Summer Fun Done

As summer draws to a close we are faced with wrapping up the last few items from our Summer Fun List with the kids. Sure there are technically three more weeks but with the boys starting Kindergarten we are effectively in the fall, thinking about pumpkins, Halloween, and hot cider as we sweat in the ninety degree heat.


August began with a huge rainfall that had me dashing out into the yard, wading through shin-deep puddles and trying to fix our sump pump exterior drain as hail pelted me in the head and bare feet. I returned inside, soaked, and greeted by the boys who had gone into the basement and gotten as much emergency gear as they could to help me out.


Soon we found ourselves at Target buying the most insanely specific set of back to school supplies including things I had never imagined even existed such as pre-sharpened pencils. Why buy a dozen unsharpened pencils for $0.34 when you can get them sharpened for just $6.99?


Back at home a family of Coopers Hawks (which previously I thought was just the name of a restaurant) have taken up residence in our yard. This explains why we haven't seen any rabbits this summer. That and the fact that a family of raccoons also decided to call our yard home as well. Thankfully the raccoons have been persuaded to go elsewhere before they took up residence in our attic as seems to be fairly common around here.


We also took the boys to their first baseball game with Grandad. They are still talking about it and we are still required to play baseball in the yard daily to reenact the game we saw in an alternate reality where the home team actually wins and the River Bandits lose in disgrace.


Much to Elliott's delight we also hit the paddle boats before they closed down for the season. This has not prevented them from asking about going back to the paddle boats again every day since.


We also hit some Pokemon Go raids as a group where Martin and Elliott boasted to the hordes of twenty-somethings about their impressive stable of Pokemon that they have caught.


We also went back for our annual trip to the Renaissance Fair which is always a hit. Every year the weather gets better, we stay longer, and the boys have fewer meltdowns. I'm sure this will all be for naught as soon as we bring Josie into the mix on our annual trip and all hell breaks loose.


We made it to Centennial Beach on the exact last day of the season which was nowhere near as busy as we thought it would be. We got to get a great swim in before retiring our flotation devices for the season.


Josie took extra care before we went to the beach by making sure she lathered up Baba for some fun in the sun.


Soon after Josie began her first day in her new classroom which went over very smoothly.


The boys got to attend their Kindergarten preview and set up their rooms for the school year.


Back at home we were having a drainage system installed so that we could avoid future flooding, hail-related toe injuries, and save Martin and Elliot the trouble of haivng to suit up to assist me by running around the house screaming as I redirect pipes in the yard.


The first day of school was a huge hit. On my first day of kindergarten I was fine until a girl in my class, Chelsea, lost it and fell on the floor screaming at her mother. I remember thinking that she must know something I don't know then I became very emotional.

On the boys' first day of kindergarten I was also fine, that is until I saw the other parents sobbing and I once again wondered what they knew that I didn't and I too became emotional.

The circle is now complete.


The boys are both doing extremely well with their new pedal bikes. They picked it up right away and have gotten by with only minor crash-related injuries. I've been more concerned about what will happen if one of then careens into Josie as she gets used to her balance bike.


Jen flew out of the country for four days and I got to experience dropping off and picking up the kids from school every day which was a lot of fun. It's amazing how fast six hours goes by. It doesn't leave one with time to do very much. I can only imagine what the parents of half day kindergarteners would have done in the past.


The school organized a 5k race which went right by our house and we were able to go watch it on Saturday morning and cheer on the participants as they ran past.


After a failed nap attempt for Josie we all went to the park where the boys insisted on dressing like Mario and Luigi for unknown reasons.


They also befriended some extremely friendly middle-schoolers who were fishing.


The fishing kids were so nice and they showed all three of the kid show to fish, let them all try it, and even gave them some lures to take home as a souveneir.


When Jen was away Josie decided that she would sleep in "Daddy's Bed." This is the nest of spare duvets that I keep beside her crib when I or Jen inevitably end up sleeping in her room to get her back to sleep in the middle of the night.


On Sunday we all went to the boys' friend's house for her birthday party.


It had been planned as an outdoor party but with some raid the kids all ended up in the basement watching Moana in an amazing home theater setup. Needless to say no one complained about this, particularly the parents who all hung out in the bar which was conveniently located adjacent to the movie theater.

To make things even better it cleared up as soon as the movie was over and everyone played outside for the remainder of the party.

With summer wrapping up we gear up for fall. Elliott is already excited for his favorite holiday, Halloween. Martin is ready for colder weather which is more conducive to playing hockey. Josie, she's just ready to wreak havoc in yet another season.

Dirty Nelson

August is nearly behind us. Another mild summer is coming to a close. I'm thankful for the temperate weather. It would figure that the first two summers of my life living with central air conditioning are two of the summers that I've needed it the least.


We took the kids to a concert at the Morton Arboretum for their summer concert series. There was a giant squirrel there that intrigued and frightened the boys. I guess it's possible it was a man in a squirrel costume but either way it was alarming.


Josephine has really begun enjoying her crinkle giraffe though silky scarves still remain her number one most fun experience.


On a fairly hot and humid day, given the temperate nature of this summer, Lauren developed a pregnancy craving for Fettuccine Alfredo. Against my better judgment I cooked up a big pot and we ate it outside as if it were burgers and hot dogs.



Grandad returned from an outing to Kalamazoo to visit Auntie Lisa with a selection of delicious donuts and stopped by to let the boys each pick one, thus ruining their lunch. What else are grandparents for? Or aunts? Or parents?


Josie has been smiling almost nonstop for the past month. She smiles primarily at Mummy, then at her sheep mobile, then -- in distant third place -- Daddy.


The other day, while having dinner, we heard the unmistakable sound of an ice cream truck. The boys always ask what the sound is and we usually play dumb. Living on a cul de sac we never really get any trucks down our street, so why get their hopes up. This night, however, I could hear them making the turn and I dashed out front to stop the truck and the boys' minds were blown.


The day care summer picnic also happened which meant hot dogs, chips, and a tumble in an enormous bouncy house with dozens of other children. This sounds like a recipe for disaster but it ended surprisingly well with very few ill children and no blunt force head trauma.


The night ended with some more frozen treats. The average amoutn of frozen treats they have consumed this summer is approximately five per day.


Martin has created an alter ego named Dirty Nelson and he often changes into him while singing his new single, Hey, Don't Hurt Me.


The farm share has continued, though our documentation of it, along with our utilization of its ingredients, has been lackluster at best.


One Saturday, after work, we set up a tent and me and the boys camped in the backyard.



We made hot dogs and baked beans in the fire pit and then slept all night in the tent in the backyard. We got to sleep around midnight but Elliott had a bit of a cough which kept him up. Overall I was not expecting it to go as well as it did. They kept trying to make a break for it and run back int the house but eventually gave up and we had a good time camping out.



The next morning we started another fire and baked cinnamon rolls in the fire pit, encased in grapefruit skins.


We also got our first tomato of the year. It also happened to be the ugliest tomato of the year, perhaps of all time.





The boys have had a blast playing in the studio. This usually means they play with guitars for a little bit, then Elliott uses a güiro to poke at some boxes. He believes this to accurately simulate what it looks like when someone robs a bank. Then I pick him up and toss him into the jail we've made out of their old playpen walls. He promises not to rob the jail again. I let him out and he does it again.

He can play this game for an infinite amount of time without getting bored.


They had their last day at the Beginners classroom this month, and begun tthe new Intermediates classroom the following week.


We took them out for a celebratory dinner and ice cream adventure.


Josephine also rolled over for the first time but neither of us saw it. A few days later Jen saw it happen but I have still not witnessed it. I have, however, recorded lots of video of her not rolling over, just like I did with her two brothers.





For Doug's birthday we made a summer feast. Compared to what we've been having lately it was very nice. There was Sriracha crab salad in grilled avocados, jerk grilled spatchcock chicken, pimientos de Padron, and tomato feta salad.

It's nice to have time to make something more exciting than pasta for dinner.


I made shields for both of them out of cardboard and they think they are just about the best things since their foam swords. Elliott will only use it when he has on his gardening gloves, and usually his boots for authenticity. They spend about seventy-five percent of their waking hours pretending to be knights. The other twenty-five is spent pretending to be jedis.


Last Wednesday I had to say goodbye to the boys as I wouldn't see them again until Monday night. We left on Friday morning for our trip to Washington D.C.


We too the baby with us and Josephine got to have her first plane ride. She has now spent quality time in Illinois, Wisconsin, Washington D.C., and Virginia.


We had a Chinese feast at the China Garden in Arlington, Virginia.


And Josephine got to enjoy the luxury of hotel living in Washington D.C.'s Chinatown.


The wedding we attended, of our good friend Debbie, was located at the top of the Newseum in D.C. overlooking the Canadian embassy and the capitol building.


Josephine got to have her first subway ride as we ventured back out to Virginia later that night.


She also got to experience the Georgetown eatery, The Tombs, which no Georgetown alumn can resist when in town.


Last night we went back to the Morton Arboretum for the conclusion of their family concert night and saw Duke Otherwise who put on a heck of a show. Martin and Elliott both participated enthusiastically, though they did it safely on the blanket with Mummy and Daddy and did not join the flock of children gathered around the performer.


Today we executed our ambitious plan of taking the train to the Brookfield Zoo. This was my idea because, taking the train downtown to work back in June, I was surprised that it was a mere thirty minute train ride to the zoo. The problem, of course, was that I didn't have children with me when I discovered that. I also did not realize that the zoo stop on the train was no exactly across the street from the zoo. This resulted in a two hour door-to-door trip.


The guys had a pretty good time at the zoo, even though we got there at nearly 11 o'clock, a full hour ahead of plan.


We got to go to the butterfly exhibit and a butterfly landed right on Martin's head where it remained for about two full minutes. I had visions of him swatting at it, killing it, and having our newly purchased family membership cards revoked.

Instead he was a great sport and the butterfly will now live a long life or potentially die at the hands of someone else's child.


I told them they could go on the carousel but the ticketing process combined with us needing to make our train made me go back on my word. Elliott was fine with this but Martin was about to lose it when we stumbled upon an ice cream vendor and I distracted both of them with supremely messy push pops.

It took an entire package of wipes to clean them off while we waited for the train but it was money well spent. Apart from Martin losing his mind when I lifted him down the steps from the train the rest of the trip home was fine.

Time did not allow for a nap. Martin generally does okay in these situations, Elliott is a little more unable to cope.

An important lesson was learned today: taking the train to the zoo is a fool's errand. It was a romantic idea, and the kids had fun on the train, but I don't think we would ever make the decision to do this again. Last time we went the line for parking took a while so we thought this would be easier.

Sometimes we are so stupid.