I'm trying my best to enjoy just a little more summer...kind of like trying to squeeze the last drop of toothpaste from the toothpaste tube!
Here's my quick take Friday high-lights our week:
#1: Birthday Fun
It was my niece, Mya's, birthday on Thursday. We had a family party on Tuesday night to celebrate and Kate was joining right in!
#2: Zoo Time
On Wednesday, I took all the kids sans Mike to the zoo. The day didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. Right before I was ready to leave for the zoo, I noticed that Mike forgot his lunch.:( So, to avoid feeling guilty, I brought his lunch to the camp he is working at this summer before we headed to the zoo.
We arrived at the zoo a little past snack time, so Kate was more interested in eating than in seeing the animals. We stopped to get a snack.....which took a while because someone wanted popcorn and they hadn't started making it. "A few minutes" was what they told us....15 minutes later we got the popcorn. A couple of kids wanted an ice cream treat but they had none because their food freezer had broken and all their food was in the ice cream freezer. So, one of the teens was hungry(and Jay's kids don't do hungry well!). Those "someones" may have been Andrew Jon...but I won't tell you for sure to keep them, I mean "someone", from feeling embarrassed!;)
The visit was fine....just not as good as usual. Plus...you know that mom pressure we put on ourselves for everyone to have a great, bonding experience? Yeah, left me feeling a tad deflated!
But I got some cute pics....
#3: Carousel/Train Rides
Jay's mom had given Peter carousel and train passes for his birthday and they got put to good use.... |
| goofy Peter |
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| Kate: "Mommy, you need to hold onto me!" Me: I will. I just want to take a picture first. |
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| Kate: Ok...cheese. |
#4: Photo Fun
Jon: Take a picture of me.
(runs over to bear)
Jon: Look, it's a bear hug!
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| Peter's loving the bear hug! |
#5: Photo Op
They gave me a 30 second pose...I guess I should be grateful!
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| Kate doesn't seem to know that it helps to see where you're going!:) |
#6: Shoe Shopping
After the zoo, Andrew drove the boys home(because they would rather gouge out their eyes than go shoe shopping at the mall!) and I took the girls with me to do some school shopping. Ellie needed some school shoes. Kate is a shoe fashionista and got in on the fun.
Kate: I like these, Mommy! They too big for me?
Kate needed sneakers, so we found a cute pair of princess shoes that she loved! Then she spotted a pair of purple shoes with silver sparkles all over...it was love at first sight! (Yeah, Jay is in trouble with this one!)
#7: So He Doesn't Feel Left Out...
Mike ended up getting a really great job this summer. He worked as a camp counselor at the local YMCA summer camp. He got to be outside all summer...and it will look good on his resume when he(fingers crossed) graduates in June with a middle school teaching degree!
Mike has made a lot of new friends through the camp counselors and lots of them hang out multiple times a week. The camp also threw different get togethers for the counselors a few times this summer. They had a sailing night and a cook out earlier, and last night they had a fancy dinner night. So they all got dressed up and had food catered from a very good local Italian restaurant.
Their bosses also gave out awards. Mike got "Rookie of the Year" and "Most Likely to Brighten Someone's Day". That second one gave all of us at home a very big laugh because that's not always our experience with Mike! But, since we got a laugh, that did brighten our day so there you go!
We're heading into the last weekend of summer for three of my kids! Ellie starts Monday, Peter starts Tuesday, and Sarah starts Wednesday. Then, it's a short reprieve until Saturday when we move Andrew into Assumption. Then, we move Mike into Assumption on Monday. Jon has freshman orientation on Monday and Tuesday. Last but not least, Luke starts preschool on Tuesday!
Crazy busy times! I have to say I have mixed emotions, but it's all going to happen whether I like it or not! That seems to be a recurring theme around here!
I hope you enjoy your weekend!
