The First Week of Summer

I'm pretty behind on blogging so I will try to catch up soon. Instead, here is what we have been doing for the first two weeks of summer!

The day after school got out, I left early in the morning to go to Corsicana to Scrappin' Goodtime to scrapbook all weekend with GG. I love scrap booking all of the pictures I take of the kids and love being crafty. The last time we went was February 2016, before Everly was born. So, now that she is almost weened, I went for the long weekend.  So, to explain, this is a scrapbook store and retreat in 1. There is a fabulous store and attached is a big room with 15 6 foot tables arranged so that you can setup and work. They provide outlets, a light and shelf with each table. Then, when you leave that room, you walk down the hall to 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and some bedrooms. Each bedroom has 2, 3 or 4 beds. So, you sleep there and scrap and shop away all the time. This is our 4th time to ever go to this place and the first two times, it was pretty packed. But, the last time we went there were only 6 people and this time there were only 3 people! Woohoo! We could spread out and scrapbook everywhere while we watched anything we wanted on TV. It was great! We spent the entire TV time watching romantic comedies and then some Dick Van Dyke Show and some Parenthood and then binge watched Call the Midwife. And side note - that show is so good! Here's some pictures of some of my pages I got done (I was super productive and got bunches done; I love being crafty and productive!) and a little tour of the place.

 

So, Vic watched all 3 kids for the first time and said it was great! They played, they swam, they rode bikes, they took a nature walk, they had Chris and Olivia over, and they watched movies each night on Netflix. He is super dad!

So, we had a great time and I came back Monday, the 29th ready to start summer. On Tuesday, we lounged all day. I was exhausted from staying up way too late at the retreat every night. I'm talking until like 5am. That place is bright and you get setup and working away and you don't even realize what the outside world is like...or when it's dark. And the kids must have felt my vibe, because we didn't do a thing that day. On Wednesday, we went to the park and played with the Meiers. On Thursday morning, we took our first swim at the Rock Prairie pool (which had zero people when we arrived and we had the pool to ourselves for the first 15 minutes) and after rest time, we went to the library to sign up for the Summer Reading Program.

Let me just tell you a few things about that day. First, the pool was not too hard with 3 kids. Atticus & Grace had their puddle jumper and life vest on so they were comfortable and safe. And I thought Everly might just hang out in the shallow zero-entry area and splash. But, no. She crawled and crawled right into the water each time. She loved that water! She splashed and played and really preferred that I NOT pick her up to keep her from getting too deep. And at the library, the kids were so funny. Atticus was really wanting "Jack and Annie" books (Magic Treehouse) but the library was completely out of them. They are pretty popular and he actually has 1-8 at home. But, there are tons! And we have been reading them at night and the kids now ask that we use "Atticus and Grace" instead of Jack and Annie when we read. And they correct you every time you forget to replace the names while you are reading! I think that's perfect! Anyways, after he couldn't get Jack and Annie books, he chose...wait for it...more animal and dinosaur non-fiction books. He just loves learning and he has a few great non-fiction dinosaur and animal books that we have read so many times. But, of course, he needed more. Grace, on the other hand, found a Fancy Nancy book, a Scooby Doo book, and one called Gracie. However, the book Gracie was about a little girl whose parents were divorced and how she split her time with them. I probably should have read that one before I let her get it. I hid it before I read it out loud to her and she hasn't thought about it since. So, our summer reading program has started. And actually, Atticus started a list right before Kindergarten to fill up by reading 100 books this summer. The kids really love books right now. Everly is super into opening and closing them. Grace will read them to herself and make up the stories. And Atticus actually reads them! Many times, I will go into Everly's room, where the bookshelf is, and there are books pulled out everywhere and one or more kids are reading or looking through them. I'm glad! I love to read and want them to also! Even I checked out 3 books. Now why did I do that? I never have time to read!

 Cooking out on Memorial Day, right after I got back from Corsicana.

 Oh you know - just a normal day!

I've instituted a quiet time each day when Everly naps and since they don't usually fall asleep, I have told them this is their mandatory TV time. So, we have been going through all of our movies and watching a different one each day. They drag out everything from their beds to get comfortable in the living room. I have loved watching Atticus use this neck pillow every time!

 And Everly is cruising around and getting into everything!

Pool time!

Anyways, that was pretty much our first week of vacation. For Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I'll blog it next, because it is Kirsten and Jonathan's Wedding Weekend!

"Scwap"booking and GG

GG came in August for a visit to help us with kids while we did swim lessons and to just for fun! We did a lot of the usual - visiting, playing, shopping, and taking pictures! The funniest thing was when we started scrapbooking one night, Atticus decided he needed to scrapbook too. I truly thought he would be interested for about 5 minutes, but no. He wanted to keep scrapbooking. He wanted to use all the tools, even though some are not toddler appropriate, and I think he really liked putting pictures and stickers and paper down. He did his very own pages one night of he and his friend Austin picking strawberries and then he helped GG a couple other nights scrapbook his birthday party. I think part of it was fun because it gave him a reason to stay up longer at night, but he also just likes doing anything with GG! And here are a couple of bonus pictures too!