Classes and Weather

We started off our day at ballet lessons for Kendall. She did a pretty good job when I peaked in! This was the first time I have seen her really try and follow the directions. Kendall was also very excited to be chosen as a leader a few times. While she was in class I tried to take Caleb to the park outside. It was pretty busy with the summer camp kids, and he refused to play. I think he was tired, but I honestly have never seen him shy like that. It was very strange!
After ballet, Caleb had his Get Ready for Kindergarten class. I signed him up in hopes that they would work on fine motor skills and to give him an extra opportunity to socialize in a school like setting. Kendall and I went out for an early lunch while we were waiting for him. She thought it was wonderful! We went out to Subway, which was a total treat for us. Caleb is allergic to wheat, so we tend to not go to sandwich shops. Kendall chose a roast beef sandwich with green and banana peppers. Kendall LOVES peppers. When we go grocery shopping, if I allow her to pick one thing, she always chooses a green pepper.
Later we went swimming and then had swim lessons. The kids did a great job in swim lessons! Caleb actually swam a few yards all by himself for the first time! Kendall gave a great appearance of being a little fish, and was chosen to be the example because she was doing such a good job. She refused to float on her tummy or back though. Swim lessons were cut short by 10 minutes due to a thunderstorm.
We ended the night huddled in the basement watching a movie on our laptop due to a tornado warning. The kids handled it very well, and luckily as of yet no tornadoes touched down by us. I hope the storms pass quickly, because it is freezing in the basement!

Story Time

We had another great summer day. It was storming outside this morning, so I figured it would be a good day to get some errands done. Our first stop was Petsmart. Our dog Flash needed some more flea/tick medicine and I wanted to pick up some specialty shampoo because she has been itching herself lately. My kids LOVE to go to the pet store! Who needs a zoo when you have a pet store near you? Okay, maybe it is not quite that exciting, but for them it is a close second. The kids really liked the parakeets this trip. They also had fun watching the fish being fed.
After the pet store we ran to story hour at Barnes and Noble. I love that our local store has a weekly story time. We don't often get to attend because of my work schedule, so it had been a long time. Miss Debbie read 4 stories to the group of kids. I loved how she integrated technology by using the Nook during the first read aloud. I thought that it was very engaging for the kids and a clever way to promote their reader.
After the stories were read the kids were given paper and crayons to draw pictures of what they learned. Caleb drew a picture of a rabbit from one of the books. I always love to see authentic writing opportunities during activities such as this.

After nap time it had stopped raining so we headed to the pool. The sun came out and was shining. We had a wonderful time! I think the earlier storms caused people to find other activities. There were only 10 people in the small pool while we were there. It was great for the kids. They became very brave and were going under water, as well as jumping off of the side. Kendall even went into water that went up to her shoulders. I was very proud of her!

Happy Father's Day!

We spent last night with my parents celebrating Father's Day. So, today we spent some time with Terry's parents. Both of the grandparents go by Grandma and Grandpa. Terry's parents already had 8 grandchildren by the time ours came along, so they were set. My parents had always thought they would be Grandma and Grandpa, so there you go! The kids came up with there own way of differentiating the grandparents. My parents used to have a standard poodle named Fonzie. So, they are Grandma with Fonzie and Grandpa with Fonzie. After he passed away, they became Grandma without Fonzie. Now, Terry's parents have many pets. They have cats, ferrets, rabbits, a dog, and crabs. So, Caleb began referring to them as Grandma and Grandpa with the crabs. Hilarious right?
We normally spend most of our time outside when we visit Terry's parents. The kids wanted a tractor ride with Grandpa. And Wayne came through! The tractor (lawnmower) is pretty old and has seen better days. He had such a hard time getting it started, but he worked on it for a good 10 minutes and the rides began. I was so surprised that he took both kids at the same time AND they behaved while having fun. Awesome!
After playing outside the kids were starving. So, we went to Denny's for lunch. I think they must have been short help in the kitchen. Our waiter was great, but our Denny's lunch trip took 2 hours. We arrived at 12:50 and the food was not brought out until 1:30. We were warned that it would take about fifteen minutes for the food to arrive, but it took closer 30 from the time we ordered. Happily the kids were very well behaved. Kendall was adorable. She kept scooting closer and closer to Grandpa until she was literally on his lap. She thought she was being very sneaky.

After lunch, we dropped Wayne and Dorothy back to their house and headed home. The kids fell asleep in the car and were easily transferred to bed for naps. I woke them up at 5:15 because I had a couple of errands to run. They were not happy waking up. I think they must be growing. Caleb is eating and sleeping like a champ. He is actually now about 2 inches taller than Kendall.

Boating

We had another great summer day. This morning we met Michelle and Christoper at Home Dept. They had a free kids event where the kids got to make a tool box for father's day. So, Kendall made one for Terry and Caleb made one for his Grandpa. They turned out really cute. I was impressed by Caleb who made his all by himself. He even got the nails into the correct spots AND no one was injured by the hammers. AMAZING!

Next, we met Erin and Julia for canoeing. My kids have been on fishing boats and kayaks, but this was there first canoe ride. The first thing we had to do was get the canoe off of the car. It was heavy! There was a man in his mid twenties there who had just finished kayaking. He literally was laughing at us, as we tried to get the canoe down. We were successful and didn't hit the car...but barely!
So, off we went. I have not canoed in years, so I decided it was best if I sat in front. I think I did pretty well. Erin is a great paddler and we were cruising around the lake. The kids loved when we went by the shores because there were so many bullfrogs hiding along the edge. We probably saw 30 frogs! Caleb loved finding them.
Kendall was not thrilled with the canoe. Caleb is very active and kept shifting his position, which meant we wobbled quite a bit. Each time she went into panic mode, breathing fast and making upset noises. She held onto the bar in front of her extremely tight as well. Julia wanted to show off her paddling skills, so I suggested that Kendall and I watch. Kendall was all smiles to be out of the canoe!
This evening we went out to eat dinner with my dad. It was nice to spend time with him. It was right at dusk when we got home and the fireflies were out in droves. Caleb was fascinated by it. He caught one and successfully went into the house without me noticing. So, we had to free the firefly. I think we will all sleep well tonight!

Fun with Rachael and Bad Mom Moment

We are continuing to have a wonderful summer. On Thursday, I dropped Caleb off at camp and then met my mom for breakfast with Kendall. Kendall was adorable! She found the book, Drive in my purse. She spent most of her time pretending to read the book. Kendall loved breakfast. She shared my french toast and Grandma's blueberry pancakes. Yummy!
After breakfast I picked up my lovely niece Rachael. She is 12 and her mom just went back to work after being a stay at home mom. So, she has been a little bored. It was awesome having Rachael around. We had about an hour before we needed to pick up Caleb. So, we stopped by my house. She helped Kendall clean her room. They even vacuumed it! We then picked up Caleb, and met a friend for lunch at McDonalds. After lunch, we got our swim suits and went swimming. I think the best part, was having time to just chat with my niece. She is growing up so fast, and it was so interesting to hear about her aspirations, likes, and dislikes. She had such a great time, that we will be making this a weekly event. Fun! This is a picture of the kids after we dropped Rachael back home. Caleb and Kendall were pooped!

Today, I dropped Caleb off for his last nature camp day and then ran to the dentist with Kendall for my normal cleaning. Kendall was fascinated about the cleaning and watched quite intently. We then raced to Kendall's jazz class. We walked in and then just looking around I realized I had the wrong time. I thought the class was at 10:30, but it was at 10:00. Oops! Kendall rolled with it, and didn't shed any tears. I was happy that it gave me some time to run to the grocery story with only one child.

After nap time, we went to the pool again. My kids are getting much braver! Caleb is attempting to swim and Kendall is now getting her face wet. I think we will be getting a lot of pool time in this summer!

Summer Activities

Caleb is in nature camp this week. He is loving it! Each day there is a different topic that the children explore. The camp integrates art, writing, science, reading, and games to make a fun morning! At the end of each session the children journal about their favorite activity or thing that they learned. Today Caleb drew a picture of a spider and himself. I love that his spider has 8 legs, although 3 on one side and 5 on the other!

Kendall had her second gymnastics class this week. She finally figured out how to do a forward roll. So, of course Kendall had to show off her new talent. She did 25 rolls in a row and practiced counting at the same time. It made me dizzy to watch it!

Finally, We Are HEALTHY!

Kendall felt worse on Sunday. It was probably my fault, since we over did activities on Saturday. So, we stayed home and she rested and had lots of medicine. I got her into the doctor on Monday. She has the same sinus infection that Caleb has. So, she is also on antibiotics. It made a huge difference and she seemed so much better today! I am so thankful that both kids are fever free. After 7 days of kids with fevers, it is nice to have this illness behind us! Kendall still has a cough, but she was her happy self.

It was a beautiful day today, so we took full advantage of the sunshine. We took advantage of our local pool this afternoon. They redid the pool and it is wonderful. When we walked into the pool, Kendall was all smiles and pointed out that it was like a sprinkler park. The park district added a lot of new water features and changed one of the pools to the zero depth style. It was perfect for my kids. Both Caleb and Kendall had a great time splashing and both even went under water multiple times on their own. Kendall still likes to be completely in control of herself, and refused to let me carry her into deeper water. It reminds me of when she was 2 and she would always want to hold her own hand in parking lots. I didn't push it, and was happy that she was in the water today.

After swimming, we went home, cleaned up, and then took advantage of Chii's deal of kids eat free Tuesdays. Yum!

After dinner we did our next stop on our scavenger hunt that we have been working on. This year the clues are a bit trickier. Last year, if you found the park you found a sign with the answer on it. Not so, this year. It is too bad, because it is not as kid friendly, but the kids did enjoy playing at the park.