At the Dells

It is February and it is cold. It is VERY cold. It is about this time of year that a person can start to feel that there is no escape from the cold. We decided we had to get out and have some fun. Guess what! Wisconsin Dells is only 3.5 hours away! We decided to go..good times, good friends and lots of water! I cannot think of a better way to have a get-away.
We stayed at Glacier Canyon Lodge. It was wonderful. Our room had plenty of space for everyone. There was a fireplace and a huge TV and DVD player for the down time. There was a game table for after the kiddos went to sleep. Swimming was top on our "to do" list though. We enjoyed 3 very large indoor water parks. This is a picture of Ryan in the big wave pool. This was his favorite spot to be...and probably Erik's too. (and one of my favorite pictures). We also got to go down great water slides and relax in the hot tubs. Sometimes they even opened to outdoor part of the hot tub. That was a fun surprise. Here is a slide show of some of the highlights. It includes probably the LAST post of ME in a swimming suit...so everyone enjoy it now : )

Here is a fun video of the kiddos in the wave pool. Did I mention that we had a fun time on this trip?

Swimming at the Y

The kiddos didn't have school today, but I had to work. We decided to make a day of it. After hanging out at Kids Stuff, we put on our suits and swam for a few hours. It was cool, because our friends showed up while we were there and we got to hang out with them while we swam.

At one point, we were the only people in the pool. I took that chance to snap a few shots. The life guard told me to hurry. So, I got these shots. You can see we had fun. They don't like people to take pictures at the Y. It is a privacy thing I guess.
You guys would be really proud of Andrew. He is now swimming underwater and all over the place. It seems that just in the last few trips to the pool he has improved a bunch. Just in time for our trip to the Dells!

The end

Well you have made it through a week with me. Now we are back to the regular blogs. I will add that today I just went through my same Tuesday routine..except I had to tell the OT lady that we really didn't work on the OT exercises this week. She told me that Ryan had told her that "we just didn't have time this week." I gave an embarrassed chuckle and said we would do better this week and we had to run because we had swimming lessons. I also just got back from our book club's 7 year party. We had food that was yummy (pot luck which included me running to Byerlys for a salad to bring) and had read a really good book called, "The Goose Girl" by Shannon Hale. It was really fun. Now I get home and realize that my house looks like I have just been reading a book for 2 days straight. Guess what I will be doing tomorrow after work and Sunbeam lesson but before dinner and scouts. I need another magic slide show!

The weekend

This weekend went by so fast!! For me it can be broken down into three bloggable events. Do you like the new word I just made up? We had a baby shower for Louise. It was great. Yummy foods, just enough annoying shower games, presents and then yummy food again. Louise's mother is in town from Scotland, so we decided this would be a great weekend to celebrate baby Hamer. I guess they don't have the "baby shower" tradition over in Scotland. They are so missing out over there! Any reason to get together and eat is cool in my book. We also had a game night with our good friends. Tiffany had sugar cookies that Emily went crazy decorating. I cannot stop eating them! My big news is that I played Rummikub and actually laid down tiles on my own. I have only played it once before with Cynthia on the Oregon coast. I think all I did that game was draw tiles. Watch out Cynth, I am in Rummikub training now! Also this weekend, Emily had another dance show. This time at a Timberwolves game at the Target Center. They did such a great job. I had so much fun watching her. She really loves to dance. If they recast the movie, "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" she could be a the Sarah Jessica Parker role. If you haven't seen that movie..watch it. It is a big part of my childhood memories with Amy. Good times! Also on a side note..my Sunbeam lesson went well. I had only one kiddo show up..everyone else was sick. Also nothing to report with the bishop..just a checking in appointment. I am still the Sunbeams teacher. I know you were all wondering. : )

Day 4

All week my camera has been flashing a red battery sign at me. I guess I didn't believe it, because I didn't buy any batteries. Well, today my camera would only turn on and say "change batteries" and then turn off. No pictures. Luckily there really wasn't much to look at today. I went to the Y with Andrew this morning. He struggled today, so I got sent home early. I was not sure what was up with the kiddo so I canceled his play date and started a movie in my room for him. We sat there together and watched Rescue Heroes DVDs all afternoon. We had a few Popsicles too. Then Ryan came home and we watched Spiderman cartoons. (Emily went to a friend's house and then they took her to dance class-seriously the girl is rarely home) Needless to say I fell asleep. I had a great nap. Erik got home around 6:10. He picked up Emily from dance class. They all had a movie night (Veggie Tales and some Gummie Bear Cartoons), and I ran around doing last minute things for the shower tomorrow. It is funny that even at 11:00 pm I still run into people from my ward at CUB. You would think that for that reason alone, I would learn not to go grocery shopping in my pajamas. Oh well. I did buy batteries, this is going to be a busy weekend...lots to report! (If you are getting sick of this play by play..fear not the daily blog insanity will be over soon and it will be back to regular blogs again. If you need a cliff hanger..the bishop wants to meet with me after church on Sunday. Scary! I wonder what he knows..j/k! )

Day 3

It was business as usual around here today. Off to school for Ryan and Emily, and work for Erik. After saying good-bye to Andrew, love that speech bus, I started my last chance work out. I then got myself to weight watchers and had my fun weigh in. I dropped 4 pounds. Hooray! They all clapped for me. On my way home, I picked up my neighbor McKenzie. In case you hadn't noticed, laundry has taken over my house. McKenzie and I folded laundry and played and folded laundry and played some more. We also got Andrew to preschool and picked up Ry for Mad Science class. After playdates for Emily and Ryan, we met some friends for a fun Chinese buffet (it is Chinese New Year). After buffet, Erik put the kiddos to bed and watched a movie with Robert. I ran around getting ready for a baby shower that I am having for Louise this Saturday. I then got the party favors done. Now I am off to dreamland. Oh, I don't know why it is all underlined. I will try to fix it tomorrow. Night Night.

Day 2

Hooray! Another day at our Apple Valley home. For the record, I was the first one out of bed this morning (not that it was early by any means). This morning the older two kiddos got to school, and Erik left for work. Andrew and I got ready to go back to the Y. This time to work. We got to play Memory and make valentine's together. It was great. We made it home for lunch and then Andrew was off to preschool. Again, I am on my own for awhile. Some of you may not know, but I teach the Sunbeams at church. They are the kiddos that are turning 4 this year. I took this chance to go to my friend's home and we worked on our lesson for this Sunday. We made sewing cards to keep them busy and interested this week. (we have 10 kiddos combined-and they have a lot of energy!!) We had a great time. When I checked the clock, I realized I had 10 minutes to meet the bus. Luckily I made it home just as they were getting off the bus. Ry had wii time. Emily (my child who thinks she ALWAYS has to be with a friend) got invited to go ice-skating with a friend. They agreed to pick up and drop off. I quickly said yes to that deal. I picked Andrew up from school and after some down time he mopped the kitchen floor. Then it was homework and off to scouts for Ryan. During scouts, my friend needed to run to Joanne's and I tagged along with her. Then it was home. Story time and bed. Good times, right? Anyone want to come visit?

Day 1

Tuesday is our really crazy day around here. Let me explain a little about today's slide show. We got up today. I actually really did not want to get out of bed this morning, but I finally decided I better get up and get people headed toward school. (yes I was the last one out of bed!) Erik took Emily off to the bus stop and then left for work. I got Ry to school and then came home and made Andrew his daily bowl of hot cereal. Andrew's speech bus comes at 9:30 am. After a few cartoons he was gone. I had that moment where I am alone at home. I decided to get my 1/2 hour exercise over with and then I did some stuff around the house. Once Andrew got home from speech we met a friend at McDonalds for lunch. The boys came to our house to play, and I started to pack our YMCA bag. Every Tuesday I pick Ry up from school and I get him to his OT appointment. Andrew and I then get to wait for an hour until Ryan is done. This time is filled with Andrew riding the elevator up and down by himself and I always end up taking a blood pressure test. We then pick Emily up from her Sweet Treats class and we hit the Y for a fun science class (Ry and Em)and gym class (Andrew) . They then high tail it to swimming class. Today, during this fun Y time I walked the track seriously trying to remember what number lap I am on...usually my friend is with me and we don't count. Sadly, she was sick today so all I could do was count. I then met Erik at Ry's school for his music program. Emily, Andrew and I ended our day watching Biggest Loser..yeah black team!! Not to exciting, just very busy.

My week challenge

Life has gone on as usual around this household. The Pinewood derby was so much fun. Although we did not have the fastest car in the bunch, we came home happy and proud of ourselves. I did film it, but really all you have to do is imagine a car racing down a ramp for a second...there you have it. It is warming up around here...meaning hitting on a good day mid-20s. That always makes the daily trips to Target easier. I think that since so much of our lives is the daily stuff, I am going to keep a daily blog for this week...you know Tuesday to Tuesday type thing. That way when I say it is the same old stuff you will all know what I am talking about. So I am going to go live life a little and come back tonight to fill you in on our day.