Rocky Mountain High

Our first family vacation via flight! It was a rough go to get out of the house - of course both kids decided to nap before we left for the airport. We actually had to wake them so they could get the grogginess out. We were off to visit my oldest and best friend Nicole and the new addition to the family, baby Blake! (I flew out to see them when Blake's older brother, Declan, was born 2 years ago. Now it was time to bring everyone along!) We landed in Denver around 9, which was 10 our time. The kids both fell asleep on the ride to the house and easily went to bed. When they woke up, baby Blake was up and they smothered her with love!! The weather wasn't anything to write home about so we looked for indoor fun. (It had been raining 20/22 days by the time we got there and they were getting cabin fever.) Friday we let the kids get accustomed to each other and then headed to a trampoline park! Saturday it started our rainy but we made our way to the Colorado Railroad Museum, where we got a ride in an old Galloping Goose train, saw model train sets, and garden  trains. That afternoon the sun finally made an appearance and we decided to head downtown for a Colorado Rockies game. They were supposed to play a doubleheader but the rain had already delayed the first game for an hour. The game was actually exciting with lots of hits and home runs! On Sunday, we headed to the park, had some lunch and kind of/sort of forced all of the kids to take a nap. We planned on going to an indoor water park that afternoon and wanted the kids to fully enjoy it. The water slides and fountains were awesome and even baby Blake got wet:) Andy and Nicole welcomed our crazy family into their busy lives with open arms and warm hearts! We had the best time and it was a great ice breaker trip for the kids. Now I wonder why Nicole won't answer my texts...just kidding! I hope there will be many more visits with her family for years to come.

First airplane ride! 

Drew was obsessed with baby Blake, our reason to visit!

Lots of rain meant indoor fun! Jumpstreet trampoline and bounce house park.

sliding down the tiger's mouth

Super awesome train museum with a miniature train garden

One of the best afternoons we had - sunny and 70, had to see
the Colorado Rockies play

Someone clearly isn't as excited for pictures

Declan and Drew playing at the park

Can't beat the mountain view in the background

Waiting to fly home; watching the luggage load onto our plane!

Wrapping up the school year and preparing for the next one

Three more days of school for the kids! And one of them is an all-day field trip to a farm. While I am a little excited for some of the hustle and bustle to quiet down, I'm sure they will be a little heart broken that school is done. We had 4K screening last Friday at Craig's school. The teachers conduct an informal assessment on the kids and then recommend areas to work on over the summer before school starts. The screening doesn't determine their school admission; they made it clear no one could "fail" the screening. Although our kids were testing the waters - I had to wake them from their nap at the sitters to get to our appt on time. So you can imagine how neat they were after that. Prying Drew out of Craig's arms was like pulling teeth. And his hysterics turned Kelsey into a puddle. Eventually, we were able to leave them in the classroom so we could attend the "new parent" presentation. And of course by the time they brought the kids back to the conference room, Kelsey and Drew had made friends with all the teachers and kids. They love their little preschool so much that this transition to Craig's (all day, every day) school will be an adjustment. I can already see them falling asleep on the car ride home :)

We made it up to Wausau this weekend for the Voigt cousins birthday party. Since their birthdays are about a month apart, my sister-in-law just plans one party - instead of having to try to find 2 open spring weekends! It was so much fun; there were times Craig and I looked at each other and said, "we brought the kids along, right?" They are finally at the age where the older cousins and friends just adopt all the littles and play. We didn't necessarily have to keep an eye on them the whole time - they found us for a change, when they needed something. Unfortunately, the night ended on a negative note - Craig's mom called to say that when they got home from the party they got a call that Grandma had a stroke and was on her way to the hospital. We revamped our Mother's Day plans Sunday morning and swung by the hospital after leaving Wausau. We still aren't sure how bad it is or what residual effects she will have - please keep her in your prayers. Grandma Mabel is the Craig's last living grandparent and who Kelsey's middle named after.

We finally have a concrete garage foundation. After a little struggle with the city building inspector, the concrete guys were able to finish the job. I have decided that we shouldn't build anything, more importantly in Milwaukee.

Everyone sleeping on the way to Wausau! 

Shots! Shots! Shots!

And not the fun kind! Kelsey and Drew (finally) had their 4 year appt and there were 3 vaccines! :( I wasn't really concerned because they had done so well in the past with shots but then Dr. Amy tells me that this last MMR can really be a doozy. Awesome. Thanks for telling me now. No tears from Kels and Drew screamed once and then was okay. They both drove home with Craig and he got out of the truck hurriedly saying something about how the kids aren't feeling well. Drew asked for a puke bucket and then fell asleep. Kelsey was sensitive hot mess. She had a fever, threw up, and didn't eat for almost 24 hours. I was bumming a little because Saturday was gorgeous and Kelsey had no energy or motivation to do anything. I planned a picnic at our local little playground and she finally came around. She's been a little more sensitive than normal but overall has recovered. No more shots til they're 10!

Otherwise the appt was routine. They had a hearing and eye test; no problems there. They talked Dr. Amy's ear off and followed all of her directions. Kelsey is still on the taller side for the growth charts. Drew was in about the 25th percentile for ht and wt and is smaller compared to his boy classmates. Kels weighs 4 more pounds and is about an inch taller than Drew!

This was her first time eating since the shots. I pulled out all the food and she looked at me and said, "mom, this is just perfect." Sweetheart.

Playing the waiting game...like for city building inspectors

The summer farmer's market is open! They love the popcorn.

It was too good a deal to pass up. New in the box, a co-worker of Craig's was moving and didn't have the yard space for it. The kids love playing on their friend's, so we thought why not.

Pictures!!

If you don't have Facebook and didn't see the link to our photos we had done last Tuesday with our talented photographer, Christy, here you go...Kelsey and Drew

(and if you are feeling nostalgic, she has a hyperlink where you can go back to see all the other sessions we did with her since they were newborns!)

First Zoo Trip of the Year

We made our first pilgrimage to the Zoo last weekend (also the same weekend we tore down our garage...more on that later). The weather was fairly decent: I try to head there pretty much when it opens but that means that the air hasn't had much of a chance to warm up. I think we spent almost 3 hours there - they've never had the patience for that before! Now that they are older, they remember where the ice cream, train, carousel, and playground are and make sure I don't miss them! 

I felt like the peacocks were extra friendly and colorful

So we've been talking about replacing our garage pretty much from the day we bought it. We aren't sure if they built the garage the same time as the house, but it is obvious that it was before rebar was invented. The cracks in the foundation were HUGE, causing lots of problems with the doors (like the service door only shutting in summer or the garage door not closing because the laser was uneven).

We were coordinating concrete, tree removal, and builder but the main event (and money saver) was getting the garage DOWN. Craig started his new semester for grad school which meant he was about to start new papers/assignments AND it was spring break for a couple teacher friends who offered to help (bless their souls). So our only opportunity was 2 weekends ago.

Next up is tree removal (since the footprint of the new garage is wider) sometime this week and foundation in the next couple weeks. If we're lucky, this will be completed by the end of summer:)

Easter

Easter Sunday turned out to a fairly nice day. We spent some time outside at Grandma Alice's with these crazy kids! And then walked down the street to Grandma and Grandpa's. We did a holiday Lomira shuffle, now that both sets of grandparents live on the same street, one apartment complex away from each other!

She just LOVES getting her picture taken!

Blond cuties

She told me that was Jesus' mom. Then told Auntie Sandra that she's sleeping cuz she misses
her father and her baby Jesus.

And this is becoming a tradition! Benson is old enough to ride now.
See last year's here

We did an Easter egg hunt at our local park Saturday and since it was early in the morning, we had to wear hats and gloves! It's an annual event where we start at Jackson Park and then make our way back to our friends house for another egg hunt, lunch, and egg dyeing! We always have so much fun with our friends Aidan and Cal.

Another Year, Another Party!

We survived another birthday with these two! Although they were convinced that they didn't turn 4 until the party actually happened. We would talk about the party and the Frozen theme (that they decided on back in January) for the past month and Drew would throw in side comments about how he wanted a monster truck cake. Sigh. Really buddy, just get on board with the combo party and next year we will discuss separate themes OR a simple "happy birthday" theme and get them an individualized cake:)

I DO wish the weather would have cooperated a little better but that didn't stop a couple people from going outside and playing some lacrosse and driving the new big wheels! I mean 30 degrees and wind after the nice run of sun and 50's-60's we had a couple weeks ago. We really enjoyed our time celebrating with family and friends and thank everyone for coming!

At this point in their 4 years of life:

Kelsey likes to shop! (Yay!) When I ask who wants to come along shopping, she is the first one to be excited and enjoys it. She likes PINK - and if you ask her she'll say "light and dark" ;) Loves talking about her long hair and how it looks like Rapunzel. She is a big fan of chocolate (my girl) and she is our singer. We get to hear all the songs she learns in school!

Drew is a homebody! I have to coerce him to go shopping (if leaving him home is not an option). His favorite color is blue. He will talk our ears off, especially in the car on the way from the sitter (so much so that Kelsey will tell me that he is hurting her ears!). His conversations are mostly about hunting with his uncles and plans for "when he gets bigger..." Drew is the bigger dancer out of the two and sometimes hears a beat that just makes his hips wiggle:)

Kelsey chatting with the great-grandmas

Oh Baby Benson

He was so excited for a play room full of new toys!

Even Kelsey's princess castle (that Dad promptly returned to the play room:))

All the boys and Kelsey playing games

New wheels

Sometimes you gotta tell them how to do it

Gotta invite the family so that they can put together the gifts they give them!

 

Playing with cousins

Uncle Dale showing Drew how to get the cars to go really fast

Dudes and their technology

The girls going old school and reading a book

And to end the night, friendly cousin wrestling