Summer So Far

The first several days of summer vacation it rained and rained.  This did not stop my children from playing outside.  In fact, the harder it rained, the faster they ran to get to the backyard.  Since it wasn't cold and I want my kids to be outside, I let them even though it did result multiple outfit changes and extra laundry.

Mason with a cup that he insisted he needed.  I think he wanted to catch the rain and water the plants...

 Carson yelling, "This is so epic!"  When did he start saying epic?

Luckily, about a week ago the weather finally turned to summer and we have been loving it.  The first day it was sunny enough to play in the water, we set up the slip and slide and wading pool and the three big kids played outside, entertained and happy, for THREE hours.  Three hours without fighting, whining, or crying.  And Elliot took a two hour nap.  It was INCREDIBLE.  I cleaned the kitchen, prepared my lesson for church and started updating the blog.  It was a pretty amazing afternoon (it's the little things :).  The novelty of the water toys has worn off a little since that first day, but they still love them.

 Monday they wanted to have a water balloon fight for family night and they all worked together to make it happen.  Abby filled the balloons, Carson tied, and Mason delivered them to the cooler. I loved watching them work together and they all seemed so excited for the scheduled water fight.  When the time came, however, Abby sat on the cooler that held all the balloons and refused to move.  This of course got Carson all upset, because why go through all the work of filling up the balloons if they weren't going to throw them?  Eventually, we realized she did not want to be hit by a water balloon.  Mason also did not take kindly to getting hit by water balloons.  In the end we had a family water fight where two of the members were allowed to throw balloons, but nobody could throw anything at them.  Needless to say, Mike and I got pretty wet.  By the end we were all using cups to scoop the water out of the pool and throw it at each other.  Abby then said it was acceptable to throw water at her from a cup so she ended up pretty soaked also.

 One night we let the kids stay up late and watch a show on Netflix in their "tree fort" (the playhouse part of the swing set).  They loved this and thought it was so fun to be outside.  Mason kept looking around with wide eyes and pointing things out like the wind and the streetlight ("Mommy, it's so dark and look over there.  It's a light!  On the street!")  Poor Carson got a sunburn.  I always have the boys wear their swim shirts, but he had taken his off earlier in the day.  It was probably only about twenty minutes and then we put sun screen on his back, but he still got pretty red.  Since then, he's much better about leaving on his shirt and not complaining about sunscreen.

I took the three big kids for dentist appointments.   It was Mason's first time and he was surprisingly resistant.  He's usually pretty excited to do "big kid" things, but he did not want to let the hygienist touch his teeth.  It took a lot of coaxing from her and I ,but eventually he did it.  I brought Elliot too and it was an adventure.  Everyone did great through the teeth cleanings, but when we had to wait for the dentist to consult with each child, things started to fall apart.  By the time it was Mason's turn Elliot was screaming, Mason was refusing to climb back onto the chair for the dentist to look at his teeth and the big kids were squished and antsy sharing a little chair waiting to be done.  The next kids were coming in for their appointments, it was crowded, loud, and hot.  I could feel myself starting to sweat as I tried to act like it was no big deal that I was holding Mason on my lap while the dentist looked at his teeth, my big kids asking when we were going to leave, and a random assistant who appeared out of nowhere  and bounced Elliot.  We made it though and everyone was happy to be out of there.  Mommy probably most of all.    

We made a summer bucket list and one of the things the kids wanted to do was go eat donuts at a speciality donut place down the street from us.  Carson started asking on day one of vacation if we could go, so I decided to take them and get that checked off.  The donuts are delicious, but I always feel a little bit of mom guilt when we go as I watch my children ingest donuts the size of their heads.  

Last Wednesday was Microsoft's take your child to work day.  You have to be seven to go, so Carson was the only child who qualified.  He was so excited to go with Mike.  He got up  early and put on his tshirt with stripes which is dressing up in his mind.  They had a lot of fun together and on the way home Mike took Carson mountain biking for the first time.  He wiped out a couple of times, but Mike said he did a great job and he loved it.  Mike is determined that at least one of the four kids will like mountain biking so he will have somebody to go with.

On the same day Mike took Carson to work, Abby and I were able to sneak in a little date.  We dropped the little boys off at my mom's for a couple hours and we had a picnic, rode scooters on a trail down to a milkshake place, and stopped at a couple of parks along the way.  It was so much fun to spend some time with my little girl and just enjoy being together.  

I love that little gap toothed grin.  

She lost her first tooth a couple days after the last day of school.  It had been so loose for a couple of days, but she wouldn't let anyone touch it.  Eventually it fell out while she was eating a rice cake and she accidentally swallowed it.  We wrote the tooth fairy the following letter,

"Dear Tooth Fairy, 

I swallowed my tooth.

Love, 

Abby"

The tooth fairy left money despite the lost tooth and Abby was thrilled.  

Enjoying our yummy milkshakes.  We stopped at a little old fashioned drive in that is known for it's shakes.  They probably had twenty flavors to choose from and Abby chose vanilla.  

We had a play date with some friends and Abby and her friend Kate couldn't believe that they had the same swimming suit.  

 We started celebrating the Fourth of July on the 3rd by joining some of our friends for a firework show.

Baby Elliot's first Fourth of July.  

The best picture of our four little firecrackers that I got.    

What most of the other pictures looked like.  Increasingly fake smiles on the older kids and Mason trying to play with the little flag.  

This little girl sure loves her baby brother.  She tells me all of the time that he is growing up way too fast and she just wants him to stay little and tiny.  

Elliot fell to sleep on the blanket and slept for a good portion of the night.  He even slept through all the fireworks in my arms.  We were worried that he would be fussy and crying, but he did awesome.  

Not my favorite picture of myself, but my friend captured this sweet, unscripted moment of us watching the fireworks.  Elliot was in my arms and we were leaned up against Mike's legs, Mason was on Mike's lap, and both big kids were snuggled up next to us.  It was one of those perfect moments where you just want to stop time for a little bit.   As crazy as my life feels to me sometime, I know that day will fast be here when my kids will grow up and have their own Fourth of July plans that do not include cuddling with their parents.  I just want to soak up all these moments now.  

On the actual 4th we went to the lake with some friends, but I didn't bring my camera, so I just have picture of the babies under the umbrella.  It was a lot of fun.  We got home about six and debated whether or not to join the same friends for some fireworks.  Our little boys were shot, so I offered to stay home with them and Mike took the kids out for some more Fourth of July fun.  I was a little bummed to miss out, but honestly staying at home was pretty nice.  Both of the baby boys passed out pretty early and I curled up in bed with a book enjoying the quietness of the house contrasted to the booming noises coming from outside.

Elliot and his girlfriend Kaylee.  

Today, we took the kids to the zoo.  It was fun, but by the end they were all tired and done.  I think the last few days have wore them out.

Watching the elephants.  

 Chillin with mommy in the shade.  This sweet little guy DOES not like the sun or being hot, so we try to keep him covered and cool.  Mason told me the other day, "Mommy, sun spots are not perfect.  Shade spots are perfect."  I think Elliot would agree with that.

Carson loves to photo bomb.  

Obligatory being ate by a shark photo.  

Comparing themselves to a two year old polar bear cub.

I'd say summer is off to a great start.  I love not having a schedule and having my kids with me, although certain activities like grocery shopping or basically anything that requires getting us all out of the door and somewhere, is a little bit crazy.  It's funny because we would often go to the store in the morning while Abby was home so it's really just adding one more kid to our errands, but somehow it seems like a lot.