Town Mouse/Country Mouse Part 2

The weekend after Chicago, we put away our city mindframes and headed out for a different kind of fun.  We finally had a beautiful day, and Matthew and I both woke up with one thing on our minds, Turkey Run.   We quickly got everything together and headed out the door with two sleepy boys. 

They perked up quickly when we arrived at the park.  It's hard not to get excited when you see the natural wonders that Turkey Run has to offer.  

In case you were wondering who was up for "Parents of the Year", I can inform you that we won't be on the list.  Who leaves home for a 3 mile hike without their child's shoes? 

Us.

We do. 

 Fail.

   Fortunately for us, he HAAATEESS shoes, and probably wouldn't have worn them if we'd have brought them.  That boy loved feeling the mud squish between his toes. And he had a cow if he saw any "wawa" and Matthew didn't set him down to walk through it. 

Owen scampered up those ladders like they were nothing.  Eli even climbed every one of them by himself- with a very watchful daddy ready to catch him.

Remember what I said about "Parents of the Year"?  Yeah.   Here's my kid sitting in a creek. In the first weekend of April.  Awesome.   This is nothing compared to what Owen looked like after he tried to jump into the "Punch Bowl" like his dad, slipped, and ended up soaked from the neck down.   It was 85 warm degrees on this day though- so I promise they weren't going to catch hypothemia or pneumonia or the plague or anything.

We had an AWESOME day, and Owen decided that he likes that kind of fun even more than cities and museums.  (That's our boy!)  Although, I'm not sure that even this beat that darn train!

Town Mouse/Country Mouse

At the end of last month, we were invited to spend the night in Chicago with our Walroths.  Owen was on spring break and we were excited to get away for a couple of days to do something fun with the kiddos.  We parked the car in Hammond and the train into town.  This train ride was a serious highlight of the boys' trip.  So much so that Owen declared that the $4, dirty train ride was the best part of his trip.  Never mind the $70 in museum tickets, or the amazing architecture, or the cool landmarks, nope- the train ride trumped it all! 

When we arrived in the city we had a short walk to the hotel.  They were staying in the Hilton on Michigan Ave. Which is pretty much one of the coolest hotels that I've ever stayed in.  It's old school Chicago elegance and luxury.   And check out this view from their window. 

Not too shabby, eh?

After dropping off our stuff, we (Gessners+Sar&Allie) made our way to the  Field Museum.  Actually we made our way to the aquarium, discovered that there was a line that stretched from Chicago to the moon and back... twice- and decided that we'd go to the Field instead.  It was an excellent change of plans, and Owen declared it the "Coolest museum he's ever been to."  (Not to be confused with the coolest thing that we did in Chicago- which was obviously riding the stinky train.)

One of the boys' favorite exhibits was the Underground Adventure.  We went through a shrink chamber, and then emerged into an underground world at about 3/8 of an inch tall.  

Huge, scary, robotic  bugs were everywhere, and the boys loved every second of it. 

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Another favorite was the dinosaurs.  The Field Museum is home to the most complete T Rex skeleton that has been found.  They named her Sue, after the scientist that found her.  We watched a 3D movie about her discovery and what life might have been like for her when she was alive.  It was fun, and Owen loved the "scary" parts of the movie. 

Sue, Gessners.  Gessners, Sue.

After the museum, we walked back to the hotel and got ready for dinner.  It was a teensy bit of a fiasco (on the restaurant's part), and needless to say, we had some tired kiddos on our hands before the evening was over.  

Now you'd think that trying to house 4 adults and 3 kids in one hotel room might be a bit of challenge, but after the early morning, the late night and the miles of walking, there were nothing but snores in that room by 10:30 pm.

The next morning, we had an amazing breakfast- and then we headed for "The Bean".  Real life occured there, and our photo op didn't go as planned, but we still enjoyed getting to see it.

Real Life Happening.

Back bending toddler. Check.

Sobbing four-year-old, being kept from running away by his dad's iron grip on his skull. Check.

Strollers & baby carriers. Check

 Four best friends doing the best they can with this thing called parenthood. Check.

All of the above reflected in a gigantic, bean-shaped mirror. Check.

And in case you forgot what cute looks like- here it is.  Two handsome boys loving on their sweet little Allie- all while rocking their Sue shirts. 

All-in-all, it was a super fun getaway with our favorites!

Silent Sunday

Baby Birds and other Thieves

When I was a little girl my mom always called me a baby bird. Whenever she was cutting up fruits for a recipe or salad, I'd be right there- mouth wide open- waiting for my share.

Guess who has a baby bird of her own now?



One thing that I've realized is that if you want to keep more than half of what you're trying to prepare- you better wait until some kidlets are in bed.

This little guy LOVES him some strawberries!

Two Peas in a Pod

I know that it goes without saying that little siblings always emulate their older brothers and sisters. I know I did, and my boys are no different. We have some serious monkey see-monkey do action going on around here. Sometimes it's good behaviors, sometimes it's bad ones, and many times it's great for a laugh. Lately, my boys have been enjoying being, "ghosts". Yes, the short, red lump and taller, the heart-covered lump pictured below are my two little ghosts. The best part of this game is that they walk all around the house making ghostly noises, and bumping into walls, furniture, each other- because they can't see a lick. Then they dissolve into laughter, rolling around on the floor cackling.





They also spend a lot of time wrestling now. I get a lot of enjoyment out of this activity because I think that it's hilarious to watch them roll around on the floor giggling and "attacking" each other. Now that they're on a more equal playing field, strength and size-wise, I don't worry too much for their safety. I do however have panic attacks thinking about them continuing to wrestle as they get bigger. And bigger. And bigger.





Seriously folks, we are going to need a bigger house.



They are going to tear this one down if they continue this wrestling business into their teenage years. (And I've been told by many mothers of boys that it won't even end then!) We're looking into building an annex to "put them in". Maybe part-time, maybe full-time... Who knows? :) It will have mat-covered floors, and padded walls. It will be made of concrete, and they'll just be able to have at it in there. We'll hold a bake sale soon to start funding that project :)



Although they still do their fair share of arguing, fighting, and many tears are shed each day about the injustices done to each by the other- things have gotten better with the two of them. (Remind me of that on a day when my voice is hoarse from screaming at Owen to "BE NICE TO YOUR BROTHER!!!") They can play together more now, and they both enjoy playing in their room together. I honestly don't even know what they're doing back there, but when all we hear is giggling and shrieking, we let them be.



Their sleeping situation has been getting more and more interesting. Owen is still in his tent, Eli is still in his crib (kinda). Almost every night, the bed process takes significantly longer than it used to because now that Eli can get out of his crib he crawls out of it and into Owen's tent and the playing/giggling fest commences. We usually have to go in there and relocate him back to his crib multiple times. It's gotten somewhat better though because they've been losing light and open door privelages as a result of their behavior.



Last night was different. I went into their room right before I went to bed to check on them like I always do, but what I found when I peeked into Eli's bed shocked me...

Houston, we have a problem!

It didn't take long to figure out where my MIA baby was though... I'd actually checked on Owen first, but totally missed that Eli was in there since he was back in the other corner of the tent behind the "door". I couldn't believe that he'd gotten out of bed after Owen was already asleep and then just laid down and fell asleep too. It was actually really cute.

Later, I checked again and they were even sleeping with their heads together. They just look like a couple of baby angels :)

Tonight, Owen asked to go to the spare room until Eli got to sleep because he was being too loud. About 30 minutes later we went to check on them and find that Eli had gotten out of his crib, went into the spare room and was laying in the bed with a sleeping Owen. That boy can't get enough of his big brother!

The Love Affair

My boys are smitten. They are head over heels for a little brown-eyed girl. (Are they brown?? Hard to say for sure, but they're big and gorgeous!) Ever since I've been watching Allie, these boys have been nuts for her. Eli loves her like a little sister, he sometimes gets jealous of her when she's being too "time consuming" of his mommy, but 90% of the time, he loves her.

Can I get a collective, "Awwww."?

Owen's love for Allie is different. He loves her unlike I've ever seen him love anyone. He cares for her comfort, worries about her, wants to help take care of her, he's very serious about loving her. It's amazing to watch him with her, because he will sit and hold her until she falls asleep- and even then, he'll sit still with her. During the time that he's home from school and she's awake, he's usually with her. He reads to her, plays with her, sings to her, builds things for her, and genuinely enjoys being with her. And you know what? She loves him too. She talks and giggles at him, she'll coo and carry on in a way that you rarely hear unless she's "talking" to him. It's pretty much the most precious thing that I've ever seen. It's really something that this little girl has tamed my wild, rambunctious 4 year old into a little boy who worries about Allie getting cold feet and spends his day trying to keep her tiny baby socks on.

We Gessners love our Walroths, our next generation is no different.

Mr. Charisma

Can I just say how in love I am with this little guy? I'm in love with him from his stinkbug face down to his Babylegs clad, chunk-a-rific thighs, and right on down to his incessantly naked toes. I love that he currently marches everywhere he goes, declaring, "Moch! Moch! Moch!" swinging his little arms in what he believes to be a very authoritative way. I love his developing language skills- he's quick to imitate, and saying new things every single day. Admittedly, a lot of it is hard to understand- but it's still awfully cute! He still has to be rubbed for a good portion of every day. He can be playing happily and he'll suddenly drop everything to climb up on my lap, and get his belly rubbed. He has definitely made his presence known as a two-year old and he can throw the tantrums to prove it, but most of the time, he's still my silly, sweet, lovable little guy.
Love him.

Valentine's Love for my boys

For Valentine's Day this year, I decided to make love gifts for my boys. (My biggest boy got a new hammer drill) I thought long and hard about what they might love to have, and came up with this...

A super hero cape for Owen

And a super-soft penguin quilt for Eli.

Let's just say that I was 50% successful. Owen LOVES his cape and he looks adorable in it. Eli also enjoys wearing the cape when Owen allows it, so that was a big win. Eli however HATES the quilt. Okay, maybe "hate" is a strong word, but he really doesn't care for it. He has given it to his brother, throws it out of his crib nightly, (Even though I cover him up with it after he's asleep each night in my futile efforts to make him like the thing) and generally seems somewhat offended by the thing. I got him to hold it so that I could take this picture, but he promptly threw it down after the picture was taken. It really is a very cute penguin quilt, but he just doesn't like it. Maybe eventually it will grow on him.