Cell Phone Dump

Cell phone dump for the month of October:

A little boy & his dog

Field trip with classmates - classy kid on the far right grabbing himself :)

I "moustache" you a question

Love this "Mickey-lovin'" little boy :)

Walked outside & saw this. I guess Mase thought his lawnmower needed some gas?!

Best friends!

Mommy & Mason representing the Royals!!

Daddy, Mase & Millie playing around

1st trip to the Mall

Many of you may not know this but my husband is a drummer. A really good drummer. He has a HUGE set of drums in the basement & likes to have his friend Don over for jam sessions. Don is a singer & plays guitar so they record music & have a good time being "rockstars"! This afternoon they were meeting up for a jam session - or to play "rockband" as I like to refer to it as so Mase & I decided to get out of the house & kill a few hours while they jammed.

There were a couple of things I wanted to check out at our local mall so that is where we headed. This was Mason's first trip to an indoor mall & after today it definitely won't be his last. We had SO much fun while there.

We first stopped at the food court & had his favorite for lunch - "I-nese" (Chinese)

Then we walked around checking out all the "kid" stores. We went to the Lego store, Build-A-Bear store, spent tons of time in the Disney store where Mase tried on all the costumes & we even walked through the American Doll store.

We rode on the carousel not once but twice & then stopped to play in the play area where I had met the nicest lady who had a son with Down Syndrome who just so happened to be playing with Mason. For whatever reason I felt the need to tell her that I had a niece with DS. 

 

We ended up talking to each other for almost 45 minutes. She shared with me that she had 2 older children - one in college & one was a senior in high school & Max was a "surprise" at 41 years of age but one of the best surprises they ever could have hoped for. She shared pictures of Max & her family with me while I showed her pics of my niece Dana & her family talked about how we had just returned from the DS Walk a couple of weeks ago. She was so nice & such a pleasure to talk with & it was fun watching her son interacting with Mason.

 

After Mase was played out we stopped at one more store & then made our way back home. It took Mason all of 5 minutes before he was sound asleep in the backseat. Looks like his 1st mall trip wore him out!





Olivia's 1st Birthday Party

One year ago this sweet little girl Miss Olivia made her entrance into the world & I was SO excited to finally meet her after watching her grow in her Mama's tummy for the last 9 months!

 Now look at her....

One year old & such a happy, sweet little girl!

We celebrated this little cuties birthday today at Waldo's Pizza with her Mama, Daddy & many close friends & family. Leann did a great job decorating for her Minnie Mouse party & everything looked awesome!

Once everyone got done eating pizza it was time for dessert :) Leann ordered pumpkin & apple crisp cheesecake from our good friend Stetson for dessert & I must say that the apple crisp one is my new favorite! It was SOOO yummy! There was cupcakes for the kiddo's & of course a smash cake for Olivia.

Miss Olivia really enjoyed her cake also...

It was SO fun watching her eat cake. She of course made a huge mess & everyone snapped lots of pictures!

After we enjoyed our dessert we made our rounds to everyone to say goodbye & Leann handed Mason this super cute "thank you" favor bag right before we left:

 Mickey Mouse ears, a coloring book, crayons, bubbles & a ring pop

 

Can you tell he LOVED all his goodies??

We had SO much fun at Miss Olivia's 1st birthday party & thank her Mama Leann for inviting us! Can't believe she is already 1 year old!!

Johnson Farms Pumpkin Patch

Well it is October & that means our annual trip to visit the pumpkin patch is approaching. It was supposed to be a beautiful weekend so we decided to go this weekend & ended up checking out a new pumpkin patch this year....Johnson Farms.

This place ended up being amazing & you can bet we will be returning here every year!! There was SO much for the littles to do & we had a ball checking it all out!!

First up was our annual pic in the pumpkins...

Then we played in the huge maze/play area & sand box:

 

Next up was the animals. We saw a donkey, cows, sheep, goats & pigs.....lots of them. There were 2 sets of Mama pigs with babies. One set was about 6 weeks old & the other set was just born the night before. They were SO stinkin' cute! Mase loved watching the piglets & asked Daddy for one as a pet :)

After seeing all the farm animals, we made our way over & took a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch where we searched for that one special pumpkin. 

It took about 30 minutes of walking around the pumpkin patch but Mase was finally able to find "the one"!



We made our way back to the farm & then went on a train ride & posed for a family picture before we headed out.

We had SO much fun at Johnson Farms & can't wait to go back next year. A huge thanks to my Mama Bestie Jen for telling me about this super fun place!

WI - Day 4

Today was our last day in WI :( My mom, dad & brother all left early in the morning & headed back home & since our flight wasn't until 5pm we had a little bit of time to kill.

Since Mase & I had SO much fun last year at the apple orchard we asked if we could go back there again. So that is how we spent our early afternoon - picking apples!

Jensen showing Mason how it is done

The cousins - Cael, Mason, Jensen & Tanner

 

Can't forget this little cute cousin :)

Mama & Mase selfie

My little poser

We ended up picking 2 grocery sacks full of apples & bought some homemade caramel apples as well. I SO wish I could have brought some of those apples home with me...bummer!

 

Once we got home, we enjoyed eating our caramel apples & then loaded up the car to make the hour & 1/2 trip to the Milwaukee airport. We had such a great weekend with our family but I know Mase was ready to get home & see his Daddy & so was I!

 

We took off from Milwaukee just as the sun was starting to set....

What a beautiful view to watch from our window!!

WI - Day 3

This morning we all awoke & got ready to head out the door early for the annual Down Syndrome Walk in honor of my niece Dana.

It was a chilly, cloudy day but at least it was NOT raining like last year! 1600 people attended the 6th annual walk & as an organization $86,000 was raised for the Fox Cities area through sponsors, pledges & donations! Our team Dana's Daisies came in 2nd place this year raising $5801 thanks to our family & friends!!

Dana's Daisies - this is just 1/2 the group

Our family, my brother-in-laws family, friends of my sister & her husband all gathered under our tent & discussed the events occurring that afternoon & then everyone parted ways to go check out all the fun stuff there was to do before the walk.



My brother - the Bears fan wrapped in a Packers blanket.....hmmmmm!

They had a petting zoo, trampoline bungee jumping, rock wall climbing, bouncy inflatables, face painting, clowns a photo booth & so much more for the kids to do. We had a ball checking out all they had to offer!

 Mase with Grandpa Farm getting a spider-man balloon bracelet

 

 Face painting

After everyone had lunch & some fun checking out all the activities it was time to line up in front of the stage where they announced all the teams participating & who won 1st, 2nd & 3rd place in donations. Then it was time to start the 1 mile walk around the lake.

My sister & her friend walking for Dana's Daisies

 

After the walk we helped tear the tent down, clean up & made our way back to my sister's house for pizza, cocktails & more family time. My brother spent time out with my nephews teaching them a few wrestling moves while Mase & his buddy Jensen watched a movie on the iPad.





It was a great day spent with family for an amazing cause & I love how our family has come together these past 2 years for this event to honor our sweetie pie Dana. Hoping to make this an annual tradition for many more years to come.



From my sister:

"This year was a record breaking year! As an organization, we raised $86,000 and had close to 1,600 walkers. Once again, our amazing family and friends came from across the country and locally to either support us by giving a donation or joining us the day of the walk. Dana's Daisies came in second this year raising $5,801. We cannot thank you enough! We have the best friends and family."

WI - Day 2

Today was kind of a lazy day. We woke up fairly early, had breakfast & made our way to The Outlet Shoppes at Oshkosh for a little shopping. My sister, brother, Mom & Dad all went along & we spent a few hours shopping & checking out all the bargains. Two stores I mainly wanted to go to was Oshkosh B'Gosh & Children's Place. I had some coupons to use at both stores & always seem to find lots of stuff there for Mase.

While shopping at Oshkosh B'Gosh I experienced the most epic "Mommy Fail" I have lived through yet. A month later as I write this post I think my brother is still traumatized from "the incident".

So Mason is in the middle of potty-training & let me tell you, a 2 year old potty training is no joke. When your little one says to you that they have to go potty or make poopies trust me that it is right then, right there & right now. There is no time to search for a bathroom.

As I am digging through the table of pants & shirts trying to find a 3T I hear Mason say "Mama I have to make poopies". I didn't see a bathroom sign in the store & I knew we had no time to go & try to find one so I told him to just go ahead & go & Mama would change his pull-up when he was done.

It took me 10 seconds to remember that my child had undies on, not a pull-up & as soon as I realized this I look over & see my child looking horrified, standing in a puddle of pee & undies full of poop. Oh & guess what? I forgot his backpack of extra pull-ups, wipes & a change of clothes at my sisters house. Classic Mommy Fail. 

Those of you reading this who have no children are probably visualizing this scenario in your head wondering to yourself what you would have done. Well, this was a "first" for this Mama so thank goodness my sister (the professional Mommy with 4 kids) was with me to help. Her fast thinking & my calm demeanor is what got us through the incident like a couple of professionals. A puddle of pee on the floor, poopies in the undies & nothing to clean it up with? WE GOT THIS!!

My sister ran up to the checkout counter to get paper towels & a shopping bag while I grabbed a pack of undies, a pair of pants off the table & a 6-pack of socks so I could change my child. Luckily we were in the very back of the store so I stripped Mase down, cleaned him & the floor up as best as I could with the paper towels, ripped off tags from the new clothing items & proceeded to put them on my child - all the meanwhile my little brother is watching horrified yet hysterically laughing that my child is standing in the store naked while I am cleaning poop off his butt. Then my parents come around the corner, saw us & tried to help. 

It was a "shit-show"....literally.

There was another Mom shopping who came around the corner & saw us & ever so calmly said "oh no - been there done that" & went about her way continuing to shop around us like it was no big deal.

Once we were all cleaned up I put everything in the shopping bag, lathered up the hand sanitizer, went to pay for all my items & disposed of the sack outside in one of the large trash cans as we continued on with our shopping. See - told you it was no big deal :)

So despite this little hiccup in our day, Mase ended up getting a few unexpected items as well as some new winter clothes at the Oshkosh store. I also found lots of bargains at the Children's Place outlet to take back home & Mama even bought a few things for herself.

Once we got home everyone ate lunch & then we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the house. Mase & his buddy Jensen spent time playing outside, down in the basement where the toy room is, putting together puzzles & enjoying time with family...

...and this little cutie Dana!

Late afternoon my sisters in-laws came over to the house to visit with us all & my mom made her awesome Italian Roast Beef sandwiches for supper which were enjoyed by all.

We had a fairly quiet evening once everyone left & spent time hanging out, watching TV & talking about the events occurring the next day.....the Down Syndrome Walk!



WI - Day 1

Mase & I are skipping work & daycare for a couple of days & flying out to WI to spend time with my sister & her family & participate in the annual Down Syndrome Walk. Unfortunately Shane couldn't get off of work to join us so he is staying home with the bulldogs for what is to be a nice, quiet, relaxing weekend I am sure with out me or Mase around.

We had a 9am flight to Milwaukee which was perfect because it wasn't too early of a morning to leave with a 2 year old, load up the car, make the drive up to the airport & hop on the shuttle to the airport.

My little guy is such an awesome traveler. We had talked in the car of how he needed to listen to Mama, stay close by me, be a good boy & he far exceeded my expectations as a single Mama traveling with a toddler.

We got to the airport in plenty of time, checked our bags & the car seat & then Mase & I headed to the gate. We had about an hour wait so we killed some time by watching the planes land & take off which Mason loved! Then right before we boarded we made one last stop to potty & got in line to get on the plane.

Our 1 hour & 15 minute flight to Milwaukee was smooth, quick & uneventful. Mason & I had apple juice & watched a movie on the iPad & before we knew it we were landing. My sister lives 75 minutes north of Milwaukee so I rented a car & Mason fell asleep 5 minutes into the drive & slept the whole way.

We arrived to my sister's house around 1pm & spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with my family & Mase had fun playing with his cousins. Later that evening my little brother arrived from KC & the littles were so excited to see Uncle Steve!

 Popsicles with cousin Jensen

 

Playing Lego's with cousin Tanner

 

Everyone was pretty tired by the end of the evening so we all headed to bed fairly early & prepared ourselves for a fun, busy weekend ahead.