He Shoots...He Scores!

Owen's soccer team celebrated its first victory of the season with a 4-1 victory over the Teal team. Owen scored a goal in the second half on a great shot. The video shows the shot he took just minutes earlier and missed wide left. He also made a nice corner kick to his teammate Jarret who scored the team's second goal of the game. The kids improved dramatically over last week and kind of understood what it means to spread out, although there were a few times when the great white "amoeba" still floats around the ball. The team is all first-timers so they'll continue to improve. Gavin team's only practiced today so there is no game score to report.

Milwaukee County Zoo

On Sunday after church we headed off to the Milwaukee County Zoo to enjoy the Free Family Day. So did the rest of Milwaukee. The weather was a perfect 80 degrees and the zoo was FULL of people. After eating a nice picnic lunch in the parking lot, we navigated through the buildings which included the new Big Cat House which was really nice, the Fish & Reptile Building, the Aviary and Primate building. The crowds were so great and it was difficult to weave through the buildings so we passed on the small mammals and kangaroos . The elephants and giraffes were all out and the polar bears put on a nice fighting show. James unfortunately witnessed some monkey hanky-panky and is now scarred for life. Thankfully, the rest of the family was spared the sight.

Soccer Season Begins

The boys had their first soccer games of the season on Saturday morning at GoalGetters in Manitowoc. Owen's team took one on the chin with a 6-0 loss. It was the first game ever for a lot of the players, including Owen. He did make a great save while playing goalie in the first half though. Gavin's team also lost, by a score of 4-1. Gavin narrowly missed a goal as he took the ball down the field and pushed it just past the goal. Both boys play each Saturday morning. We'll post game times in the near future.

Owen's First Communion

Sunday marked Owen's First Communion at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church. After months of diligent training and education, Owen made the step forward and has joined the ranks. He did a great job!

Pool Tricks from Inverness

We've been raising fish in this family. During our stay in Florida, the kids spent no less than five hours per day in the swimming pool. Jen's question: Do you think you could get used to this? Their answer: YEEEAAAAHHHH!

Gavin B-Day Videos

Here's two videos of Gavin opening his Razor Scooter and his remote controlled car. You'll enjoy both of them. He loved having his birthday in Florida although I'm slightly concerned he will want exotic locations for all of his birthday parties. Maybe just Chuck E. Cheese next year.

Owen's Pinewood Derby Race

Owen gave it his best at the Pinewood Derby race but fell short in his first and only race of the evening. Running the car he and Gpa made on Sunday, Owen was a good sport. With Gpa's encouragement and after the racing was over, Owen raced against the first and second place cars and ran his car backwards. He smoked the other two competitors by a long way. We'll have to keep the design and run the car in the other direction next year and go for the gold!

We're Home! Safe and Sound!

We wrapped up our trip to Florida by enjoying Thursday with a breakfast at Joe's in Inverness since the power was out at the Lauermann's. We ate a great pork chop dinner, drank down some White Russians (thanks Chris for the recipe) and enjoyed the pool one last day. We got up early on Friday morning and left Calvary Terrace at 8:30 pm. We were hoping to have clear sailing and did great for the first five hours, until we hit Atlanta. At that time, traffic came to a standstill for nearly two hours. We know that since we listened/watched all of Pirates of the Carribean 2 in only 30 miles distance. We even tried to get off I-75 and loop around Atlanta which only got us a tour of the countryside which opened into Atlanta Motor Speedway and through the city of Fayetteville before rejoining I-75 and enjoying about 10 minutes of movement before traffic stopped again. After clearing Atlanta in 8+ hours after hoping to do so in 6 hours, we drove 1.5 hours to Chattanooga and then 1.5 hours to Nashville (where it was snowing) and then 45 minutes to Clarkesville which is on the border of Tennessee and Kentucky. They have about 15 hotels at that Exit but we didn't have reservations and most were booked or only had smoking rooms available which was not an option. Finally, we found the Hampton Inn which had a jacuzzi suite available. That sounded great after 13+ hours in the car and Owen claimed it "the best hotel he's ever stayed at in his whole entire life!" On Saturday we got up and 8-ish, had a great hot breakfast in the lobby and headed back out. We stopped in Effingham for lunch/gas and at Gurnee Mills to stretch our legs. We dropped off a few things at Lauren's which dramatically improved the gas mileage for the last hour of the trip. Thanks Gma & Gpa for a great week in Florida!

Working Wednesday in Florida

We've finished our list of to-do's while in Florida since last evening and have also found plenty of time to enjoy the pool as well. It was another 80+ degree day today with no rain so we got out and loaded the Christmas tree, verified it was devoid of la coocharachas and filled the Hope Chest and put it in the back of the van. We vacuumed out the swimming pool area of the millions of tiny seeds that have fallen from the trees. We blew out the gutters and the areas around the pool. We spread wood chips and fixed the concrete edges that Gma had driven over with the car and twisted. We flipped the mattress on their bed. We swept out and cleaned up the shed and garage. We finished cleaning out the liquor cabinet. Jen powerwashed the swing and brick patio under it and I sighted in Gma's pellet rifle (don't think it will help though.) And then went back in the pool again after a great set-it-and-forget-it chicken dinner.

Homosassa Springs: Awesome!

We took the kids to Homosassa Springs today to see the manatees, alligators and hippo. The place is really nice with lots of new walkway upgrades and new exhibits. The kids got a kick out of going underwater to view the fish and scuba divers who were cleaning off the windows to the windows on the submersed viewing area. The alligators were very active today moving about and stalking a family of Wood Ducks and chicks (they went uneaten), however Lucifer was a lazy turd. Speaking of turds, he did give us the luxury of watching him spray poop all over the wall to his cage which of course the boy's thought was awesome. Then Owen realized that "Hey, it stinks here now" so on to the next animals we went. It's 85 degrees today which means it's really, really hot to these Wisconsin travellers so we went back to Gpa's and Gma's to do a little work around the house and then we're heading out for pizza before coming back for an evening swim.

Happy Birthday to Gavin!!

Gavin turned 6 today, even though we were in Florida for his birthday and remarkably all of his gifts were waiting for him when he woke up. He got a Razor scooter from Gma & Gpa Vater and Megan & Matt (we'll upload video of the opening when we get home), a remote controlled car (which caused him to "faint" from excitement and is also on video) from Jane & Don, a fishing lure for Jon's cabin from Brooke & Jay, $1 from great Gma, soccer shorts from Rob and an Air Hog. He loves all of his gifts and is looking forward to showing them off next weekend back in Wisconsin.

Day 2: Webster and more

It's Monday and we took the trip to the Webster Flea Market to enjoy a fun day of searching. The boys each got a hat, a rubber band gun and some marbles from Tom the owner of a booth. Jen found a great couple of pieces of Fiesta Ware which will go on display when we get home. James got a metal outdoorsy piece of tin to hang in his new office at work since everyone there is telling him that the area is booorrrring.

After we got back we did some tricks in the pool, played a little volleyball and James got his haircut. Aang style. The boys got a kick out of it and then it was removed the rest of the way. I'll have to make sure to wear some sunblock on my head this week. It's been 80+ degrees both days with good forecasts for the rest of the week as well. The pool is 90+ degrees easy and the kids are turning into fish. Tomorrow is Gavin's birthday so we'll take some photos and put them up tomorrow night.

We made it to FLORIDA!

Since James couldn't wait til Saturday morning to leave, the crew took off after cleaning up the dinner plates and were southbound at 6:30 pm. The kids watched Happy Feet after clearing Milwaukee which took them to the south side of Chicago. We travelled to just short of Effingham, IL which is about an hour south of Champagne. We found a hotel room at midnight, a Ramada, for only $50 and crashed for the evening.

At 7 am we headed back out and after a quick stop through the McDonald's drive thru proceeded town I-55 until we hit Paducah where we took a quick break at the Kentucky line. Our next stop was at the Tennessee border and then it was straight through to Marietta, Georgia where we had dinner at Applebee's for Jen's birthday and then hit the pool before hitting the hay.

At 7 am Sunday morning, we left Atlanta behind us and arrived at Gpa's and Gma's at 1:30 in the afternoon, making the jaunt from North of Atlanta to Inverness in 6.5 hours. Dad was right, if you're not going 80 mph, you're getting passed. Anyhow, we arrived all safe and sound and were in the pool by 2:15.

He's Eight! He's Eight!

Owen turned the big 8 years old on March 16th and had a great birthday. He received his own guitar from us and got lots of clothes and a great Swiss Army knife from his godmother Aunt Lauren. Uncle Rob teased him with a money saving contest that will last until his 12th birthday at which time he will receive a surprise gift! He also received an animal encyclopedia where he is prepping for Florida animals like manatees, alligators and armadillos.

Owen really is a bear!

Owen is really a bear. (Bear Scout that is!) Today we had the annual Blue & Gold Banquet for Owen's Cub Scout Pack 3934 and Owen achieved the level of Bear Scout. He received a new neckerchief and book and his Wolf Badge, officially completing that level and advancing to bear level. The boys and their families were treated to chicken strips and fries from Courthouse Pub and subs from Cousins Subs. In all five kids advanced to their next level today. Ten more will advance by the end of the school year.

Quinn Gets a Closet

Quinn had generously donated her previous closet to expand the bathroom and was rewarded with a new closet in her bedroom. Quinn was right in the middle of it and the boys helped use the nail gun to put the pine bead board in. Now on to mud, trim and paint and it will be complete.

Cub Scouts Rocket Races

Owen participated in the Monroe Cub Scouts Rocket Races tonight. Grandpa Vater helped with the design and it worked great! Owen's rocket was one of the farthest and fastest travelling rockets on the evening. Most parents were trying to figure out how Owen's went so fast and were quickly duplicating the propeller setup. We were able to slip on three rubber bands and at about 100 turns of the propeller we were ready to go. Both Owen's and my fingers show the wear of loosely holding the propeller and having it "snap" onto our fingers. Lesson learned. On the last launch of the evening for Owen, the rocket jumped off the string and crashed into the floor, snapping the propeller. We'll super glue it back on so it can be displayed with pride on his bookshelf at home.

Knights of the Realm!!!

We took the boys to Medieval Times in Chicago today and to quote both Owen and Gavin, it was "AWESOME!" We saw live jousting and Knight skill contests along with some outstanding sword, mace, axe, shield and flail work. The horses were absolutely stunning and were so impressive. We upgraded to the front row and had great seats. There was a falconer and a lot of great food. The wench (known as a waitress nowadays) came through and instructed us that our right hand was our fork and our left hand was our knife while our napkin was the sleeve of the person next to us. Owen grinned. Then out came dragon soup, a half chicken and a sparerib plus herbed potatoes and a mug of "Pepsi." All without utensils, it was great.

Furthermore, the boys met the Lord Chancellor, (right hand man to the King regarding affairs of the state) prior to the show. On top of that, we were seated in the blue kingdom and our Knight won the entire event, was granted the hand of the princess and marriage and saved the day over the evil Lord Marshall (general of the King's army.) If you haven't experienced Medieval Times, it is well worth it.

Thanks to Grandpa for watching Quinn for the day so we could play with the boys. We brought Quinn back a princess hat which she said is beautiful.

Winter Fun in Wisconsin

Snow has finally fallen in Wisconsin and Quinn and the boys were out enjoying a little winter action. Quinn enjoyed the inflatable snow tube at Wilson Junior High School, Uncle Donny's alma mater, while Owen tried out his new snowboard at home that he got as a Christmas gift from his godfather Aaron Haas. Owen says "Thanks Aaron, this is awesome!" We are making him wear a helmet to keep medical costs to a minimum as Owen also got Heely's for Christmas from us. Gavin apologizes for not looking at the camera for the picture. We take what we get sometimes.

New Bathroom Coming Along

Our six-month long renovating project is nearing its end with only the sinks and some trimwork remaining on our new bathroom. The plumbers installed the toilet in mid-December and we put the shower together shorthly thereafter. After several weeks of use, everything seems to be working just fine. We'll say this for sure, it's way better than the previous bathroom.