Long Weekend of Family Fun

I love and adore and cherish and (pondering other overly dramatic words) treasure and appreciate when Tom takes a day off of work.  He’s the ying to my yang, the milk to my chocolate (I could seriously bathe in milk chocolate), and the peanut butter to my jelly.  Yep, I just went a little, wait, a lot cliché, but after being together we have it worked out.  He knows what and when to help me and how to take over when my day has turned sour.  When he is off, I can let go a bit of control and take a passenger seat to parenting.  In our house it’s not a “normal car” of parenting it’s one of those Driver’s Ed cars that give the passenger as much control as the driver.  We’ve got it balanced and worked out.

We excitedly planned a family fun day for Friday.  The children were elated at the prospect of having their Daddy home for three days!  Friday was their final swimming lesson, and the first that Tom was going to see.   They swam, and slid down the big slide and jumped off the diving board.  All while carefully checking to make sure Daddy was watching.  My Little ViVi even went down the waterslide.  She bravely climbed and climbed the towering stairs and stood tall at the top.  I clenched my hand nervously waiting her turn.  There was no hesitation on her part.  She zoomed down.  I anxiously waited, watching the bottom, then heard a loud “thump”.  She hit her head hard, and was flipped around.  The parents around us all echoed an “Ohh!”.  I was nervous, but she popped her head up and seemed okay.  The instructor looked her over and she was smiling.  She’s a tough little one!

  

Noelle and Max enjoyed the diving board, jumping off many times.

 

Swimming ended and it was time to adventure on to the zoo, finally.  The cool 75 degrees was just perfect for a zoo day.  Apparently everyone else thought so too.  The crowds were immense, animals hard to see, but we merged on making the best of it.  The foursome loved it, Tom and I kept watchful eyes on the children as they tried to view exhibits.  We hit up the train and carousal.  These are things we usually avoid when going, due to crowds, but the children begged and their smiles were all the enticement we needed. 

 

 

The crowds made me antsy, but I kept my focus on enjoying the children and fed off their excitement and smiles. 

 

At home we continued on with family time roasting marshmallows, riding bikes, walks on the trail and being together the rest of the days of the weekend.

  

Sunday evening was sad, as we all knew Tom was headed back to work in the morning and we were just two short weeks away from school starting.  This school year will bring not only 1st grade and Thursday School (Max will go 9-1:30 every Thursday along with homeschooling with me) but I have taken on PTO President, MOPS Steering Committee, and Lenawee Great Start Steering Committee.  Until the chaos is upon us we will enjoy our precious time, being a grand family of 6 and reflect back on a great weekend!

Summering On

First grade is right around the corner, along with Thursday School for Max, but right now, it’s still summer time!  Things around here are continuing on filled with another two week session of swimming lessons and much time outside. 

Zane has made a big transition into a toddler bed.  The three other children have all been in twin beds no later than 16 months I believe.  Zane is 21 months and since the crib is not needed for another little one, we’ll keep him in it as long as possible.  He was excited for the conversion and says, “my big boy bed!”.  It hasn’t helped with his bad habit of getting up at night, now he knocks on his bedroom door crying out, “I want you Mommy!”.  I slowly open the door, sleep still in my eyes, but there he stands with both his night-nights (blankets) in hand and an irresistible smile spreads across his face and he always says, “Hi Mommy”.  The smile turns into the most lovely sideways smirk.  Of course I scoop him up and nurse him while snuggling and enjoying it.  After the third or so time, his smirk is not as appealing!  I keep telling myself to cherish our nighttime feedings because they will be gone soon.

The county fair drew us in and we had to go see the animals and walk around.  All children enjoyed petting and exploring the different animals.  The tractors were the biggest fun, as their immense wheels and ladders had to be climbed. 

Noelle lost another tooth (number 9), Zane’s vocabulary continues to grow at an alarming rate, Violette is completely blond, and Max has found a maturity (finally.  Life goes on, but it’s a life filled with smiles, love, and joy!

Great Grandpa

Max stood, in Great Grandpa’s house, admiring a beautiful large painting, we had just arrived, after way too long of an absence, in St. Clair at Great Grandpa’s condo.  Max continued to stare at the painting then turned to Tom and stated in a matter-of-fact tone, “Great Grandma painted that.  She is in heaven.  I really wish she was here because I want to give her a BIG hug!”.  He smiled and walked away.  Tom made his way over to me and repeated this story.  Tears welled up in my ears and I smirked.  There has always been something between Max and Great Grandma.  He has this connection to her, acknowledging her death and stating on many occasions how he misses her and wants to give her a hug.

The river beckoned and the children played and played.  The water was crisp and cool, with waves that rolled in when large boats passed.  Noelle, Max, and Violette practiced tossing rocks while Zane sank his toes in the sand.  The water washed quickly away and he was a bit surprised by his sinking feet, yelling out frequently, “I stuck!”

We took breaks and headed up to the hot tub to warm up and spend time with Great Grandpa.  He spoiled the kids with unhealthy, but delicious and fun snacks.  The kids ate cookies and chips galore while the boats passed.  They were content sitting back and watching, a rarity at their ages.

When the freighters started coming down, Max was in heaven.  He ran down to the water and was in awe of the large boat slowly coming down the river.  The immense size and sheer awesomeness captivated my curious four year old boy. 

After about four hours we loaded up, gave big hugs and kisses (Zane is all about kisses these days and was happy to get one from Great Grandpa) goodbye.  Within minutes of driving away the three younger children were fast asleep, dreaming of boats, waves, sand, and Great Grandpa. 

It was a great Saturday!