Swinging… by Luke

Home.

Although not our current one. We headed back to the Washington DC area for almost a week to spend time with friends and get back to our “old” home. But I think for Kyle and I both, returning to Washington, and especially to Alexandria, was surprisingly more like coming home than we had expected. Sure, we spent 3.5 yrs there – longer, in fact, than we have lived anywhere since we met. And we did definitely enjoy living there, but I don’t think either of us were prepared for how much we loved being back. Everything just felt right – from the sight of the monuments on the Mall from the GW parkway, to the bumpy brick streets in Old Town Alexandria, to the traffic on the beltway (which felt “right” – just not enjoyable.) it just felt good to be “home” again.

We managed to find an incredible place to stay right in Old Town. At the last minute, I checked the Vacation Rental website (www.vrbo.com) and found a gorgeous historic 3 bdrm house with a huge yard right next to King Street. We luckily managed to book into an opening in their packed schedule, and despite a couple days of air conditioning problems (the reason both kids are in underwear in some pics… it was HOT) we loved being there. Luke’s favourite was the tree swing in the backyard. We walked to Starbucks for coffee in the morning and ate ice cream on the porch swing in the evenings. We had friends over for dinners in a gorgeous dining room, and bathed the kids in a clawfoot tub every night. It was pretty incredible.

We had a ton to do in Washington. Our schedule was so packed, and we had so many people to see, we kept remembering people we had forgotten to email every day. Inevitably, we weren’t able to see everyone and that was really disappointing. But we did do a ton of amazing things and catch up with a lot of people who – we realise – we miss more than we thought.

Monday we headed into DC for the obligatory walk on the Mall, and visit to the Museums. Luke’s bike was extremely popular and he was a huge hit pedalling everywhere. We ought to call our trip the “fountain tour of DC” – turns out our kids are pretty obsessed with fountains, and throwing things into them. En route we stopped at Reagan Airport so Luke could watch planes take off – that was a big hit.

Monday afternoon we went to a great Spray Park in Arlington to meet a couple friends who we used to go there with – we have pictures of Luke toddling around there at 9 months old (click here for that blog post!) and it was fun to take pics of him there now, loving the water. Evelyn had a great time – being the same size and age Luke was the last time we were there was really neat too. It was wonderful to catch up with old friends and see how their babies have grown!

Tuesday we headed into DC once again, this time on the Metro (a huge excitement for Luke) to first visit everyone at the Embassy, and then to go to the Building Museum with Courtney, Calder and Tessa. What a great space for kids to play, and the museum itself was spectacular. That evening we went swimming at the Old Town Pool (no pictures cause we hadn’t bought our new camera yet – we have it now!!) and then had a bunch of family friends over for dinner. Perfection.

Wednesday we spent the morning close to home – Luke and I had a great walk in Old Town while Evelyn napped at home with Kyle, feeding the ducks, watching the boats, and enjoying the stroll along King Street. Then we all piled in the car for a failure of a trip to the Mall in Tysons Corner. We forgot about the traffic factor, and after 30+ minutes sitting in a traffic jam, we had only gone half a mile, and we gave up and went to the local Alexandria Mall. That afternoon we went swimming with Elizabeth and her two kids – Charlotte & AJ, and then over for dinner at Maria & Mario’s, where we finally met their little boy Anthony.

Thursday we went to the Zoo!  We had remarkably never visited it before, and we all had a great time.  Well… until we realised we had to walk ALL the way back up the hill (and then trek another mile and a half) to get back on the metro to come home for a nap.  It was a LATE nap that day, with two pretty cranky kids and exhausted, sweaty parents.  That afternoon we went to a party with all of Kyle’s teaching colleagues and their families, which was wonderful.  On the way home, we stopped by to see our old neighbours Phillip & Johanna, and meet their little girl Lucy.  It was so great to see them again and it felt like we should just walk out their front door and into our own, like we always used to after drinks or dinner at their place.  We sure miss the old neighbourhood, especially the size of the townhouses!  Luke got a wonderful kiss from beautiful Lucy before we left while Evelyn enjoyed the new swing in our Cherry Tree.

In front of our old house

Evelyn enjoying the swing in the Cherry Tree out front.  Remember our robin family that lived in this tree?

On Friday we left at 4am – trying to get half of the 9.5 hr drive done that day, before returning to Ottawa on Saturday.  In the end, we decided to push on through and try to get home in one day.  It was a good decision – despite moments of sheer misery, both kids are thrilled to be home and I have promised them no more carseat time this weekend!  We all need a break from the car.  In the end, we drove 65.5 hrs (50 hrs with the kids & I, Kyle & Scotty did the other 15), travelled 5037 km round trip, visited 10 States, and slept in 9 different beds.  Not bad for a quick little roadtrip.

The middle part

Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia.

Ok so what’s that area called? It’s not really the midwest, is it? I’ve always personally been VERY confused about the “midWEST” label for half the eastern side of the US. Its not the south, although Kentucky might like to think it is. Anyways, as it was the “middle” of our long journey, that’s what I’ll call this blog.

We left Wisconsin headed for Kentucky – a 7+ hr drive south. We learned early on in this trip that 4 hrs of driving each day is about the saturation quotient for our kids – they simply go crazy when we try to push for more than that. So Indianapolis, IN happened to be halfway, and we stopped there at another fantastic waterpark resort that Luke really enjoyed. We don’t have any pictures as the waterproof camera went back to Hawaii with Scotty. Although we are considering buying one, so stay tuned.

We left Indiana the next morning with the obligatory roadtrip stop at Cracker Barrel.  4 hrs later we pulled into Richmond, KY – a little town just south of Lexington.  We were there to visit our good friends the Dutton’s – Kyle taught with Shane in Washington and they came to visit us in Ottawa last year.  Their 4 yr old little boy Sam and Luke get along really well, thankfully.  We spent an incredible 3 days in Kentucky which – I think surprisingly for both of us – we found really beautiful.

One of the few moments she was happy in her carseat…

Click here for video of Luke riding a “big boy bike”

Evelyn and Sam playing “Batman” in the living room.

Evelyn enjoying the Lexington Childrens’ Museum – the Expolorium.

Catching bubbles in the backyard after dinner

Click here for video of some bubbles!

Click here for video of Evelyn and bubbles!

We left Kentucky the same morning the Dutton’s headed to Hawaii to stay at Kyle’s parents’ vacation rental.  We drove for our usual 4 hrs and made it to Stonewall Resort in the West Virginia mountains.  It was beautiful – an incredible family resort on a big lake with tons of activities to do.  WE went swimming first, followed by paddle-boating (Evelyn wasn’t a fan, as you can see below – she and I decided to quit pretty early on and Kyle and Luke continued on!) then for a walk, followed by dinner outside on a patio by a campfire, then more swimming.  All in all, a busy short stay at a gorgeous (if slightly overpriced…) resort.

Getting ready to go

Really not a fan of the lifejacket.  Really.

So we got off and left Kyle & Luke to explore on their own!

We left West Virginia early the next morning heading for Alexandria VA. We decided to do our regular morning-till-after-lunch stop in a small town that we came across – Cumberland, MD. We absolutely loved it there. By some coincidence, the tourist steam train happened to be leaving the station shortly after we arrived to take a look at it. Unfortunately the return trip was 3.5 hrs long (and would have cut into nap time) otherwise we would have jumped on board! As it was, the kids were thrilled enough just to watch it steam out of the station.

Kyle, Luke & the BIG steam train

Video to come…

Now we’re in Alexandria, loving staying in a 3 bdrm townhouse right in Old Town and being in familiar surroundings. We both feel so at home here, it will be hard to leave again this time around. More pics to come – once I get them uploaded!

Here we go again…

On July 3 – at 8 months, 13 days old – Evelyn walked.  She followed in her brother’s footsteps 10 days later than he did, and with about the same degree of capability.   She pulled herself up on the dresser, turned to me, then let go and took about 5 steps in my direction before falling down.   She was willing to try it a few more times, but has really decided that crawling is the quicker, more efficient choice.  9 times out of 10 it seems, she’ll drop down to crawl over instead of walk.  But she is gaining more confidence daily and is getting steadier on her feet!  I think it will still be a while before she is a proficient walker.

Here are a few videos taken today of her walking.  We actually took a couple of videos the day she first walked… but – thanks to a nasty diaper rash, she was pant-less.  And I don’t think she wants her walking achievement to live on in that bottomless infamy through the blog, so we waited to take these ore G-rated videos of her today!

Milwaukee

We spent 3 days in Milwaukee en route southwards with Kyle’s family.  Kyle visited Milwaukee a lot as a kid, so we had a fun time going back to all the places he remembers.  Just like our trip to Winnipeg, we sure confused Luke with talk of Great-Grandmothers and old schools, but it was neat to see all the places that meant so much to his side of the family.

Playing at the playground near Kyle’s Grandma’s house – where he and Scotty used to play as kids

Enjoying the overpass to and from the park – Kyle taught Luke how to make the trucks honk at him!  Needless to say that’s a big hit.

The house Kyle’s mom Carla grew up in

We also spent a day at the Milwaukee Zoo, which was a beautiful little zoo with the coolest train Luke has ever ridden on!

Road Trip 2009 – the beginning.

And so it begins. Our grand 3 week adventure around the Eastern US. The kids and I flew to Chicago from Winnipeg to meet up with Kyle and Scotty last Tuesday afternoon. After a far-too-brief visit to Chicago – we only made it to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner – we had to get back in the car the next morning and head northwards. First to Milwaukee to meet Kyle’s parents, who had just arrived from Hawaii, then on to Sheboygan where the Margenau clan was gathering for their once-every-five-years family reunion.

Evelyn has proved to be a pretty good traveller so far.  We spend a lot of time stopped watching construction sites, and she seems happy to play in the car with all those buttons and fun lights!

She is also getting her fill of restaurant food.  Here she is slouched down enjoying a pizza lunch in Sheboygan.

Sheboygan is located right beside Kohler, WI – home to the famous Kohler bathroom fixture company!  In Sheboygan is the Kohler Memorial Art Gallery, which is interesting as an Art Gallery but, more importantly, provides some of the most spectacular bathrooms you’ll ever see.  We looked at art for a while, then spent the majority of our time peeking into the bathrooms to check out the designs!  All in all, quite spectacular.

You’ll find fancy Kohler bathroom fixtures just about everywhere here, including at the Blue Harbor waterpark that we spent a lot of time at.  In fact, I had a very sad experience with a jet-flush toilet at that waterpark.  Evelyn was wearing a practically brand new Fuzzi Bunz (cloth diaper, for those of you who have no clue what I’m talking about) under her swimsuit as a swim diaper.  Inevitably, it got dirty and I went to change her.  I rinsed out the diaper in the toilet and as I lifted it up and flushed it, apparently a small corner was still touching the water.  It ripped the diaper right out of my hand and it was gone in an instant.  Trust me, I tried to grab it – but it was gone.  So sad, I loved that Fuzzi Bunz, and they definitely aren’t cheap.  Now I’m very careful around those Kohler toilets, for fear of losing one of my children by mistake!  Anyways, Luke LOVED the waterpark and went two days in a row to exhaust himself on the slides, tubes, and swimming in the lazy river.  It was really a great experience for him.

Getting drenched as a 1000-litre bucket of water dumped over their heads

So cool – a waterslide just for riding on tubes!

The absolute best part was that they let Luke go on ALL the slides – as long as we caught him at the bottom.  He had never been on a real waterslide before, and absolutely loved it.

Evelyn got cold pretty quickly, so we sat out for the second half!

That afternoon we made it out to Lake Michigan to play on the beach before heading to Kyle’s cousin Cheryl’s house for a traditional Wisconsin Fish Fry.  The kids loved the sand and warm weather, but the water was a bit chilly for swimming. Evelyn once again ate her way through the beach, earning her a beard to rival her dad’s.  We keep hoping that when (if?) she ever grows teeth she’ll stop eating sand by the handful… but as there are no teeth on the horizon, it seems we’ve got a while before we see if that’s true.

Standing up on her own!  This is also the day she first walked – video to come in a separate blog.

Our own little mermaid

On the Fourth of July we were all invited to a friend of the family’s house in downtown Sheboygan.  They had just bought a new house right along the parade route – and incidentally just across the street from the Senator’s house.  We had prime seating for the parade, and got to benefit from a LOT of Margenau family enthusiasm.  This was my first Fourth of July parade, and we all really enjoyed it.  Except the fact that is went on almost 3 hrs and had 101 floats.  Thats a LONG time to sit and watch a parade.

Party at the Senator’s house!

The Margenau men

Dancing girls with pom-poms… another strange American tradition.

Evelyn – who just officially became an American about a month ago – happily waving (then eating) her American Flag

After the parade ended we went to the official family reunion party at Cheryl & Patrick’s house.  A ton of Margenau’s and related family all in one place.  There were unfortunately not a lot of little kids for Luke to play with, but it was sure neat to meet all the extended cousins and their families.  And to eat.  And eat and eat and eat.  We’re leaving Wisconsin about 14 lbs heavier than when we arrived.

Our little piece of the Margenau Family

Our kids and their nearest cousin who attended – baby Maren.  She is about 4 months younger than Evelyn.  That’s her Grandpa John holding her.

A return to some roots

Last week I packed up both kids and embarked on another solo plane flight westward.  Instead of flying to see Grandma again, we were headed halfway across the country – to Winnipeg.

Having a quick snack in the airport, en route to Winnipeg

Both my mom and dad grew up in Winnipeg, and their entire families still live there.  Growing up, we spent two months every summer in Winnipeg and at our family cottage on Falcon Lake with extended family, so it is very much a part of my childhood.   As most of our relatives haven’t met either Luke or Evelyn yet, I decided it was one thing I wanted to do before heading off to the far east this Fall.  They were both a bit young to appreciate the significance of all the landmarks “mommy why Grandma used to live at this house?  Why Grandma little girl once??” – it was sure cool to see some places through my kids eyes.

At the Assiniboine Park Railway – a little train that unfortunately wasn’t running until July 1.  Heather and I remember going on this in the summers when we were little.

Seeing the bears at the Winnipeg Zoo.  Unfortunately for the bears, the enclosure hasn’t changed at all in almost 30 years… Debbie – the oldest Polar Bear – just died in February.  We can remember seeing her and her cubs playing in the water.

The lily pads and water wheel I remember from when I was little

Luke enjoying the camel-themed play structure that I don’t remember at all… Heather?

Luke’s first pony ride.  Surprisingly, it was a big hit!

Evelyn enjoying some Jeannie’s Bakery cake for dessert.  This is my mom’s favourite cake in the world, and was my parent’s wedding cake!

A visit to the new Children’s Museum was a huge hit, especially when Luke found this little “construction zone”.  The cold weather and rain kept us from playing at playgrounds for most of the time there, and our poor boy was desperate to dig in some rocks.

Luke playing “market” in the Chinese market exhibit.  He kept asking what each vegetable was and I would only tell him the Chinese name, so I’m hoping he’ll learn them quickly once we get to China!

And then – we went to the lake!  My mom’s side of the family sold the cabin that I had grown up staying at, but my dad’s family still owns their cabin – just a bay away from ours.  Uncle Peter has done an incredible job of maintaining the history of the cottage, while still adding on new elements that make it much more live-able.  Unfortunately, it rained.  We were there 2 days and spent the majority of the time inside, saying “look, its getting brighter – maybe the rain is letting up?”  In the end, we just made the most of it – Luke and I spent hours at the dock getting drizzled on, throwing sticks and rocks into the water.  No swimming in Falcon Lake this trip, hopefully we’ll make it back soon for another try!

Me and my baby at Falcon Lake

“Mommy PLEASE go find more sticks!”

A soggy, but generally happy little boy.  The buckets of water were on the dock because the winds and waves were so strong a lot of docks in the bay got damaged.  The buckets helped keep the dock from lifting up in the high waves.

Uncle Peter took us out for a boat ride to see our old cottage and beach.  Luke really loved being in the boat, but he wasn’t so certain of the lifejackets…

Evelyn having her nightly bath – in the kitchen sink!  There’s no bathtub at the cottage, so this was the next best option.  At my mom’s cottage, Heather and I bathed in a big tin washtub in the kitchen for years after we outgrew the sink!

The “teddy bear” the Luke happened to see behind the garbage cans as we waited for Uncle Peter to throw the garbage in.  Noone else noticed it, and Luke was so adament that there was a “teddy bear” I pulled the car back a bit to see what stuffed toy someone had thrown out!  Then I hollered to Peter who swiftly jumped back in the car… Luke’s got incredible eyes for things like that.

We also got to spend a lot of time with all the family who we had gone to visit.  We stayed with my cousin Kerri and her husband Scott (their blog is linked to the side of this one!).  Their 10-month old baby Graham had no idea what hit him when his two rowdy cousins came to stay, but he loved playing with them and it was so neat to see all three kids playing so well together.  Kerri is my only “real” cousin and we spent a lot of time together growing up, so it was really fun to watch our kids together.

Evelyn and her cousin Graham.  He’s a couple months older than her, but they are roughly the same size and have the same mobility skills.  Watching the two of them crawl around and play with one another was just incredible.

Evelyn and my 88-yr old Aunt Babe.  My grandma, who Evelyn is named after, was Aunt Babe’s older sister.

Luke and Aunt Babe

All of us together

Videos of our recent adventures

We finally got a chance to post these to youtube – here’s video to go along with the last post!

Hangin’ with my brother

With Linds out of town, Scotty and I grabbed the bull by the horns and did a lot of things that did not require us to be home for lunch, naps (although Scotty took a lot of those), dinner or BBB (Bath, Books, Bed) time. While we spent today, my birthday raod trippin’ the highlight of the week was definately the zip-lining trip we took on Saturday followed by a trip to Linds and my favorite swimming lake.

 

The zip lining was absolutely amazing. At times we were over a hundred feet up and the longest line was easily half a kilometer. Yes, I know I am mixing units. We went with one of my neighbors and it was a really nice time. Relaxing and exhilarating at the same time. Pictures below.

 

This morning, my birthday, we loaded up the car, cats and all, and departed Ottawa for parts known and mostly unknown. The first stop was to drop off the cats. Went ok till the end when Oli puked up a huge pile in the carrier. Fortunately we were literally pulling in to the kitty spa at that point so the nice man who runs the place did the clean up! After that it was off to Niagara Falls, which much like the Grand Canyon everyone says it is impressive but nothing compares to actually seeing it! We did the Maid of the Mist boat tour and walked around a while. I think the highlight of Niagara was the trip to My Country Delicatessan, which is owned by one of our neighbours family. We show up for a quiet lunch and walk out 45minutes later loaded down with 10lbs of sausage made in the deli, our bellies stuffed to busting with homemade food and more hugs from a sweet old Serbian lady than we knew what to do with. Awesome!

All in all a good birthday. It was a lot of fun hanging with Scotty since it is not something I get to do very often. He is a good companion for a roadtrip although he has yet to take a turn at the wheel.

8 months old! (and many other updates)

As my dad reminded me this morning – it HAS been a while since an update.  Only about a week, mind you, but it has been one heck of a week.  Apparently June is not our month.  We brought home a souvenir from Luke’s trip to the Emergency Room – in the form of Swine Flu.  At least I’m sure thats what it is.  First Kyle, then me and the kids all developed this awful flu with fevers and chills and coughs and lots of congestion.   So we’re all exhausted, and life is pretty hectic these days.  Hopefully this rounds out our month of medical misery, and we can move on to a healthier safer summer!  We also took Luke back to the Dr. this week, who decided NOT to x-ray his ankle as Luke is putting more and more weight on it – its likely (hopefully) just a really bad sprain.

So – today Evelyn is 8 months old!  She is 19.5 lbs and 29.5 inches tall.  Apparently in the 70th percentile for weight, and stretching OFF the charts for height – the nurse was so amazed she measured her twice to make sure!  She seems much leaner than Luke was at this age.  Even her leg rolls are almost completely gone.  She hasn’t grown much in the last month – her clothes all seem to fit the same way.

She is an avid eater, basically eating pieces of whatever we are having for dinner.  I’d like to try to maintain that diet for her, as it is far easier than always preparing something separate, as we have to do for Luke.  She still – shockingly – doesn’t have a single tooth (or even a hint that one will emerge sometime soon) so it’ll be a while before she’s eating things that don’t mush in her mouth.  But she honestly does really well with everything we give her, so I’m not worried about her lack of teeth!

She is – like her brother – an absolutely terrible sleeper.  An average day includes a 1.5 hr nap in the morning, around 8-9am, and another 1.5 hr nap in the afternoon, around 1pm.  Then she goes to bed at 7:30, wakes up once half an hour later for a readjustment, then sleeps until 10.  After that, she’s up every 2 hrs until 3 or 4 in the morning when she just decides to wake up every hour, or – even better – every half hour.  That’s when I go in and sleep with her, just to get some rest.  Then she’s up somewhere between 5-7am for the morning, which is a real treat.  Its definitely not ideal.  But this time we do know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, as Luke has evolved into a relatively good sleeper.  So I think we are more willing to just put up with Evelyn’s issues, knowing that it will one day get better.  And for now, we’re coping.

Evelyn’s big deadline is coming up in 3 short days – will she or won’t she walk in time to beat Luke?  I don’t honestly think she will, but then again, I said the exact same thing in Luke’s 8 month update, and he proved me wrong.  Evelyn definitely has all the parts of walking – she can pull herself up on anything,  is very sturdy on her feet, will stand unassisted playing with a toy, will transfer her weight from one object to another while cruising, and can sometimes take a couple steps in the direction of someone (although she isn’t as confident with that as Luke was at this age).  However, I really do think that her crawling is going to slow down her walking.  If she sees somewhere she wants to go – even if the gap is inches beyond her reach, she’ll immediately drop down on her knees and crawl over, rather than stretching to walk.  Luke wasn’t crawling at this stage, so he thought walking was the only solution.  Anyways, we’ll see what happens!  She is still on the verge of walking, I just really doubt she’ll take those first steps before Tuesday!

Evelyn is a very vocal little girl, always singing along with music or chattering to herself while playing.  I’m certain she says her own version of “Hi” when she hears other people saying “Hi”.  I keep working on Mama – but she just looks at me strangely, then tries to bite my face.  We’re trying to teach her sign language for more, water, food, nursing, – all the basics in her life.  So far Luke thinks they’re just hilarious, and loves using them.  Evelyn hasn’t really gotten it.  The Itsty Bitsy Spider is her all-time favourite song, if we’re talking to her or playing with her we’ll catch her climbing her hands above her head – as if she’s asking us to sing it.  Then when we do, she gets so excited, jumping up and down and – shockingly – getting most of the hand movements for the song right.  She’s so cute, I’ve got to get a video of it.

She is a really loving and snuggly baby, who will happily play for a while then come sit quietly with me to watch for a few minutes.  She rarely nurses throughout the day, apart from at naptimes, but she does love to bury her face in my neck or give me ‘kisses’ on the face, which are far slobberier than they should be!  She is a terribly charming baby, reaching out to everyone she sees in the grocery store, cooing and giggling at people on the street until they come to see her, then grabbing them or raising her arms to be picked up.  And with her huge blue eyes and her gorgeous, blond, curlier-by-the-day hair, she’s sure to be very popular once we move to China.

And at 8 months old – today – she had her first helicopter ride!   I thought it would be a fun idea for Luke – who loves all things that fly – and Kyle to do for Fathers Day.  But then I found out the Helicopter sat 3 people, and that they would let me bring Evelyn along on my lap, so we decided to make it a family outing!  We booked it through the Aviation Museum, and it was such a cool experience for everyone.  Here are the pictures to show you our adventure!

Luke wasn’t really a fan of the microphone thing…

His favourite part?  Watching other planes – from the sky – circling and landing at the airport below us.

The Ottawa River- looking toward Parliament

Parliament Hill, from the River

Evelyn’s favourite part of the day?  All those fun helicopter parts to chew on!