From Lazy Days to Crazy Days

I am SO far behind!  What began as a slower take-it-easy summer wound up turning into a busy-every-minute adventure and I haven't had even a small chance to document any of it.  I am really going to try to get some catching up done here in the next several days if I can.  I'm back to babysitting full time now that the kids are in school and this past first week has been really, really busy.  And since that won't likely let up anytime soon, I may be doing my catching up on weekends, which of course will mean that while I'm catching up, I will also be getting further behind...

With my recovery from surgery, we really stayed around the house a lot more than a normal summer.  And with the drought and heatwave, the kids were dying to go swimming.  But since I wasn't allowed to do that yet, we had to improvise and they spent hours playing the the sprinkler.  Our grass loved it.  The city, who issued our water bill, also loved it.  And of course, even though it wasn't a swimming pool or water park or lake, our kids also loved it.

The boys also had scout camp this summer and then Kendall went for a week to a sleep-away math camp.   Several kids in our city received scholarships based on essays they had written that would allow them to attend the camp for free.  Kendall was really excited about it but got pretty nervous when the time came.  He ended up having a great time though and got to bunk with a couple of his good school friends.  They got to do all sorts of fun projects that used math and science principles but that were so enjoyable that the kids actually didn't realize they were learning at all.  I think Kendall's favorites were the solar powered robots and the hovercrafts.  He also liked getting to weld too! The last day they did presentations for their families and it was pretty fun to see all the things they had been able to do during the week.  I, of course, got there without my camera so I don't have any pictures.  I do however, have this cute picture of him wearing the hat that he claimed from Taylor's birthday:

While Kendall was having all that fun at math camp, Taylor got to not have fun having his wisdom teeth removed.  They were getting ready to come up and undo all the last few years worth of work we did to get his teeth straight.  He REALLY didn't want to do it.  He was so afraid of what he might say or do while under the influence of the drugs after watching a bunch of hilarious YouTube videos of people who had their wisdom teeth out.  We brought the camera just in case, but he wound up being kind of boring.  The funniest thing was probably that he kept pulling at his numb lower lip and asking me "What is this?"  He was pretty miserable for the first couple of days and got the big chipmunk cheeks that are so common.  I do think he highly enjoyed being waited upon during that time and getting out of all of his chores.  And then he was better quickly and able to feel better for our visit from Sherrie and Kevin and Koby.

In their family when a child turns 12 and then again when they graduate from high school, they get to go on a special trip.  We were totally excited that Koby chose to come and visit us in Michigan.  Our kids hardly ever get to see their cousins on the Oswald side of the family since we hardly ever get to go out west, so this was a fun chance to visit with Koby (and his mom and dad of course).  For Kendall especially who loved getting to know one of the cousins who is the same age, it was especially a treat.

We kept pretty busy while they were here.  One day we took advantage of Kid's 'n' Stuff museum's free day.  I had never been there on one of those days since we have a membership and the place was PACKED!  Our kids didn't know what to do for the first while since they are so used to having the place mostly to themselves.  But it ended up being fun for everyone.



We took a visit to the science building on campus one day and had fun looking at the dinosaur bones and fossils and rocks, etc.  Wouldn't you know it, the dry weather we'd had all summer decided to let up during this week and we actually got some rain--on the days that we didn't really want it to rain.  But it let up a bit so we went to the roof of the building to check out the observatory, which was really cool.

Kendall and Koby in front of the observatory.

Our biggest excursion was a trip to Lake Michigan.  In the past, we had gone to St. Joseph to the beach but it was always hit or miss whether they would allow you to get in the water or not depending on the size of the waves (or the mood of the beach patrol officers). But when Taylor and Kendall went on their 34 mile bike ride earlier this summer with the youth, the group went to South Haven instead and they found that things were much more relaxed at that beach.  So we decided to give that a try.  And we had SUCH a fun time there.  I don't think I even saw anyone official patrolling the beach.  And it was the perfect day to go.  It had rained earlier so the temps had dropped a bit and there was a little cloud cover to keep the sun from being blinding.  And the water was the perfect temperature for swimming.  We picnicked beforehand and then hit the beach for the next several hours.  We played in the sand and buried a few kids (at their request of course) and played in the water.  Finally our kids who had been dying to swim all summer, got their wish.  I don't think Lynnsey came out of the water the whole time we were there--she was in heaven.  Kaya loved to go out a ways and then jump everytime a wave came up.  Spencer liked that too and kept yelling, "this is totally awesome!"  It really was.

Another day we all went to Turkeyville so that we could ride the trains.  It was the first time that we had been back since the tracks were destroyed last year in a huge storm and had to be repaired.  They ended up taking out a good section of the ride so it made it a bit shorter.  Still fun, but we're hoping that they will eventually restore the entire thing.  

We got the idea shortly before the Anderson's came to see if we could take Kendall and Koby to Detroit to do baptisms at the temple for the first time.  Sherrie loved the idea so they made sure to have Koby get his recommend before coming.  Kalen even got on FamilySearch and found quite a few family names that we could have baptisms done for, so that made the experience even better.

Afterward, we let Kendall and Koby pick anywhere they wanted to go to dinner.  After debating for awhile, they picked a Big Boy restaurant of all things.  They were so excited to order from the adult menu but of course the waitress took one look at them and thinking they were about 9, gave them crayons and kid menus to color:)  The restaurant was definitely not the greatest, but so many things just cracked us all up about the evening, that it definitely made some fun memories.

After church on Sunday, we paid a little visit to Marc and Marta Young's house.  Or more specifically their yard.  Sherrie had remembered it from her last visit and wanted to see it again.  I was so glad that I had left the camera in the car the day before and was able to capture some pictures.  Sadly, Marta recently got a new job out in Utah and Marc is just staying to sell the house before heading out to join her.  We are so sad to see them go.  And we will miss visiting their beautiful yard too.

Later that night we all went to Victory Park to listen to a community band concert.  They sounded great, as usual.  We missed having Taylor be a part of it this summer but it seemed like he had something going on during nearly all of the practice times.

All of the kids had a chance to go up and be the conductor on one of the songs. 

We took everyone to the Nature Center for a morning hike which was really fun.  It is such a beautiful place to visit and we feel so fortunate to have it so close to our house.

Spencer found the 7 mile marker which was fitting since it was his 7th birthday that day!

Touching a snake was a favorite moment for the kids.  Not so much for Kalen and Sherrie.

Later that day we went back to the science building to fly airplanes in the atrium.  The kids love doing that but I think we were a bit too noisy that day and bothered a few people.  I felt really bad.  I also felt bad about the planes that flew up into the windowsills WAY out of reach where they may turn to fossils themselves someday.

And finally, that evening after watching Kendall and Lynnsey's dress rehearsal of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (next post!), Spencer celebrated his 7th birthday.

                                     

Are you sensing a theme with in the pictures?  The kid is wild about Angry Birds.  Most of the conversations I have with him lately revolve around them.  I think he thinks about them constantly.  Probably he is obsessed.  We might should address the issue.  And maybe will will eventually, but I have to admit seeing him get SO excited over all of his gifts really is fun. 

The next day the Anderson's left bright and early  for the airport.  It was so great to see them.  I wish we could see everyone more often.  Sometimes it stinks to be so spread out.  But it is such a treat when we do have visitors or when we can do the visiting.  More posts to come!