kansas here we come!

as our last bit of craziness with our newborn, we planned a road trip to kansas. our original plan was to spend the first day of our trip in columbus, ohio at the famed zoo. but daddy ended up with a meeting in cleveland this morning that didn't allow us to leave until after one. as plan b we went to cosi (a science museum) in columbus instead. we had planned to go there on saturday morning so this wasn't a huge change. and to make it even better, this was family night and everything was open until 9 instead of 5 so we would have plenty of time to check things out. did i mention that it was free with our museum pass? just an extra incentive to check it out.

the older kids watched a movie and manning slept. it only takes a few hours to get there so this was the shortest leg of our trip - not that madelyn didn't keep asking, "are we there yet?"

i was glad to get a picture outside because it is one of the only pictures of me with the kids. the metal sculpture behind matt is a wind mill like one and all the cube shapes spin on their branches - it was very pretty.


trying to capture first smiles

there were a lot of exhibits and it was most definitely worth the trip.  i think the kids will get a little more out of it as they get older but they had a wonderful time checking everything out.  we did move through things kind of quickly because we still needed to get dinner and drive to indianapolis for the hotel.

the boys listening to sonar for a ship

this was one of those whisper dish set-ups where you whisper into one and someone can hear it clearly in another several yards away.  the kids (and daddy) might have liked this the best of all.

and then we happen to see phones through the ages in a 'progress' section of the museum (we 'happened' upon them because a little boy insisted that we listen to the recordings on them).

the kids tried hoola-hooping but couldn't quite figure out what to do.  i tried to show them but these were so small that it was almost a belt on me!  which, of course, matt thought was hysterical.

"gadgets" became a word of the week for madelyn and mason.  this part will definitely be even more fun/inspiring once they get older.  but they did have a great time (daddy too) with an air ball launching contraption.  maddux was pretty pleased with the large number of displays that were hands on and included balls throughout the museum.

this was my favorite thing we saw.  the pictures do not do it justice.  i really thought that it was one of the neatest things i had seen in a very long time.

just a cute picture of madelyn in a water exhibit.  they had stationary canoes with life vests and a movie playing that made it look like you might be going down a river.  madelyn insisted on the life vest.

on our way out there was a tent with a local bank doing kids activities.  they gave us a sesame street math learning computer game (which we actually got at a children's museum in wisconsin several years ago) and future career pictures.  the pictures were neat because they had dress-up clothes and props and the kids stood in front of a green screen so the finished image was sort of a surprise for them.  madelyn and mason got to choose (mason took a lot, and i mean a lot, of convincing), but they insisted he be a zoo keeper because of the shirt he was wearing (he took a little convincing too).  the kids really liked their pictures and each came in a little frame.  it was a nice little keepsake from our day.

 
we stopped at chick-fil-a for dinner and somehow we ended up next to a 'talker' who gave me her whole life story (even though she was sitting with her husband and daughter) and wanted to know all about ours (like the name of madelyn's school even after i told her where we were from).  she was very nice but i just wanted to nurse and eat my dinner.

after dinner we loaded up and drove several more hours to indianapolis for the night.  while matt brought in all of our gear for the night, i had the kids hunt for their hidden bed.  we were staying at a residence inn, which was really perfect because of the full kitchen.  their 'hidden bed' was a fold out couch - which they weren't able to figure out - and thought was really neat.  we put all three kids on the fold out and matt and i in the real bed.  it was a late night for all of us but we were comfortable and slept well. 

we weren't in too much of a hurry to get out in the morning but manning and the others don't believe in sleeping in.  so we got ourselves together and headed over to check out breakfast.  another score!  hot waffles, eggs, potatoes, yogurt, fruit, juice, etc. - all included.  full and happy we continued to our next stop - the st. louis zoo!  love.

chatting with manning

he is starting to make more noises and getting chatty so i tried to capture a bit.  (you know, when he isn't screaming.)

check-ups

i was able to schedule three check-ups at once - madelyn (5 year), mason (3 year) and maddux (1 month). i thought that everyone was due for shots but it turned out that it was only mason. madelyn was very happy about this information and a little too happy to make sure mason knew that he was the only one getting a shot.

here are the stats for all four kids (maddux wouldn't get off the scale so the nurse weighed him too which worked out well since i couldn't find the sheet from his 18-month check-up. he won't stand on it for his own appointments though...):

madelyn - 47lbs, 2oz (85th percentile); 47in. (98th percentile)

mason - 38lbs, 6oz (94th percentile); 40.75in (97th percentile)

maddux - 30.5lbs (88th percentile); 37/38in. (99th percentile) - I couldn't see his height that well

manning - 13lbs, 3oz (94th percentile); 23.5in (88th percentile); head circumfrence 15.75in

mason didn't even cry when he got his shot. he was scared after madelyn's build up but he realized that it didn't hurt all that bad. such a brave boy.

and that was pretty much the appointment. no questions about mason's speech. no questions about manning's nursing or digestion. no questions about madelyn.

and that is why i am going to look for a new pediatrician. at least now i can ask my mops group for someone they love. one more thing for my list... at least everyone is healthy. love.

sunday morning surprise

after the awful night I had after the church picnic (separate post), i was happy to hear the kids chatting nicely and letting us sleep a little later this morning. i came out a little later just to check on them and they were telling me that they were watching the balloons from madelyn's window. so I took them out for a better look (wearing my bright pink robe over just a t-shirt and still half asleep) only to find three balloons in the neighborhood and one more about to land on our street! and again, a ton of people.

this time i went and got dressed. maddux didn't want to get dressed or be carried so he stayed inside with daddy and manning. we were all pretty excited to see fun shaped balloons on our street and a clown shaped one by the clubhouse. they walked the pig balloon down to the lot across from our house to pack it up since the lady bug on a flower was being packed up in the road already.

i think there were a total of six that landed in the neighborhood this morning. one of the neighbors had told us that we could see the balloons from the neighborhood but then told us she didn't expect us to have this good of a view!

such lucky kids! love.

church picnic

we almost missed the church picnic because i had it in my head that we didn't have plans for the weekend - that will teach me to actually look at the calendar first before answering matt next time... he had taken madelyn and mason to the driving range about an hour before the picnic so i had to call them to hurry home when they were done.

it was a very nice event with face painting, inflatables, balloon animals, snow cones, a band, burgers and hot dogs, artists and beach volleyball. the only negative was that it was fairly hot. but not too bad.

madelyn getting a pink and red butterfly on her arm (versus her face)

madelyn was the only one that would do this bungy cord style race (even though mason was the one who begged to try it)

here is a little more of madelyn 'winning' her race.

well, there was one more negative - i was pretty sure that i had the stomach bug the kids had. it was just a hunch so we went anyway. when it came time to eat our burger/hot dog dinner i was feeling pretty lousy and questioning why i had brought up going in the first place. (oh yea, because madelyn had been asking to go everyday since seeing the tent set up at church last week.)

i didn't eat much and quickly realized that i needed to get home - soon. we had told the kids that they could have snow cones so we stayed just long enough for them to eat (or drop) them before making a bee-line for the van.

i was going to tell matt to get manning out when we got home because i was going to have to run to the bathroom but i was afraid to open my mouth. as we turned into the neighborhood i called out for matt to stop the car. i will spare you the details but the party at the clubhouse could probably see everything and madelyn and mason had about a hundred questions for me when i got back in the car! i begged matt to answer them so i wouldn't have to talk about it.

awful, just awful. i did feel a little better though. and that is why i had to watch the balloons in my pjs and towel head in front of the neighbors. love.

balloon fest

right after brad and abby's family left, the football hall of fame celebration(s) began. we thought that they might get to see some balloons on their way out of town, but the weather was not ideal for the balloons friday morning (sorry, guys).

saturday morning we saw a few go by but not too terribly close. and then that night we got a real treat! we had skyped with big pop and grandma and tried to show them the balloons while they were still far off (like they had been in the morning). they couldn't really see them and we went back in to say good-bye.

i was still weak from the stomach bug so matt took the kids out to take another look at the balloons. not only were there more but matt came back in for the camera because they were close.

and they kept getting closer. and lower.

next thing we knew one was landing in the lot across the street from our house! we had heard that two years ago one had landed in the neighborhood but weren't really expecting it to happen again. the kids came running in to tell me that there was a balloon across the street! they were so excited and i went out to have a look. fresh from the shower. with a towel on my head. in my bright (think lime green) pjs. for all the neighbors to see. the road was filled with people - there were neighbors, balloon crew and balloon chasers/groupies. and a balloon across the road.

it was so neat watching them manuver it once it was on the ground sort of hopping the basket by firing the balloon and haing people on foot pulling it along to level ground.

i didn't stay outside long for several reasons - manning needed to nurse and go to bed, the stomach bug and my general appearance - so i missed the arrival of balloon number twoin the lot across the street. matt took the kids over to have a closer look at the balloons. they really thought ot was great and we let them stay up much later than normal to check it all out.

and there were still more balloons coming! i dont think that any more made it to the neighborhood. they landed mainly in surrounding fields and, we're guessing, the high school sports fields.

we really had no idea that our neighborhood was such a prime location! such a special treat on a lovely summer evening. love.

bye, uncle brad and family

it occurred to me that i wasn't in any of the pictures from their visit.  thankfully, they hadn't left yet (because i usually have this thought after our visitors have left).  unfortunately, there wasn't really time for me to make myself presentable (or get dressed).

one of me and the kids.  we couldn't get one with just brad and abby's kids so we just went with everyone.

me and my little brother, brad.

brad and all of the kids.

jude wanted to spend a little more time with manning and was the only one really willing to have his picture taken this morning.

we should have taken some with aunt abby too.  i thought i had more pictures with her but the few i did get aren't very clear.  now i just have to remember that when we go to florida next year...  love.