Great Summer

Summer is drawing to an end and we have had a great season with the kids. We didn't "do" a lot but it seems likes we were/are always busy! Some of the cool things... we spent time in Claflin at the all school reunion, we went to Illinois to see Grandma Marion and The Kehrt side of the family, we traveled to Iowa for the 4th and had a lot of fun on the lake, and there were several days by the pool and in the backyard.

This is not a posed picture. They are watching Mickey Mouse together...this pic will prove as visual documentation in 5 years that there was a time that they actually liked each other!

Emerson is doing very well. She loves to "read" and color. Those are really two of her favorite activities. Outside is always fun and she recently got a new soccer ball which is getting good use. She is still a string bean weighing in at appx 24 pounds and she stretched out a little this summer. But just like her mommy, don't let her size fool you-- she has a very strong personality and has no fear telling you her opinion. From what I am told her verbal skills are excellent and some of her comments will make you first wonder how the heck a 2.5 year old thinks that crap up and then second laugh your head off. She ADORES her little brother and remains his chief protector. We have initiated the potty training, but it is a slow process for her- we are in no hurry so it is coming along slowly but surely.

Our Summertime Princess!

Isaac is growing like crazy he has gone through 2 growth spurts this summer alone. He now has 3 teeth and hopefully 2 more will come through this week. His teeth have been giving him fits lately so we know they are hiding in there. Outside of teeth pain, I think we may have the most laid back kid in history. Now, I know I said that about Emerson, but she doesn't hold a candle to this kid...keep his bink in his mouth and his belly full and he is good to just let the world turn. He will quickly surpass his sister in size. Right now he is appx 17-18 pounds but is in the middle of that second growth spurt!

We didn't know that Accounting could be so funny!!!

Are you ready for some Football??

Great Concert, Great Weekend!

We get the excitement this summer of seeing all 3 of our favorite "Bands" this summer. Jimmy Buffet kicked off our summer. Kenny Chesney/Zac Brown Band was this weekend. It was a lot of fun!!! My parents drove down to watch the kids while Chad/Roxanne, Jill/Nick, and Mike/Angela all went to the concert. Bruce's brother Troy, his wife Robin, and daughter Abby also went with a group of their friends. It was more sun and beer than I needed to intake in one day but a great concert!!! Bruce is not a fan of country music but he even enjoyed watching Zac Brown Band. I am a big Kenny Chesney fan, but I am not sure who was the better band last night. Both were good!!! We didn't make it into the stadium in time to see Uncle Kracker. Billy Currington was good eye candy and performer! The Foo Fighters is in September. That is Emerson's favorite band so we haven't told her that we are going but she has to stay home yet...That may not go well :)

My brother Chad & I.

The Girls!

Proof that Bruce voluntarily attended a country concert (And he liked it)!!

Fun in the Sun

It's been a while since our last post. The summer is getting away from us. We spent the 4th of July in Iowa this year. It was a great time. We had good weather, good boating, and a lot of fun. Bruce somehow managed to get out of another parade. I will say he finds creative ways of "missing" parades!

Last weekend Bruce hosted Mike Wondra's Bachelor party at our house. The kids and I packed up and stayed at Uncle Mike's while all the guys were here. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Angela and Lucy (the dog) and the guys didn't destroy our house so a good time was had by all!

This weekend we vowed to PLAN nothing...whatever we do is on the fly this weekend. The next several weekends will be packed with activities so its rest and relaxation this weekend.

Bruce and the kiddos

We're getting excited for football season-- assuming there is one!

Emerson and Sophie Towns taking in the sun!

Taking a ride on Papa's new raft

Isaac enjoying the evening in his bumbo.

Family Vacation to Illinois

We took a family vacation this week to Bourbonnais, Illinois. All week Emerson was yelling "we are going to ILLINOIS!!!" We went to see my dad's side of the family and spend some time with my Grandma Marion. We got to Gram's on Thursday, met Mom and Dad, and spent some time with Grandma. Bruce and I then went into Chicago for a day to see the sites. It was COLD! We weren't anticipating the temp to be 54 degrees so we ended up doing some shopping on Michigan Ave for long sleeves! We went to one of Bruce's favorite restaurants - Gino's East for deep dish pizza. Having both been there before, we knew that the after meal walk would be slower and need to be longer because you are so full you don't want to move let alone walk! We did consider going to bed at 8:00pm for a full night of uninterrupted sleep with no child waking us up at 6:30am. BUT we decided to keep at it and froze some more by walking down to Navy Pier. Which had all of 7 people on it, but was only 2 blocks from our hotel. We walked and shopped a bit, which was fun. We had a beer a Harry Carey's and were still asleep by 10pm! (I know wild and crazy are we?!?) Friday we went to Shedd Aquarium before heading back to Gram's. I will say this. Omaha Zoo will give it a good (if not better) run for the $$ and I do remember Bruce saying at one point...."with all the kids here, I really hope that I like our own when I get home!"

Gram only lives about 1 hour from downtown Chicago so we were able to make it back and enjoy some time with Aunt Sandy and Uncle G at their place for dinner. Uncle Schnooks/G and Emerson got along REALLY well. I think we can mark off one more finger that she has a male family member wrapped around!!! We all had a great time playing with the kids and catching up. Its been a long time since I had been back there but it was fun so see the area and all that has and has not changed! Saturday, Bruce, Dad, and Uncle G golfed while Mom, the kids, and I went to the mall and restocked on University of Illinois, Chicago Bears , & Blackhawks gear. We did pretty good!! We let Gram rest for the morning and all got together that night at Anita & Tim's (my cousin) for Makenzie's high school graduation party. It was a really good time and I really enjoyed seeing a lot of people that I spent a lot time with as a child but haven't seen in so many years! Emerson found a friend in Autumn's daughter Lea and the two played and played. We do need to work on Em's hide and seek skills-- to say the least, she is a really good seeker....not a good hider! ;) We got to spend the evening catching up with Grandma Marion and family!

We had intentions of staying until Monday but decided to head all the way back to KC on Sunday. We stayed to see Grandma in the morning and then took off back to Kansas. It was a great time and I missed everyone so much. It was hard to leave but we won't wait so long to go back I promise!

Our Kehrt 4th Generation picture!!

Emerson & Gram smiling for Mommy (who can't put the camera down!)

Grandma Linda- your nose isn't as easy to grab as Papa Dick's is!!!

Dad & Uncle G (Uncle Schnooks)

Our little princess is ready to go to the Graduation party!

Claflin All-School Reunion

We headed back to Claflin over Memorial Day weekend to join the town in the All school class reunion. Claflin is consolidating with a couple other nearby towns to form a new district Called the Central Plans Oilers. They held a festival if you will over the holiday to celebrate school. It was a fun weekend full of fun, sun, and lot (and lots) of wind.

Most of Bruce's brothers and sister's were able to come back for the celebration. Scott and Arlene were late because Chelsea qualified for state in the triple jump and the 4x1 relay. CONGRATULATIONS Chelsea on your 3rd place finish in the triple jump!!!! The 4x1 placed 6th so they still scored points for the team!!!!

Sunday they held a parade which Bruce conveniently managed to "miss" because the golf tournement he was playing in "ran behind". Papa Leon led the parade in the military color guard.. Emerson like seeing him walk with the American flag! She thougth the parade was pretty cool EXCEPT for the big trucks and stock cars revving their engines. Isaac really didn't get into it either since it was 95 degrees we kept him in the stroller out of the sun. After the parade, we went swimming and walked around the games in the park. We ended the night with a street dance and beer garden. We were able to see a lot of our friends that we do and don't get to see a lot of. Isaac took a personal liking to Nicki Jeffrey! I think our little guy has a preference for brunettes!! He couldn't take his eyes off of her, he smiled, and flirted with her!!!

Sunday we attended a memorial in the cemetary for one of Bruce's relatives and a memorial day celebration. It was good that we went so we could see Grandma Ann at the memorial. On our way out of town we stopped in Lyons to see Grandma Florentine and have her meet Isaac. She had a fall a few weeks ago so she wasn't feeling herself that day but we hope her a speedy recovery and back to her usual self soon!!!

We don't have any pictures because I forgot the camera and haven't moved the pics from my phone yet. Hopefully next time!!!

Quiet Mom's Day & Happy Birthday Bruce!

We had a pretty quiet Mother's day this year. Mainly because the week before was more excitement than we really needed.

You see, for the last year and a half, I have been doing allergy shots to help me build an immunity to all that I am allergic to (which is just about everything outside). I have been on allergy medication since I was a child. It takes 3 shots for me since I am so allergic. So every week I trounce off to the allergist's office, let them stick me in the arm 3 times, wait 20 minutes and trounce off back to work. Tuesday the 3rd was anything but normal. Shortly after my shots were administered, I have an allergic reaction to them which sent me into Anaphlyactic shock. I had excellent medical providers in the office that provided immediate attention. 3 epi-pens, a LOT of prednisone and Benedryl, and an ambulance ride later I was stable in the ER where they were able to keep it all under control. I was kept in the ICU overnight for monitoring as there is generally a 2nd reaction that follows 4-8 hours after the initial reaction. There is a good reason that they don't allow you to self administer these shots. My reaction occured so fast that I would not have had enough time to call 911 or enough epi-pens to save myself had I been alone. It was very scary and I can't thank my medical providers enough for their quick response and care. I am back to doing the shots because they have literally changed my life for the better. My treatment plan has changed however, to avoid another occurance and my face from looking like an over inflate beach ball! (Insert the visual of Will Smith in the movie Hitch after he eats the shell fish here!!)

The rest of the week was really spent trying to recover and regain my strength. Coming off the prednisone was not easy. For this reason, Bruce's birthday was a bust. Luckily we had Uncle Mike and Aunt Angela to come to the rescue! Angela made Bruce dinner and brownies and Mike brought him beer! We did make up for it a little by going to a Brazilian steakhouse last night for date night.

Mother's day was spent hanging out with the kids and a walk in the Country Club Plaza because the weather was amazing! I have two wonderful children and a saint for a husband!!! We also wouldn't be where we are without the love and support of our own Mother's and Grandmothers!

This kid is RARELY in a bad mood! He's awesome!

She is a caring, happy, playful little Bugaboo or Hotrod!!

Our sweet little Angels

Fin Land 2010!

This weekend was adults only weekend! Bruce and I and a large group of friends went to the Jimmy Buffet concert. He finally came back to KC so we didn't have the long drive to and from Dallas this year!

For those of you that don't know, Bruce is a parrothead. Has been since long before I met him and now I am a parrothead by marriage. We have devoted our basement, the name of this blog, and a lot of money to supporting JB's retirement (as if he needs our help)! And times like this weekend make it all worth it. This is by far the best party I have ever been too. That guy has an amazing talent of marketing fun!

Saturday morning was spent getting the house ready for a group of friends to come over for the pre-party festivities...yep, we had a party before the party! Once our very cool and ever so awesome babysitter got there, we made our way down to power and light district to get into the mood with thousands of our closest parrothead friends. We had a great time. Of course Jimmy was amazing as usual and he sang a lot of our favorite songs! It was a beautiful afternoon! I mention our very amazing babysitter because mid-party Bruce asked her if she would stay all night, she agreed. Sunday morning Bruce and I were in no mood to get up at 6:00 so she got up fed the kids and stayed until 8:00 am! No, I won't share her!!!