For the third year, the boys have participated in their annual school musical/play that the entire school, all 150 children, participates in. They practiced the song and the dance moves for a couple months, had a formal dress rehearsal, and then performed to a packed house at the Centre. This year's selection was "Roboteacher 3000". Connor was a Raven singing a song about reading and Brady was a Globe singing a song about geography. This was perfect for Brady since his favorite subject is geography!
I was able to attend the dress rehearsal the night before the actual performance to get a nice little preview and some video footage (in the event they didn't perform the next night). The night of the actual performance, the boys did an awesome job and their performance was witnessed by the three of us, all three sets of grandparents, and their Aunt Julie and Uncle Marx. Connor was so cute with his Raven outfit trying to act nonchalant to overcome the nervousness (so he claims). Brady was a bouncing globe with no arms, so really put the expression in his dancing and bouncing.
am so impressed at how well all the kids do with memorizing their lines, the songs, and the actual performance! Great job boys...we are really proud of you!
I love the relationship my boys have with each other! They support, love and watch out for each other. They fight, threaten, and tease each other. Sometimes, they back up each other's stories and other times they reveal their version of the truth.
Perfect example of support and then the threat heard tonight....Connor said "I put your dirty clothes away that YOU left in the middle of floor! Now, you owe me a million dollars or else!!"
I love the kids' school pictures....they look so great! They are growing up so fast!
For good behavior after pictures in October, we decided to take the boys bowling for the first time. Well, technically the first time if you don't count a daycare field trip the kids took when they were three. It was so cute watching the boys try to figure out the different ways to hold the ball. Connor always tried to do it the proper way (as best he could), which usually landed in a thud and then a slow roll down the lane. Brady decided pretty quickly that he was going to do the granny role which resulted in a decent amount of pins knocked down and a strike or two.
It's an annual tradition to head to the Fall Festival at least once during the week. In the last couple of years, the focus has moved from the food to letting the kids ride rides. This year, we purchased unlimited wrist bands for the boys since they had so much fun riding rides last year! I was the lucky parent of the four to also get the unlimited wrist band to ride with Brady when he needed an adult companion.
Working on best mom award and trying to ensure adequate daylight time, I picked the boys up early from school to head to the Fall Festival. We also met up with the boys' best friend, Carac and his mom. The dads joined us later in the evening. We spent the entire evening in the kiddie ride area with a parent occasionally disappearing to go grab some food. I felt like I spent the majority of my evening in a state of dizziness and I am pretty sure Chris paid some of the ride attendants to go extra long for better pictures of me!
The boys had a lot of fun riding as many rides as they could that evening, some more than once!
At dinner one night, the boys were planning their evening of activities after dinner. They were discussing making a deal about the plan and agreeing on it. I only requested that baths be somewhere in that plan, so Connor stated it would be in the middle. They made a plan, apparently agreed on it, and then "presented" the plan to us to be sure we agreed.
Step 1 of the plan was started...Brady decided he didn't like the plan and was making his own plan. He then disappeared upstairs to start the new plan. Connor, so confused by Brady's departure from the plan, said he needed to have a meeting with Brady. He then started re-negotiating the plan with me. Somehow, the bath was falling off the list.
The other night, Connor was having trouble deciding what he wanted to order from McD's. Brady came up with a plan to get one of each, cheeseburger and nuggets, and they could then split. Great thinking Brady...that sounds like a plan!
We think it is so cute that our boys have those discussions with each other and make decisions. We will take that as a good sign! A friend commented that they come by it honestly!
Each September, we try to take a mini-vacation with the kids. This year, we decided to spend a weekend of fun in French Lick at Big Splash Adventure and Indiana Railway. As an added bonus for the boys, we invited the Johnson family to join us. After swim lessons on Saturday morning, we met up at Chick-Fil-A for lunch before we were to hit the road. We were hoping to show up in French Lick and have the joint vacation be a surprise, but we ended up spilling the beans before we left town that we were meeting our friends there.
The boys (Connor, Brady, and Carac) had a good time playing in the water park that afternoon and into the evening. They made their way around the water park spending time in the lost river, time in the bigger pool where you could play basketball, and lots of time in Buccaneer Bay. They loved Buccaneer Bay where they played on the slides over and over again. Claire loved playing in the water sprays. The daddies got a chance to try out the large slides. The majority of the time, the parents played the role of referee and lifeguard. There were good times and bad times between the three boys...sometimes feelings would get hurt if they ran off from each other or picked a different slide partner. By the end of the day, the boys were exhausted and ready to get a good night's rest.
The next day, we let the boys spend a couple more hours back at the water park. We then had plans to head over to the Indiana Railway for a 2 hour train excursion. The boys had a good time and sat back and relaxed for the trip. I think their favorite part was the tunnels. After fun-filled days with the Johnson family, we then headed back home.
For the final week of daycare at Montessori, before the official school year starts up next week, the school has some fun days planned. Today was crazy day....and the boys actually participated this time. In the past, they haven't quite understood why you would want to dress crazy. Today, they took it to the max!
They went to school crazy looking and returned as crazy Jaquar and Spiderman.
Every Thursday during summer school the boys head to the YMCA for swim lessons. They take the school bus with their classmates to the YMCA for the swim lesson and some splash time. The boys have done very well, seemed to really look forward to and enjoy Thursdays, and I have enjoyed seeing the pictures from their teachers.
In mid-July, we decided to sign them up for Saturday swim lessons to continue the lessons (even though there was some overlap). Our goal is to allow them to advance through all the levels offered and if they have an interest, possibly join the swim team for competitions. Chris and Papa Tommy both did this as kids and loved it, so I would love to see our boys do that. Today, the boys were tested for endurance and accomplishments on specific areas and we received the report that they are ready for the next level. They have a couple more weeks of "Eel" lessons and then in mid-September they will be "Rays".
You will notice in the pictures that they have been taking their goggles, since that is what all the other kids do. Funny story about the black goggles. Those goggles were Chris's and Brady asked if he could borrow them. Chris figured the worse that could happen was a broken strap, but unlikely since it was pretty strong. Brady came home - "Sorry daddy, your goggles are broken and I didn't do it". The Speedo goggles were completely destroyed...the part around the eye area completely disintegrated I guess from the chlorine in the pool.
For what I believe was the hottest day of the summer, we decided to enjoy outdoor activities for the day (what were we thinking). We kicked off our afternoon by meeting up with some friends at Ellis Park to see the Camel and Ostrich races, a first for our family. It was a hot afternoon...the kids were trying hard to enjoy themselves since they wanted to see the races. Ice cream and pretzels helped a little and the boys did enjoy the hilarity of the races. After the races, we took a LONG car ride to allow for a good nap from the kids before heading to our next activity. We dropped Claire off at Mimi and Papa's and took the boys to their first demolition derby. Even though it continued to be hot and sweltering, even after the sunset, the boys really enjoyed the loud, smashing cars. We stayed out late to see the majority of the races and Brady even took a departure to the rides during a few of the races. They had a fun day...but let's hope for cooler temperatures next year.
Apparently, my boys don't work for free...what's up with that?
A conversation on the way to school:
Connor: "We haven't collected any money for doing our jobs"
Me: "Because you haven't done any jobs lately" (I don't count laundry as a job as that is their assigned household chore)
Connor: "Because you have to pay us and tell us what the job is"
Connor and Brady went on to throw out ideas for jobs, including the request for a BIG job that they can share the money on. They also said they wanted to save their money for a toy and hopefully the toy doesn't cost everything they have in their bank, so that they can still have some savings.
I guess it is time for Chris and I to come up with some jobs...and start handing over the quarters or dollars. I wonder what the going rate for child labor is these days?
For Memorial weekend, we decided to take a mini-vacation to break the week up for the boys since they would be out of school all week. We wanted to stay relatively close to home since this would be Claire's first road trip...so we chose Cincinnati.
We left on Sunday morning with a jam-packed car. The drive over went great - Claire slept and the boys were entertained by a movie and their Leapsters. Upon arrival, we went to the Cincinnati Zoo. It was a very busy and HOT day at the zoo - lots of ups and downs in terms of mood and weather (got a little overcast relief) for the day. Claire had the luxury of a shaded stroller with a personal fan. Boys had several favorites of the day and Claire was a great tag-a-long/trooper. Ordered delivery pizza to the hotel room and called it a night...Brady took a little bit to crash and crash he did.
The next day, Memorial Day, we were heading to Kings Island. We promised the boys if they were good listeners and were well-behaved that they would get to swim that evening at the hotel. We had a really GREAT day...it wasn't very crowded since it was the holiday, the weather was slightly milder, and the rides were a blast! We kicked it off with a ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower to survey the park and plan our attack. We rode several rides more than once and spent the majority of the day in the new section, Planet Snoopy. Connor loved the roller coasters (there were a few that were smaller scale for his age) and Brady would usually try every ride once. Connor usually rode twice and traded off the parents. I can't wait until he is older and we can return for all the BIG roller coasters which Kings Island is known for. As promised, we went back to the hotel and let the boys swim. Connor loved the fact that he could touch and could practice his swimming.
The final day was indoors, thank goodness. Claire had been a great sport the last couple days, but we didn't want to overdo it for her. We went to EnterTRAINment Junction which was all about trains. It is a fairly new place that they are continuing to expand on, but there is the world's largest train display, a train-themed play area for the kids, and a couple kid sized train rides. We spent a couple hours there before heading back home.
The vacation was fun, but I think we all would have preferred a water-themed vacation (the beach) since it was so HOT! Looking forward to next year when Claire will be old enough to travel that far and I am sure she will love the sand and ocean!
Enjoy the picture slideshow from our three days...
Here are a few stories to share....
5/1
Connor said to me "Babies are hard to take care of - you just never know what they want". Ha Ha....half the time I don't know what the preschoolers who know how to talk want (of course their list of wants are much longer)!
5/3
One evening, Connor asked me what the drops are that we put in Claire's bottle. After I told him they were gas drops, he responded "Well, they aren't working as she farted on me the whole time I was feeding her."
5/6
Connor and Brady have already planned their honeymoons. Connor is taking his wife to Australia while Brady is taking his wife on a multi-continent trip to Italy (South America, Africa, then Europe). I wonder if they would take me with them??
5/8
Why is my kid always planning for adulthood? First Connor has his honeymoon planned and now he has picked out his college roommate (Carac). Hopefully college comes first...
5/12
Question from Connor: "How do you say no to someone that asks you to marry them that you don't want to marry? No thank you, No way, or No I don't". I then had to explain that usually the answer is yes because a couple date for awhile first and then he asked how daddy asked me to marry him and how I knew his name. Why am I explaining dating and marriage to my 5 yr old and did someone already ask him?
5/16
Genuine smiles, sometimes instant satisfaction when cuddled, and cooing from Claire...makes all the other "stuff" that goes with a newborn totally worth it!
5/17
What are the chances that this morning's routine will work when I return to work??? All three kids up and dressed by 6:30 and ready to go on time. It helped that we used Claire as motivation for the boys...Connor took care of Claire while we got dressed. So it is all up to Claire to hold off until morning for her feeding.
5/18
As we are serving dinner and the boys are complaining (as usual), Connor said "Can we just do like at school and be a cold luncher?" Uh no....we can never get our kids to eat anything different or healthier!
5/20
Yummy breakfast for dinner which guarantees everyone happily eats and a hilarious game of Riddley Riddley Ree. ESPECIALLY when Brady's guess for the color silver was daddy's hair! Daddy was speechless and was actually referring to something other than his hair. Now we know what color Brady thinks daddy's hair is!
Once I found out we could go to Holiday World on opening day for free by participating in the JDRF walk, I said sign us up! I knew my boys would love to kick off the summer with a Holiday World outing as they had already been asking for months. What was even better was that our friends, the Johnsons, would also be there that day. Yay - the boys could ride rides with their best friend!
Since I was up for the outing by mid-May, we decided to make an outing with just the boys. Claire got to spend the day with Mimi, which I am sure included a lot of cuddling. She loved showing them how she has started interacting socially with her cooing and smiles.
The three boys (and the adults) had a blast, notwithstanding a few preschool meltdowns over which person they could ride with next, who was walking too close, or what ride to ride next. To make an even riding group, usually an adult always rode with the boys and there were several negotiations throughout the day. We even found a ride we didn't know was there...the Gobbler Getaway which was a dark turkey hunting ride. The boys said that was their favorite ride! Chris and Ben decided they needed to check out Pilgrim's Plunge since there was no line (since everyone was on the new Wildebeest) and they got SOAKED! We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day - the sun was shining, temps were in the 70s and we only had a 20 minute rain shower. I can't wait to return with the boys (and maybe Claire) later in the summer...next year, we may have to consider purchasing season passes and make a monthly visit.
See the slideshow below for more pictures of our fun day....
The week leading up to Mother's Day, I heard all about the gifts the boys were making for me at school. Also, Brady said that on Mother's Day "all moms everywhere get to sleep in while the kids get the gifts and breakfast ready". Very sweet - I couldn't wait! Plus, this was my first Mother's Day with Claire!
Mother's Day morning, I did get to sleep in (if 8:30 is the new sleeping in) while the boys were very quiet in the house. I received my Mother's Day presents from my precious angels - homemade and the ones that daddy picked out. Connor made a decoupaged pot for planting some pretty flowers. Brady had a personalized photo frame and earlier in the week I had also received a bird house from Brady. Daddy picked out a new necklace charm to represent Claire to add to the necklace with the boys charms. He also got me a new CD player that my MP3 player could be connected to (Yay!). They were all very nice presents from a great group I get to call my family.
That afternoon, we spent a relaxing afternoon at Mimi's (Chris's mom) and Papa's enjoying the beautiful weather with the family. The boys learned how to fish and enjoyed spending the afternoon with their cousins. That evening, we ventured to Grandma Darla's (my mom) for dinner. It turned out to be a very nice day and Mother's day.
Happy Mother's Day to all my friends and family that are moms! We are lucky to have so many of you in our lives! I hope you had a wonderful day with your loved ones!
