Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my favorite husband and father!  Gabriel, Grace, and I gave him a portable grill for the camper and a washer toss game.  We love you, Babe!

Cousins and Chuck --- A Recipe for Fun

 

This afternoon we went to Chuck E. Cheese for games, pizza, and prizes with Robbie and Riley.  It's awesome how well our kids get along!

 

The boys were ticket maniacs!  They were playing a game called Jackpot and winning tickets like crazy.

The girls won their share of tickets too.

The boys played several games of air hockey before we left.  Gabriel was determined to beat Robbie at a game.  And he did before the tokens ran out.

 

Riley did the Ticket Blaster.  She was very patient, standing in one spot and grabbing tickets out of the air.

I love the pictures of Grace. You can practically hear her giggles!  She was a nut in the Ticket Blaster . . . shocker, I know!  She ran around in circles, grabbed at the air, and giggled like crazy.

The goggles were up in her eyes.  I'm not sure she could see anything.

Gabriel giggled like crazy too!  He got frustrated towards the end of his time though, and you could see it on his face.

An Unusual Playdate

Alicia invited us to meet her and the kids at Chick-fil-a for lunch Thursday. Who am I to say, "No," to a playdate?

Gabriel and Sam ate their lunches quickly and headed to the play area.  Grace and Jake were told to stay at the table and eat.

We went back to our house for some ice cream . . . we've had a freezer full since the kids had their surgeries in February.  Gabriel and Sam wanted to play the Wii, but neither of them had any time banked from reading.  So what did these boys need to do?

Uhm . . . READ, of course!  And that's what they did!  You don't see that at a play date very often, do you?

They earned enough time to be allowed to play the Wii for one hour.  It amazes me how Grace and Jake are just happy to watch them play.

Gabe and Mommy Time

While Grace has been in her zoo camp, Gabriel and I have spent our time walking around the zoo enjoying the animals.  It has truly been a joy to spend this one-on-one time with my big boy.   He got to decide which animals we visited.  He got 100% of my attention, and we just had a nice time together.  Here are just a few of my favorite pictures.

Tuesday we visited the polar bear, Qannik, first.  She was being so playful!  We were the first and only visitors at that time, so she kept coming up to the window and looking at us.  I felt like she was asking us to come play with her!  I told Gabriel that I was going to try to get a self-portrait of the polar bear with us, and I was amazed at how well it turned out.  Gabriel couldn't help but turn to look at her, so he got out of the shot a little.

Next, we went to the lorikeets.  They put the older birds out first thing in the morning so they don't have to be out during the heat of the day.  The older birds are not as active and interested in the nectar as the younger ones.

Gabriel wanted to go see the dinosaurs, so we did.  I told him to look scared for the picture in this one.  Ha!

At the end of the dinosaur exhibit, they have a place where you can have your picture taken with a dinosaur.  Gabriel wanted to pretend that it was eating him, and he was dead. Ha!

Thursday at the zoo, Gabriel started out posing constantly for pictures.  Once we went into the Herpaquarium, he wanted me to tell him the name of every frog, snake, and turtle.  He also wanted to know where they lived and if they were poisonous.  Pictures kind of went out the window at that point.

Grace's Zoo Camp

Grace had zoo camp this week from 9:00-11:45 a.m. She has always loved the classes at the zoo, and she was so excited about this one too. Her "teacher" was Miss Katherine.  In the camp they learned about classifications of animals and the characteristics of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

They did crafts, walked around the zoo learning about animals, had snacks, and played games.

Here are some of Grace's crafty creations from the week.

Grace wanted to model the wings and tail feathers she made the day they studied birds.

Amazing Experience

We were on our way to the zoo Tuesday morning, when I noticed something flat and shiny in the field next to our driveway. Of course I got out of the van to check it out.

This was what  I saw!  I large turtle in the grass digging a hole with her back legs.  She was digging a nest to lay her eggs in!  Wow!

I called the kids over to take a look at the turtle, but we were very careful not to touch or get to close.

We watched her dig for just a moment, and from the angle I was standing at, I could see her lay and egg in the hole.  Oh my!  It looked like a ping pong ball.

After laying the egg, she continued to dig, and I assume she laid more eggs.  When we returned from the zoo, we checked out the nest.  If I hadn't seen the turtle digging the hole and laying the egg, I'd never know from looking at the ground what had been there.  It was truly an amazing experience to watch the turtle lay an egg.  I hope we get to see evidence later of the baby turtles emerging from their nest.

Summer Homework??

Mr. Cook gave Gabriel his math workbook to bring home on the last day of school.  He, I'm sure jokingly, told the kids that finishing the book was their homework over the summer.  He told them that this would prepare them for first grade.  Given that Gabriel is already a bit nervous about first grade, he is taking the idea of finishing the workbook very seriously.  He sat down Monday night and did about three pages from the book.  Grace has been very jealous of her brother having homework, so I found a page from the front of the book that I felt confident she could do.

Saturday Fun

Good food and fun activity . . . what more could we ask for on a gorgeous Saturday?

We had brunch at The Cafe on Brent Street in Louisville.  The food is so yummy!  The weather was gorgeous so we sat outside on the patio.  The kids enjoyed looking at the coy pond while we waited for our food.  Coincidentally, we ran into my cousin Brook Holdaway and his wife Lynn while we were there.  We haven't seen Brook and Lynn in years.

After our yummy brunch, we headed to Cherokee Park to ride bikes.

We had not been to Cherokee Park before and didn't realize how hilly it was.  I didn't get many pics of riding bikes because it was really a struggle for the kids.  Poor Grace pedaled her hind-end off and had to walk her bike off and on throughout the ride.  By the end of the ride, I had sent Gabriel and Dan on to the car.  Grace was exhausted and crying, and I was walking both her bike and mine.  I think we'll have to wait a while before we ride bikes at Cherokee Park again.

We parked near a playground that had two large sprinklers.  Seeing those sprinklers brightened Grace's spirits and renewed her energy.

She didn't run in the water for long, but she had fun cooling off in the water.

Gabriel would only get in the sprinkler if I did, so I took a turn running through the water too.

One run back and forth through the water, and I was sufficiently wet.

The water felt good, and we dried quickly while the kids played on the playground.

Grace was one tuckered girl.  She waited until we exited the highway on Veteran's Parkway before she fell asleep though.

Sweet, Sweet Moment

Gabriel has had a stuffed animal that has been his pal for his entire life.  If you have followed our blog for very long or if you know us at all, you know that Lion is as much a part of the family as I am.  Gabriel has carried him around and slept with him since he was a baby.  Recently, Gabriel has become even MORE attached to Lion, it seems.  Lion sits at the breakfast table with Gabriel.  Lion comes in bathroom sometimes.  Gabriel gets his feelings hurt if you refer to Lion as a stuffed animal or "just a toy."  In his mind, Lion is his best buddy.

Tonight when I was tucking Gabriel, and Lion, in for bed, Gabriel suggested that I take a picture of him and Lion together so that if anything ever happens to Lion he will still have him in a picture.  He said that he'd been thinking about that for a while, and he really wanted a picture taken with Lion.  I agreed and told him what a great idea I thought it was.  Gabriel added that he's afraid that one day he won't be able to see Lion anymore, and he wants a picture to remember him by.  When he said this, his voice caught in his throat, and he wiped his eyes.  I hugged him and agreed to take a picture of the two of them tomorrow.

As I was leaving the bedroom, Gabriel said, "Mom, it makes me cry a little to even think about it."  I could see tears on his face.  I went to my big boy, who felt more like my baby boy just then, and I hugged him and reassured him that Lion is here and not going anywhere.  I promised to take the picture of the two of them together tomorrow.  I also said that I would put it in a picture frame so he could always look at it.  He nodded in agreement.  I gave him a good night kiss.  We exchanged 'I love you's,' and I left his bedroom.

Sometimes he seems so big and so grown up.  Other times, my baby boy is right there on the surface.  I love that my baby boy comes out sometimes, and that he still needs his Mommy.  It was one of the sweetest moments . . . .

Madagascar 3

After two days at home working around the house, we had a totally fun day today.

We met the McAfee's, including Jaime Mac, at Chick-fil-A for lunch.

Then we went to the movie theater to see Madagascar 3.  The Madagascar movies are always so funny, and the previews of this one have been really cute.  We couldn't wait to go see it!

Here is most of our crew.  I had to crop Jaime Mac out because it looked like she was picking her nose or something.  I thought she might not like showing up on the blog like that.

I made Grace do her own picture because she chose not to look up from her drink for the group shot.  I bought my kiddos a small bag of popcorn to share, instead of the typical kids "meal."  They were NOT happy about having to share, but I had brought them candy and drinks from home --- trying to be thrifty.  Grace hit the jackpot when Sam only wanted the fruit snacks and drink from his kids meal because she got to eat his popcorn.

Alicia and I joked that we can't wait to see Jaime's blog post about her time at the movies with six kids.  Alicia and I will say what a great time it was and how well the kids behaved.  Jaime will tell everyone how one afternoon with us confirmed her need for birth control pills.  It's okay, Jaime.  We understand.

When the movie was over the kids got up and danced in the aisles.  Of course, with the boys, dancing turned into wrestling.

As we were leaving the kids spotted this little area in the lobby set up just for having pictures taken.  Gabriel wanted to have his picture taken by himself, but Grace wanted to be in it too.  Here's what it sounded like:  "No, Gra-a-a-a-ace!  Get out!  I don't want you in my picture."

"Gra-a-a-a-acie, Noooooooo! Get away!" Mommy had no patience for settling another tiff, so this is the picture we ended up with.  Oh, well!

Jaime took this picture, but I totally put her up to it. . .  not that she needed a lot of encouragement.  Alicia totally took a nap during the movie --- with Jake sitting on her lap.  She told us she was going to do it too.  She put her head back and within a minute, she was out like a light.  I told Jaime that when her mouth flopped open, she had to take a picture.  Jaime tried to take one without a flash, but no dice.  When I told her to turn on her flash, she said, "And piss off the people behind us??"  Uhm . . . YES!  One picture?  How mad could they get??   So like a good blogger, she turned on her flash, and now we have evidence.  Alicia takes her kids to the movies so she can have a nap.  Haha!

Adventures with Daddy

The kids LOVE going on adventures in the woods with Daddy. When he told them last night that they could go on an adventure after they ate their dinner, the kiddos gobbled up dinner and were ready to hit the trail.

Dan told Grace that she needed to wear a hat to go into the woods, so she came out of her bedroom wearing a fleece toboggan and scarf.  Ha ha!  She is so silly!

When we got down to the creek, the water was pretty high.  I said that I thought the creek was too high to walk in, and Daddy agreed.  Grace piped up and said, "Well, this wasn't a very fun adventure!"

Daddy couldn't have a not-fun adventure, so off they went into the creek.  I stayed on dry (warm) land.

They walked around looking at little fish, shells, and rocks.  They walked from one side of the creek to the other.  Then we headed back toward the house.

As we walked back toward the house, we stopped to see some deer paths and some animal tracks in the mud.

I love seeing the awe and amazement in the kids' eyes when they go on adventures with Daddy.  To them he is everything and he knows everything.  He is an explorer, an adventurer, a scientist, a teacher, a fixer-of-all-things, a chef, a doctor, and a protector.  He is a superhero in their eyes, and that is just the way it should be.