Grandma B's Birthday Extravanganza

The last leg of our vacation was a first for our family of 3- camping! Grandma B turned 60 on the 24th. We came up with several ideas of how to celebrate and decided to camp out in Herbster, WI. She owns a piece of and on Lake Superior. After a little bit of weed wacking by Pete, we were ready to set up shop with our tent.

Here are a collection of "tips" I have compiled for camping with small kiddos...

- it's the little things. We had many things on hand just in case, but Jack was fascinated by water, sticks, and rocks. And using strange objects to drink water!

- bring the pack n play- particularly if your kiddo sleeps in one regularly, it was familiar and made bedtime much easier!

- have your uncles present at all times to entertain little ones- they were very patient and very fun

- a weed walker is critical for a piece of land you are trying to turn into a camp site. We would have lost our kiddo in the grass.

- after kiddo is in bed, kick back and enjoy the view

New Favorite Game

This week we are on vacation in Presque Isle, WI. Jack has a new favorite game- Hide and Seek. He only has one hiding place so it's a very predictable game. We will save the strategy lesson for a different trip...

Where's Jack??

Aha!

Gets me every time.

Best Pals

Jack and North have known each other since their moms (and dads) were in birth class together! Jack is about 8 weeksolder than  North who was born in late January of 2012. It has been fun watching them go from babies to toddlers and how they adjust to each phase. I know there is a picture somewhere of the two of them laying next to each other at 1 month (North) and 3 months... I will try to track that down!

We were able to spend a couple of days together and the kids had a blast! They can now say each others names and "attempt" to share. (And by share I mean it was a learning experience for all on what we will need to keep working on...)

Best buds.

My Veggie Loving Kiddo

Morning conversation with Jack...

Mom: Jack, are you hungry?

Jack: (nods his head) mm-hmmm

Mom: What do you want to have have?

Jack: (pause...thinking...) Brocki 

Mom: Broccoli for breakfast? What about eggs or toast or pancakes?

Jack: Brocki.

Mom: Honey, I do not even know if we have any broccoli. How about a banana?

Jack: No. Brocki. Up. (Pointing to a pan. Up= cook it up)

And here's Jacks breakfast. Thank goodness we had some! He ate every bite.

Beginning of the End of Summer

This week, I sort of start school. I have to go in for 3 days of literacy training and on Friday have orientation for the district. Of course, I have all next week off and do not resume in service days until the 28th but I will be thinking, breathing, and planning until then.

This week started off with a bang as well! We have been SUPER healthy around here all summer and sure enough, Jack came down with what seemed to be a cold about 10 days ago. His dry cough turned a little ugly and he had a fever off and on. I called this past Monday thinking we should make sure this isn't turning into something (but sort of feeling like they would tell me "it's a virus...wait it out"). Our new doctor looked at Jack, made sure his ears were clear, listened to his lungs, did a throat swab, walked out, then in with "good" news and "bad" news. I totally thought she would say "the good news is there is no infection, the bad news is we just have to wait it out".

I was wrong.

"The good news is he has strep- so we can treat that with meds. The bad news is, he has strep".

Great.

So, Jack has taken this as an opportunity to eat many popsicles and is on the mend.

I am not sure I am ready for fall yet! This week seems crazy and it's not even the real deal yet. I had forgotten during my relaxing summer off the hustle of the  morning, the chaos of getting home and making dinner, and getting Jack into bed!  I think it's a blessing that I do have these four days as a reminder of how organized I have to be!! Fall: you have won points this week during the practice game but I will be at full strength come the 28th!!

I do love being a teacher but i live when 3:30pm rolls around and i am on my way to pick up Jack. It sure is a great motivator to see this happy face at the end of the day :)

Hoppy the Frog and Hoppy the Toad

A couple of new friends have recently come to visit the Young household. Ironically, they are both named "Hoppy". (I will give you three guesses as to who named them??)

Yesterday, Pete brought in a friend to show Jack. It was the tiniest toad I have ever seen! Jack was most impressed and named it "Hoppy".

Jack and "Hoppy"- small dark dot on Pete's hand.

 

Up close with Hoppy the Toad

Well, Hoppy was released into the wild backyard. But, when Pete was out mowing today he rediscovered Hoppy (or a toad with a very strong resemblance). Jack kept saying "Hoppy back!"

Hoppy visiting again today.

Pete's eagle eyes managed to rescue another friend from the fate of the lawn mower. Meet Hoppy #2. This Hoppy was not quite as timid and displayed his hopping skills as he perused the kitchen for about 4 minutes. To this, Jack said "ribbit, ribbit". I am happy to report both friends are back with their family this evening... Perhaps they will stop by again. 

Jack and Pete with Hoppy the Frog.

Hoppy #2

Patio Facelift

When we moved into our new house in Wausau, there was a special table left behind.

It's a Wausau Tile Table. And while it actually is nicely made and in high demand, it was not exactly what we had in mind for our patio. Not to mention it is INCREDIBLY heavy. Not easy to move about at all. We have another beautiful table that was a gift that we would love to have there instead. 

So, I decided to list it on Craigslist for over half off! No takers...

Then it was down to a quarter of its original value. No takers...

I lowered the price one final time and had a guy who seemed really interested. But never heard from him again.

Finally Pete said, "we will GIVE it away, as long as they can come and get it by Sunday night". I was being contacted left and right! But the early bird gets the worm and a nice guy came over with his trailer, loaded it up on Sunday afternoon and took it to his new house that he just moved into. Perfect!

And now we have our amazing patio ready, complete with table and a new umbrella, for a few more summer days. 

Our patio table- a wedding gift from Susan and Walker

Complete with new umbrella- www.potterybarn.com

Farmers Market

Good company. Tasty treats. Nice little start to a summer Saturday.

Flowers, cantaloupe, sticky buns, green beans, and corn... All from the local farmers market.

Science for Tots

I have been wanting to do this but believe it or not, I had a hard time finding "non gel" food coloring. When I came across it today, I was so excited! And with Pete fishing with a friend tonight, it was the perfect opportunity to do this with Jack!

All we needed was a clear container (vase, jar, glass), water, canola oil, and food coloring. I chose to use something that I knew Jack could not easily pick up and drink. (If you read to the end, this was a very good idea)

To start: I filled up the vase with water. I knew I wanted to our about 2 inches worth of oil at the top and I didn't want the oil to be ready to overflow- plan accordingly.

Next, with all eyes watching. I started with the drops of food coloring. It was recommended to NOT start with blue so we did red. The food coloring will drop in and maintain its round shape. Ours hovered for a minute at the bottom of the oil and above the water. 

Then, it almost exploded into the water. As Jack would say, "wow, boom!"

We tried all four colors of course saving blue for last. Only a few drops of each color will do the trick. Then you end up with muddy water which Jack kept saying, "Jack drink"

Um... No thank you.

Museum Adventures

Last week, Jack and I had plans to go to Minocqua, WI to Jim Peck's Wildwood Center (Northwoods zoo) with friends from Pelican school. With threat of rain and little ones, we decided a change of plans was in order and found ourselves at the Northwoods Children's Museum http://www.northwoodschildrensmuseum.com/. 

We have been to the museum before but of course it's always new and exciting to Jack! What I love about this museum is that there is something for everyone- ages 1-10 have a great time! This time Jacks had some definite favorites!

Driving in the ambulance in the Medical exhibit

Talking with kids as a Park Ranger

Scooting around on Jack size vehicles

Then today, we found ourselves looking for something to do. The morning temperatures were in the 60s and the  Central Wisconsin Children's Museum 

had come as a recommendation from a friend. It was a 30 minute drive, $5 admission and a lot of fun :)

There are some definite similarities in the museums but surprisingly a lot of differences. Both have a grocery shopping area with "carts" (which Jack loves!), and art centers. This museum had some new activities that Jack found extremely entertaining as well as a train table, music performance area complete with a stage, and a weather reporting desk. http://www.cwchildrensmuseum.org/

Shopping for food, groceries, and small cars.

"Little Kids" area. Lots of smaller toys in a section that is secluded from some of the busier areas. There were trucks, magenta, dolls, and this fun ball sorting station.

A "Healthy Heroes" play place where kids are encouraged to climb on small rock walls, build with giant blocks, balance on a beam, and play on this foam equipment.

There was also a snack area downstairs where we could take a break away from the action and have a small snack I had brought along- rejuvenate our energy stores for more FUN!

Jack would give both centers 2 thumbs up. And as I said before, the beauty f both places is there is plenty to do foray years to come!

Good memories

Pete's cousin, Chris Williams Funk, would have been 40 today. He lost his battle with brain cancer a little over 3 years ago. There are not too many words that I could write that would measure up to the man Chris was. He lived and loved every moment. I came across this tonight and thought we could all use a little reminder of what's important in life.

Chris Funks favorite one liners:

- Leave a party when you're having fun.

- Work hard, play hard

- Turn it up a notch

- Do you need a beer?

- So stoked!

- Go big (or go home)

- Wuss. Take your pansy-pants off.

- Way to go, you nailed it!

- (Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap)

- I love you.

Hug your family and tell them you love them an extra time tonight. 

Swimming Lessons

II have mentioned before how much Jack LOVES swimming! We started him in lessons last summer with Ms. Karen at the YMCA in Rhinelander. Best decision ever! He is now a star student in his new class at the YMCA in Wausau. His new teacher was Ms. Nichole. She sang lots of songs and played games along with some free time for toys! Now Jack loves to:

- blow bubbles in the water

- say "hi kids" and "bye kids" when we arrive and leave class

- kick his legs when he floats on his back

- jump in and let his head go completely underwater 

- make "rain" 

- splash, splash, splash

I am pretty sure he would get into the water all on his own with no hesitation. He's a fish!

Jack with Ms. Nichole- practicing bubbles

His favorite song was "Humpty, Dumpty". All the kids would sit on the wall while the adults said, "Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great FALL!". The kids would rock side to side before their graceful entrance into the pool. Then we would swim across, all the while Jack is yelling "Dunty! Dunty!"

Maybe if gymnastics does not work out, swimming would be a good plan B. At least we have options!

Jack's "Shrimp" certificate