Living after Midnight -- Rockin' till the Dawn

The rest of my weekend in Cheesehead land was great. Had a blast at the lake on Sunday and am getting quite brave with my floaties. Tara showed us a good time and I loved being at a beach! Later that night, we went to the Sky-Vu and saw WALL-E and Journey to the Center of the Earth. I stayed awake for both; the candy may have helped in that. Tara and Cody came as well and we had fun. I didn't go to bed until after midnight!

How'd my shots go? Not one. single. tear. That's right, didn't flinch, didn't scream or even shed one tear for my shots. Mom TOLD me I could cry, she just made me promise not to put up a fight. But I figured if I really wanted that toy she was bribing me with, it would be best not to put up any sort of fuss at all. So I didn't make a peep. You'd never know there were 4 needles going deep into my tiny little legs. I picked out a cool toy at THE Wal-Mart later. Fun fun.

We got back here in the land of flatness Monday evening. I was able to go to gymnastics Tuesday, the exercise actually felt good on my legs. We had a fun time at playgroup today and the weather has been spectacular. Fortunately, we missed the tornado-like winds on Sunday that wrecked havoc on the neighborhood. Our gazebo flew through the air like a giant lawn dart and fortunately, did no damage.

Have a good week my peeps!

Corn Angels

Happy Weekend. I've been having a good time here in WI. The fair was fun. It wasn't too hot, not too crowded, just a little pricey, but that's where they getcha! I rode a few kiddie rides, played in some corn, did the ferris wheel with Papa, had a sno cone, played a game and saw some animals. Zach and I really enjoyed the animals. I was able to pet a calf and a sheep. Zach learned really quickly how to shake the duck's cage and make them quack. Somebody call PETA! Zach was still too little for rides, but he had fun watching me. I visited the kiddie pool a couple of times. I even went in the big pool with Mom, I'm doing really well with my arm floaties. Yesterday we went to see The Smiths and played at their house, Grandpa and Betty came too. Today, we're hoping to go see cousin Tara at Lake Summerset and go swimming there. Tomorrow is the dreaded shot day. I haven't thought much about it, but it is probably NOT going to be a good time! We'll head back home tomorrow. We're missing Dad and I'll have gymnastics to get back to.

Dino Camp - a.k.a. Vacay Bible School went well. I had fun earning dino bucks all week and buying a bunch of plastic junky toys at the end. I did lots of crafts and learned some fun new songs. The lesson part of the school did get pretty intense. I had a lot of questions for Mom, about sinning and being saved and how the dinosaurs walked with people, so we're working through those one at a time. It's confusing to me when the books say two different things, but like Mom says, they're just "theories", no one knows for certain either way. Like Nana says, I'll probably forget about it in a week and move on to something else. I did have a ton of fun and already want to go back next year!

I'll let you know how the shots go, cross your fingers for me. I promise to try and be brave!

And then there were Dinosaurs...

Mom put me in the car this morning and wouldn't tell me anything other than where we were going was a surprise. A great, big, colossal surprise. Boy, was I excited to find out that we were going to a Dinosaur Detective Camp! I get to go every morning this week to learn about dinosaurs. It is pertinent to mention that the Dinosaur camp is at the local Baptist Church, which may come as a *teensy* surprise to some of you. Saying that my dear mother has small issues with some religious theories is like saying that the Titanic had small issues with water control. Mom kind of embarrassed herself by grilling the assistant pastor on the phone the other day and wanting information on the lesson plans. I don't know much (ok, nothing) about Church, so Mom told me ahead of time just to have fun and respect everyone's opinion, even if it doesn't go along with what all the Dinosaur books have told me. They asked me if I brought my Bible and I said "What's a Bible"? Oh my, the group leader about fell over. I must say, it was quite impressive though. The Church was decorated with giant paper mache dinos and caves. The walls were covered in HUGE dinosaur paintings. They even have a crawl-through cave with blacklights and a dino-dig area. Best of all in Mom's book, it was FREE! We all know Mom's principles can easily be trumped by frugality; she still shops at WalMart after all. I had a great time today and we did some awesome crafts. I am already counting the minutes till I can go back tomorrow. I even got to take home some stickers and coloring pages

Got my last night of soccer/basketball coming up today. Dad is leaving work early to come watch me, which I am SO excited about! Then we get to come to WI for the fair this weekend. What a fun week!

Later!
K

Reading Rocks

I'm so proud of myself. I completed my first set of phonics books yesterday. I did 4 different sound books on my Leap Pad over the past 10 days. Then I colored the reading book and read it to Mom and Dad last night. I earned my red ribbon and now I get to start level 2! Can you tell I'm a little excited? Mom and Dad are so proud of me, I've worked really hard. It is so cool to read my bedtime story to them now! If I keep up the hard work, I'll get the Dinosaur Leap Pad book at the end of the 3rd level.

It has been toasty here this week. The kiddie pool/slide combo is fun, but starting to wear off so I think we'll go somewhere else today. Zach isn't interested in the pool and just wants to run out to the front yard. Mom is afraid if we go to the baby pool, she'll be chasing him all over. There is a sprinkler park nearby, so we may try that out today.

We're having some friends over for a cookout tomorrow and hopefully hitting the farmer's market as well. Should be a good ol' time!

Have a great weekend!
Katherine







Weeeee!













Pool? No thanks.

River Rats

Well, not literally at least. We did see a slew of spiders and a lot of interesting things floating along the river, but no rats. The river was really high, so high we couldn't dock the boat and had to do a flying leap into it as we launched it off the ramp. The boat acted up at first and started smoking ab bit (scary!), but Daddy fixed it an we were off. The river cops wouldn't let us go too fast, but we did stop down stream a bit at a park and played for awhile. Zach had fun boating, but the waves made him sleepy, so he napped under the console for awhile. I had lots of fun when my cousins came out on Sunday and even got to go for a jet ski ride with Gramps. Before the river weekend, we saw some local fireworks. The first batch was the best -- we were so close we had to move back because flaming pieces of ash were falling and hitting us. I took a few home as souveniers -- Mom loved that.

Zach will have his first haircut this afternoon. Mom is reluctant to do it, but people are giving him a hard time, and you have to admit he looks a bit like Donald Trump with his hair blowing in the wind, so it is time for a trim.

I've got a fun week of soccer, gymnastics and a trip to the farm park coming up. Hope you had a great Holiday weekend! Now get back to work!

Helmet Head

No matter what we do, Zach will NOT keep a hat on when he is outside. But, he is obsessed with wearing his bike helmet around, so that kind of helps for now. He gets a little sweaty and looks a little goofy, but it works. I think he enjoys it since he sees me wearing mine all of the time. He is also no longer afraid of the "Gator". The other day he climbed up and said, "go, go"! So Mom strapped him in and off we went! I was careful to drive really slowly and not get too wild. We're becoming quite the pair of playmates. It is fun now that he can really play with me when I want him to. He just doesn't understand when I do NOT want him to, but we're working on that!

Nana came for a couple of days recently. We had fun just playing and hanging out. I missed her a lot when she left, but I am excited to go up to WI for the fair in a couple of weeks. Mom gave me my new Leap Pad the other day, so that was a fun distraction. It comes with 12 phonics books that I am working my way through. Each time I complete a book, I get a sticker and when I complete a set of 4, I get a ribbon. Mom explained I have to complete all the books in the set before I get to buy any of the "fun" books, like Dinosaurs and Princesses. So far, I'm doing really well and learning to read some new words. It was supposed to be my birthday gift, but Mom thought I should practice it a bit before school starts. And some days, it is just too darn hot to go outside, so it is a fun activity.

I hope we get to go boating for the 4th of July. The river is open, but we're not sure how high the water still is at the cabin. If we can't go there, we may talk Grandpa into bringing the boat here. I know there will be fireworks in my future for sure.

Have a spectacular Holiday if I don't see you before then!

K