This summer is flying by. Camps, driver's ed, and just hanging out without having to get up early has been lovely. For the Fourth of July I took Peter to a nearby town's parade along with several families from church. He didn't want anything to do with the kids or the parade (what 5 year old cares about the Mayor?) until they started throwing candy. Then he was super excited.
He was completely unwilling to take a photo with all the kids but I told him he had to. Didn't have to be happy about it, but had to stand there. Guess I got what I asked for.
The fireworks in the evening were much more his style. He had a great time with the glo-sticks, sparklers, and fireworks that our friends lit.
During this same week, Bella was at Trail To Eagle Scout camp finishing up her last merit badges towards her eagle rank. She only has paperwork left and the final conference with her leaders. This was her third year at TTE camp. She was Senior Patrol Leader for Blue Troop and she plans to go next year as an adult leader. I'm so glad she's made so many good friends there and loves it so much. It's fun to see her excel and lead out in something she loves.
There were only four girls in her troop, three of which were from her home troop, so they were a close group. Her Scout Master, Mr. D, is a great guy. He really knows how to build team spirit and encourage youth to do their very best.
When the kids aren't busy doing school and scout stuff, it's wonderful that the church also provides them opportunities to do great things. Temple trip on 7/11 so they could get free slushies in the same trip. Genius.
While the older ones are off, Peter and I have been spending lots of time relaxing at home. He's such a homebody that unless I drag him somewhere, he'd rather just spend all day in his PJs playing legos. So every day I ask myself, "Is this activity worth the battle?" Sometimes it's yes, most often it's no. When I start to lose my mind with cabin fever and need to get out, I drag him along and he always has fun.
He fell in love with watermelon at the beginning of the summer. He asked for giant bowlfuls of it at every meal and ate almost entirely just watermelon every day for about a week. Then just as suddenly, he couldn't stand it anymore. Now he won't touch it. Haven't gotten him to eat a single bite in weeks. Little kids are so funny like that.
He discovered that Benjamin's old exercise equipment makes a great jungle gym. Every day he's inventing new ways to climb on it, swing from it, jump off it, or just goof around. I love that he can get exercise even if he's unwilling to leave the house.
One event to which I dragged him kicking and screaming was "Drummasphere" at a local library. The leader of the event brought dozens of different percussion items and placed them in a circle. Then she sang, counted beats, played games, etc. with the kids and had the kids do different rhythm activities with the drums. They rotated to different items every 10 minutes or so and they all got lots of different experiences throughout the hour. Peter loved every minute of it. He was making up all sorts of rhythms and trying lots of new things. He even interacted with others and talked to the teacher - a sure sign that he was happy and comfortable. It was wonderful. I wish that they did it more often. Definitely worth the battle to leave the house.
Convincing him to go toy shopping took no effort. I told him he could browse for potential birthday presents and so of course, he headed straight for the legos. The selection was a bit overwhelming but he was loving every minute of it.
Another battle that I fought was to take him to "Sensory Shenanigans." It was an outdoor selection of activities such as giant bubbles, sand box with buried dinosaurs, bead table, kiddie pool filled with water and ice cubes containing toys, etc. Lots of sensory experiences and lots of different things to try. He had a great time at that too, with the bubbles being his favorite. We would have stayed longer but there was no shade and the heat finally got to us a bit.
No real explanation other than, "Mom, take a picture of me as 'cutie Peter.'"
Greenfield Village requires no battle. He'll go there every day of the week. This time his favorite carousel animal - the frog - was available so he was extra happy.
Pandora is still loving our house and has made herself right at home. We never play cards without her anymore (much to Kelly's dismay). And I have to make my bed right away in the morning or I go to bed in a pile of fur that night. She's a really sweet cat. Her favorite place at night is in Christian's bed and our evening brushing time is one of my favorites. Not sure if we're going to be able to give her up.
Benjamin is almost at the 1 year point!! How is that possible? He seems to have adjusted great because he hasn't called in 6 weeks and this week he didn't even email. We are very proud of our boy and we sure miss him a ton.
My favorite thing these last few weeks has been piano/saxophone concerts. I set the piano to E flat and the kids play their saxophones and we play through the hymns. It's been great practice for me and it keeps them practicing while they're not in band over the summer. Sometimes we get woefully off and we sound horrible. Then we laugh and try again. Most of the time we sound pretty good and have a great time. The kids tease me a little for how happy it makes me but honestly, family time AND seeing the results of the thousands of dollars I've spent on music lessons - what could be better?
