Polar Vortex Outing

In midst of a Polar Vortex you must stay inside... but we were going crazy in the house. We braved the temperatures to hit up Altitude trampoline gym.

Midwest Mardi Gras Madness

A short trip to Dyer Indiana for a meet at the Midwest Elite Gym. Brooke placed 3rd in Trampoline and 8th in Double Mini. She was not as pleased today as she generally is at a meet, but Brooke has become a strong competitor and handles every single outcome really well. She was still all smiles after the meet. Perhaps the short drive had something to do with it ;)

1/27 midwest training & ice

A Rainbow of Flavors

Brooke is basically a vanilla kid, Ryan only likes lemon and raspberry sorbetto, but Luke is ... different. Luke will try any ice cream flavor, which is awesome. He will also mix any ice cream flavor. I believe here he has both pumpkin pie ice cream and blue moon. There is nothing at all that tells him two flavors would not complement one another. He always asks for many flavors (we had to limit him to three now) and they're all over the map. He will be our official ice cream connoisseur when he grows up.

Kids at Work

One of the best things about the kids getting older is that they have the ability to become more independent and can manage more tasks autonomously. Today, Ryan shoveled the stairs and sidewalk ... while we stayed inside warm and cozy. This is definitely how I like my shoveling done!

AAU J.O. Team Trials - Davenport IA

While the other kids were swimming in the hotel pool, 

Brooke decided to workout in the hotel gym. 

Brooke tried out for the AAU National Team this weekend. It was a bit of a disappointing event, because we didn't really have all the information prior to the tryouts. The competition was based on level, with all kids at that level competing against each other … regardless of age. This made the competition insanely intense. None of the younger kids from IK Gymnastics made the team, while a few of the older kids did. Because of all of this, Brooke was a bit disappointed at this meet. There was also a "regular" meet at the same time over the weekend. As an athlete you could only do one or the other. The "regular" meet had much more limited competition and the girls that competed there from our team did really well. If we had the information prior (that Brooke really didn't have a chance at the National Team) and that the competition for the regular meet would have been more appropriate … we would have gone a different route. That is really what seemed to bother her.

There was a team cookie … 

this was clearly the highlight of Brookes weekend.

It was a horrible weather weekend and because of this many of the athletes were late arriving to the meet. Specifically, an entire team from Oklahoma was really late. To be fair, AAU held back the competition for them. However, they didn't inform of us this. So the competition took FOREVER. Then, on top of all that, we literally drove home in a blizzard. It was not the best weekend ;)

Little Picasso

Ryan's Snowglobe art :)

Charleston - Last Day

We had such a nice time in Charleston, mostly becuase the kids love 1) the Seminaroti Family and 2) hotels. This morning they did not want to wake up ... but, its flight day! We decided to get up, check out, and head downtown to have breakfast. Afterwards we did a little strolling.

We walked around Battery Park and saw some of the civil war cannons. We also took some pics by the water. The plan was to stroll and enjoy the day ... but, Luke suddenly had to go to the bathroom. We PANICKED. We were not very close to the airport, but also had some time to spare. When I did a google search it said there were no restrooms close. We were not anywhere near a Starbucks or McDonalds or anything like that. We literally ran to the car, and I was going to try to find some sort of Starbucks. The real crazy thing was that when we got to where the car was, I realized we were right next to a park district building. AND THEY HAD A BATHROOM. It was still a harrowing experince as there was one (occupied) stall, but we made it. And, after, the kids played at the park for a few minutes and got to burn off some energy.



It was great to be on the plane to go home because everyone missed Dad. But it was also sad, because it was the end of a great trip!

Charleston Day 4

The Seminiaroti donut recommendation was Duck Donuts. A place where they make the donuts fresh and then you get to pick all of your own toppings. This was much like the Bubbbles location in Michigan City IN ... and Brooke's clear favorite. I think she ate 4 donuts all by herself.

The kids got to watch their donuts being made

After donuts we went to Kiawah Beachwalker Park. The kids were excited to be heading to the water and were silly the whole car ride. When we finally got there, they all took of running for the beach. It was down a path and over a pier and then a large, wide beach. They ran all the way to the water.

This was literally the 30 minute drive to the beach

We stopped for dinner after the beach at a place that had an area for bags.
The kids played great until they started throwing the bags AT each other.
However, by then it was pretty much time to go anyway.

This was the saddest part of our journey because it was goodbye. The Seminaroti kids had to go to school the next day. We said some brief goodbyes and separated. All of my kids were immediately feeling the loss of their friends:(

It was about 70 and the warmest day we were in Charleston. The kids thought it was summer. All ran into the water - including Luke in a pair of pants and tshirt. They became so heavy he literally couldnt wear them. So, he opted to just take all of his clothes off and be free ;)

Charleston Day 3

Brooke has a few things the likes to guarantee on a trip. One of those is the hotel breakfast. Its a must even if she has to set an alarm to get there. And she did! This one wasnt as good as some of the past. However, she was still so happy to be there.

There was a donut place down the street called Glazed. The kids thought it was just ok. They don't say no to donuts... but agreed we have ones that are better at home ;)

We met the Seminaroti's at Hampton Park. It had a little pond and waterfountain and kids playground. The kids mostly climbed all over the old trees everywhere. They were climbable for all of them and it provided some good entertainment.

After all the climbing was out of the systems we went back to our hotel pool again for some swimming. The fist day we had the pool to ourselves and the kids were so psyched. They expected the same today but there were other kids there. Quite a few, actually. This dampered the spirits a little bit. After swimming we parted ways. I told the kids we would see the Seminarotis bright and early the next day so we could do the beach. This crushed all the spirits.

We drove that night to the Kilwins in Downtown Charleston. Brooke was the "spy" and took a ton of photos and videos to send to Dad. We checked out the employees, products, prices and customers. The kids were all crushed we weren't going to see the Seminarotis, and according to Megan ... they were crushed too. I gave in and we went back over there AGAIN. The kids all watched a movie together. They were really happy to be together again ;) And we brought some Kilwins ice cream so it was a double bonus.

Charleston Day 2

The kids started off lounging and it was tough to get them moving. They love laying around in hotels. Its probably one of their favorite things to do. No matter how much I try to lure them with what lies OUTSIDE the hotel ... they just want to hang out in it ;)

After lots of begging, they kindly agreed to go with me to meet out friends for lunch

After lunch, as was Brooke's #1 Plan, we went swimming at our hotel

Luke was not thrilled when it was time to leave the pool

After swimming we parted ways for a bit. The kids went back to relaxing in the hotel room. They also went back to Hotel Olympics.

Again, more hotel room shenanigans

We went back to the Seminaroti's Friday night. The kids played, hard, till it was super late. And, as is becoming a pattern ... the little guy crashed on the way back ;)

Charleston Day 1

We had an (overall) easy trip to Charleston. The train right was easy and the flight was fast. However, we were delayed an hour (while sitting ON the plane) and the little girl in front of us literally screamed the entire flight (including that 1 hour delay). Despite that, everyone was excited and before we knew it we were there.

Riding the Train to the Airport
This is where we think he picked up cooties

Hope You Are Ready Charleston. We are HERE.

This monkey suddenly became Priority #1

The BEST Big Sister

We went straight from the airport to the Seminaroti's House and played there until everyone was about to pass out. Drove back to our hotel for a late check-in. Luke didnt even get to see it until the next morning because he was out seconds after leaving the Seminaroti's driveway.

Crash!

1st Day of 2019, 1st Lost Tooth of The Year