This picture was from our camping trip up in Morley, MI. It’s the cousins that were present… or cousin’s cousins, lol. The rules of consanguinity get confusing, but somehow they are all related. All the kids had a blast and it was very nice spending some time with them.
I love art fairs. I love the crafts, the people, and overall atmosphere. Dave on the other hand would rather scrub toilets with a toothbrush. I think our last art fair was about 5 years ago. Ajax was small, in a stroller.
Today Williamston had it’s art on the river festival and since it was right here in town we went! Yea! The fair was very small only about 20-30 venders and they also had activities for the kids. Noomi did a craft while Ajax ran wild in the bounce house. The kids got ice cream and dogs made out of balloons. There was also a band with music which Noomi rocked out to. It was so cute. Dave was resilient to its charm. Overall though we love Williamston.
After the fair we zipped into “town” and bought a new mattress which will be delivered on Wednesday. Our current mattress is going on ten years old and was used when it was given to us, lol. Our backs have been hurting so bad and we haven’t been sleeping, that Dave kind of snapped this morning and declared we were getting a new mattress.
The kids thought the mattress store was hilarious and ran circles around the place. Ajax kept trying to leap from mattress to mattress. I think the lady was negotiating to get us out of the store quickly. Either way we ended up with a deal.
Here are just a few more pictures from up North! Uploading these photos I notice there are more pictures of Noomi than Ajax. That’s only because Ajax was constantly running with the other boys and Noomi I kept closer since she’s younger, lol.
Where is Morley, Michigan? That’s the question we usually get and with good reason. It’s a small village off of I-131 between Grand Rapids and Big Rapids. My grandparents have a small cabin on 80 acres up there and it’s wonderful. My mom grew up running around in the woods up there, I remember going up there and running around, and now my kids have been up there and they too ran wild.
After Noomi’s birthday party Ajax headed up north with Grandma Dara and Papa for some one-on-one time. He did wonderful and loved the alone time with his grandparents and all the tractors and dogs. Noomi was quite content to be home with Dave and I and loved all the attention. It was a tea party every night.
On Thursday, we loaded up the car and headed to Morely, which was only a 2 hour drive from our house. We met my cousin Angie and her five kids, my aunt Rena and cousin Marissa there. We also met up with Ajax and the grandparents who brought their new fancy trailer. We went hiking and exploring, I took Ajax tubing down the river twice, and we also went kayaking. Dave and Rod went down the river, and then Emily and I went kayaking down the river from town.
I wasn’t comfortable taking Ajax kayaking down the river, so we went into town and put in the small pond and went around for a bit. He did great. Noomi we felt was still too young so she stayed home with Grandma Dara. On Friday night, my sister and cousin Sara came up with her husband and their five kids, so it was a party all the way around. One thing about being from a large family, is that your kid will always have an age equivalent cousin or two, so each kid had two other kids their age, or near, to play with.
At night the kids slept in the trailer, except for the last night when we all piled into the tent, which actually wasn’t that bad except for some reason the tent flap was open at the end where Noomi and I were sleeping and now we have a bunch of bug bites. I think one of the kids was playing around with the zipper, but since it was dark when we went to bed I didn’t notice. Next time I’ll check.
On Sunday morning, we got up early, packed up and hit the road for home. A good camping trip means that your family smells so bad you refuse to stop until your home, and some people may or may not have pants or shoes on. It was a wonderful camping trip and we had so much fun up north with family, but I definitely liked coming home and showering and sleeping in my own bed. The kids even slept in Monday morning, Ajax till almost 7:30 and Noomi till 8 am. Good times were had by all, thank you family!
This was a relaxing weekend. A much needed relaxing weekend.
On Saturday we met my parent’s near Weberville and they took Ajax up north to pick up my cousin and her horse for the week. Because they were doing horse work, Noomi was a bit too young to go with them. That was ok as Noomi and I also had plans. We went to a baby shower and Noomi had so much fun. There were lots of little kids present and Noomi got an entire bowl of blueberries to herself. I was worried she was going to make herself sick she ate so many. She has had a major break through lately and has been repeating everything- Hi, bye, wall, thank you, please. Too cute. After the shower we swung home and picked up Mr. Dave and then we decided to try a restaurant in our new little town. We chose a pub style restaurant downtown and it was delicious. I cannot wait to go back, it was that good.
On Sunday we cleaned the house and did laundry and then drove to Brooklyn to pick up Ajax. When we got there we all headed outside so that Ajax could show us all the work he’d done on the farm. Apparently he dug many holes, moved rocks and gravel, and picked up lots of poop. He is such a good worker. My parents said he did wonderful and was such a help. We stayed for dinner and then gave the kids bathes before loading them up and heading home. They were both so tired they passed out for the entire drive.
The kids have also been having a little too much fun playing in our closet. They’ve been trying on all my shoes and Noomi has taken to taking my shirts (the ones on hangers) and walking around with them. She has one silky work shirt that she particularly likes. It’s black and white and it seems whenever I turn around I find her walking around the house with it sucking her thumb and holding it like a silkie. Today she also insisted on sitting on the potty. Dave sat in there with her for about 20 minutes and she did finally pee (though she kept telling Dave she had to poop). She was so proud of herself and then kept wanting to go back and sit on the potty. lol.
I have more pictures from the farm but Dropbox is being funny. I’ll get them up tomorrow.
Today we headed down to Brooklyn to visit the family. We headed out fairly early, about 10 am or so, and got to my parents’ at lunch, perfect timing. The drive down went very well and Noomi did not get sick, which was a relief as our last 2 trips over an hour ended up with her getting very very ill. After lunch, we all headed out side for some sledding. Luckily there was still snow on the ground, as the Michigan weather hit near 50 degrees, which was just incredible as we’ve been stuck in a bitter cold spell this past week.
Ajax insisted on sledding down the big hill himself and did wonderful. There was a bit of a bump at the bottom, which sent him into the air, but he loved it. Noomi refused to go down the hill, but did help grandma Mary feed the horses by carrying around a grain bucket. She also enjoyed being riding in the sled and having aunt Emily pull her around. When Ajax was tired out from sledding, they headed into the barn where he helped sweep and pick up poop. Then grandpa Gordy set him up on the tractor and they drove all over the farm with Ajax steering. Noomi insisted on seeing her favorite horse Frannie and giving her a good pat. Frannie is the best horse with small children and stood perfectly still so that Noomi could pet her (which turned into wild swings with her big winter coat and gloves and large hat).
Afterwards Noomi went down for a 2 hour nap and that let my mom and I sit around drinking tea and talking, while Dave napped. Grandpa and Ajax hung out in the basement doing “guy things.” At one point they busted out the keyboard and microphone and we could hear them singing. Ajax actually knows quite a few words to songs. Grandma Flo was still a bit under the weather so we hung out and watched HGTV and criticized people’s tile choices.
We stayed for dinner and did baths there before loading the kids into the car and heading home. Ajax was asleep before we hit the expressway, but Noomi stayed up chatting most of the way home. Her word of the day was of course- horsie and Frannie.
Argh. Where to start. Here’s a down and dirty recap of our last few weeks. Starting with this past weekend.
We’re sick! Well, Noomi and Ajax are sick and Dave and I are still on our feet but fighting off the sniffles. It’s too early in the season for such nonsense. But there Ajax slept on the couch for the most of the day wrapped up in blankets and eating Popsicles. To compound our day, I had a doctor’s appointment in Livonia this morning, then on the way home I stopped in Howell and picked up a winter coat for Ajax, hats/gloves, and other misc. winter accessories (usually the first snow hits and I then I squish Ajax into his last years winter coat and then scramble to the store to buy whatever they have). I’m now officially ahead. When I got home Dave headed to his doctor’s appointment and then when he got home I took Ajax to the ENT to check his tubes. They did a hearing test and his hearing is just fine. Both tubes are still in place, but the doctor said he would be shocked if they were still in at his next appointment. The doctor didn’t know if Ajax would need a second round of tubes or not. He said that 80% of kids do just fine with one set. So we’re hoping this is it.
To back up a bit more. Last weekend Ajax headed up north for the weekend with grandma Dara and papa. He came home saying how nice their new dog, Moba, was. I kept asking him, Moba? Yes, he replied, Mobaa! Dave informed me the dog’s name was – Mabel.
Backing up a bit more. At 14.5 months Ms. Noomi is FINALLY WALKING! Hoorah! She is now walking and toddling all over the place and it is so darn cute. She is also sleeping better, which is wonderful. She still isn’t talking a ton, but understands a lot. She’s interested in body parts currently and today we worked on – eyes, nose and mouth. Again, pretty cute.
On a side note. I do believe that Noomi is our adventurous child and therefore more accident prone. I was prepping lunch and told her to go get her chair. So she ran over and grabbed one of the empty dining room chairs. She then tipped back and brought the chair right down on top of her, giving herself a fat lip. Poor baby. Ajax never did that.
Ajax has been lucky this summer to spend time fishing with grandpa Gordy! Grandpa has taken him out on the fishing boat and they have had so much fun. Last week they were out from 12-5 and only came home because I called and told them it was time to come in. Ajax has now caught two fish- a bass and a bluegill. He refused to hold the fish, so we have no pictures of his catch, but grandpa said he reeled it in like a pro. They have also gone swimming, but now Ajax’s sandals smell so bad (after two rounds with the washing machine) that I think we may have to retire them, lol. Luckily summer is about over anyhow.
This summer I slacked big time with the blog. I apologize and would like to take a few posts to update some of our goings on around these parts. Starting with Ajax’s first road trip to West Virgina for Tough Mudder. Both Dave and I took Friday off work and we loaded up the kids and drove to my parent’s home in Brooklyn where we dropped off Noomi and picked up Emily. We had both decided that TM would be too much for Noomi and my parents were happy to babysit. I was worried that Noomi was going to cry when we left, but she hardly seemed to notice when we took off and kept playing and chasing the dogs. She loves Kezia and kept trying to give the dog open mouthed kisses because she has now hit that stage.
On our drive we listened to Ajax’s Play List that we had made him which was basically a cd of ALL his favorite songs. Including such hits as – International Harvester, Big Green Tractor, etc. It was mostly country with some Jerry Reed, punk, and Flock of Seagulls thrown in. Once or twice it isn’t so bad, but after 6 hours it gets a little old. Ajax was good on our drive down and we met the rest of the family at the hotel in WV. This was only Ajax’s second time in a hotel, the first was when he was less than one year. He had so much fun as all of our rooms were right next to each other. It did, however, take him quite a while to settle down at night and I must admit there were a few threats to get him to calm down and go to sleep.
After a day at TM, we all went out to dinner and Ajax said he had to use the restroom. Dave stood up to take him when Ajax suddenly changed his mind (he’s been doing this lately for some reason as he’s concerned that the flushing of the toilet will be loud). After a bit of a power struggle Ajax yelled – I just want to pee OUTSIDE! This is always more funny when it isn’t your child having a meltdown in a restaurant. He did use the restroom and the rest of our meal was fine.
While we were on our trip, Noomi did wonderful in Brooklyn. Apparently, they went to Dearborn visiting and they went to the lake and went swimming and played on the swings. She slept well and was an overall happy girl for the grandparents. She still is not walking, she can, she totally can, she just won’t. She is also talking nonstop and can be quit demanding. She isn’t really making so many words just lots of repetitive noises and gestures and pointing.
Well after months and months of training the day finally came and Team Mitten Mayhem kicked butt at Tough Mudder Pittsburgh! The whole team finished and no one was injured (though apparently afterwards everyone, except me, came down with a pretty nasty virus). We all did pretty darn well for a 10.5 mile clay and rain slicked trail run with awesome obstacles of fire, water, and ice. The event was held at Powerline Park in Ohio, next to the West Virgina border (our hotel was actually in WV). The park was a large off-roading park for horses and quads, which meant the trail was rutted and those ruts filled with brown water and then there was the fact that we were running through crazy terrain- up and down mud slicked hills, grabbing onto vines and brush to pull ourselves up.
Dave and Ajax came down as well to watch, but in hindsight 4 was a little young as the spectators hiked roughly 5-6 miles themselves in the August heat. Dave ended up carrying Ajax a good part of the way, lol. Afterwards when I asked Ajax if he had fun he said no because he wanted to run in the mud with me. Trust me, however, when I say that he found plenty of mud to play in (as evidenced by his destroyed sneakers).
Overall – my mother-in-law, three sisters, and a friend- did wonderful and I am so proud. As our support crew we had all the husbands and boyfriends, and the nino. Not a bad support team.
Now, because I have participated in Tough Mudder I would like to share what I have learned because I feel I have earned it. Please note I am not a fitness expert-
Yes. We had time for pictures.
