Long time, no blog

So, I write I will blog tomorrow... and then everything has been crazy!! So let's start at last weekend

June 18-20

Nicholas had his 6 month doctor appointment this morning. He is a pro at shots! He cries when the needle is going in and then he is over it. Sometimes I feel like a bad mom because it doesn't make me upset when he is getting these shots, but seriously folks, I don't look. I am trying to hold down the little monsters' arms!! I think he handles shots better than I can take them!

Around noon Nicholas and I headed to Ankeny, with Eric and Tink to follow after Eric got off work. We drove seperatly so I could bring the Canfield girls back with me on Sunday. Getting into town a few hours earlier than usual was nice. I was able to go with my dad, Kelly and Alex to Old Chicago for dinner and then K$ came over to the Miller's to hang. Eric and Tink came into town around 11:30.

Saturday was a BUSY day and Nicholas' half birthday!! Nicholas and I went and visited the Hill family that morning, so we could pick up Erin to go garage sale shopping. The kids had fun hanging out together until we left. Nicholas only made it to one sale because a) it was freakin hot and I couldn't carry his car seat without breaking a sweat and b) I bought him a new activity center at the first sale and we needed space! After Erin and I were done shopping, Nicholas and I went over to visit the Canfield-Barrett clan for a little bit. Then we went over to Claire and Dustin's for Declan's 5th birthday party. After eating cake and watching him open presents we rolled on to the Big 0 Bash.

All of Declan's loot!

A number of people in the Owens were having milestone birthday's this year. Grandpa turned 80, Ji turned 60, Joe and Mark 50, Heather 40 and a number of people turned 30 (Rae, Kim, Adam, Justin, Tracy, Kurt... I think I got them all...). They reserved a shelter at Easter Lake. We were supposed to start out playing sports, but since it was 95, we just hung out under the roof! After dinner we had our third white elephant auction. Yes, our family is nerdy but we are the funniest group of people you will ever meet! All of the items brought is about $165 which was then won by KB.

The Owens family crew

Sunday was Father's Day and pretty relaxed. In fact, I can't really remember what we did! I know we hung out with the dad's and then back to Waukesha, but I can't give you any details!

June 21-24
The Canfield girls are taking a number of vacations starting mid July so I figured if I want them to come out here I better make it early in their summer break! I usually keep super busy while they are here and I think this trip was the same.

Monday - our plan was to go to Nicholas' Gymboree class at 10:15 and then head to the zoo. So, we get to Gymboree, start playing and then I realize that his class is at 11:45 on Monday's!! Whoops. Luckily it was the end of free play so about 15 minutes later we headed to the zoo. It was the BEST day to go (thanks Eric). There was talk of rain, so that scared everyone away, but no rain at all! We got there at 11 and left at almost 4, and still didn't see everything. We saw tons of animals, picnic-ed with our Lunchables, rode the train... busy, busy, busy! That night we went shopping for a bit, but Eric texted us at 8 that there was a tornado watch so we headed home. It later turned into a warning so we hung out in the basement for an hour or so.

Tuesday - the girls wanted to go to Build-A-Bear so this day we went to the mall for a few hours. They got new animals, we ate lunch at Panera and then a little more shopping. Sadly, I lost their Build-A-Bear bag with the birth certificates and a pair of shoes Ashley had picked out for her bear. Of course, no one turned it in :-(  That night we went and saw Toy Story 3. We all really liked it. Afterwards we tie-dyed some shirts and socks.

Wednesday - we just hung out in the morning and watched Toy Story 2. That afternoon we went back to Gymboree for Family Play. On Monday Ashley really wanted to play, but wasn't able to since it wasn't an open gym time. She LOVED running around and playing. When Eric got home, the girls and I went to the outlet mall. Ashley loved this shirt at Old Navy and the only one they had was on the display... and it was her size. So we undressed it and bought it for her! Ali had turned 12 a few days before and I didn't get her a gift so she bought some tank tops and a t-shirt at Aeropostale. Although our favorite stop was at Bath and Body Works. They were having a huge sale so we were able to get $53 worth of items for $22!

Thursday - the girls, Nicholas and I headed back to Ankeny around 11. We had a number of things to do before we go, but were only 8 minutes later than I wanted to leave! We had made some car bingos and other travel games for the car ride so it was something fun and new to do for the 6 hours. It went by fairly quickly so I was happy!!

What's so funny!!

Nicholas got a beach ball at his Gymboree class today. He was cracking up the mom's with his laugh when I threw it up and down. Luckily it was still funny at home.

P.S. I will blog more tomorrow!!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=576495561&v=app_2392950137#!/video/video.php?v=10150202968775562

Navy Family Weekend

This past weekend was Eric's Navy Family Weekend at Great Lakes, IL. We decided to spend the night both Friday and Saturday; leaving Waukesha at 6 am didn't sound like morning fun for me!!

Friday night we went to eat dinner at my favorite restaurant, Panda Express. By the time we drove down, checked in and ate dinner it was around 8. So poor Nicholas didn't get to bed until 9 (his usual bedtime is 7). He woke up MANY times throughout the night. The hotel was SO AWESOME, but there was a lot of light let in through the curtain, appliances and around the doorframe. We think the combination of the light and people in the hallway was the culprit.

Our hotel room

Saturday morning Nicholas and I took Eric to the base. In the morning Eric had regular drill stuff and then there was a family picnic on the beach that afternoon. While Eric was working Nicholas and I went to Wal-Mart to get some tape to shut the curtains, along with some other stuff. Nicholas fell asleep in the store, and we still had an hour to kill so I just drove around until we met up with Eric. The picnic started out just okay. There wasn't a lot of seating to eat and there was also a loud band (that wasn't good) right next to the few tables. After eating we headed down to the beach with another couple and their daughter. Luckily, one of the things I had purchased at Wal-Mart was a sheet we could all sit on. The day was overcast and cool, until 1:30 and then the sun came out with a vengeance for a while. That was the time we left! The rest of the day we shopped at Gurnee Mills and ate at Panda Express again (they don't have any around us!)

At the beach

Cooling off after the beach

On Sunday the only family activities were pre-deployment classes. Since Eric isn't going anywhere, we decided to take off after Eric's drill in the morning. Since we used to live near base, I got together with Mary Anne from the church I worked at in 2007 (actually, I was hired for her job). It was nice catching up since I haven't seen her in almost 3 years!! The rest of Sunday was filled with lunch at Perkins, me taking a nap (Nicholas woke up a few times Saturday night too) and the three of us just hanging out. It was perfect!

Watching this music program with animals

Holiday weekend

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! Ours was pretty tame.

Friday was Eric's 32nd birthday! He woke up that morning though having caught my cold. He still went to work that day, of course, and then we just ended up hanging out at the house that night.

While Eric was at work Nicholas decided to flip himself over in his swing.

Guess it is time to start buckling him in!!

Saturday we were pretty lazy around the house. Eric still wasn't feeling 100% so we just hung out the three of us. That afternoon I suggested we do something to get out of the house and Eric volunteered the idea of going to the mall. I was shocked!! That night we played Super Mario Bros Wii (Eric's present) after putting the little one to bed.

Sunday morning we went to church... and then we must have just sat around because I don't remember anything special!

Hanging out with dad at home

Monday we took Nicholas to his first parade, the Waukesha Memorial Day Parade. It was pretty short, but the high school bands performed and a number of the dance team girls are either in color guard or in band. It was great seeing them!

Waiting for the parade to start!!