Jelly Stone Park

My dear friend Kammy loves to camp and so generously asked us to come join them in their camper at Jelly Stone Park in Austin, Minnesota one weekend in August.  I first said no -- it was the first weekend after Isaiah's school started, the weekend before Levi started preschool, and Mark could not get away from his store...Do I dare take 3 little boys on a 2 hour car drive by myself to sleep in a strange camper, all while we've got to be on our best behavior in front of company for 2 full days????  Well, with encouragement from my husband and from Kammy - we got up early on Saturday morning and hit the rode.  The boys were SOOOOOO excited and I must admit it was nice to be going on a little "get-a-way" trip.  We made the drive with just a few wrong turns (which I blame on road construction, but really is probably just because I'm not so good with directions!) and surprised Kammy when we called her about 9:30 to say that we were already there!  The boys were AMAZED when they saw the big sign for the campground and all the activities going on around.  We made it to their campground, ditched the van and headed out for fun right away!  First stop - the train rides...

There was a barrel train and then a wooden train that the boys each took a turn on.  They seemed to have fun on them, but didn't want to ride them again...I think there was just too much exciting to see so we made our next stop on the jumpy pillow.  Titus is such an easy going little guy that he was content as could be just hanging out watching all the action.  I did let him down to watch and he thought he was hot stuff! :)

As soon as the pool was opened the boys were more than ready to get in! On my mental list of things to bring, I did so good, but did forget one major thing - the life jacket!  My boys are so fearless that a life jacket in water they cannot touch is mandatory!  Luckily Kammy was able to fill in my void and had jackets that worked for the boys - Isaiah had no clue how, ahem, cute he looked in his little shark outfit.  :)

It wasn't a really hot day and being in a crowded pool with a little baby wasn't exactly my idea relaxing so after a little bit, the baby and I got out to relax and watch.  He even took a good nap in the stroller.   When the boys were ready for a break, we had a snack and they got back in, we went miniature golfing, and they got back in, they watched some Yogi Bear cartoons, then they got back in...and so on all day long!  The weather was a bit crummy and it did sprinkle here and there all day long, but the boys didn't even seem to notice!

It just so happened to be Halloween weekend at the camp ground so that night they had a costume contest and then trick-or-treating all around the camp.  They even had a decoration contest for the best decorated camper and golf cart.  There were some pretty spooky and crazily decorated campers and carts!  As expected, Levi got tired of trick-or-treating pretty quickly, but Isaiah wanted to keep going so the baby, Isaiah and I kept going and Kammy and Levi handed out candy together.  

 There was a haunted house set up that the kids insisted that they wanted to go through, so we let them, it really was pretty scarey and we rushed through it as fast as we could just to get out! :)   Luckily we weren't the poor group with screaming, crying little kids when they got out!  I think a warning meant for kids 8+ or something might have been a good idea!

Although the weather was still pretty yucky - wet and drizzling - we decided to have a campfire after the Halloween activities were over.  The boys had already had plenty of candy, but we figured, what's a little more sugar and made smores!  Kammy had some campfire stores prepared for us and the boys were AMAZED with her stories.  They still talk about the Vinder Viper and The Bloody Finger.  

Bedtime was the part of the trip I was most worried about, my boys know our bedtime routine (which hasn't changed in like 5 years!) and do a good job (most nights) about finishing the routine and going to bed.  Only on the rare occasion have we veered from this routine, but they did do a good job at the camper all things considered.  Kammy had it set up that they would sleep together in one full sized bed, but after lots of tossing and turning, it was clear this wasn't going to work out.  They ended up moving Austin in with Kammy and Steve, the boys each to their own bed and Titus and I in the other bedroom on a mattress on the floor.  The next morning the boys were all excited to still be camping and ready for more activities!  Before the pool opened, we went off to play at some of the playgrounds and other fun stuff to look at. 

But as soon as the pool opened, that's where they wanted to be!  Just as we were getting to the pool, Yogi Bear showed up.  Levi was thrilled!  Another neat thing about the campground was they had all kinds of different bikes that you could check out for 30 minutes to ride around the campsite.  The boys couldn't wait to try them, so we signed up to ride 2 of the small front peddling bikes.  The boys did awesome on them and it didn't take long for them to get the hang of it.  We spent a few more hours swimming before it was time to get cleaned up to go.  The boys were devastated that we had to leave already, but we had school the next day and a big drive ahead of us! 

We finally packed our stuff up, thanked the Nemmer's family and said our goodbyes.  The boys were in tears as we headed to the van to get home...but had me talked into another round of miniature golf before we left the campground :).  The ride home was uneventful and I was so glad that we went.  We all decided we are definitely going back next year -- and bringing daddy!!

it finally popped out!

Isaiah had been waiting and waiting for a loose tooth.  Caiden, Isaiah's best buddy, lost like 9 teeth while they were in preschool last year and Isaiah didn't have a single loose tooth.  I wasn't surprised as I had read that kids usually start loosing teeth closer to 6 and tried to explain this to Isaiah, but he was still always feeling around in his mouth and was so excited when he FINALLY had a loose tooth.  He wiggled and wiggled it for days and days and then the excitement wore off and turned into excitement for kindergarten.  The days went by and he didn't mention it anymore...

On the 4th day of school, Mark picked Isaiah up from school.  When they loaded up in the van Isaiah was not buckling himself in (Isaiah has been buckling himself in for a few years now!).  Mark asked him why he wasn't buckling in and he said he couldn't.  He asked why and Isaiah said, "because I have a tooth in my hand!"  He was soooo excited and Mark was too.  They called me right away (I was at work) to share the news.  I could hear the smile on his face as he told me.  I said to him, "What did your classmates think of you loosing a tooth?" and he said, "I don't know, I didn't tell them."  "You didn't tell them???"  "Nope," he said.  "Well, what did Mrs. Fegley think?" I asked him, "I don't know I didn't tell her either."  "WHAT??? you lost your tooth at school and didn't tell anyone?" "yeah...'cause I wanted it to be a surprise for you."  :)  What a sweet boy.  He wasn't kidding either as I told Mrs. Fegley the next morning when I dropped him off and she had no clue.  

My mom had given Isaiah a toothfairy book a few days beforehand that came with a little tooth bag to leave for the toothfairy.  He was very excited to put it to use.  He also knew that the toothfairy would definitely leave his tooth for him because that's what the toothfairy did for Caiden.  When I think back to when I lost teeth, I'm pretty sure the toothfairy took my teeth....

It just so happened that it was a really warm and clear night so we had a chance to layout in the front yard and look at the stars before it was time for bed.

The next morning Isaiah was sooooooooooooooooooo excited and happy that the toothfairy had left him a surprise in his little bag as a reward for loosing his tooth.  She left him 2 50cent pieces and of course his little tiny tooth was still there too.

It's amazing to me how the "firsts" just never stop coming.  What an adventure life brings!

back to preschool night

After watching his big brother go off to preschool for 2 whole years, Levi was thrilled that it was FINALLY his turn!  His back to school night was a few days before his school started and both Mark and I got to take just him!  (Thanks Mom for watching the other 2!).  Levi still wasn't convinced that it was actually happening as he kept saying that we were going to "Isaiah's school."  He was super excited to find HIS name above a hook and HIS name on the wall.  After lots of fun checking out his new classroom (which is actually his old Sunday School room, but I'm not sure he put that together), he said, "I love MY new school." on the way to pick up his brothers.  

We are excited that Levi has Isaiah's first preschool teacher - Mrs. Knapp.  She is so gentle and loving with all the little preschool children and has a big heart for Jesus - a great combination!  I am really excited to see how Levi does in preschool!

favorite spot

Titus has a favorite spot around our house ---

I will often leave him sitting and playing with some toys and come back to find him looking out the window.  We live in a wooded area where lots of people walk, run or bike right outside our big front window.  I, too, find myself just sitting and watching out the window sometimes too.  Gotta love those chubby legs! :) 

the Falls

 I'll admit it - I avoided the pool this summer.  My boys, especially Levi, have absolutely no fear of water and have no problem jumping right in no matter how deep it is.  As hot as this summer was I knew that the pools would be super crowded and it pretty much terrified me thinking of having 3 boys all by myself at the pool...so we just didn't go!  We did, however, have our pool out in our yard and we were in the water almost daily.  BUT it was on that summer to do list at Isaiah's request to go to "the pool by Carson's house" aka the Falls.  The last week the pool was open I was feeling oh so guilty that we hadn't made it yet so I decided that Saturday we'd go no matter what.  Well, it was 68 degrees and cloudy and looked like rain that day, but we went anyway!  The boys didn't care about the weather and had an absolute BLAST. 

 I was so thankful that it was next to empty at the pool so I could keep an eye on them while sitting back with Titus.  I could see where they were with no problems and the lifeguards were not distracted to help me out too! After being there and realizing that the pool geared for smaller kids really didn't get all that deep, we probably would have been okay more times this summer - and I probably would have been on pins and needles the entire time we were there.

Isaiah wasn't quite tall enough to go on the slides by himself, and obviously I couldn't be the adult to go along with him so he was bummed about that.  I told him that if we found someone we knew that I'd ask them to please, please, please stay with Levi and Titus or go on the slide with him, but unfortunately there were only like a grand total of 20 people there (4 of them being us) that I didn't know anyone.  So next year, we will definitely make it so he can do the slides. 

We did make it around the lazy river several times, but I think we got "in trouble" with the lifeguards every single time.  Titus didn't want to stay sitting in the tube and neither did Levi so I was walking through the river with two little boys in my arms trying to keep their tubes in line with us too - yikes!  After Isaiah realized the slides were not going to be an option, he wanted to do the lazy river one more time, I just couldn't bear to do it again and have the evil eye from the lifeguards again so I told him he could go by himself!  He was happy with that and did pretty good floating around! 

Because of the low attendance, they did close early that day at 4:30pm which actually worked out well - it gave me a way out - because I'm pretty sure my two big boys would have loved to stay all day and night long! All in all I'm glad we went!  I'm sure we will be back next year!

look what happens

Look what happens when you let the 5 year old feed the baby :)  At least the baby is starting to eat a few bites of baby food! 

the big day

When I got the book The Night Before Kindergarten, I remember thinking that day is so far off...but I blinked my eyes and it was time to read it with Isaiah.  He was SOOOO excited the night before and I was too - but also quite a bit sad - I just can't believe my baby is a kindergartener! :)  His excitement made it so much more exciting for all of us!

We picked out his outfit the night before and he was up and dressed before I even got out of bed the morning of the first day.  He couldn't wait to go - we finally went outside for pictures and to start walking WAY before we needed to.  :)

It was fun to see all the other families walking toward the school that morning.  Isaiah walked proudly all the way there.  Both big boys were super excited to see the "real" crossing guards helping the kids get across the street safely.

 We didn't realize that we were supposed to walk outside to the K-1 playground to drop him off, but we had fun walking through the school and looking around in his classroom one more time.  We found his teacher, he put his bag down and off to the playground he ran!  We waited for them to blow the whistle and line up to go inside.  He gave us a BIG grin and walked in like a million bucks! 

Mark and I were like "okay now what?" once we dropped him off - such a weird feeling!  So we let Levi decide what he wanted to do -- and no surprise that he wanted to go to the mall.  Levi loves the mall for some reason - I think it's the pretzel bites we buy there every now and then :)

The morning and early afternoon flew by, and before we knew it Isaiah's first day of kindergarten was over!  (He had shortened days the first 4 days of school).  We went back to pick him up and he was all smiles and so excited to see us!  He said it was a great day and was eager to go play on the playground afterwards. 

And that was that - we officially have a KINDERGARTNER in our house! 

back to school night.

The Tuesday before school started (which school started on a Thursday) was back to school night at Isaiah's ELEMENTARY School!  The kids all got to come check out their classrooms, meet their teachers and drop off their school supplies all in hopes to make the first day of school a little less chaotic!  Isaiah was THRILLED to be a kindergartener and had no fears about going that night!

 The plan was to walk up to school together as a family and then walk home, but unfortunately it was my night to work and I couldn't get it switched - so I got to take a really late lunch break (5pm) and hurry to the school, meet Mark and the boys in the parking lot, and walk up to his class with him. 

It was a crazy night of excited little 5 and 6 year old's, but Isaiah loved every minute of putting away his school supplies in just the right baskets and cubbies, he was super happy he was at the same table as his preschool buddy Viviane, and he thought his classroom was really cool.  Mrs. Fegley was so gentle with him and he seemed to like her too. 

It was a great first experience of Isaiah's kindergarten classroom and elementary school journey!  It was a little bittersweet for Mark and I to completely realize that our little boy is a school aged kid!  But man are we proud!!

box from grandma.

There's not much more exciting around here than a box from Grandma Michele and Great Grandma Mary that arrives in the mail!  Levi was sooooooooooooooooo excited to get his birthday box.  They knew about his love for the Power Rangers Samari and decided to help him become the Red Ranger.  You can imagine his excitement! :)  

 

Thanks Grandma and Great Grandma!!

four

Our sweet, wild and crazy Levi was 4 on August 12 so, of course, we had to spend the day celebrating!  He was sure he wanted a Power Rangers Samari birthday and so that is what he got!  My cake skills were a little off for this birthday so his cake didn't turn out exactly as expected, but he loved it just the same.  (I think it's because I tried to go easy and use a sugar sheet (thanks LeAnna!) instead of design my own.haha)

We started the day by heading to Mark's store to get a few things done, to give Levi the presents from us and Isaiah, a Ipad call to Grandma Michele and Great Grandma Mary and for lunch (McDonald's, of course).  I love the excited, surprised looks on his face when he opened presents.  Although he is so c.r.a.z.y. he really is a genuinely sweet and thankful little boy.

Then it was time to head back home to play - I don't think Levi could have been happier about the wet, muddy day.  There's nothing like a few hours in the rain, with a dump truck and your big brother!

While at the party store getting decorations for the party, Levi picked out Power Ranger tattoos.  I didn't look very carefully at them, but assumed the party package would be enough to give each guest a tattoo - well on the day of the party, I realized they were not individual nor could I really cut them to be - so the boys each put on about 10 each!  They also insisted that Titus get one too - no surprise that they picked their least favorite ranger (the green ranger) to put on him! :)

Levi was soooooooooooo excited when it was time to go to his party - he insisted on having a laser tag party - even over the jumpy house, chuck e cheese, or the park.  Even though I knew he would last about 20 minutes with laser tag, I went with it.  He was thrilled with the decorations (we hung Power Ranger things from the ceiling, you can kind of see in the bottom right picture) and the big poster game like pin the tail on the donkey (which now hangs in the big boys' room).

We played laser tag for a little while...

Then it was time for the pinata! This too now hangs in the boys' room since it was the pull the ribbon kind and was not broken with a bat! 

The kids were still so excited, but weren't exactly ready to play laser tag anymore, so after pizza they ran around playing Power Rangers for quite awhile! 

We eventually played a little more laser tag and of course had to eat the cake (which took another hit as Levi opened the cake lid and smashed part of it :) and open some presents.

What a fun day celebrating our four year old Levi James.  Happy Birthday big boy!

Levi at 4.

My sweet little Levi James turns 4 years old August 12.  I cannot remember life without him, but 4 just seems so big!  I have so many favorite things about him and I wanted to document just a few of them here so I can always look back on them...

* One of the best things he says is, "is it up time?" or "can I wear this for up time?" or "it's not dark out so it's up time."  He refers to daytime as up time and it is just so darn cute! :)

* He is definitely our spitfire boy.  His personality is bold and it's all the way or nothing - there is no in between with him.  I hope that he uses this trait to his advantage some day and always does things the best he can!

* He also is the boy that will always keep my heart pounding!  He continues to have absolutely no fear for anything - if it's the water, he will dive right in, if it's the playground, he wants to go as high as he can, if it's wrestling with his dad or brothers, he will be as tough as stone.  The boy rarely cries about an injury, but bumps and tumbles pretty hard!  When he falls, I can hear him whispering to himself, "I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay."  And if it's a big fall, he will say this out loud to me (and himself) sucking in the tears!

* Levi is so sweet to his baby brother and loves to play with him which means we've always got to keep an eye on him because this fear nothing boy isn't afraid to drag his baby brother into the danger zone! :)  He likes to share with him (but only when he wants to) and has been caught sharing licks of a sucker or bites of a cookie with him :)  lucky baby!

* Eating continues to be a daily challenge.  He only eats what he likes which isn't too much -- but I know this is very typical so I'm not worried.  Sure hope maybe this year he will grow out of that!  His absolute favorite food is cheese ravioli with sauce on top (the frozen kind -- super easy! no complaints there! haha).  He also likes chicken nuggets, cheese, pizza, apple slices, pears, grapes, peanut butter sandwiches

* At his 4 year old doctor's check up (on 8/15/12) he weighed in at 41.0 pounds (85%) and 41.0 inches (63%).  He was able to see the pictures on the chart and impressed all the nurses when he said "American Flag" at the picture of the flag.  His doctor had no concerns and was happy to see he was a healthy boy.  We opted for the shots this year as Isaiah did awful with them at his 5 year appointment last year.  I have to say that I'm not sure Levi's appointment was any better :)  but at least this time I knew what to expect.  He screamed and screamed as we tried to pin him down to get the 3 shots over with, he had real tears dripping and was red in the face, but after I pretty much laid on him the nurses worked quickly to get all 3 shots done - which the screaming actually stopped as they were doing the shots.  All the while, Isaiah and Caiden (who just happened to be spending the day with us) were holding their hands over their ears and Titus was in his car seat screaming himself! Thankfully we were in a closed room so no one could see (but only hear) the scene we were creating! haha.  Oh well, they are done and as promised, I took Levi and the boys to get a snow cone as a reward.  As we were eating our snow cones, Levi says, "Actually those shots weren't so bad after all." :)

* Levi continues to be very independent --- when he wants to be.  He wants to do things at his own pace and way, but when he just doesn't feel like it he things someone should do it for him.  Isn't this the story of all of us?

* He no longer loves, LOVES his blankie which is a bit sad for me, but exciting for him!  It was something that he couldn't sleep without for such a long time (maybe you remember back to the story where we turned around after 45 minutes just to get it at the hotel - yes it was worth an extra hour and a half in the car at that time!).  If I find the blankie which somehow still ends up all over the house even though I never seem to see him with it, I will give it to him and he will give it a big hug and then forget about it again.  He never asks for it and I'm not sure he even remembers that it was such a big deal to him.

* He does, however, still request "milk in a sippy" every night after supper.  I know it's not what experts suggest, but I give it to him anyway.  He normally drinks out of a regular cup all day long, but I find he doesn't hardly drink anything.  If I give him a sippy, he will drink the whole thing in minutes.  I figure a sippy of milk is better than no milk at all.

I could go on and on about Levi - he truly has his own unique personalty.  He is such a good boy, and such a rowdy boy, but I wouldn't want him any other way.  Love you Levi James! 

kites.

Levi loves kites and often asks to fly them (not sure where this love came from) so of course he wanted this to be on our list of things to do this summer.  We had only flown them one other time in the past, and from what I remembered it was fun, but frustrating for the boys.  Isaiah is easily frustrated when things don't go his way or if he has trouble figuring something out and flying kites can be a bit challenging (especially when you are flying $1 bin kites! haha).  One day when we had nothing planned and the weather was beautiful with a bit of a breeze we decided to try it out.  

Levi was able to get his kite up very quickly and with little effort and so this really frustrated Isaiah.  The unfortunate thing was that Isaiah wasn't careful with his kite and lost the wooden dowel that held it open so we had to use a stick which was a bit heavier which made his kite harder to fly.  He got a bit grouchy, but he has it instilled in him that he doesn't give up so he wasn't about to!  He did eventually get his kite up in the air and was so proud of himself!  

We took a break from the kites to hit he park for a little while.  

Then it was back to the kites for a little bit before heading home.  What a fun way to spend a beautiful afternoon!

crawling!!

Titus is such a strong little boy - not sure why all 3 of my boys decided to be so brave and strong so early on in their lives!  He started crawling all around and by early August he'd crawl to whatever he wanted to see or do and then stand up to it.  Usually he doesn't crawl to his toys like pictured here, but to things like the TV stand, the hutch, the toilet and so on.  It is really time to baby proof this house again!  yikes!

Waterhawks.

We went to a Waterhawks show one Sunday night this early August.  I was excited to go, the boys remembered it from last year and just weren't too sure about it.  Thankfully it was a much, much nicer day than last year which made it so much more fun!  (Last year it was 105 degrees when we went, compared to the 80 this year!).  The boys were very impressed with the different skiing moves and stunts they did.  They were most impressed by the skiers who used the ramps to do flips!  Titus sat and watched pretty good too.

What a fun way to spend a Sunday night!

4

10 years.

It's hard to believe that our wedding day was 10 years ago this August 3.  10 years is a really long time.  I am so thankful for so many parts of our journey together.  I couldn't ask for a more respectful and encouraging husband.  Thanks for 10 great years honey!

I spent our 10 year anniversary at the Bremer County Fair with Mark's employee Shawn while he spent the day helping people play laser tag at the store.  I was a bit sad we didn't get to celebrate together, but I was okay with it, no biggie.  BUT much to my surprise, Mark had planned a surprise party to celebrate.  I got to the store around 6:30 ready to drop off the guns and take the rest of our stuff home to unload.  When I got there I walked into the party room to find a room full of friends and family and a table full of all my favorite treats (dark chocolate M&M's, cheetos, chocolate chip cookies!!).  What a sweet husband to surprise me.  And after 10 years, he still keeps me on my toes! :)

  

Thanks for 10 great years honey, I can't wait to see where we are in another 10.  Never in my wildest dreams 10 years ago would I have guessed we'd have 3 little boys, a successful business and all that comes along with it!

BTW - notice that Levi is in his swimming shirt and swim shorts - no clue why, but thought it was funny looking back at these pictures! :)

the beach

On our list of things to do this summer Levi listed that he wanted to go to the beach so when I heard that the local beach had been cleaned up and actually safe to be at for this summer I was thrilled!  We only hit the beach one time late July, but it was a blast.  It was a perfect sunny, hot day to enjoy the beach.   And it was actually an afternoon that we got to spend as an entire family!  (very, very rare right now!)

Levi was especially loving it.  That boy and water - it's about his favorite thing ever.  He had no fear to get right in, put his face under and swim.  I am so thankful to whoever it was that invented life jackets!

As we walked up we found my mom and a couple friends who were at the beach too. A perfect surprise!  (I had actually called her to see if she wanted to come with but she didn't answer!)  She was more than willing to relax on the beach holding a baby while I got to get in the water with the big boys.  By the way - notice Titus' shoes in the picture - it's the one and only time he's ever worn shoes!

Titus loved the water too.  I did bring his swimsuit, but he just stuck with a diaper which was super full when we got done - I definitely have a new respect for the absorbency of Target brand diapers!

Both Isaiah and Levi are little fish.  They were practicing their swimming skills all over the lake! 

After a bit, Caiden and LeAnna joined us at the lake.  The boys loved splashing with Caiden!  They even made it all the way out to the buoys with Mark! 

What a great afternoon at the beach!  Great idea Levi!