CODE 9

We had a great time at Deep River Water Park! Claudia and William loved everything - the wave pool, the lazy river, even the water slides.....they kept saying "Again!" at the end of each slide......when the park closed and they were clearing the water, the first thing William said was, "Can we come back to the water park tomorrow?" Looks like our trip to the Dells this weekend will be just as much fun!

Within our large group, we only had one unfortunate incident. Uncle Randy and Matthew couldn't be flushed! Randy and Matthew were riding the enclosed tube that emptied into the GIANT TOILET BOWL. All was going well. They went down the slide with ease and emptied into the bowl, swirled around the outer banks, then their tube turned around and they became lodged. It was a "CODE 9!!" (Disney Hotel lingo for "clogged toilet"). Yes, stuck in the bowl, water swirling around them, on a tube, with the risk of being hit by another swirling turd, I mean person. Randy, being the educator, quickly assessed the situation and reacted immediately. He scooted. Yes, scooted across the giant toilet into the trap where he and Matthew were properly disposed of. As they passed (pun intended) through the trap and emerged into the Lazy River, we saw a look of relief (pun intended again) upon their faces.

Can we now call Uncle Randy and Matthew the "Unflushables"?!?

Rosie's Anniversary

It was one year ago today that Rosie entered our lives. We were in the car ready to leave for Ames, Iowa where Brian was attending a conference. Normally the kids and I do not tag along because Brian usually flies to this conference, but we decided to go and stop in the home of John Deere (Moline, IL) on the way back. Brian realized he forgot something, got out of the car and went back to the house. At this time, one of our neighbors walked past us with a kitty following him. The man asked Brian if he recognized the kitten or knew of anyone missing a pet. We didn't. The man said that his family had been searching for the kitty's owners with no luck. He then asked if we were interested in taking the cat. Brian's eyes immediately lit up at the idea of having another cat in the house. He looked at me assuming I would say yes. I wasn't ready for another cat. We had just put Allie to sleep in January and I couldn't replace her with another. Plus we had just gotten Sophie Dog from the shelter in Miller. Sophie was still adjusting to our family and we were still house training her. All we needed was another pet to add to the chaos! With disappointment in his eyes, Bri told the guy we couldn't take her, we were going out of town and it wouldn't work out at this time. The man left, kitty following behind. A few minutes later, our neighbor, Lori pulled out of her driveway and stopped to talk. Brian told her the story about the poor homeless kitty. Lori, being an animal lover herself, said,"Well, we'll watch it while you're gone." Once again, Brian got that look in his eyes and I knew the decision had been made. We got in the car, drove all over looking for the man and kitty. Finally found him and took the kitten. The poor thing was covered in fleas! What could we do? We couldn't give "flea Cat" to Jeff and Lori and tell them to take care of the problem. We drove back to the house. Brian spoke to Jeff and they decided to leave the kitty in our mudroom until we got home. They would take care of her until our return. Well, they not only fed her, but gave her flea medication, took her to the vet and played with her (probably several times a day) and gave us daily updates.

We came home to a cute little kitty. The kids and Jordan named her Rosie. It's now a year later and she's still a keeper!

William's Birthday Weekend

William turned four on Saturday. FOUR!!!! Our little guy is growing up. Four seems soooo old.

This past Saturday we took the South Shore train to the "Zephyr Museum" (Museum of Science and Industry). We had such a great time. The kids loved the train ride and the museum is always a treat.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to "ride" the Zephyr due to our poor planning. The museum was closing as we made our way to the exit where the Zephyr was located. William was a bit disappointed but quickly got over it. After all, he was going to ride a real train home.

Once we got back to Indiana, William requested that we go to Portillo's for supper. Since we were all tired, Portillo's was a great choice. The kids loved their hot dogs and french fries. On the way home, William feel asleep and almost missed out on his cake and ice cream. As Brian put him in bed, he woke up and we were able to end our celebration with a round of "Happy Birthday".

On Sunday, we made a trip up to Rockton, IL for Christopher's birthday party. Due to a few stops and traffic, it took us four hours to get there. We were LATE getting to the party. During the trip, we stopped at the Hinsdale Oasis. Once inside, we glanced at the map near the restroom. Claudia decided this was the perfect opportunity to take down William and pin him to the floor. Mind you, Claudia is much smaller than William but has an enormous amount of strength in that dinky body. Once William was free, we made our way to the bathrooms. Claudia (who stills refuses to part with her diapers and normally refuses to use the bathroom) shouts "I have to go potty!". Brian tells her to go with me which she refuses to do and then continues to cause a scene until Bri agrees to take her with him. William insisted on going with Bri because " girls don't have stand-up potties", aka urinals. So I stand there laughing and almost wetting myself during this chaos!

Brian comes out of the bathroom SEVERAL minutes later. William had found the short urinal next to Dad's tall urinal and they were able to potty at the same time while Claud continued to whack them on their backs chanting their names. Then it was Claud's turn to potty. Bri finds a stall, removes her diaper and she makes her grunting noise as if she is trying to rip a mighty one, says "it's too hard for me" and slips off the potty. Bri tries to put her diaper back on while she's standing up- (a difficult feat for a man) while William plays the bongos on his back and Claudia pounds in him in the head.

We actually make it back to the car in time to listen to TWO hours of Claudia crying "I want to go home!!!!". We stop twice to try to calm her down, which she does immediately only to start up as soon as she's back in the car seat. What a awesome car ride! Can't wait to make the trip to the Dells next weekend! Any way, Christopher's birthday was awesome. The kids loved the jumpy house and it was great to visit with John and Holly!

The ride home was quiet and uneventful due to the stop at CVS for emergency nanas (pacifiers). Hated to make the purchase but our sanity was at stake.