Lazy days of vacation...

We go home tomorrow already! :( It seems like we've been here forever, yet it has gone so fast! BTW, the cats are ok and no water in the basement... THANK YOU Jess!!! More about vacation.... on Wednesday a.m. the boys all went golfing. The girls hung out at the cabin and FINALLY the sun broke through and we got to go to the beach for a bit. E is such a girl and doesn't like to get dirty... so when she was in the shallowest part of the water and would fall over she'd get wet sand on her hands, she'd get back up and look at her hands a kinda freak out a bit. It was quite funny, she didn't think so though! She just wanted to stand on the towel between my legs and watch the waves. A family of ducks did swim by and she made quacking noises at them. That was pretty funny. Here's a couple pics... check out that bikini!!

Thursday was another rainy day... we decided to go into town again to shop around and have lunch. Went to McD's, real original I know, but w/ E it is so easy to just give her a cheeseburger minus the top bun and some fries and she's happy. We bought some fudge for the girl watching our cats, a sweatshirt for E, and a pair of Robeez for E (these are the best shoes ever made for kids) here they are...

Thursday evening we decided to meet up w/ a couple that G knows from growing up, up here. We met at the bar/restaurant here at the resort. We thought we'd have some dessert and drinks and chit chat. It was a nice time, we hadn't seen them in quite a while and it was good to sit around and talk minus E. After a couple drinks they needed to head home since they had to work the next day. My sis and her hubby ended up showing up shortly before G's friends left so we decided to stay at the bar for a while longer. So... we are sitting at the bar and "R" the bartender told us there was a 30 person party coming in for a birthday... and that they had hired a dj. He said it just gets completely crazy when they have a dj. We drank and drank and drank... now I rarely drink more than 2 drinks at one sitting... since I've gotten older my body just can no longer handle what it could at 22! The party of 30 came in and it turned out to be a 60th b-day party. A 60th b-day party like I'd never seen before!! She had on a huge crown and was wearing a red velvet cape w/ feathery boa'd edges. It was hilarious. She was also beautiful for 60 years old! Someone had also made her a magic wand out of a wooden spoon. It was rolled in glitter and had a few large gems glued onto it. It was cute. The b-day's girl, I'll call her J, had her entire family there... 3 sons and their wives and many, many friends. They were a fun crowd... things begin to get a little wild from this point on. Mind you I am drinking appletini's... probably on my 3rd by the time they rolled in. A dj never showed, but even better... was a woman setting up for karoke! We kept on drinking and watching everyone dance and sing... laughing and having a great time... we danced our asses off w/ a group of people who's ages ranged from 25 to probably 70... even did the polka... won't go there... After some coaxing we got G and S (brother-in-law) up to sing Toby Keith's "Not as good as I once was"... and after much more coaxing and drinks Kt and I were up there singing "Buttercup" and "These Boots are Made for Walking". We sounded horrible I'm sure. I apologize to anyone that had to hear us.

What really did us in was "Das Boot" It is a ginormous glass boot (actually was the size of a women's size 7, and would reach up to the middle of her calf!) It was full of beer and was continuously being passed around the bar... for all to share and drink from. Kinda gross when you think about it, but no one seemed to mind at 12:30 a.m. when we were all already half (or 3/4's of the way) in the bag! I really can't believe it was never dropped.

It was the best night of the week so far... and sadly we forgot our camera so I have no pics to show you!!! My sis did have hers so when she gets them put onto a cd for me I will post them. They are going to be goooooood! We had a blast and finally had to leave cuz the boys were so wasted they kept asking us to leave... hee, hee... we outlasted them for once! We got back to the cabin at 1:15 and just crashed. Later I found out that S puked in the bathroom at the bar and G puked in our bathroom in the cabin (luckily we have a 3 bedroom/3 bathroom, so no one else had to share in it!) and he told me the next day he woke up at 3 a.m. in his underwear on the bathroom floor. To say the least we were all COMPLETELY hungover the next morning... and it was our day to go hike at Copper Falls... yeah, I said hike... the plan was to leave by 9.

10:30 rolled around and we finally were on the road to Copper Falls. After a shower, a few advil, an attempt at puking (there was seriously nothing left in my tummy to puke, not sure where it went) and a good toothbrushing we were off. It was a HARD morning. The room was still spinning as I got dressed... I had to sit down to blow dry my hair!!!! God I felt like shit.

The 40 minute drive to Copper Falls was VERY pleasent. Lots of twists, turns and bumps. I almost had to have G pull over a few times so I could you know what. We got to Copper Falls and something just washed over me. I felt refreshed and energized and enjoyed the hike thouroughly. It was a beautiful day. Nice and cool. Amazing surroundings. I think it is impossible to be in a bad mood there. Here's a few good pics from the hike...

After returning from the hike we all took much needed naps. Then enjoyed our last meal together on vacation w/ a fish fry at the resorts restaurant. (While at dinner our waitress made a comment to G about his debut singing Toby Keith, hee, hee... and then the resort owner D saw us at the table and came over to see how we were all feeling... he said he felt our pain... he was still at the bar when we left... I'm sure he'd had a few swigs from "das boot" also.) My parents were leaving a day early to attend a family friends wedding... we came back to the cabin after dinner and watched the movie Sideways... a great movie. I recommend everyone see it, if you don't mind lots of the F word, sex and wine.

Today G, E and I ran into town again, to pick up a few last things before we go home tomorrow. We took E to the beach again when we got back and she just refused to touch the sand. She just doesn't much like the feel of it on her feet or her hands. She would sit on the corner of our blanket and play w/ a shovel... but if any touched her legs or feet she would try to brush it off right away. Again... a few more pics...

This is the face she made when we just plopped her down in the sand... I hope she gets used to it cuz I LOVE the beach! (I guess her shirt kinda gives away where we are...)

So tomorrow a.m. we go home... not looking forward to going back to work, but being home and getting E back on her schedule will be good for us all! Am already looking forward to next year...

I think this has been the longest entry ever... I have got to go start getting our hamburgers ready for the grill... take care and I'll be back when we return home! K

Explanation

Just an explanation of my last entry: We were sitting around the cabin playing dominos last night and G says to me... "ya know, we've called S (the girl at home taking care of our 3 cats) 3 times and she hasn't returned our calls, do you think she is even going over to our house?" So that got me freaking out a little and I need my friend J (who also has a key to our house) to go check on them. We have also had a ton of rain in the past week in our area of the state, with lots of serious flooding and a friend of our said he had 4 inches of water in his basement. He lives about 5 blocks from our house. I wouldn't care so much, cuz we don't have the most beautiful basement... but our cat pots are down there. The cats need to be able to reach them and the sure as hell are not going to walk through any water to get to them. I don't want then pissin and pooping all over the house. Let alone they need water and food to survive!!! Good god... I'm sure everything is ok, but it is in my nature to be a worry wart. So I just need J to check her email to get my request. Since we can't dial long distance from anywhere around here and our cells don't work out here in the middle of no where!!! Please pray they are ok! I love my cats! Here's a picture of the 3 of them...

Max

Mae

Callie

K

Ummm... hello, Jess???

Please check your email!!!

Baby J update

I forgot to give an update on baby J. The Dr's say he had a stroke while in LA's belly around her 7th month. He looks and acts like any other newborn you've ever seen, he is latching on and eating good and has already gained weight. He responds to the Dr's when his reflexes are tested... so it is all just a matter of time. His parents will just watch and wait basically. See when he reaches the typical milestones, rolling over, sitting up, talking, walking, etc. Please pray for baby J and his parents. They are 2 very dear to my heart cousins and I pray that he grows up to become a happy and healthy child. K

Vacationland

Oh, so much to blog about and no pictures!!! Sorry... will get some up soon. We are on vacation as my (dorky) husband let you all know in his last post... hee, hee. We left home Saturday a.m. and were on the road by 7, which I think is pretty dang good w/ a one year old. We stopped at Perkins for some breakfest and got on the road. We reached the northland by noon, stopping about 3 time for diaper changes, pop stops and so E could strech her legs. We enjoyed an afternoon and evening of games and eating w/ G's family. Hit the hay and woke up Sunday and went out for the usual lunch, a local pizza place. After lunch we were off to meet my folks at wally world to get groceries for the vaca! Loaded up and headed even further north. We reached the resort by 2:30ish Sunday afternoon, just in time for 3:00 check in. Ahhhhhhh...... vacation rocks. I haven't thought about work once. That is wonderful. We've had a bit of a challenging couple days w/ E. She has had a fever for most of the time, up to 102.7 at it's hightest. We've been pouring the motrin and tylenol down her throat. Seems that she is teething. She has some ginourmous molars poking through and they must just hurt like a B. She really isn't interested in eating anything and is just kinda whiney. But we're dealing.

Sunday night only 2/3 of the fam was here... we went up to the bar and had some bevy's and dinner. Came home and pretty much crashed. The rest of the fam came in late Sunday evening (after I'd already gone to bed).

Monday we all got up, had breakfest and spent the day in town. Shopping. Now one of my fav things to do is go to new towns and check out their little shops. The first thing we did was visit the local winery... yes at 1o a.m. But we thought what the hey... it won't be busy right now. For $4 we get to taste each of their wines. Num, numm. They were tasty. Kt and S bought an entire case... actually I think my parents did also. Then we visited some of our other fav shops, the bakery and the candy store. Had some lunch and headed back to the cabin. Grilled chicken for dinner, along w/ potatoes and salad... mmmmm.... and of course a few to many drinks.

Today we got up and decided that the girls were going to take a day for themselves... minus E. My mom made us appointments for pedicures and manicures at a local salon. This salon was a bit strange. Run by one woman... who did all our mani's and pedi's single handedly. She'd have one of us at the mani table and one in the pedi chair and would time it just right to run back and forth between the two so neither was sitting there and waiting very long. At first I thought what the heck is this??? It as a bit stange... we were in this salon for 4 hours... so I guess it did get to be a bit long. But I shouldn't complain... it was mom's treat and my fingers and toes are SO pretty!!

We got back to the cabin tonight and Kt's (my sis) hubby had made us the yummies t dinner! If you've ever had chicken or shrimp scampi from the Olive Garden, you'd swear he stole it from there. It was homemade, all from scratch and it was wonderful. After one glass of wine I'd about had it and have been in bed blogging since 8:30. My parents, Kt and G went up to the bar. E is asleep next to me and S stayed back to and I think he's already out!

Sometimes relaxing all day gets exhausting... seriously.

So I'm about to shut my lids for the final time tonight. Take care. K

The rarely heard from husband's post

Hiddy ho good neighbors!! Well since my wife isn't posting whilst we have free wireless for a week I will do the honors. We are now on vacation and have been waiting for over a year for this. We got all packed, got the new tennis balls so we could play some while in the north woods of Wisconsin, made the 3 1/2 hour trip, and are all settled in at the cabin. What we did not plan for is the constant damn rain we have had since arriving on Saturday. What a great way to start the vacation. Every time we look at the weather online and it says that the sun should break through the next day.........it doesn't. HOPEFULLY tomorrow it comes out or at the very least it stops raining so that we have more options than looking at each other reading books.

Also while we have been gone I got a call from a guy that I work with who lives about 3 blocks from us. He says on the message that during all this rain at home he (who has a water sealed and finished basement) has 4 inches of water in his home. GREAT I SAY..........our basement leaks like a sieve and the way I see it we should have just ran the hose downstairs and let er rip cause it would have had about the same effect as the rain we have gotten.

Well lets hope for better weather and not a lot of clean up when we get home. This post will now abruptly end because E is hitting many buttons and not letting me type.

Good day to you sirs and madams!

Greg

Need a smile?

I needed one. This is all it took.

not sure why this is being underlined???? oh well.

Baby J

Well, spoke to soon. Baby J had to go to the U... not sure how things are going. I'm scared and sad for LA. I just pray he is ok. Will you all pray for his health and LA's spirit to be hopeful and strong. She is just such a wonderful person and I don't want anything to happen to this little guy. He is to precious. A little peanut.

Answered Prayers!

It's a healthy baby boy! Jacob. He weighs 5 lbs 10 oz and is 18 inches long. He was born at 2:30 today. Thank you God. I am so happy for you LA! Congratulations :)

What a HELL of a day...

Geez... it has been a crazy day. Got off to a good start this a.m. Went to work, left E home w/ G and he was going to drop her off at LA's at noon. Well, let me remind you that LA is very prego and due Aug 30th... she had her 37 week appt. today... Should have been a pretty routine appt, except for the fact that LA told the dr she hadn't felt the baby move as often lately. So some tests were run and it was basically decided that her placenta isn't providing the proper amount of nutrients to the baby. The baby is small for it's age (only approx 4lbs) so the dr said that he thought the baby could be better taken care of outside of her body than inside w/ the way her placenta was currently working... so at this time she has been in the hospital for about 10 hours and is being induced... (and I hope she doesn't mind me blogging about her if she's reading this!)

I am praying so hard that everything works out ok. I am scared for her and the baby. :(

So back to my day... at 10 minutes to 12 LA called me to tell me she wouldn't be able to watch E cuz her appt wasn't as quick as she expected it to be. So THANK GOD for my bff J, who took E in an instants notice! After the hussle and bussle of a few phone calls and scramming to get E from here to there, all settled down and G got to work on time. Work flew by... I am so freaking busy right now. It sucks. Job security I guess.

But then I started to get a bit more riled up. I realized LA is going to have a baby! I was planning on our last day of DC being next Thursday! I still have 3 days to go!!! I'm not ready to give her up yet!?!?!?! :( I guess you can never count on a baby to go along w/ your plans... that baby is coming whether we like it or not!!! :) I can't wait to meet him (yes it's a boy). It'll all work out. My wonderful father will help us as much as we need it cuz he is such a great grandpa! Plus I have a super cool sis who is the greatest aunt EVER... and 2 awesome bff's T & J. (Can you tell I am trying to butter them all up!) No but really. We appreciate all that they do for us, we'd be completely lost without their help!

After work today I went to pick up E at J's house. We decided to go have a coffee at Starbucks... mmmmm... then we went to famous footwear and I got E 2 pairs of shoes. LA called me then and said she wouldn't mind some company so J and I thought we'd stop at Walmart and put together some fun little gift bags for her. J bought her a really cute pair of yellow pj's. She also go the kids each on of those black velvet screens that come w/ markers and you color the picture inside the velvet lines (ya know what I'm talking about?? I'm not sure if they really have a name?). I put together a few practical things that I know she'll use right now such as her favorite chapstick, a notepad and a pen (I love to read my hospital journal once in a while) a glamour magazine, some yummy smelling lotion and a nail file. She seemed to enjoy the gifts and seemed even happier to have the company. She's got a long night ahead of her... if not a long couple days...

My eyes are drooping as we speak... I have to get some sleep. Take care and goodnight. K

I LOVE TO BLOG...

This is so addicting! I have to come home in the evening and check my blog, add an entry and read the other blogs I like! I love blogging!!!

E is feeling better. She slept from 9:30 this a.m. to 1 p.m.!!!! Talk about a nice long break for mommy!! She ate a good lunch and a good dinner. She threw up a bit more before dinner, but it was nothing like this morning! She's playing w/ Max right now and seems to be doing ok.

Geez, she is getting so big, I can't believe it!!! I have a toddler... I don't think I've ever really realized that! Is it time to add another to the mix??? There is some discussion, but we're just not sure... any advise from readers? What is the best amount of time to wait between kids? I've read that for my body it is healthiest to go between 18 and 35 months after the last delivery. Any earlier or later can result in low birth weight or other health issues w/ baby and mom. I'm not sure why, but that's just what I've read.

Ok, well I'm hoping tomorrow morning goes better than this morning went. Although I had a wonderful relaxing day off... but I only have so much sick time so I can't use it all at once! I'm of to bed here... I did start this entry hours ago and am just now getting to finish it up! Take care. K

Puke

Oh my... this morning was an event. E woke up, we got off to daycare just fine. About a half a mile away from daycare she started to kind of wimper/cry and I turned around to ask her what was wrong and she puked all over. They yucky white curdled milk kind of puke. OMG I almost couldn't contain it myself. She had it ALL over herself, her car seat (in every little crease it could fall into, including the buckles), her blankey, kitty and the seat of the car. I called work and told them I wouldn't be in cuz I didn't think DC would keep her. Thankfully I have a super nice boss (who has 3 kids) and she said she understood, which I really think she meant literally! We pulled into the driveway at DC and LA came out and helped me clean her up... this girl is amazing. She just brought out a bucket of hot soapy water and started wiping up chunks of puke, she didn't even flinch. She's picking out pieces from the buckles and wiping up everything. She's awesome. She's had some experience though, she's got an 8, a 4 year old and is prego w/ her 3rd. She's due Aug 30th. It's a boy! I'm so excited for her, but so sad that we won't have her as DC for 2 months!! So yeah, I have an unexpected day off which is kinda nice. Although I'd rather not have had a puker this a.m. She seems ok though... no fever, she ate some toast and half a banana for breakfast when we got home. I think the problem was that yesterday at the local town festival she ate to much crap. My mom and sister were giving her cheese curds, you know those really yummy greasy fair curds. That's probably what she puked up. Plus she had some mini doughnuts and a freezy. So not good for a little belly. We will not be doing that again anytime soon.

G just called to get the grocery list so he can run after work. Thank goodness for him. I love him. He is such a good husband and dad. I don't know how I got so lucky. I know enough women out there who just have real crappy husbands. I really appreciate him and E will to as she grows up.

Well, she's sleeping now... I'm going to catch up on a few other blogs and relax for a bit. Take care. K

To Fast...

Oh the weekends just fly by so fast. It is already Sunday evening and it's back to work tomorrow :( I just hate Mondays. We are so busy w/ phone calls and mail that I get nothing else done. But I guess the day goes fast so that is at least one good thing about it.

We had a nice weekend. G worked OT on Saturday, so Friday night we just stayed home. Then Saturday night my parents came over to watch E. G and I got to enjoy an evening out w/ friends, which was really nice. We started out at our fav bar. Had some dinner and drinks. G had beer and I had my yummy appletini. Mmmmm... I LOVE them! Then he had some bourben and I had a glass of Shiraz. Also really nummy. Our friends then showed up and we had a nice time chatting... my brother-in-law was completely wasted. He had just turned 30 the day before and I think he was still drunk from that night. He then had a softball tourney Saturday morning and it was a huge drunk fest. He was basically drinking all day and I was so surprised that he was still functioning at 8 pm! He was hilarious.

We then went downtown to the beer tent. It was free this year (admission, not the beer!) which was kinda nice. Chatted a bit w/ some friends that I rarely see. We ended up getting home around 1:30... which was so late. My parents were at our house watching E. I felt kinda bad cuz they had a 20 minute drive home after they left! They didn't seem to mind to much. I think if we did it all the time that would be a different story. But we never go out, EVER! So Saturday night was a treat.

I woke up w/ a slight headache this a.m. 4 drinks just does me in. I remember when I used to be able to drink all night long and stay up til 4 a.m. and get up at 8 to be to work by 9. Crazy how our bodies change once the age of 25 hits! I can't imagine having one of those crazy nights now. I would have a 3 day hangover. No fun.

Today we went into town again and watched the parade, walked around the craft fair, watched the rubber duck race down the river and watched the water ski show. It was pretty fun. But after last night I'm pretty well exhausted. For a little more explanation, the rubber duck race was a fundraiser for the Youth Outreach program in town. The tickets were $5 each and each ticket purchased was a duck in the river for you. The winner rec'd $1000, the 2nd was a bike, 3rd was a $750 gift certificate to a local furniture store, 4th was 4 box seat tickets to the Twins and the last place duck one a free nights stay at Treasure Island Resort and Casino. Pretty nice prizes... but we didn't win :(

Enough for now... I'm gonna wind down and head to bed. Take care. K

River City Days

I'm excited for this weekend! Tonight we get to go out w/ another couple, my bff and her hubby. I can't wait to have wine and just be silly and relax w/out E. I think we've really only been out a handful of time since we've had her. I am looking SO forward to it!!!

Tomorrow there is a parade in town and afterwards we are going to a water ski show... I'm excited! It should be fun. There is also a craft fair which I want to go to... not sure that G will, but I'm looking forward to it.

I am counting down the days until vacation!!! 2 weeks from today we'll be otta here and on our way up north. We'll spend 1 night w/ G's family and then and entire week w/ mine at a cabin we rent every year.

Oh crap, E just woke up! Only an hour nap... what's up w/ that... I thought I'd get a bit more of a break than that!!!! :( Gotta run.

K

Another post from BIg G

Hello all!!

Well I have had yet another long day at work and I came home and after the E went to bed I decided to create my own blog. If anyone wishes to read it the address is www.3daysnopay.blogspot.com. It will be more my own thoughts on things like current events, work, family, and just about anything else that pops into my head.

Please feel free to check it out!!

G

MPLS Bridge

What a scary, sad and tragic event yesterday's bridge collapse was. The pictures are horrific... cars smashed by large pieces of cement and metal. Cars floating in the river. The Tastee bread truck in flames... next to the school bus w/ 60+ children inside. The rescue divers risking their own lives searching the rushing Mississippi for survivors. The weeping victims, some covered in blood, some on guerny's being carried into the hospitals... I even saw a pregnant woman being carried in. Can you imagine being that car that is still in one piece sitting at a 45 degree angle because the driver stopped just in time... threw the parking break on and was able to get out and run up the bent concrete. I sat on the couch and cried last night. For some time I was convinced that it was a terrorist attack of some sort. Apparently I am wrong. Seems that this bridge was built w/ no cement posts buried into the river... it was just built w/ posts on each end and the entire middle was built w/ a metal base to support it. Hmmmm...

This horrible accident really makes me think about all my friends and family and how much I love them. And how much I have to tell them I love them... and often. As my mother-in-law put it today, we are so not in control of our lives. You just never know when your time will come. Now that I have E, it makes me so sad... I worry SO much more about everything!! This freak accident only adds to my worries! I hate worrying. It sucks.

Enough of the depressing news. 2 happier things... all those kids got off the bus and to their families ok and they have retracted the 7 dead (in some papers I read 9) to only 4. Go figure that one??!! I don't really get it... although we can all assume there are many more deceased that have not been recovered yet. :(

K