"We Spent a Week There One Day"

That best sums up our time in Lake Placid, NY. We did and saw as much as we possibly could in the 31 hours we were there....sleep only accounting for 8 of those hours! My parents also survived...very important. They, along with the help of Duane, Vineta, Bill, and Kenny, kept the kids very busy and very happy. The wedding was amazing, the views spectacular, and I'm so very glad that we made the trip. Something I will remember forever!

Our first leg of the trip. Ready to have some fun!

View from my window on the connecting flight to Albany. I really hate flying..makes me very nervous.
This is the view from our room balcony at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. It overlooks Mirror Lake in downtown Lake Placid. Couldn't have been more beautiful.
This is the street below our hotel. Lots of shops and restaurants all within walking distance of our hotel.

"Do you believe in miracles?!" Scott standing in front of the entry doors to the ice rink...home of the 1980 Olympic hockey games. (US won gold!) Also, the rink where the movie Miracle (starring Kurt Russell) was filmed.

The rink where US beat USSR in the semi-final game. We actually got lost in the building trying to find the tour and ended up taking our own tour...for free!

Josh breaking the rules in the Olympic museum

Scott playing goalie in front of the official goal used during the 1980 Olympics

This is the US ski jumping training facility. They literally land in the water with their skis on...the one sport I hope my kids never want to try!!

This ski jump is used during the summer as training and during the winter they host different championships. We rode the ski lift to the top and then a glass elevator to the very top of the ski jump.
Josh on the lift behind us. Very scary without snow under us!
Naturally, I won gold :)

My history teacher husband insisted on visiting John Brown's grave site. He was famous for leading the raid on Harper's Ferry. "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" was written about John Brown.
This is a view from our table at a pub on Mirror Lake. The lake was pretty big and freezes solid during the winter.

Catherine's wedding was at 4:00 in the afternoon on Saturday. It was outside overlooking a golf course and the mountains. The most amazing background ever! Every detail of the wedding was perfect....I'm so glad we were able to make it!

This is the ski jump we rode to the top of earlier in the day...yikes!

Uncle Mike walking Cat down the aisle.

Mike, Jenny, Elaine, Bau Bau, Fran, me, Scott, and Josh during cocktail party before reception.

We had a great time at the reception.

Joe and Cat are very "out-doorsy"....the cake topper adirondack chairs were very appropriate!!

No wedding is ever complete without one of these!!

Our Sunday morning flight was delayed by 90 minutes, causing us to miss our connecting flight (by 2 minutes). We were able to catch a different flight but had to spend 3.5 hours in the airport. This is how Scott spent those hours! We were both exhausted!!

Happy Birthday & Anniversary!!

Today is my mom's birthday and my parents 43rd wedding anniversary. That's right 4-3 years. That's a long time...and for my mom...a rrreeeaaallllyyyyy long time. Ha! Just kidding dad. They celebrated with dinner and a trip to the casino, but didn't come home zillionaires. Bummer..I was counting on NY shopping money, oh well. We're not really celebrating for a few weeks, but Scott and I thought we'd give her a present early...so, we're leaving town and letting her watch our children for the weekend. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! The gift that keeps on giving...........SEE YA SUNDAY :)

Leavin' On A Jet Plane.....

Scott and I are headin' out to Lake Placid NY for the weekend. WOOHOO! Can't believe it's here..our big trip. Well, not really big trip...less than 48 hours. However, it is the very first time we've left our kids overnight. We will be attending his cousins wedding on Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Resort. Fancy, I know. Destination weddings rock!! And even though I was hoping for Hawaii or Paris....I've heard nothing but great things about Lake Placid and can't wait to spend every minute on Saturday sightseeing before the wedding. We land in Albany tomorrow evening and then will rent a car for the 2 hr. trip to the hotel. Scott's family left today and his brother has already called to meet him at a pub for dinner when we get in...fun!! Tonight when the boys were in our bed whining about how much they'll miss us (load of crap I tell you)...I told them I can't wait to lay in a huge bed that I don't have to make in the morning, with my very own remote control, watch tv shows where all of the actors are over the age of 14, read a book with no pictures, and I finally won't have to take my morning shower while Ben is sitting on the vanity practicing his spelling words....let's hope this isn't too good to be true :) I only ask for one mostly perfect weekend. And even though Scott and I will miss the kids terribly, and mention (a few thousand times) that we wish they were with us to see all of the fun things, I am really looking forward to spending some quality time with Mr. Smallie...of course he's got his IPOD- touch all ready and I have my stack of books and magazines, but at least we'll be together!

Good luck mom and dad with these crazy kids...

A LABORsome Weekend

Last weekend of summer..boo hoo. Busy, busy, busy. Carter was scheduled to be in a soccer tournament this weekend in St. Charles, but it was canceled due to rain. Yay! However, we found plenty to do to keep us busy and the weekend passed way too fast. Here's a rundown and plenty of pictures :)

Friday Night Football!

Highschool football game. We always sit with the teachers/coaches near the end zone and our kids love to play on the high jump mat and in the batting cages. (my camera stinks at taking pictures at night...ok, it's probably my fault, but whatev)

Bennett loves hanging out with his friends at the game.

Cate bouncing on the mat like it was her trampoline

Renovations were made....

Scott gutted the master bathroom....(stay tuned for future post on this project)

Cate took her baby for lots of walks in her backpack

The boys were invited to a dodgeball birthday party on Sunday. They had a blast!!

When Cate started to get tired, she grabbed her changing mat out of the diaper bag and took a catnap...she was so good the entire party. If you notice in the picture, Brady is hunkered against the wall with the other kids while the adults threw dodgeballs at them. The men were very competitive and our kids didn't stand a chance!!! Luckily, the balls were very soft!

Monday morning, we watched the Labor Day parade with cousin Reece

You can tell who has the ultimate sweet tooth. Scott was screaming at a few of his students to throw him "the good candy"

Shoving his defenseless children out of the way...HA!

Brady and Cate running for the candy

Got her hands full....
But decided it was easier to just sit and eat popcorn!

Lots of good stuff in there!

After the parade, we headed to Aunt Fran and Uncle Mike's for lunch. YUM!

Labor Day = last day for Paddlers..sniff sniff. We spent four hours there this afternoon. The water was cold, but the kids had so much fun playing one last time. Hunter, Bennett, and Brady being goofy in the baby pool!

Bennett spent a lot of time on the slide. The lifeguards even let them go down head-first, which he found to be "so much fun"

WWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

His favorite "twister" jump

After Cate's 3 hour afternoon nap :), I picked her up and brought her back to hang out at the pool. I didn't put her suit on because the water was so cold, but she jumped in anyway. So, off with the dress and she played in her diaper. She loves the water!

Brady's Daily Recap

Parenthood is exhausting. No doubt. And some children make it even more exhausting. I have one of those kids. His name is Brady. This kid can wear me out. I must have put his shoes on him eight times today...at least. Boots, soccer shoes, running shoes, baseball shoes...shoe changes all day long. And he loves to talk...Lord does this child love to talk.

Each day when I pick him up from school, I ask him to tell me about his day. Seems simple enough. For most kids. My mind is often reeling after his lengthy, detailed account of his school day... I'm surprised we even make it home. Let me explain.

Brady's classroom consists of 1st and 2nd year preschool kids...this year, he is the "big man on campus". Woo Hoo. He has two friends that he refers to in almost every conversation involving school. Drake and Blake (they rhyme). Drake's full name is Drake Parker. For those of you who aren't familiar with Nickelodeon, Drake Parker is a character on the hit show "Drake and Josh". Brady insists on pointing out (every friggin' time) that "his" Drake Parker is not "the" Drake Parker. He also insists on pointing out that his friends names rhyme. Drake and Blake. Another issue with "car conversations" with Brady is that he loves to play the games"yellow car" and "slug-bug". He and his brothers (and often dad) keep score of who spots the most yellow cars and slug-bugs (Volkswagen Beetles). So, throw all of this together and we end up with one very long, random, sentence...er, story... about his mere 2.5 hours at school. I'll give you an example of what I deal with on a daily basis....

Me: "How was school today?"

Brady: "Good"

Me: "What did you have for snack?"

Brady: "Pretzel sticks with cream cheese" (his very favorite~his teachers spoil him)

Me: "What was your favorite part of the day?" (I usually cringe when I ask this because I know what's coming)

Brady: (deep breath, it's gonna be a long one) "Well, first, me and Drake Parker, not the real one, played with the magnetic blocks, slug-bug, then Drake and Blake, that rhymes, sat next to each other during story time, yellow car, 1-0 me. Me and Drake Parker, not the real one, yellow car, 2-0 me, chased the girls during recess, slug-bug, and then me and Drake and Blake, that rhymes, dug for bugs in the outdoor garden. Drake and Blake, that rhymes, yellow car 3-0 me, used sticks to move the bugs into a bag, slug-bug. Drake Parker, not the real one, found the most, slug-bug. Me, and Drake and Blake, that rhymes, used a magnifying glass, slug-bug, to inspect the bugs. When we went inside, I sat with Drake and Blake, that rhymes, yellow car 4-0 me, during snack time. We had pretzels and cream cheese. Drake Parker, not the real one, slug-bug, doesn't like cream cheese, so he just ate pretzels. A police dog came to school and did tricks. Me and Drake and Blake, that rhymes, yellow car 5-0 me, sat up front so we could see the best. The dog, Jack, slug-bug, helps police officers find bad guys. Drake Parker, not the real one, hid a ball in the sandbox, slug-bug, and Jack the dog found it."

Me: "Um, we're home (holla-friggin-lou-ya). Don't forget your backpack"

Exhausting, I know. I honestly don't think Brady takes a single breath during his daily recap and he never skips a beat going back and forth from storytelling to game playing! He is a riot!

Twins?

Nope... just Brady and Cate enjoying an afternoon nap!