Vacation- Beach Fun

NJ Beach 2007

Click on the picture to see more pics of the vacation. You might notice all the rocks we are sitting in- most yards in this area are rocks not grass. Saves on mowing and I don't think the grass grows well. The rocks do look pretty nice and not a lot of upkeep!

We went to New Jersey to the beach again for vacation this year. My parents, David, Melisa, Emily, Hannah, and Heather all went with us. We rented a 15 passenger van so we could all ride together and save some gas. Actually it turns out that it was good because everytime we got lost, or went the wrong way, we would have had a hard time with 2 vehicles trying to follow each other.
So we started out in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, and went to the Jersey Shore! David started out driving and Wilmer took over about halfway. Now, if you have never been in New Jersey- their roads are strange. I mean, they have these goofy turnarounds instead of left hand turning lanes- it is all very confusing and we always miss the turns. So it was about 11pm and we stopped at a gas station for a potty break. (Yes we had a pregnant woman with us who needed to stop! Melisa is pregnant with their 3rd child!) The kids were all sleeping. Wilmer was driving and when we were trying to get back on the road- we found we couldn't get back on the road going in the same direction we were. There was a road right next to the gas station that went to a light where you could turn in the direction we wanted to go. However, there was no way to get on that road from the gas station. The only exit from the gas station was to go the opposite direction for who knows how long before we could turn around. So my creative (crazy) husband decided to make his own exit to the road we needed by taking this huge 15 passenger van over the curb thru the trees onto the road. And yes there were some people around! But at 11 pm after a long drive, that was the funniest thing we had ever done and all of us were laughing so hard. That was our funny story of the trip.
We reached the house we were staying at around midnight. The parents of a friend of ours were letting us stay in their house by the water. It was really nice and fun to be all together in a house instead of a couple rooms in a hotel. So that just started our vacation of craziness and little sleep. Aaron loved the sand and playing and digging but didn't want to go near the water the whole time we were there. Tyler loved everything, esp the waves. He just wanted to go running into them so we had to watch him close. If he wasn't doing that, he was trying to eat all the sand off the beach! I'm glad both boys seemed to have fun though. Of course, Wilmer boogie boarded with David and Heather most of the time. He loves riding the waves and it is so fun to watch him enjoying himself and relaxing. Every day coming back from the beach, (it was about a 20 minute drive back to the house) all 4 kids would fall asleep. It was so nice- we didn't have to fight them to take naps.
The last day we didn't go swimming because we didn't want to be all sandy on the way home. So we decided to go paddleboating. The big boys wanted to go jetskiing but it is way too expensive. Anyway we went in 2 boats and yeah, it didn't work. Between the waves (even in the bay where we were) and the wind, we were useless in controlling our boat much. Paddling did absolutely nothing- well except give me a good workout on my legs. So we just drifted back and over to the shore and got out. they came and towed the boats back up to where we started. Then the kids played on a playground for a while then we decided to leave. We stopped at the Cracker Barrel before we got out of NJ. Wilmer and I hadn't been there before so it was nice to try something new. Then we were about 1 1/2 hrs from my parents and Tyler got really sick and threw up all over. So we had a nice little story about going home. Poor guy was so sick and we still had 3 more hours to get home to NY. We left the next morning for NY so he had a little time to recover but not much. We had a good time but it was nice to come home! My sister, Heather, came home with us for a week so it was nice to have some help while Wilmer was at work and at night, so I caught up on some of my sleep.

Family Update

Kids Pics Aug/Sept 2007

We have had a great summer and now comes the cold weather again!
Aaron is growing up so fast. He talks a mile a minute. I taught him the ABC song on our way to PA one time and since then he has not stopped singing it. So now he knows his ABCs and we are working on recognizing them by sight now. He can count to 20 but has a hard time saying 13 and 15. He pronounces words better and better. He also picks up so many words every day (especially ones you don't want him to!) He went to VBS this year and he also goes to Pioneer Club on Wednesday nights at church. He loves it and even participated in singing a song up front in front of parents. That's something his Daddy won't even do! He did a really good job.
Tyler is almost 10 months now! He was walking before 9 months and now he is running. And so am I, trying to keep up with him. He climbs everything and puts everything in his mouth. He is so active but does not want to talk. He grunts, screams, and giggles but won't utter a speaking sound. He just laughs at me when I say mama or dada. He wants to copy Aaron in everything but that. He does manage to keep up with his brother and Dad pretty good now. He also gets into their wrestling matches and laughs the whole time. He still will not give me good nights of sleep every night but once in a while I get about 6-8 hours of sleep.
Overall they are both doing great and growing well. They are so much fun!

Strong Museum

Strong Museum

July 4th we had great plans to take the kids to some nice parks around here and just spend the day outside together. Then it rained and was crappy ALL day so we needed a new plan. If we stayed home it would be the same old thing as every other day. We decided to try out the Strong National Museum of Play. We have heard all kinds of things so we thought we would go there for an hour or so. We ended up coming home about 5 hours later! There is so much there to see and do for kids of all ages. Even Wilmer and I were looking at some of the display cases they have and saying "Oh I remember that game- I had one- I remember that doll/toy.." That was scary- does that mean we are old?!! There was even a lunchbox there that I still have at home! There were all kinds of hands on exhibits for both Aaron and Tyler to do. There was an indoor train ride. Aaron wasn't sure he wanted to ride on it, so I took Tyler. Of course then he wanted Daddy to take him! There were mazes for Tyler to crawl/walk thru. There were cars for Aaron to drive and play with. There is even a miniature Wegmans with working scanners and registers and receipts!! (Aaron was not impressed by this but Mommy was.) I can't believe how many things there were to do. No wonder people say you can spend all day there. It was fun! If you are ever in Rochester, especially if you have kids, you need to visit this place. It is great! Click on the picture to see more and videos too!

New House

Evergreen Dr

We bought this house the last day of May. We have been trying to get it since February. Wilmer saw it on foreclosure.com the day it came out. When he contacted the bank, they gave us the combo for the lockbox and said to feel free to go in and look around. So we did and we took a lot of other people to look too. It was a beautiful house. We had planned on trying to get the house to flip but when we looked around, we thought maybe we could keep it. It is a 4 bedroom house with 2.5 baths. The master bedroom is huge and has its own bathroom and walk-in closet. There is a formal dining room and formal living room, eat-in kitchen, family room with fireplace, first floor laundry room, HUGE full basement, and a back deck with a pool. Oh, and there is an in-law apartment. The house is gorgeous. If you click on the picture, you can see a lot of pictures before and after. Anyway, we started to negotiate with the bank and couldn't reach an agreement by the end of March so we told them we had to let it go cuz they wanted too much. We kept praying about it and in the beginning of May, the bank called us back to negotiate some more. They finally dropped to what we wanted and so we closed on it May 31, 2007. We began repairs right away and had our first open house to try to sell it on July 1. We have been going back and forth about whether to keep it or sell it. We have the potential to make enough money on it to get ourselves out of debt and breathe a little easier as far as bills. At this point we believe God is leading to try to sell. We are still open to move in but we have both reached the point where if we have to stay in our little house for a while longer, it will be ok. Eventually we will find the right house to move in. Anyway, when this sells, it will be our 2nd flip so that is exciting for us and especially for Wilmer, who is dying to get away from the call center!

Family Update

Tyler- Monthly Photos

Tyler is almost 8 months! I can't believe how time is flying by. He is intent on learning to walk. He will stand for a few minutes alone and he walks with a push walker. He loves being able to be do more with Aaron and Daddy. He has 6 teeth now and loves to use them. He is still not sleeping thru the night consistently. The past 2 nights he has slept until about 5am. So maybe he is finally starting to realize that Mommy needs sleep too! =) He is so mobile but not really interested in vocabulary yet. I try to get him to say mama or dada and he just starts to giggle. Then Aaron joins in the giggling and it's hopeless to get him to say anything! Tyler loves swimming. The temp of the water doesn't matter he just wants to be in the water.

Aaron is getting big too. I can't believe how much he can do and understand now. His vocabulary is just so extensive now and those of you who think he is quiet...yeah I don't think so! He plays with his brother only if no one else is around. When someone else is here he has to show off by beating up on him. For the most part, he's pretty good except for the terrible two thing! =) As for swimming, he's like his daddy, water has to be just right! But he would prefer to swim where he can touch the bottom.

My mom, Heather, and I went to Wisconsin in June to a reunion for our school from Papua New Guinea. (To see pics of the reunion and mumu go to www.zhzellers.blogspot.com my sister's website.) We camped out in a tent for 2 nights. We also travelled the 13 hours during the night so the boys would sleep. It was quite the adventure. And the nights were FREEZING!!! So it was nice to get home so we could actually get some sleep. The boys were pretty good travelling for that long. I was surprised but thankful.

Click on the pic above to go to the web album to see some new pics of Aaron and Tyler.

Wilmer's New Toy

Aaron riding with Daddy on his new toy! Tyler's first time on a bike! They both have gotten rides. I'm afraid Tyler is going to be a daredevil. He loved his ride on the bike and could have continued all day. Aaron prefers to just sit on it and not move. He will ride occasionally but would rather watch Daddy.

Boys Update

May 2007

The boys are getting so big! Click on the picture for more pics from the web album. Aaron loves his brother most of the time like when the camera comes out! He loves to play outside. I am so thankful for the nice weather now so we can get out. Because we only have the truck, if we want to go anywhere, we walk. So now we are able to go places within walking distance anyway. There is a playground close that we can go to. Aaron's friend, Brandon, comes over to play with him and he and his mom go for walks with us also.

Tyler is almost 6 months! I can't believe it already! He sits up now just fine and is able to get on all fours and go forward. I don't know that I would call it crawling but he is up and can go pretty fast., especially when he sees something he really wants (but can't have!). He eats cereal every night and has started baby food also. He has had bananas, carrots, and pears. He is progressing quite fast with everything except the sleeping. He doesn't like having a schedule. Usually he doesn't do anything at the same time as he did the day before, no matter how hard I try. I never know if he is going to take 2 naps, 3 naps or just a few catnaps or just one! And sleep thru the night? No way, can't let anyone in the house have one night of sleep uninterrupted!. He doesn't sleep in our room anymore but that isn't helping any. This kid just doesn't like to sleep. He will wake up at 2am just talking away and then if no one is there to listen (like we can't hear him anyway) he has to cry to make someone come. Then he is fine. It is quite frustrating but I know it will pass someday!