Team Schneider

A couple of weeks ago, Pete hopped across the Pond to spend 5 hours on a yacht in the Sydney Harbour work.

Andrew and I spent lots of quality time together and even had time to read books to this little one.

Once Pete was back, we were on to our next adventure.  We met up with the D grandparents and Aunt E.   They were in charge of Andrew for a couple of days while Pete and I escaped.

A good friend of mine from SCSU days was married up on The Range.

She was a beautiful bride and it was a fun day!

On our drive home we tried to find some breakfast, but all we found was this hockey stick.  Pete has a friend in Dubai that saw this picture and joked that he would share this with the sheikh and soon they would have the world’s largest hockey stick.

Once we gathered Andrew, we arrived home to do some more landscape work.  Planting this tree turned out to be somewhat of an ordeal.  First our neighbors saw that we were outside and decided to drop their kids off with us to play.  A few minutes later another neighbor came over with a shovel and LOTS of advice on what we should be doing differently.  Pete’s phone was ringing on and on from someone from the Australian government.  In the end, the tree and shrubs were planted but I was too exhausted to take any more pictures…maybe another day!

Also, I am growing tired of the landscaping work and moving on to a new project 🙂

Right after I convince Andrew to help me clean up his toys.

Yesterday we spent a lot of time doing this and waiting for the rain to stop.

Luckily today was perfect and my brother was able to enjoy it with us.  We loaded up the supplies and headed for a day at a park.

The four of us set out and gave Andrew firm reminders of the importance of remaining seating while on the canoe.  He did a great job and we paddled around the lake for about 45 minutes.  Once we were back, Steven said “Hey guys, want to see that gunnel jumping I was telling you about?  I’ll be right back”.  And with that I will let the pictures speak for themselves:

See below for a video of what he looked like…

So much for teaching Andrew about sitting down in a boat.  Thanks a lot, Steven.

Andrew pulled him to shore just before the rental people came to quickly take back their lifejackets and paddles.

We had a picnic.  Andrew found 2 more caterpillars to add to his collection.  We played at the park.

And we are REALLY looking forward to the beginning of our summer.  4 more days!!!

Andrew continues to amaze us with how much he knows.  The last few weeks he’s been playing on and off with a little airplane that used to make noise.  We explained that the batteries were dead and we’d have to put new ones in to make it work again.

This afternoon, I picked him up from daycare and we were driving home in the rain.  I was singing “Rain, rain, go away” and suggested that he try to sing it and maybe the rain would go away.  He shook his head no, so I continued to sing while he looked outside at the rain coming down.  A minute later he said “That song not workin’ Mom.  Has dead batteries”.

We

had

a

great day.

Leaving for a week is not something that occurs often for me.  In fact, I have not been away that long in 3 years.  Soon after I got home, I began to notice a few things that changed.  Some for the better, others not.

For instance, this plant.  Not better, but rather barely hanging on to life.  (Same goes for my cilantro and basil)

Also not for the better, Andrew’s new eating habits.

I also heard stories of hot dogs and marshmallows by fire.  Andrew is not great at keeping secrets.  He also explained to me that “I not takin’ a shower anymore” and repeatedly asked “where are my girls at, Mom?”  while looking out the window for the neighbors.  I chose to ignore those comments and instead focused my attention on his nutrition.

Once order was restored and the layer of grass, dirt, and food was cleaned from the countertops and floors, I was able to appreciate the work that did happen while I was away.

Still not sure how this was pulled off, but I’m looking forward to doing some planting!  We had about an hour together before Pete left for the airport.  Andrew dealt with the transitions flawlessly, I dealt with it by consuming chocolate and ice cream.  Oh well, so it goes…tomorrow, Andrew and I are going to do one last weed pulling session in the garden and then hopefully planting vegetables!

Laura returned home safe and sound tonight.  Andy and I were really happy to see her and help us return to a civilized life.

Since my last post Andy and I went camping in the back yard including a camp fire and a night in a tent.  We also did a little yard work that caught Laura by surprise….

For the 2nd time in 2 days Andy and I headed to the pool…thank God it was open or Andy would have had trust issues for the rest of his life!

Andy jumped of the side, splashed dad, and went down the slide for almost 2 hours.  It was a fantastic time!

As Andy rode down the slide backwards and one dad commented “your son is fearless,” I thought to myself…that is my biggest fear

We had an interesting encounter with a strange five-year-old that kept trying to stick his feet in Andy’s face.  After about 10 minutes Andy decided that he had had enough, so he roared at the kid like a dinosaur until the kid ran away.  A different but very effective way to handle a problem child.

On a completely different note…we had a huge snapping turtle wonder through the yard on Sunday….as Laura and I tried to think of ways to dispose of it, it “darted” back into the pond.  Hopefully never to been seen again.

This morning the GopherOne guy was out and marked the yard for utilities.  Time for some digging!

This morning we all got up before the sun was above the horizon to see Laura off for a week.

She packed up her sleeping bag, pillow, walking shoes, clothes and headed off to the annual 4th grade week long field trip to Wolf Ridge (just north of Duluth, MN).

Before she left she made sure Andy had a clean hair cut and I knew the rules of when to wear shorts and when to wear pants….who knew there was a rule.

Andy and I plan on being quite busy this week so I will try to keep the blog updated with our daily activities….today was a bit of a bummer, we tried to go swimming but when we got there the pool was closed for classes. Tomorrow will bring more excitement!

BTW GopherOne is coming out tomorrow 😉

We’ve all been under the same roof this past week.

We’ve easily fallen back into the routine.

That is until these two decided they had had enough family time and instead took off on an impromptu fishing trip.  Pete and Andrew decided at the last minute to head up a little early to have a sleepover with the cousins.

Thank you to Ron and Wendy for inviting us up for the fishing opener!

Andrew had a blast!

While the boys were gone, I went to a tree sale at a local landscaping business.  Behold our newest tree, the bur oak.  Do not be fooled by the trees WITH leaves, they are not ours.  Ours is the large twig with symmetrical branches.  In addition to the oak tree, we will be getting three Miss Kim Lilacs and three Gro-Low Fragrant Sumacs!

Pete took a nap this afternoon and Andrew took the opportunity to decorate him.

When he was finished, he licked the spoon and bowl for 30 minutes helped me make a cake 🙂