Nyla progression

Buddy wanted me to put a progression of pictures of Nyla like I did with Bohdin last year.  So here is a picture of her taken every July for the past five years. 

Nyla's birthday

Nyla was extremely impatient for her birthday and asked me a million times if she could open her presents.  By the time it was actually time for her birthday celebration I was exhausted from having said no for days.  She did open several cards and presents early.  Buddy had the genius idea of reusing Cora's cake.  I cut the cake in half and stacked it to make it taller and made some new pink frosting.  Nyla wanted a castle cake but after looking at numerous pictures of castle cakes she didn't like any of them.  That worked out fine for me since I'm not a cake decorator.  Instead she had a pink cloud with sprinkles and roses.  I made sugar cookies to use to decorate the cake but she didn't want that.

I made Nyla's requested dinner which was fettuccine alfredo.  She was impatient to open her presents so she ate quickly and wanted to open presents before anybody else was done.  She had complained earlier that it was the worst birthday ever since I didn't let her invite anybody over but once the little celebration began she enjoyed it and declared it the best birthday.  I had made a deal with her weeks earlier that if she didn't have a big birthday party we would go to Disney World.  Buddy has more vacation time that he must use before October.













Her two favorite presents were the pink cabinet in the picture above.  It has beanie baby bears and lots of clothes.  Her other favorite present was a doll made by her great grandmother.  In addition she received some movies.  Bohdin bought her Tangled which she loves and she also received some Japanese movies.   She likes the Miyazaki moves and luckily they have them at Costco right now for a great price.  She has been asking for them every single time we go.  It's amazing that I was able to buy them without her noticing.  She also received some money and has one more present from Paul and Jen on the way that I know she will love.

Cora's birthday

Since it was her birthday I let Cora paint.  I don't let her paint as often as she would like because she is messy and always demands more paint than is necessary.  Her preferred method of painting is squeezing the entire bottle onto a piece of paper.  If she can't do that then she wants to squeeze several bottles worth of paint onto her palette.  As soon as there is a smidgen of room on the palette she wants more paint than she had before.  It never ends well.

Once Buddy came home from work we had dinner.  Cora seems to like my lasagna so I chose that since she couldn't choose for herself.  After dinner it was time for cake and presents.  Cora picked out the dinosaur cake at Costco earlier in the day and cheered when I put it in the basket.  Nyla wanted her to choose the princess cake and Bohdin wanted her to choose the cupcakes.  One out of three kids was happy with the choice.  Cora blew out the candles but didn't eat any cake because she was too busy with the presents.  She had opened one before dinner and was already wearing her new birthday pants.  I can't believe she is already two.









Bohdin has been wanting to play mini golf for years apparently.  He loves it and had a few near misses during our trip so I told him we would go when we got back.  Bohdin originally wanted to play all day but one round in the heat was enough for him.  Nyla petered out toward the end but finished.  She doesn't love miniature golf nearly as much as Bohdin.

Chicago

We made it into Chicago on Wednesday for lunch.  Buddy and I spent our anniversary in Chicago 7 years ago with an infant Bohdin and loved Frontera Grill so we came back again.  It was our second time sitting down in a restaurant during the trip.  Cora is not good at sitting.  She doesn't sit well in restaurants, shows, a car, a shopping basket, etc.  We were a little rushed during our meal because Cora has so little patience for sitting.  It was nice but would have been nicer if Cora could sit still instead of moving around so much.

After lunch we tried to Priceline a hotel but had difficulty.  I had looked up rates before our trip but Chicago had a huge influx of visitors and there were hardly any hotel rooms.  While Cora was sleeping and we were sorting out that problem I dropped off Buddy, Bohdin, and Nyla at the planetarium.  They saw a show and wandered the museum.  I stayed in the car with a sleeping Cora until she woke up.  We joined everybody else but once we got past the fun kid stuff her patience wore thin and she cried to leave.

After leaving the planetarium we were finally able to find an available room in the city but it was out by Midway airport. We decided to stay in town longer before checking in to the hotel.  We phoned in a carryout order for deep dish pizza from Gino's East and headed in rush hour traffic toward the restaurant.  We thought we might also see the Cirque show at Navy Pier.  We parked in the middle and I went to pick up the pizza while Buddy took the kids to get tickets.  The pizza took longer to make than they anticipated so I was a few minutes late to the show and we missed the first part.  Cora liked the show for about 4 minutes then became bored.  She was restless and I finally had to nurse her to keep her somewhat still.  The show was good and luckily it was shorter than their usual shows.

Navy Pier had a fireworks show shortly after but Nyla and I missed most of it because she needed to go to the bathroom four minutes before it began.  We saw some of it as we made our way back to everybody else.  Immediately after the show it began raining.  The rain wasn't coming down too hard but it was really windy.  We had to walk through that to our car many blocks away.  At first Nyla didn't like it but I told her it was an adventure and she would always remember our rainy night in Chicago.  The kids were able to change into dry clothes in the car and they all fell asleep on the way to the hotel.


Cora having a Marilyn Monroe moment over the air vent.



Nyla with one of the Cirque performers.


The next day we were supposed to spend a couple of hours in the Field Museum before leaving Chicago but it was so big with so much to see we stayed over three hours. Cora fell asleep just as we were about to leave.  Buddy had her in the carrier because neither she nor Bohdin are very good at staying close.  We tried it earlier in the Egypt exhibit and it was bad. I caught up to the kids going down a narrow spiral staircase a good distance from Buddy and I.  Bohdin's favorite part was the gem room.  Nyla was really excited about the dinosaurs until she saw the dinosaur area.  Maybe she liked the kid area the best.  Buddy and I enjoyed the Genghis Khan exhibit.


Nyla and Cora looking down at the mummy.

Cora slept for about two hours in the car.  Once she woke up she was miserable.  It took us a long time to get home with all of the stops.  If she wasn't the one making noise then it was Bohdin and Nyla playing/fighting.  It was so bad I stopped the car and rearranged car seats so they were no longer next to each other.  Neither of them like the new setup but it is quieter.  We eventually made it home after 9:30.  It was good to be home.

Racine Pictures

Door County

The view from our picnic table at Whitefish Dunes State Park





Nyla jumping over a wave after watching Bohdin do it








































Bohdin is in the center.  It was so shallow that he was able to go really far out.




Butterfly on his head



Getting ready for the glow stick parade




Door County is on a narrow peninsula in Lake Michigan so it has a lot of beach.  On our way up we stopped at Whitefish Dunes State Park.  We broke out the camping stove and made some local hotdogs.  The kids didn't like them because the casing was a bit snappy.  I think they shouldn't go to Germany to eat frankfurters.  

After eating we went to the nature center and then down to the beach.  We didn't bring our bathing suits but I don't remember why.  The kids enjoyed walking along the beach and Bohdin ended up going in anyway.  Nyla stayed close to shore and jumped the waves there.  Then she and Cora dug in the sand.  She doesn't like waves as much as Bohdin does.  It was a nice beach but we couldn't spend too long there because Buddy wanted to get our campsite set up before it became too late.

The tent went up pretty quickly.  We were set up in no time.  As the evening went on Bohdin developed a fever.  While he slept I took Nyla and Cora for a walk.  We went down to a nearby dock and played at a playground.  Cora was having a clumsy evening and tripped numerous times.  She left the campground with clean clothes and arrived a dirty mess.  She was also having a stubborn evening and several times refused to walk any further.  I didn't take her for another walk the entire time we were there.  

The next morning we went to the local beach.  We arrived there about midmorning and it wasn't crowded.  Even when we left it wasn't very crowded but there were more people.  It was a small beach and Bohdin was disappointed about the lack of waves.  The water was very shallow so Bohdin was able to go out a great distance and never get above waist level.  Buddy built a sand castle and all of the kids helped.  Buddy wanted to find some stones to decorate his castle and discovered 
some small Petoskey stones in the water.  We all started digging trying to find more.  Cora would randomly bring stones she had found over and it usually was a Petoskey stone.  She made it look easy.  Buddy and I sorted through hundreds of stones and found a handful.  Cora sorted through a dozen stones and found as many as us.  She didn't even know what we were looking for.  

After Cora's nap we went to the other side of the peninsula which is the bluff side.  We stood on the scenic overlook and looked out over the vast size of Lake Michigan.  The kids have zero patience for scenic overlooks and just played tag or something.  We drove around the tip of the peninsula and saw the ferry for a nearby island.  We continued around the peninsula and stopped at Europe Bay Beach.  When we got near the water we noticed the smell.  I've smelled enough cow manure in my life to recognize the smell on the beach. I soon found the evidence.  The beach was covered by dried cow manure.  The water near the shore was greenish where the manure had become wet.  It was really gross.  There were some people swimming so we walked down a bit to see if it was better where they were.  It wasn't.  The beach was strewn with rocks and we soon discovered that it was a treasure trove for Petosky stones which made us forget the smell.  We found so many including some big ones.    

During the night, Nyla and Cora showed signs of becoming sick.  They had caught Bohdin's cold.  Neither had it as bad as Bohdin but it did make for a less than restful night.  In the morning the girls weren't in top form and we just hung out for most of the day. Cora had trouble going to sleep for her nap because it was so humid.  The temperature was only in the low to mid 80s but it felt like an oven inside of the well ventilated tent.  Eventually we went for a drive so Cora could go to sleep.  She finally did and Buddy stopped and picked up cherries, fudge, and smoked fish while Cora slept in an air conditioned car.  It wasn't a long nap but it was a nap.  

In late afternoon a little girl had finally arrived at the campground.  Nyla had went for a walk the day before searching for a friend but was unsuccessful.  When she spotted a girl her age she talked to her and asked her to play.  Since the family just arrived they wanted to set up camp first.  Nyla waited very impatiently for the girl to show up at the playground but she never did.  We bumped into her again at the bathrooms and Nyla asked her to play again.  She couldn't because they were going to the beach.  Nyla came back to the campground and one minute later we were all getting ready to go the beach.  The little girl never showed up at that beach but that was fine.  It was just the push we needed to get 
out.  It was windy so Bohdin was hoping for some waves.  There were some small waves so he had fun in the waves.  Cora was cold so I sat with her on the beach.  

That night it was sweltering in the tent.  Nyla fell asleep pretty quickly and Bohdin did eventually but Cora could not.  It was hours before she finally fell asleep and she slept fitfully through the hot night.  It was really really windy but the wind was high up.  I laid there listening to the wind rhythmically swaying the tops of the trees above us.  It was so windy that with every gust I expected our tent to blow away but we never had so much as a slight breeze down near the ground. It was frustrating.  It was the only night that it was too uncomfortable to sleep.  The night before I was actually slightly chilly.  

Bohdin woke me up early and I started packing up our campground.  It took way longer than I expected.  We all worked hard and it still took over two hours.  The original plan was to stop at Whitefish Dunes again but instead we stopped at a dairy.  They had a window so we could see the cows being milked.  Buddy was fascinated.  It was an industrial operation with automated milking equipment.  Cora enjoyed seeing the small animals.  Only Buddy enjoyed the milking portion.  Cora 
was getting tired and everybody was getting hungry so we had lunch instead of going to the beach.  I drove to Milwaukee while everybody else slept.  Buddy woke up as we neared the brewery but I had to wake all of the kids up.

At Lakefront Brewery we did the tour which was pretty good but ruined a bit by the baby there.  Cora was inpatient and squirmy so we had to leave early.  I didn't hear as much as I hoped which was unfortunate because our tour guide was really funny and it seemed to be a good tour.  

Buddy really wanted to check out the beach in Racine so we didn't do anything else in Milwaukee before heading south.  We stopped at our hotel room for a quick bite to eat then went to the beach.  We took too long because the cold front had already passed through.  I thought it was too cold to get in the water but Buddy and Bohdin did not.  They spent a lot time in the waves.  Nyla played in the sand and Cora did a little of everything before she became cold.



Nyla:  It was super duper duper duper duper fun and hot.  I liked sleeping.  I liked the glow stick train.  The glow stick train was really fun you know.  There were fossils in the stones.  

Bohdin:     It was really fun.  I went to three beaches and all three of them had waves but the third one (Racine) had the biggest waves.  I slept in a tent three times and we made a campfire twice.  It was just really fun.  I also really enjoyed looking for Petoskey stones.  Actually I enjoyed having them more.  They are really interesting.  Me and Nyla had a glow stick parade and it was just a super parade.  Me and Nyla both wore two bracelets and one crown made out of glowsticks and we both held one glowstick and I was leading a really long glow stick train and Nyla was following at the end.  Cora followed most of the way.  

Green Bay

Cora's face after running into a corner.



Friday in Wisconsin is Fish Fry Friday.  Restaurants all over the state offer fried fish.  We took part in a small place in Green Bay.  It had the feeling of everybody knowing everybody.  An elderly gentleman at the next table over chatted with us while we waited for our fish to arrive.  His poor wife had five babies in five years.  The first two were just under a year apart.  Once our food came his wife urged him to be quiet and let us eat.  The fish was good.  We had perch, whitefish, and blue gill.  The fried cheese curds were good as well. 

After dinner we headed to a small amusement park on the shores of Lake Michigan.  The rides were 25 cents to 50 cents each.  Those cheap rides add up fast.  Bohdin did four because his rides were more expensive but Cora was able to do seven I think.  They all had a good time.  I think Cora liked the little cars the best. 

We pricelined a hotel for the night and got an extended stay place.  The reviews on Tripadvisor were lukewarm so I was expecting the worst.  When we arrived, Bohdin and Nyla declared it the best hotel ever.  They were like condos with four units to a building.  It was a studio apartment with a kitchen, one bed, and a foldout couch.  It wasn't nearly as bad as the reviews led me to believe but I don't think it was the best hotel ever as the kids did. 

Bohdin didn't sleep well there because he developed a cold and was very congested.  He woke us up in the middle of the night and Buddy couldn't go back to sleep.  He went to Walmart to pick up camping supplies instead.  After breakfast in the morning we were off to Door County.

Nyla loves carousels and was looking forward to riding one for a long time.  She calls them carouswheels.  Nyla is 42" which is the minimum height for some of the rides.  She did the tall swing instead of the little kid swing.  I thought she would get scared but she didn't.

Nyla:  I liked the carouswheel.  That swing one was just like the other one but it was higher and the buckles were different.  I went by myself this time.  And he measured me.

Bohdin:  My favorite ride was the one where we just spun around and around and around.  It was very fun and it was colorful.  My other favorite ride was the train.  We all went on it and it was very fun.