The Big Ride

For those of you who do not know...my dad has embarked on an epic journey across America. (Wow...sounds impressive!) He and my cousin Kathy are riding their bicycles from Seattle to Washington DC. It'll be a total of around 3,300 miles and will take them 48 days.



Check out my dad's blog.... http://www.teamunclebud.blogspot.com/

Where the buffalo roam (and the lions?)

Joe, Danny, and I packed up the van and hit the road for ND with my folks, my sister Ginny and her 2 kids (Samantha and Alex). There is nothing quite like driving for 2 1/2 days with 2 little kids in each car! You should try it sometime! As our cousin Tricia said, "It helps to have low expectations." *grin

Actually, the kids did great (and the adults did too.) We stayed in some great hotels and went swimming every night! (I planned out our stays before we left and hotels with pools were a must!) Our hotel in Dickinson, ND was fabulous! It had waterslides: one for adults and one for the kids, a big pool and a wading pool. Joe hated to leave it! He even went down the big waterslide by himself.

Here's a few highlights of our trip:

Grandma was a definite favorite with Danny and Alex. Here they are playing peek a boo at the hotel. You should have heard the giggles!

Swimming! Here's Keelin and Samantha at the pool.

the waterslide!

Spending time with cousins: we had a great dinner out at the farm where Tricia, Keelin, and Eli are living. A big bonus was Anthony, (Tricia's husband) was on leave from Iraq and we got to spend some time with him! Our Cousin Andreana also came out with her folks. They stayed at the same hotel as us. She graduates next year!

Waiting for a table at Applebees. Keelin loved Danny and Danny of course just loved her. She wanted to hold him all of the time. It was totally cute. Holding both of them is Anthony.


Katharine's graduation party (of course!...this was why we were there!)

*note that I have no pictures of either the farm or the graduation party because we only used my mom's camera and guess who hasn't sent me any pictures? The party was very relaxing and enjoyable and the food was delish! We really had a good time. Joe loved chasing after their cat which turned into a joke between him and Grandpa W. I guess Joe repeatedly would go around asking "where's the cat." In fact, he is still asking "Where's the cat?" and then when you repeat the question he will say "Uncle John's house" and then laugh uproariously. Grandpa W. asks him ALL the time "where's the cat." Grandpa W's and Joe's humor is definitely something else.
Anyway.... Congratulations Katharine!

Visiting the cowboy museum in Medora and Joe riding on a horse with a cowboy!


Here is Danny with his daddy right before the Cowboy museum movie starts. What a happy little boy!

Here's us looking out over the badlands!



Seeing all the animals as we drove around Medora area. We saw: buffalo, buffalo calves, A big ol snake, a herd of wild horses, a wild colt, prairie dogs etc.
I can't believe how many buffalo we saw. We had to wait for them to cross the street etc. They just lumber along. It's neat to watch them. The little calves are cute.
So of course the pic I upload doesn't have the colt in it. Oh well...just know he was cute. It was awesome to watch the stallion prance around. He definitely kept everyone in line. It was neat to watch them finally gallop off with him nipping at them and then taking the lead.

There were tons of signs saying, "do not approach the buffalo" etc. I commented that people were stupid cause thinking about approaching a buffalo was as dumb as trying to pet a lion and Joe perked up and started looking everywhere for lions! It was hilarious.

We also visited my dad's Aunt Hilda and also His Uncle Linus and Aunt Mary. Aunt Mary fixed us Krautnip for dinner! YUM!!!!!

Troy and I and the boys also spent some time with the workers in that area: Martin and Thane. We had met them in Colorado at Christmas time. Martin cooks a mean breakfast. It was fun to see them again.

All in all we had a FANTASTIC Trip! (minus getting sick on the way back...lucky for you I'm not including any of those pictures! *grin

Feelin' Puny!

I thought I'd be posting right as soon as we got back from ND. WRONG! We all got totally sick and that makes us all puny...thus no posting. Just hope you don't get what we got! We even shared with Troy when we got back. And how lame...now blogger won't let me upload photos!

What we've been up to...April 1st and beyond!

Here I am with Danny. Aren't we cute! *grin
I've actually tried to publish this the last several days and for some reason it is not working! Aaaaaaargh!

I really have wanted to update my/our blog but life seems to do a great job at giving me other things to do...at least I'm not bored! I won't blog you down (hee hee)with every day...walking, trips to the store, visits to grandma and grandpa, babysitting friends and cousins, birthday parties etc.... just a very few of the highlights (good and bad)!

Here's the scoop:

April 1: my favorite holiday next to Thanksgiving! We had our annual dinner party...this year with a few fewer guests. Unfortunately all the whoopi cushions were deployed before people arrived due to Joe finding them all!

Menu-

Appetizer: Dogfood

Main Dish: Pie and ice cream

peas and carrots

Dessert: Dirt

I think I at least fooled those under 2! *grin I'd tell you more, but I hate to tell all of my secrets...cause who knows...maybe I'll invite you next year!?

Hilary with her "silverware."

Nothing like a little dogfood to get your saliva going! The ice cream was nice n hot w/ a hint of roasted garlic! *yum The sweetest peas and carrots out there! (Actually, they were a bit minty.)

Jan with dessert/table flower arrangement.
That Friday we had a grand ol time over at Jayden and Liam's house. Yumna planned a fun play date as well as a goodbye to Ligia (Ivona's sister) who was here for the last month or so and who would be going home Sunday. We have had such a fabulous time getting to know her!

Here's a picture of some of the kids there and the grand ol mess they made!

THEN...

Danny developed some breathing issues which is never good cause, well, breathing is important. So Danny, my dad, and I spent every day the next week at the doctor's office. We luckily stayed out of the hospital even with low 2 sats. Grandma and Grandpa pretty much drove up every day to help out. Grandma would take care of Joe while Grandpa would go see the doctor with us. It is very tiring going to the doctor...then there is the not sleeping well cause you keep waking up to listen to his breathing. Troy had taken off Friday and Monday and we were going to go to Spokane for the wknd but with the breathing issues we stayed home instead. The good news is that he is doing great now. We're hoping he just had bronchitis and not beginning of asthma or allergies.

Here he is 2 days before he had difficulty breathing.

Here he is a few days after, when he is doing GREAT!

I'm just putting in this picture...cause he's so cute! (and this is my blog so I can do what I want!!)

Danny with his cousin Alex who is just one month younger than him. Other than that we've been enjoying the ever changing weather...sun, rain, sleet, snow, hail, thunder, lightening, you name it....we've had it! (and usually all of it in one day.)
Joe's had several days where his cousin Samantha came over to play!


Shelley- Here Danny is doing his "cousin Chet face!" *grin He doesn't quite get the great smirk but it is close!!
...and now you are at the bottom of the post. :) Have a nice day!

Jumpin' Joe!

We've been trying for forever to upload this video.

Swimming!

As some of you know, we have had Joe enrolled in waterbabies. While I watch from the side lines with Danny, Joe and Troy get in the water. Joe is doing awesome. He goes underwater just fine, likes to jump in and can float on his back (he is not a fan of being on his back though). Here are some pictures of his last day of class. (The next session begins after this next week.) I'm not sure who had more fun with all the "stuff" in the pool, the kids or the adults. *grin Joe did get a little scared of the slide. Last Friday for open swim he went down it "a million times" but this time when he went down it the third time, he sunk like a rock and did a somersault underwater and Troy had to grab him by his foot to bring him up. He didn't drink any water and was fine but was very emphatic about not wanting to go down the slide again. We'll have to try it some other day. For those of you who live in the area, check out www.waterbabies.net for information on this learn to swim program. They do an incredible job with their instruction. I highly recommend the program.

A little bit of this and that

Just a quick snap shot of Danny and Joe. They absolutely love each other. Monday and Tuesday this week, Marissa joined us for some fun. Here she and Joe work with play-doh. Joe refused to look up for the picture. He was too busy!
I also had to turn around and get one of Danny. When he smiles his whole face lights up!

A Fun Play Date

A couple of us met at Ivona's the other day...to get the kids together...Us adult kids that is! It was a totally fun time. The above picture is of all the kids. Starting from the top and going clockwise: Raul, Emily, Samantha, Joe, Danny, Alex, Jonathon, Toriana.

Here are the new babies in our field each in a different month (starting on the Right): October, November, December and January.

Here are the moms too! (Me, Ginny (my sister), Ivona, and Jill.)There is a lot to be said for adult conversation! It was also really fun to spend some time with Ivona's sister (Ligia) and her little boy Raul. (Joe finally said Raul's name when we got home...his version is RaWa!). You can tell by the floor that the little ones had a fantastic time!!
Thanks for the fun time Ivona!!!

Back to the Blogging World

So it has been "years" since I posted something. At least it sure feels like it's been forever. I can't believe our "household" was sick for sooooooooooo long. Ok, we weren't sick this last week...I just never got around to posting something...but I'm BACK!!!

When Joe was finally ready to get off the couch (he was so miserable while sick he didn't want to move) we made forts. Poor Danny! It is hard to be the younger brother.

On Saturday, March 8th we met my family at Alki at the Fish and Chips place. A MUCH better place than Spuds. Somehow it seems Grandpa had a hard time eating his fish. You'd think he'd be hungry because he bicycled there with cousin Kathy and Uncle Bryan. (Steve bicycled there too but not with them since he comes from the opposite direction.) So what was the occasion??? My mom's birthday. (notice I did not write your age mom! That makes me the favorite daughter!) Here's my folks with the true favorites. :)

Just another reason the grandkids love their grandma. At least this time she didn't tell them to "save some room for dessert!" *grin

It was a fun celebration and a nice drive to Alki. Note to self, we should go there this summer!

Have a Great Day!

We will not let our colds get us down!!!! But we are sick and tired of being sick and tired!! I am getting stir crazy as my only outings in the last 10 days have been to the Doctor. How lame is that?!

Everybody p**ps...

You just never know what a two year old will say. We (Joe, Danny, and I) were playing in the living room, Joe was swinging his sock monkey around and then stopped all of a sudden and said "oh no, Monkey pooped!" I said, "what?" knowing I must have heard wrong, but he repeated himself "monkey pooped" and pointed at the red bottom. Just as I was ready to laugh hysterically, he very seriously said, "monkey go to potty." So being a great mom, I held in my laughter (grabbed my camera) and headed off to the bathroom with Joe and the sock monkey. Joe couldn't figure out how to put monkey on the toilet without getting his tail in the bowl....so I got the lovely job of holding the Monkey on the "potty" then when he was "all done" Joe very carefully put down the lid and flushed the toilet! It's all in a day's work!

Grandma Myrle

It was high time we visited Grandma Myrle (who is older than anyone reading my posts), so we packed up the van and went up with Dad and Ginny et al. Danny is just about as big as Grandma Myrle so she only held Alex. Here's a great shot of her (and him). When I was little (even shorter and younger) we used to go to their place on the lake and stay for about 4 days. We would swim, fish, and eat! (not necessarily in that order) Even our dog was invited. I have a lot of great memories of our times there!

Time for Tea!

Grandma Wandler outdid herself this time!!!

Joe was invited over for Tea at Grandma's. Also invited were Samantha and Mircea. The girls' arrived in their princess dresses. Joe came dressed in a cowboy's finest! They all played til Grandma came in bearing a tray of goodies and then it got really serious. They all sat so nicely at the table and watched Grandma pass out the treats/tea intently. Samantha was the host and kept the conversation going: "Joe, stop it, we pray first!" "Joe! that's my muffin!" "I need to pour some tea for Mircea too." "Grandma, Joe took a bite out of my muffin!" "I'll pour you more tea."

Joe spent most of his time sampling the tea. It must have been delicious. He kept Samantha busy pouring. (No spills!!)
Mircea dressed in a princess skirt (skirts are her clothing of choice!) Her hair was done up in two french braids...which I should have probably pictured here...but I just love how delicately she is holding her spoon and what a dainty bite...soooo princess like *grin!! But it did get the job done with no spills (I know, I keep saying "no spills" but it is pretty amazing to have one 3 year old and two 2 year olds and NO spills!)
Tea is good! Come on over and have some!!! (Princess dress or Cowboy boots not required!)

Other January Tidbits!

February has begun, but it is fun to look back over the past month to see what we did. So often events go by so quickly that I just need a review to see something was done! Notice there are no pictures of laundry or vacuums etc...while that should be reviewed, all we would find out is that not much was done! *groan

Anyway, here are a few January tidbits I would like to share:

Joe has just finished giving Danny a "smooch" on the cheek. It must have been a good one!

Here Troy has quite the lapful with Samantha, Mircea and Joe. Brayden is checking out things from the side. We love books at this house!!

We celebrated "2nd Birthdays" with the families from our birth class and Evergreen Baby Group at the Gymboree in Redmond. It was so much fun to see how much all the kids have grown. There are two more babies expected this spring.

Another case of "Mommy, Mommy, cheeeeeeeese!"

(Meaning: Take our picture...we're being cute!"

We got some snow!

Here is a fabulous snowman creation by Grant! (complete with hair!) Joe helped by getting in the way, picking up all fallen coffee beans, wandering off so Grant has to chase him etc. What a good team effort!
You know your Auntie loves you when she makes you Hot Chocolate! Doesn't Joe look fabulous with a moustache? (just like Grandpa W.)

When you open the door to the playroom....you just never know what you will find!
Joe finished up his last day at Little Gym last week. We hope to "do it again," but have decided to do only one activity at a time. (learned from Beth's mom...it helps with family saneness). It has been fun to watch his growth in walking on the balance beam, jumping, swinging on bars, somersaults etc. Joe's New Year Resolution is to learn to swim!! He is loving it!
And here to end this...is proof I did get some sleep this month. *grin