! And Joe and I want that too (it just took us a couple tries to figure out our new system for safely handling this). So, now we put Max in the life jacket and ask Wren to keep an eye on him (JK!!!). And take Otto in!

"I want to carefully pour gas on that flame with my right hand while holding a fire extinguisher in my left. Alas, there’s only so much that can be taught. Most lessons are learned."

Otto had so, so, soooo much fun in the pool. Swimming back and forth between me and Jamie (not really swimming, but given his determination, hard work & stamina he may be by the end of the season). Going down the slide into the pool. Jumping off the side and diving board into into people's arms.

There is absolutely nothing better for a mom than seeing your kid smiling and laughing and having.a.blast. A wild, crazy (ENERGY BURNING) great time! Why, then, did he still wake at 6am following a post-fireworks bedtime of 10:20pm???

Following a day in the pool, we continued the celebration with plenty of sparklers, firecrackers and fireworks. I've always loved spelling my name with a sparkler! It was no less fun this year spelling my whole family's names in light. Growing up, the 4th of July was a fun holiday for getting dressed in red, white and blue, spending time on the boat and going to a parade. I never thought much about the importance of it all. Then I had kids and now I find myself tearing up at the parade each summer. The men and women - who left their own families - to fight so we could have freedom is an overwhelming sacrifice. This is an incredibly important day to show our respect and appreciation for the greatest freedoms we have. The right to have a family and to raise our family in the way that's best for us.

- Max, Otto & Lyla watching as Joe lights off fireworks. I don't remember it being THIS bright out! Otto was surprised by one really loud firework and covered his ears the rest of the night.

- Oddly enough, the firework that startled him sounded Just Like how he sounds when throwing a shrieking tantrum. In the past day I have now used the reference to use a softer voice because he sounds like a firework to me and my ears hurt like his did while at the fireworks. It kinda worked as an explanation to him.

- Max's first year doing sparklers

- Jamie doing sparklers. Notice the "burning bush" of a tree? I'll need to get the story on this one... I walked over and her and Joe were constructing it with sparklers in bark!