Well, I won't dwell on the fact that there are some things about the summer that weren't exactly perfect: Namely the weather and the fact that labor day weekend is the first time all summer that we as a family will be traveling to the cabin. Yikes. But no, instead I choose to remember the great times we had this summer. These last two weeks were done in style. We had a few days of nothing on the schedule so the kids could just hang out at the house. But mostly we had to pack in all the things we wanted to make sure we did before the summer was done. I look at the list, and thankfully we did all the things we had to do, but did not do things we could do when it was winter. Last week, the big event was Valleyfair. It was a hot day, unlike last year, so we spent a few hours in the water park. Gwen was happy in the splash pad, and going around the lazy river. That's up my speed to at this point. Trevor went on all the roller coasters this year, and even the giant swing. Next year, he'll have to try Steel Venom when it is not closed for repairs and maybe the Power Tower. New for him this year was Wild Thing. To which he said, "was that supposed to be fast?" Good for him. He should ride those coasters while he can!
This week, we went to a friend's pool one day and the State Fair today. Both gave us some great memories. It was a hot day today, but luckily a friend gave us a great free giveaway and I never knew how many places had free water, as long as you had your own container. We ate everything we could, and barring any investigation by CPS due to lack of nutrition today, I think we had a great one! Cheese curds, mini doughnuts, frozen grapes, milk shakes, french fries (a LOT), chocolate chip cookies, lemonade, Icees, beer (for the adults), a giant pickle for Trevor, and there could have been more. We visited the Twins shop, the skyride, agriculture building, the cows, pigs, horses, sheep, giant slide, butterfly building (Gwen lasted 3 minutes because she couldn't take the things flying in the room), the maze, trampoline, and tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. Did I mention it was hot? Thankfully they had a lot of "mist-ers" out spraying people or blowing a fan with a mist-er on it. It was very nice. And we lasted 8+ hours. Gwen had a few piggy back rides, but really she did great walking around. No big complaints. Lots of smiles and good times! That was really the theme to the summer. Lots of smiles and great times!
This summer the family got to visit Dr. Johnson and family in South Dakota. The kids were excited to be in a new state for them. It was a lot of fun to see so many fireworks on the 4th of July. We got out to play golf on the small par 3 course by our house. I did not golf much at all this summer, but we had lots of fun other places. We visited the city pool a few times and had some great weather and not so great crowds. I was happy about that! Trevor got to camp and I didn't have to do anything except bring him to the place. He did not come home with a million mosquito bites, and he wants to do it again next year, so I'd say a success! There was a lot of baseball played, by both kids and I'm sure it will ramp up from here. Even Russ got in on the action when his Twin's Fantasy camp reunion game was played last weekend at Target Field. Trevor got to really see him pitch and pitched himself on the very mound that the Twins also pitch off of. It was a great experience for everyone!
Although Trevor says he's not happy that summer vacation is coming to a close, I think there is a part of him that will be happy to see his classmates again. He knows that with summer ending, comes winter and cold and says he doesn't like the cold. We'll see. Next summer will be here again before you know it. And with the kids having little tastes of fun things to do in the summer, I know we'll be doing a lot more of this summer, in the future summers. But for now, I too am happy for school to be starting. I love that I'm going to have time to volunteer more at the kids' school, and get a better idea of what I can do with my time having them at school. So we'll see what this next change brings. Hopefully lots more fun to come!
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Friday, August 2, 2013
One month to go
We have one month left of Summer vacation. This month will be remarkably less busy than the other two months. Baseball is done for both kids. Gwen was happy to be done playing with the boys. She did really well and I think it really helped her get a feel for being pitched to. She can usually get a hit, and did the last few games of her season. Trevor wrapped up his season just two weeks ago. Unfortunately they didn't get any hardware, but played their hearts out. He was a bit disappointed that he didn't get to pitch in the playoff games, but his last game, he played 1st base the entire time, and I have a feeling that is where his calling is. The kid knows the rules of the game and loves getting the opposing players out because they turn the wrong way off of first base.
Last week we had their team party at a local park. It really was good to get together one last time with these people. I hope to have the same experience this year at hockey. I only wish it would be under warmer circumstances.
Also this week, the kids were for the first time in Camp Kota. I had heard good things about it, but decided that this year both kids would try it out. I had thought it would be a great fit for Trevor, but not sure about Gwen. Turns out she loved it, and was very upset that she wasn't old enough to do the overnight outdoor camping experience that Trevor did. Although Trevor had a cold all week, he still made it through and said he wants to do it again next year. That week was the most time I had by myself all summer, and will be for the rest of the summer as well. So count that as a win for everyone!
We have already gone to get the kids school supplies, so we are well on our way to being ready for school. There are a few family or group activities that we have yet to cross off our annual summer list of things to do.
Oh...one thing I do have to document. Gwen had her end of the season golf event a few Fridays ago. Although Trevor was not in golf league this year, I asked and he could come to the event if he wanted. They play a few games and such, so he said he would come along. I honestly don't know what had gotten into Gwen but right away she started whining and yelling at me. Before finishing the first game, I explained that if she did it again, we were going home. Sure enough, she continued, so that meant we were going home. Once she realized that I was serious, an all out temper tantrum ensued. She was on the ground kicking and screaming. Trevor was looking at her dumbfounded. I know the entire golf course was looking over at us. I finally got her to walk, although she did not stop screaming. Trevor thought we were just going to move to the next game, but I explained to him that we were done. So home we came, and after she had calmed down, I think she too didn't know where that came from. I know kids do things like that, and I know it does happen a lot in the 2-3 year old range, but I'm trying to think of a time where she EVER did something like this before and I can't. She can usually calm herself down to the point of at least quietly pouting somewhere. Regardless, that day was shot for things to do. So we just hung out at home.
So here's hoping for the last month of summer to be actually summer like! Cheers!
Last week we had their team party at a local park. It really was good to get together one last time with these people. I hope to have the same experience this year at hockey. I only wish it would be under warmer circumstances.
Also this week, the kids were for the first time in Camp Kota. I had heard good things about it, but decided that this year both kids would try it out. I had thought it would be a great fit for Trevor, but not sure about Gwen. Turns out she loved it, and was very upset that she wasn't old enough to do the overnight outdoor camping experience that Trevor did. Although Trevor had a cold all week, he still made it through and said he wants to do it again next year. That week was the most time I had by myself all summer, and will be for the rest of the summer as well. So count that as a win for everyone!
We have already gone to get the kids school supplies, so we are well on our way to being ready for school. There are a few family or group activities that we have yet to cross off our annual summer list of things to do.
Oh...one thing I do have to document. Gwen had her end of the season golf event a few Fridays ago. Although Trevor was not in golf league this year, I asked and he could come to the event if he wanted. They play a few games and such, so he said he would come along. I honestly don't know what had gotten into Gwen but right away she started whining and yelling at me. Before finishing the first game, I explained that if she did it again, we were going home. Sure enough, she continued, so that meant we were going home. Once she realized that I was serious, an all out temper tantrum ensued. She was on the ground kicking and screaming. Trevor was looking at her dumbfounded. I know the entire golf course was looking over at us. I finally got her to walk, although she did not stop screaming. Trevor thought we were just going to move to the next game, but I explained to him that we were done. So home we came, and after she had calmed down, I think she too didn't know where that came from. I know kids do things like that, and I know it does happen a lot in the 2-3 year old range, but I'm trying to think of a time where she EVER did something like this before and I can't. She can usually calm herself down to the point of at least quietly pouting somewhere. Regardless, that day was shot for things to do. So we just hung out at home.
So here's hoping for the last month of summer to be actually summer like! Cheers!
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