Mall of America and everything else...

More pictures of the Mall of America...




Eli had a hard time driving the bumper cars. Keeping his foot on the gas pedal (is it called a gas pedal when it is a bumper car?) was not a concept he could grasp. As soon as the car started to move he would release the pedal and try to steer... of course as soon as he released the pedal the car would stop. He moved about 1/4 of an inch... It was awesome.

Mall of America and the Backyardigan's...

Eli loves the Backyardigan's. Our DVD player is on a continuous loop of various Backyardigan's videos. He loved all the Backyardigan's stuff at the Mall of America. There are statues of all five of them... on this day, he loved Tyrone and Austin, so that is who he posed with...


While in the gift shop, Eli decided that he loved Pablo, so we bought him one... he is sleeping with him as I type this.
Although he loved the statues of the Backyardigan's, the living, breathing Uniqua scared him to death. Isobel stepped up though... she loved seeing Uniqua wondering the halls of the Mall of America (and we loved getting a few free rides from her companion).

For those of you who are concerned that Tasha was forgotten, fret not... Isobel did get a stuffed Tasha. Just in case the Backyardigan's are reading this, I don't want Tasha's feelings hurt... they love you all equally.

New pictures (just a little late)...

Here are some more pictures of our vacation. The kids had a great time.

Isobel and Grandpa spent some time fishing. If you ask Isobel how it went she will respond "It was so much fun, but we didn't catch any fish. We only caught weeds, weeds, weeds... everything was weeds." She was really unhappy about the weeds, but loved spending some alone time with Grandpa. Unfortunately (for us, fortunately for Jon's parents), they sold the lake house, so we will not be back. Hopefully, they will end up somewhere that will allow Isobel and Grandpa to spend more time fishing. Perhaps they will catch something other than weeds... perhaps a fish.
And finally... here are two pictures with Eli almost smiling. He really loved the boat...

I have some great pictures from the Mall of America coming soon.

more pictures...

You will notice that there is not one single picture of Eli in this bunch. He has become very difficult to photograph. He will either stand in the shot and not smile or refuse to be in the shot. I took a couple today on the boat, and it is possible he was smiling... I am not going to get my hopes up though. Perhaps if I was better about taking pictures, I would get one or two of my son... Oh well, I will take what I can get.

The last picture is Isobel showing her cheer from cheer camp to her Grandparents. It is so cute. The final line of this cheer is "you think you can beat us, whatever!" Isobel definitely has the attitude for this final line. Those of you who have known me since high school can just imagine how well she does it... Oh and just for good measure... she has also inherited my classic, passive aggressive, "fine". I am sure there are a number of you smiling right now thinking that it is a classic example of what goes around...

Lakehouse Fun...

The kids are having a great time in Minnesota... in fact I am not sure they ever want to leave.

Did I mention that Emmy is walking now. She is doing pretty well and getting better each day.

Today we rented a pontoon and explored the Lake. It is quite a bit bigger than I thought. It was so very nice. I wish I could spend every free minute of my life in a boat on a lake... of course, if it were my fantasy world I would have a speed boat and go crazy fast... unless I had the kids with me, then I would go crazy slow because I am an anxiety ridden mother hen.

I hope everyone else had a great holiday weekend. I will post more pictures soon.

Welcome...

This morning, shortly after 8:00, my family welcomed its newest member. We are happy to have him here, but wish he would have continued to call my sisters uterus home just a little longer, perhaps 7 weeks longer...

I am heartbroken that my sister has to live through this experience. Emmy was nowhere near this early and I remember the emptiness and pain that I suffered. The idea that Michelle's experience will be even more trying is unbearable. The saving grace is that I know my sister is a strong person and she will rise to the NICU challenge with grace and dignity.

If you would like to see some pictures of my gorgeous new nephew, you can do so here. I have to say, he is a lucky boy to get all that cute, curly, black hair. I guess if there was ever any question as to whether my sister and I are really related, they were answered when we had children. Isobel looks like Michelle and Ben looks like me... I wonder if this is the Universes way of telling us, or at least me, to leave the past in the past.

Happy Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Today we are relaxing at Jon's parent's lake house in Minnesota. It took two days to get here, but it felt like a life time. I am discovering that my children don't travel as well as they used to... although an 11 hour drive is a lot for kids, even when divided into two days. However, it was worth it. There is nothing better than watching the sun set over the Lake. We are looking forward to the fireworks, which should be soon... twilight is upon us as I type.

I will post pictures, if I remember to take any...

Have a wonderful and safe night!