Deanna Rose 2011

We finally made it to Deanna Rose in June. The weather was sunny and only 80 degrees, so we thought we'd take advantage of the cooler day. We had a great time. A couple new additions there were the General Store and the Ice Cream Parlor. We also visited Ben's Bank a couple times, but we'd done that last year, too. It was lots of fun. I was surprised just how much Anne enjoyed feeding the baby goats a bottle. I thought she'd be afraid, but she wasn't the least bit afraid. Always a fun field trip!

Here's a quick comparison of Miss Leah from 2010 (on the left) to 2011 (right). She's grown!

Destin, FL 2011

Random beach times. The kids all had so much fun for so many hours!

Leyton, Nathaniel, Leah, and I went on a dolphin tour in the gulf. It was great and we saw a lot of dolphins! The kids got to drive the boat and the one ship in the pictures was Nathaniel's favorite...don't know if it's legible, but it says "Nathaniel Bowditch" on it.

Just some scenery from the dolphin tour. The dunes were beautiful! And many are just natural and protected, which keeps them so nice!

Just a start on some vacation pics...

Destin, 2011 - great trip, more to come...

Coming Soon: Spring Break!

So a recap of our great trip to Destin should be up soon. I have some pictures to share, too. Maybe next week I'll be able to get that done. Hmm, we can hope.

Travel Troubles?

Interesting thing I found today. I searched on Expedia.com to look at hotel options for us en route to Destin. We figured we'd spend one night there on the way, maybe around Birmingham. Anyway, I entered the following information: Birmingham, AL, the dates, 2 adults, 5 children (& entered their ages). And the search results: plenty, but each and every entry said "max children exceeded." Hmm. I hadn't anticipated that. So, I searched a bit more on "max hotel occupancy" and saw a few articles addressing this specific type of issue as compared to just a large number of people trying to stay in one room. And then, I came across a site that may actually be helpful for a family like us. Good find. I'm sure it'll lead us to where we'll stay; you can search by location and it lists options that sleep 5, 6, 7, or 8 people. Whew. I really was not liking the idea of figuring out how we'd be in a hotel for that one night. Who'd have known (maybe lots of people, but I hadn't considered that we technically couldn't stay in most rooms)?

Orchard Pictures

A Day at the Orchard

What a fun day! Saturday after Patrick was finished working, we decided to do something I'd been wanting to do since last year. We went to the Wagon Wheel Orchard and the kids picked apples. It is a nice little farm, which by address is in Gardner, but upon driving, I totally did not feel like I was in Gardner. Thought in my mind, "We're not in Kansas anymore" (ha, ha). Well, it wasn't THAT far away, but I had never been that far out before, that's for sure! Well worth it, though.

The orchard is owned and run by a family that lives there onsite. They have 550 varieties of apples! I didn't know there were that many! Some are for people to pick, and timing determines which varieties are ready for picking. Some are test varieties for the USDA also, so those never get picked. This weekend, we were able to pick Golden Delicious, Liberty, and Johnagold apples. Yummy.

The kids really had a great time. The hay rides weren't running that day, but we did see some chickens and goats and also got to feed the catfish in the pond. They had a nice campfire site there that Nathaniel and I enjoyed and talked about campfire songs and cowboys. Then we sat there and just enjoyed how quiet and peaceful it was out there. It was not a crowded place, so the kids could pretty much run free through the orchard. So much fun and VERY relaxing, actually. Just what we needed after a very hectic week. It led to Nathaniel telling me that we should move to a farm. Then that led to me telling stories about living on the farm including: the creek, the animals, taking out "the garbage" ("Yes, Nathaniel, that was one of our chores - no garbage disposal!), burning the trash ("Yes, we burned it. No, a trash truck didn't come to our house."), and of course - washing & drying dishes. It was great.

We brought home three nice bags of apples - all sizes of apples - some were very small & cute. They have all been eating them like crazy. They sure are good. Trivia: I really have never bought bad apples, but at the store, they can actually be up to a year old (they get stored in buildings with no oxygen)!

A few pics coming...

Sunday Afternoon at the Farm

As I mentioned, while we were on our trip to the fair, we were able to stop by our friends' Dwayne & Dawn's house for a little tractor ride. Dwayne was so kind to volunteer this...the kids really liked it and I'm sure will remember it for a long time. I really had no idea the tractor cab was big enough that they could all four ride in there with him at the same time. He took them down the road and they stopped at one of the fields and they each got a corn cob. He's invited us several times before, but the timing just hadn't worked out. He also invited us back in mid-September for harvest - then they could ride in the combine. We're thinking about trying to work that in - sure would be a fun fall activity!

Whew, time flies when you're having fun!

Wow, so Beth brought to my attention last night that my last post was "July 22 to be exact." Just been busy, I guess. That week after the 22nd, Patrick was gone pretty much all week with work and then last week we made the big trip to the Washington Town & Country F-A-I-R! After a tiring week for all of us, it was nice to take a break and have some fun on a mini-vacation before school starts next week. And, Patrick was even able to take a day off! Yes, that's right; I worked last Monday & Tuesday evening, then I left with the kids on Wednesday morning. Patrick rode the Amtrak into Washington on Thursday evening.

So, updates to be made and pictures to share. I need to get caught up on a lot of things, why not start with memories - before I forget!

Branson, MO, 2010

What a fun trip! This year we did actually accomplish the whole Kuenzel clan gathering in one place for vacation. Grandpa Jerry & Grandma Donna, The Grahams, us, Ben & Rachel, and Beth, Robert, & Mya all made the trip. Although everyone wasn't there at the same time for too long, it was nice getting a chance to get everyone together.

We arrived on Saturday (the day after the kids were out of school) and then Patrick was able to stay until Monday night before having to head home for work. Sunday, Patrick & the kids went to downtown Branson to walk around a bit. Monday we went to Silver Dollar City and had lots of fun. Tuesday (and every day) we went swimming. Thursday's highlight was that Leyton & Nathaniel made tie-dye t-shirts. They did a great job and had lots of fun with that. Thanks, Grandma Donna, for helping them! Friday was check-out and time to head home. We were happy to have a nice week, but we sure enjoyed getting home to see Patrick again. And, the fun didn't end there - that weekend was Memorial Day weekend and we went to the Jiggle Jam on Saturday and had a wonderful time. The kids loved it and it was a great summer kickoff. Who could go wrong with Funky Mama, Mr. Stinky Feet, The Doo-dads, The Jimmmies, and the one and only Ralph's World. That was my first time to see Ralph's World and he was wonderful. Nathaniel & Patrick went up on stage, and Leyton had his picture taken with Ralph after the show. What fun.

Smiles from Vacation (5/24/10)

Vacation Recap to Come

So I'm a bit behind on the vacation details from recent weeks. It will come, but not tonight. Time for sleep!

A Wonderful Spring Break

Last week we were able to take a vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. That area is named the waterpark capital of the world. We had originally hoped to visit a beach, but then when I realized that the beach during college spring break probably wouldn't be the best fit for us. Instead, we opted for Wisconsin.

We had a wonderful time. We stayed at Glacier Canyon Lodge and there are 3 indoor and 3 outdoor water parks there (outdoor ones not open this time of year obviously). They also had an arts & crafts room, a couple arcades, etc. - plenty to keep us busy and having fun! The rooms were nice and the kids had a great time!

We also had a great trip in the car. It was about 8 1/2 hours from home and we didn't even turn on a single DVD during the whole round trip! It was great! We listened to music, stories on CD, and just talked. It was actually my own first time in Iowa. The kids also enjoyed talking about what states we were in.

It was a nice relaxing time for all of us. As we were swimming most of the time, we saw plenty of people also swimming. Nathaniel told us on the way home, in his most serious and matter-of-fact voice, "Mom, I'm pretty sure everyone in Wisconsin has a tattoo." Hee hee. We did notice how common they sure are.

The kids really loved the art/craft room. The favorite water park may have been the wave pool one, followed closely behind it by the wild west one with plenty of water slides. Leah was even a hoot - she went down slides more than anyone - 3 story + high. She'd get carried to the top, slide down, and then say, "Again."

I'm sure I'll have more little tid bits to add about the trip, but we really did have a nice time away together.

Nashville 2009

The week after Easter, we were able to make a family trip to Nashville. We hadn't been there since fall, 2006, so we were all excited to return. I think this is the first vacation that Leyton & Nathaniel really remember, so they have talked about it for a long time and how they wanted to return. If I had to change one thing, I would have hoped that maybe I'd have made it to the Grand Ole Opry to see some of my favorites - like Dierks Bentley would have been great! Oh well, the resort was just so close to there, I was thinking I'd go if there was someone playing that
I liked. We typically have a vacation in the summer, but we figured by the end of May, I will be 34 weeks pregnant, we didn't figure it was the time to make a trip too far from home.

We arrived on Sunday and spend Monday hanging around the resort & swimming. I think we managed to swim every day. The kids are all really enjoying swimming and becoming more and more brave. Jacob stands well in 3-ft deep areas now and Leyton & Nathaniel are really branching out away from the sides, jumping in some, etc. And Leah was ready to play all independently on the steps and as far as you'd let her go. She's made a lot of progress since we swam in Branson back in February.

Other activities for the week included all the boys going golfing at a "real golf course" while Leah & I shopped/browsed. We also returned to the Opryland hotel to walk around and enjoy the beautiful scenery. I need to post the pictures we have from our first trip to compare the same poses/background - it's cute to see how much the kids look different over the 2 1/2 years (standing by the guitar-playing animals)! Hmm, what else did we do? Another day we played on the resort playground - basketball, swinging, etc. and we created our own putting area. The boys also did some nature hunting - ladybugs, snail, etc. They are so much fun. Oh, looking at my pictures I was reminded of the fact that I think Nathaniel wore the same outfit every day we were there. Each night he'd ask me if I'd wash it so he could wear it again - thank goodness for condos with washer & dryer! I liked the picture of Jacob with Patrick, too, for some reason - caring Dad taking care of his Jakey.

The trip itself was really nice. The kids do very well in the car. We drove to Grandma & Grandpa's first, to break up the trip, and then made the rest of the trip. I guess it's about 10 hours total from our house.

Washington Town & Country Fair

We had a great time at the fair. Well, aside from Jacob's very odd and very severe allergic reaction on the first day of the 5 day event! Long story short, he went from sneezing to hives to eyes swelling shut to a quick dose of Benadryl which really helped. He almost got a shot of epinephrine from first aid!

Anyway, the fair was great. We rode many rides: ferris wheel, roller coaster, swings, kiddie rides (dogs, cars, carousel, etc.), Tilt-a-whirl, etc. Lots of great names for the rides, too. We also got to see the bull riding, motocross, tractor pull, a magician, a large cat exhibit/show (with tigers), a dog show, Huey Lewis & the News, Tracy Lawrence, other live music, kids pedal tractor pull, farm animals, and other children's exhibits, etc., etc. The kids really liked the motocross event - I think it was their favorite. Leah didn't really care about the fair, so she went a little & stayed the rest of the time with Grandma.

We were also able to visit some with Grandma Rita, Uncle Dave & Aunt Jill, Uncle Greg & Aunt Debbi, Uncle Ben & Aunt Rachel. We really kept busy! Grandma & Grandpa had a full house, but it was a lot of fun.

The Florida Vacation, Part 1

Last week, we enjoyed a wonderful family vacation to the Orlando area. We left on June 6 & returned on June 15. We primarily drove each way in 2 days. We spent a night in Villa Rica, GA to break up the trip. The kids actually did very well in the car; we had help from the new portable DVD player. We enjoyed a nice resort, and great family company. This year's trip included our party of six, Grandma Donna & Grandpa Jerry, and Aunt Bethy & Robert. Our simplified itinerary:
Sunday: arrived at resort, goofed around, swam a bit
Monday: drove to Tampa for Busch Gardens
Tuesday: Chef Mickey's for breakfast, rest of the day: swimming/relaxing
Wednesday: Sea World
Thursday: Relaxed at resort; girls shopped a bit
Friday: began traveling back home; pit stop overnight in Villa Rica, GA (outside Atlanta)
Saturday: finished driving back to Washington, MO
Sunday: Happy Father's Day, back home to KS
I need to expand on some of these sections, but in smaller doses & I want to add some pictures.
Some favorite things we saw: lizards, frogs, sea lions, roller coasters.
More on these later...