Summer -- Week 1

The first week of summer is in the books.  RJ had a great time in his BrickHeadz camp.  He learned a few things about Minecraft (this week's theme), got to build lots of stuff, and played a few games.  On Friday, they were supposed to have a showcase to highlight what they had done during the week, but RJ's class hadn't gotten themselves organized to do that.  When I came with camera in hand to take pics, I instead found RJ having a good time rolling himself on a creeper across the room.

Ryleigh helped me do lots of errands while RJ was at camp.  But, we did do open build one day.

As part of the vast summer programming at our library, they do a movie and a craft each month.  This month was the Minions movie.  After the movie was over, the kids made Minions visors.

We had RJ's oral surgery consult this week.  Getting an extra tooth out is going to be a bit of a process, but I'm hopeful he can handle it with the aid of a little valium and nitrous oxide.  We're going to tackle it before we go on our big summer vacation so we can just have it over with.  In addition to getting the extra tooth out, they may also be extracting a baby tooth if it hasn't fallen out by then.  The baby tooth is loose, but RJ isn't too interested in it helping it fall out yet.  But, they need it out so that both top front adult teeth can drop in quickly after the extra tooth is removed.

On Saturday, we went to a birthday party for one of RJ's classmates.  The kids had a great time playing in the pool at the classmate's house.  But, after 4 hours, it was most definitely time to go home.  We all slept well Saturday night after playing hard and being in the sun.

Pinterest struck again on Sunday.  The kids and I made liquid sidewalk "chalk" out of cornstarch, baking soda, water, and washable liquid watercolors.  The reason for the baking soda is so that you can also make your chalk erupt by squirting vinegar on it.  They played until the bottles were empty and after they felt pretty well baked by the sun.

We tested it this evening to make sure it will really wash away when the next rain comes (maybe Tuesday).  We should be good to go!  I need to stock up on corn starch and baking soda so we can do it again later this summer.

This week holds some excitement.  Ryleigh has been asked to move up a level at gymnastics, so we start her new class Monday.  She's still in the "tots" group, but she will be with girls who are a little more advanced and should help push her skill level up a little bit.  On Tuesday we are interviewing a potential babysitter to watch Ryleigh during RJ's oral surgery.  Jip comes home this week.  RJ's birthday party is this weekend.  And, we are hitting a minor league baseball game with fireworks to follow.  We are packing it in, and as always, pics to come.

Until next time, cheers!

Summer is Finally Here

Whew.  We made it.  We made it to the summer.  The kiddos' last day of school was Wednesday.

RJ had his graduation ceremony on Wednesday.  If you haven't checked it out already, I put together a few pictures and a video of RJ talking about his favorite things.  RJ's Kindergarten Graduation

We took Jip to the ship Wednesday night after the ceremony and sharing a bite to eat.  They left early Thursday morning for a couple weeks of tootling around somewhere in the Atlantic.

The kids and I spent Thursday and Friday just chilling at home.  The kids helped purge a bunch of school papers.  Some went straight to recycling, some were photographed and archived in an app made for archiving school work (seriously--there is an app for everything!)  And some just went automatically into their bins for safekeeping.  This is the pile of recycling, both photographed and non-photographed.

Friday evening, we went to our neighbors' house for pizza.  The kids played hard.  Hannah and I started a new series on Hulu.  But, we didn't get too far in the series because we had a major interruption to fix this.

RJ was so kind as to put these in Ryleigh's hair to give her a new hairstyle.

They are meant for stuff like this.

Hannah and I spent an hour with conditioner, combs, and our fingers to get all of them out of Ry's hair.  If it wouldn't have been for Hannah, I might have given up and told Ry to sleep in them and I'd pay a pro to get them out or cut them out on Saturday.  But, Ry was a very patient girl as we tugged and pulled to get all of the spiny devils out.  We pulled out some hair, we broke some hair, but surprisingly enough, it still looks pretty healthy.

Saturday morning, the kids took over the living room with a giant tent.  I spent most of the morning sitting at the kitchen counter so as not disturb their creation.

Saturday afternoon, we took our neighbor Aless along for a trip to the park.  Ryleigh and Aless played a lot of follow the leader and RJ spent most of his time in the sandbox, digging for dinosaur bones (the bottom of the sandbox has concrete bones molded into it--it's cool!).  Here is Ryleigh "driving the shark."

After an hour or so of running around, we went to the grocery store for a few provisions, then it was back to our house to make ice cream pops.  The kids had fun putting softened ice cream into popsicle molds.  They liked mixing chocolate and vanilla as they saw fit, as well as adding some crushed Oreos.  We all went out for dinner together and had a great time.  The kids get along so great--most of the time!

Sunday was the normal Ninja Zone for RJ and laundry for me.  RJ and Ryleigh even had some sweet moments watching a show on Ryleigh's iPad.

Sunday afternoon, we went to one of RJ's classmates' houses for a graduation party.  There were seven recent graduates there and all their siblings, so it was a crazy, loud scene.  The kids played inside when we first arrived because it was so hot.  But, as soon as the shade started covering the yard, they were out running around.  We enjoyed each other's company for nearly 3 hours before we said--see ya next week at the next birthday party.  We had a good giggle just before we left the party tonight, when RJ went to thank our hostess for having us and for the birthday gift they gave him early since they are out of town for RJ's birthday party.  RJ is just a few inches shorter than our hostess, and it was just crazy to look at.  She's small, but it really drove home how big my kid is!

Oh, this is completely off topic of our week, but we received Ryleigh's professional ballet photos back.  I wish I could have gone in the studio to fix her bangs, but it still came out precious.

Now that we've made it to the summer, let's see if we can make it THROUGH the summer.  RJ has camp at BrickHeadZ this week.  Ry and I will be trying to keep busy those mornings.  As always, I'll share how it goes and any pics.

Until next time, cheers!

RJ's Kindergarten Graduation

Way to go, kiddo!

Gymnastics Showcase

Saturday was Ryleigh's gymnastics showcase.  It is an opportunity for the non-competitive kids to show off what they've been working on in class.  We had to pay to do it, but it was worth all the smiles.

Now, we'll back up a few days to Monday.  The kids' school had a PTO fundraiser at Cold Stone.  Maybe I'm a bad Mom, but that was the first time the kids have ever been there.  They are getting better at eating cold things, but ice cream still isn't a must-have treat for them.  Ryleigh dug all of the M&Ms out of hers and maybe had one bite of ice cream.  RJ also dug out all of his M&Ms, but at least he ate about half of his.  The best part was seeing friends outside of school.

Jip came home Tuesday evening.  Yay!  It's only for 8 nights, but we'll take it.

After the showcase on Saturday, Hannah and Aless came over so the kids could play in the inflatable pool and toss water balloons around.  It was above 90 Saturday and Sunday, with indexes closer to 100.  So, the water play was a welcome diversion.  Jip got in the action, too--though I'm not sure it was completely willingly.

Ryleigh also decided that the tub for the water balloons was a good place to cool off.

RJ has 3 days of school left.  Ryleigh has 2 days left.  Crazy!

Jip gets to be here for RJ's Kindergarten graduation, but then it is off to the boat that evening for an early morning departure for another couple weeks at sea.

As always, pics to come of the upcoming milestones.  Until next time, cheers!

Is June Summer?

I don't know how many times I've answered that question this week.  The mix of a Gregorian calendar, solar calendar, and school calendar can be hard for little brains to put together.  After trying to explain when summer officially starts and when school ends several times, I finally gave up and just declared, "Yes.  It's June, so it's summer.  We just have to do a few days of school in the summer."  Close enough, right?

We had a pretty good week.  RJ had minimal school work and it was beautiful several days after school, so the kids got some good outside time.  All three of us had successful dentist visits, too.  On Friday, it was time once again for the kiddos to have haircuts.

The first Saturday of the month meant it was time for the Home Depot workshop again.  The workshop was nice this month.  It wasn't too crowded and it was outside, under the awning where the contractors pick up their stuff.  The project this month was a smart phone holder in the shape of a trophy.  The idea was to make it a Father's Day gift.  Thankfully, Jip has to have two smart phones, so he can use both!

Saturday was what I would call our first HOT day of the year.  We had some good cloud cover, but it was really humid.  When the sun would actually peak through, it was extra toasty.  We brought the tepee back out to provide some shade and tried it with the new cushion.

We also tried a little something I've seen on Pinterest a few times--chalk drawings as photo backgrounds.  So, we made RJ a parachutist and Ryleigh a butterfly.

I kept telling RJ to look excited to be jumping out of a plane.  That was the best picture I could get with a "smile."

After Ninja Zone on Sunday, we hurried home for lunch, then we ran back out to go to Jump, a trampoline park, with our neighbors.  The kids played hard for a solid hour.

They were so worn out tonight that they only complained once about the lightning that is lighting up the sky right now before they both started snoring.  They should both sleep well.

Jip will be home this week.  All looks well for him to be here for Ryleigh's gymnastics "competition" next weekend and for RJ's graduation next week.  Yay!

As always, pics to come.  Until next time, cheers!