So many visits!

We have been both the visitors and visited a whole bunch this last 30 days and the forecast shows more of the same. We journeyed over to Montana for our dinner group and some grandy time. Bing left us for two days and ventured even farther, on over to Bismark, to meet some oil dudes. I used that as a time to see my girlfriends and treat myself and the kids to ice cream, coffee, pizza, TJ Maxx, all of those delightful and indulgent joys.


Visit from my friend Jess and her two youngest

Snuggle time with Grammy

Upon returning we had the joy of seeing Great Uncle Burch and his girlfriend Bebe, and also Bob and Teresa (his daughter and son-in-law).

They were in town for a conference and we got them in their free time. We did the booze cruise on the lake, minus the booze, we had diet coke and lots of crackers :) And then we got a sitter and went to a delicious steak dinner at the Wolf Lodge Inn, which is a funny log cabin decked out in backwoods, seventies decor. It could certainly stand an update but, the steak was truly tasty.

THEN, we had the Schuyler circus stay with us over Memorial Day weekend. We went swimming at the Kroc Center with all but the tiny ones and even with the millions of lifeguards they keep on duty, it is stressful tracking that many kids! We went bowling and to the arcade, also, stressful. Maddox made a habit of wandering off this particular weekend and for the first, second, and third time ever, I had the scare of losing a child. NOT FUN.

There was some discipline administered, and we laughed about how all of us parent and deal with the constant barrage of whining, disobedience, tantrums, and general neediness of multiple children. It was a hoot! I asked our neighbor to watch the 5 older kids and her mom insisted that we leave the babies too. She and her mom took all 7 of our kids for several hours while we enjoyed a relaxing dinner overlooking the lake with no need to rush or feed littles, or threaten spankings, it was HEAVENLY!

The kids thoroughly enjoyed one another and took over my robe belt to be used as a sling shot, lasso and fishing line.

I think it is a permanent loss, for every time I take it back and loop it through my robe, Maddox strips it mercilessly and returns to his adventures, it even comes in the car with us :/ The cousins are also fans of Wild Kratts and enjoyed jump dancing on the couch to the theme song while staying up later than usual and having a slumber party with all 5 boys in one room. We were grateful for the multitude of bikes and the mini cooper that Maddox refuses to drive, it was well loved by the cousins.

We had some fun playing with my camera's "fish eye" function. The boys thought it was hilarious and I must admit, I do too. I have some really funny one's of my mom that I will spare her, posting on the internet, but will share upon request...love you mom!
Audrey and Gunner were the easiest and could spent a good amount of time just laying on the floor next to one another or in a swing or bouncy, side by side. If one was silly enough to get their hand close to the other's mouth, it was fair game.

Hard to believe that Gunner is 2 weeks younger and was a preemie at that!
Bing and I were woken faaaaaaaaaar earlier than we are accustomed and our children took several days to recover from their unusually early starts. It was so great. We sure loved having them visit and we look forward to more visits in the future (from any who are willing to make the trek).