T-Rex Cafe

We couldn't go to GWL without hitting the T-Rex Cafe. I should tattoo sucker on myself, or Rob for that matter. I made him make the decision on if we were coming out with another animal this year. I knew exactly what I was doing because I knew he wouldn't say no to the kids and I secretly wanted to let them get another one as well! Our newest stuffed pets are Haley and Speedy. They are already loved dearly!
The funny of the night is that I downloaded pictures to the computer before we left, I also left the memory card in the computer. So when we were out eating and attempting to take pictures we figured out my forgetful moment when we couldn't capture the moment! Oooops

The Great Wolf Lodge

We took a mini family vacation to KC to hit the Lodge, The Great Wold Lodge that it! We met up with our friends and had a fantastic time! The kids loved everything the Lodge had to offer. Mason was tall enough this year to do all the slides, we did the great big green one that we refer to as the toilet bowl. We think it swirls you around like you are being flushed down a toilet! He was even brave enough to stand somewhat close to the big bucket that pours out water. Ellery enjoyed it as well, but she liked cuddling under all the towels to get warm. Bryson liked it, but not as much as we thought he would. It could of been us shoving him down slides and making him float the lazy river non-stop, but having a kid that doesn't talk so much does have its perks. He can't complain about the stay if he doesn't talk! Since he is a great easy going kid, we really didn't have a problem with him!
If you want to see other fun pictures of the event click on the link below. 
http://alittlebitofthisthat.blogspot.com/2012/02/quick-get-away.html

Annual Golf Trip

Rob took his annual golf trip to Florida with his brother and nephew. I think this year was a bit warmer than last and everyone had a good time. He did come home a bit tired because they would get up early so they could get two rounds of golf in and possibly some tennis. They did go with the same group of men and did the triathlon again this year. Rob was a returning champ and was paired with a new partner this year. They played golf, tennis, and bowling had some sort of scoring system and I am the proud wife of a two time champion! I think he has a target on his back now. I know they are all trying to figure out how to beat him next year! I feel sorry whoever is his partner next year. It will be a lot of pressure and one might think they could be the weakest link getting paired with Rob since he is a strong and skillful competitor.

Wall Drug

I hear you can't go to the hills without going to Wall Drug. Well, the first time we went I was denied the experience, we were going to deny the experience again, but we needed a bathroom break. We decided to walk through Wall Drug since it was accessible. The experience cost us a South Dakota buffalo and ground squirrel. Ellery picked her squirrel because of its softness. Mason couldn't resist getting his very own Bismark the Buffalo. It was an experience.
This is the last pleasant picture from the trip. About two hours from home Ellery couldn't hold anything down and we now have an awful car story to tell about throw up. Ewwwwww is all I can say!

Mt. Rushmore

We hit our visit to the hills in the off season, so all other excursions were closed up for the winter, but not Mt. Rushmore! Everyone enjoyed visiting the park without the crowds. We were able to run around on the trails and along the walk ways without worrying about disturbing anyone!

The Animals

Mason is really getting into writing and writing in his journal per my request. While we were in the hills I asked him to journal what he saw. On a sunny day (Sun E Dau) He saw: deer, bufalo (bfulo), turkey (trke), squirels (sqrl), Mountain goats (montingos)
We kept seeing buffalo's and they are very impressive up close. We decided to name him Bismark, so we would go on drives and nature walks and look for Bismark.
One hysterical point of our trip was finding the mountain goats. I tried to take a picture, but they took off as I was taking it so the kids all commented on their butts, and then I reinforced it by saying I got a picture of the butts. It is their favorite picture from the trip of course. We tell everyone how we got this picture!
Last but not least, we shouldn't forget this wild animal.

To The Hills

We headed to the Black Hills for a Chaplin early Thanksgiving get together. We loaded up the family and headed out for our 8 hour drive with Grandma Ellen. We had a great trip out. A few highlights from our drive is that we all learned to sing the alphabet backwards from Grandma Ellen. A fun skill to have mastered. We also played some rhyming games. The funnies rhyme was Mason suggesting we all come up with words that rhyme with ditch. When it came back to his turn he blurted out "bitch". We kept going with out skipping a beat, but Rob and I sure got a laugh out of hearing our sweet 5 year old get all excited over rhyming and saying the word bitch like a proud man!

Reality Bites

Wow, I may not be able to live on island time forever, but coming back to reality really bites!!! While we were on the island and going down town for shopping we choose to ride public transportation for $1.25 rather than paying a cab $20. We met a police officer on board who was on his lunch break and was drinking a beer and socializing with friends. He gave us tips and tricks on our shopping, but as we were talking the bus stopped in the middle of the road. We looked around to find a man that had flagged down the bus to stop for him and the bus did. He also wasn't hurrying as fast as he could to get up to us and no one seemed to mind. That is when Rob looked at me and said you would never survive here on island time. He is correct, but now that I am back into the busy shuffle of life, I just might welcome island time back! Another thought could be that my body is in shock from lack of alcohol?

Bahamas-Lunch Views

Bahama Recreation

Bahama life is grand. You can eat and drink all day so that is a bonus, but you can also do all sorts of water recreation. We did some snorkeling as usual. We really enjoy seeing the marine life! We also took out the gigantic tricycle. Not pictured is us doing the standing paddle boats. You go alone on a long surf board looking floatie and maneuver yourself around with one oar. The man giving me instructions told me that I was 99.9% sure going to fall into the water at least once. I only fell once and then was a maneuvering fool out in the ocean. Rob had more falls and finally took to his knees to keep up with me! I have a better center of gravity than he does! It was a lot of fun, but hard to turn and steer.
The Queen's Staircase
This was a fun adventure. We went into town because Rob loves to buy sim cards in foreign places so he can use his phone. We had to go into a boring store to get it so I started reading a book about the Bahamas and it talked about the Queen's Staircase. Most people would have taken a cab and played it safe. Not us! After we were off the main path for a bit and passing the hospital and not seeing anymore tourists, I could sense Rob getting nervous about my impromptu adventure, because I was getting nervous as well. It was worth the nervousness because it was beautiful and we learned a lot of history. I enjoy it, but Rob loved it. At the top of the staircase was a fort and more vendor shopping. Hello bonus, it was like I planed this excursion just for Rob. He is rubbing off on me, in my old days I wouldn't have been so open to unplanned events and off the main path excursions!

Lastly, the SHOPPING was fun! I have a lot of Coach bags and I even bought Rob a Breitling watch. Oooo la la!

Happy Anniversary to US! The resort kept wishing us happy 4th Anniversary, so we went with it!

Private Island

Sandals had a private island that you had to take a boat ride to. The boat came every hour. It was a very relaxing romantic place. A vacation from the vacation. We went frequently due to the grouper wrap they served for lunch only on the island!

Bahama Mama

Happy 10 years to us! Rob took me to the Bahamas. I am a true Bahama Mama!

Bryson's first time at the Beach

Bryson loved the beach and all it had to offer. I think he would have been swept off to sea if we would have allowed it! The salt water didn't bother him at all and the sand was fun to play with, throw, and eat!
He really enjoyed finding all the sea shells.
Caught eating the sand and no chance of slowing down!

To the Beach

The kids are excited to get on an airplane and go to the beach! We did our usual escalator riding to help the time pass. A fun ride by all.

I also was threatened to be turned into child labor laws by other passengers because Ellery's backpack was almost as big as her and probably weighed more. Plus when we found out that we weren't going to get to sit together as a family we repacked the kids backpacks. Ellery's was a bit on the full and heavy size after we re-situated. She was sitting on the floor and when she tried to get up she needed assistance since her backpack was so full. It took me a few minutes to notice. Who am I kidding I didn't notice until the nice people watching us told me she was stuck. Those nice people to point out my struggling child also teased us about child labor laws and protective services. Luckily we were getting on the plane and getting out of there, I am not sure how serious they were, they were after all from the South. I am sure they were going to declare something on me soon!
I promise we took Bryson with us, poor thing never gets included! He did great on the plane except for the 5 minutes he cried that felt like 5 hours because we were cooped up!

Stay-Cation

We are officially on a stay-cation! We originally had planned to go visit my brother this week, but the timing for him didn't work out. Since Rob's schedule is hard to switch around to a different week, we just couldn't figure the trip out so we decided to try a different trip. We first thought about going to Colorado, then we didn't want to drive that far, so we then looked at going someplace closer and thought of Branson or LegoLand in Minneapolis. After some more thought we had a crazy thought of just staying home for the week and doing fun things around here. Plus, the bonus is that all of our sitters are here so we could go out more often without the kids! Wish us Luck!!!!

Old Friend and Fun Trip

My friend Kristin is getting married next month so we thought we deserved a weekend away in Chicago before the big day. We already had the formal bachelorette party, if a bachelorette party could ever be considered formal so we attempted to keep our weekend low key. We arrived early Friday morning and hit the shopping. KP has always been a shopper, so we hit the magnificent mile with force. I learned about the store Lulu Lemon, bought my first pair of Cole Haan sandals with Nike Air support. They are so comfortable and make my other sandals feel like I am wearing a block of wood. We then decided to go out for the evening but keep it low key. Well that went out the window. We could have ordered better weather for the weekend, but it was tolerable. We took a cab to Cafe Spiaggia. We read that the Obama's love going to the non-cafe side so we decided to try the lower end and go to the Cafe. We sat down at our table and I am talking away when KP stops to ask what I am going to order. I quickly glance at the menu and see Polipo Octuopus, Gnocchi Wild Boar Ragu, Bucantini Braised Goat, and other things I have no idea how to pronounce or what I would be ordering. We decided to ditch the Cafe and find a place to eat on our owns. We set out on foot, have to duck inside an awning to keep dry from a down pour of rain, and then we finally make it to Carmines. They have a live piano man and looks like fun. We score a nice table order dinner and a bottle of wine and who knows how many drinks later we hit the dance floor raving on how great this piano man is, only to realize the piano man is long gone. It was a night to remember, but not a morning to remember the next day. After a slow start, shopping, and an afternoon at the spa, we ended our next day with a fabulous meal at The Tavern on Rush. YUMMY is all I can say! It was a much needed weekend and great memories were made. We have decided this should be a yearly trip!

Great Wolf Lodge

While I had "other things" to do while in KC, it didn't stop me from bringing the whole famdamily! We made it a road trip to the Great Wolf Lodge and great it is! Rob was a trooper and kept all three kids while I went to my parties. I think everyone had a great time!

Bryson even enjoyed the water.

They met scoops one evening for a bedtime story.

These are the mini slides that the kids loved going down. They also had a huge indoor play structure that had big slides at the top. Rob took them up and went down the slide first and waited for the kids to come down. They never came. He had to go back up the play structure to get them, and found then crying at the top. That didn't stop me from making them go down the slides. I crawled to the top with them and basically pushed them down the slide crying. I was hoping they would enjoy it and do it again and again. It worked for Mason doing it again and again and again, but not so much on Ellery. I though it would be the other way around. I think it had to do with the first slide I took them down. Being the adventurous mom I set out with Mason and Ellery to see what the water park had to offer while Rob was still up in the room with Bryson. They have 3 large slides that are 3 stories high, a yellow one you don't need a raft for and three people can ride, a blue one you carry a raft up and only two people can ride, and a green one that was explained the ride is like a toilet bowl flushing that we didn't meet the requirements to ride. Our only option was to ride the yellow slide and ohhh what a ride. We had to ride smallest to biggest. Ellery was in the front, Mason in the middle, and me in the back. Ellery was holding onto the tube with her hands and I was basically holding onto her with my feet. We get on the raft without any problems, I did ask if it was appropriate for the kids to go down and I was assured it was ok with a big warming smile. I am confident the attendant helping us go down doesn't have any young siblings at home or doesn't like children in general. The ride itself wasn't too bad, what was bad that it goes into a tunnel and goes pitch black. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I give a "ohhh my" scream, while Mason is dead silent, and Ellery is screaming "I don't like it" over and over. Thank goodness she was talking and I had hold of her with my feet or I wouldn't have known she was still hanging on. I think this is why they weren't so thrilled to try the easier slides after the big slide excitement. My friend Kim and her daughter Cora came for an afternoon so we all took turns watching the kids so the adults could try the green toilet bowl slide. It was a good time. We also took the older kids down the blue slide with us and everyone had a fantastic time!

We do have three little fishes that love the water! The slide experience didn't scare them out of the water. We still enjoyed floating around the lazy river, going down the blue slide with just two people, climbing the big play structure, the kiddie pool/slide area, and the big swimming pool.

Triathlon Champion

Rob headed down to Florida to have some fun in the sun. I think he had the fun, but the fun in the sun wasn't all it was cracked up to be. They get more serious every year, they even held a draft for picking the teams for golf. Rob states he was drafted pretty high, but refuses to tell me how high. They had to delay tee times some mornings due to frost. It warmed up eventually for him but, I sent him a text one morning telling him my car thermometer read 0 deg and he told me it was only 45 deg for him. I am sure people in Florida were all bundled up while Rob was in shorts on the golf course. I think fun was had by all. This year the men decided to have a triathlon the last day of operation fun in the sun. The triathlon consisted of golf, tennis, and bowling. They split in teams of two and took on the sports. I married a stud! He was crowned triathlon champion with his partner Tony. We are ohhhh so proud of him!

An Overnight Away

Rob surprised me with an overnight stay in KC. We packed just ourselves up which was nice and headed down to KC for some fun and relaxing. We left the kids with one of the PICU/Transport nurses that Rob works with. Julie is expecting her first child and in the early 1st trimester honeymoon phase. I am not sure if it was good or bad for her to watch our kids. I am sure she played more Yahtzee than she preferred, it is Mason's new favorite game, and she did mention her arms getting tired and sore from swinging Ellery so much outside.
We had a fabulous time and stayed at the Raphael Hotel on the Plaza. We couldn't resist the photo opportunities the hotel had to offer. It was fun walking the Plaza and shopping. We also had a wonderful dinner at a new burger joint called Blanc. I highly recommend, it is pricey, but well worth it. We had a Sunday morning brunch followed by more shopping and I had a wonderful massage. While I was getting my massage Rob was on the loose and bought a new desktop. Needless to say it was a costly massage, but much needed.
We also couldn't come to KC an not get my favorite dessert from McCormick and Schmidt's. The amazing chocolate bag. I was a good girl and shared it with Rob. Just typing this is making my mouth water for it. I'll never forget a trip Kim and I took to Chicago and went into McCormick and Schmidt's there for our dessert only to learn that it is a KC signature dessert. It might be the biggest let down I have ever experienced, but at least I had one this weekend. YUMMY!
A BIG THANK YOU to my WONDERFUL HUSBAND!!! I needed the break!

Fun in the Sun-Feeding Iguanas

After all of my iguana trivia that I learned it peeked my interest in wanting to feed and hold one. It only took us until our last morning in Aruba to learn they had daily feedings. Once I learned of the opportunity I wasn't going to miss it. We fed them lettuce although I never got to hold one I did get to pet a few. I also witnessed them climbing a tree like a cat. I did wonder where they go in the evening and up the tree they will be.