A Ton of Fun in 2021: Week 33 Recap

I looked and looked for something to do on a forecasted cloudy day.  I landed on the Ft. Wayne Zoo. Olivia asked to bring Lia, so after checking with her momma, we were excited to head that way. I was most excited to feed the giraffes, Isaac to ride the train, and Olivia to see the Kangaroos.  We headed straight for the wilderness path were you get to see Lions, Zebra's and feed my giraffes. The lion exhibit was closed for maintenance, the zebra's were having babies and weren't out, and the giraffes were scared off my a nail gun going off next door where they were building something and so they wouldn't come out either.  Talk about some disappointment.  So next we headed to the monkey/ape exhibit.  Lia said they were her favorite and they are entertaining to say the least.  Isaac was dying to go on the train, so we headed that way next. We arrived at the train station that was boarded up and said closed. He was so sad. We asked a zoo employee and they said it had derailed a few days back and they were trying to figure out why and fix it. So instead we jumped on the log ride and went past the kangaroos for Olivia. Because it was such a sad and disappointing day, I wrote a letter to the zoo explaining how we spent $50 to get in and was done in 1.5 hours because everything was closed. They sent us new tickets, so hopefully in the near future we can try again. Here is a snapfish album full of the memories that we did make! 

We really like to play board games. We entertain ourselves for hours with them.  So when Ollie's store had a game called "most wanted" that looked liked the wild west with western theme and a train, Isaac was sold.  It took us about 3 hours to play the first time as we were figuring out the rules and how to play, but I'm sure this will be a favorite for years to come.  Olivia got out to the quick lead, but it was Isaac who came out the winner. He was over the moon that he was the most wanted!   

We planned a pool party with Olivia's friends and their mommas like two weeks in advance. Of course it was hot, but it also predicted rain- which it down-poured. But that didn't stop our pool party with our friends. Most of these mommas we met though our kiddos playing sports or being in the same classes. They were all at volleyball camp, so we said we should get them together again before the end of summer. Well we were running out of days. They all were able to make the date work, so we got some great swimming in before it started to pour. Here is a video of them all trying to jump in the pool at the same time. Epic fail!  All the momma's brought a snack to share with the group. I wish a had a picture of all the great treats they brought that filled up the island. When it started to rain, most headed home, but it was a great day and so nice to sit down and have an adult conversation with others who have girls the same age! 

Maw and Paw are out of town this week on a mission trip, so we volunteered to keep an eye on the house. With the really bad storms that swept through, it tangled up and broke their flag.  Isaac and I got out the ladder and took it down for them.  

Because it's been a rainy and cloudy week, we had some indoor picnics, fort building and bowling dates. Olivia made grilled cheese and packed it up and we had an indoor picnic.  After cleaning up, I came back out to find this amazing homemade fort. Her and Isaac hid inside with their stuffies and electronics.  I would sneak into the 'camp' and take things out and hide them and when they would notice they'd come find me. I can never keep a straight face. I was cracking up and then it became a game in and of itself. 

Sheri's turned 70 on Friday, so Heather had a birthday party for her on Saturday at her house. So we got up early on Saturday morning and headed south to Cincinnati.  We had bought her a personalize Yeti that has her name and the saying "best aunt ever' but it hasn't come yet so she'll have to get it later. Olivia made her a pot holder and painted her a Canvas. It was fun to see our family, even though all of Jeremy's brothers live close, we haven't seen them most of the summer. It took a scheduled event to get us all at the same place at the same time. 

Since the boys were already in Cincinnati, they stayed down there and went to Kings Island on Sunday. We hitched a ride home to Lima with family and I called my mom to let her know we were chilling by ourselves on Sunday if she wanted to come float. She was helping my brother move, so it was only a hour drive to our house, so she came over and spent the night too. We ate at Yamato's the Japanese Steakhouse in town. On Sunday the boys were enjoying Kings Island with their fast passes. They had a deal if you renewed your pass for next season, you got a free fast pass so the boys took advantage. Isaac said they got to ride Orion like five times.  

Meanwhile, we took Olivia down to the 4-H parade float we had for the Allen County Fair that kicks off next week. It was sad as we had a semi trailer and only like five 4-H'ers showed up to ride.  Instead of sending her through the parade route by herself with older members of the group she didn't know, I told mom to grab a chair and we rode on the float. We were dying laughing because we are MUCH too old to be in 4-H, so hopefully people thought we were advisers. But it's pretty frustrating that those in our club don't participate in more of these activities. 

This last picture is part of Isaac's early birthday present- Snoopy sheets. He loves Snoopy and we found these super soft bed sheets at TJMaxx and had to get them for him.  He loved the sheets!

A Ton of Fun in 2021: Week 32 Recap

When I was in 4-H, my entire summer from mid-July until late August was full of judging, county fair, state fair and the Attica Independent fair.  I loved every minute of it and hoped somedays to pass on that love. Well this is Isaac's second year in 4-H and he took a laundry project that was chosen as Allen County's selection to compete at the state fair. I was thrilled to read his name on the list and called everyone I knew to see who wanted to ride down with me and enjoy the state fair. That was until I talked to a neighbor who asked why I was so excited to go to Columbus for 10 minute judging. After explaining how much I loved the fair and that would be the highlight, she sadly broke the news to me that there was no State Fair this year (stupid COVID) and that judging was on OSU's campus.  Insert my very sad face. At any rate, Olivia chose not to go along, so Isaac and I set off for Columbus for judging on a Tuesday. He said it went fine, but his score sheet had all goods marked (excellent, very good, good, needs improvement). So apparently the State judge wasn't as impressed with Isaac as Allen county.  But Isaac got a ribbon and was thrilled...so I count that as a win.  

I think the part he was most excited for was lunch and Top Golf after the 4-H judging. After putting our name in at Top Golf, we headed over to Benihana for lunch.  It was delicious as normal, but it was also lunchtime so much quieter. Next we went to Top Golf and played for 1.5 hours.  We had a blast. He kicked my butt. No really. He was on fire and just nailing the ball and racking up the points. Mean time, I would get 3 points for hitting it way out to one of the furthest holes.  It was tons of fun and great mother/son bonding. 

Have you ever heard of Erin Condren planners?  Me either until last year. It was love at first sight. Are they pricey? Of course. Are they the best planner you'll ever own? Duh, of course. So after investing in a spiral bound one last year, I went all out with the sophisticated and classy gold leather bound edition for the next 1.5 years.  I'm over the moon excited with the spiral bound version and spend at least 4 hours with my color pens putting appointments throughout. 

A very cool even the town of Elida does is national night out. Planned by our amazing leaders of PTO, it's a community event that lasts 2 hours with booths around the Elida field house parking lot. Isaac had football until 8, so we only got to the last hour. It's such a great event to know more about businesses in the Elida area and all things with the school.  Oliva put her name in the SODC returning student 'free month of tuition' drawing and WON! I'm more excited than she is.  The girls also spent most of their time at the Dj's booth to karaoke. Both kiddos love seeing old teachers and their friends from their classes who they may have lost touch with over the summer. Or just connect with their besties!  

Speaking of besties...Both Isaac and Olivia's besties came over this week to swim. Brayden and Lia came over to play.  I figured if they both had friends to play with, they wouldn't be bugging each other. In typical fashion, they still picked on each other. Brayden also met us at bowling a few days later, so here are some pictures of that as well. The kids bowl free program is pretty sweet. 

We have been waiting for some decent weather all summer to have friends over. We finally had a good day that Zig and his beautiful family could come play. Not to mention that we got to get some baby snuggles in as well.  Maybe that was my favorite part?! But it was sure nice to catch up with Kristi and not worry what the kids were doing because they just disappear and we don't see them until it's time to eat or leave. Jeremy grilled out for me and the kids and then fried fresh perch for the adults. It was a wonderful day full of lots of memories.