More Summer Fun

As we prepare to end our June in Pentwater next week, it's hard to believe that the month is already almost over.  With baseball games, the girls starting their summer Stage Kids class (Lion King, Jr.), library programs, Staley's Tuesday day camp, Staley's singing lessons, and Adelie's swim lessons, the past few weeks have gone quickly.  We have still found time to fit in some of our other summer bucket list activities.

We made our way to the Farm Park for a morning of fun, a picnic, and some playground time with friends.

The kids always like getting together with their friends.

On our way home that same day, we stumbled across Kids Fest at the IGA.

We stopped in for some free bouncy house, balloon animal, face painting, yummy treats kind of fun.

We have a family friend who knows a model train collector who has an entire room of his home dedicated to his model trains.  Along with trains covering all the walls, he also has a huge track system so the engines can pull their freight cars all around the room.

Grandpa took Briggs to check out this "train room."  He told me all about the "long trains chugging along the track."  Briggs thought it was awesome!!

We also celebrated Father's Day with brunch and sprinkler fun at Grammie and Grandpa's house.

Getting to spend time with cousins never gets old.

Summer is filling up and flying by.  We still have lots more things to cross off our summer list over the next month and a half.  But next up??  Pentwater!

Let's Play Ball!

Adelie and Staley are both done with their summer baseball seasons.  Adelie played her first season of t-ball and Staley played her first season of coach pitch baseball.  And although they both set the bar extremely low to start the season, both girls made good progress and had fun playing.

At Adelie's first game, she hit the ball and then just stood there.  When everyone started yelling "RUN!", she trotted out towards the pitcher, still holding her bat.  Her coach had to run the bases with her that entire first game.  (Like I said, setting the bar low.)

By the end of the season, she could hit the ball off the tee and run the bases without help.  Her throwing and catching skills are still a (big) work in progress, but she at least has an idea of what she is supposed to do. 

The one game she played first base, she never watched the ball or realized that every kid was going to be throwing it to her.  Luckily, most of the kids lacked the aim or the arm strength to get it right to her, which saved Adelie from getting hit with the ball.  Getting the glove on the correct hand consistently was also a work in progress throughout the season.  I'd like to say she mastered that, but...

Adelie enjoyed her season, liked playing with her friends, and learned quite a bit about baseball in the process.  I'll call that success.

Staley was even more enthusiastic about playing baseball.  When her last game was cancelled due to rain, she burst into tears because her season was over.  Where Adelie had little interest in practicing at home, Staley wanted to work on her baseball skills in between games.  Grandpa was a great batting coach to help her learn how to swing properly.

For coach pitch, the kids get to swing at 6 pitches before having to hit off the tee.  Staley's first game, she had to hit off the tee every time up to bat.  After that first game, she practiced with Grandpa and only had to use the tee once or twice more the entire season.  She never hit the ball far, but was consistent  in making contact and seemed to find a new running speed to generally avoid getting thrown out at first.  Staley was also not the best fielder, but the first few times she stopped the ball, she just held it or threw it to the person standing closest to her, like the shortstop.  By the end of the season, she knew to throw it to first base.  There is still a lot about baseball that she has not learned yet (like how to cover the base she was playing) and many skills that need plenty of improvement (like throwing the ball farther than about 10-15 feet), but again, progress and enjoyment are how I measure success at this age.

And Briggs filled his baseball time with making new friends.  Whether he was getting this little girl to share her tablet or playing volleyball with a middle school girl, he always seemed to find a friend to help him pass the time.

 A month of evenings at the ball field went by quickly.  I didn't burst into tears about their seasons ending, but I did enjoy watching them play and seeing them grow throughout the season.  Success!

Question of the Day

On Father's Day, why did Zach decide to forego an afternoon nap or watching the White Sox game on the couch to instead work on a house project, complete with letting the kids play with the tools that he was trying to use?

Because he is the most selfless, hard-working, fun, thoughtful, loving, amazing husband and father ever!!  We are so lucky!

Happy Father's Day!

They Say...

Last night, Briggs came into the living room and told me, "I was walking in the bathroom and I almost fell, but I put my foot out like an outrigger and I didn't fall."
#lifeislikeaconstructionsite

Zach stood up and his back cracked really loudly.  Adelie exclaimed, "Daddy!  Your skin is creaking."
#creakyskin

The other day, I heard Adelie telling Briggs to stop kicking her.  He responded, "I'm not kicking you.  I'm just patting you with my foot."
#semantics

Zach was on the roof outside the girls' room running a wire.  Staley said, "I can't wait until I'm a grown-up and can hang out on the roof whenever I want to."
#loftygoals

Life is never dull with these 3.

Hustle!!

Every time Staley's baseball coach tells Staley to hustle, it makes me smile knowingly.  He has not yet realized that Staley moves in one speed...and hustle it is not.

Nap Free Zone

I have always loved naps.  I like taking them.  I enjoy the peace and quiet when my kids take them.  I was already looking forward to Briggs's nap time this coming school year when Adelie and Staley would be at school.  The idea of 2 hours of quiet time each and every afternoon had already filled my head with lists of amazing and wonderful things that I could accomplish.

My school year dreams crashed and burned this week as our family officially entered the 'no napping zone.'  To be fair, Briggs would still take a nap every day if I wanted him to.  Unfortunately his night time sleep habits have gotten poor enough that we had to make a difficult choice:  give up the 1-2 hours of quiet time in the afternoon or continue to deal with a child who won't fall asleep (or stay in bed) at night until 9:30 or 10:00 every single night.  So the end of the nap it was.

The loss of nap time hasn't been as difficult for me (or Briggs) as I had thought it might be.  I have instituted "quiet alone time" each afternoon for 30-45 minutes for each kid (and their mother) to rest and refresh.  I am already enjoying the freedom that not having to schedule around a nap has allowed.  Briggs has always rolled pretty well without a nap so we have not paid too big of an evening behavioral price.  And it's incredibly refreshing to put 3 kids to bed at bedtime and have them all fall asleep immediately.

I may be mourning the loss of my school year nap time visions just a bit, but I also know that my house will be all too quiet in just a few years during the school year.  So instead of being sad to say good-bye to naps in our house, I'll enjoy our scheduling freedom this summer and instead relish in the quiet night time hours.

Briggs has already decided that he'll still sneak in a quick nap when it's needed.

Business Plans

The other day the kids were reminiscing about the time we ate at the Rainforest Café with Uncle Ethan.  Adelie said, "If I had a restaurant, it would be an Under the Sea restaurant."  Briggs piped in and said, "If I had a restaurant, it would be the Trainforest Café."

Love my little entrepreneur and his one track mind. 

(Pun intended.  :))

Summer Fun: Another Week

Although this past week featured some rain and an extra day of working for me, we still fit in some more fun summer activities.

Staley started summer day camp at State Farm Park on Tuesdays.  Although she was a little apprehensive because she didn't know any other kids going, her fears were quickly extinguished after a great first day.  She made a few friends, loved all the activities, and couldn't stop talking about how fun her counselor was.  She had a great first day and is excited about her next day of camp.

For Uma's birthday, we took her out for a fun girl's night.  We surprised her with dinner at a restaurant and tickets to see "The Little Mermaid" at the Cornstalk Theater.

We all had a great time, although it was a very late night.  The girls took a few days to recover from staying up until 11:00!

While we were at our special girl's night, Zach took Briggs for a boy's night to the Emergency Expo.  This free event was a highlight for Briggs last summer as he got to see (and experience) ambulances, police cars, fire trucks, coast guard boats, and even a Life Flight helicopter.

Briggs had so much to tell me about his fun night at the Emergency Expo.  Highlights included seeing a drone, petting a police horse, watching the Life Flight helicopter take off, and sitting in the Coast Guard boat (complete with getting to turn on and off the siren.)

When Briggs saw the ambulance, he told Zach, "I want to get in the back of the ambulance and pretend I'm sick."  When he climbed in, Zach said, "Okay buddy.  Show me sick."  And apparently this picture is Briggs pretending to be sick.

And we got to help Caroline celebrate her 4th birthday with a fun water party at her house.

Good food, time with cousins, cupcakes, and fun time in the sprinkler and pool made for a great way to spend part of our Saturday.

We also fit in some more baseball and t-ball games, sidewalk painting, playground fun, a few library summer reading activities, outside play time with neighbors, Adelie's kindergarten eye doctor appointment, and a St. Jude Run potluck.  Each week seems to bring with it some fun summer highlights along with some lazy summer days.  It's been a nice balance.

#lovemesomesummer

Summer Fun

It's only the third day of June, but our summer has been off to a fun start.  Although we do have t-ball or baseball games a few nights each week, we've otherwise been able to fill our summer days with whatever we want to do.  And here are some of the things we've wanted to do:

We've had a couple backyard swimming play dates with a neighbor in her inflatable pool.

We made some rainy day memories with puddle splashing...

that eventually included neighbor friends and soaking wet, muddy kids.

We enjoyed the zoo and a picnic.

We met some friends for a splash park/playground play date.

Although initially apprehensive, Briggs warmed up and got involved in the splash park fun.

And Staley brought a friend who spent the rest of the day with us.

The girls helped their cousin, Lila, celebrate her 7th birthday.

The girls had a great time swimming and celebrating with Lila and her friends.

Staley then enjoyed a birthday sleepover at Lila's house.

Because Adelie didn't get to do the birthday sleepover, she instead invited a friend over for pizza, ice cream, and movie night.  So much fun!!

And this week-end we got to participate in a summer family highlight.  Although State Farm Play Day underwent a few changes and got a new name, the newly named Summer Fest was still a huge hit with the whole family.

Although the games and prizes were gone, there was still face painting, balloon animals, and bigger, better crafts.

The carnival rides this year were from a different company.  There were fewer rides for the little kids and more duct tape and zip ties holding things together, but the kids enjoyed it just the same.

Adelie and Briggs both enjoyed the cars, the swings, and the fun house.  By the end of the day, Briggs shocked us by asking to ride the roller coaster...and did.  Staley did the roller coaster too, but Adelie wasn't interested.

Staley and I rode a few of the bigger kid rides like the scrambler and the ferris wheel.  Luckily we were on and off the ferris wheel before it broke down.

Staley also did the rock climbing wall and the bungee trampolines.

I informed Briggs that Summer Fest was the day that he was going to get over his fear of bouncy houses.  I insisted that he go down a bouncy slide with me, and each time he was a little more independent.

By the end of the day, Briggs was a bouncy house machine.  He was going down the biggest slides all by himself over and over and over again.  #bravenewboy

Staley and Adelie had a great time doing the bouncy obstacle courses.

And, of course, we had dinner and topped it off with ice cream treats.  We stayed from beginning to end and had a great, full, exhaustingly fun time.

We've been loving our summer of fun so far.

Keep it coming, June.  Keep it coming!!