Dear Dad.........

First and foremost I do miss you - Mom warned me when we were on the plane that there were a lot of grandmas and grandpas that lived here and not too many kids, so I would have to play with a lot of grown ups while I was here. I am not sure what mom was talking about I am having a ball and haven't found it that hard to make friends.....

We did the hula at the Luau and watched fire dancers....

Yesterday we went to the zoo and got to feed a giraffe right out of our hands - it was pretty cool Grandpa fed him after I saw that big mammoth tongue coming my way.....

I hope you and bugs are having fun and can't wait to see you!

Love,

Brooklyn.

Seriously....We do Really miss you :)

Well in the course of the past 24 hours....Brooklyn has traveled across the country on two planes (did awesome and loved chatting with our row mates...), has eaten every meal outside so far, had her own personal Easter egg hunt, jammed out at a local park, swam for 3 straight hours, which induced a 3 hour nap, got a sunburn, met all the neighbor dogs, ran into the screen door 3 times(she does have a little Novacek in her after all!), and ran wild on the golf course for hours, got up at 5 am but still got 11 hours of sleep, 3 hours time change is a killer..... So if you can't tell someone is in her GLORY and loving her visit so far....tomorrow a straight up Luau......she is already wearing her coconut bra and grass skirt....haha - sorry I just overheard her outside saying "I want to take my boobies off" haha too much - these old folks are crazy here Anyway we are having a ball already but we do miss you Dad and Butterball! Here's some pix of the trip so far......I know it's just plain old obnoxious at this point but the weather is heavenly and so nice to be outside......

Playing babies with G'ma....

Swimming at the pool.....
A lil' more supervision without the puffy suit this year...
Taking some strokes with face in water...
Cruising the lazy river with G'pa

A Hare of a Holiday!

Hope everyone had a happy Easter! We were lucky enough to have TJJA in for the weekend so the kids were in their glory. We got a visit from the floppy eared fellow as well as a random visit from Alex P. Keaton circuit 1987. Sorry Brady I couldn't help myself!!!

We did the egg hunt, we colored eggs, we opened baskets,watched hours of March Madness, we gorged on jelly beans, we ate ham, and then we did what every other religiously appropriate family would do on Easter - hit the cinema for a good old movie and a big tub of corn!! Thanks Dr. Seuess for making our Easter a special one.....

Ahhh vinegar and a colored tablet = hours of fun!

Look Ma - I got one......

Cousin Bousins just lovin' on each other.....Does Brady look like a ventriloquist dummy sitting on Lexi's lap? haha!

The inseparable duo in action - these two did not leave each others sides......

Jake being a great cousin before bed time......What is it about Dora that all these kids adore.....It appears that swiper has gone and swiped Brady's eye balls!

Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Go UCLA......

Suicide or Sabotage???

It came without warning. There were no cries for help, no warning signs, no note left. And just like that Clara is gone. We are still a little suspect - you see Clara didn't take the normal path to the pearly gates. There were no gasps for air, there was no floating at the top of the bowl. She in fact appeared to make a break for it jumping out of her fish bowl and flopping far down the kitchen counter where she lay stiff and hardened. This was a great treat for Mom who came down after a long night out on the town and feeling a little fuzzy from the night before to view this crime scene. So what could have made Clara so unhappy to take her own life? Was it the fact that she lived in a bowl of her own excrement? Was she soo mad that we found we purchased a new fish food? Was she furious that her boyfriend Angelo hadn't been by to see her in a long time? These questions will remained unanswered and we may never know why she took her own life (Grandma swears she was in her bowl when she headed up to bed!) but Clara you will be missed and you were loved.

Born July 11, 2007. She grew up in Michigan and spent most of her life viewing the kitchen sink and telephone. Clara was preceded in death by pretty much ALL her friends and family that were given out on Brady's first birthday. She is survived by Angelo and Nemo and they have said “Clara's generosity and kind heart were an inspiration to all. She lived her life with integrity and bravery"

A memorial service will be held SOON, before the plastic bag breaks it's seal and we start to smell the remains of dear ol' Clara. The family wishes that all contributions to go to Petsmart.

Happy Birthday Dad/Hubbie!!

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to the dear OLD hubbie - His birthday was yesterday and as much as I would love to write everything we love about him - we were fortunate enough to go out and celebrate on the town for his birthday and the four hours of sleep are just not agreeing with me - So here are some pix of us whooping it up for Hubbie to join in the 35 and over crowd! (Thanks Grandma!!!) Happy Birthday Babe! We love you!

Dad enjoying one of his favorites - Black Forest Cake!

Enjoying the night life with the birthday boy - we were able to head out and watch a friend that plays in a band!

One of the benefits of knowing someone in the band - is that you have random guest appearances - which Chris just REALLY hates :) Here he is performing "rock and roll all night" by yup you guessed it....the hottest band in the land....

Lastly, HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY - AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM AND PAMPY!!!!

Waterpark Wisdom......

We took the kids to an indoor water park last weekend and they had a BLAST! What's not to like? Splashing, swimming, tidal waves, slides, games, whirlpools, friends. However we all left in an induced chlorinated coma....swimming and keeping your eyes on your two kids as well as the additional six that accompanied us was a lot of work - this was our first water "vacation" with the kids so here are some do's and dont's to consider for the future.....

Do: Arrive in your swimsuit - juggling a locker room with total strangers and trying to get everyone dressed - not a party - short lived - but just a note......

Don't - Bring a bag the size Texas with every living thing to make your day manageable with two kids only to find out the lockers are the size of a bread box and you will be just leaving it out for any one's enjoyment.

Do: wear a comfortable, appropriate suit - the water slides and bumpy bottom of the pool are not ideal for a "lay on a chair suit"

Don't expect to see or talk with your husband the entire four hours as your four year old finds out she can stand the entire length of the lazy river and just does laps at warp speed where Chris can't even keep up with her.....

Do go with large group it is a great option to trade off watching kids so the adults can enjoy hot tub time and the slides that are just too big for the lil ones.....

Don't try and stay up all night playing cards and charades and then give the water park another try in the morning and expect to have one ounce of energy to keep up with both kids who are in hog heaven!!

Do expect to eat every living naughty thing that the snack bar offers :)

Don't expect to sit down at a restaurant with 16 people and expect to get out of there in less than 2.5 hours :)

Do expect that facilities are ready to accommodate people wanting to eat breakfast at 7am since they have been up for what seems to be eternity and are starving.....

Don't feel ashamed to go to the buffet in your pajamas - you will be relieved to see every other parent with a toddler in tow that has been up at the crack of dawn and sporting their "I can't believe they woke up so early wear"

Do study your child's face as they laugh uncontrollably because they have just have been splashed by a huge gust of water some kid aimed at them, or look so proud as they try a baby slide in the toddler section for the first time, or remain wide eyed and mouth open as they "swim" in the lazy river and think they are swimming instead of a "fake current" that guides them along - then all the don'ts really don't seem like that big of a deal - it was definitely worth all the sweating and splashing and of course a great way to wish away the winter boredom.....

Enjoy some pix of the weekend.......

Having trouble posting pix tonight - will add more later......

The age of Techonology........

I never thought it would be 4 years and 19 months of age!! Here are the kiddos hard at "work". Brooke begs us to get on the computer for typing and good ol' Nickelodian games all the time......(The last thing Chris and I would "like" to do after an 8 hour day ON the computer! :)) and now she has taken someone under her wing and is now explaining the ropes of the mouse, the keyboard etc etc.....Its amazing how quickly they pick it up! Its funny to think I have only been using the computer since my days at the WMU computer lab and already I feel like life doesn't exist without it.....our kids will NEVER know life without it - WOW times change - I can't even phatom what technology will be like 20 years from now.......

Enjoy!