What a difference a week makes!

The builders earned their money this week. At the beginning of the week, we had this, and by the end of the week we had a fully framed house. It was so much fun to be able to walk through each room for the first time. We also met some neighbors who have two boys that will be great playmates for Connor.

Charleston Trip

Jason and I spent 5 days in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. Jason attended an anesthesia conference for part of the time, and the rest of the time we roamed around historic downtown Charleston. If you've never been there, it is a really fun place to visit. Just try to avoid the summer months! While we were there, we celebrated my 35th birthday. I had a great day wandering around in the market looking for treasures. Then we took a tour in the Charleston harbor and we finished by eating at a Japanese steakhouse with Jason's Dad and his wife. Of course, we missed our kids desparately, but it was kind of nice to sleep in and be lazy for a while.

The picture on the left is just outside City Market. I look much happier than the other picture, which was on my birthday. It turns out being 35 isn't really all that fun.

Many thanks to Grandma Judy and Grandma and Grandpa Ritz for spoiling the kids and making the trip possible!

Florence Visit

While we were in the South, I had a chance to visit Florence for a day. My friend, Rebecca, graciously opened her house and invited all the Moms and Kids over to play. It was great to see everyone again. The kids have all grown up! We are looking forward to visiting in the fall with Connor and Callie. They will be thrilled to see their SC friends again!

Karate Kid

Connor started karate a couple of weeks ago. We had heard it was good for learning discipline, focus, coordination, etc. We have been really impressed so far. Connor loves going and his instructors are very good with him.

He was thrilled to earn his first belt yesterday.

Cutest Couple

Jason had a conference a couple of weeks ago, and we got a chance to reconnect with some friends from LaCrosse. Connor and Lauren were born 3 days apart and have been friends since before they could move. Aren't they the cutest?

Yippee!

We have a basement! They started the house last week, and so far we are still on schedule :) It is only about 5 minutes away from our apartment, so we visit every night. This picture is actually from last week. Now the foundation is finished and the basement has been backfilled.

Where's Waldo?

Callie has turned into a total pain in the butt to put to bed. The first night of trouble started when I heard her xylophone at 9:00. We keep her door closed, so she didn't run

out--she just turned the lights on and started playing. I went in and laid her back down and she went to sleep. The second night she decided to play her harmonica. I'm sure she was playing the "I don't want to go to sleep" blues. This picture was taken the third night.