Once-in-Lifetime! (pics)

Despite all the mishaps we still managed to get some great pictures... ENJOY!

Patrick's first train ride!

Lillie keeping herself entertained on the long train ride.

One of the ships out for a sail

Lillie with Patch and Pickle... real life pirates!

Ron & the kids

All the ships lined up one after another with Chicago in the background.

Gregg & Patrick on the boat

Lillie & Patrick checking out the inside of the ship

Captain Patrick, steering the ship

Lillie getting a better look

Family picture (minus Josh) on the boat

Lillie checking out the map... I couldn't tell her where we  were at though.

Gregg following Lillie's directions

The biggest ship there.... the Bounty

On the bus back to the train station

My caged animals... waiting FOREVER to catch out train home

SEE PREVIOUS POST FOR THE STORY BEHIND THE PICTURES!

Once-in-Lifetime!

This past Saturday Gregg, Lillie, Patrick, Gregg's dad Ron, and I went to Navy Pier to see the Tall Ships.  Lillie and I were very excited about it since this was mine, Lillie and Patrick's first time going to Navy Pier.  We decided to take the train into Chicago which was an 80 minute ride and meet Ron at the train station and then take the bus over to Navy Pier.  This sounded like a pretty fool proof plan to an awesome day but unfortunately it seemed as if everything was working against us.


Lets count the many things that went wrong with our trip:
1. The boys woke up extremely early which equated to two cranky little boys.

2. Had to wake Lillie up to catch the train which equated to a cranky little girl.

3. Had to turn the car around because we forgot our tickets.

4. Had to turn the car around AGAIN because we both forgot our phones.

5. Missed our train due to turning the car around twice, had to take a later train.

6. McDonald's completely messed up Gregg's coffee order which equated to a cranky big boy.

7. Right as we were getting ready to board the bus Lillie showed us that her flip-flop broke.

8. The Payless Shoes the bus driver directed us to was closed (another 30 minutes wasted).

9. Waited in line at McDonald's for 40 minutes before we got our food.

10. Realized I forgot Patrick's food at home.

11.  Waited in line at McDonald's dessert shop for 10 minutes to get Patrick a yogurt.

12.  Waited in line at McDonald's dessert shop for another 10 minutes to get Lillie a shake.

13.  Finally found Lillie another pair of shoes in the 6th store we stopped at.

14.  Lillie was a millimeter too short to go on the huge bouncy slide thing, both kids were upset.

15.  Waited in line for an hour+ to see a training ship built in 1989, not so thrilling.

16  When Lillie went to the bathroom the pee somehow shot right out of the toilet and got her underwear all wet and she had to spend the rest of the day with no underwear in a dress.

17.  After seeing our first ship we realized it was almost 5 o'clock and we wanted to catch the 5:45 train home.

18.  Passed much bigger, older ships on the way out and realized they only had 20 minute wait times.

19.  Missed our 5:45 train and now can't catch a train until 7:35.

20.  Two tired, cranky, bored children got on my nerves at Subway and I freaked out on everyone scaring a father/son to leave that was sitting next to us.

I am sure I'm missing something but I have already blocked it out of my mind :)


If it were not for the small amount of time we had to spend on the ships due to everything that went wrong we would have enjoyed our day more and saw more than one ship.  Despite it all we still managed to remain in good spirits (minus my Subway meltdown) and enjoy the beautiful day we had to spend in Chicago.


Lillie's favorite memory about the Tall Ships: "Going on the ships cuz after I waited in line for a long time and I got to see the worms wiggle"

This was the third time we took Lillie into Chicago and this is the second time she came home without underwear on... poor girl!

See next post for pics!

PeePee Water Camera

So it has been 2 VERY long weeks since Patrick decided to toss my camera into the toilet full of Lillie's pee pee water because she failed to flush and close the door (can you tell I'm trying to blame poor Lillie for this, not myself for leaving the camera within Patrick's reach).  Whoever is to blame it doesn't change the fact that I am lost without my camera.  If you know me you know that I never go anywhere without my camera for fear I might miss out on a memory.  According to my friends on facebook letting the camera sit in a bowl of rice was suppose to dry it out but unfortunately I guess it doesn't work on pee pee water.  Since we really can't afford to replace the camera I had my phone will have to do for now *wiping tears*  So if you notice a drastic decline in picture quality that is why.  I have already missed an outing to Monkey Joes, which was a blast for all 3 kiddos, AND my dad's 50th birthday.  Thankfully I am able to borrow a camera so that I will not miss our "Once-in-a-Lifetime" opportunity to see the Tall Ships at Navy Pier this weekend.  Below are some poor quality pictures for you to try to enjoy.

Big Boy Patrick drinking out of a cup

Josh napping on the couch in his "jean" diaper

All 3 hanging out in Lillie's bed

Our day at the beach

We recently took a trip to a local beach with my cousin's wife and their little girl who is 9 months old.  It was a beautiful day and all the kids had a great time.  Lillie loved that she could go all the way out to the ropes and still touch the bottom.  Patrick loved to eat the sand... I'm sure by the end of the day he had a whole handful of sand inside his belly.  He thoroughly enjoyed throwing and digging in the sand.  The jury is still out as to whether or not he likes the water.  Josh on the other hand is my water baby... not too sure about the sand. 

Memorable moments from our trip.  As I was out in the water with the boys, I look up onto the beach to check on Lillie and she is standing there completely nude screaming at me asking where her clothes are... c'mon kid you are killing me.  Also, Josh decided to have diarrhea in his NOT disposable swim diaper.  That was not very enjoyable to clean up.  I guess the reusable swim diapers definitely have their pros and cons.

The boys playing in the sand together

He just couldn't stop throwing the sand

Lillie in the water

Joshua all geared up

Lillie making sand castles

Patrick and Savanna

Patrick getting splashed

Skating

After about a 6 month hiatus from skating Lillie laced up her skates and took to the ice again.  Very quickly we learned that her skates were too small.  She hit quite a growth spurt this summer.  After a 15 minute drive there, another 15 minutes to get her dressed and ready to hit the ice she lasted one lap around the rink and called it quits.  Gregg has his work cut out for him if he wants her to play hockey, or maybe he should just start working with the boys.

Lillie on the ice.

Lillie waiting to get her skates off.

Lillie's "pink" skates she has outgrown

The boys checking out a hat at the hockey store.

I want a kitty!

We made a trip over to our local Petsmart to just "look" and Lillie fell in love with a nice little kitty.  On the way home she tells us "When our doggies are in heaven with God that is when I can get a kitty.  When I have my own daddy (she means husband) I can have my own kitty and my own room and my daddy can have his own room and the kitty can sleep in my room."  My response... "sounds like a great idea." 

Typical day in the life of the moron kids

8:00am Wake up, change 2 diapers, dress 2 boys, help Lillie pick out something that matches!
8:30am Make breakfast, feed Josh, clean up Josh, clean up Patrick
9:00am play, dance, color, or take a walk depending on weather
10:00am put boys down for a nap and pray they stay asleep and not wake each other up
10:15am feed myself breakfast, feed the dogs, feed Lillie a snack
10:30am unload/load dishwasher, flip laundry loads
11:00am spend some one on one time with Lillie
12:00pm feed Lillie lunch before the boys wake up
12:15pm change 2 diapers
12:30pm feed 2 little boys, clean 2 little boys
1:00pm play, play and play!
2:30pm watch a show, usually Yo Gabba Gabba, it keeps us all in a trance
3:00pm all 3 kids go down for a nap
3:15pm feed myself lunch, flip laundry loads again! clean up toys
4:00pm start getting dinner ready
5:00pm change 2 diapers
5:30pm YAY! Daddy comes home, everyone eats dinner
6:00pm spend family time together
7:30pm bath time
8:00pm bottles, books and bed for the 2 boys, Lillie gets some quality time with mom/dad
8:30pm books and bed for Lillie
9:00pm clean up toys and RELAX!

3 Little Morons

First ever attempt at blogging.

Let's see how this thing works.  I am going to attempt to blog to keep friends and family up to date with what goes on with my little family.  I say little family but I have been told that in today's society 3 children does not equal little, we classify as a large family.  Lillie is now 4 years, Patrick 15 months and Joshua 5 months.  Yes that is right my boys are only 10 months and 1 week apart.  I myself didn't even know such a thing can happen until it did.  They are officially Irish Twins and I will be the first to say I think having twins would have been much easier.  Who knows maybe next time we will get blessed with twins.

Here are the boys with their matching Big/Little Brother PJs

Today we will attempt to go to the library and get signed up for a library card.  As far as I have seen online I am not too impressed with our local library.  They do not have many programs that I could bring all 3 children to, what am I suppose to do; leave two at home to take care of each other, pay a babysitter... geesh what is a mama to do.