1st day of school!!!

Finally, the first day of school is (or in this case, was) here (it happened on Tuesday, today is Thursday)!  Ryan is an official 3rd grader and our little Lauren is an official kindergartner - what the heck!  Last year Lauren was "technically" in school (preschool), but this kindergarten thing is much different . . . she is now in the "big" school, she rides the bus, and I don't get to walk her to and from class and stick around and chat whenever I feel like it - this is the real deal!  And I know I already did it once with Ryan, but again, this is just different.  I don't know if it's because Ryan always just seemed really mature for his age, so letting him go was easier, or if it's because Lauren is my little girl.  But something is different, not harder, just different.  God knows what's going to happen in two years when our final kid goes to kindergarten - I'll probably have a breakdown (and shortly after rejoice at my new found freedom).  Anyway, we are two days in now and so  far, everything is going school wise is going great, home wise, we have some work to do (and I'm not surprised by this).  Ryan has always needed about a week to adjust to the whole routine of school, homework, and the new schedule (this year seems no different, he comes home from school, needs about a half hour to unwind, then gets back to normal).  I am finding over the past few days that Lauren always seemed to be having a hard time adjusting to this "new" normal.  She is a little crabby in the morning, more than a little crabby shortly after coming home, and only slightly crabby by bedtime (that is a whole lot of crabby)!  I assume she does great in school (she always did in preschool, in fact, she was basically a start student), but when she gets home, "our" version of Lauren always returns for a little drama.  Yesterday we went to the park after school (at Lauren's request), and just 2 minutes into swinging, she starts freaking out.  I'm talking a major freak out . . . screaming at the top of her lungs, tears falling everywhere, and lots of drama.  What started it all you ask . . . pushing Ellie in the swing next to the one Lauren was in (talk about a crime of the century).  Apparently Lauren thought they would crash into each other (even though they have been in those same two swings countless other times and that has never happened - that clearly didn't matter).  Anyway, that one thing was enough to set Lauren off, and off she went!  I gave her three warnings to change her behavior or we were going to leave - it took about 3 seconds to see nothing was going to change.  So I had Ellie get her bike helmet on and we started for home.  Lauren, in the meantime, was still having a major fit - she didn't want us to walk ahead of her, but she wouldn't get on her bike, then she wanted her bike helmet on and when I tried to help her, she pushed it off her head - at this point, I just gave up and walked away (the whole time she is screaming at the top of her lungs, "Mom, don't leave me" - I'm sure if anyone was around they would have thought I was an awful person, lucky for me, there wasn't anyone there).  It took about 5 minutes of Ellie and I walking about 5 steps forward and then back before Lauren finally got her bike helmet on and joined us.  Even then, she wouldn't ride her bike so she pushed it the whole way home (and continued to cry until I told her if she made one more noise she would get a spanking - yes, I had to pull out all the tricks on this one).  By the time we made it home, Lauren was a wet, sweaty mess (it was hot and she was still crying).  She immediately went into her room (her choice, not mine), and then remerged 15 minutes later like nothing had happened - what the hell was that?  After a very peaceful lunch, both girls laid down for two hour naps - funny considering Lauren said (no screamed), "I'm not tired Mom!!"  Please God, make the next two days better than yesterday (it could hardly get worse), and let Lauren adjust to this new schedule sooner rather than later!  Here are some pictures from the first day of school (Ellie starts preschool next Tuesday but she wanted to get in on the picture fun too).

Holy buckets I look like crap in this photo!  I am only putting it in here because I take one with the kids on the first day of school every year (maybe that tradition needs to change?)

Sealife/MOA

On Wednesday of this week, I decided it was time to start counting down the final days of summer, and do something new and fun.  What would that be you ask?  Sealife Aquarium at the Mall of America of course! We've always had a zoo pass in the past so I never really saw a reason to go spend money on an indoor aquarium when the zoo has one that is included in our yearly pass, but because all the kids will be in school this year, we passed on the pass, and therefore, this was the perfect opportunity to check out Sealife (even though it is a little pricey and the MOA drives me crazy - oh the things I do for my kids).  So on a hot and sticky Wednesday, we packed up the minivan and headed to the MOA to meet up with Auntie and Kate and have ourselves some fun!  The original plan was to just walk through the aquarium on our own (I had already bought discounted tickets online the day before), but once we got there, the guy giving us our tickets told me we could do the "behind the scenes" tour for just another $5/person.  After minimal thinking, we decided, "why not", and got ourselves tickets for the 11am tour.  And as it turned out, the behind the scenes tour was probably the best part about the aquarium (I also learned our son is some kind of "animal freak" who has way too much knowledge about octopus, sharks, and all things that live under the sea after he answered question after question that the tour guide asked).  When the tour wrapped up, we headed to the Rain Forest Cafe for lunch (a new experience for all of us we thought, Mom claims she brought us there when we were younger but neither Ash or I remember this).  The place was cool, the food was good, the fake thunderstorms were not.  Ellie almost cried the first time she heard it, Kate freaked out and started shaking, and Ryan and Lauren were so-so on the whole thing.  Lucky for us, the "storms" only happen once every 30 minutes or so.  Unlucky for us, Kate had just fallen asleep when the last "storm" hit - let's just say she didn't stay sleeping.  After lunch, we headed back to walk through the aquarium, but before we could even get started, Ryan (and eventually Lauren and Ellie too), talked me into going on some dumb fake submarine ride.  I didn't like the looks of it, I knew Ellie would be scared, but I agreed to go when the lady miraculously knocked the price down from $4/person to $2.50/person.  So there we were $10 later, packed into a dark submarine with three other kids in the ride with us too.  The ride started - it was like being on a roller coaster (Lauren hates roller coasters) - Ellie got scared, one of the kids in the back shit his pants, and that was only in the first 20 seconds.  By the time the ride was done, Ellie was in my lap, the submarine reeked of dirty farts, Ryan and Lauren were laughing and screaming, and I was ready to throw up my lunch.  A success for the kids, an epic failure for this mom!  After the dirty submarine, we finally made our way into the aquarium, and it was COOL!  I think having done the behind the scenes thing first and having seen all the tanks from above made it even better (well, that and Ryan's endless facts about all the animals we were encountering).  The kids loved it, Auntie and Kate seemed to enjoy it, and my best friend Ellie stayed in my arms the entire time and ducked her head every time a fish would swim over us (apparently she didn't think the 7" height of the tunnel was enough to protect her precious little head), but came out smiling non-the-less. This was a success all around!

When the aquarium was done, we had three last stops - one for the girls, one for Ryan, and one for me.  In order, The American Girl store (all I heard the entire time was, "I want this one", "no Ellie, you can't have that one" followed by Ellie crying for the entire 20 minutes we were there - I'll get back to this later), The Lego store, and H&M.  Up first, the American Girl store . . . we stopped here for two reasons, 1) I thought the girls would enjoy checking out all the dolls and their gear, 2) Lauren had finally saved $30 to purchase her own American Girl doll (little did she know that she would be purchasing that doll at Target and it would be a "fake" American Girl because let's face it, there is no way I'm spending over $100 on any doll) so this would give her a chance to see which ones she liked and didn't like.  Besides the constant arguing between the girls, the highlight had to be when we were in the section where you can design an American Girl doll to look just like you.  This section is full of different ethnic dolls, with different hair colors and styles, you name it, it's there.  Well, the girls immediately started trying to find their "perfect match."  Lauren picked out one that at least had some of her characteristics . . . same hair color, same eye color, same skin color.  Ellie, on the other hand, picked out an African American with jet black, tightly curled hair, and said to me, "does she look like me?"  My response, "yes", then I turned and almost peeped my pants laughing to myself.  Clearly Ellie doesn't get in front of a mirror enough, or maybe she truly doesn't see differences in people - either way, it made for a good laugh.

After a few drops of pee in my panties, it was time to get out of that store and onto the next . . . the Lego store.  I'm pretty sure Ryan could have stayed here all day checking out all the different sets, but after 20 minutes, we wrapped it up and I promised him that next time we stop at the Lego store, he could pick out something (too bad for him, I have no plans on returning to the MOA anytime soon).

With that, we were off to our final stop of the day . . . H&M.  The store is new to me (clearly I am NOT a shopper, good thing for me, Ash is).  I wanted to find just a couple of things for the kids before school and because this place is so reasonably priced, I figured it was the best place to try.  And in true Ryan fashion (I am seriously considering the fact that he should be Ash's kid and not mine), he picked out a leather jacket and just, "had to have it."  It was super cute, scratch that, super cool, but it only went up to a size 8 (which just fit him) so I wasn't sold on it (plus it was close to $40 and what kid really needs a $40 leather jacket - it's very impractical if you ask me).  But, by the end of the trip, the jacket was in my bag along with a few other items for Ryan and the girls.  The best part about this stop . . .watching Ryan check himself out in every mirror her walked by.  He would be walking (with his new hat and jacket on) with us one minute, then would be gone the next.  Inevitably I would always find him posing in a front of a mirror - yet another sign he might truly be Ashley's child (and most definitely Jim Loken's grandson, we all know how much Dad likes a good look at himself in the mirror).  Check out the cool kid below, and take special notice of his new kicks (he picked out these shoes a while back with Grandpa Jim's help and this was the first and only time he will wear them before school starts) - kid's got style (and lucky for him, it's not my style).

The downside to this picture . . . it is the only picture we will have with him in that leather jacket, I had to take it back yesterday - couldn't justify spending $40 on a jacket that probably won't make it through the fall - he doesn't know yet so that should be a really fun conversation.

When we finally got everything done we had set out to accomplish, Ash took a look at her phone and said it was 3:45pm - what???   How we managed to have all four kids at the mall for almost six hours with just a few minor issues is beyond me, but we are happy it went so well and in the end, I think we all had a blast!

I just realized how long this post is.  Apparently this is what happens when we have to cancel our weekend plans due to a sick kid - mama has too much time on her hands and just keeps writing, and writing, and writing . . . 

Dultuh

Last Sunday was Ellie's 3-year-old trip to Duluth with Grandpa and Grandma Loken.  In addition to spending time with the grandparents, Ellie also got to have her best bud, and cousin, Colton along for the ride (he is just shy of 3 years old, but was given the go ahead anyway - lucky guy).  And per the usual, Grandpa and Grandma got things started off early (I received a text from Aaron at 6:30am that said, "Mom and Dad are ready, they'll be here around 7:15am - they were originally scheduled to be here at 8-8:30am).  Anyway, with an earlier than usual start to my day (Trav had the big kids at the lake so it was just Ellie and I at home which made an ideal situation for sleeping in - clearly that did not happen), I was up and at 'em early, and to my surprise, little Miss Ellie was too.  Either she heard me moving around, or the excitement of the trip got to her, either way, she was ready to go.  With Ellie fed, dressed, and packed, she was ready by 7:00am.  Mom and Dad arrived right on time (7:15am), and after moving some car seats and getting suitcases packed, they were off.  And with Ellie gone, Trav and the big kids still at the lake, I was left to fend for myself - yay!!!!  So what would I do with almost an entire day to myself . . . why clean of course!  Once I got back into the house, I had an energy drink (my fuel for the day), grabbed my cleaning supplies, and went to work.  By 10am the house was spotless and I was still full of energy so I headed out to the gym for a quick workout.  After that, I hit up the mall (a very quick and easy trip without three kids tagging along), bought the kids some new school clothes, and then headed to a friend's house to take a walk.  After the walk and a little relaxing, it was back home to finally rest before Trav and the kids returned home.  And just because things always work out like this, I received the call from Trav that they were headed home just as I was getting ready for a nice, long, relaxing bath - oh well, my rest time was shorter than I would have liked, but I still managed to squeeze in a bunch of stuff in a short amount of time.  When Ellie returned on Monday, Mom and Dad said the kids were great (apparently Ellie only cried once which is weird because all she does at home is cry), Duluth was beautiful, and overall it was a great trip!  I'll leave with some pictures Mom took of the fun . . . .

I hope Mom and Dad enjoyed the ease of this years 3-year-old trip because the next time they head north with 3-year-old grand kids, it will be Avery, Charlotte, and Kate - sounds like a blast!

South Dakota

The whole family ventured out to South Dakota this weekend for some fun in the sun (and luckily, the weather cooperated!).  My former college teammate/roommate was nice enough to invite us all out to their gorgeous house right on beautiful Lake Campeska in Watertown, SD - what's not to love about that!  So on Friday, I was up and at it early.  First I stopped to pick up Aaron's portable DVD player (a must for any trip over 3 hours with 3 kids), next I headed out to get in a workout, then it was off to get a massage and adjustment, and my final stop was at the bank to open some new accounts - wow, what a morning, and this was all before 10am!  After that was all done, I was back home getting things packed while Trav kept the kids busy.  By 1:30pm (about 30 minutes later than I had planned), we were all loaded and ready to go. The trip out was surprisingly peaceful (Ellie slept, Lauren and Ryan watched movies), and Trav and I caught up on all things important in our life.  By 5pm, we rolled into Watertown, and because Travis can't drive by a Buffalo Wild Wings without salivating at the mouth, we stopped in for some dinner.  When we wrapped up dinner, we drove the 10 miles out to Kris and Scott's house and let the fun begin!  The girls were in the house playing with Barbies within minutes, Ryan was just impressed with the jet ski out front, and couldn't wait for his turn to drive it.  We spent the night catching up on things, but called it quits early in preparation for the big day ahead.  Saturday morning started out with Monkey Bread and crazy kids - a great combination considering we would be outside the whole day wearing off all of that pent up energy.  By 10am, the kids were in their suits and out by the lake.  By 10:02am, Ryan was taking his first driving lesson on the jet ski - he loved it!  About an hour into the fun, another former teammate came out to visit with her husband and their four kids, and by then, we gave ourselves the green light to start having some adult beverages (and now the real fun begins).  We basically spent the remainder of the day jet skiing, tubing, skiing, and just riding around on the pontoon until rain showers rolled in around 4:30pm.  By then the kids were tired anyway so we showered them all up, put on some warm clothes and let them play inside while the adults did some more drinking and talking.  Ryan was the surprise of the day, our normally scared of almost anything kid, drove the jet ski, went tubing (they had four different types of tubes to choose from), and even tried his hand at skiing (he used a "training" ski tube and said, "that was too boring, I want to try the real thing" - more on that later).  By 7:00pm, the rains had stopped so we headed back outside for a campfire and smores, but about 20 minutes into it, the killer mosquitoes came out so we all went in (bugs always ruin the fun).  After the long day, we had no problems putting kids to bed early and talking for a while before we also turned in for an early night.  And now onto Sunday . . . the day Ryan got to try "real" skiing.  Scott ran over to a neighbor's house to borrow the next step up of "training skis" so back into the water we all went around 10am (and just so you know, it was warm, but not that warm, and there was a pretty good breeze coming off the lake so if it was for any other reason, I would not have gone in the water, but for Ryan, I did).  We decided the best plan would be for Scott to drive the jet ski, me to hold the line (which was attached to the skis on Ryan's feet so therefore could not just to hooked to the jet ski like a normal ski rope would), and Trav to be in the water to help Ryan get started.  It sounded like a no fail plan, but it was anything but that!  Everything started off great, Ryan was in the water, his skis were in place, and he gave us the go ahead to start the engine, that is when everything went terribly wrong.  Ryan actually started to get out of the water, but because of the pull from him, I couldn't pull the rope I was hanging onto tight enough without getting pulled off the jet ski.  So I frantically grabbed Scott with one arm while trying to pull Ryan with the other (anyone who has seen my arms knows that this was never going to work), when it was clear to me that wasn't going to work, I dropped the rope about the same time Ryan did (this was the only good thing about this attempt, Ryan did not get pulled under water because I let go of the rope).  Then, out of no where, a huge rogue wave (as big as can be on a little lake in Watertown, SD), hits the jet ski right on the side and before I know it, Scott is saying, "oh crap."  I'm thinking he is being an ass and trying to pretend we are tipping over, but then all of a sudden he goes crashing into the water (he is a big guy, at least 300 lbs) and when that happens, I lose all of my balance and also fall into the water (I've been told my fall was anything but graceful).  When we both come up, we laugh (well Scott did, I was still in shock), but then realize the jet ski is still running (apparently situations like this are the reason you are supposed to wear the little bracelet on your wrist that pulls the key out when you fall off - what a weird concept).  With the jet ski headed straight towards a docked boat down the shore, Kris (who is still on shore) takes off running after it (I'm not sure what she would have done if she had caught the jet ski, but kudos to her for at least doing something) while Scott is swimming after it (I, on the other hand, swam straight back into shore - clearly I am useless in times of need).  At some point, the jet ski started turning in circles (which we found out afterwards is what they are designed to do), and Scott was able to grab the key out of the ignition.  WOW, what a first attempt that was!  After a few replays and laughs over the incident, Ryan was ready to try again.  This time we switched up our plan a bit.  Scott was still driving, but Trav and I swapped spots because Travis "supposedly" has bigger muscles than me and could hold the rope better then me - whatever.  With the changes made, Ryan gave the go ahead for attempt number 2, but this one ended worse than the first.  This time, Ryan didn't get out of the water, and Trav did hold on better then me, but because Ryan didn't get up, Trav's holding on actually caused Ryan to get dragged under the water (the rope that Trav was holding was attached to the skis Ryan was wearing - who ever invented that didn't think about the fact that people aren't used to letting ropes go when they are watching their kids trying to ski).  Anyway, it took Scott yelling at Trav to, "drop the rope" before Trav realized what he was doing.  By the time Ryan popped out of the water, he was coughing, crying, and yelling, "you almost killed me!"  Maybe a bit dramatic, but probably scary for a kid who just wants to ski.  And with that attempt, Ryan's ski days have come to an end.  He told us he was never going to try skiing again because he could, "die" and he didn't want that.  I tried to tell him that this was just the first of many things we would probably screw up in his life, but then Trav corrected me and said, "this is not the first, and certainly won't be the last."  I'm not sure either of our statements helped Ryan, but we felt better as parents after we justified ourselves so at least someone was doing better!  With all the ski commotion behind us, we decided to pack up and head back to the great state of Minnesota.  It was a great weekend.  Kris, Scott, and their kids are the best hosts ever, and we hope they'll have us back again!  I'll leave with some pictures from the weekend, and also two from last weekend of Ellie and EJ tubing (thanks for sending those Troy).

Notice the rainbow?  Kids thought it was pretty neat.