Fall Trip to Michigan

Kris is in Japan right now. He's been there for almost two weeks. And wow are we missing him. Not that the kids have even noticed. Nick asks for him, but then he also asks for Nana, Buppa and now Bobby (Robin). And of course, all of those come after asking for Emma (this happens everytime he wakes up - naptime and morning). Hopefully, he will be home on Saturday barring any flight complications.

Since Ryan had Friday and Monday off this past weekend and Kris was gone, we traveled up to Michigan to visit my parents. We had no plans to start with, but keeping the kids sitting in one place for 5 hours twice was at least 10 less hours that I had to chase them around all weekend. Yes, I'm getting that tired of being by myself with all of them.

First, we headed to Toyota to get our annual flu shots. The kids didn't do too bad, with Ryan actually doing the worst. But luckily it ended quickly and they all went about their day. We got there in plenty of time and headed out for dinner after everyone got home. I had forgot to bring a bib for Nick and he ended up going home shirtless (with a coat) because he was so covered in food (trying to eat honey mustard with a spoon helped as did the pudding for dessert).

Saturday, we spent watching football and baseball. Unfortunately on my side, both teams lost (Michigan and Tigers) and Sunday continued that tradition. The kids enjoyed playing with all the toys at their house and running around like crazy people. We had Aunt Sally and Uncle Tom over to watch the Tigers and celebrate her birthday (25 can you believe it? - that's what we put on her cake).

On Sunday, we headed to Yates Cider Mill. The kids all fed and petted the goats and llama at the petting zoo (even Ryan who is usually very squeamishness about it). We took a nice long nature walk. The kids actually enjoyed it. Ryan wanted to go down by the water to throw rocks the whole time and we eventually let him (but he had to sit nicely for the pictures you see here). Emma was the pokey little puppy that she always is. Nick wanted to hang from the bannisters (almost falling down a cliff) and pet every dog he saw. He must have petted at least 30 and would leave one yelling 'nother puppy' until we got to the next one. Then we settled down for some nice cinnamon donuts and apple cider.

The rest of the day we spent playing and watching football. Monday morning, we packed up and headed back home - arriving a generous 15 minutes before Ryan's physical therapy started. During that Nick entertained himself walking up the stairs and coming down the elevator. Boy was that a blast! But now we're home and back in the swing of things. All the kids are looking forward to Nana coming to visit us this weekend. The half marathon is only 2 days away, then we have a birthday party and fall festival at church. It will be a busy Saturday that hopefully will only get better with Kris getting home!

Busy? What's Busy?

I guess not posting for over a month goes to show how busy we are. But we're just busy living.

With Emma in school now our days are filled with driving back and forth to school, lessons and therapy sessions. Tonight, will actually be the ultimate test. We have to pick Ryan up at 3:20, OT (4-5), Speech (5-6 - same building) and then CCD (7-8). Squeeze in dinner between there and baths during CCD. Should be an interesting and full night. And all the while...Kris is in Japan! Luckily, I think we are almost done with speech so we should only have a few times of this, plus hopefully I'll have a babysitter like normal other times (he got a new job, so it just depends on his schedule).

So what else are we doing? Let me look at the pictures to figure it out.

At home, I'm still trying to get up to date on my super cleaning (like spring, just through out the year). I'm a month behind right now because we weren't here for the entire month of August! I've also been, of course, entertaining some little ones. Bubbles are a favorite of both. Emma loves doing her workbook and Nick loves to sit and eat apples (not those cut up ones, no, no he needs the whole one!).

Emma is taking a gymnastics class at our gym. They also have an open play baby class 2 hours before her's, so I've been taking Nick to that and then working out in between. They both enjoy it as you can see from the pictures.

Luckily, Ryan hasn't been too bothered by anything we say that we do during the day. Of course, besides the mall, we haven't really done too much anyway. Emma has school Tuesdays and Thursdays and Mondays are full of gymnastics. So we are left with Wednesday and Fridays. I try to stick around the house at least one of those days. I feel that Emma and Nick eventually have to learn how to play together.

After Ryan gets home, the day is filled with homework, a little tv and hopefully some outside time. He's gotten the schedule down and usually is on the ball about getting homework done. That is a blessing!

We went to Kings Island for Toyota day a few weekends back. My mom drove down to visit and come with us. The weather threatened to rain, but ended up being beautiful. Kris and I got to ride 2 adult rides this year, up from 1 last year! The kids had a great time. But both Emma and Ryan ended up with nightmares because we weren't out of there before the monsters came out for their Halloween night.

Kris and I ran in our first 14k a few weeks back. I missed my goal time by 30 seconds, but Kris was pretty happy with his time. Although he wasn't happy with where he placed in his division. It prompted me to sign up for my first Half Marathon, which is in two weeks. This past weekend, I plotted out the 13 miles (the 14k is just short of 9 miles) and did a practice run. I made it, not with a great time, but I assume if I don't have to wait for lights I'll do at least 5 minutes faster! With my goal being 10 minutes faster.

That's about it for now, Kris is in Japan for 2 weeks. We've been giving him email updates and he called us when he got there. At least we know he's safe. And we're hoping he won't have to go back in November!