Caturday: Oh My Brothers

Pippa can be a trouble-maker. She reminds me of someone…

Caturday: Happy Birthday Pippa!

Pippa is six years old now! We don't know the exact date, but we figure it's sometime in September, so we're calling it good. Laura and I, cat-lovers that we are, sang happy birthday to her in cat language ("meow-meow-meow-meow, meow-meow, etc."). She loved it.

First Day of School

This week Laura started 6th grade and Karl started 3rd. Since they're seasoned veterans, they were very low-key about the whole event. Laura was very excited about the back-to-school carmel rolls, though!

And here they are in their non-new clothes, because they are way too cool to wear a new outfit for the first day. "I'm just wearing whatever I would wear any other day!" Laura told me when I asked if she knew what she wanted to wear. Ok. We do tend to just buy clothes throughout the year, so I skip a big shopping trip in fall. They just wear summer clothes for the first weeks anyway!

On that first day I met other moms in town for Bloody Marys to celebrate. Since the idea of drinking a Bloody Mary makes me sick to my stomach, I celebrated with Diet Coke. Woohoo!

Wisconsin Dells 2012

The real cap to the summer was our trip to Wisconsin Dells last Wednesday through Friday. We tried the Wilderness Resort last year and the kids loved the water parks, so we decided to repeat the experience.

The four-hour drive went pretty quickly—the kids were occupied watching movies and reading. Our second DVD screen broke after our Alabama road-trip last year, so they have to share a single screen.

We arrived mid-afternoon and we headed straight out to the first two water parks—mild by Wisconsin Dells standards, but a great way to ease into the vacation.

Thursday was the busiest day. We started out indoors at Laura’s absolute favorite of the six water parks at the resort.

Those indoor water parks get loud!

Next, we moved on to an outdoor park that we missed last year. We didn’t spend too much time at this one, though it had a fun slide that you ride down headfirst on a mat. The big attractions at this particular park were two slides that only the clinically insane would ride down. While we were there, a young girl rode down one of them but got stuck because she didn't meet the minimum weight requirement and couldn’t build up enough speed to make it up the loop-the-loop. The life guards had to fish her out of the emergency access hatch.

We wrapped up the afternoon at another indoor park. By the time we stopped for dinner, the kids were so exhausted that they agreed to forego more sliding after dinner!

Besides the water parks, the other big attraction for the kids is the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. Laura had pancakes, waffles, and French Toast all on the same plate. She was in heaven.

After our breakfast on Friday, we visited one more outdoor park. We hit all six parks at the resort this year! It was a lazy morning of reading for Deborah and Laura… …but Karl was still climbing stairs!

We were nearly ready to go anyway, but for some reason we were asked to leave a little early. I really don’t know why…

State Fair

Last week was the big climax to summer for Laura and Karl. On Tuesday, we all went to the State Fair. To Karl’s disappointment, nobody ran the Milk Run this year, but Laura and I were happy—we’re not fans of getting up at 5:00 AM on one of the last Sundays of the summer.

Here we are arriving at the fair at the ungodly early hour of 1:45 PM.

The first stop was the Kidway. The Tilt-a-Whirl has been a favorite since the kids started going to the fair. Laura took her first ride in 2006:

And Karl joined her in 2007:

Now they ride without the adults, and I think they have more fun than ever. This shot looks posed, but they were really smiling like that the whole time the ride was going.

Another favorite, the “Superman” ride.

This combination Tilt-a-Whirl and Kiddie Coaster is a recent addition to the Kidway.

I was surprised when Laura and Karl wanted to go on this ride.  They look like they’re having a good time… …but they were really exorcizing some old demons.This is how I remember the last time they rode this one (2008):

After the Kidway, the kids had a list of fair food they wanted to eat. Of course mini-donuts and cheese curds were on the list, and so was this stop at Netterfield’s for brats, corn dogs, and hot dogs

Laura was way too busy eating a State Fair brat to be bothered with looking at the camera.

The Giant Slide was next up.

Then we walked around to a few booths and strolled down to the horse barn. Deborah was very disappointed, though—there must have been a horse show going on and the stables were nearly empty.

By this time we had put in two whole hours at the fair. The kids’ wishes were fulfilled and they were ready to go home (no complaints from me, I’m not a huge fair fan. But Deborah the fair-lover was not pleased).

The last stop was the Space Tower. Deborah took the kids up to the top while I stayed firmly on the ground enjoying a hopelessly out-of-tune country-western singer on a nearby stage.

And here is the obligatory parting picture with Fairchild, the State Fair Gopher. Laura is distracted because an 8-foot-tall “robot” riding a Segway scooter was fast approaching and she didn't want to get run over…

So it was a quick trip to the fair this year, but we packed a lot of fun into two hours.

Caturday: Do NOT Cross This Line, Penelope!

Penelope is very happy to share her bed with Pippa, but Pippa is very picky about when and how she will sleep on a dog bed. Usually Pippa will only go on one when Penelope is gone, and will sit right in the middle so Penelope won't join her. Once in a while, though, Penelope will tentatively lie next to her, but if she gets too close, Pippa won't stay. This was actually a sweet example of when they both stayed on the bed together for quite a while. Progress! I still think there will be a day when they start to snuggle with each other.

Attack of the Elliott Boys!

Angie and Jason went away this past weekend for Jason's birthday, so Mom and I split the babysitting duties: Mom watched Adam, and Colin and Justin stayed at our house. We had a blast!

As soon as they got to our house, the playing began. I can pretty much summarize the whole weekend like this: toy guns and sports. Karl and Colin even made up a sport using a gun for a bat!

This is what it looks like to have three boys in the back seat. Aye yi yi!


Lunch at McDonald's with Grandma and Grandpa.

That night, Mom and Dad came over for pizza. Adam loved seeing his big brothers. Laura chose to eat in the dining room.

Both nights all the boys were in bed and asleep by 8:30! Can you say super-duper-troopers? In the morning, after breakfast, it was TV time. Here are all the kids watching toddler shows "for Justin."

Colin and Justin made friends with Pippa.

On Sunday, the boys saw Rush City's big attraction: the aquatic center! Here's the only picture I have of everyone together.


That night we went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Mom loved having all four boys at her house. It made her feel 28 again! Amazingly, we got them all to sit down in the same place. Colin, Karl, Adam, and Justin.

Thanks for staying with us, Colin and Justin!