Berries to Books

It was a raspberry picking morning. The bowls went out but yet again, no berries made it in the house...they were all gobbled immediately! Nora and Lincoln are loving their morning raspberry harvests! We had hoped to go to the West Side Market this afternoon but Otto surprised all of us with a marathon nap; going down before 11 and waking up a little after 2! Getting the kids out of the house before they killed eachother wasn't an option despite the rain. So with hands, feet and mouths in the clear, we headed to the library.

They played really nicely, together and apart and thanks to my mom being on Otto chasing duty I was able to scour the shelves and find some great books to bring home and dive into with them.

On the way home we stopped at Heinen's to pick up some milk and a couple other things. Lincoln was the only one who wanted to come in so he got his pick of carts...shocking - he chose the cozy coup cart. He had a blast "driving" around the store and I only crashed him into 2 end caps and ran over my big toe once (ouch!) The rest of the evening was relatively uneventful. We read, ate, and I did the nightly bedtime battle spending an hour + getting all three of them settled and down for the night. I'm looking forward to having a divide and conquer approach again soon because bedtimes are really wearing on me!

Donuts, Raindrops and Dropoffs

There's no doubt in my mind that in the 18 or so hours between yesterday afternoon and this morning that Nora asked to go to Brewnuts about 100 times...she was dead set. So, this morning/early afternoon we got our act kind of together (not all the way) and went to get some donuts before Kyle had to fly back to Florida. By the time we got there they were somewhat picked over flavor wise but the donuts were still delicious and the kids were happy to cross that stop off of our Ohio Summer list. I feel like there's still so much more we have left to do! After our snack we had a little bit more time to kill but of course it started raining. I haven't talked much about the weather the last few days...it's been on and off rainy...just the kind of weather that makes it impossible to plan anything and double impossible to actually execute any plans. We were going to go to the Rocky River Metroparks just to let the kids run but because of the rain we opted to (very quickly) check out the nature center there. It was cool and the kids were entertained for just long enough. We got Kyle to the airport with enough time for him to get through security and get a little something to eat before his flight. Now it's onto another week and time to start planning to head back to Florida. Oh, Hand Foot and Mouth update - everyone appears to be cleared up with the exception of a few pretty much all the way healed spots on the bottoms of Lincoln's feet so hopefully we'll be up for playing with other kiddos this week. Nora can't wait to play with Liam!

Cup Filled Up!

Well, last night's sleepover was awesome, a much needed and very refreshing chance to be on my own with my friends. And, Nora made us the cutest party pack complete with candy, popcorn, poppers and sparklers AND our choice of Jurassic Park on VHS or Sandlot on DVD. My favorite part was her not on the outside - I wish I would have taken a picture!! Anyway, we all enjoyed an uninterrupted night of sleep and had a nice relaxing morning at LJ's. Liz and I went to her parents house for lunch before I came home to hang out with Kyle and the kids. All was well here. Plans didn't really materialize for this evening or tonight so Kyle and I enjoyed a game of Rummikub out on the back porch before calling it a night. It was nice to have an evening just to catch up since things tend to get a bit hectic with all the traveling, events and adventures we pack into the Ohio month. So far it's been a great weekend...I wish he didn't have to leave tomorrow and it's hard to believe we're heading into our last week here!! Summer goes so fast!

Sundaes and a Sleepover!

This afternoon we avoided the rain and went on a short adventure meet-up with Katie. Today's outing was to B.A. Sweeties. It's a HUGE candy store that has an ice cream parlor attached. So first we perused the candy - so many kinds and the sheer amount was impressive. After that we went to get ice cream. There were a lot of choices. Nora settled on a build your own ice cream sandwich with a sugar cookie and strawberry ice cream, Katie, Kyle and I all had different parfaits and Lincoln, well, Lincoln had an oatmeal cookie. Haha! Anyway, the ice cream was delicious and we left with plenty of candy. After this afternoon's adventure it was a special night for me, Liz, LJ and Jod.

Photo credit: LJ
We met in Hudson, went to dinner and are having a sleepover! We haven't all been together since last summer and it's so good to catch up without kids around! We got to eat a whole meal, have a couple drinks and talk, talk, talk all uninterrupted! All the guys are at their in-law's houses with the kids. YAY for girl time!!

All the Spots!

Soo, I don't have a picture for today but if I did, maybe it would be of spotted feet, or hands, or a frowny face...As it turns out, Lincoln's little fever the other night, and the "bug bite"/"stepped on pricker" spots on Otto's feet and the "poison ivy" on Nora's hands...All seem to be hand foot and mouth disease! Turns out that this trip's illness has all the kids seeing spots. Good news is, all of the pieces that came together actually started towards the end of last weekend - in fact Otto is almost all the way cleared up - so hopefully they're all recovered soon. My theory is that Otto got it first with Lincoln and Nora close behind. Bummer is that we were supposed to go to Liz's this afternoon for kid play time and we had to cancel last minute after this revelation. I feel pretty dumb and bad having not put it all together waaaaay sooner but they really don't have a bad case and a few red spots here and there on kids who spend tons of time outside rolling in the grass and such didn't draw much attention until Nora complained about her hands this morning. Fingers crossed we didn't leave any behind anywhere we were last weekend!

Walk in the Woods

Lincoln and I had so much fun hiking this morning! I was a little apprehensive as we walked into the woods and were immediately met by 2 dogs, a deer and about 3 summer camps worth of kids but we found some open space and set off on our own. We wandered up top for a bit and then headed down to the creek. Cort was awesome and Lincoln told me over and over how much he loved hiking. We criss crossed the creek and eventually climbed back up and headed back to the car. It was a perfect day for hanging out in the woods and exploring. I talked to Nora this morning and she requested that I go to Fremont to pick her up this evening...knowing that she and Otto would be back, I asked Lincoln what else he would like to do while he was on his own and he requested to have the swing put up "before Nora can steal it". So we hung the swing and he spent quite a bit of time spinning and flying on his belly. He stayed behind again while I went to Fremont to pick up Nora and Otto. As Lincoln predicted, Nora immediately took over the swing upon her return and fights did ensue! Haha! Now they're all back together! It was really nice to get to spend some special time with each of them the last couple weeks while they've each gotten time with Grandma & Pap. Win/win in my book!

Wheels Up!

Despite how he looks in this picture, Lincoln and I enjoyed our day today! We started out with a bike ride to the pool. He hasn't gotten much time on the front of the bike so it has been fun to take him for spins while we've been here. Lincoln didn't last long with the to-us chilly temps and stiff breeze off the lake. After a short dip he was ready to get out and soon after, declared he was done and ready to go. We rode home to get ready to go to a special restaurant "with Lady & Grumps and no other people". As we were getting ready to go it was pretty clear that Lincoln wasn't feeling great and as it turns out he had a low grade temp. I checked his mouth and lo-and-behold he has 2 of his 4 second molars in and has some sore gums in there, so I gave him a little Motrin. About 30 minutes later he was happy as a clam, feeling better and off we went to dinner!

We ate at 100 Bomb Group which is right across the street from the airport. We spent all of dinner watching airplanes take off and land and Lincoln was totally into it. His favorite part was watching "the wheels disappear into the closet" when the planes took off. It was such a fun evening! By the time we got home he was fading again and went to sleep pretty quickly.

And, despite our lack of fun at the pool today, this gang was all together and had plenty of fun! Looks to me like Nora and Otto are enjoying their time with Andrew, Grandma & Pap!.