Some Walleye, Some Shopping and Everything In Between

Well....the title pretty much sums it up! Good-night, folks!!

Okay, I guess you won't let me get away with THAT, will you? As I mentioned on Facebook, I did, in fact, fall off the face of the Earth. It was kind of fun actually. We (the family) went up to Canada for our annual fishing trip. Only this year, we went for a week instead of four or five days and we also didn't have internet. I was quite selective in who I told about our vacation---obviously family, some neighbors to keep an eye on our house and just a couple friends. Other than that, we just whisked away and I felt like I was really getting away with something! It was a great week spent with family, some fishing for walleye (not as great fishing as the previous year but we still caught enough for a monster fish-fry!) and of course, enjoying the wildlife at this resort that we know so well. On Father's Day, as we crossed the Canadian/American border to drive the 8 hours home, my phone started downloading all the emails I had received the whole week we were gone. All 379 of them! Is this a normal number? I'm not sure, but, in any case, it was fun to read the emails from people saying, "Where are you? You normally write right back and I haven't heard from you in four days...." Haha!! I love each and every one of my family members and friends, but it was somehow satisfying to "unplug" for a week and just be "gone". (I definitely suggest you try it sometime, although, I might be one of those who is saying, "Where are you?!")

So, now we're home. Monday was the craziest day ever with not only unpacking and doing laundry but running about a million errands. (Nothing like coming home to no food in the fridge!) Since I dragged the kids around with me all over creation that day, I figured they were in for a bit of fun for the rest of the week. It IS summer vacation, after all! We met my friend and her son (who is Caleb's age) at the Mall of America on Tuesday, and then went there again on Wednesday to meet another friend and her baby. The kids got their favorite lunches, some time at Lego Land and not to mention the HUGE $2 smoothies that Caribou was giving one of those days. (More than one parent looked at me like I was crazy to get such a big drink for each of my kids.) The breaking point on Tuesday was when ALL THREE of my children climbed into the double stroller for a ride. I definitely got my exercise that day, so I opted to skip the gym. The next day, I chose not to bring the double stroller so there was quite a bit of complaining from my two oldest about how their legs were tired, etc. They are SO my children: some more Caribou and the goal of hitting some fun stores quieted the complaining down REAL quick! They really learn fast, don't they?

I'll leave you with some cute kid-isms that have happened lately. If you've seen me post a little about these on Facebook, here's the whole story!

* On Tuesday, we had to go into the basement almost as soon as we got home from the mall due to a tornado warning. I only planned to be down there for about 5 minutes or so, but set up the pack'n'play for Connor to lay in since our basement is covered with sawdust at the moment. This got the older two all excited. They had brought down some toys with them, but laid out their sleeping bags on the floor and "set up" their toys all around them. Caleb even pulled out two wooden benches that he made when he was down there with Chris recently so they'd have some place to sit if they didn't want to "sleep", in Caleb's words. I didn't have the heart to tell them it would be short-term basement adventure, so we stayed down there for an extra ten minutes before I declared the tornado "gone". :)

* Every time we go to the library (which ends up being about once every other week), I let the kids stop by a little fountain and "make a wish" with a penny and also get a scoop of ice cream from the little shop nearby. The other day, the kids each decided that they wanted bubble gum ice cream, for the first time. I failed to explain to them that there were actual chunks of bubble gum in the ice cream and didn't realize this until Hannah started spitting little pieces of chewed up gum into my hand. She'd take a bite of ice cream, chew up the gum, then spit it in my hand. (Repeated about 500 times!) I was pretty amused by it all, until I realized that Caleb wasn't spitting any gum out. He was halfway done with his ice cream already so I got curious. I asked him what he was doing with the gum. "Gum?" he said. "I'm chewing it up and swallowing it." Oops!! I'd call that a "Mommy Mistake" since I didn't tell him what to do with the bubble gum in the first place. The way they both handled their ice cream had me giggling for quite awhile that afternoon.

* I've been trying to go to the gym as many days a week as I can, and I always bring the kids with me. One day recently, Caleb asked me why we go to the gym so often. I patted my belly and said, "To get rid of this!" Caleb thought about that for a second and then asked, "Why do you still HAVE that?" ("That" being my squishy tummy.) I pointed at Connor sitting in his stroller.
"Because. I just had a baby," I explained.
Too smart for his own good, Caleb said, "Well, Mom. You didn't JUST have a baby...." Ha! Way to call me out on it, bud! I guess my five-year old is trying to make sure I quit the denial and just be real about it. Thanks, Caleb....thanks a lot! :)