Hope this guy doesn't follow us home

The boat is fixed.

Which meant she followed us up to the cabin this weekend and there were at least two people hoping that she wasn't going to follow us home.

We dropped her off at the public access boat launch on our way up and then the girls and I drove the truck while Brian drove the boat to meet us at the cabin.

As we drove away....

Mommy:  "Let's go girls!  Let's see if we can beat daddy to the cabin."

Hannah:  "Oh we will never beat him.  The boat is way faster than the truck."

Mommy:  "Oh really?!   You sure about that?"

Hannah:  "Well, if you think the truck is 100 fast than the boat is 1 million fast."

We did beat daddy to the cabin but not because we were faster but because the boat was running well and daddy was having fun.

By the way- the boat is parked in the garage at the cabin!

There will be knives flying through the air

After our successful dinner at the Melting Pot last year it only made sense to have another Sister + Andy Dinner Date.  This year we chose Benihana.  

Kari and Andy had never been to a Japanese Steakhouse.  As they were getting ready to leave the boys had their usual questions "Where are you going?  Why can't we come to eat?"

I think the answer went something like this....

"To a place where it is very dangerous for kids and the chef throws knives in the air."

Ummm....well sort of :-)

We started the night the way we usually do- with pictures.

It's so nice that we all get along so well.  

I am truly fortunate to have not only four sisters but four great friends.

The food was great.  The show was entertaining and even though there weren't really knives flying through the air there were a few shrimp tales.

Kari and Andy taped a little of the show with their camera and showed it to Andy's parents and the boys the next day.  They were very impressed.  Next year we will need to bring the kids there for lunch.  They would have a blast!

Time to start thinking of our dinner spot for 2013

Mom- Quick!

Hannah:  "Mom!  Come Quick!"

Me:  "What?!"

Hannah:  "Smell my blankie.  It smells like Jennie's house.  But don't smell it too much or you'll smell all the smell out and that wouldn't be good."

Huh.....Who knew?

Those seeds that the girls planted are actually starting to grow.  Just a few short days and we have this.  

I was actually quite surprised to see that the 'shells' were still hanging on.

Anxious to keep an eye on these guys to see what they become.

Hyperspace

Earlier this year HealthEast announced that we will be moving off of our current EHR platforms (Allscripts and McKesson) to pursue an Enterprise Wide solution.

Today that announcement became reality as I attended the first of many long days to come.

Epic will be on site for the next 48 hours performing multiple demos of their product.  

Things started to feel very real today.  This change is really happening.  In a way I am super excited and on the other hand I am exhausted already just thinking about it.  This is awesome news for our patients.  They deserve this.  I am excited to be a part of that and excited to finally be able to offer something that our patients have asked for easier registration, 'know who I am when I go from hospital to clinic', let me schedule appointments online, give me access to my health information at anytime I want it.

This is good stuff and Epic definitely delivers in these areas.

Of course there is still another vendor, MediTech, to come and demo their product and a formal decision has not yet been made to move forward with Epic however, a girl can dream.  Can't she?!

"But she telled me..."

Today I was just getting ready to get into the shower when I heard the backdoor open and the sound of kids getting ready to go out.  I quickly got some clothes on and came out to see what was going on.  (Of course we don't let kids outside without parent supervision...)

Mommy:  "Girls!  What are you doing?!  Get in here!"

Hannah:  "We are going to put our plants outside and give them some water."
Mommy:  "You can do that later.  I need to take a shower.  Stay in this house until I am ready to go out and you guys are dressed."

Hailey, in the most wimpering voice:  "But she telled me to put it outside in the sun."

We eventually made it outside and started the watering and waiting game.  

I sure hope something sprouts in a couple of days.  I would hate to have to listen to the girls blame me that my 40 minute delay was the reason nothing happened.

Annual Parmley Busta Fair Day

Not sure what was more exciting
a.  Going to the fair with Stacey and Shane without the kids?
b.  Going to the fair to eat more cheese curds and fried pickles?
c.  Dropping the girls off at Jennie's for a few hours?
d.  Spending time with Stacey and Shane for one of the first times this summer?
e.  Spending time with Stacey and Shane for one of the first times this summer?
f.  d
g.  e
h.  d and e

If you picked h you are correct!

It had been so long since we have been able to see our friends- thank goodness for the fair and our yearly trip there!

Kristin, Bobby, Kim and Joe were out at the fair as well.  We were able to meet up a few times.

Blake Shelton was playing in the Grandstand so we sat outside and enjoyed our free concert!

It rained while we were there but it didn't matter.  

Got a few drinks, stood under some shelter and had plenty to talk about!

WIPED OUT

How do you wipe out two little girls?

1.  Spend close to eleven hours at the Minnesota State Fair
2.  Take them swimming the next day

We hung out at Kari and Andy's today.  After lunch we took the kids swimming.  Once they were packed up in the car and we were on our way home it took minutes before I heard snoring from the backseat.

The Great Minnesota Eat Together

Today was the first day of the State Fair.  Hard to believe that it's already time for this.  We all know what this means.....few more days of summer and then kids are back to school and here comes fall.

The girls and I picked up Jennie and Kim and headed to the Park 'n Ride.

The girls were really excited to take the bus!

When we got there we texted Kari to let her know.  We agreed to meet near the food building.

We enjoyed cheese curds, mini donuts, fried pickles, french fries, sundae from the dairy building, onion rings, ICEE, Corn dogs and even apples  (no way I remembered everything)

Seriously....all the food at the fair and I got her to eat an apple.  It was perfect she could sit in the stroller and snack on it as we walked around

SISTER PIC!

Kari and her boys

We made our way to the Little Farmers exhibit.

The kids started by getting a bag of 'feed' (corn).  They received a bucket and an apron.

Then they drove a tractor around the farm.

Then they were off to feed the chickens.  After the chickens were fed they got to choose an egg.

Next they would plant a seed and add a vegetable to their pail.

Feed the sheep, brush him and take a bag of wool.

Milk the cow, feed the cow, take a carton of milk.

Pick an apple at the orchard.

Then they made their way to the market where they would put their items in the buckets to sell them.

Once they turned in their apron and pail they would collect $1 for their hard work.

On their way out they could spend their dollar in the 'store'.

Next up- the KIDWAY!

Can you see Hailey standing on her tippie toes to make sure that she was tall enough for the swings.  Reminds me of when Tin did this when he was younger although his measurement was much closer than hers.

Hailey could not get enough of these rides.  She would ask to go on a ride.  When I would give her the tickets she would bounce her way in and climb right up for her turn.  

It was so fun watching the joy and excitement that the kids had as they walked around looking for the next ride they would try out.

This picture of the girls is MY FAVORITE picture of the day!

We were at the fair until dark.  It was past 9:00 pm when we got home.  

GREAT DAY!

Spider....Who?

The spiders in our house don't stand a chance against my Hailey Monster.

Hannah:  "AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!  MOM!  Come in my bedroom!  There is a spider!  Get it!"

Hailey comes running into the bathroom holding daddy's flip flip "I get it mommy" and went running into Hannah's room.  I hear some banging and pounding. 

Hailey:  "Hannah.  I get it!  I get the spider!"

Say my name

I was cleaning out our treat basket tonight and came across Hannah's bag from the parade. 

 I had to stop for a minute and just smile.  

I love the way you write your name little buddy.  

You are getting so much better at keeping the letters in a straight line.

I can't wait until Hailey starts writing her name too.

Who do I have to thank for this??

Last weekend Hannah learned how to play War.  I am not sure when it happened or who taught her.  I just know that she approached me with a deck of cards in her hands and started dealing.

Since then we have been playing War and Go Fish.

I love watching Hannah and the boys play cards- it's fun to finally see her grow old enough to play 'thinking-type' games with other kids.  

Hailey isn't interested yet in playing.  She likes to watch and I am sure that she is soaking it all in but for now, she is content just watching.

Her victory dance- she beat me tonight

Can you get what she is going to get for her Birthday??

Party x 3

12:00 pm : Birthday party for Talon and Marlee at Chuck E Cheese

Talon   6              Marlee  4

3:00 pm : Birthday party for Adam (5 years old already)

Adam   5 (on his way to school this year!)

7:00 pm : Birthday party for Shane's dad, Dan, at Stacey and Shane's

A few months ago when Nash was still alive it would have been hard to manage a day like this.  It was a busy day but I am glad that we were able to make it to all three celebrations.

Home Sweet Home

I think all of us were a little excited to get home today.

Mary and Molly were probably a little more excited to get away from Loriann and I and Loriann and I were excited to finally get some sleep (and sleep in a bed bigger than a bathtub).

When I told Hannah and Hailey that I was going to Chicago they both gave me specific instructions.
Hannah:  "That's where Ce-Ce and Rocky are mom!  Are you going to Shake it Up?!  If you see them will you get their picture and tell them that I love them and want to see them someday?"
Hailey:  "Mom- will you get me new purple wawet?!" 

Translations:  Shake it Up is a show on the Disney Channel that is 'filmed' in Chicago Ce-Ce and Rocky are the two teenage dancers on the show that Hannah loves best.  Wawet = wallet

Whew- looks like I can go home :-)

The girls LOVED their goodies.  They both put them on immediately.  Hailey kissed hers and Hannah just sat and giggled while saying "How do I look mom?" 

Recovery

You would have thought someone ran us over with a Mack truck when the alarm went off today.
Luckily I had taped up the concert ticket on the mirror so we would have a friendly reminder of all of the fun that we had and nobody would want to throw me from the bus when we would finally make our way outside.

Today is the CRUG (Central Region User Group) lunch at ACE. 

The board decided that this year we would try something different and have everyone sit by their state/region at lunch so they could mix and mingle with others that would be close to them. 

The girls and I made these table signs  (ha ha, I like how I take credit just because the idea was mine although I hardly had to do any of the hard labor). 



They sure are cute, aren't they??

This evening there is an event at the Navy Pier followed by an after party (sponsored by CRUG) at Howl at the Moon.

Looks like it will be another late night...

 

Let the adventure begin!

Today is going to be a long day.

We knew that going into it and we have been telling ourselves all week to prepare for it.

That was easier said than done however :-)

We didn't get extra sleep before we got here.  We didn't relax or go to bed early on Tuesday knowing that we wouldn't be sleeping tonight.

The day started at 6:30.  Up and at 'em to shower and have breakfast before our welcome address begins at 9:00.

What are the chances?!  ACE (Allscripts) and ACE (Hardware)

Mayor of Chicago addressing the group

I presented on HMP today.  I was asked to speak at ACE after my presentation at CRUG conference earlier this year.  I was happy to hear that our presentation was going to be on Wednesday, I was happy to get it out of the way.  We had a really good turnout and I think overall the presentation went well.  All of the business cards I laid out were gone and I had a few people waiting to talk to me afterwards so I would say that it was a success.  Looking forward to all of the interested users reaching out via email.....we all know I don't get enough of those :-)

We left the conference a few hours early today to start our adventure....you didn't think 'a day at a conference' was going to be it, did you?!

We rented a car from the Budget rental place across the street from our hotel.  A few minutes later we had keys in hand and we were off to Springfield.  All of the research we did showed it would be about a 3.5- 4 hour drive from Chicago to Springfield.

We were heading to the Illinois State Fair!

Why?

Well, that's an easy one- to see Andy Grammer in concert, obviously.

We were loaded up with snacks and a playlist that would make any teeny-bopper proud.

We arrived to the fair around 6:15ish.  The concert started at 7:30 so we were able to kill sometime by walking around and taking it all in.  Funny to see how another state 'does the fair'. 

What a bunch of rookies!

7:30 pm = SHOWTIME

Andy Grammer followed by Matt Kearney followed by Train

The show was great!  All three of them.

When we were let out around 11:30 pm we were riding on adreneline. 

First stop would be McDonald's- the fair food was not good so we needed to finally eat dinner.

We pulled in around 3:30 am.

When we checked the car out I had asked the rental lady if we could park the car somewhere until morning so we wouldn't have to pay $50 to park the car for 5 hours at the hotel.

She didn't have a lot space available so instead just gave us the code to the door so we could let ourselves in the employee entrance to lift the garage door and return the car.

She showed us where to leave the keys and wished us luck!

I guess three white girls from Minnesota don't look too threatning.

I haven't laughed this hard in years.  THANKS LADIES for a GREAT night! 

 I needed that more than I knew.

Watch out Chicago!

This morning I boarded a plane for Chicago.

It's time once again for the ACE (Allscripts Client Experience) conference.

We decided to go a day earlier so that we could make the most of our time there. 

I told the girls I would send a picture from the plane so they could find our house.

I love how the Chicago Midway Airport tells it like it is.  Snacks and Toilets.

We arrived to the hotel and checked in.  Next on the agenda was lunch.

 The pizza was fantastic and it was a shame that we couldn't finish it.

After lunch we decided to take a Wendela Boat Tour.  Something I have always wanted to do when visiting Chicago and had never done one. 

90 minute tour including the river and lake for $26 per person.

Well worth every penny!

 It started down the river with a tour guide pointing out places you might want to visit and telling stories about the history of the city.

I have always loved this building with the circular parking ramp.  It's featured in movies like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Dark Knight, The Break-Up and more.

The buildings along the river are breathtaking. 

The weather today couldn't have been more perfect.  

After the boat tour we walked around Milleniumn Park.

We ended our night with dinner at Grand Lux.

At this resturant they have 6 made fresh for you desserts.  You place your order for this dessert while you are still eating your meal (since they take 30 minutes to bake) and then they are brought out to you fresh from the oven.  Delish!