having trouble uploading pictures to the blog.
not sure if i'm going to be able to post any more pics for a while. we have a wireless connection available, but it's only letting me upload one to two pics at a time and it takes about 10 minutes just to do that. yesterday it let me do huge batches in about 30 minutes a pop. so, i'm gonna explore other options in the am. i'm super sad because i don't want to fall farther behind, but we are in a small town, so who knows.
carnival in matamora illinois.
saturday, june 26, 2010. we went to a street CARNIVAL in metamora. we got there about 8:00 pm illinois time, but it was only 6:00 for us block's. elle fell asleep on the way there and when she woke up, neither she, nor jack wanted to go on the rides. it wasn't until we got back to the blunier's home that we realized why our boys were so into it all the rides and their's weren't. elle and jack were just soooooo tired. we got home at 10:30 pm which for our boys was only 8:30. our kiddos still wanted to play. the carnival was so much fun. the HIGHLIGHT of the night was that while the carnival was shutting down, joshua and levi went for a walk. the rest of us were finishing up our funnel cakes and ice cream. when they returned, levi was holding a bag with 7 GOLDFISH in it!!! levi was so excited, but all i could do was laugh, thinking how are we going to travel with 7 goldfish. what was joshua thinking??? lizzie had a great idea though and luckily levi thought it was good too. she suggested levi put them in aunt mic and uncle ralph's pond!!! until then we are keeping them in a large mixing bowl.
it's after 8:00 pm here, but it's still totally light out.
mmm mmm fair food!
the curly cheese fries were divine.
a good one of pops.
our host and hostess for the next couple days, lizzie and brian.
eatin.
unravelling a curly fry to find out how long it was. i had one that was like a foot and a half.
levi the conductor.
choo chooing.
the boys loved it. even jack warmed up to it!
levi looking so grown up. he's definitely got a little battaglia "jeepin'" in his blood.
vroom vroom. abraham chose the sports car.
jack started out super scared and cried for the 1st couple go arounds, but liked it in the end.
abe's full on steering. looks like he's gonna pass.
jack just kept his mouth open the whole time. it was super funny.
the merry go round was next.
abe was gonna go on a big horse...
...but, then decided to ride on a tiny horse with levi. these didn't go up and down.
levi yelling at me to look over there at the 3 white campers.
levi won a prize for catching a shark.
papa helping abey.
the boys went with me on the spinning dragon.
this was abraham's 1st time. levi and i have gone on this kind of ride several times.
handsome boys in green.
*******
my camera died while on this ride. i took some pics of levi bringing the fish and a couple others with lizzie's camera. i forgot to download them before we left, but hope to get them from her over the 4th of july weekend. i'll post them here then.
*******
abe and the fish when we got home.
lizzy and brian's house.
saturday, june 26, 2010. we made it to lizzy and brian's house mid day. levi warmed up to ELLE, who just turned 3, and JACK, who's 18 months, pretty quickly. before we knew it toys were all over the place. they played in the floor level toy room off the kitchen, then the basement toy area, and eventually in elle's room. there were TOYS GALORE. abe had crashed out on the car ride there and slept for several hours on the couch. joshua and brian watched a world cup game and lizzy and i chit chatted about life as mommy's. i eventually got to nap from about 4 to 7. then, that evening we went to a carnival in metamora. i'll blog that separate.
in the basement which was...
...car, truck, and farm toy heaven.
play dough time. working hard.
yay. this is fun!
abe slept forever!
levi pressing worms. elle called it spaghetti
goofing around.
all four kiddos.
abe and elle were talking into the cups which made funny sounding voices.
total cutie pie.
elle sucking in so the cup would stick to her face. abe tried to copy her, but didn't quite get how to do it.
abe picked a fine time to go poopy and pee pee outside the home.
saturday, june 26, 2010. so since my blog post on june 1, where ABE DECIDED he just wants to wear UNDERWEAR, that's all he's been doing! however, we put him in diapers when we leave the house, which lately, is not often and every night before bed. he'll rip off his night time diaper to go potty when he wakes up in the morning. then we put him in unders which he usually takes off, preferring to go a la natural around the house. as a result of the nakiness, there have been some really cute/funny photos of him that i can't post because it's total full frontal nudity which is a no no for online. anyway, we never set out to potty train abe. we have just always had levi's old potty seat out because it acts as a step stool and abe watches levi use the big potty all the time. he's so into doing what the big boys do that i guess it was only natural for abraham to want to go potty like a big boy. he even uses the big potty 95% of the time. until today, though, he has never expressed that he needed to go potty while we were out and about. i find it comical that HE CHOSE TODAY of all days. so, we're flying at about 31,000 FEET in the air and abe tells me rather urgently that he has to go pee pee AND poopy! i hadn't paid attention to where the restrooms were, but i looked toward the front and there was a woman coming out of one. just our luck. we head in, i closed the door, and abe start panicking saying he wants his potty at his house. AAAHHHHHH! i told him that we weren't home anymore and that this was his potty on the plane now. it took lots of coaxing, but eventually it sunk in. he had no option other than going in his diaper. so i lined the seat with extra protectors, which shifted when i put him on (gross). but, HE DID IT! poopy and pee pee. i put another diaper on him, buttoned him up, and flushed the toilet. i was getting ready to lift him up to wash his hands and he said he had to GO MORE!!! AAAHHHHHH! i lined the seat again, he did the deed, i got him dressed, this time he wanted to flush, we washed hands, and what felt like 20 minutes later, we went back to our seats. then a little while later he told me he had to go pee pee! for reals? TWICE in one flight? this time i didn't sit him back on the seat far enough and his pee went over the edge of the toilet and soaked his pants. oops. that's why we pack extra right? this was one experience i wasn't expecting, but it is PRETTY DARN COOL that we are that much closer to saying good bye to diapers for good!!!
illinois, here we come!
the wee hours of saturday, june 26, 2010. we saved gobs of money by flying allegiant air this year. well, actually, we saved my parents gobs of money. they are paying a huge chunk of our fare for the 4th time. we wouldn't be able to go year after year without their generous contributions, for which we are eternally grateful!!! there were many positives to the whole experience. it's a far, but easy drive, easy parking, quick/easy check in, easy boarding, the flight came in early, the airport in peoria is pretty close to where joshua's cousin lizzy lives. the killer though is that every flight to peoria left at 6:40 am, meaning we had to leave by 4:10 am. if you know us block's you know 1.) i am not a morning person and 2.) we are always at least 30 minutes late where ever we go. (on a side note, a woman at church who has 4 kids said you are allowed to be 15 minutes late per kid you have. so, technically we aren't late;))) anyway, as i stated in my last post, joshua and i got barely any sleep, more like a cat nap before we left. when we got to the airport we left the sleeping boys in there seats. joshua carried seat and boy together. abe woke up as soon as joshua set him down inside, so i had to carry him. we brought the rest of the luggage in and waited for joshua to park. at the time we started unloading the airport check in area was pretty empty, but by the time joshua parked and came back in, droves of people had come in. like in a matter of 10 minutes! we made it through security, and didn't have to wait long before we boarded and the rest is history. i am typing from one of my favorite places of all time. i'm on the dock at aunt mic and uncle ralph's watching the boys poke around in the pond with pool noodles. heavenly.
the boys got to sleep a couple hours longer than joshua and i. though they both went to be super late. (levi 11:30, abe 1:30)
right before i went to dress them.
in the car by 4:21. only 11 minutes past our goal. not bad:)
lucky.
i was so jealous that the boys got to sleep in the car. i used to be able to sleep while someone else drove, but can't anymore.
bright and early at the airport.
that's our plane.
getting ready to board.
mr. cool with his own nemo carry on.
i was getting so excited!!!
it was fun to go on the outdoor ramp. you got to see the whole plane and the pilots in the cockpit as you walked up.
yay!
watching them load the luggage.
levi starting to get sleepy.
abe put his seat belt on all by himself.
so, levi wanted to too.
abe found the air and light buttons.
so fun.
he kept begging to hit the "orange" "attendant" button.
i brought neck pillows for the boys, but abe didn't want his.
we had just watched "fight club" a couple nights ago and i kept thinking about the more "realistic" version tyler durden's army put on planes.
levi kept yelling for me to look at all the tiny planes out his window.
more reading. he seriously looked at this for 15 minutes. we kept talking about what was going on in each scene.
high 5's from across the aisle.
just a cute pic of joshua.
levi over mountain ranges.
papa and levi crashed. i was so jealous!
when they woke up levi wanted to read the safety booklet.
one of my favorite things about illinois. all that green!!!
abe in an entirely different outfit. i'm gonna blog about our oh so fun potty on the plane experiences. oh yeah, that's plural. joshua got to sleep, i got to take care of our little wide awake monkey. 
when we landed and he got to get up, he clapped and kept shouting yay!!!
abe the big helper. this after i almost lost him twice in the baggage claim area.
showing signs of slowing down. just in time for the car ride.
lizzy picked us up and took us to her house. we have never been there. check ouy the huge bridge.
going over the water.
