Hello, MT!

Last weekend we took a road trip.  We went to Western Montana!  Missoula, MT specifically.  We were going to a college football game.  I have been to Montana many times but I have never been to Missoula and I have also never been to the mountains of Montana in the summer, at least not in my post elementary school memory.  So, even though I am 34 weeks pregnant and some people might be horrified at the idea of travelling, I went ahead and travelled although I was nervous.  I wasn't worried about going into labor early (yeah right!) but I was worried about being uncomfortable in the vehicle on the long drive and having to make everyone else stop for bathroom breaks every 45 minutes.  I've had more enjoyable road trips but it was OK. 

If you have watched the national news lately, you have seen that there are now wildfires burning in the United States and not just Canada like earlier this summer.  Some were burning in northern Montana and many are burning in Idaho.  Looking at the atlas, I realized just how close Missoula is to Idaho. The smoke is in North Dakota and got thicker as we entered Montana and drove west.  By the time we approached the Rocky Mountains we couldn't even see the mountains.  So we didn't see any mountains.  The smoke was very thick in Missoula and you could smell burning in the air.  This is what Missoula looks like: 





Where you see that "M" on the side of the hill is right above the University.  We could see that hill but that's about it.  I'm not exactly sure how close the fires were but I don't think I have ever been that close.  It made the smoke plume from earlier this summer look like nothing.  It would be terrifying to be in the path of that. 

Missoula was a fun city with a vibrant downtown area.  We were looking for a place to eat the evening we arrived and saw the corner of this banner inviting us into the foyer of this place so we had to patronize. 

 

This is the point in pregnancy where I cringe to see photos of myself.  If it's not the wideness and ill fitting clothes it is the puffy face and expanding chin area as exhibited below.

 

The day of the game was my first time wearing my loathed maternity jeans that don't stay up.  It's been too hot so I have not worn any full length pants yet but I just couldn't bring myself to wear yoga pants to the game.  I regretted the decision as soon as I walked to the car from the hotel room and had to hold the pants up as I walked.  Oh, I can't wait to wear zippers and buttons again. 

There were quite a few fans at this game.  Usually visiting fans don't get a parking lot to tailgate in.  They just get a tent next to the home tailgating area. 

Of course, the toilet situation was lacking and there were only three portas for the whole lot.  Fortunately, some enterprising and desperate beer swiller figured out how to get into the nearby campus building by hitting the handicap door opener which opened the door even though they were locked.  Hehehe.  What followed was a parade of hundreds of people coming in and out of that building to use the bathroom.  I'm sure the custodians are baffled today to find empty toilet paper rolls and full garbage cans in the bathroom they left clean on Friday. 

Walking through a campus, even while holding up my pants, is always a thrill for me and makes me nostalgic even if it not where I went to school.  The mix of old and new buildings, landscaping and green lawns are so beautiful.  We passed this building, and some people used the bathroom in it, and I was intrigued by the little pine trees on it.  It is the forestry building and probably one of the oldest buildings on the campus if the original wavy glassed windows are any indication. 

 

I wish I had gone into use the bathroom too!

 

Little trees!

 

The game was OK but we lost...we lost when Montana earned a touchdown with two seconds left on the clock.  It was pretty awkward because the night before all the Montana fans we met around town said that we would probably win because they weren't that good.  Eeeehhhh...During the game the smoke got really thick and we could even see little pieces of ash falling.  Yikes. 

 

Meanwhile back at home the kids were enjoying the weekend with their grandparents.  Justin's mom took Ben to his first movie on Friday!

They went to an afternoon matinee and since school started last week afternoons at animated movies are destined to be slower but they ended up being the only ones in the theater!  They saw Minions and Ben was a good boy and stayed quiet and in his seat the whole movie.  He's such a big boy. 

Here is Ben and Miss Fuzzy Head in their game day clothes.  So cute. 

OK, I have to go on Pinterest and look at skinny people wearing cute outfits to motivate me to face the next six weeks of whale-dom that lay before me. 





Never mind...that's NOT HELPING!

The Garden: The Good, the Bad and the Scary

We were gone all weekend since Thursday so I knew the garden would be out of control when I visited this morning.  I knew there would be an excess of tomatoes and probably zucchini and who knows what else.  The most fabulous pick so far this year is this red pepper. 

This thing was huge.  I say it was...it is now diced into little pieces in some Texas caviar.  It was much bigger than ones from stores.  You can get an idea from that stem!  It was almost hard to cut it because I was so proud of it!  Through the years bell peppers have not ben the most successful crop of ours and I was watching this one on the plant until it was perfectly ripe. 

 

The one cherry tomato plant is really producing.  They are more than I can eat.  I gave a bag to our neighbor last week and whenever we visit anyone they get a bag too.  This bag is all from today:

 

 

Remember, I am the only one in the house that eats these.  In a few weeks I will be ready for the frost to come and end the tomato season although hopefully it will be more than a few weeks before that happens!  The kids want to play with them, especially Tessa, because they look like balls of course but they don't eat them.  I'm not worried about that.  They are kind of hard for little kids to eat because of their skins. 

 

We have four tomato plants total, and I already shared disappointing results from the large yellow plant.  There is also a plant that produces large and red "beefsteak" tomatoes.  When I left on Wednesday they were all green.  Now they are all red and to say they look unappetizing would be an understatement:

 

I don't know what is happening here.  Clearly there is some sort of disease but also I don't know what is causing the strange shapes and that one is multicolored.  In addition, I discovered the whole plant was uprooted and half tipped over in its cage because yesterday there were really intense winds.  The wind has been very hard on the garden this year.  There have been a few windstorms this year unlike any from past summers.  I tried to put it back in the ground but who knows if it will work!  Tomato plants get really tall and heavy this time of year!

In other news, Ben starts preschool next Wednesday.  You will see pictures and hear more about that when it happens but this morning was the orientation so we went to meet the teacher and see the classroom.  Ben played with his new classmates and we submitted paperwork.  Tessa was quite interested in preschool too and neither of them wanted to leave.  Too bad she will have to wait amost a whole year after her third birthday before she can start.

 Of course, Ben had a minor head injury like he does 50% of the time so I felt bad.  Last night he fell of a kitchen stool and hit a chair on the way down and instantly formed a huge purple bump on his forehead.  We applied ice and fortunately by this morning it was not very noticeable.  I don't know how because it was huge and discolored last night.  That kid is crazy.  It's not a matter of if he ends up with stitches but when. 

The Earth Has Yielded it's Produce

We've been doing a lot of farming this month, so once again this post is about farming and harvest.  Here is Ben in Justin's bean field on July 31.

 

Here he is in the same field this weekend!

 

When I saw this picture I said, "don't lose him!" Those are pretty tall.  I always remember wheat being the tall crop but actually soy beans are taller. 

 

For example, here are the kids this weekend in a wheat field where combining was in progress.  Golden wheat makes a lovely setting for photos...if the people in the photos want to be in the wheat.  I had some big ideas for these pictures.  I imagined these would be lovely, with the golden wheat and the golden blond hair perfectly complementing each other. 

 

 

However, the blinding sun and very scratchy wheat did not make agreeable kids.  Tessa's raised arms mean "get me out of here!"  Also, it was 100 degrees outside. 

 

Oh well, this is real life. 

 

It was recently my brother's and sister's kids' birthdays.  They were born three days apart in August so we celebrated their birthdays this weekend.  We tried to get some good group pictures of the cousins together but with three one year olds involved we just did our best. 

 

 

There was a tractor driving back there!  That furry mass in the corner is the dog. 

 

This one's pretty good!

 

The bounty of harvest has come to our garden also.  The tomatoes in this bowl were all picked this morning. 

 

Time to eat some salads and omelets! 

Summertime Blues

I think everyone knows the song "Summertime Blues".  I first heard it coming from the radio in Alan Jackson's appealing country voice in the 90's and it has been used in many soundtracks and commercials and covered so many times.  I just researched it and learned that the original version was recorded by Eddie Cochran in 1958, which means that my grandparents heard it coming out of their radios while they tended to my parents as infants that summer.  I wonder if, as my grandmothers were bleaching cloth diapers and washing dish after dish by hand, they listened to the lyrics and thought, as I do now, "Oh, I feel sooooo bad for this guy...his girlfriend had to wait for their date until his shift at work ended!  And then he had to listen to a lecture from his dad before he gets to have fun! Must be soooo hard!"

My version at the moment would entail raising a fuss and a holler about spending all summer trying to stop my daughter from dumping bubble solution and a box of 50 pieces of sidewalk chalk all over the driveway every day, only getting to enjoy my patio set in 30 second increments while my kids try to dig holes in my plants and throw dirt and rocks everywhere, having to pee really bad at the park but not being able to go because all they have is an outhouse and myself and two kids don't fit in there, and counting down how many more times I will have to wear my maternity swimming suit in public.  Oh, and really craving beer and not getting to have any.  I tried to make it rhyme but my brain is too slow.  Sorry. 



This week is forecast to be the hottest of the summer so far, and today is the hottest day of the week.  I used to love days like these, just as I loved many days that epitomize each season.  This was probably because my life in general resembled a beer commercial, with summer bringing late night bar hopping on foot in the balmy heat, long days at the swimming pool (working, but still...I was in a swimming suit) and drinks on restaurant patios while various beer and liquor promoters made the rounds leaving everyone with obnoxious freebie gifts like beads, t-shirts and blinking lapel pins.  At least, even if I wasn't out living it up, I was able just sit outside with a book or magazine and feel the heat sometimes. 

In the spirit of honesty, and NOT complaining, because these statements can seem like complaining, I am going to acknowledge that summer with toddlers isn't that great.  And I love summer and hot weather.  With little kids, everything is just a big pain.  We all know that the old days our grandparents lived are gone, and I cannot do as my dad's mom did and send him out to roam around the farm under the supervision of his 4 year old brother.  And the women of past generations generally were surrounded by family members (between my grandmothers they had a total of ten sisters and probably as many sisters in law and cousins in close enough proximity that they probably socialized with another adult woman every day) so they had an easier time entertaining and managing kids.. 

Sure, since Tessa is sleeping right now, I could bring Ben out in the backyard, sit on a patio chair and read a book while he played.  After sitting for 20 seconds he would be pulling on my arm wanting me to get up and get something or see something.  Or he would be ignoring the water table or activity I just set up to play in the pile of dirt that washed out from the wall earlier this summer.  And soon he would figure out how to transfer water from the table to the pile to make mud and then he would make a huge damn mess.  I don't remember if I shared pictures on here but I let this happen once.  It was cute that one time, but it ended with a bath at 4 pm and mud handprints all over the glass door and footprints in the kitchen and I practically had to shovel out the bathtub after his bath.  So cleaning it up probably took as long as he was playing. 



Oh, look, he made a demo derby!  OK, now never do that again! 

So, back to the summer of toddlers...what options are there?  Any outdoor activity can just be exhausting.  The swimming pool is always fun, but it costs $3.00 per person over the age of 12 months so all three of us would cost $9.00 and you know how long the attention span for 1 and 3 year olds is.  That price is reasonable for a several hour session but for 45 minutes it is a lot.  Also, as a former lifeguard, I have seen how fast little kids can get into trouble in shallow water so I almost feel panicked with both of them and only me to watch.  I actually prefer going to my hometown pool when I am visiting because, even though it is dated and lacks the fun jungle gyms and features, it has a separate fenced wading pool that is free!  You only have to pay for the "big pool"!  Then there is the park, which is usually fun until I want to leave and then have to wrangle two screaming maniacs who don't want to leave across the lawn and to the parking lot.  And of course, you can't in good conscious let your kids outside without sunscreen and it's enough trouble to maintain my own sunscreen usage and I am a willing user.  Toddlers are NOT willing.  In NO WAY are they willing.  I have to threaten to take away the outdoor activity in order to get Ben to submit to wearing sunscreen.  Although, Tessa likes to wear her sun hat so that is nice. 

So anyway, I will probably be enjoying the hottest day of the summer indoors.  Yesterday was really hot and we went out in the back yard and I set up water related fun only to spend the short time we were out there trying to stop Ben from making a mud hole and stopping Tessa from stomping her feet in it.  I see pictures on social media of outdoor escapades every day and it's hard not to feel like you should be outside nonstop, enjoying summer since it is so short.  I read a blog post earlier this week from another mom, someone I don't know personally, who described a summer afternoon taking her 4 and 1 year old to a splash pad to meet up with friends.  All the kids started whining about being cold after two minutes and there was no shade and she ended up spending most of the outing chasing the younger child who was continuously trying to run away from the scene.  Yet, she would not admit that it was a bust and they probably should have just watched PBS or played in their own yard.  Nothing about it sounded fun but people feel like they can't admit that every activity with their kids isn't fun and in fact most of them are very tiresome.  They manage to get a good picture to share so it looks fun but everything that went on behind the scenes wasn't.  I reassure myself with visions of the future, when these kids are in elementary school and can swim without constant supervision, play outside alone without getting lost or destroying something and don't want my attention every minute of every day but for now summer is just an extension of every other season.  Maybe they will be in a sport and actually participate without running over to me constantly and trying to pull leaves off a tree instead of listening to the coaches (T-ball flashback!) and I can sit back and eat candy and watch in peace.  Maybe we will live in a neighborhood or town where kids still take off on bikes with their friends all day (although people are getting so paranoid that in a few years a parent who allows this will probably end up in jail) and they will even be old enough to mow the lawn and water the plants and wash our cars for us.  We just have to make it through these few years!

 

Speaking of sunscreen, I have discovered something this summer.  My children get tan.  WHAAAAT?  Ben is developing an obvious farmer's tan even though I apply sunscreen regularly.  It's like his tan can't be stopped!  And Tessa is the same.  After time in the sun they don't look red at all.  They just look bronze.  Everyone assumes that because I have red hair I must fry after minutes in the sun, which is not true.  It certainly will happen eventually but if I go outside for 30 minutes without sunblock on my legs they are as white as ever but if Ben and Tessa go outside for 30 minutes without sunscreen they look three shades darker.  They have it...the coveted blond haired, blue eyed combination with a naturally bronzed complexion.  They look like they could be in advertisements for bronzing powder and their hair is naturally highlighted in all the right places.  Lucky them...but if they ever want to go near a tanning bed the answer will still be NO!

Here is a cute picture to wrap this up...Tessa found her new fleece jacket for this winter and she wants to wear it all the time.  She is oblivious to the fact that it is 100 degrees outside and can't wear it.  She gets mad when she has to take it off. 

 

Soon enough we will all be so tired of zipping jackets that we will want to scream...maybe the sunscreen isn't so bad!

Combines and Puppies

Even when you live in the middle of a city, you know when wheat harvest has started.  It has its own atmosphere more than any of the other crops.  I remember lifeguarding at the station at the top of the water slide in Fargo and noticing the haze in the humid air and realizing I could smell it one night when it wasn't there before.  Out of town, it is a time of year that is full energy and the majestic sight of combines crawling along in the fields and hearing the wailing sound of their engines everywhere.  I recall visiting my great uncle in the nursing home about a month before he died several years ago during wheat harvest and he could hardly bear being trapped in his room as opposed to being in the fields. 

This year brought a new little harvest devotee named Ben, who was beside himself with excitement over "combine rides" at the farm.  We arrived late Wednesday night and he didn't see any action until Friday evening.  He had to be content with "helping" around Grandpa's shop. 

 

Having a 3 year old help by spraying a hose is rarely that helpful, but we won't tell the 3 year olds that!

 

Here he is when he finally made it to the field!

 

The first few rounds with my brother in the combine, Justin operating the grain cart, and my dad driving truck.

 

Tessa wanted in on the action too.  She finds tractor rides quite enjoyable.  I think most kids do, especially combine rides, because of the panoramic view and the hypnotic spinning of the header.  Here she is after spotting Grandpa up high on the combine. 

 

She really wanted to get up there!  Sorry Tessa, one year olds in pink dresses don't get to climb on top of farm machinery! 

 

On Saturday Ben combined all morning and afternoon with Uncle Pete until he fell asleep. 

There was some excitement on Saturday evening when our friend Andy visited with his puppy and another friend's puppy who he was babysitting for the weekend.  It was a puppy party! I haven't been around baby animals like this for awhile and forgot how extremely cute they are!

 

Tessa was kind of scared of them, which is strange because she shows no fear around very large full grown dogs that she knows. 

 

Seriously, how can anything be so cute?  Look at that puppy's adorable expression!

 

Kisses!  Ben isn't in any of the puppy pictures because, to my surprise, he just wanted to ride in the combine and not play with the dogs.  I can't imagine...

Go for the Gold

People from the "older generations" always lament about "kids these days" to the extent that doing so is pretty much a cliché.  I remember older ladies at church always having something to say about what kids wore, how we acted, and on and on and on at church when I was a teenager.  I remember thinking, "what should I wear then?  What you are wearing? Elastic waist polyester slacks and Aerosoles shoes?"  Once I heard a group of women ragging on the girls at the prom grand march the previous weekend because none of us wore nylons with our floor length dresses and strappy heels.  I think they were just jealous that we decided to liberate ourselves from those loathsome mesh garments as teenagers after they had been stuck with them their whole lives.

All young people are lazier, more spoiled, and flawed in ways the past generations were not, of course.  I think the same thing when I see teenagers spacing out on their phones everywhere they go even with their friends and forgoing real activities like sports and music in favor of video game time.  Don't they know what they're missing??  Oh, those millennials, the generation born since an undetermined point in the 1980's until now.  Some articles place the beginning with people born in 1980 which would include me and Justin (both born in 1983).  Compared to someone born in, say, 1995 or 2000 or 2005, however, I don't think we are at all the same.  Mostly because we have a significant number of years that we remember, including most of our childhood, without the instant gratification of the Internet. We had to watch commercials on TV and deal with rewinding VHS and cassette tapes and wait to use the family land line phone and miss out on plans with our friends because they tried to call but our moms were on the phone and the line was busy. No one cared about self esteem and in school the "good reading class" was clearly separated from the "slow reading class" and when it was time for the (dreaded, by me) Presidential Physical Fitness Test in phy ed the fit were clearly separated from the unfit by tests of speed and strength performed in front of the whole class.  Often, one phrase is used to describe this whole phenomenon, which is "everybody gets a trophy!".  This means that everyone is so worried about hurting kids' feelings (instant gratification!) that when there is any sort of competition everyone ends up with a participation ribbon or medal at the end and some sports for young children don't have scores or winners and losers. 

The reason I was thinking about that phrase at all is because this weekend my mom unearthed a little cardboard box containing my piano gold cups, which are the only trophies I ever won or earned in my youth. 

 

As soon as I opened the box I had a warm feeling come over me remembering the pride of earning the points to get these.  As you can see, there are three different sizes.  Every year, our piano teacher had her students compete at "Festival" which was like a recital with a judge that we didn't know.  It was held at a University and there were students of other teachers in the rooms so you often performed in front of strangers as well.  There was an event for solos, hymns, and duets.  You would play two songs for each event and the solos had to be memorized.  You could receive a score of 1-5 with 5 being the best and it took 15 points to earn a gold cup.  So earning one would take 3 years if you scored the best possible score.  I earned my first one for solos in 1994.  That big one I earned for solos in 2001, my senior year of high school.  I had a year in there where I had a score of 4 so the big cup took 4 years.  By high school the solos were pretty serious classical numbers so the memorizing was harder. The others are for hymns and duets which kids usually didn't start until they were older so there were fewer years to work with.  I think I scored 5s every time I did hymns because, in my opinion, playing the straightforward four part of a hymnal couldn't be any easier and the challenge was to not jazz it up a bit but duets could and often did end in chaos.  They required you to get together with your partner, usually a friend, outside of lesson time and practice and often the teacher wasn't there so you can imagine how productive that was. 

 

I had to think about if I earned any other trophies or special awards besides the pins for my letterman's jacket and I could remember two.  One was at basketball camp where I got a little gold basketball player trophy for being the most improved player in my age group when I was 13 (there were probably 75 girls in that group) and the other was when I was a sophomore in high school and I won second place out of a few hundred students at state FBLA in my testing event.  I believe it was called "Principals and Procedures" and it was the even that the advisors put most of their young freshman and sophomore students in.  First and second place winners got to go to the national convention so I got to go to Chicago that summer!  And...I think that's it.  My brother and sister both won Athlete of the Year when they were seniors and my brother was homecoming king and my sister was Salutatorian so they each had a few big trophies on their shelves.  Ok, enough of this, now I'm starting to feel pathetic! 

 

The point is that what I won was really earned and although it's all ancient history now and I went on to be an average college student (hey, I was on the Dean's list a few times!) and a mediocre law student I'm still proud of those accomplishments of my youth.  I didn't really study that much for the FBLA test because I didn't even consider winning a trip to nationals as an individual (most students won trips for group projects).  At that large basketball camp those coaches noticed something about me that week , whether it was real improvement or just enthusiasm to learn and a good attitude, that made them want me to get the most improved trophy.  And I worked on getting those piano cups for years, knowing it would take at least three years and maybe longer to just get one.  What I'm trying to say, I guess, is, I'm not a Millenial!  Don't you dare call me one because I was born in 1983 and not 1979!  I know how to call a stranger on the phone and have a civilized conversation to get what I need and I could go to a library to look something up if I had to.  I can wait thirty minutes for a meal in a restaurant without distracting myself with a video game. And as far as commercials, I think we can all agree that no one likes them, has ever liked them and they can go away for good! 

 

OK, I am off to set up our own little trophy case with the piano trophies, Justin's trophies from state darts and maybe the generic medal I received or being on a basketball team that went to the state tournament in 1999 even though I only played about three minutes in one of the games there.  Maybe I'll throw in the old Lutheran Sunday School perfect attendance pin with the attachable wreath and bars that I have stashed in a jewelry box. 

 

Yes, that's the one!  Disclaimer:  This is not my pin...I don't think I had that many bars.

 

Uncaged

This week brought a milestone for Tessa...we converted her crib into a toddler bed!  We did this more to prepare her for giving the crib up in a few months.  We had to do this for Ben when he started climbing out when he was 18 months old, which she hasn't managed to do yet.  The transition has been OK so far.  The first night she climbed out repeatedly with glee for about an hour and then laid in there and fussed for awhile before falling asleep.  Even though the crib is still the same on three sides I guess the missing side is a bit unsettling. 

Here she is as I was trying to take a cute picture of her snuggled up with her baby and some stuffed animals.  As you can see she was to fast for me. 

 

The following day a nap didn't happen.  She ransacked her room for over an hour and Ben kept hearing her and going in to "check on TESSA!" which made her crazier.  Then Justin came home early because I had a doctor's appointment and then we went shopping.  I had to look back to when we transitioned Ben to a toddler bed and reminded of those first few days of nap chaos where he ransacked his room and fell asleep on piles of rubble. 

 

 

 

He was so cute and little!  He was younger than Tessa is now. 

 

Yesterday she settled right down for her nap so I took a picture of her. 

 

She has to borrow one of "Brother's" pillows until we get her one of her own.  She is sleeping right now after an eventful morning at the garden.  I usually don't let her out of the car since the stop is usually quick.  But today I let her out and since our last visit someone poured new gravel on the alley.  I thought the two of them seemed way too busy and content while I was watering.  It turned out Tessa was busy dumping handfuls of dirt and rocks on her head.  Her hair looked grey and her clothes and face were covered with it.  I knew she had to have a bath when we got home so she wouldn't get dirt all over her bed.  Once we were in the bathroom I unsnapped her undershirt and about 1/2 cup of gravel fell out onto the floor.  Then I took her diaper off and there was even more in there! 

This is what the tub looked like after the water drained.

 

Speaking of the garden, I am waiting impatiently for some tomatoes to ripen.  They seem really slow this year.  This one large yellow one of the "Lemon Boy" variety was ripe but it appears to have some sort of disease...

 

Yeah...I'm not eating that.

Summer Vacation/Excursion/Travelling Toddler Sh!tshow

 

Hello everyone!  You may have thought I disappeared!  Don't worry, I did not.  We have just been gone all week and that combined with our Internet connection issues means I haven't been able to post. 

We have been on what could loosely be called a "vacation" around MN, SD and ND.  As anyone with little kids (who is honest) knows, the term vacation refers to something relaxing and fun and generally doesn't exist for anyone who is "vacationing" with little kids.  This excursion, as I will refer to it, involved me driving hundreds of miles with the kids by myself (we were meeting Justin in SD because he had a work trip), one incident of car seat disassembly due to vomit, several gas station bathroom stops with one or both kids screaming the whole time, one vehicle completely destroyed by food wrappers, spillage and crumbs (something I used to distain-I used to clean cars for my family's car dealership when I was a teenager and I was always so disgusted by the condition of cars where kids were frequent passengers.  I just couldn't imagine how someone could let food get all over their vehicle! I was delusional), an average of 4 hours of sleep per night (for me, surprisingly the kids slept fine!), several afternoons spent at overstimulating public places during nap time, the resulting necessity to try to discipline kids in public places, one toddler girl who only wanted me to hold her the whole time and 95 degree temperatures.  Oh, and being in the third trimester of pregnancy and having to urinate every 45 minutes.  Here is a summary with a few pictures.  I wish there were more now, but I was too busy trying not to lose my mind to take very many.  There were many good times that will stand out more than the bad as the days pass and I can find the energy to go out in public again.  Here are a few of them. 

The week started with us going to a family reunion for Justin's step dad's side.  I knew many people but there were some I had never met before and that he had not even met before.  It was a good weekend but Tessa was sooooo clingy I truly could not put her down.  My arms could physically not hold her anymore and all she would do was scream.  I have no idea what that was about.  It was insane.  And so I was insane.  I was relieved to be in the car just so I wouldn't have to carry her around everywhere.  Here is a picture of her in the tube.  Yes, this is it.  The only picture I took.  Good thing other people were taking photos.  The few minutes on the tube allowed me to rest my arms for about 10 minutes.

 

On Sunday I drove home while Justin stayed behind so he could leave for his trip from Fargo on Tuesday.  Tessa had napped all afternoon so she was awake the whole drive while Ben fell asleep.  I let her watch the portable dvd player the whole time we were driving and just as I parked in our garage three hours later I heard that telltale gurgling sound.  Yes, indeed, she threw up.  It happened after we stopped moving.  I think it must have been caused by watching the screen the whole time while facing backwards since her car seat faces the rear.  I actually read some piece of advice from a full blown car seat crusader that said that you should never wash the textile part of a car seat.  If you didn't know, this is a mom who is obsessed with car seat safety and judges everyone else for such offenses as buying cheap seats, getting a used seat from a friend or using a rental seat when travelling and renting a car (because you NEVER KNOW what has happened to that seat it could have been in an ACCIDENT!!!!) and turning your child forward facing before the age of 5.  I know car seats are no joke but sometimes people should just mind their own business.  For example, if rear facing makes a child car sick or if a seat gets soiled by any number of bodily fluids.  Anyway, I guess there is some sort of flame retardant on the fabric and if you wash it too much it washes off so if you are in a fiery crash the seat could melt.  HMMM OK, if a child vomits on a seat I think any reasonable parent will be washing everything that can be washed.  And I did that night and then had to spend 1/2 an hour trying to put it back together the right way.  And it's probably wrong. 

 

On Tuesday, I headed out toward South Dakota.  We planned to meet friends who were visiting from Alaska in Sioux Falls.  I went halfway to my sister's house that night.  She lives in north eastern SD.  I think, if I remember correctly, the trip went smoothly except that my favorite gas station was closed for remodeling.   

 

Here are the kids reading with their uncle that night. 

 

I left for Sioux Falls (another 3 hour drive) Wednesday afternoon during prime nap hours assuming that I would get at least two hours of silence.  I was wrong and the trip was a whiny, screamy nightmare.  I finally made it to Sioux Falls and was a sweaty, tense mess.  The rental house was very nice, fortunately.  It was booked from airbnb.com, which is a very interesting concept where people who are away from home a lot rent their houses out to travelers.  The owner of this place was a musician who is playing here in September!  It would be fun to see him perform.  It had a nice fenced yard, a basement theater room and all the amenities of home.  It was MUCH better than a hotel for travelling with toddlers.  The other two families were already there and I had a few hours before I had to pick Justin up at the airport.  There were seven kids total and there was a three year old boy exactly Ben's age and they immediately went about fighting over every toy and trying to murder each other.  Holy crap it was stressful.  I was burned out on discipline after an hour and we still had two days ahead of us. 

 

On Wednesday we went to Wild Water West, a huge waterpark.  It was a really hot day and this water park is really amazing.  It is just the type of place I love, mixing water slides, a lazy river, a wave pool and even a swim up bar.  But, like everything else, the enjoyment diminishes with each dependent baby and toddler in the mix and pregnant people aren't encouraged to ride water slides, so...it was still pretty fun though.  There were many options for really young kids and Tessa loved the little water slides.  We took both kids on tubes in the lazy river, had ice cream and Justin even took Ben on a big waterslide.  He was scared.  We also took both of them in the wave pool.  I went on a big waterslide just once even though the signs said pregnant women should ride at their own risk.  Risk assumed, legal counsel for Wild Water West! 

 

Tessa taking in the watery spectacle.

 

This pirate ship kids slide complex looked pretty fun for kids who were a bit older than ours.  I love that parrot up there!

 

Justin took Ben on a bumper boat ride. 

 

 

 

He also went on one of those crazy zero gravity slides.   

 

 

I have done these before, although it's been years, and hopefully I will again someday!

 

So we survived a whole afternoon at the waterpark.  I really look forward to bringing my kids to places like this when they are older because I remember loving this sort of thing as a kid (an elementary school age kid who could swim and function in strange environments without having meltdowns and throwing fits).

 

On Friday we all parted ways and I dropped Justin off with his step brother at a golf course where they played an 18 hole golf tournament and I continued to Brookings, which was a short drive which both kids slept through.  That afternoon my sister-in-law and I took the kids to the children's museum there, which was really nice.  It is located in an old historic school building which I am fascinated by so anything that is located in an old school is something I am interested it!  I couldn't help but imagine the students in the hallways and try to guess which rooms were used for what. 

 

My kids loved the little grocery store where they were able to fill their own carts with realistic looking groceries.  Tessa filled hers until it spilled over!

 

Ben's favorite room was what he called the "water machine" which was a huge pool of water with various water features where you could move balls around.  It reminded me of the old game "mousetrap". 

 

We made it home on Saturday night with loads of disorganized crap shoved here there and everywhere, mountains of laundry and an empty fridge waiting for us.  On Sunday we had no choice but to go restock the house in the afternoon where Ben passed out in a shopping cart. 

 

Not to be outdone, Tessa peed through her diaper and we had to change her into a clearance outfit that I bought at the mall sidewalk sale that is two sizes two big for her.

 

Then she drooled yellow candy drool all over it.  Fortunately it came out so the outfit is still fresh to rediscover next summer!

 

We checked on the garden and found that our big tomato plant is as tall as I am now.  Still no ripe tomatoes though!

 

WHEW!  Now that I have had a day back in the normal old routine I have started to relax again although it took three TV shows to get Ben to let me finish this post and him and Allan are both sitting on me right now.  We are going to bake a zucchini cake now.  I can't wait to eat that seasonal favorite of mine!  It's like so many other foods...by September the sight of it will make me nauseous but now it seems mouth watering!