Vacation!

We took a brief family trip to Minneapolis over Labor Day weekend. We had a law school friend getting married there, so the old crew from UM decided to get together -- kids and all. We had a great time! It took us about 7 1/2 hours to drive each way (stops included). Neither kid slept for a moment either way. "I no sleep in the car!" Ellie would say incredulously anytime it was suggested. Oh well - we made it. We rented a van with a DVD player - the kids were in heaven! I also collected several new workbooks, pencils, activity books, coloring books etc. that were reserved "just for our trip".

All ready for the trip!

I think he finished his huge book of mazes before we even got out of Missouri.

Incidentally, these pictures were taken during our first stop (at Wal-Mart about 3 minutes from our house). I was double-checking with Justin to make sure he had everything - belt, shoes, socks. Dang! Forgot the socks. Hence, the stop at Wal-Mart. Apparently I should have been more thorough in my checklist. Upon our arrival in Minneapolis a look of horror came over J's face. He had forgotten his suit at home and had nothing to wear for the wedding (except a belt, new socks, and shoes, of course). Had to do a Macy's run before the wedding :)

We spent Saturday morning/day with our friends from law school and their kids. We had 5 under the age of 5. Everyone got along so well! We spent the morning at the Minneapolis Children's Museum - such fun! After naps, the babysitters arrived and the parents headed to the wedding.

Shopping

Checking out

He was doing great matching the X-rays with his body

The water room was by far EK's favorite.

boat races

The Lego room with Piper ("Piper, you're my best friend")

I think this was Will's favorite area.

Aren't they cute?! They were such pals!

Prince & Princess

Ellie Kate the turtle

Sunday morning we went to a park to play with hopes that we could wear the kids out so they'd sleep in the car. No luck on the sleep, but they sure had fun!

Cutie pie!

This makes me flash forward about 10 years and get VERY nervous! :)

Adorable Owen

Teeter-totter

somehow, I don't think the sides were evenly balanced

It was a quick trip, but a nice vacation and so great to catch up with friends. Will's favorite part of the trip? "Piper". Hopefully we'll get to see them again soon!

T-ball party

Will had his end-of-season T-ball party a few weeks ago. What could be better than pizza and cupcakes for bunch of little boys?

Coach talking to the team

So proud of his trophy

Even little sisters got cupcakes!

Hours of entertainment

Zone defense

I am pleased to announce that Team Nichols will be moving to a zone defense just in time for March Madness. That's right, no more man-to-man for this family. Soon, the kids will outnumber the parents. Are we prepared? Probably not. Are we excited? Over the moon. Our latest addition is set to arrive in February. After a summer of feeling yucky, I'm please to say I'm feeling better now and we are cautiously optimistic for a healthy pregnancy and baby. We're just past the 16 week mark and have taken a few peeks at our little one (via sonogram). So far so good. I still think hearing a baby's heartbeat over that doppler is one of the best sounds in the world.

We've not talked with Will & Ellie Kate about their new sibling, but will do so at some point soon. Remarkably, I think Will intuitively knows. He asked shortly after we found out when there would be another baby in my tummy. He thinks he'd like 100. Not happenin', buddy! The other night he suggested that if there was "a baby littler than Ellie Kate here" that I should stay home with that baby because I'm "a better teacher." Isn't that so sweet? Of course, you'll notice he didn't offer himself to stay home; he still wants to go to his school. But the baby could stay home with me :)

I'll post soon about our Labor Day trip to Minneapolis, but feeling ready to include this baby in my blog. More updates (though no belly pics) to come as we progress.

Big girl

Ellie Kate has been hitting several milestones lately. This past weekend her "big girl bed" arrived. She LOVES it! Will does, too, actually. He plays in there with her all the time and has asked if he can sleep in that bed with her. We have not really put her "new room" (same room - different furnishings) together. We still need to paint, move some things out, other things in. So, there are no room pictures yet, but these are some cute ones of the kids getting ready for bed tonight. Will came in so he could hear the books I was reading to Elle.

  

Will wanted to pretend they were going to sleep. This is how Ellie Kate goes to sleep. You tell her to close her eyes and go to sleep and she squints her eyes closed as hard as she can. It's so cute!

Saturday Will asked to have his toenails painted, and of course Elle insisted she needed to have hers done too. Mine and Will's are blue. "Ellie Kate no blue." (with hand shaking as if to stay stop it!) "Ellie Kate wants red toes." Something about red toenails that make a little girl seem so grown up. The toes and the big girl bed all in one day were almost more than this mommy could handle.

Tonight before bed, we hit another milestone -- potty in the potty chair! Of course, this was after she peed a bit on the carpet, but I'll take what I can get, I guess. We haven't really started potty training, per se. We'll see if this sparks her interest. Will and I made a very big deal about it tonight. "Mommy, I am so proud of Ellie Kate." Will said. "Next time I want her to go poop." I can already tell he's gonna be a really big help in this process. :)

Home days

Ugh - I'm so behind on blogging! Earlier this month, Will had 2 days off school so I took the days off and we had home days together. We had such a great time! I forget how old he is and how much he can do! On Thursday, my  mom came up, so we played games for a bit and then headed to my brother-in-law's fire station for a tour. I've been meaning to take Will and we're so lucky the timing worked out!

Jeff and the guys were so great with Will! He was a little overwhelmed and very quiet while we were there. But I really think he was just taking it all in. He talked about it tons later to anyone who would listen (including Botchie). While we were there, we toured the living area, got to see the trucks, equipment, boats, Will got to climb in the trucks and push buttons. They even let him start the engine and turn on the lights. What a cool experience!

Afterward, we went out to lunch then had a quiet afternoon at home. On Friday, we went to pick a few things up at the mall, got his hair cut and then met Casie out for lunch. We ate at First Watch and of all the items on the kids menu (chocolate chip pancakes, turkey sandwich, etc.) he chose a fresh fruit crepe with granola and organic yogurt. And he ate nearly all of it. What a kid.

After lunch we went to tour Aunt Casie's "big school". Will had been there before, but he clearly didn't totally remember it. He was utterly impressed that there was a library inside the school. The whole concept was just amazing to him. And, of course, as soon as we walked into the library he spotted the Magic Treehouse books and got so excited. He loved looking around Aunt Casie's classroom. As he was looking through her bookshelf, he announced, "Aunt Casie, I see some Roald Dahl books." For those who don't know or don't recall, Roald Dahl wrote Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and several other kids books. He is Will's "favorite author". (I swear I didn't know what an author was when I was 4!) But, Will spotted his name on some books in Aunt Casie's classroom and she was generous enough to let him borrow them. I wonder if her 5th graders are as excited to borrow books from the classroom?

All in all, it was a really wonderful two days together. I'm not really sure who enjoyed it more - me or him.

Oregon coast

A few weeks ago Justin & I got to enjoy a quick getaway to the Oregon coast to celebrate my dear friend's wedding. Though our trip was short, we had a great time. The wedding was beautiful - and they could not have asked for better weather! Of course, it was awfully cool to those of us used to 90+ degree heat, but it was perfect for a beach wedding.

the few from our room

it was a little windy, but we kept trying to get a picture of the 2 of us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the view at the beach closest to wear we stayed - just a couple minute walk

The morning of the wedding we explored Seaside. It's an adorable little beach/touristy town. With the nice weather, lots of people came to the beach. Very little swimming, but lots of fun in the sand, kite flying, and dogs playing.

The wedding was lovely. K & I have known each other since we were 5 :) So fun to share in the day.

Beautiful

parading to the reception

Reception site

A lovely weekend escape

Where did July go?

Holy cow! It's been a while since I've posted. Just lots of fun summer things going on, I guess.
We went to Seneca over 4th of July for family Christmas. It was such a great time. We all loved it.
On the way home we stopped in Topeka for fireworks. EK was not impressed, so we just headed to bed. Will had a great time, though! And then on the 4th we got to see our friends from Texas for a quick visit.

The whole gang

The "kids"

The great-grandkids

The grandkids

Too cute not to add :)

Getting ready for the fireworks

Will & Cooper had a good time playing together

Not too bad with all 4 sorta looking at the camera!

Jackson playing hard to get.

Ok, maybe he's interested.

Nope, not that interested.

We've finished the t-ball season and it was definitely a success. Will really enjoyed it and looked forward to games (and post-game treats) the entire season.

We successfully broke Ellie Kate's pacifier habit. She was only taking it at bed time and the transition was much much easier than I expected. I had planned to have some elaborate story with a pacifier fairy and a new toy, but never got around to that. So, they just "disappeared", unannounced one Friday evening. After just a few days, there wasn't even fussing at bedtime anymore. Now if only it were that easy to break Will's thumb sucking.

Last weekend J & I went to the Oregon coast for my dear friend's wedding. It was a quick trip, but we very much enjoyed it. I'll post pics of that another time.