We had to leave our home while the floors were being re-done. We loaded up the kids, drove 2 1/2 hours to the family lake cabin, and had fun.
The first night and day were a bit rough. There are spiral stairs that have always made me totally paranoid. Especially since little ones can fit right through the railings to the stairs and in the loft. We put up a gate but BB is an adept climber and broke through several times. It was not until she fell down 4 stairs and got stuck between the railing that she realized it was unsafe and she stopped trying. We caught up on our rest and the remainder of the vacation was glorious.
There was lots of beach play time every day. The lake water was warn and fairly shallow so the kids enjoyed jumping off the dock and swimming out until they could no longer reach bottom. The dock gave little BB some slivers in her feet but she proudly showed off her bandages after I had to do minor surgery to remove them.
We ate a lot of unhealthy foods. It's vacation - I did not prevent kids from snacking on Cheetos. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. T was our best roaster but he would not partake in s'mores. I picked him up a bag of gummie bears and he ate nearly the entire bag (600 calories worth) minus a few he tossed into the fire to see what would happen. He already experimented on what happens when they are placed in water for several days.
BB discovered she loves Cookie Monster as much as her mama did at the same age. She only recently started having a bit of screen time in the form of classic Sesame Street.
Anya the dog went, too, and she had a grand time running up and down the beach just being a dog and getting dirty. (She usually quite prissy so rarely gets dirty.)
I got about 15 minutes total time to myself for relaxing which is 15 minutes more than Hubby got. I managed to crochet less than a row on my afghan that I am trying to finish. We did nap when BB napped and that helped.
The car ride fluctuated between good and bad depending on how our resident toddler was doing. Car travel is not her thing - she is just like her mama in regards to that.
I think it was one of the best trips to the cabin ever. I've never utilized everything it has to offer in one trip. The kids had a blast and are asking to go back already. Celebrating our Christmas in July tradition there may have also made it extra special.
It's been two months. I've spent much of the time becoming unplugged. I want this summer to be about being with my family and friends and not having the wall of my phone and the internet between them and me. Plus, we're just so busy these days there is little time for blogging. So here are the highlights from our summer.
Highlights from our summer:
Water park with friends (Iron Woman and her three kids and Ms. B and her three kids.) BB stayed with Nana so I just had older kids. Maybe next year she can join us. We had such a great time I think we might just have to go again next year.
At 18 months BB could get out of her crib. I made a "transition bed" out of piled up blankets in my closet. Around 20 months she was ready for a real bed. S moved upstairs and BB took her room down stairs. During that same time, potty training really sank in and she is close to 100% at home. Just like that she grew up. First photo is her enjoying her transition bed in the empty corner of my bedroom closet. The next is of her in her big girl bed. She and S now have matching beds. She does great and generally stays in her bed until
7:30 am. She sleeps with her beloved Blank, "Jew jew owl" (Andrew owl),
and Plo the green turtle. S gave her all her Frozen bedding since she
LOVES Elsa and Anna despite never having seen the movie.
Couple of visits to the zoo with special friends. The butterfly exhibit is always fun. The carousel is always a hit with the kids. T also went to asthma camp so the photo below in the red shirt reflects that.
Celebrated Independence Day. Good Neighbors D and M made a guest appearance. It was wonderful to have them. They are no longer next door but traditionally they have always come over to watch our kid fireworks. They did not break the tradition this year. It was delightful! The neighbors from across the street have a son that goes to school with T. They also participated.
We had the van professionally washed. The kids still talk about shooting the soap at the van.
Lego construction - T has logged a lot of hours in his creative Lego universe. He has a friend from up the street that comes over for 2-3 hours at a time and all they do is play Legos. He and his dad also have some epic battles. S prefers to construct rather than build.
Dress up and make over time:
Learning to ride bikes without training wheels. S was a week ahead of her brother. The bike shop had to install special large wheels for his big kid bike. After three months and seeing his sister take hers off successfully he was ready to make the transition. It took both of them about 15 minutes or less once we took off the trainers. This all the same week BB went to her big girl bed. It really did feel like over night, they grew up hence the photo of T heading off into the sunset.
Reading - all the kids have spent a lot of time reading. S is about where T was at the beginning of first grade. T is well past where his dad and I were at going into second grade. Maybe 6-7th level reading? Hard to find age appropriate reading that challenges him. BB insists on being read to - constantly. She will grab any willing participant to read her most loved book " Good Night Moon".
Pickling cucumbers. I had all day help from a variety of folks. Mrs. T, her daughter, Iron Woman and her crew, my kiddos. It was great fun.
Drawing Contest. The kids entered the library drawing contest. S wanted to draw Ahsoke the female Jedi. I did not know who she was talking about until we arrived at the library and she showed me the life size version,
We had our hardwood floors resurfaced and took out a chunk of carpet replacing it with wood. The wood coloration seemed to match up nicely. What a process though! We had plenty of adventures getting this done - including eating without furniture for an entire weekend. We spent most of the time at the family lake cabin (separate posting onto itself). We're very happy with the finished product.
It's been a wonderful summer. I am soaking up these amazing kiddos, as is their dad. We have spent a lot of time just being together as a family and building memories we can enjoy forever. I am honored to have all these individuals in my life whether they are my husband (I wish I had more photos of him), my own children, children I borrow, children we play with, or special friends who know how to make me smile. Great summer. Blessed life.
