Summer Stuff - PhotoPalooza

A switch flipped at the end of June and we went from crappy, cold, wet spring to insta-summer. I'll take it, thankyouverymuch. So we've been out and about a lot and since I've been a blogging lame-o brace yourselves for a lengthy catch up.

Starting with a few weeks ago. Genevieve has always been an 'ebb and flow' sleeper - weeks on end sleeping beautifully, followed by weeks on end getting up time and time again. Brutal. The night before this little outing had been one of "those" nights and I decided the best solution for a super deep sleep was to wear this girl OUT all morning. Hellloooooooo zoo.

Ride the "hOOOOrsie"


Tentatively pet the (smallest) goat


Ooh la la, fancy tattoo (1/2 off before noon? Score.)


Baby's First Ink

The next weekend was Fourth of July, which we planned to spend at the cottage. The weather was basically perfect and we swam a LOT. It was fun to see G be so much more confident around the water than she was last year. We hung out on floaties and took snoozies and ate until we exploded, then we watched two nights of fireworks.

Hi hi


Miss Fourth of July, 2011


I wanna go in the "flOOOOOOOOOatie"! (not unlike hOOOOOrsie)


Holding on to the mom tow-floatie


Warm me up, pops


Hanging on the sun deck


Step aside top models, there's a new girl in town


Some things never change.


Ready...............


GO!!


Catching some air

As you can see, we took a page from the Harms' "teach your kid to swim" playbook and strapped G into her life jacket for some fun jumping and to work on paddling. At first she wanted nothing to do with floating on her own, much less actually kicking, but after a few rounds she started to catch on. Check out her first "swim" on the weekend of the 4th, followed by some serious progress just one week later:

We came home on Monday and hit up Elm Grove Park Monday night for the fireworks show here. EG is pretty small so we weren't expecting an hour long show, but they did a terrific job. It didn't hurt that there was a family sitting next to us with a daughter who was 4 days younger than Genevieve and a 2-month old baby in tow. GG split her fireworks time between watching them pop and seeing what the other little girl was up to. It was great that we could just walk to and from the park, but by the time we got home it was pretty late. Again. The next day was a back-to-work back-to-school day, so six bells came really early for us all. I don't recommend putting your nearly 3-year old to bed at 10:30 for three consecutive nights, but when it's a long holiday weekend, what can ya do?

Off to yet another fireworks bonanza


Ready for the show!

So all of that was through Monday night. By Thursday of last week I was on another packing extravaganza, preparing to jaunt off to our first ever family camping weekend, with all of our college buds. In a tent. On the ground. I managed to weasel my way out of this little adventure last year (we had a legitimate excuse. I have no recollection of what it was, but it was legit), but we were all in this year. 5 months pregnant and all. Friday afternoon I got home a little early and packed up most of the gear, food, coolers, totes, and any random thing I could find that someone *might* need (activity #1 that a prego should relieve herself of). Matt and G arrived home and an hour later we were on the road to Bass Lake Campground in the Dells area. Knowing it was our first family tenting adventure, Shawn and Kyle volunteered to take our tent and set it up for us in advance. LOVE YOU GUYS. We staked her down once we got there and unpacked the mess for our adventure. Everyone was there by Friday night and on Saturday morning there were six hungry bellies waiting to be fed.

It takes a (tent) village


The brood

We spent most of the day Saturday in the pool, and thank god there was one because it was murther furking hot and humid. Which is to say nothing of the gnats and mosquitoes which ate us alive for 72 straight hours (item #2 a prego should relieve herself of: gallons of deet. Sorry fetus). The kids had a super time in the pool and at the questionably rickety playground

Off to the races!


Yeah, our little group took about 2/3 of the entire pool


No Fear Harms


Bros


High flier


Slimy pool smooches


Wheee!


Addie chooses to lounge vs launch

Saturday night we chilled by the campfire and waited for the predicted rain. Sure enough on Sunday it was rainy and ridiculously humid. Our choices were to (a) sit in our tents and attempt to keep the pack of howler monkeys busy or (b) Hit the road to a giant arcade in the Dells where the nuts could burn off some steam. Did I mention it was air conditioned there?? Mount up, folks!

Sillies


The only shot I have of the wee ones sitting in a line, minus Henry who I believe was on diaper detail

Anyone going into this ball pit thing at the arcade needed socks, and when 5 of the 6 kids decided to have a "I'm scared" meltdown, the parents all made mad dashes to the car in hopes of finding a pair or two. I won't lie, we also rotated which may not have been super hygienic, but considering that we had spent the previous day up to our ears in chlorine how bad could it have been? Once there were moms and dads on the scene all the kids had fun. Matt managed to be the only one of the 14 of us to hurt himself, aggravating a heel injury he got in baseball a few weeks ago. G couldn't handle being up there by herself so I was on (item #3 a prego should relieve herself of: crawling through small tunnels).

Get me outta here!


Who's having more fun?


Hey mom!


Seriously, don't tell my OB I did this. She would rage.

We drove back Sunday afternoon and had another super campfire dinner. Huge thanks to pro campers Melissa, Anna, and Robin for showing us the cooking ropes!! Everyone was out by about midnight only to be awakened three hours later by the park manager telling us there was a huge thunderstorm on its way with, quote, "threatening winds" and we "may want to seek shelter". Terrific. So into the bathroom the 14 of us hustled, complete with bleary eyed tots and smart phones, all checking the radar. Fortunately the storm was short lived and needless to say it was the first time in G's nearly 3 years that we allowed her to co-sleep. By 3:30 in the morning really who the H cared? We were up and at 'em by about 7:30 and after feeding the babes everyone packed up to head home. Blissfully we made it to McDonald's with ten minutes to spare before they stopped serving breakfast. How to fix a late and restless night? Hot cakes, obviously. All in all it was fun to see the kids have such a great time and it is always good to make time for the friends who live far away.

We landed back in the Grove at about 1 p.m. and an hour later were back out to shop for supplies for our next summer project: converting the screen porch to a proper mudroom. What, like we'd take a weekend off??

Evening the Score

We had our 20 week ultrasound last week (at 21 weeks) and discovered that my mommy spidey senses were as on for Maio Version 2.0 as they were for GG. Which is to say, it's a boy! Everything is cooking right along and I'm feeling the little kicker more and more every day. Matt was even able to feel him kicking at 21 weeks, which was exciting as he had to wait until 24 with GG. Although obviously Genevieve has no idea what is actually going to happen in a few months, she is really cute when talking about the baby. She will pat my stomach and the other day she hugged an ultrasound picture. Speaking of which...

All arms & legs


We're going to start working on plumping up that baby belly now


For those who need it spelled out...

Heiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-YA!

All that kicking, now I'm sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy

Summer's (mostly) Here

This has been one of the coldest, rainiest Junes on record. Um, boo. But the start and the end have been really lovely and we have taken advantage of every second. Lots has been going on around the pad, starting with a surprise visitor a few weeks ago. Matt's auntie Mar and uncle Peter happened to swing into town, and they were able to stop by for a few minutes. Mar came armed with a princess box set for GG, complete with crown, bracelets, earrings, necklace, wand and - of course - shoes. Geeg was in heaven and immediately demanded to put on her princess dress so she could sport the complete ensemble. If you think she looks right at home it's because this girly girl loves her some bling.

Time for tea?

Thanks auntie Mar!

On the other hand, she's not afraid to get her hands dirty. Actually that's not entirely true: she HATES to have her hands dirty at meal time, but as long as we're playing outside she'll happily get filthy. Matt has been working to mulch the mess of a garden that came with this joint. If the plants and shrubs aren't going to make any sense, they can at least be plumped with wood chips. Little helper is happy to lend a hand.

She pitched a fit at Lowe's when we didn't buy her the mini wheelbarrow, so we call this the 'family wheelbarrow'. Daddy has hauled a lot of mulch and a lot of toddler in this family wheelbarrow.


Also sporting her bandana, which for about 2 days was known as her 'bobamma'.


Ralph supervises

Last weekend we finally made it up to the cottage for the first time this year. K&K are doing an awesome new addition and until last weekend there was no electricity which - when you depend on a pump - also means no water. Fortunately the septic (aka Karl's new favorite obsession) is completely installed and ready to, well, do its thing. Saturday was a nice day and the little fish decided to hop right in to the chilly water in her clothes. The good thing about being a two year old though is that you can strip down where ever and people generally find it adorable. So in the water we went.

Naked butt!


Taking a dip


Back in with the appropriate gear: a tutu swimsuit.


The worst picture of me e.v.e.r. (note to self: wear make up) but so cute of hubby & kiddo, could not resist posting.


Chillin' post-bath


The future master bedroom, full bathroom (with a tub, yahoo!!), entry way, and storage room


And the crap that goes with building it all


You know a good way to use this big, empty space?


Run around like a nutjob, of course


Between the woods, the water, and the sand, Ralphie was in his own little pig pen heaven

Later that afternoon we set sail for our first cruise around the Upper Mill Pond. Alas, our adventure was short lived as the boat pooped out on us about 90 seconds into our ride. Knowing that our chances of the boat dying were about 50/50 the guys had the foresight to bring oars. Oops, scratch that. For some reason they chose to bring AN oar. One. So if we wanted to go around in a circle, we were set. Fortunately a friendly neighbor saw that we were stranded and zipped out to tow us back to shore. Hopefully our nautical adventures will be a little more grand next weekend for 4th of July.

Fail.

This weekend we were in town and had no plans and the weather was great so it was lovely and relaxing. Saturday morning we let daddy sleep really late and the sous chef and I got to work making coffee cake blueberry muffins. Oh doctor are they good. G loves to help bake which may double the mess but is truly adorable.

"Daddy, we're baking!"


Blueberries overboard. Notice the sous chef's concentration.

Today we went to Matt's baseball game to watch dad kick butt and take names. The Orioles are on fire this year which is really fun to watch. Genevieve is quite the little fan, especially since the park that today's game was at had both a big playground and a giant splash pool. Score!

In case you were wondering, GG and daddy have 'matching owies' on their knees. Daddy does not, however, have a Sleeping Beauty band aid on his.

And tonight after dinner we took a family stroll to enjoy the perfect evening. One thing we really did not want to give up when we were house hunting was being within walking distance of daily necessities, and with our house being about 3/4 of a mile from the Elm Grove village, we've got all the necessities close at hand. Including the most important of all: an ice cream shop.

Family stroll

On the daddy horsie (horsy?) who does indeed make horsie noises


Delicious ice cream in sight


G insists on sitting on this little bench whenever we pass it. This girl loves her kid-sized chairs.

Hitting the Road

As it's been a while since we've visited Roch - and since the cottage did not have power at the time - we hit the road to MN for Memorial Day. Matt was traveling for work that week and was scheduled to fly back home Thursday night. Ha. Ha. For about the fifteenth consecutive time his return flights were cancelled due to weather. His first option back to MKE was a Saturday morning red-eye. Add that to a 5 hour car trip? I think not. Fortunately he was able to get a flight into Minneapolis Friday morning (another red-eye) and just caught the shuttle to Rochester where my dad picked him up. Ta da. The down-side to this master plan was that it left me alone on the haul to Roch. The last time I did that was last June when Matt was refinishing the hardwood floors in our old house, and it was a night.mare. Karma was on my side though and GG and Ralphie were great little travelers (although I definitely let out a huge sigh of relief once we actually pulled into the driveway and I knew reinforcements were on hand). We had a super fun weekend and enjoyed the near perfect summer weather with a few trips to the park, a little shopping, and a visit with the cutie patootie Kroening boys. Naturally I left my camera in MKE so there is no documentation of the cuteness and fun, but it was a good time. On Sunday GG got to take in her first marathon as my dad ran the Med City. She loved it and got really into cheering for everyone. The weather was runner-perfection and Pete was en fuego. Way to go, Pop Pop!

The drive home took almost six hours (traffic, pee stop, traffic, pee stop, traffic, McFlurry stop for mama. Don't judge me.) but went smoothly and it was nice to have everyone home again.

Last Thursday was Matt's birthday - 29, take 3. K&K came over to watch the wee one so we could go out to the Melting Pot with Shawn & Melissa, and Steve & Erin. Steve was the only one who hadn't been there before and it was fun to have a first-timer at the table. First off, for someone who claims to hate cheese he definitely seemed to enjoy the cheesy spinach & artichoke fondue (although he was hesitant to try the WI Cheddar, declaring it 'too orange'.). He also claims to hate mushrooms so imagine everyone's surprise when he said the mushrooms in his salad were 'cooked perfectly!'. Except they were raw. So...yeah. I truly thought Melissa was going to choke on her beer. A good time was had by all! We all went back to the house after to eat the lime meringue tart that Matt had requested and I had worked on for about 2 days. The recipe said specifically to let it sit out but I should have used my melon and realized that there was an unwritten addendum to that which said, "unless of course it's 85 degrees with 97% humidity, at which point put it in the fridge you idiot". Mmmhmmm, missed that part. It was the best tasting lime slop I've ever had (as an aside, at least I had all the ingredients right. When I was prego with GG I made Karl a Pear Cake Tatin for his birthday. As I slid it in the oven I wondered why it looked so watery. Hmmm. Only after 15 minutes of baking did I realize that I hadn't added A SINGLE DRY INGREDIENT. Hi, genius).

Pre-slopification

The rest of the weekend was hot, hot, hot. Jungle hot, if you will. Matt worked his tail off on the yard all weekend and on Saturday afternoon I took GG to the park, hoping to seek out a little shade. But once we were there I discovered that it was opening day of the EG pool, and because it was opening day it was open late AND free. Holla! That is my kind of deal. So after dinner we all went to cool off in the evening sun. GG chose her swimsuit (don't we all have a pile to choose from?) and was ready to rock. I was really interested to see if she would be as hesitant this year as she was last year to get wet. Um, not so much. She took one look at the kiddie pool and was gone. Truly laughing and squealing as she ran in and out. Too cute. This time I actually remembered the camera. We also got her in the big pool too and had a great time. She's basically demanded to go back every day since, which is super fun to talk her out of.

Declaring "I look like a ballerina!". And hello, look at that turn out!!


Peace out, pops


One happy kiddo


Daddies are so good at playing in the pool

Otherwise things are plugging along here at the casa. We've seen a few deer on our nightly walks and drove up to find a woodchuck in our garden the other day (who will soon be relocated. I do not need a poodle v. woodchuck throw-down in my yard), plus the skillions of birds who enjoy waking us up at 3:30 every morning, so it's a regular wild kingdom around here. Maio 2.0 is just over 18 weeks cooked and we'll have our big ultrasound on the 27th. I finally told my colleagues that I was prego which was pretty funny because truly no one suspected a thing. I was even told to "shut the fu*k up" when I told them I was 18 weeks along. If there's one thing I love about my job, it's that there's no beating around the bush. This weekend is a husband's playdate and then maybe one day we'll be able to get to the cottage and check out all the cool work that's being done. Onward!

Wait, there's MORE to unpack?

We've hit a bit of a wall in terms of unpacking, painting, and settling in. The rooms that we really live in are all done, but it was inevitable that we would need to take a break. We had tickets to a Brewers game last weekend and instead of giving them away, as we've been doing a lot so far this season, we decided to all head out and hang at Miller Park. GG probably has no recollection of going to any Brewers games last year so she was super pumped. Especially now that she got to bust out her pink 'Booers' hat that Santa brought. As we got closer to the stadium her eyes just kept getting bigger, and once we were in our seats and she took in the action, it really was as if she had never seen anything like it. Super cute, and very fun.

Let's go, Booers!


She went nuts for the music, the clapping, and the cheering. Pretty sure she thought it was all for her.

We lasted approximately half an inning before she needed to go potty. And another one and a half innings before she really got antsy and we decided to take a trip to the Kid Zone for her to burn off some crazy.

A unique batting stance


Coach Dad steps in to help


Ready for action!


Zooming down Bernie Brewer's slide


In the dugout


Mandatory family Giant Glove shot

The next day was Smoke Fest 2011. Apparently Matt and his colleagues have decided that this is going to be a bi-annual event (because the left overs that are still sitting in my freezer from 6 months ago weren't quite enough) which I suppose is fine, but would be even more fine if the host told the hostess somewhere more than one week out that Smoke Fest was forthcoming. Enter giant sigh and significant eye rolling. So Saturday morning half a dozen yahoos showed up in Elm Grove to stand in the F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G cold rain and compete once again for smoking pride. With their wives. And their kids. And Matt's intern and her boyfriend (by the by, when she showed up I asked Matt "who's kid is that?" Could not feel older if I tried) all in the name of smoked meat.

Yes, that is Dan's recliner in my garage, which he brought *just* for the occasion. It's still sitting in my garage.

GG and Ben hanging out during a rain break

The intern is in the black & gray fleece. Seriously, can you even drive by yourself?

The judging started at 7 and I won't lie, this year's competition was stiff. Matt's entry last year burned the skin off my lips but this year I voted his first in the pack. He ended up losing by the slimmest of margins, and spent the rest of the night demanding recounts. Revenge was promised for the next event.

Insightful commentary


A few of the kids take refuge inside. Nothing says smoke fest like a tea party.

The really super fun part of this all was after all the wives, kids, and interns had gone home, the men stayed out in the rain to continue drinking and trashing our yard. Oh. My. God. Matt's friend Dan actually slept in his van in our driveway that night, which I'm pretty sure has never happened before in Elm Grove. Howdy, neighbors!! We're here!!

Matt tackles Dan in the recliner. Hey, have another.

Perhaps next time we host we'll invite the neighbors so that the morning after I don't have to hear, "how was that party last night?" from them as I walk the dog the next morning. But one thing is certain, and that is that Matt is already scheming his rub for Smoke Fest 2011 part II. At someone else's house.