School's Out For Summer

Thursday was Liam's last day of school for the year. First grade is complete and he got fantastic grades.  In the fall, he'll be a full fledged second grader.

He's excited to be on summer break, to not have to get up for school, and to play with his friends.  He tends to express this by waking at 6:30 every morning despite the fact that I had to wake him at 7:15 on school mornings.  The contrariness is strong in this one.

We kicked off his first day of summer vacation by having my parents arrive for a weekend visit.  This was a complete surprise to the kids and one I worked hard to conceal.  It meant cleaning the house from top to bottom without it looking like I was cleaning for guests.  I did this by rewriting my cleaning rota over a month ago and tackling the house a little at a time over the last few weeks. (I needed to do this regardless of having guests for a visit but they were a convenient kick in the behind.) Luckily, when I was dusting on Friday and Liam exclaimed "YOU'RE DUSTING?!" I was able to send him to look at the day's tasks on the rota to find that it was the job I was supposed to be doing. Thus, he wasn't suspicious of guests possibly arriving.

They were both totally surprised and really excited to see their Oma and Puppa and spend the weekend with them.  My Mom and Dad were able to attend Liam's belt test with me (more on that later) and really enjoyed watching him do his TKD thing.  It was a great visit over all.

Plans for the summer include a day camp with his Granddad at their church for Liam, swim lessons, and a trip to Michigan to visit my parents.  My summer goals (aside from keeping up with house and yard work) is to put down the dang cleaning rag and GO HAVE FUN. Trips to the pool, fun at museums, going to the library, picnics in the park - what ever we can think to do.  I did this last summer it was a great decision so I'm going to try to keep it going this year.

So, here's to summer - may we not just survive it, may we enjoy it thoroughly!

Endings and Beginnings

Summer ends.

School begins.

Today was the day it all changed.

It's been a good summer.  After promising myself that we would have fun this summer, I went right out and did just that.  We had playdates, we went to the pool, we visited the zoo, we spent time at the beach, we visited family, we spent time at playgrounds and parks.  We filled our days with laughter and fun.  The summer flew past in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

The last two weeks before school started seemed to take forever, though.  Liam was clearly bored with our summer routine and even going out and having fun seemed like a chore.  His listening ears seemed to have been shoved in the back of a drawer somewhere to gather dust.  I spent a lot of time breaking up fights between the kids because they just couldn't leave each other alone.

Clearly, it was time for school.

Today was the joyous day Liam finally became an official first grade student.

Ready for school!

First grade is a big deal.  He goes to school all day, he gets to ride the bus both ways, he gets to eat his lunch at school and have recess with his friends.  He was a bit nervous about it all over the last couple of days but this morning he strapped on his backpack and hopped on the bus like a pro.

I got lucky and the first day of the school year fell on a day that Jamie was also out of the house at daycare.  So, I spent the morning cleaning the house like some kind of maid on meth and then cleaned myself up and headed over to my neighbor's annual "Boohoo/Yahoo Party."  This is the party she has on the first day of the school year for all the neighborhood Moms.  Lots of yummy food and conversation later it was time to get Liam off the bus.

It seems as though his first day was a smashing success.  He seemed excited about his teacher and his desk and meeting the other kids.  Now it's time to get into a groove with the new routine.

It's All Happening At The Zoo

Our last big outing while visiting my parents was a trip to the zoo.  This was Liam's favorite part of the trip because he knew the dinosaurs were back at the zoo and he couldn't wait to see them again.  Each summer the Detroit Zoo installs a whole raft of animatronic dinosaurs that move and bellow and spit water (some of them).  You walk a gravel path through a wooded area and the dinos are all tucked into the trees.  They're huge and really cool and very, very well done so Liam was excited.

But before we hit the dinosaurs, we stopped into the Butterfly House.  This is always a calming oasis of green plants and fluttering lepidoptera.  Dad planned ahead and wore red which always attracts the butterflies.

Two landed on his back to start with.

Then one moved up to his shoulder.

The dinosaurs were even better this year than the last time we saw them.  They had more of them and they were fantastic.  

Brachiosaurus

T. Rex

Quetzalcoatlus

They don't spare the gore, either.

The detail was amazing.

"Wow, Mom!"

Giganotasaurus.  Yes, he was HA-UGE.

After the dinos we wandered through a bunch of the zoo.  We didn't see the whole thing because it's a big zoo and Jamie has a time limit.  We were working to see as much as we could before we needed to head home so Jamie could nap and before the worst of the heat of the day.  But, we got to see a fair bit and then snagged a ride on the train to get back to the front of the zoo.

Mandarin Duck

River Otter

The ubiquitous peacock

Gorilla.  He was magnificent.

The boys and me at the entrance to the polar exhibit.

Jamie inside the polar exhibit

Liam on the train

It was a great day and I'm really glad we saved it for our last outing of the trip.  It gave the kids something to look forward to and ended our vacation on a high note.  Days like this one remind of how much easier things are getting as the kids get older.  We still have our rough spots - oh boy, do we - but getting out and having fun together is a regularly attainable goal these days.

Now, we're back in the swing of things here at home and looking toward the start of school.  In just two more weeks Liam will be a first grader.  Where did the summer go?

Beachy Fun!

While we were visiting my parents last week, we made it a point to hit the beach.  You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a beach where they live whereas it's a two hour drive to Erie to get to one around here.

So, yeah, the beach was on the list of must-do activities.

Sunday morning we got up and went to early Mass then headed straight home, changed into beach attire and headed off for a couple of hours of sun and sand before we had to go home for Jamie's nap.  Liam has been to a beach before but it was Jamie's first experience with it and he loved it.  The water was the perfect temperature as well as clear and clean.  Jamie ran right in and was completely fearless about the water.  The kid would have walked in over his head if we let him.

They also spent a good amount of time playing in the sand and just generally having a great time.

Getting a shell from Puppa

A handful of sand...

...bombs away!

THEY ACTUALLY PLAYED TOGETHER.

Puppa with his grandsons

We stayed for a couple of hours and then everyone was hungry and getting tired so we packed up and headed home.  I'd forgotten how much fun being at the lake can be.  Walking up to the beach, I caught the smell of the water and suddenly I was a little girl again, on vacation with my family, knowing that we were almost to the most fun I would have all day because I could smell the water.

It was great to make those memories with my kids.  I hope we can do it again next year.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

At the end of last week I picked up a rental mini van, packed up the kids and a ton of crap, and headed off for the 6 hour drive to my parents house for a 5 day visit.  The kids were very excited to go see Oma and Puppa as it's been over a year since we made the trek up to see them (they have come to visit us in the interim).

It was a fun and busy visit and everyone had a great time.  I think I'm still recovering.

Saturday morning we took the kids to a local playground to run their beans out a bit.  They'd been trapped in a car for most of the previous day so they needed some time to run.

Oma and Jamie enjoying the swings.

Saturday afternoon we took it easy and then four of my high school classmates drove in from various parts of the state to hang out for awhile.  I saw Jan and Paul about a year and a half ago at our class reunion but I hadn't seen Phil since high school.  I also got to meet his lovely wife and his adorable son.  They all hung out at my parents place, we grilled, ate, drank beer, and chatted for several hours.  It was really a lot of fun to see them and I was grateful they were all willing to drive to my parent's house so that I didn't have to find someone to take care of the kids.

The 2011 Meeting of the Sarcasm Society

(L to R: Jan, Phil, Me, Paul)

We tried to keep the kids busy for most of the days we were there by having some sort of activity in the morning and then be home by lunch/nap time.  This way Jamie still got his naps and we were home in the air conditioning during the worst of the high heat in the mid-afternoon.  We spent time at the beach and the zoo on separate days and one morning we went to the local mall to avail ourselves of the playground as well as the children's clothing outlets.

Up, up, and away!

I'm sitting on a giant ear of corn, Mom.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.

We stayed through Tuesday and drove home on Wednesday.  We were all glad to be home again.  This was the longest trip away from home the kids have been on and they were missing home and Scot by the time we finally returned.  I then celebrated our homecoming by smashing my car into the brick corner of the garage.  Welcome home!

Fun At Blue Slide Park

The pictures say it all.

LEGO KidsFest!

LEGO KidsFest rolled into town over the weekend and took up residence at the "Invention Center," as Liam calls it.  When we looked into it, we thought it might not be entirely suitable for Jamie given the session times and Jamie's nap time so we got tickets for Liam and Granddad.

Saturday morning they headed out to the convention center armed with tickets and my old digital camera, ready for a day of fun.

People, handing a digital camera to a 6 year old can have some spotty results.  Here is a sampling of the kind of pictures Liam took.

Luckily it got better once they actually got to KidFest.  Apparently they had a great time (once they FINALLY got in - lots of crowds, little parking).  They built stuff, they took pictures with the Lego statuary, and, of course, Liam wheedled Legos out of Granddad at the gift shop.  When they came home Liam said "Mom, they had a gift shop.  And it had ONLY LEGOS!  Can you believe that?"

He had a great time.  Afterward, they went back to Grandma and Granddad's house where Liam promptly put together his Jedi ship on his own without any help at all.  

If KidsFest comes back, we'll definitely go back!

Family Fun

Yesterday morning when we woke up, Scot rolled over and said, "What would you think about me staying home and having a day with you and the boys?"

What did I think?  Bring it on!

We decided to take the boys down to the Natural History Museum since it had been some time since we'd visited.  We got there just a few minutes before they opened so the boys played on the steps outside while we waited.

Art you can climb on!

Look Ma!  I can do the steps all by myself!

After getting inside, we made a beeline for the dinos - a perennial favorite.  The kids wandered around and played with the interactive parts of the displays.  Jamie did his best T-Rex impression and ran straight to the Triceratops as soon as he caught sight of it.  As always, it was a big hit.

"That's my dead dino!"  "No, it's MINE!"

We tried to see other parts of the museum, but Jamie was having none of it.  He was in a bit of a mood and was doing his best to cause mayhem.  I tried to get the obligatory picture of me and the boys by the stuffed bear but Jamie was refusing to cooperate.  So, I got one with Spud.

We finally decided that things weren't working out and we needed to leave.  We opted to head over to Schenley Plaza to ride the carousel.  It was a gorgeous day so it was a great day to be on the plaza.

On our way over, we stopped to see Dippy and take a few pictures.

"Look!  I can hold up Dippy!"

Once we got to the plaza, we got tokens for the carousel and hopped on to ride.

Don't ask.  I don't know, either.

We came home after that, had some lunch, and put Jamie down for a nap.  While he was sleeping, I went outside and set up our castle play tent, our regular camping tent, and the soccer goals so that the kids could play outside.  Liam came out about half way through set up and started playing with the neighbors.  For most of the afternoon the kids ranged back and forth across our lawn and the neighbor's.  When Jamie woke up, he came out to join us.  We spent hours out there and the kids had a great time.  Eventually, Jamie tired of being outside so I came in with him while Liam stayed out.  I got dinner cooking and we all sat down to eat as a family.

It was a great day filled with quality family time.  I'll take a dozen more like it.