Henry's 9th Birthday

Back in May we took the kids to stay at the Knott's Berry Farm Hotel the weekend of Henry's birthday. We checked in Friday night and ate at the restaurant, swam in the pool, watched some shows and went to bed. The kids were having a great time and excited for Knott's the next morning. Unfortunately around midnight Henry began throwing up. We hoped it was a one off-something didn't settle well on his tummy, but then it didn't stop through the night and morning. It was pretty gross and sad. Thankfully the workers at the hotel extended out tickets for the next 60 days and we headed home, Henry supplied with a stock of barf bags that he did in fact have to use on our way home. The throwing up subsided but diarrhea kicked in and stayed for almost the entire next week. Thea and Leo, then myself all got it. Johann got it for our anniversary weekend. Then Thea and Leo got it again. Needless to say, we'll remember Henry's 9th, haha. 

Last Tuesday though, we were finally all well and Johann was able to take a day off work so we headed to Knott's. The kids were really well behaved and we all had a good time. The only rut was waiting in line for food in the park, only to get up there and realize it was way more than we wanted to pay for crummy burgers. The cashier said to try the chicken restaurant outside the park and I'm glad we did. It was a chance to sit down, cool off, and enjoy a meal together instead of eating standing up in the heat. 

 Thea made a card to give to Snoopy and it was pretty adorable. 

Overall it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we finally got to celebrate Henry. We sure do love that boy. 

Summer Week 3

Monday:

I got up a bit earlier than usual and decided to use up our bananas for some muffins for breakfast. Thea and Leo woke up part way through and 'helped'. 

The rest of the day was spent mostly at home just doing every day things.

The kids painted.

 Henry

 Thea 

Leo

When we called Leo to FHE he came out looking like this and then kept running around saying something unintelligible and flinging his arms open like he was throwing out rainbows and puppies. It was hilarious. 

Tuesday:

We finally made it to Knott's to have a make-up celebration for Henry's birthday. More in another post.

Wedneday:

We were all pooped after our 12 hour day at Knotts.

When Johann got home we tried a few more things to help our chicken (named Happy by Thea and then changed by her to Floating Eyeball of Death-try saying "please bless Floating Eyeball of Death to get better," in a prayer. It's hard not to laugh.) who has been staying sitting and won't move much or lay.
From what we read it seemed like she had a misshapen/overly large/too soft egg stuck in her vent. So Johann had the lovely task of giving her a warm bath to relax her and then had to check the vent. Nothing was there, though. The coop needed cleaning so Johan didn't want her all wet to get more dirty so I had the pleasure of blow drying the chicken. Apparently chickens don't like being blow dried.

The next day, we finally saw her try to walk and she limped on her left leg. So somehow she injured it. Would have been nice to know before all the vent business...Anyhow, she is still eating and managing to get around more daily it seems, so hopefully she'll fully recover. It'd be sad to lose another one so soon after the possum killed Saoirse chicken.

Thursday:

I took the kids to the park with a friend and her kids and they played for a good long time in addition to finding this snail.

Friday:

My mom and I took the kids to see Cars 3. It wasn't as bad as Cars 2, but still not good. It was worth it though to sit in the really cool air conditioned theater. Thea had also been asking me for a week to try and give her a heart braid so I gave it my first attempt and was pretty proud it wasn't a total mess. I did it for her again on Sunday and it looked better, so woo! Leo keeps asking to have one too...haha.

Saturday:

We took the kids to the library to turn in their book lists and get their prizes.

Then we went to target for a few things and Thea earned a dollar by being the only child to stay quiet from check-out to the car. It was one of those days. I've never done financial bribery like that but I may try it again sometime.

That evening we all took the kids to see Captain Underpants. While it wasn't my favorite, I liked it fine which is better than I expected. I think it was actually well done and they managed to do the potty humor without it being grossly excessive. Also Johann got a coke slushy that I tried, and I think I may have found a 'beverage' I'm willing to waster sugar intake/calories on. So good.

Sunday:

We celebrated Father's Day with breakfast here before church and then went to Riverside to spend with Johann's parents that afternoon.

Henry made this sign while I was making breakfast, haha. He knows his dad. 

And that was the end of our third week of summer break. Hard to believe it's been that long already.

Baby Leo

Leo turned 3 two weeks ago, and that day I found myself looking at all his baby pictures, and feeling a little bitter-sweet twinge in my heart. I am certainly glad he's getting older, but it's hard knowing this is almost certainly our last kid. So, I'm indulging in putting some of my favorite infant Leo pictures together in a post to come and look at when I'm feeling nostalgic again. 

 (I was not planning on taking pictures with him, hence the clashing of shirts and background, but the photographer said it wouldn't hurt, and she was right and I'm glad I have this, even with all the pattern noise, ha)

Summer Week 2

Monday:

Henry started his week long Lego camp (3 hours a day). Sadly they had to combine the younger and older class because the older class didn't have enough numbers. He was his predictably shy self at first, but then he warmed up, and was sad by the end of the week that Lego camp was over. They built simple machines, different vehicles, tree houses, and did a day of underwater themed building. Thanks again to Uncle Jacob for the awesome bday gift!

The class took place in the town hall rec center which is next to the civic center park (or dinosaur park as my kids call it), so I took Thea and Leo there to play for a while during the first class. It was also Leo's official birthday. We'll be celebrating in another week when the grandparents can be there.

 That evening for FHE we went to the library which is currently housed in a portable because the actual library is having the roof fixed, to sign up for the summer reading program. The kids got so excited and were all about reading their books when we got home. We also got to see Thea's Sunbeam teacher who now works there which made Thea extra excited.

Tuesday:

 I got in a time crunch with everything I had to do errand-wise and I gave in and let the kids get McDonalds and let them eat it in the van while we waited for Henry's class to end, they all finished after Henry came out. Apparently eating fast food in the car but not in your seat is very exciting.

After that Thea went to a friend's house to play, and the boys and I had a very relaxed reading and tv watching afternoon until it was time to pick her up.

Wednesday:

I told the kids if they got up on time we'd take breakfast to the park before Henry's class. They got up and got ready quickly so we headed to the park with some muffins and fruit to eat and play. The summer camp kids came out too and Henry saw a friend from school which was nice. Then we walked Henry over to class and headed back home.

The kids had all finished their books so after we picked up Henry we went to the library to drop off our books, get their prizes and pick out some more books.

Thursday was trying to get the house semi clean, do laundry and take Thea to the doctor's office to ask about another treatment for the molluscum that's been spreading. She doesn't wear anything twice, we never let he use the same towel twice and she's overly good about not touching it (we'll be driving and she'll say she brushed a finger near it so she better wash her hands) but it was still getting worse. The doctor proscribed some cream, so we'll see. It said it usually doesn't work but it's worth a try at least. Sigh.

Friday:

Our much anticipated water day. The wind picked up and the temperature dropped, so it was windy and closer to 75 for our event sadly, but we still had lots of friends there and overall I'd say it went really well and the kids had a good time.

 missing some kiddos to the playground including Thea and Leo

Saturday:

We had a fairly relaxed morning, Henry's friend was dropped off because his family had a wedding down the hill and he had Scout Twilight Camp. Henry, and all the kids liked having a friend over. In the late afternoon I dropped them off, then came back home. Johann left soon after that to teach the class on weather for the Webelos, then ran some errands until the camp was done and he could bring them home. They had fun getting to do hotdogs and s'mores over the fire, as well as the hike and other classes. All the kids were hungry though so at 9pm I left a table of kids gobbling down cereal to go swap the youth dance chaperoning with another person in the presidency who has to be home. I got a text a little before the dance was over that Henry's friend was picked up and the last kid had finally gone to sleep. I got home and Johann and I started the original Manchurian Candidate we bought during an iTunes sale. Old people.

Sunday morning I woke up to the kids making a 'web maze'. Always a surprise. A normal Sunday for the most part. I subbed the 11 year old boy's primary class and Johann subbed the 17 year old youth class. After church we read and just relaxed at home.

In an unusual turn of events for me, the part that is usually tightly wound is certainly not. I have a list of things I want to get done this summer but all I feel like doing is relaxing. It's an odd but very calm way to have existed for the last little bit. Hopefully I'll get my fill of it before I have to kick into gear to get ready for Girls' Camp at the end of the month. 

Now on to week 3!