Summer Vacation, thus far

So, we’ve had a very busy 3 weeks!

So busy that I have not had any time to update the blog! This is what we’ve been up to the last 3 weeks!

It all started Father’s Day Weekend with a 5K race here in Kennesaw.

All 4 of us ran – Sam ran in the 1 Mile – and he did great! He came in 4th! Just missed a trophy! Rich, Josh and I ran the 5k.  Josh and I didn’t train and we took a long time. I met up with Josh at the 1 mile mark and he was ready to go home. We took our time running and walking the rest of the way. Rich did fantastic! He showed us all up and came in 2nd in his age group! But he paid for it! It took him 5 days to recover!

After the race, the boys had a birthday party at the local rock climbing gym. My legs were so tired they ached just watching the kids climb!

I think the boys were a bit tired too because they spent most of the time running around!

 

We’re On Summer Vacation!

The boys got out of school last week!

I can’t believe the school year is over already and I can’t believe the boys have been out of school for a week!

My Middle and What I Intend To Do About It

Before Sam was born I decided I needed to lose some weight. I lost 30 pounds and managed to keep the weight off for quite some time.

The weight seems to be creeping back on. I’m not happy. My middle in growing.

The last two years have been a bit stressful and our schedules have been messed up. We didn’t know if Rich was going to lose his job (he didn’t, phew!) and with Rich’s schedule our meal times have been a bit… weird.

I’ve tried diets, I’ve tried working out. I can’t seem to lose weight right now. I’m ready for something a bit different. I love the Clean Eating Magazine and, while we already eat relatively clean, I would love to be “more” clean than we are. I’m hoping if I start to incorporate the changes gradually, my middle will become less.

Images from Vacation

The boys and I are on vacation in Michigan for the next few weeks. We had a great time at my sister's cottage northeast of Muskegon. We stayed there for a few nights but packed in tons of fun!

Here are just a few images from our three days there!

We went tube surfing....

Josh & Sam with Aunt Katy. Sam kept saying "Go Faster, Go Faster!"

And Josh and Chloe. Josh fell off shortly after this picture and said it was the scariest and best part of the ride!

We even went to one of the beaches on Lake Michigan. The water was sooooo cold! But that didn't stop the kids from getting in and having fun! The boys were a bit disappointed there were no waves today, but it was still fun!


My niece Hannah


Chloe and her dad, Uncle Steve

We got to go fishing with Uncle Steve...

Sam's first fish. They were biting right away!


Josh's first fish.

We did so much more too! And to think we only spent 3 nights there!

We're now at my parents' house with the five kids for a week. The girls go back to Chicago on Friday. I'm sure I'll have more pictures to post through out the week!

Girls: Gabby (6) Chloe (8) Hannah (2); Boys: Sam (4) Josh (8)

I don't know if you've ever tried to get five kids to look at you while taking a picture and all smile at the same time, but it's near impossible! Especially when you try to do it at the petting zoo! But I gave it a go!

Meeting Up With Old Friends.

Yesterday, I posted some pictures for Wordless Wednesday of the boys coming down a water slide. Today, I'm participating in "Tell Me Thursday" to explain the photos.

When we first moved here and I quit working, I made some friends through Josh's preschool. There were 4 of us with kids all about the same ages. Mary with Cade & Jack, Linda with Abby & Dylan, Val with Emma & Abby and me with Josh & Sam. Soon Val moved to Alabama (we miss you still Val!) and Linda moved to Canton which is only about 45 minutes away, but still a drive.

With the way life goes, the kids got together less and less. And while I still see Mary regularly and Linda from time to time, the kids don't all get together that often.

On Tuesday the boys and I went to meet up with Linda and her kids - she now has 4! Mary, Cade and Jack came too so it was almost a complete reunion of our old Gang!

Kids: Luke 3 months, Sam 4, Dylan 7, William 2, Abby 9, Jack 4, Cade 9, Josh 8

We met up at a Japanese restaurant for lunch - and I am happy to say the only spillage came from me when I spilled my ice tea all over the table (thankfully at the end of the meal!) The poor server - 3 adults and 8 kids!

After lunch we headed up to Linda's place to play in their community pool. They have the coolest pool. There is the water slide and an adults only pool and a really cool pool for the kids that has one end with a zero entry so you can walk in like a beach. The "kids" pool only gets to 3 1/2 feet too so it's not deep anywhere. And during adult swim (every hour for 10 minutes, same as our pool here) there is a water mushroom the kids play in. Our mushroom has a pool under it, is very cold and, according to Josh, smells like pee. Their mushroom had no pool, just a drain so there is no standing water.

I really wanted to get more pictures, but I was having too much fun going down the slide and talking to my friends.

We had so much fun catching up and hanging out. The boys were so tired on the way home and slept soundly that night! We're already planning a trip back before summer ends!

And Abby and Josh hit it off. I got an email from Linda that night saying Abby talked about Josh all night and how much she liked him! Aww...

Keeping the Kids Busy, and Mom Sane

Now that summer break is in full swing, I'm trying to keep the kids busy and active - most of the time.

I have this fear that they'd spend all summer in front of the TV playing PS3 if I don't lay down some ground rules. Plus, I want Josh to be ready for the routine changes we'll have next school year so I figured summer is a great time to ease into the new workload he'll be getting.

I've reinstated the chore chart. Both kids have some chores they have to do - and honestly it's nothing too taxing and stuff they should just be doing (but don't). When they do their chores they can earn points and trade the points in for things. Like time on the PS3.

I am also making them do "educational activities." Because I really believe they should keep their minds sharp. Sam loves doing the "Homework." Josh, not so much. But, since he can choose what he wants to do, it seems to be getting better.

I'm also trying to do one "field trip" a week and we're taking full advantage of the free summer movies at the local movie theater. This week we went with the mom's group to a "paint your own pottery" place. They had a great time. Josh picked out a guitar and Sam painted a turtle shaped bowl. I can't wait to see how they turned out. We get them next week. I was so busy talking that I forgot to take pictures. I'll take a picture of the finished products so you can see how they turn out.

Other field trips we have scheduled: a trip to the local pizza parlor for a behind the scenes tour, our grocery store and the fire station. I would also like to get up to the Tellus Museum again next week and possibly to the Aquarium sometime this month too.

All this with trips to the pool on nice days and then the normal chores and errands keeps us pretty busy. Thankfully, the boys still have some down time to rest and play like you should on summer break too!

Happy Monday!

Finally! The weather here has started to turn and we're getting some nice, warm, sunny weather -- without being too hot! Now all we need is the pollen count to decrease and it will be perfect. We spent the weekend enjoying the nice weather.

We had a massive storm here on Thursday night -- with hail the size of large grapes. It was incredible. Apparently, Hartsfield-Jackson Airport reported over an inch of rain in an hour! Both the boys got up and came down stairs because they were scared (of course the storm hit just about kid's bedtime).

All that rain - coming so quickly - made for a nice muddy baseball field for practice on Friday night. I could not believe how muddy the two boys got. Sam slipped and fell... and... oh you can just imagine! All the little brothers that were watching the practice discovered a huge mud puddle and it beckoned them. But, you know what they say, "a dirty kid is a happy kid!" And these kids were pretty happy, let me tell you!

Despite nearly two days of sunny weather, it was still muddy (and full of debris) for Saturday's game. The game was shifted into the outfield where it was slightly less damp (and the red clay was covered by grass) so they were still able to play. Once again, Josh had a brilliant game. He had two hits, scored two runs and made several really great fielding plays (and even managed to get some kids out).

Sunday was the day to work in the garden. I went out and got the kids a sprinkler so they could run through it.



Josh was a bit more daring than Sam.



Sam was excited about the sprinkler, but didn't really want to "get wet."



After they were done in the sprinkler, Sam tried to get the broom to fly...



And since Josh is "really into Harry Potter right now" he had to show Sam how it's done.



The funniest thing is, the other day I actually caught Josh with the broom saying, "Up! Up! UP!" to get the broom to fly! What a nut!

And after, we had our first barbecue of the season... well the boys had hot dogs and corn on the cob and ate outside. Rich and I had a barbecue later after the kids were in bed.

Summer 2008 Greatest Hits

School starts for us on Monday.

On one hand, I can't believe how fast the summer has gone, but on the other hand it seems a long time ago that the kids got out of school!

We've had a really great summer. The boys spent a lot of time together and got along great! Looking back, it was packed with lots of fun, we reached some milestones and had our share of down time as well.

We took a lot of trips out of town....

Summer started with a wonderful trip to Hilton Head Island. We had such a great time with Nanny and Grandad there. I still dream about going back to that house. It was a wonderful way to start the summer.

We spent two weeks at my parents house in Michigan. We usually go for 3-3 1/2 weeks so the two we were there just flew by! And was action packed!

And most recently, we went to Florida for a long weekend. I don't recommend Florida in July, but we still had a great time!

And in between trips, we had all sorts of fun activities.

We took two trips to see the Braves play. Because baseball is summer after all...

Because Georgia in the summer is hot, we spent lots of time at the pool and at the gym or going to the free summer movies at our local Regal movie theater.

We picked blueberries, made forts, had a vegetarian experiment, and played a lot -- not just video games but lots of pretend play too!

But, summer wasn't all fun and games. We had a few major milestones as well....

Sam is very independent -- when I'm not around. When I'm around, he wants me to everything for him. It gets quite tiring. This summer we worked on him doing things by himself even though I'm there. He's started dressing himself -- he gets his clothes backwards more often than not but at least he's doing it!

He's also started going potty without me (woo hoo!!!). Of course I had to bribe him and tell him NO PS2 games if he can't go potty by himself. This worked a charm!

We also rearranged our seating at the table so Sam is in a "big boy seat" now next to Mom -- not stuck between Mom and Dad at the end of the table.

We upgraded our play room and tossed the sippy cups!

I can't believe School starts on Monday. My little boy is going into second grade! We met his teacher yesterday. She seems really nice.

He's got some really nice kids in his class that we know from kindergarten, first grade, sports, ALP (his gifted class) and just around the neighborhood. There are also some new kids in his class so he'll get to make new friends.


Josh has already targeted one child to be his "best friend this year." I'm not sure if I should warn the child or not... Luckily, he's picked a nice boy for his future "best friend."

Sam starts pre-k3 (that's pre-school for 3 year olds) in 2 weeks. He'll be going 4 days a week for 4 hours. He's grown so much this summer too. He's always been a good communicator, but his language has just taken off. His coordination has gotten much better (he's not falling down as much).

And he's grown! It's just amazing! I had to bring him to the store yesterday to get new shoes. My mom just bought him a really nice pair in June and they are already 2 sizes too small! I paid a small fortune for these at Stride Rite so hopefully they will last more than 8 weeks!

So here's to a wonderful summer that is coming to a close and to moving forward to new friends, new teachers and new fun times!

Snippets

Wow... Where has the time gone! I can't believe it's been a whole week since I posted... and that was just to redirect you elsewhere!

My in-laws were here for three weeks and they left on Saturday. Last week we had lots of fun keeping busy and trying not to think about them going home.

We all had a great time and there were lot of tears shed by all when they got on the plane to go back home.

+++++

My mother-in-law celebrated her 77th birthday last week while they were here and she wanted to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheeses (brave woman!). Sam kept asking when the birthday party would start!

It was actually a good thing to do with the kids. We got there in the morning, they played, we had lunch and left just as things started getting crazy.

+++++

We discovered a family of House Finches that have taken up residence in one of our hanging baskets. It's been really fun to watch the little birds. We decided to not water the plant they are living in -- the plant has seen better days, but it's easier to see the birds now. They're so cute! I haven't taken any pictures because I'm afraid of scaring the mom and dad away for good.

I was afraid they'd abandoned the babies this week. I could see the little birds poking their heads up waiting for food, but no sign of mom or dad. Then yesterday, they were in and out all day feeding the little chicks. And as I type this, I can see mom tending to the little ones.

I thought my kids ate a lot -- those birds eat all day long!

++++

Josh had a really, really good final school report. Pretty much the 1st grade equivalent of "All A's" -- we were really proud of him and the comments his teacher made.

He really wanted the new Lego Indiana Jones PlayStation2 game so we got it for him. It's lots of fun! A great game. I think it's more fun than the StarWars versions. More puzzles and less fighting (although it does have it's share of fighting).

So we went out to buy it last week and Sam could not say "Indiana Jones" at all. He kept calling it "In-Banana Jones." So, the boys have been in front of the PS2 playing In-Banana Jones for a week.

+++++

And now, the boys and I are getting ready to go visit my mom and dad for two weeks... so this week has been a bit hectic as well! We have a few mom's group outings this week and we're trying to spend time with Daddy since we won't see him for two weeks.

That's about it. Now you're up to date... Hopefully, I won't be as neglectful next week!

Summer Memories

Summer Memories is the topic du jour at Maya's Mom.

I guess one of the great things about having a blog and attempting to keep it up to date is being able to look back at the things you've done over the summer and not think, "Holy Cow, where did the summer go?!"

Our summer started straight away, with a trip to England to see Rich's family and friends. We had some fantastic times as chronicled in several blogs in June. We braved the Cold English summer, gave our children some culture in London, caught up with family and friends, spent a week with Rich's family in Sandy Balls (you can stop laughing now) and wrapped up our time in a quaint country village in Surrey.

When we got home, we went to a Braves baseball game, Josh took swimming lessons and we celebrated the 4th of July.

Then, the boys and I spent three weeks at my parents' house. What fun that was! Fishing, horseback riding, meeting new friends, and just having fun!

We barely got back and it was time for school to start!

We were so busy this summer that sometimes I feel like it just got started and it's over already! Thankfully, the blog helps me to see where the time went! I know the boys had fun this summer too! I'm so thankful that we were able to do all the fun things we did!

But I guess what I will remember most is just spending time together as a family. Being together, not being rushed and being able to enjoy ourselves along the way! Life comes at you so fast, it's nice to be able to enjoy it while it's happening!

Thanks for a great summer everyone!

10 Minute Writers -- A Summer Day

This is my entry into Crazedparent's 10-minute writers challenge.

My dad was in the Army when I was growing up. It was really cool travelling and moving and living all sorts of places. However, since we were on the move every 2-4 years, we did not really grow up with a "Hometown."

My Dad grew up in Holland, Michigan on the shore of Lake Michigan. A beautiful little town with a Dutch heritage full of tulips in the spring, a nice college (my alma mater), and a beach. A really nice beach. Since my Gramma lived there, we would often go spend our summer vacations, in between moves, in Holland. Both my dad's brother's have (or had) cottages on the lake, so it made a nice vacation spot for us.

I remember getting up and putting our swim suits on before breakfast, staying in them all day while we played in the sand and swam in the lake and not taking them off until bedtime. I remember my aunt always had cold cuts for lunch and we would go up at lunch time, make a sandwich (usually I'm sure we were forced to come up, knowing kids and summer play), then go back until dinner. Sometimes, we would take our baths in the lake -- bring our shampoo and soap down to the water. Nothing like washing your hair in lake water!

And on some nights, we'd get in our PJ's and go out for ice cream before bed. But always, we would watch the sunsetting over Lake Michigan. It just seemed the proper thing to do. When I went to Hope, we would often go out to the lake and watch the sunsets over Lake Michigan. It always brought me back to my childhood and the summers we spent out there.

When Josh was 2, I brought him to Holland for a mini-family reunion with my Dad's brothers and their families. It was great to see my cousins and their spouses and children. We don't often get together and see each other so it was great to share some of my childhood with my son. Rich couldn't go (he was working) and Sam wasn't born yet. I hope one day to bring my whole family back to Holland and the beaches out there because it's so beautiful.

Perhaps my summers on Lake Michigan have fed my love for the beach.....

My time is up! The basic idea is to write for 10 minutes on a given subject, keep your fingers moving for the 10 minutes and not edit. So, that explains some of the choppiness! I am, however, now going to spellcheck! Hope it's not against the rules!!! This was fun - thanks Crazedparent!