on the go again!

i have (just now) come to the conclusion that we either a): need to stop going places on the weekends, b): go places but leave the camera at home or c): stop blogging.

none of those seem to be good solutions, so once again, you'll just have to wade through the photos.

so if you're still on board, this was how we kicked it all off: kelvin and i loaded the piano into the truck.

ourselves.

the two of us.

we will never attempt this again.

enough said.

the littles "helped".

then we got a good night's sleep and headed to green bay in the morning so that uncle duey could teach cole...
... to fish.
*groan*
(really, it was cute... funny, even. if it wasn't, i probably wouldn't have snapped a few, ya know?)

we didn't really have a game plan, so kandace suggested bay beach.
why not??
cole buddied up with uncle duey right off the bat.

he wasn't quite sure about the person in the ticket booth- he looks a wee bit skeptical.
but do you blame him?
he's never been to an amusement park before.

first stop: the carousel.
cole, duey, madison and kelvin handed over a few tickets and got on.
cole promptly exited, hauling duey behind.
madison and daddy rode it out though.
(madi stayed on almost the entire time!)

"huh..."

cole saw the kiddie boats and thought they were pretty neat.

uncle duey helped him pick one out...

... and it was "anchors away!" for this little sailor!

he was pretty proud that he could sit in a boat all by himself and 'steer'.

then we tried the bug cars.

they were cute.

and fast.

maybe a little too fast; they were whippin' around pretty good.

the bugs were not fun.

(disclaimer: i do not make a habit of photographing my screaming, scared, miserable child. the ride operator was not one of the ones that would kindly stop the ride for a terrified toddler; therefore, i was forced to watch him cry and since i couldn't rescue him, distracted myself by, well... you know, snapping away.)

after the ordeal with the speedy li'l bug cars, cole was quite interested in the train.

safe in daddy's arms!

us girls

(madi's cutting some molars, which would be why she's got her hand AND her paci in her mouth)

yup- WAY less scary!

he enjoyed the train quite a bit.

after the train, we went back to the kiddie boats, where cole sat in the same boat he'd had the first time. it must've lost it's charm, because a minute or two into it, he started crying. and the ride operator was sweet enough to stop the boats so we could rescue our freaked out little boy.

and then we tried the slide.

it was awesome!

not only did cole get a kick out of climbing ALL those stairs by himself, he was scared only on the first drop... and the second time around, he had a complete ball.

we didn't stay at bay beach long; duey grilled burgers and chops for lunch, then cole played outside most of the afternoon. auntie kandace spoiled him by picking up a bat and ball, some chalk and bubbles.

this looks more like golf to me...

but auntie kandace showed him how to do it right.

he actually hit the ball a few times!

there are no words for this kind of cute...!

on the way home from green bay, i saw what i thought was a sun dog in the sky. when i looked closer, i realized that there was actually a faint rainbow, but it was a perfect ring all the way around the sun. i've never seen anything like it... it was amazing. i'll never forget it (not like i've forgotten to google it to see if i can find out what it is).

so sunday afternoon, we were heading home from lunch at half nelson's when i noticed a rainbow on the van window. kelvin had taken the van through the carwash that morning, so i thought that maybe it was some soap that didn't get rinsed off and the light was hitting it at the right angle. i turned around to look up in the sky, and there was another patch of rainbow! it was faded by the time we got home, but it had been so vivid, just a splotch of color in the middle of the clouds.

odd.

beautiful.

sunday afternoon we said goodbye to kelvin again. he's in tennessee for work now, so it's just me and the littles again.

we've decided that it's much easier for him to leave in the early morning when nobody's awake... less tears (for all of us).

but cole got to talk to his daddy the very next day...

which he loved.

odds 'n' ends

peek!

cole likes the "pee-ter" at grandma and grandpa's house...
(he thinks he's big stuff, playing with the little bob the builder laptop there).

cole made homemade rolls with grandma

and helped pop them in the oven!

who needs t.v. when you have...

... grandma's front-loading washer?

cole's little rolls turned out pretty nice

and he ate BOTH of them for lunch!

~that was the weekends ago~

this is what happens when mommy is in the shower:

coley helps himself to daddy's gum!

i haven't a clue as to what she was so mad about, but madi threw a fit while hanging on to the microwave stand. it kind of reminds me of when cole first realized that the microwave was more than just a kitchen fixture with flashing numbers that sometimes beeped... he thought it was THE source of bottles and food!

there i go, digressing again. might be the fact that in 94 days, my sweet little boy will be three. what happened to my chubby, sweet little baby?!

*sigh*

"our" weekend

we spent two solid months in separate states, and several weeks apart before that... so it was high time that kelvin and i got a weekend together. alone.

so we did.

my parents took the kids and we left friday afternoon.

our destination?

door county!!

(the living area in our hotel room)

~

we stayed at the bridgeport resort. we were there almost 7 years ago for our first anniversary, and loved it. we opted to splurge a little (out-of-town jobs usually pay better, so we had a little extra in the budget. plus, knowing more distance work was ahead, we figured it warranted a bit of pampering) and got a spa package. we were supposed to get a king-bed suite, but at check-in we were pleasantly surprised with a free upgrade to a two bedroom suite.

seriously... this little apartment-sized "suite" would be a perfect full-time home; not only were there two bedrooms and a living room, but two full bathrooms, closets and a kitchen with a dishwasher. and two patios overlooking the lake. i was ready to move in permanently!

yeah... our house SO doesn't have one of these. good thing too, or i'd be in there 24/7.

and speaking of jacuzzi tubs... we found out what happens when you add a little too much bubble bath and then turn on the jets: bubble fight!!!

our package included a gift certificate to the saguaro day spa in sturgeon bay...

it. is. awesome.

as in "i-left-feeling-like-a-noodle" awesome.

the weather was pretty blah, but we didn't have anything planned other than massages and laying around doing nothing.

nope- didn't get bored, not even once!

i DID discover, though, that once you become a parent, if you get the chance to REALLY relax, it's hard to recognize the difference between boredom and relaxation. it takes you a little while to remember which is which.

who'd have thought that such a gray, cold and rainy day would end in a beautiful sunset?

sunday morning gave us a cheery morning... and since it was mother's day, i was anxious so see my mom. and i have to admit that as much as i thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet, i was itching to see my babies!

we had a nice breakfast first, courtesy of mad dog and merrill, who happened to grace the bridgeport with their sensational grilling selves that weekend. i've never had grilled ham, and i was NOT disappointed!!

this tiny beauty greeted us at the door when we got to the farm.

i was SO happy to see the kids... and so very, very thankful that my parents were willing to take them for an entire weekend.

(thanks so much again... we appreciate it more than you know!)

our cute cowgirl

kelvin brought this outfit home from tulsa!

cole got a kick out of this little game

to top the weekend off, sarah moved back!!

it was torture, waiting for her car to come up the driveway...

welcome home, sarah!

busybusybusy!

it's only saturday and it feels like we've crammed several weekends'-worth of stuff into a few days. this mommy's tired!

let me backtrack...

this was the scene in our living room late afternoon on wednesday... cole LOVES to build towers with his legos, but he likes them to be super-tall. he figured out, all on his own, that when his tower gets too tall, he can stand on his lego table to reach higher. and when the tower is too tall even for that, well, he adds more legos to the middle instead of to the top.

not bad for toddler-logic, huh?

(yes, that whole thing makes me proud of him... what a smartie!!)

madison had her second time-out for antagonizing her brother... she's still not quite sure what a time-out is, but she'll get it eventually.

anyway, the lego thing and the time-out wouldn't have been interesting enough to post except that it's what we were doing while we were waiting (unbeknownst to the kids, of course, because mommy kept it a secret) for this:

daddy's home!!!

cole was tickled.

madison, not so much.

daddy won her over with mashed potatoes, so by bedtime she was a total daddy's girl again.

madison get a "my little pony" from her daddy...

... and she discovered that the pony's brush works on HER hair too!
(we'd gone to target on thursday where kelvin found a matchbox car case for cole- madi needed something too, so she wouldn't be left out. daddy's rule!)

yesterday afternoon we went to kelvin's parents' to spend a few hours with them and kandace. the kids got a ride on the four-wheeler: highlight of the afternoon!

yup- totally her daddy's girl!

my dear husband had a surprise for me, too... he was getting antsy for the mail to get here yesterday, and had been slyly checking something on the computer. i figured out not long before the mail came that yes, he was expecting a package. i figured he'd found something-or-other on ebay, so i just left it at that. but when the mail came and the package arrived, he told me to open it... and there was the lens kit i'd found on ebay months ago!! i can't afford to get individual macro, telephoto and wide-angle lenses for my camera but i'd researched the reviews on the "add on" versions. the reviews were good, and they're a mere fraction of the cost of seperate lenses... perfect for hobbyists on a budget!

i had to try out my new macro on one of my favorite subjects...

(yes, it's madi's eye)

... and a dandelion.

i was going to try a lily or a tulip, but it was just too breezy and those flowers just wouldn't sit still!

cole played BIG tractors with grandpa dan (he had a little help from auntie kandace while grandma ruby and i snapped photos)

madison got an "airplane ride" from her daddy- looking at this photo, i can hear her excited giggles of delight!

~

it sounds like kelvin will be home for a month, maybe five weeks, working in oshkosh until the tennessee job starts. it's awesome to have him home, and we'll get more than just a weekend together now. it's funny- i was thinking of taking an impromptu road trip to see him this weekend; just pack the kids, some clothes and diapers and go. he told me on monday that he'd be coming home, so that idea got canned rather quickly. this is much better, though- welcome home, daddy!!