Sidewalk Talk

Yesterday after Mike came home from work, the kids were riding their bikes on the sidewalk out front, and Bennett was playing church. He would ride up the sidewalk, park his bike at the base of the steps, and sit next to me on the bottom step. He called out, "Annalise, come to church!!" She said, "what are you doing at church?" "Saying stuff and singing." Annalise opted to not attend.

What do we like to do?

When I try to remember 2009 years and years from now, I know I won't remember the day to day activities that filled our summer days. I love how simply the kids are entertained, and wanted to record for prosperity some of our favorite things to do right now. On Friday night as I tucked Annalise into bed, I asked what she would like to do on Saturday. Her answers were swimming in the pools in the backyard, and listening to "our Raffi music" on the computer. The kids can spend all morning just lying on the floor of the office, listening to the Car Music for Kids mix I made for them on iTunes, which is made up of Raffi, Lauri Berkner, the soundtracks from Ratatouille and Stand by Me, Jack Johnson, and some of Mike's golden oldies from the 50's. Something else I recently discovered, which keeps them occupied and thoroughly entertained for a long time is watching clips of musicals/showtunes on you tube. They watched Make 'em Laugh from Singin' in the Rain (the bonk one, as B refers to it) over and over and over... and laughed hysterically every time. Today the kids have eaten breakfast and watched you tube. The rest of my proclaimed Laundry/Stay at Home day has been comprised of playing with the transportation box, listening to Annalise read us books, and now (late, late, late) it is lunchtime.

Recent Upswing (in house showings)

It's been pointed out to me that my blog has suffered with the advent of facebook (something I'm quite aware of already), so I am going to make an effort to write shorter, more frequent posts, with or without pictures.

We had such a nice Saturday! Mom and Dad came over, and picked up A and B for a sleepover at their house. This was arranged so we could have some quality time with adults (?), or at least with Eric, Katie, Chad, and Karen. Katie and Eric were splendid hosts of a lovely dinner and evening of beer pong and tippy cup (can you see why I questioned our adulthood?) We picked the kids up on Sunday around lunchtime, and rushed home to prepare for a house showing. In our rush to get home, we forgot Teddy, fish blanket, Bennett's teddy bear (currently being called J-Jo), and the rest of their suitcase contents. Today, the kids and I went to the zoo for a quick loop through the outside trail to see the Africa exhibit. Then we stopped at Sonic for a cherry slushie on our way to PL to pick up our bedtime essentials and say hello to Grandpa. Then, we had to rush home to prepare for another showing!! How weird is that!

Misc.

I hope everyone is enjoying the heat wave! Since I last checked in, we had another two ice skating lessons, two house showings, two weddings, and an anniversary party in Wisconsin. Skating lessons remain quite entertaining for Mike, Colin and me to watch, and A and B are enjoying their time on the ice. For this week's lesson, they got to wear their new hockey helmets, and felt really cool. Now they just need hockey jerseys.

The two weddings on a Friday night is not something we'd like to revisit anytime soon. We failed to secure a babysitter in time, so Mike went to the social hour following the first wedding (Todd and Emily's, which was at 3:00!) and fought rush hour traffic to come home and pick me up after babysitter Sharon came over at 5. We then missed the second wedding ceremony, but made it to the rest of the festivities for Joel and Shayna's wedding, with Colin in tow.

Saturday was a busy morning, preparing the house for potential showings (there were none) while we were in Wisconsin for the rest of the weekend, for my cousin Scott and Barb's surprise 25th anniversary party. Sunday included a drive home from Marshfield, WI as well as a stop at Chipotle to celebrate Father's Day Mike-style. Annalise's plan for daddy included burritos, beer, and blueberry pie, but the pie is having some difficulty being realized, as I packed the food processor away in the decluttering process, and can't imagine making the pie crust by hand.

Annalise has been attending a 4 day music and drama class at SW high school through community ed. She is such a big girl, going into the high school by herself, and eating her lunch outside under a tree with just her best friend Alma for company. The boys and I went to a nearby park yesterday after dropping A off. Bennett enjoyed the wading pool while Colin napped in the stroller. We need to buy a new baby pool for the back yard- that is something that really needed to happen yesterday.

Future Realtors?

The kids have been so good since the house has gone on the market. They are so understanding when I run around picking up and hand brushing the carpet behind me up the stairs, and have been really good at going with the flow. I think it might be getting to Annalise though: today I came up the stairs and caught her looking out the front window to the sidewalk below. She was watching a couple walking their dog past our house. She cupped her hands against the closed window and cried, "take a flyer, take a flyer..." as they strolled by!

We were at our first fastpitch tournament this weekend in St. Charles, Minnesota. It was at a beautiful city park, with plenty of shade and park equipment, and a good concession stand. We stayed overnight Saturday at a Springhill Suites (Marriot) in Rochester, which Annalise can't stop mentioning. Mike's aunt Edith stopped by the hotel on Saturday night to chat, and also came to the game on Sunday to watch Mike play, and spend some time with the kids.

Annalise and Bennett started the summer session of ice skating lessons on Tuesday evening. B's first lesson went very well, although he could have used some mittens, since he HATES touching cold things. He avoided putting his hands on the ice to help get himself up on his feet again after taking a spill. Too bad I packed all the winter wear in the storage pod- who knew?

A and B have had two days of Book Buddies, and are really enjoying the class, not to mention each other's company. A class for three to five year olds was such a great find! Colin has been getting lots of attention, and loving being held in child care, and I have been enjoying my chai and newspaper, as well as a haircut the first Friday, and shopping at Williams Sonoma last week.

Baby in a Wagon

Is there anything cuter than a baby in a wagon?

Something clicked!

Monday was Bennett's last session of swimming lessons at Foss. This was the first time he took swimming, and really did a great job. He was also very vocal (I know it's hard to imagine!) about what he did NOT want to do- which was put his face under water. Then all of a sudden, during the course of his last 30 minute lesson, he started SWIMMING!! On his own, by himself, completely submerged, all without any urging or cajoling. I was so proud!

End of an Era

Annalise is no longer a preschooler! She is very, very excited that she is now a Kindergartener. Above is a photo of Annalise from the spring program where she played a cow in "Bushel and a Peck" (she cut out the cow (?) ears herself), and at the door of school, leaving for the last time this school year. It's been really nice having her home with us so far, but we've been unusually busy, so we'll have to get calmed back down and into a bit more of a routine, and then I'll tell you how it's going.