The second week.

Bedtime story.   mealtime.
   Yaya has a coworker with a three year old and we’ve invited them along on most of our excursions this week. His name is ewan, his mother is Scottish and his father’s British and he has the cutest little voice.

Monday’s entertainment was a picnic by the duck pond.

    Then swimming.
     

   Tuesday we hit the beach. It was perfect. Hot, but breezy. And the lake was much calmer than the ocean so the girls were both in and out of the water, and the boys didn’t get knocked over. I was in heaven and the kids were all pretty happy. At one point, Kennedy ran up to me and said “oh mommy, this is my best day ever!”  
    
    
   

   Wednesday we visited a local nature center. It was tiny, but they gave the kids a list of items to find and it kept them busy. Plus we spotted deer, which made the whole experience feel legit. 
    Then more swimming. Post pool shower. I think the giant shower is almost as much of an attraction as the pool. 

Thursday we met up with grandpa at the mall. We grabbed coffee, hit the playground, window shopped and then lunch. After lunch we browsed the bookstore. Somewhere in there Penelope peed her pants, so she scored a new outfit from Zara, which we don’t have back home.   
  

    
     

  

  

  

  

  

  

Brookfield zoo, the Exploratorium, and lambs farm

 Kennedy is complaining about wanting to go home. Already. I’ve resolved to step up the adventure outings.

Thursday we met up with grandpa and visited Brookfield zoo. 

  
    
    
   
   By far the highlight was the dolphin show. Lolo studied the Dolphins intently the whole time and at the end she pulled on my arm and whispered, “mommy, I wish I was a dolphin.” I totes feel her, I have always secretly wanted to be a dolphin trainer, maybe I’ll live out my dreams through her.
  Friday we visited the Exploratorium, which is a glorified indoor playground. It was one of those places teeming with moms and nannies and kids running aMuck shouting for their moms and nannies. But it was awesome because the all the kids hardcore played for two hours. It totally shifted their attitudes. What was even more awesome was that mom sent her nurse, Antionette with me and she kept an eye on the girls while I tailed the boys. I left feeling totally sane. It was amazing. I need to take this lady home.  

     The wheel obsession continues…
    
   You can’t really see it, but to the right of this photo is the entrance to a tunnel climbing structure. It was at least two stories tall… If not three. This is where the girls played.  At grandpa’s I handed down a trunk full of my toys. Mostly barbies, a few Polly pockets (I’d totally forgotten about those, I loved those!) and my American girl doll. I need to get some pics of them playing with my old toys, but for now… This: a Barbie who’s chest opens to reveal lip gloss. I’ll admit, as a child I found nothing wrong with dipping my finger inside barbie’s chest cavity and smearing her insides all over my lips, but now? Creepy. 

 Saturday we met up with grandpa again and drove out to lambs farm. Lambs farm is a nonprofit that provides housing and assistance for disabled folk. They raise money through their farm attractions.

 Petting their first sheep.    
    Grandpa actually worked here the summer he graduated high school. So this was a big trip down memory lane. Here he’s looking at photo’s taken 40 years ago, he recognized a few people.
 

    Mini golf.   
 Train ride.    
   Unlimited carousel rides! We didn’t take as much advantage of this as we should have… If it was just me, we would have gone around all afternoon.  

    
  After the farm we drove around and found grandpa’s old house, the hardware store he used to work at, his school, etc. 

The adventure continues….
  

Driving halfway across the country

Sunday was our annual township corn boil. I had such great memories from last year, I was determined not to miss it. But it was literally 100 degrees out, so we just stopped by for some ice cream.

Kennedy participated in the sack race again. When it was over Alex toddled over to the potato sacks and gave it his best shot. 

   
Early the next morning the kids and I headed out. 12 hours to Chicago. The drive was surprisingly cry free. The worst of it was when we stopped at the Pittsburgh Children’s museum. Thought I could handle 4- I was totally wrong, everyone bolted in different directions; there was pinching, and we nearly didn’tmake it to the potty. I had planned to spend a few hours but we were on the road again 90 minutes later. Such a shame because it looked like it would have been a blast.
There was a Daniel tiger exhibit that the kids were super excited about. If you have ever watched the show, you’ll understand this is somewhat ironic- this is where I really lost my cool and gave up on the idea.
   Dinner in Ohio   Reading this book on introverted children. This little passages pretty much defines the extroverts in our family.
 Finally at yayas!
   

 there are no high chairs- so we’ve had to get pretty create about where food is served. Maybe creative is not the right word. What I’m trying to say is the boys have been eating off the floor, wild and free. I’ll probably never get them to sit in a high chair again.

  Tuesday I found out my long lost friend, Morgan, and her daughter were in town as well. We went to high school and college together and were even roommates for a bit. We hadn’t seen each other in nearly 10 years! It was so amazing. It felt like a family reunion. Her adorable daughter is about to turn two and her nana surprised is all with cupcakes. Made me feel better about our clan invading her house.

  
  Also- the boys sat on real chairs- and no one fell out. Getting so big, I can’t even. Ollie and yaya. 
  

 

The reflecting pond and starting renovations.

Another Tuesday at Winterthur. This time we skipped the crafts all together. We spent the day in the fairy garden and then the reflecting pool. We’d never been there before. It was stunning.    

  Our group lunching. 

  
      One of the pools on the reflecting pond had some huge koi fish that would swim right up to the edge and stare you down. Alexander was fascinated by them and kept trying to get closer. Lolo was terrified that the fish would bite her little brother and kept pulling him back. It was such a cute sibling transaction. She loves her brothers so much. 

      

     

 Dinner. Or nap time. Or both.  We had a Swim play date with some friends from Kennedy’s preschool days. It was so fun! Kids swam for hours and we all got caught up.    She’s really working in gym these days.   This was taken at the car dealership. The five of us waited two hours for an inspection! But the kids were mostly good. The free ice cream and popcorn helped.  And our Reno is officially on progress. The kids are all fascinated. I’m pretty sure these two sat on the stairs and watched for over an hour this evening   Sweet dreams, my little bird. 

 

An evening at the fair and beach trip #2

More of that sister love. It doesn’t look like it, but I promise Lolo was laughing.   

   back to  school has begun! She’s been asking for a shopkins backpack all summer. When it came time to choose though, superhero girls won out! Yes! 
   We visited the fair Thursday evening.  
     
Daddy hates these things, but his stone face of misery softened noticeably when the girls requested he teach them how to throw a dart.   
 We rode the teacups as a family. That’s right, rhe boy’s latest milestone: first carny ride.    Ollie loved it. He squealed the whole time
   While poor Alexander basically held on for dear life.

 The next day I drove down to the beach and we met the nieghbors for a second, and infinitely more successful, trip to the beach. This time we spent the day at cape henlopen. It was such a perfect day.    
    
    
    
    
    Good for the soul!

The olympics! We are so excited about them. There are a lot of messages  I don’t feel I convey properly to the kids, but hard work and dedication is something we talk about almost constantly. I feel like Kennedy really understands that if she works hard at something she will improve. Lolo is just beginning to grasp it. The olympics are the ultimate showcase of the benefits of hard work.

Also, Kennedy has been declaring all week that she wants to be a gymnast.     

   Penelope documenting my pb and j making skills.tile shopping: fun for the whole family.     

  
  

Academy of natural sciences, pink hair and 15 month stats

 Saturday was Declan’s dinosaur birthday party. It rained the whole time. That didn’t stop Kate and Kennedy from spending the entire time on the water slide. The rest of us hung out in the garage, by the food and drink, but at the end these two warmed up to the slide and bouncer.   Ice cream truck visit! This boys got their very own push pops. 
    It happened, but I can’t wrap my head around the fact that the boys each got their own ice cream. Babies don’t do that.

  
   Sunday we decided to visit the academy of Natural sciences. On the way Kennedy informed us that we made a good choice, because she “is kind of dinosaurs these days.

   Alexander loved this animatronic guy. He kept running back to him.
    Real Sister love. 
    
Kennedy showed a lot of interest in the bee hive. We spent a good 15 minutes looking for the queen.    
    Ollie’s new shirt. 
  Monday Kennedy went over to a friend’s house. She was gone the whole day. Lolo had her own special lunch date with daddy (more on that in a minute) but overall she was a mess without her sister. Full day school will be tough on her. I pulled out the big guns and gave her pink hair!

    
  Kennedy has pink dipped hair too, as of that evening, but I yet to get a good pic of it.  So back to the lunch date. Heads up; this is a pooping story, which should be no big surprise if you’ve known Lolo for any length of time. She poops at the most  inopportune times. While they were at the restaurant, Olive Garden, they both went to the bathroom. Daddy sent Lolo in by herself. A few minutes later daddy is approached by some women, “your daughter is calling for you, she needs your help…” So daddy had to go in the ladies’ room while a hostess stood guard at the door.

Tuesday we wound up at Winterthur again. It was really crowded and Kennedy was having tummy troubles, so we didn’t stay long.

      

     Blueberry lovers.

  These guys had their 15 month this morning. Alex gained over two pounds and Oliver over four ( go, baby, go!)

  Here are the numbers: can you believe Alex is so tall!   Everything was pretty straightforward. The doc confirmed that they both have molars coming in. We talked about how Alexander’s legs bow and she said it is to compensate for balance. She also pointed out his feet tend inward, a leftover from his time in eutero, but said the problem would correct itself over time.

In their own world.

 Officially a climber and Super proud of it!

 And along those lines…. Clearly we have a new favorite game.

Rip

afternoon cup of
coffee. You will be missed.  

 More pics from the art museum last Friday: