A tough week

As I mentioned in my last post I boarded a plane to Green Bay on Sunday night. I had a presentation in Green Bay on Monday and some appointments in the UP of Michigan Monday afternoon and Tuesday, which would bring me home by 7pm on Tuesday night.

All went really well with the presentation on Monday--it went better than I thought. That's about when the fun ended. I got a text from Luke asking me to call him......I knew that wasn't good news. Nora had been sent home with a fever! :( Poor baby girl. Thankfully Luke was working from home and could get her and get her in to the Dr. It was just  virus--no ear infection and everything else sounded/looked good. She just needed some rest/TLC and time at home. I felt so bad I couldn't be there for her.

My mom came up on Tuesday to spend the day with her, as she still wasn't 100% and she couldn't go back to daycare until Wednesday and Luke had an appointment that day. She didn't want to rock with my mom and so she took her blankie and curled up on the landing of her stairs and took a nap there! My mom took this picture and sent it to me.....of course it had me in tears! I knew she was ok, but I felt so bad I couldn't be there for her.

My partner, Alli, and I traveled through Menonomee, MI, Escanaba, Munising and we stayed in Marquette, MI. It was a beautiful trip and it reminded me much of the N Shore of MN on Lake Superior. It was fun to be on Lake Superior in a different spot. Our favorite place was Munising--there was a really neat park with cliffs and then some falls, so we stopped and hiked up (in our suits and heels) to the falls. 

When I got home Tuesday night I would have never have known she had a fever or wasn't feeling well. Both kids were running around, full of energy and it was so good to be home!

Of course this makes me so guilty.....while my baby girl is sick I'm out enjoying these falls. :( I would have much rather been with her!!

I got home Tuesday at 7pm and Luke left Wednesday morning at 4:30am--2 ships passing in the night..all month long! :(  I was working from home and got a call around noon that now Bishop has the fever. I'm so glad I could be home to be with him. I picked him up and he took it easy all afternoon--naps/movies/etc. He was feeling better by Wednesday night and since Luke was gone I took the kids down to the bandshell for ice cream and a trolley ride. 

Waiting for the trolley

Riding the trolley!

Checking out the sites

It was a very fun night with the kids and Bishop seemed to be feeling much better. Bedtime went well and I was hoping for a good night of sleep.......

At midnight I heard Bishop trying to get out of his room--he was shaking his door--so I ran over to find out he was about to get sick! :( Poor guy got sick, but he made it to the toilet (that helped A LOT)! I felt so bad--he was scared and didn't feel good....and of course Nora woke up so she was screaming. I took care of B, got him situated and then went to Nora. Bishop and Nora are VERY close and they both care and worry about each other so very much.  It is very sweet. Nora did not like it that Bishop was sick and she did not want to be in her crib by herself, especially after learning that Bishop would be sleeping in my bed with me for the rest of the night. Needless to say--we were all up for a few hours in the middle of the night and we all slept in my bed together.....and both kids were awake earlier than normal the next morning. I figure he got sick from the ibuprofen I gave him before bed on an empty tummy. :( Guilty feeling mom--I learned my lesson the hard way! Sorry, bud!

Since Bishop hadn't been fever free for 24 hours, he was going to stay home with me on Thursday too. I had some work to do, but figured it would be ok, as Bishop can be entertained with some movies/tv or other things while I worked. Well.....by 9:15 I had received 2 calls from daycare that Nora had bit 2 friends in her class. I honestly wasn't that surprised as I knew she'd be super tired and she knew Bishop would be home with me and she wouldn't like that. I was in tears when I picked her up--I felt so bad for her friends--one friend (her best friend) she bit in the face and broke the skin. I felt bad for him, for Nora for not feeling good/sleeping well, etc and for myself a little as I was super tired/emotional and overwhelmed. Well........the worst was behind us and I had a great time with the kids the rest of the day. I made them their own water day, as I was on a conference call for work--we played had lunch and they both took really long naps (they obviously needed them)!

The kids loved the trolley ride they asked to go again--2 nights in a row! FUN!

The good news is--they are both back at daycare today and Grandpa and Grandma will be picking them up and bringing them to Cold Spring so Luke and I can go to a concert at the State Fair tonight! Woo Hoo! :) We need a night out after a week like this (although I do miss the kids already)! :(

Saturday morning with the Bormann's and an afternoon swim at the lake!

The past couple of weeks (well, the month of August, really) have been tough for Luke and I with our work schedules and being gone. I'd be gone a night and then as soon as I got home Luke would be gone a night or two. We knew going into August that it'd be a tough month--and I'm excited to see the month come to an end! :) Whew-we made it and I'll blog more about how the month ended with a rocky/tough week, but we made it!! :)

Last Friday night (8/23) Luke went golfing with some of his HS buddies in Cold Spring. I had the kids that night and we had a fun Friday night at home. Saturday morning was a ton of fun! We met the Bormann's at a park in Maple Grove and played with them, and the kids had a blast together! After playing at the park we went to Potbelly's for lunch and then played at the water fountain! The fun ended pretty abruptly when I noticed Bishop had stubbed his toe (due to not wearing shoes) and it was bleeding and was cut up pretty bad. It obviously didn't hurt him when it happened, but the minute he saw it he needed a bandaid and he was crying for a bandaid. Thankgoodness Auntie Shelly is so prepared--she had bandaids in her car! Thanks Auntie--you saved me from a long, loud car ride home! :)  There was a girl at the park that was a little older than the kids (probably 6 or 7) and she took Bishop, Madelyn and Nora under her wing and was the "teacher"-she was pretty strict about her rules, but the kids followed them and they had fun making trains going down the slide and playing different "games". It was cute--Shelly and I just wished our kids listened that well to us! Ha! :)

Thanks, Bormann's for a fun morning together!! We love you guys so much!

My sweet nephew Jack! He's always smiling!

Playing with Auntie is so fun!

Eating some snacks after playing hard at the park!

These two are so sweet!!

Playing at the fountain!

Walking back to the car

Luke got home shortly after we did and since it was so hot we walked down to the beach to play in the water! It was the perfect day to do that since it was so hot!

Nora loved playing in the sand, while Bishop couldn't get enough of the water. We were all happy!!

It was our first trip to the Lake Harriet beach this year--and it was a good one!

On Sunday we walked to the bandshell for breakfast--we stopped by the Farmer's Market on our way home and then we made a special trip to REI to get a new bike for Bishop. The bike with pedals we had bought him was too big for him and it was hard for him to bike without the training wheels....and he's learned that it's easier to pedal --and his pedal-less bike is now a lot of work...so we got him a smaller bike with pedals. He did awesome! He was balancing and riding it without any help! He was pretty excited! We need to get him on it more often so he's more comfortable, but I think he'll be just fine! It's so fun for him!

I had to fly to Green Bay on Sunday night and I was so sad to leave on a Sunday. I don't ever like to leave the kids, but leaving on Sundays are the worst!! It was a fun weekend and I couldn't wait to get back home to my kids!

Play date with Henry Kruger/Bike ride to SeSalt and a Block Party!

A couple of weekends ago we were home with no plans--that hasn't happened much at all this summer, so we took advantage of the time to get some things done around the house and then we rewarded ourselves with some time to play!

Saturday afternoon Bishop met his best friend from school, Henry Kruger, at Linden Hills park for a play date. These two are 2 peas in a pod. Bishop is ALWAYS talking about Henry Kruger (there are 2 Henry's in his class, so they each go by their full names) and so it was really fun for them to swim a little together and play at the park together!

Henry Kruger and Bishop climbing up the slides

Sunday we started the day with a walk to the Farmer's Market.  We then took a family bike ride to Minnehaha falls for lunch at SeSalt and a ride on one of their 4 person bikes. Bishop really wanted to take one out for a spin and so we obliged. It was a lot of work pedaling that heavy bike with 4 people!! The kids loved it and it was fun to see parts of the park we hadn't seen before!

After that we biked to the Linden Hills Block Party (hosted by Tilia).  It was a hot day.....but the kids loved it! There was a bouncy house that Bishop loved. It was a little too much for Nora, as there were big kids in the bouncy house and so she enjoyed watching!  There were tons of kids activities, including a balloon artist. We waited in line for a LONG time (probably a 1/2 hour) for Bishop's fishing pole balloon-he loved it!  We had to hurry home from there so we could get ready for our FF family draft!

Whew! It was a fun weekend...but Sunday night was kind of tough--the kids napped in the Chariot on the bike, which meant they didn't get as long or as regular of naps and then Luke and I needed to draft our FF teams and the kids were all wound up that night--it added some stress, but we all survived!

SCFF 2013

Luke was gone this week, so I took the kids down to the Steel County Free Fair on Wednesday night after work. I love the fair and since we were just down there last weekend and the traffic and construction was terrible we decided we'd be staying home this weekend, so I'm glad I could get to the fair, if even for a couple of hours!

The kids had a blast! They were especially excited to see all the animals! They loved the petting zoos (there was a camel, giraffe, monkey and may other animals as well). Bishop wasn't quite as brave to feed them this year--he wanted me to do it! We walked through the pig barn, the cow barn, the horse barn and the goat barn. Bishop was also THRILLED to play on the big John Deer Tractors. There was a very nice man who even unlocked the tractors so he could sit in the really big ones--he was in heaven! I wasn't able to get as many pictures as I would have liked since it was just my mom and the kids and I....and I wanted to make sure none of us was kicked by a cow! :)

Nana and Nora petting the camel

Driving the four wheeler!

The only way he can reach the pedals!

Climbing up to the big tractor

Driving the big tractor

 After visiting the animals and tractors we had something to eat. We had deep fried pickles, a corn dog, we shared some cindy nachos and mini donuts with my mom and the kids got cotton candy!! It sounds like a lot of food, but I could have eaten more! :)

The kids enjoying their cotton candy!

Nora and Nana sharing mini donuts!

 Bishop got to choose one "toy" and he got a blow up Spiderman! He was super excited and he met a new friend (who also lives in Mpls) who had a spiderman like his and they played together! It was quite exciting for awhile!

I had wanted to take Bishop on some rides, but he said he'd rather stop by to see my dad at work (he was working at the funeral home) and he REALLY wanted to go to nana and papa's house to play with their toys. So we took off, stopped to see papa, played at nana and papa's house and papa was home before we left--so everyone was very excited! :) It was a great night and I'm so glad we were able to spend some time at the fair this year!

90th Birthday and 68th Wedding Anniversary!

On Sunday we celebrated my Grandpa Arnie's 90th birthday and the 68th wedding anniversary of my Grandpa Arnie and Grandma Marlys!

The open house was held at Trinity Lutheran church in Owatonna--it has been remodeled and is beautiful! It was a very special day with 100 or so friends and family who came to celebrate! Thanks to all who came, I know it meant a lot to my grandparents!

My grandma has dementia and has a hard time remembering our kids, but she rattled off her friends and relatives names as they came through to wish her congratulations--it was neat to see her enjoying seeing so many people!

After the open house my grandpa got emotional....saying "I didn't know I had that many friends". He was really touched, so thanks again to everyone.

My mom did an amazing job of putting everything together for the event. Being an only child has it's advantages and disadvantages and she had everything covered.  I know she had a lot of help from my dad too! :) Shelly and I tried to help as much as we could, but chasing 4 little ones around sometimes requires it's own attention! A huge thank you to Luke and Ryan for doing the majority of the chasing and playing with the kids!

Nora Sunde with her Great Grandma!

Birthday High Fives for Great Grandpa!

A birthday hug for Great Grandpa!

Nora and Daddy exploring the church!

Kenny and Emily came--it was a great surprise for all (especially Madelyn)! :)

All the cousins--I think all but 5 were able to make it!

Our family!

My mom and her parents!

The Olson's

Nana and Madelyn

Madelyn and Nora playing in the nursery

90 years is really something to celebrate and 68 years of marriage is something to be very proud of!