Woznation

We were almost successful this year.  Wil was actually ready and excited for Halloween!  We tried on costumes a few days before, and Wil even wore his to the halloween party at school!  A big improvement from the last few years.

We had a couple different options for evie – she wasnt totally jazzed by the Cinderella dress – but liked Wil’s hat:

The day before halloween, we carved our pumpkin – Wil was really into it this year, but still didnt want to touch the slime on the inside.

Evie didnt love it as much:

Unfortunately later than night, Wil was not doing so hot.  We tried to cheer him up with pumpkin cake and candles but we ended up having to take him to the doctors early Friday morning.  Diagnosis: Croup. Prescribed: a healthy dose of steroids.  The doctor said was that he needs to stay home for Halloween.  Big time bummer.

So what did we do?  Dressed him up and took him out.  Haha.  But just to one house.  We originally had plans to go to a neighborhood party, and then over to a friends house after that, but instead we just went to one house around the corner.  I swear he didnt touch anyone  – but I couldnt NOT take him trick-or-treating after all the hype this year.  He loved his few pieces of candy and also loved opening the door when others came to our house trick or treating.  Overall, I’m just glad Wil was excited about all the festivities.  It gives me hope for future years.

We ended up going with the chicken costume for Evie – which she some-what tolerated.  She loved climbing up stairs and knocking on doors, but didnt quite get why she had to do this.  Even after we let her try a piece of candy  – she wasnt totally into it.  But maybe in a few years!

Within a few days Wil gave the croup to Evie and finally by mid-november we were all healthy again…..except, as I type, Evie is upstairs hacking away.  Patient zero.  Give us another month and we might all be healthy again.

Read Full Post »

We made it back to Bloomington for the first time since Christmas!  Honestly, I think we were just traumatized from all our traveling last year when Evie was still a baby – meaning tons of diapers, lots of stops for breastfeeding, usually a spit-up session or two – and lots of crying.  We refused to travel long distances with the kids for quite a bit.  For the majority of my travels this year, Phil has stayed at home instead of us all going together.  But this was an event that was finally worth it.  Celia’s wedding! And honestly, Wil and Evie were awesome – which gives me hope for future trips.  We drove overnight Wednesday and arrived early Thursday.  Both kids slept the whole way and we only made 2 stops for gas.  It was as easy as it could be.  Once we got to Bloomington, we had a mix of relaxing, appointments, work, and fun.  The kids had mostly fun.  They spent the first few nights at Mimi and Pop-Pops where they had crummy weather but made-do indoors:

And luckily the weather warmed up for some time outdoors with Busia and Dziadzie:

Phil, barney and I all got our favorite things as well:

There were lots of wedding festivities! We helped get aisle decorations ready Thursday night, went shopping Friday followed by the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, followed by fun at Nick’s:

Then came the main event!  Obviously I did not have my camera on me most of the day, but I was able to steal a few pics from Phil and the photographer.  We cleaned up well:

Sarah did all the flowers!  Which were amazing, as were all the other details:

Everything was picture perfect – I think my favorite part of the ceremony was the soloist.  They had a soprano from IU sing Mozart’s Alleluia which was like a little mini concert just for us (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozih9O4rhUY). It was amazing!

Obviously – we got down to business after that:

AAaaaaand finished the night:

It took a while to recover from that one.  What an amazing weekend. Congrats to Cel and Dave!

Read Full Post »

Wow. October.  Looking back on this month, I think we had like 2 days where we didnt have something going on.  We went to DC one day to meet up with Phil and Maggie who were visiting the east coast, then we were in Indiana for 5-6 days for Celia’s wedding, then we went out to Sharp’s farm for Wil’s class field trip, followed by Weber’s farm for our own family field trip, then Phil and I got away for a weekend on our own!  Phil had a few work trips during October, too — one 4-day trip to New Mexico at the very end of October, but we were all back together by Halloween.

First up was DC to see Phil and Maggie – We were able to meet up at a park nearby Phil’s friend’s house, which was a perfect place for the kids to run off some steam and for the adults to catch up.  Then we hit-up a mexican place in Alexandria which was delish.  We hadnt seen each other since Christmas – so it was just nice to have some face time.

Only a few pictures of us all together:

Wil did not want to be photographed, but Phil and Mags brought dinosaur presents which Wil was obsessed with for a good week and still talks about anytime I bring up Uncle Phil and Aunt Maggie:

Wil had a great time (as did Evie – just not as many pictures) and passed out hard with his dinosaurs on the way home:

The next week we drove to Indiana which will get its own post.  But when we got back, Wil had his first field trip at school!  They requested extra chaperones, which I totally get with ten 3-year olds on a bus for 45 minutes each way.  The fact that they can get those kids to do anything is beyond me.  Its like herding cats.  Two of the other moms in Wil’s class and I got together and organized childcare for Evie and other younger siblings, so we were all able to chaperone together.  It was really fun!  They took the kids out to Sharp’s Farm where we pet animals, picked pop corn, rode on a tractor, and played in the pumpkin patch. Wil liked the bus ride most of all, go figure.

Then we went on our own family field trip out to Weber’s farm —  Wil liked it so much the last 2 years, we had to go again. (Evidence Here and here  ). Evie loved the slide and Wil spent forever in the hay maze.  They both tolerated the mini-tractor pull for a bit – but I was definitely the mom sprinting across the field when Evie started to stand up half way through.

I swear Evie had a good time.

The last weekend of October something magical happened – Phil and I went away for 48 hours together!!  We drove to Buffalo, NY where, along the way, we listened to podcasts, reclined out seats, and talked about our week.  When we got there, we met up with other adults and then we slept in the next morning. When we got up –  I got a massage,  Phil went swimming, we had a nice lunch together at a restaurant and then we went to a freaking awesome wedding. (I’m sure some childless people are reading this and thinking these all sound like normal events, but this is the first time we have done normal adult things in like a year! So all these things were truly magical.) It was amazing to be in control of our own time for a few days – and totally recharged our batteries.  Only a few pics:

While we were away, we flew in Busia to watch the kids! I dont know who had a better time, Char or Wil and Evie.  We are so appreciative of her efforts – we know its not easy!

It was a good time had by all.

In our spare time around Baltimore during October we cheered on the Os until they lost in the American League Championships – we even had game 6 tickets – but they got swept in 4 by the Royals.  We hung out outside as much as we could while it was still warm.  And, of course, also nursed some sick kids.  More on that in the Halloween post.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Read Full Post »

I was finally able to sit down and organize all the pictures from the Wozniak family vacation!  I will never be able to explain how excited Wil was to be ‘on the beach’.  As soon as we got close and could see the ocean – he just lit up saying ‘I see the beach! I see the beach!’.  And then once we got to the house and he realized he could see the beach from the house — he wanted to be there all the time.  He would start every morning with ‘I’m going to go to my beach now’.  And he was serious.  Someone was out there with him by 8am every morning.  He loooooooved it.  Evie was less thrilled with the beach, but had a few happy moments.  She loved to explore the house and go in and out of doors, especially the front deck. She and Wil loved to make a cave out of the dining room table and use flashlights in the dark.  Both kids loved the boardwalk and all the arcade games.  Wilek’s favorite toys these days are his toy airplanes he got with his 100 down-a-clown tickets playing with Auntie Em.  Wil had his first putt-putt experience with a putter and ball Dziadzia bought him.  Phil and all the boys went on a fancy golfing trip.   Sam, Nick and Mark went on a fishing trip and Sam fried us up some fresh fish.  Phil and I got to play a game of putt-putt together.  Trainer Em designed a crossfit workout-of-the-day for us and I made it out on a few runs.  Uncle Nick dominated at ‘Shots and Ladders’ (with fireball).  I, of course, worked during naptimes.  And there was all the ice cream you could eat.

Though I do say the word ‘vacation’ with a grain of salt.  The word ‘vacation’ doesnt seem to have the same ring to it as it use to. The house wasnt quite baby-proofed and we definitely watched the kids more than we relaxed.  My mom corrected me and said – with kids, its not a vacation — you took a ‘trip’.  It was a wonderful week with the Wozniaks and we had a blast.  But I could use a vacation!

So I really tried to edit down the number of pictures I wanted to keep,  but I only made it down to 104. Then added 10 more.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Read Full Post »