4th of July

As the kids get older, I can't help but hope that they always love to celebrate holidays as much as their mom does -- that they never lose the spark to dress up and decorate; to eat cake and to make memories that will stay with them forever.

Even though the girls are past the stage of decorating their bikes and riding in the neighborhood parade, they still humored me by wearing festive red/white/blue ensembles while we rode down to the park on the decorated golf cart.

The weather was perfect for playing in the sun and letting the wind blow pinwheels attached to your bike.

Five years old and living his best life!

Watching the parade go by with our neighbor:

Perhaps one of the best highlights of the day: Jack won the Bass Fishing Competition for his age division and proudly sported his medal around his neck all day.  (He was also given a gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods that he later used for more tackle and fishing supplies).

Games Galore under the Pavilion for the neighborhood:

Showing off their prizes from the Game Wheel:

Sand castle-building competition:

Lots of options for the build:

Her legs go on for miles, it seems!

We ended the evening with fireworks over the lake (watching on the boat) but sparklers/fireworks in the driveway.

I taught Jimmy that he cold write his name with the sparklers and he tried really hard to get all five letters out before the sparkler died.  Ha!

Jack loves his jersey from flag football and his Adidas slides ... and he loves fireworks even more!

The Detroit Zoo

One of the things that we really wanted to do this year was to take the kids to the Detroit Zoo.  We were considering going last year (because everyone was able to walk and we would not have to deal with a stroller) but it was tricky because of more rigid COVID restrictions and we just never worked it out.  This year, I went online -- bought tickets ahead of time -- and crossed my fingers that the weather would cooperate for the day that I chose two weeks in advance.  They were still limiting the crowds and many of the concessions (and all of the vending machines) were closed.  

While I did pack a small snack for everyone, the kids opted to leave their water bottles in the van because they did not want to lug them around.  Looking back, that was a mistake because it wasn't too long into our walk in the zoo that they were all complaining that they were thirsty.  It took forever to find a place with water inside the zoo, but once we did, the kids were good to go for the rest of the venture.

Our first stop was inside the butterfly and bird exhibit.  It was incredibly humid inside, but it was fun to look at all of the beautiful colors of butterflies that would land on the leaves and flowers all around us.  I had to keep warning Jimmy to watch where he was stepping because several of them would land right in the walkway.

A beautifully-colored and bright macaw in the background:

Another fan favorite among the kids (but not so much by me!) was the Reptile House.

The camels were magnificent in the background.

It must have been time for their morning nap:

There were thousands of coins in the water surrounding this fountain:

Sophia was wearing her "Flamingo Princess" shirt that Grandpa bought for her in Florida last year (and one of her most favorite t-shirts) and her main goal was just to see a flamingo.  We did see one; it was just very far in the background.

Some of the flowers at the zoo were beautiful and Jimmy obliged me by taking a picture in front of some of them.

The rhinos (and later, the anteater) were my favorite animals to see that day at the zoo.  The rhinos were so huge and we were able to see them up close.

Muddy but breathtaking in size:

The zebras were out in their pasture, but we enjoyed seeing them.

The anteater!!!  Yup, he was my favorite.

Probably the least exciting exhibit that day for us was the polar bears.  It was one of our last stops and we walked forever to get to see them, only to find that they were not there.  Or maybe, we saw a tuft of fur?  This was the best picture of a polar bear that we were able to get.  Ha!

Then, as we were walking out, Jimmy found a really fun-looking caterpillar and let it crawl up his arm.

All in all, we really lucked out with the beautiful weather and we all agreed that it was fun to see all of the animals.  Next year, we might take them to Binder Park Zoo.  (I've been there twice before -- once when I was pregnant with Samantha and again when she was a toddler; I am far overdue for another trip over there ... especially to be able to feed their giraffes!).

Summer Happenings

Our summer has been off to a great start.  For the first time -- ever -- the kids were done with school before Memorial Day weekend.  Apparently they started earlier than usual (it's hard for me to recall because it has been a tumultuous year of ups and downs as we tried our best to adjust to ever-changing mandates and protocols with COVID).  Regardless, the kids were excited to kick off summer break early; they just haven't figured out that it means starting back early again in August.

We celebrated Jack's birthday with family the day after his "friend" party.  I made a cake for the party (and a few more cupcakes, of course).

The Birthday Boy (who still refused a decent haircut) asked for one of his favorite meals ever -- tacos.  It's such an easy crowd-pleaser and I added in some extra sides too.

And a pirate-ship fruit bowl!

There were lots of presents, including a well-treasured Minecraft ball cap from Aunt Minnie.  

This was one well-celebrated 8 year old boy this year!

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The girls (and our neighbor) set up a stand at the end of our driveway for the Annual Garage Sale.  The weather not very cooperative but the girls managed to each make over $50 selling lemonade, cider slushes, popcorn, coffee, donuts, cookies and apple fritters.  The stand was only open for about 3.5 hours before the strong winds and rain began to move in and we hurriedly took everything back inside.

It was definitely a nice profit for them and they only spent a little of it on other garage sales in the subdivision.  The rest of their earnings went into their bank accounts for safe-keeping.

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The three older kids have been enjoying playing the game of Life together.  I remember it being an extremely LONG game (like Monopoly) when I was a kid but they seem to like it and play with little arguing.

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Samantha despises bananas.  She always has.  In fact, her baby book shows that that was the one food that I could never get her to eat.

The other kids don't mind them and absolutely love them in either muffin form or as a dessert bar -- especially with chocolate chips.

One afternoon, while the other kids were out tubing on the lake, Jimmy helped me in the kitchen and we made a big batch of muffins.  Samantha still wouldn't eat one, but the other kids devoured them for breakfast, as a snack and even as a dessert.

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June means that it is Strawberry Month!  We had lots of strawberry shortcake and made freezer jam to last us for a few months.  And ... there might have been a few strawberries consumed right away.

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Jack's chain came off his bike and I found the boys in the garage, working together, to help get it back on.  Side note: they are both obsessed with tank tops this summer.

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Two of our friends moved to Rhode Island earlier this year.  It was the best thing for them, as they were adopted within the family and now would have a permanent mom and dad to raise them.  It was hard for my girls knowing that they would not be able to see them as regularly, but we promised to get them together whenever we could.

They were back in Michigan for a little while and we made sure to plan a fun play date for them.  It was supposed to be a 'beach day,' but the weather turned rainy and dreary so I went to Plan B (I find myself doing that a lot!) and put together a craft for all 6 kids to be able to do together.

That tablecloth though ... I bought a roll three years ago when I was planning Samantha's 10th birthday party and have gotten the most use out of it.  Plus, it was perfect for the upcoming 4th of July holiday!

I bought a ton of acrylic window decorations and let the kids use paint markers to color them in.  They had the most fun picking out their own special ones to decorate, mixing up the colors and designs.

This activity occupied them for quite some time.  Some of them even went back to do more after they had pizza and dessert.

Obviously I love any opportunity to make and decorate a cake, so I whipped up a quick red, white and blue one.  A few simple strawberries and blueberries and my favorite cream cheese icing and the cake looked really nice sitting on the stand.

But the best part was the inside:

The kids were so surprised when I cut into it and they saw the American Flag.

Now, we are counting down the days to one of our favorite holidays of the year.  We love the colors; we love the decorations; we love the parade and fireworks; and we really love the long, summer days ...

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Mid-Week Randoms

All 2nd grade students are required to do an animal research project at the end of the school year.  They spend dedicated time in the classroom collecting information and facts and then they are asked to design a poster at home detailing those items.  When they are finished, they bring the poster into school and present it in front of the whole class.  

Jack chose to do his research on cheetahs and asked me if I would draw one for him in the center.  He wrote all of the surrounding information himself (he has such nice handwriting for a boy -- especially with no lines to follow!) and opted to include some jungle leaves (leftover from Sam's rainforest party decorations).  He did a phenomenal job presenting and now the poster is hung up in his bedroom.

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Cinco de Mayo calls for lime cupcakes (they were later frosted with cream cheese frosting and lime zest) and I had a special little boy that opted to be my "taste tester."

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Jack played Flag Football this Spring and really enjoyed it.  It was only between the boys in Laingsburg (no other competing schools) and required very little commitment -- just 6 Saturdays in a row for about 1.5 hours each time.

It was pretty cold and windy most of the Saturdays so Steve took him most of the time, but I was glad to see him in action a couple of the days.

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Sophia ran for 4th Grade Class President -- and WON!  On the day of the election, I surprised her with this shirt and it was a big hit among her classmates.  It has also become one of her favorite t-shirts and she wears it consistently at least twice per week now.

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For Spirit Week in the middle school, one of the days was "Dress for Prom."  While Samantha did not have anything readily appropriate in her closet, she was able to borrow a couple of dresses from one of our neighbors and try them on.  This one was the winner and I couldn't believe just how grown-up she looked!

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Springtime means that it is time to begin mowing on a regular basis and Jimmy wanted to have a chance to try out the lawn mower.  At the age of 5, he is obviously not ready to actually start "mowing," but we let him drive the tractor around for a little while in the front yard.

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Jack has the worst gag reflex, ever.  As a result, we switched dentists for him about 2 years ago and he now sees a pediatric dentist that uses laughing gas to help with any procedures that he needs to have done.  His gag reflex initially prevented us from obtaining decent x-rays on his teeth early on and there were some cavities between his teeth where we ended up just simply having those baby teeth pulled.  We also learned from those x-rays that not only was Jack born with an extra baby tooth on the top, but also an extra adult tooth too.

This month, we were at a crossroads where the correct adult tooth was ready to start dropping into place, but the extra adult tooth (next to it) was in its way along with the extra baby tooth and actual baby tooth below.  The solution?  Three teeth needed to be pulled to make room for the correct adult tooth before his mouth would begin shifting for the accommodation.

While not ideal, we had no choice to have them all pulled at once.  The whole procedure took less than 45 minutes, required no stitches -- just some numbness -- and Jack was a real trooper throughout all of it.

And, the best part was that the Tooth Fairy was really generous that night.  Not only did she let him keep all of the teeth, but she left a really neat receipt for his scrapbook and a $2 bill (Jack had never seen one before!) and 3 silver dollar coins.

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