Roller Skating Adventure

Wednesday night the kids were invited to a combined birthday party for their friends Mason and Grace. The party was at a local roller skating rink and the whole rink was reserved for us party goers! Good thing since many of the kids had never done it before. Ours were equipped with helmets, knee pads and elbow pads - just in case!

Here Brendan is showing his moves before hitting the rink.

Aiden waiting while the wheels on his skates were readjusted.

We were so proud of both boys - they had never skated before, but they kept trying and had great attitudes; especially Brendan who fell more times than I can begin to count!

Aiden did pretty good - nice to have a low center of gravity.

Aiden sitting next to his friend Melia from preschool. He adores her - we do too, she is just darn sweet.

Brendan getting some more fuel for the tank ;)

Getting brave, letting go of daddy!
Here he is doing much better after having the wheels tightened and some practice!

Waterpark Weekend!

Last weekend we joined five other families for a roadtrip to Duluth, MN, to relax and enjoy The Edgewater Resort & Waterpark. Four of the families had met there two years ago and even though our kids were young and naps were sacred, we had a great time. This time was even more fun. Our kids were older, more self-sufficient (no more pack 'n plays or swim diapers for us!), and were super excited to go swimming and play with friends we don't get to see all the time.

We picked up Brendan early from school on Friday (a big deal for him ;) and hit the road north. Both kids slept most of the way up so by the time we arrived they were rested and ready for some fun. Check-in was crazy with long lines of impatient parents and anxious kids, but after we were settled the fun started!

It was so nice to see our friends, spend time with them and their children - they are all getting so big! We used to all see each other more in our lives before kids when we were in the South Metro. Nowadays, we're all little spread out to the extreme north and south suburbs so getting together isn't as easy as it used to be. The kids all seemed to enjoy their time out of the water as much as their time in the water. With so many friends to play with there was never a dull moment. Brendan's favorite thing out of the water was to have a bunch of kids over in our room to watch a dvd together.

Getting ready to go swimming the first time. Brendan was so cute; he brought his 'beach shirt' to wear down to the pool! :)

Friends, Angela and Frank and kids, who used to live in the Twin Cities, but are now in northern MN were able to make it to play! So fun to see them.

Aiden playing in the zero depth pool (by far his favorite place) and about to have some water droplets get him.

Me and the boys!

Our friend Becky and her youngest.

The boys having a little 'race' in the zero depth pool.

Most of our group (at least the kids) hanging out in our room after swimming and dinner. America's Funniest Home Videos was a huge hit with them. The younger kids like cars, trucks and action figures - not to mention an abundance of attention from the other adults! It was a busy room; the very best kind!


Little Corinne getting 'tossed' on the bed.

Aiden and Paige slowing things down with a game of Sorry.

And yes, even on vacation we must still brush our teeth ;)

The next morning we were at the pool again. Here is Brendan swirling by in the Vortex pool.

Part of our group!

Aiden and I with Becky.

Here we are going around (and around and around) the Vortex pool.

Aiden going across the water walk - he was so confident this time since he's been doing the monkey bars in our basement the past few months. He did think it was kind of funny to 'fall' every now and then.

Daddy giving him a boost up after one 'fall'.

Brendan really is like a monkey going across these - the first couple times across he wasn't even putting his feet down, just using his hands.

He ran into a little boy in his first grade class - small world! They had a good time playing together.

Both of our little monkeys.

Wellyn and Brendan in the middle of the Vortex pool. We didn't get nearly as many pictures with Brendan in them at the waterpark since he was off with his friends a lot. Poor Aiden is still stuck hanging with mom and dad!

Wellyn holding a very mellow Corinne.

A big game of Yahtzee.

Little Ethan was content to play with trucks and curtains for the longest time - sometimes that is just all you need.

Aren't they cute?!?


We were all tired by the end of our weekend away and the guys all slept from Duluth to home... very painful to be the only one awake and driving in the afternoon! Now I know how poor Wellyn feels since I am usually the one sleeping with the kids while he drives ;)

Monday morning brought the much anticipated interview at Medtronic. It went well with only one round of interviews scheduled, but they said it would be two weeks before we would know anything. Thursday morning they called, however, and offerred Wellyn the job!!!! Very exciting and a huge relief. He will start on April 5th, leaving him some time to get some things done around the house and relax. It is really nice to have him home even though we're both busy getting things done. My favorite part of his new job will be the commute - 15 minutes each way! Way better than the 40+ minutes each way he had.

In addition to looking for jobs, doing stuff around the house, etc, we've fit in some more fun things like taking Aiden to lunch after preschool last week, Wellyn has done the carpool in the mornings which both kids really like, he went to Aiden's preschool conference and got all the good news and cute stories and he totally shocked Brendan by meeting him at school for lunch last week. Now that the job hunt is over, he painted our downstairs bathroom and will be painting our utility trailer, along with a ton of other little and not so little projects both here and at the rentals.

A quick cat update, Diego was at the vet this morning to have his staples removed and all looks great. Crazy cat was actually cooperative and didn't try to bite them so they were able to remove the staples without knocking him out. AKA a FREE vet visit!!!

Out and About

A few weeks ago Brendan went to a friend's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. We let Aiden pick a friend and took them along too for an evening of fun. That place is just crazy - no other way to describe it. Kids everywhere, going nuts, trying to play as many games as they can as fast as they can... pure chaos!

We ran into Brendan once; all the other times he was off doing his own thing with the other kids there for the party.

Wellyn and Aiden playing a serious game of foosball.

Aiden's 'mean face' - apparently it helps keep the puck from getting by him ;)


Brendan built an alien for the latest Lego challenge. Notice the letter 'E' spelled out in the body - that stands for 'evil'. He did that all on his own, cute!


Aiden has been going to floor hockey through community ed the past three weeks with Wellyn. It's a 45 minute class in the evenings for 3-4 years old. He is so cute; he always comes home super excited from class saying how much fun it was. Last week Brendan and I went along too and watched. Thankfully, he doesn't realize how lame their instructor is and has fun anyway! Our little poser ;)

Our Little March Lion

Well, March has certainly made it's presence known in our household! First it was the unexpected layoff for Wellyn closely followed by a sick kitty.

Diego started vomiting on Saturday and by Sunday was much worse. That required a trip to the emergency vet for x-rays, fluids and some medicine to help settle his stomach. By Sunday evening he was no better and had continued to vomit so it was back to the vet for another round of x-rays and hospitalization with fluids overnight. Diego is a sweet cat at home, loves the kids and me especially and lets Wellyn live here. He's not as fond of company unless they are kids; for some strange reason he likes the neighbor kids when they come over but will randomly attack visiting adults. So let's just say he was less than fond of being at the pet hospital with a bunch of strange adults poking him... he was repeatedly sedated for anything they needed to do with him.

Our biggest concern was that he had ate a piece of foam from the interlocking foam floor pieces in the play area in the basement. He has always loved to chew and shred foam, but it has mainly been craft projects the kids have brought home from school or daycare. The past few months though he was started in on the basement floor. I bought some bitter spray and that really helped so I hoped that would be the end of our problem. Unfortunately, my bitter spray came too late...

Monday morning came the call from the vet he was no better, still vomiting causing concern for his liver and kidneys so they recommended surgery to look for an internal obstruction. That's the thing about foam, it doesn't show up on an x-ray. Grrrrr!!!

A few hours later we received the news he was out of surgery, awake and they had removed a piece of foam that was obstructing his small intestine. So, after two nights and four substantial vet bills we were able to bring him back home. He has 32 staples in his tummy which is more than I had with either c-section.


Trust me, I'm very aware there are many people out there who think it is crazy to go to such lengths and expense for a cat... but I have to say, the relief for Brendan at having him home and safe again was overwhelming and worth it. Brendan burst into tears after visiting him the first day Diego was back home with us. Diego and Brendan share their birthdays and Diego sleeps in Brendan's room on his bed with him every night... such buddies. I am so glad the surgery went without incident and we were able to provide the care for him.

Here he is a few hours after coming home, just chillin' with the e-collar on:


He is on the road to recovery - off the narcotic pain medicine, swelling is down and he is able to jump up on our bed! The other upside is he's been purring up a storm since coming home; even when our neighbor came to care for him while we were out of town for the weekend.

February Fun and March... not so fun???

A few random photos of things we've been doing. President's Day Wellyn and the kids had off so we did some sledding. Aiden walking back up the long hill with his dad.

Brendan giving Wellyn and Aiden a push down the hill.

Crafty Brendan hitching a ride up the hill.

Honestly, Brendan can make friends anyplace he goes. If there are other kids and an even half-receptive grown-up he's ready to adopt them. Here he ran into another dad with a few kids and before we knew it he was racing with them and making sled trains down the hill with them. He does have some great social skills.

Aiden taking a break and hanging with me.

Another sled train getting ready to shoot down the hill.

Logan wanted to walk up and down the hill instead of take the sled - not really a safe option when tons of sleds are rocketing down at high speed and with no steering. So he went down a few times but was very content to watch the other kids.

The Saturday before my birthday Wellyn took me out for dinner downtown Minneapolis and then we went to the Minnesota Orchrestra. Amazingly, it was our first trip there even though we've lived here for over 11 years. We always talk about doing some of the things the metro has to offer but then get distracted by life... that was a very fun night! Us before heading out.

The next morning the kids gave me their gifts. Brendan led me up to the living room insisting I keep my eyes closed ;)

Aiden giving me some new pjs.


And some more new pjs!

Brendan picked out some new candles with a tray and colored rocks to around them and had it all set up for me when I opened my eyes. They are awesome gift givers!


In other news, Aiden is having a blast at floor hockey and we'll all get to go watch him this week. He comes home so excited after every class and can't stop talking about how much fun it is. Brendan will start soccer soon and we are so happy he is on the same team with two other friends and we know he will have a better experience this time around. This will be his first time playing indoors and it should be fun.

Our more shocking news of the past week was Wellyn getting laid off from work. Late Wednesday afternoon they let him know; no prior warning so it was very unexpected. He went in today to turn in his badge, laptop and hand-off his project info and is officially done. He has already been making contact with former co-workers and friends and has at least one lunch meeting set up so hopefully it will be a smooth process.