2016 :: week 32

August 7

Don't let that cute face fool you. This kid is regularly making church difficult for me. It isn't so much that he is trying to cause problems, he is just loud and always on the move. Sacrament meeting is a wrestling match. He likes to climb and explore, but isn't careful and will fall right off the pew, get stuck under the pew, or hit his head on the bench or Hymn book holders. It is cute when he notices Anthony and yells to get his attention, but it is very loud. Sunday School is a bit better because he can move around more, but his volume is still a problem and I often have to take him out. Six months until nursery, not that I'm counting down. ;)

August 8

Elliott is pulling himself up all the time. When I took the trash out Monday afternoon he crawled over to the door and waited for me to come back. He hasn't quite figured out that balancing on the door is problematic for me as I don't want to knock him over to get in the house.

August 9

I can hardly believe how much our garden grew (and flourished) while we were in Boston. The cucumber vines in particular are out of control. I had to spend some time weeding and redirecting some of the vines away from the tomato plants Tuesday afternoon.

August 10

My Facebook feed was full of friends visiting the new Roe Park Spray Ground while we were in Boston, so visiting it was high on my list when we returned. Wednesday seemed like a good day to go as it was nice and hot. Still, I was surprised at how crowded it was. We went right after lunch and there were still a fair amount of people there, including one fairly large daycare group. The park has some nice play structures adjacent to the water fixtures which the kids liked just as much as the water.

August 11

I wanted to do something fun for Elliott's birthday. It was too hot for a park trip, so I looked into indoor activity options. I decided to take the kids to Crown Center to visit the "Mr. Potato Head" playroom exhibit, something I had wanted to do check out all summer. It was better than I expected. Will and Lauren spent a lot of time in the mining area. Elliott liked the box of objects that floated when the fan was turned on.

August 12

Friday was Will's first day of first grade! A half day on a Friday seems so silly to me, but the half day at the end of the week was a nice way to ease back into the school schedule. It rained a bit in the night, but cleared up enough in time to walk to school. Will knows a few of the kids in his class this year, but most of his best buddies were assigned to different classrooms. He is excited to make new friends. When I asked Will if he had a great day afterwards he answered, "of course!" I love his excitement for learning and zest for life.

August 13

We set aside Saturday afternoon to be "Family Fun Time." Anthony went to the temple with a young man in our ward in the morning and was preparing to leave town for the next six days, and we wanted to squeeze in as much togetherness as possible before he did. He hasn't been with us to the KC Zoo since November and there were several new things at the zoo the kids wanted to show off. We rode the sky safari, saw the koalas, and visited the Tropics for the first time in several visits.