Buckeye Break - 2011

We headed out west again this year for Spring Break to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We welcomed the sunshine and warm climate after a long Midwestern winter! We relaxed and took in the great outdoors as much as we could. The kids had three requests when we asked them what they wanted to do when they got out there:

Brooke & Brady = The Pool EVERY day.

Brady - Wanted to Golf.

Brooke - Wanted to go horse back riding

Luckily we were able to fill every one's requests including mom and dad's that included a night away in Sedona and a southwestern meal full of beans and cheese!

Here are a lot of pictures from the trip.......Thanks again Mom and Dad for hosting!

First morning: there the kids up early with a 3 hour time change, jammies on and were outside soaking up the vitamin D!

Brady immediately found some mischief...... Park time before the pool opened......

Ahhh Finally Mike and Emily made it to the Pool! (their new names for the entire trip!)

AHHHH I wonder what my classmates are doing in School???

Happy as EVER.......

Well Brady's wish came through, we got to golf, play basketball & mom and dad tried their hands at Pickleball.

Tee Time....

Getting some snuggles as we watch the golfer go.......

Golf soon was taken over by a lot of silliness.......

Look Grandma - No Hands! Brady loved these fat noodles they have......they were his security blanket in the deep blue yonder......

Relaxing with G'ma & G'pa poolside....

One of the 486th "Mom Look at me" moments........

Who knew - in the middle of the desert.......

Lake Pleasant......

Heading out for some grub.......

Dad and Brooke dockside....

While Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to the zoo, Chris and I headed to see the Cliff Dwellings, drop some $ at the Casino, Visit a creepy ghost town Jerome, and shop and explore Sedona.......

Red rocks as far as the eye can see......

Also random sightings on our walk home from dinner.......still not sure what this is all about....

Our Hotel........beautiful scenary.......sunshine galore......and morning yoga on the lawn.....Nobody was mad.....nobody.

We got to go see a Coyotes game.......funny how Chris always seems to squeeze these in....

As we walked up to the field to watch Grandpa play

he hits a inside the park homer! He's still got it...... Rounding first.....

Again the main event........Brady was so brave and comfortable in the water......let's hope it continues this summer!

My wet little man!

Here we were fulfilling Brooke's request as we headed to the ranch to take them horseback riding.

Just as we were signing in this woman happen to catch and behead a rattlesnake....neat.

Apparently one little girl didn't mind holding it's skin while his head sat in that white bucket....

Here they go.....Brooke's Horse was named Tango and Brady's was Peanut.

As you can see and only imagine Brady wouldn't let go of my hand so I had to walk with him for a little while......

But than surprisingly he let go and went at it alone! The guide tried to talk to him and you can just guess how that went over.....complete silence.....he was white knuckled holding on.....but he was doing it alone.......

Heading back to the ranch......

Brooke and Tango....

Wagon Photo.....

Tango all tuckered out......

The festivities continued with an early Easter Egg Hunt.....

More pool fun....

This little man o' mine is too much ......he would spend hours talking to imaginary people in the water, karate chopping them, making escape plans for the rest of his power rangers.....he is just too much.....Oh that Mike........

Brooke posing per usual.....

Saying goodbye to Oscar.....

Maxing and Relaxing....

If only I could bottle it up.....

Again with the posing.......

Flowers in bloom.....

Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa for a great time and memories to boot!

Opening Day......

The Tigers home opener is always a coveted event for dear hubbie, however it didn't really play out like it was supposed to ........ #1. He wasn't at the game as Ticketmaster makes it nearly impossible to get a ticket. #2. He was working, as it was a Friday #3. He was pulled away from his hot dogs and rusty old tiger seats that were all set up in our basement to spend most of the day at a body collision shop with a crunched up car. Luckily for the power of technology and a DVR he was still able to watch the game, not with a bunch of friends inhaling beers and hot dogs and commenting on every pitch, catch, and RBI. But instead the kids and I tried to recover any sort of take me out to the ball game atmosphere we could........sometimes ya gotta take what you can get. I can't say we added a whole lot of input on the game but we tried.

Our Little Miss Sunshine.....

If ever we felt our life was like the movies it was this weekend......I am not sure if you have ever seen "Little Miss Sunshine" (if not I highly recommend!) Brooke had her first Hip Hop dance competition this weekend and it was so cute and funny all at the same time. Chris and I felt like we were Toni Collete and Greg Kinnear cheering on our little Olive. The only thing missing was the dead body in the trunk as we of course were running late and speeding to get there, we had listened to her song in the car 431 times by now and I was praying I would never hear it again, and Brooke was showing nerves as a SOLO performance she signed up for loomed ahead.......if anything the event was going to bring some good laughs.......

So here is the event, notice the 50 tumblers and dancers salivating over the trophy table.....

Brooke trying to act cool and calm and Dad watching just as nervous as she was..... She felt some sense of relief as other girls from her class and her teacher showed up to gain some sort of organization to this free for all......Brooke registered for 4 events......the first one being group dance, they split her class into groups of three.......Here you go I had to upload it to YouTube since it was too long for this bloggy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apIc87rAI84

Best Leap event.....

Best turn event.....

So the group performance and turns and leap were no big whoop.......but the nail biting and shirt chewing began immediately after as she was set to do her group performance that she has been "throwing" together in the basement with not one routine being like any other one she did before that, basically winging it.....we thought it would be better that way she wouldn't stress about remembering the moves and she certainly didn't have trouble making up moves for hours on end in the comfort of our own home.....but the nerves were still there....making it worse we found out she was one of two people doing the "solo" event and the other people were a "group" of four.....don't ask me how that is considered a solo, but it was......Bless her heart...... Here is our little Olive, Kudos for her getting out there in front of a hundred people or so in the gym and at least giving it a shot, unfortunately she "froze" literally. As hundreds of eyes loomed on her she just froze, poor baby even worse her Toni Collete and Greg Kinnear didn't jump up on stage with her we just watched and waited......wah wah wah. The teacher gave her a shot to try again but she declined. She had a good attitude about it and laughed saying she couldn't remember what to do, and we told her stuff like that will come easier as she has more practice and she said, "yeah I know...." and that was it......

Here she is accepting her medals she placed first in turn, 2nd in group, and third in leap.....and wait for it ........wait for it......2nd in solo (remember when I said there were only two people signed up)

One happy girl with a lot of hardware to take home. Good job Brookie!

For those of you who haven't seen Little Miss Sunshine I thought I would include this....It is so great! http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXtLsFsB70c

Earning her keep......

Brooke's daisy troop has been working a lot on responsibility lately, and I struggle with how to handle chores. Not with the fact that they should do them, that is a no brainer. I struggle with the fact that she thinks that she should get money for doing them. This is my struggle. I say NO. I say chores are part of learning responsibility not earning money. I say chores are things you do to make the family function and work on an every day basis not a way to get things. So my little whippersnapper comes back to me with this one tonight....."Well mom don't you get money for doing your job".......son of a gun.......but I am standing my ground, I am not handing out cash for clearing the table and cleaning her room (Mom and dad you can wipe your smirks off of your faces.....) I still say those are things that make this family run and it's just part of the job of being a Munson.......so she will have to watch as her friends have big bank rolls and make wish lists of all the things they can afford while our little orphan Annie is paying her way this way........It's a hard knock life for Brooke........

Now I am not opposed to reconsidering my train of thought when she can operate a lawn mower or drive to the grocery store .........haha!

Sincerely,

Ms. Hannigan.

Not Old....Just Older.

Dear old Hubbie finally caught up to me and father time today. He always has those two months that he stays a different number than me and reminds me of it often. Well time is up, we both are 38 (he will argue that I am 38 and two months......) I will let him have his two months, I think he got a complex today as his sweet dear daughter presented him with these too winners un-prompted my me......

The card reads "I love you even though you are the oldest man on the planet, go Cuckoo..... P.S. you are so so so old ha ha ha ha on you and you are so stinky." Can you feel the love?

So happy birthday to my "younger" man, I know today wasn't filled with bells and whistles, hopefully we can make up our lunch date when this stomach flu passes :)

So as you blow out the candles for another year passed.....Just remember your not Old....Just Older.

Duck Tape Fixes Everything....

It's been known as the fix it all cure and now I am starting to believe it.....it has even cured the winter boredom that is setting in.....See below.....

Brother bound and silent and sister is all smiles......

two pretend broken legs coming up........

Brady as always treating Uncle Greg with love and respect.....

22 more days until vacation.....can we make it??

My Funny Valentine.....

I think my kids have officially watched too many episodes of Americas Funniest Videos. It is one of their favorite shows right now, they laugh hysterically at anyone falling, getting hurt or running into something. So when I asked the kids what should we get Dad for Valentines Day.....My four year old says this......

Mom we should get a pie and put it in a box with a spring at the bottom and when he opens the box it pops out and goes into his face. I thought, good for you..... a boy after my own heart, I think Mom can arrange that.

Seriously these kids worked so hard on this, and were literally peeing in their pants laughing every time they discussed how it was going to go down.......We didn't necessarily get the logistics of the original plan with the spring, but we came close? Here are my two little funny Valentines at work (well one of them anyway, Brady spent all his creative juices on the idea and made Brooke execute the plan which she was happy to do)

So then I go to get his real gift and my greedy little daughter says .......I am making another one.......little did I know she went upstairs to make another and comes after him with another I didn't have the camera ready for I didn't know her plan.....but I got the end where Fast hands Dad wasn't so slow this time.....

And my daughter learned her first lesson in Greed.......

So their final question of the night was .....do you think we will win the $10,000 from AFV? Ha!

Winter wrap up.......

It has been a busy and fun winter......here is a quick update on what we have been doing........

Chris was able to make it and enjoy, despite a nasty cold and a bout of laryngitis, his most coveted weekend with his college buddies. His cold didn't delay his late night jam sessions, hockey games out in the bitter cold, and usual early fall out of the poker tourney. He may have paid for it in the following THREE weeks that the cough/cold stuck around for.....but given the choice again I don't think he would have changed a thing. Here is the "glory day" group.....

I also wanted to include some photos of the Blizzard of 2011 otherwise known as Snow-pocalypse 2011. It came fast, people spoke only of it for two days straight as businesses closed, school was closed for two days, roads took days to get plowed, and driveways took basically all day to shovel. We got a reported 16 inches and snow drifts beyond belief.....

And so we start....I love this picture as Chris looks at the snow plow thinking it would take this guy 30 seconds to do our drive if he was willing.....unfortunately he wasn't so it took us 4 hours.

The kids had a field day.....powder of fun, as far as the eyes can see.....

Literally snowed in!

Trying to save our deck from the weight of 16 inches of snow.

Coco living the dream in Chicago .....love the street parking.

Grandma's house with the lake effect drifts.

My Brady man is taking his first sports sampler class and it started out a bit rough, not knowing anyone, new teacher.......not being the kid to accept new situations.....but we held tough....it was really only the first class that he was unsure of......ever since then it has been.....Mom is sports class today??......last Friday he even was ordering me to drive faster as he didn't want to miss one minute of class. They have messed around with basketball, soccer, floor hockey, kickball.....he is loving it, and so am I since he has voiced an interest to play soccer this spring, hopefully this will be a nice transition.

Rounding the bases.....

The teacher commented....."looks like someones dad plays baseball" as he felt it necessary to slide into home plate!

So yeah some things are new for my little man ......but then some are not......still the struggle to get that first piece in his mouth.......oh it is painful......and it kills me because more often than not if I FORCE the first bite (because of course it looks odd and not like a pizza or hamburger) he usually ends up liking it and finishing the rest by himself. ABSURD. Look familiar Ma?

My Brooklyn is also trying some new things this winter she is currently taking Hip Hop dancing.....haha.....parents are not allowed to watch so no pix yet.... will have to wait for the performance. She also started piano and seems to like it, we are still trying to instill the will to want to practice a bit more. She seriously at 7 knows more about music than I do at thirty........something........ So dance and Piano and ...........

THE PHONE!

I say it as an extra curricular activity because it is she is obsessed. She calls Arizona for at least 30 minutes a day to talk to G'ma & G'Pa (thanks for always willing to talk!) I have parents calling me saying "Brooke just left us a message" SHE DID? We tried to tell her that "back in the day" we would have to pay for each "long distance" call and you have to pay for each minute you are on a cell phone. She didn't get it........I fear if Chris doesn't work out of the house at some point and doesn't get free phone service and this one becomes a teenager.....WATCH out......

She is a talker!

She is also super independent lately.....making her self breakfast, getting dressed by herself, bathing.......we are seeing the light. She even cleaned and re-arranged her room on her own (the clean really only lasted a few days)

Brooke also continues to loose teeth......she has five gone now.....This was the letter she left for the tooth fairy.....I mean it only makes sense (to her) to get $5 for her fifth tooth gone......Funny enough the Tooth Fairy didn't think it made sense.

Sweetheart Swirl - 2011

Brooke and Dad attended their second annual Daddy Daughter Dance this past weekend and had a great time. She loves the process of getting dressed up, dancing and hanging out with friends from school and the neighborhood, and of course the ice cream (her self proclaimed favorite part!). Hopefully she will retain this as a fond memory of her childhood and of her Dad!

Now I will have to admit that I felt a little like a mom from that show Toddlers and Tiaras as I took Brooke, a seven year old, to go get her hair done. But I got word that a neighbor friend of hers who is two years older actually wasn't going to the dance this year because it wasn't "cool" anymore....... It made me sad and I wanted to soak up every ounce of her excitement about hanging out with her dad and have all the fixings to boot. When I told her what we were going to do she was a toothless grin from ear to ear.....All I told her is that we were going to go get her hair done fancy at a salon and this was her response......"OMG mom okay I think I should get highlights, and some streaks of black and then curls and then sparkly barrettes" I told her it wouldn't be that elaborate and the only person in this house getting highlights would be me! She was great, sat in the chair for an hour and asked the lady tons of questions and repeatedly told her how much better she was at this than her mom, which I responded "that is odd because it seems like you are much more patient and willing for her....." haha..... I could tell she felt important and enjoyed every minute of it........

Here is her $10 super-cut red carpet do.......

Checkity checking herself in the hand held mirror and every mirror that she came in contact with after that......the rear view mirror....the entire way home and then every single mirror in our house until it was time to leave for the dance.....I think she liked it.
Ta-dum......Mom she kept saying take one for Grandma - I promised her on the phone today....

Our Baby girl not looking so much like a baby anymore.....

Cue the closeup......

Now even more than the hair she couldn't get over the shoes......she begged.....she pleaded.....she talked about how grown up they were and how much they looked like Moms......but also saying to me don't even think about borrowing them......

There is a whole lot of something behind that smirk.......God help us!

If you didn't guess.....sequins were the theme! The shiner the better!

Dad and his girl.....

Brooke and Luci getting ready to head out....

Some neighborhood shots.....

And off they go......to dance the night away....

A New Game.

Now I will preface this, before I have each and every grandparent calling, that the kids did enjoy it and it was requested to do it over and over and over....and it IS laughter you hear....... I think the winter monotony is setting in..... I present to you "Try and get up......"