Summer Bucket List Details, Part 1

We knocked quite a few things off our Summer Bucket List right off the bat on a Memorial Day Weekend Trip to Grandma & Grandpa Camp:  Fishing, Bowling, Camping (though not officially on the list, maybe we could mark that as our sleepover???) and  S’Mores! (I’ve posted those pictures on two occasions now, so I’m not going to repeat them.)

There are two things we don’t have any pictures for:

Movie Day: We actually had a lot of movie days!  We went to the theater to see Brave and Madagascar 3.  We also watched a lot of movies at home.
Games:  We played a lot of games this summer!  Finally Riley is at a great age that he can actually really play along, knows what is going on, what the goal of the game is and how to play!  Unfortunately Kellen is at the age where he doesn’t like to be left out!

Bubbles

We did LOTS of bubbles this summer and the one day I tried to get pictures of them, it was hot and muggy and steamy and my camera fogged up as soon as I brought it outside and opened it up.

Sidewalk Chalk

We also did alot of sidewalk chalk this summer!  The boys had never really been into the chalk before, but something changed this summer and we now have a giant bucket of chalk on the front porch that is used often!  This is also great because we have a MASSIVE stockpile of chalk from the years and years of buying and not using!  On this day I made them a road for their cars….and their scooters!

Build a Fort

Truth be told, we build a lot of forts around here.  I did have plans to go buy some tension rods to build bigger forts in the hallway, but that didn’t happen.  Instead we put this sheet up over Riley’s bed which he LOVED napping in as well! 

And on any given day, if you walk into our house, every single couch cushion will be off the couch or dangling from the couch to the ottoman creating a tunnel fort.  It’s a mess up in here.  Ironically, the children are strong enough to move the cushions off the couch, but not strong enough to put them back on…..

Have a Picnic

Thanks to lots of people in my Facebook feed complaining about how the weather was about to get really hot, I seized the opportunity, drove us to a nearby park, picking up CFA on the way of course, and we picnicked and played!  It was glorious!  I even let the boys bring their “stuffties” with them!

Grandma Bear was so tuckered out from her adventures, she had to take a nap!  (Seriously how cute is this?)

Pool Days

We spent almost every single afternoon at the pool again this year!  It is however completely impossible for me to actually have any pictures of this event.  So I give you this one little gem!  Swim Daddy, Swim!!  Finn can swim with his face in the water now and Riley loves to do cannon balls sinking ALL the way down to the bottom of the pool!  They can also both float really well!

Eat Breakfast Outside

Finn followed Todd out the front door one morning before I realized what happened and when I did realize I went out to him and asked him to come back inside, he got upset and said he wanted to listen to the crickets.  This one little statement made me completely stop in my tracks and sit and listen with him.  By that time though, traffic was moving and making a lot of noise.  I asked if he wanted to move to the back deck where it would be more quiet, easier to listen to the crickets and he did not want to budge.  So I mentioned eating breakfast outside….he took the bait…halfway anyway, yes he did want to eat breakfast outside but he wanted to stay on the front porch.  At this point Riley was awake too, and Kellen was still blissfully sleeping.  I’m a sucker for anything to keep the boys happy and quiet so Kellen can sleep longer so I agreed and what a FUN little morning on the front porch we had!

Bike Rides

Well you’ve seen the infamous videos of the boys riding without their training wheels, so you know we’ve been busy on the bikes this summer!  Just a few weeks before we took off the wheels, Miss Britt came to town and took these cute pics of Riley riding.

  

Water Fight

Swim Gear + Water Guns + Water = FUN

Make Sharks

As I mentioned before, Finn had wanted a shark party since last October.  So when we were putting together the Summer Bucket List his first thing he said was “Make Sharks”…for his party….so we did!

Drive Thru Car Wash

This one I kept a secret from the boys.  We’ve been to a car wash before where you get out and watch your car go through, but we’ve never stayed inside the car for one before!  When they figured out what we were doing, they almost peed their pants!  I had planned to take a video of them as we drove through so I could capture their reactions, but as we went in and I took this picture

the camera battery died.  :(  so sad.  their faces were priceless!  Finn was SOOOO excited and was hooting and hollering the whole time.  Riley was a bit terrified.  He said he was scared when we were finished!  It was so cute and funny and awesome!

Homework!!!

Eeeep!  Finn brought home his first homework packet yesterday!!!  He was SO excited about homework!  Let’s hope this lasts!  When I picked him up, he came out of the building, ripped open his back pack and said “Momma, look!!!  Homework!!!”  Every Monday we will get a packet that has to be completed by Friday.  I think there are about 10 pages in there.  We got through all but 3!  He was so excited he just wanted to keep on going.  And since I’m a big nerd and that was always my way of doing things (get it all done and out of the way and then play/relax) I was more than happy to oblige.

 

I am amazed at the difference in how he is holding his pen/pencil/marker just since the week before he started school.  Also the strength he has and he didn’t even get frustrated!  Amazing!

Riley had some homework to do too!

While our first attempt at homework went really well, at least with Finn and Riley, Kellen did get antsy and was annoyed I was “ignoring” him (as much as you can ignore someone screaming at you, hitting you and clawing to get into your lap), I’m really nervous about focusing on Finn with the others around as time goes on.

The Third Child

Riley has to go to the bathroom during or immediately after stuffing his food in his mouth at lunch time, every.single.day.  (You’re welcome for that info.)  He also still needs help putting his clothes back on.  So I walk down the hallway, help with the underwear, walk back to the kitchen and what do I find?  The Third Child sitting on TOP of his high chair tray.  The Tray.  Sitting all “I Dream of Jeannie” style with a big grin on his face.  Back straight, proper posture, happy as a clam. 

We used the 5 point harness in that seat when Finn was just starting to eat solids and we were newbie parents and were oh so concerned with his safety….for about one month before we realized he can’t get out of that damn chair.  And, well, we’ve never used them again.  Didn’t use them the rest of the time Finn used the chair…..didn’t use them the entire time Riley used the chair….haven’t used them until I found my Jeannie on his tray.

Today he learned to climb all the way up onto our bed.  Our bed is 26” off the ground.  I just measured.  I also sat here with my mouth on the floor watching him climb up and down and up and down over and over again.

He can also climb up on Finn’s bed (where he likes to jump jump jump and say jump jump jump, and fall off), the couch, the kitchen table chairs….and do you know where those kitchen table chairs lead?  TO THE KITCHEN TABLE.  I found him on the kitchen table.

There are no pictures of those incidents because they seriously give me heart failure.  The image of my little Jeannie sitting on his tray is burned forever in my brain. 

He also likes to climb into this grocery basket.  This is from the first time I found him in it because I thought it was so cute.  That was before he fell out of it.  I can’t tell you how many times he has fallen out of this thing. But he keeps climbing back into it.

Y’all….I seriously cannot even turn my back to get milk out of the fridge for him.  He is Houdini….and a ninja….all in one little package.  He is giving me ulcers and turning my hair gray.

But look at how cute he is.  He likes to take this microphone and put it up to his ear.  Until the song ends and then hands it back to me to push the button again and right back to his ear it goes as he sways his little body.

 

I love this little man and I just keep thanking God that he hasn’t been harmed in his little adventures.

The Summer Bucket List 2012

Now that school has started, summer is officially over.  This blog has been a whole lot quieter than our summer actually was….all thanks to the Summer Bucket List we put together! 

The boys took turns crossing things off as we did them.  There were a few things on the list that we didn’t get to complete:

Southeastern Railway Museum – upon further inspection I decided to save this for when it was 100+ degrees.

Sparkler Party – I don’t know what I was thinking.  The children don’t stay up until it is dark and sparklers in the hands of toddlers?  no.

Sleepover – Again, I don’t know what I was thinking.  Next year.

Baseball Game – I blame the heat and Braves schedule.  But hopefully we can take them in September.

Water Balloon Pinatas – there is still time for this, and it will be awesome, it just didn’t happen yet.

And the ever elusive Ice Cream Truck!  I typically avoid the ice cream truck like the plague and cringe when it comes around even though the boys beg for it.  So I thought it would be FUN to put it on the list and make their day!  And boy were they SO excited when I put it on the list.  But very sad that we did not see one single ice cream truck this entire summer!

So what did we do???  We went fishing, bowling, made smore’s, , had a water fight, made sharks, went to the Tellus Museum and DAC Kids, we went to the pool, and movies and the splash pad and had a picnic and built forts and rode bikes, ate snow cones, breakfast outside and dinner at the pool, we made a fruit list and tasted as many fruits as we could get our hands on, we played games, we made bubbles and drew sidewalk chalk murals, drove through a car wash, and we had a lemonade stand!

It was an awesome summer!  It went by really fast (granted it was only 9 weeks, but it really did zoom by) and we had so much FUN!

Below are the collage pictures from some of our adventures, but I’m going to post full pictures and stories in other posts!

Water Fight

S’Mores

Bowling

Bubbles

Camping

DAC Kids

Fishing

Find A New Park

Dinner at the pool!

Sidewalk Chalk Murals

Snow Cones

Splash Pad

The Tellus Museum

Lemonade Stand

The Fruit List

Finn’s 1st Day of Kindergarten!!!

Our big boy Finn started Kindergarten this week!!!!

Look at that HUGE smile!  He was SO excited to start Kindergarten! 

The drop-off and pick-up procedures are completely different this year than they were for Pre-K.  Now if you arrive at school before 7:45 you should go to the cafeteria and wait to walk to the room with your class.  Finn also can eat breakfast in the cafeteria which he wanted to do everyday, so we had to be sure to be there early enough for him to do that.  Juice and a chicken biscuit?  He’s in heaven!

For this first week, I went into the cafeteria with him and waited until he was done with breakfast.  On the first day I walked him to his class.  On the second day he asked if he could walk by himself!  But on the third day he wanted me to walk with him….or really, follow behind him.  And so it begins…

His favorite things from kindergarten:

* computer class

* lunch in the cafeteria (did I mention there is chocolate milk?)

* the smart board

* I’ve agreed to pack him a lunch once a week

* PE – they got to have backward races on those little carts

Least Favorite things:

* super short recess time and no playground time in the morning or at the end of the day  :(

It really was a great first week!  He was so excited to go and to be there and was really happy when I picked him up.  His enthusiasm was truly infectious!  It is going to be a great year and we are all really excited for the awesome things he is going to learn in Kindergarten!!!

We Are So Blue

Ever since I got my toenails painted blue, the boys have been begging to get their toes painted blue….so finally I relented, we went to Target, I let them pick out their color and they sat still long enough for me to paint and dry!  They have been SO excited to show EVERYONE their blue toes!

Scented Markers

Riley likes to smell things…..every.thing.  It is kind of funny, most of the time.

But then I found him the other day with marks all under his nose….he had been smelling the new markers that I bought…which evidently are scented.  (WHY?)

 

This picture kind of looks like a mug shot, which is fitting. 

Ironically, this picture popped up on my etsy page a couple of days later….I feel like I need to buy it for Riley’s room, ha!

Loading Up the Truck

Finn:  Momma come look, we’re loading up our truck….

 

This is the boys new game, they take EVERYTHING and put it on Finn’s bed.  Or as one of my friends said “they’re cleaning up the floor for me”.

My Finneroni

I’m cleaning up my files, downloading pictures and getting ready to put up a couple of really big blog posts, but I found a few pictures of Finn I wanted to share.

Finn’s first v-neck t-shirt!  Eeep!  I really didn’t think about it when I bought it, but when I put it on him it suddenly hit me how much older he looked in this shirt!  He loves it!  He also told me I needed to buy him some matching shorts to wear with it….you know, plaid shorts since that is pretty much the only kind of shorts I buy for them, ha!

Napping!  Little Miss Maggie bought Finn a Happy Napper and he took a nap almost every single day for those two weeks between his birthday and when he went back to school!  Happy Napper…Indeed!

I love when he sits and reads magazines, it is just really cute and I can’t wait for the day when he can read all by himself.  This day though when I got the mail, he saw this “birthday catalogue” and said “yay, my mail!” and sat and scoured through the whole thing for an hour!