Happy 4th of July

Special thanks to my dad again... he watched Captain overnight (Tuesday night) for bonding reasons. Fundi and I were able to watch two complete movies that night and the next morning we were able to prepare for the block party that we were planning to celebrate the 4th of July. My dad and Captain laid down for a nap in the morning and didn't wake up until after noon. We were supposed to leave to go to the parade in a nearby town at noon, but we left at about 12:45 instead.

As it turned out, some things are just meant to be. We were looking for a spot in the shade to sit and watch the parade when I waved at a woman that I recognized from church. She invited us to sit with her and her two girls. (Her husband and her other two girls were in the parade.) We had a nice little chat and I found out that she scrapbooks too... (I would like to say that I scrapbook, but really I just gather stuff to scrapbook with... Reminder: Need to get working on that...) and that she has parties. What a great way to meet more people and develop other relationships. The parade itself was lots of fun. In such small communities you are bound to know some of the people, but I was able to say hi to so many of the people that I haven't seen in a while. I think I knew one person in at least half of the floats. Captain REALLY enjoyed himself as well. He got two Popsicles for lunch (remember... my dad and him woke up late from the nap... no time for lunch) and some Cheerios. But more than that, he watched as the band came up the street and the fire trucks and the other floats, but mostly I think he liked the Popsicles.

After the parade, we walked over to the park and visited with a few more people. One woman that was there has a little girl that was born about two months before Burbles. So we talked kids a little bit. Then we ran into three of my great aunts and they got to hold the babies and we talked kids as well.

Then we went and picked up my grandma and went home to get ready for the block party. We had a great time and great food. Everyone really enjoyed themselves and had fun visiting and watching the kids run around.

After that we went to another neighbor's house and set off fireworks while my dad stayed home with the kids (what a great guy... huh?). The fireworks were fun and we got to visit with some more people that we never get to see.

All in all, our 4th of July was a celebration of life and love and community... all the things that living in this great nation should be about.

Captain on the 4th of July

Burbles on the 4th of July

Captain with a Popsicle

Captain and Burbles with their Great-Great-Aunties

Captain and Gumpa walking around in the park

Captain and Burbles with Great-Grandma

The neighbors at the Block party

More neighbors at the Block party

Fundi's mom stirring the potatoes

My dad's Girlfriend holding Burbles

Great-Grandma stealing a strawberry

Our Family

A rainbow from that night. The photo was taken on our deck.

The Haircut

Captain got his first haircut and ate his first lollypop yesterday. He was totally in love with the lollypop... it IS in the shape of a ball. Here are some photos...

The Before Shot

The During Shot

The After Shot

Hamming it up for the camera with Daddy

Look at that tongue

Captain Destructo Strikes Again

Captain Destructo is thought to be the culprit that chewed his mother's Big Red Gum. The gum was thought to be packed away safely; however, after remembering forgetting to unpack the gum from the toy box after their trip to the Dells, Captain's mother is at fault for the current offense.

In a statement from his mother: "Captain found the gum among his toys the day after we returned home. I was busy making lunch and heard "Num, Num, Num" and I was like... hmm, I didn't think that I had anything out that he could eat (rocks, fuzz, and grass are among his favorites) and I looked and there he was, eating the foil and the bits of gum that he was able to get..."

This attack is one of many lately. There is no telling what The Captain may do next.

Why we call him Captain

So, this is why we call him Captain. This is our dining room/toy room after an attact by Captain Destructo. Look closely and you can see kitchen rugs on the floor and in the white tub in the bottom corner, the blanket on the floor, the chairs pushed out... This really doesn't do his mess justice...

Captain and Burbles

Look at these two... aren't they just the cutest? I may be biased, but of course I can't help the fact that I think they are beautiful.

Photos and Comments

So, anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE taking photos... that being said, I hadn't figured out how to add them to my Blog until tonight when I had a little time to figure it out. I have added some photos to the previous blogs, so please go back and check them out.
Also, I didn't realize that I had the Blog set to only accept comments from members. I have changed that and would love comments from people. I don't really know who all reads this except for Erika, Jennie, "Me" (whoever you are, if you could email me that would be great.. just let me know who you are) and Gummie, so let me know :)
Hope to hear from you all soon and I'll be adding more photos (hopefully tomorrow)!

Geez...

I have been so busy.... and it seems like I haven't done anything at all.
The babies are doing well. We went to the Dells this past weekend and all four of us slept in the same room. Captain slept in the closet where it was dark in the pack-and-play and Burbles slept in the Boppy on a chair. We called Captain "Harry Potter" for the weekend, but he didn't seem to mind sleeping in the closet. It was dark and quiet and that is all he really requires for sleeping arrangements. Burbles enjoyed her sleeping accommodations as well. So much so, in fact, that she slept through the night all weekend. However, since we have been home, not so much. What I wouldn't give...
More exciting news... after researching flying and going by train to California, we have booked our flights to visit my grandparents and my uncle and a good friend from college this July.... Finally a real vacation. ( What a contradiction... we are taking the kids which means that there really is no such thing as a "real" vacation. There will still be diapers to change and bottles to make and kids to feed... in the middle of the night... but it is a start.)
My right eye isn't doing that much better, as a matter of fact, this morning, it seems more blurry than when I first had it done... what gives? Maybe it is the lack of sleep... should ask the doctor... he may be able to write me a note that gets me out of late night feedings (big problem... Fundi sometimes works nights). I'm sure Burbles would understand.
Fundi screwed down the registers yesterday, so Captain is no longer able to try to climb down them or throw his toys down there. Just a hint: if this does happen, use a plastic spatula to coerce the toys from the depths. This is terribly exciting as I have spent most of my time this week trying to keep Captain away from those stupid registers. They may not be pretty, but now I don't have such a headache :). Captain is in denial that he is unable to lift the registers up anymore, and he cursed us out in his own baby language for five minutes while he tried to get them off. Fundi said that he was looking at us like "Hey, what gives?"
The Dells trip was fun. We ate hibachi Japanese food two nights (which I absolutely love). Fundi got to play in the water park. He really had a good time doing that. We did a little shopping. We also went and toured a cheese factory and then stopped at an Amish roadside stand and bought the best pie I have ever eaten and a loaf of fresh baked bread which was wonderful too. Really though, baby proofing is so important when you are on vacation. It really is not much fun having to chase Captain around telling him that he can't do something (we don't like it and neither does he). I would like to see units (we stayed at our time-share) that are fully child proofed. Captain took a few big diggers this weekend and we feel terrible about it, but it was mostly due to the particular unit we were staying in. He is a trooper though, and he always got back up and kept on going.
In a fit of cleaning rage last night, I managed to clean the entire upstairs, fold the four loads of laundry that I have been putting off and put it all away, bathe Captain and feed him supper, vacuum, dust, do the dishes, cook supper, and watch most of the TV that I have recorded over the last week and a half, put both of the kids to bed at their bedtime, and I was still in bed at 10:15! Fundi was at work last night, so I did this all and kept both of the kids occupied... you would be amazed that singing while vacuuming is very entertaining to very young children.
I also was able to talk to both of my Grandmas yesterday. My Grandma in California... we call her Gummie and my Grandpa Guppy. (HI GUMMIE!) She sounds like she is doing really well. She was going to get her haircut (she needs it cut quite frequently, apparently) and she said that she has been reading my Blog! This is a great improvement because that means that she is able to sit up at her computer. This is all very important because she had a major back surgery a while back and she was in pain for quite some time. I was happy to hear that she is doing well.
My Grandma that lives nearby also sounds like she is doing well. She does dialysis three times a week and I sometimes pick her up after she gets done. She said that things are going well and that she really enjoyed having her oldest son around this past weekend. He planted a rose bush with her and they went to the County Dairy Breakfast. (The farm where it was held is the farm where my sister's husband and his two brother and his dad are the owners. We were regretfully unable to attend because we were in the Dells, but we heard that it was a good turn-out.)

This is us at the Carr Valley Cheese Factory.

This is our niece and Burbles.

This is me and Fundi.

Here is Fundi and Burbles.

This is at the waterpark. Fundi and Captain.

Here is Burbles at the waterpark.

Captain riding one of those machines they put in malls and arcades for little kids to ride on.

Rarely seen footage of Captain sleeping. He was so tired out because he had boycotted sleeping all day.

Ginza of Tokyo Restaurant in the Dells. They cook your food right in front of you.

Captain and Fundi at Ginza of Tokyo.

The Zoo and Uncle Visit

Last week, after one of my LASIK appointments, my sister-in-law and I took our kids to the Como Zoo in the Twin Cities. We had a great time and Captain got so excited when he got to see all the animals. He has a thing right now about animals, trucks, trains, and basically anything that moves. (Last night he kept saying "birl, birl" and I didn't quite understand. I thought that he may have been saying ball, but then he pointed straight outside at one of my hanging baskets of flowers and there were a couple of birds sitting there! What a smart kid.) It has to be the age, or maybe it is a boy thing, I guess we'll see. Anyhow, we all really enjoyed the zoo and the gardens that are around it. Even Burbles had a pretty good day. She was quite content riding around outside in the stroller.
Then we went to my Uncle P's house. My other uncle, C., from North Carolina was there. It was so great to see everyone. It was especially nice to see the kids interacting so well with their great-uncles and their second cousin. My uncle P took an interest in my sister-in-law's little girl, or maybe it was the other way around, but she really checked him out and you could tell that she developed a "little girl crush" on him while we were there (she is only 3). My Uncle C really has a way with babies (he is a new Grandpa himself) and when Burbles was having her evening melt-down, Uncle C was really great with her: talking to her soothingly, rocking her in the air in fluid motions, and just being so comforting to her. I'm sure that he is a wonderful Grandpa to his little granddaughter.
Then there was my cousin. We'll call him A. When we were younger, Uncle C's boys (he has 2) were always spending a lot of their time when they visited with my Uncle P's boys (he has 2). They would play video games and chase around. I was always a little jealous, but now I realize that it is just a boy thing... I got to see my cousin A interact with Captain the same way that my other cousins interacted with him. It was so cool. My cousin A has sure grown up lately (he is taller than his dad) and he is more mature and it was so neat that he was willing to spend time with my son.
All-in-all, it was a pretty good day.

This is me and the kids at the zoo. The cool shades are because of my surgery.

This is Captain at his finest.

This is Burbles. Isn't she cute?

Captain loves the balls. He didn't care at all about the sea lion.

This is my niece and Burbles. (I need to think of a name for my niece sometime soon...)

This is Captain riding a tortoise.

This is my niece and nephew and Captain on some giraffes.

This is my niece and nephew on the rocks near the pond in the Japanese Gardens.

This is my sister-in-law and Captain walking in the Japanese gardens.

Uncle C and Burbles

The Picnic

Thursday night Fundi and the kids and I and my sister-in-law and her kids went to this picnic. This wasn't just a regular picnic, but a picnic at an organic farm that is owned by a woman (and her husband) that I went to high school and college with. (She was there at the same time I was, but we were never close friends as she was a senior when I was a freshman in both places.) Their farm is amazing. They have a 2 acre garden where they raise more than 80 items. They sell shares of their crop to locals who want to buy locally raised produce that is organic as well. They also raise goats and chickens. Of course Captain enjoyed the animals immensely, but he also enjoyed the pizza as well (He ate the asparagus and tomatoes but refused to eat the cheese and the crust). They have a wood fired stone oven that they cook pizzas in. The pizzas are made from locally grown items and they are very good.
More than that, there was an atmosphere that you just do not find anywhere else. The location is a valley near where I grew up. The valley is green and lush and there are many trees. Down a short gravel road is an old barn and a new house. Behind the house is a swing set and the stone oven and a small barn. In the barn is a kitchen where the pizzas are prepared. The yard is beautifully landscaped and it is a comfortable ambiance. There was a bonfire started and torches that lit the path to the back yard. The yard was well groomed and there were other picnic goers that had brought their own chairs. We had a blanket that we sat on. It was peaceful and the pizza was great. We visited with people we knew and people we didn't know. It wasn't like at a restaurant where people don't talk to anyone that isn't sitting at their own table. People were mingling and kids were running all over, playing on the swingset. My nephew even helped take some pizzas to people that were waiting for them in the yard. They were happy to let a 10 year old with lots of energy call out the customer's names and give them their pizza. We didn't have to worry about picking up crumbs that spilled from our kids' mouths and we didn't have to worry about the soda that my niece spilled in the yard. It was such a peaceful experience and the setting was serene. We will go back for sure.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.smithgardensfarm.com/

Ok, so Captain doesn't like pizza (the crust and the cheese anyway...), he likes the boxes, he loves shoes, and he loves balls. I think he may have been in heaven at this moment.

Did I mention that he loves balls?

Our Beautiful little girl relaxing on the picnic blanket.

Here she is with her cousin.

Captain and Fundi.

Our family.

This is where a person orders the pizza and drinks (only root beer, ginger ale, water, and cream soda). And a chalkboard for the kids to draw on.

Our niece on the slide.

My niece and sister-in-law.

I Can See

I can see...well almost. I had my surgery. It ended up being a LASIK/PRK procedure. My vision was so bad that they were unable to use LASIK at all in my right eye. I ended up doing the PRK which is a procedure where they use a razor blade to cut the cornea and then peel away the top layer. After it heals, it should have the same results as the LASIK eye. Today I had my 5 day checkup and my vision is 20/20 in the left eye (it has been 20/20 since less than 24 hours after the surgery) and 20/30 in the right eye. I am absolutely amazed. I can finally see without assistance of any kind.
Now, I'm not going to lie to you. The procedure was not exactly painless. They do not put you to sleep for it and you are not sedated. They numb your eyes with some numbing drops and give you a Valium for relaxation (if you want it) and then they put a device in your eye to keep it from going shut. They ask you to stare at a red light that is above you. While you are staring at that light, they either make an incision and peel back your cornea (as in LASIK) or they cut the cornea and peel off the top layer (as in PRK) after this there is a burning sensation as the laser burns the correct amount of cornea for your vision correction needs. The most disturbing part about the whole thing is the smell of flesh burning (when the laser is burning the cornea). Noone told me about this and it was enough to make me nauseous while I was laying on the table.
After the procedure, they asked me to sit up. I COULD SEE! I was amazed that I could tell what time it was on the clock 5 feet away from me with no problems. I was escorted to a small relaxation room with a comfortable reclining chair and I waited there for about 15 minutes. Then I was led out to the waiting room where my husband and children waited patiently for me.
The ride home was uncomfortable. It was very bright out and my eyes were so sensitive to the light that they were crying uncontrollable. I put my sweatshirt over my head and tried to sleep, but I was too uncomfortable and my eyes were burning. When we got home (a two hour drive) I went to sleep immediately. I slept for a couple of hours and then woke up and I could see. I did wear my sunglasses in the house to help with the light sensitivity, but my eyes had great vision. Fundi and I even watched a movie that night (or part of one). But the next morning when I woke up, I was very uncomfortable again. I took some pain medication, but mostly my eyes just watered uncontrollably for about a half an hour. After that they started to behave, but I noticed that my PRK eye was now cloudy. It was as though if my eye were a car window covered with bugs and then I washed the window smearing the bugs and making it worse.
Over the next couple of days my vision got better. But today they took my bandage lens off of the PRK eyeand now my vision is blurred again. I suppose my eye just has to adjust again... we'll SEE.