Saturday, April 22, 2006

Nothing says spring like...

.. THE FARMERS MARKET!!

Woo hoo! It's farmers market time. For those of you not in Madison, it's hard to understand what the big deal it. Farmers Market is Madison. The market is strict - only vendors who produce their own produce, flowers, cheese, bread etc... are allowed. It all must also be from Wisconsin. The Brunkow Cheese, Spicy Cheese Bread (YUMMMY!!!)) from Stella's, Garlic Angel Hair Pasta from RP's, creamer mushrooms, a chocolate ring from Oak House bakery and the kids got a cookie from a new cookie place. Their normal cookie man wasn't there today. Hopefully he will return next week. Have I mentioned how much I love the market?

The market is held around the capitol every Saturday. About once a month we will head inside the capitol and look around. The Wisconsin capitol is really very beautiful. The 5 year old loves to visit and find the fossils in the granite.
Anyway, you know where to find use nearly every Saturday!

Thursday, April 20, 2006

The 1st Trip to the Dentist

My children had never been to the dentist... yes, I know this is not the best given that my oldest will be turing 6 next week. Let me give you some background...

Until about a year ago, my oldest would SCREAM bloody murder when taken to the doctor. When he was sick, he wouldn't even allow the Dr to look into his ear. For check ups, he refused to get onto the scale on his own (this I hated! They would weigh me, weigh me with him and figure out his weight.). It wasn't until around his 5 birthday that he would go to the Dr and allow them to examine him without behaving like he was in a tourture chamber.

Would you take a child like this to the Dentist?
Well, I wouldn't.

I am actually glad I waited. It ended up that he was so thrilled with his 1st dentist visit. He had no issues with his teeth or brushing and was disappointed to find out that he wouldn't be going back until October. I really beleive that if he had gone when he was 3, as recommended, he would have had a horrible visit, screamed and possibly hated the dentist for a long time. Instead, he LOVED IT! The highlight of the trip was the x rays!

The 2 year old had a much easier time. She didn't get the full dental treatment, but she did pass with flying colors too. All in all the dental visit was a success! Unbeleivable, the kids can't wait to go again.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

The good, the bad and the good!

So, it's officially Spring now! Easter has come and gone and now we are awaiting our 5 year old's birthday in a little over a week. He will be 6! My how time has flown. He's finishing up his 1st year of kindergarten. I am suprised to find out he's reading at a nearly end of 1st grade level! I am very proud of him to be reading so well. By the end of 1st grade, they want children to read at a level 18 (I don't know on what scale) and back in January he was at a level 10. End of Kindergarten should be 5! My 2 year old is having her own issues. Apparently, she doesn't like preschool anymore. All year she had NO problems going to school, and then all of a sudden about 2 weeks ago, she doesn't want to go. No reason, just that she misses mommy.. awe.... Today, she started crying before even walking in the door. We brought her security blankie along, and that seemed to help. When she goes in, her teachers always offer to read her a book, she goes along and then she's good to go. I can't help but wonder if she just wants that book read to her. On a bright note with the 2 year old... she's almost potty trained!!! She does great during the day and stays dry! I still have her in pull ups at school because she doesn't talk at school and I fear that she will just sit silently and pee in her pants at school. Soon, I hope to make the bold jump to sending her to school in undies. Well... so much for my update. Here's a photo of the kids at their Easter Egg hunt... that's a whole other blog entry on it's own!

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

The Windy City

So...we, took a trip to Chicago. It was my 1st parent trip to downtown Chicago. I have been to the 'burbs, and flown out of Midway, but I hadn't *actually* been to the city that I can remember well.
We couldn't find a hotel reasonable enough to stay at downtown so we actually stayed out by O'Hare. We got a killer deal on Priceline.com and stayed at a Renaissance by Mariott for just $55/ night plus taxes and parking. I love Priceline. We took the CTA trains in to town every day and even rode a few buses. I am actually surprise at how many people are afraid to use public transportation. We paid just $12 for unlimited train rides and bus rides for the days that we were there. You can't beat that.
We visited the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, the Adler Planetarium as well as the Art Institute. We also got a great deal on tickets - we bought a City Pass. This includes admission to 6 different venues all for $50 (in Chicago, it varies in different cities). So I din't feel bad when we only spent 2 hours are the Art Institute, or the the Shedd was jam packed... We also got to by pass some of the LONG lines, so it was worth it just for that.
Anyway, Chicago was a success and I know we will be returning soon!
 

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