Fun In Wisconsin

Here are a few photos from my trip to Wisconsin. I had a lot of fun with Bridger and Carter and learned a lot about kids. I learned that there are a few things you just learn to get used to when children are involved. For example....

With 2 kids under age 3, it doesn't take very long for a house to go from looking like this....

to looking like this!

Although I'm not a huge fan of kids watching a lot of tv, after all the ideas you have to keep them entertained were met with failure, and it's only 10:00 am, sometimes a 20 minute dvd can be your best friend! Look how captivated they are! Sometimes I used Charlie Brown to buy a few minutes to actually get myself dressed and cleaned up for the day. I no longer wonder why some moms look like they didn't look at themselves in the mirror before they walked out of the house. Who has time for indulgences like showers and makeup?

Despite all your efforts to please, kids can always find a way to be unsatisfied. After watching "Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving Dinner" Bridger wanted to make pumpkin pie like Snoopy. Thinking that he actually wanted to eat it too, I found all the ingredients and we went to work. Bridger had fun smashing the dough and stirring ingredients together.

However, although Bridger had seen all the orangy pumpkin stuff we put in the pie, when it was finally done and it was time to eat it, he took one look at the pie, stuck his finger in it, stared at his finger with a disgusted look on his face and said, "I don't like this orange stuff. Its yucky!" and then refused to eat it.

Carter, on the other hand, wolfed down the pie like it was going out of style! He probably ate more of the pie over the course of 3 days than I did!

On another note, one night right before heading to the neighbor's house for dinner, I quickly ran downstairs to check on some laundry. Bridger and Carter were playing in the big room downstairs when Bridger said "Hey! Its wet!" At about that same moment, I looked down at the carpet and saw a shallow but large puddle of water that covered about half of the basement. Being a little panicked, I looked around to see where it was coming from while I frantically called Mona and said "Your basement is flooding!!" I found out that the water heater was leaking and was soon getting directions from Ben on how to remedy the situation. I brought the kids over to the neighbors where they could be watched while I took care of the mess. (Thanks Jamie!)

Luckily, some of Ben & Mona's friends were able to come over that night to help clean up the water and get some fans going to dry out the carpet. A plumber came the next day to replace the broken water heater.

Here are some photos of Halloween. We had a great time! Carter was dressed as Elmo, and Bridger was a fireman. I took them to the mall to go trick-or-treating, and a bunch of Japanese people saw Carter and started pointing and laughing and taking pictures of him. He just stared at them wondering why they were talking funny and what all the commotion was for. Bridger got scared of the people dressed in funny clothes, so we didn't stay for long. When Ben and Mona got home that night, we went trick or treating again down the street they live on with the neighbors and their kids. I couldn't have picked a better way to spend Halloween. I didn't really want to come home, and I guess I could have stayed, since my wallet got stolen while I was there and I didn't have any ID. But after a series of questions and some extra screening by airport security, they finally let me board my plane and I had to fly home and get back to life as a student. I miss my nephews and all the fun we had and can't wait to see them again!