Summer Busyness

It’s no wonder that the summer months fly by so quickly. I don’t think that I could pack anything more into a day than I have been lately. We’ve had dentist appointments and doctor appointments. We’ve had play dates and outings. Leah and Caleb have also been enjoying vacation bible school all week.

Last week, Leah, Caleb and I all had a dentist appointment. Rod was originally supposed to be a part of the outing, but I had to change his appointment because of the new job. The plan was to switch Alissa from one parent to the other so that she wouldn’t have to be a part of the appointment, but since it was just me and the kids, she had to go too. She was actually really good during the appointment and sat relatively quite in her stoller. Everyone did really well at the dentist. Leah unfortunately does have another cavity. Luckily this one is very small and can be filled at our regular dentist and he will not need to drill. The dentist explained that Leah has very deep groves in her molar teeth and she will likely always have problems with cavities in her baby teeth. Luckily, sealants will solve this problem for her permanent teeth. Leah was very unhappy to hear that the sugar bugs had eaten a hole in her tooth. I explained to her that mommy and daddy have both had cavities too and it made her feel better.

Alissa had her 15 month appointment on Tuesday of this week. She is doing great. She gained 2 lbs and grew 1 ½ inches since her 12 month appointment. They were really surprised about how much bigger she had gotten. I told Rod that I wasn’t, because when she was 12 months old she still felt like a baby and in the last couple of months she has turned into a big girl. Now she is a full fledged toddler! It’s sad to mommy.

This week we also went to Slate Run Park just south of Columbus. We went with Stephanie, Noah, Rachel and Nathaniel and some others from their church. I never even realized this park existed, but it was a very nice park and they had a living historical farm. At first this didn’t sound that interesting to me since I grew up on a farm and I wasn’t exactly sure what this all entailed. It ended up being a really neat place to visit and it was all free. We were able to tour the farm which had all typical the farm animals; cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, turkey, ducks, and horses. We went through the barns and pet the animals. They also had people dressed up in 18th century garb and they had men sheathing wheat with a horse operated machine. You were able to tour the old farmhouse, the smoke house, and the other outbuildings. The also had a huge garden and they let the kids clean beans that they were picking. There was the old water pump which the kids loved.

Leah loved all the animals and she really wanted to make friends with this chicken.

Leah petting one of the horses.

Alissa checking out the sheep.

Filling buckets at the water pump.

Caleb relaxing on the hammock beside the house.

All the kids love the swing hanging from the tree.

Heading home.

Crazy Week

I haven’t forgotten about this blog, things have been so crazy for the beginning of July. I can’t believe that it’s already July 10th. Last week our main TV died and the evening before we left for our 4th of July camping trip we were our running to multiple stores trying to decided on which new TV to buy. We hadn’t exactly budgeted for a new TV, but going without a TV upstairs is really not an option either. We did buy a new TV and then stayed up figuring everything out.

Friday morning we woke up and from that moment on it was non-stop crazy getting everything ready for camping. We went camping up near Lake Erie. It was a very nice private camp ground. It wasn’t right on the lake, but they had 3 pools and a nice splash area for the kids. The kids spent a lot of time swimming and even though it was cool a couple of days and they were shivering with blue lips, they had a great time and didn’t want to get out. During our stay we went to a public beach on the lake to see fireworks. I didn’t realize that the fireworks were going to be on the beach so I bathed the kids before fireworks so that we got back to the camper it was straight to bed. However, keeping the kids out of all the sand was completely impossible and sand was everywhere including in Alissa’s diaper and she had a sleeper on! It turned out to be a great way for the kids to past time waiting for the fireworks to start. After just a couple of fireworks, Alissa decided that the sand was better than fireworks so we couldn’t get her to stop playing in the sand to watch.

Alissa and Caleb in the pool. Alissa actually loved the pool this time!

Trying out the splash ground.
Leah and Rachel swimming
Alissa on the play ground

Alissa loving the sand beach waiting for fireworks

Caleb lighting his own fireworks

Leah and Alissa sitting with me watching fireworks

On Sunday we took the ferry to Put-In-Bay. It was a first time experience for the kids and I. We spent the day on the Island where we went to the Butterfly house, Perry’s cave, and the winery. We also played a very short round of mini golf since Caleb had a break down after 2 holes, Leah got hit in the nose with a fly away ball around the 5th hole and Alissa was running around the green in everyone’s way. We ended up sitting out the rest of the game.

Checking out the butterfly house

Mini golf while it lasted

Overall we had a great time and thanks to Adam and Steph for making two trips with their van to make sure that we got to do everything too.

To add to our crazy week, we got back from camping on Monday afternoon a half hour later than planned because we missed our road. I guess we really do need a GPS! We unpacked the camper and tried to relax. Rod was stressing about starting his new job the next day. On his first day, he didn’t go in until 8:30 am. It made for a long day because he is used to being in by 7. His day went pretty well and when he left at 5:30 pm I called to tell him that interstate 70 was completely shut down. He ended up having to take an alternative route and he didn’t get home until after 7. Luckily he has been able to go in at 7:00 now, but he doesn’t get off until 4 because he has to take an hour lunch, he only took a half hour before. It’s not a big deal, just a bit of an adjustment for both of us. I have to get used to him getting home a bit later and dealing with the kids longer while I am trying to get dinner ready. He is beginning to learn about what is expected of him at the new job and finding some co-workers willing to help him out. This job has much less structure than his old one and he is responsible for finding his own assignments and researching them on his own. It will be a big adjustment, but I am sure Rod will do great. He also has an office with this job, but unfortunately it doesn’t have any windows.

I am hoping that next week is a bit less crazy. Leah and Caleb will be going to VBS every night next week and then we have another camping trip planned for the following weekend.

Summer is flying by

I can't believe that this is the last day of June! This month has flown by so quickly and I really want the summer months to slow down. I am trying my best to enjoy every moment, but it doen't seem to make it slow down in the least. I know that each age and each stage that the kids grow through is special, but right now I am really enjoying the current stages of my children. Plus, I am a little apprehensive about moving on to the next stage. Leah will start kindergarten this fall, Caleb starts preschool and Alissa is quickly moving out of being my little baby. I've been trying to collaborate with Rod on how I can keep them at this age, but he is absolutely no help! Since I can't keep them at this age, I am trying to enjoy every minute of the summer and trying to be optomistic about what lays ahead.

We have had a lot going on this summer. We've been camping, visiting family, story time at the library, and going on play dates. We also have a lot to look forward to for the rest of this summer.

Here are some pictures with some of our June fun!

Fun in the Pool

Time with friends

Hanging out at home

Alissa's Eyes

Today was Alissa's eye doctor appointment. I had to reschedule after I messed up the appointment in May by not knowing which side of town the office was located. Even though I rescheduled, I had planned on cancelling because I didn't want to drive to the west side of town for the appointment. Me and my forgetfulness; surprise, I didn't remember I had the appointment until I checked the answering machine on Sunday night telling me the appointment was Monday morning at 8:45 am. I decided to keep the appointment and take all the kids with me.

Everything went surprisingly well. All the kids were very well behaved and the appointment went surprisingly fast. For those of you who need some background information, at Alissa's one year check up the pediatrician thought that I should take her to see an eye doctor because she thought that one eye may not have been focusing correctly. According to the eye doctor, Alissa has what is known as pseudostrabismus. A big long word to say that she doesn't really have anything wrong with her eyes. I guess that Alissa can have the appearance that one eye is going cross and not focusing only because of her facial structure. He said it's because of the folds of skin around her eye and how her eyes are set. It's not very noticeable because I never thought that she looked cross eyed. I guess though, as her face matures that this illusion will also go away completely as well. We're just happy that there is nothing wrong with her beautiful eyes!

A cute girl and a bath tub picture too! (So they'll hate me later in life!)

Camping Fun

This week we went to Mohican Campground. This is one of our family’s favorite campgrounds. It also happens to be many other’s favorite because it is difficult to get a site on the weekend and during the week is very busy too. We choose to go during the week so that we could get the site that we wanted. The site was at the end of a cal-de-sac. It was perfect to let the kids ride bikes and play at the camp site without worries.

We had a great time and had great weather most of the time. The kids were able to make friends with some of the neighboring camps. Leah spent a lot of time in bike races with the boy next door. Leah and Caleb both love the river, but as soon as Rod put Alissa’s feet in the water she screamed. She wanted little to do with the river. After that when we would set her down near the river she would start screaming. However, finally she decided it wasn’t too bad to look at as long as she didn’t get wet.

We knew that the big thing there was to ride down the river in inner tubes, but we didn’t take on with us. However after we got there we decided that Leah and Caleb would probably enjoy it so we decided to go and buy one at the camp store. First Rod took Leah down. She was very excited to go, but then decided that it was a little scary and that she didn’t like the cold water. Rod said that she spent much of the time trying to crawl on top of his head to get out of the water. Then, Caleb and I went down. He wasn’t so sure about it at first, but soon decided that he loved it. We had a good time and he spent a lot of time laughing at me when I hit a rock and hurt myself! Later, Rod and I swapped children and I took Leah down. She had a much better time the second time. She knew what she was getting into and we had a long talk about how the water wasn’t too cold and it wasn’t any different than getting into the pool.

Mohican also has a pool. Leah is finally learning how to doggy paddle and she is getting a little more adventurous when it comes to the pool. She is the one who would have spent hours at the pool. Caleb liked jumping in, but he doesn’t quite have the doggy paddle down yet and he gets bored with the whole idea very quickly. Alissa and I went over to the baby pool. Alissa hated the water there too. It really wasn’t very cold, but she was scared and didn’t want much to do with it. I gave her a few toys, but it only helped a very little bit. However, she sure did look cute in here bathing suit and hat! The second day that we went to the pool, Alissa still hated the baby pool, but decided that it wasn’t too bad to sit on the edge of the big pool and splash with her feet.

Overall it was a great camping experience and we all had a lot of fun. Rod was even able to squeeze in some fishing. Although after we went to bed on our last night there, it started raining and he couldn’t go fishing the last morning because it was still raining when we woke up. The rain made quite a bit of noise on the camper roof and Leah asked what it was. Rod told her that there was a bunch of angry squirrels throwing acorns at us. Leah wasn’t so sure about that. Later when it was barely sprinkling, the kids went out to play. Leah came back in shortly after and needed to tell daddy that it was rain on the roof, not coconuts! It cleared up enough that we got to go on a bike ride, a short hike and a walk in the river the morning before we left.

First Camping Trip of the Season

We went on our first camping trip of the season this weekend! The kids had a count down the entire week before. We had to work out a few bugs with the camper the week before which ended with us buying a couple of new batteries for it. We’re just glad that everything seems to be working well now.

We went to Dillion state park. We’d never been there before and it’s only about 40 minutes from our house. The park turned out to be very nice and our sites were nicely spaced and had lots of nice trees. There was a small play ground down the hill from where we were at and the park has a large lake and a small splash pool for the kids.

Rod’s parents were on the neighboring campsite with their nice new camper which was the excitement for all the kids. Both nights the kids were begging to go to bed. Why is it that we only here that when we go camping and usually only the first couple of times?

We had a really nice time and the weather was great. Caleb discovered that he doesn’t like going down hills on his bike after a small crash with no real injury, but it still scared him to death. Alissa discovered camping again for the first time since she doesn’t remember last year. She hated camping last year, but this year she is everywhere including in the middle of the street! Leah discovered that she still really enjoys camping and that it was sad when anyone left, including when we left.

Dinner Time

After hours of begging to go to bed, it's finally bed time!

Cousins hanging out!

Fun at the pool.

Going down the hill again. The day after the fall.

All tired out.

On the farm

We went for a visit to my Dad's last weekend and this is the first time that we've been there since the weather has turned warmer and things are in bloom. It's also the first visit we've had there since the baby cows and baby kittens were born. All these things make the visit to the farm very exciting for the kids. Leah generally spends more time in the house than outside, but not this weekend. She spent a lot of her time in the barn. At first we couldn't find the kitten so she decided to visit the cows. She spent some time in the barnyard, but she like the cows in the barn best. She decided to name them all after the princesses and then she feed them hay. No one had the heart to tell her that those were the ones that were next in line to be taken off to the butcher shop, but Rod did tell her that she might want to pick different cows to make her pets. She didn't understand any of it though.

For Caleb, he’ll look at the cows for a few minutes, but he spends the whole weekend trying to get someone to take him to the tractors. This weekend, my dad took the tractor in the field to fix the fence and Caleb got to drive us back there. Leah, Rod and I rode the wagon (Alissa slept through the whole event and even missed the earlier event of moving the cows down the road to pasture). Caleb also got to drive the loader which he does by himself and makes him think he is big stuff. The kids spent most of the time we were there outside into everything and eventually even Alissa joined in the fun, riding bikes and visiting the cows.

Finally a few hours before it was time to go, I found the mother cat and decided to watch her because knew that I could find the kitten that way. Jean had told Leah about the kitten when they came down for her birthday party and Leah remembered and it was the first thing she wanted to do when we got there. I knew that she would be disappointed if we didn’t find it, plus I am a sucker for baby kittens too; daughter like mother. I did find the kitten. There was only one and it was tiny and white. Very cute. Leah was so excited to hold it and was ready to take it home. Jean told her that it was too little to leave it’s mother. Leah had a solution. She decided that her cat from home (which came from dad’s last year) would become the kitten’s mother. She didn’t get what she wanted, but she really enjoyed holding it and loving it while we were there.