Len decided the kids needed to make something with their hands, hammer and nails. He prepared the materials and they went to work. Even Hershey got in on the fun. They worked together and were thrilled with the results. Just look how proud charlie is; his project is hanging right by his bed.

Here are some pictures of our annual October trip to Grandma and Grandpa Williams' farm. Charlie was fascinated by Grandpa's tractor, he couldn't wait to tell his friends and teachers at school that the wheel was bigger than him and his mom!

The girls had a picture sale. Art started off way too expensive for us to buy, so they made coupons and taped them to things around the farm: 95% off, today only! What a steal. Chloe even made one for her favorite aunt (that's me!)

I love the picture of Emma and Leah. They are just attached at the hip from the moment we show up to the minute we leave. I can tell they are going to be great friends as they grow older. Emma and Chloe are cute together as well. Emma makes a funny face and Chloe imitates her. Charlie and Ava, closest in age, spend most of their time fighting like siblings. They are both strong-willed sprites, always ready for a battle. I love watching the kids with their cousins.

Summer is gone, Fall is in full swing!

Today is October 30.

The day Emma has been waiting for--Monster Dash! Her first 5K and she finished it with her dad and a big smile. Actually, the smile came when she saw Hershey waiting at the finish line. She loves running and has set new goals in life: 1. To qualify for the Boston Marathon. 2. To finish an Ironman. Better than last year's goal, which was to grow a beard. That's my Emma! Nicholas ran it again this year, finishing strong! It was a beautiful day for a run, I wish my knee was better so I could run more. Someday!

The rest of the day we worked on Halloween costumes, last minute in typical Wallisch fashion. Photos will be posted soon... I think I will add a few summer pics as well.

Summer is here. The school year ended happily, but with a tiny bit of sadness because of the wonderful teachers and school staff that made the kids' year the best yet. I will miss my co-workers and the families and kids I work with also, but after a crazy work year, a break is a welcome treat for me as well. It feels like we have been on break for a month rather than 1/2 of a week. We are sleeping in (as long as the furry one year old friend sleeps in), hanging out in the back yard, tennis and baseball have started and quiet time, my favorite time of the day, has been instituted in the afternoons.

T-ball started last night, Charlie's first year. Imagine how cute 3-4 year old kids look trying to figure out how to hit a ball, which way to run, etc. It is even cuter than that! Charlie is THRILLED that he can play. He told me he wanted to hit 16 home runs. He came close to it, all the kids make home runs in 4 year old t-ball!

We stopped at our first garage sale of the year. The kids LOVE finding treasures. I had to laugh when I realized what each of my kids walked away with; it says a lot about their unique personalities:
NICHOLAS: a bottle of hand sanitizer that can be hooked to a belt loop (he said that he will only use it when he is camping, "There was NO good way to wash my hands on the last boy scout camping trip."
EMMA: about 10 books ($.25 each), one about optical illusions, Hamlet, and a brain teaser book for MENSA members, that is Emma, my little genius
LUKE: a book and materials to do magic tricks
CHARLIE: a matchbox car "still in the package!"
I bought about 15 books for me/the kids as well as a few pair of shorts for N and L. Emma said that she WOULD NOT wear something that someone might have peed in...

This afternoon, Emma went with her best friend, Emi, up to Emi's grandparents cabin near Duluth. She has been looking forward to this trip for weeks. It is her DREAM to have four UNINTERUPTED days with her buddy. Is it wrong of me to take a deep breath and sigh that the drama of Emma would be directed toward her friend instead of me for a few days?

OVERALL, the summer has been great so far. I am looking forward to a long, uneventful break with the kids and Tom, and hopefully, a bit of quiet time for myself!

FLOWERS FOR MOM! Isn't Charlie sweet? I couldn't even be mad that he plucked them, right in front of me, after I had told him that the flowers need to stay in the ground. He is always saying the cutest things. Today he was listing the things he likes. "I like penguins, Lightening McQueen, macaroni and cheese, ... and you, Mom." Tom laughed and said, "Even if you are behind mac and cheese, at least you made the list!"

So, it has been a while since my last post... I just have issues with doing things on a regular basis, I guess. Even something fun like posting cute pics and stories about my little ones.

HERSHEY IS 1!

We are all doing great here, glad that spring is here and we are thoroughly enjoying the beautiful weather. We have spent a lot of time outside in the backyard as well as at the dog park. We now spell d-o-g p-a-r-k because the brown fuzzball gets so excited when he hears us say the words. He LOVES playing with the other dogs and it wears him out, can't get better than that! When Hershey doesn't get enough exercise he wakes up at around 4:30, yes, in the morning. Ugh. He is now one year old and is still a crazy, wild puppy. The kids adore him. Luke dedicated his poetry book--To Hershey, because I love him very much. That is why I wanted our family to get a dog, and even though I grumble about the two walks a day, endless chewing and a fair amount of naughty behaviors, I am still glad he is here, and he is very cute, to say the least!

Funny Charlie story: Recently, Charlie has been askind TONS of questions, mostly, "what does _____ mean." or "why do they call _____, ________." For example, today he asked, "Why is the snow called snow?" "What does, 'risk' mean?" He is also the fourth child and just to make it easier for mommy, she does a lot for him. Most of the time, he likes to be doted over, but sometimes he wants to do things "by himself". Well today, he asked for cinnamon toast, so I made it for him. He wanted to butter it himself, so I gave him a knive and the butter. It only took seconds of me watching him clumbsily moving big chunks of butter around on his toast before I asked him if he needed help. He gave up the knife without much of fight and I proceded to butter his toast for him. He watched the asked, "Mommy, does help mean do?" He got me!

Also, when he came downstairs this morning, he saw his birthday presents on the table. One, a train table, was too big to wrap so Tom just put the box by his chair. He looked at the corner of the box where it said "3+" and he said, "THAT table is for three year olds!" He definitely does not want to be three anymore, he is moving on to bigger and better things. He loves the table, though. We played with trains and did his new "cars" puzzle on it.

Happy New Year! I have added a few birthday pictures for my two January birthday boys. Luke on 1/7 and Charlie on 1/11. Tom is the family's offical cake creator, the kids order and he somehow gets it just right! In the past, Luke has asked for a train cake, pirate ship and death star from Star Wars cake. All extremely challenging and Tom didn't let him down. This year, Luke said, I think I want a sun cake. Tom and I looked at each other and without words, said, "Fabulous, that will be easy." A few moments later, he said, "maybe a SOLAR SYSTEM!" So that is what he got! See pic below. There wasn't any doubt what Charlie would ask for, he is our 4 year old, penguin CRAZY kid. We were all thrilled with how the penguin cake turned out! Unfortunately, Charlie had a stomach bug for the past three days and just started feeling better today (his b-day). Yesterday, he said, "Mom, I don't think I want to be sick on my birthday."

So, today, he got to stay home, which he REALLY enjoyed. Tom was home with him this morning and I came home for the afternoon. We read lots of books, cuddled and watched tv and both fell asleep watchin movie. What a nice day!

Oh, I must report why Tom should once again win the "best husband of the year" award. I mentioned that my feet were cold during dinner. Before I even realized he had left the table, here he comes with my slippers, warmed by the hair dryer. I definetely don't deserve him!

This post will have NO pictures, we all look gross. Emma threw up repeatedly for about 15 hours, starting at 1:00 AM. Poor thing was just miserable, as were the rest of us who had to listen to the repeated trips to the bathroom! She is starting to feel better and a few of us are questioning whether we are sick or just imagining/wondering "when will it be my turn?" So, the day wasn't a complete disaster. Charlie and I had lots of together time, once again. We did more puzzles and the weather was beautiful, so we played in the snow for a few hours this afternoon. It was about 20, sunny and no wind, a perfect outside play day. I pulled him in the sled, up and down the front yards of our very close neighbors, with Hershey on a leash in the other hand. He wants to be included in the fun too! I am sure, once again, we looked like quite a sight for the neighbors! Free entertainment, I say!

Tom and I are off to watch a movie that I fell asleep to last night, I think I saw about 5 minutes! I was tired. I am guessing I will not get much sleep tonight, waiting with one ear on gaurd ready to jump out of bed to help another to the bathroom. Unfortunately, Em is the only kid of the 4 who can make it to the potty all the time, the rest just puke where they are and yell for me! Lovely.

Charlie and I did puzzles for about 1 1/2 hours tonight. He is taking after his big brother, Luke, who is crazy about puzzles. Here is a picture of him almost done with Thomas for the third time. At schoool this morning, Charlie went on a field trip, on a SCHOOL BUS! He was very excited. They went to the Children's Theater to see a play. When I asked him how he liked it, he said, "It was VERY FUNNY!" Tom is out with Luke, Nicholas, and three of Nicholas' friends. They went to a movie then out for pizza. It is what Nicholas wanted to do for his birthday (which was two months ago...) Nicholas was excited, saying many times this week, "I can't wait till Friday" Nicholas rarely shows the emotion of excitement! Glad it is the weekend, I need a few days off from the craziness at work. By Sunday, I will be looking forward to getting back to work to get away from the craziness of home. Funny how that works! Here come the boys now, oh, boy!

Okay, I have heard from enough people wondering what happened to the "one entry a day" Wallisch blog. I guess things have been pretty busy here (that is an understatement). So, here is a weak attempt to catch up. I feel like all I do these days is "catch up", so I am getting used to it. Here are a few pictures of what is keeping our lives so crazy. Here's a hint, it is not the humans in the picture... Yes, Hershey is, no doubt, way more work than any baby we have dealt with. He chews EVERYTHING (his favorite thing being dirty undergarments and kitty litter), attacks anything under about 3 feet (poor Charlie) and torments the kitties. Nonetheless, we all adore him, how could you not when you see the kids cuddle with him, and he is pretty cute.

The kids are all doing well. It is amazing how much more smoothly this year is going than last. Even though things are busy, we are all fairly healthy and functioning, which is not how I would describe last year... What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right? I realized this morning that a year ago today, I had the little surgery at Mayo that probably saved my life, at least made it so that I wasn't debilitated by another stroke! Whew, I am thankful for those doctors every day. Another reason our lives are more sane this year is because of Emma's progress. She is "graduating" from OT and her social worker, which is a bit scary for me, but I think we are ready. It is amazing to see her and the control she has. She will always be our handful, the "spirited" child I suppose you could call her, but she is happy. She smiles and dances. She has the best sense of humor, she keeps us on our toes and in stitches constantly. She still has her naughty moments, sneaking food and exploding at her brothers, but like a normal 9 year old, I think! Maybe, okay, maybe not normal, but what is "normal", anyway? She is VERY into stripes, she was incredibly proud of herself when she came down for school yesterday. All stripes. Different colors, sizes, oh, she was a sight. She seemed a bit disappointed when I told her she looked cute.

Charlie comes to mind next. What a funny kiddo. Yesterday, he and Tom were chatting, and Charlie asked Tom what 5 and 5 were. Tom said, 55. Charlie said, "THAT IS WHAT I WAS GOING TO SAY!" What about 4 and 4, Tom asks. Charlie said, "44!" How about 3 and 3? "33!" "What is 2 and 2?" Tom asked. "Twody-two"! How cute is that?

Luke, oh, Luke. He is really into Calvin and Hobbs. Unfortunately, we realized too late during "Santa" pictures that he was "performing". About 10 pictures showed him with these really goofy faces that he made just as the photographer snapped the picture, just like Calvin does for school pictures. We were laughing so much looking at the pictures that tears were forming. Little stinker.

Nicholas. My responsible, 28 year old in an 11 year old body. He saved $150 to buy his own ipod. He is really proud of it and is now saving to download music from itunes. He and I ran a 5k on Halloween, also very proud of himself for that. I was pretty proud as well. He is having a really late sleepover/birthday with three of his buddies. They are going to see a movie, go out for dinner and then probably play video games until the early morning hours. He has great friends who have super parents. That is a blessing for a 5th grader. He is happy, easy going and likes quiet, alone time as much as his mamma.

I'll try to keep this up, but I am not making any promises...

I guess this is the "once a month" blog, and not the "once a day" blog. I keep saying that I will sit down and just write a bit, but it has really been busy here. Over the last month, we have started school/work and all the craziness that goes along with that, soccer, we've been sick with colds/stomach flu/and most likely h1n1 (Tom and I were tag teaming over about 2 weeks of sick kids, one day everyone was home but Nicholas, the only one who didn't get sick enough to stay home.) Although being back to work has been wonderful, it does mean that I am up at 5:45 to walk the dog, get everyone up and ready for school and at work by 7:30 so that I can leave by 3:15 to meet the kids when they get off the bus. I feel like I can finally take a breath when I sit down at my desk and have a quick chat with some co-workers. The day flies by (work is as crazy as home most days!) I have been in this position for about 1 1/2 years and finally feel like I know what I am doing most of the time. I work with the best group of people, I can't imagine having a more perfect position. Many of the women I work with have been here for over 25 years. LOVE IT!

So, I think I will give the "emma" update. She has really changed over the last month. (in a good way!) She got off the bus the first day and had a dreamy look on her face. She LOVES her teacher, this woman is PERFECT for Emma. The classroom is just what you would think of when you think of the word zen. "Mrs. Richardson doesn't have rules, she has expectations." Emma said this as if it were poetry. She keeps me laughing at very unexpected times. Like today at church. She insisted that she wear this headband she made at girl scouts the day before. Well, this "headband" is one that is wrapped in brightly colored pipe cleaners with two "antennae" with googly eyes glued on two pipe cleaners extending out from the headband. We finally compromised that she could wear the headband minus the googly eye pipe cleaners. Well, at church, she put this on in different positions, very subtly, of course. She whispered "mom, look, I am a draon." She had the headband going from her forehead to the nape of her neck and as she twitched her forehead, the headband wiggled up and down. I wanted to laugh out loud.

Yesterday, she and I were driving somewhere and she asked me, "Mom, which do you like worst of Dad's characteristics, his hygeine habits or his looks?" I laughed (outloud this time) and tried to change the subject and she said, "Wait a second, you didn't answer my question!" A few minutes later, she asked me if I read a book about how to give people really good insults when I was a kid. I said no, and she said, "I think I may just write one someday." She went on for about 30 seconds with this string of insults that was so funny, spontaneous and clever that I couldn't help but laugh.

Emma loves listening to RadioDisney. The singers are interview for short clips that are played during the day. Today, one of Emma's favorite singers said, "I LOVED school, what a great place to be challenged!" Emma paused and I thought she was going to say something nice. Well, not Emma, she said, "I am GUESSING that someone PAID her to say that!" Emma is just the most clever and spontaneous kid. I am hoping that she uses this power for good and not evil!

Nicholas is just as quick, except his humor is incredibly dry, like his daddy! Today, my mission was to organize winter stuff, you know, coats, hats, boots etc. (It is supposed to snow 2-4 inches tonight!) I never do a thorough job of getting things put away in the spring, thus I have to hunt in the fall. Well, after about 4 hours of hunting, off and on, I located most of our things. I came upstairs triumphantly saying that I found all the coats and Nicholas said, "Did you find your THREE pair of boots too?" He and Tom did their "guy-fist bump" in agreement, WHATEVER! (I found the BEST deal on a pair of Uggs this summer, 1/2 PRICE! I couldn't pass them up. Nicholas just couldn't understand how great a deal this was. He kept saying very innocently (with a bit of sarcasm), "But mom, they look JUST like the boots you have at home!" He has the "practical and thrifty" gene that is a clone of his dad's. His dad just knows to keep his mouth shut and smile when his wife buys a pair of boots that were just the BEST deal, even though they may look somewhat like a pair she already has at home. The end.

I spent the other 1/2 of the day cleaning out the garage so that I could park my car in it tonight, we are going to get more snow, maybe 2-4 inches. Ick. So, that is probably only about 1% of the actual goings-on at the Wallisch house, but I surely won't bore you with the other 99%.

Oh, it has been a while. The kids wrapped up their summer break with a week away at grandma and grandpa's house on the farm. They were spoiled with tv, treats, playing with their cousins, riding the gator and shooting the bb gun that grandpa was convinced that they needed. Luke amazed all with his accurate shooting. He even surprised himself.

While they were relaxing on the farm, I was back at work. (which, by the way, is like a vacation for me after a summer loaded with kids/activities/chaos!) It was wonderful to be back and I am feeling more confident that this job is what I am supposed to be doing now. It doesn't hurt that I didn't have a major medical episode a week before the beginning of the school year like last year! I don't know what I will do with all of my sick leave this year without all of the drs appts. Our office is chaotic as well, but I still love it.

Mom and Dad brought the kids back last week, and Brad and Jen and the girls came too! Emma was so excited, she could hardly contain herself. Leah is one of her favorite kids. They are adorable together, even with a four year age difference. I love it. We all went to the State Fair and the Mall of America on Saturday. Needless to say, we were all exhausted! We had Sunday and Monday to rest up and prepare for the first day of school, which was today.

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
Nicholas and Luke are easy transitioners. They take things as they come, and they did fine getting back into the school thing. Nicholas said his teacher was okay, was annoyed that he couldn't have pbj sandwiches and his favorite granola bars (peanut allergy in his class) and was upset that technology was no longer a specialist. Luke thinks his teacher is funny and nice. Easy.

Emma, on the other hand, is not quite as easy to transition. We have been working with her all summer on focusing, completing tasks and getting over her anxiety of riding on the bus. She is a puker, poor thing. She is also incredibly hard to get out of bed in the morning. (unfortunately, her littlest bro is even harder...) So, this morning, I tried to create a very calm and relaxing routine to get her going. She made it to the bus on time and I didn't get a call from the school nurse saying that Emma threw up on the bus. Success! I met the kids at the school bus and they all looked fairly happy. Nicholas loves riding the bus home (the last two years he had to do the after school Spanish program) because his two best friends also go to his school. Luke was his happy go lucky self. Emma, oh Emma, looked like she was in a dream. She got in the car and said, "I believe that Mrs. Richardson is my most favorite teacher yet." Not in a thrilled way, just in a calm, happy and satisfied way. She then mentioned a few minutes later that she did throw up on the bus, but she just went to class. I guess that is a good thing that she is able to do... She went on and on about her teacher. She said, "Mrs. Richardson doesn't have rules, she has EXpectations." The word expectations just rolled off her tongue like it was the most beautiful thing in the world. My heart just melted. I believe that Mrs. Richardson is going to be an incredible influence on my handful of a daughter. What a relief. I was emotionally exhausted after this day, but a little content. And I don't feel "content" very often!

TWO FUNNY KID QUOTES:
Emma to Luke: "Luke, don't think Mom is going to get all sympatheticlike on you, now." Tom and I cannot recall what happened prior, but we loved the quote.

Charlie to Hershey: (preface: Hershey chewed up Charlie's water, squeezy thing. Charlie cried.) Charlie said, "Hershey, we are going to buy a new one. And if you do it again, we are going to give you away!"

So, I believe I am all caught up. I know it is going to be a great year. I definitely feel more in control than last year at this time! And I can walk without holding on to a wall! Life is good.

Camping

At the beginning of August, Luke and Tom went to Luke's first Cub Scout camp. It was good to get some one-on-one time, since sometimes he seems to suffer from third-child syndrome.

We slept in lovely canvas tents, with state-of-the-art air conditioning (open the flaps). They did have metal cots and mattresses, which made for better sleeping. The mosquito nets really weren't all that necessary, since the bugs weren't too bad that weekend.

We went swimming in a very cold pool, but couldn't go out in a row boat on the lake, because there was too much wind that day.

He got to do all sorts of fun stuff like making and racing rubber-band paddle boats (shown here), and learned about knots, spiders, plants, and trees.

The food was decent, and they had the coffee available for adults 24-7.

Caribou, it was not.

The thing he was looking forward too the most was getting to shoot BB guns. I guess he hadn't ever shot anything more than a Nerf gun before, and every boys likes guns, right?

The Boy Scouts take safety VERY seriously, and I think these BB guns had a hard time puncturing the paper targets, but he still thought it was cool.

He did seem a little disappointed that there wasn't much noise to them. Just a little "pffft". His aim was pretty good.

At the end of the weekend, Luke said what he liked the best was archery. I think maybe it was because of the non-noise of the BB guns.

Even though he is right-handed, they tested his eye-dominance (which eye you naturally favor to aim), and he ended up shooting the bow and the BB gun left handed.

He got to ride a pony, which he thought was really cool. We could tell that Emma was going to be jealous when she heard.

The camp staff was very enthusiastic, and very goofy. Perfect for a 7-year old boy's sense of humor. It was a great weekend, but we were glad to get home, and Melissa was glad to have us home.

Okay, this post will be my monthly "I need to vent" post. There hasn't been a moment of down-time in so long, I forgot how it felt to sit for a few minutes on our comfy couch and watch tv, and it was only a few minutes. So, after we arrived home from our Adventureland trip, which was very fun, yet exhausting, Tom and Nicholas had to pack to go camping for four days, yea for them. Of course that means that I get the crazy three alone for four days, grrrr. So, we survived with few mishaps and today I thought I would have some free time at last. Well, I got up and went to yoga, which I had been looking forward to all week. It was great, but only 1 hour long, and I needed about 23 more hours to feel refreshed. I did some school shopping, alone, thank goodness. Then I took Emma to her yoga class and came home to Tom making chicken soup. Of course, it sounded like a good idea earlier in the week to make the broth from chicken bones, so the house was steaming and the kitchen was a disaster. Then I had to make the noodles. The kids love home made noodles so I had THAT mess to deal with as well. (along with the breakfast mess that hadn't gotten cleaned up yet...) I had too many helpers, the puppy pulling on me and dough up to my elbows. We sat down to eat in the steamy dining room, every one was crabby from not enough sleep and too much together time. As I dove into cleaning the kitchen and washing dishes, Charlie comes dashing in and says that he might have had an accident in his pants, then he clarifies, "A long wet pee." Ugh. So as I was cleaning up Charlie and the floor, Hershey is trying to get into the bathroom to get Charlie's wet clothes. (Hershey loves to chew on the kids' dirty underwear and Charlie's wet pull ups from the night before--I am sure you are cringing now! The dog digs thru laundry baskets to find them!) I send Charlie downstairs to get ready for a shower. I kindly asked Nicholas to take the dog outside while I get Charlie cleaned up because Hershey is at my feet ALL THE TIME, he definitely loves me the most, yea for me. As I was helping Charlie with his shower, I hear Hershey thumping down the stairs. He dashes in the bathroom and jumps in the shower with Charlie. ARRGGG. I guess Herhsey is getting a shower too. He was thrilled to be in there until he realized he was staying there until he was cleaned, then he wiggled and bit until he was set free.

After that was all done, I only had the rest of the kitchen to be cleaned (which Tom helped with) three loads of laundry to fold, 2 more kids to get showered and put to bed. I am not sure why things seem so crazy these days, but I am barely keeping up. I fantasize about having a few hours with nothing to do but read a book or listen to some relaxing music and meditating, or maybe finish a baby blanket for my great-niece, who was born over a month ago. I don't anticipate things getting any easier when school/work starts, but at least I won't be stuck at home with four kids and a puppy. Stuck seems like a drastic word, but after 3 months of togetherness, we are more like stuck together, not such a great feeling for one who needs her space to feel normal! I suppose in 20 years I will be lonely and wish these times were here again, but right now, I could use a week feeling lonely. (It used to be, "I just need a day where I am not responsible for this crew, well, it has officially become a week!) Tomorrow is a new day! I will just take a deep breath and do the best I can! All done with my rant. No more crabbing on the blog for at least a month, I promise.

The day after...

Okay, this is really backwards, read below and it will start to make sense.

THE FROG HOPPER, ONE OF THE FAVORITES!

Aunt Jen, Uncle Brian and their brood.

The Wallisch portion of the Molln/Williams group, and what a fine looking family they are!

Aunt Jen waited in line, not once, but TWICE to take her neices on the log ride. The squeals were audible from a one mile radius from this point!

Pretty Chloe!

Here are the random pics I talked about below, I am still trying to figure out the layout of this website. I guess I can't complain for something free...

Adventureland Trip 2009

We just returned from our annual Adventureland trip, and oh, did we have fun! Our group of 19 welcomed #20, miss Chloe Marie, age 2 months and Adventureland novice. She did great! Especially appreciated were the smiles and coos she gave one of her favorite aunts...

The cousins swam and played in the arcade until they could barely keep their eyes open. My four were sleeping within seconds of hitting the pillow each night. I guess now I know how to get Emma to fall asleep at night! We will just have to move into the Adventureland Inn.

Here are a few of our crew on Molly the Trolley, a favorite of the kids (the trolley takes us from the hotel to the park)

Maddie is an honorary Molln/Williams family member, she has been coming with us every year and is a joy to be around!

The best part of this weekend was that there were NO medical emergencies! Ha ha! I actually saw the EMT that misdiagnosed me last year while at the park. I thought about asking if he remembered me! No hard feelings, of course.

Luke was his dare devil self, going on the silly silo and the outlaw roller coaster. Nicholas seems to be in awe of Luke's adventurous spirit, but he still decides to take the safe route like his mama!

Emma added the outlaw roller coaster this year to her list of "I did it!" rides. Charlie wanted to try everything, but he wa"not quite tall enough". I feel like I said that a million times! He made new friends on every ride, mostly girls between 4-7 years old. He is so outgoing! Nicholas played it safe and chose the safer big kid rides, but he made up for this safety and decided to eat a bit of everything in the park, he eats more than I do!

I will let the random pictures tell the rest of the story, enjoy!

Not much time, but I had to post Charlie's comment while we were playing at the park yesterday. He was very dirty (nothing new). He looked at himself and said, "It's okay, Mom, I am washable!"