Some weeks I really look forward to writing this blog. I really enjoy writing and it is fun to think back on the highlights of the week. This week, however, I’m just not in the mood, so I’m sorry if this all seems sort of disjointed and boring. Also, I don’t really have pictures for this week. Anyway, here we go…

Cedar Point, the second oldest amusement park in America, has earned the designation as “Best amusement park in the world” for 12 years running. It also holds the world records for the most rollercoasters at any single amusement park, most rollercoasters over 200 feet (some are more than twice that high), and most rides on the “Top ten rides in the world” list (it has three- no other amusement park has more than one).

It also happens to be located just an hour from our house. Needless to say, we had to go. We have been looking for an opportunity to make this a reality for some time, and finally we were able to go this last weekend. We left our three beautiful children with a babysitter that probably didn’t know what they were getting into and we never looked back. Our day was wonderful!

It actually started out looking sort of dismal. On the way there it rained. We were pretty bummed out about this, but decided to make the best of the day by going to nearby Marblehead and browsing the fun shops they had there. When the weather cleared up we went back to Cedar point and paid the admission and had nonstop fun until about 9:00 that evening. We rode most of the rollercoasters, saw a few shows, checked out a few shops, and did a lot of talking and holding hands. This last bit was especially nice since it has been quite a while since we were able to be together for a full day without interruptions from kids. Finally, we finished off the day with a nice dinner at Olive Garden. Happy Anniversary, Rachel. I sure love you!

So, just a few other random facts about Cedar Point:

When the rollercoaster Mean Streak opened in 1991 it was the largest and fastest wooden rollercoaster in the world. If you were to lay out all of the boards used in its construction it would reach from Sacramento to Washington DC just over three times. It is also a bumpy, painful, headache-inducing ride.

When the coaster Millennium Force opened in 2000 it broke 7 world records for things such as fastest, steepest, etc. To this day it remains the longest steel rollercoaster in existence, and has been ranked as one of the top two roller coasters of all time every year since its induction. It is really, really fun. I dubbed this ride “Big Scary.”

Mantis, a stand-up rollercoaster, holds the world records for tallest, fastest, steepest, and most inverted stand-up rollercoaster of all time. Yes, it is pretty intense.

Top Thrill Dragster, with a total ride time of 17 seconds, launches you from 0-120 in just 3.8 of those seconds. It has held several records, including fastest, tallest, and steepest rollercoaster ever. This thing needs strobe lights at the top just to warn airplanes not to hit it! Oh, and the wait time is totally worth the 17 second ride. This was our favorite ride there. The feeling of pure acceleration is something I had not really experienced before.

Just as a side note: A real top fuel drag racer goes from 0-100 in .7 seconds, and can reach up to three hundred mph in just 4. If these cars go for more than just 10 seconds with their engines at full throttle they will overheat and possibly explode- that is a lot of power. 12,000hp to be exact.

So it is clear that Cedar Point pretty much eclipses everything else that happened this week. But it really was a pretty great week even without the weekend included. On Wednesday evening we went to “Wade Oval Wednesday,” a weekly concert-in-the-park type event that is held not too far from our house. It was relaxing and had a very fun family sort of atmosphere that makes us want to incorporate this into our normal weekly schedule.

Jackson is starting to get some teeth. Man, I am glad I don’t remember when my teeth came in! He is handling it pretty well though, and to quote The Who, “they couldn’t prevent Jack from being happy.” He is a good sport.

Well, that’s about all that I am going to write. We have the missionaries and possibly some other people coming to dinner tonight as well, so I need to start getting ready for their arrival. Hooray for the BBQ- there is nothing easier than sticking some chicken and steaks on the grill, and and this summer fare is almost universally loved. Nothing beats it for cooking for a small group of people.

Have a good week.

You can ignore this post if you want. It is the instructions we left for our babysitters when we went to Cedar Point. We are including it so that we remember to print it with our yearbook for 2010- it really does a good job outlining a typical day for us.

7:00- Kids wake up.

9:15-11:00 Jack and Addy’s nap time. Jack is in the crib and Adalie is in the pack-and-play. Give each of them a pacifier and blanket (both in crib). If Adalie wakes up early, go in and lay her down and give her a pacifier again.

11:00 bottles- Addy 6 oz and Jack 8 oz. If Addy is fussy, give more.

12:00 Lunch for all- Addy and jack have 2-3 jars of baby food (all together split between them) and some finger foods. Evelyn can have macaroni and cheese (already made and in the fridge), or pb&j (PB is above toaster oven, bread in the drawer under it along with a little toddler meal. Evelyn can also have a yogurt poured in a bowl (less mess for you to clean ).

1:30- Naptime for all. Jack and Addy go down with a blanket and pacifier (if Adalie wakes up before three thirty, give her a pacifier and lay her down again. She will go to sleep again, but may fuss a little bit. Put Evelyn down on our bed. She likes having blankets stacked on her (pink blanket from her room, quilt, our blanket). Turn the fan on as well.

Adalie and Jackson should sleep until at least four and Evelyn might sleep until five.

4:00- Medicine for Jack and Addy (.5 on the dropper) this medicine is on the counter it is for baby spit (yes this is a warning), then bottles (same amount listed above). They will also have solids again. 2 baby food jars (split between them) and half of a bowl of baby cereal for each. Also, some finger foods.

Dinner for you and for Evelyn is frozen pizza (there is a pizza stone in the cupboard to the left of the dishwasher if you so desire). There are also leftovers in the fridge of a really good tortilla soup. We also have vanilla ice cream (sugar free and kind of weird) and root beer, or just the regular ice cream variety. You can have whatever you can find.

7:15- Bottles for Jack and Addy. 8oz for each of them. They sometimes need a little encouragement to drink these. If they absolutely refuse, heat the bottles up in the microwave for about 8 seconds and shake ‘em. Make sure they each get at least 6oz or bedtime will be hellish.

Bed time is 8:00- Before bed we generally put them in pajamas and read stories to everyone. Then, we put Jack and Addy in fifteen minutes before Evelyn (we did this for the first time last night and it worked really well. It isn’t a time tested technique yet). Remind Evelyn to stay in bed, not get in the pack and play, and not give toys to Jack and Addy. Sometimes she insists on having a drink before falling asleep. Sometimes it gets crazy. If Evelyn is sitting on Adalie’s head, her screams will let you know.  If you check and Evelyn is innocent then it probably means that they need to drink a little more. We just give them bottles in the crib and then go and take them out after they fall asleep. After they are asleep you can use the baby monitor and let Amy and Paul know.

Random Notes (For what it’s worth…)

At the risk of seeming like totally obsessive parents we have made this list. We are actually pretty easy going but these are just some ideas that may help (things I would probably want to know if I was babysitting someone else’s kids). Take it for what it is worth. We are pretty laid back about things, so don’t worry- in fact, you could just ignore this entire list-a-ma-jigger that we wrote for you and we would be perfectly ok with that. Do what works for you! Good luck.

Finger food ideas
-corn (freezer)
-peas (freezer)
-avocado (if it is still good Jack and Addy eat it strait from a spoon)
-raisins
-dry cereal
-pretzel goldfish (for Addy and Eva)
-banana (Addy and Jack love this diced up on their tray)

Ok. Let’s be honest. I use the same spoon when I feed Jack and Addy.

Whoever invented wipeable bibs that can snap up and catch dropped food is one of my favorite people.

There is a triple (a cumbersome beast that works better if you lock the front tires), double and single stroller on the porch that you can use. All of the kids are very good on walks.

If Jack or Addy have a hard time, there are pacifiers on the counter that you can give them. It doesn’t matter who’s is who’s- we all share the same germs anyway.

There are crayons and paper in the middle drawer under the computer.

On the mantle there is a Sesame Street ABC movie and 101 Dalmatians (The ‘doggy movie’). The television is well hidden in the right cabinet of the mantle. Warning- there are child safety locks at the bottom of the cupboard. There are also spare burp rags down there.

If Adalie or Jack get really fussy you can give them Tylenol (1 dropper for Jack and 1.5 for Adalie). I think they are teething and this may help.

Evelyn is getting her third year molars. Ouch! Have you ever seen these come in? They look like miniature mountain ranges. Needless to say… This can make her pretty grumpy. If she is unreasonably grumpy (and it isn’t a fit), then it is probably teeth. I gave her children’s Tylenol at 8:00 and she can have it every 4 hours as needed. If you give it to her, please put it down on here. Thanks!

Diapers and wipes are in the living room in the drawers below the stereo. If for some reason you need more then we have a stash in the kid’s closet. Evelyn’s diapers are the blue wal-mart ones. Jack and Addy have the colorful Luvs. We have Ziplocs on the counter for poopy diapers.

It may be helpful to give Jack something to hold with each hand while you are feeding him.

If Evelyn is crying have her go sit on her bed until she is finished. Let her know she can come out when she is ready to be happy.

Evelyn’s new favorite thing is pushing Jack and Addy when they are standing up or sitting. Immediately remove her from the situation and put her in the corner by the front door and couch. Explain to her why she is there and have her stay there for about a minute.

Jack is allergic to milk and soy. He can have everything I have set out for them unless otherwise noted.

The babies are sometimes picky eaters and won’t take the bottle unless it is made with pretty warm water. Also, if they stop drinking, then 8 seconds in the microwave and a good shake will sometimes do the trick.

The car seats are all in our room if you want/need to go anywhere.

Jack and Addy have different formula. This can be crazy, but the trick we use is that Jack always has the frog bottle.

If you have any questions during the day then give us a call. It’s ok. Really. Even if you just need an interpreter for Evelyn…

First things first- go to the bottom of the blog, watch the video, and take the test. Good luck!

Today in church the primary children, including the nursery, sang to their fathers. Evelyn was so cute. There was the usual chaos of getting all of the kids lined up in the front and of getting them quiet for the beginning of the song. And then, right when everyone was finally settled down and the song was about to start, Evelyn points her finger right at me gives me the biggest smile and yells out in a very loud and clear voice, “DADDY!” (Sort of like she was saying “This one goes out to you, Papa.”) She then sang “I’m so Glad when Daddy Comes Home” and did all of the actions. I sure love that girl!

Speaking of Evelyn, she has discovered a new game. First she covers Jack and Addy up with a blanket so they can’t see anything. Next, she very sneakily walks up to them. And finally, she pounces, body slamming one of the poor unsuspecting babies. Evelyn loves this game. The babies have mixed feelings on it. Sometimes they sort of giggle and actually seem to be enjoying the attention. Most of the time they just scream bloody murder until we divert Evelyn’s attention elsewhere (Evelyn look- a doggy!).

The babies are becoming more and more mobile. Jack can now crawl on all fours just as well as his sister, and they are both pulling themselves up on things and walking around them. I don’t know if I’m ready for this yet. Evelyn’s second favorite game (for her first, see above) involves pushing babies over as soon as they stand up- sort of like an advanced form of whack-a-mole. We have to stop her, of course, but sometimes I feel like doing the same thing since it is so much easier to watch them when they are confined to a single location.

On Saturday we were going to go to Cedar Point- Just Rachel and I. For those who don’t know, Cedar Point is an amusement park in the area, and it was to be a belated anniversary gift to ourselves (since we were busy driving across the country during our anniversary). We had babysitters lined up and everything, but then noticed that the weather forecast called for violent thunder showers. Now we usually don’t plan around the weather (we find that we would never do anything, and usually the weather is wrong anyway), but for this day we figured we wanted to be sure we would be able to enjoy ourselves (as thrilling as it would have been to be on a tall metallic rollercoaster during a lightening storm). Between the cost, the time, and the babysitters we really only had one chance at getting it right and we were not about to risk it.

Needless to say, the day turned out being absolutely gorgeous. I found myself praying for the storm of the century to validate our decision, but it just didn’t happen. Instead we took everyone to the beach and to the Marblehead lighthouse. Again, for those who don’t know, this lighthouse has become an Icon of Northern Ohio and is really quite famous. As far as I was concerned, it looked like a lighthouse. It was pretty, as lighthouses usually are, but just a lighthouse all the same. The beach was fun though and Evelyn especially had a good time.

Here are some video clips we put together from some of our conversations with Eva. After watching them we started wondering if you, our loyal readers, could understand some of her favorite words. Take a second and put your best guesses in the comment section. We will have a surprise for the person who gets the most words correct.

We have had a wonderful week- except that Rachel got pooped on at church!

If you read the post last week then you know that I have decided to give parades a second chance. Well, this week we thought we’d really test my new enthusiasm by attending yet another of these events. The parade took place at University Circle which is just minutes from our house. The occasion? Who needs an occasion to have a parade? They just do this thing once a year for the fun of it. I think that it’s the anniversary of the neighborhood or something.

The verdict? University Circle harbors some really deranged folk who can put on a fantastically trippy parade. There was not one marching band (at least not in the traditional sense), classic car, or politician to be found in the entire procession. Instead it was like Tim Burton meets Jim Henson- a march of surrealism taken straight from your worst nightmares-or a Salvador Dali painting. Evelyn kept nuzzling deeper and deeper into my lap as she repeated over and over “scary…scary…scary.” Rachel and I were both so enthralled with it though that I just hugged her tighter and kept watching. It really was very cool.

To make up for the scary parade, however, Evelyn had some good news this week. She got a package! True, this is not the first package she has received. But the contents of this one were extraordinary. My mom had sewn a quilt made up of squares which she had been saving for basically her whole life. There were some from her own baby blanket, and several from favorite dresses she had as a child. Others were of clothes that we wore when we were kids, or of things my mom had made for us. It was clear that it was put together with a lot of love. Additionally, there was a little book that had sample squares in it with little stories about the material. Evelyn could also use the book as an “I spy” sort of game, matching the squares in the book with those on the blanket. We were very impressed with the whole thing. Thank you Grandma!

Our project for the week has been the organization of our spices. We love to cook and have accumulated somewhere around 50 little bottles of spices. It became ridiculous trying to find specific spices because we would basically have to take everything off the spice shelf to find that one thing. Well, Rachel had the great idea of using baby food jars and we now have everything labeled in an easy-to-find way.

Rachel and Evelyn now have their own little garden. Rachel took Ev to the library and brought home all kinds of picture books about gardening, then Rachel braved Wal-mart alone with all three kids to pick up the plants. Evelyn tilled the ground, weeded, and planted the starts. We will soon have sweet peas, watermelon, green peppers, and of course tomatoes.

The race is on! Adalie is perfecting her crawling skills and Jack is gaining quickly. Jack is perfecting the army crawl (on his forearms and legs). Addy gets kudos for her form, but Jack can beat her in any race.

So that’s pretty much it for this week. Summer time is officially here in Cleveland and we are loving the long days because it allows us time for an evening walk or bike ride before putting the kids to bed. School is going well for me and things have never been better.

Truly, we live charmed lives.

Before

After

Evelyn loves her new blanket. She insists on bringing it everywhere!

Here's Addy at the parade. All of the following pictures are of the parade. None of them actually have us in them, but we thought we'd share this bazaar experience with you.

Thinking back on this week it seems like it has been the longest short week that I have ever had. It was short in that the work week was only four days long. Thinking back, however, Memorial day seems like it was forever ago.

So, what did we do for Memorial Day? We went to a parade! While this may be surprising to some of you who know of my loathing for parades, it may come as an even bigger shock to hear that I actually enjoyed it! See- here is my past parade experience:

You drive to the parade long before it starts. You then spend the next half hour to forty-five minutes trying to navigate closed off roads and find a parking space. Finally you are able to leave the car and begin the fifteen mile trek to the side of the road. Because you are not a crazy fanatic, you have not scoped out the parade route and claimed your spot 4-5 days in advance, so you end up squeezing the whole family onto one sidewalk square that is exposed to the blistering heat of the sun. And then you wait. And wait. And wait. And wait.

Finally, the parade gets to you. By this time your butt is so sore that you have decided to stand up, but now your knees are starting to buckle and you feel like you are going to faint. The sun doesn’t help, and of course you left the water bottles in the car. After watching the parade for a full forty minutes you can still see the lead car, and about now you realize that you will be standing here for the next 6 years of your life. You wish you could sit down again but by now someone else has claimed that spot. And you probably need to pee, but of course there are no bathrooms nearby. Suddenly fainting doesn’t seem so bad.

Finally, long after the ringing in your ears has subsided and the sounds of the parade are but a muffled conglomeration of horns and music, you see the pooper scoopers in their golf cart and you know the end is in sight. You breathe a sigh of relief, hike back to the car, and spend the rest of the afternoon nursing your sunburn.

And so it is that I have always wondered how people could actually enjoy parades. I swore a long time ago that I would never, ever, ever go to another parade unless it was in celebration of my own children’s accomplishments. And even then I would be a reluctant observer at best. So when Rachel suggested we go to a parade for Memorial Day I gave an inward groan of despair. But then I remembered that our kids have nap times, and that Rachel is a “schedule Nazi,” and that gave me hope that we might not have to stay for the whole thing. Under these conditions I consented to the affair.

Well, I went about a half hour early on my motorcycle to reserve us a spot. Because I was on a motorcycle, I was able to find parking a mere 100 feet from the parade route. There, I found a very nice spot on the grass under a tree and read my book until Rachel arrived with the kids.

The parade started soon after Rachel got there, and since we were right at the beginning of the route we didn’t have to wait any longer. Also, since we were at the beginning the paraders (people in the parade) were throwing their candy with reckless abandon. I guess it is a mental thing; when they see their buckets are overflowing with sweet goodness they don’t really think of the possibility of running out. At the end of the parade is when they start getting stingy.

Anyway, except for the police cars and fire trucks, our kids really liked the show. Once the sirens passed it was giggles and smiles the whole time. And it was sort of fun because it was a small community parade and most everyone who was sitting around us knew several people who were marching. There were lots of politicians and classic cars, some floats and local youth or special interest groups, and a few bands. And then it was over. Just before it got to the point of dragging on it was finished. I thoroughly enjoyed myself the entire time we were there. I think I could get into this small-town parade thing.

So, now that I’ve rambled on about that, I’ll fill you in on the rest of the week. I started school again and Rachel got her routine back with the kids. It was sort of fun getting back to clinic, and I think that it will be a pretty laid-back semester as far as classes are concerned.

Also, this weekend Rachel has been taking motorcycle riding classes. She is the star of her class and has been begging me for a racing bike she can use on the track.

Ok, not really. But she has enjoyed it and will have her official motorcycle endorsement soon. She says she is taking the class for practical reasons (when you only have one car and the other is a motorcycle it might be good to know how to ride), but I think that she enjoys it more than she lets on.

Well, I hear the babies waking up so I guess I’ll stop the rambling and let you guys see some pictures. Have a good week everyone!

Here's Jack and Addy as they bask in the sun and watch Evelyn and her friend play in the swimming pool.

This is at the parade. We couldn't get Jackson to take his eyes off of the people in the street.

I know we've been doing a lot of these lately. This is a video of Jack and Addy. In the end you get to see Adalie's new trick (crawling). Very impressive.