This was another week that feels so full of activity it’s hard to believe that Monday was, as I type this, less than a week ago.
On Monday morning, we gathered our stuff and said goodbye to a wonderful weekend in OH but not before we managed get this great family photo. <3
Steven wanted a picture with Grandma Sunshine because they were both wearing red.
When we were in NY, we started keeping track of the license plates we saw. This first part of the list is compliments of Nana who transcribed our list as the kids and I drove home from Westchester. We’ve been adding ever since. (And this week we added Idaho and Wisconsin.)
Some Monday cuddles
Amaya and Steven (^^) both got new hats. Will it surprise anyone to hear that Amaya’s matches Charlie’s? She looks so cute in it.
A parting gift from Grandma Sunshine was a box of 480 water balloons. Monday was a hot, hot day so we decided to get busy and have some water balloon fun.
I thought I was just going to watch peacefully until Sammy the Stinker decided to soak me and drag me into the battle. Totally worth it! We ran through about 350 of the water balloons and were drenched by the time we were through.
We went out for a family dinner to wrap up the 4th of July weekend – Amaya went in style.
Deadwood! We ate here in an igloo for the kids’ birthday but it’s been a long time since we ate inside. The table we were seated at was the first table all 5 of us ate at together, many years ago.
The Sloomoo experience carried on…
This week the kids started back at swim! It’s been since late November that they’ve gone but we definitely feel comfortable returning now and have the freedom in our schedule. Since Jason was off on Tuesday, he joined the boys and Penni to watch Amaya.
Right back into it! She did great!
Other than that, it was a quiet day. The kids went to a park and settled back into a new summer routine.
In the evening, Steven showed me his progress at Super Mario Odyssey.
Summer means summer reading! The kids picked out new books.
On Wednesday night I went out for dinner with friends which sent the kids into a tizzy. They’re really used to having me around most of the time. We’re going to have to adjust together.
Here’s how Steven fell asleep…
On Thursday, Amaya dove into a new slime kit that she bought with her own money. She wants everyone to know that Sammy isn’t the only one who loves slime. 🙂
Slime is a great bonding activity for these two. <3
Just like Amaya did, on Thursday the boys jumped right back into swim class. So proud of these boys.
Friday morning, while the kids got ready for a zoo day, Amaya worked on her slime. If this isn’t a zoo look, what is right?
Breakfast hugs
Zoo day!! Penni said it was back to pre-COVID crowds. The zoo requires masks inside but all of the inside exhibits are open again and all of the food vendors are ready to go. Whoo hoo!!
They wrapped up a looooong zoo day on the carousel.
Friday we returned to “Sleep with Parents” night and I got a smiling Bubba. This boy is such a ray of light. Before bed, he told me all about “the cutest” episode of Phineas and Ferb. It’s one where Perry (who doesn’t like to team up) teams up with another animal agent and, at the end, sees Perry giving a small “Platysmile”. (Perry is a platypus.) Now I call Sammy’s sweet smile a Platysmile. <3
On Saturday morning, the kids and I headed back to OH for a weekend with my friend Hannah and her family. Every summer she comes up from Baton Rouge to stay with her parents in Lakewood, OH – outside Cleveland and, every summer since 2016 – except 2020, the kids and I have visited Hannah and her family.
Amaya took this picture of me when we were stopped at McDonalds for a late breakfast. I had a shirt on my head (plopping) and they thought it was hysterical that I went out like that.
Only I could turn a 2:40 trip into a 4 hour extravaganza with stop after stop. But I did. The kids were in great spirts for our last stop at a Service Plaza. Some Popeyes and then we were almost there!
We made it! It’s amazing to me that this is the 5th time we’ve visited Hannah and her family. Hannah has 6 kids and the youngest three, Bonnie, Betsy and Abby, are triplets born a few months after SSA. Her oldest, Evelyn, is 11 with Lucy and Josie in between.
In the past, SSA stayed by my side for a while after we arrived and the kids needed a reasonable amount of supervision. This time, they all took off together playing imaginary play games outside and with all sorts of physical games (foosball, air hockey, ping pong) inside. It was awesome for them and so nice for Hannah and I to just be able to sit and talk.
In a battle, the dead lie in place hoping their surviving teammates pull out a victory.
A lot of fun was had in this box.
Dinner outside!
After dinner, we took a trip to an ice cream parlor. It was so much fun.
We wrapped up the night with an episode of Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn – an older Nickelodeon show about quadruplets. Perfect for this crew and something I’m sure SSA will revisit.
We were able to stay in OH until almost noon today. Later than I intended but the kids were having so much fun playing with the Birchman girls.
We took a picture of Steven, Betsy, Amaya, Bonnie, Abby and Sammy in the same order as a picture of them in 2017.
For fun, here’s a picture of the gang when we first visited in 2016.
It rained and rained on the way home. Sammy was a fan. (I was not.)
The kids wanted me to get pictures of this Service Plaza because it looks so different from ones further east. It’s really something when your kids are that familiar with OH service plazas but we also stop in them on drives to and from NY so there have been many visits in the past 12 months.
This is the view Steven wanted.
And that’s it! We’re home safe and sound in MI and I’m staying put until Thursday when I head to Utah for Bitcherie Weekend 13! Have a great week!