4th of July Curse

Due to Brad's hectic work schedule for his consulting business, our 4th of July weekend was spent at home.  We got some things done around the house and played with the girls.  We were telling Emmy all about the Fireworks (aka...colors in the sky) and she was getting so excited.  I bought some sparklers, snakes, ground spinners & pop its for the kids and we let them off in the street.

I fed Emmy her lunch that day and then laid her down for a nap.  After her nap, she woke up and started throwing up.  Erin woke up from her nap and Brad fed her some lunch.  Not long after Erin ate lunch, she got sick too.  The girls both ate hot dogs for lunch...so I'm assuming that's what got them sick.  Neither of the girls had fevers.  We spent the entire holiday cleaning up after sick kids.  I think Erin went through seven pairs of pajamas and got several baths that day.  Emmy & I gagged as Erin got sick.  I definitely inherited my mother's weak stomach.  As I was bent over the tub gagging & giving Erin one of her many baths, Emmy was gagging behind me, so I told her to run to the toilet.  She got sick in the toilet and then decided to go potty.  As she was sitting on the potty, she started laughing at me and said, "Haha mommy...your pants are falling down."  I guess I had plumber's crack.  he he

Erin got sick in so many different places of the house.  I sent Brad to the laundromat to clean our comforter, we had to throw out our living room rug, and washed her bedding & the couch cushions.  Later that night, we thought the girls were feeling better.  We wanted to show them the fireworks outside so we drove around the nearby lake.  As we were driving, Erin got sick in her car seat.  Emmy was so concerned about her and started crying.  She said (in a crying voice), "Oh no!  My Erin is sick.  She needs to go to the doctor!!"

So, the "Gort Family" 4th of July curse has come back to haunt me.  As kids it never failed that one of us Gorts would always get hurt or something happened to one of us on the 4th of July.  It ranged from my dad getting severe sunburns on his very white legs to Scott getting hurt from a bottle rocket that blew up near him.  And leeches on some not so great parts of the body.  YUK!!

Needless to say, I threw out the hot dogs and have yet to buy more.  I don't eat hot dogs in the first place, but the girls love them and they are quick & easy.  Emmy even requested them the next day for lunch, but I said no way!

Erin's 1st Corn on the Cob

She LOVED it!!!  And wanted more!

Sounds of Summer

We have been taking in the local performances at the Town Green Bandshell every Thursday morning.  The girls love the music and enjoy getting outside.  Last Thursday it was quite cold  - yes the girls have jackets on and it was the end of June.  Today we went to see a magician and it was 100 degrees.  We are looking forward to the upcoming activities - they range anywhere from music, circus act, story telling, puppet show, dancing and movies.

Last Thursday...The Bazillions.

Swimming Lessons & Gymnastics

We enrolled Emmy into swimming lessons & gymnastics.  Both classes are once a week and are each about a half hour long.  She absolutely loves both.  I take her to swimming lessons at Foss Swim School every Wednesday night and Brad takes her to Gleason's gymnastics every Thursday night.
The swimming lessons have really helped her fear of the water.  More so of getting her face wet.  She now loves to take showers at home.  She is the oldest in her class of six and looks forward to going each week.

Her gymnastics class has three other little girls who are all beginners just like Emmy.  She does really well on all of the equipment but loves the trampoline & the trapeze swing the best.  Emmy has some serious upper body strength for her age.  She's so strong - she does the monkey bars all by herself.
The instructors help teach basic tumbling along with listening skills, shapes and colors during each class.

 

Just Pictures

We went to the park in Montevideo on one of our recent trips home.   The kids really love going here!

 My mom bought the girls these little folding chairs.  They are so stink'n cute.  They have a little compartment under the chair which has a plate, cup & silverware.  Thank heavens that the girls have their own chair because they would be fighting over it big time.  

 My dad bought the girls this big Power Wheels car.  They love going up and down everyone's driveway and around the cul-de-sac.  Emmy has mastered forward and reverse.  It's pretty cute, if she gets stuck, she just whips it into reverse and backs up.  

Erin's a good passenger!

India

Last month Brad travelled to India for work and was there for about eight days.  He had an 18 hour flight with one stop in Amsterdam.  The purpose of his trip was to meet the team in India and also instruct the team on a new project that he is leading.
He arrived in Mumbai close to midnight and stayed one night before his two hour trip to Pune, India, (where his office is located) the next day.  He said that his hotel in Mumbai was the nicest hotel he's ever stayed in.  His company hired a driver for him all week.  Thank God because the driving over there is absolutely ridiculous.  There are no lanes on the roads.  It's basically a "whoever gets there first" mentality.
I asked Brad to explain what it was like over there and he said, it's exactly like the movie Slumdog Millionaire.
It took him about three or four days to get used to everything.  He said that everyone was really nice and they all went out of their way to make him comfortable.  Every time he got up from his chair, someone would put a new bottle of coke on his desk.  He brought a huge variety bag of candy from America to share with his coworkers.  They all liked the Skittles.  
He didn't eat the Indian food though.  He said it smelled terrible which turned him off right away.  He tried to order pizza from Domino's one night and said that it was really gross.  The McDonald's has their own versions (regular & spicy).  Most of the locals all order "spicy."  Brad ordered the regular and said it tasted different than here in America but was edible.  He mostly ate McDonald's while he was there.  If you know Brad, he HATES McDonald's...so he must have been hungry! he he.

One day the whole team traveled back to Mumbai for a Cricket match.  He said it was really fun, but hard to follow.  After the game, they all went out to a local bar.  Brad was on edge because of all the rabid dogs running loose on the streets.  One of the guys asked Brad if he had any pets.  Brad said that we have one cat and then Brad asked him if he had any pets.  The guy replied, "Not anymore, I gave my dog to the neighborhood."
All in all he had a really good time on his trip.  I feel very fortunate to live in America though.  Now seeing how that part of the world lives, I feel like we take a lot of things for granted in our day to day lives.   I'm blessed to have a wonderful home, an awesome and healthy family & the freedom to do whatever the heck I want.

Hotel in Mumbai...

Streets of Pune, India

 These were stores outside of Brad's hotel.

 More stores...

 Slums...

 Can't tell if this is construction or destruction.  Brad said that this was everywhere.

 The whole team in India...

 His office...

The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow

Okay...so the sun is finally out in full force, but last Sunday Emmy and I went to see Annie at The Children's Theater in Minneapolis.  We found our seats near the front and they couldn't have been any better.  Emmy was sitting in her seat when the lights went dim.  She started to cry a little bit and said, "Turn the lights on!"  So I picked her up, sat her in my lap and told her the girls were going to come out soon and that there was a puppy.  She calmed down and then got excited when she saw all the little girls coming out on stage. (Thank God)
The play was wonderful and Emmy did pretty good throughout the whole two hour play despite the darn Santa Claus that was dancing on stage at one point.  She still doesn't like Santa.
I tried to get Emmy to sing along to some of the popular songs, but she didn't want to do it. 
After the play was done Emmy said, "That was fun!!!"  She's been telling everyone about it all week.
They didn't allow pictures inside the theater, but I was able to snap a couple of quick ones before the show started. 

15 Month Stats

Ladies & Gentlemen...Making her way to the ring, from Maple Grove, Minnesota, weighing 22 lbs 4 oz, standing 30 inches tall & wearing Size 3 Pampers Cruisers.  She is the current 40th Percentile Champion of the world...Erin Krusemark!   Let’s get ready to rrrrrrrumble! 

Erin's Developments:

• Walks forward & backward and is starting to run
• Only likes to feed herself (which can get quite messy)
• Says, Mama, Dada, Uh-Oh & at daycare she mumbled ABC yesterday
• Makes animals noises such as Lion, Elephant, Snake, Monkey & Puppy
• Uses sign language for: More, All Done, Eat & Milk
• Brought home her first scribble drawing from daycare yesterday
• Understands simple commands
• Loves to read books & pats to a picture
• Indicates wants by pulling, pointing, grunting or screaming
• Stacks blocks
• Gives & takes toys
• Loves to give hugs & kisses
• Loves to go for rides on the swing, horse, wagon & little 4-wheeler
• Loves to throw a fit when she doesn't get her way
• Loves her dolls
• She's now strictly on sippy cups...NO MORE BOTTLES.  She was getting sippy cups during the day and one bottle at bedtime, but no more! :)
• Goes to bed around 8:00 pm and sleeps until 7:30 or 8:00 am with one nap a day