Mis-tah Stein-myah

The boys think that every handyman or technician that comes to the house
1. is there to entertain them.
2. needs their help.

Fortunately Mis-tah Stein-myah (as Kyren calls him), was rather amused and gracious when it came to allowing them both to watch and "help".
By the end of the day, they were sad to see him go, and still talk about him every time something reminds them of him.

so proud of himself
(the little guy, that is)

some professional assistance

Here ya go, helper!

Inspectors Brown

making sure to be careful near the saw

Mr. Fixit explains his tools

well well well

the next adventure on our list of summer fun was an unexpected treasure hunt to find our well. apparently the little spring thingy that creates suction to make our well prime was broken. Easy enough to fix. . . just replace it. The problem? We had no idea where our well WAS!
After the "Well Man" had been here twice in one day to fix our pump, it was short-cycling again within an hour after he left. Our options were to hire a  contractor to bring in an excavator (the boys' preference) OR start digging ourselves, and hope we strike gold (ie, our well).
So that evening, of course, right after tubby time as we were getting C and K ready for bed, Dave decided to start digging according to the trusty diagram we'd discovered next to our pump in the basement. it was a little piece of paper with a dotted line from our basement door that said 6', with an "x" marks the spot kind of symbol.  It was a little hard to deny the boys the chance to be part of the action. So out they went out to help (and to get dirty)... did i mention it was right after their bath??. . .

WELL, we didn't find it. 3 feet by 3 feet later, we were a little discouraged... there wasn't much more we could do, as no matter which way we dug, we hit rock.  

The next morning we were contemplating an excavator, when our Well Guy showed up, dug another inch to the right, and struck pipe! Thank God!!

The boys spent the entire afternoon as close to the action as they could possibly be. 

They were enamored with Phil, the Well Guy, and Kyren could NOT resist exploring his tool box...

They played with every piece of extra pipe, wire, hose, etc they could get their hands on...

and played this game over and over again:

Phil left them with the important job of filling the holes back in with dirt. 

And believe me, they took their job seriously!

We are now a little more educated and a little more thankful for how we get our water!

Broken Arm Brownies

Upon returning from our Midwest Adventure... it was time to get a real cast for that broken radius.

We chose to go local, rather than all the way to CHOP, as it was a clean break, and figured Dr. C who has been casting broken bones for 30 years or so could probably do a pretty good job. 

Aside from setting the bone a little bit, so it would grow "straighter", it was a pretty fun day. 

C's hope was for blue.

My hope was for waterproof.

We got both, and were both very happy with the result.

When we went back to Gramsy's to pick up Kyren, we found 

a concerned Grampy:

"I hurt when you hurt"

the need to take some time to himself.

...which he quickly snapped out of...

"Broken Arm Brownies" to help celebrate this momentous occasion:

 He got to help put the 'cast' on the arm...

Gramsy can make anything into an occasion for a party!

The month that the cast was with us was truly remarkable. 

For someone who can be, shall we say, prone to drama... he never once complained about being inhibited in any way. He adapted immediately, and adjusted to using mostly his right hand for everything. The only thing he needed help with was dressing and toileting. Other than that, he was business as usual. He even learned to use the cast as a baseball bat, and made it his goal to see how many things he could launch off of it. 

But any mention of the words "signing it", and forget it. 

True Blue. All the way.

Next Stop: Chicago!

In thinking about what we wanted our summer to look like, we decided a couple of roadtrips would be fun... and b/c SKWW were not going to be at the lake in August, it would be fun to go visit them. Dave had never seen their house, and we as a family had never been there together.  We looked into driving with a stop somewhere in Ohio. That seemed rather insane. We looked at the possibility of taking an overnight train. Even more insane, considering you are stuck on the train for 24hrs. . . and it cost just as much as flying. 

The boys were thrilled with the whole experience, from the moment they stepped on the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the airport. No carseats-- not even a seatbelt to be seen! It was like an amusement park ride as far as they were concerned:

The flight went pretty well, thanks to those earbuds and my macbook air.  It made the couple of hours go by rather quickly, and nobody got an earache or airsick. woo hoo!

While waiting for Aunt Kelly to pick us up at O'Hare, we had another adventure: riding the moving sidewalks! They did NOT want to leave:

i wish i had the view from the front-- they were giggling the whole time!

We wasted no time, going straight to the funnest lunch ever at 2Toots , the coolest place in town for kids of all ages... 

That afternoon we went to the swim club-- where we didn't get a ton of pictures b/c we were so busy playing in the water, sliding down the water slide, and digging in the sand. 

 ....but it was definitely the coolest pool i've ever seen!

The next morning we were up and at'm... 

riding bikes ...

clothing optional:

 and then off to the zoo-- where i go ZERO pics... but had a blast!

Definitely the most animated apes and polar bear we've ever seen. 

They put on a fab show just for us!

After dinner, Aunt Kelly obliged us (me) and took us to a local park where we thought there were going to be diggers we remembered from when the boys and i visited 2 years ago. Unfortunately, there was only one digger and it didn't work very well. Fortunately, there were plenty of other fun things to play on...

like the roller slide:

and slides for racing...

and bars for showing off skils:

and bars for attempting to show off future monkey skills...

that haven't quite developed yet...

Fortunately there was an urgent care clinic a couple of minutes away, where we were in and out in about 40 minutes... got to ride in a wheel chair, get xrays, and even a cool dinosaur sling. 

They have EVERYTHING in Glen Ellyn!

And aside from an uncomfortable sleep that night, 

this trooper faired incredibly well with his new badge of honor:

We headed off to the lake house in Michigan the next morning and once there, wrapped the splint in a plastic bag, twisted the handles and tied them tight...and he was good to go:

 

The next few days were spent galavanting in the water, around the lake in various boats, dance parties in the cottage with Big Mouth Billy Bass, and eating lots of yummy food.

We got to ride in the golf cart to get ice cream (twice!)

these guys were doing 'cheers' with their cones!

 Kyren mastered the art of imagining he was captain of the waverunner:

 We had a picnic on the pontoon boat:

Kyren settled for being co-captain:

There were arts and crafts on board:

 Family bonding time:

Kids escaping under cover:

Uncle/nephew bonding:

Attempted campfire time that quickly resulted in bedtime due to overly tired arguing cousins:

And post bedtime campfire for the adults ensued:

oh,

and at some point over the weekend, C figured out how to look just like Aunt Kelly:

It was definitely an adventure-- and a lot of firsts for all of us!

We are so glad we went, and are so thankful for the flexibility and fun of our far-away family.

They sure know how to make you feel at home--

Thanks guys!

Next time we'll try not to break any bones.

6 wonderful years

July 9, 2012 

made 6 years of matrimony for my groom and me. 

he whisked me away from screaming children to enjoy the lovely

in Radnor, PA.

It was just cool enough to sit outside on the quiet patio....

and enjoy fabulous cuisine

and charming company...

(only Nacho Libre fans will find this amusing)

 And of course, there's always room for PB Oreo Mousse Pie!

Afterward we ran a romantic errand to Best Buy to purchase earbuds for the little ears that would soon be traveling on a plane to chicago...

what?

 romance changes when you have kids.

We got out our wedding album and shared it with Christian...who's been asking questions about weddings and marriage, even presenting dave and me with rings (actually circular wooden blocks), telling us they're "authority rings", and thanking us for being such good authorities. 

He loved looking at the pictures of our Big Day, and kept asking, "THEN what happened??" as we'd turn the page to reveal the next part of the ceremony or reception. 

There is nothing sweeter than the love of your spouse...

until you see it reflected in the love of your child.

Happy 6th, Honwah,

we done good.