Last Day at the Beach

The kids had a great week on the beach and loved every minute of the water and sand. We had a wonderful week as well seeing everyone and catching up. Start the count down for our next family beach reunion in 2 years

Surf's Up

While Mason was more interested in pretending to surf, Ellery was tasting the sand. One would think she would have learned the first time not to eat the sand or drink the water, but we repeatedly found her eating the sand and attempting to dunk her face in the water for a drink? They both loved the sand and the ocean.

Beach Finds

Along with finding the star fish this year we also found and caught other beach life.
We are thinking the Discovery Channel might contact us for a spin off from Deadliest Catch to Amazing Beach Catches with a 3 year old host. I was able to catch itty bitty crabs and I was shocked when Mason asked to hold them. Ellery shook her head no to the idea.

We also found a ray caught in a tidal pool. I was able to catch him in a bucket and put him back in the ocean. Before we caught him we all put two finders in the tidal pool as he swam by and petted him, including Mason.

Star Fish

In all the years Rob has been going to the beach, he has never found a star fish. Must have been something with the moon and the tide because every morning you walked on the beach you would find star fish. It was very majestic to find them and let them swim and move around. When I found all the sand dollars years ago and took them out of the water and bleached them I didn't feel bad for ending their sea life, but I just couldn't bring myself to take a star fish. If I would have found one dead, I would have thought more about it, but I never happened upon one. Mason didn't want to touch or hold one, but after he let it crawl on his foot he warmed up to the idea of holding it. Ellery wanted to look and point, but kept shaking her head no when asked if she wanted to hold it.

Loving on Ellery

Another beach theme this year was cuddling or playing with Ellery. She was a magnet by all and really warmed up to anyone who would give her attention. We are very proud of her for doing so well being tossed around from person to person and being treated like a baby doll.

Beach time with Grandma Ellen

Grandma Ellen enjoyed some beach time with the kids. Whoever played with Mason and Ellery on the beach would end up with sand all over them, more than what you usually got on you. Our first day on the beach TJ asked Mason to help him put all this sand back in the water and sure enough Mason went on working on the task. He worked all week long on getting sand back in the water, what a neat trick TJ thought of and he doesn't even have kids yet. I think everyone enjoyed playing with the kids on the beach and it was nice to have extra hands and people playing with them. I even got some time to myself to worship the sun.The kids enjoyed playing on the alligator that their dad played on when he was little, not quite as little as them but this thing is over 20 years old and has a few patches to show for his time on the beach. I knew alligators lived a long time but I had no idea this also worked for inflatable alligators.

Mr. Bill

This years family joke was a tiny figurine from the Saturday Night Live skits, meet Mr. Bill. Mr. Bill got to experience all sorts of cool things this week and would turn up in all sorts of places including our huge family photo. Ellery enjoyed chewing on Mr. Bill while Mason treated him as an action figure with super powers. If you look closely in the group photo below it's like playing wheres Waldo with Mr. Bill.

The Beach House

This is a view from the deck off our bedroom at the beach house. What a wonderful sight to wake up to everyday. It is becoming a toss up on what I would choose a house on the beach or in the mountains?

Ellery 17 Months

Our little blondie just keeps getting blonder and blonder and her eyes just sparkle. I hope they stay the blue that they are because they are beautiful. She is shaking her head yes and no appropriately to questions and will shake her head no when you don't give her an option of no, but she is letting you know she prefers no. She is talking a lot more and will attempt to repeat things you say to her and some come out more clear than others. She is becoming a great eater, but slower on the vegetable side. She is learning her colors and abc's. She loves singing songs and her favorite are action songs or songs that have motions. She makes a few animal noises, but her favorite is the sheep noise or a roaring noise. She really loves books, I have learned to look for her when she is quiet and she is either climbing up on things or sitting in a corner reading books. I could go on and on, but she is a strong willed child. Rob teases me that Mason is sensitive like him and Ellery is straight and to the point like her mommy.

Ellery first time

We got off the plane and walked through our beach house straight out to the beach. We didn't change clothes or stop for a potty break and the kids loved it. Ellery took about 30 seconds to warm up to the idea and then she was off and running. She would run towards the waves and when the tide would come in she would run away and then really liked the feel of the sand on her feet. I'll write more later, I just have a feeling I have frequent blog checkers waiting for pictures of the little ones!

Happy Travels

We are off to the beach for a week. We have been talking about it all summer and Mason has been requesting to "I want to go to the beach". We can now finally fill his request. We had to take two planes to get to Charleston and everyone did great on the plane. I don't have any horror stories to share from our experience. Our only problem was that Ellery refused to fall asleep and was squirmy the whole flight while all we had to do was ask if Mason wanted to take a nap and her curled up and went to sleep.

The Smoke House

We went to a dive restaurant with some friends this evening and had an experience. This place was a dive and also for sale. We had to travel dirt roads to the destination, but we did get rock star parking right under a stop sign and in front of the for sale sign. I would go out on a stretch and could maybe call it a quaint place. You get to walk through the bar to get to the restaurant and it's like you are entering Wal-Mart because you get a personal greeting, but from a drunk grandma figure minus the happy face stickers of course sitting on a bar stool. Who knows the greeters at Wal-Mart could be plowed as well?? She was a very friendly gal and asked for high fives from all the kids. Our friends eight year old daughter refused her first round of high fives and told her mom you know that's a stranger. For a pit of a restaurant they think they are a hidden gem with pricey food. My chicken fried steak cost $14.95, but it did include the salad bar that was big as a booth table. Don't forget we traveled a few miles to get to this mouth watering hole. The food was ok, but we had fun with it and it was more for the fellowship with friends. We did get some live music and he had a Susan Boyle appearance, but didn't deliver with the voice like she can, but live music always adds a little something.
I did get a kick out of Mason, I took him to the restroom where the light switch was in the hallway and they had the cloth hanging hand towel that I am sure is illegal in a few states now and as we are washing our hands he points to the bar of soap and asks me what it was. He has grown up with liquid soap and we haven't used any bar soap. It was my first flash back of my parents and grand parents telling stories that start with "I remember when we didn't have......". I officially feel old because I remember when bars of soap weren't so obsolete.

Does Vs Dos

Mason needs a grammar lesson in when he should use does over do. It makes me smile every time he reiterates something to me and says "yes, he dos" rather than yes he does.

Mason 3 years

I am still amazed that I have a 3 year old. We went for our 3 year check-up and growing up so fast. He dropped a bit on the weight curve, but remains high up on the height curve. He even got his blood pressure checked and did great.
BP: 98/52
Weight: 35lbs (81%)
Height: 41 inches (98%)
He is right on track an ahead on a lot of motor skills and coming right along in his verbal as well. He loves playing with matchbox cars and dinosaurs. His favorite show is Cars and loves watching Super Why on PBS. Elmo and Thomas have taken a back seat lately. Has a great imagination and sees a lot of bears, monsters, and caterpillars. He loves coloring, painting, and cutting with scissors. He also loves doing puzzles, if he keeps this up I won't question sending him to kindergarten rather than holding him back a year. He loves singing his ABC's, knows all of his colors and shapes, learning things in spanish, recognizing numbers 1-10, but having a harder time grasping eleven and on up. It is two ones rather than eleven, knows his right from his left, and recognizes all of his letters K, W, and G are hard for him, and starting to ask a lot of questions. I am sure I am forgetting something that he does, but he is our first born prodigy!

Baby Sitter

We had a daughter of one of Rob's co-workers come over and babysit the kids the other night. She did a good job, but we did find Mason's diaper on backwards??? I still put him in a diaper at night, but he is still waking up dry or waking up and going to the bathroom himself. Anyways, he used every trick in the bag in going to bed. I need a drink, I need socks, I need covers, etc. He did finally ask her "who's going to kiss me goodnight?" We usually give him a hug and kiss and he was reluctant to get it from her, but finally settled that she would have to do. I just thought that was cute and sweet of him.

That's going to leave a mark

We call Mason our wimpy white boy. We think he would cry if a feather fell on him. Well, we are exaggerating a bit, but he isn't Mr. Tough like his sister who really is Miss Tough. If Ellery cries we know it really hurt. Mason is our boy who cries wolf a lot. He runs from Ellery on a regular basis because she has a matchbox car cocked in one arm ready to unload. She rarely throws it at him, we think she gets a kick out of watching him run and wale like a girl. I call Mason my wimpy boy, but he was a champ after he ran into the door at full speed. It was another slow motion moment where you feel like you are yelling at slow speed saying Noooooooo because you can see what is about to happen, but you just aren't that quick. It is a moment where I wish I was Mrs. Incredible and had bungee arms and can reach out and snatch him before he hits the door. The red mark above his right eye that looks like a half moon is because he ran into the door while open and that is the door latch that is shaped like a half moon. Ouch! It also left a small goose egg and we iced it for a bit. He did really well and snuggled up to me, I think it almost knocked him out literally. He is fine now and later in the evening when we put him to bed, he used the "I need some ice on my head" as a stall tactic.

I need eyes

I need eyes in the back of my head with little Ellery. She insists on growing up faster than what I want her too and expresses her independence much more than Mason ever thought of. Today's battle that I choose not to fight on was letting her sit in a real chair rather than her booster chair. She was sitting right next to Mason having a snack and happy as can be to be a big girl in a big chair.The reason I got the camera out was because Mason was showing me his dog that he made out of eating his banana bread. He was making barking noises and everything as he had it sitting on the table in front of him. I love his creativity and imagination. He then continued to eat a bit more off of it and then turned it into a cat.Ellery must have needed some attention herself or maybe she was going after the banana bread dog? Anyways, I find her on top of the table by her brother telling me. "Uh oh, Ellery is up on the table." Mason would never in a million years climb the items that Ellery climbs nor would we let him sit in a chair like she does. She sits like a big girl and gets down like one as well. I think we had to pick Mason up and place him in the chair until he was almost 2, this little Miss has been doing it a lot longer than he ever thought about.
I caught her in the walk way in pantry peering a the shelves with a slight twinkle in her eyes shooed her away only to find her standing on top of the table rather than off playing with her toys. This wasn't the first time she was caught on the table and like the cat I am sure it won't be the last.

Bows Bows and more Bows

I am going to have to make Ellery another bow holder if Nana sends us anymore. Nana sure filled it up fast and we wear a bow everyday. You know we wear them often because people are starting to remember us from Ellery's bows!
Thanks for all the pretty bows Nana.

Meet Spider Man

While we were visiting with Roni and her family they also had a mini festival going on during the competitive bbq contest. Mason loved getting his face painted and when asked what super hero he wanted to be he picked spider man. I would like to ask the face painter some questions like, when did spider man ever have glitter on? If you look closely she put a splash of glitter on her design? hmmmmm. He also enjoyed playing on the inflatables and climbed them like a spider man.

Carnivores

We headed up to Bellevue, NE today to visit the Wertz Family aka 4 Legs Up BBQ. They have a wonderful restaurant in Great Bend, KS and are well vested in the competitive bbq circuit. We had the honor of viewing the process along with eating the left overs of the competition prepared meats. I don't know if words can describe the wonderful taste I experienced. I think I am going to become a bbq groupie and dig in the trash cans to eat this wonderful flavored meat. YUMMY. As you can see Mason even enjoyed tasting it and when I asked what he was eating, he felt compelled to show me. It was also fun seeing Roni's family and catching up.

Ellery found a new friend and had a great time with Kelsi, I hope Kelsi comes up and visits us soon, because she was wonderful with the kids and they really enjoyed her.


Rob was in heaven and I think if he found the time he would go down for a crash course from Kelly in bbqing. If I save up some money I might end up having to buy him a smoker someday. Kelly's chicken was so good, I told Rob he better get some lessons. I am thinking about sending Rob and Mason down for an internship in bbqing.
The group all smiles after devouring the leftovers from what was turned into the competition.
Big high 5's for a job well done and for filling our bellies!
THANK YOU 4 Legs Up BBQ!

Trampoline

Yesterday was the first day we didn't jump on the trampoline. It wasn't because we didn't have the intention to jump, time just ran out on us. We are still going strong and Mason loves to play his version of crack the egg. He likes to be double bounced while sitting on his bum. His coordination is getting better and he jumps higher and higher. No question about it, I am still enjoying myself on it.

Grooming

My child has a grooming problem. He is fine with you combing his hair with your fingers, but if you use any kind of utensil aka a brush, he cries and messes up his hair. Not connecting with him on why he has this phobia, but it does give us a good chuckle.

My new thing

I know this shouldn't thrill me like it does, but I am in love with matching PJ's. I am now on a quest to find just the right pair, I am thinking stripes! I have also learned matching PJ's can cause some confusion and problems. Rob put Mason to bed the other night and when I went to give him a kiss before I went to bed, I noticed his PJ's looked a little snug and small. They looked like he was wearing capri pjs. It was enough for me to just stop and stare, but not do any further investigation because he was sleeping peacefully and I was really ready for bed myself. I was greeted early the next morning and all of my observations were correct the night before. So either my child grew like a giant while he was sleeping OR daddy put him in his sister's matching PJ's. How he wrestled them onto him is beyond me, but chalk up another dressing mishap to daddy. Nothing like putting clothes on backwards, shoes on the wrong feet, and squeezing you into 24 month size clothes when you are wearing 4T. I LOVE IT!

Potty Trained

I could have posted this one a week ago, but I didn't want to jinx us. I can honestly say Mason is potty trained. We still have our occasional accident, it is hard for him pull himself away from fun toys. That includes playing with his matchbox cars. They were very mesmerizing the other day and we couldn't be interrupted for a potty break for some crazy reason. It is the cutest thing listening to him say he has to potty and run for the bathroom. It is like music to my ears. He is also having no troubles going #2. He has been successful on this elimination for over a week. I am also proud to report that he has had a dry diaper the last 4 nights in the morning and the first thing I wake up to is "Mom, I have to potty". What a wonderful alarm sound! I was confused on how a 2.5 year old could put together a 25+ piece puzzle on his own, but couldn't figure out potty training. I guess I wasn't truly ready to train him. Now we need to potty train Ellery, poor thing seems to not get her diaper changed near as often as before. I am happy to report we sat her on the chair yesterday and she did go. It was an accident on her part on going in the toilet, but still it is a start. They say girls are much easier than boys and whoever "they" are might actually be correct. The only question left is what to do with all the money I am saving on diapers now, I think mommy deserves a treat.

Nana and Papaw George Visit

Our whirl wind travelers just got back from an Alaskan trip and then headed up to see us for Mason's birthday. It is a nice thing having young children, we can lure people in to come visit a bit more easier than we could prior to. Ellery just keeps getting better and better around men. She didn't go to Papa George, but she liked to flirt and make faces and attempt to walk in his direction. The kids love playing with Nana, and Mason has asked repeatedly for everyone to come back and visit. We know it isn't because of the wonderful gifts he received from them, so we could go out on a stretch, but he just might enjoy every one's company as well.

How Grateful or Ungrateful???

Mason was loved deeply this year and received a lot of gifts. Poor kid didn't have a birthday last year, we shoved him in a car for 12 hours on his birthday and drove to Omaha. We had good intentions of getting him a present and a cake, but we never found the time. Well, let's be honest we never took the time. Anyways, he is not tarnished or lacking any skills from last years experience and still knew how to open presents, blow out candles, and eat cake. Here are just a few highlights.

He is really into match box cars and Cars the movie and received a few cars and Mac the truck from Rob and I.

Grandma Ellen spoiled him with a real play doh set and real play doh rather than home made. He also got some stickers, books, and other fun items to play with.

Uncle Tom and Aunt Laurie gave him his very own racetrack for all of his cars to race on.

Then we come to Nana's toy. She gave him a Color Explosion which is like a glow in the dark magna doodle. Mason loves coloring and drawing and it was even wrapped in a Cars towel, but it wasn't enough to keep him enticed. As you can clearly see he is pushing it aside to get to his other toys. He wasn't interested in opening more, he was interested in playing with Mac the truck and his new cars.

Happy 3rd Birthday Mason

I can't believe I have a 3 year old and thank goodness I started potty training a few weeks ago and can say he is potty trained by the age of 3, barely. What a great day, and it is hard to believe that it has been 3 years yet it feels just like yesterday that I was scared to death bringing a child home. I still find myself scared at times, but mostly I get a good chuckle everyday with what imaginations will bring into our home. Just the other day I had to stop jumping on the trampoline and let the monsters come in and jump with us. When asked what Monsters are coming in I was informed it was Abu, Mike Lewsawski, and Sulli. I also had to fit the seat belt around a bear that was sitting in the seat with Mason, and I was only informed of that after I had squished him.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MASON!!!!

Early Birthday Present

Oh, I am going to say we bought this trampoline for Mason's birthday, but I think we bought it more for mommy. I do have a reason for it and the story goes like this. We are having a party for Rob's partners in a few weeks and we were going to rent a bounce around for all of the kids. We will have around 25 adults and 20 children. Renting a bounce around is a pricey one time opportunity for fun so then we thought we could get a trampoline and have a gift that keeps on giving. Our quest then brought us to a bit more pricey trampoline but with better safety ratings so we were suckered in. Soooo today Mason got an early birthday presents and what a fun present.

Birthday Visits

Grandma Ellen came up to visit a few days before Mason's birthday. We had a great time and took her to the Children's Museum here in Omaha for the first time. The kids had a great time and we wore them out, but I think we wore out ourselves as well chasing them all over the place. We were able to take a man on man approach with the kids which allowed them to roam a bit more than usual. Once again Mason was thrilled with the intake and output exhibit, I think it is helping with the potty training. He also loves to get his face painted, I need to work on my designs, but I was going for a clown look today.