summer adventures

It was another busy, busy week in the Land of Cheltenham.

Typical week to start with Amaya giving me the stink eye because there was something I wouldn’t let her do. Her stink eye and pout-faces are spectacular. She has magic eyebrows.

You can kind of get a glimpse of it here. I snapped this picture as I was leaving the drop-off room. Amaya and Steven took out this box to play with and some other kids wanted to play, too. Amaya had 95% of the contents but was sulking because the other kids “won’t share”.

Megan sent me the photo from 4 years ago and it was impossible to resist a re-shoot. Megan hatched a plan and got it done lol. What a difference four years make!

Amaya and Sammy 🙂

A serious conversation between Amaya and her Daddy. She looks like such a big kid, I can’t believe it.

Unfortunately, on Tuesday evening, poor Strawberry bit the dust. It was a confusing time for the kids. Well, the boys. Amaya seemed totally unfazed, though she was excited about the Fish Funeral.

Sammy thinks about death a lot and took it the hardest. “I wanted Strawberry to live longer.” Steven asked if we should give Strawberry more food to make her alive again. I asked Sammy why we couldn’t do that and he said, “Because she died and she doesn’t have muscles anymore.”

Everyone took a moment to say goodbye to Strawberry. “Goodbye Strawberry. You were a good fish.”

Then we gathered together for the big goodbye.

Poor Bubba.

I promised the kids we’d get another fish on Thursday. They agreed they wanted another red fish named Strawberry. So it shall be.

Later on, Sammy asked Amaya if she could use magic to make Strawberry come up from the potty. Apparently Amaya did something related to coins that Sammy thinks is magic. Amaya told him she can only do it with coins but I think it’s interesting that he asked her. Death has got to be very confusing to four year olds.

Far less somber…randomly, Amaya has been telling us she’s ten years old. She thinks it’s hysterical.

“I’m this many!”

“Stevie! Let me pick you up!”

“Sammy! Let me pick you up!”

Fourth of July!!

Steven and i took an early, and rare, trip to the grocery store together. “Daddy pushes me and lets go! Can you do that, too?”

The kids and I spent some time outside and got to witness an amazing ant in action. This tiny, tiny ant was pulling a bug 5x it’s size by the bug’s wing. And the bug was still alive! It was incredible. Steven watched for ages and we talked about how strong ants are. Very strong. Eventually the ant ran out of steam and the bigger bug escaped. the big bug was struggling – it couldn’t fly and couldn’t make it off the driveway so Steven got a leaf and we moved it to safety on the grass.

Morning story books with Daddy – Last Stop of Market Street.

It was a hot, hot day but the kids had seen a “festibal” down the road at Suburban Showplace and were talking nonstop about going, and about riding the ferris wheel, so we decided to brave the weather.

Waiting to go in, standing in each others’ shadows to cool down.

First stop, WATER.

I gave it a 99.5% chance that all three kids would back out of the ferris wheel but Sammy wanted to go for it! He and I were the only riders and up we went! He was nervous at first but relaxed pretty quickly and was excited to see I-96 and Grand River from up high.

So high!

Amaya was crying when we got down and immediately went to hug Sammy, saying she missed him. <3 Either Steven or Amaya mentioned that the ferris wheel seemed a lot smaller from far away. 🙂

It was hot out, and an original forecast called for afternoon rain, so the fair was practically empty. We were there from noon to 1:30pm and there was hardly anyone else around the entire time. Awesome for us but probably not so great for the people running the fair.

We found the area with the kid rides and everyone made their choices.

Steven was the most reticent and needed to watch for a while before deciding if he wanted to go on the ride. Checking out the helicopters with Daddy…

In the end, Steven went on the Groovy Bus and sports cars.

Amaya and I went on the carousel and then she went on the spinning dogs and dumbo.

Sammy went on the Groovy Bus, the boats, the helicopters the spinning dogs and dumbo. I’m guessing he’d have gone on every ride if he could have. And Amaya definitely pushed past her comfort zone and had a blast. She told me that, next time, she can go on the carousel by herself.

Steven

Sammy

Steven

The kids had a blast and are already excited for the State Fair over Labor Day Weekend.

The rest of our 4th of July was wonderfully quiet at home.

I took Thursday and Friday off to use up some vacation days before they expire. I binge watched 6 1/2 episodes of Agents of SHIELD from 7:30am to 12:30pm when the kids got home from school and then we had a wonderful afternoon together.

My boys wanted to sit next to their mommy while they ate.

Chutes & Ladders! It’s nice that we can actually play board games together. SSA need some help with the counting and movement but they’re totally into it – and all of them really want to win.

We wrapped up our day with a trip to Meijer where we brought home Strawberry the 2nd! We’re taking it slow, following instructions and hoping this little guy makes it longer.

Sammy: If Strawberry the 2nd dies we’ll have to get Strawberry the Last
Steven: No, Strawberry the 3rd!

Remember when Amaya didn’t have hair? Look at the now!

“My hair is as long as Charlie’s!”

The kids have sandals with three straps. Always marching to her own fashion beat, Amaya loves to find the most convoluted ways to secure the straps.

Today we got to visit with my friend Mike, his wife Kerith and their 12 year old daughter Annabel who are visiting from Atlanta. It was so nice to see them and Amaya took to Annabel immediately. She loves hanging with “big girls”. Maybe because she’s 10 years old. 😉

The heat finally broke a bit so we went to the splash pad at Kensington Park in the afternoon. I had no idea there was this little beach right on the lake. I definitely want to go back with everyone when we’re prepared for a beach afternoon.

Watching the water slide. It’s huge and curvy and looks like SO much fun. Technically Amaya and Sammy are tall enough (just) to go down but we’ll give it another year.

Steven at the water cannon.

This weekend was one of our favorites of the year – our visit to Cleveland to spend the night with my friend Hannah and her kids, including identical triplet girls born in April 2014. It’s our third year and a row and I hope we can continue this for years to come.

It was only a 2.5 hr drive but it ended up taking us almost 5 hrs. We stopped at Meijer an hour in for some quick pick-ups and ended up there for an hour. SSA found a new way to ride the cart with me, though!

We stopped at a Service Plaza for lunch and there was one person working – taking orders and making food. It took a half hour to get our meals and, when you throw in a bathroom stop for three 4 year olds, it was another 45 minute delay.

Sammy’s face sums up how we felt on that BK line.

But we made it! This year the kids dove right into to playing with their friends. It was awesome.

Water blasters!

Sammy and Amaya were both excited that they got up the nerve to go down the slide into the pool. I didn’t actually realize how impactful it was for Sammy until he told Jason almost immediately upon getting home.

Hannah generously let Steven and Sammy play with the hose. For a looooooong time.

Steven

Sammy

There is a picnic table where we planned to eat but Amaya saw the fancier table in the distance and asked if she could eat there instead. One by one, other kids started to make their way over there, as well. She’s with Betsy (who she keeps calling “Abby”).

TV time before bed.

The theme of the weekend was BIKES. Oh boy, were Steven, Sammy and Amaya excited to ride bikes with pedals. They’re actually working toward pedal bikes of their own by earning stars for staying in bed for 6 days and I think this was the icing on their motivation cake. Bikes, bikes, bikes, bikes. It was how they spent a good party of yesterday and almost all of this morning.

This is the bike Amaya wants.

This is what Steven is hoping for. “Is this a training bike, Mommy?” He’s thrilled that he learned how to pedal. “Daddy, my friends taught me how to pedal.” (Amaya then insisted she was the one who taught him.)

Hi Sammy! Sammy really wants a “bike with two wheels and pedals and a break.” I think, with training wheels, we can make that happen for him. And, if it doesn’t work, we can always backtrack to a trike since he’d grow into the bigger bike eventually anyway.