June 21st, 2008 by BlogRmom

I am not even sure WHERE to begin there has been SO much happening with this vacation!! It’s been an incrediably PACKED filled ride that is for sure!! I am ready for LOTS of relaxation and I think I need the “vacation from my vacation”. LOL There was so much!! Although it was a ton of fun, I am left with only the feeling of EXHAUSTION!! LOL

Day 1 – We didn’t arrive until about 1pm. We left town at about 10am and we took a very scenic route here. It was nice, there was a ton to see, however we didn’t stop for photos *sigh* because we were following my parents. So that was a downside. We stopped for lunch and 1 quick potty break, but otherwise drove straight through. It was a 3 hour drive with the stops… right on the head. Upon arrival we did some mini golf with the kids and headed out for some shopping on the strip.  We headed back to the hotel around 7pm for some dinner and the kids played in the pool there.

Day 2 – We left the hotel around 10am and headed to the Upside Down White House. I thought it was incrediably dumb as did all of the adults, but the kids thought it was neat, so I guess… From there we headed to the Deer Park. This was SO fun. The kids got to hand feed deer, goats and pet them!! They had SO much fun and so did all of us! Then we went for a ride on the Original Wisconsin Ducks. That was alot of fun too. The kids LOVED it. I enjoyed it as did everyone else!! Then we headed out for more shopping on the strip. This lead to me getting a tattoo. I got it from Point Blank Tattoo.  The guy was SO nice and super cool.  He did however try to talk me into getting something to “represent” my uncle rather then the words “In Loving Memory” but I was dead set and I’ve had it decided for a really long time that I wanted those words. He said it’s going to be there forever and it is often hard for people to look at day in and day out. Which I understand, but I never want to forget my uncle and all that he did for me. And it will always hurt that he is gone, no matter what… so I wanted the words. He said I was very set and that nothing was going to change my mind and it was MY body and MY tattoo, and he did it. I LOVE it. I don’t regret it and I never will. This is for my uncle… my memory… While I did that, the kids mined nexted door at the Dell’s Mining Company. No one took pictures for me but they had a blast! Later that night we went to the Wild 4 Hypnosis Comedy Show. It was CRAZY funny!! We actually went to the family show at 7pm and then at 9pm they do an adult show.  So my mom said she’d watch the kids and we went back and watched the Adult one!! Good comedy!! They didn’t allow photos. *sigh*

Day 3 – We got up early and headed to the Old Abe’s Portraits and had some old time photos taken. I am SO happy about this. However, I am upset that my brother wasn’t here with us. He chose to stay home at the last minute. So our family photo is missing him! But we have my mom, dad, one brother, my hubby, 2 kiddos and I all dressed in western gangster stuff and we took a photo. It is priceless!! I will post it when I get home and can scan it! *wink* I was happy with it. Then we went ahead and headed on to begin our day. We toured the H.H. Bennett Studio. I loved that. He made the Dells famous, however, it was cool to see the old time photography things, so that was really cool for me! I was so wrapped up in the tour, I forgot to take photos.  *doh* Next up was a ride on the Army Ducks. These are similar to the Original WI Ducks, but since the kids liked it so much we thought we’d do it again, without actually doing it again. These were not as fun as Lake Delton was the MAIN path for the Army Ducks. Lake Delton suffered much damage a few weeks ago from a storm. It is now GONE. We did stop and see the Lake and take pictures. Very sad. After the Army Ducks we took a walk and did another round of mini golf. This time at Shipwrecked Lagoon. We pretty much screwed off for all 18 holes and didn’t accomplish much. Good thing we didn’t keep score! It was fun though! We were pretty hot from being in the sun so we headed out for a boat ride on the Wild Thing Jet Boat. We got SOAKED! It was a GREAT time though! Of course I didn’t take the camera because I KNEW we’d get SUPER wet. We headed back to the hotel for some dinner, dry clothes and a little rest. After that we headed to the Rick Wilcox Magic Theater for a show. The kids and everyone LOVED this!! I want to know how it’s all done!! I tell you!! Again, no cameras allowed *sigh*

Day 4 – We headed to Mt Olympus Water and Theme Park ALL day! All day in the sun and water was so much fun. I rode some of the rollercoasters. It was a ton of fun, but I was so freaking! I hate HEIGHTS and one of them has this GIANT drop and then goes into the ground where it’s BLACK and you see nothing for about 15 seconds!! Scary!! The water rides were alot of fun! I went on a tube slide with my mom! At the bottom she FLIPPED the tube and we ended up flipping over and going way under… You are supposed to hit thw water and float down the lazy river!! LOL I told my brother I wasn’t taking her down anymore!! Silly mom!! We went back to the hotel for dinner. After dinner we caught the 8:30pm showing for the Tommy Barlett Show. This was fun to see, however, it was supposed to have a ski show. That part was canceled because it is located on Lake Delton, which as you know (from above) is gone now. So that was sad… but the rest of the show was great. We did have a bit of a DRAMA here!! Here’s the drama… Alex, I and my brother rode in my truck. Hubby stayed at the hotel, he was just beat. Mariah, my mom and my dad took her van. Well Alex opened his door and as he was getting out he slipped… so he grabbed the door. Well it hit the van next to us, mind you very lightly. There was NO mark or nothing. I seen it and stopped it with my hand, but they DID touch. However, the lady got out of her van and started FLIPPING out on me! She told me I was a horrible parent, called me every name in the book, and then said she would KILL her kids if they tried to open the vehicle door. I was like “What?!?!?” He’s 4… not 2… and we were in a parking lot. Apparently it is wrong in this day and age for a 4 year old to open their door. UGH! They wanted my insurance information and everything. They (her husband had joined her at this point to cuss me out) wanted anything they could get their hands on. They said my son was the worst child they had ever seen. By this time my son is crying… he’s sad, he’s sorry…  I’ve said I was sorry 50 times… but these people don’t care. My dad then comes over and he says to the guy, what do you want. This guy had the nerve to say… “Give me $20 and we will drop it.” You know what… SCREW YOU! Here’s my insurance guy’s name and number. I have 3 adults here that seen it. I took a picture (had my camera hehe) and said… Get bent… my insurance guy is going to laugh in your face!! And he will. I can’t believe the nerve of some people. This was an OLD vehicle. I have a 2008. Not that I am saying everyone should, but there was NOT a SINGLE mark… NOTHING… they were just being anal… Not to ruin my vacation though… we stayed for the show… and then headed to the hotel…

Day 5 – We took the kids for breakfast. Then headed to the Circus World Museum. The kids enjoyed this and they even had a little circus revue for us. It was nice and I took a ton of photos. We were going to head for a little last minute shopping, but instead we decided to head back to the hotel for some R&R. Everyone is so exhausted. We’ve just done so much. I will be so glad to get back tomorrow. I am having a blast on vacation, I really am. But I miss my home, my puppy, and MY BED!!!! I miss my friends too!! Love you girls!!

So all in all, it was a PACKED vacation!! I can’t wait to get home!! Stay safe bloggers!!

June 16th, 2008 by BlogRmom

Yup! That is me today! I am running around getting things ready. I had a ton of errands to do this morning. I ran to pick up my contacts, stopped and got the dogs meds, got 2 gas cards (one for us and one for my parents), filled the truck up with gas and then stopped at the craft store. Mariah wanted to pick out some pretty beads for her hair. She’s getting it braided. I also wanted to grab some silk flowers to finish up an arrangement that I am working on for above the mirror. Now I am doing laundry and trying to finish that up and I just finishing cleaning the kitchen. I wrote lists for my FIL for everything… so he can work the TV, alarm, knows what pills to give the dog, etc.

I missed Living Lohan and Denise Richards It’s Complicated last night. They are on the DVR. I really wanted to catch them. I was hoping to catch up on them today, but I am not sure if I will have time. I am keeping the kids busy with some paints, glitter, buttons, string, and beads. They are having a blast, even though my kitchen table looks like a disaster. They are out of my way though and allowing me to get everything done!! *YAY*

We are all so excited to get going. I have no idea when the last time I was THIS excited about a trip was!!

BTW: Alex’s toe is looking much better! I think it will be healed and everything will be okay! We also called down to the Dell’s yesterday and found out that everything is on as scheduled. The only thing that is canceled indefinetly is the Ski Show. Unfortunatly they can not relocate it right now. It’s okay though, there is still plenty to do!! Okay… laundry is calling…

June 15th, 2008 by BlogRmom

We officially have 2 days before we leave for vacation. I am trying not to stress out, so I am keeping myself nice and relaxed. I started the day at 10am!! My kids actually slept in until 10am!! Wasn’t that nice of them!! They need awards or something for being world’s greatest kids! I can tell you, it won’t happen very often, IF again! LOL So I got them up and got them dressed. We headed out. My BIL said he’d watch them for me while I headed for a few things. First stop was the nail salon. I wanted to get my nails done and I NEEDED a pedicure! So I relaxed while the wonderful Sam did her thing. I walked out with this wonderful pedicure and of course my usual… french manicure…

She did the little design on my big toe. I totally love it. She’s so awesome!! Really she is!! Shouldn’t be a suprise I’ve gone to the same place and had the same tech for 10 years! LOL After that I headed to Wal-mart (what a mad house that place is on Sundays *ugh*) and picked up some last minute things we need for vacation. I grabbed some travel size things of stuff like Q-tips, Deodarant, toothpaste… I will bring full size bottles of shampoo and things. We will be there a week and the travel sizes won’t cut it with 4 of us. I needed to grab a few SMALL rubbermaid containers that I am going to pack the kids handheld games in and the one for DVD’s those will fit under the seat in the truck… I grabbed 2 extra compact flash cards for my camera too. They were on sale and even though I will have my laptop and I can drop the pictures off the card onto my laptop I don’t want to take the chance of having a full one while we are out in the day and missing photo opps. I am trying to be as prepared as I possibly can with 2 children and an unorganized hubby. Oh did I mention that my chaotic family will be coming too!! Yup, my mom, dad and my brother. My middle brother has decided to stay home. I am pissed about this since it’s a family vacation and we put forth so much to try and go. He’s just giving up and staying home. He’s 17, there is no obligations why he CAN’T go!! He’s chosing not too. UGH! Seriously… this child has gotten on my last nerve… someday he’ll understand, he will!! Okay… time to switch laundry and start some packing!! I’m getting too excited! *YAY*

June 14th, 2008 by BlogRmom

I am SOOOO excited!! Last night I was surfing on eBay and found a GREAT deal on a BRAND new Nikon lense for my camera. I have wanted the 70-300mm lense forever.  Actually since I bought my camera. Lenses are NOT cheap though. This one has the auto focus and vibration reduction. I am so incrediably happy. The only thing that would make me happier is if it actually arrived on Monday!! Which would mean it would be here BY the time we leave for vacation! LOL I know that’s a FAR stretch, but a girl can hope, right? I am SOOOO thrilled. I am not sure I will be taking my Nikon on vacation though, honestly. We are headed to a water park for the most part and touring the rest of the time and I am not sure I want to lug it when we are touring… and as far as taking it to the water park… I would MUCH rather take my chances with my Kodak Point and Shoot. It does GREAT outdoors so that won’t be a problem. There just isn’t much for options and zooms. But I can manage!

I got the mail today. I am pissed at Sprint. I got a card saying my rebate on my phones was recieved after the postmark and there for they would not honor it. How can that be when the offer doesn’t expire until 7/31/08. UGH! Just another way to SCREW a consumer!! I don’t even want to begin to fight that one! I am so tired of companies ripping off the average consumer and we have no way to do anything about it. If I cancel my service, which is what I want to do… I am going to terminate a contract and they win. I pay a termination fee. UGH! On a much happier note, I got the statements for the kids savings accounts. They only come once every 6 months. I am excited because they BOTH have enough that we can roll into CD’s now! *YAY* They will get much better interest on them and I think it will be better in the long run! So we have to take care of that as soon as we get back from vacation.

More good news!! The rain here has STOPPED! It’s sunny and 75 degrees today. It’s not muggy at all either. I am in heaven. I only hope the weather for the Dells is as nice. The weather report is not looking so hot. Supposed to rain like 4 days we are there… *sigh* I hate rain! Although I shouldn’t complain too much I know alot of places are flooded right now. It’s so sad. Unfortunatly the Dells is one of those places!! In Iowa the Cedar River has flooded and burried 400 city blocks!! Watching the footage is so sad. I don’t live too far from there and I’ve visited this area on a FEW occassions, so it’s heartbreaking. I can’t image what the families that live there are going through. On that note… I am off to start the daily grind!

June 13th, 2008 by BlogRmom

Let’s start with the good news… Hubby got a promotion at work. I am so happy! He will be changing crews, which means a schedule change, however, it will still be swing shift. I am just not sure when his on/off days will fll now. So we will have to see. I don’t have too many details yet because I only got to talk to him for a brief minute and he had to get back to work. So I am excited. Of course it IS a pay raise. That is always nice.

I headed out with the kids this morning back to Children’s Place to grab the rest of the summer clothes they need. Now they are all set and I am done for them for summer shopping. *YAY* I was looking at a vitamin and supplement store there for some sort of diet aid. I seen Phentermine. It looked like it might actually work and I considered giving it a try. I’ve been working my butt off at the gym, and I’ve gotten some results, but not the results I want in my thighs. I am so tired of working so hard and dieting and not getting any results. I think I need a little boost. Anyhow…

Now, my ugh… pitty… I am so tired of RAIN. Everyone is feeling it. It’s flooding everywhere. I know it. I know it sucks and we have to deal with it, but I am SO tired of it. It’s not flooded hear, yet, but the waterways are HIGH. It won’t be much longer. And we are due for rain on Saturday and Sunday. Much of the Dells is already flooded badly. So much for a grand vacation, huh? UGH!

And now, my ugh… RANT… I hate misbehaved children! Not that my children are angels, because none of them are, but dang! There are so many kids at the park with it being summer. I understand that but parents really should teach their children some manners. There was an 8-9 year old boy that almost lost his life today. I swear. He RAN my 4 year old over with his skateboard. Alex’s toe was gushing blood everywhere. I was so pissed. The kid didn’t say sorry, in fact he laughed. I got up from where I was sitting and said to the kid “Do you have any idea what you just did?” and you know what he said… he said “F*** You!” and took off. I swear if I could have caught him I would have rung his little neck… at the very least followed him home and told his parents what a disprespectful child they have!! UGH!

 

 

June 12th, 2008 by BlogRmom

Today started out really really boring. I didn’t think it would be exciting. I grabbed Lean Green and started surfing the net after I showered. Nothing excited there… So I decided to grab hubby and go to the gym… After a 1 hour work out I decided that was NOT what I wanted to do either, so we left. We came home, showered, and grabbed the kids and my brother.

We headed to the mall. I grabbed the kiddos a ton of stuff for summer. I needed to finish their summer shopping. So I did. However, FIL decided that he would flip me some extra cash when we got HOME to go get more!! So I am headed back tomorrow. The Children’s Place had the most wonderful deals! Everything was $7.99 and under!! So I got them SOOOO much! I love sales like that and I totally LOVE The Children’s Place and their stuff is GREAT quality.

I grabbed myself some shorts. I needed some. I got 3 pairs from Old Navy and 2 pairs from Mauries. I think I am all set for summer now. We walked into this antique type store. They had alot of cool things. Hand painted fans and alot of handmade things. I love tht stuff. I seen a pocket watch. It reminded me of the one my grandfather had. I ended up grabbing some handmade candles and soaps. I want to see if they are long lasting.

Then we grabbed a bite to eat at A&W and we we off to get the kids home… So that was my boring day in a nutshell… BUT I am so glad that I was able to get some shopping done. Actually I think ALL of my summer shopping, minus the things I am going to pick up tomorrow is done!! *YAY*

June 12th, 2008 by BlogRmom

You get a hangover.

Don’t try this at home! It’s my PSA of the day! LOL Seriously… I’ve been so sick and so snotted up that I can not sleep so last night I took a dose of Nyquil, a Mucinex and headed to bed. I slept incrediable for 4 hours. After that I was awake and sniffling and sneezing and I could breath… so I got up and took another dose of Nyquil (the bottle says every SIX hours – not to exceed 4 doses in 24 hours). I was able to go back to sleep and sleep  again another 4 hours… however, this time I woke up… feeling, uh… hungover… WHAT?!?!?! I know, right? What a cheap date I was… 2 shots of Nyquil! However, I am feeling much better and I can breath through my nose so I guess the sleep is what I needed to give my body the extra “umph” to fight this cold off! I don’t know, but I don’t intend to give myself a Nyquil hangover ever again… LOL

We have had a TON of bad weather here. *sigh* and that includes Wisconsin Dells. We are leaving for there in 4 days and unfortunatly some of our vacation already has to be replanned. They were hit with the same storms we were. Lake Delton has flooded and the dam has let loose. It’s made a mess of things down there and there is no way to “quick fix” anything like this. I feel so incrediably sorry for the people down there that lost homes. It’s devestating to see the footage. We don’t live close enough to water here (we are bout 3 miles from the Bay) to have to worry.  The Bay is very low and it would need to fill trememdously to even consider flooding, which I doubt would ever happen.  But it’s sad.

On  more serious note… I ws talking with my dad last night. He’s getting to the age of retirement and we are looking at options and things for him and my mother when that time comes. One of the things we talked about was a medicare supplement. I really think this is necessary. With the rise in health cost, it will be one less thing they would hve to worry about. I know my aunt already uses a service like this and it’s working great for her, so I definetly want my parents to be set up too.

Okay bloggers… we are set for some storms here so I am going to get my butt motivated and get a few things done and off Lean Green in case it starts storming. Peace!

June 9th, 2008 by BlogRmom

The kiddos both had their wellness exams today at the doctors office. First you have to understand that I had swindle them into believing we were going to get their ears checked, tummies touched, and weighed… So when they mentioned the word ‘v’ word I started to quirm. I honestly didn’t think the kiddos needed any but I was wrong. Alex wasn’t so quick as that was a word he didn’t get yet… but the Divine Miss M… she caught RIGHT on… She immediatly dodged for the door. “Nooooooo Mom….” which sent Alex into a spiral… “We have to get shots? NOOOOOOOO…” As they both start kicking and screaming. Oh yes!! The entire doctors office can now hear the blood curling screams coming from my room. I’d rather take a papermate pens to the eye at this point then sit there and listen to them, but I have to be the good mom and try to comfort them. “Calm down, it will be okay.” This wasn’t the only bad news of the appointment. Looks like Prince A has a double ear infection AND he will be headed BACK to the ENT doctor to get a another set of tubes and possibly remove his adnoids. She agreed they are larger and could be the problem with his not sleeping at night. UGH! Surgery!?!? Gotta love it! He also had to head back to the Pediatric GI Center at Children’s Hospital. The doctors there will follow up with his GERD and see if the meds and things from that are okay or if we should require another scope. The Divine Miss M is also requiring a visit to the ENT… She’s had recurring strep throat and they are concerned about that. So she will be following up with the same ENT that is seeing Alex and perhaps they will consider removing her tonsils… UGH! Looks like a nice year a head of us, huh? Now that this battle is all done and I’ve officially got a pounding headache, we can proceed with the shots…. LOvely… and oh yes, they are both still screaming bloody murder. They round up a few nurses to hold down the demon children and grab the necessary syringes. A couple pokes, a whole ton more screams and we are done… We leave the room… grab some stickers and everything is ALL better. I’ll be damned. There is a reason they call them things “Smilemakers”. They really work!!

After the appointment the kids ask for lunch so we headed to Burger King and grab a bite. Then we are off to do some shopping. Grabbed the kids some more clothes and some things that we need for vacation. I swear… someday I will have all the PRE-vacation things done!! I can’t wait to go!!

Here’s a picture for you today… It’s so yummy… the K’ bobs from last weekends cookout… you know… the one were I  drank maragaritas rather then do anything constructive *wink*

Aren’t they YUMMY looking? Okay now I am hungry!! LOL

June 8th, 2008 by BlogRmom

Rain rain go away, come again another day… er rather another WEEK or MONTH!! We are going on vacation soon and I am starting to FREAK because it’s been raining non-stop for a few days and I really really need it to stop before we leave for vacation! You see we are headed to Wisconsin Dells for 7 days and 6 nights. We are staying at American World Resort and although they DO have an indoor/outdoor waterpark I do not want to spent all 7 days indoor in the waterpark. We have so much other things planned! The rides on the Dells Army Ducks, the kids will love the Wisconsin Deer Park, the Mark Twain Boat Tours, Mini Golf, Top Secret… the White House Upside Down (this is my kinda place!), and the Wild Thing Jet Boat Rides are just some of the other things we have planned. Now you can see how this will hinder my plans if it rains as most of this is OUTSIDE! My dad called this morning and informed me he wanted to get one of those Antique portriats done. Old Abe’s does them in the dells. He wants the whole family piled into one portrait. FUN! We shall see!! At any rate the person taking the photo will have a blast!! LOL I am excited to get to the hotel… I always grab their fancy logo pens for a keepsake and this time will be no different. My desk is short on pens these days so I will be in the market for some memoriablia to add to my collection!! LOL

My husband is disassembling his Playstation 3. AGAIN. Clearly the geniuses on the panel for this one don’t have ANY kids. You see… It’s got this little “self grabber” in the disc slot. So if you stick paper in it, it sucks it up… if you stick quaters in it, it sucks it up… if you stick a picture in it, it sucks it up… get my point… My son is FOUR! So he’s fasinated by this. Anything that CAN fit in this CD sized slot, gets a try… There is no way to top it. Before you can say “NNNNNNNoooooooo…” and dive… it’s sucked up… He’s amazed, he knows it’s wrongs, he knows dad will freak, but none the less, we all say “Nobody did it” and carry on. So now… I can listen to “Damit, Why the hell can’t that kid leave anything alone.” “Why would he…” “Son of a Bitch, what the hell is wrong with this thing.” “Why is this piece of shit broke.” “Dammit.” And all the other things that go along with a man fixing something…

June 6th, 2008 by BlogRmom

WOW! Time sure is flying these days! I need a day to catch up! Literally! I haven’t been able to catch Denise Richards show or Living Lohan from last week and they are going to be on THIS week. They are on my DVR so I need to catch them!! I feel like I have so much stuff to get caught up on before we go on vacation too!! Today I managed to clean off the Lean Green. I know, your thinking, how can you have that much CRAP on your computer that you need to CLEAN it? I just do… I collect junk, all kindsa junk. I scrap, I collect fonts, I download everything, even things I might never use… I take photos off my camera and leave them all over the place… it’s a bad nightmare, really. So I organized everything and moved things onto my external hard drive and got it all spiffy and clean for vacation. I even managed to tie up some lose ends and finish up something I was designing. Now if I can actually get some things done around the HOUSE, we’ll be in good shape!! Hubby has to get some new bulbs for the light fixtures in the dining room and master bedroom. They are driving me batty!! They are not NEAR bright enough! I have no idea why, but the bulbs are just really dim. I can’t take it anymore. So tonight when he heads out, he’s going to get some more!!

So today I called Alex’s pediatrician… He’s been up with MORE bouts with his reflux. I HATE reflux. I’ve been dealing with the crap forever myself. It got much better for me 2 years ago when I hate my gall bladder and appendix removed. However, my son is 4 and I am NOT entertaining the idea of removing his body parts, yet! Give me a few years, and a few beers… LOL Seriously, reflux is nasty, and even worse for kids! It’s not fun and dealing with it has been the worst thing EVER! So I call the PED to see if she can help because the meds are NOT working. She informs me that the meds are not working because we are not administering them correctly. But, I am!! I am according the the directions that WALGREENS put on the bottle. He’s supposed to get it TWICE a day, they have ONCE a day on the bottle. Ummm… can we say idiots!! Just another reason why I hate that place. For years I’ve veared away from them and used other pharmacies and this is just one more reason!!