Zip-line Park

Q and I have been enjoying our Thursday morning "just the two of us" time each week. I think my favorite week so far was when we went to Mary Knolls Park (a.k.a. The Zip-line Park). We had originally went to go mini golfing, but of course it was closed due to the new Fall hours. Q was disappointed for about 2 seconds until we walked over the playground area. We were the only ones there at first. Q surprised me by saying "Nicki, being the only one here is awesome! I don't have to wait in line or share with anyone." as he giggles after he says that. He did enjoy his 20 minutes of being the only kids there, but he was also super excited once other kids started showing up.

The biggest hit at the park was of course doing the Zip-line! The first time I sent him down it was a a little slow. He enjoyed it but of course he wanted to go faster. When you watch the video below you will understand why I was hesitant to send him down too fast. When the zip-line hits the stopper at the end it sends its "passenger" flying in the air. Q is strong enough to hang on, but it still made me nervous. But he absolutely LOVED flying through the air!



Needless to say we took Sloan to the park last week as well. Quinton wanted her to experience the zip-line too. Even though I hung on to her the whole time. She loved it too!

Ohio Bound :(

Well the time has arrived and two of my favorite kids are moving out of state! :( It has been a lousy last couple weeks ever since I got the news. Not only for me, but especially for the kids and their dad, as well as uncle and grandparents... even close friends of the family. Divorce is never an easy things and just when you think things are settling down and everyone is getting into a routine after nearly 3 years, one of the parents wants to move out of state. Without going into details, this decisions has flipped many people's worlds upside down, mainly two children and their father's. It makes me sad to think they won't be near so that family and myself can go to school events, see them on a regular basis, be there if something bad should ever happen... all things good & bad that so many people have to miss out on now. No, I am not related to these two wonderful children by blood, but I was their aunt for four years and a "motherly" figure for them on the weeks for a good 2 1/2 years. Hailey told me herself a couple weekends ago, "You're still my Aunt and always will be no matter what anyone says. I love you too much!" As if that didn't bring tears to my eyes! I just keep telling myself the holidays will be here before I know it and I will be able to see them again. There will be moments when the day may seem to drag on, especially if it is a significant day during the year that is normally shared with Hailey and Logan or if I am doing something that reminds me of them... those will be the hardest moments. I know what this move is doing to me, so I can't even imagine what it is doing to them or their father. :'(

On a positive note (always have to have something positive), the past couple weeks have been all about the kids. They got to have a slumber party at my new place, got to go to a couple movies (one with just dad and the other with what use to be our family of 5), see grandma and grandpa 2 weeks in a row, have a wienie roast at the Pirate and Witch's house and just spend some time with Dad!!!

Back to the slumber party... I invited the kids, dad and Uncle Matt over for dinner and a movie, as well as a friend's daughter Shelby... then the kiddos got to sleepover! The kids chose "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" to watch... the one made back when I was a kid! Hello?! During the movie, poor Shelby conked out so it was like the Jack's Links commercials at my place. Only instead of "Messing with Sasquatch" it was "Messing with Shelby". Check the pictures out above. Logan and Hailey got a kick out of it! And in the morning when I showed Shelby the pictures she thought they were pretty funny too!! :) We had a great night that weekend... actually great time both evenings. The kids dressed up in Halloween costumes while at the wienie roast the following night. Hailey, Logan and Shelby had so much fun together two night in a row!!!

I am going to miss Hailey and Logan very much!!! What I thought I had lost with them a couple months ago, was nothing compared to this. As hard as it will be for everyone, I hope that Hailey and Logan will enjoy this new chapter in their lives, makes lots of new friends, and share all their wonderful adventures with us all back here in Illinois! I love you two!!!

Good Times

So Friday night some of the members from our RIPS group headed north to Mount Carroll to visit the Raven's Grin Haunted House. It is a year round haunted house that is supposedly actually haunted. During peak season (October) if functions like a normal haunted house with a big staff for scaring a large number of participants. But since we went in Sept it was manned by 3 workers. The owner is an artist who made everything that is in the house. It was amazing!!! His style is completely different from my own as is him taste, but I still have a lot of respect for the man and his work. He starts the tour out in the front room. It was a good 20 minutes or more that we sat there. He had some hokey things that gave some of us a scare. But the man was freaking hilarious!!! Some of the stuff he said was great! They gear the tours according to the audience so it can be adjusted if children are there, but since it was all adults there was some raunchy humor in the mix as well!


After the owner was done with us we had a tour guide take us through explaining history of the house, stories from past participant, employees and even his own experiences. Some rooms were creepy, others fun and i can't forget to mention the slides!!! Yes folks there were slides at this place! The first one wasn't too bad. It was short and sweet and you could tell where the ending was. The second however was interesting! Of course no one else would volunteer to go first so I stepped up to the plate! You get wrapped like a burrito in a blanket and padding. Why you may ask?! Well they pretty much pull a lever and you drop more or less straight down into a dark hole!!! Pitch black dropping down an unfamiliar slide which flings you this way and that was pretty exciting. I'm not one for theme park rides, especially roller coaster. The drop was very much like that first big hill you go flying down! Once you get to the bottom of the slide another worker tells you to scooch forward because the slide broke and you have another 30 ft to go down. Not to mention he told us he hoped we could swim because we were going to land in water. All a gimmick. But since i was so brave I got to hide in a coffin and scare all the others as they finished the slide and rounded the corner. I got a couple of them pretty well!

Like I said although it wasn't a scary haunted house, it was a lot of fun! We all had a great trip... and I know my car load even had fun on the drive!! :)

Q and Nicki Time

This past week, Q and I took advantage of our time together Thursday morning. Since Sloan has "school" for about four hours on those days, Q and I get to spend time together, just the two of us like it use to be. On these days, Q gets to choose what we do before he goes to school after lunch. Well this week was jammed with quite a few things. After dropping Sloan off at school Q asked if we could go to Lake Ellyn Park. So as we rounded the corner downtown on our way to the park, Q blurts out "We could always get Starbucks so we have something to drink at the park" (he knows there is a Starbucks there) and of course I whipped it into a first parking spot I found. Like I'm going to pass up a Starbucks coffee offer :) We don't leave to house without water bottles so it isn't like we didn't have anything... but it's Starbucks!

So we swung in and got ourselves a drink and then headed to the park. Instead of playing right away, Q wanted to sit at a picnic table to drink his vanilla milk. We chatted about the other things we were going to do after the park and people watched. I think Quinton enjoys people watching as much as I do. Only he scans and listens for Star War fans so he knows who to play with :)

After the park, we headed to the Halloween store. Q wanted to look for Transformer costumes. Plus he is just in awe over all the stuff they offer. Between costumes, makeup, props, etc...Q had a blast. I think we could have stayed there until his school started, but he wanted to go to McDonald's for lunch so our visit was limited to half an hour. He had fun though trying on masks and checking the price tags on ALL the things he wanted.

We then headed to McDonald's for lunch. Q was excited to go inside and be able to play at the "Play Place." He informed me that at McDonald's when it says "Play Place" it is meant for younger kids, but if it says "Play Palace" that means they have play equipment for older kids, like himself. Just so you know, they are ALL called "Play Place" no matter what kind of play equipment they happen to offer. So even though the equipment at this particular McDonald's was geared toward younger kids, Q found some children his age to play and be really LOUD with!! As icing on the cake, they even had Star Wars toys and Dad met us there, so he could take Q to school! I think Q really enjoyed himself on Thursday and I hope we can continue to make these weekly Q and Nicki times special for him.

Miss Personality

Sloan has developed quite the personality! She sticks her hip out, pretends to chat on the phone (sounding a lot like mom), shakes her booty, TRIES to boss Q around, among other things. She can be quite the stubborn little girl as well... Wants to wear a million bows in her hair or 4 pairs of undies at once. But the stubbornness also comes into play when she wants her way. As if that's a shocker at this age. However, Sloan is learning it isn't always in her best interest to "test" the grown ups that love her so much... she's learning that consequences follow "icky" behavior. This little girl can't even listen to music without showing on her moves. It's like the music and beat takes over and she just stops what she's doing and the dancing begins!

On a daily basis Sloan's personality shines through bringing lots of smiles and laughs to those around her... just like her big brother! I can't wait to see how Sloan and her personality grow and develop in the future.

School = New Routine and LOTS of Adjusting

This is the first week of school for both Quinton AND Sloan. It is always nice to get back into the school routine, however, this year is a bit different. Q has preschool in the afternoon instead of the morning... which means no hustling around in the morning to get breakfast eaten, dressed and out the door. However, it does result in an awful tired boy at the end of the day since he doesn't have quiet time anymore. Not to mention Sloan getting jipped a bit on her nap in the afternoon. Sloan is now going one day a week for about 4 hours. Her biggest hurdle right now is having mommy or myself leave her there. The whole discomfort of the unfamiliar will eventually subside. Q went through the same thing at her age. Once she gets use to the teachers and the other children, she will be fine. She's needs the socialization with other children her age as well as the time to get use to having those constant familiar people in her life not around all the time. Gotta love learning independence :) Sloan even takes a sack lunch to school each week which is kind of fun!

Due to both kiddos being in school and the times of day they are, we have had to switch our story time at the library day. It looks as though Ms Judy won't be the one reading on our new day, which is a major bummer. The kids absolutely love it when she reads and the fun songs they get to sing and dance to with her. To be honest I'm a little bummed about it myself. I enjoy story hour with the kids just as much as they do. But change can be good and we will adjust to the new storyteller in time. We are all adjusting to this new schedule. It will take some time but I think it is going to work out well.

Star Wars, Music and a Birthday

A couple weeks ago we celebrated Q's 5th birthday. Those that know the child, won't be surprised that it was Star Wars themed. He and ALL the kids, not matter their age, had such a great time... as did us adults! There was Star Wars Food (Padme Pizza, Death Star Donuts, Light Saber Pretzels and Yoda Soda), Star Wars Games, Star Wars costumes and even Star Wars Music! The biggest hit was the Jedi "Save the Hutlett" Mission where each child had to defeat Darth Vader at the end! It was a great birthday for the little man :)


Back to the Star Wars music... Both Q and Sloan LOVE the Weird Al Yankovik song "Yoda" I don't think there has been a day that has gone by where that song has not been played. Even Sloan will yell "Turn it up!" in the car. You know it's a good song if she's screaming that :) So if you'd like to hear this "Awesome song" as Q always says, click HERE.