Beach fun

I turned 18 months old on Tuesday. Can you believe it? I'm getting so big! Mommy noticed that I had a growth spurt a few weeks ago and has been curious for my doctor's appointment to see how I would fare on the charts. The suspense ended today. I cooperated beautifully for the weighing and measuring! It was actually kind of fun. We found out I was 30 1/4 inches tall (13%) and 19 lbs 3 oz (1%)! Everyone was happy to see that my percentiles were pretty much the same as last time. So no worries! And everything else looked good, too. Usually there are no shots at 18 months, but because of a vaccine shortage I had one more to go. They gave me another booster a bit early so now I should have no more shots until kindergarten, we hope! William was more nervous about my shots than I was. But he got to blow bubbles while I had my shots and he got even more stickers than me! And when we went to Burger King after the doctor HE got a toy and I DIDN'T! But I really didn't mind. All I wanted was the french fries ... and my blankie and nuk. I wanted my nuk in my mouth even while I was chewing my food. I was still sad about how I was treated at the doctor. It's so unfair for them to do that to sweet little girls like me.

(Say it like a song.)
We watched fireworks in the city at Denise's house
And we watched fireworks there.
We too watched fireworks at Grandpa Ron and Grandma Barb's house
Down on the river.
Yeah, we really, really watched fireworks there.
Cool fireworks there.

William has two pairs of eyes

We watched fireworks at Marty and Dave's house at Beaver Lake at one of their neighbor's house. And we went on the paddle boat and swam in the middle of the lake. And me and Dad played in a squirt gun battle.

Me wearing my band hat with cool feathers on it.

The parade had loud firetrucks and noisy cymbals and a band in the parade. The band was with a guitar, a 'lectric one, and it wasn't noisy enough for me. And it also had drums. The drums weren't noisy enough for me. The giant one had a picture of a flamingo on it. The band had dancers and a horn. And the parade had a car with my bam bam ball coaches in it. They were wearing crowns and princess dresses. I got hundreds and bundreds of candy. The end. That's a true story.

[William loves getting comments on his blog. Thanks!]

It's my turn to weigh in about our trip! I had a lot of fun! Riding in the car wasn't even so bad because I got to have my blankie and nukie as much as I wanted. I watched more tv (DVDs on the computer) during the days we were driving than I have in my entire 17 months combined. But what else are you going to do when you're strapped in for 50 hours? Naps, stories, songs, toys, and snacks only go so far.

Rocking in her chair

I've even started watching a little more tv when we're at home because Mommy got out my little chair again. I loved climbing in Ariella's seat at Auntie Dawn's house and one of my favorite things to do is to "rock, rock." So I now sit in my chair, rock, and watch tv!

But back to our trip... I really liked the hotel where we stayed in Nebraska. I did NOT want to go to sleep there. Mommy and William went down to the pool to play and swim while I was supposed to go to bed. I let Daddy know that I didn't like that idea. I didn't want to go to sleep unless everyone else was going to sleep, too!

Quandary Peak

Colorado was lots fun. The mountains were very "pretty!" And the lodge had lots of stuffed animals hanging everywhere I looked. I liked saying, "Hi Kitty" to the mountain lion on the mantle downstairs. And there were even live animals to watch outside: a fox, black bear, chipmunks, squirrels and birds. There were also plenty of aunts, uncles and cousins to spoil me. I stayed up late, woke up early and took two naps a day. I haven't taken two naps a day in a long time! All that fun really takes it out of a girl.

Then I got to spend time with all my cousins! There was the night at the Legatts in Nebraska that was a lot of fun. They have a great playroom! And then four nights in Arkansas with Abi, Faith and Parker. It was nice and hot there so we played in the water a lot, which I love! I got to practice going up and down slides in the pool and in their basement. Now I can do it by myself!

William hitting a home run!

But now we're home and it's just not as exciting around here as it was on our trip. I bring Mommy my new pink crocks from Adam and Jennie to tell her I want to go out. Thanks, Adam and Jennie! Mommy's been trying to keep us busy with William's BamBam ball games, the library, park, and going to visit grandparents. But now that we're home I've got to keep my blankie and nukie in my bed, so car rides aren't so fun anymore. Mom's sure my eye teeth are coming in which is why I've been biting and whining a lot. Unfortunately I think they'll be a while yet. Well, I'm off for my next adventure at the farmer's market!

If you want to know more about the trip, William and Mom both wrote more!

The boys in the Jumpolene

[On our trip] We went to Lowe's and had a race with Abi and Faith and Parker. And I liked the mountains because they had snow on them and I like snow. That's true. And I liked the hotel a lot. It has a couch that transforms into a bed. At Auntie Dawn's house, I liked the Jumpolene and I liked the obstacle race. The obstacle race was downstairs where you had to jump over the spikey obstacles and jump on the trampolene into the Jumpolene and jump over those bowling stuff and go in a loopty-loop in Mom's and Dad's beds and run over my bed and jump over the bowling pin things again and jump into the Jumpolene again and jump onto the trampolene again and then jump over the spikey obstacles again and then run back to the starting line by the wall. And then there was more and more spikey obstacles on each level.

Today we made paper cranes. That's true.

[William would like to know if other people get his blog on their computers. So please register and comment. It would make his day!]

Day 1 - Left home by 8:00am for Grand Island, NE. Arrived at the Holiday Inn for a quick swim before getting dinner at Long John Silvers (we'd never been to one and Darren wanted to try the Lobster Bites - yum!) and visiting some family camping for the night at Mormon Island State Park. After returning to the hotel William and I went to swim while Eliana was supposed to be falling asleep. We had a fun swim, but a tough time convincing the little one that she needed to go to sleep!

Day 2 - Departed Grand Island after a nice brunch in the hotel restaurant. Lunch was cheese and crackers on the road so we could arrive in Breckenridge, CO in plenty of time for dinner. We gained an hour due to mountain time. The Gold King Lodge was beautiful and just the right size to sleep our crew of about 30.

Day 3 - I explored downtown Breckenridge with one group while Darren and the kids stayed back and explored around the lodge with another group. In the evening we celebrated the triplets' (my cousins) graduation from their Denver-area high school!

Our crew of mountain climbers

Day 4 - An amazingly large number out of my family of night owls departed at 6:45am to climb Quandary Peak, one of the top 20 highest peaks in Colorado. The majority returned home with great stories of their ascent above 13,000 feet and only a few brave and/or stubborn climbers continued on. They made it to varying points between 13,000 and 14,000+ feet (Darren figures he made it to about 13,700ft). Only two Coloradans: my brother Adam who led the climb and Audra, one of the recent graduates, toughed it out to the peak (14,265ft). It was snowy, cold and extremely windy up there! The afternoon was understandably filled with naps and hot tubbing, while the night was a celebration of Grandma's 80th birthday!

Day 5 - We started out our morning with a lovely brunch and a baby shower to celebrate the much anticipated next baby in the family. My brother and his wife, who are currently living in Boulder, CO, are expecting a boy in October! After the shower wrapped up, one group went off to ride an old steam train through the mountains. This party was graced with every type of weather God made during their open-air train ride. Our kids stayed in the warm, dry lodge for play and naps, much to William's disappointment. I went with another group to the outlet mall a couple towns over. After returning Darren, William and I hopped in the car for a sunset drive up Boreas Pass while dinner was cooking. Eliana stayed back and played with the aunts seeing as the next day was going to be spent entirely in the car. It certainly saved my heart a few skipped beats to not have her in the car with us. The drive was terrifying and beautiful.

Cute cousins - the Legatts and McKeevers

Day 6 - Off we go again! We didn't even stay long enough for brunch. We headed out to Seward, NE where we planned to spend the night with Darren's sister Dawn, her husband Nathan, and their four little ones ages 4, 2, 1 and 0! We wanted to arrive before too late since were were losing an hour with the time zone change. But we started out with a bit of a setback when we realized we still had some items in our car that were meant for Adam and Jennie and their baby boy. So we took a lovely scenic detour to Boulder where we met up with Adam to do a quick swap. Then we continued on our way. We arrived in Seward at around 8:00pm and Tiernan, the four-year-old was waiting for us. He showed William right to the toys and they played hard for a couple hours before collapsing into sleep.

Day 7 - Our kids slept so well that we didn't get much time to play before heading out for the next day of driving. We would've loved to stay in Nebraska longer, but that wasn't part of the plan for this trip. We were continuing on to Arkansas for a visit with Darren's other sister, Leah, her husband John, and their three kids ages 7, 5 and 3. Our kids were getting to be pros in the car and we made it a quick trip, arriving in time for dinner.

Day 8 - We enjoyed the heat of the Arkansas summer by playing in water in the driveway at the house. The kids loved their picnic lunch in their swimsuits and afterward went right back into the water again. The cousins had a blast together.

Ring around the Rosie

Day 9 - The day started out a little cool for our trip to the big pool, but quickly warmed up when the sun came out. We spent some time in the wading pool, ate lunch, and then headed to the big pool. Eliana was getting crabby and tired, so I brought her back for a nap while the big kids stayed and swam and played.

Day 10 - We visited the flip house which is really looking great. Then the moms and kids weathered a tornado warning at Hobby Lobby, as good a place as any to hang out during a storm until they herd you into the bathrooms and break rooms. Then it starts to get not-so-interesting for five squirmy kids. Thankfully it was over quickly, much more quickly than our southern-style diner lunch. But the food was great and the server was friendly and kind enough to treat us to dessert. None of us were very hungry for dinner that night!

Day 11 - Wow! I thought I said it was a 10-day trip... hmmm... I guess I never counted the return day since we slept in our own beds. But we spent the whole day in the car driving home to MN. We stopped for an hour and a half to visit our friends in Owatonna. They were gracious enough to grill some hotdogs and brats for us since we were passing through around dinnertime. It was great for the kids to run and play in the yard. Their two are about the same age as ours. We wish they still lived in Sauk Rapids because we would get to see them more and we were anxious to get back to our own beds. The kids could feel the excitement as the final leg of our trip came to an end. We were cheering that we would get to sleep in our own beds in our own house which was a sight for travel weary eyes by the end of the day.

As fun as the trip was, as great as the kids were, as hospitable as all our hosts were, and as many times as I said we should live like this all the time, it sure felt nice to walk into our house at the end of the day.

Michael is so excited, despite the fact that we blow out candles at EVERY birthday party :)

Yesterday was my dad's birthday. We celebrated Friday night with a dinner at my parents' house. A good time was had by all and some fun pictures were captured. You'll have to take a look. I'll have to thank Tommy for the pictures of the cork game and Joe for the ones of me and Ellie. Nice shooting, guys! I took the ones of the silly "motorcycle" helmet that we got for my dad to represent the new one he picked out the next day at the store. I wish I had a picture of the real one, but I don't yet. I hear it's really cool and, best of all, it will keep the bugs out of his teeth!

Well, I'd better get back to preparing for our road trip. We leave on Wednesday for Nebraska where we'll swim, play, and rest for the night at a hotel before continuing on to Colorado. We'll be spending four nights in a lodge in Breckenridge with most of my mom's side of the family (we'll miss those of you who can't make it). After that we're continuing on to Arkansas to visit Darren's sister and her family... while we're all packed up and road tripping, we figured, "Why not?" We'll spend four nights there and head home next Saturday. If you're counting, we still haven't decided what to do with the trip to Arkansas. Take it in two shorter days or muscle it out in one long one. If we choose to divide the trip into two days, do we stay in a hotel in Kansas or take the longer route and go again through Nebraska? We'll have to see how the first leg goes.

We'll have the computer with us for watching DVDs in the car, so maybe I'll get to post a few pictures and an update while we're traveling. ???

ST. Blog'S DaY iS thE daY yoU writE blogS.

I goT a ... nO, I trickeD you! I got a new bike.

When Eliana says "nukie" it sounds mmmmmmmmmmmmmOre like "uuuuuuuuuuuuuckie," "blankie" sounds mmmmmmmmmmmmmOre like "ankie."

A Poem by William
dog
cat
vacuum
socks
spaghetti

By William
Typed by William

Helping throw something in the garbage

I'm really trying to talk a lot lately. I babble all the time. I always know what I want, but I'm too little to get it myself and I usually don't know how to say it. So this results in quite a bit of whining. There's nothing that makes me sadder than when Mommy tells me to "Shhhh." I just wish that I could talk and am sad that I can't yet. I understand what everyone else is saying. I'm great at following directions, like when you ask me to throw something in the garbage or get my shoes. And if you can figure out what I want, I always say, "Yeah" and nod my head. Basically, I know lots of things that I want to say, I just can't actually make my mouth say them. I sing my "Sounds Like Fun" alphabet song to practice making sounds. My favorite sounds are still "Bbb" and "Ddd". Now I say "Daddy" perfectly and love to say "Hi Daddy" when he comes upstairs from working.

Another thing I can do well is spit! I'm always told not to spit except when I brush my teeth. So when it comes time to brush my teeth, all I want to do is spit! I keep leaning over the sink while I wait for enough drool to accumulate. Then I spit it in the sink! I'm a very talented spitter with perfect aim!

Our whole family had a nice vacation this past week. The kids spent their vacation with Grandma and Grandpa Lanz and Michael. They had so much fun that they're ready for us to go on another trip already (well, one of them says he's ready)! I spent my vacation in New York City. Darren was in New York as well, although he spent a good part of his days in class for work. We can't complain, though, since work funded the bulk of the trip.

I enjoyed my mornings being lazy in the hotel room until I met Darren for lunch somewhere near his class in the Financial district. My afternoons consisted of visiting the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Battery Park, the World Trade Center site, and the New York City Public Library. Oh, and I mustn't forget Starbucks (literally on every corner, hopefully Caribou can gain some momentum there). I also did a fair amount of reading.

After Darren got out of class, we hurried off to the train for whatever adventure awaited us. It was entirely a matter of seeing what our fortunes would hold and thankfully we seemed to have luck on our side this week.

The first evening we hurried uptown thinking we had scored last minute tickets online to attend a taping of the Daily Show with John Stewart if only we could get there on time. Unfortunately we arrived too late, but our timing was perfect to get two of the last three spots at the Colbert Report down the block! It was a hilarious show (May 6) and I even got to sit in the front row where I got to shake Stephen's hand! The funny thing was that before the show began they announced that they were doing "the Toss" in front of the audience which apparently hadn't been done in a long time. If you watch the Daily Show you understand what this means... that we actually got to be on the Daily Show after all! Haha! (Those were our lines if you're listening for us.) After the show we enjoyed a meal at a fantastic little Russian restaurant! More good luck!

New York City

Fast forward to the next night... We decided to try our luck on Broadway to win last minute tickets for the musical Wicked. Would our streak continue? Darren stopped at Times Square to watch some Fast Money while I went to check out the lottery process. Between 5:30 - 6:00 people can sign up to win one or two of the 24 reserved tickets for that night's sold-out show for only $26 each. We estimated there were a couple hundred people who signed up. We didn't get drawn. Instead we went back downtown to the Seaport where we enjoyed the beautiful view of the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset and a seafood dinner. I had a broiled seafood platter and Darren had a unique experience with the sauted softshell crab. We followed dinner with Godiva chocolate for dessert.

"I won the Wicked Lottery" as the button says

The next night we tried the ticket lottery again - same process, same number of people. This time my name was called! I purchased my tickets and then, since we had time before the show, we went to look for some dinner. I was in the mood for a good burger and we certainly found one at the Heartland Brewery! It's kind of amusing that we went all the way to NYC to eat in the Heartland but it hit the spot and their beers were excellent! We returned to the theater having no idea where we were going to be seated, so imagine our surprise when our $26 tickets landed us in the front row! (Hint for other novices: the word "orchestra" on your ticket means you're sitting in front... right behind the orchestra pit.) We could see the sweat on Glinda's upper lip! The show was great fun!

The next morning Darren didn't have class, but that also meant it was Saturday, our last day in the city. We went over to Chinatown for a little shopping/haggling, Little Italy for lunch, and through SoHo on our way to hop a train to Central Park for a bit of nature. All of those places are crazy busy on a Saturday afternoon! There are so many different kinds of people all doing their own thing. It's truly like you can see the whole world on that one little island! I love it! Unfortunately we had to come home and our lucky streak had worn out which we could tell by the number of times we were asked to be patient as we waited to board our plane and then to take off. But we finally arrived home to sweet children sleeping peacefully in their beds who, despite everything they say, seemed happy to see us in the morning.