Parker is on Facebook

We may not use Facebook but Parker's picture has ended up there.

Grandma Rick's Birthday

At Grandma’s birthday party it was brunch. And, there was good food there. I loved their food. Their food was so good. I almost ate all of it. Our cousins was there. I made grandma muffins. She loved them! The end. Grandma Rick’s birthday was so cool. -  Rion

We went to brunch for Grandma Rick’s birthday. We had party hats and played with our cousins. We got her a necklace and made her muffins. And, our cousins and our aunt and uncles got her a fire pit. And, she turned 60. - Owen

The end of summer

Taking advantage of the nice weather before summer is over.

Owen's 1st Tooth

Today I got a 5 Dollar bill. And I pulled my touth. - Owen

Owen's bottom front tooth has been really lose. After some encouragement from friends, he pulled it out at Buffalo Wild Wings last night. We were very proud of him. He didn't cry or anything. At home, he put it under his pillow and the Tooth Fairy brought him $5. Also, if you are wondering, his shirt is wet in the pictures, because Rion decided to put his head in the fountain outside the restaurant. The other 3 kids followed his wonderful lead! - N

School

First grade is very fun! I like first grade. My teacher’s name is Ms. Paulich. She is very nice. I am reviewing Kindergarten right now and I go to P.E., that’s gym, I go to art, music, and lunch. At lunch you can get hot lunch or you can bring cold lunch. After lunch, it’s lunch recess. – Owen

I moved to a new room. And, then it was different teachers and new kids and there was a lot of boys and there was more boys than girls. We are learning about new stuff, everything that starts with “M”. The end. – Rion

Playing Hooky with Daddy

Pony Rides

Rion’s friend, Billy the Kid, had a pony ride birthday party. Owen even got to join in on the fun.

They are not going to be happy

It's just such a perfect example of our life that I have to write it down, but I know they (Owen, when he's older, and Mike, now) are not going to be happy with me. While on vacation Owen complained that sometimes his penis hurts, especially when he pees. I was a good enough parent to schedule a doctor's appointment, but not a good enough parent to ask the right questions. When I told Owen about the appointment, he told me that it really only hurts when it's long. He's fine all of the other times. I decided to let Mike explain to the doctor why we were cancelling the appointment. And, not to be outdone, Rion made his long so he could complain that it hurt too. This is why I need girls!

Summer Vacation

Mommy: Let’s talk about our vacation. Start with Saturday.

Owen: We went to the beach.

Rion: It was super hot.

Owen: The sand was super hot.

Rion: And, the water was brown.

Owen: We don’t know why it was brown.

Rion: Maybe because of the sand, because the sand is in the water. The next day we went to a Cubs game.

Owen: No, it was a Rays game. The Rays won 3-2 against the Orioles. We got a stuffed animal. Rion got a bear and I got a monkey.

Rion: We got to see the game and stay there. And, I didn’t even have to leave the game once. It was inside. The end.

Owen: And we got ice cream. The next day, that would be Disney World day. No, Sunday we drove to Disney World that was in Orlando. And, when we went to bed the next day, that was Monday, we went to Magic Kingdom.

Rion: Animal Kingdom was Tuesday.

Owen: Magic Kingdom had tons of rides. Like, Space Mountain, the Buzz Lightyear ride, the People Mover, the Speedway.

Rion: Like the cannon ball, what we were shooting on the Buzz Lightyear ride. On the Buzz ride the first time, I won before all, my mom and dad and brother. But the second time daddy won, but I was in the hundreds.

Owen: Like the Astro Orbiter and the Laugh Floor, and Stitch’s Great Escape. There were all different kinds of rides. And that was even where Cinderella’s castle was.

Mommy: What did you like the best?

Owen: It was called Space Mountain.

Rion: It was called the log ride.

Mommy: Tuesday?

Owen: Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom

Rion: There was some rides there, but I don’t know what rides were there. There was this boat ride where you…

Owen: The river rapids, or something, and we went on it. Rion went on it three times, I went on it two. We also went on this ride. I went on two dinosaur rides, Rion only went on two.

Rion: We both got three.

Owen: How?

Rion: Hunting for dinosaurs.

Owen: And then we hunted for dinosaurs.

Mommy: Favorite thing?

Rion: My favorite thing was the river rapids. I rode it three times. It was super fun and I got super wet.

Owen: My favorite ride was the Yeti. We had to go, we went forward and the track was broken. We went back and the Yeti broke the track. We went forward, and turned, and got away from the Yeti. We escaped.

Mommy: Wednesday?

Owen: Hollywood studios! Me and Rion went to Jedi Academy school.

Rion: We fighted Darth Maul and Darth Vader. And, they forgot their other bad guys, Storm Troopers. And, they were funny. And, one said, “that way”. And, the other said, “no that way”. And, the door opened and they said, “have a nice day” to our Jedi academy teachers. They wanted to be nice to them.

Owen: So they didn’t get their heads sliced off. And, they said have a nice day so they wouldn’t slice their heads off. See, do you get it?

Mommy: Anything else?

Owen: Then we went on the Muppets 3D show. It was really funny because there was this rabbit that ran away.

Mommy: Favorite thing?

Rion: Jedi Training School

Owen: Jedi training school and we went on this Obi ship.

Daddy: Star Tours. Anything else?

Owen: I went on the Rock N Roller coaster. And, I went on the Tower of Terror. The Tower of Terror was not that good. We just went up and down, up and down, up and down. And, on the Rock n Roll Roller coaster, it went upside downtown and that’s why it’s called the Rock N Roll Roller coaster.

Daddy: Who’s the band?

Owen: Air guitar

Daddy: Are you sure? Air guitar? You mean Aerosmith?

Mommy: Thursday?

Rion: At Magic Kingdom we got to ride the rocket ship ride and the Buzz Lightyear ride two times. We have to take an elevator to get up there.

Owen: We went on this train ride. We went on this parrot thingy, that they sang. There were girl birds that we didn’t like, And, there was this queen that electrocuted this bird.

Mommy: Friday?

Rion: We went home. That’s the only thing we did.

Owen: We went to Downtown Disney. Rion got Commander Cody. And, we went back to our hotel, where the lobby was, on a boat. It was so fun because we got to go on a boat and it was super bumpy.

Rion: We went on it two times.

Owen: No, once.

Rion & Owen: We went on it two times. No, once….

They continued for quite a while. For the record, Owen was right. We went on that boat only once. It’s interesting to hear what they remember and how it changes from day to day. They were troopers with the heat, the walking, and the lack of sleep. It was very, very hot. I really don’t recommend Florida in August (or Vegas in July – bad planning this year on my part). Owen loved the roller coasters! He went on all of them. It’s nice to finally have someone to ride with. The only one that he didn’t really like was the Tower of Terror, and that’s because he was afraid of the Twilight Zone movie, not because of the ride. Rion also loved the roller coasters, but his height limited him to the Goofy coaster and the Runaway Train. He also really liked the shows. He started out a little afraid of the 3D aspects, but got braver as the week went on. He loved Mickey’s Philharmagic starring his favorite trouble maker, Donald Duck. For both, attending Jedi Training School and fighting Darth Vader and Darth Maul, was the highlight. The other big thrill was the daily animal made out of towels in the hotel room. We’ll have to take them on a cruise! That’s it for this year’s summer vacation. Next summer we are thinking about Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver. Hopefully, the weather will be much better. - N 

Go Cubs Go

We went to the Cubs game and this is what happened. The Cubs won. And, um, we got to sit out in like a little high, but there was a lot of chairs in front of us. At the Cubs game, we went there and it was in downtown. And what park it was, it was Wrigley Field park. That’s it. – Rion – C (for the cubs)

We saw a Cubs game Saturday. And, the cubs won 5-4. We got to sing after the game, and you hear the song: Go Cubs go! Go Cubs go! Hey Chicago what do you say? The Cubs are going to win today. And, it was a night game. Rion stayed up the whole night when we watched the whole game. And, the game was really cool. Nobody got a home run though. And, I can’t believe the Cubs traded Derek Lee to the Braves. – Owen

Owen's Last Day of Kindercare

Today was Owen's last day at Kindercare. I'm sure he'll return for holidays and vacations, but this was his last, registered day. I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. I remember visiting the baby room with him before I came back to work. He was only twelve weeks old. Now, he's six and a half and ready for first grade. I have to say that we've had a wonderful experience at the center. The teachers have been very loving and have taken great care of him. It's a little scary that we won't have them looking over our shoulders. They have also had a wonderful curriculum and programs. He wouldn't be at the levels he's at today without them. Each step of the way I've been amazed at what they expect from the kids, but they've always been right. The kids can handle it.

Sunny and Sun

Inspired by the Elmo Live show, Rion wanted to grow his own sunflowers this summer. They have finally started to bloom. Following his typical pattern, Rion named them Sunny and Sun.

This may be a first

Rion was kicked out of daycare today! He can return tomorrow, but I had to pick him up early. He was tired, but didn't want to take a nap, so he ran around the center turning on lights, kicking his friends and teachers, and hiding in empty rooms. Hopefully, his behavior will get better when he moves up to a new class after vacation. We hope so! The phrase I use the most when describing Rion is "when he wants to". He can be so sweet and a good listener when he wants to. But he can also be horrible when he wants to. Rion will keep us on our toes.

What the future holds

Bored, waiting for his brother to come out of the bathroom, our little charmer was working his magic on an adult woman at the fair. His pick-up line was, "I got to wear a tank top today." By the end of the conversation, she had given him a light-up dinosaur toy. Upon hearing this, Owen said, "Didn't you tell her you had a brother?" I had to laugh, because I'm sure I'll hear Owen muttering the same line many times in the future, but it will be to meet girls not get toys.

The Wisconsin State Fair

Not too long ago I was with friends reminiscing about all of the fairs we used to go to when I was little and working in the lemonade stand. It made me want to share those experiences with the boys. What's not to love about fattening food, sugary drinks, carnies, the Midway, games you can't win, and the people watching? We missed the local Illinois fairs, so we hit the Wisconsin state fair in Milwaukee. They serve hundreds of "on a stick" items, which you can't beat. :) - N
After soccer we went over here to Milwaukee. We went on the, it was like a ski lift but it wasn't. It was just a lifter. Then we went on a Ferris wheel, me and my mom. And you know what our names are? They are Rion and Mom. And my brother and my dad went on bumper cars. And they didn't go on the Ferris wheel. We saw, I forget. I was afraid of the chickens. They could bite. I saw the chicken that was friendly and wouldn't bite. - Rion
We went to the Wisconsin state fair today. Then we went into this store with tons of people. Pretty much everyone was a Milwaukee Bucs fan, Brewer, or Green Bay, but I did not like that. We met this girl and this boy and Rion I think told a lie. He said his favorite team was the Blue Jays. Do you like the Blue Jays? Tell me on the blog. Rion went on the Ferris wheel and I went on the bumper cars. And, we got elephant ears, cream puffs, Rion, me, and dad got cream puffs. And also everyone loved the elephant ear. And there was chocolate covered bacon. There was a donut sandwich which Rion didn't try. And I tried it. We got water there and I got root beer milk. Rion got chocolate, and cherry vanilla, and strawberry, and root beer. Everybody got chocolate, and cherry vanilla, and strawberry, and root beer. So pretty much everybody got the drink. It was very funny nobody picked banana. It was very fun there. We saw a 7 ft rattlesnake and a 7ft alligator. We saw a cow parade and the cows were pooping. And it was in a parade they pooped. Can you hear me guys on the computer? It was a parade! We got to see how they got the milk out of their udders. We got to spin a wheel. We got to do the bean bag toss. So if you heard of the bean bag toss tell me. If you haven't heard of the bean bag toss I'll tell you. And then we saw sheeps and then goats and some other reptiles like a snapping turtle and other kinds of rattlesnakes. And there was an iguana just as we walked in. And that's pretty much the whole thing I'm going to talk about. - Owen
We, um, saw the cow pooping and it was so funny. And it was in a parade. And I saw its udders and the udders hold its milk. Done. - Rion
What was your favorite food at the fair?
Rion: Everything was my favorite thing
Owen: Elephant ear
Mommy: Fried pickle chips
Daddy: Krispie Kreme cheeseburger

Rock - Paper - Scissors

Owen loves his new shirt.

Quote of the Day

"Take that old lady!" - Rion (upon beating me at War)

Family Pictures