Halloween Eve - 2009

This picture was taken on our way to school today, which is one day before Halloween. All of the kids were encouraged to wear their costumes to school for their Halloween party. Both Ian and Cami are excited about Halloween this year and they were especially excited to show off their costumes to their friends. And, of course, they took candy to school to share and I'm sure they will receive candy from everyone else as well. I suspect that by the time I get home tonight the kids will already be on a sugar high and will be bouncing around like crazy. And it isn't even halloween yet!

I'm glad that Halloween is on a Saturday this year because every year I carve pumpkins with the kids and it's hard to do it the night before. This year we'll be able to carve them and put them right outside. In the past we've always waited until the last minute to carve our pumpkins because they get eaten by the various animals that inhabit our area. Opossums, raccoons, squirrels, mice, and who knows what eat our pumpkins to such a degree that in just a day or two they are almost completely gone.

Cami's 6th Birthday Party

This last summer Cami wanted her birthday party at a local mini-golf place. They had a good deal where each kid cost $7.50 and that got them a day's golfing, a hot dog and drink, and it included the picnic area as well.

All the kids had a great time golfing even though some of them were really really bad at it. I was surprised at how many of their golf balls wound up in the river (the motif of the place is a mountain with a river running down through the rocks with a lake that has a water wheel, etc). Thankfully the place didn't charge us the fees it claimed it does whenever someone loses their ball.

Cami chose her own cake and being a loyal fan of Spongebob Squarepants her choice was easy. Not only did it look good but it was very tasty as well.

Our First Camping Adventure

Several years ago Aura bought a tent and, with the exception of putting it up in our yard, we've never used it. At some point this last summer we decided that we wanted to go camping, so we packed up and went.

Aura found a KOA campground up near our favorite beach in St. Joseph, Michigan. When it came time to put up the tent I was really happy that I had practiced in our yard. It's funny that when you're putting up a tent everyone else, meaning other campers that were around us and not my family members, just sits and watches. I was really glad that I didn't come off as too much of a putz.

The kids really had a great time camping. Aura and I really enjoyed it also. We borrowed her sister's air beds so we didn't have to sleep on the lumpy ground and, while I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit it, we even put an air conditioner in there. It was really comfy and we even discovered that our tent was water tight when a big thunderstorm moved through during the night. I was surprised that we all slept so well. One annoying thing was many of the other campers there at the campground got up really early and they were all surprisingly noisy.

One of our favorite things was the campfire. We sat around it and roasted marshmallows and just basically enjoyed each other.

We also went to the beach that weekend. Lake Michigan's water temperature never really warmed up this year because it was such a cool summer. The water was especially cold this time around. The little kids just played in the sand and the various teenagers that were there braved the cold but you could tell that they really didn't want to be there, but none of them were brave enough to be the first ones out of the water.

It was really fun and we hope to go camping again sometime soon.

I'll Miss Summer

This last summer was sort of odd in that we did lots of things, like fishing and camping, but because it was a cooler year we didn't go to the beach as many times as we had hoped nor did we go to the pool as often as we anticipated. There were some really cold days this year and they were made even colder by being in a wet bathing suit.

This year the kids and I went fishing a handful of times. We did it once as part of a Cub Scouts activity and they decided they really liked it. So, I bought them some inexpensive fishing rods and off we went. We tried the Chain O' Lakes area several times and we tried Busse Woods lake and a couple of other local lakes and we never got a bite. I fully believe that there are no fish left in Illinois. The entire state has been fished out. It's been hard keeping the kids excited about fishing when they never catch any fish.

Ian is Growing Up

When Ian was born everyone warned us that time would go by very quickly and he would be grown up before we knew it. Well, today he is 8 years old. It's hard to believe that the last 8 years have gone by so quickly. He's been in the hospital for his asthma a handful of times, he's broken his arm and his nose, and he's had a least three sets of stitches that I can remember. In spite of this he is a happy kid and never fails to find something fun to keep himself busy.

Looking at these pictures it's so hard to remember how small he was. Small not only because he was young but because he was a premie and was extra little. Aura reminded me that one time he was running around a playground and a little girl shouted "Mommy, look at that little baby run!"

But, as they say "time waits for no man". I keep telling both of our kids to stop growing up so fast, but so far they haven't listened. Before you know it they'll be asking for the car keys.

Crazy Hair Day - 2009

One day last week, I think Friday, was crazy hair day at school. Our kids got their hair colored with some sort of spray that washes out. Cami just wanted various parts of her hair colored differently while Ian wanted stars on his head. You can sort of see a blue star just above his ear.

The picture above doesn't really do their hairdos justice. It was raining and we didn't want the colors to run so I didn't get a chance to take any closer pictures of their hair and for some reason (user error I'm sure) the photo that I did get is out of focus.

Mommy got up early that morning so she could help the kids with their hair. Even though she has not felt good recently she still wanted to make sure the kids didn't miss out on the fun.

Ian the Forest Ranger

The kids and I really enjoy poking around in the forest preserves looking for critters and birds and stuff. Today Ian and I went out by ourselves, Cami was at Grandma's house, to make some plaster casts of animal tracks. Here's Ian posing with one of the frames we made.

We saw quite a few critters today. Lots of frogs, birds, a few snakes (and one that was so small that I was surprised that Ian even saw it) and lots of trees that have been damaged by beavers. We didn't see any deer this time around, which is actually sort of surprising because we always see deer in this particular forest preserve.

Mad Scientists

What are they teaching kids in school these days?! Ian came home the other day and wanted to show me how they created a volcano. Two boxes of baking soda and three bottles of vinegar later we had a major mess going.

It was pretty cool how the foam would come shooting up out of the bottle. There is one trick I learned to do by mixing baking soda and vinegar but it was late and the kids had to go to sleep so I couldn't show them, but if you mix them in a bowl that has high sides the carbon dioxide that is created will stay in there and if you blow bubbles over it the bubbles will land on the CO2 and appear to float. It is actually a pretty cool effect.

Cami's Trip to Hawaii

Ok, so Cami didn't really go to Hawaii, though she thinks she has. She put on a hula skirt, grabbed her "coconuts", and started dancing. Winter really hasn't started in full force just yet so I can't imagine her suffering from cabin fever so soon.

She's Still A Little Girl (Thankfully)

A few weeks ago Cami decided she was going to go to sleep in her dolly's crib, and oddly enough, she fit. Even though she has grown so much recently she still is a small kid. As a dad I am really happy that she is still a little girl and hasn't grown up just yet.

All Good Things Must End

Kiddieland has been there for over 80 years but this last weekend it shut its doors forever. I didn't want the kids to miss out on the Kiddieland experience so I took the kids there on the last Saturday that the park was open. Apparently a lot of other people had the same idea. The line was extremely long, but I must say that it didn't take too long to get in.

I made the mistake of getting on one of the rides with the kids. It was a spinning ride and after the ride was over I was sick to my stomach for the rest of the day. I wanted to barf and I didn't feel better until the next day. The fumes from the train engines didn't help.

The kids had a great time! They each had massive amounts of cotton candy, played a bunch of games, and rode lots of rides. We didn't get to ride the train (the line was way too long) which disappointed me and we didn't get to ride the bumper cars because they could only fit two people at a time and the kids were too small to go by themselves.

There was one ride called The Tornado that the kids insisted on riding. I took a video of us on it and as you can see the kids really enjoyed it.

In all the kids had a great time and I was very pleased that I got them there. I would have been very disappointed with myself if I had missed the chance to go.