Water balloons

Liam has been begging to cross items off of our "summer list." I'm pretty sure he is specifically referring to items such as Sea World and Chuck E. Cheese but he was still pretty excited when I dug out the water balloons from last summer (and practically cleaned the garage in the process). I wish I was more enthusiastic about water balloons than I am. Maybe if they filled themselves I would think more fondly of them. But, they don't. Luckily Paul was home and was able to bear some of the load. 

30 day photo challenge

I stumbled across a 30 day photo challenge through a blog called "I Heart Faces." There is a photo prompt for each day and I believe that, technically, you are supposed to share your daily shot each day on Instagram or Facebook or wherever. I decided to just share mine here as I upload them to my computer. I must say that I have missed taking pictures every day. And I especially love having a prompt that makes me notice things around me besides just my adorable children. Like, one evening, as we walked to the park, I told Paul I was on the lookout for "texture." We ended up talking about what exactly that means and I actually took several pictures of texture we noticed around us. Particularly sewer grates, tree bark and little poky balls that had fallen from the trees. We stopped and talked about how one of the tree's trunks looked exactly like camouflage with brown and green spots. I promise you that any other day I wouldn't have looked at any if those things. It has been very fun so far. 

June 1: me (as a baby)

 

 

June 2: outdoors 

 

 

June 3: favorite color

 

 

June 4: texture

 

 

June 5: family 

 

 

June 6: clouds 

 

June 7: happy

 

 

June 8: busy

 

Our list

I have been feeling pretty disorganized lately. Paul's work schedule has been all over the place which makes me have to "go with the flow" a little more than my brain is comfortable doing. I find that I rarely know what day it is and our family has been doing things at strange times of the day. Like making dinner before noon so we can all eat together before Paul leaves for work in the afternoon. Liam has been asking to do a ton of fun (read: expensive) stuff (when does he not?) and I have a little list of my own going on (when do I not?) and with the way things are going right now, none of it will happen if it isn't planned ahead of time. So, I sat down with Liam and did some planning. He only has 4 more school days until summer and only 10 weeks until he starts Kindergarten. We made a list of everything we could (feasibly) do in that time frame and we filled in the calendar. This is our list. 

 

Also, I wanted to make a little list of free local stuff we will be taking advantage of in case anyone is interested:

Kidsbowlfree.com is a summer program where your kids can bowl 2 free games every day June- August at several bowling alleys throughout the country.

The Disney store is doing their "Summer Play Days" where they have story times and other events in their stores and the kids collect a lanyard with a new pin for each week of the program. 

Kptmovies.com is the website for our local Krikorian Theater which is doing a summer kids series of $1 movies each week of summer. 

All 3 of these things are inside air conditioned buildings. Just throwing that out there.

And, if all else fails, we plan on keeping our dining room converted to a play kitchen/ BBQ/ grocery store area.

 

 

Nerd

Since deleting my Facebook account I have found a bit more time to do some leisurely reading. I know, how many times did I scroll my news feed!? A ton, apparently, because I now not only feel like I'm able to give my attention where it is needed but I also have picked up some time for myself along the way. Who knew? Anyway, in just the past couple of months I have read through the entire Hunger Games trilogy twice (I really liked it ok? Don't judge.), the whole Divergent trilogy, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, am currently reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tart and have The Fault in Our Stars in the mail on its way to me. That's 12 books in about what? Three months? I'm addicted. I actually forgot how much I enjoy reading. Back when I was a kid I used to read one Sweet Valley book a day. If I had nothing else to do I would probably be going at that same pace now. It hit me one day as I stood in Barnes and Noble that I am a total nerd. I mentioned to Paul that I needed a bookmark and a book light and the Easter bunny obliged sealing the deal. I was so excited about my new reading gear. But what encourages me on my nerd quest is that Brygit steals my books from me and flips through their pages even though there aren't any pictures and I'm relieved that she is mimicking that behavior instead of the one where I was looking at my phone every 5 seconds. Her and Liam both seem to be more interested in their books as well and  it makes me realize how much they take their cues from my behavior. If I can replace a less desirable one with a better alternative then I am all about it.

Happy Memorial Day!

 

We are so incredibly thankful for the freedom that we too often take for granted and for all the people who have made it possible. 

 

 

Safari park

Have you seen that Living Social deal for the San Diego Zoo Safari park? It's only $25 a person which is almost half off. I jumped all over it and I was so excited about it that, even though the tickets don't expire until December, I went as soon as possible. We were able to hold and feed Lorakeets, watch a bird show where an owl buzzed our heads, see a cheetah run, look at tons of animals and, my personal favorite, watch a mama gorilla tote her tiny infant around under her arm. The kids, of course, had a blast but I'm always so surprised at how much I enjoy places like this. I am always awed by these amazing creatures.

Handprints

Throughout the week of Mother's Day I displayed the cards I received and the cute crafts the kids made on our mantle above the fireplace. I realized by the end of the week that I had collected a bunch of handprints from my children. I remember making a calendar in elementary school for my mom one Christmas. I wrapped it myself and waited until Christmas before spilling the beans. It had my handprints on it and I remember her crying when she opened it. I was confused by her reaction at the time. I thought maybe she didn't like it. I understand now. There is something precious about receiving a piece of paper that shows your child's growing hands. They won't always be so tiny or as meticulously painted. Next year they will be a bit more able and a lot larger. I may not have mentioned this in my Mother's Day post but I am so thankful for those little hands that belong to those little people. I'm thankful for their health, their company, their personalities no matter how big and for the opportunity to be called their "mama."