B is for Birthday

Last Sunday was my birthday and I spent the weekend welcoming in a new year ... apparently with things that start with "B." I had brunch, banana splits, and bike rides. I can't complain ... it's better than a weekend filled with birds and bridges ....

The birthday weekend started out on Saturday with brunch with two of my college roommates (Nancy and Linda), my sister, and Linda's little newborn, Hugo. I did not hate getting to hold a sweet baby so his mama could eat her food with two hands. He was completely delicious. As was our food. It's over a week later and I'm still thinking about the Eggs Benedict that I split with my sister (so we could also split a goat cheese and veggie omelet. We were all about quality and quantity!).

Later that afternoon, we decided to try out a family bike ride. Declan balked at using the third wheel bike that attaches to Mike's and insisted on riding his own bike. He quickly learned how hard he has to work to make a 12 inch bike go anywhere. I'm pretty sure I coasted most of the way while the dude pedaled as hard as he could. He managed to get a second wind on our way home ... when we all got pulled over by one of S-town's finest. He spotted us all wearing our helmets, waved us over, and gave each of the kids a "ticket" for free ice cream at Dairy Queen. What an awesome way to have bike safety reinforced by someone other than Mike or me!

Birthday proper started off with me tightening my running shoes and heading out for a run. I was feeling really good about myself ... my first mile was about 40 seconds faster than normal, I went farther than usual, and it was just a good run. Then, as I walked around our block to cool down, I stepped weird and tweaked my hip. It was fine again in less than 10 steps. But it was hilarious and humbling.

While my kids are clearly not destined for a life in espionage (and I watch all the spy movies, so I would know), they organized and threw me the sweetest "surprise" party in their bedroom - complete with toys wrapped in their blankets, a tea party, Yahtzee, and a makeovers station. It was just the best!

Once we cleaned up the party, we loaded up for the second day in a row and headed out on our bikes. However, this time, Dec was all over the third wheel option. We biked to the park, to Dairy Queen, and home ... a total of 3 miles. And four out of five Vannestes powered their own bikes. It was so much fun!

The kids decided a couple weeks ago that they wanted to take me out for a banana split for my birthday. I'm pretty sure it was because they've never had one and it sounded intriguing. So we got one banana split and five spoons - and a smoothie as well. They liked the split, but decided it was like a big sundae with bananas in it. We told them that was pretty much what it was! But the best part was when the kids dared Mike to finish the smoothie - and although he is prone to brain freeze, he took the challenge. When he then (not unexpectedly) got an ice cream headache, we all laughed and laughed.

All things told, it was a pretty good way to start another spin around the sun

Mike Does Good Things

Mike’s job at the theatre is still going well. He’s been there about six months and is both enjoying it and feeling like he is making an impact. About a month ago, he sent me a text to tell me that he was awarded Employee of the Month for June. Apparently he set a new record [correction from my editor: “knocked the old record out of the park”] for achieving that in five months of employment. I asked him what took so long …

In addition to having his photo up for the month in the lobby (you guys, SO GREAT), he got four tickets for the VIP table to see Newsies. So we cornered Brad and Cheryl, found a date that we didn’t have plans and Brad wasn’t on call, lined up sitters for SIX children, managed to have ten people be healthy, and had what we think is our first adult date night together since the children were born. It’s embarrassing to say … but you can also see how many stars have to align to get the four of us out together. Luckily, our kids like each other so we have had lots of time together with children.

We had a minor hiccup when our original babysitter (Auntie) got herself a case of the plague and was quarantined to her house. We love her … but we told her we didn’t want her germs. However, it provided the perfect reason for Gma and Gpa N to make the trek down for the weekend. We haven’t seen them forever and everyone was pumped that they were coming! Let me tell you … those small Vs didn’t notice we were gone!

We met B&C at the theatre bar a little before the doors opened for a couple beverages, then headed in for a lovely, leisurely dinner where we got to eat our own food and not cut up anyone else’s … We splurged with an app, desserts, and more beverages. I think I’m just getting over being full from it. A week and a half later.

The show was awesome and the whole time, I was thinking 1) I’m so glad I get to go again with the girls and 2) it’s criminal that Dec is “too young” to go because he will love it the most. Mike is working on #2 and may see if he can sneak him into a matinee someday. We visited a little more after the show and finished off the last of our beverages before deciding it was probably best to let the grandparents off the hook.

Brad told Mike to “do more good things” so we can get another date night soon. I wonder what the record is for time to second award …

Oh – and big news from the homefront while we were out, Fiona pulled out tooth number 8. Thank goodness the tooth fairy was still able to get us in to her nightly rounds. She was so excited to show us her quarters and her (fourth) hole in her smile in the morning.

So Much Fun for the Four Year Old

While we were all disappointed with the road closure to the cabin, we changed up the pace, tried out a couple different lakes, and made the most of our final days in GR.

On Friday, we headed out to see my friend Bryan at his parents’ house – as we are known to do over the holiday. They have a lovely beach and the bay felt super warm compared to the water at the cabin. Mike demonstrated his skills on the paddleboard with three passengers and also showed that I brought four kids ... as he had most of the crew giggling out on the swim raft. They would run around in circles and try to push him off. Dec and Quinn liked it less when they fell off instead of Mike, but they continued to climb back on. Clearly didn’t mind it that much!

Despite Bry’s mom literally sweetening the deal with s’mores, the three unanimously decided they were beat and wanted to head back to Gma and Gpa’s. They graciously thanked our hosts and told Bryan’s niece and nephew that they’d see them again next year at the beach (I love that!). When people want to leave, but leave with manners, I can’t complain.

After a late lunch and a little down time, we checked out the game Gpa and Mike were playing in the yard – Kubb. Fun fact about Kubb: you have to pay attention or your shin will get hit by a flying dowel. Just ask Auntie. Quinn, Dec, and Mike challenged Grandpa and me. We had a good time and the kids had some success in the game.

I don’t know if anyone knows how it started … but next up were time trial races around the house. Yep. You read that right. On a super hot and humid day, we spent the next hour timing each other running around my parents’ house. The contenders were all three kids, Mike, me, and my dad. It was ridiculous and completely awesome.

Quinn is fast. Quinn knows she is fast. And Quinn is competitive. So when Mike beat her time, I’m pretty sure she ran around the house about 400 more times trying to beat him. She never did. But she’s really close! What blew her mind most was that Fiona was the ultimate speed champ. Mike may or may not have shown her a shortcut through the garage … but that is neither here nor there. The family record shows Fiona as the victor!

We were super hot and sweaty after all that racing, so we grabbed our suits one more time and met Auntie at the boat launch by my parents’ house. There’s a little area that’s perfect for swimming. We were probably only there about 45 minutes, but it was just the way to cool down and get our lake fix for the afternoon.

After dinner, Mike, my dad, and my sister headed out for some evening fishing. The kids, Gma, and I had a fire in the yard, made s’mores, and enjoyed a visit from Auntie Tracey! Unsurprisingly, bedtime was quiet that night.

On Saturday, the kids played nicely together while we got all packed up. We ate a quick lunch and headed to the Children’s Museum to run off some energy before the drive home. Then the ride home was … eventful. About an hour in, Dec threw up all over the back seat. We got him (and it) cleaned up as best we could and he dozed on and off for the next hour. When we stopped for dinner, he was not interested and preferred to just snuggle with me.

He dozed on and off most of the way home too … until he threw up one more time. When we were honestly four minutes from home. So he just sat in it until we got home, where I stripped in him the driveway and popped him in the tub. All he wanted to do was go to bed. So that’s what we did. And the next morning, he was totally fine. I think it was a combination of sheer overtired and car sick. The girls were champs while Mike unloaded the car and hosed it down (so much for that detailing). 

Despite the inauspicious end, we had a great holiday and thoroughly enjoyed the family time together. Mike and I are fans of entry into the “big kid years.”

Another Perfect Day at the Lake

Where's Milo ...?

Thursday morning looked a lot like Wednesday morning ... minus the triple plan change before noon. We got up, I went for a run, we wore clothes for about 10 minutes, and then we put on our swimsuits and headed back up to the cabin. It was another lovely, sunny day - although the wind was a bit brisker and therefore the water felt colder. Don't worry - that didn't stop us!

We splashed around for a few hours, and Mike made his inaugural swim across the bay and back with Em and me. The kids were very impressed with him and it was fun to have him join in one of my favorite parts of the lake.

Otto and Declan made up a new game ... pool noodle sword fighting. It was sure to induce fits of giggles and, thankfully, no injuries. There was some really solid teamwork across the board and we managed to polish off the leftover desserts (and other, healthier food too) from the day before.

The pontoon felt more cooperative as well and we took a ride over to the "nude" beach. It's actually the "new" beach ... but toddler-isms are far funnier! My dad had brought his boat up too, so Mike and Fiona tubed back from the beach. Fiona loved being in the tube and I could hear her happy shrieks from across the lake.

We got back to the cabin to find Brenda and two of her grandkids (who are the same ages as the girls). The kids loved having new friends to play with and Leighton enjoyed the kayaks and a ride in the tube. I was happy to narrowly avoid making a mid-bay kayak rescue of him!

Around 4:30, we begrudgingly pulled ourselves out of the lake and headed back to town. It was hard to leave, but we made a game plan with Anna and Liv to meet up there again the next day. When we got back to Gma and Gpa's, I ran each of the kids - and then myself - through the shower. Two days of lake and sweat was starting to get "special" looking.

After we put the kids to bed, Mike, my sister, and I headed out to the VFW. My friend Mike was performing at open mic night and I wanted to see him. There were a few other classmates of mine out as well (our 20 year reunion was later that weekend - but I didn't go as we were heading home). It was fun to visit with a couple of them whom I was closer to ... and mildly awkward to chat with the others. I wasn't terribly sad that I didn't go to the reunion. I'm not great at small talk and it makes me anxious.

Mike did a great job, as always, and even humored me with an acoustic version of Achy Breaky Heart. Nothing says late-90s graduate like a little Billy Ray Cyrus! The only bummer of the evening was that we got a text that the road to the cabin was being closed the next morning at 7am for several weeks (they are redoing the road). We made a new plan for the next day and are crossing our fingers that the road is open again before we head back up in August

The Fourth In Photos

There were just too many photos of the Fourth to fit them all in one post. So ... here's a few more of our amazing day at the cabin. Coming soon to a blog near you, photos of us at the cabin on the fifth of July ... which are toooootally different. As you can see, it was a great day!

The Perfect 4th That Almost Wasn't

The forecast for the 4th of July was not looking promising by Tuesday night. A family group text had established that we'd make a call in the morning and we all went to bed hoping for clearer skies. We woke up to dark clouds and rain - and a group text rescheduling our celebration to the following day. Womp womp.

With several disappointed children on our hands, Anna and I made a new plan that involved a playdate, mac and cheese, and a possible trip to see The Incredibles 2. We were working our way through the stages of grief and trying to get excited for the new direction of the day. Looking at the radar, there was a short window between storms, so I popped on my tennis shoes and went for a quick run around the lake. By the time I got back, the incoming storm clouds seemed to have disappeared.

As we were getting set to head to our playdate, Anna called. The weather forecast had completely changed and the rain wasn't supposed to start up again until late afternoon. We decided to uncancel the cancel and convene at the cabin as soon as everyone could get themselves organized for the new old plan.

Anna and I also took a minute to congratulate ourselves for calmly transitioning between three plans before noon. That's a lot of plan changing for our very Type A brains. The kids also transitioned back to the original plan with no drama. Because let's be honest ... the cabin was where we all wanted to be!

The original forecast could not have been more wrong! Our bravery was rewarded with one of the most gorgeous summer days. Sunny, warm, slight breeze ... so perfect! We all got there just in time for the flotilla ... but the pontoon decided it didn't feel like joining. The kids were more than fine with that as they could hardly wait to get in the lake.

Sustained by their flotilla snack bags, we had to drag the kids out of the lake for lunch (and you all know that my people don't miss a meal. They typically start asking about lunch approximately 20 minutes after breakfast is over). They were simply having too much fun with Otto, Milo, and Hux to think about silly things like food. After managing to eat what I deemed acceptable for lunch, they were allowed to go peruse the dessert selection. Let me tell you - at a Johnson party, the desserts do not disappoint!

Then it was back to the lake for the rest of the afternoon! Otto couldn't wait to show Quinn and Dec how to swim around the end of the dock to climb up the ladder on the back of the pontoon. I swam out to supervise the ladder climbing and dock jumping. Before long, we had a lot of big people out there and all the kids swimming away at the end of the dock. Thankfully my sister remembered how we had used pool noodles last summer while camping to make floating easier for big people when you are holding up one (or more) not big people.

We had the best time out there with the kids and as the day went on, Quinn's courage grew and grew. She and Declan would both jump off the dock "to" me ... but I refused to catch them. I was just there. Then she was willing to jump without me being there. Next, she took a few steps back to take a running jump. Which then evolved into running the entire length of the dock to jump in.

Her bravery culminated in jumping off the pontoon platform (with her dad). That is not a short drop! There was even a quick training session pre-jump to ensure she knew to jump to the side of the motor. This is the child who, not two years ago, would barely wade past her knees in the water!

Fiona delighted in swimming, splashing, playing in the sand, and convinced Auntie to swim all the way across the bay with her (and back). She took a relaxing ride in a tube while Auntie swam and pushed her! And Declan could not have been happier to hang out with Otto and the crew. Those two boys played until they were ready to drop. And then kept playing. Anna told Mike that Ot was practically delirious on their drive home because he was so tired.

Around 6:00, we followed Anna's lead and gave the kids quick "lake baths" so we didn't have to wash them when we got back to Gma and Gpa's. We were heading back to the lake the next day, so showers seemed like wasted effort. We had mac and cheese at 7pm, which the kids got the biggest kick out of.

Then we put pajamas on and ... headed to the radio station to meet Auntie Tracey and Uncle Kyle, who were volunteer DJ-ing the evening broadcast. We watched them play a few songs and the kids got to say hello and "Happy 4th of July" live on the radio during one of their breaks.

With that, we decided we had packed enough fun into the holiday. The kids headed to bed and the rest of us relaxed and listened to the end of the radio show. We had another day at the lake planned for tomorrow.

Hello, Up North!

We got Mike's car back just in time to get ready to head north for our annual 4th of July festivities. He was pretty excited to have it back - and that they had detailed the inside so it was incredibly clean. It almost felt criminal taking it up north - five of us plus dog and days upon days in the lake were not going to keep it shiny and clean. We did a decent job of not destroying it ... until the drive home. Let's just say that the youngest member of the gang officially also gets car sick. And Mike had to hose down the inside of his car when we got home. Sigh ...

Anyhoo, let's focus on the majority of our time up north, which was just completely delightful. The kids have SO MUCH fun up there with all our people. Fiona even tried to convince me that we should stay up north forever. I told her that Daddy and I have to work so that we have money and can take care of ourselves. She promptly told me that Grandpa had money. She pitched it to Gpa ... and he wasn't so sure he wanted to take us all back on.

We left Tuesday morning right around 9:30 and missed the holiday traffic snarls. We were so happy to not be stuck in the bumper to bumper traffic all the way up! The kids were good in the car and the SeaBands that I bought for Quinn for her carsickness seemed to work well (Dec tells me that he needs a set too!).

We got just over halfway up and met our neighbors for lunch at a little cafe near their seasonal campsite (just like we did a couple years ago). It had rained most of the way up, but by the time lunch was done, the skies had cleared. We took advantage of the sunshine and hung out at the campground for a couple hours. The kids enjoyed the playground and driving Ron's golf cart around. They even humored me with an updated golf cart photo!

We left Malmo with enough time to finish the trip to GR before dinner. We were so happy to get to Gma and Gpa's! After dinner, Gma gave the kids popsicles (which we wisely ate outside! They were so melty) and we walked down to the park to stretch our legs. Such a great way to start our vacation.

End of June

After an incredibly busy beginning to June, the end of the month felt almost manageable. It was so reasonable that Mike and I were even able to sneak a date into the mix!

Mike got two tickets to the Twins game a couple Saturdays ago ... but not just any tickets. Seats in the front row of one of the dugout boxes. We were field level, just past first base on the right field side, and were up close and personal with LoMo during warm ups.

Watching baseball is one of my very favorite things in life and it was so much fun to go with Mike. He's my second favorite baseball date. It's okay ... he knows that no one can top my dad! I wore my vintage 1987 World Series shirt (it was my grandpa's), but it didn't help ... the Twins didn't play that well. But we still had a great time sweating in the sunny seats together.

We got home to find Declan in the tub and a slightly frazzled babysitter. He had fallen off the trampoline onto his face and had quite the bloody nose. K handled it like a pro ... and according to her, the girls stepped it up and cleaned up most of the blood from the floor and brought her everything she needed in the bathroom to tend to Dec. We were so proud of them and D was no worse for the wear.

We were invited over to K's house for dinner that night (since we had to drive her home anyway) and had the best time hanging out with her, Makai, and family.

The next day, we found ourselves with too many pork chops, so paid the dinner invite forward and had our neighbors over for dinner. The adults were able to hang on the deck, listen to music, and visit while the kids had the very best time playing in the yard. It was just the way to head into the final full week before the holiday.

After surviving the week, we lived up to our reputation as professional day campers, saw a break in the rain, and headed up to Baker Park to spend the day with Cheryl and her extended family (they were there camping for the 4th). While not as hot as the day before, it was a pretty hot day, so we headed down to the beach. The kids had a blast splashing around and everyone was thrilled when the park staff brought out a couple fake logs and they got to try their hand (or feet) at log rolling.

All three kids tried the log and Mike and Brad even had a little best two out of three competition. Mike would like me to record that he won. I will also add that none of the rounds went more than maybe five seconds ... We had a fantastic day and got home just in time to pick up Chinese food and settle in for the night. June treated us right and we are looking forward to more fun in July!

**Spoiler alert: We just got back from spending the 4th up north and so far, July does not disappoint!

Quinn Cheers

The biggest thing that school has done for Quinn is give her the confidence to finally separate from us enough to actually participate in things she loves. We still talk in great depth about what to expect. She does not like being surprised. Or unprepared. Or uninformed. But she is more willing to take a chance and give new things a try.

So when she wanted to be in a week-long, twelve hour cheer camp this summer, I was cautiously hopeful as I hit "register." And she showed me! Not only did she do it, she killed it! We came home on the first day to find her teaching her brother and sister how to do stunts. Don't worry - she and Fiona were the bases and Dec was the flyer ... that totally won't end badly. Maybe. She woke up each day excited to go and couldn't wait to tell us and show us everything she learned that day. Show and tell included cartwheels in the parking lot of the theater and front walkovers in the living room ...

Since Quinn was just over a year old, she has been fascinated by cheerleading. If Mike flips through channels and stumbles across a cheer competition, her head immediately whips around. If we are at a school event, she is just drawn to the high school cheerleaders. It may have been the best week of her life! 

Mike, Fiona, Nanny J, and I were all able to watch her performance on the last day of camp. We need to work a bit on her game face ... she has it during practice, but got so excited when we got there that she was a bit distracted. As she gets more used to performing, the game face will come. She did so great and we had the best time cheering her on. Fiona had her game face on and showed up in a dress, fancy hat, high heels, and a purse to demonstrate her support!

We couldn't have been prouder, watching her passion overcome her fear. Not only did she participate, she had fun and felt successful. Go, Quinn, go! [Sidenote: her favorite thing to learn and Fiona's favorite thing to learn from her was the "sassy walk."]