State Fair AND a Trip to See Gramma!

Just realized I never posted any pictures of our day at State Fair since it was the day before we left on our vacation to my mom's house!  We had our friends from Chicago come up to go with us, it was a great day.  Ingrid walked the whole way and didn't even complain!  I think that had to do with the fact there were plenty of stops to get snacks, or at least to look at what was deep fried or on a stick (or both!) Both kids rode rides this year, and we all went on the Ferris wheel, which was terrifying.

 See how OPEN the sides are?  I imagined the kids falling to their deaths about a billion times.  It sucks to be a mom sometimes.  As a kid I found things exciting, now I just realize how every little thing is potentially deadly...

 

The next day bright and early at 5am we got up to take the ferry across Lake Michigan to see my mom.  I had taken the boat once before but no one else in the family had, so it was very exciting, even at the crack of dawn.

 We got to my mom's and promptly went down by the beach and made sandcastles, visited the horses, took a golf cart ride.

 The best part of the trip is that while we were playing outside, there was a campfire going.  So we got to roast marshmallows and hot dogs, just like camping!  In fact, the whole weekend was like camping but with real beds and showers, and as much coffee as I wanted!

 Brendan and my brother went fishing.  My brother caught this 34" pike.  It was scary and very toothy and Ingrid ran screaming off the dock when she saw it!

 It was relaxing and amazing, and as always a very good time.  I just love going there to visit, we all have so much fun every time!


 

Phones Are Great, Just Not For Blogs.

My mother in law asked why I hadn't updated the blog lately and I realized it's because I am never down in the basement on my computer anymore, I'm always doing things on my phone.  Which is great, but I haven't been able to post anything here from my phone.  SO...here we are.  Brendan is off today and the kids are up coloring Bubble Guppie pictures and I snuck away to the computer.

 

So what has been going on lately?  Last weekend I took the kids to my sister's.  We played with cousins and saw Gramma Pam.  We ate at Russ' which is a kid favorite, we thrifted at Bibles for Mexico which is a mama favorite.  It was fun!  The kids were awesome on the four hour drive and Chicago traffic was smooth sailing both ways.

 Other than that, not much has been going on.  Same old life of school, thrifting, sewing, and playing.

Ooh, wait, no, we got new appliances, thats's fun!  We had ordered a stove from Home Depot and when they delivered it, it was damaged.  Two weeks later we still didn't have a new one, and then it was a hassle to get my money back, it was just such a pain in the ass.  Finally we ended up going to Sears Outlet where they have all the scratch and dent ones, where we found our new stove AND ended up getting a refrigerator because they're such low prices, why not?  So we still ended up with dents in our stove, but we got it for way cheaper.  Ha!

 And...we got a new vacuum.  Life is good.

Night Driving

Last weekend we went to Michigan to celebrate my neice's tenth birthday.  It was a crazy time of night driving, as we left on a Friday night and came home on a Sunday  night.  Instead of sleeping peacefully, the kids were up most of the four hour drive and went kind of bonkers from sitting in the car too long.  Blah.

But the trip was fun, they love to see their cousins.  I like to see my mom and sister.  It was gorgeous out and we got to spend lots of time outside. 

We even went to Tunnel Park, which is a lovely park on Lake Michigan that has a big huge sand dune.  And going right through the dune is a tunnel, hence the name.  I have memories from when I was little running through the tunnel screaming at the top of my lungs to hear it echo!  It was fun to see my kids do that, too!

 Our sleep was all off and everyone took amazing naps!  Otis in the stroller after a walk with Grandma, and Brendan and Ingrid passed out on the couch.  All that fresh air and chasing balls with cousins really wears you out.

 

Summer Fun at Gramma's

Last weekend the kids and I traveled to Michigan to visit my mom.  We were supposed to take the ferry, but got a call at 4:30am saying the waves were too big and the ride had been canceled.  I was pretty bummed, as Ingrid had been begging to go on the boat for a long time, and I would much rather have puked for two hours on a bumpy boat than driven the almost 7 hours it ended up taking us...But it was not meant to be, so we packed up the car and took a road trip instead.  And honestly, the kids are so good in the car, it wasn't that bad.

We got to my mom's in the afternoon and the kids were free to roam and run and not be in a car.  The next morning we started out with a breakfast picnic.

Followed by running in the grass.

The weekend was full of fun things.  We visited the horses in the field and at the stables.

 We took a paddleboat ride.

 We played a lot at the little beach.  Ingrid and her cousin played "gardening" for hours, and also "making chocolate milk" both of which were basically making mud. 

 And no trip to Miss Wendy's is done without a trip to Tiny Town.  This place is amazing.  It's two little kid sized cabins filled with kid sized furniture and dishes.  Ingrid LOVES it there, and Otis had his first chance to play there as well.  He seemed to like it but the kid sized dishes are vintage china dishes, so after breaking a cup, it was a small plastic cup for him!

 It was a perfect weekend, the only thing better would have been if Brendan could've come with us. 

Happy Christmas!

We drove five hours to Gramma's house for Christmas this year.  It could not have gone much better, except the fact that Ingrid got sick and Otis refused to sleep.  But other than that, it was awesome!  It snowed so we got a white Christmas!

We got to see lots of family.

 We got some fun stuff (like a Dustbuster for me, seriously the highlight of my day!) 

My siblings and I chipped in for a Kindle Fire for my mom.  She was amazed, although she cried at getting a calendar with pictures of her grandkids, so I guess family wins out over technology.

It was just so cozy, sitting by the fire, watching the kids go sledding, eating crap food, and relaxing.  Thank you to my mom for letting us all crash and for feeding us.  It was fun!

Last Minute Road Trip!

Monday morning was dreary and stormy.  I looked at our calendar and realized we had nothing going on the whole week.  My friend Jami and I have been discussing when I should come visit her in Michigan.  No time like the present, huh?  So I called her, packed a bag, and took off on a 6hr. road trip with the kids!  We had so much fun, even though it was about a hundred degrees and we didn't have air conditioning. 

We all piled on a futon mattress  in the play room.  I brought Otis' bed with us but of course he didn't want to be left out of the sleepover!  This is what I woke up to in the morning.

Ahhh!!  So sweet! 

Ingrid had fun playing with her best bud Ben, and Jami and I got to hang out like old times.  Man, I miss her.  I wish she and her husband would move to Milwaukee :)  We had other friends over yesterday and got the three wee ones together.  Jami and I and our friend Heather were all pregnant at the same time.  And now we all have little chubs!

After tons of playing, lots of juice boxes, and not so much sleep, we drove back home yesterday afternoon.  It was so much fun and I'm so glad we went.  Six hour drives are not fun, though, so it will be awhile before I'll do that drive again!  Stupid Chicago, if it weren't for dealing with that traffic, the drive probably wouldn't be that bad...