august days

Another Sunday, another day at a playground writing the blog while the kids play. They’re the only ones here and it’s so nice that they have each other.

The early part of this week was spent with Legos building the sets that Steven and I brought home from Legoland. The kids tore through them, and Sammy’s has a neat interactive component with a map. Steven’s is the first motorized set we have. (He has. It’s his. But none of us had completed motorized sets yet.)

Monday was Lindsay’s last day. 🙁 She’s already back at school after 3 great months with the kids. If only she was local and could have stayed on this fall!

Lindsay brought gifts for the kids. Steven got a stuffed monkey because “Monkey” is his nickname for Lindsay. Amaya got more face paint. Sammy got a cookbook – which he’s already put into use.

The kids also had gifts for Lindsay – two decorated plates and a mug. 🙂

What a great summer!!

Lindsay and the kids wrapped up their last day with dinner out together.

The kids left a review for the restaurant. 😂

Tuesday was nuts. I had meetings at home in the morning. Then I had to run to the office to pick up our CTO who’s was in from Scottsdale. We did a school tour but the time bumped up against another meeting I had to attend so we went home and he took our van to grab lunch for us. By the time my meeting was ending, he was back at the house and spent time with SSA. (This is the game guy from last week’s blog who thrilled Sammy with stories about being an Army Ranger. Sammy was shocked to see him in person.) Abe’s definitely got the “kid gene”. He knows how to engage young kids with real ease. For me, it’s great to have such natural relationships with my colleagues.

Penni and the kids got to playgrounds at least three days this week. They’re traveling all over the area for new adventures. I hated for them to miss another summer of camp – especially before they get back to school after all this time off because the structure is helpful – but it’s been a really great summer. Penni’s been amazing the past 17 months.

Steven, on the phone with Jason, making evening plans.

The evening plans.

Amaya is still crafting, crafting, crafting. She borrowed a book on Crafty Handbags and made one from a pair of old jeans and another from a

Because she knows they love to cook, my friend Ames (Bitcherie!) got the kids a loom to make potholders. Amaya has been obsessed. She’s already made 4 and said she needs to stop to give The Brothers a turn.

First ever!

She experimented with what happens if she didn’t do a strict “over under” pattern.

Amaya wants this picture labeled, “Big, medium and small.” She looks so old.

On Thursday, the kids spent 4+ hours at a playground/splash pad. The week prior, Steven met a boy who thought he’d be back at this same time. He didn’t show, but Steven made new friends to play with. Such a social kid.

Showtime is snuggle time….

Steven, reading about natural disasters.

I’ll definitely be sad when the day comes that Steven no longer wants to fall asleep clutching me. Here, it was my leg.

On Saturday, we spent allllllllllll day at the JCC pool with Claire and Ruxin’s families. There were 7 kids and, for a good part of the day, they had the shallow end of the pool entirely to themselves. All 3 moms got in the water, too, and Claire passed the deep end test so she was able to jump with Amaya.

It shocks me, to be honest, that the pool is so quiet on such a nice day. But it’s great for us!

This shot, mid jump, looks like Amaya is walking on water!

Today was HOT. The kids played at the playground for about 30 minutes before calling it. We headed to The Bees Knees where we had a pottery painting reservation. Amaya painted an alien. Steven painted a gnome. Sammy painted a little 2-piece puppy container.

Afterward we walked around Northville and got some ice cream from Browndog. So good! They even had a special ice cream for me. (And, when you eat there, you can get all sorts of special treats like a caramel martini with a scoop of salted caramel ice cream inside or boozy milkshakes.