Dear Summer, We're Done

Oh Summer, how I longed for you in February, when all I could dream of spending carefree days basking in the sunshine.  And just when we thought you would never arrive it was June and school was out, schedules were forgotten and vacations began. 

And then of course July came in all its glory.  The 4^th of July festivals and parades, picnics with our friends and a glorious week at a lake in Maine with friends, tired kids and after-hour adult time.  Shoes were no longer worn and even with layers of sunscreen tan lines appeared and night after night tired, dirty children were bathed and put to bed.

Finally came August and the sun is still shining and shining and shining.  Family has come and gone and school has started for most of the country, but oh no, not for us.  With one last long weekend of summer we will spend it watching fireworks, at a lake and having friends over for a cookout.  Then what I longed to get away from in June I welcome back with open arms... a routine.

Oh September, how I long for you.  I long for the cool days, sweatshirts, Dunkin Donuts pumpkin coffee and not having to explain why they have to go to bed when it’s still light.  I imagine their adorable faces as I drop them off at pre-school and wave good-bye.  And we must not forget the most important thing about Fall which of course is Ohio State Football.

So as we spend the next few days counting down the hours until school starts I will remember how great you were summer and look forward to the next one… 9 months from now.  Go Bucks!

 

The Year of the Backyard

This summer was going to be the year of our backyard.  We were getting a patio installed and we had big plans for picnics, fires and all-around outdoor fun.  Fast-forward to the end of the summer and we have dealt with water in the basement, new drainage system around the house, septic issues in relation to where to put the patio and we find ourselves almost in September and the pavers are just being laid in the back yard.
 
Well, we have made the best of it.  We limited our time back there but occasionally we enjoyed what it had to offer.

Here are the boys enjoying a nice picnic up under the trees! What a nice view they must have, right?

Well, maybe not so much....

Here's hoping that this fall will be spent in the backyard.

Guess Who's Going to Preschool...

 

Katie R.

 

Yes it's true this little guy will be going to preschool 2 mornings a week.  He's technically not old enough but the teachers are crazy amazing and feel like he can handle it. 

 

We are now taking bets on how long he is there before they call me into the classroom to let me know "he probably should wait another year."  I give it one day when they tell him he needs to sit in circle time or tell him no and he throws himself on the ground.

 

 

Sometimes you just need to kill off a little time...

Sometimes the afternoon become a time-suck and I struggle to find something to entertain the boys with.  Enter the Dollar Store and all the goodies it provides. 

And this particular afternoon was brought to us by "the magic towel". Their is nothing like a face cloth packed into a tiny square that will expand in water to get a little boy excited!

Can you stand the excitement of watching it expand! Yeah, me neither.

And it has a superhero on it! It turns out I don't have to dream up or look at Pintrest or be creative in anyway to have a nice afternoon with Colby, all I needed was a dollar:)

The Greatest Idea Ever

Katie R.

What happens when a brewery and the restaurant next door team up for a family night?  Only the best thing ever..."Friday Night Kids Movies."

Yes you heard that right, the restaurant offers a kid friendly movie outdoors from 6:30-8:00 every Friday.  Not only do the parents like the beer and the kids love the movie, but there is also a large yard for the little kids (and the big ones once they get bored with the movie) to play soccer, drive trucks or just run around. 

So the movie ends, the kids are tired and filthy, the parents have enjoyed a beer and chatting with adults and everyone is ready for bed.  So although I love fall and am ready for preschool to start I will really miss these Friday nights.  Thank god we still have pizza Friday with Katie D.!

He's Still My Little Man

When Colby was Lincoln's age I made sure to never miss a nap. I rarely had him push through an afternoon to do some activity.  Lincoln was a baby at the time and was still taking at least one nap if not two.  Well, living life with a 4 1/2 and a 2 1/2 year olds is much different then with a 2 year old and a baby. 

I was itching to get out of the house as soon as I woke up this morning.  We had a stove cleaning scheduled for late morning so I first thought we could get out early...but making muffins and enjoying the outside delayed us so we didn't get out before the stove guys came.  Once the guys did leave I wanted to make a quick dash out of the house.  It was nap time but I thought that we all could push through it.  I packed up, talked about our big plans, tempted them with race car shopping carts but Lincoln didn't seem thrilled.  I brought him upstairs to change his diaper before we headed out and realized he was just too tired.  Sometimes I forget that he is only 2 1/2 and can't rally the way Colby can at 4 1/2! I laid him down in bed, gave him a kiss and he was asleep in 2 minutes.  As much as I wanted to get out I needed to check my expectations. Nobody would have been happy if I pushed him through without a nap.

my sweet sleeping 2 1/2 year old

Colby and I hung out and played for a couple of hours while Lincoln recharged! I was chomping at the bit to get out but I let him get a nice nap in.  When I woke him up at 4 he was ready to rock.  We grabbed our things and headed out the door.  We hit the stores I needed wanted to get to and then hit up our little city's farmers market. We had a blast and enjoyed hotdogs, popcorn and fresh squeezed lemonade. We had such a great time we stayed past bedtime to listen and dance to the band. 

A hazy view of the market while we listened to the bands sound check

Some days don't go as planned but turn out better than you expect!

Proper Weekend!

Some weekends just keep getting better and better for little boys.  In a snapshot here is how Colby and Lincolns' weekend went.

First off, we headed to the grandparents house.  What kid doesn't love going to their grandparents house where the word "no" is rarely spoken.  Also at the house was aunts and uncles ready to smoother them with love.  On Saturday they went to hang out on Uncle Gary's dump truck, Colby got to drive the back hoe with Uncle Gary, checked out lobsters with Aunt Rachel and got some more quality time with Auntie Emily.

Saturday alone would have made for a rock star weekend but we were just getting warmed up. On Sunday the boys, along with the rest of the family, went on Uncle Gary's scallop boat out on the ocean. We saw a whale, did some fishing and soaked up the sun for over 3 hours on the boat!

I'll admit I was a bit worried how the boys would handle the boat but they really seemed to enjoy themselves. It helped to pack about a thousand snacks for them too!

It was an amazing weekend for the boys! They are loved so much by an incredible family, but who couldn't love them! And to top off the weekend on the drive home we saw a small plane that had an emergency landing on the interstate!! Crazy!

Big trucks, boats and planes.....that makes one rock star weekend.

Happy Birthday

Can you guess who's birthday we are celebrating?

One would think it is one of the kids pictured but no. Colby lately had been talking about Isis Kitty needing a birthday party and how can I deny a little boys request for his beloved cat. And only some of the best friends in the world would want to celebrate with us so, of course, Katie R. and family joined us for the festivities.  We baked a cake, hung up decorations and bought gifts for her.

 Colby and Andrew were thrilled to have pizza out in the yard and a reason to have cake. (I was also psyched to have a reason to eat cake)

And no birthday party is complete without singing to the birthday girl.  Happy Birthday Isis Kitty! You are loved.

What Passengers on a Plane Really Think

Katie R.

During my marathon cleaning this week I suddenly remembered a conversation that my aunt and I had a month ago while we were visiting.  We spent the night at her house and as usual Wes was wreaking havoc at bed time and Joe was taking his turn restraining rocking him to sleep. 

So I continued to drink and my aunt and I talked about traveling with children, specifically flying.  Her children are now both graduated from college; however, when they were younger she was much braver than I and flew with her kids frequently.  We came up with a list of what others are thinking when they see, hear or feel children on planes:

Parents flying with kids:  There is a sense of comradery between parents flying with kids and these travelers are willing to stop when you need help or just offer that smile that says “I know what you are going through and we will make it through.”

Parents flying without kids:  Although they may not have their children these travelers have been there.  They understand although the whole time they are thinking “Thank god my kids aren’t here now.”

Grandparents:  Grandparents are a special breed.  They not only are not bothered by your kids they will play with them, laugh at their antics and honestly will take your children if you need them too.

Business Travels:  Although I have never had a negative experience with anyone on a plane, the business travel is the one I avoid when we pick our seats.  At the end of the day you can tell they just want to be home and the last thing they want are cheerios flying at their heads.

People who don’t have children:  As they are on the way to their exotic vacation or touring Europe they look at me loaded down with bags, coffee slopped down my shirt and pushing a stroller and it reaffirms their decision to not have children.

People who don’t have children YET:  At first they think your kids are cute and smile at each other saying “some day that will be our kids”.  Then they see you shove the pacifier from the seat of the airplane back in to your kids mouth or turn on the iPad for your 11month old and then they say “We will never do that with our kids”

This was Andrew's 4th flight at 5 months old... we have been on 1 flight since then.

Great Summer Day





Katie R.



 

This summer has been full of traveling, lakes and soon many family visits which I love as too much time at home with the kids makes us all a little edgy.  However, a week ago we had the perfect summer day all within 5 miles of our home. 

 

The morning was spent at a playground with friends and then home to play in our yard.

 

 

Some rock wall climbing:

 

And this:

 

The boys actually playing together:



 

A quick nap for Wes and Andrew watched a movie and then right back outside.  Then the best part of the boy's day... Daddy's home!

Then off to the farmer's market for some kettle corn and lemonade.

 

Of course no great day is not complete without a margarita with girlfriends.  A impromptu girls night completed a great day.

 

 

And when I arrived home, Joe had made kale chips from the kale we picked up at the farmer's market.  So of course I had a late kale chip snack before bed.



Now onto our 2 months of visitors.