Monday, monday...

What else can I say. Crazy kiddos in this household. Eddie has finally started a real crawl, although not all the time. I think he considers army crawling faster so he sometimes does that to get somewhere fast. He will get on his knees and push his trucks around though! Silly boy!

Key Lime Cove

Nana came up with a grand idea for us all to meet in Gurnee IL for a little winter birthday celebration for Grady and Eddie (Uncle Dusty too!). Gurnee was sort of central for all of us, and February seemed to be semi in the middle of all the birthdays. With Grady's birthday being the end of January, we haven't gotten together to celebrate because we get together at Christmas time, and with snowy winters, MI is a bit far for us to travel in January, and with Molly being pregnant, they won't be able to come to Eddie's birthday party, therefore it was a great idea. And it was something fun for the kids too!

So we all met at the Rainforest Cafe for lunch on Saturday before heading over to the waterpark for the afternoon. We could start using the facilities at 1pm. And the kids had a blast.

Here is Kieran! He was the master of the waterslides. No fear at all.

Then there is Rowan. She would only do the little yellow slide all day Saturday. I got her to go down a little bit bigger pink one with me a few times (which was illegal, you are supposed to go down single). But it wasn't until Sunday morning when we got busted going down together that I talked her into going down alone. And she loved it from then on! She even graduated to the green one and didn't want to stop going down!

Poor Grady wasn't feeling well. Wasn't quite himself and had a fever, so he didn't enjoy himself like he normally would have if we was feeling 100%. So he didn't get in the water much. He was okay with the lazy river, but even then he was just laying on one of us.

And Eddie was a bit young for most of it, but he too relaxed in the lazy river a few times with us. Otherwise he hung out with Nana and Julie who didn't get wet at all. He seemed to be okay with that. We didn't get any pictures of us in the lazy river because most of the time when we were in there we were all in there, and Nana and Julie we watching our things and table. So no pictures of that fun. Kieran and Rowan thought that was pretty cool too. They would sit on the tubes, then hang off the side, then climb back in. They were busy.

When we could finally get the fishies out of the water, we had some pizza for dinner and cake to celebrate the boys birthdays! Went with a construction themed cupcake cake for the occasion.

Here is Ed introducing Eddie to the cupcake for the first time. Eddie really wasn't overly interested. His dad was way more interested.

Here is Grady (2) and Eddie (soon to be 1) checking out the cake and candles. Can't wait to see Eddie attack his cake on his birthday at home! Easier to clean up at home than in a hotel.

And of course, what is a birthday without presents. We were trying to see how many people we could get on the bed at one time! Everyone except the men of the group! Eddie was more into the tissue paper than anything. He got some travel trains and backpack to carry them in and a new helicopter by vtech complete with balls. He loved it all!

Sunday morning we had some breakfast in our room, then hit up the arcade for a bit while waiting for the waterpark to open. Spent a couple hours in the water then changed and packed up to head home before check out time. Had to get home because I was on call in the afternoon. The kids were exhausted! I think we were too. Luckily we didn't all sleep too bad. But still isn't the same as your own bed. It was a fun weekend and fun to see everyone again!

on the mend...

I think the bugs are slowly leaving the children. I spent all of Monday (after working 12 hours Saturday, and 16 hours Sunday) cleaning the house from top to bottom. Washing all bedding and everything. Trying to get the sickness out of here. As of today mostly just have boogers here and there and a random cough, but much improved from last week. Can't really complain since this is both of their first sicknesses of the season, but it still isn't fun.

cheese

Cedar Rapids

We arrived in Cedar Rapids around lunchtime on Thursday. Met everyone at Grandpa Dick's house, had some lunch and then headed to the hotel to check in and let the kids swim before the visitation at 4pm. After the visitation, we met back at the hotel and ordered Chinese food, ate like a bunch of vultures and then headed to bed.

Grandma Carol had picked out a gift for Ed, Dusty and Blayne for christmas from the nursing homes things, and they were never given to them, so the kids got to open a gift for their daddy. And Nana brought out a fun marble game that the kids loved.

The kiddos got to swim again on Friday morning after breakfast before showering up for Grandma Carol's funeral. Eddie even got to go in this time. He loved it and didn't want to get out.  

The funeral was very nice. The kids were very well behaved given the circumstances. Afterwards, we all headed back to Grandpa Dick's house to change and relax a bit before heading home. Nana took us and the kids to a delicious frozen yogurt place (orange peel) before we hit the road. You fill your own dish of frozen yogurt, any or all flavors and toppings, and then they weigh it. It was so good. Wish there was one close to us!

LOVE this picture Molly got of the kids while we were checking out of the hotel friday morning. Super cute. Poor Rowan will have another boy cousin in May and will be surrounded by all boys. I think she loves it!

Family picture! It's been a long time.

Grandpa Dick and the boys! They all clean up pretty well. Next time under happier circumstances hopefully.

Overall this last minute road trip went pretty well considering both kids have been sick and not slept very well out of their own beds. It will be nice to be home and in our own home. Love to see everyone and visit though none the less.

unexpected...

...road trip.

After learning of Grandma Carol's passing on Monday, we decided to tack on a visit to Moline to the Smith Family prior to heading to Iowa for the funeral. It is a long trip down there for us, so it is ideal to be able to visit both families at the same time. And luckily we were able to do it prior this time so I could be back to work the weekend.

We left Wednesday morning to head to Moline and arrived right at lunch time. We had lunch with Great Grandma Jan and Great Papa. Got to play a bit and then were lucky to have other visitors in the afternoon. Kelly, Jake, Maddie, Jenna, Carter and Peyton stopped over and the kids got to play. They loved it! Uncle Ted got quite the work out during our short visit as well. Rowan was his little buddy.

We headed out for dinner Wednesday night to a nice little mexican place and got to see pretty much every Smith family member that lives in Moline. So that was fun. And of course we couldn't sleep without some Whitey's ice cream as well! We spent the night, have breakfast, a bath in the sink, and were on our way to Iowa before lunch time. It was a quick visit, but nice to see everyone and catch up!

Can't miss an opportunity for a picture of Ed I and Ed IV! Too cute!

rest in peace

Great Grandma Carol passed away yesterday and is now in a better place. We are sad to see her go, but know that she would not have wanted to continue to live like this. We are thankful that she got to meet our children, and wish she could have enjoyed them as much as she would have prior to her decline in health! She is a wonderful lady that will be missed.

Happy Valentine's Day!

from out little Valentine's! Rowan took a tootsie roll sucker valentine flower to share with her friends at preschool! She got a box full of goodies to bring home! Too bad she wasn't overly interested in decorating her box as school. Apparently she is a minimalist! Eddie was feeling a bit lovey dovey with Rowan's doll during our picture attempts today too! Sorta cute?

V-Day shirt #1

My sweet valentine boy! Excuse the props we had to use to keep him happy during the photo shoot. Good thing Rowan has good toys to keep him entertained!

1st sickness for Eddie

Well, I guess I am happy to say that it took 11 months for my little boy to come down with something. He was up crying last night around 1030pm, so I went to his room to get him and barely got him in my arms before he puked all over me. And he was burning up. So got him some tylenol, some new clothes for both of us, and rocked him back to sleep with some formula. He only slept in about 1 hour increments. Then he puked again around 330am. Still feverish. Gradually throughout Monday he got better, no more puking, and better sleeping anyway. But continued the Tylenol and developed a runny nose.

Oh, My Maria...

I was able to catch up with my long lost friend Maria, I can't even tell you the last time I saw her! It's been years. I stood up in her wedding years ago, and she moved to Illinois, and I'm not sure I have seen her since she moved. But she was willing to make the trip up here to visit us today. It was so great to catch up. She is one of those friends that you would never know you hadn't seen in years, it was like we never skipped a beat. Love that. Of course, the kids kept her quite busy and entertained while we visited, but I think she enjoyed it as much as them! Hope to do it again soon!

kicked out

Ed kicked the kids and I out of the house for the weekend so that he could work on the basement. So we headed to Lyndon Station to visit Grandpa Bill and Grandma Pam. We left Saturday morning after breakfast. When we arrived, Grandma, Eddie and I headed to the outlet mall to do some shopping. Rowan opted to stay home and play with Grandpa Bill. And, oh did they play. She had him running ragged! They were in and out of the house playing outside in the snow, on the sled, on the 4 wheeler, in the house playing games, watching cartoons, you name it, they did it.

Then that evening, Great Grandma Elaine and Great Grandpa Ron came over for dinner and to visit, as well as Stu and Deb. So the kids entertained them all. It was nice to see all of them.

Sunday, we had breakfast, and played some more, had lunch and then headed home shortly after. It was a short visit, but long enough for Ed to work on the basement enough that he was too sore to do anymore by the time we were home on Sunday! 

Eddie even got to try out the 4 wheeler and sled a bit. He liked it, but it's hard for him to move around in snowpants and boots, so he wasn't a fan of it for long.

freier family

In the winter, we all go into hiding, and therefore don't hardly even see our neighbors. So, tonight we had the Frier family over for a couple hours to catch up and let the kids play for a bit. It's hard with the littlest ones, because they are ready for bed when they are ready and don't just fall asleep in our arms anymore. So we couldn't play into the wee hours of the night, but it was nice to catch up! And the big kids had tons of fun. Excited for the weather to warm up so they can play together a bit more often!