Minnesota, You Betcha, Part 2

The second week of our trip was just the kids and I to my hometown. We were back and forth to the lake and town. It was fun, relaxing and a smidge on the hot side. The kids had a blast at the lake, even though the water was so high it was hard to swim. I always have fun just seeing the place I grew up; how it's changed and how the people have changed.

Starting off with some fun in the lake. Where Hayden is should be shore, but it's a good foot high.

Where the dock should be are just steps. So we sat on the lower steps waiting for boats to bring in some good waves.

That was a good one.

Thumbs up for a fun day!

Pool fun in town. They only used this once we were so busy. Still fun if only just once.

More lake time. The steps again playing with boats.

The kids and I at the lake.

We went to the Mall of America one day to the Sea Life Aquarium. It was really cool. The jellyfish were my favorite, Hayden's were the sharks and Maya wasn't sure, but she touched a starfish.

My flash has been acting up, but apparently Hayden wasn't in the mood for a picture anyway.

He was in the mood to check out the mini LegoLand. The kid was in his own little heaven.

Then Maya spotted Ni Hoa Kai Lan (I have no idea if I spelled any of that right) and made a beeline to her! She grabbed her hand, played with her hair, gave high fives and hugs. Hayden wanted nothing to do with her and would only be in the picture if I was. He couldn't get away fast enough and Maya pretty much felt her up again.

We went to the local little coffee shop and the kids got the Electric Blue Smoothie. She was still blue the next morning.

The golden eagle outside the bank.

One last day at the lake. Maya is dodging goose poop.

And Hayden finally got to ride in the kayak because it was calm enough. Not only did he go with Grandma, he got to do it all by himself too!

Such a fun time, such good memories of our two weeks up North. The pictures I posted do not do our vacation justice as I think my total was 368 taken. I am so thankful to have both of our families within driving distance of each other so we can spend time with both. It may be only one or two weeks a year, but we make it count. =)

The Big K

His backpack was packed yesterday. We had a talk about the bus ride to and from. His clothes were set out on his dresser since Monday. He started Kindergarten today.
I was so excited for him, but at the same time really sad. My baby boy is almost 6 and heading off to a big kid school. I wouldn't be walking him to the classroom or even just dropping him off, he was getting on a big yellow school bus all by himself.

{ Waiting for the bus. The stop is right across the street and they drop him off right at home. Lovely.}

Hayden woke up with a smile on hs face. A big one. I said, "Good Morning, Kindergartener!"
He said, "Good morning, Mom." I asked if he was excited or scared and he simply said, "Excited," with a continued smile. He took a bath with no conflict. He got dressed, let me spike his hair and ate his breakfast like a champ. Then, when we were just sitting inside and waiting to go to the bus stop, he repeatedly asked when the bus was going to be here.

He is so ready to be in school and I am ready for him to be in school, but so sad he has to grow up. As the bus turned the corner onto our street, I started to get choked up. I am so flipping sensitive it sucks. Emotions just hit me hard. I bent over, gave him a kiss and hug as the doors opened and then I watched him climb up those steps and turn down the aisle. I had every intention of taking a picture of him getting on the bus, but trying to blink back my tears over took that thought. I saw him find a seat and then his little hand reached up and started to wave. I waved back as the bus slowly pulled away. As it took off, I repeated to myself, "This is great, he's in school, he'll do fine, he'll have so much fun." It helped a little, but the Mom that I am just can't believe she has a Kindergartener!

At 11:34 the bus arrived bringing him home and the smile on this kids' face just told me he had so much fun and is going to LOVE this year!

{He did have a better smile than this, but the sun got in his face just as I clicked.}

Hopefully I will do better tomorrow.

Minnesoota! Ya, you betcha! Part 1

We recently got back from a 17 day trip to our home state of Minnesota! Buddy was able to be away for 10 of those days and it was fantastic! The following is a brief pictorial of our first week. We stayed at Buddy's brother's cabin for 6 nights. We were with his entire family for most of the weekend. That's four kids, their spouses, each with 2 kids, plus Grandma and Grandpa. Lots of fun, lots of laughs, not enough time in the days and nights to just hang because we were so tired by the end of the day from so much fun and laughs and, okay, alcohol! I wish we could do it every summer! Enjoy:The dock was long. Like, 400+ feet long. Maya had to take it all in: the dock, the lake. She wasn't quite sure about the water...

Then Daddy got her into it. She did have a little issue of getting from the dock to the pontoon. Basically she fell through the gap between the two. Twice. The life jacket got her stuck the first time. Just a minor scrap and bump from the second time falling completely through to the water. Eeeek! Makes me cringe each time I think of it. She fell through to the water and they couldn't pull her back through the opening because her head wouldn't go through. What?!?! She fell all the way through, head included, but they couldn't pull her back up. Luckily, she kicked to stay afloat and my nephew went under the dock to get her back to Daddy. From then on, she waited for someone to help her over. *cringe*

This girl has no fear. No matter what happens to her, her apprehension always fades and she's all about getting crazy!

And then there's Hayden. Sweet, apprehensive, watchful, leary, Hayden. It took him a little bit to get the life jacket on. Then to get him on the jetski.

But he did it! He was a little scared, he didn't like to go fast,

but he did it. More than once. Yay!!

Then when it came to actually swimming in the lake, he was not having it. Nope, not liking that at all. It took me some thinking (that's takes a bit), but I saw my nephew's feet and his water shoes. I figured, Hayden may just do it if he had something on his feet. The ground was lovely and sandy, but he did not like it.

Those things made all the difference!! Were it not for Grandma and Aunt Dawn out shopping, this never would have happened!! Thank you!

Me and my H. He had so much fun playing with his cousins. We live so far away and he used to forget who they were, where they were and all. Now, he knows and loves being by them. Even if for a short time.

My Miss and I. She had fun too. She may not remember it, but she has been talking about our vacation like crazy. She loves her sweet girl cousins and I think aspires to be like them one day. Yes, they are 7, but for her, it's idol status!
One day, we went mini golfing. I don't remember my score. Don't think it was great. But it was fun. The kids played together, the guys played together and us ladies played together. Hayden had fun. He had some words for me at the end of the game:

"Mom, you just have to get it in the hole. That's all." Thanks, hun, I did try, it just didn't always go that way. =)

Maya even got in on a little golfing. It was a pirate themed course. This is her saying, "Aar, Matey". She does it with one eye closed because she doesn't have a patch.

And me and Bud. Maya snuck in there too. I had a better one on here, but Blogspot is being a crapper and deleted it for me and then isn't cooperating with me to get it back on here easily. *Breathe* Sorry, I'm irritated. Anyway, we had a blast! I can't say much more than that. Long lasting memories for sure. These pictures don't get close to capturing our first half of vacation. I think the total at the end of 17 days was 368, so I had a lot to weed through.

Thanks for the fun everyone!

How to Scare the Crap out of Mommy, by Maya

First, go to bed perfectly, with all your buddies you need in your bed and your blanket.

Next, look cute and perfect when your mom comes in to check on you when she goes to bed. Gather your buddies around you at some point so she takes a picture. She'll move them when she's done.

Now is the fun part. At about 12:57 am, scream for Mommy. Don't make it too loud, but sound scared, this will get her out of bed with only one shout out.

Then, when you know she's going to get out of bed, you need to get out of your bed and disappear. You've got a little time, Mommy is probably a little out of it. She's going to notice your door is shut, and she left it open. She opens the door and you are not in your bed. She will blink her eyes to make sure you aren't there (she hasn't put on her glasses).

Now is the part where Mommy will start to freak out. She will say your name repeatedly, each time sounding a little more frantic. She will look in the office, out in the kitchen and living room. After about 4 or five times, Daddy's going to get up. He will ask, "you can't find Maya?" Mommy says, "No, she's not in her bed!" Daddy will get up. "Did you check Hayden's room?" Mommy will check your brother's room, nope, just he and the dog sleeping are the only ones sleeping away.

By now, Mommy's heartrate is probably higher than when she is upstairs at the gym. But it looks like Daddy sees something.

Daddy lifts up the bedskirt and there you are! With a quick tug and pull, Daddy will get you back in your bed, tell you nice job hiding, but not funny. Mommy will come over, call you "Stinkerbell" and give you a kiss on your forehead.

Mommy's heart will slow down as she gets back in bed. Mommy and Daddy will have a little chuckle and chat about what just happened. When you wake up, you may or may not remember what happened, because you may or may not have been sort of sleepwalking. But, Mommy will just be thankful you were still in your room.

What's going on in her lil noggin?

It's been a rough week. Some of this reasoning is the whole trying to teach Miss the whole going to the potty thing.

This is what I think is going through Maya's head about this whole potty-training fiasco: "Seriously, this whole going on the toilet thing is a joke. If I sit on the toilet, do what I am supposed to, I get praised, treats and cheers. But, I am going to have to wipe MYSELF, flush MYSELF, pull up my own pants and to top it off, get to the toilet on time. However, if Mommy or Daddy put a diaper or Pull-Up on me, they: clean me up, throw the dirty goods away, help me put my pants back on and I get clean drawers. Plus, I can do it anywhere, in any room, at any time and I don't have to make a mad dash to any toilet. I don't get the praise I do like. I don't get a treat, in fact they seem a little upset when I don't use the toilet. But it's so much easier and I just wanna play."

And me, I'm tired, worn out, completely just don't want to do this anymore. Maybe going to Grandma's will help.

The Big P T

We are potting training now. Have been for awhile. It's been slow going with this one. Very, slow, going.

Whoever says that girls are easier to train than boys did not meet my boy and my girl. Hayden was actually pretty easy. I chock some of it up to his best buddy doing it at the same time. I was also more forceful with it because preschool was coming up and Baby was on the way and there was NO WAY I was having two kids in diapers at the same time. Hayden's actual "training" was maybe a month. He loved hearing us say, "Good job!" and "I am so proud of you." This was a big influence on him. If we didn't say one of these when he was done he would say, "Say you're so proud of me!"

Once, after lunch at the Rainforest Cafe with my parents, we all went to the restroom before we left. Hayden insisted on going with Grandma. When he came out, he had a big smile. I asked if he went and he said, "yep." I said my, "Good Job!" When I came out, he asked if I went. I said, "Yes." He said, "Good job!" =) I haven't gotten a 'Good job' from Miss yet.

Maya doesn't really seem to care. By this age, Hayden was completely trained, in underwear during the day and Pull-Ups at night. Maya, is still in diapers at night, Pull-Ups day. She really doesn't seem to care. We do the "Good job!" and "So proud of you." thing with her too. She gets a big smile and says "Thanks" most of the time and then two hours later she's wet.

However, the last couple days, she has started realizing when she has to go, so I think we may be on the right track. My goal is to be done in two weeks because we are heading out of state for a couple weeks after that. Her goal is whenever, she just wants Minnie Mouse underwear.

Lil Miss Attitude

This little one has been a BEAR lately. My fingers are tightly crossed that this is being caused by growing pains/teeth/being two. My bet is on being two and since that is about to end in two months time, I will try to cope.

Maya is loving the word 'No.'

Maya is not eating meat, unless it's in the form of a nugget and even then it's a struggle.

Maya is pulling attitude with hands on hips, head going to and fro, and eye rolling.

Maya does not allow others to pick her clothes.

Maya likes to tell us, Hayden included, that she doesn't love us or like us. Depends on the degree of trauma apparently.

Maya is addicted to Mickey Mouse and pals, meaning not just the show. Fit upon fit is thrown when it has to be turned off mid-show.

Maya insists on: buckling herself in the car; she's not strong enough. Closing her door from the inside; she can't reach. Putting the cover on her sippy's; it takes a while. Getting herself dressed; she's just a tad on the slow side when I need her on the speed side.

Maya is kinda mean to her brother. This girl hits. Hard.

I know these are all things that most kids and parents have to go through, I just don't remember Hayden being like this at 2. He was fun at 2! He loved to help, was kind, didn't care what he wore, ate everything, went with the flow of things. It has been a rough couple of weeks with the Shirley Temple twin. She is still so fun, does fabulous things, brings smiles to our faces every day, but the bad is kind of outweighing the good lately.

This too shall pass, but please pass quickly.

Class of 2011

Hayden graduated on Friday! Okay, he graduated from preschool, but it was still a big thing for us! The class had a little ceremony for which he got to wear a hat, got a diploma and a little trophy, each child gave their mom a rose, and this momma got a little choked up. It was just like a high school graduation. Just on a waaay smaller scale.
So The Dude is going to Kindergarten in two months. AAAck! I knew he'd grow up, just didn't realize how flipping fast it would happen. He is very excited about going to a big school and I am too, it's a big thing. *Sigh*
My tough little man and the rose he gave me. This kid was the biggest in his little class by a couple of inches and by far the most handsome. Fact.

Memorial Weekend Campin'

It was just us for the Memorial Weekend camping excursion this year. My brother, sis-in-law and niece came for one night. We had a fun time with just our little family. It was quiet, so we did get to bed at early hours. It was a great, although windy, time in the pines! First, a pitstop in Payson to fill up the RV with water and start the kids on their sugar.

Once arrived, unpacked and set up, Hayden wanted to take his quad for a spin. This is a MAJOR thing for us!! He's never wanted to drive it, only wanted to ride on it with Buddy. He used this thing more in one weekend than he has ridden it with Buddy in the year and a half we've had it.

He's a natural.

Miss Maya, innocently posing in front of the pines while Prada does some investigating of the land.

Hayden. Looking like he's about 7. He's 5.5. My giant boy.

Taking off on a little adventure.

The kids love taking pictures. I am liking this because when they are older, they will know that I really was there.

Maya does pretty good for just shy of 3, huh?

The first Rhino ride of the weekend. Maya would live on this thing if it was possible. She loves riding. What I really don't like about riding with her: I have to brush her hair at the end of the day. It's worth it though for the smiles and screams (happy ones) we get to see and hear from her!

My favorite part of camping; the FIRE!! Seriously, I'm a pyromaniac with the camping fires. Buddy cuts the wood, I stack it up, then build the fire and stoke the fire. I want the fire going all day and night. I may have a slight problem.

We have to get wood somehow. Tie a rope to a dead, fallen tree; hook it to the Rhino and pull. Viola! Firewood. With help from the chainsaw of course.

A nice break to play in the dirt. Only camping to I not mind the dirt. There is alot of dirt.

We went for a ride to find the lake. We did have to hike a little bit to get to the lake.

Just about there. Maya showed her independence a little and wanted to walk. She did pretty well considering the terrain.

A few from below of what we walked down. Then we had to walk back up.

Made it to the lake.

The kiddos threw rocks in the lake. That was about it for the lake. We did have that truck back up you know. Relaxing by the fire. See? Told ya I like fire. It's still daylight. Close to dark, but not that close.

Me and my Boy!

Buddy likes the chainsaw. He got a little bored and needed something to do. Why not get the power tool and make something in the forest?

A little chair for Miss.

Maya had fun riding on the quad too. She rode with me most of the time, but hopped on with Hayden for a little (slow) ride.