Kapolnek Family blog

I can't believe my little baby is in first grade!  I still can't wrap my mind around having her gone all day every day!   It is going to be an adjustment for everyone.  I know Tyler and Sophie will miss her as much as I do.

We met her teacher at back to school night and it was terrific  (see note and candy from her teacher below)!  Meeting her, picking her seat, meeting some of the girls from class all changed Emma from a once reticent and nervous girl into an excited and enthusiastic "big" girl.   

I felt strange packing her lunch this morning.  This will be the first time she will be in charge of her own eating.  No one will be there to make sure she eats her sandwich and carrots before she eats all the Pirot's Booty!   But I am taking a deep breath, hoping/knowing that it will be fine.  Whatever happens, she will be fine.  I have to believe it.  It is only 8:30 and I  miss her already!  Ok, now I am sad. 

Here she is on the bus this morning with her friend and 3rd grade neighbor, Jenna!

 

It is too sunny!  - And maybe she is a little overdressed for the 57 degree morning  - but I didn't want her to be cold on the bus!!  It is going to be in the 80s today, so hopefully the coat will come home in her backpack!

 

Have a good day, baby!  I love you!

My grandmother (Memaw) just turned 90.  It is amazing to think that she was born in 1919!  The things she has seen: the people, the wars, the technology... the journey is incredible to imagine.  She has been either very lucky (or very unlucky - I  can't decide) that her mind has remained very sharp through the years.  The girl remembers everything!!  She used to love to tell stories of the past and we would all hang on her every word, knowing she was the only person in the world who could tell that story about our family.  When she is gone, so will her stories be...forever gone.  It is sad to imagine. 

So on this momentous occasion, Dave, the kids, my sister, and her kids made the trip to Utah where Memaw and my dad live to visit her and take her out on her big day.  It was great to see everyone.

Although in some ways she is still herself - in many ways, she is not.  Her vision has deteriorated to the point where she can only see shadows.  Her hearing loss makes it difficult to participate in fluid conversation.  Her body has weakened to the point where she needs a full time wheelchair and oxygen.   It was hard for me to engage, but I did my best.  But while I struggled, I was surprised to see how Sophie managed to break in and seemed to just steal her heart.   Ever the charmer, she hung out with Memaw a lot - playing with her hands, her jewelry, her wheelchair, and playing simple body part naming games.  I know it made Memaw happy and it made me happy too.  Children are such an amazing gift!

At the end of our weekend, we were puting Memaw back in the car.  As we were saying our goodbyes, I could see that she was starting to cry.  She looked at me with her foggy, teary eyes and said "I have a good family."  I agreed, and felt the happy sadness she felt.  I love her.  Happy 90th Memaw!

 

 

This year we had planned to stay close to home for our vacation.  Not really by choice, but as dictated by the economy.  It was the prudent thing to do.  But as the time got closer to us picking our destination, we couldn't help but be drawn back to the idea of the beach, the heat, and the fun of Mexico.  As we began looking at vacation packages, it became evident that there was, indeed, an upside to the H1N1 virus: vacations to Mexico had become very affordable; it was almost cheaper for us to be there than at home!  We booked 7 nights in the Riviera Maya, an hour south of Cancun.  We stayed at the Grand Paladium White Sands, which was beautiful.  The atmosphere was great, the pools were great, the beach was great, and the food was terrific.  It was an all inclusive - so the kids and I got to fulfill our dream of desert with every meal!!  Thankfully, the property was huge, so we walked off all of the extra calories.  We had a terrific time! 

I posted most of the picts on Shutterfly.  http://kapolnekvacation2009.shutterfly.com/

Can't wait to go back!!

Well, we finally got brave enough to try camping with the kids. We have been watching all of our neighbors take these terrific weekend trips to the mountains and wondered if we could actually pull it off with three little ones.  We finally got brave and committed to a trip.  My neighbor Lisa organized the trip at a location close enough to home that we could bail out at anytime and not have it be a huge deal. 

The park she reserved is called Hermit Park and is located just outside of Estes Park, about an hour from home.  It is a new park, purchased (from HP/Agilent) by the park system in 07, and it is GORGEOUS!  The camp sites are all nestled nicely in the trees, far from any park traffic or urban sounds.   Two other families went with us so we had a nice triangle of park area to call home.  We borrowed one of Lisa's tent hotels which was actually big enough to fit two queen sized air mattresses and a pack and play. 

Despite being immediately greeted by some very hungry mosquitoes, we were able to get situated rather quickly and without any drama.  The kids took immediately to their surroundings, and I swear Chloe had a giant smile on her face like she had died and gone to doggy heaven.

The kids spent their day playing on the rocks, exploring the area and enjoying the freedom that comes with camping.  Sophie had a doting 11 year old friend (McKenzie) who was so good to her and took her out to play with all the big kids.  It was great to bbq  our food on an open fire, drink a few beers, and just hang out by the camp fire with the kids and our friends.  Camping was great. 

By 9:00pm, the kids had had enough for the day.  They usually go to bed at 7:30, so they were tired.  We put Ty and Emma on one air mattress and put Sophie in the Pack and Play.  Sophie immediately protested this arrangement and let the entire forest know it.  It was more than an hour of solid screaming before I finally got her to sleep on me.  After some time, I transfered her to the pack and play and the other kids fell asleep.  But it wasn't long before Sophie was back up screaming again.  The only way I could get her to sleep was in the crux of my arm on our air mattress.  Since it is unsafe for a baby to sleep on an air mattress, I basically stayed awake all night making sure she didn't suffocate.    In addition to that fun part, it got very windy at night.  So much so that the stronger gusts would disconnect the rain flap from its connectors and flap violently against the tent.  This happened frequently, so Dave found himself up and out trying to reconnect the flap many times that night.  He got about as much sleep as I did.  At about 3:00am the wind woke Emma up and scared her so much that she wimpered and whined for about an hour.  Ty woke up at 6:00am, and like any good rooster, woke everyone up with his enthusiasm.

Despite being sleep deprived, we had a great breakfast, took a beautiful hike, and enjoyed a nice relaxing day.  The kids enjoyed more camping adventures and got REALLY dirty!  Chloe, still smiling ear to ear, slept like any good camping dog most of the afternoon.

We couldn't stomach the thought of another night in the tent, so we booked it home before nightfall and left the others to stay two more nights.  We had a blast during the day, but need to work on our night time strategy for any future trips. All in all, it was a short trip, but it was a fun trip! 

Here are some pictures ...

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We just had a great visit (ok, it was almost a month ago, but I have been busy!!).  After two solid days in the car (both ways) they journeyed from Chicago to our house, then to Colorado Srings, then here again, then home.  I am sure it must have been quite the journey.  We LOVED having them here.  The kids love to see their grandparents, and it was great to see and hang with Jerry.  We also got to see Mike and Karen briefly which was fun too.   I always feel a bit sad after these visits because I wish everyone could be geographically closer, but we will take what we can get! 

Here is a picture from the visit.

 

My neighbors brought home a tree from a tree farm to plant in their yard.  While preparing the soil, they heard some angry bird sounds coming from the tightly wrapped tree.  They came to get Dave and I because we "know" birds, and they worried that the birds coming  out might be angry and attack them.    Preparing to run, we carefully unwrapped the tree.  Once open, we could see that those noises were not angry sounds, but scared and hungry sounds coming from two baby birds.  The babies had been bumped around quite a bit, and had fallen out of their nest, but they seemed in relatively good shape and were holding on to the branches.  I gently untethered the nest from the tree, pulled it out, and then took the babies out.  We kept the babies overnight while I located a wild bird rescue organization.   The next morning the kids and I drove the babies to a great place where the little babies will be nursed, tought to be wild, and set free in about 6 weeks.  They were so cute!  Here they are in their box.

 

 

One of the things I love about Boulder, is that everyone is so fit and active and there are tons of activities to keep you challenged.  The best part about this for me, is that I don't have trouble finding girlfriends who want to exercise with me.  So I was really excited when a girlfriend suggested I run the 10K Boulder Boulder with her and some other women  on Memorial Day.  It is a very popular race that more than 40 thousand people run.  My girlfriend was actively training for the race.  I thought about training, but didn't.  For some strange reason, I had confidence that this race was a no brainer. I felt confident that I could finish the race, and my hope was to finish under an hour.   When talking about this with Dave, I reminded him that I ran the Bay to Breakers in 43 minutes and heard that the Boulder Boulder was not quite as challenging.  He reminded me ...uh...that it has been almost 20 years and three kids since I ran that race and that I am not 23 anymore!   Maybe I am whacked, but this came as a huge surprise to me.  It really does seem like only a few years ago that I did that race.  Time really does fly.  Anyway, despite my last minute, reality has set in, nerves, I ran the race.  While I was right, it wasn't quite as difficult as the Bay to Breakers, it was a challenge for me, but a lot of fun.  I am very happy to tell you that I finished in 59 minutes and 27 seconds.  And now my friends are trying to talk me into a mini triathlon!  Yikes!

 

I know if this keeps up, I will not be winning any Mom of the Year awards, but we have another damage report to file for our boy.  While most accidents occur when the parents are not watching their kids, Tyler always seems to get injured right before my eyes ... in slow motion!  What that says about my supervision, I don't know!  The most recent incident happened on Monday as we were getting ready for playgroup.  Tyler was finishing a Magic School Bus episode and wanted to play ball.  I agreed, and I told him if he turned off the TV, we could play.  Since he does everything in full speed, it was no surprise that he would run to the receiver full speed to turn it off.  Only this time, the doors to the cabinet were open (they are NEVER open).  Without seeing the door open towards him, he ran full speed into the short edge of it.  The impact threw him backwards, and flipped him on his back.  When I ran to him to comfort him, I saw that he was bleeding profusely from both sides of his nose.  I brought him to the kitchen where we applied pressure and ice.  After about 10 minutes of non stop bleeding and swelling making his nose look bent, I took him to urgent care.  The pediatrician said we couldn't confirm a break for sure (little noses are full of tiny bones that are impossible to see on x-ray - CT scan is the only way to know for sure).   He said that as the swelling subsides, his nose will probably go back to the right spot.  If not, we get the scan and fix it.  It has been two days and it looks like it might be going back ok (although it is still swollen).   Now it is turning a pretty color of green that matches his eyes.    Our camera sucks so you can't really see the pretty colors, but you get the idea.

Poor kid!

 

Suddenly, we are all about the accessories.  They must be bold, and there must be A LOT of them!   This is today's ensemble.  This picture doesn't show the pink glittery shoes, the pink choker (that she made herself), or the feather purse that completes the outfit.  It is too cute! 

 

I don't know a whole lot of 3 year old boys who can do the monkey bars.  So I didn't REALLY think Ty was going to get it anytime soon.  But this afternoon, he did it!  3 times actually!  He is pretty proud of himself and becoming quite the athlete.  And we are pretty proud of him too.  Check the boy out!

 

   Here he is with his soccer ball..