Tennessee 2006

We finally made it to one of Jack's family reunion's in Gaitlinburg, TN!! We stayed at a beautiful placed called Middle Creek Valley Chalets. It's at the top of a mountain. In addition to meeting the entire Bartley clan (almost) we had a lot of fun. Thursday was kind of a meet and greet and we had Kaitlin's party. Friday we got up early and went over to Dollywood. Ryan had a blast! Every time he got off of a ride he said it was the best one ever. The first ride was a SpongeBob motion simulater ride - he got a kick out of that. Then he and daddy went and got wet w/ Uncle Bob on a water ride. He went on just about everything and some of them twice. Kaitlin went on a few too but was a little hesitant. Since school had already started in that area there wasn't much of a crowd so the wait for rides was short. Saturday Chris went out golfing w/ Jack's son Jimmy while the rest of us (me, Kaity, Mom, Stacey and Meagan) went into Pigeon Forge for some shopping at the outlets and the quilt shop. Through out the day more and more people were gathering at the house. More names to remember! We had a huge dinner that night at the local Golden Corral. That night we packed up our things and just hung out. Chris played poker (like he had every night), and we played w/ the kids. Ryan also enjoyed learning how to play fooseball with some of the other kids his age. We can't wait until next year.

The pictures above are of our Chalet and the view from the front porch.

Kaitlin Turns 2!!

This past Thursday, August 17th Kaitlin turned 2 years old. Although she entered the "terrible two's" about 4 months ago when she started saying "NO". She celebrated most of her special day in the car :( . We were driving to TN for a family reunion in Gaitlinburg. Once we got the the Chalets she was met by Nonnie and Jack as well as Aunt Stacey, Uncle Bob and her cousin Meagan!! After dinner that night we opened tons of presents and had cake. This year she really understood the concept of tearing the paper right off! Only problem was after discovering what was inside she wanted to open up the toy and play with it right then, not see what was in the next package! When we came home on Sunday we opened everything up. Her favorites so far are her high heels that came w/ a princess dress up set, her shopping cart, her baby that goes pee pee, and her Jo Jo doll.

I dressed myself

This morning Kaitlin wanted to pick out her own clothes, so we let her. But then she decided to put on part of her pajamas as well. All day she had on ther denim dress with pj pants on!! She didn't care and we weren't going anywhere so it didn't matter. Here's the outfit.

Cooling off with Bomb Pops

Tuesday night we let the kids have nice cold Bomb Pops!! They made a mess but it was worth it. Kaitlin had never had one before and I think she liked it. Her mouth was all red and then purple. They got very sticky so it was bath time next! They melted so fast since it was so hot out. I'm not sure how much actually got in their mouths.

Cousin's Play

Kaitlin and Meagan had lots of fun playing together this past week. They only thing they like to share are snacks!! If Kaitlin had a toy Meagan wanted it and vice versa. They enjoyed watching "Pat Pat" (Little Einstein's) in the mornings and the Wiggles. Everytime one of the kids left the room Meagan wanted to know "where Ryrie Katie at?" Kaitlin finally called Meagan "Meaggie". She had been calling her baby for the longest time.

Road Trip

Kaitlin, Meagan and Ryan spent a lot of time in the car this week. While visiting in NOVA we went to see Pop Pop and G-ma Gail, Nonnie, Gi Gi along with shopping and going to playdates. All in all the girls did well. Just a little bit of complaining about no movies for Kaitlin and bordom from Ryan. Oh yeah and the heat of the car was an issue too. Everytime we had to get in it was soooo hot! But they (and we) got through it.

A Visit From the Firemen

While visiting Aunt Stacey, Uncle Bob and Cousin Meagan this past week one Friday Uncle Bob surprised us w/ a visit from the Ashburn Vol. Fire Dept. He is a volunteer himself. We were going to go to the firehouse but while we were finishing dinner we heard a loud horn outside and there they were!

A Very Hot July Day

We are in a heat wave - along with the rest of the country! We are going to feel like 102 today. This morning we got up and were getting ready to go on our morning walk and decided against it. It was already 86 degrees at 9am! So I set up Ryan's slip 'n' slide and the pool for the kids to play in and cool off. We had to get outside to get some of that energy out!! They had fun and played outside for about 2 hours. Then we were all hot and ready for lunch. Kaitlin is doing a lot better with the pool. She wants to get in it now. She surprised me by actually gettin on her hands and knees and pretended to swim back and forth across the pool. Ryan had a lot of fun on his slip 'n' slide. He showed me how he could get his face wet - and a took a picture to prove it!

Ryan Pretends

While cleaning out my closet a few days ago I came upon this old Air Force jacket of my dad's. I've had it for a very long time. I've almost gotten rid of it a few times but never did. I have now passed it on to Ryan to play soldier with. He got a real kick out of wearing something that use to be Pop Pops. We emailed one of the pictures to my dad and he had no idea I even had that. He was very thrilled with the picture.

Pictures from MN 2006

For some reason I can't post the pictures in the last post so here are some pictures we took in MN. Ryan and Kaitlin posed for a picture while at lunch with Jim and Pam. Ryan and his new buddy Mithc fix the slip n slide. Brody at 2 months. Kaitlin and Ryan with their Great Grandma Norma.

Minnesota 2006

What a trip!! Chris has vowed to me that we will never drive that again! (and I'm going to hold him to it) Well we left Suffolk on Thursday, June 29th at about 7:30am and arrived to Patrick and Alison's house in Andover, MN on Friday at 7:30pm CST. We stopped in Richmond, IN on the first leg of the trip. Kaitlin was crying after about the first 30 mins. We knew we were in for it! Lets just say we now can sing along with all the Barney and Wiggles DVD's!

Here's what we did while we were visiting:

Saturday we rested up and spent some quality time with our new nephew Brody. He's so cute and really is a good baby. Ryan went to see the movie cars with his Grandma MN and when they came back we cooked out for dinner.

Sunday Alison and I did some shopping and had lunch out while the boys were at a Twins game

Monday we did a little more shopping and got things ready for the 4th of July cookout at their house on Tues. Ryan played with Mitch, a neighbor of Pat and Alison's that was his age.

Tuesday at 4pm we did our cookout. Prior to that Chris and Patrick exchanged b-day gifts. Chris's b-day was June 22 and Pat's is July 13th. A lot of family came to visit that we hadn't seen in a while and a few friends too. Later that night after everyone left we set off fireworks in the back yard.

Wednesday we went to get pictures taken of the 3 kids and then to see Chris's Grandma Huhtala. We also had lunch w/ his Aunt Pam and Uncle Jim Huhtala. Then it was back to the house for dinner and packing up!

We left Thursday a little later than planned - about 10:30am CST. We were surprised with a call from Chris's dad and we were only 10 miles from where he was stopped in Wisconsin. So we took a few mins to have lunch with him and then on our way. We only made it to Danville, IL the first night and then home by 10:30pm EST on Friday. The kids were so wound up we didn't even go to bed until midnight.

It's good to be home but now I'm bored :) .

Kaitlin the Princess

Well Kaitlin has just started to like getting all dressed up. She is a tomboy and a princess. She loves to play in the mud and wear her tiara! I guess you can say she's a very well rounded girl. On Father's Day she decided to be daddy's little princess and left her tiara on for a while. Here she is posing in her rocker.

Chuck E Cheese

My mom and Jack were visiting this past weekend. We had lots of fun w/ the kids. Since Ryan finished school with straight "G's". We decided to treat him to where ever he wanted to go. He chose Chuck E Cheese. Although we were a little hesitant about going there on a Saturday afternoon, it was actually not croweded. He had lots of fun playing games with his daddy. Kaitlin had fun the the kiddie area too. It was nice that we could eat in there and she could play. She's not very fond of Chuck E Cheese himself! We stayed about 2 hours, disinfected everyone and went home. Here are some pics we took.

Kaitlin and the "Buggie"

Here is Kaitlin and the "Buggie" a.k.a. froggie that we saw while visiting Blue Bird Gap Farm Park last week. For some reason she just can't get the "f" sound out so it's buggie - at least we know what she's saying. She has become obsessed with frogs/toads lately. Now she wants to go and find them in the back yard every day. She would torture those poor toads for hours making them hop all over creation. Eventually she does say "bye bye buggie" and we look for them the next day - or later that night).

Kaitlin also likes duckies and munnies (bunnies). Money,Bunny, and Honey all come out Munny so it can be interesting trying to figure out which she is refering to. We see ducks on our walks everyday. We saw a bunny once and now she's always looking for it. We did see a squirel yesterday which is kind of rare and she thought it was a bunny so now she's all confused!

Kindergarten Comes to an End

Last week Ryan had his awards ceremony at school. He got a Kindergarten Completion Award along with an Academic Achievement Award. We are very proud of how well he's done in school this year. I can't believe how well he is reading and writing along with his outstanding math skills. His Aunt Stacey came down to see him get his award along with her daughter Meagan. After the ceremony we got to go back to Ryan's class and have refreshments. He was very excited for his Aunt to see his classroom and meet his teacher and his friends. He also got to show everyone his cousin Meagan.

Look Mom, No Cavities

Ryan went to the dentist today and did a great job! He had lots of questions for the woman cleaning his teeth! He wanted to know what everything did and if she had used all of that stuff! He has NO cavities which is great! He has lots of space between his teeth which is good for the adult teeth to grow in and not be over crowded. They said by the time he starts 1st grade he will have lost one or both of his bottom center teeth. He's been wiggling them for days b/c all of his friends in school have lost teeth but him. He's also getting his 6yr molars in (a little late) and they have been causing him s ome pain.) He got a new tooth brush but didn't like that they only had Power Rangers...oh well. He also got some dental floss , 2 tubes of trial size toothpaste for kids and Trident sugar free gum b/c he was so good.

Happy Memorial Day

We had a very relaxing weekend at home. No big plans. Chris filled up the baby pool for Ryan and Kaity to cool off in but Kaitlin didn't want to get in. I think it was still to cold. If it was warm like the tub she might have been fine - but confused as to why she had clothes on. We cooked out 2 nights and went on lots of walks. We saw the ducks many times this weekend. It was a little warmer out than I would have liked but summer is almost here.

Blue Bird Gap Farm

Last week Kaitlin and I went with some friends to Blue Bird Gap Farm in Hampton. She had a really good time. Since she is still learning all her animals and sounds she had fun seeing the animals in person. Of couse her favorite thing was seeing the ducks! They had swans and geese too - but to her, all ducks. She pet Charlie the horse and liked the cows too. I think her next favorite was Janey the pig (over grown potbellied pig). They had bunnies and baby goats for sale. We had a picnic lunch and then came home. They had a nice playground too but there were too many kids on field trips already enjoying it.

Nonnie's Visit and Mother's Day

Nonnie came to visit on Wednesday, May 10th and stayed until Monday, May 15th. Chris was in TN on a fishing trip so she came down to visit and keep me company. Friday we got to go have lunch with Ryan at his school in honor of mother's day. We got to eat the school lunch that day - a choice of popcorn shrimp and rice or meatloaf and mashed potatoes w/ various veggies/fruit available. It wasn't too bad for $2. Then Ryan bought us each a carnation. Saturday we went to the ocean. It was a beautiful day. A little on the cool side in the shade but we still managed to get sunburns through the lotion we put on. Ryan had fun playing in the sand. For Mother's Day my mom and I went to the Hilton for brunch, this is after I had to "hunt" for my presents. Ryan told me I was too old for the Hot/Cold game but I found everything. He got me a silver heart locket necklace (via nonnie) and Kaitlin got me a silver heart on a charm bracelet (also via nonnie). It was a very nice day - until it started raining...we came home and had a relaxing afternoon. I put Kait down for a nap and we played a math game with Ryan. Mom left early monday morning after Ryan got on the bus.

Me and My Senses

That was the title of Ryan's kindergarten PTA program. He was very brave and did the introduction, "Welcome Family and Friends, Please sit back and Relax and enjoy Me and My Senses." I was so scared he'd be nervouse and not do it because of all the people there. But he ensured me he'd do fine and he did. BUT...during the show he looked a little less than excited. Just earlier we couldn't keep him still and at the show he was about to fall asleep from bordem. I asked him why he didn't do any of the hand gestures or anything and he said ha was just nervous. Here are a few pictures we took of the unenthused Ryan.