I’ve been wanting to take the kids out for lunch all summer but just never did it, so today on the way home from the library I just stopped and surprised them!
Category Archives: Owen
Library time!
It was supposed to be a quick trip to get a few books to read before school started. But they have so much fun looking for books…and then Owen found a friend. So how could I make them leave?
Just because.
Hurricane Harbor for the first (and likely last) time!
We were supposed to meet friends at Six Flags water park (Hurricane Harbor) after the play date. Let’s just say things didn’t go quite as planned and I didn’t have the fun time I expected.
- It was hot and humid.
- It was super busy. As in we got there about an hour or so after they opened and there were still about 200 people in line ahead of us.
- Everywhere you looked it was just a sea of wet and/or sweaty humanity. Not my thing.
- There was nowhere to sit. I managed to snag one chair in full sun (totally not my thing) and baked there for about two hours while the kids swam.
- The person we were meeting ended up being about two hours late but hadn’t really kept me updated so I hadn’t wanted to move too far from our meeting place…or even get in the water. But honestly even if I hadn’t been meeting anyone I wouldn’t have wanted to get in the water…I just hate that many people.
- I finally had to get in a line for food around 2:30 because we were starving (the plan had been to eat lunch there) but all the lines are crazy long and move sooooo slowly. The kids and I bypassed the nachos at the place close to us in the hopes of pizza or something but those lines were even more ridiculous. So the kids decided nachos were fine. So even in that short line of about six people…it took almost a half hour. Just asinine. And for crappy food. Not my thing.
My friend eventually made it and we headed to the wave pool…which was an even bigger mess of humanity with less place to sit. And by this time we had three adults and eight kids. We tried to sneak into the new VIP section (since it was practically empty) but got called out within minutes.
The kids loved the wave pool and I let them swim for about half an hour but I was long done and we past rest to get the hell out of there. I have zero desire to go back and told the kids I hoped they entire it because we were going back. (And I was even looking forward to the lazy river.)
PTA playdate at the new playground
Katie’s school (Owen’s old school) got new playground equipment so the PTA had a playdate there. They do this playdate every year before school starts so hopefully the kids can find other people in their grade and make friends before school starts (each grade wears a different color shirt).
We ran into friends right when we got there…
And then I made a friend, too! It was really hot so I eventually sat on the bench next to another mom and we started chatting and just totally hit it off! We had lots in common (she just moved here, she’s an editor/graphic designer, we have the same sense of humor) and our boys hit it off, too (she has twin fifth graders). I was super excited to say the least.
Finally! A decent road trip meal with the kids and the dog!
We usually eat fast food on road trips because we are trying to save time or we can’t leave the dog in the car…but today we found a place that had a patio so we could actually stop for a decent road trip meal (she’s under Tom’s chair).
Someone was being grumpy and didn’t want their picture taken.
But this one let me.
Cookie Monsters
Slingshot siblings
Papa has a slingshot to scare the geese away. The kids found out and both had a blast with it.
Kayaking with the kids!
While Katie was fishing, Owen went out in a kayak with Grannie!
He did really really well and had a blast!
Then of course Katie wanted to go. We told her next year she could go by herself but this year she had to sit with Grannie.
Looking for beach glass!
We stopped at Eagle Harbor to hit the art fair and see where the kids have been spending their time. They took us to the beach to show us “their spot” and then we all looked for beach glass (Grannie got them hooked).
The water was a bit chilly!
Birdhouse Crew
Papa had cut out pieces for birdhouses so Tom helped get them all put together.
And then there was the painting.
Photos of the fully finished projects to come…Katie left hers out and it rained so she has to repaint it. And I didn’t get a pic of Owen’s.
Grandkid handoff!
Another week of grandparent camp for the kids and another week of respite for mom and dad! Everyone is having a blast!!
First ever grandparent camp!!
Since we live so close to family now…and the kids are getting older and more self-sufficient, we thought it was time to let them stay for a long visit with the grandparents! As scheduling happened to work out, we went to Michigan for our family Christmas and then left the kids there…and then Gramma Jean and Grandpa David would drive up to meet Papa and Grannie Lin to hand off the kids…and then we’d eventually drive up to the UP to pick them up. They would be gone a total of 19 days, 12 of which they were completely without us. Needless to say we were all looking forward to it…the grandparents were excited about having the kids, the kids were excited about fun with the grandparents, and we were excited to have some alone time and general peace and quiet.
Here are the pics from some of the adventures they had with Gramma Jean and Grandpa David!
Lake Margarethe – of course they made fast friends with other kids who where there!
Len Christmas in July, Year 5
And the meat festival begins…Of course Timmy brought a ton of his amazing brats…but this year he added smoked brisket to the menu! HOLY WAH!
And no, your eyes aren’t deceiving you…that’s a Gummy Bear brat. With real gummy bears in it. It wasn’t bad…just a sweet taste. I thought Katie would love it because she LOVES gummy bears but nope. Silly kid.
And the annual kid comparison! After last year when Owen was taller, Nick pulled ahead (which he should, as he’s almost 14).
2017:
The kids goofing around while I was getting the camera set up.
My test shot to make sure the settings were okay, and I loved it so much I kept it. It’s also fun to see how we can all pull it together for the real photo!
Nick and Owen…conspiring? Planning? Who knows.
Gramma created a project for the kids—money frozen in a block! They had to figure out how to get to it! (It didn’t take them long!)
Oh yeah! We also gained a dog for an hour or so. Mom didn’t recognize him and Tom called the number on his tag and it was animal control…?!? He was good and just hung out with us—got a few pets and belly rubs (Maggie pretty much ignored him). After awhile a young girl came looking for him—and we found out she was visiting someone in the neighborhood.
Overall it was a perfectly gorgeous day—not too hot and not too cold, lots of good food (too much, actually, but we’re Lens so it’s expected), and great visiting with family and watching the cousins play!
My boy with my backdrop.
Just a few fireworks.
Tom and I might have gone a little overboard at the fireworks store…but in our defense the kids love them and all the fun ones are illegal in Illinois. So tonight we did a frog princess and some huge sparklers. (The frog princess was really quite cool but I didn’t get pics because I didn’t think it would last that long… But it kept going and going! I’ll get pics the next time!)
Katie’s birthday adventure with GJ!
Remember last year when Gramma took Katie out on a birthday adventure? Well, she loved it so much they decided to do it again! But this year, Katie was really nice and invited her brother along, too, since she knew he’d have fun, too. Awwwww, what a sweet Katie bug.
They went to the city park and had a picnic lunch, skipped stones, and played in the river; then went mini golfing and to another playground; and finished off with ice cream from Dairy Queen and a quick treat from Dollar General! They had a great day!
River kids
We had dinner at a friend’s house tonight…and she lives on the river so of course this happened. Katie didn’t love it (too cold and too many rocks) but Owen really liked it (though he may just have really enjoyed having a dog and another boy his age to play with).
Guess who’s getting braces?
Yep. His current (and last) dentist both recommended an orthodontic referral. We finally went.
The bad news? He has a crossbite that really needs to be fixed. Most likely due to his thumb-sucking. Sigh. And insurance only covers $1750 for a lifetime. And it costs twice that.
The good news is that it won’t take long to fix. He’ll have to wear an expander for 3-4 months and then braces (just on the front four teeth) for about a year. Of course he could need more as more teeth fall out and come in, but right now she thinks this will be good.
He’s not thrilled but he’s not fighting it. We’re telling him he’ll have a robot mouth. 🙂
He still has the Halley spirit!
When you close down the aquatic center.
It was hot, I was getting work done poolside, Tom was busy at home…so we stayed at the pool until it closed.
Family outing to the Volo Auto Museum
We decided to play tourists today and go to this apparently famous auto museum that is literally 20 minutes down the road. (I say apparently because I’d never even heard of it, but everyone we talk to knows about it—and they get like 125,000 visitors a year!) Both kids have been (strangely) getting into cars lately so Tom thought it would be cool. Well…let’s just say it was totally not my thing and it’s three hours of my life I can’t get back so Tom owes me one. But the kids did have fun and I did get to see a few cars from my youth (you’ll know them when you see them…they aren’t these first cars below).
Nine years ago and today.
Yep. He still sleeps like this.
Plus he’s sleeping in!! What?!
This is how they opted to do their daily schoolwork.
Purple hair trio!
I saw this super cool colored hair wax advertised online and went directly to Amazon to buy it. My hair has been fading and Katie has wanted more color than the pink shampoo I have been using on her. And this was very temporary—as in comes out in one wash. So we tried it! I did it Live on Facebook…which the kids thought was great fun (they are always intrigued when I do my Live LipSense demos so they liked being part of a video).
Here are our results… The kids loved it! Owen’s was much easier as it’s shorter, thicker, and much heartier. Katie’s was a mess because it is so fine and snarls easily (I’ll have to try hers later when it’s wet). But as something fun to do? I highly recommend it.
Katie is 6 years old today!
We had a busy day…pictures at home, the park with friends, a Lego build, the Incredibles 2, and then dinner and ice cream at Culvers…
Dinner at the pool!
Another lost post. Pretend I posted this on July 2. 🙂
I promised the kids that we would have dinner at the pool one time this summer. It ended up being today since Tom was working late.
I didn’t need red lips for this.
When you are going out biking with the family again and are planning a subtle, understated lip color and your daughter comes in and wants to pick it… Awww man. The things we do for our kids.
And we have a new biker!
We’ve known for a while that Katie was very close to being able to ride without her training wheels so we decided that today was the day. She whined a lot at first but she did it! (There was actually a hell of a lot of whining and drama involved. Tom has much more patience with her than I did. #teamwork)
Big brother helping teach her how to get started on her own without a push from daddy.
She wanted to be the line leader.
We went around the same lake path three times. At one point, there is a fairly decent downhill section which she did not want to ride down because she was scared—and there was LOTS of drama—so, she walked it down the first time. We told her that if she managed to ride down the whole thing she would get a new bike and that would be her birthday present. On the second time around she walked down part of the way and then rode the rest of the way. And the third time around, I was riding next to her and she was doing really well and as soon as she reached the bottom she said matter-of-factly “I get my bike now” and off she went.
