Beach Week 1

We are so fortunate to be able to use a beach house owned by the sister of a family friend.  It keeps our costs down substantially, and that means that this year we'll be able to do two weeks at the beach!  We're super excited!! Our first trip went really well and we enjoyed every minute.  My parents join us, too, which is fun, but I know I stress my mom out because I vacation so differently than her! I want to read (and did! I finished 13 of the books in the Jack Reacher series!) and relax and lay on the beach.  She really likes to go and do and see things.  I will get everything prepared and packed....the night before.  She likes to have a list, menu plan, and schedule already completed by January 1 of the year prior to the trip :) However, we have a great time, and it's really fun for the kids to have a plethora of adults around.  It generally means they can find a grown-up willing to do their bidding any time of day or night.  If Austin and I are exhausted, Grammy or Papa are generally ready to play, and vice versa.  

My sweet baby boys are so big! 

Evening Beach Walk

Ice Cream time! I don't know how Savannah eats that blue crud! 

This trip was especially fun because all the kids are so grown up now that they have likes and dislikes and things they love to do.  We had fun as a family, but we were also able to enjoy some time separately, whether it was the boys going surfing while the girls went shopping, or daddy taking Savannah for ice cream while Logan went shopping for treasures with Logan and Riley and mommy read a book.  It was such a nice balance.

Grammy and Savannah Lynn at lunch  

Lindsay, Savannah, Me, Riley, and Crazy photobomb Logan

 On our way home we were able to stop in North Carolina and meet up with my friend Lindsay.  Unfortunately, she didn't have her kids with her, with the exception of her super-cool step son, but we were sad not to get to meet her newest addition, Philip, who's the same age as Logan.  Her son Noah is 7 days younger than Savannah. It was so great to catch up with her!! Lindsay is one of those fantastic friends who I can just meet up with and pick up the conversation like we left it off yesterday, instead of a few months ago!! I hope the military moves them back to us!! (USMC, are you listening????)

I love this picture :) 

Swim Team 2012

This year was our first year of Swim Team and we had so much fun.  I was really unsure that I wanted to spend 2 hours a day at the pool, but the kids enjoyed the structure that swim team added to our day, and they had a great time with all the social events.  I was able to enjoy my mornings having coffee and chatting with other moms, as well as reading (can you believe that!) while the kids swam.  Savannah didn't get a space on the developmental program until 3 weeks from the end of our season, but she was such a trooper about going everyday, which was made easier by the fact that "her friend" Anna was there.  I remember being little and thinking that older kids were just the coolest people ever, so I'm actually so thankful for Anna and her entire family who were such great sports about my children attaching themselves to them and are really great role models for my kids, too!

Savannah and her BFF from this summer's activities, hanging out at a meet and after the end of the season awards ceremony with their medals. 

For Logan, swim team was more of a stretch.  Early Saturday morning meets and daily practice just didn't have the draw that hockey has for him, but he didn't' want to sit on the side and watch, either.  Logan's also never been a "racer" and so it was hard for him to come in (nearly) dead last every meet.  His strokes improved, though, and if he wants to, I bed next year he can kick some butt.  or, keep dogging it, but enjoy the water every day, whatever.  We're not raising 10 year old olympians over here.  

Logan's lane coach was awesome.  She kept him happy during meets and encourages him every step of the way.  We were way thankful for her happy demeanor and constant patience.

So then we had Captain Competitive.  Riley really likes competing with people and he likes to win.  He wasn't the fastest out there, he finished 10th in our division in freestyle and 11th in backstroke, but he's not a year round competitive swimmer, which most of the faster kids allegedly were, and they give out heat winner ribbons, so I think he really came out feeling like he was way cooler than he actually is ;) We're still very proud of him (as well as his siblings) because they all did great in different ways.  Savannah was patient waiting while her brothers swam and she couldn't touch the water, Logan really learned a lot about positive attitude, and Riley really did try hard to win every heat.

When Savannah finally got on the developmental team, the season was almost over, but they did a really cute competition for them with just the kids on our team, and they even did an Olympic Torch walk as they entered the pool.  Swim team was a really positive experience for us, and we're looking forward to next year, more head-sized donuts on Wednesdays, and even more time sitting at the pool as we'll have kids in either 2 or 3 time slots.  (I'm taking book recommendations now!)

In Which We Sum Up July.

I'm being a bad writer.  Keeping up with vacation and camps and VBS and school and my writing I do here and here is really getting the best of me.  For the first time in my entire life EVER I would really like to get back to a regular schedule.
I know.  Crazy.

In the meantime, here's what we've been up to:

First it was the 4th of July.  Riley's cub scout pack made a float and Logan came and helped.  Savannah and Logan made red, white, and blue strawberries for the barbeque at grammy's house and thoroughly enjoyed the parade.  After, we went to our local baseball team's game and got to watch the fireworks.  I watched Logan- he was adorable staring up in awe.  Savannah still hates them.

Check out our cub scouts! Their float turned out great and Riley enjoyed riding.  I walked in the parade with him and some other moms and had fun chucking candy at people :)

After the 4th, we left on a trip to Hershey Park and Amish Country.  My parents joined us and I picked possibly the WORST HOTEL EVER! It was such a good deal (because it was in the middle of being renovated) but it did have a pool, so the kiddos were happy! We did a horse and buggy tour of Amish Country and the kids got to make "Amish" toys.  Hershey Park was a big hit, especially the roller coasters for Riley! He's definitely as much of a thrill-seeker as he ever was!

On our way home, it was essential that we go to Tony Luke's and get cheesesteaks in Philly.  We drove to the city and toured the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall in the rain.  Everyone else donned rain apparel, but Logan walked the entire way getting poured on and was the happiest I have seen him in his entire life.  He was soaked and smiling ear to ear.

A park near our home has a reptile show every year with (I'm pretty sure) the same guy who has been doing it since I was a kid.  At the end of the show he lets the kids come up and touch an albino python.  I took pictures.  I felt very proud of myself.  Yes, that is my daughter in her pajamas.  They match her Bitty Baby.  No, she's not wearing shoes.  Don't judge.

The boys also touched the snake.  You'll notice they are both dressed and have shoes.  Well, maybe you won't "notice" the shoes from the picture, but they did.  If their sister would sleep at night so that she wasn't getting dragged out of bed in the morning, maybe she'd be cute, too.  The cutest part of this experience was the herptologist showing a python shedding and saying "If you ever found one of these in your backyard, you should call me." Savannah, with a totally serious look, turned to me and said in the most concerned voice "We need his phone number!"

We've done a lot of swimming.  Sometimes Uncle Kevin comes.  The kids also got to spend the night at his house with Ms. Lauren and Uncle Kevin while I went to Ohio (more on that later).  They think he's super cool.  They're young.  They'll learn he's just an annoying younger brother.....

Maybe not.

We've of course ventured into DC.  (Yes, this is all one month) We went in to check out the annual folklife festival on the mall.  On our way from parking we stumbled upon the DC Farmers' Market and the USDA Children's Garden.  They let the kids plant and make crafts and had some great tents for us to picnic under.  It was really awesome.  Your tax dollars make for my kids' fun, people.  Keep paying up!

Let's see.....this is getting long.  Okay, so Riley went to an awesome art camp, Savannah and I got lucky enough to join Kyla for her birthday at American Girl Place (which she loved!), we've hiked and caught butterflies and made ice cream.  I got to have a mommy-day celebrating Jamie's birthday at Quattro Goomba's winery, we enjoyed some bounce time on a particularly hot day, the boys got to go and pick up Grammy and Uncle's new lab puppies in Pennsylvania, aaaaaaaaaaaand, the kids made me breakfast when I got back from my trip.  Not in this post, because it just happened today, we competed in our first cardboard regatta, which will get its own post as soon as I have pictures :)

In Which Summer Continues

Being as I completely failed as a mom this year (which I'm blaming on the incredible bout of depression followed by the adjustment to the fabulous happy drugs) I didn't really plan our summer.  Not in the way I have previously planned our summers, anyway.  Typically, we have a THEME!! for each week (like pandas! Let's make panda crafts and panda snacks and read books about them and go to the zoo!) so that I'm prepared and have the kids occupied.  This year, not so much.  I'll add it to my mother of the year application, fear not :) 

Last week was fairly easy because of VBS (which Logan wants to go to AGAIN!!) but this week I've actually had to keep them busy, especially in light of my anti-TV declaration.  The good news is that my children are fish, which means I can keep them busy for at least 90 minutes swimming at grandma's house (yay for a pool without tons of random people in it!! I'm sorry, I'm just grossed out by public pools, especially (shudder) the ones with overly warm pee receptacles baby pools).  By the time we drive 15 minutes there and 15 minutes home, that's 2 hours of quality entertainment!! Unfortunately, with kids that wake up at 7 and go to bed at 8, there are still 11 more hours to fill.  

Fear not, however, because we have now gone on a quest with ED Hirsch using some fabulously outdated books of his:

OOOhh yeah son!  It's What Your First Grader NEEDS TO KNOW! Hirsch uses the theory that we need to have a firm understanding of some cultural stuff so we can all....(okay, fine, I admit I didn't read the intro- but my mom used these books with us each summer and saved them all so they're free!!! Plus, he works at Mr. Jefferson's University, so he must be smart) Our edition is not revised, which mainly matters in Geography, but luckily Riley isn't enough of a reading fan to notice the map says "Soviet Union" on it.  Whatevs.

We are also huge fans of workbooks in Casa de Kotlii.  Especially the ones that come with bonus stickers!!! Those things work as motivation for anything.  However, WYFGNTK (that's not as catchy as EVOO, is it?) is working for me because it gives us lots of projects to work on.  The science section this week is about the Physical World, including a fun-filled discussion of minerals, which lead to the rock tumbler.  The rock tumbler has been noisy, but exciting.  We check the rocks daily, which is probably a no-no, but after step 1 they look like this:

Which is a vast improvement!! Also, in literature, we're memorizing some nursery rhymes that I never knew about (I mean, I guess I did when my mom did this with me, but I didn't remember some of them). We're also reading Anansi Rides the Tiger, which we're turning into a play for Daddy to watch on Friday.  I already had a spider costume for Logan, but we decided we'd need masks and a painted cardboard backdrop, so more time spent!!

Then there's fine arts, where we're learning about music.  This involves lots of dancing to lots of CDs and itunes downloads.  Plus, we like to do field trips once a week or so, and since the Smithsonian NEVER lets me down, the plan is to check out the Smithsonian Museum of African Art- which, as a bonus, streams African Music.  Bam.  Add in some baking and some playdates and you have a pretty full week!! 

Look at that, I could totally be a homeschooler.

Ha.  No I couldn't :) 

Vacation Bible School Part the First

I love VBS.  I think it's one of my favorite things.  I remember loving it as a child- especially at LCOC where they had Captive Free (a super cool Christian mission experience band of super cool 19-25 year olds who are the coolest people IN THE WORLD EVER when you're 8).  My love of VBS even allowed me to direct one when I was still working for churches, and as crazy as it made me, I loved every minute of it.  Our church doesn't hold VBS since they have full day camps all summer for children whose parents work, but we still found our way into 2 VBSes so that momma could get her fix :)

This past week (the beginning of my TV-free-ish declaration) was our first.  Our friends Ethan and Nathan attend 2 churches (how cool is that!!) and their Anglican Church was hosting one the week after school let out, which seemed pretty perfect to me!! Their mom was running the Bible Voyage portion and had talked to me in the late winter/early spring about ideas for how to run it more smoothly and I managed to wiggle my way into being her assistant.  Not only did Riley and Logan have a great time, but we also switched cars all week, since I still lack a car that can seat more than 5, and took our friends Heather and Kailey with us.  Savannah was miserable in the nursery and helped out in the story room and dragged me into opening and closing each day so that she could dance to the music.  I think for our next VBS in August I'll see if we can try her in a preschool class.  She's been potty trained for some time now and really loves participating in the activities rather than just sitting in a nursery.

Getting to teach the lesson on the 4th day, which in Group's VBS lessons is always the day we learn about how Jesus died on the cross for us, made me so happy.  I really miss being in ministry with kids- I love how spiritual they are when we let them be :)

After VBS each day we all (RLSH and K) went swimming at Grandma's house.  The boys have also been enjoying a lot of pretend play as knights.  Savannah is always the princess and since it's after swimming, she's usually sleeping beauty :) On Friday night, Mommy and Daddy got to go on a date to hear Derelict Dog play and Riley, Logan and Savannah got to stay home with a babysitter!! It was highly exciting since they usually stay with Grammy and Papa AND the sitter let them watch a movie!! Since it's TV-free-ish, I don't mind a movie for a special occasion like a babysitter! The sitter was awesome and really great with the kids.  She'd been at VBS all week and came recommended by our friend Kathy, who called her for me, but I'll have to wrestle her number away since the kids loved staying with her!!