Swimming and Lake Wapello Weekend

We went to "Summer's pool" one afternoon last week.  Mom, Lori and kids, and Heather and kids were there too.   Cecily did the most actual swimming she's done all summer- probably because Summer is not a timid swimmer at all.  They talked to each other too instead of just staring/glaring, which was nice!  Taking a pretzel break.

 O man.  She is not shy.  "Hi Russell!"  He was not interested in sitting by her though, he kept moving away... so funny.

Friday afternoon we packed up the van and headed to the delightful (or something) state of Iowa. Some of Bob's cousins were camping at Lake Wapello and visiting Christy and Daryl.  We were hoping to get a camping cabin.... but.... they don't follow their online policy so they were all reserved when we got there. (I should write them the nastiest letter...) I don't tent camp if there's rain in the forecast so we slept at the hotel in town instead.  Such a wimp, I know. 

It was a pretty hot weekend. The girls spent most of their time on the playground. 

 Hanging out with Char... 

 Swinging...

 We got to drive through Amish country on our way to and from the park- always interesting.  Our girls slept in so we missed the hiking Saturday morning- I wasn't too sad since it was raining and hot... it cleared off and then it was hot and humid.
Emmy loves her sandals.

 And water.  This was as close to swimming as we got since the algae levels in the lake were high and nobody wanted to risk GI issues...

 The girls had a blast playing with everyone.  Cecily and Griffin played really well together, which was great!  And there was another little girl camping at the park that played with Cecily.  She told me "I made a friend!"  We did have one melt down/freak out.... so I took the girls for a drive.  Emmy fell asleep and Cecily calmed down and we explored the rest of the park and found another playground. 
"Rock" climbing.

 Lovely Lake Wapello- the lily pads were blooming!

 There were three fishing poles and lots of kids.

 They saw a snake Friday evening, so Saturday evening Cecily was a little bit nervous to be by the rocks- "Is there a snake in the rocks? A snake lives in the rocks! I don't want him to get me!"

 Bob helped her catch a fish.  It was very small.  This is her I-don't-want-to-touch-it face.

 The campground hosts brought around popsicles!  The kids were so excited!

When it got dark we took our dirty little girls back to the hotel and scrubbed and scrubbed.  The bath water was so gross.  Ha.  But they were happy! 
Sunday morning we did not have to pack up a wet campsite....  it was lovely.  *grin*  Church was full of relatives.  Uncle Roy's kids and grandkids were there and Roger's girls were all home.  I hadn't been out to Bloomfield since middle school probably, and I know I've never been to the new church.   I remember riding out with Kary one weekend; I was growing out my bangs and was super insecure about my hair. Ha. 
Emmy slept most of the way home which was soooo nice.  She was pretty whiny on the way out and did not want to be stuck in her car seat.  We picked up pizza and were home in time for supper, which is always a great way to end a good weekend!
Blessings. 

Treasures, a Concussion, and a poor sick geerl

Other than laundry and weeding (the vines!  they are insidious! oh, and crabgrass in the garden makes me twitchy) we had a pretty quiet week after vacation. 

Some silly girls playing with Bob's headphones:

So I'm sure you're all wondering what sorts of treasures I had been saving in a porous box in the basement....   they included a towel embroidered with a "J" that was my Great-Grandma Julia's.  And the cute little pair of lace gloves I wore at Aunt Lori's wedding.   

 Ooooo.... this is the first ever 'quilt' I made!  I started it in grade school and added to it several times.  It appears that I knotted parts of it too...  I can't get rid of it. *grin*

 I was very sad when this box felt damp, but it seems to have dried out as strong as it was before.  It's a tea set!  It was my mom's and I'm not sure who gave it to her. It's real china from Japan so the girls can't play with it for a while.

 Tapes!  My birthday tape (I'm sure mom misses that one), an interview of Grandma Wyss for school, and my Grandpa Schlipf reading "the Cat in the Hat."  I haven't tried to play them yet so I hope they dried out and still work.

 Matt's not the only one in the family with a farm toy collection.  Mine might even be cooler...  my tractor has 3 attachments.

 And I have a milk parlor!  The farmer's sprayer hose is lost to the ages, but the rest is in working condition.  Too bad they aren't jersey cows...

 This just makes me laugh.  Every time. 

 *cough*  If you can't read the bottom it says "boys are dumb."

 And last, but not least, my soggy scrapbook.  It's a true scrapbook, nothing fancy.  Mostly just programs from school events and newspaper articles from band and scholastic bowl and brochures from vacations.

 Last Saturday was a lovely day so the girls put on their swimsuits and we washed off the porch railing and the porch floor... that composite plastic is nice, but it doesn't hide dirt like wood.  Bob washed both our vehicles.
Emmy had a blast playing in the soapy water.

 Cecily was scrubbing the floor.  Ha.  That brush was for the railing, and she didn't last long.

 And then Cecily slipped and fell on the wet concrete and hit her head.  *sigh*  It was worse this time.  She definitely passed out.  It was pretty scary.  And cried and cried when she came to.  When she started throwing up Bob called the after hours nurse and they recommended that we take her to the ER.  Emmy got dropped of at Galen and Betty's with Rustin and Sharon to play and we went to the hospital.  She was really drowsy and not herself and they had a hard time keeping her awake to check both eyes and look in ears....  and she threw up the anti-nausea meds...no fun.  They did a CT scan which was kind of cool to watch.  Cecily was very brave, she did pretty good holding still inside the 'donut.'  I got to see the scans and you could see her adult teeth behind her baby teeth inside her skull!  So weird.  The CT was fine (thankfully!), she kept the second try of the anti-nausea meds down, and was starting to act a little more normal so they sent us home.  She perked up a lot and didn't seem to mind having to rest and play with her Barbies. 

 Head injuries are weird.  It's scarier when you can't see what's wrong and if it's getting worse or better... so I woke her up in the middle of the night and we've been watching her and making her "rest."  Ha.  She seems to be recovering fine and I think that she's had enough concussions now. 
The girls and I stayed home Sunday morning and listened online while Bob went to church.  My parents and Jake brought us ice cream that evening.
My little helpers.  Or something. 

 And then Emmy woke up Monday morning with a fever.  Woot.  She's a pretty happy sick girl unless she's hungry.  Which is most of the time.  Tylenol and outside helps.   

Blessings.

Often Imitated, Never Duplicated

Wyss Vacation 2015

29 years.  It makes me all sentimental just thinking about that number.  We had a great trip.

After our late night we packed the van full and headed for Luddington, Michigan.  

 The girls traveled really well which is great for a 6ish hour trip.
We made it to the shores of lovely Lake Hamlin in time for supper- baked potato bar, just scratching the surface of the food amazingness to come. hehe.  There is good food in great abundance on Wyss Vacation. 
Our home sweet home for the week, we got the 'rustic' (but thankfully clean!) cabin on the left. 

 The girls checked out the playground with Aunty Shelly.

 Little Bee loves the slide.

 And she loves food.  I think she ate all day long, every day.

 We got Cecily some new Legos to bring on "the 'cation."

 The girls loved all the attention...  Coloring with Daddy and Aunt Lena before church.

 Cecily wanted to sleep in the bed with the woodland themed quilt- it was the 'sven bed.'  Ha.

 On one of the many Walmart runs they brought back a kiddie pool for the babies. 

 The weather was so perfect.  It was chilly in the mornings and at night and warm during the day.  And it wasn't humid!  So wonderful.  So we wore our sweatshirts in July....  Kandace and Cliff tried to teach Cecily how to play Spot-It on the deck of my parent's cabin. 

 The girls enjoying the sunshine (and a snack) on our front steps.

 One evening we drove into Luddington and walked out to the lighthouse.  It was a half mile out on this narrow concrete sidewalk.

While we were at the lighthouse, the Car Ferry went past.  It shuttles passengers (and their cars) from Wisconsin to Michigan and back again.  Cecily thought it was cool until it sounded its horns... it didn't help that she was running a low fever and was full of Tylenol and extremely emotionally fragile.  It was a big boat! 

 Lake Hamlin is a fishing and boating lake just over the dunes from Lake Michigan.  So there was boating and fishing (Bob caught three!) by the cabins and a lovely beach a short drive away in a great state park.  Cecily spent an afternoon on Uncle Ron's boat fishing.  They said she did good, and when I asked her if she caught anything she said- "I caught TWO worms!"  hehe.
The water was too cold for Cecily.  Matt and Bob are visible in the background building a sand Bag End. 

 Emmy and William played in the little pool.  We took Emmy down to the water and she really liked the waves on her toes, but it was sooo cold we didn't let her spend too much time in the water.  *grin*

 Cecily and Cliff made a tent. 

 The resort had an old restaurant that we used for meals.  Grandma likes to feed us well.  One morning I had a pancake and some fruit on my plate and I was helping Cecily get her breakfast and wasn't paying attention... somehow she thought I needed three strips of bacon and a cinnamon roll too...  *grin*  The diet starts tomorrow.  Hehe.  
Emmy and William playing before the feature presentation.   

 Another snack...

 Cecily and I went for a short hike, a.k.a. walk, in Luddington State Park one day.
We went swimming in both lakes.  We being Emmy and I, both lakes were 'too cold' for the little miss. 
Abby and I took the jet ski out and screamed all around the lake.  Just like old times...  good times. 
One afternoon the girls and Mom and Lena and I were going to go get ice cream when a snake slithered onto our steps.  I shrieked. 

 It was icky.  Aaron disposed of it for us. We were all relieved. 

 Cecily was super excited when Jaci and Kebe and Shena showed up! 

 We rented a pontoon boat for G and G and Pearl (they aren't fans of the speed boat or the fishing boat- I'm pretty sure there is no way we could get them on a jet ski!).

 Dad took us on a tour of the lake.  Emmy was so bored she took a nap. 

I actually got to play a game of Rook this vacation!!  It was fantastic.  Nathan and I won, and we never actually got the bid.  So great.  I'm pretending that it was my years of experience and superior Rook skills all coming back to me.  Or something. 
 On our last evening, the girls and I went to the city park with Shelly.

 It was out on the sand which was fun.  Emmy is swinging in the background.

 Rolling down the dune.  They were both filthy and happy.  Emmy got a bath and loved it, Cecily refused because the tub had a crack and she freaked out about the drain in Shelly's shower.  Poor Aunt Shelly gave her a sponge bath.  *sigh*

So then we packed up for home.  *sigh*  I'm always sad when vacation is over.
The trip home was not quite as smooth.  Rita had bought the girls some new toys so that kept them occupied for a while, but then Emmy poured out half my water bottle onto herself and soaked her car seat so she was wet and grumpy.  Cecily whined to watch a movie barely an hour in, and we ate a late lunch so I was 'hangry'... But we made it safely and mostly sane.  And we can't wait for next year.
Blessings. 

Busy little Bee and the Great Flood of 2015

At least we hope it is the Great Flood of 2015, because I don't really want to do that again...

Little Bee officially started walking July 1st, but she really started walking more than scooting the week before vacation.  So now I come around the corner to sights like this:  trying to get daddy to open the cereal box she pilfered from the kitchen.

 I took the girls to the pool one morning.  Emmy loved the water.  Cecily is afraid of drains and spent most of the time out of the water. 

 Cecily wanted to water flowers (not that they need watering) and Emmy decided she wanted to play in it.

 She got very wet. 

 Walking seems to have sparked a whole new wave of busy-ness.  Woot.  She makes me tired.

 One brief instance when they were playing together nicely....

 She finished off the goldfish that I thought I had left out of reach.

 

Thursday night we got a lot of rain.  And a lovely thunderstorm.  We were downstairs with the girls for a while before we put them to bed.  And it rained and rained and rained.  And the sewer backed up because some genius thought it would be a good idea to tie the footing tiles from the houses and the storm drains all into the city sewer system and it can't handle that much water at once.  Thankfully there is a check valve in our yard that keeps the sewer from backing up into our basement, however it does not keep ground water from filling the clay tile line....  so at some point in the night the drains exploded and the basement got wet.

I discovered it when I went downstairs with a basket of laundry... and my foot hit wet carpet.  Aaaaaahh.  I was planning on spending the day packing for vacation.  Instead I got to clean up a wet basement.  woot.  Poor Bob got a slightly tearful phone call and came home from work early (thankfully he could do some work remotely), Emmy took a surprise super long nap, my Mom came to keep the girls out of the way, and Sharon loaned us their super wet/dry vac.  Once I got over the initial shock, it really wasn't horrible.  We had puddles, but not inches of standing water, and wet carpet.  Once we carried out all the sopping wet cardboard boxes I was hoarding it was just a matter of mopping the concrete floors and vacuuming the carpet. 

Most of our 'stuff' was off the floor or in plastic tubs.  I had a trunk that I thought was plastic... it's plastic coated plywood that was not water tight.  It had some sentimental treasures and my scrapbooks in it and they all got wet.  Sad news.  I think most of it is salvageable though. 

There were some Legos left on the floor the night before that I found by the drain in the other room...  they floated there.  So weird.  We got done with clean up by supper time and had lots of fans and a new dehumidifier going full blast on the carpet.  I'm so glad it happened Thursday and not Friday.

Then we got to start packing for Wyss vacation. And Emmy decided she wasn't tired since she slept half the afternoon.  So she would undo everything I had just packed.... and she didn't go to sleep until 1 am.  We did not get an early start in the morning. 
Blessings.