Monday Night Track Meets

Monday evenings during the month of June, the local park district hosts track meets. They have a list of events, you show up wait in line and participate. They are geared for kids 3-14 while the majority of the participants I would say are 4-9. The kids have asked to go for the last couple summers but we have never made it. The events seem very overwhelming with long lines and lots of waiting so I have always found reasons to not go. 

Well this year there was no escaping. Annie convinced her daddy to take the kids the only Monday Brandon had free in June. Despite the rain clouds in the sky we loaded up and headed over. Annie Elias and Benjamin did a few events with Brandon before I showed up with the little boys. The rain started and events continued for a bit but after a 15 min rain delay I took the little boys and left while Brandon and the big kids stayed to wait out the storm. Annie ran the 800, 400, 100 Elias ran 100, 50 and Benjamin ran the 50. They also did some of the throwing and jumping events. The kids had a TON of fun and convinced me to take them the next week.....alone because Brandon would be working. 

 The last Monday of the month we packed up and headed to the track meet with out daddy. After attending the first meet, I was not really worried about the logistics of the meets anymore. As I previously mentioned there is lots of standing around and lines but I figured out the way it works and after that its simply organized chaos which is the state of my life so, we fit right in! The kids were patient and we were able to let them all run a couple races. The down time isn't a problem since Annie knew about a million kids there( like last time) and most of our neighborhood was there as well so this is just a big ole social fun event for all the kids. Lastly, I had a bit of help!Uncle Jordan met us there and was able to meet the younger kids at the finish line while I waited with them at the start line for each event. 

Uncle Jordan is always a huge help but the biggest shout out goes to our 7 year old Neighbor Issac. I had Samuel all lined up for the 200, which is 1/2 way around the track. I realized there was 0 chance he was making it to Uncle Jordan with out getting lost. I was 31 weeks pregnant in sandals and a dress, there was no way I was running. Right before they took off I flagged Issac down and asked him to run with Samuel. Issac has 3 younger siblings and his dad is a cross country coach so he was right at home helping Samuel get to the finish line. I love our neighborhood kids!!!

 Best Uncle Ever!

Thanks to Grandma for watching this little stinker so I didn't have to chase him too! He pooped in her tub, lucky Grandma

Despite our busy June schedule, I have a feeling this is something we will be doing for many summers to come!

Field Trip Fun

Last year we joined a home school field trip co-op. I thought it would be a great way to meet some other homeschool families as well as learn some new things. We had a lot of fun last year, so much so we decided to join the co-op again this year! Our first field trip was to the University of North Dakota's ceramics department. I thought we would play with clay and be on our merry way. I was not expecting to be able to fire our projects for keeps. Once we found this out, each of the kids decided to work on projects for Uncle Jordan since his birthday was a month away( Lucky Uncle). Annie made a really great Finn, Benjamin made a lizard thingy and Elias made a pokemon. After the projects were dried and fired, we painted them and uncle Jordan now gets to enjoy them year round as they are proudly displayed for all to see at his home. 

 Samuel and Nicholas were too young to attend this field trip. Brandon put Nicholas down for a nap and proceeded to use EVERY SINGLE DUPLO we had in the house to make a giant creation with Sammy. Samuel was SO proud of his project he couldn't wait to show up what they had done.

 My future artists....or not. Fun none the less!

Pokemon Go

This summer, Pokemon Go was released and it didn't' take long for the kids of our neighborhood  to catch onto the craze. Uncle Jordan helped Elias get the hang of things by showing us the ins and outs of the game. One day when we were still a wee level 5, we went walking around with the kids hunting for Pokemon. I love these pictures because it shows how awesome of an Uncle Jordan is. I had the wrap and the stroller. We walked, A LOT and both Benjamin and Samuel weren't really too fond of walking after awhile so Uncle Jordan stepped up and the big boys each took a ride for awhile in the "baby" carrier. The one I have is good up to 45 lbs and both boys enjoyed it. We are now officially obsessed with Pokemon Go, although I would think that would tame down a bit with the falling temperatures, only time will tell. 

 Doesn't he look so cozy?

FN-2187

Some people are animal people, some people are not. I found out the summer of 2010, I am not an animal person. Don't get me wrong I see pictures of cats and think "oh how snuggly" or I see a picture of a cute puppy and think " Oh how cute" I have way to much anxiety and kids in my life to find a place in my home for animals. In addition to the financial and cleaning needs...they are a lot of work, I would just rather have another baby who's poop I eventually don't have to clean off the floor.  I don't wish ill will to animals and I don't like to see them abused or neglected, however I don't like them. There, I said it PETA come after me now. 

Now that that subject matter taken care of, Jordan got a dog. His dog *shockingly* cost money, sheds and requires lots of attention. Good thing Jordan is a responsible adult and is willing and able to take wonderful care of the dog. He named the thing FN-2187 or Finn for short. Its a star wars reference. I do not like Finn but I like Uncle Jordan and the kids love Finn so once in awhile Finn gets to come over. When he does, he sheds, jumps on everything he isn't allowed to and gets bone marrow all over my floor. Benjamin and Samuel love Finn. Benjamin calls him "Finners" and will play with him as long as Jordan lets him. 

Since Uncle Jordan is part of the family and makes many appearances on the blog, I figured I should introduce his best friend, as Jordan refers to him as such.  Finn was over one day and I took some pictures of him. I find it funny that in the three of Finn and Jordan, they look the same. I can't explain it, just scroll down and see what I mean. So without further ado meet Jordan's best friend..a dog...named Finn.

Duluth Guys Weekend

So I have been tasked with writing a blog post about our trip to Duluth for my good friend Dan’s wedding. So here we go….

Ever since we had kid number three we have tried to have special alone time with each kid. Now that we have four with a fifth on the way that becomes harder and harder. Last year for her birthday Annie got to go on a girl’s only trip to Minneapolis with Mommy, Grammy, and Aunt Nikki. So Amber and I both felt like Elias should eventually have something similar. The problem was always time and money. When I found out that my friend Dan was getting married in Duluth we thought that we would all go. The logistics of this trip would have been difficult so we decided that I would just go with Elias and Uncle Jordan. Finally a guy’s trip!

Elias has always had a special place in my heart. He is my oldest and he is my guy. We share similar interests and he is so sweet, not a cruel bone in that boy’s body. That being said I will admit that he is also the easiest to overlook. He is seven now and requires much less attention than the little boys for day to day life. He is also very much content not being the center of attention (unlike his sister). That is why it is so important to go out of our way to have special time with Elias. This guy’s trip provided a nice reprieve from real world stressors and distractions. It was a perfect mini vacation.

The trip started off with the car ride down there leaving Friday morning. It was about a five hour drive so I knew we had to be prepared to entertain a seven year old. Lately Elias has been obsessed with Star Wars. Up until this point that has been limited to Lego Star Wars and Cartoons. This has been enough to satiate his galactic desires but he knew about the movies but always assumed that he would have to wait until he was older. Since this is a guy’s trip I decided to allow him to experience an adventure that took place a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. We loaded all the Star Wars movies onto the iPad and let him watch them in the car. He got to watch episode I, IV, and VI. These were the all rated PG and were the most kid friendly. I have never seem him in such bliss. Also we hooked up the sound through the speakers in the car so Jordan and I were also entertained.

Mom editor Note: THIS MOVIE WATCHING WAS NOT APPROVED BY MOM!!!!!

We arrived at our destination in the late afternoon and immediately went to the Great Lake Aquarium. It was much nicer than I thought it would be and had lots of awesome things for Elias to explore. His favorite part was a working model of the lock system on the lake complete with water and toy boats. He also loved the Otter exhibit. Before we left Elias made sure to pick out a present for his siblings (such a considerate boy).

We then went to our hotel. Our hotel had a waterpark that was attached and included two four story pitch black water slides. So needless to say Elias was excited. First we ordered greasy pizza, fries, cheese curds and dippin dots for a nutritious dinner in our room. Guy trip means eating like a bachelor again. We did not have wait the mandatory hour before swimming. Elias was so excited when he realized that he was tall enough to go down the slide. He went down the slide over and over again. He loved it there. Elias has been taking swimming lessons and it showed. This was the first time of me bringing him to a pool where he could go anywhere and do anything and I did not have to worry about him not being able to touch or swim. We closed the water park down and went back and crashed.

On Saturday morning we woke up and went to a breakfast buffet at the hotel (guys trip). We then decided to do a little geo caching. Jordan and Elias have been really into it and it was a nice morning by lake for a little hike. Geocaching is where you use GPS coordinates to find things that other people have hidden and leave other things, usually trinkets of some sort behind.  This particular “cache” was off the trail a little bit and hidden behind a large rock in a box. Inside the box was an Immaculate Heart of Mary prayer card. Elias was sooo proud of his find that he carried it around with him for the remainder of our trip in his pocket and showed it to anyone who would see. He is my good little Catholic!

We then decided to go down to the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center. This was a museum that had lots of cool exhibits revolving around the history and industry of Lake Superior. Elias also got to climb on rocks and chase seagulls by the water. We ended this excursion with a healthy lunch from a boat down by the shore. We had deep fried cookie dough and corn dogs (guy’s trip). We then walked around the touristy area then it was time to go get ready for the wedding.

We all got cleaned up and ready to go. We even all wore ties. Dan and Diane’s wedding was beautiful. It took place in an abandoned Catholic Church that still had all the statues, stained glass windows and Alter intact. It was nice to see a beautiful traditional Catholic Mass in a place like that. After the wedding mass it was time for the reception. It was a lot of fun with good food and good company. We then went back to the Motel in time to get another round of swimming in the water park before they closed. Elias spoke with Annie on the phone and it was about the cutest thing I have ever seen. They really missed each other but he was excited to tell her all about his adventures and she was excited to listen. It really melts my heart how good of friends they are.  

The next morning was our day to leave. Elias slept the latest I have seen him sleep in a long time. We then ate breakfast and went to the water park AGAIN for a last swim before leaving. We checked out of our hotel and went to the Duluth Children’s Museum. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality there. It was not very big but it was in a cool location and had fun things for Elias to do. We got there right when they opened and for a while were the only ones there. The staff there was great and basically gave Elias a VIP tour and showed him all of the exhibits and attractions. They had these weird huge puppets on display there and an event going on where the artist that made the puppets was on site. She explained all of the puppets to us. The museum staff then peer pressured us into attending a puppet show with the artist and some professional puppeteers. I didn’t really want to go but we did anyways. We stayed for about half the show. We then hit the road.

                Elias watched Star Wars for a while then napped on the way home. It was a great trip. It was a great way to spend some alone time with my son. We had a great time but it was still great to come home and see Amber and the other kids again. I hope we can go back to Duluth again with the whole family sometime.