Summer vacation! Peninsula State Park

Tuesday morning we headed straight to Peninsula State Park.  Last year we only drove through, so we couldn't wait to get back there this summer for some recreating.  

Horseshoe Island

First we put our kayaks in the water, rented a canoe, and paddled from Nicolet Bay to Horseshoe Island.

Heading out.

My sweet little crew on Horseshoe Island.

I was there too.

Leaving Horseshoe Island.

The men.

David and Mary did great!

Nicolet Beach


After the journey to Horseshoe Island and back, we relaxed for a couple of hours at Nicolet Beach.  David has decided he loves paddling, so Greg took him out in one of the kayaks.  The conditions were perfect--shallow and calm--and he had a great time.  Meanwhile, my parents went for a bike ride, and Mary played on the beach.  David later joined Mary in her engineering projects.  It was a lovely afternoon.

Sunset Trail

Before calling it a day and heading back to the hotel for the swimming pool, we wanted to check out the Sunset Trail.  Our kids are finally getting into a groove with family bike rides, and they were excited to go for one.  We decided to start at the trail head and finish at the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, where my parents would meet us.

It's a beautiful trail!  Through lovely, peaceful forests and along the lake shore.  This, however, is the only picture I got.  David kicked my pregnant rear!  We let David set the pace, and he was on fire!  My cardiovascular system gives out when I'm pregnant (just one of the two thousand things I don't like about being pregnant).  So I could barely catch my breath, let alone take a picture.  (Mary helpfully yelled back to me, "Mom!  Just peddle your feet faster and then you'll catch up!!"  Thank you, sweetheart.)

But we (I) finally made it, alive.  Phew!  Here's the lighthouse, the view, and the boy who kicked my booty with his bike.

Summer vacation! AirVenture and Egg Harbor

We're back!  Just when the rest of the country is going back to school (or in the thick of getting ready for back to school), we finally took our summer vacation.  And it was so much fun!  (Do I really have to be back home now....?)

We returned to Door County (the skinny little piece of Wisconsin that sticks out into Lake Michigan) because we enjoyed it so much last year.  This summer we invited my parents to come along.

Greg ended up needing to schedule his prelim exam for the day we were supposed to leave.  So my parents and I took the kids to the EAA's AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh on the way up north, and Greg met us at the hotel in Egg Harbor that evening.

AirVenture Museum

Did you know that Oshkosh, Wisconsin is the center of the general aviation universe?  I did not, until recently, anyway.  (Also, those famous overalls are from Oshkosh too.)  David has been obsessed with World War II airplanes this year.  Although the EAA's focus tends to be on promoting recreational aviation, the museum was a huge hit with David.  Among the other exhibits, there was a great hands-on kids' gallery, beautifully restored WWII planes in a special hangar, and a lovely short tram ride out to Pioneer Airport (where, FYI, there are FREE airplane rides for kids 8-18!!!).  David can't wait to go back!  (And kudos to Mary for being a trooper.)

David and Mary outside the EEA museum with Grandma Evie and Grandpa Mike

Mary in the cockpit of an F-22

Mary in the hang glider simulator while her grandpa looks on

David tries out the hot air balloon simulator.  He also enjoyed the flight simulators.

David with a P-51 Mustang, one of this favorites

Grandpa Mike and David on their way out to Pioneer Airport

Mary discovered some planes just her size.

Isn't she a cute little pilot?

This is Mary's favorite airplane--because there was a lady in a pretty dress posed next to it.
 (Mary told me she likes dresses more than airplanes.)

David and the Mosquito.
(This plane's fuselage is made of plywood--wood harvested from the North Woods of Wisconsin, no less.  I would have never guessed...)  

David and the P-38 Lightning, another favorite.

Egg Harbor Sunset

We arrived in Egg Harbor that evening just in time to watch another stunning sunset on the water.

David and Mary glowing orange from the sunset

Beautiful!  It was good to be back.

Greg made it up to Door County just before bedtime.  His prelim had gone super well.  Hooray!  With that behind him, we were all ready for a week of fun and relaxation.

The bad news broken

So, yes, I'm pregnant.

Wait.  Let me try that again:

I'M PREGNANT!!!

Happy for me; happy for Greg.  Not necessarily happy for David and Mary, from their point of view anyway.  Considering their attitude about a baby ("No babies until we're in college!!!"), we were nervous to share to the bad news.

But we realized we had to.  I was just too sick to pretend like all was well--and they were old enough to ask questions.  ("Mom, why are you taking four naps today?"  "Mom, why are you eating toast for dinner?"  "Mom, how come you don't have to go to church but I do?"  "Mom, why are you still in your pajamas?")  It was a month or two earlier than I would have liked to tell them, but they seemed to deserve answers.

So we told them one night at the dinner table.  Their respective reactions were so classic and absolutely in line with their personalities.

David immediately leaped into my arms, shouted "Congratulations!!!" with tears of happiness in his eyes and a smile stretched across his face.

Mary immediately turned ashen, burst into tears of fear, and began hyperventilating with anxiety.  (Once she calmed down a little, we were able to ascertain that she was scared of the crying, the stinky diapers, and of crying and stinky diapers in her bedroom.  We assured her that she could keep her bedroom to herself and that, because she'd be going to school full-day, she would miss most of the crying and stinky diapers.  She calmed down.  Some.)

But that was then (May), this is now.  Now David doesn't think much about the baby.  But he does worry that the baby will get all of the attention.  David is such a cuddle-bug.  I assure him I will always have time for his fabulous hugs.  Plus, I remind him that I actually like hanging out with kids who can talk and discuss things  even more than I like cuddling babies.  (True fact.)

Mary, on the other hand, is completely obsessed with the baby.  OBSESSED.  She likes to give the baby hugs and kisses and will say things like, "I'm going to the store with Mommy and the baby."  She also talked me into digging out some of the baby things in storage, so we could oooh and aaahh over the cuteness of such sweet blankets and tiny clothes.  She cannot wait to go shopping with me for baby items.

Granted, Mary's happy obsession will likely end if this baby is a boy.  She's becoming more and more adverse to the idea of a baby brother.  (I shouldn't have let her look at all the cute pink blankets I have.  Darn.)  Her world may come crashing down in a week at the ultrasound.  Oh well.  (For the record, we all totally think it's a girl.  Even David.  His reasoning is that Mary prayed every night for a girl baby--so it will be a girl baby.  I'm not sure why Greg and I think it's a girl.  I was wrong with David and Mary, but I don't know if Greg was.  I'll have to ask.  Anyway, even though we think it's a girl, we don't have a preference.  We have one of each, and there's a big age gap, so we just feel neutral--and grateful, very grateful.)

I do have to credit David and Mary for keeping the baby a secret.  We told them it was a special family secret, and they took it very seriously.  Mary never told a soul.  And David kept the secret for over a month, which must be a record for a seven-year-old.  I'm so proud of them! (Incidentally, David spilled the beans in a hot tub with his friends. He confessed to me soon thereafter.  I asked him why he told, and he said that pregnancy just came up, and he couldn't help it.  The image of four seven-year-old boys lounging in a hot tub discussing pregnancy is just too rich.  Besides, by then I was starting to tell my friends.  I figure he could tell his too.)

I have so much I want to write about concerning this pregnancy.  Expect a big long post where I wallow in self-pity about being sick.  (The worst first trimester of any of my pregnancies!  Bleck.)  Despite spending the summer in bed--or perhaps because of it--I have been especially reflective this time around (and very very very little of it is self-pity, I promise).  And I hope to record some of those thoughts.

First, I need to post my pictures from the summer.  (This has been the longest, dullest summer ever.  But when I look at my pictures I realize it wasn't all bad.)  This week we are headed back up to Door County.  Hooray!!  (Our first trip anywhere this summer.)  So the posting will have to wait until we get back.

In the meantime, I leave you with this list of names David and Mary have brainstormed for the baby.  (As you can see, most of them are girl names.)  Also, I will let you guess who came up with which name.

Rainbow Love
Hannah Montana
David 2
Becca
Conifer
Brooke
Sicky (not to be confused with Licky)

See you in a week!

The bad news

For this post to make sense, I have to take you back in time a couple of years.

Once our family was reunited and we moved here to Wisconsin, David and Mary became obsessed with having a baby brother or sister.  David had realized that Mary wasn't a baby anymore, and he was concerned there was no baby in our family, as every family must have a baby!  So David, of his own accord, would pray sometimes for a baby.  Plus, he picked out the perfect name:  Conifer Strawberry.  Meanwhile, Mary was obsessed with having a baby sister.  So every night she prayed for a "girl baby."  Not a boy baby, she told God, though she would try to love a boy baby but a girl baby would be better so He'd better help David love the girl baby because David would probably want a boy baby but it was going to be a girl baby.

Their longings and prayers left me alternatively swooning and panicking.

Then, suddenly, last March the begging and praying and longing stopped.  One night at dinner, David and Mary announced they had something to tell us.  (As if they had been conferring together.  Had they?  Aren't they a little young to be conferencing together to conspire against us?)

David and Mary politely informed us that when they are big and go to college and don't live at home anymore, we can have two more kids so we won't be alone.  But NO MORE KIDS until they go to college.

So you don't want a baby? I clarified.

Only AFTER we are in college.  Then you can have two.

Well, thanks for letting us know.

You're welcome.

And that was that.

I got a good chuckle out of it.  But most of all I was relieved.  Because by that point it seemed highly unlikely a baby would be joining our family anytime soon.  If ever.

David and Mary remained firm in their insistence of no more babies.

So it was with trepidation that, a few months later, Greg and I shared the bad news . . .

Camps and camping

The summer started off with camps and camping.

Mary chose to do soccer camp again, and this year she was in the 4-6 year-old camp.  It was more intense than last summer's 3-year-old group, but she hung in there and worked hard.


My sweet girl, ready for action:

My sweet girl, in action:

Mary shoots her first goal:

Mary receives congratulations from Coach Liam:

Good job, Mary!


David opted out of soccer camp this year.  He chose to take karate classes with a friend instead.  But he did return for another great year at Camp Invention!  He made some great new friends and had a blast.  I love that he sees himself as a problem-solver.

This was his prized invention:

It's the beginnings of a "T.V./D.S. combination"--because wouldn't it be great to watch T.V. on your D.S.?! Until he puts the finished touches that will bring his dream to fruition, we are super impressed that he has a small working electrical circuit in there powered by a battery, as well as some gears.  So awesome!

Good job, David!

Besides camps, there was also some camping in June.  Greg took the kids overnight to a nearby lake for Mary's first camping trip.

The next morning they all went canoeing on the lake.  The water was a little choppy--Greg kept the kids dry but didn't have spare hands to take a picture of them.  The kids came home dirty and happy.  Success!

The next weekend Greg took David camping, where they hooked up with some other dads and boys.  Before dinner, they decided to "climb the mountain."  This the Midwest--the "mountain" was a gentle hill.

Here are the boys, at "the peak."   As you can see, David was not excited about climbing the "mountain."  (Heaven forbid we move to Colorado or something!)

Despite the crying above, David had a grand time on his second camping trip of the summer.  Running around in the dirt with your friends?  What's more fun than that?  Hooray for summer!

Hello?

Hello?  Anyone there?

I'm back.  I think.

I haven't been able to spend much time on my computer this summer.  So I'm still catching up on emails, blogs, and Facebook.  (Guess what.  The world does not stop turning when you stop looking at Facebook.  Though, to be honest, it's a little sad, all the happy news and sweet pictures I have missed.)  I hope to find some time and will to start blogging again.

See you soon.

Bare minimum

I guess I will be posting only the bare minimum this summer.  You know, birthdays and the like.  I didn't intend for this to happen.  (I still have a big stack of books on my bedside table worth mentioning.)  But sometimes life just is as it is.

P.S.  And, no, not even Father's Day makes the cut for a dedicated post.  Sorry, Greg.  He is such a good dad.  And a good mom.  Which is good because sometimes he has to be both.

Birthday boy!

David had a fun (and easy) birthday bash at a local play place.  (And thanks to a Wednesday afternoon special, it didn't cost much more than what I would have spent on decorations and activities had we hosted it at our house.  Bonus: It wasn't at our house!)

He and his friends had tons of fun ...

What a fun group!

Yay for birthday parties!

Happy birthday party, David.  :)

David's birthday week, which was the last week of school, was full of fun activities.  Field day, the first grade picnic, teacher gifts, school assemblies, plus Mary's school's end-of-the-year potluck.  Then, just like last year, David brought birthday treats on the last day of school.

Finally, the official day arrived.  Greg took David and Mary camping and canoeing the night before.  Later that afternoon, we celebrated with our SEVEN-YEAR-OLD!

David is OBSESSED with WWI and WWII right now.  (Hence the cake.  David had grand plans.  I did my best.  And he was pleased.)

Make a wish ...

 

This kid with the toothless grin has absolutely stolen my heart.

Love my seven-year-old!  (And thankful he still likes to cuddle with his mama ... while he discusses the Doolittle Raid and the merits of B-24s.)

Last day observation

Today was David's last day of first grade.  He was in kind of a funk this afternoon.

In his words:  "The week before the last week of school you're all excited for school to be over and you can't wait.  But once it really is the last day and school is over, you feel sad and you wish it wasn't over."

Daddy took him and Mary camping tonight.  And tomorrow is his birthday.  So hopefully he'll cheer up a bit.

(I myself have been kind of wreck--struggling to keep back the tears all afternoon, on this, the last day of my son's first grade year.  Tears of relief, sadness, guilt, pride, and gratitude.)

Six for Saturday

Here is a list of six to help sum up the end of May.


1.  Cowgirl Mary rides again.

We haven't seen much of Cowgirl Mary since our Texas days.  But that changed when Mary's best friend Brooke had her birthday party at the local stables.  Mary has been giddyup-ing all over the place in boots and hat ever since.

Cowgirl friends Zoe, Brooke, and Mary

Mary rode a horse at the party, but she's refusing to talk about it--which is how we know it was a wonderful, meaningful experience.  (She's funny like that.)



2.  Spring gardening

Most people round these parts put in big vegetable gardens.  We put in a small flower garden.  Baby steps, baby steps.


3.  Memorial Day + Madison = BRATFEST!

4.  Jupiter and Saturn!

Our journey through the Solar System continued with visits to Jupiter and Saturn.  We started at Ceres, right where we left off last time.  (Plus, we got to park right next to Camp Randall Stadium.  Go Badgers!)  It was a six mile ride.  We're so proud of David!  His legs are getting strong!

5.  Summertime veggies.

We live in a CSA haven here in Madison.  It's fabulous. We're going with Vermont Valley again this year.  We had our first pick-up on Thursday.

The baby greens are so good you can just sit and eat them like potato chips.  And the turnips (yes, turnips) are TO DIE FOR.  Summertime has begun--and I love it!


6.  Hmmm.  Okay, so maybe I really only have a list of five.  Oh well.  You'll forgive me, right?


And that just about sums up the end of May.  Now we're into June and the CRAZINESS of the last week of school is just around the corner.  Plus, David's big birthday bash is this week.  Expect pictures of a grinning SEVEN-year-old soon.