Seriously Hooked

Daryl and I went to the Dells for our Anniversary this past weekend. We played 36 holes of putt putt, and then headed for Green Lake to stay over night at a bed and breakfast. It was called the Miller's Daughter's B&B. FABULOUS. We didn't get a room with a whirlpool tub, but it was an awesome room. The whole Inn was done in Victorian theme and was surrounded with a small garden. Later that evening we went out for supper in town and over to the Heidel House for some romantic walking along the lake. Then in the morning you are served a three course breakfast which was wonderful, in the formal dining room, or sunroom. We loved the B&B so much that we are planning on making it an annual trip to a different B&B every anniversary around Wisconsin.

Bat Troubles

My brother and his wife had a close encounter with a bat...in the house. Scott was sleeping in the bedroom when something bumped him in the head, waking him up. He walked in by Lynn and the baby in the baby's room and mentioned to Lynn that he didn't want to sleep in the bedroom because the big moth was back and it bumped him in the head. All of a sudden it came flying into the baby's room. Lynn heard the wing sound and called out to Scott who had just walked out. Lynn scooped up the baby extremely quickly and ran out of the room. The bat flew downstairs and into the living room. Not finding it, morning came and Scott had to leave early for work. Lynn packed up the kids and left the house until Scott could take down the varmet. Scott got home from work later that day and could not find the bat, but assumed it was hiding in the pocket doors downstairs. They sealed off the doors with tape to hopefully starve it. Well, it wasn't in there. It came flying out of who knows where and over to the back door through the kitchen. Scott grabbed a broom and smacked the heck out of it stunning it long enough for him to open the door and it flew away. Did you know that every child bitten by a rabid bat (at least in Wisconsin that I know of) has died but one? That one girl happened to get bit in church of all places, got very sick and close to death, but survived. Very scary. I didn't tell Lynn that story until AFTER they got rid of the bat!

Grandpa Ahlstrom

Grandpa Ahlstrom (Daryl's Dad) and his two children MaKenna and Anthony came to visit with us two weekends ago. Yes, I'm a bit behind, but I have to catch up at some point right? My daily life doen't allow for me to make entries every day like Beekie can. Being a stay-at-home mom creates a gazillion distractions. Anyway, they came to visit and stayed with us Sunday and Monday night. Olivia and Jenna were happy to see their grandfather, even though Olivia kept calling him Uncle Dave (no clue), and loved spending time with McKenna (9yrs old?). Daryl got some good family quality time in on that Saturday by meeting Keith, Carry, his dad, and some friends at the Dells for some tubing down the river. I of course did not go because we had both girls that weekend. We enjoyed seeing them. They live in Florida, so visits are few and far between.

Sisterly Love

Need I Say More?

Riley, we will miss you

Today is officially the last day that I will be babysitting Riley on a regular basis. I have been watching her since Olivia was about 6 months old. Riley was 1 1/2. She is now 5. Her and Jenna are starting Kindergarden this year. (not at the same school though) I cannot believe how time flies. I told Nancy (Riley's mother) that we will definately have to schedule play dates because Olivia and Jenna will miss her. Collin starts 2nd grade this year (Riley's brother).

Pushing the Limits

Yup, Pooker is about to lose one of his 9 lives... :) I walked into Tyler's room today where we have been storing Olivia's cradle that my father had made for her when she was a baby, only to find Mr. King of the household taking up residents inside it. Are the pillows on our bed just not cutting it?

Gymnastics Camp is Over

Gymnastics camp ran for an entire week at the Oshkosh Gymnastics Center, M-F, 9am-12pm. Every day had a different theme to it, for example Monday was super hero day, Tues. was Rodeo and western day, Wednesday was competition day, Thurs. was Slip and Slide water fun day, and Friday was Carnival day. Jenna and Olivia were in different age groups but often waved to each other from across the gym. They had a blast, and slept very well during the nights!! Olivia did so well that a couple of the days I left to go shopping...otherwise I sat in the viewing room upstairs for most of the time. Once she came up the stairs for craft time and saw me....she came over by me and said "Don't worry mom, you'll be Ok, if you need me I'll be in the other room, I'll be back soon" and off she went. I just about cried. My baby is so independant....when the heck did that happen??

Rain, Rain, Rain

Good Grief!! When will it stop raining. It has been raining every day last week. Then this past weekend, Sat. and Sun. it was nice. Lucky for us too because Daryl and I went to the Dells and then stayed overnight at a Bed and Breakfast in Green Lake for our Anniversary. (Pictures coming soon!!) Now it's Monday and guess what?? RAIN. We are supposed to get rain again for the next few days. I'm surprised our basement isn't flooding. And we were worried that our grass would stay brown and crispy forever and all our flowers were dying....now our grass is a jungle because the ground won't dry enough for our lawnmower guy to come out and cut it, and our flowers never looked better!! Hopefully the rain will stop by Labor Day, we are having a putt putt party. Yup, the putt putt course if finally done. The girl's playhouse? Not so much.

Check This Out

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Olivia's School Supplies

Can you believe I had an entire school supply list of things Olivia needs when she enters Preschool this fall? She is going to be in 3/4yr Preschool every Monday and Wednesday 8:30-10:30. Then once you purchase everything, it all has to be labeled down to each individual crayon. They were even very specific on the products to buy...only 8 count crayola crayons, 2 Large glue sticks, fisker sharp point scissors....etc. I hate to see what Kindergarden brings. Actually, I really enjoyed getting all the things together for her and labeled with Olivia stickers and her last name written on the product.

Future so Bright

Last Wednesday I had Riley (left), Jenna (middle), andOlivia for the day. I watch Riley this summer only every Wednesday, and only mostly for the month of August. We are happy to have her, the girls have missed not having Riley around. This is the first summer without her since Livy was born practically. Riley attended summer school to prepare her for Kindergarden. Jenna is still wearing her patch to correct her left eye. She is doing much better. She went from having to wear it 8 hours a day to only about two now. Olivia said "Mom the sun is poking me, I need my sunglasses."

Dance is Over

Olivia and Jenna finished their 6 week session of dance class. Half the hour was tap and the other was ballet. They were in two seperate classes due to age. I had to show these two pictures because they are a lot alike. The one on the top is my mother's tap dance picture and on the right is Olivia.

Our Anniversary

Yesterday was our 2 year anniversary. We didn't really do anything except give each other a card and I got some chocolate. We are going to celebrate it at the end of August in the Dells. I'm dying to do the old time outdoor theater thing....they have that there!

Olivia's First Dental Appointment

A+ Olivia had her first dental appointment on July 12 at Dr. Botsford's office. She at first was excited to go. We have planned for quite a while and I have been practicing with her putting my fingers in her mouth and counting her teeth, letting her use my spin brush to immitate the polishing they do, etc. She was prepared! Well we got there, Jenna came with us for support, and she got in the chair and was fine until the hygienist layed the chair down to a laying position. Olivia did not want to lay down, she wanted to sit up. Well we got past that and then the hygienist turned the light on. Nope, that didn't fly. I had to put her own sunglasses on her and climb into the chair myself with Olivia on top of me for things to continue. After that it was pretty much good to go. She met "Mr. Thirsty" which Olivia was told to "kiss" which was the suction. She was great with the water sprayer and even the "Mr. Clean" why all Mr.?? She even let the hygienist floss her teeth, which we do at home about once a week. Then Dr. Botsford came in to check her teeth. She did great. She had a small amount of plaque on her teeth which they got rid of and then put flouride on all of her teeth. At the end she got her picture taken, a toothbrush, and she got to pick a prize out of the treasure chest. Great job Olivia!! Hopefully next time we can do it without mom in the chair :)

We've Been Very Busy

Yes, it has been a while since my last post. In the past few weeks we have had a lot going on from first dental appointments to camping, dance and gymnastic classes, so on and so forth. I'm going to spend the next few days talking about all we have done with hopefully some pictures. I have a great opportunity to do this because Olivia and Jenna started gymnastics camp today which lasts 3 hours a day Monday through Friday every day this week. Lots of opportunity to get caught up!!