if you're talking about time-traveling bunnies, then yes.

we had a fabulous vacation week with brian! the 18th and 19th we spent at grandparents' houses, and the kids had lots of fun. we had lasagna for supper at the rogers' on sunday night, and ian thought he was in heaven. that kid likes him some lasagna. monday late afternoon we headed back home, unpacked, and managed to relax a bit.

tuesday morning, we left for the dells around 10:30. i wanted to stay home till 11 to watch the inauguration, but brian was antsy to get on the road. we listened on air america in the van, but right before obama was to take the oath, they cut to commercial. who does that???? so, we missed it live, but watched on dvr when we got home. aretha had a nice hat. anyway, when we got up to the dells, we ate a quick lunch at subway before checking in to the hotel. we got checked in, and were waiting for the elevator with our huge cart of stuff and ian in the stroller...the elevator arrived, abby got on, and the DOOR CLOSED. with just her in it. we could hear her screaming and crying as the elevator went up. brian sprinted up the stairs to find her, but couldn't. so, we all got on the elevator, which was empty when it returned, and found abby on the second floor with a nice family. she wasn't crying at that point, but when she came to us, there was definite lower-lip poking out and quivering. NOT a good start to our vacation, but luckily, it was all better from there. we were impressed with our room...it had 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen, fireplace, huge hi-def tv above the fireplace...it was the awesome. we got settled and ian had a nap, during which brian and abby took a walk. after ian's nap we changed into swimsuits and headed down to the waterpark. much chlorine-y fun was had by all, though abby refused to go down any waterslides, even the little-kid ones. she said that she'll do it when she's 10. i think it'll be before that, but you never know. ian occupied himself with climbing everything in sight...the side of the kids' pool, stairs, etc. everyone slept great that night, believe me. the next day, we got up, had breakfast, and waterparked it up for the rest of the day. we left for home around 3:30.

we had such a great time that we're probably going to make this an annual vacation, provided their rates don't go up. during the week in the off-season is definitely the time to go to the dells.

14 months

ian will be 14 months old tomorrow! i don't trust myself to remember to blog tomorrow, so i'm doing it today instead.

current skills: walking very fast, occasionally falling down, can identify his tummy if asked, nonverbal communication that consists of lots of pointing and meaningful looks.

current likes: throwing things! dropping food on the floor, reading, being read to, playing peek-a-boo, flinging himself onto pillows or blankets, lasagna, bathtime, his blankie, abby's trampoline, opening and closing doors repeatedly, throwing things in the garbage can.

current dislikes: diaper rash, having his empty sippy cup taken away to be refilled, the gates, being diverted or redirected from whatever he's doing.

***

today is brian's last day of work before vacation! we're very excited about all the stuff we have planned for next week, especially our trip to the dells on tuesday and wednesday. we got an awesome deal on a 2-bedroom apartment-like room, so that will make bedtime SO much easier. the room even has a kitchen, so we'll be bringing our own food and saving money that way too. we plan on spending pretty much every waking minute in the waterpark...it'll be fabulous.

we've also finally gotten our car fixed. it's been in rough shape for a while now, and we've made the commitment to keeping it for the long run. so, brian actually has heat in the car now, plus no coolant leak, new suspension, and various other parts replaced. exciting stuff.

we're having a major case of cabin fever here. we haven't gone anywhere in several days due to the insanely frigid temperatures, and the strain is starting to show. abby keeps asking to go on the patio, which she can't do. plus, her school was canceled today (along with every other school in the area), so she didn't even get to do that. i'm thinking it'll be canceled tomorrow as well. the good news is that it'll warm up significantly after tomorrow, so i'll be sending her outside as soon as humanly possible.

so much for that...

i had a secret new year's resolution to blog more, but i think we can all see how that turned out. luckily, my other resolutions are going swimmingly.

2009 is so far going extremely well. we've got lots of activities and fun stuff lined up for the rest of the winter, which will hopefully make it go a lot faster than last winter did. i believe last winter ended in june sometime. we're putting together the details for our little family getaway to the dells in a couple of weeks...we're really looking forward to taking the kids to an indoor waterpark and watching abby's brain explode.

i finally lost my patience with our jerry-rigged childproofing system of just putting stuff in front of the hallway and our bedroom, since ian can move that stuff now. so, i bought 2 gates off amazon that ought to be here any moment now. i'll install them (hopefully) tonight and tomorrow will be a new day. abby also goes back to school tomorrow. both she and i are WAY ready for that. she's actually been on break a week longer than the rest of the kids because she was out sick the week before break, so it's been 3 weeks for her.

ian's walking skills have improved exponentially, and he's getting pretty fast. although sometimes his top half gets going a little faster than his little legs can handle, and then we have a face-plant. he's a tough little guy, though, and just gets back up and keeps going.