Monday Night Football

The stars aligned just right for the Steelers to be in town on a Monday night. Kenna got me the tickets for our anniversary. So Tanner and I went out and found some Steelers jerseys at the outlet mall and off we went into enemy territory to support our team. Surprisingly, there were quite a few Pittsburgh fans at the game.

While we were up in the nose bleed section we could still see all the action just fine. Tanner got all excited when he saw the vendor with the cotton candy two sections over, but the only vendors that made to our section were the beer vendors. They made a killing in our section. When the game doesn't even start until 8:30 you know it is going to be a late night. We left towards the end of the third quarter at 11:00 in an effort to get home before midnight (he had school and I had surgery the next day). But, there was an accident on the highway and we didn't get home until 12:30am. He stayed awake until I turned on talk radio and then he was out like a light. We both had a great time rooting for the Steelers as they beat the bungals at home. Thanks, Kenna for the tickets!

An invitation to rebel against your genes (and maybe jeans)

I am extending this invitation to all members of the Wahlquist clan who will be in Denver for Thanksgiving. There is a 5k race Thanksgiving morning in Highlands Ranch that Kenna and I will be running in and we would like to include all interested family members to participate as well. For those of us with actual Wahlquist genes lounging in our bodies this does seem like an absurd proposition (Me? Run? TVs were invented so I could sit on my couch and watch other people do that). But I urge you all to ignore those coach potato tendencies, lace up those old sneakers, and join us on race day as we watch Kenna run an amazing race (I will be doubled over a trash can around mile two, it is at 5ooo feet after all).

This is the link to the race website:

http://www.highlandsranchchamber.org/td5k/register.html

Goodbye old friend

In late August, I mentioned to Marc that I thought it was time to start shopping for something to replace our 'little van'. It was starting to scare me a little with the funny noises and rattles it would make. The AC hasn't worked for a year (yes, it was quite a miserable summer, thank you) and we had decided a while ago that we weren't going to sink any more money into repairing it.

So Marc dove into the car shopping process head first devoting every spare moment to test drives and internet research. I had forgotten this little fact about Marc. When I mentioned maybe we should start looking, I wasn't quite ready for the intense focus that followed!

He finally decided what he wanted. It had always been our plan to trade in the van, give me his car and have a new one for him. I didn't anticipate (because I don't consider myself a sentimental girl) how sad it would make me to get rid of the van. Three of our kids came home from the hospital in that car. We took lots of fun trips (Canada among them). There are just a lot of memories attached to that car and I miss it lots. I have learned in the last couple of weeks that a little SUV is not practical even for a mom that only has two kids home during the day. It is hard for them to get into and you can't take any friends with you because there is not room for a third carseat.

So long 'purple van'.....it's been fun.
This is what Marc chose...
He says he wanted a convertible because he thought the kids would like it!!!!

Sarah Margaret's birthday

Last week our sweet Sarah turned five! She is such a sweet girl. We had a great celebration in honor of her birthday.Sunday was our family party. Sarah chose an iCarly theme.
We hooked up the video camera to the TV so they could make their own web shows and had some 'random dancing'.
A computer cake...
And some fun presents....
Wednesday was her actual birthday and she got a little present before school.
She had lunch at Red Robin with dad.
And then a girls night out with mom, Ella, Aunt Rachael, Monica (her cousin) and grandma. The stars somehow aligned again and Disney princesses on ice opened in Cincinnati on her birthday. It was opening night so tickets were cheap!
Sarah didn't know until we got there what we were doing.
The girls enjoyed some over-priced snow cones.The show was great. It told the stories of the classic princesses, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella among others. It was really fun to watch and the girls really loved it.
I can't believe it has been five years since Sarah joined our family. We really love her so so much!

Apple Picking2010

We continued our annual tradition of picking apples last weekend. We drove up to Columbus to visit with Marc's cousin Beth and her family and checked out one of their local orchards. This one was light years better than the one we went to here, but Tanner was disappointed that the trees weren't big enough to climb (though that did not stop him from trying). We had lots of fun and there were tons of apples.

Another attempt at a family picture!

(Wow Beth! I had no idea you did that until I saw the pictures! Thanks for helping her!)
Tanner and Dillon have a good time together!

Good thing we aren't having family pictures taken!

It has been a rough week for Mary. She walked a little too close to the swing and got smacked in the head. You can see what's left of that bruise above her left eye. Then she was running downhill at the park to see the ducks, stumbled and couldn't get her hands down in time. Her nose met the pavement first! Then she bonked her head on Tanner's dresser in the same spot as the swing bruise, so that one is actually worse than this picture shows! Let's hope this week is better!

A belated but sappy birthday poem for my little sis

As I think back on the days growing up with my sister

There were times I would have preferred a weeping blister

Over the years we have grown up and live far apart

And now I realize something obvious from the start

She was a actually a friend and I’ve missed her

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TARYN!!

If you're going to write a poem about your sister and the only rhyming word you can think of is blister you should proceed with great caution.

I miss summer!

Over the summer, this is what our regular schedule looked like. Except for a few weeks of swimming lessons, we had lots of time for playing with friends and cousins and spending time together. I remember thinking that in some ways I was excited for school to start so we could get back into a routine. Now I wish it were summer again.Below is our current afternoon regular schedule. This does not include things that come up like Parent-Teacher conferences, department meetings, book club, etc. I think I may have allowed the kids to do too much!

cooler weather.....outdoor fun

We have finally gotten a break from the 90 degree humid days and have been having some fun exploring the outdoors.

Saturday, we didn't have anything until a soccer game at 1 pm so we decided to check out the Loveland bike trail. It is a 70+ mile flat bike trail that follows the Little Miami River. It was a great morning with cool weather and good exercise. We don't have a bike trailer for Rylee so I ran with her in her stroller for a couple of miles and then switched with Marc for the bike and the two little girls. This trail is really fun. I can't believe we haven't taken advantage of it before.
The last couple of Sunday afternoons, we have explored a local park. It is called Liberty park and they have an old military cannon that the kids have had a lot of fun playing on.


Last Sunday we found this poor duck that had obviously lost a fight with someone or something and was missing most of the side of his face and most of his beak. The kids were throwing some bread and it didn't look like it was able to eat. Tanner was really worried about it. He has prayed for it every night since and that was part of the reason we went back today, to see if that duck was okay. We didn't see him so we can only hope for the best.
Some shots of the kids (mostly for grandmas)





I just realized there aren't many shots of Sarah in this post, but rather than try to move the pics around, I will promise pictures of Sarah's first soccer game in the next post.

Firsts

Today was Sarah's first day back at preschool. She has been excited to for school to start since the bigger kids went back to school a couple of weeks ago. She has a different teacher this year (which I think makes her a little nervous) but the same aide (which she is very happy about!).

( *warning...little soapbox moment coming...does anyone else really hate the practice of putting Miss in front of a person's first name and calling them that? Does putting 'Miss' in front of a first name make it a respectful way for a 4-year-old to address an adult? Couldn't a child just as easily learn to call her teacher Mrs. Jones? It bugs me. It makes me miss All Saints in Toledo with Mrs. Stokes.)
Mary just had to be in all the back to school pictures this year.

The other first for today is that for the first time in a little over 13 years, we have no crib set up in our house. sniff, sniff Mary hasn't used the crib since the bunk bed went up so we (and by we I mean Marc) took it apart and moved to the storage room in the basement. sigh

Play me, I'm yours

Here in Cinci last month there was a program called "Play me, I'm yours" in which 30 or so pianos were placed all over town in public spaces. The idea was for regular people to just sit down and play for whoever happened to be sitting nearby. Well, one of the pianos was stationed at a nearby Graeters ice cream shop. So, I thought it would be fun to have Tanner, Ella, and myself go and play the piano and get some ice cream as a reward. We loaded up the kids and off we went. When we got to Graeters there was no piano and I thought we had missed the program. Tanner was quite relieved, and we got ice cream anyway. When I was paying for the ice cream I asked when they took the piano away. I got some confused looks and quickly realized I had come to the wrong Graeters. So, off we went with ice cream in hand to the correct Graeters and found the piano outside as promised. It was a nice friday evening and there was a good crowd outside enjoying their ice cream. Tanner already had his ice cream and could not be cajoled, prodded, or threatened into playing, but Ella bravely sat down and played one of her newer songs and got some nice applause. I also played (it was a sporadic duet with Mary at times) and got some nice applause as well.

Recap

I thought that life would be a little more relaxed once school started. That has SO not been the case.

Last week as a kind of 'last hurrah' before school started and to celebrate that we finally read the Book of Mormon from front to back as a family, we decided to surprise the kids with a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge. We didn't tell them where we were going, just that we had a surprise for them to celebrate. We started with dinner out at the Outback (we had a gift card). I think they were disappointed as they thought this was the big surprise we had been talking about for a week. Then we had to go meet Ella's teacher which was fun because Tanner had him last year and LOVED him. After, we casually drove over to the Great Wolf Lodge and parked. Even as we exited the car, the kids were asking what we were doing there. They were a bit slow to pick up on the real surprise.

When they finally figured it out, they were so excited and after a quick trip home for Ella's swimsuit (oops!), they were excited to hit the water park. (Rylee stayed with grandma.)

Tanner spent a good deal of time trying to master this pool. He said it reminds him of the show Wipeout.

We swam for a couple of hours on Thursday night and all day Friday. We had a hard time keeping up with Sarah.
By mid afternoon on Friday, everyone was fading. We could tell the kids were getting tired. Marc and Ella wanted to do the slides so I loaded Mary and I on a tube and paddled out into the wave pool. After one cycle of waves, she was drooping, and after the second she was out.

She was in such a sound sleep that I was able to paddle out of the wave pool, unwedge myself (literally) from that tube, walk to a chair and remove her life jacket and she never stirred. So funny.

In other news, Marc found out this week that he PASSED his boards! He is now officially a board certified orthopaedic surgeon.

And finally, we celebrated 15 years of wedded bliss this week. I was really excited for our anniversary because I had the perfect gift. I struggle to find good gifts for Marc because unlike me he never says he wants anything (except a purple hippopotamus). But this year, the Pittsburgh Steelers are playing the Cincinnati Bengals on a Monday night in Cincy. Could the stars have aligned better? I think not. I scored some seats and gave him the tickets on Thursday.