Waterful Summer

 Splash Pad Park

While we go to the park to eat lunch most days, there are some days that we go to that make it hard to want to stay out in the sun for more park time. We went to a splash pad that is right next to a new park in town on Wednesday before lunch, which made Adrian very tired, and we skipped lunch at the park. There was a zip line at this new park that he loved even more than the swings! I'm hoping he will get better at sliding on his own because he does love to slide, but it's always in my lap. Even the girls didn't spend a lot of time over on the splash pad because this was the first time at this park, and it was really fun. Going to other places with all the kids can be kinda interesting...like a goofy girl lying below the shopping cart while picking up some medicine. One last interesting thing about the week was Adrian bringing his blanket out of his bed when he gets up in the morning and having fun either playing ghost or finding it and lying on it randomly.

Water Park

We had another adventure this week to Roaring Springs! Last year, the girls weren't tall enough to go down any of the bigger slides, but this year, Shay was 42.5 inches, so both of them were tall enough! They had fun climbing across the floating obstacles, swimming on their own to the stairs after the big slides, and being able to play with each other in the play areas. Since they are still under 12, they had to stay with one of us in each area, but they were good at following directions. Chris took them to the wave pool, I did the slides, and we all went together in the lazy river. At this age, we have decided that visiting once is enough for the summer, but when they are older, it is nice to live close, and we can look into season passes. I just don't like their snack rule...we aren't allowed any food except for Adrian. They want us to keep all the food in the car, which is just inconvenient to walk all the way out to the car for just a snack. Still a great fun time!

Summer Heat

 Adrian

I'm so blessed to have such a happy boy who is able to have fun in any condition. We went to the pool for a play group this Wednesday, and after a good long time swimming around, he had a snack and played throw the ball to anyone and everyone! There was a cute little girl whom I was trying to get him to share with, but he would always try to take it out of her hand when she picked it up. He even had fun throwing a football with an older boy, and the boy kept saying, 'Mom, look how well he can throw,' which depends on what he is throwing. If only he would stop throwing hard things at people! I'm now determined to not bring hard toys in the diaper bag to church because we sat next to a cute girl, and he kept looking at her and raising his arm with whatever was in his hand, like he was going to throw it at her. We didn't go on a hike, but we did get out our hiking backpack to let a friend borrow, and Adrian really wanted to get in, so after he was buckled, Chris put it on to give him a taste, and now I think we need to go hiking soon! Last update is that he was officially diagnosed with eczema at the doctor's office, and I was assured that what I've been doing has been right, but when he gets a flare-up, I can use a prescribed cream now. We will just hope that he can grow out of it.

Girls

They had so much fun at the pool that they immediately asked when we were going to the water park. We are planning to go next week, as long as Chris gets work covered, so they are excited. I made some kabobs for dinner one day, and the girls remembered doing fruit kabobs the first time we did it in this house. I said that if they would try the meats I made, I would get fruit when I went shopping, and they were good sports and did try them. I had made steak, chicken, and shrimp! We didn't make them eat the veggie ones, though, because they like raw vegetables, which is better for them anyway. We went out to eat last night to try the Mexican food place in town, and Shay ran into her best friend while we were being led to our seats! It was a fun coincidence, even more so than when they see them at the park during the free lunches. We have some friends coming over for dinner today, and they are excited to play with the kids. So far, I think our summer has been great.

Happy Father's Day

 Chris

His girls worked hard to make Father's day special and kept saying "daddy gets to choose" even though they are picking a game or what we will watch instead of letting him nap. On Saturday, we went out to eat at one of his favorite resturants and enjoyed a wonderful happy family dinner. He requested french toast for breakfast and got some hand made gifts from the girls when he came cown to eat. We made it to church with only a few minutes to spare because of the excitement in the morning and the ward gave root beer and donuts to all the men. Then at home he used one of his coupons from Shay to have nap time after lunch and chose games and a movie to watch when the girls wanted them. We had some wings for dinner and he said it was a really good Father's day. I really appriciate all the had work he does for this family and love our life together. 

Home

We got home from our road trip this week, the drive home was gaining hours so it seemed to go better because we were able to make it farther the 2nd day and not have as much to drive on the last day. We made it home in the early afternoon and had plenty of time to unpack, clean up, and Chris even went into the gym and work for the last hour. I made worked on unpacking and laundry to get our house back to functional and took the kids to the park for their lunches. We went to the library and earned some prises for all of our reading so far and Claire even looked for books to match her new interest in the character Wednesday. She found out there was a TV series but we are trying to explain that it is for when she gets older. She found the character on Roblox and started dressing up and choosing everything creepy like the halloween pencil when doing homework and picking the dark blue balloon instead of pink! It is so weird to me.

Road Trip

Preparation

I was busy on Monday and Tuesday finalizing all my preparations and packing for our trip. The girls helped me go shopping, pack their backpacks, check the camping supplies, and clean up the house. Everyone thinks we are crazy for driving so far, but I was determined to be prepared for everything and make it an awesome first family camping road trip. I planned how far we would go each day to the camp sites. I planned the food we would eat for lunches and breakfasts. I planned that we would eat travel food for each dinner. I planned the hotel we would stay at when we were in Michigan. I planned entertainment for the kids and books to listen to while I drive. Nothing could go wrong, right?? We had time to get lunch at the park during the day, now that it started this summer, and taught the neighbor kids how to take care of our dog while we are gone. 

Driving

We got all packed up Wednesday morning, and we were ready to leave right on time. Before we even got out of the Boise area, Claire threw up! We had to stop, and I took her to the bathroom to clean her up as much as possible and change clothes while Daddy cleaned the car. We bought a spray to help with the smell and said that has to be the only bad thing that will happen, right?? Well, we were already running behind for the day, but we got a good stop in Little America, and Chris was even able to log on and get some work done while the kids played at their playground. When we got to the first camping area, it was windy, 42 degrees, and predicted to rain, so we kept driving and stayed in a hotel last minute. The girls were disappointed, but we found a cute campsite for the next night and got there with plenty of time for them to play at the playground. The worst part of the drive was through Chicago during terrible construction traffic at probably rush hour!

The Weekend

The hotel room seems small with all of us in it, and Adrian has had a lot of time wandering around and spreading things from one side of the room to another. He is finally getting used to sleeping in the pack and play and was able to take naps during the day when he was tired. We went over to our family's apartment on Saturday morning for breakfast since our hotel didn't offer any, and visited their park, played with their toys, and visited for a little bit. We found a YMCA that had a pool and fitness center so the kids and I could swim while Chris did his workout. We went back over to visit for dinner and more time together, then on Sunday went to church with them to see our new niece get blessed and take pictures together. Adrian needed a nap right after church, but then we had lunch together and played games together. We even got to swim in their community pool, so we didn't miss out on swimming this weekend, even though our hotel's pool was closed. Now we will be driving home and camping again this coming week, and hopefully nothing else will go wrong. 

Summer Begins!

 Last Week of School

I forgot to post last week! There was so much going on the last week of school. Shay got to go to the zoo for a field trip, and her class hosted a party for the parents. She had a great week of kindergarten, and seems excited to start the next school year already! The school gives yearbooks to each child, and they had a few hours to sign friends' yearbooks during the day on Wednesday. I sent them with their cameras to take pictures of their friends, too, and they were very happy with all the fun things that they got to do. I didn't catch either of them being too sad, but they got phone numbers of friends' parents to connect over the summer, which will be fun. 

Adrian

We had my cousin, who lives close, and her family come to visit last weekend for dinner, and the kids played together well. Adrian was doing great, and then after dinner threw up! We kept him cooped upstairs after that, and then he had a hard few days where he wasn't able to keep much food in his stomach for very long. Luckily, we got him a blessing, and he improved and is now 100% better! He was very cuddly and fell asleep with me on the couch many times for those few days, and it was hard for me to enjoy because I was worried about him. I would much rather he be healthy and moving nonstop like he does. We went to a baby blessing for my cousin this Sunday, and he ran around the gym with the other kids after we had gathered for food. 

Summer

Our first week of summer is now complete, and we have had a lot of fun. The girls have homework books they are working on everyday, reading silently for 20 minutes, and reading a chapter book with me. We visited the library to sign up for their summer reading program and went shopping at DI because I promised Shay weeks ago and haven't gotten to it until now. They've played together, gotten in fights, made messes, and helped around the house. It feels like we have already done everything...now we need to go on a road trip this next week! We also have other fun summer plans, but this first week set a good pace for setting the homework and reading expectation.