Milwaukee '12

The kids had spring break just before Easter this year.  We decided to take a few days and drive to Milwaukee.  It was opening week end for the Brewers, so we decided to make a stop and get some tickets!  It was pretty cool to be there when no one was there!

After we got our tickets we decided to check out the Ecology Center.  This building was pretty cool.  It was completely constructed from recycled or left over stuff from other projects.  Like the deck outside was made up of left over wood from a pier built in New Jersey!

There was this MASSIVE aerial view puzzle we (Randy and I) put together.  It took us about 30 minutes to assemble it.  Then we tried to find where we were and the places we were going to go. 

This is me just showing you where we are on the map.  Not sure what I am doing with my other arm???

There was this little slide thing.  You had to go outside and find this little tiny door to go through.  Once through the door you were at the top of this slide.  Nothing real fancy but it kept the kids happy for a good 30+ minutes.

This is the little door.

Day two - started with a trip to the zoo.  Randy and I were really pretty impressed with this zoo.  It cost a lot to get in and they were pretty good with the nickle and dime-ing stuff but the animals were VERY active and had much larger enclosures than our free Madison zoo.

Chris was digging the shark mask.

Penguins

I forget what this is but it had a HUGE wing spam.

Even though there is a glare, this is the hyena and this dude was all over the glass here.

Cheetah = AWESOME!!

Chris was even impressed.

Hello Mr. Lion.

The tigers were also pretty darn cool.

You really get a sense for how massive they are when they start trying to take down their enclosure ....

Took a little train ride ($10) but pretty cool!

After the zoo, we went to see a movie about two women that rescue baby elephants in Africa and baby orangutans in Indonesia.  This was in an IMAX theater.  CRAZY!!

Day three - we went to the Betty Brinn Children's museum.  When we parked the car we saw this crazy structure.

This was a pretty good museum for kids.  Our kids got into most of the exhibits and we were there for several hours.  But, as we left they both said it was just a bit too kiddie for them.  When we viewed this museum on the web we read a bunch of reviews.  We were concerned as a high percentage of guests came away sick!!  Seems the museum needed to step up it's sanitizing methods a bit!  I was paranoid.  I made everyone wash their hands at every bathroom I saw and we used hand sanitizer throughout the visit.  I was happy to see staff walking around with cleaning solution wiping off various surfaces.  All the precautions paid off - no one got sick!

I liked all the outfits that really helped complete the experience.  Acacia is in deep thought trying to figure out what Chris is up to at the water filtration plant.

Then it was off to fix cars.

I do think Acacia found her calling.

They had this great little theater/stage - complete with back drops, costumes and such.  The kids were behind the curtain for at least 10 minutes while Randy and I waited for them to perform.  This was all we got.

Once we got out of the kid's museum we decide to check out that weird thing we saw from the parking garage.  Turns out it's an art museum.  It had this Chihuly piece in the lobby.  It was not labeled at all but I totally recognized his work as there is a ton of it hanging in the main lobby of the Kohl Center.

Last stop ... ball game!  What a GREAT game!  4 home runs, tons of big hits, stolen bases, double plays ... super cool.  We each had to take a kid and walk around for a bit but luckily we were in the private suite level.  Private bathrooms and vendors.  Wait staff to get you stuff if you did not want to leave your seat.  Pretty "suite" - get it???

Next stop - HOME!!

Click below to see a few videos from when we got be weather people.  I think Chris may have a career in delivering the forecast (as long as he wears pants ... and they are the right color)!

Chris give the forecast

slipping on the ice??

don't wear green pants to do the weather

Mom gets a break

Fire Pit '12

After a soccer game one night, Acacia negotiated for a couple teammates to come over for a bit to play.  This turned into inviting the neighbor and having a fire!  The girls had the music on and were dancing all over the patio.  Once it got too cold, the party moved inside and the dancing continued until at least 1a!!  We have some pretty interesting video footage of this.  I will not ask you to endure that pain.

Say it ain't so .....

In the past few years we have averaged about $250-$300 a month in repairs on the van.  Yes, it is time for a new one.  But, we don't want any more debt given the recent attack on my paycheck.  So, we try to fix what has to be fixed and hope that will be the end of the repairs for a while.  Well, now the truck is in need of repairs.  Some water pump or something just cost $600.  The truck needs new tires ($800) and we are putting off at least $1,600 in other repairs to it.  Who knows what repairs the van needs as I have filed all the estimates for all the work it needs away.  My vacuum just broke.  I am hoping it's just a matter of replacing a belt (which I am waiting for to arrive in the mail).  Randy came in on Sunday and said he just mowed the entire yard with our mower that only has 3 wheels!!!  Time for a new mower he says.  I am trying to sell anything I can on craigslist to help cover some of these costs.  I had an interested party in a pair of baseball pants.  I left work a little early to meet the baseball pants person only to have him decide they were too small.  OK - fine.  A $10 sale down the drain.  I walked the rest of the way to the car, turned it on and herd that all telling BING.  Hmmmmmm ... just filled up the tank a day or two ago ($80+), got my seat belt on .....  looking, looking .....

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Acacia is a Wax Statue '12

Our school system never seeses to amaze me! They do sooo much to help the kids learn and try to make it fun. We get tons of communication from the school via letters and notes and emails. As a parent, if you don't know what your kid is doing in school you would have to simply be illiterate. But, just by reading some of the stuff they send our way does not mean we really have a clue. Not too long ago I read that the kids will be doing wax museum statues. They were supposed to pick a person and learn about them and write a paper on them and then dress up like them. As usual, getting Acacia to start any project is like convincing her she should set sail around the world in a row boat. Every excuse in the world comes out as to why this subject sucks, or the teacher is mean, or all the good ones are taken .... and even stuff like "well, you just don't understand" and "it rained during soccer practice ..." will effect why we can't start this new project.

I gave her several ideas, but since a kid did that 4 years ago and there is still a picture of them up somewhere in the school, she can't do that .... That or all the books on people are gone from the library. Really "all" the books are gone?? "ALL" of them ...? I told her to use the internet. Apparently that was not allowed??? After 15 minutes of me trying to help, I tossed in the towel and told her to talk with her teacher the next day. I never heard another word about this project. Until ... I got a call from her at school asking how she was going to get from soccer practice to the wax museum in time. Long story short - soccer from 3:30 to 5p. Wax museum from 5:45 to 6:45p. Soccer practice and the wax museum are both right at the same school. Problem solved.

But, now - how will she get home after the wax museum? I told her I would come around 6:15p so I could see it and then when she was done we would go home.

"NOOOOO!! YOU CAN'T COME!!!"

What? Why?

It's silly. No one else's parents are coming .... blah blah blah ...
Fine. I'll be there around 6:30p to get you.
Fine.

So, I show up and the place is PACKED!! Parents, siblings, grandparents .... All the kids in her unit participated. The project was to learn all about whoever they picked, write and present a paper to the class, fill in a poster all about the person and then dress up as best you can as the person and stand by your poster like you are wax statue for 45 minutes while family and friends walk through and see/read all about you! Well, thank goodness I got there when I did. I only got to see a third of the kids and MAN where they AWESOME!!  X-presidents, sports people, Roy Crock (McDonald's founder), Bill Gates, etc.  It was just unbelievable!  They kids had to pose for this entire time and not move!  A bell would sound ever 15 minutes and they were allowed to change poses at that time but then had to stay still.  Everyone was trying to get them to laugh or get mad, but they held their ground!  Acacia just ignored me (which she gets enough practice at at home, so this was no big deal for her).

 
 I guess eye movement is allowed ...
See the posters behind them?  These tell you all about the person they are supposed to be.

This kid was Milton Hersey.  The paper on the desk says please take one.  I tried to take the one from his hand.  He must have had that dang thing glued in there.  He did not crack a smile or anything.

This is Terry Bradshaw!



Michael Jackson

I was talking with some of the other parents after it was all over. They said this was a big deal at the school. All the 5th graders do it at one point throughout the year. I can't believe Acacia told us not to come!! What a turkey!! I can't wait for Chris to do this. He will be Mario or some character from a Wii game.

Thankfully they do have to be a real person. So, I think he will pick the inventor of the DSi (Nintendo).

Frog Demise '12 (rated R)

For Christmas a couple years ago now, Santa brought the kids African Dwarf frogs.  They are aqua frogs and live in a small tank of water.  You can not play with them or in any way interact with them, but they are (were) kind of cool ... for the first 2 days.  They only live for 2 years max and the first one died after about 18 months.  The second, and larger of the two lived on.  Two years past and now I am just counting the months.  He got slower in his old age and there were times I actually did think he might have passed, but low and behold ... he was still alive.  A couple weeks ago I was checking on him and his tiny little froggy arm was kind of stuck on the wall of the tank - like he stuck it out of the water and against the side of the tank and it dried up and was stuck there.  So, here I am pulling this stupid frogs arm off the side of the tank, trying to rescue it.  He lived .. another couple days anyway.  Now, it's Friday night.  I worked all week, there was a blizzard Friday and everyone left early.  I stayed (it was Zumba Friday).  This worked to my advantage as by the time I left, the snow had stopped and everyone was already home (or in a ditch).  The roads were cleared and it was smooth sailing ... all the way to Target.  I did as much grocery shopping and whatnot as I could and headed home.  Unloaded the car, put the groceries away, sorted about 7 loads of laundry and got that started.  Acacia had a friend over and everyone was doing things that made them happy.  I continued to clean the kitchen and put laundry away.

OK - a little history here.  Acacia has this friend who every since we moved into this house (3+ years now) - when she is over here for whatever reason, she has to poop.  Now, the only reason we know this is because she leaves us with a lovely clogged toilet EVERY FREAKING TIME!!!  Not every now and then or once or twice but EVERY FREAKING TIME!!  I mean EVERY FREAKING TIME!!  There was a week end that I plunged the toilet 3 times!!!  In order to not embarrass or humiliate her we have now explained to her that there seems to be a problem with the toilets in our house and if "anyone" has to poop they poop - flush, wipe - flush, wipe - flush.  Until they are done.  We have had to remind her of this rule but it seems to be working.

Back to the frog.  So, Friday night.  I'm beat.  Groceries, laundry, cleaning, etc.  I want desperately to take a shower and go to bed.  My entire family is sleeping, except for me.  It's 1:30 am and I am soooo close to bed time!  I make one last walk through to check on the kids and pick up wet towels off the bathroom floor when I see it.  The frog has finally croaked (get it??).  So, with a heavy heart I get the little fish net scooper out and try to get this dead frog out of his tank.  What I found odd was that the fish (in the tank next to the frog) was watching me like a HAWK!  I mean, if a fish could give a hairy eyeball look - this crazy fish was doing just that!  So, I hairy eyeballed him right back and focused back on getting the frog out of his tank.  I finally get him contained in the net, say a little pray and go to flush him when low and behold .... a HUGE FREAKING TURD has plugged the toilet!!  REALLY!!  I am standing there with a dead frog in a little net in one hand, a fish giving me the hairy eye ball from his tank on the counter and now I have to plunge this MF'ing toilet AND it's 2am and I just want to go to bed!!  OMG!!  I just could NOT believe it!!

Stupid kid.  Sorry.  No photos to enhance this post.

New Pets '12

The kids have been wanting another dog ever since Ross and Nita went to dogie Heaven.  As much as I would LOVE to get another dog, we are just not home enough to be able to care for it the way I would want to.  We tried the frogs (see next entry for the demise of the last frog) and we have tried fish.  We started with two and were down to one in less than 48 hours.  The fish is holding it's own but you can't pet or in any way play with a fish.  The complaining and begging gets worse and worse.  "Carson has 28 hamsters!"  "Joel has a hamster AND a guinea pig!"  "Carson has a rabbit now too!"  "Anna got a rabbit!"  FINE!!  Save up your money and if you PROMISE to do all the work you can get guinea pigs.  Let the savings begin.  Choirs galore!!  Christmas money and birthday money and before you know it they have more than enough.  When we were at the Humane Society dropping off the donations from Acacia's birthday party we saw two baby piggies!  But there was a hold on them.  A few days later they were gone.  We just kept trying back until ....

Two super cute and fluffy piggies are up for adoption!

Everyone seemed to get along just fine!

So, we decided to take them home!

Left is Domo and right is Bambi.  We did not give them these names but the kids decided to just keep them!

We think they are pretty darn cute!  Much more cuddly than a fish or frog.