22 Days of Summer- Elida Elementary Playground

Training Session

Isaac wanted to go play on the playground at school. We had some extra time between Paw Paw's viewing and Olivia's dance class, so I let them eat some Rapid Fire and run off some of their energy. 

I thought it was cute while we were eating Isaac started to explain the rules to Olivia since she'll be playing on this playground this upcoming school year. She listened intently to him then proceeded to do her own thing. Still was so adorable to hear big brother laying down the laws. 

I sat at the picnic table and was watching from afar. I was pretty impressed when Isaac went across all the monkey bars so I asked him to do it again so I could take a video of him. After nailing it the first time, once I pulled out my phone to video, he dropped off like five times before I was able to catch him doing it again. LOL. Poor kid had blisters and I kept after him to do it again. Enjoy the video of one of my favorite monkeys! 

23 Days of Summer- Wapak Waterpark

HIGHlighting the HIGH dive

We are lucky to have such a wonderful waterpark so close to home. The Wapak Waterpark is located in Wapakoneta, Ohio. It has a very cool area just for kids with a zero entry area that moms can sit in and watch their kiddos while catching some rays.

Tonight our church rented it out from 6-8 p.m. The kids were looking forward to going. We've been there before, but not within the past two years. So when we had the opportunity to meet and mingle with some of our church family and swim, we jumped on the chance.

The waterpark is one of the largest in the area. It has two pools and a sand area. Within minutes of walking in Isaac saw all the big kids going off the high dive. He decided he needed to do it too. After getting in line, he walked out to the end and jumped. We were so proud of him for doing it and not being terrified. It's 12 feet deep so for him to do it was quiet the accomplishment. I remember when I was little going off the high-dive at the Bloomville pool and thinking I was going to die before I hit the water....then nearly did when I hit doing a belly smacker.

Olivia decided she'd stick to the kid splash zone area. I was surprised she didn't even want to do the water side. Especially after she did the slides at Maui Sands. Isaac, of course did the water slide and loved it. Two hours went by pretty quickly. Isaac went down the slides a million times and Olivia was ready to head home instead of watching him. All in all it was a super great time. Thank you Lima Community Church for providing such a fun evening!

24 Days of Summer- Marblehead Lighthouse

A Historic Landmark

After a long day at Cedar Point yesterday, we stayed up in Marblehead. My mom had never been down to the Marblehead Lighthouse so we decided we'd take the afternoon to head down and see the historic landmark. 

Now don't strain your eyes too hard and try to figure out why Isaac's hair is darker in these pictures. It's not him. It's the kiddos cousin. He and his family was also hanging out at the lake house and he asked to go along on the adventure. Isaac said he wasn't interested in going down to see the lighthouse. So just us four headed that way.

It was packed. It was a beautiful day, but super windy, so the waves were wild. Crashing up on the rocks but I wouldn't let the kids go down and walk around where you normally can. I was afraid they might slip. The worry wart in me never goes away when it comes to water. 

We would have liked to walk up to the top of the lighthouse, but they were sold out of tickets for the day. Next time I'd like to do that. We did get to go through some of the buildings with museum-type things in them. The kids even sat down and watched a video about the construction of the lighthouse. Super interesting! So if you don't have anything to do and you find yourself in Marblehead, check out the lighthouse! 

 

25 Days of Summer- Cedar Point

Ride On...

I went to Cedar Point all the time growing up. Only 40 minutes from my parents home, we were able to have a season pass a few years when we could drive. Loved it and still do! Now it's different because I don't feel the need to run to the rides. I enjoy experiencing the park through my children. It's so different now, but still my favorite rollercoaster park in the world.

A few weeks ago I got a notice Cedar Point was running a BOGO sale on admissions tickets. I was pumped. I called Jeremy at work and asked if he was interested in going. Well, the catch was that the tickets had to be used by the end of July. Guess I should have read the fine print. We were running out of days. We decided that today was the day.

What a day. Called for rain and rain it did. The good news is that is warded off a lot of people. It also kept us under cover for about 20 minutes. But then it got hot. Isaac talked me into going on Snake River Falls. I knew better, but he wanted to do it so bad, so I had Jeremy hold my shoes and away we went. SOAKED. Yep, drenched. I spent the next hour drying out. Isaac thought it was fantastic.

My mom went with us so we could take Isaac on the bigger rides while Olivia and mom hung out in snoopy land. Isaac was 51 inches this year, one inch shy of getting on many of the major rollercoasters. He was bummed. I'm guessing that next year we are going to need to take mom again and we may never see her and Olivia while we ride on every rollercoaster in the park.

The park was open until midnight, but we made it until10:30 and headed back home. Everyone was worn out and had another amazing day at an amusement park.

26 Days of Summer- Paw Paw

Our Final Day with Paw Paw on Earth

I debated what to post about today. We spent the first several hours of the day at the hospital visiting with Paw Paw. The nurses said it wouldn't be long and to call the family in to say our final goodbyes. We went over the lunch hour and the highlight of the visit for the kids was the hospital cafeteria. I thought of doing an entire post on just that. But I still would have had to say why we were there, and that's the reason for today's adventure. 

I took the kiddos home after we ate in the cafeteria and went back up to the room, but Jeremy was able to stay at the hospital with Paw Paw until he took his final breath around 4:15 p.m. Paw Paw was the best man at our wedding. Jeremy's super hero. From past posts I talked about his love for trains and how Isaac loved visiting and watching Paw Paw run his model trains. Later that evening we all went out to eat and Isaac said the prayer. He said he hopes Paw Paw will forever be his best friend. Jeremy and I teared up. 

He called Isaac 'jumping jack' and Olivia 'baby.' Here are some recent pictures of us with Paw Paw. Rest in Peace sweet Paw Paw... until we meet again.

With the great-grandchildren

Four generations of Love

Paw Paw and I out by the Pool

27 Days of Summer- Feeding the Ducks

Quacking Me Up

I had a meeting today at ONU for the upcoming school year and I had to take the kiddos with me. One of their favorite things to do is to go out the back door of the Freed Center to the bridge over the pond and feed the ducks or the fish. So with bread in hand, we headed out to the pond. The video below is one of the funniest I've captured in awhile. 

As Olivia said in the video... it was a quack attack. The ducks saw us coming with bread and they attacked. Not violently but they're not shy either. Watch Olivia in the video when she runs out of bread on the bridge and starts running toward the camera. 

The fish didn't get any food today because the ducks were too hungry. Maybe it's because the students are on break and they haven't been fed in awhile, but the ducks are ready for friends to come back to campus. 

28 Days of Summer- Picking Apples

The Apple's of My Eye

We are in Attica for a few days, so today we decided to head over to aunt Sue's pool. The best thing of being home is that everyone lives across the street from one another. While soaking up some rays with my cousin Nicole, we starting talking about school starting. Only 28 days people! AHHHHH....we started at 88 Days of Summer and we are already 50 down. 

School lunches are always packed at my house. My kids barely eat anything, so if I had them buy lunch they would starve at school. One of Olivia's favorite things is Grandma Barb's applesauce. Last year we finished up all the cans in early spring. So I decided that I'd take my first ever stab at making my own. Granny has apple tree's, so she invited us over to pick apples. We filled a recyclable bag full of apples. The kids had fun trying to catch them as I shook the tree or threw them down to them. I climbed up on a ladder to get some of the higher ones. Isaac wanted to get up there so bad, but I'm not about to finish the summer with a kid with a foot in a cast, so I told him he could catch them as they fell. 

I'm sure there will be a post in the future pertaining to the making of the applesauce. I'm sure both kiddos will want to help. They love to help in the kitchen. So stay tuned to find out if the picking of the apples was worth it or a total fail. 

29 Days of Summer- Seneca County Fair

175 Years and Still Going Strong

Twenty years ago tonight was a pretty special night. I was crowned the Queen of the Seneca County Fair. I have fond memories of the entire time spend as the Queen representing Seneca County Fair at many area fairs and festivals and of course, during the week of the fair. When I got the letter in the mail with free fair tickets inviting all past King and Queens back for their special 175th year of the fair, I was pumped. It was encouraged to dig out the old sash and crown and come back to the fair. I went to the cedar chest and found the sash with all the original buttons still attached. How funny. I found my crown too, but my best buddy Nickie said she wasn't wearing hers and so I decided I'd leave mine on the shelf. (Or as I joke in the golden box above the fireplace with a super secret passcode! lol).

Olivia was excited to go with me. I think more to ride the rides than actually see her mom relieve her life 20 years prior! teehee. Fair enough. Nickie and I put back on our high heels and headed back for a magical night. It was so fun to see so many familiar faces (and their families!). I was nervous for the queen contestants and of course picked my winners from my seat in the crowd of who should be crowned. It was nice to see so many former Kings and Queens return. Someone said around 60 had made their way back to the fairgrounds for the fun evening. The very first Queen and King from the 60s were in attendance. How fun!

I made Olivia walk through the 4-H booth building. I'm super excited that she can be a Cloverbud next year. I think both my kids will enjoy 4-H. I am hoping that they love it as much as I did. I could write for hours about all the wonderful skills and knowledge I gained from being in 4-H, but that's not really the focus of the post. Maybe I'll save that for another day.

After the contest, as promised I took Olivia to the rides. Nickie's daughter Izzy was able to join us too. It was perfect because it gave Olivia a riding partner. We closed down the rides at 10 p.m. It was a long evening but rides were only $.50 a ride so we were able to ride for a little over an hour for under $5.00. Awesome! 

As I folded up my sash and placed it back in the cedar chest until the next reunion (if there ever is one), I couldn't help but wonder if the 2017 Queen was excited for the journey ahead. Lot's of people make jokes about being the "fair queen," but it totally rocked. So make fun all you want...representing the Seneca County Fair was one of the best memories of my childhood! 

30 Days of Summer- St. Bernard's Playground

Hanging Out With Grandpa Ron

Isaac decided he didn't want to go to the fair but instead wanted to stick around with Grandpa Ron for the day. Olivia tried to talk him out of staying with him and instead coming with her to ride the rides. But after being at Kings Island a few days ago, the rides were not that enticing. No rollercoasters. So in Isaac's world, no fun.

Instead he opted to stay with Grandpa and do "boy" things. Isaac talked him into going up to New Washington to the dairy queen for some ice cream. Not too far away is St. Bernard's, a catholic church with a elementary school.  So here is the picture I got sent to my phone while we were doing our thing at the Seneca County Fair.  Looks like his decision wasn't too bad. Grandpa was entertaining him just fine. Let him run out his energy. From what my Dad tells me, he didn't run it all out. That evening Dad took Isaac over to his Mom's. My grandma has Alzheimers and she asked Isaac all night if he ever ran out of energy?! Dad said she asked him 10 times at least while they were there.

The answer? Nope.... he never does run out of energy. If I could only find a way to bottle it up and sell it, we'd be millionaires!

31 Days of Summer- Kings Island

Ride On

Every year since the kids have been born we have headed to Kings Island with Jeremy's parents. I love that the kids are getting old enough to really enjoy the rides beyond Snoopy Land. Isaac was just under the 52 inch mark, which prevented him from going on some of the really large rollercoasters like Diamond Back and Flight of Fear. I give him another year and he'll be tall enough to ride. 

So Phil, Jeremy, Isaac and I got FastPasses this year so we didn't have to wait in line. It was fantastic. We bought the tickets on CyberMonday and got each ticket with the FassPass for $70. Olivia and Deb passed on the rollercoasters so they spent most of their day around Snoopy Land just as content. 

We also got a $10 FunPix pass for the day. It was great to get all the pictures of the rollercoasters, like this one of Phil and Isaac on the log ride. This is a tradition now for those two to ride on since Paw was the only one who would get wet with Isaac last year. Now it's become a tradition that they ride this.

We absolutely can't talk about this year's park experience without a shoutout to my bestie Sandy! She hooked us up with a parking pass and lots of secrets of how to conquer the Island in a day and not spend much money.  Plus her and the boys were able to join us in the morning and the whole family that evening, which made for an even more amazing day. Loved catching up with great friends at the park. 

32 Days of Summer- VBS at Temple

Built For A Purpose

Well we finished up VBS at Temple last night. First of all, it was the same theme as the VBS they went to earlier in the summer at my moms. The kids loved it because they already knew the songs and the moves. They loved it the first time so they really wanted to go again. Temple is close to our home and they started VBS on Sunday night so we didn't have to go until 8:30 on a Friday night! Smart! The only problem was Olivia's dance camp ran from 6-6:45 so she was an hour late every day to VBS. She didn't seem to mind at all and the camp directors were great at taking her late and making sure she got into the right room with her brother's group.

A really cool thing they do at Temple's VBS is they always have a competition among the groups with some type of giving to a cause. This year it was providing school supplies and backpacks for those who need a little extra help with that when school starts up in a month. The three teams brought in items and put into their appropriate color's bin. At the end of the week they tallied the items and those team leaders who lost got slimed. This is what the video is of above. The kids look so forward to this part and really gets them invested in the cause.

At the end of the week they sing their songs and are invited to come on Sunday during Temple's service and perform at the beginning of church. Like I said before, both my kiddos knew the moves and the songs. Olivia even asked for me to look up the songs on the internet so I could play them and she could show her moves off to anyone who stopped by the house!

33 Days of Summer- Mermaid Dance Camp

Under The Sea

Olivia loves dance. This past year was her first year taking dance at Steppin Out Dance Center. She had a blast. She learned basic ballet and tap in the 3-4 year old class. After her recital at the end of April she has been asking when she gets to go back. This week was the Little Mermaid Dance Class.

Not only did they do an cute dance, she got to meet up with several of her classmates. There is only a short video posted because I didn't want to wait for the big 2:30 minute video's to load. LOL. She wanted to wear her mermaid costume to class and then they ended up getting t-shirts from the dance to put on, so she wore it over her costume.

Hope you enjoy the show as much as Olivia enjoyed going. She is looking forward to 2 weeks from now when she gets to go to Beauty and Beast Dance Camp. Belle is her favorite so she can hardly wait. I think she is most excited to dress up in her Belle dress.

34 Days of Summer- Lanterns

Lightening Up The Night

Well I have been wanting to do this project for the last month. I have had the cans ready since I seen the pin on Pinterest. Too bad I didn't really read the directions, I see now that filling it with water and freezing it would have made it easier for the nail part. We just got a 2x4 to stick down in there. It was pretty hard to drive a nail through. Isaac stuck with it and did all his own, but Olivia only could really do the bottom ones that drove through pretty easily. 

After we had the holes, I got out the paint. Isaac's paint stuck really well, but I obviously had two different cans and Olivia's paint all peeled off after the first application. So to keep Olivia's paint on her can, I had to get a piece of sandpaper and scrub down the can so the paint would stick. 

After painting we waited for them to dry and ran some pipe cleaners through the top to use as a handle. It worked great. The hardest part for them was waiting until the evening to put their lights down in there and watch them glow. 

They worked perfectly and the kids were so excited to have something they made themselves. 

35 Days of Summer- Babysitting

"Kids Shouldn't Babysit Kids"

A dear friend of mine needed a sitter while she went to work. I'm home with my kiddos, so why not? I announced to my kids that we were going to babysit. Both were so excited for the day to come. Olivia asked if the mommy was going to stay or leave. When I said she was leaving and it would just be us watch the babies, she was over the moon. Her first babysitting gig. 

It started off great. A friend to play with. Soucie is 2 years old and into Barbies and Playdoh, so Olivia finally had someone to play these things with instead of begging Isaac. From the basement to the swingset out back these two were having a blast. Isaac on the other hand didn't want to play those "girl" games. So he asked what he could do to help. Feed the baby of course! He loves feeding the babies. He has a new baby cousin who he adores as well. That is until they poop. Then both my kids go running as far away as they can get. 

When it was naptime, Olivia and Soucie grabbed their sleeping bags and Olivia exclaimed, "My first sleepover at my house with my new best friend!" Within 10 minutes the girls were out. I think the morning had worn them out. 

My favorite quote of the day was from lunchtime. I was feeding Gier and Isaac was putting ingredients into the veggie soup in the crockpot (always my helper!). Soucie came over and needed her hands washed so I asked Olivia to come hold the bottle and put Gier in his car seat so she could feed him (mainly so I didn't have to worry about Olivia moving around with him or thinking she could carry him or something stupid!). I was cleaning Soucie up and then changing her diaper and Olivia yells across the room, "Mom I'm done. I don't think the baby wants this bottle." I respond with, "Yes he does, keep it tilted up so he doesn't get air in." In typically Olivia sassy attitude she responds, "This is boring. I don't think kids should babysit kids." LOL. Well, I think it's safe to say that Olivia is not interested in a baby brother or sister.  She wants little people to do things with! 

What a fun day. I can honestly say that nothing but love for my momma's out there multiple babies under 6 years old. It was a constant need from someone. But man the love I have for all these little people is crazy. Thanks Katie for letting me get my baby-fix and then getting to send them home. xoxo

36 Days of Summer- Columbus Outlets Playground

Another Day With Mom Shopping

I love this age. The age where you can take your kids almost anywhere with an iPad keep them quiet. Today I had another internship visit in Delaware, Ohio. I brought the kiddos along with me and they hung out with my student while I spoke to her supervisor. Then with iPads in hand, they went out to lunch with the student and were awesome.

After having such a smooth and great visit, I told them I would like to head over the outlet mall in Columbus that is only about 10 minutes from Delaware. Not overly excited, they said ok. We made it about half way through the stores when we discovered this beauty. How fun. It was all I could do not to jump in and play along. Instead I took pictures from the sidelines and sat in one of the nice Adirondack chairs.

Both really enjoyed climbing the rock wall and were so excited when they'd reach the top. The was a secret passage (or a shortcut as Isaac called it) through the bottom of the tree. It's nice that they are close in age to chase each other throughout and freak out if they can't find each other. Makes the fear of losing one while I'm not watching 100% less likely because the other will come say they can't find them.

Jeremy and I were just talking about the other night how we think the kids are at the "perfect" age. Old enough to do things on their own, still little enough to want to hang out with their parents, and cognitively able to process rules and such. Such a fun age to take places and so blessed to have the means to do so. I love that when we get back in the car from something like this (most of the time) they thank us for taking them or doing whatever with them. Makes my heart melt every time.

37 Days of Summer- Water Balloon Fight

Watch Out!

Nothing says summer like a good old fashion water balloon fight. Today was pretty warm so while the kiddos were outside, I surprised them by filling up some water balloons. I love those ones you just hook up to the hose and let them fill up and fall off. Does it get any easier than that?

I tried to get them to play a game and try to throw it back and forth and catch it. That lasted one round before they just wanted to grab them and throw. Isaac is a better shot than Olivia and you can see from the pictures. Not to mention they get about three feet from each other to actually throw.

At the end of the day it was a fun time, but only lasted about 10 minutes and then I needed them to walk around and pick up all the rubber so it didn't get caught up in the mower. They sell three sets of these in a pack for about $10. It was so hot, using one set today totally seemed worth it. Maybe I should have done all three sets, but I'm holding off for another day to play again!