The Perfect Zoo Day

That "mild" virus I mentioned in my last post was not as mild as I lead on. We continue to be suffering at the Roehrig Residence. Everyday this weekend someone and usually more than one child had a fever and was out of commission. Each child is now very stuffed up with Violette and Noelle contracting a cough. Tom and I tried to stay busy while nursing those who were not feeling well. The days were long and uneventful for the most part as the children kept us entertained.

Max has become our little clown, making us laugh at every turn. He is such a daddy's boy these days even though he is more like me. His favorite phrase is "No Mommy!". Even when Tom takes away something he isn't supposed to have, he immediately seeks me out and says, "No Mommy!" even though I had nothing to do with the punishment. I would ask for a kiss and he would run to Tom and say, "No Mommy, Max kiss Daddy". He does have a sweet side, calling Violette "cutie" all the time and giving her toys to play with. When she is crying he says, "I know, I know, Violette" copying exactly what I say to her. While Noelle was put in time out Max poked his head around the corner, pointed his little finger at her and said in a stern voice, "Noelle stay in time out two minutes!". We refer to him from time to time as a Bossy Boiler (a reference from Thomas The Tank Engine) and he will boss us to "call Max Bossy Boiler". Another funny thing that made me laugh uncontrollably happened during a diaper change. I let Max get up and run around, um, free. He looks down to, I assume, check out his "stuff". While bending down his t-shirt covered things up and he says in a shocked voice, "Where my penis? It's gone." I lift up his shirt and exclaims, "there he is" and a HUGE smile appears on his face!

We added two new fish to the household this past week. Noelle had a black goldfish with eyes that were very large. She appropriately named him Googly Eyed Head! Max named his little fish, Nemo, as that movie is their current favorite. Both fish soon died. Max's was first to bite the gravel. I didn't bring attention to the death, but Noelle pointed it out and ran over to Max and brightly said, "Sorry bud Nemo died. Look at him, he's dead". Her fish died the next day and she wasn't upset at it. She told me "That's okay. The garbage truck will just eat Googly Eyed Head and Daddy will buy me a new fish." We only have one fish now, Max's new one, named Shark Bait (another name from Finding Nemo). Max commands, "I feed Shark Bait now!" multiple times a day. Of course if we don't let him then he throws himself into a major tantrum!

Tuesday we decided it was time to get out, even though the children were not 100%. It was pouring down rain at our house, but the radar showed the rain missing Toledo. So we packed up and headed out after a quick lunch. The zoo was deserted, thus the title "The Perfect Zoo Day". I have been, on multiple occasions, at the zoo during the week and I have never seen it so barren. The rain held off and the sun even decided to shine down upon us for awhile. It was wonderful for us to enjoy as a family. Of course we did not visit every exhibit, but we did explore a good portion, and spent some time in the new children's zoo, Nature's Neighborhood. It truly was the perfect zoo day!

Virus, Virus, Go Away, Come Again...NEVER!

For about a week now we have been fighting a mild sickness. Max has been the first victim, having a high fever for a few days last week, then it migrated into a cold. Now Noelle and Violette have it and I have a pretty painful sore throat.

Our little Tasmanian Devil (Max, of course) is even more troublesome when he is sick. A few days all he wanted was to be held, which is a wonderful thing except for the other two children. Nights were ridiculously difficult, depriving me of many hours of sleep. He is like a little Drama King. Any snot that was built up in his nose would not allow him to sleep and he would whine and complain about it. His very loud self would then wake up the sleeping girls and I would have three crying children, while the Husband slept through it all! Max loves Jingle Bells and I think I have literally sung that song about 450 times over the past week. Whenever he was upset and before all naps and bedtime we have to sing it to him. He says, "Sing Jingle Bells in bed" and we climb into his bed. If we don't lay on his pillow his meat hooks reach out and roughly grab our faces as he orders, "lay down, sing Jingle Bells". This morning sickness struck Noelle. She came in to my room saying she couldn't stop shivering. I picked her up and could feel the heat radiating from her little body. She spent the day on the couch, napping a record three times and asking to go to bed at 7pm. She is so pitiful and completely wiped out. Whatever virus we have, it sure does a number on it's inhabitants.
Having nothing to do with sickness, Max has started to order me around when it comes to matters of my hair. I keep trying to wear it quickly up during these sick days. He starts to cry and YELLS at me, "put hair down now!" and "Hair down Mommy!". I have no idea why he doesn't like my hair up, but it really bothers him. He's a strange little Dude!

A few days ago I started some rice cereal with Violette. Like all babies, it is a new and different thing and she is learning how to swallow and eat it. Noelle was beyond excited to help feed her. Max had to rip the spoon out of my grasp and try this new concoction for himself. He immediately started scrapping his tongue and shouting, "Yucky rice cereal. Max need drink now!". Serves him right for being a beast! I will continue to give Violette the cereal once a day and then start to introduce some fruits and vegetables over the next few weeks. After making baby food for Max, and enjoying it, I will again try my hand at it. Noelle and Max will be helping me every step of the way, as they are my little tag-a-long helpers!
This Holiday weekend we had planned on visiting my friend Stacy on Saturday, but will be grounded due to illness. Tom is taking off Tuesday and we hope to make a trip to the Toledo Zoo if we are all feeling better. The beautiful weekend weather may have to be enjoyed while we all lay around inside. Hopefully Noelle and Violette start to feel better soon.

I will leave you with a few pictures of Violette and Zeus. It was a very amusing and adorable interaction! We are very fortunate that he is so patient and understanding with the children.

Granpa Roehrig Comin' to Town

Saturday we spent the day with Granpa Roehrig. We love when he visits because we are able to stay at home and enjoy the company of family. The kids love his visits as well. Max talks about Gampa Rogig for days before each visit. We tell Noelle that Grandpa Roehrig is Tom's dad, and she definitely seems to grasp the concept. Books are a favorite in our house, and Grandpa always helps replenish the bookcase.

We ventured out to get some ice cream and tried out a park in the area. Of course I didn't bring my camera but some great pictures would have been yielded. We were the only ones there, which made Noelle ecstatic, and it was a great find in the park category. The park had a merry-go-round, which seems to be an endangered playground staple due to the lawsuits prevalent these days. The kids loved going around, and Tom even went around very fast on it, much to the amusement of the little ones. There were playhouses, teeter totters, swings, and a lot of other fun things that kept the kids amused. Noelle had to go to the bathroom, but she was scared of the restrooms for some reason, and said she would just hold it (which she did).

Noelle wanted "Special Puppy," to be included in the above picture. We are planning on making a trip to Sturgis in the next few weeks to visit the Roehrig clan, and definitely look forward to it.

The Great North Country

Every time we drive away from what we think is the ideal place to live and raise a family we want to turn around and begin job and house hunting. If only it were that easy we would be packing up right now and moving up to Traverse City. We love the atmosphere of the town, woods galore, the convenience of every store one could desire set in a gorgeous Up North setting. Of course for me the topping on the sundae, my parents being there. Oh, how wonderful it would be to drop the kiddos off for a few hours once a week! Those who live close to family have no idea how lucky they are when it comes to help with children and breaks from children that family allow.

Leaving is hard for me and I know Tom feels the same, for we both have a great Love for Traverse City. Needless to write, we had a absolutely wonderful time this past weekend. The weather was horrific, cold and rainy, but you can't control the weather so we rolled with it.

Tom and I finally were able to spend a few hours of much needed alone time on Saturday. We went to lunch then to the store to purchase some warmer clothes for the kids. On the recommendation of Alex we had a delicious lunch at a local restaurant. It was just the break we both needed. During our time away Max slept all but 10 mins and so did Violette. In reality they had it very easy! Noelle spent a majority of our time away drawing tattoos on Uncle Alex!

Saturday afternoon Granma and Noelle headed out to the woods and built a small fort and play. Tom, Max, and I joined them a bit later. The kids loved searching for acorns and playing with sticks, and balancing on the felled trees, something we don't have around here. We took a quick trip to Burger King play place for a change of scenery. Parks were out of the question with the continuous rain, so we figured a play place was the next best thing. Granma, Daddy, and Uncle Alex all had sore knees from crawling through the unforgiving small tubes. The kids had a good time though!

Sunday the sun decided to make an appearance and we were outside most of the time until we left around 2pm. The girls were sporting matching outfits and I even attempted to get a picture with the kids and Grandma and Granpa. Everyone was a bit crabby due to lack of sleep, but it was worth a try. Before the long drive home we headed out for a long tiring walk in the woods. Uncle was able to find a small gardener snake and the kids kind of liked it! Noelle shrieked and hid but wanted to see it. She would try and touch it then jump back and scream. Max copied Noelle and screamed as well, but he was more interested in it.

Our next voyage up will be without Uncle Alex who is moving out this weekend. He is heading up to Soo for a few months to play hockey. I know my parent will miss him greatly, but whenever we visit we also will miss him. Noelle and Uncle Alex have a special bond and she will have a hard time not seeing him for a long while.


It was another fantastic journey to the North! We hope to do it again soon.

Sitting and Cupcakes

Here is Noelle and Violette. I think they look very similar, they are definitely sisters!

Violette has finally mastered sitting completely on her own. She can do if for a long time and eventually she topples over, when she gets bored or one of her siblings push her over. As seen in the above picture, we dug out the exersaucer and Violette loves it. Well, she loves it as long as someone is right beside her paying her much attention. As previously posted, she is not a laid back child and needs a ton of attention to be centered on her or she is not happy!

Sunday Noelle wanted to make cupcakes, and what Noelle wants she usually gets. I put some icing in a bowl and let them go to town frosting their own cupcake. It was messy, but very fun for all.