Sharing a Room

Baby Declan is due in just over 3 months.  We debated which kids would share a room, and Liam and London were the winners...they were both VERY excited about it too!  With Liam being only 4, and a little clumsey, we didn't want to put him on a top bunk just yet, so I found this alternative, which offered a lot of storage too.  The beds here were inspired by pottery barn, only the pottery barn version was over $1,200.  So we found these plans and built them ourselves.  The beds were SUPER easy to build, and the corner unit wasn't much harder- it has hidden storage with a hatch at the top in addition to the shelves.   We wanted to get them moved in together several months before the baby comes, so that they would be used it it and I wouldn't be getting up with all 3 kids in the middle of the night.

So far, the middle of the night hasn't been an issue, but it took them 2 hours and 5 visits from us to quiet down and go to sleep the first night.  The second night went a little better taking only 1 hour and 2 visits.  I'm hoping it continues to get better as they get more and more used to it!  In the meantime, at least they are having fun! 

Road Trip!!!

Josh recently had a Friday-Tuesday off...his last vacation of his year...his year begins July 1st, so I suppose we don't have to wait too long before he has some more time off, but still.  Anyway, we wanted to get away without spending a lot of time in the car (which is no fun with a 2 and 4 year old) or too many nights in a hotel (also, no fun with a 2 and 4 year old).  We have heard wonderful things about the zoo in Columbus, OH, and that is only about 3 hours from our home.  So we packed up the kids on Friday morning and headed out!  We didn't get to Columbus until lunch time on Friday, so we ate lunch and then headed to COSI, the science center, which has recently been ranked #1.  We all had a blast! It was free for us, since we are members of the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum, which made the whole thing even more enjoyable :)  They had tons of awesome exhibits that the kids really enjoyed, and the water table was a big hit- we spent nearly an hour there. London somehow managed to get soaked, despite the raincoat they provided- it's a gift.  They dried her clothes for her though, which was really nice!  The photos below are small, as they were taken with my cell phone, but we were just too busy to worry about the camera!  

Even Josh had fun at the water table!

                                                             London was on a mission. 

Liam just kept squirting the boats with the water guns

After COSI, we headed to Pizzaria Uno's one of our favorite pizza places.  The closest one is an hour and a half from our house, so it's always a treat to be able to have dinner there.  Next we headed to the hotel for a swim.  When we were in Cleveland for Tough Mudder Weekend, Liam was afraid of the water and wouldn't get in.  This time he had a blast and said he wanted to "Swim like a fish" all night.  We ended up bribing them  going for ice cream after we got out of the pool at the ice cream place right next to our hotel.  By the time we got back it was 9pm and we were all so tired we went to sleep!  

The next morning, we went to the zoo.  It has also recently been ranked number one, and it was easy to see why!  Jack Hannah is the curator, and they also have an aquarium with manatees and sharks and some other fun fish.  There is an area of the zoo where kids can pet some of the animals, but not your usual sheep and pigs...Liam got to touch a hedgehog, a hissing cockroach and a baby alligator.  London loved touching the snakes and turtles, and they both got to touch the flamingos.  Again, the zoo was half price for us, since we are members of the Detroit zoo, which made it even more fun for us :)  If you are ever in the Columbus area, you HAVE to go to the zoo.  They also have rides, as they bought out a Six Flags park and you can ride as many as you like for $8.  We didn't have time that day, but next time it would definately be fun.  There is also a waterpark attached, but it wasn't open for the season yet.  

 These were the "flying foxes"...bats with a 6 ft. wing span, and one of Liam's favorite exhibits!

 Here is the back of Liam's head and London's dimpled elbow touching the flamingo.

 They thought it was really cool that this dog lived with the Cheetah and wrestled it...they were raised together. Apparently the dog helps the Cheetah establish trust with the handlers- the cheetahs were part of a show later.

Just to give you an idea of how close you can get to a LOT of the animals there, this was a black footed penguin.  This photo was taken with NO ZOOM on my camera.  London kept trying to touch him, and I kept having to grab her hands, because they will bite. 

Big Girl Bed!

London has been in her new "Big Girl Bed" for about a week now.  She's done great!  The first two nights, she didn't get up at all, and the third night (which was Liam's worst night too- what is it with that 3rd night??), she only got up twice.  Hasn't been up since.  Every night when we leave her room, she says "Don't get up!" as a reminder to herself.  So far, it's working.

I built her bed myself- well, Josh cut the wood in advance with plans to built it himself, but then he was on call, and then he was sick, so I just did it.  Then I painted it too.  I will post a photo when the entire project is complete- the entire project consists of her bed, Liam's bed (which is now complete as well!- I also built that one and cut some of the wood for that one myself too!), and a corner unit that will separate them- Josh and I will hopefully get that part done in the next week or so! 

Josh is one Tough Mudder!

A few weeks ago (Ok, so it's almost been a month now!), we went to Ohio with some friends so that Josh and two guys from our lifegroup could run a crazy race called the Tough Mudder.  When he first told me that they were going to run it, I thought he was joking.  It's a 12 mile course with 27 obstacles, including jumping into ice water (literally), getting shocked by live wires as you crawl through tunnels, and wading through chest-deep mud on uneven ground.  Yeah. Sounds like a blast.  I thought he was joking until he began re-arranging his work schedule  (NOT an easy feat!) to make it happen. And then they signed up, and paid money, and at that point I knew he was serious. 

We loaded up the kids and drove to the Cleveland area where we stayed at the same hotel with our friends (Andy is is number 45934 and John is number 48185).  It was a super fun weekend, with the exception of the race time!  We (being the wives) decided not to go to the race, because it was raining and the high was only 56.  We had 8 children between the three of us, and the oldest was 5, so to sit outside for 6 hours in a mud pit would have been less than fun.  It turns out, so was trying to entertain said children in a hotel with very few toys or things to do.  BUT, when the guys returned from the race with only minor bumps and bruises, we took the kids swimming and went to the Cleveland Zoo the next day.  It was quite an experience for all involved, but I'm glad we did it, and Josh can now say that he is truely a tough mudder.