Licorice

As anyone who reads this blog knows Lauren loves to eat! Well, lately she has taken a liking to one of Ryan's favorite treats, licorice. Licorice is what we used to potty train Ryan and to this day, whenever he goes poo on the potty, he gets licorice. It seems Lauren has noticed the licorice, and Ryan being the nice big brother he is, has shared some with her in the past, and now she just loves the stuff. I'm sure people are appalled that I would give a 9 month old licorice, heck, even I was a little surprised I did. But, you know what they say about the second child, all the old ways go out the door and you let them do things you would have never thought of with your first - I'm just following the pattern. So anyway, she loves licorice (along with many, many other things) so today we decided to use it to show everyone how she tries to get up the steps (with a little incentive of course), and what happens when her treat is taken away - enjoy!

This picture is taken when she first sees the licorice waiting at the top of the steps - the look is somewhere between - "seriously Mom?" and "a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do to get her treat - let's go!"

Here are two videos. The first is her attempt to get the licorice (which Ryan eventually gives to her) and the second is what happens when you mess with her food.

And finally, a congratulatory huge from her big brother for all her hard work - he is having a moment with her, she is just staring at me saying, "don't mess with me again!"

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

The kids and I made a trip to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum this week. The arboretum is part of the Museum Adventure Pass offered at the library so we figured we would go check it out. The weather was perfect for a morning full of walking and that is exactly what we did. I didn't bring the double stroller as I never know what the layout will be like and I hate to be that lady that takes up all the space with her giant stroller so Ryan put on his walking shoes as well and off we went. Once we got to the place, it was almost overwhelming how much there was to see so we just started at the closest garden, and made our way through to anything that looked interesting. Our first stop was in the Japanese garden which was full of really cool plants and a waterfall that flowed into a coy pond. Ryan was loving it! There are no barriers to the pond so Ryan walked right up to the edge and was amazed at all the cool colored fish. They would come right up to the edge and poke their heads out of the water - it was pretty neat. We spent a good deal of time in that garden as there was so much to see and getting Ryan away from the pond was no easy feat. After that we headed to another area that had a waterfall - Lauren seemed to enjoy the running water - she would just sit there and stare. Luckily, there was another huge pond full of fish who were being fed so we took a seat right on the edge and watched all the fish (lots of babies and daddy fish if you ask Ryan) come right up to the surface and gobble up the shredded carrots - who knew fish liked carrots? Once we left the pond, we headed into "the jungle" which was really just a wooded area full of a variety of different trees. Ryan had a blast running through "the jungle" while Lauren and I just tried to keep up. We finished our walking portion of the arboretum with a visit through the rose gardens, and a quick trip to the big waterfall in the middle of the garden to take some more pictures. By this time the kids were getting tired and hungry so I packed them up and decided to take the 3 mile drive through the arboretum on our way out. I was surprised by how much more there was to see - more gardens, some neat sculptures, and even a garden maze - I've put it all on the list for our next visit. The arboretum is just another place I would have never known about if we hadn't found out about the Museum Adventure Pass at the local library - what a good deal it has turned out to be. If anyone has the chance, I would highly recommend checking it out at your local library! Here is a slide show with some pictures from the day.

You scared the stuff out of me!

Ryan never stops surprising me with the things he will say or do - everyday seems to bring something new, and usually funny from him. Here are a few of the most recent things he has said or done. The other day we were playing hide-n-seek. Ryan was the seeker while Auntie and I were the hiders. Anyway, he finds me first so we go off to find Auntie together. When we get close to her hiding spot, she jumps out and scares us. Ryan jumps and squeals and then says, "Auntie scared the stuff out of me!" I laugh right away because I know Ryan wants to say that he got the "crap" scared out of him, but "crap" is a word that we don't use at our house (or should I say a word we try not to use) so he has replaced it with "stuff" - one of many words he has come up to replace bad words. Others to stay away from at our house . . . "god" to be replaced with "gosh", "stupid" is now "funny", and "god damn it" (which happens to be one of daddy's favorite sayings lately) is now "dog gam it" (daddy actually came up with that one). And trust me, if you happen to slip up and say any of these forbidden words, Ryan WILL hear it and WILL correct you immediately. Half of the time I swear he isn't listening to our conversations and I'll slip up and Ryan will say from the other room, we don't say that word mom - sorry bud, I forgot.

Onto his funny stories he has told me lately. The other day he was talking (shocking isn't it - Ryan talking?) about his tattoo. This is the same tattoo he has had for about two weeks because he refuses to let me wash it off. Anyway, he is pointing out all the cool parts of his tattoo and all of a sudden says, "you want to see my tat dance?" I'm not sure what he is talking about, but I say yes and laugh when he starts wiggling his arm and trying to flex his muscle to make his tat move. When he is finished, I ask who taught him that - his answer, "Aaron." Like any good uncle, Aaron must have shown Ryan his tattoo "dancing" last time we were all back home and Ryan for some reason remembered it today. Maybe they can have a dance-off next time we get together assuming Ryan's tat is still there. And finally, today he was telling me about his weekend with Grandma and Grandpa and throws in a little story about one of his boogers. According to Ryan, at some point during his visit with Grandma and Grandpa, he picked his nose and decided to put it in his throat (his words). I asked why and he didn't answer, he just kept going with his story. After he put it in his throat, he said he cried (he even showed me how he cried) and ate it up. I'm guessing he cried because he just ate a booger, who wouldn't?! After that story was done, he went on to talking about something else totally unrelated. I was still stuck on the booger story and called Auntie to either confirm or deny - she could do neither as she didn't see him do it, but said he had plenty of alone time to sneak a boogie in if he wanted to. I know the first thing I would do if I had a free minute away from everyone would be to eat a booger - it is just so obvious.

So there is Ryan in a couple of paragraphs - I hope you enjoy him as much as I do!

Adults only weekend

Trav and I had an "adults only weekend" this past weekend at the cabin. Trav's parents were nice enough to let us have the cabin all to ourselves, and my parents were nice enough to take the kids, so we were set. We headed to the cabin on Friday. On the way, we stopped at a local bar/restaurant for a bite to eat, then went to the cabin, unloaded our stuff, mowed the lawn, watched a movie, and were in bed by 11:00pm - no kids, a little freedom, and we are still in bed by 11:00pm - what is wrong with us! Saturday was a different story as another couple joined us for the day/night and the fun started pretty much the minute they arrived. There were lots of adult beverages, some lawn games, some good grillin', a fun evening boat ride, and the highlight of the day - a trip to the local bar. When we got there, it was packed (according to the waitress) - there were 15 people there, including the four of us! They don't sell any hard alcohol at this bar, so we had to bring our own and they supplied to pop - what a deal. We had met and talked to everyone in the bar within the first 20 minutes of being there, and there were some interesting stories - let's just leave it at that. The evening was made even better when the bar owner presented me with a one of a kind bright, fluorescent yellow shirt with his picture on the front and the words,"we're just people helping people" across the back. Not knowing what the shirt meant, I asked Bob, the owner, and he said that he, and the workers at the bar, were just people helping people have fun - works for me. I will guard that t-shirt with my life. Waking up Sunday was a little difficult, but we managed and were ready to get back to see the kids. It was a fun weekend, but I'm pretty sure I couldn't do that too often - my body (and head) doesn't recover the way it used to!

Here are some random pictures of the kids from the past couple of days. These are pictures of Kelty's last day with us - the kids were showing her some love.

Here is Lauren trying on her new hand-knit hat - thanks Shirb - it fits great and must be very warm as Lauren's head was sweating when I took it off (we'll wait for cold weather before I put it on again). And finally, Ryan pouting about being in time out for not listening. He took a toy from Lauren, I asked three times for him to give it back, and he acted as though he couldn't hear me (he gets that from his daddy - maybe selective hearing is genetic). The bottom picture is him with his fake smile as he apologizes for being naughty and waits to get out of timeout.

Steele County Fair

Saturday was the final day of our 3-day run of fun. We picked up Grandma and Grandpa Loken in the morning and headed off to the largest county fair in Minnesota - this is as close to the state fair that I want to get. We started off the day by visiting the animal barns where Ryan got to see the usual farm animals, and even got to pose for a picture with a sheep - talk about fun! After the animals, we went over to see some tractors and grab some ice cream while we took a break. Once we were full and well rested, the fun really started. Grandpa bought Ryan an unlimited ride wristband so we made the most of it by riding pretty much every ride that was offered to little kids, including, riding on a live pony - lucky kid! It's funny, because when I think back to my childhood, I can't ever remember a time when dad bought us unlimited anything. By early afternoon, Lauren had already had went through a couple of bottles, had taken a nap, and was ready to get out of the stroller. Ryan, on the other hand, didn't eat or drank much, was dragging, and was ready to get in the stroller and take it easy. We grabbed some food, stopped to check out some puppies (one of which became "Kelty"), and went home. The kids had baths and both were sleeping by 7:30 - a long day, which led to a long night of sleep - yeah!
Looks like Lauren was so bored by the day she had to turn to chewing on her feet to keep herself entertained- nice.

Como Zoo/Como Town

Auntie and I decided to make the most of a beautiful day by taking the kids to the Como Zoo on Friday. We headed out early to beat the crowds and everything seemed to be going good. We saw a baby orangutan, some lions up close, and a variety of different animals, but the exhibit that Ryan liked most . . . the construction zone for the new polar bear exhibit. It was full of big tractors, other machines, and most importantly, a "worker man" that took the time to talk (or should I say listen) to Ryan for almost five minutes. If I had known he would have been happy with seeing construction, I would have just taken him down the road, there is always some kind of construction going on with all the new buildings going up. Once we got past the constuction zone, we headed to the adjoining amusement park for what was supposed to be a quick visit to catch a ride or two and then head home - good plan, too bad it didn't happen that way. Ryan wanted to ride on the train so we did that without any problems, then I told him to pick one more ride and then we were going to head home. He chose the fire truck ride - short line, quick ride, sounds good to me. We get to the front of the line, Ryan does the ride, and then it gets ugly. I tell him it is time to leave and he keeps saying, "I want to ride in the fire truck." The ride had two parts, one in the actual truck, and one that was in the ladder that went up and down and you got to shoot water at a burning building in the middle. I figured he would like the ladder part as the trucks didn't do anything but go around in a circle, I was wrong, and he let me know it by throwing the biggest fit ever right in the middle of the park. Of course everyone was starring at us. I tried to stay calm and talk to Ryan, but every time I said something, he would just scream this high pitched, nasty scream to drown out my voice - isn't that sweet. So, instead of talking through this situation, I decided to just pick him up and carry him out. Lucky for me, he decided to make his entire body limp and throw his head back - I had to keep reminding myself how much I loved him, because at that moment, I wanted nothing to do with him. There was about 5 more minutes of screaming, nasty looks from strangers, and trying to lug a limp three year old before we got to the car and got out of there as fast as possible - thank god it is over. Once he was buckled into his car seat, it literally took him less than 5 minutes to fall asleep. What can I say, the kid needs his sleep or he turns into a little devil.
Luckily we still had one happy kid when we left!

Horse races

We have been trying to get out to see the horse races all summer, and this past Thursday, it finally happened. Thursday is "Buck Night" at the races, meaning everything is one dollar - admission, food, and drink - what a good deal! So, with the weather finally cooperating, we headed out to have some good, cheap fun at the races. We took Ryan once last year, but he didn't really get what was going on so it was a short visit. This time, he was really into the horses, even pointing out that there were "working horses" and "racing horses" - he liked the working horses better because he got to pet them while the racing horses were taken right back to the stables. Ryan and Daddy went down on the track to see the action up close while the girls stayed up in the stands and ate our fair share of food - how can you not when it only costs one dollar! While the boys were walking back up to the stands, they ran into some of our old friends who we hadn't seen in well over a year so they gathered up their stuff and headed over to our section. Ryan was in heaven as they have a little girl about the same age as him so he got an instant playmate. The two of them, along with the little girl's cousin, spent the rest of the night sitting by themselves a couple of rows ahead of us doing their own thing while the adults got some time to catch up. Before we knew it, it was almost 10:00pm - way past bedtime - so packed up and headed home. The kids were out cold within a couple of being home - Trav and I weren't too far behind - all that food and drink makes a person tired.

The new arrival!

Ash and Mike extended their family this weekend by adding a 6 lb, brown haired, blue-eyed little girl to their family. We are still debating who she looks like. What do you think?They picked up their puppy, which they named "Kelty" on Sunday morning. Lucky for us (mainly Ryan), Ash and Kelty are staying with us for a couple of days until she is done working and moves in with Mike. Ryan is enjoying his time "babysitting" the puppy while Auntie works. He is very gentle with her when she sleeps, even telling everyone to "be quiet, the puppy is sleeping." He also takes Kelty out to run and play in the backyard - a very attentive babysitter. Here he is making sure Kelty takes her nap.We'll see what happens when Auntie leaves and Ryan's puppy days are done - hopefully he won't have too much puppy fever because I don't see any puppies in our near future - two kids are enough to handle.

Preschool letter

Ryan received a letter from his preschool today to let us know when orientation is, and when school starts - can you believe our little boy will be starting school in less than one month! The letter included a schedule for the year - some of the highlights are a pumpkin patch field trip, picture day, a Christmas party, a Valentine's Day party, and two parent/teacher conferences - I don't know who is more excited, Ryan or me, as there are many opportunities for parent volunteers as well, I might have to get in on a few of those. It sounds like the year will be a blast, I just hope Ryan enjoys it as much as I think he will. Orientation is September 2, class beings September 9th - I look forward to Ryan's stories from school, I'm sure they'll make for some good blogging! Here are a couple of pictures of Ryan and his "school" letter - he is so excited!

Lauren's talents

Lauren was in the mood to show off all of her talents today so I grabbed my camera and started recording the action. In the first clip, she displays her own version of crawling - probably not as easy as the "real" thing, but it gets her where she wants to go (sorry it is sideways, but I couldn't figure out how to rotate it - just tilt your head and you'll be good to go).



This next clip she is "crawling" into her favorite room in the house - the kitchen (I was making lunch so I'm sure she smelled the food and had to get close). She also takes the time to show off her mouth clicking and waving bye-bye skills - is this kid talented or what?

Our little bully

I've been working from the house the past few days and remembered almost instantly why I quit my job in the first place - I hardly got to see my kids. Even though I'm working from home, I still spend considerably less time with the kids and feel bad about it, but this is a temporary thing and it brings in some extra money so I can't complain. Now, onto more important things . .

So it seems we have a "little bully" in the Quast household. Not only does Lauren grab, pull, and tug at things, she also grabs, pulls, and tugs at Ryan, Marley, and anyone else who gets in her way. The other day Marley was playing with a toy and two seconds later she is screaming. I assume Ryan has grabbed the toy from her (like he has done in the past), but when I look to see what has happened, it is Lauren who has a little smirk on her face and is contently playing on the floor with her new toy. Shortly after that, Ryan was "wrestling" with Lauren and pretty soon he starts screaming . . . Lauren is scratching at his face and grabbing his hair - what a little turd! Since then, she she bitten my shoulder too many times to count, pulls my hair whenever she feels like it, and does a pinch/grab when she wants me to put her down if I'm holding her. Seriously, she is a little abuser! To top it off, she has bruises on her knees (from crawling everywhere, including the tile floor), rug burns on her elbows (again, from her modified crawl), and has had numerous scratches, bumps, and bruises on her head from either dropping toys on it, or going head first into anything she runs into - with all of these, she definitely looks the part of a bully. I'm hoping this is just a phase - it is kind of embarrassing to say that your 8 month old is beating up her 3 year old brother. Lucky for Lauren, Ryan is too sweet to hit her back - maybe she could learn some of his kindness in the future.

I got a bike!

My cousin, Bridget and her son, Jack came to visit us yesterday. And much to Ryan's delight, Jack had a surprise for him. Ryan would ask, "what do you think it is Mom?" I would just respond with the normal, "you'll have to wait and see." Well, Ryan did wait, and when Jack showed him his surprise - a bike (Jack's old bike, he has a bigger one now) he was thrilled. He of course wanted to jump on and ride right away so we took a quick stroll around the cul-de-sac and then put it away until Daddy got home so he could tell him all about his new bike. Bridget and Jack could only stay for a couple of hours, but the boys manged to get in some running, biking, and racing all in a short period of time. There were a couple times throughout the day Ryan would just be laughing hysterically at something Jack did so when I put him to bed last night and we talked about our day, he said, "Jack is funny mom" - I thought it was pretty cute. Oh, one other funny story about yesterday, when I told Ryan Jack was coming, he asked if he could slap him. I thought that was kind of weird so I asked why he would want to do that and his response was a simple one, "because we slap Jacks, not Kings and Queens." I laughed because we have been playing a lot of "Slap Jack" lately and apparently in Ryan's world, a Jack is a Jack regardless of whether the Jack is a boy or a card. Here are a couple of action shots of the boys playing cars and Lauren wondering why she can't get in on the action.

More about Lauren now . . . she is cutting two more teeth on the top, she is drooling like crazy, and will bite your shoulder whenever you hold her - sounds fun doesn't it? Actually, she has been a pretty good kid through it all. You would hardly know she is getting some more teeth other than the biting and drooling, she just doesn't seem to be bothered by it as much as Ryan was when he was a baby. She is also moving like crazy - she does a modified army crawl that gets her pretty much anywhere she wants to go. Once she has reached her destination, she grabs and pulls at everything. The other day she went for Trav's guitar and I managed to grab it just before it would have fallen right on her head - close call! She also got her first mini-black eye. She was playing on the floor with some toy and managed it drop it right over her head and onto her face. The toy was a solid toy so it left a little color below her left eye. I of course jumped up the minute I saw this, Lauren just looked at me, screamed once, and went on playing - typical. She is eating (or should I say still eating) everything we give her. The minute she senses food is near, she starts doing her little whimper/scream until she gets whatever it is we are eating. Her newest thing now is to pull down her crib bumper in the morning when she wakes up. In the last week, she has managed to break three of the ties off the bumper so when we go to get her, she looks like this . . .

I'm pretty sure that is a safety hazard so the bumper might be coming off pretty soon or maybe I'll just flip it around and let her work on the other ties before I take it out - we'll see. And her final accomplishment, she has learned how to wave bye-bye and she loves it. Whenever she does it, a huge smile comes across her face and her little arm (or arms if she is doing the double wave) start going. It is so fun to see her constantly changing and learning new things.

Everything is good in the Quast household and to top it off, it is Friday and we are headed to Grandma and Grandpa Quast's for a weekend of fun as the town is celebrating with it's annual "Eggstavaganza Days" - should be good times.

National Night Out

Last night we had our neighborhood "National Night Out" gathering. Like last year, it was well attended and very fun for the kids (and adults). I learned from last year that Ryan wouldn't be sitting down at all once we got outside with so many kids to play with so I fed him before we went out. The rest of us enjoyed some good food from everyone in the neighborhood. There were a couple of contests for the kids and lots of outdoor activities to keep them busy. Lauren enjoyed her time by being passed around, but finally settled in Cheryl's (neighbor) arms and slept for the majority of the time. With Lauren fast asleep and Ryan off running with the other kids, Trav and I got to kick back and relax with a couple of beers and some good conversation. We met a couple more of our neighbors around the corner who have young children as well so hopefully in the future we can get the kids together. The night was topped off with a visit from a local police officer who was kind enough to let the kids climb all over her squad car. There was more than one parent who thought we should close the back doors and let the kids go to jail, but in the end, we decided to open the doors and let the kids stay. The night was a great way to get to know more people in the area. Trav and I always say how lucky we are to have found such a great neighborhood, events like this just confirm it. Here are a couple of shots from the night.

Golf is not his sport

After picking Ryan up from Grandma and Grandpa Quast's house, we headed to St. Peter to visit the other grandparents and got ready for another busy weekend. Ryan passed out in the car and proceeded to sleep for the next three hours so while the rest of us spent some time cooling off in the pool. Friday night was pretty low-key as we had a big day planned for Saturday. Saturday morning Grandpa, Auntie, Ryan and myself headed to the driving range for Ryan's first real experience with his golf clubs. I wouldn't say he is a great golfer by any means, but he sure looks cute trying and he will teach anyone how to swing, "backwards and forwards" - piece of cake. Too bad his technique didn't have the greatest results. I'm pretty sure he used the same ball the majority of the time we were there as it never went too far so he would just go and grab it and use it again. It kept him busy and gave the rest of us more balls to hit.

After the driving range, we headed to the meat market to load up on some goodies while we were in town. Ryan was lucky enough to get some candy from one of the ladies at the store and a beef stick for the ride home - not a bad trip is you ask me. After the meat market we spent the majority of the afternoon in the pool. Lauren learned how to surf on the kick board and also did some wave riding - yes, she is very advanced for her age - can't walk, but can surf. Ryan on the other hand decided to take it easy. At one point he was laying on one of the air mattresses and pretty soon I see his head sort of fall to the side. I take a closer look and notice he is out cold. Apparently all the running in the morning tuckered him out. I wasn't too keen on letting him sleep on the air mattress, but after a brief discussion with Grandma and a towel being placed over him, I gave in and joined in on the fun by catching a quick nap next to him. Laying on an air mattress while gently being pushed around the pool by the breeze makes for some good sleeping.

After some corn on the cob (one of Ryan's favorite foods), it was time for a bath and bed. By 8:00pm he was out. Lauren on the other hand, would not settle down and was up until close to 9pm before I finally put her in the playpen and let her get herself to bed - I was too tired myself to try anything else to get her to sleep. Sunday started with a walk/run, an afternoon movie, some play time with the neighbor boys, another quick bath (the neighbor boys and real "boys" who like to play in the dirt and dig up bugs), and then we were headed back home. Another busy weekend over with. This summer is going by was too fast. Less than a month and Ryan will start preschool - where did all the time go?

By the way, minus the not wanting to sleep incident on Saturday night, Lauren was her normal, good-natured little self. I sometimes feel bad not writing a lot about her yet, but her life isn't as exciting as Ryan's life is right now - her time will come though.