A big week...

It started on Saturday at Holiday World... then on Monday when we returned to Greencastle we went to hunt for "interesting rocks." First we ventured to the Sports Park next to our house.. where Ben tired of looking for Indian beads within minutes. Owen came along and reinvigorated the search for a few minutes, before we headed for home.

That night though, Jason had the idea to go to a creek bed on a neighbor's property. Unbeknownst to us, this is a hot bed for fossils... Ben and I did some advance research and learned that "indian beads" are really ancient fossilized crinoids, or sea lilies, that lived 350 million years ago in an ancient sea that covered Indiana. I was actually pretty excited to know this and head to the creek... as were the boys.

When we got there, the lure of the water and mud overtook them and the fossil hunting became a minor distraction. MOMMY hunted fossils while the boys splashed. Until of course my dear husband hatched a plan that involved me walking in the creek while splashing madly to drive the minnows upstream to where he was standing with a ziplock. He finally caught one and the boys thought it was cool. That said, they liked the baby frogs that I found and caught better... and I didn't have to splash in the muddy water as much to retrieve those!

Soon, Owen was sitting, then practically laying in the water. It was getting dark and we had our hands full, or we'd have had some pretty funny shots. Later in the week when Owen recounted the event for my mom he said "we found wocks (rocks) in water... and I got my buuutt (pronounced with 2 or 3 syllables) all wet."

Tuesday night the boys played at Justin and Cody's house while I had a meeting and Jason worked. Then Wednesday it was the big "nursery graduation" at church. Yes, there were caps for the graduates... and cake and punch. Owen got to say goodbye to the nursery (he hated the nursery... has cried every Sunday for 2 yrs when we have dropped him off!) and hello to the new preschool area. He's now in the same area as Ben so I'm expecting big things.

Then tonight (Thursday), Ben's first Fall soccer practice! Everyone on the team is from our church.. .with the exception of 1 little guy. Ben enjoyed it and said that his cleats "make me so fast that I shred the grass!" Don't worry about his self-confidence! Owen was a very supportive little brother and kept saying "good job Ben" while Ben was playing. When Ben came out for water breaks, Owen was there with the bottle for him. I'm sure it won't last, but it sure was cute tonight! On the way home the conversation went like this....

Owen: "good job Ben. good job at soccer."

Ben: "thanks Owen. say you're welcome, Owen, when I say thanks."

Owen: "thanks Ben, good job. you're welcome. "

Ben: "thanks Owen, good job saying 'you're welcome'"

Owen: "thanks Ben"

Ben: "you're welcome"

I was watching the exchange in the rearview. Sure beats the fighting I'm usually witnessing!

Oh and lest I forget... Ben's first day at Pre-K was on Tuesday. Here's a pic of him before we went. He says it's "okay -- not as fun as the 4s class." Apparently they have to work more and play less... in their 2.5 hr class. I can hardly wait to see how full-day kindergarten is received come next August! He did tell me at dinner the first night... "I hang out with Scot. There was a girl chasing me but I ran away. At first I wasn't really running really fast like I can but then I did and I was like woosh... gone away from her. And then I told Scot to run and he did and he's fast but not faster than me. So me and Scot, we just like hung out together because we're like friends like that."

Later that night I was talking to Scot's mom, Melissa, and she said that she had asked Scot if he made any new friends at school. Apparently his response was much like Ben's... nah, my friend Ben is there so I don't need anyone else! They're 4 and they've already formed a clique!

Tomorrow (okay, today, now) is Owen's first day of preschool... I'm sure I'll have stories about that one by tomorrow night!

Holiday World 2008

We went to Holiday World last Saturday. It was a fun trip that Jason and I, the boys, my brother, nephew (Jonah), Aunt Tammie, and my mom and dad did together.

The night before we all went to Mom and Dad's to stay and shorten the drive a little on Saturday morning. Owen was so excited on Friday. I told the boys that it was going to be warm enough to do the water park.. which made Owen do a little dance that include foot stomping and fist pumping while saying "oh yes, yes, yes, I gonna WIM!! (swim minus the "s" sound). Then Ben pointed out to him that we could leave him behind.. like we did last year. Owen, lip protruded, said "why you leave me at home?" Poor guy. Big brother is probably going to give him a complex!

The boys were very good at Holiday World. Ben's favorites were the water park and the birds (the big ones that swing around on chains). Owen liked the boats (canoes), water park, and birds... mostly because his brother did. Jonah's favorite was the log flume. Grandpa rode with the boys on the birds but nearly couldn't get himself out when the ride was over... so that was his one and only ride adventure!

It was an eventful day, but for the life of me right now all I can think of are the moments in the van on the way there and back! All 3 boys were in the back seat together and fussing all the way there about one thing or another. Thank goodness for bucket seats! I only put Owen back there so he wouldn't feel left out... we'll go with left out over all of the fussing for sure next time! On the way home we stopped at a gas station and got tootsie rolls, among other things, for the boys. Owen kept asking me to turn the light on so that he could see to unwrap the candy. I was watching in my rearview mirror as he focused very hard on the wrapper to get it off. After awhile I realized that while I had seen him unwrap MANY, I had never seen him EAT one. You guessed it... unwrapped tootsie rolls everywhere! When I asked where they were and he started moving his legs and looking in his car seat, I knew we were in trouble!

Anyway, we returned exhausted, but having had a great time. More later when I remember the other funny moments with the boys!

See all of the holiday world photos (my battery died on the trip!) at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=32802&l=b8081&id=518670535

Indiana State Fair

We went to the Indiana State Fair in early August. I have gotten so far behind on blogging and had such trouble w/photo uploads due to our internet service provider, that I have just given up on catching up. I did want to share some funny stuff... despite the lack of photos... about our trip to the fair.

I just asked Ben what the best parts of the Indiana State Fair were for him... he said:

• seeing all of the real live animals that lived and that kind of stuff
• seeing the bones and the fish and the turtle shell and those rats and the African wild goat (I don't recall the African wild goat... but whatever!)
• I really liked to eat the wild animals (apparently the turkey leg qualifies?)
• AND you know, helping the animals... giving the animals food

Owen said the best parts were...

• riding rides (we didn't ride any)
• John Deere tractors
• and the golf cart

My favorite part was the LEASH! I probably mentioned before that after our return from Kings Island and an incident w/Owen running from me in the mall, I bought a backpack/leash. The boys discovered the backpack in the van before we left Greencastle. Owen thought it was so cool... and kept saying "that for me?" and "my packpack?" Ben was complaining because he didn't have one. Finally I said "Ben - just wait.. you'll see..."

So we get to the fairgrounds and we're in the parking lot... and I have the back of the van open and both boys are standing in it. Jason was already in the fairgrounds having been there to work all day... So I put the backpack on Owen and get him all fastened in ... and Ben is STILL complaining about not having his own backpack. Then I get the "leash" part out and attach it to the backpack. Ben, seeing this, yells (pointing to Owen and the leash) "Ha! You're on a LEASH!!"

Owen starts turning around like a puppy trying to get something that is on his back and saying "no WEASH (he has an "L" issue)" and "don't put me on a WEASH!" All the way into the fairgrounds, surrounded by other fair-goers, he is saying over and over "not a WEASH!" "pwease take off the weash!" People were actually stopping to feel bad for the boy.. and then he was stopping and refusing to move and then I'd have to pull him ... much like a stubborn puppy that won't move.

When we finally reached the fairgrounds and met up w/Jason, he felt bad for Owen and insisted that I remove the leash. We took it out once more when he got called out and I was trying to wrangle both boys amidst a crowd of kids and parents that were trying to feed the goats.

It was pretty pitiful... so we probably won't do it again anytime soon. Anyone need to borrow a kid-leash?

As I'm writing there has been a big dispute over the fridge magnet that plays the ABCs. Ben just said "OWEN I am SO TIRED of hearing that song!" I am betting it has been played no less than 50 times since we have been home tonight. On the upside, Owen is really good at his ABCs now! Gotta go intervene...

Actual Portrait Studio Photos...

I have dreaded it all week.. going to the portrait studio to get photos done of the boys. We actually went and bought a nice digital camera after the last session a year ago... and vowed to stay out of the studio after that terrible trip. My in-laws needed a 2-yr studio photo of Owen though... to go on the wall with the other 2-yr old photos in the family... so we went.

The studio was really good and despite me having to move the appt 3 times to find a time that would work for all of us to drive over to Plainfield AND having had Owen wake up in a terrible mood today that wasn't the least bit improved by lunchtime, it went pretty well. We used our reverse psychology on Owen... "Don't go stand by your brother.." and "Don't smile.." The photographer said she'd never seen any kid respond so well to the commands that were really the opposite of what we wanted from him! Ha!

Anyway, enjoy... this is my favorite. Check out the rest on Facebook using the following links (check both - they didn't all fit into one album): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31347&l=0ca2d&id=518670535 and http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31348&l=43cc8&id=518670535

Oh and the photographer said that this was the best jump she ever got on film!

Our Trip to Lafayette...

Last Thursday, I ended up taking the day off at the last minute and decided to take the boys to Columbian Park in Lafayette. I had not been there since having kids but drove by a couple of weeks ago on my way back from Chicago and saw that they had a very cool pool.

So we went first to Tropicanoe Cove... the swimming pool. I didn't keep my camera with me much, for obvious reasons... we had a great time and I felt like the play area for the boys was comparable to Holiday World's water park but a heck of a lot cheaper ($10 for us all for the day!). The boys loved the sprayers, of course, and surprisingly... the lazy river. Owen was really tired, so that was probably part of the reason that he enjoyed the floating for awhile.

After the water, we went to the FREE zoo. They don't have a ton of animals, but do have a couple of monkeys and a few big cats, plus prarie dogs, a bald eagle, and a farm petting area. You have to check out the video of Owen in the petting area... he loved it. Of course he was bossing the animals! Ben briefly dressed up as a farm veterinarian too. Funny thing was that their costumes were right on... plaid button up shirts!

The park also had a great series of play sets and a big pond plus a couple of carnival rides and a train that circled the park... all FREE, aside from the water park. It was a great day!

See all the pics on Facebook.

When Laura Came to Stay...

So our regular sitters are at church camp and Laura came to stay w/us last week to take care of the boys. Today will be the first day in a week that she hasn't been there when they woke up! She did a great job and the boys had a lot of fun w/her.

Friday night she got an especially exciting opportunity... she got to wrangle the boys at the Greencastle Park while I sold candy for Tri Kappa! I think they wore her out!! Ha! Then I gave her a money bag to carry with us because BEN wanted to walk around and sell candy, which we did do. Me, Ben, Owen and Laura sold frozen candy bars for $1. Well, Owen is another story really... he was carrying a bag of frozen snickers. Frozen VERY solid. He swung them and hit himself in the head. So then he was whining about that! I asked Laura to get the wagon... so we just loaded them up and let them ride while we sold stuff. I looked over and Owen was chewing the frozen snickers open!! Ugh. Needless to say there are several that did NOT get sold.

Laura and I also got away from the boys for a bit and went to the thrift stores to shop for school clothes. Check out the stuff she got on my FB photo album. We had a thrift store fashion show! She got lots of other cute things.. but these were some of our favorites.

Summer sitters...

As most everyone knows, this summer I took the boys out of daycare again so that they can play at home. The neighbor girls - across the road - are watching them. Hannah watches them on M/W/F and her 2 younger sisters watch them together on T/R.

Day 1 I knew that I was in trouble when I got home and said "I Love You" to Owen and he replied "I Love Hannah!" Even on our trip to Kings Island when we woke up on Tuesday and I said we were heading home he said "Hannah!!!" Today it was very sweet ... I worked from home and I ran into the kitchen at lunch time and saw Owen on her lap on the couch just leaned against her chest singing. He really adores her.

Ben had his first official non-cousin sleepover last night. Well since he was old enough to want to have kids stay over anyway. His friend Justin got to stay w/us on a weeknight b/c his little brother got put in the hospital with a respiratory infection yesterday. Justin actually stayed with the boys all day today too - and he and Ben played great all day. I think it was actually EASIER on Hannah having them both! Justin was so happy to be staying that he was grinning from ear to ear when I put him down to sleep in Owen's bed last night. Ben, in his very best big boy voice siad "mom, we're going to need the radio" as I left his room. They were both very good boys and slept well all night!

Today they played outside, in the barn, upstairs, in the sprinkler, and in the sandpile. It was a fun day!

Well the boys are winding down their bath and I promised bubbles... so I'd better got on that. They never let me forget a promise that was made...

Jackson and Kaiser Family Reunions

We had two family reunions this weekend... both in Carlisle, both Dad's family. It was the Jackson reunion on Saturday. The boys and I went w/o Jason because he was working. On the way down Ben kept asking about the reunion. "Will there just be people sitting around and talking?" and "Will there be dancing?" I assured him that there would just be people sitting around and talking and that it was unlikely that we'd see dancing!

The Jackson reunion is a catered reunion -- so big plus that we don't have to make/take food! The way the morning was going, the boys and I would have never made it with food! We were at a small church - Indian Prarie - where several of the Jackson grandparents are buried. The boys did their best to have fun in the church fellowship hall, running up and down a ramp and playing with the play tools we sent. My brother Chris and I spent most of our time corralling them. It's hard to be a kid at a family reunion... I remember the misery myself!! Too much talking! Ha!

There was a photographer that got a large group photo. Amazingly the boys sat for several minutes for her on the front row. The last big reunion picture was in 1980 -- I was 7 and on the front row. Ben got a kick out of that. Anxious to see this next one... in 27 yrs!

After, we tried a few photos of our own. The Kaiser and Huff boys in our family...


Mom and Dad with their 3 grandsons.
At the end of the day, Kyle had a nice hug for Ben.
Uncle Chris and Ben rough-housed outside a bit...

After the reunion on Saturday the plan was for Ben to go home w/Mom and Dad and Owen to come back to Greencastle with me. Jonah was also going with Mom and Dad. Owen was convinced that he was too. He kept saying "go to papaws?" I told him that we were going home to have special time... play in the sprinklers, play outside. He kept saying that no, he wasn't going home, he was going to Papaw's!

Mom and Dad were encouraging me to send him with them, but Ben was pretty psyched about going without him! Finally the straw that broke the camel's back... Owen is all strapped into his car seat in my van. He is looking very sad and says "Ben go to Pappaw's? Jonah go to Pappaw's? Why me not go to Pappaw's?" I told him again of the fun that we were going to have, added in that we would see daddy, AND said... "there's not room in Grandma's car and she doesn't have a movie..."

His response after some delay of looking sad and sticking his lip out... "I sit Bama's (Grandma's) lap?"

So we got him out, set up the 3rd seat in their car, and sent him on his way with his cousins. Ben was complaining, but he got over it I guess. Jason and I decided to forgoe the plans to paint the porch and instead go to dinner and a movie since we had no boys! I think it was a fun night for everyone!

Sunday's Kaiser reunion was at Brad and Judy Page's house. They have grandkids, a big pole barn, tractors, kids toys and a sandpile, a gator, pony rides, and a pond. My boys would have stayed all day!

As soon as we got into the barn, Owen wanted to go outside. He had spied tractors and wanted to go "ride." We passed a gator and he got pretty excited.. but the tractors were the real draw. We sat on one for quite awhile while Jason, Jonah and Ben occupied a different tractor.

Ben quickly found a pedal tractor and went to town. Owen, at the time of this photo, was sitting on a "Dixie Chopper" which was his favorite place at the time (it was a different brand but I didn't confuse him with that).

Owen was almost too big for this battery operated 4-wheeler but he was determined to follow his cousin around in the pink Barbie jeep.Owen loves horses/ponies, but he was way too busy to stop for a ride. This is Kyle on the pony - my uncle chuck and cousin Brad walking with him. Owen was ready to jump in the pond when we arrived. After I explained that our plan was to stay out of the pond he started saying "too deep -- that pond is too deep!" Fortunately no one tested out the deepness... not the little boys anyway. Jonah was much more patient with the fishing than Ben was. And he was making up fish stories already. He may be a good fisherman!
Owen didn't make it out of the driveway before he was asleep. We went then and had dinner with Jason's parents and then back to pick up Jonah and give him a ride to his dad's house in Brazil. After such a long day it was pretty easy to get our two little ones to sleep... they were definitely worn out!!

Kings Island

This time last week we were loading up for our Kings Island trip. It wasn't a bad drive - we took a lot of dvds and Jason told the boys they'd have to take turns picking. We usually get about half way to Vincennes (45 mins) and there's a lot of complaining... but 2 hours into this trip we were still okay. The boys had very short naps (like 30 mins) on the way and then we hit "Boomerang Bay" - their water park. The water was freezing in most of the kiddie pools, but the boys didn't seem to notice. We really had to watch Owen because whereas Ben tries to stay in the safe spots, Owen gets himself into too deep water pretty quickly!

One of the favorite spots at the water park was in the kiddie pool that had fountains shooting up. Ben's obsessed with Ninja moves.. kicking and hitting, right now. He was punching and kicking the water that was shooting up. Then he'd stand on the fountain, effectively stopping it. Owen decided to try. He wasn't big enough to stop it with his foot, so he'd try to sit on it... usually missing the source of the water and falling right beside it. They had a great time.

Owen was up for the water slides... Ben wasn't sure at first, but ended up loving them. They also got a kick out of the wave pool... Ben was once again kicking and punching the waves. We left the pool at closing time on Sunday.

We stayed nearby at a Holiday Inn that was very nice and had a candy/cookie/ice cream shop just outside. We took the boys there for dessert and Owen was a terror the whole time we were in there. Hopefully it was just the lack of nap... we don't want a repeat of that scene again. Wow. Then we hit the hotel and bed... the boys slept from about 9:30 Sunday night to almost 9:30 Monday morning! They were definitely worn out. We arrived at Kings Island just before 11AM and stayed until they closed, of course. The favorite rides of the day were the Scooby Doo adventure (you're in a mystery machine shooting scooby ray guns at bad guy targets in a dark building), Diego jeeps, and for Ben... the "Beastie" rollercoaster (it's not named this way anymore - but that was the name when Jason and I were kids). Owen would ride the jeeps over and over saying "diego go go, diego go go!" He also waved to everyone as he rode around. Clearly he thought he was REALLY driving!

I went on the "Beastie" with Ben and fully expected that it would be his first and last ride on that coaster. As we went down the first big hill he was SHRIEKING and I thought that was it. Turns out that he loved it -- and went another time w/his dad. Jason said that as they were about to reach the top of the big hill he asked Ben "Is this where you put your hands up?" Ben replied "No, this is where you hold on REAL TIGHT!"

Owen did get a good nap in the stroller -- though he fought it pretty hard. We went on a pretty dull train ride and it did him in. The boys played games, ate a lot of junk food, spent more time in the water park, and ended the day eating hot dogs and watching fireworks. Oh and visiting the gift shop, of course. Jason had tried unsuccessfully (thankfully!) to win a giant (5-ft) Batman for the boys... so he spoiled them grandly with souvenirs to compensate for the Batman disappointment! Ha!

Tuesday before we left Cincinnati we stopped by the Bass Pro shops. Ben really loved the fish and live turtles in the aquarium. Owen loved the 4-wheelers. We could hardly pull him away. The boys also got a chance to shoot in the indoor shooting range... fun stuff!

I have a couple of pics of the boys headed into KI and then at the hotel and Bass Pro. We had a disposable in the park that is not yet developed, so I'll have to post those later...

Next stop in the amusement park tour... Holiday World in August!

Where to even start...

Since I've been having connectivity issues with our wireless account, I just haven't been posting. And then I got so far behind that I was discouraged about catching up! So I'm just going to start with this weekend... and maybe fill in behind later on. We'll see.

Owen had his second bday party last night. Not just for his #2 bday, but actually the SECOND #2 party. He was a real pro at blowing the candles out this time!

His original party was planned for June 7 - the Saturday of ALL the rain and flooding. Deciding against bringing the 20 kids we invited INSIDE, I called moms and dads and rescheduled for June 20. We decided to go ahead w/the family party on the 7th though...

John, Judy, Jana, Dave, and Laura rode up to Greencastle together. They got an early start and although we had to keep checking road closures (67 closed before they left Knox Co., 40 was closed for awhile on their way up, and 70 closed just as they got to Terre Haute), they made it up in under 4 hours. My mom and dad weren't as lucky... they were supposed to pick up the cake for Owen's party in Terre Haute and get some play sand from Lowe's for the sand and water table they bought Owen for his bday. They sat in traffic in TH and watched a nursing home/assisted living center evacuate by boat. The couldn't turn across the flooded median into Lowe's... so I said forget the sand. Then they tried SAMS for the cake... closed as well. Water was pouring into the front doors. They'd have turned back then but 41 actually closed behind them!! So they trudged ahead and ended up hitting Greencastle only to find that the sheriff had 231 blocked off and they couldn't enter town!! After taking the back roads they made it fine and we commenced party #1.

The backyard was FLOODED so the boys took full advantage and splashed around in the muddy waters. They smelled terrible! Owen esp loved swinging over the water. I'll post some pics here and the rest on FB. It was hilarious. Ben and Jonah were quick to join them but oddly, Justin (son of our friends Mark and Beth) would have nothing to do with it. Justin's the one that got Ben muddy awhile back and Ben STILL talks/gripes about it (apparently Justin made mud with dirt and water - go figure - then somehow put it on Ben or coerced Ben into the mixture??). Anyway, they were all quite a site!

Party #2 -- the friend party -- was last night. The kids were enjoying the playsets in the backyard and the multitude of riding toys on the basketball court. Then we pulled out the waterguns... we had 20+ little guns. First the little boys got involved... then the big boys. Dads were soaking the little ones. Brad (our neighbor) was dunking the little ones in the 52 degree water standing in the refill tub. It was quite a war. I changed clothes in the midst after being hosed down... Jason changed twice since his dry clothes had a way of attracting cups of water. Just when we thought it was all over, Brian Black dumped a cooler (1/4 full) of ice water on Brad. Round 2 of the big guy water fight is planned for later this summer. The little boys finished the fight soaked and shivering. Owen's teeth were chattering and his lips were a little blue when he finally agreed to get dried off!

After more playing - in the sand, of course -- so that all of the sand would stick to the wet clothes -- we had cake. Owen didn't get a cool cake for the first party since SAMS was closed. I took him to Walmart this week to pick one out... we flipped thru the cake book for almost an hour until he settled on a 4-wheeler cake. The icing was so thick ... pure sugar. We topped it off with ice cream and rootbeer floats and chocolate and marshmallows... no word yet from friends that tried to get their kids to actually sleep last night! Ha!

It was a good time. I think the dads enjoyed the party as much as the little ones did...

You're only two once. This party proved that you can act like it for many years to come though!!

More photos... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24002&l=73e45&id=518670535