Wild Fun

Well, this is the last week that I have off before pre-planning.  It has been a great summer.  It was certainly nice to NOT have my dissertation hanging over my head.  One thing that we did several times this summer was go to Wild Adventures- the local amusement park.  We purchased season passes in June, and have made the most of those.  Wild Adventures has animals, rides, and a waterpark.  The kids liked the waterpark the best, so most of our time was spent there.  Although the passes are good through the end of the year, we probably won't use them as much in the fall due to school starting back and reduced hours at the park. 

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

My cousin's wife, Leslie, is doing the most amazing thing with her daughter.  She has begun a mother-daughter book club.  Each month, Leslie and her daughter read an age-appropriate book together and then meet with their club to discuss it.  She posted the details about this club on her blog.  Upon reading her post, Hannah and I decided that we must try this with our own daughters.  So, we stole all of Leslie's ideas- all the way down to the first two books that her group is reading.  We were so eager to get started that we just went and got the first book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, and began reading.  We probably should have taken a little more time to "organize" things, but we were too excited.  The reading of the book went great.  I was surprised by how well Olivia paid attention to the story.  It only took us four days to read the book.  Once we had all finished reading, we met at Hannah's house to discuss the book and celebrate.  The girls had a great time answering questions about what they had read.  We also watched the movie (Johnny Depp version) and had lots of chocolate treats- including candy bars and chocolate cake.  Yummy.  Hannah and I have decided that since this first book went so well we should carry on (with a bit more organization).  We have begun the planning process, and are looking forward to lots of fun with this in the upcoming year.

 

Beach Collage 2012

Go Team Littlebit

So, the kids were playing tag one afternoon and the adults were sitting in the grass watching them.  Suddenly, one of the adults got the bright idea to go out and chase the kids around a little.  Then another adult joined in (and then another and another).  Before we knew it, there were lots of 20 and 30-year-olds playing tag with the kids (aka "team littlebit").  It was kind of fun.  It would have been even more fun if Brian wouldn't have kept shoving me at the kids so that I would get tagged and he wouldn't.  I think the kids loved that we played with them. One thing is for sure, playing tag is tiring. 

Pier Pressure

What makes the condo complex where we stay superior to all others?  That would be the private fishing pier.  It's not uncommon for the boys in our family to "disappear" during fishing beach week.  They'll fish all night and sleep during the day.  If we want to see them, we pretty much have to walk down to the end of the pier (or just wait until it's time to eat).  The fishermen are usually pretty good about letting the kids help out with the fishing.  The kid jobs usually include reeling in the line and putting the fish in the cooler.  All of the kids got to fish a little this year, and they all caught a fish.  Olivia even caught two on one line.  Owen seems to like fishing a lot, and I predict that when he gets a little older he'll be joining his daddy on the pier for longer periods of time.

We Have Swimmers

 The kids have come a long way with their swimming since last year.  Coming into the week, we knew that Ava and Olivia could swim.  Claire surprised us all when she started swimming on day 1, and Natalie was swimming by the end of the week.  Those girls were all over that pool.  They swam in the shallow end.  They swam in the deep end.  They swam in the morning and at night.  They were diving down in the water and turning flips.  I guess it goes without saying that we spent a lot of time at the pool.  While the girls where swimming all over the place, Owen was practicing his signature "back float".  He's not quite ready to swim yet, but he'll get there.

Cousins

Olivia and Owen love spending time with their cousins, and they all get along very well.  These kids had so much fun playing together at the beach last week.  Pictured here are Claire (4), Natalie (4), Owen (4), Ava (6), Julianna (10 months), Olivia (5), and Audrey (2).

Boogie Boarding

It's official: boogie boarding has replaced digging as the kids' favorite beach activity.  These future surfers spent a large portion of their beach time riding the waves- and not just the little waves either.  They were catching the big ones.  Of course there were several wipeouts, but that did not seem to deter anyone.  The only person who seemed the least bit nervous was me. ( I was worried that the kids were getting out too far into the ocean.)  Toward the end of the week Uncle Sam tried to teach the kids to skimboard, but they didn't have much luck with that.  Maybe next year.