We have a visitor!

My aunt Marie is here!

Mary has already taken her to the Capitol and the Children's Museum.

And David has attempted to make her well-versed in the ways of Ninjago.

There's also nothing like a Friday evening on the lake at the student union.  With ice cream, of course.

This was Mary's pose of choice.  (Where did she get the idea to pose like that?)

Silly girl.

And a silly boy!

These two little silly heads are spoiled with all the attention they're getting from Aunt Marie.  (They've had a great time playing with her before.  Here and here and here and here and here.)  We're ready for even more fun with Aunt Marie this week!

Weekend!

Our weekends often don't feel like weekends. Greg usually needs a good chunk of time to study.  So, often, Saturdays feel like any other day, except the kids are home bored. Even holiday weekends can feel pretty mundane.  I had no particular reason to look forward to Memorial Day weekend...

...until we found out my brother Dave and his wife Alejandra were coming to visit.  They took the train from Texas to Chicago, caught a quick fun (rainy) glimpse of the Windy City, and then took a bus to Madison. We love benefiting from their wanderlust and sense of adventure!  We enjoyed a great weekend together.

No trip to Madison is complete without a walk down State Street and a visit to the Capitol.

You also can't visit Madison without enjoying a pint on the terrace of UW's Memorial Union.  (Most people opt for a pint of beer; we go for the other kind of pint.  Ice cream! Fresh from the creamery.)

On Friday, Dave, Ale, and I visited David's classroom and joined him for lunch.

As usual, David was attached at the hip to Bailey.  Aren't they cute friends?

Mary also had a chance to show Tio and Tia around her classroom.  She was very proud to point out some of the lessons in her room.


The weekend was filled with lots of playtime, inside and out.  (With a few special spectators.)

One evening David took Tio, Tia, and Mary on a bike ride.  I figured they would be gone ten or fifteen minutes.  So I was surprised when they returned an hour and a half later--with ice cream on their faces.  David took them all the way downtown to Culver's!  When they arrived, he looked expectedly at Tio and Tia, assuming they'd buy him an ice cream.  (They did.)  Then David showed them the way home.  I am so impressed with David's sense of direction!  And Mary is a trooper.  She did the whole ride in flip-flops on her little bike without nary a complaint!  My kids rock.  Ale took a few pictures on their adventure.

As previously recorded, we enjoyed our fair share of brats at Brat Fest.

On Monday, thanks to some free tickets we scored, we did a very Memorial Day kind of thing: We went to a water park.  Water parks aren't exactly my cup of tea.  (And I think you all know I have mixed feelings about the Dells.)  But we had free tickets, 90-degree weather, and some super fun companions.  We all had a great time!  (Even me.)

 Ale took these cute pictures of my kids.

We were all so sad to say good-bye to Dave and Ale.  They are so much fun to have around. We are very grateful they made the journey up here. We wish them the best on their next endeavors (law school and nursing!).  And we look forward to seeing them this summer.

On Tuesday Greg and I were reflecting on what a great weekend we'd had.  We realized it had been a long time since we'd really "celebrated" a weekend.  Yay for Memorial Day!  Yay for Dave and Ale!

Thanksgiving rewind

I do have pictures to post of our Thanksgiving weekend here in Wisconsin, with honored guests, Grammy and Grandpa.

It's a good thing Grammy and Grandpa were here! Greg and I were not feeling well, so it was a lucky break to have some extra help around. (Parents can't get sick at the same time! Isn't there some kind of rule about that?)

Grammy and Mary got right to work Thursday morning.

Things of note in the above picture: (1) adorable apron Teresa made for me a couple of years ago, (2) adorable apron "le" made for Mary just in time for this year's holiday cooking, and (3) iPa in the background doing his iPa thing. Thing not of note: (1) the living room still "under construction."

This is what went inside our turkey: apples, celery, onion, orange, carrots, olive oil. Oh, it smelled divine.

Thus concludes all pictures of food.

But, trust me, it was a lovely (and delicious) feast. My friend Skye and her daughter joined us. And, as luck would have it, just the day before Thanksgiving, we discovered Greg has a second-cousin here in Madison! She and her husband kindly accepted the invitation to join us. Thanksgiving just isn't the same without people you're barely related to! And I mean that in a genuinely good way. It was great to hang out with them, and we look forward to getting to know them even better.

Thanksgiving picture: Mikhel, Desirae, Baby Boy, Greg, me (the smiley face mask is for your own protection), Grammy, and Grandpa.

The day after Thanksgiving (after pie for breakfast), Greg and his dad painted the kitchen for me. We kept it the same color--but it really needed a fresh coat. The work went so fast with all of the help. (A huge thank you to Greg's dad, who did tons of other stuff for us too, like installing an outlet and pruning our trees.)

David got to help too.

Grammy and I decided to take a quick visit to the Children's Museum. It was a figurative zoo, as expected. For every two-year-old, there were four adults (2 parents and 2 grandparents). Tight quarters. But it was fun to get out of the house--and the drive to the museum gives you a great view of the isthmus, the lakes, the capitol, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Monona Terrace. Here are some obligatory pictures of our museum fun.

An interesting observation I made: David had a FABULOUS time. He thrives off chaos. He had much more fun fighting the crowds than the last time we went when we had the museum almost to ourselves. (Mary is more like me. If it gets too chaotic, she starts to shut down.)

Later that day, while the men and children hung Christmas lights, Greg's mom and I snuck away for a quick visit to the Paoli Schoolhouse Shops.

Saturday morning we ventured downtown to the capitol. It was cold, in case you were wondering.

We admired the dome.

And posed for some pictures.

We also resolved an important debate. The gold statue on top of the capitol? Liberty? Justice? Or Angel Moroni? (The last one was David's idea.) Well, we were all wrong.

It's a lady named Wisconsin (go figure) with a giant badger on her head.

With that matter settled, we bundled up to return into the cold for a walk all the way down State Street to the Memorial Union on campus.

This picture was taken behind Memorial Union.

Inside Memorial Union we had hot cocoa, Cracker Jacks, and Cheetos.

Later that afternoon David and Mary INSISTED on taking Grammy and Grandpa bowling. This was extremely important to them. And a very Wisconsin thing to do. Everyone had a ball! And some spares too! (Mary continues to be astonishingly good at bowling.)

We also began putting up our Christmas decorations over the Thanksgiving weekend. It is something that Mary has been integrally involved with.

David may have insisted on placing a dead cat on the top of my tree. But Mary has been grouping all of my ornaments by theme. (For example, she puts all the snowflakes on one branch, all the Santas on another branch, etc.) She is also constantly rearranging the nativities into a single straight line. (I prefer them staggered a bit.)

Oh, but isn't she cute with that poof of hair on top and surprised look on her face?

(Anybody spot iPa?)

Finally, a visit with Grammy wouldn't be complete without making cookies.

We felt especially blessed this year over the Thanksgiving holiday. For so very many reasons.

Hold the mayo

Time for some serious ketchup on this blog!

Besides unpacking, putting nail holes in our walls, and trying to shake off our clingy children, we've squeezed in a few other things since we moved here six weeks ago.

Like a trip (or two) to the zoo. Where my favorite animal was this little bear.

Isn't she cute? (She's a Mary-Beary.)

No trip to the zoo is complete without a ride on a train. (Why is that?) Our kids are the orphans in the picture. Greg and I are mean and made our kids ride on the train by themselves. As COZY and COMFORTABLE as those other parents look, Greg and I were too cheap to buy ourselves tickets.

***

We also had some time for a home improvement project. Actually, we didn't have time for it, but we did it anyway. (Correction: GREG did it.)

I believe we have been fully initiated into home ownership, as most of the month of August was spent at Home Depot. My children have spent HOURS on these riding lawn mowers.

When I think of our first month in Wisconsin, it is the above image that comes into my mind.

Here is another lovely picture from Home Depot.

Is that an awesome picture, or what? My daughter in a soccer jersey, a tutu, Princess underpants, purple Crocs, with two pink purses, and sitting on a giant riding lawn mower. So very Mary!

(The underpants are a big deal, as we also re-potty-trained Mary while trying to unpack. A summer of traveling equals a summer of Pull-Ups. So some retraining was in order...especially as we had Mary's first day of school looming large in the future. Nothing like a deadline to get me off my derriere to get my kid's derriere out of diapers.)

***

We also spent plenty of time in August rediscovering year-long forgotten treasures. (The joys of unpacking--especially when much of your things have been in storage for a year. It was Christmas in August!)

***

Our month was shaping up to be really boring for the kids, so in an effort to find something for David to do, I signed him up for swimming lessons at the community natatorium.

Yippee!!

He had a great time.

They turned out to be great lessons! David ended the summer as quite a strong swimmer. Much of that is due to the many evenings Greg took the kids swimming at the Jewish community center while I unpacked ever more boxes.

***

One day we took a quick jaunt to suburban Chicago to check out three important things: The temple, the Ikea, and the Legoland Discovery Center. I think we will be making this two-and-a-half hour drive rather regularly during our tenure here in Wisconsin. (We also hope to occasionally venture all the way into the city center--we have great memories of Chicago!)

Mary and the temple.

David and the temple.

***

We (barely, it felt) managed to get ready for the BIG DAY. The first day of school! I cheated a little, and earlier I posted a picture that was actually taken on kindergarten orientation day, which was the day before the first full day. So this is the real picture of my boy on his first day of kindergarten.

I love this kid.

It was also the BIG DAY for Greg. It was his first day of school too! So this is Greg's official first day of school picture.

(As you can see, he was going for a run before heading up to campus. You can also see how Mary spends her time--begging her dad to carry her around.)

***

On a lovely September Saturday afternoon we drove to Greg's fancy (expensive!) parking spot, which is close to the fun spots in downtown Madison (good for our family outings) but not very close to the engineering building (not so good for Student Greg).

We walked over to the Memorial Union on campus.

Once inside we treated ourselves to some super fresh ice cream (yummy!) and headed out back to enjoy it on the lake.

Greg fulfilled his fatherly duty of eating all the quickly melting ice cream that the kids and I couldn't consume fast enough. (By the way, super fresh ice cream melts much faster than Culver's frozen custard, to which we are of late more accustomed.)

David was inspired to dance with the waves of Lake Mendota.

And Mary adeptly climbed up and down the railing sporting her new flip-flops (which are her most recent obsession).

After the ice cream, David and Daddy walked out onto the lake, while Mary hung back with me.

Beautiful!

We concluded our outing with a little walk up State Street. This is a picture of Greg pushing the stroller up State Street towards the Capitol, and he is about to get run over by a bicyclist. Very Madison.

***

My birthday happened somewhere in there. Mary enjoyed making (eating) the frosting.

And I enjoyed my cake. I was informed it was a Hello Kitty slash Lego Hero Factory cake. We have big imaginations in this family.

On my birthday (coincidentally) David and Mary were finally inducted into to world of Webkinz. (Thank you, Eliza, Luke, and Evan!...I think.) It was very exciting.

I have one more picture that was taken on my birthday that has nothing to do with my birthday.

Yes, that is Mary eating a granola bar and trapped in the chair while David's Webkinz chews her bum. Just what you always wanted to see. Next year I will try to take pictures of BIRTHDAY things on my birthday.

***

This is a weekly sight in our life again.

Greg hasn't mowed a lawn since Ohio.

He has a little helper again. But this time it's Mary.

***

One week after the FIRST first-day-of-school in this family, Mary had HER first day of school! Yay, Mary! (We are so proud of her for rising to the occasion with potty-training! And for WOWing her teacher with her brilliance!)

Mary chose very carefully where she wanted her first day of school picture taken. (She's standing in front of--and blocking-- pictures of her responsibilities, of which she is quite proud.)

***

Just a few weeks ago we were treated with a visit from Grandma Evie! Hooray! She spent a lot of time on the floor playing with the kids. Because of a home football game (Go, Badgers!) and pre-race Ironman events, we didn't do the usual Madison sightseeing downtown. (She'll have to come back for that. Hint, hint.) But we did drive through the lovely rural countryside to the House on the Rock. (I cannot explain the House on the Rock. It is too weird for words and too weird for camera. I refer you to the Internet. But I did take a few pictures.)

***

My mom was here the weekend of the Ironman. The biking portion goes right by our house. Literally. This is the view out of my bedroom window.

I am in awe of people who run marathons. These people swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and THEN run a marathon. I was in physical pain just THINKING about it.

Credit for this picture goes to Mary!

After church and after naps we headed outside to cheer on the racers and ring our cow bell.

Mary enjoyed riding her bike beside the race route.

Yes, we're startin' her early--she'll be an Ironwoman in no time!

***

Phew! Is that enough ketchup for you? It is for me!

Let's hope for a little less catch up and a little more regular blogging.

Good night.