Up and Over

Our Louisiana Trip for the Summer

This is our route to get us down south into the state of Louisiana, where Nate's parents recently moved to. We did the whole 15 hour drive in one shot getting there, but took two days on the way back stopping half way and relaxing at a hotel equipped with a pool for me and the kids, and a desk for Nate to study at for his final that next Saturday.

Our trip was traveling all day Sunday, enjoying every moment with Grandma and Grandpa Cottrell (especially their pool with diving board), and heading back Thursday with a Hotel night stay at the Pear Tree Inn in Missouri and arriving back safely home Friday night with time for Nate to do some additional studying.

Total miles traveled: 966 (each way)
States travelled though: Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana

Our destination was to Desterhan LA to Grandmas house!!

One of the neatest things on our trip down and back was the HUGE BRIDGE that we crossed to get over the great Mississippi River.

Heading up... getting closer...

The view from within the bridge.

How do they build things like this!

The car was oddly silently as the boys just stared outside while going through the bridge and once across both just screamed AWESOME... that was SO COOL!!

The boys were great travelers. We played trivia games, Animal guessing game, workbooks, drawing and of course we have a DVD player in the car and the Nintendo DS with the ever awesome Mario Bros and 40 other games thanks to my Dad and the game card he got for us.

I think I am done with the show Paul Bunyan for a while though, Hayden loves that Disney Movie that has short stories of Johnny Appleseed, John Henry, Paul Bunyan, Casey Jones. I think the boys watched that DVD over four times!

I was the designated crawler to the back seat to help kiddos with what ever they needed, and the conversation started between me and Nate. I sure he could attest to anyone that he is done playing the "What if" game of life with me right now. I think he had his fill when he replied "LF
(a nickname he has given me, short for Lacey Fay) just let me get done with school and then we will see what we can do about all you grand plans and wishful thinking"

I laughed at that and continued on crocheting and changed subjects to what he wanted to have for lunch. Men are always easier to deal with when food is in their belly! he he

Such a fun trip, which I will post more about soon!

Chicago Botanical Gardens!!

Being outdoors is always uplifting, but being surrounded by beautiful gardens and my family is that much better. The flowers are all bloomed in a variety of colors at the Botanical Gardens. Our plan for the day was to meet Nate for lunch, which doesn't happen too often just because his office building is about an hour and ten minute drive to get to, but it happens to be less then 5 minutes away from the Botanical Gardens. Nate was really busy at work preparing for some big meetings and for when he took some time off so Nate was coming just to lunch and then we would drop him back off at work, but he surprised me and got alot of his work done and took a half day so he could come with the family to the gardens. Awesome! The boys, and me were giddy!

Trying to get someone's attention. Did Justin not get the memo that every outing is a photo op?? He should be used to this by now.

These two are seriously best friends!

No peeps, you are not getting that perfect pic right now!!

There were alot of water fountains and little touch and play areas that the kids liked. Justin especially.

So many flowers!!

The boys found some big fish swimming about.

Sew Lately? Yes I have.

I was getting really tired of twisting and pulling back my vertical blinds, and I still had left over fabric from when I made this curtain and after doing alot of measuring and making sure I had my marks right before cutting I made this new pull back curtain. The dark fabric works great at keeping the heat out of the house. I like the look of curtains alot better than vinyl blinds. I quite enjoyed taking down the old icky blinds, using the power drill, filling in old holes in the wall, making them new again with matching paint, and putting up my new curtain rod. When its all done you can say AHHHHH much better.

I have enjoyed sewing lately, when I have the time and a project I believe I can accomplish. Since I am no seamstress and could easily mess up the fabric I am using, I tend to buy fabric when it is on a sweet deal (meaning cheap) and then figure out what sort of project I want to do with it. The fabric below was $1 a yard and they looked fun, so I called my friend Kelly who CAN be called a seamstress over for a sew your own apron/kid play date afternoon. Going through the steps of sewing is so much easier with someone else there you can turn to and say "Um, did I do that right?" when the answer is YES it's a good little moment!

And again talented Kelly hosts a DIY class for our ward and we were taught how to make these cute buttercup bags

They were really fun to make and I can check off being able to do ruffles and pleats correctly thanks to Kelly!!

First Cut

Today was Clayton's last day of Kindergarten and before he went on the bus (he has afternoon K) I cut all the boy's hair on the patio since we were already out playing in the pool. It's real easy clean up as far as cutting hair goes when you can do it outside and have a custom wash and shampoo session out in the kiddie pool!! I teased Clay and told him the neighbors might think this was the only way he could get a bath. ha ha ha He had some hard giggles about that one. This is Justin's first hair cut with the buzzers. I have given him quick little trims with scissors while in the bath tub before, but this was his first real cut. How did he do? AWESOME!! He sat better for me than his older brothers who couldn't stop asking "Are you done yet?" I was prepared to do touch ups with Justin when he had enough and would be done sitting still but no need, he didn't have a care in the world except for that mini tootsie pop I gave him before we started. You got to love those suckers that can keep any kid focused on eating them right up!

His hair isn't fixed in this pic but he definitely looks like a little man to me!

Now, it's Summer!!!

It really doesn't become summer time around here until we break out some sort of kiddie pool and relish in the nice hot weather. But even then it isn't complete until Nate can come home and do this to the boys!
You can tell Nate loves to play tons of games with his rowdy boys. Wrestling, hide N seek, basketball, baseball, splash dunk in the pool - you name it and he is game for it and usually comes up with a new version of everything to make it more fun.

Clay thought he could out smart Nate each time, but I see no pictures of Nathan being carried off into the pool and completely wet! After each dunking session, Clay would keep coming back for more, laughing the whole time.

Do you see the air time Hayden got!! He came up with wide eyes and a huge grin!!

This pool was filled just about two hours before the craziness began, so the water.... not so warm...in fact quite cold!!! But that does not stop the fun from happening!

Both boys had a splash surprise from Nate while fully dressed. I seriously can't keep a straight face when looking at these undee showing pictures of Hayden. Ha ha ha Are those Buzz Light year unmentionables there H! We finished the night off with Hot dogs, fresh homemade potato salad, pop, and no bake cookies out side on the patio. A great kick off to the summer season I think!

Hayden's Preschool Graduation

Hayden attends a preschool given by High School students in Crystal Lake. He has gone there for two years now and has a lot of fun. He has a lot of energy and a couple of times while waiting in the car to pick him up I have seen him pulling the arms of his teachers while running in place trying to make everyone to go at his pace.

Hayden has his best est friend Ethan in his class. Each one is always asking about the other and both are really excited when they see each other and can play. It is really fun when we have play dates and Clayton, Hayden, and Justin can play tons of boy games with Ethan and his little brother Blake.

At the graduation each preschool student was given an award. Last year Hayden was given the Monkey award because again his high energy and that he would give you a monkey face on cue. So this year it was funny to see him go from Monkey Award to Most intelligent!! I guess this means you can track Hayden's improvements through preschool from Monkey status to Einstein!!

Touch a Truck

A bunch of Fire trucks, Police Cars, Army Riggs, Ambulances, and Big Semis are just the thing for a bunch of boys!! The Touch a Truck Event at the Algonquin Commons Outdoor Mall
was tons of fun for my boys, they came back with fire hats, balls, coloring booklets and tried some good samples of the restaurants located throughout the outdoor mall area! Justin even gave us a lot of ohhhhhhs and ahhhhhhhs but mostly really liked his little soft soccer ball the policeman gave him.

Clay and Hayden said all the army stuff reminded them of their Uncle Ben, Nate's lil bro.

Star it up Man!!

I informed Hayden that he will never be this comfortable in the back of a police car!!

The fire truck was really neat with all it's buttons and control knobs everywhere.

Hayden pushing down hard to make this old time horn work.

And for benefit of Clay who took this picture I will post it. Clay had read the sign "Hot Mama" and thought it would be funny to take a picture of me by it. And me? Hey I will take any little props I can get, even if I think Clay was trying to make more of a joke about it!!

Arizona Zoo 2010

I LOVE the Zoo!! No matter how old I get I will never get tired of it! I am a little late getting the zoo post out but I didn't want to forget it, because it so too fun. At this zoo they have 2 times during the day where you can go and feed tropical birds. Everyone loves this. I mean really who doesn't crack a huge smile when a bird lands on your arm, or in my dad's case his head, and you are just fascinated with them. And a little cautious about being pooped on.

Hayden and his fun Aunt Sophie checking out the flamingos. Clay looked at them and said "What"s up with their legs?" ;) Of course the zoo has beautiful, amazing, and unique animals everywhere you turn but this peacock parading around the entire zoo was so cool. I wonder since he is not caged how they keep him the right areas? He must know its a good zoo and will stick around.

Justin had alot of fun too and like the petting zoo alot. There is no fear there, probably because it hasn't sunk in that these are live animals and not stuffed ones.

This year the zoo had a new aquarium exhibits with lots of weird under the sea creatures. Just outside the different aquariums, they had a new log ride you could take for an outrageous price of $6 per person, but having a great dad and grandpa around to make sure everyone experiences not only the zoo but a fun ride as well, we got on to be splash. Clayton was not for this ride at all. He like to get used to things before plunging on in. Not Hayden, he was all for it. This is not some kiddie ride either, it caught my breath a little on the way down the big drop and Hayden loved every minute of it. Saying "Again, that was so fun!"Hayden sat here and stared at the ride going up and down around and back again. Commentating the whole thing to himself. "Around the corner....then up up up the tower......down it goes SPLASH he he he he he .... that's cool" He is such a character.

Clay got to have his own fun with Grandpa Ron going and the Sky Ride over looking the whole zoo in the air.

Thanks so much Mom and Dad for such a great time. We all loved it!!

Dean's List

Nathan is never one to brag about himself. He is just not a boasting person, but since he has done something that pretty difficult to do I am going to do it for him!! If you can read the small print from the picture you will find out that Nate has been placed on the Dean's Honor List for his "superior scholastic record". (which were all A's including a A+). He has been working so hard toward his MBA which in is hard enough to get, but to be getting one from the University of Chicago is a completely different story. I am so proud of him and his accomplishments, which he continues to do every time he leaves to attend school every Saturday. Our family is looking forward to him finishing (which isn't for two more years) and having our Saturday's back together.

Thank you Nathan for all your hard work and diligence you put toward school, work, church and our family. We love you and admire all that you can do!! Clayton : "Way to go Dad, can we go for ice cream?"!!!

Traveling is CRAZY!!!!

Traveling is traveling. If it gets you to your destination then it has full filled it's purpose. But, traveling is also CRAZY!! I have done my fair share of CRAZY when traveling, biggest example: flying with two kids while 8 months pregnant alone with lay overs in 2 different airports totaling over 8 hours in airports CRAZY!! But obviously I will do anything to get me to a vacation and to see family members. Take my vacation to Arizona. Nathan found some great tickets to get me to Salt Lake City. The tricky part is that we are going to Arizona right!! This how it all worked out. 3 Tickets for me, Clayton, Hayden, and Justin is having a free ride on my lap. Fly out of Milwaukee WI to Chicago O'Hara airport. This I thought was CRAZY, seems it is better for me to waste plane fuel and drive to a different state only to fly back into Chicago to catch the connecting flight. O'Hara is the closer airport to me but flying directly from O'Hara was $200 more per ticket so we took the 15minute in flight plane ride, from Milwaukee to O'Hara. At O'Hara we board our plane to go to Salt Lake city where my mom and dad will be picking us up and we will be on our way to Phoenix after the ten hour car ride. Again, I am fine with this because I will be with family and go to Arizona, what's a little traveling time.

My boys are great travelers and mind well (for 6 and 4 year olds). They had fun with their cousin Eli who went with Mom and Dad to pick us up. We came into SLC at a good time, 2PM not way early and not way late for my parents to pick me up from Idaho, but it is a little late in the day when you need to put an additional ten hours worth of driving behind you. So we drove into the night. Justin is great in the car, and I was able to borrow my brothers car seat so I didn't have to luge it around the airport (HUGE PLUS) but, Justin was off on his game and only slept for the three hours of driving I contributed. Sore, tired, sick of junk food, and a major headache so worth it to pull up into that Thompson Family Arizona Retreat!!

I think the only down fall after you have just finished traveling and you have reached you destination, full of excitement and thrills waiting to happen, you have a lingering voice in your head saying "You know you will have to travel back don't you? You'll HAVE to travel back!" CRAZY VOICE!! This voice can be pushed back to the far end of the brain until the days go by and your travel time is approaching.

We will have to drive the ten hours back, say goodbyes, check bags, go through security with three kids alone, have a different airport to navigate around (Denver this time), wait the four hour layover, board the second plane to end up in Milwaukee and drive another hour to reach home. Justin was feeling a lot better after taking him to the immediate care and being confirmed that he had a double ear infection, so I wasn't too worried about him or my other two boys being good for me. The CRAZY thing happened while driving back to Utah. WE RAN OUT OF GAS!!! Are you kidding me! We left the Arizona house at 2 in the morning to get into Utah to make my flight back home and on the way we ran out of gas. My sister Sophie was driving and Dad told her to stop in Nephi when she saw the sign for it. Dad went asleep and I was taking care of bays and to Sophie's credit I didn't see any signs for Nephi anywhere either, only Mona next three exits same as she did. While there is nothing to really call "Mona" just exits to a few houses here and there, our car starts doing a pulsing motion and is slowing down. Sophie is not braking the CAR is STOPPING! She pulls over to the side of the road and is coasting until the car finally stops and will not start again. It is 1:00PM and my plane leaves at 2:54PM!! CRAZY!! We are not far from the airport, but with no gas we have a problem. Dad calls the State trooper and they dispatch someone to come help us. Time is ticking and we have no idea how long any of this is going to take.
When something like this happens, all you can do is laugh and try and fix it. I am always amazed at how my parents can handle CRAZY things happening. My dad runs his hand through his hair a few times and tries to figure out who to call. AAA? no we don't want to be towed. 911? but we aren't in serious danger we just need gas. 411? for a number to the police hmmm will that work? ending up using 911 and politely asking for the state police number. Mom is in the back playing a game with Clayton and Hayden calling family that was traveling also about our CRAZY predicament. Sophie was really sad but not her fault, it could have happened to anyone. Me, I was outside putting the last things in my suitcases so we could be ready to fly through the airport when we happen to arrive.

Nice Mr. Utah State police came and sat in his car which felt like forever then called someone else to help us and left. Again, on the bright side of all this we were able to watch some cool dynamite explosions they were doing on the side of the mountain where we HAD to pull off at. Must have be some sort of test being held because we saw four fire trucks parked and two police cars that pasted us heading to the mountain where over ten bright explosions on the side of the mountian all done in a row. A truck came up behind us that the policeman sent at 1:30 and gave us two gallons of gas. And where do you think the nearest gas station was? THREE miles up the road! THREE MILES, A CRAZY THREE MILES!! We were on our way again and arrived at the airport at 2:45 and my plane was to board at 2:52. We said our quick goodbyes and then booked it through the airport, not even being helped at the security or anything, but found our gate and boarded the plane at 2:57 PM. PHEWWWW!! We still had a long day ahead of us, but I was glad that no flights were missed and we were on our way. We started our day at 2 in the morning in Phoenix Arizona and traveled through Utah with a running out of gas stop, stayed a while in Denver Colorado with layover, landed in Milwaukee Wisconsin, and drove home to Lakemoor Illinois at midnight. That is 22 HOURS of traveling people!!

CRAZY as this travel day was I would do it again! I spent an awesome week with family, had some good talks with my mom and dad, went through alot of states and have a great story that I can tell! Thanks to Mom and Dad who were willing to pick us up and enjoy part of the CRAZINESS!!