Weekend Full of Visits

One of my favorite aspects of summer is visiting with anyone and everyone. It seems as though we are, in general, more likely to get around to see others or have family and friends over. This past weekend was no different. Saturday started off with our normal routine: dry cleaners, Sam's Club, Meijer, house cleaning, laundry....normal routine things. On Saturday evening, Dad and Tammy came over for dinner. What a great visit. It's been quite some time since they were able to hang out for a visit, but none-the-less, we crammed in as much conversation and play time as possible. The boys absolutely adore the two of them which is so awesome to see. It also helps that they aren't afraid to get down and dirty with them. (Not literally, just figuratively.) Here are a few shots of the fun we had.

One day we'll get a better picture.

It wouldn't be the best visit ever if "horsey rides" weren't given!

Sunday morning we arose bright and early and headed down to Dubois County. We stopped by my mother's house and visited for a short while. After we headed over to a gathering my high school friends had. Nicole and Steve so graciously hosted the gang. Their house is absolutely beautiful. I believe in total there were around 16 adults and 8 kids. Not as many as last year, however it was great to see everyone. We did take a few shots of the kids as well as the "kids" from high school. We left our camera in the car, but were promised to get a few pictures sent along from those that did bring theirs along.

After our departure from the country, we headed up to Bloomington and had dinner with Sara and Daniel. It's always nice to see others on their home turf. We don't take enough time to get down and see them, so stopping by on our way home was a nice treat. We've decided to make a more concerted effort to get away to visit though. Once we were, we let the boys loose in the sprinkler for some good old fashion fun. Kylie, the neighbor girl / Jackson's girlfriend came over to join in on the fun.


Up this week: visit with Jason and Gunmarie (and girls) prior to their return to Sweden. We have a neighborhood cookout on Saturday and currently nothing on Sunday. I'm sure we'll find someone to visit with.



until next time...lc

Weekend Visit

Kyle, Ryan and Sara took out some time to visit with their Grandma Dessie this past Saturday. Meanwhile, Melissa, Ethan and Dylan headed over for dinner and an evening full of play time. After filling up on Papa Murphy's pizza and some mixed fruit, we headed outside. We took the longest possible route to the park and then proceeded to make them burn up as much energy as possible. Here are a few photos of our journey...

Jackson & Ethan

Kian kept sitting in the stroller waiting for us to leave. He was so exhausted despite taking a 3 hour nap prior to their arrival.
Dylan
Ethan
Jackson

Upon arrival home, we bathed the boys and settled into bed. We allowed Jackson and Ethan to watch a movie. Once the boys were asleep, we decided to let Ethan and Dylan sleep over. They were all thrilled on Sunday morning when they woke up and realized they had an unintended sleep-over. Play time resumed at full force until they departed later that morning. We love to have them over and wish we could do so more often.

until next time...lc

Manners, please

Last night at dinner Kian was jabbering away as usual. If you've been around him recently, you know the boy can talk. (I have no idea where he gets that from!) After the third attempt at getting our attention, I realized he was saying, "Thank you cook Dad. Thank you cook Mom." For quite a while now, we've always thanked the person that cooked dinner. Jackson started this a couple of years ago and it's something that stuck. But Kian just melted my heart saying this completely unsolicited. What a sweet little boy. Perhaps he was making up for being a handful prior to dinner.

I'm a big stickler for manners. I always joked with Kyle that the first words out of our children's mouths would be PLEASE and THANK YOU. I was a little disappointed when DADA came out first, but at least they were in the top 10. Not too shabby.

We are so proud that our boys have the manners they do. Granted, they slip from time to time, but for the most part they are very courteous children. Kyle and I always love to hear other adults compliment them on their manners. It makes us feel as though we're heading them in the right direction.

Team Daddy Storms the Park at Norma(vo)ndy

This morning, Kian woke us around 6AM, much to our chagrin - particularly Laura's, as she'd planned to sleep in a bit and let me handle the boys first thing. As usual, Kian would accept no substitutes to mommy's arms, so we both got out of bed. After a morning breakfast, I could see that Laura was really worn down, and needed to get back to sleep for a bit. After we'd eaten, I proposed to the boys that we, "go check out a new park and play, maybe even take a walk and explore some woods and trails."

Surprisingly, this was a well-received suggestion, so Team Daddy packed up some gear, some water and some snacks, and we headed over to Avon-Washington Township Community Park. The playground was recently overhauled, and I knew they had some decent trails we could walk, should the boys exhaust themselves on the new equipment. Turned out, we had no need to explore the trail system, as we blew through 2 hours invading and conquering the nice-sized playground area. Here are some pictures documenting our morning adventure...

We love the smell of recycled-tire mulch in the morning!

Our fearless commandos begin their assault by scaling the formidable rock wall barracading the grounds from outsiders!

SUCCESS! First obstacle cleared, Captain!

We will take no prisoners, and we will leave no jungle-gym unscathed!

Corporal Jackson, preparing his ascent to the command center. We wished him luck as he penetrated the enemy's enclave...

Crucial to any successful invasion is the commandeering of the enemy's livestock and pack animals. Our forces quickly gained the upper-hand with these hearty creatures.

Field Seargent Kian rejoicing over his mastery of the ever-elusive and powerful Cement Tortoise. Well done, soldier!

Sabotaging our foes' defense grid. This will prove to be a key maneuver in aiding our progress through their bunker!

The Field Seargent's lone weakness: being mesmerized by shiny circles. Advance, Seargent, before the enemy recuperates! THAT'S AN ORDER!

Corporal Jackson, proceeding with the mission statement, and overtaking a vital air command vehicle. Excellent work!

"OK, Captain...I'll make my descent down the orange evacuation tube, to ensure I neutralize any of the enemy's escapees!"

"FS Kian to Corp. Jackson, do you read, over? Rendezvous at the escape tube, I need back-up!"

"COPY THAT, SARGE! At the escape tube in T-minus 2 minutes."

"2 minutes, 15 seconds...DAMMIT, where is the Corporal!?!?!?"

"Rendezvous complete, Captain! I was side-tracked by a biological need! We're making our way down the evac tube, ASAP!"

"Ah ha...I LOVE it when a plan comes together!"

"These evac tubes do little for my complexion..."

"Jackson! I need you to shimmy yer narrow behind up this rope thing-a-majig and give me a report on our progress from the top of this apparatus. Survey the damage to-date, and let me know of any remaining hot spots!"

"Yes sir! Survey outpost scaled, the enemy is in full retreat!"

"By Jove, he's right...the front is finally quiet...maybe TOO quiet."

MISSION COMPLETE! The bridge is ours!

"Well done, men, well done. Time for a well-earned bit of field R&R. Fruit snacks and water for everyone! HUZZAH!!!"

Celebratory swinging and gravity-defiance commences in the wake of Team Daddy's complete and utter victory. Savor it boys, for wins this sweet come all-too-rarely.

That's right...we do, in fact, rule.

(K)

Not to Flog The Horse, But...

Laura's covered a lot of what we were going through with Jackson being away for a couple of days, but I wanted to just add a couple of quick thoughts.

First, this was not our first time away from Jackson for this amount of time - he'd spent a couple of consecutive days with Papaw and Nana Hop when we were in the hospital for Kian's birth. That was tough, but knowing he was pretty much just a phone call and a bit of a car ride away was comforting. Further, Tammy was awesome about bringing him up to visit, so it wasn't like he was away-away. Also, being the family traveller, I've spent a bunch (and, too much, probably) of time away from all of the family, but that also didn't have the impact this had on me.

Second, it sometimes feels a bit melodramatic to have gotten this worked up over him spending a few days with his Nana P, and the rest of his Jasper-based family. And, I don't want to give the impression that we'll never allow this to happen again - it's good for all of us for the boys to get used to being away and spending time forging their own personal relationships with our extended families; mom and dad just need to adjust to the reality. But, at the end of the day, who WOULDN'T want to maximize their time with these two amazing little people? I mean, they've taught me more about life in the nearly 5 years we've had them both in our lives than I learned in the previous 27 years of my own life. I feel like I truly enjoy each and every day that I'm alive now because I get to look forward to their hugs and kisses and words of love and actions of annoyance. The perspectives they bring to us about all the minutiae of life - the details that go unnoticed to the adult eye - allow our minds to engage in a healthy exercise of reverting back to the time when experience wasn't filtered through a sieve of jade. And, I've come to crave that every day. I need their insights, or else I feel my mind start to wither and harden with re-directed focus on the boring bullshit routine of the "adult world."

Anyway, Laura put it best in an email to me yesterday. She wrote, "What a great kid he is. I can't wait to see what life has in store for him next. He always keeps us entertained. I think that's what I enjoy the most about him. Let the journey continue..."

Let it continue, indeed...for both of these awesome little dudes.

(K)

He's Baaaaack!

We received a call yesterday morning on our drive in to work that Jackson was home sick and wanted to come home. Evidently he woke up a few times and said, "I love you Nana, but I really want my Mommy and Daddy." How sweet! So after dropping Kyle off, I headed down to meet them. I was able to get him to day care just before lunch. Man, he sure missed his friends and Michelle. He loved on her for a good while when we arrived and then dished out some luvin' for all of his friends. He kept saying he had a great time with Nana, but that he missed us and was happy to be home. On our drive home last night he said, "Mom, are you happy we are a family again?" Oh, how he knows how to melt our hearts.

Collectively, I think Kyle and I received about two hundred hugs and kisses from Jackson. I guess it takes being apart for a few days to remind you how special your children are to you. I missed him terribly and am so relieved and excited to have him back home. I know the time he spent with my mom will be forever "bemembered" by the two of them and we are very thankful for that. They both seemed to have enjoyed each other and overall had a great time. What a great experience for the two of them. From fishing to the library adventure and swimming to their blanket making, they seemed to have packed quite the punch into the 3 days they spent together. I'll have to get him to tell me a story or two to share with you on here. I'm sure we'll all enjoy them.

until next time...lc

"Are you going to cry?"

Unfortunately that's what I heard as Jackson was on his way out the door today. Rewind a bit...My mom came up for a visit this weekend. While eating breakfast Kian was clowning around like normal and making request after request. About that time I turned to Mom and asked if she wanted to take him home with her. She said that she wouldn't mind taking Jackson, but she would never get anything accomplished with Kian around. Thankfully Mom's on vacation this week. She was due to travel to Detroit with Katy for the week, but Jacob was sent as a replacement, leaving Mom with the week off. She agreed to take to Jackson back to Jasper with her until Thursday. Now if Katy makes it to the top 16, Mom is going to drive to Detroit to watch her finish up and at that time drop Jackson off in Indy. If not, we're going to meet her in Bloomington on Thursday.

Jackson, Mom and I ran a few errands around Indy this morning before the headed out. During a leg of our journey, Jackson said, "I'll be a little sad to not be with you Mommy, but I will have fun. Don't worry. It's OK if you cry. Are you going to cry just a little or a lot." I just about lost it right there. Of course, Kyle and I cried when he left, "just a little." We both know he's in good hands, but not having him around is a bummer. He's a great kid and we can't wait for him to come home. I just got a call that they've arrived safe and sound in Jasper. That was shortly followed by, "Where Jack at?" We know it will be hard on us, but poor Kian. They are together nearly 24/7. He's going to be lost without him.

Have a great time, Bubby and Nana!!!

until next time...lc

Oh, By the Way...

Laura reminded me this morning that there are a bunch more pictures from our day at the arch that were downloaded from our video camera. Our still camera's batteries died about 15 minutes after we got to the Arch Park.

Those pictures are in a different folder on our home computer, which is why I forgot them. I'll try to make an amended vacation post later this week.

(K)