Aedan: 64 Months, Week 1
Owen: 22 Months, Week 2
Sunday, July 28th we woke up in our hotel room after a fairly decent night of sleep, once we finally got Owen to quiet down and go to sleep the night before. We let the kids watch a show while Ben and I got showered and ready, and then we went down to enjoy a good breakfast before getting on the road to Aurora. We arrived at Aunt Christy's house around 12:45 to have lunch with them. She cooked out cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and cheesy bratwurst.
Owen ended up falling asleep for about forty-five minutes in the car on the way to Chicago, and we hoped that we could get him back to sleep for a little while that afternoon at Christy's house, but he just kept waking up crying. I tried holding him for awhile to get him back to sleep, but it wasn't working, so I just let him get up and play. The kids had fun playing outside in Christy's back yard, playing on the play set, and even getting their bathing suits on and swimming in the small above ground pool that they have. It was a nice, warm day outside, and I was able to talk with my parents, Grandma, Don, and Christy for awhile.
That night for dinner we decided to all go out to Chuy's because the kids have been asking about going out to eat there, and Ben and I always love eating there when we get a chance. Owen was having a bit of a hard time sitting down and waiting patiently because he was tired from not napping for very long, but Samantha enjoyed coloring, and Brielle and Aedan had fun sitting next to each other and playing. (It will be nice when Owen gets a little bit older and can amuse himself better at restaurants, because right now it's not that relaxing going out to eat with him.) Nevertheless, the food was awesome, just like it always is, and the kids loved their push pops for dessert.
Since we had a quick two night stay in Chicago, we packed a lot into our time there. Christy and I planned to spend some time one-on-one so that we could talk more uninterrupted. Ben took the kids back to the hotel to put them to bed, and I went back to Christy's house so she could drop her kids off and get things she needed. We decided to go to downtown Naperville to walk along the Riverwalk, get some coffee, and just spend time talking. I don't remember the last time we had time like this to just hang out, and it was really nice. We talked about a lot of things that are going on in our lives right now, about our kids, about school, and about parenting.
By 10:00, Owen had already woken up twice crying, and Ben wasn't sure what to do or what was wrong with him. He would last five minutes alone and start crying again. We were debating whether or not to just move his pack and play out into our part of the hotel room so that he wasn't waking up Samantha and Aedan as much. (They were sharing the little bunk bed room that was separated by a glass door from our part of the hotel room.) All told, I think he woke up crying four or five times, which is not like him at all. I got back to the hotel around 11:00, ready to take over and help out. Ben had just gotten out of the room from being with him, but he actually stayed asleep from that point until around 5:30. When Owen woke up, we tried to get him back to sleep, but he wasn't interested, since it felt like 6:30 to his body. We tried bringing him into bed with us to try and keep him quiet, but he was just rolling around and wrestling with us, so it was a much earlier morning than what we wanted. We hoped that it was just a fluke with how bad Owen slept because the whole time we were going to be out of town, we had planned for all three kids to share a room. Owen had largely been fine sleeping up until the last week or so, when he had been waking up crying more or taking longer to fall asleep.
Our plan for Monday was to go to Blackberry Farm for the morning and then back to the hotel for everyone to take a nap, since we were all going to be tired from the rough night and early wake-up call that morning. Grandpa and Grandma were able to meet us there as well, which the kids were all excited about, and it was overcast with a chance of rain later on in the afternoon, so it was a little less crowded than it normally was. Here are pictures of all the kids together near the entrance to the farm.
Blackberry Farm really was a fun place, and the kids had a blast exploring. There were several historical buildings with workers dressed up for the time period, explaining what life was like back then, and doing demonstrations for the kids. We spent quite a bit of time watching the weavers and the blacksmith. They also had a lot of fun rides there that were all included in the price of admission. Here are the kids going on the pony ride. Samantha was so excited, as she really loves horses, and this was Owen's first time riding a pony.
We also got to go on a train ride, which the kids thought was fun.
They also had a really cool carousel there that had horses painted like different super heroes and other famous characters. Aedan was excited to ride on the Spider-Man horse, and I think Owen might have been on the Super-Man one, but I'm not sure.
Aunt Christy packed food for us for lunch, so we sat at some picnic tables to eat. However, it started sprinkling and we moved under the pavilions just in time before it began pouring down rain. We hung out under the pavilion until the rain passed, and then continued enjoying our time at Blackberry Farm. We got to see some farm animals and even rode on a wagon. It was a fun day, but once it reached mid-afternoon, Aedan and Owen were definitely fading, and we needed to get then back to the hotel for naps.
Owen fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel, and Aedan was very close to falling asleep as well. Aedan had been complaining about his throat hurting since the day before, but he is sometimes just so bad at explaining how he feels. However, he hadn't eaten very much the last couple days, and when he did, it was only softer things. It looked like it was taking him some effort to swallow, and he just kept talking about it hurting, so we were thinking he might have strep throat again. We thought maybe it was just drainage from a cold, but it didn't seem like he was that stuffed up. Depending on how he was acting/feeling when he woke up from his nap, we were thinking of having Ben take him to a walk-in clinic to have this throat checked. We didn't want to ignore him and have something really going on that was making him feel bad. Both Aedan and Owen slept in the bunk bed room together for a nice long nap, and Samantha even fell asleep laying in the big bed with Daddy. Everyone was so tired after having too many late nights and too many nights of interrupted sleep. We ended up waking Aedan and Owen because it was getting late, and we didn't want them to not be able to sleep that night because they napped for too long. I just always hate waking up sleeping kids, especially when they aren't feeling well, because there's some reason their bodies need the sleep.
When Aedan woke up, he was still acting like he didn't feel well, so Ben took him to a walk-in clinic to get him checked out since he was acting all mopey, kind of like he was acting the last time we were in Chicago at Christmastime, and he ended up having strep throat. He dropped the kids and me off at Aunt Christy's house, and then went to get Aedan checked out. The rapid strep test came back negative, and they said it just looked like drainage from a cold. (They also made a comment about how his ears were very waxy, especially the right one, since it had a clump of solid wax.) We were glad that he didn't have something like strep throat, but we also knew there really was nothing additional we could do to help him feel better, just give him medicine, have him drink lots of fluids, and get rest. Poor kid, though, I felt bad for him.
Monday night I had plans to go to my grandma's house to spend time with her, and my mom and sister decided to come along as well. I felt bad leaving Ben to do bedtime on his own again, and I hoped that Owen wouldn't give him a hard time again. Owen did much better that night, thankfully, and it was fun for me to be at my grandma's again. I don't even remember the last time I visited her there, just because it is hard to come with all the kids. We all talked while we played a game of Uno, and then had some vanilla ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream. I rode out with Christy, and we ended up staying until close to midnight, which meant I got back to the hotel pretty late, but it was nice to spend that time with my family that I don't usually get.
On Tuesday morning we got ready, packed up, ate breakfast, and checked out of the hotel. Our plans were to go over to Aunt Christy's house to let the kids play for awhile, have lunch, and then get on the road on our way to Glen Arbor, MI. It was another nice day, so after the kids got tired of playing inside in Brielle's room and dressing up and doing a performance for us, they headed outside to play on the play set and drive the motorized car around. We ended up picking up some Portillo's to eat for lunch, and then we said our good-byes. The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins, so it was sad to go. They all got along really well this time, and it was cute to see them all playing together so creatively.
It was about a seven hour drive up to the cabins in Michigan, and we left just after lunch time. The boys took pretty good naps in the car, but Aedan still didn't look like he felt well. He wasn't eating much, and he just looked under the weather. Owen was doing okay, but Samantha was sniffling and sneezing some in the car that day. We were looking forward to our time in Michigan with Ben's friends, and Samantha, in particular, couldn't wait to stay in the cabin again and be able to go out on the boat and go tubing. We didn't get to the house until a little before 9:00, so everyone was ready for bed and ready to get out of the car. Even though we planned on having Owen sleep in the room with Samantha and Aedan, we decided to put his pack and play up in our bedroom instead so that he wouldn't disrupt their sleep as much, especially with Aedan trying to recover from not feeling well. Ben and I hoped that Owen would go back to sleeping like normal and not wake up multiple times a night and wake everyone up because of his crying. After getting the cabin all set up and the kids tucked into bed, Ben and I joined everyone else in the main house to hang out and talk for a little while before heading to bed ourselves.
Owen had a much better night in the cabin, which Ben and I were thankful for. He only woke up once during the night crying, and I think it was just because he didn't know where we were, and it was a little chilly in our cabin from leaving all the windows open overnight. Aedan still wasn't feeling great that morning, and he was acting super grumpy. He still had a bit of a runny nose and was coughing some, so we decided we would have him take a nap that afternoon along with Owen.
On Wednesday morning, the kids were excited to get up and see everyone, as well as play outside in the driveway and in the grass, playing with toys, riding bikes, and again driving around the little motorized car. Samantha was also very excited to meet Daisy, Kyle and Sheridan's little girl. Here's a picture he took of Samantha holding her on the front porch that morning. She loves babies and is so good with them.
After playing outside for awhile, and knowing we had plans to meet up with everyone in town at the Cherry Republic restaurant, we decided to go into town a little earlier to let the kids play at a playground across the street for awhile first. The Cherry Republic is a very unique restaurant that serves everything with some kind of a cherry theme to it. They even have a store where you can sample their cherry products like cherry salsa, dried cherries, cherry candy, and even flavored cherry pop and cherry wine. We spent some time just walking around and trying samples as well. It was fun, and the kids remembered it well from last year.
After lunch, we got the boys down for naps, and they slept for a long time, after having several days of not enough sleep and Aedan still recovering from being sick. I stayed back in the cabin with them, getting some time to myself, and I think I even fell asleep for awhile, too. They were asleep for over two and a half hours before we ended up waking them up so that we didn't make people wait any longer to go out on a boat ride and go tubing.
While the boys napped, Mr. Andy took Samantha out on a boat ride, and he said she talked to him the whole time, and he explained to her things about the lake as he showed her around. It was so sweet of him to think of her and take her out one-on-one; she really appreciated that special time. Then, once the boys were up, we all got our bathing suits on and went on the boat again so we could enjoy a boat ride, go tubing, and swim in the lake.
Here is Owen sitting in my lap as we were getting ready to watch Sissy out on the tube.
Monday night I had plans to go to my grandma's house to spend time with her, and my mom and sister decided to come along as well. I felt bad leaving Ben to do bedtime on his own again, and I hoped that Owen wouldn't give him a hard time again. Owen did much better that night, thankfully, and it was fun for me to be at my grandma's again. I don't even remember the last time I visited her there, just because it is hard to come with all the kids. We all talked while we played a game of Uno, and then had some vanilla ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream. I rode out with Christy, and we ended up staying until close to midnight, which meant I got back to the hotel pretty late, but it was nice to spend that time with my family that I don't usually get.
On Tuesday morning we got ready, packed up, ate breakfast, and checked out of the hotel. Our plans were to go over to Aunt Christy's house to let the kids play for awhile, have lunch, and then get on the road on our way to Glen Arbor, MI. It was another nice day, so after the kids got tired of playing inside in Brielle's room and dressing up and doing a performance for us, they headed outside to play on the play set and drive the motorized car around. We ended up picking up some Portillo's to eat for lunch, and then we said our good-byes. The kids had a lot of fun playing with their cousins, so it was sad to go. They all got along really well this time, and it was cute to see them all playing together so creatively.
It was about a seven hour drive up to the cabins in Michigan, and we left just after lunch time. The boys took pretty good naps in the car, but Aedan still didn't look like he felt well. He wasn't eating much, and he just looked under the weather. Owen was doing okay, but Samantha was sniffling and sneezing some in the car that day. We were looking forward to our time in Michigan with Ben's friends, and Samantha, in particular, couldn't wait to stay in the cabin again and be able to go out on the boat and go tubing. We didn't get to the house until a little before 9:00, so everyone was ready for bed and ready to get out of the car. Even though we planned on having Owen sleep in the room with Samantha and Aedan, we decided to put his pack and play up in our bedroom instead so that he wouldn't disrupt their sleep as much, especially with Aedan trying to recover from not feeling well. Ben and I hoped that Owen would go back to sleeping like normal and not wake up multiple times a night and wake everyone up because of his crying. After getting the cabin all set up and the kids tucked into bed, Ben and I joined everyone else in the main house to hang out and talk for a little while before heading to bed ourselves.
Owen had a much better night in the cabin, which Ben and I were thankful for. He only woke up once during the night crying, and I think it was just because he didn't know where we were, and it was a little chilly in our cabin from leaving all the windows open overnight. Aedan still wasn't feeling great that morning, and he was acting super grumpy. He still had a bit of a runny nose and was coughing some, so we decided we would have him take a nap that afternoon along with Owen.
On Wednesday morning, the kids were excited to get up and see everyone, as well as play outside in the driveway and in the grass, playing with toys, riding bikes, and again driving around the little motorized car. Samantha was also very excited to meet Daisy, Kyle and Sheridan's little girl. Here's a picture he took of Samantha holding her on the front porch that morning. She loves babies and is so good with them.
While the boys napped, Mr. Andy took Samantha out on a boat ride, and he said she talked to him the whole time, and he explained to her things about the lake as he showed her around. It was so sweet of him to think of her and take her out one-on-one; she really appreciated that special time. Then, once the boys were up, we all got our bathing suits on and went on the boat again so we could enjoy a boat ride, go tubing, and swim in the lake.
Here is Owen sitting in my lap as we were getting ready to watch Sissy out on the tube.
After Samantha's turn, it was Aedan's turn, and he chose to ride with Daddy, but he wasn't too interested in being knocked off. It was a little tricky for Ben to balance himself on the tube with Aedan laying right in the middle, but Aedan was having fun, even if Ben was barely holding on towards the end.
Once Daddy and Aedan fell off, it was Samantha's turn again, and this time she wanted me to go with her. I was a little nervous, to be honest. I used to be a lot more brave with stuff like this, but I felt nervous since it had been a whole year since I'd been on the tube. Also, I wanted Samantha to have a fun time, and she was wanting to be knocked off, which didn't sound that exciting to me. Kyle was driving the boat, trying to get us out over the wakes and knock us off, but we went over a big bump and we knocked heads, causing her to bite her tongue a little. I motioned for them to stop so I could check and see if she was okay, and at that point she was done having me go on the tube with her, preferring to just go alone, which really was fine with me.
Here is Aedan going on the tube by himself. We were really proud of him as well because last year he was much too nervous about falling off into the water and getting water up over his head. We had a great time out on the boat tubing, and it was getting close to dinnertime, so we decided it was time to call it a day, but we had plans to go back on the boat the next day again for more time tubing and swimming.
Wednesday night for dinner we had some yummy leftovers from the grill fest that they had the day we arrived, so we missed out on all the yummy food, but it was still good reheated later on. Then, we tucked the kids into bed and Ben went back to play bid euchre with the adults. I had to stay back with Owen because he was having trouble falling asleep, and they had enough partners for euchre (which really was okay with me, because I was able to enjoy time to myself working on my blog). After the game was over, everyone sat out on the screened in porch for awhile and talked before we decided it was late and needed to head to bed and get some sleep.
Thursday morning we spent more time just hanging around the house and playing outside. Just after lunch, we decided to head out on the boat while the weather was warm and sunny, so we could enjoy some time swimming off the boat in the lake. Owen should have been napping, but he is pretty amenable, and he is always excited about a chance to go swimming. Here we are sitting at the front of the boat, going fast across the water to the other side of the big lake. We were bobbing up and down on the wakes in the water, making Owen bump up and down, and he loved it. He was laughing and smiling the entire time, as you can see in this series of pictures.
On our way back to the cabins, Owen was getting pretty tired, and he cuddled up in my arms, covered by the towels, and almost looked like he could have fallen asleep from the motion of the boat. Once we got back, Owen went down for a nap, and Mr. Andy, Neil, Kyle, Ben, Samantha, and Aedan went back out on the boat to do more tubing. At first Aedan made it seem like he wasn't interested in going tubing again, but he changed his mind once they got out on the water, and they had a blast spending more time out on the boat on the lake. In fact, Samantha even got to try wakeboarding for a few minutes. She thought it was pretty cool trying it, and they said she did a good job with it being her first time ever trying it. She said she was able to stay up for a few seconds before tipping over into the water, and she was so excited to tell me about it when she got back.
While they were gone, since Owen was a tired boy and comfortably napping, I decided to try paddle boarding. Mr. Andy showed me how to maneuver it, and after they took off on the speed boat, I went off on the paddle board. It really wasn't difficult for me at all to keep my balance. I stayed near the perimeter of the small lake and paddled all the way around. It was really rather peaceful and enjoyable, and I could have been out for much longer, but I didn't want to leave Owen sleeping at the cabin for too long. (I had his monitor by the other adults, so they could have gotten him if he started crying, but I didn't want them to feel responsible for him.) I only fell off the paddle board one time, and that was because the water was pushing me towards one corner of the lake that had a lot of lily pads in it, and I didn't want to get stuck there so I was overcompensating to paddle myself away and ended up losing my balance and falling off. However, I thought it was pretty good that on my first time paddle boarding, I only fell off once. This is something I would enjoy doing out on Harvey's Lake, so maybe I will have to get myself a paddle board some day. I'm glad that I went out of my comfort zone and tried something new.
Owen slept for quite awhile that afternoon, and then Kyle made a delicious meal that I think was spaghetti bolognese where he made his own bolognese sauce. He is quite the cook, and I always enjoy his food, for I get to try things that I would never have the time or talent to make at home. Then, after dinner they started an early fire for us so that the kids could experience making s'mores around a campfire. They loved roasting their own marshmallows (or watching us roast them), and they were super happy to be eating this delicious summertime treat.
After getting the kids to bed that night, I was asked to play as part of a team for bid euchre, and even though I wasn't too excited about playing, I'm glad I did. I was on a team with Andy and Olivia, and I was worried that I would let them down with my lack of experience and tired nighttime brain that sometimes can't think clearly through strategy. But they were very gracious to me, and we actually ended up doing very well. I was proud of picking up on the game quickly, even though it had been probably since college that I had played it. I tend to feel very self-conscious in situations like that where I feel like everyone else is more intelligent than me. I don't want to make stupid mistakes like renigging or not playing the right card. and I don't want to feel incompetent. In fact, on the couple occasions where I probably should have played a different card than I had, even though what I did wasn't wrong, I could feel my face turning bright red out of embarrassment. However, I picked up quickly and did a pretty good job. Andy was very kind and reassuring to me, saying positive things about how I played that made me feel so good. Sometimes I don't think I realize how words of affirmation, especially from a father figure, mean so much to me. It was a fun game, and from there, Kyle, Neil, Ben, and I went out to the campfire to sit and talk and enjoy the warmth of the fire under the stars. We had very good conversation that I won't go into detail about, but I loved how deeply personal all the guys were with each other, and I was so glad that Ben was able together with these friends like this. I know it was good for him to be around like-minded guys that have known him through the darkest period of his life. Friendships like these are priceless, and I hope we can continue this tradition of getting together for years to come.
Friday was a sad day for the kids because we spent part of the morning packing up our stuff and getting ready to head out. Samantha tried everything she could to convince us to stay one more day, but we had already been gone a week from home, and we needed to get back to continue to get situated in our new home and be able to try out a new church on Sunday. We went back into Glen Arbor to have lunch at the Chicago hot dog place with Kyle, Neil, and MJ before stopping at the Cherry Republic to let the kids each pick out one special treat to bring back home. Then, we hit the road, planning on driving for about five hours that day, staying at a hotel, and driving the next seven hours home on Saturday. The kids really did not want to leave, and they were sad giving everyone hugs good-bye, but they were glad to hear that we were invited back next year and that we could come again and have fun next summer.
I had developed a pretty bad head cold on Thursday night in Friday, so I was feeling pretty miserable during our drive on Friday. I was blowing my nose constantly and felt like my head was puffed up five times bigger than it was. We had booked a hotel room at a Staybridge Suites just like the one one the way out, where we would all share a bedroom, but then there was a separate living space. However, since we are Platinum Elite members for our Holiday Inn credit card, we get automatic upgrades, and we were upgraded to a two room suite, meaning Samantha and Aedan each had their own queen bed in one room, Owen could sleep in the pack and play in the living room area, and Ben and I had our own room with a king bed. I had never been as excited for an upgrade as I was that night. I felt so crummy and really didn't want to spend another night sharing a room with our kids, so I was very glad that we were blessed with the extra space. Ben decided to take Samantha and Aedan to go swimming in the hotel pool while I put Owen to bed, since he hadn't napped too long and it was past his bed time. They had a good time swimming and roughhousing with Daddy while Owen went right to sleep, and I was able to rest on the bed. I fell asleep watching TV and slept pretty soundly through the night, getting much needed rest after several late nights up hanging out with friends (which was great, don't get me wrong, but it just made me tired).
I felt considerably better on Saturday morning, much less miserable than the day before. The kids did pretty well in the car that day, even though it was a long day of driving. Ben and I took turns sitting in the back to play with Owen. They played on their LeapPads and watched a movie, and those things helped pass the time more quickly. Our kids are pretty used to long car trips by this point, and I'm glad that they do pretty well for us in the car. We picked Izzy up from the kennel, and she did a great job there, but was very excited to see us. I picked up pizza from the Grotto so we could eat a quick dinner, get ourselves unpacked a little, and settle back into our own rooms in our house. Coming back to our new house definitely felt more like home, and even though it was a great week away, we were glad to be home in our own beds, with hearts full of fond memories of fun, summertime travel.
(Blog about July 28-August 3, 2019)
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