Summer Summer Summertime - Part 2

I got a little side tracked after that last post, but I couldn't just leave you hanging - you've only seen 1/3 of our summer!

Kate and I continued our lunches on Friday. I miss those. She always got a Starbucks cake pop after Chick fil A nuggets - we are lucky that both of those restaurants are located in the atrium of the hospital, and she was located right across campus.

The kids did a pretty good job of getting along this summer. They actually played together a good bit.

Oh, but there was plenty of this.

We celebrated the fourth at Nan and Pop's Greenville house. We sure do like that they can visit us any time!

There were bubbles. Who doesn't love bubbles?

Mason got a pair of goggles. He's really taken to sticking his head under the water. And I'm happy that there have been no ear issues after all of that submersion.

We moved the sand box onto the back porch. It was convenient during grilling season, but now I'm ready for it to go somewhere else.

Sledding - it isn't just for winter anymore.

Don worked on the Triumph.

And the boys worked on Mason's new bike.

The kids still went to Preschool every day - Mason moved up to the Preschool class (from the Two's). They do lots of really neat pre-kindergarten activities in there, so he was certainly ready.

Kate went to Zoo Camp at Riverbanks in Columbia.  I love that she embraces new experiences so easily (most of the time). She walked right on into that class full of kids she didn't know, and made some friends.  Mason gets to go next year.

Then it was back to school for a week before the big beach vacation. Here they are in the phone booth, dressing up like superheros.

Summer, Summer, Summertime

Catching up on an entire 4 months is hard to do, so instead, I bring you a review of our summer. Where did it go? The highs only get into the 70s now, and we can even justify long sleeves or long pants most days - Although not at the same time yet.  This post will be broken into a few days - otherwise it would be epic and you would get tired and never see all of the awesome fun we had.

June:

We continued Friday donut day. It's a hit. The kids never forget. Mason's favorite? Boston Creme. Kate's? It varies - Boston Creme, chocolate cake, pink with sprinkles. Mason? Always Boston Creme... except when they have Peep donuts in April.

A reminder for Daddy on Father's Day that he is the coolest Dad in the Milky Way.

Football.  In our PJs.

What great American summer could go without some sprinkler time?

Or flower picking?

We took a road trip when Don went to Orlando for his annual tool show.  Last year we flew. That's not cheap, as I'm sure many of you who fly with kids can attest. BUT! Let me say that 10 hours into our 8 hour drive, I would have paid that amount just to cut off the last 30 minutes.  We made it.

Here we are at the beginning of said road trip - when we were still in good spirits and sitting in traffic on I-95 (still in SC).

We finally made it. Looking like tourists. Wearing our smiles because we were on VACATION!

The trip was hard. The kids slept in the first day.

The Marriott resort was amazing. We needed the pool time. On the first day I told Kate: "We're going to Disney on Monday."  Her response? "This isn't Disney?!?!" Me: "Um, well, yeah... this is Disney too... just another part of Disney."

The kiddie pool.  She those toes? Yep! Mine. I am sitting while the kids splash and slide. Heaven.

And then there was Disney. Our kids are currently unaware that any part of Disney exists other than Magic Kingdom. We plan to keep it that way for as long as possible. And actually, we only did 1 day of Disney. Neither the kids nor the grown ups can handle much more than 1 day yet. We spent more time at the resort pool.  This year the trip was a lot of fun because Mason was old enough to really know what was going on. His favorite, far and away, was the roller coaster. He's going to be a roller coaster junkie. 

Family Teacups selfie.

Dancing with Jesse.

We had supper with Minnie Mouse!! We also had breakfast with the princesses, but apparently those weren't on my computer.... will have to find them.  Mason loved the breakfast, but was very shy around the princesses.

She swore that she wasn't going to be scared of the Little Mermaid ride this year. Wrong. She didn't want to get on. We made her. She loved it. Obviously not really loving it in this photo.

And they made it to the very end - Fireworks!! But not much longer.

And then it was back to reality. Here are the kids at school Wednesday morning, looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, like they normally do. 

So it was back to life and back to swimming in our own neighborhood pool. Here is Kate, with a plethora of flotation devices... but she would shed those in short order. Stay tuned for that!

Kindergarten!!

I know it might seem like I've abandoned the blog, but I haven't! I do think about it from time to time, but I'm not so good at actually posting. But here I am. Kate made it to KINDERGARTEN! I couldn't miss sharing that, now could I?

She was SO excited to finally be going to the big school! I think her book bag was bigger than her.

A picture with mommy before we left.

We parked down the street and walked to school. Don and Kate still do that most mornings (although she has conquered car drop-off). Kate's school is a relatively small, neighborhood school, so walking in and crossing the street with the crossing guard almost makes us feel like we live down the street.  Daddy is a drop-off All star. Mommy walks a shorter distance and gets there right before the bell.

Walking in!

And here she is, ready to learn!

Mason couldn't be left out. He's pretty excited about big school as well. After he got over missing Kate. The first day I picked him up from Preschool when Kate wasn't there, I found him crying sobbing in the teacher's lap because he wanted Kate.  Mason: Mommy, where is Kate? Me: She goes to a different school now, remember? Mason: But I love her and want to play with her. Don't worry. He's adjusted just fine.

They had a Sip and Sob. Don may have sneaked back after I left.... but he won't say.

And then there was yogurt to celebrate the first day!

Here she is at the end of her first week. Her hat says: My First Week in Kindergarten was a Piece of Cake!

So far, Kindergarten seems to be a review for Kate. We know that she "aced" the math assessment and reads on the level that they would like kids to be able to read on when they leave Kindergarten. And according to her teacher, she's a model for how kids should play with others in Kindergarten. She truly is a Super Star!! More on that later - and I don't mean 4 months later!

Living Out Loud

When I found out I was having a baby boy I thought, "how different can girls and boys really be?" And now I know. Today, or yesterday I guess, the Moo turned 3. He's pretty excited about it. Probably because he had his birthday party at Monkey Joe's. Here are the things you need to know about Mason on his THIRD birthday!!

1. He's a lover. A sweeter child I've never known. "Can I hug you Mommy?" "Let me give you a kiss." "Mommy, I love you. I love Daddy too." He takes random breaks from doing his thing just to hug me and tell me that he loves me. And it's not just us - teachers, friends, anyone can be included.

2. He's polite. Without prompting the child regularly says thank you, yes please, and no thanks. Mom gave him a gift not long ago. He opened it, looked at it, played with it, then walked over and said "thanks for the toy, Nan." If Don calls his name, much of the time he says "sir" and not "what"

3. He's an engineer. Yes, I know not to assign your children's strengths and weaknesses early on. I don't say this in front of him, but he is a tinkerer. A little mister fix-it. He likes to figure things out. He knows the names of tools and uses them correctly. 

4. He loves bikes. What can I say. He gets it honest.  He was riding his tricycle before he was 2. He rides his bike to the potty.

5. He's reckless. Like any good little boy, I guess. He jumps off of things. He climbs onto things. He hits the ground, bounces up, and keeps on running.

6. His favorite things to watch on TV? Tom and Jerry (have mercy he would watch this 24/7), Ranger Powers (aka Power Rangers), Engine Turtles (aka Ninja Turtles), Mickey Mouse.

7. He loves to cook. Or... he loves to help. He drags his stool around every time I make toast or do anything in the kitchen. "Can I help?"

8. He loves to eat Peeps. He's not a huge lover of sweets, but Peeps are an exception. I mean, what's not to love. They're made of sugar and marshmelons (aka marshmallows). He'd live off of them if he could.  Those and popcicles. 

9. He hasn't mastered pronouns. It's adorable. I'm all about good grammar, but I admit, I let him misuse she, he, her, him, and we.  His substitution of "we" for "our" is my favorite: "You going to we house?" The other day we had this conversation about Ma'am and Sir. Me: Ma'am is what you say for girls and Sir for boys. Ok? Mason: ok! Me: What is Nan? Mason: Sir. Me: No, she's a girl, so Ma'am. What is Daddy? Mason: Ma'am 

10. Happy Happy Happy. All the time. Ok, not all the time. Sometimes he's terribly sad. But 95% of the time he's giggling and laughing like a mad man. He flirts like crazy. What can I say? He's incredibly charming.

11. He still drinks out of his "ba ba" - which is really a sippy. He loves his "white blankie" - which is really blue.

12. He knows how to push his sister's buttons. He loves her dearly, and they play together quite a bit, but when he wants to, he can really make her melt down. It's not that hard to do, really. She's very sensitive.

13. Busy. Busy. Busy. Ok, so a lot of kids are this way, but my first one was not. He will touch every single thing in the room given the chance. One day I found him taking his toenail polish off with my polish remover. He'd spilled half of the bottle on the floor. Leave it down on the counter one day and he has GOT to try it out. I'm learning. Slowly.

14. Speaking of 13, he loves to have his toenails painted. At the moment, they're blue.

15. He cares about his clothes and shoes. "Mommy, those shoes not match my shirt." 

16. He loves the playground, Monkey Joe's, Nan and Pop, Grandpa and Grandpa (aka Grandma and Grandpa), and anything with an engine. He does not love getting his hair washed, going to church, going to school.

He is, as his shirt says, amazing. He's also exhausting. Maybe it's 40. I should have had a baby boy when I was 30. Love you Moo-Man! We are so proud of what a big boy you are!

Jenny's 40th Birthday

Jenny turned 40 today. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to put together much of a party since I just had spinal surgery. She is a sweet wife, though. I'm sure she'll give me another weekend to plan a make-up party. We still managed to have a lot of fun thanks to a little help from Nan. 

Happy Birthday, Jenny. We love you.

There were balloons... lots of balloons. 

And gifts and smiles. I think I'll check her birth certificate. She doesn't look 40. 

Seriously, no way she's 40. I'm bald and have had two spinal surgeries. That's 40. 

There was cake & ice cream. 

She never tells me what she wishes for. Never. 

We had my famous margaritas. I had to settle for water and hydrocodone. 

These two were the life of the party. 

Three generations together. You can't put a value on that gift. 

She still lets me hang around even though I'm old and broken. 

We wrapped things up by enjoying the beautiful, sunny day we were blessed with. 

Happy birthday, beautiful. We're lucky to have you!