Crim and Thomas

Another busy weekend, actually with football season coming up they aren’t looking any less busy either.

On Saturday Ed and I started out with our 10 mile race, we left the kids home with my mil and they did very good (thank goodness!)  The weather was awesome and we both had a nice run.  I didn’t even feel like I was going to die at the end.  I had one little mishap at the 8 mile mark where I fell on my own two feet…you should have heard the people….ohhhhhhh when they saw me crash and burn.  I even got some applause when I got back up….I have some scrapes on my hands and knees and a big bruise on my hip, BUT I still broke my own personal record.

Ed went home and picked up the kids and got them down there with a few minutes to spare before his race.  He runs the 1 mile, he has been doing this since he was 2.  He had a personal record too, he ran it in 10:04. I remember the first year he fell in a mud puddle, the poor kid and he finished in about 19 minutes.

Then about an hour before Liam and Brenna’s race.  We were able to go hang out with family and friends and then hear on down for their run.  I think they do 1/4 mile, they don’t time it, its all in fun.  Brenna took off, but then Liam passed her when some little girl accidentally cut her off.  I stopped to take some pictures and Liam wanted to hold my hand so I slowed him down…in the end Brenna passed us. They were even happier to get their popsicles at the end of the race.

On Sunday we did Day out with Thomas, note to self….don’t plan Thomas the day after the 10 mile race.  Ed and I were pretty sore and moving pretty slowly.  It was a rainy day even though all the weather reports showed no rain at all. Even the rain couldn’t keep us away from Thomas.  The kids had fun hanging out in their raincoats and riding on Thomas.  Actually Liam says we rode on Annie.

Look….she tripped her!

Eating popsicles

• Brenna’s victory dance

Traverse City – Part 2

          Nice Catch Guys!

                 On the second day in Traverse City we went to the Great Lakes Children''s Museum.  This is a really nice museum, small but full of fun.  Ed's morning ball games were rained out so he was able to join us which was nice.

Liam and Brenna heading up the slide.  Last year Liam was too afraid to go up and Brenna went up and then got stuck and created a traffic jam and I had to go get her.  It was nice to see them enjoy the slide this year.

                              Nice nose Brenna!

                 Liam loved the water table.

Braeden and Brenna

Daddy trying to help Nicole and Braeden

           Nicole and Braeden working on the maze.

Can't wait to go back to the Children's Museum next year, but until then we are heading to our local one one last time before school begins next week.

Busy weekend

Still working on the rest of the Traverse City pictures.  On Friday we went to the train crossing and watch Thomas arrive.  The kids loved it, especially Liam who talked about it the rest of the day.  Afterwards we went to our favorite ice cream store for some yummy ice cream.  Next week we will take a ride on Thomas (or I guess be pulled by Thomas), Liam can’t wait.

On Saturday, we were going to take them to the Blueberry Parade.  Ed’s plans changed when he needed to attend a funeral, but my mother headed over there with me.  We have had some really hot days, this was the hottest I remember and at 1:00 it was a scorcher.  The kids still enjoyed the parade and took a nice nap when we came home.

The kids waiting for Thomas to arrive.

                                           Our friend Thomas

Blueberry Festival Parade, the theme was Under the Sea. We really liked this float.

Brenna enjoying her ring pop at the parade.

Braeden and Brenna trying to beat the head under an umbrella.

Liam, just because it’s a Blueberry Parade doesn’t mean you need a blue goatee!

                       Can you see the sweat on his head, it was really hot.  Taking a break with the a/c on.  Doesn’t he look like a big kid with Braeden’s ipod ear things.  (drawing a blank on what those things are called….earphones???)

                         Braeden and Nana touching it out for the rest of the parade, the little ones were taking cover in the van.  I applied sunblock several times and they were all pink.  I discovered later it must have been the heat making them pink because the pink went away after they napped.

Can’t believe it’s almost the end of the summer

This is Braeden’s last summer before going to school ALL DAY this year.  We made a list of things at the beginning of the summer we wanted to do and we found it the other day and we did almost everything on the list.  Gotta go for a trolley ride at the outlets still, will try to get to that in the next few weeks.

Anyway, one of the things we had that we wanted (needed) to do was have a garage sale.  Braeden wanted to have a lemonade stand, he has wanted to do this a few years now.  We got all the stuff ready and I talked to him about what he wanted to do with his money, he wasn’t sure.  I suggested maybe we donate it somewhere.  He liked the idea, we just couldn’t decide who to give it too. 

Then he remembered Sister Carol who had came to talk to them at VBS about her program for women and children trying to get back on their feet.  During VBS, all the kids brought in school supplies to donate.  Braeden decided he would give the money to her.  He raised about $11.00 (I think most of it was sold to family) and then afterwards we just threw any extra change we had into the container.  We ended up having $18.00 by the time school supplies went on sale. 

With the stuff on sale we got more bang for our buck and in the end we were able to donate quite a bit of supplies.  We went down to deliver them yesterday.

We have decided to make this a tradition, although we may change who we donate to every year.

I forgot to get a pic of his lemonade stand, but here are some pics as we headed off to deliver them yesterday.

Vacation!!!

We just returned from our annual trip to Traverse City.  It was a fun time, although the weather wasn’t the best, we made the most of it and we were able to get a beach day, no sun but it was a bit over 90 degrees.

My niece Nicole joined up to help out with the twins.  She is 12 and it was nice to have an extra hand getting the little ones dressed and undressed and just an extra hand to hold.  Her older brother is 7 years older and our oldest nephew and Ed and I took him everywhere when he was little and by the time she came around were busy with college, jobs and had several other nieces and nephews.

This year my bil Bill and sil Michele and their kids (Billy 12, Brenden 9, Matthew 6, and Melissa,3) joined us.  Billy and Nicole are best friends, so I was a bit torn on having her help/letting her go have fun with Billy.  Braeden’s best friend Matthew is their son and they had fun too.  Of course Liam and Brenna love Melissa, so that made them happy too.

My bil got there before us and sweet talked the lady at the front desk into upgrading us to a Kids Cabin so we could be near them and she did.  That was a nice surprise, although once you get a nicer room with the kids, it will be harder to go back to our basic one next year. Although, I think just going to the Great Wolf Lodge should make them happy enough.

The little ones were so cute, every time we left to go to dinner, etc.  Liam would say, “Bye-bye Hotel” and Brenna would say, “we come back”. Well the last time we left (for good) they said it, I said “Nope, we are going home”.  And Brenna says, “we come back in two weeks”.  Sorry…not gonna work!

I have lots of pics to share, so will be posting a few different posts.

Geocaching, the box was under the skeleton in the potty hole….bleck!

Brenna in the Kids Cabin, they loved these windows!

                                 Liam in the Kids Cabin

Snuggling with Braeden at bedtime.

Liam WAS sleeping before this picture was taken….Brenna jumped up and yelled “tickle. tickle”.  Then he woke and they had a ticklefest!

             At the ball diamonds, Brenna and Melissa share a hug. 

Fashion Statement!  Actually, she fell in a HUGE mud puddle at the baseball diamonds and we hard to make do with what clothes we could find.  A dress from Melissa, Brenna’s sweatshirt and I forgot she snuck her boots into the van when we were leaving and she found them.

Some of the cousins taking time out for a big hug!

                    Liam chose to hang out with his gatorade….he became attached to this bottle of gatorade after someone let him have some (thanks guys!)  He carried it everywhere, the next day at the beach he carried another bottle around the whole time.  Like a security blanket or something.

                            Liam and Nicole (and Liam’s gatorade!)

Blueberry picking

Last Sunday my mom and I went and picked blueberries, we picked 26 pounds between the two of us.  The next day we took the kids (we knew they wouldn’t last while we where doing the “serious” picking).

Liam loved eating them as he was picking, Braeden thought it was a competition, and Brenna didn’t want anything to do with it after she got her hands dirty. 

We have gotten our share of blueberries this past week, blueberry crisp, blueberry pancakes, blueberry yogurt, and just plain old blueberries. I’m sure you moms can imagine the diapers this week….ick!

When we were little, my sis and I used to pick raspberries for a lady down the road and she paid us to do it.  I think we got the good end of the deal, we MUST have ate more than we picked AND got money too!

 

Evacuations and Toddlers are not a good combination

I was running downtown (about 20 minutes from home) when I got a call from Ed that 911 called and said there was a mandatory evacuation.  There was a chemical fire about a mile away. 

Of course, I had the van with all the car seats…so sweaty old me had to race home and his job was to get everything ready.  (I probably should have given him a more detailed list..no offense, but guys just don’t think of the same things was we do)  More clothes, a ton of diapers, breakfast, etc.  I do give him credit though, he did remember the chocolate!

Since my family and dh’s family were all being evacuated too our options were limited at 8:00pm, we didn’t want to call friends with kids and disrupt their household.  I talked to my aunt and she said we could stay there, so as we were heading there I received a call from my cousin (her daughter) and said to come there.  That was a smarter move, she has a huge house and finished basement with extra bedrooms and a bathroom down there.

It was nice to see my cousin who I hadn't seen in a few months and Braeden was having a ball playing with Madelyn who is a year older than him.  The great thing about a 6 year old is that they are adaptable and this was just an adventure for him. 

Liam and Brenna who normally go to sleep about 7:30 were up until almost midnight, they were so overtired they could not settle down.  They woke a normal time this morning and were soooo grumpy.

I was “that” mom at Walmart this morning buying diapers with two screaming kids.  I just smiled and kept walking as everyone watched, lol!  I did get a few sympathetic looks.  Got the diapers and bought some clothes so the kids didn't have to run around in their pjs all day and then headed to a playground that we had been meaning to go to for awhile...played until they were tired and then headed up to the old fashioned A&W where you order from your car and the waitress brings the food to your car.

While we were getting food in their bellies, I decided that we were just going to have to do a driving nap, Brenna was beside herself.  She was just so tired she was growling and kicking, she sounded like she needed an exorcist.  As I was driving I got a call that we were good to go home!  Woo-hoo!  There's no place like home!

Here is a link to a few of the explosions….scary stuff, hope everyone is okay!

http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/video?id=6949203