Let's go outside

Finally, a day without so much humidity (well at least by the standards that have been set the previous days). We decided to take advantage of the nice weather today by heading out early to the park to get dirty and run around. I packed up the girls in the stroller and Ryan jumped on his trike and we were out the door by 9:00am headed to our favorite neighborhood park. We are usually the first people there, and today was no exception. The kids ran around, did some swinging, and about 15 minutes after we arrived, Ryan's new "friend" showed up. Today his "friend" was a girl about his age. The minute she stepped onto the playground, he said, "hi friend." I should tell you know that he had no idea who this person was, but he has become such a little social butterfly lately that he just walks right up to other kids starts talking. Ryan and his new friend played together for the next half hour while the girls did some more swinging. When it was time for his friend to leave, he said "bye friend" and gave a little wave - it was pretty cute. Both of us (me and the other mom) had to laugh at how quickly the two kids got to know each other and became such good friends - too bad it doesn't work that way for adults. Could you imagine people just walking up to each other and saying "hi friend" and going from there? After the park, we headed home. Lauren has been having issues with wearing hats lately, so it shouldn't have been a surprise to me that sometime during the walk home, she took off her hat and dropped it out of the stroller. By the time I realized it was gone, we were at the end of our street and the girls were getting cranky. Luckily our neighbor, Ashley, was headed off on her bike to basketball practice (which is in the same direction we just came from) so I asked her to look for the hat, and she found it and returned it to us later in the day - yeah! After the park the kids were ready for a little downtime. The girls headed to bed and Ryan got to watch Bob the Builder while the girls slept. After a busy afternoon of playing, we decided to top the day off with a trip to the pool to cool off as it was getting pretty muggy again.
After the pool we headed home for a quick meal, and then it was off to bed. It is amazing how quickly, an easily the kids go to bed after a pool visit - they are just wiped out. It was great to e back outside again, especially because it looks like it will be super hot the rest of the week.

Too much heat!

Because it has been so hot and humid these past couple of days, we have not gotten outside too much lately. So, as an alternative to going to the park, we went to the mall and Ryan ran around and played in the kid area - our indoor park. We spent the entire morning at the mall walking, running, and playing - no shopping - go figure. Anyway, Ryan had fun as usual. Lately he seems to be finding a "new friend" wherever we go and usually ends up spending most of his time with that "new friend" which keeps him busy. When the playing is over, I always ask what he new friend's name is and he always says "boy" if it is a boy, and "grill" if it is a girl (still working on getting him to say that right). We always finish up our mall trip by letting Ryan pick out one of the cars/trucks to ride. He usually has to sit on a couple and try them out before he decides which will be the lucky one for the day. Here he is trying some of the rides out.

He finally decided on the fire truck because it had a couple of buttons he could push to sound the siren and horn - what a deal! Lauren even got in on some of the action today as we were sitting next to another baby her age - the two of them "played" together while I talked with the mom - looks like we all made new friends today. It sounds like the weather will cool of a little tomorrow so hopefully we can get back outside.

High school reunion (sort of)

I had a true girl's weekend this past weekend, and although I love my children and husband dearly, it was a blast to leave them all behind for a few days of fun with the girls! Six friends from high school in a cabin for two days - here are my thoughts on the weekend . . .

* never leave at 5pm on a Friday to head north - traffic is horrible. But, if you do have to do it, make sure your car is full of good friends to point out the fact that the traffic isn't too bad, it is "smooth sailing"
* Huckelbucks is a great place for a bathroom break and while you are there, you might as well enjoy some drinks and appetizers to get the weekend started early.
* 10:00pm is not too late to start eating food, lots and lots of good, but bad for you food
* waking up on vacation is much easier than waking up at home
* breakfast during girl's weekend can pretty much fill you up for the entire day
* a deep conversation filled with tears is quickly followed up by laughter and screams of joy while splashing around in the lake
* 6 hours on a pontoon with snacks and drinks makes you very, very tired
* 12:30am is late for a bunch of 30 year old "girls"
* writing a haiku (Japanese poem) is much more difficult than it seems
* snuggling up with a good friend makes for some great sleeping conditions
* you can still learn something new about someone you have known for over half of your life
* talking about old times never gets old, in fact, I think the stories get better every time you hear them
* spending quality time with your gal pals needs to be an annual thing - it reminds us of who we were, who we are now, and helps us develop into who we will be in the future.

Thanks for the memories girls!!!

Pictures will be posted when one of my dear friends sends me some. Look for them in a future post.

6 blistful years

So Trav and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary last Sunday (July 20th) - yes, I said 6 years! We were thinking things were getting kind of routine, and that we maybe needed to spice it up a bit. So, instead of exchanging gifts (not that we really do that anymore), we decided to do something different - we decided to get some dance lessons! Talk about fun. We haven't told anyone, not even our families as we wanted it to be a surprise to everyone. Going into this, we thought it would just be a fun thing to do together, we never imagined the full body workout it would be. My legs, butt, and especially my chest, really got some major improvements - check out the video below and see what you think of our first dance routine. Let us know if you want us to perform at any upcoming events!

PS turn off the ipod music to hear the video

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Stories, paints, and sprinklers!!

We had a very busy day today. It all started this morning with story time at the library. Usually we don't go to story time because Marley is over on Wednesdays, but today, Marley was getting a haircut and wouldn't be over until lunchtime. So, the kids got up, ate breakfast, took a nap (Lauren) and got dressed and ready to go. We got to the library just as the stories were beginning and found out the place was packed. We managed to squeeze in between a couple of kids and listened away. These story times are usually pretty loud and all the moms understand that, but today, there was a guest reader - the principal of one of the elementary schools - and he seemed a little overwhelmed with all the commotion, crying, and just plain noise. Once he realized that the kids weren't going to just sit there all silent and listen like perfect little angels, he did a good job although I doubt he'll come back anytime soon. After the library, we headed home and played outside until lunchtime. After lunch, Marley was dropped off and within 10 minutes of being at the house, all the kids were in bed for afternoon naps - my favorite time of the day! With naps over, and the weather nice outside, we headed outdoors for some finger/foot painting. The kids painted on one of our bed sheets that had worn out and had a big hole in it. Funny thing about this sheet, it was probably the most expensive sheet I've ever had (one of those sets that is like a 2000 thread count or something). My mom gave them to us as a Christmas gift a couple of years ago. So it was no surprise to me when I told her about the sheet and she said, just turn it around so the hole is at the bottom of the bed - always a thrifty lady - heck, the sheets probably have another good year in them! When I told Auntie about the sheet (and she actually saw it), she suggested that I use it as a paint canvas for the kids - not as thrifty as mom's suggestion, but still better than my idea of just throwing it away so that's what we did. Check out the fun . . .After the painting, we needed a way to get the kids cleaned up without dragging them into the house - solution . . . sprinkler. It worked out perfect as the sun was shining, and it was a little warm so the kids were eager to get wet.
The kids had a blast and it made the afternoon fly by. Lauren, as usual sat nicely on the sidelines and watched everyone else have fun - poor kid.She'll get in on the action tomorrow when we sit in the pool - much easier to do with a baby then running through a sprinkler.

We're going to Mexico!!

Aaron and Ann finalized their wedding plans and Mexico is calling our names! They decided on the Riviera Maya in February which means we unfortunately have to take a week long trip to Mexico - bummer. Luckily Grandma Quast has agreed to watch the kiddies for us while Trav and I enjoy our first real vacation together in a very, very long time - thanks Grandma. The countdown to Mexico is on, only 6 months to go!

Check out the place we'll be staying: http://www.barcelo.com/BarceloHotels/en-GB/Hotels/Mexico/MayanRiviera/MayaPalace/Home.htm

Can't wait for the trip, and the wedding too - should be good times!

Busy weekend

Another weekend gone so fast, but this one was a busy one. Friday Trav headed up to the lake with the kids and I stayed home to do some reading, cleaning, and relaxing. The gang got home on Saturday around 1:30pm and it was basically wake up from nap, take off clothes, get in the bed, get dressed again, and head out the door to our next engagement which happened to be an engagement party for Aaron and Ann. We left around 3:30pm from our house and should have arrived at Aaron's place about 45 minutes later, but as luck would have it, there was a detour, and I got lost - not just a little lost either, I was actually just minutes from being in Wisconsin! Once I figured out I was not going the right direction, I turned around and headed back the right way. By this time were are about an hour into our trip and Ryan is getting antsy and wants out of his car seat. As luck would have it again, we happened to be right in the middle of a storm. At first, it wasn't so bad, just some rain. But, by the time I got turned around and headed in the right direction, the rain as coming down so hard I actually had to pull over on the Interstate. As we were sitting on the shoulder with about 15 other cars, it starts to hail - this should be fun. By this time, Ryan is getting a little worried about what is going on outside - Lauren sleeps through it all. After sitting for about 10 minutes, the bad weather passes and we finally get to Aaron's place about an hour and a half after we got in the car. Unfortunately, this is not our final destination so we stay in the car for the final 20 minute drive for the party - thank god we made it, time for me to crack open a beer and relax! The party was fun, but by 9:00pm the kids were starting to fade so we headed back to Aaron's place and went to bed. The next morning as we were all sitting around having bagels for breakfast, Ryan was off playing in a chair. Pretty soon he walks over to Aaron with something in his hand (I assumed it was something he picked off the chair) and places "the thing" into Aaron's hand and says "that's a booger from my nose." We of course all start laughing as I'm pretty sure Aaron's never had someones booger in his hand. I'm just happy he didn't try to give it back to Ryan, or worst yet, try to rub it back on him. Although, he did ask if he should pick a booger and give it to Ryan - luckily he didn't. After that, we picked up and headed home for a day of naps and relaxing - our typical Sunday. Here are a couple of pictures from the day. Ryan got this new scooter at the engagement party from Lucy (Ann's niece) who no longer uses it - he loves his pretty pink scooter with a basket - what more could a boy ask for!

Lauren got to sit in her chair and watch as Ryan mastered his new toy - doesn't she look thrilled.

Scooby Doo anyone?

Ryan has been real big on Scooby Doo lately. Usually he just likes to watch the cartoon and then talks about it for a while and leaves it at that, but lately, he has gotten much more in to it to the point where everyone in the house is now a Scooby Doo character. Ryan is Shaggy, Trav is Fred, and I get to be Velma (I tried to talk Ryan into switching me to Daphne, but it was a no go). The three of us were characters, but poor Lauren got left out as she really didn't fit into the show. Luckily, Ryan allowed Lauren in on the fun and let her be Shaggy's sister - no real name, just Shaggy's sister - I guess you take what you can get when you are the youngest. Scooby is also in the house, he is just invisible and pops up wherever and whenever Ryan decides - oh, to have that power. So last night, the whole gang, Fred, Velma, Shaggy, and Shaggy's sister decided to hit the pool as the weather has been so hot the past few days that we haven't been outside very much and the kids were ready to get out and about. This was the second time this summer we took the kids. The first time was fun, but Ryan was pretty timid and stuck right next to us the whole time. This time, Ryan knew what he was getting into, and had a blast! He went down the water slide (daddy caught him at the bottom), went under a few times, although I think a few times were just because he lost his footing, and even "swam" with daddy into the deeper end - he loved all of it. Lauren also enjoyed her time splashing and kicking pretty much the whole time we were there. Because Ryan went down the kiddie water slide, I had to go down the big water slide, which just opened this week. I'm pretty sure I was the only "old" person going down the thing, but it didn't matter, I had promised Ryan so off I went. Ryan was so proud of me when I got back - he gave me a thumbs up and said nice job Mom, such a nice little boy. When everyone was tired out, we all headed home. When we pulled into the driveway, the neighbor kids all came running over to see Ryan. As it turns out, they were all using the Slip'N'Slide and wanted Ryan to join them. We went over to check it out, but Ryan wasn't a big fan and ended up watching and clapping while the big kids did their thing. After a bit, we all went in, took baths, and it was off to bed for everyone - it was a fun way to spend some time together with the kids and cool off at the same time. Sorry no pics for this blog - we were having too much fun in the water to get out and snap any.

Interesting day for Ryan

Ryan had a very interesting day yesterday. For some reason, he took a real liking to Auntie's painted toenails yesterday and said he wanted some just like hers, but black, not pink. She always has her toenails painted and it never really caught Ryan's attention before, but today was different. Unfortunately, I only have one bottle of nail polish which is some boring color, but luckily Auntie had a very deep shade of red in her make-up bag which she let Ryan borrow. I'm not one of those moms who cares if her son plays with dolls, or dresses up so painting his toenails was no big deal so off to the bathroom we went for his foot beautification - here are the results.
After his stop at the beauty shop, we decided to continue the fun and headed to the tattoo parlor (again, he was influenced by his Auntie who has a tattoo on her lower back). Ryan's first tat was a tattoo every son should have . . . a heart with "MOM" written in it - thanks buddy, I love you too.One tattoo was not enough for Ryan so his great tattoo artist drew another one on his other arm. This one was a star (like Aunties) with his initials below it, although he thinks it actually says, "Ryan Douglas Quast" - that was too much work for me.Our final stop was at the barber shop. Unfortunately, Ryan is not a big fan of this place - he hates getting his hair cut so it was a quick and painful (if you ask Ryan) experience. I transformed from tattoo artist to barber and got to work. It took about 10 minutes with Ryan screaming and crying, but we got it done. I always try to cut Ryan's hair short so I don't have to do it so often, but this time, things got a little too close - oops! I usually put the #1 guard on and then just buzz it off, but today, I completely forgot to put the guard on, and just went at it. Let's just say it is a little shorter than usual, but he is 3 and doesn't really have any big events to attend anytime soon so he should be good to go - check it out.Bald is beautiful isn't it? Just a little bit of peach fuzz, but it is super fun to rub and he still looks adorable if you ask me!

Random days

I have a whole lot of pictures and some fun stories to go with so I'll just write a little about everything and get everyone caught up with what has been going on with the kids lately. Last Friday it was super hot so the kids and I ventured to the play area in the mall. Here are a couple of pictures of the kids keeping busy while I was getting ready. Ryan calls it playing, Lauren calls it getting mauled by her big brother - enjoy.

Seriously, get him off me before I freak out!Lauren's fake smile after playing with Ryan - I think she really enjoyed it

As I mentioned before, the kids were away for the weekend so I'll jump to Monday. As usual, Marley came over on Monday. The kids played for a while, but then I got lazy and just wanted some sleep so I came up with a new way of watching the kids . . .What do you think? I have a couple of openings if anyone is interested? I hope everyone knows I am totally joking, the kids just wanted to play in the crib so I let them. As you can see, Ryan is showing Lauren some serious love - a bit rough, but he means well. Here is a better picture of the two of them sharing a moment of actual tenderness - so cute.

And finally . . . last night, Ryan managed to run into Auntie's rear view mirror on her car which was parked in the driveway. I'm not really sure how he managed to not see the car, but he didn't and he nailed his head. Luckily our neighbor was out and saw the incident and offered to give Ryan a ride on his mower to make his head feel better - amazingly, the tears stopped and the head was better - that mower is magic!

My weekend

I had a "girl weekend" with myself as Trav took both kids up to the lake for some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa Quast. All week I was thinking about what I would do with my time - watch movies, lay in bed all day, eat whenever and whatever I want on my time - talk about fun! Well, when the weekend actually arrived, things didn't go exactly as planned. On Friday morning, there were ants crawling on our kitchen floor - gross! Seeing that was enough to set me off and decide that my "girl weekend" would be used to give the house a super cleaning inside and out - should be good times! I had everything planned out as far as when I would do the floors, dusting, etc. Well, that planned lasted about 5 minutes since I decided to take the cleaning up a notch and shampoo the carpets as well. I have wanted the carpets cleaned since we (and I use the word "we" loosely as I didn't do much) finished the basement about 7 months ago. I actually even told Trav that all I wanted for Mother's Day was to have the carpets shampooed. Not that Mother's Day has come and gone, I figured that wish probably wasn't going to happen, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and get it done. It was he perfect time as everyone would be gone and staying off of the wet carpet would be much easier without little ones running around. So, I rescheduled my cleaning schedule to include this new task and started the fun the instant Trav and the kids left at about 5:30 Friday night. First was dusting, next was cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen, and finally I would finish off the night with vacuuming in preparation for the big shampooing on Saturday morning. My plans of course changed once I got into cleaning mood. With everything done, including the vacuuming, I couldn't stop myself, I had to get the carpets shampooed right away - it was like I was a possessed woman! By 9:30 Friday night, everything was done and it looked awesome! Although the actual task of shampooing was a little different than I thought it would be. For starters, the Rug Doctor machine I rented was a little more work than I thought it would be. The tank only held 2 gallons of water, which I thought would last a long time, but t didn't. I usually had to change the water about 2 times per room, which was pretty time consuming. The other thing that surprised and disgusted me was how dirty the carpet was! I seriously wanted to gag when I saw the black water being poured out of the tank - I can't believe I laid on that, even worse, my kids rolled around on that crap - disgusting! By the time I was done, I figured I had to pull out about 10 gallons of dirt, crap, and most importantly, Lauren's spit up, which used to leave little white spots whenever she had been. When I went to bed on Friday, I could see a huge difference in the carpets - they just looked great. It was hard to get to sleep that night because I was still in cleaning mood, but I managed, although it was a short night because I woke up at 6:00 am wanting to see the carpet in the daylight - luckily it still looked good! Is it weird that I get so excited about stuff like this? All in all, I had a great weekend. I got the house in tip top shape (the ants are gone for now and better stay that way), and the carpets have never looked better - what more could I ask for? The kids and Trav seemed to enjoy their time at the lake which is nice because it makes being away from them much easier. Until my next cleaning spree . . .

1 storm, 2 babes

We had our first severe weather of the year today, and also our first severe weather with both kids. I can only remember one time when Ryan was a baby that we actually had go to the basement because the sirens were going off. I of course was panicking trying to figure out how to best protect my precious little boy. I even went so far as to strap him in his infant carrier for extra protection before we climbed down into our crawl space in our old townhouse. Fast forward three years to today and things are a little different. I knew the weather was getting bad because there were warnings scrolling all across the bottom of the tv, but I wasn't too concerned as it didn't look too bad outside so I just stayed downstairs and continued watching tv as Ryan and Lauren were both down for naps. Well, about five minutes later, the siren (which is conveniently located right across the street) started blaring. I was startled by the sound, but still didn't really see anything going on outside so I kept my cool and decided to walk upstairs and check on the kids. As I stood at the top of the stairs, I kept thinking, I really don't want to wake up Lauren as she had a really tough night and needed to get all the sleep she could. Then, I thought, is her sleeping more important than taking the chance that the roof could blow off and suck her out of the house? - obviously not! So the decision was made to get the kids and go downstairs. I went to get Ryan first as I figured he was probably still awake because he had just laid down 5 minutes before the siren started going off. When I opened the door to his room, not only was he awake, but he was glued to the bed with fear as the storms and sirens seemed to be getting louder. When I tried to get him off the bed, he just laid there grabbing the blankets and not letting go - it took some effort, but he finally gave in and came with me. Next we hit Lauren's room. She was out cold - apparently the noise from the thunder and lightning combined with a blaring siren doesn't bother her, yet on any other day, a small creek of the floor, or a laugh from Ryan will wake her - go figure. Anyway, with both kids in hand, we headed to the basement to hide out until the weather cleared up, there was only one problem, where do we actually go? I know we should stay away from windows and get to the lowest room in the house, but our lowest room has a window, and is filled with crap - maybe this isn't the best room to sit in. then I think, maybe the shower in the downstairs basement is the place to be, but wait, isn't it better to be in a room where walls are concrete blocks - probably, let's go to the bedroom. The bedroom seems good - it is partially underground, and the only window is under the deck so flying debris would be harder to get through this window - right? I'm not so sure, so I take the kids and decide to sit on the steps between the third and fourth floors. There are no windows, we are protected by two walls on both sides, and we are in a low place - perfect! By this time, we only had about 5 more minutes of the storm so it went pretty quick with both kids doing a great job and me sitting there hugging them tight trying to figure out how I could keep a good grip on both of them if god forbid, something happened - not a pleasant thought. I figured my mom instincts and super powers would kick in so I shouldn't worry about it, just concentrate on keeping the kids calm, although they seemed pretty good on their own. All in all, we did good (once we finally got to our "safe place") and the storm left no damage other than a power outage for about a half hour. Ryan went down for his nap, and Lauren hung out with me until she was ready to eat again - back to normal. I'm hoping Trav will be home the next time a storm hits, but if not, the kids and I should be ready.

I love green beans!

Lauren woke up this morning (at 7:45am) a smiling, happy baby - hooray! She took two decent naps, played most of the day without needing to be held constantly, and ate like a champ. I'd say she is back to normal. I'm still not really sure what caused her crabbiness the last few days, but at this point I don't care, I just don't want it to happen again.

Because she was eating so good today, we tried a few new things today with food - peaches and whole green beans. She had peaches and Cheerios for breakfast and seemed to really enjoy them. My only concern with the peaches is that she doesn't really chew them, she just kind of sucks them and then swallows them whole - I can't imagine that is a good thing. We'll have to work on them a bit. For lunch she had macaroni and cheese and green beans. She has had both of these things before, but today I let her eat the beans by herself. It was so funny watching her concentrate on getting the bean into her mouth, I just had to tape it. The aftermath was a bit messy, and lunch took about 20 minutes longer than usual, but it was worth it - the only down side, this is just another reminder of how fast she is growing up. Here is the video clip. I had to get Ryan in there too - notice who isn't eating beans, no, he has a Pizza Hut breadstick - not really the nutritious meal I was hoping for, but at least he ate something.

This baby has attitude!

So Lauren has been having severe attitude issues these past few days. At first I thought it was just her adjusting to being back home after a long weekend, but now after two days, I'm starting to think it is something else, but what? On Sunday Lauren had a bit of a rash on her back/shoulders which I assumed was probably just a heat rash - maybe that's why she is so crazy, but then it goes away. Does the attitude go with it? Of course not. Next she starts drooling and biting on things and has a bit of a diaper rash - now I know what's going on, she is cutting a tooth. Simple enough, a little orajel and some Tylenol and she'll be good - not so much. After all that, Lauren also gets a scratchy voice (which is super adorable to hear by the way) and I assume it is because we've been running the air conditioner the past few days and because she has spent the last few days screaming at the top of her lungs, who's throat wouldn't be sore. Now it is Tuesday night and we've had another rough day - no naps, lots of screaming, more of that crazy rash (which looks worse by the way), and one super cranky babe - god please make it stop! Luckily Lauren finally crashed - she was out cold at 6:30pm - no crying, no fussing, nothing, just a peaceful little sleeping baby - I'm so HAPPY! Please let her wake up rash free, smiling, and just back to her normal self - we'll see.

Look how peaceful she looks

4th of July

We had a very busy and very long 4th of July celebration. The kids and I went back to my parent's place on Tuesday to spend time with Aunite and Grandma and Grandpa. Aaron, Ann, and Trav joined in on the fun on Thursday - it was a full house. We did a lot of swimming with the warm weather. Lauren of course loved it and could hardly wait to get in everyday. Ryan took a little more time to warm up to the water, but once he was in, he usually did a good job. We even discovered Ryan could touch in the shallow end this year which was nice because that means someone doesn't have to hold him all the time. Besides swimming, we also participated in a few of the 4th of July events offered by the city. We took the kids to the parade on Friday morning. Ryan and Grandpa sat on the curb with hopes of getting a little candy. About five minutes into the parade he had a good pile of candy, by the end, he had a bag stuffed full. Luckily everyone at the house helped him eat it so he shouldn't have too many cavities. After the parade we headed back home and just hung out for the remainder of the day. We ended the 4th watching fireworks from Grandpa and Grandma's backyard while we had a bonfire. It was a very long day, but Ryan really seemed to enjoy it which makes it all worthwhile. On Saturday the adults got to have some fun, well, everyone but Grandma and Grandpa who volunteered to stay with the kids. The rest of us headed out to a friend's 30th birthday party and then downtown for the all school reunion street dance - a good time was had by all. With so much action this weekend, I decided to do a slide show to show some of the fun we had - enjoy!