And we're off...

Schedule! I always have a schedule in my mind when it's time to go somewhere and this vacation was no different. I don't ever tell anyone else that I have a time slotted in my head for when we should leave which causes an issue ( you can imagine) but my thought was get on the road no later than 10 am and then we can hang out at the first campground after driving 6 hours. The actual event: leave at 1pm drive for awhile get food, drive some more, stop to eat dinner in Mona, drive some more missing the first campsite all together so we can make up for lost time, kids sleep, mom sleeps, dad drives until 3 hours outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming, park at a Walmart ( we are now official Good Sam members and can park over night free) sleep a few hours, breakfast of bagels and cream cheese, drive to Cheyenne and stop! Whew! Are you tired? We were a little bit. We had a great time in Cheyenne! Swam in a heated pool (good thing 'cause its about 60 degrees outside), played mini golf, the kids road bikes, met some other kids from Lake Tahoe who were coming back from a cross country trek, and checked out the downtown area a little. We're having a great time and I can't believe I finally made it west of Des Moines, Iowa! I'll attach pictures soon!

Struggling to be...

Disclaimer: This is straight from my mind, fresh from my head with a filter that's not filtering today.

My attitude sucks! My stress level has reach the point of boiling and its overflowing the side of the kettle and sticking to the stove top and my reaction is to just watch it flow and see how long it will take to stop boiling. Not very mature of me is what my rational side of my head is saying. I can tell that summer vacation from school has me spent. I am not a good stay at home mom when all 3 of them stay at home. Structure is the key to success in our house but I am not structuring them very well. I long for them to find friends to play with or for them to take a nap and if it all happens at the same time that is a huge gift. Please pray that our vacation will make this better somehow! I pray that it's the "monetary things" that make my children constantly need stimulation and that without all those things coming with us on vacation they will see the beauty in simpler things. Does it have to take 30 years for them to get that? This is raw and I am feeling very vulnerable to even put this out there but I am asking (and I don't do that often) if whomever reads this would pray for peace and good quality family time for the next 14 days for all of us. Thanks in advance! Time to referee a Nerf shoot out!

Oh What a Night

Gavin's 6th birthday party was packed with a ton on fun. Nine boys total to entertain for 2 1/2 hours! We went to the Rec Center to eat pizza and cake, open presents, wrap each other so they could be toilet paper mummies, went swimming and played in the gym. I don't know who was more exhausted me or them. It was a great time and I am glad I don't have thant many boys of my own.

Six Years

Six years ago (and about 8 hours) we welcomed our second child, Gavin, into the world.
Five years ago Gavin moved to Iowa one month after he turned one.
Four years ago Gavin moved to a new house in North Liberty.
Three years ago Gavin pretty much potty trained himself while I took care of the new baby.
Two years ago Gavin learned to ride a bicycle without training wheels.
One year ago Gavin was asking everyday when he could start kindergarten.
This year Gavin got glasses, went to Tae Kwon-Do camp, played his last year of t-ball and is going to go to Yellowstone National Park.
Next year this time... who knows what he'll be doing. I think his favorite pastime will always be being the social butterfly no mater how many years go by. He continues to make me laugh at what he finds funny, the things he can remember and his Gavinisms. We all laugh about merotes, breakast, and buzz lightbeard. Thanks for keeping us in stitches and for loving life the way you do.

Park Hopping

Our veteran mother in the cul-du-sac has organized some play dates on Wednesdays for those of us who have kids at home ALL SUMMER LONG! This weeks outing was to Lower City Park. I remember as a kid being taken to a park in Fondulac that had similar rides and a train too! The kids had a good time getting a little amusement park taste.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Gavin Brewer or Jonathan Lipnicki

Gavin got glasses this week. I couldn't help but compare.

Aunt Kari Was Here

So I post out of order again but at least I posted, Right? My sister came to visit for the first time last week to see what we do in Iowa! Not much differnet than in Florida except the heat factor wasn't an issue. The boys and I went to see Grandpa Ed with her so she could check out Montello, Wi and our dad's house. Then after a scenic route home with lots of hills along the Wisconsin River we checked out the cheese factory in Kalona, the Amana Colonies and the North Liberty Aquatic Center. I think everyone had a good time. I realized I didn't have any pictures with her in them. I hope she took some!?

The Hidden Park

In preparing for the Great Wyoming Adventure, I have had the exciting experience of driving Mona to various business around Iowa City to have all her parts checked out. I've driven to the Off Campus Storage to house her for a few days so we don't break all of the rules of our subdivision, to Fun and Sun RV Center to have them check for any leaks in the pipes, to A-1 Propane to have them check out the leaking propane valve and order a part, to Fountains Transmission to have them clean out her transmission fluid which is where the boys and I rediscovered the Hidden Park. It's really Kiwanis Park but the boys have named it the Hidden Park. They loved the cement viaducts that are used as tunnels and bridges into the play area and all the trails that wind around it with flowers and bushes to hide in. I took pictures on my i-phone cause as usual I forgot my regular camera!

The Great Wyoming Vacation

When Jackson was in 1st grade they had a unit on National Parks. He was very excited about all he had learned about Yellowstone National Park. The animals, the mountains and especially Old Faithful were all he talked about for weeks. He really wanted to see it but with Brenden just being a baby I didn't think we could do the trip. Fast forward 2 1/2 years, add three boys who can all walk by themselves, almost 3 boys potty trained, a motor home that has been worked over by my ever mechanically competent husband and a woman who can scrub even the oldest of dirt off a stove and you have a family ready for an adventure to Yellowstone National Park. Our adventure is slated to begin on the 26th and I am hoping to keep this blog site as a journal of our adventures. So stayed tuned as the Brewer Zoo hits the road!
(I am new to putting images from the web on here so I know no one in the other pictures you seen under Old Faithful)

It's a Girl!

After almost 12 years and many attempts we have finally added a girl to our family! Her name is Mona! She is a 1984 Shasta motorhome! With pink interior and a fancy brown pin stripping on the exterior she's been adjusting rather nicely to our family. With a little TLC (this picture was before her bath) she will be an intergral part of our family taking us on many trips. The biggest one being to Yellostone National Park the end of July. I'll post more pictures as she learns more tricks! Maybe you'll meet her soon.