final week of summer

This final week of summer, I asked the boys what they wanted to do - and then we did it. 

We started off Monday at Sports Connection. I felt very lucky to have avoided it all summer, so a few hours on a gift card from a party seemed like a reasonable request. 

 They had some cute new games.

 And Neland's becoming a much better driver.

 The boys earned a lot more tickets than usual, and when we traded them in, they went right for the candy. I thought about saying no, but gave in. Neland picked a fruit roll up, and a cowtail. Ironically, one of the reasons we started our "whole" food journey was Neland's addiction to fruit roll ups - he was a year old at the time so I'm sure he doesn't remember, but funny he picked that. Teague went for M&Ms - totally what I would have picked.

The next request was to visit Discovery Place and have lunch with Chris. Tuesday worked out to be perfect for both. I didn't grab a pic of the boys with Chris, but it was wonderful to see him. He walked us to Discovery Place afterwards, and we enjoyed all our favorite exhibits.

 Neland or Teague said, it looks like that fish has a kiss on it.

 We watched the short 3D movie for the first time. 

 Then moved to the little kid area.

 I really should have brought my camera and not relied on the phone so much!

 Since we were already uptown we stopped by ImaginOn to visit the Arthur exhibit one last time.

 My boys love dollhouses. There is one you can play with there.

 And one just to look at. We probably spend at least ten minutes of every visit looking at this one. It is truly beautifully detailed (and Neland doesn't miss a thing).

We had a park playdate with dear friends, that turned into lunch and more playing. The perfect kind of day. 

Then the unexpected happened. We had planned to head to the beach for a few days to visit friends and get in a vacation before summer ended, but Chris had to quickly go out of town. So the boys and I had a few more days at home together. Thursday, Neland wanted to go to the toy store. I told him I wasn't going to buy anything, so he asked if he could. His piggy bank held $75!!

 We visited the toy store, but Target had what he really wanted. I also have to note here how unbelievably sweet my 6 year old is. We visited Target the day before in a completely whirlwind, looking for presents for kids his age. He went right into those aisles saying, oh they would like this, or what about this - he never once asked for a single thing. He just loaded up the cart and when I said, we don't have time to look at toys - didn't complain one bit. He is a special kid. I cannot say Teague was helpful, but he's younger and probably didn't understand quite as well.

 In my head I thought I would have to spend the whole afternoon putting this together. Instead, I sat by as Neland did the whole thing. It took over an hour, but he was diligent and didn't give up. Luckily Teague napped, otherwise I'm sure pieces would have been missing. It's amazing to see how mature Neland is getting, from shopping the day before to spending over an hour putting Legos together. 

I probably could have made Friday a little better, but the boys needed hair cuts. They do not like hair cuts, but they handled it well and I took them to lunch afterwards.

 Saturday was breakfast on the patio in the cooler weather (I may have wrapped myself in a blanket). Followed by playing in the mud pit before heading to the playground.

 Then they were back in the mud pit before dinner. Neland told he he was going to build a playground. I wasn't sure what he meant, until I saw the sticks go up and he was looking for one to go across. Then he explained he wanted a playground like the other kids have, and my heart broke. The poor kid was trying to build a swing set. 

 Dali got a walk in after dinner.

And Sunday the boys woke to daddy being home! They were so excited to see him. We slept in and then had a breakfast picnic at the little pond in our area.

We finished the day playing in the backyard and grilling out.

 There was some goofiness too.

 This morning we had our final summer playdate. It was so bittersweet as this dear friend will be at another school (actually we don't know anyone going to Neland's school).

When I checked the mail this afternoon, flowers awaited Neland. Such a sweet sentiment! He wanted to plant them, but I got him to agree to a vase instead.

And tomorrow morning bright and early, he has a special card from Miss Jean to open. He's been so excited about it. It has a stamp from Ireland he wants to add to his collection. And he even pointed out that the letter flew over the ocean, and he'd only flown over the land. 

more summer fun

Summer continues to be a lot of fun. It's August and I'm definitely not as frazzled and ready for the boys to head to school as I thought I would be. I'm even starting to think unschooling would be a great idea. 

We took the boys to see Planes on Sunday ($45.00 for all of us!) It was a hit. 

The boys and I drove up to Grandma and Grandpa's on Monday. Neland picked a book to read in the car - a dictionary. I think he carried him around all weekend too. He saw the diagram of a tidal wave (complete with an underwater volcano) and no longer wants to go to the beach. Because of the tidal wave and the crabs with big eyes that hide behind rocks to pinch you (his words).

We had two great days at the pool. Sunny, fun and exhausting!

Neland loves to say (thanks to Chris) "I have an announcement - Cannonball"

Neland didn't know Teague walked to the side of the slide. I love his face when he sees him!

During break the boys would throw rings. Grandma and I would race to see who could get more.

Neland has started swimming like a fish. I'm so proud of him. Those years of screaming for fear of the water seems so far behind him. He can swim to the bottom and float on his back. He just needed to do it in his own time.

By Wednesday, the weather had turned and my face was burned. Neland LOVES the Children's Museum. It was an exciting change of pace. Neland dressed himself. I noticed he had on Teague's 3T shorts, but wasn't until Neland's shirt was put on Teague that I realized he was wearing the wrong shirt too. Funny how well this fit for being 3 sizes smaller than what he wears.

Teague loves to say when he drives he will bump into cars. Neland tells him that he will be a police man and arrest Teague for bumping into cars, to which Teague says, no you won't, I'll drive faster. So this picture below just seemed appropriate.

There is a pizza restaurant at the museum. Teague was making me lunch. He said, "And now I'll get the top." I told him pizza's don't have a top. He said, "I'm not making a pizza, I'm making a quesadilla." Such an out of the box thinker (or stubborn).

Teague demonstrated making "cheesy pasta".

I had them venture outside to see the chickens and bunnies. They were thrilled.

He looks all sweet and kind weighing the baby, but really he was shaking the scale as hard as he could.

Teague walked right across this the first time. He loved it. 

We spent 5 hours at the museum (with a break for lunch). There was still complaining from Neland when we left. I'm sure he would have stayed even longer (thank goodness they close).

We drove home on Thursday morning and I filled up before I left, drove two hours, and this is where my needle was when we arrived home. I was pretty excited. 

Teague fell asleep in the midst of his books on Thursday night. 

School starts in exactly one week. We have the supplies and we hung a special shelf for bookbags. 

We are enjoying this last official week of summer. I think we are all going to miss our free time, fun adventures and way too much pj time.