Monday, July 18, 2016

Living in Paradise

I truly feel like this summer has been paradise. I don't know...something about it has just felt right. Maybe its the kids ages now. Maybe its that I've learned the balance of staying home and getting out. Maybe its that I appreciate both for what they are? I am sure its probably all of them. This summer though has been such a sweet balance. Its been busy but also not too busy. We haven't been bored but we also haven't been crazy and stressed either. 
Monday- Austin was off. Again like always when he's off we try to squeeze in something fun. We decided to go back to the WW2 museum. I'm not sure I would call it "fun" but its educational and really awesome to go to. We took the kids last year and Colby really got into it and enjoyed himself. Lindsay did SO well this year. Last year I feel she could care less but she was only 3. This year at 4 I felt her understanding of history was a little more there. She would still get impatient and want to move on to the next thing but for a 4 year old girl she did awesome. We also invited my parents to go along with us. My dad has a membership and I know they rarely go by themselves so I thought it would be a fun thing to do. We all really enjoyed the time together. Its so neat to have our kids soak up and appreciate history of our country. We did the Road to Tokyo. This was the newest exhibit and one we had never done before. I found it really interesting b/c I didn't know much about the war in the Pacific Islands. We then took them to the big building with all the planes which is ofcourse always a hit! After the museum we decided to take my parents to Mahoney's for lunch. Again another fun thing! Something we never do! It was fun to just visit over lunch! Ofcourse the kids thought it was great having grandparents along! 
That afternoon Lindsay started back to dance classes. She has been anxious to return since last summer. My heart is so torn b/c on one hand I love that she loves dance and I want my kids to find hobbies and passions and pursue them...but on the other hand when I thought about the almost year round commitment on Saturdays I decided that wasn't for us. I know one of these days our Saturdays will be taken with sports and kid activities but right now in the sweet days of still having them young and wanting to hang out with me I like to keep that our simple, relaxing day of the week. I've watched as some of their friends have gotten so tied up in Saturday activities that they don't have time to do anything else. I love taking my kids fun places or just staying home and relaxing on Saturdays. So I am thankful for the summer session and that she can experience it. She did great! It was crazy to watch this year as she became one of the "Big kids". Her class is 2-6 year olds. She was the 2nd oldest in the class. It was mostly 2 year olds. I really wish they were split up b/c I feel Lindsay could do more advanced stuff in a smaller class with kids more her age. Nonetheless it was still super cute and she enjoyed it! Also her friend Makylee is doing the same classes so that's fun too! The boys stayed up and made home made pizzas and cupcakes. I am thankful that Austin took that time to be with Colby and have some male bonding time and that they cooked for their girls.
Tuesday- Austin was off again. I had Bible study first thing but he opted to keep the kids here this week. Last week was hectic with trying to get them from my parents then go on with our day. I figured we would end up being happier if they spent the morning at home with dad. Once I got home from Bible study I picked everyone up and we headed out to Lakeside. We ate lunch in the Food Court. We then went to Stride Rite to get school shoes for both. Lindsay really didn't "need" shoes right away but I figured to go ahead and buy one pair. She's pretty hard on shoes so I figured with her I will rotate through about 3 pair. Her foot measured to be an 11 so they said get her an 11 1/2 but then they tried to talk us into an 11. I swear I don't understand! Colby's foot measured to be a 13 1/2 so they said he could get as big as a 1 1/2 so that's what we did for him. After shoes we went to the Disney store so he could pick out a little gift. He wanted Legos this year and the ones he chose weren't very expensive so I told him he could pick something there. He picked this racing set. Too bad it didn't end up being what he thought it caused for some tears and disappointment later that evening. After that shopping we went on to the movies. The kids have been dying to see "Secret Life of Pets". Usually we only maybe see 1 movie a summer and this summer 2 but now that they are getting older plus this summer they just had some good movies out! The kids loved the movie and so did we! Again I just love our family time. We got home and settled in for the evening. It was nice to not get out. We had left overs for dinner and took a walk. That evening we also watched their births on video. They loved that! 
Wednesday was a stay at home day for us! We have only had 1 other day like that. It was really nice to just relax and do stuff around the house. Since we go to church on Wednesday nights its really not all that bad since we leave for 4:30 to go there. Since the kids are older they are pretty good just playing by themselves around the house. We played outside some and I was able to work a little on my Bible study. That night church went well. I think there were 8 kiddos. I had a meeting for Centrikid camp coming up so I missed most of the night! Thanks to Natalie and Kristen who watched the class. I'm so thankful for our mid-week classes. Especially during the summer. I am glad that my kids love going to church and get to see so many of their friends while there too. Once I got back in the class we made our "world" craft then it was about time for everyone to go home. 
Thursday was a nice day for us. Well first Colby had a dentist appointment and that didn't go so well. He acted out like a mad man! I couldn't believe it! He has never done that...well not since he was a toddler. They had to get 3 people just to hold him down. I was just shocked. He's been funny about his teeth ever since he started losing them. Thankfully he had no cavities and he has 1 loose tooth currently. He has 4 adult teeth and she said they look good right now.
After the dentist he had a date with my parents. And Lindsay and I had some girl time planned. We dropped him off then I brought her to the mall to get beignets b/c that's what she wanted to do. I loved having that time with her. I have missed that this summer. I love being with them both and I love being out with just Colby but there's something sweet about girl time. After that we went to Educator to shop around and we got her nap mat for preschool. After that it looked like it might storm so we came on home. We had a nice day just relaxing around the house. With dance that night I didn't want to be out too long and I wanted her to have a nap. That night dance went well again. Lindsay is the oldest in the class though and I think the 2 year olds annoy her. Since she has an older brother I think she thrives and loves to be around big kids. The class is ages 2-6 and last year she was a middle kid with kids on both sides but now being the oldest I think she gets a little bored. But its still good practice and experience for her. I am still not sure about the all year commitment. Every Saturday for 9 months just seems to be too much. 

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