Big June

Posted on July 7, 2021 by Amy

I love homeschooling my kids. I feel truly blessed to be able to do it. But man, I love summer too. It’s so nice to get to the end of the school year and put away all the books and curricula and just chill for three months. Except this year, we did not chill at all for the first of the summer months. June was full. And busy. And big.

It started with a birthday for this boy.

Then we took a road trip field trip to explore some of the cool things in our state.

The kids did their end-of-the-year showcase for our Catholic Schoolhouse co-op. The four older kids did presentations of memory work with their classes. Then Sis did an individual presentation about Abigail Adams.

Lass and Sis received their Super Scholar trophies for knowing all the memory work for the year. (Miss moved up to the Dialectic level this year and didn’t do memory work.)

And then both Lass and Sis received medals for achieving the “Triple Crown,” which is what they call it when someone earns Super Scholar for all three cycles of memory work.

The next day we had our official last day of school. We had finished all of our classroom work and final exams at the end of May, but I decided to save the final day until after our big field trip and showcase. Our traditions for ending the year include taking last day photos,

going out for lunch (at the same place every year),

and doing an at-home showcase for Dad. The girls recited the Gettysburg Address all together, then each of them and Bubba recited a poem individually. Then they each shared an art project they did during the year, one of our geography maps, and a piano piece. The grand finale was the Hokey Pokey in French (“le Hokey Cokey”).

The next day, the kids and I left for Kentucky. My parents no longer live there, but my grandma’s memorial service was being held not too far from where they used to live, and they wanted to spend some time down there to visit my brother’s family and some of their friends. So they rented a cabin at a marina and asked us to come down for a few days before the memorial service.

We stopped on the way down to visit the birthplace of Wild Bill Hickok (a random roadside attraction)

We got home from Kentucky around 11PM on a Saturday night mid month. Then we went to Mass the following Sunday morning and afterwards left for a week at the Farm!

Putting a crawdad back in the water and watching it get gobbled up by a fish!

After we finally got home from all our travels, the last week of June included eye doctor appointments (one new girl in glasses!!), volleyball camp, dance troupe performances, and a yard sale at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

I saw a meme recently that said, “Adulthood is saying, ‘But after this week things will slow down a bit,’ over and over until you die.” Me about the month of June: “But after this month, things will slow down a bit.” So far it’s true. (It must be if I’m blogging!) We do have a few things coming up, like girls’ camp and a trip to Montana. But nothing like Big June.

Here’s to two months of (finally) (relatively) lazy summer!

A Black Hills Family Vacation

Posted on October 3, 2018 by Amy

We just took a family vacation to South Dakota. It was so super fun that I’m determined to ~~over share about~~ document it here, even though it has taken me three days so far to do so. My husband keeps gently reminding me that I have a lot more family memories recorded from when the girls were little and very few for these baby/toddler years with the boys. He likes that I blog so that we have something to look back on. I like looking back on the old posts too, so here are our fun tales of our recent trip (which might even be helpful to someone else who might be planning a trip to SD??).

We decided on the last week of September to go on vacation, because I cannot stand crowds, and I knew the tourist rush would be over with all the kids having gone back to school. I think I’ve told you all before that one of my favorite things about homeschooling is that it allows me to wait until all the kids have gone back to school to take my kids to the places that everyone else goes to in the summer and on weekends. You won’t find us in a museum on a Saturday (or in a grocery store for that matter)! As a result, there were a few things that we couldn’t do because of being “out of season,” but nothing crucial, and nothing that would be worth braving the crowds (and the heat) mid-summer. I wanted a slow-paced vacation so we could focus on our family and not be stressed. My husband’s and my mantra for the trip was, “We aren’t in a hurry.” For us, it was absolutely worth it to miss out on a few attractions in order to also miss out on the crowds and hustle.

We stayed in Hill City at the High Country Guest Ranch, which was just lovely. I rented a little three bedroom cabin, which was a tiny bit cramped , but mostly perfect for our family. There was room for our kids to run around outside and they loved playing around a little stream that ran right behind our cabin (and the horses right outside were a nice touch too).

I found Hill City to be a great central location, not very far from any of the things that we wanted to do, except Wall Drug/Badlands, and with a very cool downtown area.

Given that we were a bit far from Wall and the Badlands, I had a plan in place that we would go to the Latin Mass on Sunday in Rapid City and then continue on over to Wall Drug and eat lunch/get donuts before heading down to do some light hiking in the Badlands. However, we ended up stopping at Wall Drug on the way to our cabin on Saturday night, because passing Wall happened to coincide with dinner time during our drive.

Wall Drug was weird and fun and a nice way to break up the drive towards the end. But it wasn’t something we felt the need to do twice, so we decided not to go back to Wall on Sunday but to go hiking around Lake Sylvan instead.

Things actually played out like a comedy of errors that afternoon, but we managed to have fun anyway. To start with, I made sure that all the girls brought a change of clothes and shoes for after Mass and then ended up forgetting my own comfy shoes for hiking. By the time we finished having lunch, stopping at Walmart for some groceries, and stopping back at the cabin to put groceries in the fridge and grab my shoes, it was getting a bit late in the afternoon. Recently-potty-trained Bubba had fallen asleep in the car, and though he usually does well to avoid accidents when awake, he’s not so reliable when sleeping. So we got to the lake only to find out that he had peed in his seat, and while I had a change of underwear for him, somehow I neglected to bring a change of pants.

Then when getting changed in the van, my husband realized that he had also forgotten his walking shoes. So he put his dress shoes back on, Bubba put his pee-pee-pants back on, we loaded the boys in the stroller and began to walk, only to find out that the trail quickly got too steep and rugged for our stroller. We rolled it over to the side, I put Brother in the Ergo, my husband carried Bubba, the girls climbed alllll the rocks, Lake Sylvan was gorgeous, and everything seemed fine.

And then, inexplicably, Bubba peed all over my husband while being carried up the trail. I have no idea where that came from, as he has never had an accident like that before. Maybe he figured it was fair game since his pants were wet anyway?? I don’t know.

But since he and my husband were soaked in urine, we decided to abort the hiking plan and just go back down to the beach for the kids to play in the water. This seemed to salvage the afternoon, as the girls made a new friend and played happily with her, while Bubba threw mud into the lake and got his pants even more wet. My husband hid out a little distance away on the grassy shore with Brother, his dress shoes/white socks combo, and his pee shirt.

We made it home in time for my husband to grill hotdogs (after changing his shirt) and the kids to play (fairly) peacefully until dinner, which was a lovely way to end day one.

All of the weather forecasts I saw leading up to the trip said that Monday was supposed to be rainy, so my plan for that day was to take the kids to the Museum @ Black Hills Institute so they could see all the dinosaur skeletons (namely Stan the T.Rex). This was one thing my kids seemed to be looking forward to more than any other, so it had to happen. The Institute did not disappoint.

Happily, it was right in downtown Hill City and the weather was actually much nicer than it had been predicted to be. So after we spent lots of time looking at all the skeletons, fossils, and other interesting artifacts, we took a nice walk downtown. We intended to go to the South Dakota State Railroad Museum, took a very circuitous route to get there, and serendipitously ended up at a neat little park along the way. We did eventually make our way to the SDSRM and then to an amazing lunch before managing to get back to the cabin in time for naps (for both boys and me!!), which was a huge bonus.

In the caboose at the SDSRM

There was lots of playing outside in the afternoon, more hotdog grilling for dinner, and some game time with the new board game we bought at Walmart the day before. (Catan – it’s SO FUN!!) Day two was a very easy, low-key day.

But day three was my favorite. My plan was to go to Mt. Rushmore and do gold/gem panning on the same day, since both are located in Keystone. In fact you could see Mt. Rushmore from the gold mine place, so it was super convenient.

We started the morning with a gold mine tour at Big Thunder Gold Mine. This lasted about an hour and was very interesting. The tour guide did a great job and did not seem phased at all that my two-year-old was being a bit noisy at times during his presentation.

The same guy set us up for our gold and gem panning experiences, which my girls were super excited about. Gold panning was a lot more tricky, and he really helped the girls a lot to find their little bits of gold. I was really pleased with the experience at Big Thunder and would highly recommend it. My girls especially enjoyed the gem panning, which was very easy and fun for them.

Gold panning (you can just see Mt. Rushmore in the upper right of the photo)

Gem panning was much easier

After the gold mine experience we went out for lunch in downtown Keystone and then headed for Mt. Rushmore. It was such a cool experience to actually see this huge monument in person. We were only able to walk part of the Presidential Trail, because some of it was closed, but it was still worth it to get as close as possible.

One part of the monument that I never paid attention to in photos but that was interesting to see close up was the pile of rubble spread out all down the side of the mountain where it fell after being blasted off. You could see where the holes had been drilled for the dynamite to be inserted.

We were able to learn a lot more about the creation of the monument than I ever knew, including why each of the four chosen presidents was selected (chronologically in a nutshell: foundation, expansion, preservation, development). The girls enjoyed climbing the rocks up the side of the trail as we walked back to the information center area. Even though it was chilly, we treated ourselves in the ice cream shop for a perfect way to finish up the afternoon.

The last day was a tiny bit of a failure, but not too bad, because we were all tired and probably needed to have an extra slow day anyway. My girls wanted to go the the Black Hills Caverns, which I thought looked like it would be fun for them, and the best way for them to experience a cave tour in the area (the other caves would not have been doable with the boys). It’s in Rapid City, so we planned to make a day trip and include some other fairly quick stops up that way, such as Reptile Gardens and a new-ish Dinosaur Museum next to Reptile Gardens.

Since Reptile Gardens and the Dino Museum are on the road to Rapid City, we stopped there first before going to the caverns. Oddly, I think the two favorite things of the morning were the bird show at Reptile Gardens and the mirror maze at the Dinosaur Museum.

As we got ready to head to the caverns after these stops, I called and found out that they are only open on the weekends during September, although their website says in one place that tours are offered daily May through September (the actual calendar page of the website shows the correct information, but I didn’t see that). So, my mistake for not researching the hours better, and we couldn’t do this one.

This turned out to be okay, since my girls mostly wanted to have a chance to go back to the Black Hills Institute again, which we did while the boys were napping.

We got to spend a lot more time looking at the exhibits, they all finished picking out their souvenirs for the trip, I got a few early dinosaur Christmas presents for Bubba, we treated ourselves and got a gift for my parents at a local sweet shop, and got home for more game-playing (Taboo and Catan) and relaxation in the evening.

There were lots of things that we just couldn’t fit into a four-day trip, but the one thing we felt truly bummed that we missed was the Badlands. It was over an hour to drive out there, and we did not make the trip during our stay. However, we had to drive right north of the area on our way home, and decided to go ahead and take the scenic drive through the national park so we could at least see it before heading on home. It was worth the time it added to our drive for sure, and if we ever go back, I absolutely want to make a point to take a day to spend there exploring it more.

Overall, the trip was a wonderful success. We all had a lot of fun and didn’t get stressed out or overly exhausted from doing too much. I think the key to this for our family was to go and do activities mostly in the mornings, get lunch out somewhere, and then go back to our cabin for playing/resting and an easy dinner in. And also crucial was that my husband and I made the above-mentioned point of reminding each other before and several times during the trip that we were on vacation, and we absolutely did not have to be in a hurry to get anywhere. My favorite part of the trip was actually playing games together every evening (seriously, check out the game Catan).

A close second in the favorites list was enjoying lunch out together each day. We tried some really great, interesting new foods, went to fun restaurants, and enjoyed this time together a lot. There was only one restaurant that we went to for lunch that I didn’t think was all that great, and it was one that I hadn’t looked into ahead of time or had recommended to me. Here’s a quick run-down of the restaurants:

Stonewalls Kitchen in Rapid City – We went here for lunch after Mass on Sunday, and it turned out they were still selling breakfast. Breakfast is my favorite, so this was good news. The food was wonderful, and the highlight of the meal was their serve-yourself coffee bar, where Miss and Lass tried decaf coffee for the first time ever, doctoring it all up with cream and sweetener and cinnamon (??) to their liking.

Alpine Inn in Hill City – This was our lunch destination on Monday. The food was phenomenal. Everyone tried something new (Monte Cristo sandwiches, spaetzle, etc.) and it was all so, so good. Plus the dessert was amazing. I’m not sure about the dinner experience, as they seem to only have two items on their dinner menu (we tried to get takeout from there on Wednesday evening so we could enjoy our lunch favorites again and couldn’t get them!), but the lunch was well worth the stop.

Ruby House in Keystone – This is a restaurant that is said to have been a former “house of ill repute,” though if you look on the website, the history does not include this in its story. It does have interesting antique decor and a good menu, and the girls enjoyed being able to get “fancy” drinks there.

Tally’s Silver Spoon in Rapid City – This place is very highly rated and the food was fine (though it seemed like they were trying too hard to be “edgy” with some of the items). I didn’t really enjoy our lunch here because the restaurant is not well-suited to accommodate a large-ish family. They sat us at a huge round table right by the kitchen/food prep area in the back. The table was large enough for 10-12 people, so we only sat around one side of it, and couldn’t really have a conversation with each other very well. Then an older couple came in and got seated at the table with us, which was weird. So, while I can’t say that I wouldn’t recommend this place, if you have more than 4 people in your family/party, just be aware it isn’t well set up to handle you.

And that’s it.

I realized when writing this that this was the first vacation what we have been on as just our little family since we went to Arizona when Lass was six months old (or maybe we could count a short, overnight stay at Disney when Miss turned four, though that was part of a larger family-visiting trip in Florida). We have traveled a lot to visit family, for various family functions, and for big family reunions (we went to Steamboat Springs, CO this summer with my husband’s whole family). I have also taken the kids plenty of places by myself when my husband has been working. But this type of straight-up vacation (not visiting) just for our family hasn’t happened much at all, and certainly not in recent years.

We have learned that this type of trip is priceless. The time spent together as a family, just me and my husband with our five kids, making memories, is something we will always hold dear. Experiences like these have just climbed to the top of our list of travel priorities (though we will always make time for visiting family too).

According to my girls, our next trip will be to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. Let the planning begin…

Putting My Best Foot Forward – A Trip to Western Wisconsin

Posted on September 23, 2017 by Amy

A couple of days ago I got home from a little road trip/field trip I took with the kids. I wanted to take them to Pepin, WI to visit the first home of Laura Ingalls Wilder and the museum located in the nearest town to where she spent the first 4-5 years of her life. I was a huge fan of the Little House books and television series as a kid, and I have read (listened to) “Little House in the Big Woods” and half of “Little House on the Prairie” with my kids so far. This year we’re studying American history, so it seemed like a natural time to take this trip with them.

After checking out the town of Pepin online, I realized that there wasn’t much to do there besides the museum, and wasn’t really anyplace to stay there that would accommodate my crew (when I take these trips with them I always insist on hotels that have suites with separate bedrooms, so I don’t have to go to bed at 8:00 with my kids). So I decided to stay in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, which is about an hour from Pepin, has a lovely hotel with two bedroom suites and a pool, and has a children’s museum downtown. Voila. Trip planned.

I’m pretty sure the hotel pool is always the favorite part of our trips

Three girls in their own bedroom = happy traveling mama

This is not the first time that I’ve taken a trip like this with my kids, though it was the first time since Bubba was born. You can check out our other trips here: Chicago, Louisville, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. Every time I take a trip like this, I’m amazed by how much people comment on my family. Especially during the MSP and this trip (maybe because I was visibly pregnant for both), people have made so many comments to me about my family, my kids, my perceived bravery in taking trips with my kids, etc.

Eau Claire has a great children’s museum, and it turned out to be perfect for a trip with Bubba, because he could get out of his stroller and have fun

One type of comment that comes up a lot, even when I’m just out and about (not traveling) with the kiddos is the family size comment. My girls are pretty close in age, so even when I only had the three of them I used to get lots of “You’ve got your hands full!” and similar statements from strangers. But when I was pregnant with Bubba, and especially now that I’m pregnant again, the comments go to the next level. “Wow! FIVE KIDS?! You’re brave/crazy/busy, etc.” “Are they all yours?!” “That’s a lot of kids!” “Don’t you know what causes that?!” “Better you than me!” And so on.

At some point, I realized that lots of people really do think I’m crazy or even irresponsible to have three, then four, now five kids. My family isn’t even that huge compared to some I know, but I still feel like some people view me and my children as some sort of weird freak show.

I decided a while back that perhaps I needed to make a conscious effort to try to be a positive example of “it’s-okay-to-have-several-kids-it-won’t-ruin-your-life-or-make-you-crazy-I-swear.” A large segment of today’s society seems to view people with large families negatively, and some people seem to even view kids as a big burden rather than as a blessing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had other women say to me, “You’re crazy. I have two (or one, or three, or whatever the number) and there is NO WAY I’d have any more,” or something along those lines. People also seem to be quite perplexed when they ask me if we’re “done” now (I got a lot of this after having Bubba, whom people perceived as our “coveted boy”) and I say, “Well, I don’t know. We’ll see what God has planned for us, I guess.” Many (most?) people can’t seem to wrap their minds around the fact that we might actually be willing to have more kids.

As a result of the reactions I have had from some people, I feel like I have to always put my best foot forward to show that a big family isn’t a bad thing. So I try to not look frumpy when I go out in public with my kids (I do still sometimes wear my yoga pants, though not as often). I used to go out without makeup and with messy hair all the time when I was in college or grad school. Now? I feel like that would just be somehow validating the viewpoint of some people that having more than a certain number of kids (usually one or two) ruins people, makes them stop taking care of themselves, makes then unable to parent as effectively, is harmful to the kids who don’t get as much attention, etc., etc. Furthermore, as a general rule, I try to always keep my cool with my kids and not lose my temper, but I feel even more pressure to be a “model mom” when I’m in public with all my kids. I worry that if I have a moment of weakness and snap at my kids or something, people will think it’s because I have too many kids, not because I’m a normal human who makes mistakes and is sometimes impatient.

Their favorite part of the museum was crawling around inside this digestive system model. Ew.

I should say that there have been many people who have made very wonderful, kind comments to me about my children and my family. I know of many people who have smaller families and would love to have more children but have not been able to. I don’t believe that all people with smaller families are judging me and mine (and I would like to be very clear that this post is not a judgment of people with smaller families). I know that not all people view large families in a negative way. But I’ve had enough experience of the judgmental and unkind people, both in person and through the experiences of people I know or things I have heard and read from such people, that I can’t help but feel like I have to try extra hard to show what a beautiful blessing a large family really is.

As I’m typing this, I can hear my three daughters downstairs playing with each other. They are the best of friends, and I know that they are so, so blessed to have each other.

I know this because I don’t have a sister (and I always wished I did), so I’ve never had that one friend who was with me, no matter what, throughout my whole life (though I do have my Super Friend, who is very much like a sister). And I know this because I’ve seen what wonderful relationships sisters can have (my Mom and Auntie are an example that come to mind right away, but I can think of many others). I think of my husband’s great relationships with his brothers, and I’m so happy that my boys will have each other too. I know how joyous it is to get together with a large family of people who have close relationships, and I pray that my children will always remain close to each other and support each other no matter what.

I know that my large(ish) family is a true blessing. I know that all children are blessings, whether they are in small families or huge ones or medium-sized ones. I know that I will continue to try my best to be an example of how great it is to have more than the culturally acceptable number of children (and I also know that I will sometimes fail at this miserably!).

And I’m sure I will continue to get comments from strangers about the size of my family. I just pray that those strangers will try to look past the simple number of children I have and see the joy they bring to each other and to me.

A Return to the Farm

Posted on November 15, 2016November 15, 2016 by Amy

You might remember that I used to blog at least a few times a year about a place called The Farm. I even have a topic category devoted to it. The Farm is my in-laws’ property where our family often spends vacation time. My husband hunts and fishes there. We used to have the big Labor Day party there. My husband and I spent much of our first year of dating there (it happened to be halfway between the place where I did my internship and where he did his transitional residency). We got married there.

We love The Farm.

For the past year and a half or so, The Farm has been under serious construction, so the kids and I have not been able to visit. It’s been strange to be away for so long.

But finally, it’s done enough that we were able to go with my husband for his annual deer hunting trip. We loved being there again and did our best to make the most of it.

Two weeks, we were there. My kids played with cousins, met some new friends, went on treasure hunts, fished, and had fun with grandparents. Here are a few photos to document our return to the place we love:

The girls got to experience trick-or-treating with their cousins in Iowa the way my husband has always said is the “right” way. The kids there have to tell a joke in order to get their candy. It’s quite odd, but the kids loved it. Even my shy girls (Miss and Sis) had no trouble telling their jokes, and it was so fun to watch them ham it up a bit even.

^With all of the cousins except one on my husband’s side of the family^

Two weeks is a long time, and we couldn’t skip school altogether, so I brought some of our work, which we did in the mornings. Then the girls spent the afternoons playing outside, fishing with their dad, and going on nature treasure hunts.

^That is a bucket of dead leaves in water, which she said she was “bringing back to life”^

We took a field trip to the big city to meet some other homeschooling friends (it’s nice to be practically the only kids in the park on a Friday afternoon).

I have been friends with this lovely lady since I was pregnant with Miss and she was pregnant with her oldest, but we’ve never met in person before. It was so delightful to see her face and give her a hug. We had so much to talk about and the afternoon just flew by.

Our second weekend we had more cousin time (they came down to The Farm this time) including some big treasure hunts.

^Bubba got pretty tired out after his first time in the woods^

My husband got two deer, one with a bow and one with a rifle.

^The deer he shot with his bow^

And there was so much more. It was a wonderful two-week getaway to a special place.

I forgot a little how much more involved it is to travel with an infant, and we’re still trying to get back to normal now that we’re home, but it was all worth it to see the joy on my girls’ faces when they spent time with their cousins or fished with their dad all day.

We’re already looking forward to our next trip at Christmas time.

Twin Cities Adventure – 7QT

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Amy

Last week we went to Minneapolis/St. Paul. It was such a fun time. I wanted to get in one more road trip/field trip before the baby arrives, and this was a great low stress trip to take. Here’s a quick recap:

One

We stayed in a really good hotel, the Homewood Suites by the Mall of America. When I travel with the girls, I like to get a suite that has a separate bedroom for them, so I can stay up a little while after putting them to bed and not have to hide under covers with my Kindle or something. Super Friend recommended our hotel to me, and it was perfect for our purposes. It had a little kitchen area, a separate bedroom for the girls, free breakfast, free dinner, and a pool. It also had the most uncomfortable sofa bed ever. No hyperbole here. I literally felt every spring under my body as I slept. The second night we were there, I contemplated scootching one of the girls over and sharing a regular bed with one of them, but the beds were only full size, and well, I’m kind of full size at this point too. When you add in my pregnancy body pillow, there was no way I was going to fit into one of those beds with one of my kids. However, even with the horrid bed, the hotel was excellent, which makes a solo road trip with kids so much easier!

Two

I got to see Nell!! We went to Nell’s beautiful old house and had a wonderful time with her and her sweet kids, and we got to learn her big news when one of her littles spilled the beans for her. So much happy! She is seriously the best hostess. Some people just have a gift for making others feel special and welcome. Nell has that gift. And it is always a treat to spend time with another mom who gets me. Big highlight of the trip for me.

Three

We visited the Minnesota Science Museum in the afternoon. They have a fantastic Mummies exhibit there right now, and my girls are very into ancient Egypt and mummies. It was a huge bonus that we got to learn about how they practiced mummification for thousands of years in Peru too (I had no idea it was a thing there). The Peruvian mummies were very different from the Egyptian ones, and it was an awesome history lesson. The girls all said that one of the highlights of their day was making Peruvian dolls.

Four

They also really loved the dinosaur exhibit.

Five

After we had a free spaghetti dinner at our hotel, I took the girls swimming in the hotel pool. None of my girls is a super strong swimmer yet, and the water in the pool, even at it shallowest point, was too deep for any of them to touch bottom easily. Combine that with the fact that I am pretty slow-moving these days (no speedy water rescues for me right now!), and it was a no brainer that all my kids would need to wear their floaties the whole time. They didn’t seem to care one bit though.

Six

The aquarium at the Mall of America was amazing for such a small place. The girls were able to touch and feed stingrays, and also watch them chasing each other because they’re mating right now.

It was definitely one of the favorites from the trip.

Seven

I don’t really have a seven. That was it for the trip. We got lunch in the mall after the aquarium and then drove home. It was the easiest drive of any of our trips so far. Chicago is closer, but has so much traffic, seemingly at all times of the day. This drive was smooth sailing and not too long.

I love these trips with my girls. Next time we take one I’ll be pushing a stroller again. It might be a while before I’m brave enough to do another trip with a little baby, and I’m not sure where we’d go next. A friend recommended going somewhere on an Amtrak train, which is definitely worth looking into. Someday. . .

For more Quick Takes posts, visit This Ain’t the Lyceum.

Louisville and Grandma – 7QT

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Amy

We took a road trip/extended field trip to Louisville for a long weekend. We left Saturday (right after I hosted a Blessed Brunch!) and came home Tuesday. I lived in Louisville for four years in graduate school (1998-2002), and it’s a city that I just love. I’ve been back with my kids a couple of times in order to get together with old friends from school. This time we just went for the fun of the trip and to meet up with my mom, who only lives three hours from Louisville.

We had so much fun when we went to Chicago in the spring, I knew I wanted to take another road trip with the girls, and after I read Haley’s post about their stop in Louisville, I realized it would be the perfect getaway for us while my husband was gone elk hunting this week.

It was fantastic. Here are the highlights:

We stayed downtown, so we walked everywhere. The girls get so excited about seeing statues and street art. They had a few interesting questions about the golden three-story “David” statue on Main Street. They thought this artsy bike rack was pretty cool too.

Anyone know who this guy is supposed to be?

I went to Mass at the Cathedral of the Assumption.

Fancy Mass at a cathedral was a first for me. There was even a choir loft and a huge pipe organ and the choir wore robes and everything! It was the perfect way to spend my Sunday morning.

The weather was perfect. We walked to a nearby park on Sunday afternoon, where the girls made some new friends and overcame some fears to climb to the highest heights of the play structure.

While walking back to the hotel, we came across this random arrangement of bird sculptures:

On our way to the park, we had noticed a bunch of little girls all decked out in princess costumes walking around. We stopped for lunch in a little pizzeria, and my mom asked someone what the occasion was (she’s not an introvert like me). Turns out, “Disney On Ice” was happening that day at the arena right next door to our hotel. The people we saw were one their way to the 1:00 show, but I got on my phone and managed to snag tickets for the 5:00 show! We even got great seats.

I think the girls really enjoyed it, and it was such a fun, spontaneous addition to our trip.

The Kentucky Science Center is amazing. We could have gone there all day every day for a whole week and still not have been able to see and do everything. A few of the favorites:

They also had an actual mummy on display, which my girls (and I) were fascinated by. So. Cool.

Besides the science center, I think the very favorite thing for my girls (maybe THE favorite?) was running in the fountains we saw around town. Supposedly they were trying to “dodge” the water.

Twice they got completely drenched playing in these fountains. We didn’t make it to the splash pad park, but they didn’t even seem to care.

Of course, the best part was doing it all with my mom. The girls have so much fun with Grandma, and it was wonderful to spend some good quality time with her.

It was a looong drive by myself with the girls, but I’m so glad we made the trip. I have many great memories from when I lived in Louisville, but it’s so much better to go back and make new memories with my girls and my mom.

Check out Kelly’s post at This Ain’t the Lyceum for a summary of her day at the World Meeting of Families and for more Quick Takes!

This and That – A Quick Update

Posted on June 15, 2015June 15, 2015 by Amy

Just a quick update on why I’ve been absent for almost two weeks:

This week, our house is going on the market.

So for the past week, pretty much every spare moment was spent cleaning, or fixing, or weed-pulling, or staging (other than the moments when I took my kids to the pool for the first time this summer or when I took my kids for a play date with Super Friend’s kids, both absolutely necessary breaks from the house prep).

My house is so different now. My school room is now a dining room again.

There’s no more paint splattered on the wall or play doh smooshed on the floor. The few things that I kept around for us to do art projects and some finishing of reading lessons over the summer are crammed into that green cabinet in the photo above. If you walked in my house right now, you would have no idea that I homeschool my kids.

My kitchen no longer has brass cabinet pulls.

Before:

After:

Same pulls + a can of metallic spray paint + a little bit of work = cheap fix for ugly hardware!

Furniture has been moved all around. Tons of stuff got moved out to a storage unit. Everything has been scrubbed and dusted and tidied and polished, and I hate this process already, and I’m glad I will never have to do it again.

And I’m really, really glad to be on vacation this week. It’s only Monday, and vacay has been just delightful already. We started out visiting my husband’s cousin and his wife and daughters for a band practice.

My husband’s other cousin (the sister of two of the band members), is getting married in a month and a half, and we are going to be playing for her wedding. No pressure. And also, how crazy fun and awesome is that?? It’s going to be the most rocking wedding reception, and I can’t wait.

And speaking of awesome, my husband’s aunt (the mom of previously mentioned cousins) took me and my girls and our hostess and her daughters to the Grotto of the Redemption on Saturday. What an incredible monument to faith, envisioned and built by Fr. Dobberstein for over 40 years in small-town northern Iowa (it was then nearly completed by Fr. Dobberstein’s helpers and successors after his death, with two more statues now needed for its completion). It has rocks from every state and from all over the world, and depicts various scenes showing the fall and redemption of humanity. It is breathtaking and truly indescribable.

Miss got her first taste of singing with the band. After each song she said, “Can we do another one?” I think she’s hooked.

It was such a fantastic weekend. Now we’re at the Farm, doing all the Farm things.

It’s going to be a good week.

Easter-y, Mommy-ish Randomness

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Amy

We are visiting my parents this week, and I don’t want to interrupt our family time to do a long, or even thoughtful post (you’re welcome?). But I do have a few cute Easter pics and some good ones of my girls having fun at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, so I’m going to get rambly and probably a bit photo crazy for a minute.

If you’re not my mom or my mother-in-law or my Auntie, you may want to just stop here. I won’t mind.

Here goes –

Last week, I had lots of fun Holy Week activities planned. Then Miss got strep throat and we ended up skipping a few of them, like the search for 30 pieces of “silver” (or quarters) on Wednesday and Holy Thursday Mass as a family (Miss was still contagious). Most of the things we did do I didn’t get photos of, like our “Last Supper” dinner (which Miss didn’t feel well enough to eat anyway) or the foot washing on Thursday night after my husband and I got home from Mass.

We did get to the Good Friday service at our church, and the girls did surprisingly well for it being such a long and late event.

Holy Saturday started with an RCIA retreat for me from 9:00 until about 1:00. Then I came home, boiled eggs for dying, put out Easter decorations with the two older girls, gave the dogs baths, and packed our stuff. After Sis got up from her nap, we dyed eggs and my husband and I got ready for the Easter Vigil Mass.

She said the made ^^ that egg for Jesus.

The Vigil was beautiful, but I didn’t get a single photo from it this year. It was nice to experience it with a little less nervousness and adrenaline than I had last year. I realized that I hadn’t remembered much of the service from last year because of being so excited and anxious about being baptized and confirmed and receiving Communion for the first time (plus being interviewed in front of everyone). It was less exciting and emotional this time, but I probably was able to appreciate it more in some ways.

Sunday morning, we had our Easter egg hunt, I made resurrection rolls, we threw our things and our dogs and our kids in the car and hit the road for the drive to my parents’.

I was determined to be on the road by 8:00 so we could get here by dinner time and have my family’s traditional Easter and Christmas breakfast of creamed eggs for dinner. We got going at about 8:20, and we made it.

My kids have been enjoying Grandma and Grandpa and the lovely weather and flowers and greenness here since.

We have many lovely bouquets for Grandma of dandelions, or “Lellow Light-ups” as Sis calls them.

Someone, who gave up coloring for Lent, is very happy to be able to do one of her favorite activities again.

As a new Catholic, it amazes me how much Lent creates so much more appreciation of the Easter season and the celebration of spring, and life, and the Resurrection.

It’s Wednesday, but it’s still Easter. What joy. Happy Easter!

A Vacation that Actually Feels Like. . . A Vacation?

Posted on June 11, 2014June 14, 2014 by Amy

Going on vacation with small children has never felt like a vacation. Staying in places that aren’t baby/toddler-proofed, dealing with disrupted sleep schedules, and not being in my own space has always thrown my (mostly) finely-tuned routine for a loop and led me to feel like I’m doing more work than usual, rather than “vacationing.”

That’s not to say that I haven’t enjoyed our travels. I’ve just had to adjust my expectations so that I plan for fun on vacation and lots of learning and great times with my kids and family, but not rest or relaxation or leisure.

So imagine my surprise at finding out that, while traveling for two out of the past three weeks, it has actually, kind of, at times. . . felt like a vacation! Two weeks ago we were at my parents. This week we’re at the Farm visiting with my in-laws. Now that my girls are getting bigger, I’m actually feeling a bit leisurely.

Everything is simpler here.

I’m not as caught up in cleaning and school prep and food prep and all the other random daily-grind things that come up when we’re home, so I get to play more with my girls.

Exploring and made-up games are the big hits, as always, but somehow when we’re here it’s just a bit more special.

And now that Sis is getting bigger, it’s a little less stressful to travel with her. I’m no longer worried about her falling down the stairs where we don’t have a baby gate or choking on something small since not every toy has been completely sifted through with all choking hazards removed. I don’t have to constantly hover over her every second (I’m making myself sound totally neurotic, aren’t I?).

I still get a little bit nervous with her around the water, but she’s done a pretty good job so far following our water rules. All the girls are enjoying the water and the fishing.

They’ve been catching lots of fish. Even Sis caught a few crappies, but she preferred fishing for minnows.

Slippery little suckers.

As for me, when not exploring with the girls I’ve been reading and writing and taking naps every day and playing cards with my husband and my in-laws. We played Euchre a few nights ago, which is one of my favorites.

Last night they even convinced me to play Texas Hold ‘Em. I’ve never been a fan of playing poker, so I was reluctant. But I didn’t want to be a party pooper, so I agreed. I loved it! I even ended up the big winner of the evening after an intense hand with a huge winnings pot where the two others betting with me both had full-house hands, but I won with four of a kind!

Ah, vacation.

So, don’t despair moms of little ones. Someday you will again be able to relax a bit on vacation. And it might be sooner than you think.

I love it here.

Now it’s time for my nap.

Disney Trip Take 2 – Success!

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Amy

Last year we went to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom for the first time with the girls. I remembered going as a kid and just doing it, with no major advanced planning or strategizing. I vaguely noted that lots of people nowadays seem to devote a lot of time and energy to mapping out every moment of their visit, but I didn’t think too much about it. I pinned a few things and scheduled a princess lunch for Miss’s birthday. I got a few suggestions from Super Friend who had been there a few months before we were to go. I figured it would be no big deal.

What I didn’t know is that we were going to Disney during one of the busiest weeks of the year. I had no idea that the third week in February is a peak time because some places have their spring break at then (in February people??). So, I got a great big smack in the face of Disney reality last year.

Last year we went on only four rides, Prince Charming’s Carousel, Tea Cups, It’s a Small World, and Dumbo (we only managed this one because some kind people gave us their Fast Passes as I was wandering aimlessly trying to figure out where we could get our own).

I had really wanted to take the girls on the Peter Pan ride, but I couldn’t find it. Seriously. Super Friend had told me to ride it first thing in the morning, because it gets busy fast. She also said that we could go straight there if we went left after walking through Cinderella’s castle. Good tip. I could do that. I was on a mission. As soon as we got to the park, we walked quickly through Main Street, cruised past Cinderella’s castle, and then I confused my right and left and we went the wrong way. Of course we couldn’t find it and but the time we did the wait was ridiculous, so no Peter Pan ride last year.

This year I redeemed myself. This year we went on all the rides we did last year

and we made it on so many more. We even did a few of them twice. The first day alone, even though we didn’t even get there until about 2pm, we made it on all the above rides plus Ariel’s Under the Sea thing and the Winnie the Pooh ride.

The girls loved meeting the princesses last year during the lunch I reserved, so I made sure to schedule lots of princess meet and greets for them this year too. I learned last year that Fast Passes are key. This year Disney has a new system so, since I bought my tickets in advance online, I was able to schedule three Fast Passes for each day ahead of time. I highly recommend doing this.

Unfortunately with the new system you can only get three Fast Passes per day period (I think it used to be unlimited, but you had to find them in the park), but scheduling them in advance at least allows you to pick the best times and make sure you get the ones you want. For the first day, I scheduled Ariel’s Under the Sea ride (which the girls loved so much we went on it again the second day), meeting Ariel in her grotto, and meeting Rapunzel and Snow White. The second day I scheduled the Peter Pan ride (I was not going to miss it again this year!), meeting Cinderella and Aurora, and Enchanted Tales with Belle. I’m so glad I scheduled this last one, because it’s fairly new and very fun and the lines for it were loooong.

The girls really enjoyed meeting the princesses, especially Miss. I thought it was funny that she got so excited, because as we were walking in on day one and I was talking about them being able to meet the Disney ladies, Miss said, “Yeah Mom, but they aren’t really the princesses, they’re just people dressed up like the princesses.” You wouldn’t have known she thought this from her expressions when getting to meet these “people dressed up.”

The girls’ favorite princess was Ariel. They insisted on standing in line to see her a second time on day two, and didn’t even seem to notice that the second Ariel was a different woman.

^^ Ariel #1

^^ Ariel #2

Not all the princesses were equal in their rapport with the girls. The Ariels were fine, but my favorite (and my husband’s) was Merida, for the time she took and attention she paid to the girls.

She especially took some time with Miss who told her about her plans to have a Brave-themed birthday party. I was very glad that I took the few minutes to find out where and when to meet Merida (you can’t schedule a Fast Pass to meet her). We went to her area (which is around the back right side of Cinderella’s castle, she starts meeting and greeting at 9:15 am) first thing on day two and only stood in line for a few minutes. It was so worth it.

My second favorite princess for her ability to connect with the girls was Rapunzel.

The Belle experience was fun.

I thought it was funny that Sis would have nothing to do with Cinderella (we couldn’t even get her in a picture)

but she loved this Aurora:

This Snow White was my least favorite. She didn’t even get down on the level with the girls, and barely even smiled. Maybe she was just having an off day.

On day two during nap time my husband and I took Miss back to the park by herself while her sisters slept and my in-laws stayed with them. This was such a fun experience. She really wanted to go on the magic carpet ride. So we made our first journey into Adventureland, and on our way to that ride we went up in the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, which my husband and I both have fond memories of. She thought it was fantastic to go up so high in what she initially thought was a “real tree.”

Overall, this trip was so much better than last year. It helped that I was able to plan more things in advance and that I figured out where and when to do specific things, like meeting Merida beforehand. The biggest thing in making it better was probably the fact that we went during a slow week. Plus it was cold and rainy, so the crowds were much smaller than last year.

We aren’t planning to go back to Disney again for several years. But I’m so glad we had a great experience this year. I know my girls had fun and made some memories. I did too.

P.S. I am trying out using Pic Monkey and Drop Box for my photos. For some reason some of them have been disappearing even after I’ve saved them in the post, so if they aren’t showing up, sorry, I’m trying to fix it (and probably won’t use this system again).

Motherhood and Miscellany

Travel