Thanksgiving Break

The kids were off the whole week of Thanksgiving and I decided this was WAY too long so we needed to stay active.  Luckily it was tree decorating weekend at Brookfield Zoo and Steve & Caroline both have trees for Brownie & Cub Scouts.  We started off our holiday there and ended at Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells.  Even Steve thanked me for planning such an awesome week.

Caroline decorating her Troop tree

We wheeled Mitchell around like a king

Steven decorating his Pack tree

Mitchell watched the polar bear up close for a bout 15 minutes and giggled most of the time.

 Taking everyone to the zoo is a huge feat for me.  I stress about keeping everyone entertained but really all my kids care about are the play areas and food.  We were very disappointed the penguin house was closed - of course that is all Steven wanted to see - but the weather was beautiful and we made the most of it.  This is the first time in about 10 yrs I have gone to the zoo without a stroller, we brought the wagon instead.  I feel like the Iveys are moving up in the world.

I have a zillion pictures of the years of that dang toad 

Caroline has really stepped up a notch in spelling this year so she was saying aloud things I was spelling to get my point across.  As we walked past the Condor who was eating the head off a rabbit (or rat) I said "keep pulling the wagon and I'll walk on this side so M doesn't see the p-a-r-k"  And Caroline yells "PARK?".  Then Grace wanted to see the elephants and as we got closer I remembered that last year "I think the last one d-i-e-d"...."it died mommy?".  Grace of course didn't really seemed phased by this. So the days of spelling are over and I'll just need to keep comments to myself unless I they are meant for everyone's ears.









Thanksgiving afternoon we packed up the cars (mom & dad too) and headed to the Dells.  Grace immediately fell asleep and we put Steven in my dad's car to avoid the fighting between he & Caroline. Our car was pretty quiet. Once we hit the boarder we had a potty break and Grace proceeded to drop her binky in the toilet.  Steve said he could hear the howling outside and new something bad had happened.  She was so upset she couldn't even pee.  It was her favorite "green" but she eventually took a liking to "pink" that was in the car.

Waiting for our reservation

When we arrived we immediately went to one of the water parks.  Steve, dad & I positioned ourselves so we could wait on structure with Mitchell, get him off the slide at bottom and then watch him in the play area if he decided not to head back up.  3 people was definitely what we needed,  it worked out perfectly.  Yes, the other kids were there but Caroline & Grace stuck together and I think Steven just watched the clock to see when it was going to be time to leave  - ha ha.  We had Thanksgiving buffet at the restaurant that night.  Everyone was having a good time.

Grace on lily pads

The smallest of the waterparks at Wilderness on the Lake, we drove there.

Mitchell & Caroline on lily pads

Steven and Mitchell on lily pads

The Grinch we found at Denny's Diner or breakfast - watched Little Rascals on TV too.

Grandpa as a pirate in 3D glow mini golf

Grace & her chauffeur - it was a long walk from play area back to room

The second day we found the huge play structure for the kiddies.  Think of McDonald's playland on crack.  I went in it and couldn't find my way out.  The odd thing tho is that the parent area was too the left of the structure (and this picture) but clearly this was an exit for the kids and nowhere to sit & watch.  I noticed this right away, so the 1 stod here for 20 min until I figured Mitchell routine and we were good.  The next day he got adventurous and was stealing golf balls from the mini golf (I'm standing at the counter taking the picture) and rolling them down the slide.  So I strategically placed a chair there and sat for the remainder.  A few times he came out another way and tried to work through the arcade to get te bals but we were on to him.  This is a design flaw in my opinion, I can't be the only one whose kid wants to run up those stairs with that big arrow pointing the way and one worker did say alot of kids take the golf balls.  I see an easy fix.

By the end of each day the adults were exhausted and Mitchell was up until 11 wide awake.  He is the energizer bunny.  Steven & Caroline enjoyed the arcades and 2 mini golf courses and Caroline & Steve climbed the rope course 2x.  We did attempt the wave pool but 15 min in and it shut down because of a floater.  It was the only pool that made my skin itch, probably because it was the only waist high standing water.  Mitchell was ticked off but we hiked back through the hotel to another park with the big green slide and all was good.  By the time Sunday afternoon rolled around we were all ready to go home.

Stationery card

Surrounded With Love Holiday Card

Browse Christmas invitations and holiday cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Trip To The Dentist

This was started Tuesday but I had trouble uploading the video.

Well Mitchell had his bi-annual trip to the dentist this morning.  We missed our original appointment last week at the New Lenox office - can't imagine how that happened - so today we went to the Flossmoor office.  Thought I'd trick him into thinking it would be fun, no such luck but we survived.

I need to take a moment and RAVE about Dr. Algenio at Pediatric Dental Specialty Associates .  I cannot get over how patient and caring he is.  At our very first appt he took the time to explain the process and address any concerns I had about Mitchell.  He welcomed my input and offered suggestions for other aspects of our life as well.  He sings ABC's to Mitchell during the exam which really seems to calm him down.  He cracks jokes about Mitchell's yelling meaning he's just so happy to be there and see Dr. Algenio.  He is an amazing dentist and would recommend him and his office to anyone, special needs or not!

Today went as expected.  We arrived and Mitchell waited patiently for all of the 2 min we had to (AWESOME).  As we entered the exam room he realized why were there (remember, it was a different office) and tried to leave but when Dr. Algenio picked him up he just hugged him and clung for dear life.  He didn't want to lay on the chair but he did and allowed the papoose to wrap around him and then continued to squirm and scream through the exam, cleaning, filling and flouride treatment.  The sounds are what really agitate him.  Once everything is done we unwrap him and he jumps off the chair.  No tears, no more screaming, just happy to be done.

Luckily, the small cavity he had was able to be filled today so we don't have to come back for 6 months, Dr. Algenio makes special exceptions for Mitchell :).  We are back in our car 29 min after our scheduled appt time and on our way.

We also found Mitchell has 4 loose teeth & 4 molars coming in. That explains all the deep pressure he has been wanting on his mouth and the booboo buddy ice packs.  It might also explain the spit he constantly plays with these days - hopefully that will go away once the teething is done.

Here is what it's like to bring Mitchell to the dentist.  I would have gotten shots of the filling as well but I had to lay across his legs as he was busting out of the papoose.  My arms feel like I was weightlifting this morning.  He apparently is too strong for the small papoose but too little for the larger one.  If I wasn't in the room with him, I would be concerned with what was going with all the carrying on.