We're going to the Kalahari!

Mike did some work in Cleveland (like he has been doing every week) so Hayden and I tagged a long for a few days this time. Now of course Cleveland isn't that exciting but usually I find us something to do in an area. So I found two more waterfalls and we also visited one we already saw a few years ago. Not to mention we went to Kalahari and to Cedarpoint. So we had loads of fun.

The plan was to leave after my soccer game on Tuesday night. We figured Hayden could run around tire himself out and then at 8:30 or so when we left he would sleep in the car. Well we get to the field and my game was cancelled. Very annoying. We could have left several hours ago! So we took Hayden to Blueberry Hill park and he had fun playing (mainly in the giant sandbox). We left at 8:45. Hayden stayed up for the 1st hour but never made a peep. He fell asleep the 2nd hour. When we got to the hotel at 11:00 I took him out of his car seat thinking he was so exhausted he wouldn't open his eyes. Wrong. He opened his eyes all excited looking around and taking everything in. I got him out of the car, he looked at the hotel and said "whoa!"

The next morning we got breakfast and took Mike to work. Then Hayden and I made the hour drive to Kalahari indoor water park and resort. My friend was there with her boys and we met up. This place is crazy. It is its own little world there. It is a huge resort with indoor/outdoor water park, tons of places to eat, a big arcade, miniature golf, crafts, several playgrounds, jumping areas, you can meet/touch exotic animals, you name it. We just went to the waterpark. Hayden did not like it at first. But he eventually got over is wimpyness and played and had a good time.


(nice face)

I thought it would be a more stressful drive but it wasn't. Hayden was perfect. He kept pointing out all of the trucks that went by. And I wasn't sure how it would be taking Hayden by myself in the park. But it was fine.

Funny story: On the way out I tried to put Hayden in front of the resort with the pretty pond and waterfalls in the background. They also had these geese that were like the size of an ostrich. Hayden didn't see them so we were good to go. I am about to take this cute picture and one of the geese honked at Hayden. I have never seen him run so fast or have the look of pure terror. It was so funny but I felt bad but couldn't stop laughing.

Another sort of funny story... Hayden did not like this Asian woman in line in front of us for food. he would curl his lip up at her, flash his teeth and hiss/snarl at her. Not sure why. Then he would take plastic forks and knives and stab her. I would take them away from but he kept getting more. I have no idea where he was getting these b/c they were on the counter he couldn't reach.

Here are the rest of the pictures. I will post Cedar Point and Waterfall pictures later:

Some Randomness

There was a coyote in our back yard this weekend. Crazy!!! Makes you feel real safe...

Its been hot so we went to the wave pool where my bad luck continued. We got in the water for a few minutes and a bolt of lightning was spotted. The only one. We had to wait 45 minutes to get back in. Try explaining that to a 1 year old.



But after waiting the pool was not very crowded and Hayden really enjoyed himself.
He gets many compliments on his body suit. It cracks me up. I got it b/c he is so pale. He likes to unzip it. He looks like Elvis when he does it!

Baywatch pose!!!!


Here are some other updates:

Hayden --

saying a few more words.

has peed on the potty 5x (along with the wall and everything else)

taking long naps right now. He tires himself out. He plays hard!

Enjoying the pool, the hose, etc.

The other day he pulled out poop from his diaper and showed it to me! Gross!

Is constantly asking me "Where did ______ go? (insert anything and lots of words that I can't figure out).



Mike --

travelling to cleveland and baltimore a lot for work.

helping build a railing on the basement stairs for hayden

doing lots of yard work

hoping his wrist is better so he can finally golf this summer



Brooke --

playing in 2 soccer leagues. I am not feeling it though. The girls we play are just getting younger and younger and I am getting older and slower

Got my 1st speeding ticket... :( Again with the bad luck (although I guess this is more self inflicted)

has a new case at work a 4 year boy. He is a cutie. And I am working with a 2 year old girl. I lucked out and got 2 great cases. I was nervous.

spent 2 weeks at Bible camp where all the boys are so bad. It scares me about Hayden some day. I always watch when I am at these things and try to see what kid reminds me of Hayden. I did the same thing at kindergarten. Those boys could be such a handful. I made sure I told the mom's who had the good/nice boys how great their boys are. I miss some of them.

getting ready for high school soccer season. Moving down to Single A and hoping to get a WPIAL championship to my name! :) Its going to take a lot of work though...


Mike and Brooke

we redid the path together

we did join a coed softball league together but mike fractured his wrist the 1st day so only i have been playing

Planning a trip to cedar point. We bought tickets before we had everything go wrong so we need to use them. Can't wait to ride the Dragster roller coaster. It goes from 0-120 mph in less then 4 seconds and sends you up 400 feet (straight up and down). Last time we were at Cedar Point it was broken all day and when it opened at night it was a 4 hour wait so we didn't get to ride.


And lastly,
The school district is fighting what we pay in taxes. They have reassessed the house and want us to pay back taxes for the last few years. I need to look into that some more and see what we can do about that. It never ends :)

Summer Fun

Nothing exciting to write about, just some fun pictures of Hayden and his cousin enjoying our nice weather. Good times.

Roaring Run

On Monday we went hiking in Roaring Run (near Apollo) with friends. We hiked the Rock Furnace Trail. We got to see some waterfalls, a suspension bridge, a rock furnace, and this huge rock (Camel Rock). Hayden had a great time. He loved playing in the water. He ran on the trail at some points. But boy did he tire himself out. The last 1/2 mile or more he fell asleep so I carried him up hill. It was so hot (90 degree weather).

4th of July Weekend

We had a super busy 4th of July weekend. On Saturday we went to Cousin Ava's 2nd Birthday Party. It was a beautiful day and Hayden had a blast playing with Ava and swimming. They seemed to get along pretty well. Hayden was more brave in the pool then he ever has been. He went into the water up to his neck.



Hayden was exhausted when we got home and immediately went to his crib and told me "night night".



On the 4th of July we went to Kennywood. Regan came along with us which was nice b/c Mike and I could ride some rides together. It may be our new tradition to go on the 4th b/c for most of the day the park was not busy at all. Hayden enjoyed the rides but you would never tell from his faces. He is so serious. I think his favorite was the little Phantom roller coaster. When it was done and I would unbuckle the seat belt he would yell at me and try to buckle it to stay on. He also loved the kangaroo.


On every ride hayden decided that he would lick the lap bar or the bar to hold on to. It was gross but he thought it was funny. He also licked Kenny the Kangaroo.




We enjoyed the food at Kennywood of course. We got our traditional potato patch fries and chicken fingers for lunch. Mike also had a chocolate dipped cone which he gets everytime and really wanted to share with Hayden. There was also funnel cake and slushies at some point...



We were at Kennywood from open to about 4:00 and got to ride and do everything we wanted. Hayden was exhausted and immediately fell asleep in the car.



The camera was dropped at Kennywood. It did work the rest of the day with a few glitches. But it is officially broke right now. I am sad.

Afterwards we went to Renee's and went swimming with the kids and watched fireworks(Hayden's 1st). I can't believe Hayden stayed up that long. He was pretty out of it by the end. He wasn't scared of the fireworks at all. And we had people setting real ones off right above Renee's house!




On Monday we went to Roaring Run. I will post pictures and more info about that later. I am too tired right now. I hope everyone had a great 4th of July.

More bad luck

You can also add to the list:
one lost ipod nano
and the worst one... A broken camera. Not a point and shoot but the SLR. It was dropped. Ugh!

PS. The picture is not an indication of how Kennywood went. Hayden had a great time. This ride just ticked him off b/c he could't reach the lever to make Dumbo go higher like the big kids. Oh boy was he pissed!

When it rains it pours!

We have run into some bad luck recently...
(I put a picture of Hayden in a Pirates shirt -- extremely unlucky!

Our Air Conditioner doesn't work. In fact it makes the house hotter I think.

Our deep freezer broke. Granted it was really old, but I don't want to buy a new one. So we lost some food in the thaw.

Mike's car is broke. It needs a new alternator, hopefully that is it.

Part of our driveway is collapsing.

Mike fractured his wrist in our co-ed softball league.

The tractor isn't cutting the grass right. That is a lot of grass to mow by push lawnmower.

My computer is dying.

We still get a little bit of water in the basement when it rains.

I mentioned that the stone path lost all of the sand underneath in the flooding and all of the rocks slid. Well now some of the rocks are cracking b/c we are still walking on it. So we need to fix that.

My work decided that the boy I work with does not need as much help. So they cut his hours from 30 a week to 4! That is a little drastic don't you think? So I am trying to round up some new cases quick (preferably not in the ghetto). That is a big difference in a pay check. Perfect timing!

Hayden has become quite the momma's boy. I find it annoying. No breaks for me. He is also whiney.

I only had 3 girls show up for a conditioning practice for the high school team. That is out of over 35 girls. Needless to say I was pissed!