Making Katie take a turn.

We are having the whole family here for Thanksgiving and need the kids’ rooms for guests, which means Katie’s room needed SERIOUS attention. Like more than just being cleaned up…because it smelled. So once it was picked up and cleaned out, we cleaned the carpets. I made her take a turn so she learns how much work it is and will hopefully (?) try to keep it clean. (Yeah I’m not holding my breath.) She was less than thrilled.

Lesson learned and Pemaquid Point

Last night we had asked Owen to take out the lobster waste and set the bucket inside the garbage bins (because it was too dark to go too the beach and dump in the water—but it couldn’t stay in the house or be left out where animals could get it.

Never underestimate the non-listening power of a teen brain. This is what we found in the morning. He somehow missed that we said to put the lobster shells IN the garbage bin and just left it on the porch. So then he got the glorious job of cleaning it all up! We all had a good laugh.

Exploring on our beach again!

Then it was off on another adventure—to my mom’s favorite spot: Pemaquid Point!

When we got home, Katie wanted to swim but it was a little too chilly.
Us girls had a nice time catching up on the beach.
Of course, lobster for dinner!

You’ve seen the lobster dinner, now see our dessert! Everyone loves strawberry shortcake!

Maine, I am in you.

My mom said this was probably going to be their last trip to Maine—so I took both kids out of school for a week and off we went!

And with my mom, the reason for the vacation!

Looking up at the beach cottage from the fire pit.

Two-pound lobsters for dinner? Yes, please! Katie hated it (color me not surprised) and Owen liked it. Tomorrow we’ll have lobster rolls.

Katie wasn’t thrilled with any of it.

Owen tried everything—from cracking to eating.

After dinner they surprised me with a birthday cake—complete with 50 candles!

Katie’s on a horse!

She seemed to enjoy it. I think we could have tried a little harder to find a more expensive thing—but at least it’s 2 minutes from home!

This is Butter. Look at those lashes!

Sidenote: I’m thoroughly enjoying watching her take direction from someone without her losing her mind and/or giving up when something is hard.

New grade, new school, new hair!

She’s wanted her hair professionally dyed forever but I’m not gonna drop that amount of money on a kid’s hair…so when I saw an opportunity for a student to do it at lower cost, I figured why not do it as a surprise! She was thrilled!

Taking a secret before photo! I let her wear makeup today!

TA DA!

We also had a talk about how much fun I had hanging out with her today—how much fun she was—without all the sass and attitude and talking back. She agreed. Let’s see if this changes anything…

Spring Break Day 5: Manatees!

Linda surprised us and told us she wanted to take us swimming with the manatees! So, being in a wetsuit was a first for me and the kids!

Unfortunately, this time of year is the end of the season — most manatees have already begun the trek to warmer waters — so we actually had to hunt for them a bit. We eventually found this mom and baby and followed them, hoping they’d go into calmer waters…which they did, but they didn’t really go to a place we could easily get to them.

We did eventually get into the water but it was hard to see much since the water was so cloudy. That said, at one point, a manatee swam directly under me! Like inches below me!

The guide was taking photos for us so that was nice not to have to worry about…but the manatees weren’t very calm today so we didn’t get pics of us with them underwater. This is about the best we got of us in the same photo:

The kids loved the guide’s description of them as “2000 pound sea potatoes!”

We definitely wanted a selfie with our guides!
I wrote them a review on the car ride home!

Back home, we completed the beach glass puzzle with one day to spare!

Owen was serenading us with his snoring.

Our first ever visit to urgent care

Owen came home from school complaining of a sore throat. He said the dreaded words: it feels like swallowing glass.

Unfortunately… there were no appointments available at the hospital as everything was shutting down for the storm. So…I researched which urgent care we could go to and off we went!

Thankfully it was just minutes from our house and we got in quickly. We had to wait for a rapid strep test plus they took a Covid test. Strep was negative so it was off to Target for some throat drops. We did a rapid Covid and it was negative…so I just think he had a cold with nasal drainage causing the sore throat.

Career exploration at the Shedd Aquarium

After some initial super frustrating snafus with actually getting everyone INTO the aquarium, the three boys (and three parents) took a “deep dive into the day of an aquarist—the animal care staff that work with animals ranging from fishes to reptiles to birds—and learned more about this profession.” They all seemed to have fun!

Too Many Zooz

We took the kids to their first concert! Anna and David and the kids also went—and we took one of Owen’s friends (Lucas).

The planning and prepping was exhausting (trying to figure out what we need to pack and take to eat since we’d never been there) because apparently the thing to do at Ravinia is arrive early and picnic and hang out)! Plus we had an early access pass (but only for four people!) from a neighbor…so Tom and David went first with Owen and Lucas to get everything set up and our spots staked out!

The boys started with their fancy drinks. (Yes, David brought glass glasses!)

As Anna and I were on our way with the other three kids, we got this pic via text:

Owen was in heaven!! He got to meet Leo P of TOO MANY ZOOZ before the concert! He’s been listening to their music for years and playing their songs on his bari sax for months! Tom had seen him walking around and told Owen to go meet him! We were all so excited for him!

The kids went up to sit right in front of the stage. We ate our charcuterie and drank our drinks. The boys made more drinks.

I thought I took one more with everyone looking…but apparently I didn’t.

Our view from our seats. The kids were right in the front row!

Overall everyone had a great time and Anna and I decided we would maybe do it again.

Here’s a video of the band:

Dave and Buster’s!

We finally took the kids to Dave and Buster’s for the first time today! They had gotten a gift certificate from Anna for their birthdays last year that we’d forgotten about. I honestly wasn’t looking forward to it because I knew from other people’s stories that it’s usually crazy busy and loud and I assumed the food would be blah. Thankfully I was wrong!

I’m sure it’s due to the state of the world, but it was practically empty! And the menu looked pretty good (especially the drink menu)! My margarita was yummy!

Anna did warn us that we’d spend more money than we’d want to and we just needed to let it go and let the kids have fun (LOL). We didn’t go crazy with the games—and we did make them pay for a tiny part of it—but yeah, that was an expensive lunch. Hopefully they have lasting memories of it!

And also, now Dave and Buster’s gift cards are a great gift to give!!

P.S. This drink was DELICIOUS and we need to try and recreate it at home:

CARIBBEAN LUXE LONG ISLAND TEA
Don Julio Reposado Tequila, Grey Goose Vodka, Bacardi Superior Rum, Grand Marnier, mango puree, scratch sour mix and cranberry juice.

Olive came to baseball!

Katie desperately wanted to bring Olive to the baseball game…so we let her.

And then look who ended up being Olive’s bed for most of the game?

And I’m so bummed—look what I noticed!! Olive is losing her olive on her paw.

Remember this is what it used to look like:

And then since she was with us, we had to find an outdoor patio to eat lunch after baseball… She was such a good girl!

Goodbye sweet girl, we love you.

We’re never ready. And it is unbelievable. The day we bring them home the first time… THIS day feels forever away. Until one day, it’s a day away. It seems impossible. —from my dear friend Kelly

Cuddling with the boys…

I’m so glad we opted to do this at home with Lap of Love Veterinary Hospice. Maggie deserved to be in her own home surrounded by her favorite people being showered with all our love and kisses. It was the kids’ first in-person experience with pet death and it was so very hard but, we thought, necessary.

The vet, Dr. Kylie, was amazing. She was loving and gentle and patient and kind. She gave us privacy to say our goodbyes and made a paw print for us.

Goodbye, sweet girl. We love you more than you could ever know.

We wrapped her and sent her off in one of her blankets.

Tom chose to carry her to the vet’s car.

And then we all cried some more and tried to parse that Maggie was really gone…the house just seemed so quiet and empty.

It’s honestly a blur (writing this 9 days after the fact). I don’t remember what we all did. But I do know that Owen had to get ready to get braces later in the day — I had asked if he wanted to reschedule and he said no.

Fill the Drum!

Tonight was Warren Township High School’s Fill the Drum event! All the local middle School bands plus both high school bands perform for the community in a charity event! Owen had to wear something red, white, or blue since they were performing some patriotic songs. He looked so good we had to take a pic! (We typically only see him in t-shirts and jogging pants or shorts.)

I actually got out my big camera and charged the batteries so I could use my telephoto lens! So I had to take a practice shot!

Owen was so excited for this and had a great time!

Waiting their turn!

 

And here’s a video I found on YouTube! You can actually see my head in the stands (I am about at the 49-yard line behind a lady in pink and you can see me taking pics)!

 

And here is the tail end of another song they did, in the shape of USA. Owen is in the A towards the bleachers.

Kayaking for almost all of us!

Anna wanted to take a guided kayak tour at Starved Rock campground and invited us. I know my limits and Katie’s limits (after her kayak meltdown at Grannie and Papa’s earlier this summer) so I passed…but Tom and Owen went. They had a great time! (And I had a good time taking Katie shopping!)

And lunch!