Happy Birthday, Anna!

Miss Anna turned 10 on Tuesday, June 27.  What a decade it has been!  Anna continues to be a thoughtful, caring kid who is capable of so much.  We love having this girl in our family :)

Tuesday was a wonderful day to enjoy the summertime Wisconsin weather and schedule.

The kids were all up early and Anna ended up opening her cards and gifts in bed since Matt was planning on biking in to work that day.  She has been looking for her 10s throughout the week; we tend to hide them more effectively as the kids get older.

Everyone was excited to give their gifts; Ethan had even done an extra picture for Anna the previous day.

Summer school went smoothly that day and we stopped by the library to claim the next set of prizes for the summer reading program.  After an hour or so of free time at home, the kids and I decided to brave the pool for the first time this year.  It was mighty chilly when we first got in (only about 80 degrees in the water), but as our bodies adjusted it was about 10 degrees warmer in the pool than out, so we were able to stay in the water for close to an hour!

Dinner was enjoyed out on the picnic table, along with dessert.  Yum!

The evening ended with the kids playing merrily on the swings with one another.  It was a day well spent for this kid and her family.

I posted a video to my Facebook page that day of Anna walking at the parallel bars.  Here's a link for those of you who aren't connected with us that way.  (Actually, reading this blog is a much better way to keep up with our family :)

Prayers for Anna

Please give thanks that Anna has made it to her 10th birthday.
Please thank God that Anna continues to make progress with all of her skills on a daily basis.
Please give thanks for Anna's faith, kindness, joy, patience, and determination.
Please thank God for the village (or perhaps the city?) that is helping to raise Anna and bring her to her highest potential.

Please ask God to continue to bless Anna each day of her life.
Please pray that God protects Anna's mind, body, and spirit.
Please pray that Anna continues to impact those around her in a positive way.
Please ask God to grant Matt and I wisdom as we continue to be Anna's parents, through good times and bad. 

Visit from the Sr. Mischnicks

Matt's parents came out for a visit this past weekend as part of their adventurous trip through the midwest this summer.  What a wonderful visit we had!

Mark and Marge had planned on camping at a nearby state park, but ended up in our basement the first night (Thursday) due to the heavy rains and nasty weather that night around the area.  Having them stay here that night allowed Matt and me to stay up way too late visiting and catching up with them :)

Friday afternoon we spent at the state park, both at their campsite and at one of the playgrounds.

Unfortunately it was a little too cold to enjoy the beach, but the smiles on everyone's faces show how we were able to make some good memories that day.

Dinner on Friday was cooked over the campfire, complete with s'mores for dessert.  Matt and I decided that it was a pretty good deal for us to be able to enjoy much of a camping experience, but still be able to go home and sleep in our own beds at night :)

Saturday the Sr. Mischnicks joined us at our home for lunch along with goofing off inside and out.

Then we loaded up our van and their truck with bikes so we could go for a bike ride on a nearby trail.

 
Matt, Kate, and Ethan set a much faster pace than the rest of us could handle, so I didn't get any pictures of the three of them.  But, running/jogging/walking alongside Anna allowed me to get some nice photos of Anna and her grandparents on a beautiful WI day.

We enjoyed an easy dinner at our home and then everyone crashed early that night; I guess that's what plenty of fresh air and exercise does to us all.

Sunday morning we met Mark and Marge at our church for worship before we joined them at their campsite for another afternoon and evening.  Surprisingly, (well, not really) Kate and Ethan could not be contained very easily in one campsite.  They were sent across the road to an empty site more than once before we walked down to another playground to burn off a bit more energy before dinner.

Seriously, where do Kate and Ethan get so much energy?!?!

Love this picture of two of my favorite people :)

We had one more dinner amidst a few sprinkles before relaxing and chatting around the fire.  The camping experience was enjoyed by all and the memories made will be cherished by everyone as well.

Another week of summer!

Please nobody remind me that we are already finished with three weeks of summer.  This summer is going too fast already.

Last week's highlights include:

Crazy weather!  We went from hot and humid to cool and wet then back to hot and humid before returning to cool and wet again.  Although the pool was set up last weekend (hooray!), the temperature in there hasn't gotten above 75 degrees yet and it's been too cool/cold to go swimming!  But it's only June, so I'm counting on some warmer and sunnier days to come.

Garden veggies!  We picked some of our first broccoli and peapods at the beginning of the week, and then had our first cucumber, zucchini, and raspberries by the end of the week.  Yummy!

Strawberries!  Kate, my mom, and I were unable to pick strawberries last Saturday due to the weather, but ... the girls and I went on Sunday after church to pick about 20 lbs.  We made another batch of jam and then froze most of the rest.  Ethan and I stopped by another pick-your-own place one morning so I could check out their set-up and pick a meager 5 lbs. with an uncooperative four year old.  But I was also able to make a solo trip back to our favorite farm on Saturday morning to round out our stash of these delicious berries.

Father's Day!  We celebrated Matt's role in our family on Sunday with tasty food and relaxing playtime.

Summer school!  Our district is still able to have an awesome summer school program which includes loads of interesting elective classes.  This year I got wise and signed the girls up for two classes each at the same time in the same building, and they don't start until 9:40 a.m.  So we get up leisurely, have breakfast, and get ready before both girls do 30-45 minutes of "school time" at home.  Then Ethan and I drop the girls off for their Awesome Artists class (which they wanted to and were able to take together).  From there, Anna goes to a Book Creator class while Kate makes her way to Tae Kwon Do.  For these mornings at school, Anna has been using her walker and only having a helper check in with her once or twice; otherwise she is independent.  Go Anna!  Both girls are enjoying themselves and Ethan tells me multiple times on Summer School mornings that "I miss my sisters."

Playdates for Ethan!  After a few straight weeks of playing with the sisters, Ethan had the chance to get together with a few of his own friends.  A Wednesday morning playdate with his Little Gym buddy went well, as did a Wednesday evening visit from a neighborhood friend.  Then he went over to the neighbor's house on Friday morning, too.  We remind ourselves that it's good for him to have time to play with fellow boys, in addition to playing with his sisters :)

Eyes!  Anna had another follow-up visit with her ophthalmologist on Thursday afternoon.  Get this, her double vision is completely gone!  How awesome is that?!  Her vision is still not quite "normal" because of her nystagmus (shaky eyes related to general cerebellum issues) and cataracts, but at least this part has been fixed.  As her doctor said, I guess we have that nasty chalazion to thank, because without it she wouldn't have been up for an OR visit with him at all.

And finally ... 15 years!  Matt and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary on June 22.  Oh my, how the time has flown by.

Back home

Since we arrived home on Thursday, June 9, we had Friday to catch our breaths (and have Matt put in a day of work) before a weekend and our first "real" week of summer.

We also tried to set up the pool on Friday, since the weather was predicted to be hot and humid after our cool, rainy May.  But ... things didn't go quite as planned.

Last fall we retired our second hand pool since after giving us a good six seasons, the supports were starting to rust.  We picked up another used one last fall at a decent price, but when we tried to set it up on Friday, the liner leaked.  After a bit of research, Matt and I learned that the company which makes these pools has gone downhill quite a bit since our first pool was manufactured.  Again, after a bit of research, we found a way to make it work.  However, the hack required us to order a handful of supplies and wait for them to be delivered.  So ... we are hoping that the pool gets set up this weekend!

This past week our church sponsored a Vacation Bible School which was run by staff from a nearby Lutheran camp.  All three kids were able to attend!  Independently!  And successfully!  It was a joy to hear them singing camp songs in the afternoons and evenings, especially since this Momma can claim two summers of being a camp counselor at a Lutheran camp.  I stuck around church on Monday and Thursday to help out, but just dropped the kids off on Tuesday and Wednesday before heading back home to work in the garden.

On top of the morning VBS, I trekked the kids to an appointment in Middleton for Anna on Monday afternoon.  She simply needed her AFOs adjusted; she'll probably be in the market for new ones by this fall.  We also stayed at church on Wednesday to have lunch with some friends (and play in the nursery).

Friday was our first official "Field Trip Friday" with the kids and me.  Since the strawberries are ripe here now, we got up early and went to "the strawberry farm" for our first round of picking.  Kate and I are planning on returning tomorrow morning with my mom to pick another big haul for freezing.

The weather was perfect for our picking adventure.  Not too hot, not too sunny, a little breezy.  No one complained about being too hot or too cold ... hooray!

Anna loved the experience (again).  She'd probably like to go again, but it's a lot of work to push her wheelchair through the grassy paths to get to the fields.  Maybe next year she will use her crutches???

Kate was helpful, especially in keeping Ethan occupied.

Ethan liked eating the strawberries and watching the "Berry-Go-Round" (a.k.a. the owner on a four-wheeler pulling a covered wagon for people to transport their berries back to the weighing station).

He got bored, though, and opted to camp out in Anna's wheelchair.

Back at home, the kids all helped cut up a good portion of the berries to make some strawberry jam.

We even had some ready by lunchtime so we could have sandwiches with fresh strawberry jam ... yum!

Otherwise, there has been plenty of open space time this week in the afternoons and today for the kids to just enjoy their summertime.  Hopefully the weather lets up a little, or our pool gets figured out, so we can spend more time outdoors :)

Family Vacation - Part 4

We had purposely left Thursday open when we were planning our vacation.  We know there is plenty to do in Door County and we wanted to allow for some flexibility once we arrived and discovered some of the attractions.

After jotting down a handful of ideas throughout the week, we decided to go back to the beach, with swimsuits this time, to just relax and have fun at the beach on our last day.

The morning was spent cleaning the house; our rental agreement allowed for us to save some money if we chose to clean before we left.  Sounded like a good plan to us!  I packed, the kids played, and Matt cleaned :)

Anna and Kate had a rousing time playing the travel version of BopIt that morning, before being kicked outdoors to allow for the final mopping of the kitchen.

Then we went to the beach!

Matt and I were a little unsure of how the kids would do since everyone was chilly during our picnic lunch.  But, of course, we shouldn't have worried.  Weather on a beach always feels just a little bit warmer :)

Drip castles, sandcastles with cups, and just plain relaxing on the beach were great ways to spend our last day.

Of course Matt and Ethan had to build a grand sandcastle complex.  These boys don't do anything halfway :)

Anna was happy as a clam and covered in sand :)

After cleaning everyone up, sort of, we trekked back to the van and prepared for our drive home.  The drive itself was smooth enough and it ended with some dinner from Culver's to eat at home.  We were even home early enough to unpack most of the van and clean everyone up thoroughly.  Woohoo!

As with last year, we like to reflect on our family vacations to help prepare us for future trips.  It was amazing to see, again, how much more we could handle as a group, and how few times anyone melted down.  Granted, the trip was shorter than last year's, but that also made it a bit more enjoyable.  Our traveling time was much reduced :)

We also realized how our family's vacations are very different than vacations my family took when I was younger as well as vacations that Matt's family had.  We have found a good way to make things work for now; someday we may adjust our routines even more.

Regardless of the reflections, it was a wonderful, memory-making experience :)

Family Vacation - Day 3

Wednesday morning we all slept in a bit and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.  Thank goodness!  We had planned for Wednesday to be our "Green Bay" day and it turned out to be a full day, with lots of sunshine and exercise.

As a family, we decided that we wanted to have a tour of Lambeau Field as well as spend some time at Bay Beach Amusement Park.  After picking up some tickets for an afternoon tour at Lambeau, we headed back to Bay Beach for the morning and another picnic lunch.

The girls really had their hearts set on riding the one big roller coaster, but the line was l-o-n-g, and Ethan is about 8 inches too short for it.

So the boy and I left Matt and the girls waiting in line while we tried out a bunch of the kiddie rides.

Jeeps, race cars, planes, swings, and a helicopter ride kept us busy until the others worked their way through the line.  According to Ethan, none of these rides were "long enough".

The girls said the roller coaster was fun, but the wait was really, really long.  It turns out that Anna was eligible for a disability "fast pass", which allowed her to sidestep the long lines (she was using her walker again).  Unfortunately, Matt didn't learn about this option until after they had waited in line.  Good information to know, though.

Kate and I tried out the super tall slide and then learned that Ethan could also ride this slide, as long as he sat on a parent's lap.  Then we learned that Anna could do it, too, with the same accommodation!  The five of us ended up going down the slide three more times (I think), before we figured we should use our remaining tickets for another ride :)

The kids really wanted to do the Scrambler so Matt took Kate and Anna using the fast pass, but Ethan and I had to wait in line since the pass only allows for Anna and three guests.  However, I didn't really want to ride the Scrambler ... so the kids ended up doing it all together a second time.  Boy, were they squished :)

After a quick, but late, lunch we headed back to Lambeau for the tour.

Although Matt and I have been to one Packers game together years ago, and Anna came with us to a Packers Family Night when she was three, no one in our family had ever visited the stadium for a tour or other sight-seeing reasons.  The whole experience was pretty memorable and I think the kids will be able to look back on it now whenever they watch a Packers game, or at least I hope so :)

We opted for admission to the Hall of Fame as well as the tour, so we were able to see and interact with many of the displays.  I'm sure Matt and I could have spent much longer reading all of the information, but the kids' attention spans by this point were not what they were earlier in the week.

The Hall of Fame also includes the championship hall where the Superbowl trophies and a few of the Superbowl rings are kept.  Kate, in particular, likes this room.

Our tour of the stadium was wonderful; I'm guessing that the tour guides are all pretty talented, but we particularly enjoyed ours.  Since we visited during a week when most WI schools were still in session, our family included the only people under age 50 on this tour, which apparently made our kids even more endearing to the adults than they might normally be.  One of the guides offered to take plenty of photos of us, and here are a few of the better ones, from upstairs, way upstairs, and then down on the field.

We all enjoyed ourselves, but Matt and I also learned quite a bit about the history of the franchise and stadium.  Fun stuff.

We happened to have just a few more tickets for Bay Beach so we stopped there on the way back "home" to get some ice cream and then ride the train.  We were all hot and tired by that point :(

But we made it back to the house for dinner and some more time spent enjoying the outdoors before turning in for the last night.