Thanksgiving 2016

Once again we decided to skip Thanksgiving this year. We were going to do the water park thing only every other year, but last year's trip was enough a downer that we decided we really needed to go again this year. I mean, last year's wasn't awful, it just wasn't as great as it could have been. It was like we had a bad taste in our mouths that had to be replaced with something better. This year's trip did just that!

This year we stayed at the Kalahari in Sandusky, OH. We decided on this resort because it had great reviews and was a full 30 minutes closer to us than Wisconsin Dells - hey, that's a full hour less of driving. Worth it.

The drive was only 4.5 hours, but it was dark 90% of the way there, which made it feel so much longer. The kids were excited and wound up by the time we got there, so we stayed up a bit to unpack and unwind. Our suite was huge this time! Lots and lots of space - I never felt like we were cooped up with 4 crazy kids. I don't think the decor was as cozy as the Wilderness Lodge, but in the grand scheme of things that's not really a big deal.

We had two full bathrooms, the one on Lance's and my side had jets. Ooh-la-la!

The living area. Like how we dry our bathing suits? Why in the world do these places not offer those spinner things that get all the water out of bathing suits?

The kitchen. We ate breakfast and lunch in our suite, preparing such fine delicacies as Eggos, breakfast corndogs (sausage with pancakes on a stick), Easy Mac, and chicken tenders. I also offered a variety of fruits and vegetables, which were on the whole ignored. On the first day I decided to have soup instead of macaroni and cheese. The kids were tickled by this (who even knows why?) and for the rest of the trip their mantra was "I like soup". You could hear Cole randomly saying this from other sides of the suite, in the pool, and even on the way down slides. It pretty much became a running joke the whole weekend.

Master bedroom.

Kid bedroom. They weren't fans of sharing beds, but until they start contributing financially to these trips they have no say. 😊

On the first morning we were up well before the water park opened, so we read and talked and watched this fine programming on on the Hallmark Murder Movie channel. Yes, those are kittens in front of a holiday fireplace. Sometimes there were puppies. Sometimes a cat and a dog. We especially liked the cat eating out of a pumpkin. I can't believe how long we watched this channel. The kids were enamored.

The chairs and couches at places like these? They always look nice, but aren't generally very comfortable. At all.

See that bowl of clementines on the table? Underneath the oranges were a bunch of mini candy bars. Guess which got eaten first? (Ha.)

The water park was really big and really awesome. Lots of great big slides and lots of kiddo areas for shorties like Tess. We're reeeeaaallly hoping she does some good growing over the next two years. Lance and I had to take turns watching her while the others got to go on all the fun stuff. It wasn't the worst, but it got pretty boring after a while.

There was actually a pretty great lazy river - it had sorts of decorations, like hyena statues and such. Kinda Disney-esque, only no animatronics. Usually lazy rivers are kinda dull, but this one was fun! (Side note - I lifted all these pictures from the website. I didn't want to bother carrying my phone around to take pictures at the water park!)

Here's the water coaster - part water slide, part roller coaster. It was fun! You'd sit in this little raft thing that got zipped up and down and around so fast. Cole was in love with this ride - that boy loves fast and dangerous.

This funnel slide was super fun, too. You'd go down this slide and then shoot into this huge funnel, eventually falling through the hole down into a deep pool. I went down head first, which is as fun as it sounds. (Read: not very.)

I loved this ride! We nick-named it the toilet bowl. You'd go down and around this big slide and then get shot into this bowl, where you'd make a couple of rotations and then go through the hole. It was the best when I went with my 3 boys - we went so fast!

The wave pool is where we spent the majority of our time, mainly because Tess loved it. It became a good meeting spot. We spent so much time there that I'd still feel like I was in the waves when we got back to our room.

That first afternoon, as we went back to our suite for lunch, I realized I was having an allergic reaction to something. My face and chest were all red and rashy, and my eyelids were slightly swollen. It didn't hurt, but kinda stung and itched - pretty miserable. I showered, because I figured it was something to do with the chlorine. I looked pretty awesome. But I covered up and put some make up on and looked presentable enough to go out in public after lunch. We wandered the resort and looked at the sights. Like this bronze gorilla.

And this Instagram stand in the arcade.

You had to walk through the arcade to get to the water park, which DROVE ME NUTS. It was like herding cats every time we went through there.

Then we played a little miniature golf, which was actually pretty fun, mainly because I had a pretty good game.

More gorilla action.

In Wisconsin we would eat Thanksgiving dinner at Buffalo Pete's, which was just cheesy enough to make it really fun. In Sandusky there are no fun restaurants like that open on Thanksgiving. In fact, there were hardly any restaurants open at all! So we ended up at Ruby Tuesday's, which wasn't bad but was just slightly depressing for some reason.

Well, at least to me. I don't think our kids cared at all.

That night the kids and Lance went swimming again, while I opted to stay in the suite and try to recover. I took another really long shower, which helped a little. I tried to take a picture, but it doesn't really do the rash justice. Earlier that day I had made a quick run to WalMart and picked up some Benedryl and hydracortisone, both of which seemed to help a bit.

The Benedryl made me sleepy if I wasn't moving, so I did things like bake cookies (we brought frozen dough) and put out these Thankful Leaves. Earlier in the month I had cut a bunch of these out on my Cricut and then had the kids write down something they were thankful for.

Some were darling, like this one Tess made.

Others, less so.

Spencer is ALL ABOUT friends now. ('Tis the age, right?)

My dad snuck this one in while he was visiting us the week before.

Josh wrote this one "Having lice and getting treats." Yeah, nope. See, Cole got lice, too. So that was fun. And I ended up buying him some Tic Tacs (per his request) as a reward for being so good with the combings. Tess also got a little toy. Josh's jealousy knows no bounds, no matter how much I try to persuade him that lice is NOT WORTH IT.

Oh, the joys of boys and potty humor. Although I think we can all agree that Ewoks are pretty great.

Friday morning I was up bright and early ordering a new fridge at Black Friday prices. WOO-HOO! But my credit card company thought it was fraud. And Best Buy's website freaked out. And NINETY MINUTES ON THE PHONE LATER I finally told them to just cancel it because I was on freaking vacation and my kids and husband had already left to go swimming. I was actually pretty nice through most of it, but the final 5 minutes I pretty much lost it. GROWL. I mean, seriously, if you have the customer, the store, and the credit card company on a 3 way call WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD IT BE SO HARD TO BUY SOMETHING?! I wanted to buy the fridge. Best Buy wanted to sell it to me. Capital One wanted me to use their card. And yet it did not work.

Until later in the day when I bought the fridge through a different transaction.

(Side note: this morning I woke up to a text telling me that the original fridge had not really been canceled. In fact, it had been purchased and I now had TWO fridges on the way. WHAT THE WHAT?!??! Best Buy got a rather testy call.)

Anyways....

We swam the morning away and spent the afternoon seeing "Moana", which was okay. Not the best movie I've ever seen, but certainly not the worst. I liked that a girl was the main character and there were no love interests. Because you don't have to have a love interest. Also, I really liked the chicken side kick.

That night we decided to make up for the lackluster meal of the night before and went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. We introduced the kids to the Bloomin' Onion. Spencer is now a convert. It was all super yummy and the kids, for the most part, behaved themselves.

We spent several more hours at the water park that evening. I could tell it was time to go when no one was willing to stand in line for even the best slides. Poor Cole had a sobbing melt down on the way back to our suite; he just did not want our vacation to end! Direct quote: "We'll never come back here again and it was so fun!!" and "Why can't we go on trips all year long?" It's hard to reason with and comfort a heartbroken 7 year old boy who could run around a water park for a week and not be tired. Fortunately, some more cookies and some time in bed watching a movie helped heal his heart.

The next morning it was back to reality. We had to pack up and head back to Indiana. But not before I got one self-timed picture in front of this wall in our suite. Going home is always to worst part of a vacation!

As you can see, the kids were all a bit worn out on the way home. That's the sign of a good vacation, right?

I think we'll probably stay home next year. For one thing, Tess has never had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that she remembers. And for another, Lance and I may be doing some traveling at the beginning of November - we can only spend so much time and money on trips in one year, right?

It might seem weird to skip Thanksgiving. But I know that my kids will remember these trips and our time together as a family far better than any elaborate meal. And quite frankly, so will I.

How to Cook a Thanksgiving Turkey, by Tess

Tess made this little book at school. Adorableness - if not accuracy - abounds.

Super Moon

Monday night was the Super Moon - the closest the moon has been to earth in 69 years. Big stuff around this house. It actually turned out to be great for Family Home Evening; Cole gave a lesson about the moon (read: I read facts about the moon when Cole didn't know what to say) and then we went on a walk around the neighborhood, waiting for the moon to rise.

It rose and it was pretty impressive. It was so bright out! I downloaded a star finder app on my phone and the kids had lots of fun playing with and fighting over it. Good times.

It must be mentioned that all of this was done with light or no jackets on, because it's the middle of November in Indiana and it's been in the 60's and 70's. Crazy.

That night while the kids were getting ready for bed I walked into Cole and Josh's room to find Cole standing on his bed, facing the wall. As soon as I walked in he pulled down his pants and yelled

"SUPER MOON!!!!"

I gasped and said something along the lines of "What the what?!?!"

Cole quickly pulled his pants up and looked slightly guilty while giggling uncontrollably. He thought it was Josh walking in. This seemed reasonable.

2016 Piano Recital

At the beginning of November we had our annual piano recital. (I'm SO on top of this blogging thing!)

In the weeks leading up to the recital it was all I could do to get those two boys of mine to practice their pieces at all. Seriously. It's like they didn't care at all about how well they did during the recital. Which kills me because when I was a kid all I wanted to do was practice because the thought of making a mistake in front of everyone was just awful! But my boys are apparently not built like that. There are good and bad things about this sort of attitude; I have yet to decide which side I'm leaning towards more...

So Josh did pretty well on his pieces. A few mistakes here and there, but nothing terrible. Spencer, however, got up to play a song but didn't take his music. Which was weird because I had never before seen him play that song without the music. He obviously thought he had memorized it. He thought wrong. Halfway through the song he got stuck and sat for a while. Then he got up, got the music, stood at the piano while figuring out where he was in the song and the right fingering, and, instead of putting music on the piano, walked all the way back to his chair, put the music on top, walked back to the piano, and then finished the piece.

It was odd.

He had no explanation for it.

I don't think he thought it was odd at all.

Twelve year old boys are weird.

So here are the boys playing a bit of their songs.



(At the end of this one is where Spencer realized he was in trouble... )








The two piano teachers who hosted the recital both played their own songs and were amazing. Seriously, as a struggling Primary pianist I was in awe of them!

At the end they got their traditional roses. Doesn't the music pennant in the background look so cute? I'm always so thankful to Sheri for all the work and effort she puts into teaching piano lessons and doing these recitals!

Afterwards we enjoyed refreshments. I brought this awesome cheese and fruit platter because I'm European like that. (I also brought M&M brownies, because I'm no dummy and know that kids want dessert, not cheese.) The green cheese was actually really good - a cheddar and sage blend. And the cheese to the left was cheddar and cranberry - so yummy!

Another year of piano. If only I could convince my boys that practicing actually helps you improve. This is a concept they still seem to be testing.

LICE.

I thought we just might get away without experiencing this little rite of passage, but no. Last Thursday as I was braiding Tess's hair I found lice on her head.

Erlack.

I tried to make sure she didn't feel ashamed or scared, but also sternly explained that she was NOT to sit on any beds or couches or roll on the floor. She was NOT to rub her head on me or on anything else. She had to sit at the kitchen table and watch cartoons while I checked her brothers and got them off to school.

She was fine with all of this except the her not going to school part. Miss a day of Kindergarten? Travesty!!

Thank goodness both Josh and Cole were lice free. Josh tried to convince me he needed to stay home as well, but I would have none of it. (That boy cries wolf trying to get out of school a good 2-3 times per week. It's a lovely phase...)

We all talked about what lice is and how it can't hurt you and it doesn't mean you're dirty, but that it is hard to get rid of and can be pretty contagious. Then I called the school to let them know what was going on. What a fun phone call that was.

After the boys left for school, Tess and I went down to CVS to get supplies. The checkout lady was so nice in helping us find what we needed, and even offered to sell me a bag of clearance Halloween candy for 75% off (Instead of the 50% it was marked). Sold.

Unfortunately, the lice kit we bought was pretty worthless. The lice killing shampoo slowed the little critters down but definitely did not kill them. And the little plastic comb? Worse than worthless. So on the advice of a friend who has had to deal with lice several times (lucky girl!), I went off in search of a metal comb. We went to Sally Beauty Supply, which had kind of a judgey checkout girl but an amazing metal lice comb for only $4, so that was a win. Then we walked next door to Nature's Pharms, the local naturalist store, and bought some tea tree oil because it was time to try some alternative lice-ridding methods.

I used a combo of coconut and tea tree oil on Tess's head and have spent literal hours (at least 7) over the past few days combing through her hair. She had been just so so good about it all. She sits and watches cartoons while I try my best not to pull the hair out of her head. I section her hair, comb through a small part, wipe the comb each time on a paper towel, and then start again. The paper towels go into a Ziploc bag for safety, and the combs, brushes, and bobby pins soak in boiling soapy water after. I've been using a flashlight and a bright lamp to help find the nits. I've used oils and apple cider vinegar, and both seem to do a great job. In 9 days I'll comb again to make sure we've gotten everything - by then any nits that might be left behind will have hatched but won't be old enough to lay eggs.

I've also done a bit of cleaning, vacuuming of floors and furniture, and washing of clothes in the sanitize cycle. But from all that I've read, lice can't live for long when not on a human. Still, better safe than sorry!

We've spent the last few days with sympathy itching on our heads, checking each other's scalps like a family of primates. Good times.

Tess is treating this like a badge of courage. "I'm the only kid who has had Scarlet Fever AND lice! Did you have Scarlett Fever, Mommy?" Nope. And nope to the lice, too. Which makes her even prouder.

Fingers crossed and lots of prayers said that this is the worst of it and we won't have a rebound episode. This whole experience hasn't been awful, but it sure hasn't been fun, either.

Halloween 2016

What with all the school and church and doughnut parties before hand, by the time Halloween finally gets here it always feels underwhelming. Kinda like something we just have to get over with. Which is ridiculous because Halloween is AWESOME. It's kids dressed up and begging for candy, how is this not amazing? (Because as an adult it is frowned upon to beg for candy. Also, you have to pay for all the candy and do all the work for the costumes. Harrumph.)

But, lest you think I'm some sort of Halloween Grinch, we had a great evening. First, I had to wrangle all the kids into their costumes and take pictures because that is what you do. You'd have thought I was torturing them. Maybe I was torturing them. You know what? So what. I made these dang costumes and I was owed some picture taking. Punk kids.

First up: Spencer. It took me forever to get him to decide on a costume, and when he did he came up with this:

Yeah, I don't know who/what that is, either. I'm not cool enough. Apparently it's some web comic he and all his friends are obsessed with. Okaaaayyy... so this is what i came up with. Not bad, right? I should've gotten a better picture of the hat and the horns. They were cool.

Josh took a long time deciding, too. He finally declared he wanted to be a glow stick man. I knew this would just be torture oodles of fun. See, it looks all easy, but it's not. I ended up sewing little fishing line hoops all over his pants and hoodie and then using those and packing tape to keep things in place. It worked pretty well, but boy did he complain when putting it on. But let's be honest here - he woulda complained about anything, so whatever. I'm over it. It didn't look like much in the light.

But once it got dark it looked pretty cool!

Cole was by far the easiest costume this year - he wanted to be a vampire. We had all the clothes so I just bought a cheapo makeup kit (fangs included!) and called it good. He didn't like the blood on the sides of his mouth, so we skipped most of that. Doesn't he look so old in this picture? When did he get so big?!

This is him trying to look scary. (It made me giggle!)

Finally, my piece-de-resistance: Tess the Taco! As in, it's TACO TESSDAY!!!

Hahahahahaha!!! Oh man. I love this costume. One day she just declared she wanted to be a taco for Halloween, and I knew I had to make it so. It was actually a pretty easy costume to make - all felt and foam board and hot glue. Oh mercy, she is the cutest.

Tess being Tess, she had to make a face like this at least once.

This is how I felt after having to deal with all these rotten children acting as if I were the meanest mom in the world, forcing them to smile for pictures.

But I sweetened up once I got to put on my Halloween fascinator. I'm so cool.

That night we had our usual pizza for dinner with the Reams, who were joining us for Trick-or-Treating. (Sans Gigi, though, who was traveling back from a quick trip to UT. We missed you, Gigi! Never be gone for Halloween again!!)

Bergen and Logan were super cute and didn't hassle me at all about taking a picture. My kids could learn a thing or two from those Reams.

For the first time in memory on Halloween in Indiana it: 1) wasn't raining, and 2) it wasn't even cold. In fact, it was in the 70s! No one even needed a jacket. Will wonders never cease?

Oh mercy. Following this taco around made me smile. She got SO MANY compliments and joyful exclamations of "Oh my! It's a taco!" She endured it, but Tess did not really appreciate the extra attention. (I think I was like that as a kid, too.)

Tess went around the circle and was done, so we spent the rest of the evening handing out candy. It was such a nice night that we just sat on the porch. Here's Tess desperately waiting for some trick-or-treaters.

I really do love our neighborhood. It's just so perfect for us. Here's a little video of the sounds of Halloween in The Landing. Oh, and Tess.

We of course took a few selfies as well.

I thought she said "Look scared", but I think she really said "Look scary." Either way, this is an awesome picture. (It looks like I think we're about to get murdered.)

The evening ended with the kids sorting through their loot, making trades and eating their favorites. They ended up only going to bed about an hour later than normal, which isn't bad considering it was a school night.

I got some pictures of our pumpkins just before blowing out their candles. This is the little star pumpkin Tess and I carved. She was quite proud of it.

Here's Spencer's first attempt at carving a pumpkin all by himself. It's some logo or something something something... I dunno. I'm not cool enough to know. But it was a difficult carving and he did a great job!

And finally, here's mine. I went for the classic. And got lots of compliments on it, mainly because I don't think most people do the classic faces anymore.

I discovered that night that none of my kids like Almond Joy. This is ridiculous, because those things are tasty. (Ironically, I didn't like Almond Joy as a kid either.) Lance and I ended our evening catching up on The Walking Dead and enjoying a few pieces of candy stolen from the kids, as is our parental right.

Cole's First Lost Tooth

On Halloween morning Cole finally lost his first tooth. I say finally because he had been wiggling that dang tooth for a couple of weeks and it was starting to gross me out. He'd smile and stick his tongue on the tooth and it'd stick out of his mouth; or he'd worry with it at church and I was sure it'd fall out in a gush of blood all over his white church shirt. You know, the usual kids-losing-teeth stuff.

He kept complaining that the tooth hurt him and absolutely refused any help from me, so I was pretty surprised when it popped out easily and with little fanfare. Just how I like things.

He was really quite pleased with himself. (Madsen kids tend to get their baby teeth later and thus lose them later than average. Cole was tired of being the only kid in his class with a full set of chompers.)

In anticipation I had made this elegant tooth fairy box. Yes, that is an old travel soap box that I quickly decorated with a little help from my Cricut. It works perfectly.

The next morning he woke up to discover the money the Tooth Fairy left.

"Aw man! I only got $2!!"

He was quite crushed. Apparently someone in his class had gotten TWENTY DOLLARS for their first tooth! What the what, Tooth Fairy?!?!??!? I had to explain to Cole that no one in this family had ever or would ever receive that much for a tooth. Because it's a tooth. A used tooth.

He eventually accepted this fact and happily deposited the $2 into his allowance fund.