This is what I walked into today. 🙂
Category Archives: Playing
Special Mommy and Owen Pokémon time.
There are a bunch of pokestops around where we drop Katie off for camp, so as a special treat for Owen, we spent time hunting Pokémon and gathering balls.
And then he won the gym!
Owen’s half birthday pool party!
Once again this year, Owen decided to have his birthday party at the community pool with Costco pizzas and cake (which I forgot to get a picture of)! The trade off is that many of his friends are away on vacations…but even though we had a small turnout and it was about 110°, everyone had fun!
After his party, one of his friends came back to spend a few hours. They had fun playing Xbox and then building Legos.
After he left, Owen opened his gifts and was COMPLETELY GEEKED to get some Ninjago Legos, a bunch of Pokemon cards, a Nerf bow and arrow, a Star Wars board game, and $15 cash. This was my favorite card he got:
And it didn’t take long before Owen and Katie had their noses buried in Pokemon cards.
Katie performing with Olympians!
Live in our living room!! 🙂
Needless to say she had a blast watching the gymnasts and the floor routines were her favorite because she could dance along with them! She also liked the swimming, which is how the video below starts.
Katie swimming for rings
She taught herself how to retrieve rings from the bottom of the pool!
Kids on iPads.
This is what I came downstairs to this morning: Ben on his iPad, Owen on his iPad, Katie on Emma’s iPad, and Emma waiting and half watching Pokemon on TV.
They’d been on long enough—and they really needed to play with each other—so I took them away and suggested Legos. Of course they had a blast. Sometimes I hate the iPads. 😐
Getting the cannon ready
Owen: Katie, I like playing with you.
It’s been a while since I let her do this.
I only let her do this when my hair is straight…so she’s been at it forever (last night for about a half hour straight and this morning).
Owen’s first Pokemon gym!
Tom took him out last night for some one-on-one time and Owen had his first battle…and won! He was SO excited!!
Katie can do this puzzle all on her own now…
And this is what generally happens seconds afterwards.
This is new.
Ahhh. Back at the pool.
After the insanely hot weather lately, the pool is FINALLY at a temperature in which I will actually get in and stay in for a bit—85°! And maybe because it was almost 100° and the sun was blazing hot and a quick dip only kept me cooled off for maybe 10 minutes. So I got in the pool and floated around with the kids.
Does anyone else think she looks like Izzy here? That’s all I can see.
New friends (a 1st grade teacher I think I mentioned earlier in the summer).
Our neighbors and new friends, Kayleigh and her mom Julie (Julie was our house/cat sitter while we were on vacation).
Then I let Katie have her turn with the camera (since she didn’t get a turn the last time). She actually did pretty well overall, getting more usable ones than I’d predicted.
She did get her finger in quite a few. 🙂
Pretend driving lessons
Waiting for daddy and Owen to get back from the bathrooms, Katie jumped in the driver’s seat and had pretend lessons.
Saying goodbye to Uncle Rob
Owen finally gets on the swing!
Owen doesn’t have the best balance or coordination—and doesn’t really like swings—so we didn’t have much success getting him on the rope swing. Until Gramma Jean got involved while we weren’t around, apparently.
And that was it. I tried to get him on it again but he’s just a big goofball and immediately falls off.
Now he has his very own ninja hood.
I was tired of him borrowing my Survivor buffs so I bought him a plain black version of his own.
Showing GJ his new bunting skills
And more swinging.
Guess what? More swinging.
Hide and seek with Gramma
Higher and higher, we have a happy girl!
Mini golf in Copper Harbor
Unfortunately it was really hot and the biting flies were out so we played a bit quicker than we normally would have…which was a challenge since Katie and Owen have almost zero experience and needed quite a bit of guidance. 🙂
Daddy was the only one to get a hole in one, and daddy was the overall winner (he usually is, so I don’t know why he whines so much about playing LOL).
Some of the holes had “crazy” rules—this one you had to play with the hockey stick!
Yet another trip to the Eagle Harbor beach!
Papa and Grannie took the kids back to the beach (leaving us home to relax and get ready for our dinner out) and Grannie sent these pics.
And added this commentary:
Katie found a puddle and added to it. (I confirmed she added water to it and not pee.) 🙂
Now it is a bubble bath she says.
Handstand Owen
Stones & Binoculars
Katie loved throwing the walkway stones into the water—and she was really good at it!
Owen found a cannon in Papa’s workshop.
Or maybe a flag pole. 🙂
Binoculars are fun!
Papa and Grannie introduced the kids to binoculars and they played with them continuously.
We found them on the beach!
We pulled into Eagle Harbor and immediately saw them on the beach!
Then it was off to dinner! We showed Katie the marks on her forehead from her swim goggles! Grannie Lin and I shared a lobster pizza—yum!
Then it was off to the playground…
…while daddy, Owen, and Papa went hunting Pokemon at the Eagle Harbor lighthouse.
Then they met us back at the playground.
Day 3 with Papa and Grannie
Back at Burger King!
And back at the beach in Eagle Harbor!
We honestly didn’t think either kid would go in because it was too cold…but they both surprised us!!
Day 2 with Papa and Grannie
At Fort Wilkins. Grannie said they zipped through it due to potential approaching weather (and we know how Owen is with storms) but they liked it.
Katie did this twice!
Visiting with Great Grandma Pat, or Pappy. She gave Katie a Cinderella Barbie (which she ADORED) and Owen a mini pillow pet (which he LOVED). [Edited to add: Katie has slept with Cinderella every night since then.]
With Lin’s Aunt Carol.
With Lin’s Aunt Mary Kay and Uncle Bob.
A U.P. sunset at 9:45!
The kids’ trip up north!
Grannie sent me pics all along the way. They stopped at McDonalds twice plus playgrounds…so they had a ball.
Finally at Papa and Grannie’s!
