IA Looper Visit

I had planned with my Looper friend, Suzanne, to meet at the park in Sioux City, IA on day one of our trip to CO. I wasn't sure what to do when the Lambs had their rash. The doctor said it wasn't contagious so we went. My dad took a nap in the car while the Lambs played on the playground with Suzanne's grandchildren.

The playground had this banking center that Lamb 2 loved.
Suzanne with Lamb 3

Grace with Lamb 3

Lamb 1 tried this on a playground in WI, but he got afraid. I was impressed that just a few weeks later he attempted it and went all the way across several times.

Lamb 1 and 2 had to do banking with Grandma and everyone one more time before we left the playground.

Grandma with Lamb 3

Ewe with the Lambs with Lincoln, Grace, and Mary

First of many photos that Lamb 1 wouldn't cooperate on this trip

Ewe with Suzanne-it was great to chat for a little bit

When I went to the Mamapooloza in March, I thought the Lambs would really enjoy the Lewis and Clark center. I was able to show it to them. My dad enjoyed the WWII exhibit.

It was very hot, but it was nice to stop and play with Suzanne's grandkids. Suzanne provided lots of juice and cookies too. It was nice to have a goal for the day that the Lambs understood-we were driving to stop at a park and play with kids. Suzanne's grandkids were great with the Lambs. It was nice to have the Lambs run around before we continued driving to Lincoln, NE.

Echo Virus

While we were on the farm field trip, I noticed Lamb 3 had a small rash on his arms. It looked like small dots. I figured either he was sensitive to walking through the grass or the heat bothered him.
The next day, we noticed all 3 Lambs had this rash, but Lamb 1 was the worst. It was nap time and we were getting ready to go to CO the next day. We decided Ram would take Lamb 1 to the doctor while the other Lambs took their nap. I thought they either had a heat rash or something like poison ivy from the farm.
Ram called me from the clinic with the bad news that the nurse didn't know what they had, but it wasn't anything like poison ivy. They had to wait to see the doctor or we wouldn't be able to travel.
The doctor said they had Echo Virus. The closest description was it was like rubella, but they were all vaccinated for rubella so it wasn't rubella. The doctor sent them for over the counter anti-itch medication and said it just needed to run it's course. 48-72 hours they would be fine. They may be itchy and grouchy until then.
I couldn't decide if we should go on the trip or not. It was extra late when I was packing and we got a late start the next morning, partly because I just wasn't sure what to do. The drive to Denver they were itchy and grouchy. They looked like they had the measles-especially Lamb 1. By the time we got to Denver the rash was almost all gone. I'm so glad we decided to go to the wedding even though they had a rash because by the wedding it was completely gone.
I was talking to our relatives when we got there about the Lambs and their rash and how we almost didn't come. Then I said I needed to get going so we could go swimming. My mom's cousin's son freaked out-"you're taking them swimming when they have a rash!" I assured him the doctor said we could travel and by this point it wasn't contagious any more.
I have no idea how they got this-I think they had it before the farm field trip. I don't know if they got it on our WI trip or somewhere else.
I just don't understand-the Lambs are not in daycare and we seem to always get things like this, Fifth Disease, etc. I want them to get chicken pox naturally and we can't seem to get that.
My poor parents had to travel with grouchy Lambs all the way to Denver because of the rash. Then on the way home they were grouchy because they were tired.

Farm Field Trip

The early childhood group in the town 7 miles away arranged a field trip to an organic farm near us called Earthrise Farm. We went on June 23, in between our vacation to WI and then to CO. My parents drove all day on Monday, June 22, to get here from IN. They were able to go on the field trip with us. We all enjoyed the evening at the farm even though it was really hot.

Ram with Lamb 3. Lamb 3 loves swings.

Checking out and tasting the herb garden

Lamb 2 with Lambs Ear plant-very soft

Ewe and Lamb 3 with Lamb's Ear

Grandpa with Lamb 2 by the grape vines

Lamb 2 feeding the goat purple flowers

Lamb 1 is afraid of animals, especially afraid that animals will lick him. He has never got this close to goats at the zoo. It was quite a feat for him to feed the goat. Later on he went back to feed the goats some more.

Lamb 1 eating strawberries in the strawberry patch. He tried to go back later for more, but we didn't let him.

Ram helping Lamb 2 in the strawberry patch

Lamb 2 eating a pink cupcake at the end of the field trip

We also listened to a story in a yurt, saw chickens and learned about chicken eggs, saw cats and kittens and dogs, and toured an old schoolhouse. We asked if we could buy some of those nice farm eggs and she gave us a couple dozen! It is quite a drive out there, but we are considering buying our eggs there. We eat a lot of eggs and WIC doesn't give us enough eggs. It would be wonderful to get the nice farm eggs. We all enjoyed the farm. The early childhood group is considering this to be an annual field trip. I don't know if the adults, the "farmers" or the children enjoyed the evening more!

Celebrating the 4th in a small town

Our town of 113 people celebrates the 4th of July with a lawnmower parade, town potluck, and some people play baseball.

Lamb 1 and 2 wore these headbands, but I didn't think to take a photo of them. Here's Lamb 3 trying to take his off.

Lamb 3 hates to wear hats. We convinced him to wear one if Ram held him during the parade.

Lawnmower parade

More lawnmower parade

Float in parade

Lawnmowers lined up after parade

Some of the vanilla and chocolate cupcakes the Lambs and I made-lots of sprinkles, star decorations, and flags

Lamb 1 rode his bike to and from the parade. We weren't in the parade this year. Last year it was a little long for Lamb 1 to ride his tricycle around town. It was fun to be the audience too. We don't own a riding lawnmower to be in the parade.

Happy 4th of July!

Dental visit

Lamb 1 has caps on his teeth so he goes to a pediatric dentist 3 hours away. When Lamb 2 turned 2 we began taking him to the same dentist. They had an appointment the beginning of May, but the dentist canceled it due to a death in his family. Yesterday was the first opening for them.
Good news-the areas of Lamb 1's mouth that the dentist has been concerned about since he got caps on his teeth are very healthy! He had a few areas (not where the caps were) that we were told to brush extra well and they looked good to the dentist.
Extra great news-Lamb 1's bottom front teeth are starting to get loose. We didn't notice it, but the dentist did. After the bottom front teeth fall out, then the top front teeth will. We're getting closer to being done with caps. That means we're getting closer to allowing sticky foods like lollipops again. It has been difficult to say no to Lamb 1 for things like Rice Krispie treats.
More good news-Lamb 2's teeth looked good as always.

Costco

A while ago, one of the blogs I read, mentioned how much they like Costco diapers and wondered if it was worth a Costco membership. We live 4 hours from Costco so we only go a few times a year. We LOVE Costco! We don't have a Sam's Club membership, just a Costco membership.
When we had supper with the Kolb family at CCA, we had a conversation about what products we really like from Costco. I thought I would blog a little about this.
Here is our system-we got an American Express Card from Costco and we charge every place that accepts American Express and pay it off at the end of every month. Our rebate the last few years has been around $150 with this system. We use the rebate to pay for the annual membership. So I figure we get a free membership plus about $100 to go shopping at Costco every year. We do not buy gas with our American Express card because we have another charge card that gives us a better rebate for that. The last rebate that we redeemed, the clerk said it was one of the biggest ones she had redeemed. I find that hard to believe, but I do know $150 is a nice rebate check!

The photo above, we bought ice cream cones last time. We needed ice cream cones and the Lambs were excited about all the different kinds in the box. I should have realized it was a Costco size box-we won't need to buy ice cream cones for a very long time!
We love the produce at Costco, especially the avocados. We only buy avocados at Costco and we make lots of guacamole when we have avocados. I bought some organic raspberries last time we went and made jam with them.
The refrigerated section has mango peach salsa that is great.
We drink rice milk, not cow's milk, and they have excellent prices on it, but they don't have it every time we shop there. We buy 6 cases when we get there.
Ram's mom brought us biscotti last time and it was great!
We even bought Ram's new car through the Costco buying program-excellent prices and he got a car with only 6 miles on it.
Ram had to go visit someone in the Twin Cities the week before we went to WI. He was able to go do all the major shopping at Costco and had no problem fitting it in the car when we weren't with him. Then on the way home from WI, we all went to Costco. It was a fun trip as we didn't have to buy the basics (TP, rice milk, etc.) and there was plenty of room for what we did buy. It was great to go to Costco twice in two weeks!
The Kolbs told us we had to try the ice cream bars at the snack bar at Costco. We let Lamb 1 and 2 have one each for their lunch. They were delicious. Next time I will have Lamb 1 and 2 split one because they are so huge-I should have known they were Costco size!
We can't buy much that is frozen or refrigerated at Costco because we have no way to get it home over the 4 hour drive.

The closest Costco to us is in the Twin Cities. The next closest is in Billings, MT. There just aren't Costcos in this part of the USA!
We think Costco is worth the membership even though we only get there a few times a year. Those of you that live closer to Costco than we do would be able to take advantage of Costco even more than we do. What products do you like from Costco?

Visiting the Torkelsons

After Divine Service on Wednesday night at CCA, we stayed at the hotel with CCA. We ate breakfast and let the Lambs go swimming before checking out of the hotel. Ram took turns taking one of the older Lambs swimming while I sat with the other two on the steps of the pool. Our system worked great and all 3 Lambs really enjoyed swimming. None of the Lambs have had swim lessons yet so I wasn't sure how it would go.
Then I was able to have a nice chat with Glenda while Ram was kind enough to take the Lambs upstairs and give them a long bath and Glenda's kids were swimming. We checked out of the hotel and headed over to Watertown, WI to our friends, the Torkelsons. Jennifer and I are friends from college. They moved last year so they were able to give us a tour of their huge house. Lamb 1 is afraid of cats and they have several, but he survived. The Lambs enjoyed playing with "girl toys" at their house. We visited most of the afternoon and then drove to the Twin Cities and stayed in a hotel.
Jennifer was due to have a baby any day when we visited. BETHANY ELIZABETH was born on June 26, 2009 at 3:48AM. They now have two boys and three girls. We are so excited for them!