Our flight to Idaho was very smooth! Jack was SO excited about the airplane and did a great job. (FYI- the sticker book the Jakobsens recommended was a hit!) And Josie was perfect, as expected.
Idaho is a very beautiful state! These are pictures of the palouse (in ID and WA). It was green and brown rolling hills as far as you could see. Jack called them volcanoes…and we corrected him "No, those are hills." Come to find out - they are actually made up of volcanic ash - so Jack is much more intuitive than we give him credit for. This region of Idaho & Washington is known for it's wheat & lentil production. For the record: I did not see a potato field.
We stayed in a cute little house on Adams St. in Moscow (pronounced Mos-co). It was very cute. But it was also very little. Jack and Josie were privileged to get the only bedroom. Tyson and I slept on a pull out couch. It's an understatement to say that we were excited to sleep in our King size bed last night. AMAZING!
Washington State University (in Pullman, WA) is about 10 minutes from Moscow. We drove over on Friday with part of the Swihart Crew for a visit with some grizzly bears! The bears really put on a show for us! Jack, Elliot, and Eliza had a lot of fun!
Josie didn't care about the bears…but she had fun meeting her family!
We made it home late last night! Devin & Kristin are married!! It was a beautiful ceremony! And "Die-da-ho" (as Jack calls it) is much prettier than I imagined! More pics coming soon!
My cousin, Justin, is nine years older than me. In some of my earliest memories - he is giving my little brothers wedgies and tying the arms & legs of their shirts and pants together. I'm sure he wanted to pick on me, too - but I was the only girl in the family and therefore had an unspoken protection from torment.
All of that being said… On Sunday, I was dumb enough to get on a tube with Justin driving the boat. I thought I was safe - because his wife, {the mother of his children} was also on the tube… But I was wrong.
The point all of us realized we were in trouble.
Proof we were flying.
Oh yeah…this is the part where Justin's wife, Jen, face planted and thought her eye balls fell out. {She literally checked her eye sockets to make sure they were still there}
Gina was not happy in this one.
Or this one.
Or this one.
But she was happy when it was over! See Jen & I assessing her battle wounds?
With my feet back on land, I definitely gave Justin the stink eye. It was a FUN time, but I was SO sore Monday.
A few years ago - my Grandma brilliantly decided to merge Thanksgiving & Christmas in December and then get everyone together in the summer for a Family Celebration. Since I'm known for having babies around Christmas, it's been nice to see my family in the summers.
It was Josie's first Clevenger Family event and she was excited to meet everyone! She didn't get any attention AT ALL…{not true}.
My cousin, Justin, and his wife Jen - have four amazingly awesome kiddos. Elliott {their youngest} is about 8mths older than Jack and he's one tough little man. See his shiner? Don't mess with Elliott.
We did lots of boating & tubing. Lots of lounging and maybe some napping. Great food. Good laughs.
Jack and Gigi
My Aunt Sue & Aunt Suzie. You could hear them screaming all the way around the lake.
Eliott, Jack, Owen, and me on the tube! It was Jack's first tube ride!
It was a great afternoon in Plymouth! We're looking forward to seeing everyone at Christmas!
Tomorrow - a post dedicated to the tube ride Jen, Gina, & I survived. Our faces were priceless.
We spent the weekend between two lakes - on {almost} opposite sides of the state! But we sure had a fun weekend! Josie spent some time chatting with her friend, Ava, on Lake George. These two are exactly one month apart {Josie 11/30, Ava 12/30} - they are sure to have lots of fun times ahead at the lake!
Coming up - A Clevenger Christmas {in July} that you won't want to miss!
Have you ever had a night when you just can't seem to shut your brain off? Please tell me I'm not alone. I slept a total of 2.5 hours last night. Why? Well, a teething Josie and a thunderstorm both played a role - but the main culprit was my brain. I had a million Kindergarten ideas swirling around and I couldn't turn it off!
Thankfully, Tyson brought me a large coffee - which will help get me to naptime! Here's to busy brains!
You know how you hear stories on the news about dogs who save people who are drowning? Well, God forbid we ever need him - but Tucker is quite the Life Guard around the pool. He keeps a close eye on Jack and does not like it when people stay under the water for too long. Like any good Life Guard, he is always scanning the water and will take a few laps, just to ensure everyone is alright. What a good boy! Extra treats for you, Tuck!
Jack & I have been really enjoying our mornings in the pool. We get in a good 40 minutes of swimming while Josie takes her morning snooze. It's a bonus, because in the process I wear Jack out really well…and then he takes a reaaaaalllllly long afternoon nap. {ulterior motives}
You may have missed seeing Tucker in all of the pictures I posted last week…or maybe you didn't… Whatever. He was actually away at camp last week. He went to Pirate Camp at Barkyard Day Play (aka: Ruff Inn) in Warsaw. Last week's Pirate Camp was the swim edition - which is right up Tucker's alley…considering I often let him outside to "potty" and catch him doing laps in the pool.
I don't want to be a dog mom that brags, but he was kind of a big deal at camp. He somehow managed to fit THREE water bottles in his mouth during a retrieving activity. Can somebody call Guinness and see if that's a World Record?
He learned how to pull a cannon ball from a cannon - which I'm not sure is safe or useful…but perhaps Special Ops would be interested in his ability to detonate pirate cannons.
I believe this photo was of a treasure hunt. If you bury food - Tucker will find it. He gives Jack credit for this talent - as he is always searching for Jack's crumbs in the couch, under the couch, etc.
And like most summer campers - he found love while he was away. The camp director told me that he followed this chick around all week…and the above picture shows him stealing a kiss lick. He's hoping they can be Paw Pals.
Going into the final day - Tucker was in a three way tie for Gold Medal. He couldn't quite get it done and slacked in the pillaging department. He came home the Silver Medalist- 2nd out of 15 dogs!!We are very proud of him! He can't wait to do it again next summer!
Definition: pillaging: steal (something) using violence… {hmmmmm}
We had SUCH a fun weekend with our Royal Oak buddies. Jack and Molly were so excited to see each other {as long as they weren't fighting over toys}. We kept pretty busy and that made for a fast, but very memorable weekend.
Saturday morning we went downtown Fort Wayne to the Barr St Farmer's Market. With the toddlers secured in the wagon - we ventured off to find the Three Rivers Parade. We caught the last 10 minutes of it and Jack & Molly were excited to see a fire truck!
After lunch and naps - we played. Jack & Molly had the cutest tea party.
Molly got lots of practice being a "big sister." Josie was happy to have a girl around.
Saturday night we left the kiddos with a babysitter and enjoyed dinner out at Club Soda! Over dinner we learned that Brooke and Mikkel had never had an Elephant Ear. Okay - the Dane, I can understand…but a girl from Iowa?!? No excuse!
We walked right over to Junk Food Alley to buy one for dessert. Mikkel didn't seem to think it was as great as we'd promised. But Brooke {and baby} enjoyed it! We also had a chance to "people watch" and saw some of Fort Wayne's finest.
On our way home - we stopped in the parking lot for a group shot. First we almost got hit by a car…then we almost wet our pants. A great end to a great night.
We wrapped up the weekend with a dip in the pool & lunch… Then we waved goodbye to our friends and said "See you soon." We miss them already!
{Brooke managed to snap a group shot - all of the adults, kids, and three dogs! So look for that soon!}
I'll admit, my blogging this week has been sub-par. I'm just preparing all of you for the school year…because I can't commit to being a top notch blogger, while trying to be a mommy, wife, & teacher. I will try, but no promises.
Anyway - here is what has been going on:
First and foremost - WE HAVE AIR CONDITIONING! They fixed it today and we have it pumping full blast. Our thermostat reads 76 - so you know I'm happy!
Secondly - we have the kiddos enrolled in "an academy of learning" (aka: Daycare). It's a pretty amazing place and I'm confident it will be an awesome fit for this year. Jack will get a pre-school setting 5 days a week and Josie will get to meet & eat with other babies her age. It will be a tiny hike for me - about 15 minutes there & then 15 minutes to school. But I'm thankful this is crossed off my list because I was stressing. PS: During my hunt I discovered that nannies want to make more than public school teachers - which doesn't quite seem right, considering I am a public school teacher. That option got vetoed pretty quickly.
Moving on…
We've had very little of THIS:
Not interested in the potty. Often "assaults" the potty.
But a lot of THIS:
Loves eating. Wears prunes as eye shadow.
And if you follow sports then you may already know this…the Espy's were last night. We tuned in (of course) and saw two of our favorite athletes win awards!
Congrats to IU's Christian Watford for winning an Espy for "Play of the Year" - I'm sure you all remember his 3 pointer that upset #1 Kentucky in December. I love that they showed it during the ceremony…and I love even more than Calipari & Davis were forced to watch it again.
The Lions QB & our Royal Oak neighbor, Matthew Stafford, won for Comeback Athlete of the Year. I love him. And he gave a pretty sweet speech complete with a shout out to the D. Have I mentioned that I love him?
Finally - today is my Dad's birthday! Jack called and sang "Happy You You" to him earlier - but we hope he has a GREAT day! Love you {more than Stafford}, Dad!
I was hopeful at 10am when the service company called to tell me they would be out at 11 to fix our AC. When the phone rang 45 minutes later...to tell me a part hadn't been ordered. I laughed. It's become funny.
I will give it to Mother Nature. She cools us down at night.
Supposedly they will be out tomorrow at 9am to get this finished up. But I won't believe it until my thermometer reads 73 degrees. Which is about 10 degrees cooler than it is right now.
We escaped the heat {of our house} yesterday by spending some time at Target. Simply torture. Okay, fine, I'll spend an hour shopping for things I may {or may not} need…
During our visit to the baby section I decided to test the potty training waters with Jack. I asked him if we should look at "big boy" underwear. He agreed. He wanted some. I asked if we should look at the potties. He agreed. He wanted one, a frog one. Awesome. I was happy with the direction this was heading…
I decided to find an incentive. "Let's go look at the cars. If you use the potty, mommy will give you a new car." He picked out a helicopter. All the way through the store & checkout line he talked about how he would use the potty when we got home. He really wanted that $4 helicopter.
We set up Mr. Potty Frog, put on some "big boy" underwear, and sat down for lunch. Jack was mildly interested in eating, but when he left the table for some "private time" - I realized what he was up to. I hurried him to the potty and…
Well, I'll let him tell you {actually this is the video we sent Tyson}.
Success! A poop on the potty!! Jack immediately asked for three things: 1) his promised helicopter 2) a diaper 3) to watch the "poot go bye bye" {aka: flush it}
So you may be wondering how potty training is going now. Today he has 100% refused to even so much as LOOK at Mr. Potty Frog. I'd say we're in for a long {& expensive} potty training road.
Side Story:
So another mom overheard me talking to Jack about potty training. As far as moms go, we wouldn't have much in common. I know this because of the conversation I heard between her & her little boy.
Mom: I'm not buying you no more diapers.
Son: Why?
Mom: Because you ain't a baby no more. You need to grow up.
Son: Why?
Mom: Come here. Look at these underwear. I'll buy you the Spiderman ones, but you have to start going potty on the toilet… Or outside. It counts if you go outside.
{WHAT? Hold the phone. Did she just tell her son to go potty outside? Yes.She.Did!}
I have two brothers and a "former frat boy" husband, I know boys most certainly go pee outside. I'm actually jealous of their ability to do so… However, I'm not sure potty training entails teaching your toddler to pee behind the tree out back.
Did I miss something? Is this a new method that I've never heard about? I'm not so sure our neighbors would appreciate this.
Thanks for the emails, phone calls, & texts. We're doing well in our semi-warm house. The evenings are the worst because the afternoon sun shines right into our family room & heats the whole house up.
We filed the claim through our Home Warranty company. I'm pretty certain they hate us. The pool and now the A/C - we're expensive. Anyway, they dictate who can provide service. So a repairman came out yesterday and said we needed a new outdoor unit. I was skeptical, so I consulted over the phone with my personal Heating & Cooling guy {he's amazing} and he pretty much gave me the same diagnosis.
I was told by the Home Warranty company that it could take up to a week to fix. Cue angry mom! I pulled every card in the book - I have two little kids, it's 88 in my 7mth old's room at night, we have friends coming to visit this weekend and the wife is pregnant…(thanks for being pregnant, Brooke).
They called today and they *think* they can have it fixed by Thursday. I'm hoping that "by Thursday" really means later today…
Tyson and I love air conditioning. When we were buying our first house Air Conditioning was #1 on our list of "Must Haves" - above garage, fenced in yard, and dishwasher. One time, our realtor tried to show us a house that didn't have A/C - and we literally refused to go in it. I stopped myself from blurting - "Lady, you're CRAZY!"
We super heart the cool air. We love the Earth, but we love air conditioning more.
All of that being said - you can imagine how thrilled we are that we are currently living without it. Miserable.
Yo Yo's yogurt was a MUST after dinner last night. As you can see, Jack was savoring every last drop of his. (PS: if you live FW and haven't tried Yo Yo's - it's amaze! But don't try the blueberry…awful! Horrible! Disgusting.)
This was the temp in Josie's room. Child abuse, I tell you.
So - today is a Clothes Optional Day (fat rolls, a must). If you are coming over - you might want to call first. We will {reluctantly} get dressed for visitors.
Also - full disclosure - the blueberry yogurt at Yo Yo's is delicious. The past two times we've gone, it's been completely out. Do you think they would think I was crazy if I called ahead to see if they had it before we go again?
