Let the games begin!

We spent some time between ceremony and reception at Munsinger Gardens

Happy Anniversary to Robert and I today... 7 years! Whoo hoo!
We celebrated tonight by grilling some nice steaks and having dinner with the gals. The girls were their usual, Ellie wanted to be done before everyone and Hadley didn't want to eat. We deal with this every night so we are used to it. Hopefully, they will understand that meal time is a good time!
This past weekend we celebrated a wedding for my cousin Brandon. His wedding was in St. Cloud and it was a very nice ceremony along with a gorgeous reception at the Civic Center. We all had a good time, the girls loved to dance and run around and of course Mommy and Daddy loved "trying" to talk to all or the people we knew... but for the most part it was a nice night out! Ellie even took a mini nap, with the help of an old babysitter Fran, who rocked her too sleep.

A little bit of everything

Whew...
Today I had that feeling... you know the one, where your kid is crying and you just want to scream yourself, then shortly after feeling that way, I felt... like... I wanted to cry for thinking that my kid was so annoying.

The truth is... they cry... they whine... they want attention... they want you (mommy/daddy/papa/gramie) always...
The truth is... it is okay to be annoyed... it is okay to want to pee alone... it is okay to do the silent scream.
So... after the crying by Ellie... while I was trying to comb Hadley's hair. I picked her up and she had poo in her diaper, plus, I knew she was crying because she was ready to nap. But, the poo was more concerning, considering, she has a sore bottom from some constant poo. Here I am... silently screaming inside, while Ellie is screaming because her bottom hurts from her second poo of the day. She already poo'ed... So I wasn't thinking this could be another... I just thought she was tired. Turns out, I was wrong and then of course I went from the silent scream to the silent tear.

Work at the nursing home...
I picked up a short evening shift tonight to start off a 4 day nursing home adventure. I am confident it will go okay. The next three days are day shifts... I am not too thrilled about it and getting up at 5 am to work at 6 am is not my cup of tea either. But, what else is new, I get up at 5 am a lot these days for school as well as I barely sleep because the girls still wake up a ton.

Breastfeeding...
I don't think I blogged about this. I am done! I quit right before we went to Lutsen cabin. So my last day was June 28th. Ellie wasn't phased by this at all because when I quit she had Hand, Foot, Mouth disease as well as she was teething... so she didn't feel good at all, the nursing didn't help... so it was a perfect time to quit. However, I had milk for two weeks to follow. It wasn't super painful, but it was annoying. All good now... no hard boobs, no milk... I miss it! A lot! I cried that first night I stopped. I will never nurse again... super sad! I think that is the reason why I nursed Ellie until she was 15 months.

A&P...
I am almost done... two classes left of which one is the final. So really only a lab/lecture to go. I need to study. I am on the verge of getting an A, even after bombing my muscle's lab exam. But... I am thankful, my lecture is going well. If I get an A, I will be very pleased. I will also be more than please with a B. I am happy with either... it is a very hard class, and even harder to take in the summer considering one must learn so much in such a short time. So with that being said, I need to study a lot for the final. I plan to do this pretty much the Tuesday before, because I don't think I will want to do it after working these next three days...

Isle Days/Fun Run...
Great turn-out for both the fun run and our parade party. I got to say hi to a lot of people. Hadley loved getting candy this year. Ellie figured out that candy was yummy and screamed the whole parade to get some. Ellie slept through the fireworks. Hadley watched them with Nevaeh and Livia. Those three girls get along so well. It is adorable... they were sharing a baby, baby Sara to be exact and listening to their comments and conversation from afar while we were waiting for fireworks to begin was beyond cute. They would just giggle!

VBS...
This week Hadley went to Trinity for VBS. The first night was Sunday. Shanessa and I walked both gals down at 5pm. We were the first to arrive. We signed them up and had dinner with the girls. We were nervous... a) because we have never really left them somewhere without at least one of us being there and b) because they didn't really know anyone... this church is unfamiliar as well as the people. So, we were thankful that they were okay staying because they knew Abby and she was going to be a crew leader for the pre-school. Basically when the bell rang, it was time to go in for singing... Shanessa and I just watched the girls as the crew leaders found a pre-schooler to take up to music. Nevaeh went with Abby and Hadley went with Monica... they all four walked away and Shanessa and I just walked the other way... out the door. We walked back to our house and both of us were nervous. Abby could text if there was a problem, but we never got one and the girls continued to go every night for the whole week. Sunday through Thursday, 5:00-5:45 was dinner and then VBS until 8pm. Every night I was able to attend the evening skit and songs at 7:40pm, except tonight because I picked up that shift. But... Robert went... and I think Hadley was happy to know that Daddy was going to pick her up and see all her new friends!

Life couldn't be sweeter!

Happy 4th!
We arrived at the Lutsen cabin at 11pm last night (the night before the 4th)… it was a late night for everyone. Parker and Ellie went to bed at midnight. Hadley and Nevaeh dozed off at 1:30am and all of us adults went to bed around 3:30am. Yawning now…
Today we are just going to relax and make some yummy food. We hope to go into Grand Marais for fireworks at dusk. The girls have explored the rocks down by the shore, and they even figured out a creative way to swim.

Hadley swimming in the rock indents at the little red cabin Lake Superior shoreline.

A little later…
So we just finished a delicious lunch that consisted of brats, beans, italian pasta salad and fruit. We are all full and the big girls need to get down for a nap. Ellie just woke up from a 3 hour nap (oh and I took a nap with Ellie for a hour, nice!) and Park 'o Lark needs to maybe take a little snooze in a hour or so. Shanessa and I have showered, and we are going to Lutsen for a bloody mary!

Evening review…
While Shanessa and I were at Lutsen a storm started to roll in… bummer, but is felt amazing to put on a light sweater. We enjoyed our bloody mary and picked up some beer for at the cabin. When we got back the girls were still asleep. We started the grill and had a beer while we prepared garlic pork tenderloin along with teriyaki roasted red potatoes and strawberry spinach salad. I also worked on a layer red, white and blue jello throughout the day for dessert. Our 4th of July dinner was amazing! The girls had a red, white and blue kiddie cocktail too! The rain continued on and off and around 8ish it was off. So we decided to try the fireworks in Grand Marais. We found a great spot by the harbor, Parker and Ellie threw rocks for an hour while waiting for the sun to go down. Hadley, Neveah, Robert and Geoff went for a walk to the light house. Thunder was heard over head and the rain was on again. We boogie out of there and found the Dad's and big girls. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the fireworks over our heads at the harbor, however we could see the fireworks in the distance, the rained slowed so we pulled over along side the road and watched the fireworks from afar. We could even hear the echoing booms.

Kiddies 4th of July Cocktails

Red, White and Blue Jello!

The cutest little 4th of July kiddos ever!

The day after the fourth…
After another late night we got up and had a glorious breakfast. The sun was shining and we had a little bonfire on the rocks while the girls swam in rock puddles again. Ellie and Parker took their morning nap when they awoke we ventured into town to eat lunch at Sven and Ole's pizza. Simple pleasures are found in Grand Marais and one is Sven and Ole's pizza. They have this lunch special that consists of a slice of pizza, a salad and a soda for $4.59. This deal can't be beat. I went with sausage while Hadley and Ellie had a slice of cheese each. Yummy! Afterwards we split up for a bit, the dad's took the little ones while the mom's spent some shopping time with the big ones. Hadley and Neveah both found a headband. Then we came up empty throughout the next few shops. We met up again with everyone and Shanessa and I took all four so Robert and Geoff could have a bloody mary at the Gun Flint Tavern. Another simple pleasure! The girls and Parker explored further and we found a kid friendly resting spot at a art and craft store. While there Hadley sprouted a pink hair for $3 and off we went to another shop. We were found by Robert and relieved of our parental duties to enjoy the simple pleasure of a bloody mary at the tav. While we were sipping our scrumptious spicy mary's the guys took the kids to the World's Best Donuts for yet another simple pleasure. And, sigh… Robert even thought to buy an extra one for me. How sweet!

Matching headbands. I see future shoppers!

Robert and Geoff golfed Superior National, and they loved it! While they golfed we hung at the cabin and then we played at the park with the kids. Both of us Mommy's were really tired but we wanted to get out and about to do something.

That night we relaxed, made an adult dinner which happened at 10 pm... But it was worth it. We stayed up later again and enjoyed the beautiful evening weather.

Friday...
Shanessa, Geoff, and the kids... left us... it was about noon. I cried a little... it was such a blessing to have them join us. We all get along so well. I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay another night, I was actually thinking maybe we should leave. Well we didn't, however that day was a rainy day, we (Hadley and I) went to town for a bit, then we came back, Hadley napped with her sister.. then we  made some grilled bbq chicken with salad for dinner. It was nice day and evening just bittersweet since it was getting so close to being over.

Saturday... we decided to stay... we relaxed, spent some time on a quiet beach, had Sven and Ole's pizza, made a great dinner at the cabin and packed what we could to get an early start Sunday.

Sunday... home... not too excited, however... it was a nice car ride and the girls really missed gramie and papa..., we brought them straight there and they spend the night. I had to study for a bones test. Not what I wanted to do! Thanks for the wonderful and amazing 6 days and  5 nights away.