Reindeer, Waterparks, Turkey, Running and Relatives

Well its been a couple weeks since I last wrote. So I thought that I should make this a good one.

In the past week, the holidays began with a bang.

We started off with seeing the reindeer at Bachmans and both kids received tatoos. Brooke gets the snowman on the face. Riley got a snowman on the hand and it was quickly removed by the young guy.

On Monday (11/19), we headed toward Appleton but made a stop at the Lodge at Cedar Creek. Its a huge waterpark located in Wausau. As a work reward, I received a mini-vacation with the kids. So we chose the waterpark on the way to the grandparents place. The resort was decked out like a log cabin with themed everything including stuffed moose, deer, bear to name a few. The kids loved the water rides and were too small for the really big rides but I enjoyed them. We ate good food at the Saw Mill Grill, Green Mill and Tony Roma's.

Stuffed animals everywhere!
The girls after a dip in the pool.
Someone like Superman ice cream.
Waterpark king!
Riley loves Ranch dressing!

Back to the waterpark
Just waiting to go the waterpark.

On Wednesday (11/21), we took the short drive to Little Chute. I had scheduled a meeting to look at a waterfront cabin at an unbelievable price near Appleton (too low to mention in this blog); unfortunately I was unable to connect with the seller and he sold it to someone else. So it was a lesson learn for me. Don't be afraid to ask for help and be more aggressive on great deals.

Grandma Carol with all the kids.
Riley causing troubles!

On Thursday, the Vissers family and I ran in the annual Wyld Turkey 5K Trot in Green Bay. Representing the Vissers were Marv, Samuel, Bailey, Jim and Connor. Marv's nieces (on Margaret's side) also raced - Erika and Kendra. The race temps were cold at the start but we warmed up fast. We all finished in the top half (671 runners). The chip times and placing were as follows: Eric (20:51 - 39th), Samuel (25:45 - 155th), Marv (26:09 - 178th), Connor (27:12 - 216th), Bailey (28:29 - 259th) and Jim (29:17 - 296th). This will be a start to a new tradition with the Vissers.

After the race, thats why we are smiling!

Dig In!
This was harder than herding cats!
New hats for the kids!

On Friday morning, I couldn't sleep past 6 AM, so I got up and did some shopping. I came back with chocolate donuts for the late sleepers. We did some more shopping that morning and then took it easy that afternoon. I did make a stop at Simons for some fresh cheese curds and Feta cheese (I know Grandma Peggy is a huge fan!).

We headed back on Saturday and finished that evening with Grocery Shopping. Yesterday was just a working around the house day. Today, we are getting new ceramic tile in the bathroom (its only taken 3 months to get this done).

On Thursday this week, Grandma Peggy and Grandpa Milt are visiting. The kids are excited to see them.

Well, thats it for now!

Milwaukee, Brooke's B-Day, Halloween, Grandpa/Grandma V

Well I'll keep this blogspot short.

In the past 10 days, we have done the following:

• Had Uncle Marv, Aunt Margaret and cousins Sam and Bailey over our house for dinner. The kids enjoyed playing with them and vice versa. Marv, bailey and myself are planning to run together in the Green Bay Turkey Run on Thanksgiving day. My money is on Bailey for beating us all.


• Brooke celebrated her 3rd birthday - we went to TGIF. Food and atmosphere was good but Brooke and Riley were troublemakers. Brooke didn't eat her food and Riley was busy being a one year old.


• Halloween came and both kids went trick or treating. I took them individually. Brooke began understanding the concept even though she couldn't figure out how people put their hands through the screen door (they removed the screen). They both enjoyed the candy.


• Grandma and Grandpa Vissers came on Thursday and stayed through Monday. They had fun on Friday while I worked. The boys did their thing on Saturday (Dick's Southdale, Hoigaards, Tacos at Baja Sol, Picked up a double running stroller off Craigslist) and the girls did their thing (Perkins, Target, Kohl's, etc...)


• On Saturday night, we celebrated Brooke's birthday. Brooke was fighting a cold so she had that deep sexy voice of someone 10 times her age. However, she enjoyed all her gifts.


• On Sunday, I worked around the house while the kids slept and grilled a whole turkey and the Packer fans hit the local Old Chicago to watch the game (non-Vikings).


• This week has been nutts already with Vicki having class on Monday, pix at Mt Zion and a City of BV meeting on Tuesday, Tonight is a teleconf with Japan and Thursday is a window estimate. I am looking forward to Friday.

So here's a bunch of pix. Enjoy!

Brooke brushing Bailey's hair. Looks painful!
Sam keeping an eye on mini-me (Riley!)
Brooke checking out the singers at TGIF!
Before trick or treating
After with the goods

Vicki with her new X-Mas skirt (craftwork by Peggy) made from all her former bridesmaids dresses
Brooke checking out her new (and loud) Dora book
Where's the party?
Let's light the candles!
How many guys does it take to open up a kid's toy?

Brooke - The queen of punk!

Have a great week!!!!!

From Tokyo to Texas

Its been a couple crazy weeks since the marathon completed.

After the marathon, I was mentally exhausted and took a couple weeks off of exercise.

This was good since I headed to Tokyo (Japan) on October 13th. I left at 3 PM on Saturday and got to our hotel at about 7 PM on Sunday night. No sleep for the weary. This was my third trip to Japan in the past three years and the shortest. It was only 7 days that included 3 days of flying. I didn't bring my camera but am attaching a pix from an earlier visit to Japan. I recommend to visit Japan for a short time (couple days) to see their culture and eat their food. The sushi, shabu shabu and Udon (noodles) were great.

As I was getting ready to leave Minneapolis for Tokyo, I called the parents to check in and they informed me that my sister-in-law Shelly (Marc's wife) was going into labor. So while I was flying, she ended up having baby Maxim. So that meant, there was a Brit (Jewish ceremony) planned for the following Sunday (October 21st). I was able to make flight reservations while in Tokyo to fly out from the Twin Cities within 24 hours of returning from Japan.

I was glad to get back to the US last Friday and spend time with the family (even Brooke was very excited to see me and gave me a big hug). This is the first trip that I ever had a real conversation with Brooke on the telephone.

On Saturday, I packed up the luggage (and baby gifts) again and headed back to the airport. This time, I brought Riley with for his first trip away from his mom. He did great. We had a whole row of seats and he slept all the way down there. On the way back, he slept in the truck on the way to the airport and then was a bit wired on the flight. He watched a couple videos (Riley calls them Bideos) and then fell asleep 10 minutes before landing. He was very excited to see his sister and they laughed/screamed in enjoyment the car ride from the airport home.

The trip to Texas went by fast and Riley and I spent a lot of time with Marc, Shelly, Coral, Max, Grandma and of course Grandpa. The Brit went great and Max didn't even cry once during it. I think his parents did more crying than he did (very emotional). We ate some great food like smoked fish and bagels and Lupe's Tortillas. Riley really enjoyed CiCi's pizza. Here's a couple pix of our trip.

Cousin/Nephew Maxim - Old Tyme Photo
Grandma Peggy with Maxim
Hike-Hike!!!! Grandpa playing quarterback...

Lots of people at the Brit
The proud parents
The cousins doing some biking!
All the Boys!

Keeping busy on the plane!

While we were in Texas, the gals were busy visiting St. Bernards, going to Stretch and Stroll and also Vicki attended a class to renew her teaching license.

Now that I am back to sleeping in my own bed and over the jet lag, its time to get ready for winter. The grass needs to be mowed, hoses put away, plants need to be pulled, new tires for the Trooper.... Also on the agenda this weekend, Vicki's Uncle Marv and his family are coming into town. Next Monday is Brooke's 3rd birthday. Wednesday is Halloween and Thursday, Vicki's parents are coming into town....

I am including Riley's first piano recital.

Here is a video of part of the Brit ceremony.

Have a great weekend and I will be updating the blog after next week's festivities....

Apples, Dora and Dehydration

Well, its been almost 4 weeks since my last blog. I apologize to those out there that have been looking for updates. Its been a busy few weeks leading up to today. So I'll cover the highlights (and a few low).

Highlights:

The parents came in town two of the last three weekends.

The first weekend was for the High Holy Days. Here is our annual family picture. We need to airbrush Marc, Shelly and Coral into it.

My parents (Milt and Peggy) closed up another year at the cabin and headed down to the cities on October 4th after another great summer in Outing (MN) on their way to sunny Florida. During their visit, they brought Brooke to Ali's school for a fall festival (she had her hair painted pink and purple). We went on our annual apple picking trip to Webber's Orchard. The weather on Oct 6th was abnormal for October with temps in the 80's. Joining us this year were Scott, Angie and Ali. Also was Steve Kramer (High School friend) and two of his kids (Eli, Dorthea). Everyone had fun as you can see from the pictures. We followed up apple picking by going to lunch at the Horse and Hunt Club.

On Sunday evening, Brooke celebrated her birthday with Grandma and Grandpa. She got a Dora backpack (what she really wanted) along with a Dora ball toss game and her own baking set. She was all smiles that night. She even had Dora cupcakes, plates and hats. She was in her own Dora world.

Other notes:

Grandpa Milty enjoyed our new TV. The kids love watching Dora on the big screen....

We got new front doors and they look good and can now see who's on our front porch.

We are almost done with the bathroom and just need to get the floor installed.

Someone hairy is sitting in Riley's Chair (and its not Uncle Marc)!

Lowlight:

Throughout the summer, I trained for a couple races: Inline Skate Marathon, Mountain Bike Race and a Running Marathon. The Inline Skate was in the rain. The Bike Race was in record colds. I would have taken either for the Marathon. Instead it was 80 degress with dewpoints near 70. This was dangerous. Needless to say, I did the race and started off slowly and was sweating within 3 minutes of the start, usually it takes 20 minutes to work up that kind of a sweat. I passed my parents and Vicki with the kids at mile 11 and I was moving at a good pace. I hit the half marathon marker at sub 2 hours. This was slower than what I wanted but still doing good. The next 5 miles were tough and I could feel me slowing down. At the 19.5 mile mark, I started staggering really good and the next thing I know it, I was on the grass with the EMTs taking my blood pressure. (120/40). After watching a lot of runners run past me including friends (that were in shock), I was able to talk Tim the EMT into letting me finish. Not sure if that was the smartest thing that I have every done. I was dizzy and started walking. I ended up walking the last 6.5 miles. That was the longest walk that I ever did and took close to 2 hours. My legs were OK but my head wasn't. I was thirsty and there was no water in sight. I finally got some water in a Miller Lite cup and filled it at every waterstop. I ran for a few minutes around 23, 24, 25 and 26 mile mark. I even ran across the finishing line. Here's s good story of someone else that had similar problems. Out of 10,500 people registered. Only 7500 people finished the race. I heard of 900 people being taken off the course.
http://wcco.com/topstories/local_story_281214931.html

So where do I go from here? I promised Vicki no more running marathons. I'll stick to the 5Ks, fun runs and inline skating races. It was scary being out there in that condition and have no desire to do it anytime soon.....

What's next for us????

I am heading to Japan on October 13th for a week

Vicki's birthday is October 18th

Brooke's 3rd birthday is October 29th

Halloween is October 31st

Baby Boy #2 Spieler (Marc's first son) is expected October 23rd

Grandma Carol and Grandpa Wayne coming in for Brooke's birthday party on Nov 2nd-3rd.

Fat Tire Race, Cold Temperatures in Cable

Despite the abnormal cold temperatures last weekend, the family had a great time at Chequemegon Fat Tire Race.

Lots of pictures here that describe the cabin, race and weather conditions......

Bottomline is that everyone had fun, no broken bones and no frostbite.....

Temp at race start was 39 degrees. two days later its 80 degrees in the Twin Cities!

Before the Race:

AFTER THE RACE:

Other fun pix!

Next raceis the Twin Cities Marathon - October 7th!

Note: I forgot to include Claire getting stung by a bee on her lip on my last blog update. The bee liked the scent of her wine cooler and just wanted to share it with her.