Devil’s Lake

Devil’s Lake has been on our to-do list for years now.  It’s a beautiful lake surrounded by bluffs.  It’s the closest thing to mountains that you get here in Wisconsin.  We finally got around to going at the end of last month.  It was so much fun! We talked some friends into joining us. I can’t believe we waited so long.  We’ll definitely do it again.  Hopefully next time it won’t rain as much…

The highlight of the weekend was the hike that we went on.  We went thinking it would be an easy “one boot” hike (our guide book rates them from one-four boots depending on how hard they are).  Anyways, turns out that we ended up on a four boot hike.  We went through some super steep spots and a few spots where I was sure someone was going over the edge.  But these kids were serious troopers and even though we were all exhausted by the end, we were all glad we did it! 

This was at the beginning when the kids were voluntarily climbing the rocks.  Little did they know that soon this would be the trail…  And no, we didn’t have more kids, we had friends with us.  Friends who will probably never go camping with us again. 

This was where it started getting scary.  It made us a little nervous to look back and see Mike with Adam on his back.  One wrong step and they both would have fallen backwards down the trail.  Adam had no idea the danger he was in and just enjoyed the ride.  This my friends is one of the reasons I love Wisconsin.  They may have mountains in Utah, but they’ve got nothing on this greenery.  It’s amazing.  This is Devil’s doorway.  Some crazies (Paulina) were climbing through the hole right above my head and getting pictures inside of the doorway.     My kids were doing enough crazy climbing on their own.  They may be part mountain goat.    The kids were completely wiped out at the end of the hike.  Poor Sammy couldn’t even make it into the car. 

Other than this hike, there were lots of pancakes, s’mores, mosquitoes, yummy dinners, rain storms, muddy shoes and daddy long legs.  All in all a successful camping trip in my book!  Although our friends may disagree. 

Running Wild

I have been working at losing weight for almost a year now.  I’ve done weight watchers, my fitness pal, the YMCA, and all kinds of videos.  My favorite weight loss tool so far though has to be my running shoes.  I’m by no means a long distance runner, and I’m definitely not fast, but I really love the way it makes me feel and the confidence it gives me.   This year, to keep myself motivated and to mix things up, I decided I would try to run one race a month. 

I started out with the Blarney run here in Wauwatosa – a 5k.  Sarah ran it with me.  It was her first race!  We both finished in about 32  min.  A respectable 10 minute mile pace.  After the adults raced, the kids got to run their little race.  It was supposed to be 1/4 mile, but it wasn’t even close to that.  The kids all rocked it and it was fun to see them get excited about their race.  I would love it if they picked up running too!

April’s race was Crazy Legs in Madison.  I ran that one the year after Samantha was born.  It’s a 8k, so it was more of a challenge for me.  Unfortunately the new shoes that I bought, the shoes that were supposed to be amazing turned out to be not so amazing and I got some serious shin splints that wouldn’t go away.  I had to taper off my training 3 weeks before the race.  I kept that 10 minute mile pace up, which made me feel pretty good. I finished in 50:38, just barely beating my 2008 time of 51:12.  That’s still progress, right? It was so much fun running with my sister and best friends!  We made a day out of it and hit up the zoo afterwards.  I love bringing my kids along with me for my races.  It’s so fun to see them get excited for me.  And I hope that I’m showing them how great it is to set and achieve goals.  I’ve also been able to talk to them about how we get stronger when we keep going when we are tired.  I hope I’m also setting a good example for them to follow by being healthy and keeping my body strong. 

The last race that I ran was my favorite.  Some friends and I ran the color run in Racine.  It was such a blast! We ran it without worrying about our time at all.  We went in just to have a great time and we did!   At each kilometer you pass through a color station and they spray you with color.  It was Christina’s first race, and I’m sure it’s one she’ll remember!  At the end, there is music, more color throwing and just a good time in general. 

So clean and pretty…First red… Then yellow… and yes, we did stop to take pictures at each color.  Then orange… And blueThen color chaos! I sure do love these girls!     

I took some time off to let these dang shin splints heal (I feel like a complete pansy saying that).  But I just ordered some new Mizunos and I’m ready to get back on the road!  We were planning on doing the sausage run, but it filled up before we got to sign up for it.  I’m planning on doing Brigg and Al’s Big run in September, but what are some other fun races for me to try out?

Sammy’s 6!

This sweet girl had a birthday during my little blogging hiatus.  Where did this adorable little toddler go? Or this tiny thing?

We do friend parties on even years, so she got one this year. We did it at Yo Mama’s – a frozen yogurt shop.  Best. decision. ever.  We showed up at ten, did our thing, and then we left.  No set up, no clean up, no making food, nothing. It was amazing.  The girls got to decorate aprons, toured the kitchen, ate frozen yogurt and then Sammy opened gifts.  It was great. 

Samantha has really been such a special part of our family.  She plays so well with Carter or Ben, although her and Carter are really close.  One of my favorite memories was last year during kinderfest (the German equivalent of field day) the whole school was out doing different activities.  In spite of all their friends being there, they found each other and hung out all afternoon.  She does this sweet thing with Ben where she will put her arm around him when they walk together.  She really is the glue that holds the kids together.  She is so sweet and helpful with Adam.  She is my little girlfriend who loves getting her nails done, but at the same time, she puts up a mean light saber fight and can play baseball just as well as the boys.  She has recently found some sass that I could do without, but otherwise she is such a good girl.  It’s so fun to have another girl around to share girly things with.  I really wish that I could have given her a sister, and I’m sad that it’s not in the cards for her, but I am so grateful that I got at least one girl.  We have been so blessed by her sweet spirit!

Just because…

I think he’s really cute.

June Fun

We have been trying our hardest to stay busy this summer so we don’t all end up fighting all summer.  Each of the kids get a turn planning our week.  We’ve been trying to stick to a Make it Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Thoughtful Thursday, etc.  schedule.  It doesn’t always work out perfectly, but it’s been good so far! 

Samantha’s Wet Wednesday was out in the back yard.  Sprinklers.  An oldie but a goody. 

I swear this kid eats!  He is sticking his ribs out here, but he is pretty dang skinny right now.  Ben’s Fun Friday was all about the bowling.  It’s one of his favorite activities of all time.  I let the kids take the pictures to document it.  I got a lot of random pictures of bowling pins.  There were a few good ones in there. A few more years and we’ll be ready to become real Wisconsinites and join the leagues! The Mormon Tabernacle Choir came to Milwaukee and we took Carter and Samantha to see what all the fuss was about.  They were very well behaved and it made me excited to take them to real theater.  I would love to take them to the Loin King, Annie, and all those fun musicals.  And that was our June in a nutshell!  In July things start to get crazy….

Adam is One!

Wow! When did that happen? Well, June 9th is when.  But it’s crazy that a year has gone by since this not-so-little guy came into our lives.  He’s such a fun kid to have around.  We kept it simple for his birthday (he’s the fourth, what more would you expect?).  Cake and presents.  He wasn’t so sure about the whole thing at first… I obviously wasn’t so sure about the white balance.  Can someone please get this momma some photography lessons? But he’s a Chaplin and eating is in our DNA.  He figured it out pretty quickly.   And he was pretty happy that he did. 

Here are some fun facts about our little Adam:

He’s always been really strong.  But in spite of crawling and standing early, he took his sweet time figuring out how to walk.  He took his first real steps the week before his birthday and just started getting more comfortable with it these past few days.  He can walk across the living room now. 

His eating habits are totally hit or miss.  One day he’ll be downing peas like nobody’s business and the next they will all be on the floor.  One thing you can count on though is that half of what he is given will end up on the floor.  I will take that over him stuffing it into the cracks of his highchair like he used to. 

He’s very vocal. He’s getting better, but this kid is a screamer.  It’s really a not-so-fun fact.  We’re not talking shrieks of delight here, we are talking want to stick pencils in your ears screaming.  When he is tired, he screams.  When he’s hungry he screams.  When he’s saying hi he screams.  You get the point.  Talking will be a welcome relief. 

He’s been pretty easy going with changes to his routine.  He’s never really had a set nap time, and his bed time fluctuates too.  Something about being the fourth… I took away the bottles cold turkey right after he turned one and after a couple rough days he was drinking whole milk out of a sippy like a champ.  

He really likes getting in trouble.  One of his favorite things right now is when he finds the TV stand unlocked. He loves to pull out all the DVD’s.  His other favorite thing is slapping me in the face.  Especially at bed time.  It makes for some really tender snuggle time.  The other day he smacked me in the eye with a little people.  I’m surprised I don’t have a black eye.  It’s great to see how much he is learning from his older siblings. 

I’m amazed at some of the things he knows.  He picked up a headband the other day and put it on his head.  He was brushing his hair with my hair brush.  It’s funny to see what he picks up on – and what he picks up off the floor. 

Even though he drives them crazy sometimes, he has two brothers and a sister who love his guts. 

He is not a fan of photography.  And I don’t know if I will ever get a good picture with all 4 of them. 

Thanks for coming to our family little guy!  We love you!

Hello?

Is anyone still there?  It’s been a really long time since I’ve blogged.  As in 6 months.  Yikes!  I’ve said it before, but this has been a really hard year!  Having 4 kids is seriously kicking my butt.  I feel like I just can’t get on top of things.  There’s always something that needs to be done and 27 more things that aren’t getting done.  I keep thinking that once Adam gets a little bit older things will get easier.  He just turned 1 and I think I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.  He’s getting easier, and I think that this fall, once Ben is in preschool a few hours a day I will finally get it together.  At least a little bit.  A girl can dream, right? 

One thing that I have been sad about is the lack of pictures and documentation from this past year.  I turn our blog into a yearly book, and sadly, this is making for one thin book.  So I’m making it more of a priority so my kids can see that they did have a fun childhood and it wasn’t all chores and Mommy yelling at them.  And so there is some photographic evidence of Adam.  So stay tuned!  Hopefully there is a lot more coming.