Spontaneous is best…

A friend from South Africa recently came to visit. After asking her what she had yet to do in Wisconsin when she was an au pair here, it was determined that we would head to Wisconsin Dells.

I had previously been there in for one day in 2009 with another au pair, so I was excited to go again.

The plan was to go to a comedy show on Friday night and leave early on Saturday morning for the Dells. Tyler, Karabo and I got all ready for the comedy show, but were disappointed to realize the comedy show was closed for the weekend.

The fearsome threesome :)

Don’t worry this didn’t ruin our weekend plans instead we viewed this as a challenge. On the 10minute car ride home we planned to go home pack an overnight bag each, called and booked a hotel and were ready to head to the Dells!

Our first night we got in late and tried to get an early night since we knew Saturday would be a loooong and fun day!

Well early-ISH

Noak’s Ark is a huge waterpark (http://www.noahsarkwaterpark.com/). We made a breakfast run to the nearest Mc Donalds (which just so happened to be a wooden cabin style building with a hunting lodge feel, animals on the wall and all). We then headed to the water park where we spent the better part of the day being flipped, tossed and shot down water slides, in wave pools and many other water inspired adventures.  By the end of the day I felt VERY clean and ready to attend a comedy show!

Before the show

We went to a hypnotist show that opened with a comedian. He was funny for the most part but there was one act that I found hilarious! He was talking about how men are silly, so of course I loved it! He talked about how when a guy leaves home and decides to make spaghetti one night, he suddenly realizes that he doesn't know how to make it. Then he calls his mom and asks her how to make it, below is the summary of how it goes…

Son: How do I make spaghetti?

Mother: Put it in a pot on the stove

Son: How do I know when it’s ready?

Mother: After the water has been boiling for a while you can test it *at this point he realizes he is supposed to put water in the pot WITH the spaghetti he just put on the stove*

Mother: Take a piece of spaghetti and throw it on the roof, if it sticks it’s done (but just so everyone knows, I don’t condone this method UNLESS you are going to clean it off the ceiling!)

*son now sticks his fingers into the water, burns them, and realizes he should have used a spoon even though his mom never told him too*

This made me laugh, but also reminded me of the time after I moved out the house but had to call my mom and ask her how to remove superglue from skin. Yes, I had superglued my fingers. Together!

After the comedy show was a hypnotist show, which was equally funny. Watching group ups on stage doing ridiculous things knowing that they weren’t in control was pretty funny. The hypnotist ended the show by letting the audience know that the members that had participated were very sensitive to touch on their foreheads and would experience very *good* feelings once they were touched there.

Considering that three volunteers were from a bachelor party, this just made the night even more fun. After heading to the bar next to the show, the three volunteers were basically surrounded by people constantly touching their foreheads; they were all very confused as to why this was happening, while all of us were just laughing!

The Comedy place

Breakfast on Sunday morning was at the same place we had dinner on Saturday night, before the comedy show. The restaurant is called Paul Bunyan’s http://www.paulbunyans.com/ it is family style, and serves amazing food.

After a drive through the Wisconsin Dells, we were homeward bound, but extremely tired and NOT ready for Monday, ugh!

That's Paul (and Karabo)

And the blue ox (and Tyler)

Wisconsin Dells was always one of the places I loved to go as a kid, we use to go every summer as a family when I was growing up, however I hadn’t been for years now that I am considered an “adult” (yes, I use that term lightly as I am really only an adult because of my age). That being said it was a great time to be able to go back, enjoy the sights, see how much it has changed, and get to enjoy the water park as if I was a kid again.

***That being said, I would like it noted that the apple did not fall far from the tree, just as in South Africa where every morning I would wake up and be told about sun screen and sun pills from Sue, I woke up in Wisconsin Dells to Robyn with multiple bottles of sun screen discussing how we need to apply, and re-apply after what felt like five minutes… So you will know that nobody was sun burnt in the making of this story. 


On the Sunday morning before we headed to 'downtown' Dells. We voted to do one more thing before heading back to Milwaukee. I chose Magic Quest, either everyone else agreed with my choice or were too tired to fight it 'cos minutes later we were headed into the Magical realm.

Basically you have to search through the building which is divided by the four element theme. There are clues as to what you are looking for, as well as word problems to sort out. I had a great time crawling around, climbing obstacles and all that, Karabo and Tyler...not so much!

By the way...I just realized it's called Wizard Quest HAHA

I’m dying

I was feeling really sick the other day. After work Tyler and I were supposed to go to his work event on the way there I decided it probably wasn’t the best idea to go. He was very sweet by taking me to his house and cooking me dinner, but since I was feeling sick I didn’t want to eat. He forced me anyway. Then he took me back home.

I basically got into bed at 8pm and only woke up the next morning for work, unfortunately not feeling any better. I had a fever, my throat was sore and I felt dizzy. (This story is slightly funny at the end…I promise.)

Dave asked me how I slept and how I was feeling. I told him I wasn’t feeling well, when he asked me what was wrong the fastest (flawed) response I could think of was “I feel like I’m dying.”

This would have been okay if Dave was the only one who had heard this. Unfortunately the kids were in the kitchen too, so as I walked out the room Braden said, “Daddy, help ra-ra, she is dying.” Then Finn asked “Is ra-ra going to die?” And there were many more death comments and questions throughout the morning, AJ even came to check on me and give me her teddy bear to make me better so I didn’t die. Lesson learnt, kids are more dramatic than adults…

Flower neck brace

My friend Nina brought me a flower (Orchid) for my birthday (note: this is never a good idea, flowers come to my care to die…not live.) I try to look after my flower and water (not over water) it. Give it a little sun and fresh air and I even try saying nice things to it (my mom is convinced this works.) It worked for a while but after a while I noticed the flower was turning a brownish gray. I double checked and noticed the stem had a huge tear in it; someone set me up for failure.

But no fears I found some sticky tape and taped it back together, Tyler walked in at that exact moment with a confused look on his face. I tried to explain my theory that I was fixing the plant, like you put a neck brace on if someone fractures their neck. That’s how it works, right?

Apparently not, my precious plant still died L

My poor flower and it's neck brace

It blows my mind that Sue can have such a green thumb, and Robyn has a death thumb… (meanie!) I can attest that she tries, sometimes too hard (see above neck brace comment)… this however does give me a very good excuse to never have to buy flowers… I mean you all read the above right? So I am covered? You guys will all defend me on this one… right?

Payback for my mom…

You know when you have to tell your mom she is right? Or when you do something you realize is exactly what your mother would do?

Weeeeell, since the boys have figured out how to open the bathroom door. I know understand why my mom would get so annoyed with us children when we walked in/knocked on the door or shouted through the door. Finn and Braden will stand outside the door and ask me questions loud enough that I can hear something, but soft enough that I’m not sure what they are asking. This leads me to the conclusion that if I don’t answer they are going to do whatever it is (this could be very bad) or they will enter to seek their answer…neither of these sound too appealing to me.

So I have to try rush-pee, which is not fun. Just when I think I’m in the clear I hear the twisting of the handle which either means I need to wipe, stand up and button up in lightening speed or face the Spanish inquisition. Didn’t quite make it? Now you are face with “ra-ra what are you doing?” “You have blue underwear like me” and “ra-ra can I wipe for you?” (After he tears off half a square of toilet paper…)

Now I’m faced with the problem of trying to convince (usually Finn) to leave the bathroom so I can finish my business. Ugh, officially saying sorry to my mom for all those torturous bathroom visits…

Kids and their funny stuff…

Braden commented the other after I put his backpack on that “My bag is hurting my ankles.” I was extremely confused and asked him if he was okay. He started rubbing his shoulder and told me his bag was too heavy and made his ankles sore. I then had to explain the difference between his shoulders and his ankles (without laughing…impossible!)

Braden at swimming lessons

Finn, who loves all things blue, is particularly fond of his blue Superman shirt. I wash this shirt every Monday (since he wears it over the weekend) and every Wednesday (since he wears it on Tuesdays.) The boys are at home with me on Mondays and I usually do the laundry while they sleep, get it folded and take it up to their room once they awake up from their nap. So, every Monday they see what I have washed. Finn of course asking me “Did you wash my superman shirt?” every Monday. (Braden occasionally asks about his red Phillies Baseball shirt.) When he sees I have washed it, he remarks, “You washed my Superman shirt?! You do love me ra-ra!” As if there was any question!

Finn at the playground

Annabel it seems is a fountain of good advice. We were talking about something the other day and suddenly she looks at me and says, “There’s always good stuff to the bad stuff, Robyn can you just trust me about this?” Indeed I can…

AJ (in the spotty dress) at her school concert

During this coming Summer break the Hehir/Shillingford family is heading to Cape Cod for 2 weeks. Tyler and I are heading on a ridiculously long road trip. So the kids keep telling me they are going on a plane to the beach and asking if I’m coming with. When I tell them no, they all comment that they will miss me. So, I told them that it will be nice for them cos then they can spend time with their family…wait for it…

Annabel said “but ra-ra, you are part of our family.” Cute right, almost tears streaming at this tender moment…ya right…Braden had to break this tender moment by saying, “Yeah, youour family cos you don’t have a mom and a dad…”

So, there I was in the kitchen flipping through my facebook pictures to prove to a pair of three year olds that I do indeed have a mom and a dad…life is hard…

After a "hard" day of raking leaves

Kids see stuff the way most adults don’t so I am constantly intrigued by things they say. They started telling which friends in their class are boys and which are girls. So I asked them what I am. Braden said “you’re a girl”, and Finn said, “No, you’re a lady”, to which Annabel added, “An adult lady.” I asked them what their mom was. They informed me she was an adult lady too. So I asked what their dad was (interested to see if they see boy or man) instead they surprised me by saying, “ra-ra he’s a doctor.”

I have to say this has backfired once or twice actually. Braden hurt himself the other and usually I ask them if I need to take them to hospital or if we should call the doctor. This usually results in laughter and “no ra-ra you’re silly,” And tears stops flowing. However since Braden has figured out this whole doctor thing this no longer works since when I use this tactic Braden now says, “my dad is a doctor ra-ra,” and I’m left speechless, no tears flowing though.

School results

Second school semester done and I have great news… I’m a straight A student, again J Which means my GPA (Grade Point Average) is an awesome 4.0. Below is an explain of the America GPA system (I had to look it up since 4 seems like such a strange number.)

http://inquiry.princetonreview.com/leadgentemplate/GPA_popup.asp

http://www.collegeboard.com/html/academicTracker-howtoconvert.html

Just to add a side note, I am not too familiar with how GPA works in different countries, I can only imagine that like most other things we probably do it different from everyone, that being said we can’t even come to a consensus here in our own country, some places use the 4.0 scale, but my high school (and many others), used a 5.0 scale… which makes applying for colleges tricky because you have to convert it and it often times isn’t just a simple conversion depending on classes… its wonderful… NOT.

Big boy beds

This post will be short and sweet. The tiny twin boys I originally came over to watch are now potty trained, super talkative BIG BOYS! Now they are sleeping in big boy beds, which they occasionally jump on but mainly nap/sleep in. They have transitioned pretty well. I walked upstairs minutes after the beds were put together and just stared at the space their small cribs used to occupy that were now housing big beds (covered in Curious George and Lightening McQueen linen) Dave assured me that they are big boys now. HAHA. It’s crazy to think about that.

Moving, fans and boyfriends mother…

Tyler recently moved into a new apartment which means not only can he stop blaming his roommate for their messy apartment BUT it also means it’s a 4 minute drive (20 minute walk or 8 minute bike ride.) Which makes this girl very happy since previously it was a 40 minute drive (and of course I never tried to walk it.)

I offered to help which I immediately regretted when I was poked awake on Saturday morning by Tyler saying time to help me move. UGH! Really? It’s 7am!

Being a good girlfriend (or pretending to be) I woke up and got ready. We drove to his mom’s house where I was put to work directing the ladies to his new residence, where we were meant to clean before the boys packed up his apartment and moved all the stuff over. We did this pretty well with only a few interesting stories…

Firstly Tyler’s Gran was stationed at the house with us, Mary (his mom) and I decided he needed a carpet or two, so we headed to Home Depot. Mary’s instruction’s to her mom before we left? No climbing on any surfaces to clean up too high!

Which means when we arrived back, guess who had to climb on high surfaces to clean cupboard tops and windows…yip this ninja!

We realized that once the boys arrived to move everything they would probably combust from the heat in the apartment. We had been avoiding turning on the fans and had opened all the windows instead since the fan was totally gross! Completely covered in dust and way to high up for anyone to reach. So, Mary had the wonderful idea to give me a piggy back ride and I could clean them. Once we realized I was basically the same height as her when on her back, we reassessed. I would have to climb on her (my boyfriend’s mom *blush*) shoulders. This worked like a charm, we were able to turn on the fans…but have never spoken of this moment since…

After Mary and I instructed the boys to move things around, and around and one last time to make sure it looked just right and we fed them the house looked amazing and Tyler was ready for a few small extras. Like glasses and packing the cupboards. And lastly was a pesky piece of fabric wrapped around a branch outside his kitchen window. So, yes I had to ninja that away to. (By climbing out the kitchen window, onto a roof outside and hanging onto everything and anything I could…not because I was scared but because my boyfriend kept nagging me to be careful.)

I think Robyn described the highlights of this event pretty well, hard to make moving exciting, however with the help of many friends and some special ladies I am all moved and settled in and it looks amazing… I wish I had some photos, but you will have to take my word for it. I cannot thank those that helped me enough, its always great to know you have friends and family that will pitch in and help!

Crazy ATM experiences…

ATM machines in Wisconsin are sometimes referred to as tyme machines. This was very confusing the first time someone asked me if I knew where the closest “time” machine was. I thought they were crazy and kind of just stared at them. This probably made them think I was crazy.

I found an actual one and took a pic for you to see

I also went to a self-service ATM. This freaked me out!!! I pulled the car up (btw, these are different from the drive-up ATMs) and filled out the deposit form. Next I had to the deposit slip in a capsule, put the capsule in a huge see-thru pipe and press a button that sends the capsule to the bank…Crazy!

This is the capsule (on my lap so the lady wouldn't shout at me for taking pictures...)

The thingy that you out the capsule in, look at the green button (it's the send buton)

So… TYME use to be a Wisconsin based company that operated ATM’s, they were mainly a Midwest company and had a large logo on their machines (see below). This led to people calling them TYME machines… that being said in 2002 TYME merged with PULSE and decided to take the PULSE name, therefore eliminating all TYME machines and leaving us Wisconsinites looking like fools wandering around talking about magical ‘time’ machines that don’t really exist anymore… we have quite a few things we do here in Wisconsin that aren’t typical for the entire US, but we like it that way, we have character J

This is a cool picture Tyler found of a TYME machine

Daylight savings time…

I like to think of this as the time when my body timing is totally thrown off, and I have to re-explain what the time difference now is. It takes us so long to work out and get used to the change that by the time we work it out, it’s time to change it again. Ugh! At the moment it’s 7 hours but changes to 8 hours in Fall? Or is it Spring…UGH

So I was going to go into a history lesson on daylight savings time, but I will just refer those who care to learn more to here (http://www.snopes.com/science/daylight.asp) … long story short it gives us more daylight because for 6 months out of the year in the Midwest we live in a frozen, grey, gloomy world… anytime we can do something to get more light we do it… so I don’t complain… but it is kind of annoying in some cases : /

Kettles and the United States…

So apparently in the USA people do not own kettles. When I arrived at my host family’s house I asked them where they keep the kettle, they looked at me like I was crazy and told me to boil a mug of water for two minutes if I wanted hot water (this was after I had to buy some tea since they aren’t big tea drinkers.)

I was a little shocked since I feel like kettles are standard in all SA homes. All the other au pairs I spoke to commented on this too, stating that they too lived in a kettle-less American home.

After hearing my story about having a kettle in SA, my host family made the sweet gesture to by me a kettle…one that goes on the stove, and whistles. Which brings me to another problem, now I have to listen for the whistling of the kettle, and if I don’t position it correctly on the stove the plastic piece that makes the whistling noise gets melted.

After hearing my sad story about how much I loved using an electric kettle when I was back in SA, Tyler’s dad and step-mom brought me my very own electric kettle!!! Yah, now my friends love coming for tea at my house.

Oh the electric kettle… I will have it known that my apartment is now also furnished with an electric kettle… while I will admit they work, I would argue that boiling water in the microwave or putting it in a kettle on the stove equally as fast and easy. However I am told they are much better, I think nostalgia plays a large roll in this… but I am American, what the hell do I know… 

What’s news anyway?

So, recently I was thinking about the fact that I haven’t blogged for a while. This made me sad, but then I thought about the fact that I haven’t had much to say until…

I thought about the fact that there is so much that happens that I don’t blog because it isn’t a about a big trip or adventure…but even the small stories are fun to write about. So here goes…

I like many “Bokkie on the Move” fans am excited to see Robyn make her triumphant return to the blogosphere… unlike the many though I have additional reason to be excited, I get to once again have a forum to share my opinions with a crowd of always attentive readers… I still can’t believe she is allowing me to do this… brave woman… anyways, on with the stuff you guys care about. 

Tyler and I (in case you had forgotten what we looked like)