could a day be any longer?...

Today has been one ROUGH day! In a matter of a few days I came down with something similar to the flu. I ache ALL over, have a fever & my cough is TERRIBLE! I feel like someone is standing on my chest when I cough. Sucks to be me! My Dr finally called some meds in for me so hopefully I will be on the mend soon! Bad part is that it seems that Cam & Bren have caught it too! I know it will not take long for the plaque to infect the other two! ugh! Let's just say if I could I would have stayed in bed ALL day I would have! To make my plight a little better I tried something new. I did an early morning nap, something the tribe has not had in like a year! All seemed good when they went right down at 1045. No crying or craziness, just peace & quiet! There I was in bed "resting", ahhh... That was until Mr B woke up around 1130 wailing. Remember, he is the sickest of the bunch! I carried him into our room & he laid there content as could be next to his mommy! Awh... If I wasn't SO sick I would have taken a picture! LOL! We ended up lounging in there for about an hour until lunch time. I could actually make lunch for all of us without interruption because the girls were still sleeping! They slept for about 3 hours! CRAZY! This late morning nap may be worth something after all! LOL! The only downfall was that they were wired ALL afternoon. That rest gave them more energy to get into even more trouble! Like I said it was a BAD day! To make matters worse Daddy is leaving me alone tonight due to a meeting he has to attend. I literally want to put us all to bed right after dinner! Wonder if they would even notice the time change, hmm... All I know is that come bed time I will be saying...

could a day be any longer?...

Teddy Bear Park...

OK, While on a recent vacation to MN my friend Marisa brought Camryn, Clare, her friend Eden & me to this really COOL park. Once I saw it I just RAVED about it, so much so that I decided I should do a post about it. It would be a dream come true if someone down my way would build a park like this near us! But since I doubt that will happen any time soon I can just dream! (= First off the park is located in downtown Stillwater, about an hour outside St Paul, in what looks like the side of a mountain. I think they call it bluffs, what do I know, I am a native Floridian. LOL! This is one COOL park! I took as many pictures while we were there & researched it once we got home. It is fittingly called Teddy Bear Park because children can never have TOO many Teddy Bears! There is this HUGE one near the entrance that reminds me SO much of the Teddy Bear from in front of the Children's Hospital at St Mary's. The adjoining hospital to where our quads were born. I think they got it from FAO Schwartz. You know the coolest toy store ever! It's BIG & bronze! Has plenty of room on it's lap for many a child to sit & pose for a picture! Trust me! We took MANY a picture! (= After taking a walk around I found this plaque about how the park came to be. A family must have donated a LOT of money to have this park built for the children of Stillwater. COOL beans! What a nice thing to do for the children! They spared NO expense. There are man made tree houses, a replica bridge to match the one they have in town, a zip line, cliffs to climb on and TONS of cool play areas designed like trains & boats. They say the park is designed for children from the age of 6 months to 7 years. Heck I am no longer a kid but enjoyed it just the same! They even have a building to house parties in! COOL huh!? The girls LOVED every part of this place! I made sure to get as many pictures that I could. My picture do not even come close to capturing this park at it's best! You really need to check out their website. Here is a picture of the girls before we left! Aren't they adorable? Always posing for a camera! (=If you are ever in the neighborhood you should definitely check out...

Teddy Bear Park...

date night...

I have tried to make a concerted effort these past several weeks to actually go on a date with my hubby. This is a major feat considering our schedule. It seems that when he is off, I am working, I am off, he is working... So we need to actually plan this WAY in advance! My goal is to schedule one date night a month. We even found the BEST babysitter when we are staying at Grandma's, Miss Chelsea. She & I go WAY back! In fact I hold the distinct honor of being the only adult invited to her birthday parties! Yes, I was there at the roller rink skating away. What can I say I have always been one of the kids! Now that I am BIG, haha, and have kids of my own it seems only fitting to have her come over to babysit the tribe. This babysitting thing is new to us because we never get to go on "dates". But I know how important it is for our marriage to stay strong, for us to get "alone" time. The very first night she babysat we decided to have dinner & a movie. We tried out Bonefish Grill. I know, that place has been around forever & why is it that we are just now trying it out!? Well, like I said we don't get out much! Let me tell you we had a great time! They have some YUMMY food! I was SO excited that I got to "date" my husband, WOO HOO! We spent so much time at the restaurant chatting up our bar side neighbors that we missed being able to catch a movie! )= The only good part was that I knew we would not have to wait long for our next...

date night...

a place like no other...

For years I have told people about my "list", the list of places I want to go & people I want to see before I died. These days they call it a "bucket list". I consulted & attained MANY items off this list BQ, before quads. I was a world traveler. Ask my nieces, they would get post cards from my many travels. Well those days are OVER! I am lucky if I can take a trip to the bathroom by myself let alone a trip to a far off place. LOL! Now that the tribe is getting older & I am getting feistier I have started making plans to take THEM places. When their "list" & mine cross paths I get excited! Since Camryn's godmother Marisa, one of my dearest friends, lives in MN, near the Mall of the America's I knew we would both get items checked off our lists! The Mall of the America's has been on my list FOREVER! It is one of those places that you just HAVE to see in person! It has four floors of shops, shops & more shops! PLUS it has a roller coaster & a buttload of rides like a carnival has. It is AMAZING! I am a shopper, I hate to admit it but I am. I just love to shop! Ok let me clarify myself, I can spend the day shopping even if I never buy a thing! I like to dream of the day when we win the Lotto & the lack of money is out of the equation FOREVER! Don't get me wrong, I can be frugal but I also like nice things, always have, always will. I would much rather save my $ for a NICE item then waste it on something crappy! SO when my dearest friend Marisa moved to MN I knew I would get to check off shopping at the Mall of the America's! WOO HOO! This trip took many failed attempts until the planets aligned just right & we actually boarded the plane & put our feet down on the Minnesota soil. Trust me when Marisa said we'd be spending the afternoon at the Mall of the America's I was psyched! The mall is HUGE! The section with all of the rides in it is done up with a Nickleodeon theme. There was Dora & even Sponge Bob coasters! I am NOT a roller coaster enthusiast at all! But being that this was a once in a lifetime trip I sat my butt down on the first roller coaster I saw. There I was flying through the sky on Sponge Bob! See the things you'll do when on vacation! LOL! One cool thing Marisa planned for us was lunch at the American Girl Bistro. You can actually eat with your doll sitting in a high chair at your table. WILD! If you have a daughter under the age of 10 then you know all about the American Girl & their ability to suck you in hook, line & sinker! We had such a fun time & the food was actually VERY yummy! Years ago I told myself when I had a daughter I would not fall for those gimmicks but there I was! After our yummy lunch I was searching the store for an "Itty Bitty" baby doll that looked just like Camryn. Yep I am one of "those" mom's now! ha! First off, they don't have a sandy blonde "Itty Bitty" with brown eyes! What is up with that!? They have the more expensive American Girl doll in practically any combo just not the "Itty Bitty" babies! When you are buying for four children you go the least expensive route. Instead of just getting a doll for Cam I decided getting a set of "Itty Bitty Twins" was the better deal. Getting two dolls means eventually I will have to get two more, YES, Brendan gets a doll too! I cannot leave him out! He likes dolls just about as much as his sisters. SO there I was being suckered in to buying "Itty Bitty Twins", a brown hair, brown eyed girl for Cam & a blonde haired, blue eyed boy for Bren. I have to admit they are pretty darn cute even if their clothes leave less to be desired. See once they get you to buy the dolls then there's the clothes & all the EXTRAS! CRAZY I tell ya! Needless to say Daddy was NOT a happy camper when he saw that receipt! LOL! This shopping adventure took place in...

a place like no other...

eat almost everything off a stick!...

We, Camryn & I, went on a trip over the Labor Day weekend. As previously posted in our leaving on a jet plane post, we flew to the great state of Minnesota to visit one of my best friends Marisa. She had us seeing all we could see in the four short days we were there. Our first act as a "Minnesotan" was attending the Minnesota State Fair. The fair is apparently a BIG event up there. The guys skedaddled on us & it ended up just being Grandma Novak, aka Gretchen, Marisa, Clare & us going. What an event!
There were TONS of people! They bill it as the place where you can eat almost EVERYTHING off a stick! I would love to know exactly how many food that you can get on a stick!? They had the normal stuff ie: hot dogs, corn dogs, corn, steak & chicken on a stick. But the CRAZIEST food I saw was "Hot Dish" on a stick, aka casserole, meat dish on a stick! It sounded interesting but in the end it was the delicious pork chop that called out my name! YUM! It was unlike any pork chop I ever had at a fair & on a stick no less! (= Miss Clare has taken to Camryn rather well. She told all of her friends that Cam is her little sister! Amazingly enough they almost believed her! She is SO funny! She made sure that we got a bucket of the famous Sweet Martha's cookies & some of the fried cheese curds before we left. {The Mouth Trap had the BEST bunch!} These two foods are a must when you go to the Minnesota State Fair. Just hearing the name, cheese curds, sounded kind of gross but they were in fact SO yummy! Who would have thought frying up the leftover pieces of cheese would be so tasty! Whoever started that tradition has surely made a mint! We made sure to bring some home to Grandpa Novak since that was the only request he made, Bring home cheese curds! As we made the rounds we stumbled upon the Butterfly exhibit. We just had to take the girls inside to see all of the butterflies!I must say that it was a COOL exhibit! There were butterflies EVERYWHERE! Camryn loved seeing all of them that is until one landed on her arm pit & then she FREAKED! Of course I hurried up & took a picture of her! I know, terrible mommy, but I had to capture the moment for posterity! (= I think we are going to have to take the tribe to our own Butterfly World when we get back home. After the butterflies we checked out the horses. Camryn liked seeing them up close especially the BIG ones! I did not realize how large some horses could actually be! WOW! There was even a woman there braiding her horses mane. I wish I could braid! Maybe one day! (= As we exited the horse exhibit we noticed the milk stand. Since Camryn LOVES chocolate milk we made a pit stop there. Nothing like fresh cold milk to quench your thirst! You can buy it plain or CHOCOLATE! You know what we ordered! LOL! I just got a glass instead of the all you can drink since cups are a NEW thing for us. I put EVERY liquid in a sippy just in case! LOL! There Cam was sipping her chocolate milk out of the cup UNTIL she started flinging it at passing peoples legs! YEP that's my girl! Now you know why I bring their sippies EVERYWHERE! There was just ONE place that Marisa wanted to stop by & that was the Republican booth. For those that don't know her, she is a die hard Republican. When ever I have questions about legislation or just political stuff in general she is my "go to" girl! One day she will be an elected official I just know it! Before leaving we took a picture with Reagan. OK so it was a cardboard cut out of him but it was still cool to get a picture with him! (= Marisa was in heaven! We rested for a bit & then took in the parade. Quite an interesting group of floats, bands & especially parade goers. We got quite a laugh from one lady who rooted on EACH & EVERY participant! She even told one worker to get out of her way because she was watching the parade! TOO funny! It was one LONG day! There was SO much to see, do & eat! Especially when you could...

eat almost everything off a stick!...

Anniversaries are not so bad...

I could not let this day go by without paying tribute to my Dad. 9/11 meant a lot to my father & now it holds yet another Anniversary for our family, our father's death. Yes of all days to die on he died on "Patriot's Day". This anniversary sort of sneaked up on us. Life with four toddlers can be quite CRAZY so when I looked at the calendar a few days ago & saw it was almost 9/11. I realized it has been two years since he passed away! Two WILD, AMAZING, seemed short yet really LONG, sad & laughter filled years! WOW! AFTER he had his stroke I practically begged him to attend some sort of adult activity instead of sit at home in his wheelchair staring at the TV. He had certain shows that he would watch OVER & OVER again. Golden Girls, Little House on the Prairie, etc. I wanted him to get out amongst other people his age but NO he would have no part of it! He & practically half of my family fought me but in the end I prevailed & he started attending St Elizabeth Adult Day Care. For awhile now we mentioned going by St Elizabeth for a visit but it never came to fruition. My Mom & I decided today was going to be the day to visit this old haunt of his. It is this AWESOME place for seniors not far from my parents home. A bus would pick him up in the morning. He would do crafts, games, talk about current events. It was WONDERFUL! They even gave him a nickname, FPL Bob! {In Florida the power company is named FPL & they used to have a commercial with a man named Bob} He LOVED that! Once the babies were born he would go there with pictures & brag about them. My niece would say that Grandpa was at school because he rode a bus. Trust me those years after his stroke were HARD! I do not know how my mom handled him but she did. Luckily my father lived to see the first 7 months of our children's lives. They were his pride & joy. SO on the Second Anniversary of his death I knew I had to take them to see where Grandpa used to go. We talked about this the entire ride over there. The tribe exuded excitement. The sad part was that I think they really thought they were going to see their Grandpa instead of seeing where he USED to go. )= As we walked in the door the woman in charge said these must me Bob Mechtly's grandchildren! She remembered him & us! That made me happy! She even remembered how he did NOT want to go in the beginning but towards the end he wanted to go all the time! Yes that was my Dad! We brought them some medical items ie: Depends, bed liners, things they can always use. The tribe was on their BEST behavior, I was SO proud! We took a tour so the tribe could see where Grandpa used to go to "school". They even have some pet birds which the tribe flocked to! LOL!The place was decorated like a castle from the Renaissance era. SO beautiful! One of the women there decorates the place for each season. She takes whatever donated materials they get & hand paints them in a theme! AMAZING talent! She was already working on painting Gingerbread to turn the center into a Gingerbread House! TOO cool! As we left there we had such a good feeling! It seems that as more time goes on...

Anniversaries are not so bad!...

earning her own set of wings!...

As most of you already know Miss Camryn took her very FIRST flight this past weekend. She & I flew to Minnesota to visit her Godmother Marisa. We talked about her going on an airplane with Mommy for weeks. In fact all of the kids talked about how Camryn was going on a plane with Mommy! Camryn did not seem concerned one bit. I made sure I packed something to read, color, eat, etc. I really did not know what I was in for! Me & a toddler on an airplane! YIKES! On the day we left I put the tribe down for their nap MINUS Cam. Our flight was at 340 pm so she was NOT going to get a nap in before we left. UH OH! Trust me she did NOT mind one bit! I think I worried about the lack of sleep more than she did! LOL! She acted like she was an adult & said "bye bye" to her siblings & then shut their door. Needless to say they did NOT like the fact that Cam was not in the room with them! Linz just stood there & cried! I felt terrible!
While Grandma watched the rest of the tribe her neighbor Jimmy took us to the airport. THANK YOU Jimmy! {Daddy had to work. )= } Luckily for us we got there early & had an AWESOME sky cap! He walked us right through the line & he even carried Cam's car seat & my bags! It was WONDERFUL! The bad part was that we had lightening & that delayed all the flights. The plane we were to board was late so that made us late! ugh! As we sat in the terminal Cam told me how she was going to go "up, up, up"! SO cute! She seemed unfazed about going on an airplane!I was SO worried that she would freak once the plane actually took off. But to my surprise she handled it like a pro! The only problem we had was that she wanted to sit by the window! {We had an aisle seat} She stayed awake the ENTIRE flight! She was going to take in this entire first flight experience! Luckily they sat us next to the right people because towards the end of the flight they let her sit by the window! She was looking out checking the scenery! She was in Heaven! Needless to say I now know what EXTRA things I need to bring along on a flight with a toddler! Hopefully I will not have that many trips where I am ALONE with them & need it! LOL! When I told the flight attendant that this was Camryn's first flight she was excited for her. I remember as a kid they would give out "wings" like the pilot wears to a first time flier. When I asked if they had any wings she said unfortunately they did not have any BUT they would work on getting her something. They ended up giving her this really nice "First Flight Certificate". It was NOT cheap! It came signed by the captain & the head flight attendant. SO cool! I think the certificate was just as cool as...

earning her own set of wings!...

leaving on a jet plane...

Getting ready for any trip is stressful but traveling BY MYSELF + one on an airplane seems harder for me! Having to maneuver around the airport, check in, get baggage plus mind a two year that has a mind of her own, UGH! You see I am leaving the tribe, well 3/4ths of it behind! Miss Camryn & I are heading to MN to visit one of my BESTEST friends for the long weekend. Marisa & I have known one another since I was 4 days old! Can you believe that!? Our friendship has spanned the test of time! We have MANY a story to tell about one another! It was not a hard choice to have her & her hubby Paul to be Camryn's Godparents. In fact they will be the ones to care for them in case something happens to us. That's another story for another day. So being they hold such an important role in Cam's life it was VERY important that I get her up there for a visit! It is our plan that each of them will soon get to visit their Godparents!
I am excited but sad at the same time! Excited to be visiting one of my BEST friends but sad that I have to leave 5 people behind! I must say that I have been trying to plan this trip ever since BQ, before quads. EVERYTHING & ANYTHING has gotten in the way that is until now! I told my hubby that I needed this trip or I was gonna go CRAZY! He obliged me & is taking care of the rest of the tribe till I get back! YAY! What a WONDERFUL hubby I have! LOVE him! Packing for me + one was VERY difficult! At least when I pack for the tribe I know I'll have extras since there's 4 of them! But when I'm just packing for one, I get worried! What if I forget something? Uh oh! At least we're not going to Siberia & where there is civilization there are stores! Especially the Mall of the America's! I just won't tell Daddy what I forgot! haha! I am just SO psyched to be...
leaving on a jet plane...