Summer 2011

I saw several blogs at the beginning of summer that talked about fun things that they had planned to do.  I got a lot of fun ideas (bubbles, chalk, fun food, popsicles, crafts, etc).  I wanted to make sure that I didn’t let summer get away from us. 
On another blog I saw a woman who was deliberate, and wrote all their “to-do” list for the summer with all the fun stuff that they wanted to do. 

Since the boys are still little I didn’t want to get too busy, and didn’t want to commit to too much, so I just figured I would keep a running list of the things we DID do.  This, I am sure, is not complete, since I didn’t quite keep up with it, but STILL, we were busy!  Some of this stuff we did more than once, thanks to the fact that we have memberships to a lot of attractions around here.  I am so glad that I kept this list…it shows that we didn’t just “waste” summer…we stayed busy and had fun even though the boys are still little and can’t do a ton.  Clearly, though, they are able to do a lot! (Although some of this stuff is just stuff that Z did with me/us).  And I didn't even TOUCH the list I made at the beginning of the summer!  So, here is summer 2011!

Picked strawberries

Zoo

Science center

Swim lessons

Steak n shake

Culvers

Reading

Cowboy Chris at the library

Played t-ball

Riverchase

Lowes Build and Grow

Summerfest at church

Magic House

Paper airplanes

Visited Papa Mike and Grandma Dorothys

Big Surf

Monkey Joes

Butterfly House

Botanical Gardens

VBS

Rode bikes

Played legos

Cars 2

Library time

Museum of Transportation

Trip to Florida

Disney World

Beach

Aquarium

Candy Store

Papa Dan’s house to pick blackberries

Fishing

Papa Mike and Grandma Dorothy’s house without mom and dad

Fireworks

Sprinklers

Backyard pool

World Bird Sanctuary

Incredible Pizza

St Charles 4^th of July Carnival

Family Reunion

Moberly Pool

Played with friends

Trip to Chicago

Chicago Children’s Museum

Navy Pier

White Sox game

LegoLand Discovery Center

Bug collecting

Parks on Fridays

Chicago

I have a good friend who moved from St. Louis to Chicago 3 years ago.  She has boys exactly my boys ages, and she still comes back to visit her family here, so we see them every few months.  She offered for us to come up and visit them in Chicago, and we actually took her up on it. 

It sounded a bit nuts...a few weeks after we got back from Florida I would take all 4 boys by myself to Chicago to stay at a friends house and do some sightseeing.  A bit intimidating.  But I know my boys, and I was pretty sure that it would all work out fine.  It was a gamble I was willing to take.  And besides, Z had been talking about LegoLand NONSTOP...and there is a Legoland in Chicago.  Can't take that away from him.

We drove up after lunch and made it in time for dinner...just under 5 hours, and we didn't have to stop once!  The kids watched Cars and napped for a bit and played for a bit.  Made it with a bit of trouble with the tolls (by the grace of God had some change for the first one that didn't have a person manning it!). 

The kids ate well and were polite at Kirsten's house.  They didn't make huge messes (more so than her 2 kids already did).  They played happily in the basement and weren't totally out of control and didn't have any huge fights, and there weren't screaming matches (like there are here).  Joe has a trundle bed, so Z slept in with him and they did wonderfully (up late the first night, but fine after that).  In short, they were on their BEST behavior at Kirstens, and I was incredibly proud of them.  Kirsten actually said (and I will treasure this always!), "You're not going to believe it, but you guys are the easiest houseguests!"  Wow.  That literally might be the one of the best compliments I have EVER received. 

The first day we went to LegoLand Discovery Center, which Z has been talking about FOREVER.  It really is pretty lame, but he loved it.  It was a very busy day the day we went (according to a worker, their busiest day all summer...swell).  The little boys stayed close to me and obeyed, and Z was just happy to see all the Legos.   

Bob Builder?  Bob Builder?!  Then, singing: Bob Builder, Fix it?! Yes, CAN!!!"

Love this face!

This cracked me up:  Z:  AWESOME MOM!!!!!!  YODA!!!!
And that is what happens when kids hear about things (Star Wars, Harry Potter, etc) and have never seen them and have no clue.  It is cracking me up as I type this ;)

The next day we went to Navy Pier and to the Chicago Children's Museum.  Kirsten had never taken her kids, and I took Z when we visited Jenny when she lived in Chicago 3 years ago (so Z was the boys age the last time we were there). We got stuck in some morning traffic, so get there about 1030.  I took the wagon to get us thru Navy Pier, but didn't haul it around the museum.  We played for awhile, then we got McDonalds (the kids sat so well on stools!), then went back in to play for awhile longer.  We figured we would go until someone started melting down since 4 of the 6 were missing naps.  And that never happened.  We finally left about 3, then wandered down Navy Pier and looked at the boats and the lake and all of the fun stuff around there, and got in the car by 345.  The littles all passed out, but that was perfect...the 45 minute nap was enough to get them through until bedtime. 

Yup, there is an extra little in this picture...but who is counting?

I LOVE that I happened to catch this expression on L's face. It is a silly face he makes a lot and I doubt I'll ever catch it on film (ok, digitally) again. 

All the boys LOVED this building section.  It was the last thing we did and they were all totally enthralled with it.  It was one of my favorite parts too because I could actually almost SEE the wheels turning in their heads as they figured it out and worked with the tools and built structures.  Amazing, the gift that it is to watch that. 

This was a monster face that Z asked me to take a picture of. 

After the long day at the museum, the big boys got to go to a White Sox game!  Dan had won some tickets at work and offered to take the boys.  Z (apparently) did fine, and was happy with the "lemonade, hot dogs, peanuts, and pretzel" they got, and he even got to keep the Miller Lite BobbleHead ;) (carrying a "backpack" with "soda").  He had a great time. 

We also went to a few parks in the area just to let the kids run around a bit and play at new parks...no pictures of that.

Kirsten and I had a fabulous time just chatting, too.  It is so nice to have friends who you can sit down and talk with for hours on end...as we did when the kids were in bed.  We are on the same page with parenting, so it is good to share ideas with her.   

And we made it home safely too...only had to stop twice:  once for Z to pee out the door (the joy of having a boy!) and once because C had managed to get his arms out of the carseat....argh.  I was pretty wiped out, but totally willing to do it again.  It is nice that our boys are at an age now where we CAN do stuff with them.  It still is exhausting, but totally doable.  And, man, I have good boys.  They are so good.  And I am so proud of them.  :) 

July pics

The boys looking at a bug house and collecting bugs :)

Free time

After our trip to Mike and Dorothy's house a few weeks ago, I really started considering letting them keep the boys for a few days.  The boys did so well with them, and they are getting to be much easier to deal with...more like 4 kids, not a set of triplets who need everything at the exact same time.  And man, I could use some time by myself in my house!

So I got them all set, and all 4 of them took off after breakfast on Tuesday.  Ahh, silence!  Nate and I were able to get the house clean (walls washed, closets organized, carpets steam cleaned, etc, etc).  They kept them until Thursday at naptime, so we had 48 hours of quiet.  It was unbelievable.  And wonderful.  We ate lunch out, and cereal for dinner.  We slept til 9, then ate at 130 for lunch and 8 for dinner.  It was fabulous to be on our own timeline.

And I didn't really even miss them, except at bedtime...I really like to have all my kids under my roof for the night, and I love tucking them in.  But it was soooo worth it.  And Mike and Dorothy were exhausted, but more than willing to keep them again!

The best thing was that Mike took Z fishing for the first time.  He got a few fish, one big enough to take home and eat. 

Bike riding!

Last weekend Z had his last tball game, and my camera memory card was at home....oops.  He did play tball this year, and I have no pictures.  Oh well.  The boys have enjoyed watching him, for a short time.  We normally would go and watch an inning, play on the playground, come back and eat snack and watch the last inning, and it has worked out pretty well.

So we went to his game, then went to Lowe's for their Build and Grow Clinic, where he built a waving flag.  Z and Nate work on one together, then I get an old one and let the boys kind of bang around on it.  Kind of crazy...3 boys with 1 hammer in the back of Lowes with boxes and "tractors" and a filthy floor...everyone enjoys themselves.

From there we headed to the World Bird Sanctuary (I still hadn't made it home to get my camera card, so no pics).  The kids loved it.  N kept saying "More owls, mama?  More owls?!"  We went down to the main center part and found out there was a show in about 10 minutes (at 1130), so we figured we would stay for it.  We had no snack, but thought the kids would like it.  It was outside and on stone steps, so we figured they could kind of roam a bit if needed.  We sat for the first part, then he announced he was going to start flying some birds over us, which sounded cool.  2 rules, he says.  1:  Stay seated.  2.  Be quiet.  Otherwise it will frighten the birds and they might freak out.  Ummmmm.....Nate and I just looked at each other.  We survived the first hawk (which swooped close enough to my head I felt the breeze).  The boys had done remarkably well....but we didn't want to push it, so we left after that first bird!

After lunch we went out front and Z's friend S (our neighbor) was out front, and her mom had just taken off her training wheels.  That was enough to convince Z that he should try again.  We hadn't pushed it since we tried a few times.  Nate took them off and Z rolled down the driveway a few times.  By this point S had given up and had her training wheels on again and was ready to ride down the street.  Z figured he would kind of roll behind her on his bike.  I suggested I go with him, and let him go in the street.  He almost immediately picked it up!  He probably went up and down the street 7-8 times, and by the end he was able to go down, around the circle a few times, and back on his own.  So proud!

He is still not able to start on his own or even really stop on his own (using brakes) but he has since asked to go ride and will happily go down the street, around the circle a few times, back to our driveway to turn around, then repeat.  The only pain is if a car comes and he has to stop (so I have to walk down to help him start).  He is quite proud of himself, and we are too!

For learning how, we took them all out to Culver's after dinner.  YUM and what a mess!