Christmas 2016

Christmas break, probably for most everyone, was a whirlwind.  Sometimes I think it's even more so for us when we have three birthdays within days of the holidays.  This year, though, was a big milestone birthday for a particular Grandpa who affectionately goes by Beep Beep.  Back in the summer Amy and the Colorado gang had cooked up an idea to fly to Indiana for a birthday surprise. Months of planning and numerous little white lies, December 22nd finally arrived.  We met up with Amy and family before heading over to the house for a birthday brunch (WL Kecklers were expected, only the CO crew was to be a surprise.)  Although Ben had some inkling that something might be in the works, he was nonetheless surprised and we had a great day.  After brunch, we headed downtown to the Eitlejorg Museum for Jingle Rails.  Kari and Bryce have been numerous times, but this was a first for Kevin, me, and the CO crew.  It really was a spectacular display.

Audra 9, Kari 9, Keira 11, Bryce 7 at Jingle Rails

The afternoon included a Christmas Celebration at the ISO.  It was absolutely grand performance.  J and I had some fun.  Can you find us?  The best part was Gran learning about the concept of photobombing after we told what we had done.

We ended the day with a dinner at Ted's Montana Grill.  The Williams departed the next day to Cincinnati for Christmas there.  We would meet up again in CC for more birthday celebrations.

Christmas Day was a blur.  The kids, understandably, were up multiple times prior to sunrise and sent back to bed each time.  They finally convinced their groggy parents to suck it up by 8:30.  We had the Haugstad traditional picture on the stairs.

Bryce's big ticket item was Cubs gear and tickets to a game this summer.

The kids each got snorkel gear for the upcoming trip to the Cayman Islands.

A couple days later we headed up to CC to celebrate Great Grammy and Grammy Pammy's birthdays.  Amy and crew drove back from Cincy to be here too.  We got some great family pictures.

The Williams spent two days at our house, giving time for the cousins to be together and the adults some time too.  Why does Colorado have to be so far from Indiana??  We just don't get to see these guys often enough, so we need to make the best of every minute with them.  So, of course that will always entail food.  This time we went to South Street Smokehouse.  Yum.

We also found a couple hours to sneak down to the Chocolate Shop.  Christmas break afforded us little competition for prime seating in the fish bowl.

It'd been a while since either Amy or Jason had been on campus.  The kids enjoyed hanging out with Neil and John.

Shortly after this the Williams headed back to the airport and the kids and I headed up to Chicago for part II of Christmas break.

4th Grade Indiana History Project

Today marked the culmination of several weeks of hard work for Kari, and well, let's be honest, the whole family.  A large part of the 4th grade curriculum focuses Indiana history.  Earlier in the fall the class took a field trip to Fort Ouiatenon to learn about the earliest settlers and interactions with the Native Americans.

Right before Thanksgiving the students were given the assignment to identify an Indiana advancement, landmark, development, or natural space.  Students were not allowed to pick a person as that will be the major spring project.  Kari narrowed her choices down and thoughtfully selected the West Baden Springs Hotel in French Lick.  (Her parents think she ultimately chose this because it has gambling and she thought it might interest them in visiting!)  While visiting the landmark was not a requirement of the project, we thought it would be best to learn about it first hand.  So, early on Black Friday morning we steered clear of the mall shoppers and headed South... for three long hours.

Upon arrival to the cute Southern Indiana town, Kari and I headed straight away to the gift shop to sign up for the hotel tour.  Not knowing what to expect, we discovered that the Keckler family significantly brought down the median age of the tour group by probably 30 years.  Kevin and I quite enjoyed the tour, the long and winding history of the hotel, and the secrets it holds.  Unfortunately, the tour was not geared for kids and the 90 minute tour could not have ended a minute too soon for K & B.  We persisted and Kari gathered pictures and facts for her project.

 Intricate tile work all imported from Italy.

 The atrium with hotel room windows overlooking the gathering spaces.

 The atrium dome is a national engineering landmark.

 Kari used the windows as inspiration for her project.

 Spurtle the gnome above the grand fireplace.

We might have made a short detour in Bloomington on the way home to do a little Christmas shopping for family members who made poor higher education choices.

The next couple of weeks saw Kari working on her project a little bit each night.  Finally, things came together and the entire 4th grade of six classrooms gathered in the cafeteria for a showcase for family. To our surprise, Kari ended up being the only one who had chosen West Baden.

 Behind each window Kari had selected a significant fact about the hotel and local area.  Overall, all of the kids did a really nice job on their projects and it was interesting to see what others had chosen.

Kari was right next to one of her best friends, Marley.

Halloween 2016

For the first time in several years we had nice weather for Halloween. Two years ago we had snow, three years ago we had rain.  Last year was also highlighted with Bryce having a 24 hour stomach flu right before heading out to trick-or-treat.  These kids don't get sick very often, so it's pretty memorable when they do.  Bryce still talks about last Halloween and getting sick.

This year's costumes came together quickly and easily.  Kari wanted to be a lifeguard (be still, my heart) from the get-go, so that was an easy one.  Bryce's costume idea, on the other hand, was immediately vetoed- "I want to be Batman with a cane."  An elderly Batman perhaps you're thinking? No, just a thinly veiled excuse for carrying a weapon.  I countered with making him a shark costume and he quickly vetoed that idea.  After a few days of circling around the costume stalemate, we all settled on the all-American costume of a baseball player.  He was generously supplied with all he needed from his baseball mentor, Nolan.

Speaking of Clawsons, we've missed them dearly since they've left the neighborhood.  Halloween seemed like a great time to get the families together for an easy meal of pizza and fresh veggies before heading out around the neighborhood.  It was great to visit with them and see friends around the neighborhood.

This Is What Lice Looks Like

It's been a crazy week.  Let's just start with that.  Last weekend everyone enjoyed time away from home- Kari with Grammy Pammy and Dale and Bryce with Gran and Beep.  Everyone came home on Sunday with Kari driven to our front doorstep via Dale.  Our house was to be a stopover on her way to Lexington.  We all had a nice dinner at MCL and recounted our weekend adventures.  Kari got a special trip to The American Girl Doll store for dinner and shopping.  Bryce went to a fall festival and then a Cirque du Soleil in conjunction with the Indianapolis Symphony.  What a treat!

And then Monday morning rolled around.  We'll call that Zero Hour and Bryce, Patient Zero.  I knew we were in trouble the minute he sat up and started scratching his head with both hands.  I contemplated my jam-packed schedule at work for less than five minutes before calling in and saying I'd be staying home to attack these little buggers before it got out of hand.  Poor Dale couldn't get on the road fast enough!  Later in the day I had the unenviable task of calling Gran and telling her the good news.  Since neither of us had any personal experience with lice, I had no advice for her other than to wash the sheets and put them in the dryer on high.

As soon as Kari was loaded on the bus and out of harm's lice's way, Bryce and I headed over to speak to our trusty grocery pharmacist.  Armed with some education, an armful of isopropyl alcohol and shower caps, we made our way over to get his head shaved.  (It should be noted, though, Indiana state law does not allow salons to cut hair with active lice.)  We had the two best ladies who were very generous with their time and tools to help us out in our dire time of need.

That darling moppy curly hair... gone.  He looks so much older now!

And because I instantly started feeling itchy as soon as we came home, I treated myself to a head treatment, too, just for kicks.  But don't feel too badly for this little guy.  I let him eat straight out of a family sized box of Frosted Flakes and watch cartoons all day.  From his point of view, life couldn't have gotten much better.

For what it's worth, I was able to contain the lice just to Bryce (see, that's funny!  Lice-Bryce.  No, actually, it's not funny at all.  Ever.)  I've done more laundry this past week than what I normally do in an entire month.  But the real winner of the day was Marcie the lovely pharmacist who told me not to bother with that OTC RidX stuff and instead go hardcore with the rubbing alcohol.  Who knew!  The cheaper alternative would be the Gold Star answer.

If you are ever so unfortunate to come in contact with these little monsters, give me a call.  I've got the method and technique down.  I'm your gal and I'm happy to help.

First Chimes Performance

Kari had her first handbell performance this past weekend.  I love that she's loving it.  She was asked under a no-pressure invitation by Heidi, and after a little convincing from Gran, reluctantly agreed to give it a try.  They practice each Sunday afternoon for an hour and then have a variety of performances about once a month.  Kari is also very fortunate that Mrs. Lind usually stands right next to her during practice and the performances to ensure she's hitting each note since she's learning to read music again.  Pro tip: Probably not the best idea to introduce a pre-kindergartener to music when they many not be fully ready to commit and enjoy the experience.

Amazing Grace was the first song, and the second was Spirit of the Living God, Fall Afresh on Me.

Cousins!

First Day of School

We officially have a 1st and 4th grader! The morning started off cool and rainy; a pleasant change from the recent heat wave we've been experiencing.

The gang's all here!

Baseball Games and Seven Year Olds

Bryce has really shown an interest in baseball this summer, so we thought it was only fitting to take him to our local baseball field to see the Lafayette Aviators.  With a little pre-planning, he was scheduled to throw out the first pitch.

Bryce invited his three best friends, Drew, Jackson, and Eamon, while Kari got to bring Marley along.  It was one of the hottest days of the summer, and sitting in the front row behind home plate did not provide much relief from the sun.  

The game, crowd entertainment, and food, however, kept everyone distracted from the sweat dripping in places we really shouldn't mention.  I really can't gush enough how well-run, entertaining, and fun the game was.  The Prospect League is a traveling summer league for collegiate athletes and use wooden bats, which is evidently an unusual thing.

 Drew, Bryce, Eamon, and Jackson

 Marley and Kari

Kari and Marley were some of the kids selected for the on-field contest. 

We felt sorry for the poor marketing intern who drew the short straw for wearing melting in the mascot costume.  Bryce eagerly hammed it up, hopefully making it worthwhile for all involved.

We barely made it to the bottom of the 5th inning before everyone started to fade from the intensity of the sun.  The original plan was to head over to Columbian Park and spend some time at the massive playground.  Instead, we opted to eat an early dinner at the Arni's across the street with its AC at full blast.

And only a short couple of days later, the actual birthday arrived.  Kevin made the traditional number and initial pancakes for the birthday boy.

Chasing Clouds Triathlon

One of our favorite places in town is Prophetstown State Park.  Celebrating its twelfth year in existence, a kids triathlon was created for kids ages 6-12.  After hearing the course, I talked to the kids about it and they were intrigued.  We also got Kari's good friend, Madison, on board for the race too.

 Gathering for their pre-race instructions.  This was incredibly well organized for a first time event.

 The first portion of the tri is the swim.  Actually, the very first part was a trip down the water slide.  Next, everyone swam the lazy river.

 Not knowing how they'd be released down the waterslide, I thought I would likely have some time in between Kari and Bryce's swim portion so that I'd be able to help each of them in the transition tent.  Unfortunately, Bryce came down the slide right after Kari, so the transition was a bit hectic.  Kari didn't need much help, but in the chaos of it all, I wasn't able to get any pictures.  The bike portion was two miles.

 The run portion was 0.8 miles.  Perfect for first time triathletes!

Coming into the finish!

 Finishers!  They're already talking about participating next year.