Fests and Family

The good thing about living here is that all Wisconsinites appreciate that summer weekends are finite, and everyone is ready to pack in as much activity as possible. This July and August have been no exception with all the typical fun weekend mayhem.

In July we made our annual pilgrimage to the Summer Fest grounds to check out Festa Italiana with the Bansemars. The weather was ungodly hot but by the time we rolled in the Lake Michigan breeze was kicking in and made it tolerable for toddlers and pregos alike. The festivals for which MKE is famous are all basically the same: food, beer, fun for the kiddies, fireworks. But no other is like walking into a scene from Jersey Shore, and no other features an actual Maio in their historical tent:

Seated front and center in the barber chair: Karl's father, John Maio. I am not even making this up.

Matt's mission was to try as many rice balls as were available to purchase. For those who aren't in the know (read: me until about 8 years ago), a rice ball is indeed a ball of rice, sometimes with some cheese in the middle, sometimes if you're feeling wild it might have some peas and ground beef mixed then, then fried with a little marinara on top. I don't really see how it's different from condensing any normal meal into ball-form, but let me tell you there are rice balls-a-plenty at Festa and we tried every one. Also available in mass quantities: cannoli. OBVIOUSLY. Not unlike rice balls I could really live my entire life without cannoli which suits Matt just fine because it means he doesn't have to share. Scratch that, it used to mean he didn't have to share. G is turning out to be quite the foodie and her love of savory flavors translated well to a deep fried tube of ricotta cheese. Cannoli for one? Fuggedaboutit!

Who can stuff their face faster?


She may be under four feet tall, but the girl can pack it away


Waiting patiently for their rice balls

Since the girls are a little bigger we planned to stay for the Festa Fireworks, which are well known to be "'da best". Despite Alana's attempts to flee parental supervision (that girl may be little but let me tell you, she is fast), the girls were really good and everyone loved the fireworks (Mama! They're big and go BOOM!).

We also ventured to State Fair with the Bansemars a couple weekends ago. Both G's and my first trip ever to State Fair was two years ago so we figured it was time to take the tot and teach her about people watching. We planned to go on a Saturday afternoon, which was probably the first clue that we were out of our minds. That morning I received a text from Melissa saying, "may not make it" along with a photo of sweet little Alana with a left eye so swollen you might mistake her for a prize fighter. Wee Alana has very strong reactions to mosquito bites and apparently the night before one had gotten her well enough to send her immune system to war. After a trip to the doc she acted totally unfazed and we were happy to hear back from Mel that afternoon that Alana was ready to rock the fair. Now, I will spare you the photo of Alana's eye but I cannot spare you the photo of what Matt wanted to wear:

Well, we DID live in West Allis

After carpooling down and Shawn encroaching on Matt-style road rage to find a parking spot we finally made it to the fair. The first stop Matt wanted to make was the 'milk barn' where you can buy cups of flavored milk for $0.25. There were five flavors and six of us, so obviously we got two of each kind. Genevieve downed the strawberry like it was her job.

Cheers!

Afterward we ventured to the barns. First stop: ducks and rabbits. Second stop: cows. We had a little calling system with Shawn & Mel to alert each other of super Wisco-fied specimens coming our way, and Shawn alerted us to a goodie in the cow barn. This woman had to be in her mid-40's and was walking toward us with the hem of her shirt tied through the neck-hole (like we used to do in the third grade), her belly hanging out, and some impressive too short mom-style jeans. She was walking our way and Matt and I chucked to each other but then realized that she was getting closer. And closer. Until she walked right up to me and said, "oh my god, are you PREGNANT?" We tried to reply politely "oh yes, thanks" and escape but nope, she came back with, "I am too! Twelve weeks. For the first time in thirty-five years!"

What's that now?

She continued to announce that there was another exhibit somewhere that could show you the size of your baby in utero and proceeded to open up her little bag and pull out a two inch rubber fetus. YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP, FOLKS. She was asking if we knew the sex (we lied) and where I was going to deliver (more lies). Suddenly I got the feeling this woman was plotting to steal our baby. So we tried to move on without the help of Shawn and Melissa who were moseying by and laughing so hard they were damn near in tears. Real pals, those two. We finally managed to escape by basically turning and walking away mid-sentence. Hello, we go to the fair to quietly take in the crazy people, not be stalked by the crazy people.

After that escapade we made our way into an air conditioned building (praise the lord, it was so blasted hot I cannot tell you) where we landed four icy beverages, six grilled cheese sandwiches, and two seats at an actual table (family-style seating). PS - this was also the time that Matt realized he was short changed at the milk barn. Damn milk! Although Mel had mentioned it earlier, I started to notice that people were staring at Alana with a mix of surprise/alarm/disgust which I thought was weird because any parent knows kids get into weird crap all the time. It wasn't until we were at said table that this woman actually piped up and said, "what HAPPENED to your baby????". I was shocked. Shocked, I say! Melissa handled it totally gracefully which is more than I think I could have done. This happened at least three more times while we were there.

At the WE Energies park. To quote Shawn, I would have preferred 10% of my energy bill back instead of having my kid get some cheap plastic hat. Also the site of Mel being accosted by a Fair Employee re: Alana's eye. A FAIR EMPLOYEE!

So to summarize, here's what we learned at the fair:

• if your child appears injured in a manner which can in any way be translated to neglect, be prepared for a lot of super special commentary from people who are probably *not* up for parent of the year
  
• if you or someone in your group is visibly pregnant, be prepared for a lot of super special commentary from a crazy person and/or baby thief
  
• if you are in a cast of any kind, the best place to go on a 90 degree, 90% humidity day is to the fair (seriously, at least 10% of the people we saw were in casts)
• only pay in small bills at the milk barn

Anyhoodle, flanking these magical Milwaukee adventures was a weekend at the cottage with both sets of grandparents. The weather was hot and perfect for swimming, and G demonstrated that she can basically swim on her own now. I would wander in with her until I was about chest-deep, then have her turn around and swim back to shore on her own. She nailed it!! Interestingly this is the same way Ralphie learned to swim, so I think the Maio family swimming method has been established. We spent the whole weekend hanging in the water, on the boat, eating, or all three. Auntie Mare came in from MSP on Saturday night and brought G her a bunch of her daughter's old dolls and books which G was super excited for.

Mastering the art of the noodle


Floating family foto


Hiding in her little cocoon


And finding herself VERY clever for surprising Grandma

We also finally rigged up a tube to the back of the boat to go cruising around the lake. Matt was the first victim and G liked watching him until he (purposefully) fell off. Then she flipped out because she thought Daddy was hurt, which was endearing but seriously took her a little while to get over. I thought the best way to show her it was ok was for us to take a family dip in the middle of the lake. She LOVED it and I can't wait to take her back in next weekend.

Pre-fall. Happiness all over.


Honestly, the water in the middle of the lake is ten times more refreshing than on shore. Not sure how that works but I'm going to go with it


Happy little swimmer!

Snap, Crackle...

Maio version 2.0 has definitely popped in the last two weeks. So for those who have been hounding me for belly shots (you know who you are), hope these will tide you over for a bit.

We're at 24 weeks now and the heat wave that is hanging over the Midwest is l.a.m.e. Praise the heavens for air conditioning. I feel like Mr. Man is carrying higher than G was, which is starting to constrict my lung capacity when I try to do important things like collapse on the couch. My friends at BabyCenter tell me that 2.0's home is now the size of a soccer ball which explains why I get up at least once a night to hit the loo. He's moving a lot and is very, very responsive whenever I eat. Obviously. He's a Maio.

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