Summer Fun - Dates, 5 Below Splurge, Library Visits, Pool Time

This month I had a specific date on the calendar for Brad and Lorelei, which was at the library. It was some sort of Lego engineering, and was only for grades 1-3, so since Makin couldn't go, it seemed like a date they would love. Turns out, the parents are not allowed in the room! So, Lorelei got to Lego engineer and Brad chilled outside the room, and then they went out for ice cream on the way home. :)

Makin and I had a bit of a bummer of a patio breakfast date, where he only drank chocolate milk and because he didn't like the ginormous pancakes. We did have more fun on our own while B and L were on their date earlier that week.

There is a store the kids had never been to called 5 Below. I would go there when they were both in school and always think about how they would love to shop there and pick out one fun item. Since we normally don't get them things other than birthday and Christmas, this became one of our summer bucket list ideas. They did have a lot of fun picking out their one item. Lorelei chose bed canopy (and bargained with me when I wanted white and agreed with the stipulation we had to put it up THAT DAY...what a mom will do so that she doesn't have two shades of pink clashing in one room) and Makin chose a tiny remote car.

We are getting our share of library time this summer too, but have run out of Magic Tree House audio books at the library, so they are now enjoying Hank The Cowdog. :)

And our favorite summer activity would have to be swimming! 

They are mostly swimming underwater, but since I can't get great pictures of that, you can catch the glimpses while they are out. :) 

Hand stands are very popular. :)

Swimming with friends makes it so much more fun!

We have gone to a friend's community pool (which also has a spray-park in it) as well as had friends join us in our pool. These pictures are all various kids from GCA. :)

Legoland Discovery Center

Auntie Di called me up asking if she could treat us to a special trip to Legoland. We were all excited to see her and have an adventure together!

Initial reaction walking in...Makin's most common phrase these days, "Oh my gosh!"

In the picture above they are looking at artwork that was made with many tiny Lego squares put together like a mosaic.

They have a little spray park area. Legos and water...doesn't get much better!

Makin has a Lego alligator so wanted a picture with this big one.

Auntie Di got them special kid's lunches. It was so sweet, the kids picked the booth side and then asked Di to sit right next to them. :)

After lunch Makin drove a Lego police car and then they played in a huge play area.

Makin loved the race car section. He would build a car, race it several times, then go add to it or design a whole new car and try that one out. He was absolutely loving it. Lorelei watched a bit and then took Auntie Di on another ride a couple more times while he was busy racing.

We watched two short Lego 4D movies. No only did the screen come out at you, but you had wind, water and bubbles as well. It was quite fun and kept the kids smiling and laughing.

Then we ventured into the Miniland model display areas. This included a Star Wars section, as well as another room which had local things like the airport, ferris wheel, and even Great Wolf Lodge. This area was one of my favorite parts.

One last ride and then pictures with the baby giraffe on the way out.

These two were the perfect ages for this and we were feeling so special and "vacationy" for our visit.

Thanks so much Auntie Di!!!

Father's Day

We started out Father's Day with breakfast in bed and a couple of cute cards from the kids.

Brad chose Blue Goose for his special lunch. :)

Before and after church Brad joined the kids in a game of Sorry.

Then he headed to the movies while the kids and I had quiet time and movie afternoon. It was a nice balance of our day of rest and a few treats for Brad.

Summer Fun - Aquatic Center, Swim Outing, 11 Years, Mad Sceintists, and Peach Farm

My plan for the summer is that we will swim about 5-6 days of the week. I will likely wait to post those pictures until I have a few I can combine. :) The luxury of having a pool you can walk across the street to has been absolutely wonderful and the kids are swimming like little happy fish almost every day. :)

Aquatic Center

 Mary asked us to join them for a trip to the aquatic center because this was on their summer bucket list, so we couldn't pass up a chance to go with friends. Especially friends who are moving away the following week. I'm more than a little sad to say goodbye to our sweet Hughes family, but we are being supportive friends and know they will bless all they meet in their new community, just as they have here. Mary and I have hopes of at least meeting half-way (which will be 1 1/2 hours from here) occasionally.

As for this summer-fun item, the kids had a blast going down many different slides as well as the lazy (more like crazy) river. 

I wish I could have water-proof camera-sunglasses to capture all the big smiles. :)

Swim Outing

Since our church is 40 minutes away, I just started joining a women's group closer to home for some outings. They had a group meet at a community pool close-to-home and Lorelei was thrilled her friend from gymnastics was there.

Celebrating 11 Years

Brad and I were able to go out on a date for our anniversary this year.

We enjoyed Outback Steakhouse and even had patio seating. :)

Library Event - Mad Scientist

There are so many events going on at our library, I am actually being quite selective about the ones we choose to attend. I snatched up the schedule as soon as it came out and starred the ones I felt would be our favorites. Science experiments are always a hit with my kids, so I knew they would enjoy the mad scientist. I was quite surprised when Lorelei continued to raise her hand each time he asked for volunteers, and sure enough she was chosen to go up on stage to help teach about sound/molecules. :) Proud of our somewhat-shy girl for getting in front of lots of people!

All the children were able to get up-close for the final demonstration where he blasted toilet paper using some kind of air. They thought that was pretty fun.

Peach Farm

We headed just 20 minutes away to try out a local farm's peach and blackberry picking.

The Armstrongs were up for going with us, and had never picked either of the fruits.

While I do miss our picturesque Nebraska peach picking, this was a nice adventure close to home. We will likely go back a few more times as the peaches continue to ripen through July.

It was about 100 degrees when we were picking, so I did not get my usual cute "peach picking" kids picture this time around! Hoping for our next visit!

So juicy!

HUGE Blackberries!

Climbing to find a ripe one!

"Everybody look hot and tired!"

Then we cooled off in the Armstrong's pool!

Early Summer Fun

Our summer got off to a bit of a slow start, with the school schedules being different, math tutoring, soccer going long, and lots and LOTS of rain.

But, we had patches of fun and sunshine, so here area few pictures of what we have been up to...

Sprinkler Fun

This was the perfect way to beat the heat before the pool opened.

One day we even had lemonade and popcorn on the patio.

Tent Building

Slip N Slide

(only lasted one day before it got a hole, so we were disappointed in that!)

Tangible Grace Sunday

Each month that has a 5th Sunday our church has a Tangible Grace Sunday, which means we reach out and serve in our community. In May we helped a nearby church by pulling weeds and putting mulch down. You can see Makin holding a shovel on the bottom left picture, but Brad was one of the main mulch shovelers and enjoyed it. I stuck to the weed pulling. :)

Cookout

We enjoyed a cookout with the Armstrongs.

The boys really enjoyed building with the giant Legos.

Backyard Campingish

We didn't even attempt to have Brad sleep overnight in the tent in the backyard because fitting all three of them would be uncomfortable, but we figured the kids would enjoy a little camping evening playing in the tent, roasting hot dogs and making s'mores. 

Lorelei did sleep in the tent in Brad's office over night. 

Makin decided it was too hot and went to his bed.

Enjoying The Sound Of Rain

Math

Oh math. 

I have never liked thee, and now that you plague my daughter I may loathe thee even more!

(Sorry for the odd accent, it just seemed appropriate!)

Our girl is not a math fan. While I totally want my kids to know what summer BREAK is, we HAVE to work on her math (and read) this summer. I do not want her to struggle in 2nd like we have in 1st, SO I'm sticking to it and doing math with her 5 mornings a week. Our goal is only 30 minutes (1 hour total since we read too) but it can take longer depending on attitude. We did and will continue to do a few tutoring sessions with Mrs. White to give me a break and give Lorelei some variety, however we can best help her learn. Our main focuses are just more of a natural number sense, adding, subtracting and money.

Improved her time and no tears for addition facts!

Swimming

The kids love it. There will be lots of water in this summer's future that is for sure.

Oh how I love summer!

Sports Wrap Up

Showing us her flexibility...obviously not on a gymnastics day. ;)

The end of May brought gymnastics to an end for the summer. I want to take the summer off just to enjoy our time getting plenty of energy out swimming! :) Lorelei plans to start back up again in the fall. While she is not necessarily "a natural" I think the class has been good for her and we have seen her make definite progress! More importantly, she enjoys it! :)

This particular day they were playing some games as a group during class.

I would just like to go on record that it is way harder to get gymnastics pictures than soccer pictures. ;)


Makin has really enjoyed soccer. It went a couple of weeks into June because we got rained out several times. We loved a chance to have he and Kyle playing a sport together this season. It was fun having all of us girls cheering for them on the sidelines. Makin made me proud each practice as he played hard, listened attentively to the coach's instructions learning new techniques, and had no hesitation to get in there and get the ball and try to make a goal.

While I had planned for him to take the summer off from organized sports as well and just swim his heart out, his coach specifically invited Makin to participate in a summer program to make it possible to be on a fall team and Makin agreed he would like to do that. I'm quite proud of our little natural athlete and hope that he will continue to enjoy soccer...so expect another soccer update around mid August. :) But here are the pictures from this spring class...(Just a fun sidenote, the coach even drives an orange jeep. ;))

We traditionally did lunch together after class...and several of those lunches meant our favorite - Raising Canes!
(Even if we took it to a park to eat it!)

Coach Ian gave out medals and did a team pic at the end of May in case others couldn't do the make up classes in June.

His last practice was quite warm and on the way to lunch Makin said, 

"I'm the sweatiest I have ever been!" :)

I can't say it enough, Soccer Shots is such a great program!!!

This is from their email describing their program:

"We believe in a mission to impact children in a positive and sustainable way. We focus on child development, human development first, soccer second. We believe we cannot impact children through simple soccer programming, but that we need to understand children on a developmental level in order to truly reach them. We have chosen to specialize in small children with the hopes to light their hearts on fire with the sport that has so greatly impacted our lives, Soccer."

Brad's Birthday

Brad and I have come to the conclusion that in this season of life, birthdays mean no gifts, but a day of getting time to yourself and doing the things you enjoy. (Within budget of course!) Thankfully Brad could take the time off on his birthday this year to get a day of fun. Now that is something in itself to be thankful for!


He spent his morning hitting range balls and going to the movie, two of his favorite hobbies. :)


Then he joined the kids in the swimming pool, per their request.

He chose Better-Than-Anything cake this year! Yummy!

We topped off the fun day with supper at one of his favorite restaurants, Blue Goose Cantina.

Kinda a rough picture but the memory counts right!?

Thankful to do life with this guy and so glad he could take some well-deserved personal time for his birthday!