Summer Vacation

We are back!!! We just spent the week at a cabin, up north, on a lake, with my parents and our boys. It was wonderful. We fished, relaxed, ate, relaxed, slept, ate, boated, fished, ate....

It was, of course, not long enough, but when is a vacation ever long enough? I really think another 2 or 3 days would have been perfect. It just takes us that long to settle into vacation mode and start to really enjoy it.

We were on Long Lake, just outside of Park Rapids. Far enough removed to feel nice and isolated yet close enough to run to town to get groceries, go out to eat, do a little shopping- you know just the essentials.

Joseph let for vacation weighing in at 16lbs 2 oz, came back at 16lbs 9 oz and is 16lbs 13 oz today. Little boy has really started gaining the weight. It is about time too. He weighed 14lbs 4 oz at his 6 mo check up and is coming up quickly on 3 pounds in 2 months! He left for vacation eating solids once a day, and came back eating 3 or 4 times a day. You cannot feed it to him fast enough. Growth spurt!!! He is sleeping in his crib for naps now as well. Amma taught him how to do that on vacation as well. I had been working on it with him but it just wasn't going well, and I just won't do crying to sleep, so slow going it was. But this week he has napped in the crib every day. In fact he is sleeping in it right now! Yeah Amma!!!

Christopher caught his first fish on vacation. Reeled it in and everything. Mommy held the pole he did everything else. It was a sunfish and it was actually big enough to keep. Way to go big boy! He is also making progress on the potty training, again thanks to Amma. We just need her to come move in here and teach the boys stuff.

Oh yeah she taught Joseph how to sit as well on vacation, and he is loving his new perspective on the world these days. That Amma! Teach my boys how to be big.

I caught a couple bigger large mouth bass myself on vacation. Yep I like to fish. And yes I can bait my own hook, take the fish off and tie my own line thankyouverymuch. (Granted I take the fish off with my fishing shirt- long sleeve shirt that I pull the sleeves over my hands when needed, don't actually need to touch a leech to bait it- have my own unique way involving a small bait net/cooler top that works for me. But still........)

Jamie got all the "stuff" installed on his boat. We have a Larson, which is more designed for fun/skiing/tubing, but he is making it a makeshift fishing boat as well. Which is fine by me as it is wayyyyy more comfortable than any fishing boat I have ever been on. So he got his high tech fish finder/GPS and a rear mount trolling motor. (No ugly front mount one that you can see for my pretty boat- nope, no way, not gonna happen) Oh, and the seat lifts so they don't sit so low. Maybe he is done now. Nahhhhhh I am sure there must be something else absolutely essential that I will start hearing about shortly. Isn't there always? ;)

Rainy days and My Boys

Rainy days. Grey and dreary, yet so full of hope and life. Spring has finally arrived, winter this year was brutal and so terribly long. Flowers are blooming, tree buds are breaking out, perennials are peaking out from below the brown leftovers of last year.

Joseph is still not sitting on hs own, should I be worried, I have decided not yet. He rolls, eats his precious little toes, talks to everything and everyone, he loves to stand on my lap and just talk and laugh. He has a really ticklish area along his spine, he will giggle and squirm and smile when you get him there. He is such a snuggler, he really only naps while being held, Amma has him here. He just loves to cuddle and be the center of attention, just like his brother. My little cuddlebugs. Last night daddy had them both cuddled with him, in bed, asleep. Both were snuggled up to daddy as close as they could. So sweet.

Plans are being made for the summer, cabin up north with Amma and Bap Bap, trip to Las Vegas for us all for a Snap-On Franchisee big meeting, a camping trip with the boys, some weekends on the boat. Ahhhhhh summer is my favorite season.

Halloween is coming!

This weekend Amma and Bap Bap came to visit and they brought Lorelei with them! Christopher loved playing with all of them. It was actually nice this weekend so we took the babies out to Oxbow to see the animals. Christopher wasn't feeling the best, so he spent most of his time on daddy's sholders, but Lorelei was in animal heaven- she was so excited about all of them. The deer that came right over to her, the bear that was "shh, nigh, nigh", the water that no otters were swimming in, yet it was exciting all the same, the fox in a box. She just couldn't get enough.

We carved tons of pumpkins this weekend and Jamie got even more decorations set up on the yard. Christopher liked climbing into mommy or daddy's laps periodically just to see what we were doing. We tried to get him to help carve a pumpkin last night, but he just wasn't interested. All this and it will all be taken down on Wednesday. He really loves Halloween and gets into the decorating! Some of the pumpkins are really elaborate, wow! I have to go get lots and lots of candles tonight so that we can light them all.

The time change makes for easier mornings, not so hard to drag ourselves out of bed before the first kid arrives at the door.

To the Zoo

On Sunday all of us met at the zoo. We had a picnic before going thru the zoo. I don't think Amma got much to eat, as she had two of the three eating on her lap. Not that she seemed to mind.
The ducks were a big hit- as were the monkeys. But I think the polar bear swimming was the favorite of all three. Timmy kept making the fish sign as he watched the bear swim. I guess anything in the water is a fish. Lorelei was tickled pink watching the bear swim back and forth. Christopher had to go outside to get a better look at it, especially as it came out of the water each time. It was really nice that all the babies were able to get together. It is nice that they get to spend as much time together as they do.

Christopher has discovered how to hug today. He keeps going to Bella and giving her a hug. She has been pretty tolerant of him. It is so cute to see, especially as last week they were too busy pushing each other down to hug.
He has been having a pretty tough time last night and today, I don't think he feels the best, very clingy. Yesterday he wouldn't let daddy put him down for a nap- arching his back, hanging on for deal life. And then he did the same thing when it was bed time. In the middle of the night he ended up in bed with us, he was screaming, and daddy rescued him. Today he wants to be held, and wants everything, then when he gets it he forgets about it and on to something else, when I tell him no he screams. Just not like him.

Babies on the way!

Two babies are now on the way! Lorelei is going to be a big sister!!! This joins Timmy's baby sister (or brother) who is coming in April. Congratulations!!!
Amma will not know what to do with herself. Babies and toddlers everywhere, and only two arms to hold them all, whatever will she do? (Let them do whatever they want!)
If babies keep coming in groups like this Amma will soon have so many grandbabies she won't know what to do.