"We'll All Go"

I always tease Scott that when he dies, I am going to have "We'll All Go" engraved on his headstone. It's his motto. He says it everyday at least once. Example...

Me: "I have to run to the store"

Scott: "We'll all go"

And we all load up and go. To the store. To the gas station. To the bank. You get the picture...we all go. Everywhere. Together. He's the epitome of "family man". In fact this summer, he has only put 62 miles on his truck. Cause, well, "we all go"...in my car. I'm not complaining, I've seen plenty of dads/husbands who don't share his obsession love of family and I realize how lucky we are to have him. Anyway, yesterday we had a "conversation" that I found very amusing...this was sooooo Scott Smallie and I just had to share it.

Setting the scene: Scott is laying on the couch and I am in leather chair thumbing through a catalog

Scott: I think this fall, we should go to the lake for a weekend. Just me and you and stay in a private cabin somewhere....we could early Christmas shop, go to the movies, out to eat at restaurants... ones without kids menus and food in paper bags.

Me: Um hmmm, sounds nice

(Three minutes pass)

Scott: Well, actually, we could probably just leave Saturday morning and come home early Sunday so we're not gone too long

Me: Uh huh (rolling my eyes)

(One minute passes)

Scott: I guess we can bring Cate with us but we'll have to stay in a resort that has an indoor pool and maybe water park. You could go shopping on Saturday while Cate and I hang out in the waterpark..then we could go out for pizza that night.

Me: hhmmmmm (waiting for the bomb to drop)

(four minutes pass but he's not going to let me down)

*Cue Beethovens 5th Symphony* dun dun dun dun

Scott: Actually, the boys would love the lake too. And we (as in he not me) would hate to leave them behind. We could leave after school on a Friday, and come home Sunday. Rent a condo on the lake so we could fish all day (goodbye dreams of shopping), then go out to eat (goodbye dreams of "elegant lake-side dining") and ride go-carts/mini golf all night (goodbye dreams of a no-kids, no fighting, peaceful weekend).

Me: *deep sigh*

Scott: Great it's all decided (say it with me)* WE'LL ALL GO *

Two weeks ago...our first night out without the kids since September. I'm desperate for an invitation to a destination wedding where kids aren't invited!!

Bradyism

Last night when Brady got home from his baseball practice, he was exhausted. After moaning about it for twenty minutes, I finally told him "then go to bed" to which he replied..."I can't go to bed because the second my head hits the pillow, I fall asleep, and then I'll miss whatevers going on around here!" This is so Brady :)

Kansas City Soccer Trip

The boys favorite professional soccer team is Manchester United, and after World Cup this summer, they scheduled a US tour, playing exhibition games across the country. Carter's soccer team was able to score (no pun intended) great tickets to the game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. We ordered four tickets, assuming Scott and the boys would go. Because KC is only 3.5 hours away, we decided to just make it a one day trip. Our plans were for them to leave around noon...but at 11:00 that morning, Brady decided he didn't want to go. "Too far and won't be fun". Scott's parents offered to keep Cate and Brady half the day and drop them off to my parents around dinner....so me and Scott, Bennett and Carter headed to KC for a wild 12 hours!

The best of friends in front of Arrowhead Stadium. Hunter, Bennett, Zack, Carter & Logan

Our seats were 10 rows off the field!

54,000 came out to cheer on their favorite teams!

GGGOOOOAAAALLLL! KC Wizards won 2-1

Kansas City has the neatest set-up...Chiefs football stadium directly next to the...

Royals baseball stadium. Very cool :)

Packed parking lot. $25 a car! Thankfully, Crista and Kathy stayed the night at a hotel across the street and we were able to park there for FREE!

Of course, our car got hit in the parking lot. When we walked up to the car after the game, a man and his daughter pulled up and said they saw our car get hit. A woman was driving through the lot in an Expedition while talking on her cell phone and ran right into our car. Luckily, she only broke off our license plate and marked up the bumper. Could have been so much worse!

Stitches Be-Gone

Brady's stitches were supposed to fall out within five days...well, it's been almost 14 and they're still there. So, today I decided to cut them out myself. I used a tiny set of sewing scissors and a pair of tweezers. Snip, pull, snip, pull, snip, pull, and abracadabra, good as new :) We celebrated by having his head shaved. Finally. It was so gross. Green hair all over the floor. He looks like a new man. One that is ready to start kindergarten!

After the haircut, we took a trip to the library for Brady to get his very own library card. He was so excited!

All-Star Game

Friday night was an All-Star kinda night. Kyan, Kadin, and Bennett were chosen to represent Team Illini in our league All-Star Game. And they did awesome! I think we went 7 for 8 in batting and Kyan scored the game winning run. Woohoo!! Need I mention that it was hot? I can't even describe how truly hot it was. Still like 104 degrees at 6pm...no breeze, no nothing. We baked. But we love our baseball boys and wouldn't have missed it for anything!

Kyan, Kadin, and Bennett

Warming up before the game

Who doesn't enjoy a bag of sunflower seeds during a baseball game?! And look at those bracelets...fancy

Brady sporting the rally cap for the last inning.

Perhaps he is giving me this look because I snuck through the other teams dugout and went onto the field to get a closer shot of him. I know, I know....I broke his "no girls on the baseball field" rule. Shame on me.

He recovered and was happy to display his game medal

Three All-Stars! (Bennett's sweaty hat will be getting a bath before the next game)

Five teams that represented our All-Star team....and we won the game 21-20!!!! Way to go boys!

Friday Fun

My Tues/Wed wild women are out of town this week (good luck to Adie and Mike who are traveling with children for the first time!). This is the very first time since I started babysitting in October 2008 that we haven't had them with us....well, except for one day over Christmas break when I had the flu. Anyway, Cate is going to miss her friends!

Grace and Gabby turned 2 last week...Happy Birthday Girls!!!

Friday morning, we took the kids, minus Carter, plus Keaton & Nic to Splash City Waterpark.

Poor Brady isn't tall enough to ride the big waterslides or surf...he had to watch from the grass :(

Did I mention it was scorching hot? Heat index of 106...

Bennett did great on the surf thingy!

Nic, Bennett, & Keaton
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On Saturday, my nephew, Jon, competed in the SWISA dive meet. He's a really great diver...I captured this picture of him at a meet last week. I think he was doing his double..or inward double, or something with lots of flips :) 2nd place finish to a 1st rate diver. Well Done Jon!!!

Pool Party

Every summer, we (me and Crista) rent the park pool to celebrate Carter and Logan's birthdays. This year, we celebrated the big 1-3!! It was a perfect night for a pool party...miserably hot and humid. Over 100 people came and everyone had a great time!

Bennett and his Illini baseball team