Another batch of pictures just went up in Lana’s, Jada’s, and the Family 2010 albums. A few new videos were posted as well.
We left for a mini-vacation on Wednesday and headed for Cape Girardeau, MO. We packed lunches and ate in the van on the way. We were going to stop at a rest stop, but we couldn’t find one after we crossed into Missouri.
We stayed at Drury Suites where they have an indoor pool & hot tub, free finger food, soda, and cocktails from 5:30-7 and free hot breakfast.
We went to a water park in Cape on Thursday. The kids had a great time! It was a great place for younger kids.
On Friday, we checked out and headed for Grammy’s. On our way we stopped at Ferne Clyffe for a little bit of hiking. We got to Grammy’s before she got home to surprise her.
While at Grammy’s the kids befriended a somewhat stray kitten. They doted on that cat the entire time and begged to get to take it home.
On Saturday, the girls went shopping and Aunt Tracey took the boys to Marion Fire Dept. to see the fire trucks….they Loved it!
Jackie went out of town for the weekend to visit her cousins and after going to the park, walking through the woods, and some Baskin Robbins ice cream, I decided to take the kids to see a movie; Toy Story 3. This was the first time in the theater for both boys. They did really well, even Jonah (still 2). When we walked in, Levi’s first words were “That TV is huge!”. It was pretty funny. At the end of the show, the credits hadn’t yet started, but most adults knew the movie was over, and everyone in the theater was quiet when out of the blue Jonah hollers “It’s over!”.
They seemed to have a great time. Levi wanted to take the popcorn home and to “tell them thanks”. I told him the $60+ we spent was thanks enough. 
Happy Birthday to Levi. Grammy and Grandpa & Gram came to Levi’s birthday party today for cake, ice cream, and gifts. He got a lot of fun toys and seemed to have a really good time.
I just realized, now that Levi has had his birthday, he’s 4 and I’m 40. Pretty cool.
I love you Levi!
Father’s Day was pretty uneventful with the exception of Levi’s tree mishap. He was climbing a tree in the back yard, which is his new favorite thing to do, and he scraped off a chunk of skin from the back of his leg. It looked pretty gross, but he was a trooper while we bandaged him up. Thirty minutes later he was back in the tree.
Tuesday’s morning storm had the yard a mess, so we went to McDonald’s Playland for entertainment. They all had a good time. There were no older kids there to be obnoxious and inappropriate, and the little kids were all well behaved.
Yesterday I took the girls to my friend Suzanne’s house to swim. The have an above ground pool. I had two other friends who showed up with their kids too. They had a great time and didn’t want to leave!
Yesterday was also our 9th anniversary. I got my favorite ice cream from Baskin Robbins! Grammy is coming up this weekend and said she’d babysit so we could go to dinner.
Today is a low key day at home. We are waiting for FedEx to deliver my new cell phone. Right now, Jonah is banging on Jada’s door begging her to open it. She is in there counting her change from her piggy bank, and Jonah was walking through her piles of dough…which earned him banishment!
I’ve heard “I’m Bored!” about 2 million times already this summer! So I am trying to figure out things to do to keep them busy.
Bill bought a small inflatable pool over the weekend which has kept the older ones busy when the weather is nice.
On Tuesday we went to the Henson-Robinson Zoo in Springfield. It is a very small zoo that takes about 30 minutes to go through. We went with a friend of mine who also has 4 kids. They all had a really good time, I think. Jonah followed Haley (10) around most of the time. She’d point things out to him and he’d get excited. One highlight of the day was feeding the fish and ducks. One mama duck decided to take a snip at Levi’s shoulder…he wasn’t real happy about that! After looking at the animals, the kids each got a slushy and played at the playground area.
On Wednesday, the boys went to daycare. The girls and I went to the Farmers’ Market downtown. We have been going there on Wednesdays. Then we went to the Colony West pool with a friend. We don’t have a membership there, so we can only go with another family. The girls spent 4 hours in the pool and were not ready to go when it was time to leave!
I’m am hoping the weather holds out so they can play in our pool today. The boys go to daycare tomorrow…I’m not sure what the girls and I will be up to!
Taking the boys to daycare often means keeping them talking so they aren’t fighting. This morning on the way to daycare, I mentioned that one of the stoplights was out because of last night’s storm. Jonah then yelled out the color of the next stoplight he saw. I pointed toward the area of trees next to the road and asked him “What color are those trees Jonah?” to which he replied “Green!”. “Good job!” I said. “What color is the grass?” I asked. “Green!” he replied emphatically.
About that time Levi piped up and said “Trees aren’t green.”. Wondering how detailed he’d thought about it, I asked “What do you mean Levi?”. “Trees are brown, the leaves are green.” he replied.
I thought that was pretty observant for a 3yr old.
Mom brought the girls home from their week long stay last Friday. While she was here, Jackie got a call from her cousin Jennifer asking if she wanted to go visit their Grandma Saturday evening.
After Jackie left, we didn’t really have much to do, so we went to BestBuy to check out the 3D televisions. I was the only one who had seen them at this point, so it was all new to them. Mom and the girls were pretty impressed. Jonah didn’t want anything to do with having to wear glasses to watch tv, but Levi’s reaction was the best. He put the glasses on, watched the TV for a few seconds and said “This is amazing!”. We were all cracking up.
So much has been happening lately…
1. We are having no luck getting people to even look at our house, and there have been no offers.
2. The contingent offer on the Summerwood house expires the 7th which is probably good because
3. I don’t have a job for next year…yet
4. The girls are out of school for the summer! They are spending this week at Grammy’s. From all of the pictures and emails we have gotten from them, I’m guessing that they aren’t going to want to come home tomorrow! Grammy is bringing them home tomorrow and then heading back to Marion on Sunday. The boys have asked about the girls a lot. On the way to Janet’s this morning Levi said “I’m sad”. When I asked him why he was sad, he told me that he misses Jada and Lana.
5. The boys love mud. I know, big surprise, right?! We have had a lot of rain lately and there is a mud puddle/pit that just doesn’t want to dry up. Every day the boys have their cars going through it. I bought them sandals last weekend and they have been a godsend..it is so much easier to wash those every night than it was the gym shoes!
6. We are trying to plan some things for the summer. Lana wants to go to Chicago for her birthday. We are also trying to coordinate a trip to Holiday World with my brother and his family. And, we are planning a weekend at their house in August.
7. Bill got an iPad as a late birthday gift….it has become another appendage…
8. Levi turns 4 in a few weeks….time sure does fly!
It’s been awhile, I know, but it just seems like it takes longer and longer now. Instead of one camera for the family, we have 4, Mine & Jackie’s, Jackie’s, Jada’s, and Lana’s. Also, we use the Flip for video, and I tag people in those videos as well. I’ve been working on them for probably an hour or so already, and I’m maybe 1/4 of the way done. *sigh*
Ok, the tagging, uploading, etc. is finish. There are now an additional 272 pictures and 9 videos for your viewing pleasure.