Frisco Rough Riders

Our life group takes a break during the summer because everyone has different schedules, vacations, lake days, etc.  But we do want to try to see each other every once in a while.  Our June outing was a trip to a Frisco Rough Riders game (minor league baseball).

I had been once before with some MOPS leadership, but the rest of the family had not been.

My mini me

One of our families go a lot, so they suggested we do lawn seats.

1. It's cheap!  It's only $7 a ticket (and Logan was free!)

2. The kids can run around and play

3. There is a play ground at the park (yes!) and the lawn seats are close to that. So it's easy to go back and forth.

Since that family goes a lot, their girls know that two things are going to happen.  They get to play on the play ground, and they get dip n dots.  So in keeping up with their tradition, Olivia got her first ever dip n dots!

The crazy crew... with their dads in the background

Fun times!

Baseball game: check!

We want to go back some time with just our family and actually sit in good seats.  Maybe next year when Logan can appreciate it a little more.

Summer Bucket List

During the school year we are always doing something.  And those "somethings" always cost money.  MOPS... MOPS play dates... bring breakfast for MOPS... lunch out for MOPS... mom's night out for MOPS... Preschool... bring something for this party... bring something for that party... Life Group... bring a dish to share... chip in for babysitting... Church play dates... Church mom's night out...

All of these things are great.  They are our life.  They are how we socialize and build relationships.  I am absolutely not complaining.  Our life would be so boring without all of those things.  But when it came time for summer break and for vacation to be over, I had two thoughts.

1. Let's slow down and relax for summer.  My kids can be home bodies, Logan especially, and I didn't really want to be running somewhere every single day.  We've been home a week and a half and I'm already loving that we don't have to get up and get out the door every morning!

2. By slowing down, let's also spend less and save more.  Since we do do all of those extra things during the school year, I wanted to just try to do things cheaper during the summer and give our bank account a break too. (Plus, I want to do some fun field trips and extra activities when school starts!!)

Of course I still want us to have fun! And Olivia loves lists, visuals, and checking things off (just like her mama!), so I thought I'd make a list of things for us to do.  We likely would have done all of these anyway, but by putting it on a list it actually seems we are having a fun and busy summer.  When in reality, we are slowing down quite a bit.

I just threw this together with items I had on hand.  It's hanging in our kitchen.

I gave Olivia one of the posters and told her she could color on it.  She asked what a poster was, and then promptly decided that she was going to make her own summer bucket list. Man, I love her! :)

And I love her list!  I love it because it shows that it isn't about "stuff" but rather "time".  I told Michael that when I see this, all I can think is that we must be doing something right! :)

Her list

1. Go to the pool

2. have a picnic

3. bake a cake with mommy

4. go to a basketball game

 (we had baseball game on the list, so she put basketball.  I told her this one might not happen, due to season/time of year.)

5. go on a date (the car)

6. play with blocks

So that is what we are going to be up to this summer.  Among other things.  I'm pretty excited to have all of these adventures with my littles!  Happy Summer y'all!

Road Tripping, The rest of the trip

On Thursday morning my friend Laurie came over to visit with the family.  She wanted to see the kiddos, and Olivia remembered who she was.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a single picture. :(  But after visiting with Michael and the kiddos for a bit, she and I left.  We went and got pedicures, had a yummy lunch, and hit up Target for some maternity clothes shopping! (for her, not me!)  I came home for some rest while Laurie had to run an errand with her husband. Then we met back up with our other friend Laurie for girl's night!

While I was at girl's night, the kiddos and Aunt Jenny painted bird houses for Michael's grandma.

Michael's grandma celebrated her 86th birthday the week before we came.  Michael's mom planned a family birthday party for her for Friday afternoon.  The kids got to help with the preparations, gifts, and wrapping of the gifts. They loved it all!

Olivia and her grandma had been planning this party over skype for weeks.  Olivia was very specific about what colors of paper she wanted to use to make a banner.  She was thrilled when she actually got to make the banner that she had been drawing and talking about!

On Friday morning we headed over to the bridge to try to see a train. Every time Logan heard the train whistle he'd stop and listen and point it out.  Unfortunately, there was no train while we were up there waiting.

We played in the baseball field for a little bit waiting for a train to come...

He loves her!

Olivia's banner hanging for the party!  I actually says Happy Birthday, but she used different colored markers and it didn't show up too well in the picture.

We started the party out with a pizza lunch.

Olivia and Logan had helped wrap some gifts, and then decorated them with stickers.  Logan was eager to help his great grandma open her gifts.

Two of Michael's cousins and their kids were there, along with one of his uncles. Then, of course, all of us.

Showing Grandma Marge the bird houses they made.

 The cake was a snickers ice cream cake from Dairy Queen!

The cousins enjoying some ice cream cake

We spent a few hours at grandma's, and then came home to relax for a bit.  Logan actually fell asleep watching cartoons.  After dinner the kids got to play stickers with Aunt Jenny and Grandma.

Aunt Jenny had to leave on Saturday, but the kids soaked up every last second before she had to leave for her flight.

Olivia even talked her into a game of hide and seek.  They had so much fun with Aunt Jenny!

We had a relaxing last afternoon. We did laundry, went for one last visit at Michael's grandma's house, packed up a few things, and Olivia and grandma did some art while Logan was napping.

Our little family went out for dinner, and then Michael headed to his best friend's house for one last hang out. 

We left to head back home on Sunday, the 29th.  We were on the road by 9 AM.  We stopped for a Cracker Barrel lunch around 12:30 and then drove until about 6:30.  The kids did GREAT.  We probably could have kept going, but we had the time, so we wanted to break up the trip and have one last fun night.

We stopped for dinner, checked into a hotel, and then headed straight to the pool!  Swimming as a family is much more fun than spending a few more hours in the car!  It reinforced to me that I need to get the kids into swim lessons ASAP.  Logan has no fear and hated being held.  He kept telling me to let him go.  I tried explaining that he couldn't reach (and we didn't have any floaties).  I even let his face dip under the water a few times to show him.  He didn't care.  He thinks he's invinsible! Oye vey.

We headed back up to the room around 9 and watched an hour of cartoons before we all fell asleep.

 We took our time getting ready on Monday morning.  We don't have cable, so the kids soaked up any TV time they could get.  They watched every episode of Paw Patrol, Lion Guard, and PJ Masks that they could!

They really were just SO good on the whole trip.  Logan started to melt down on the last day in Ohio, but I think that's understandable.  He had been away from home for 10 days and had been off of his eating and sleeping schedule.  They were awesome in the car, and we really had no issues.  They had a great time seeing all of their family!  It was a good trip.

Road Tripping, Day 6 and 7

Every Tuesday morning my uncle Dennis comes to my grandma's house and has breakfast with her before he goes to work.  Olivia took the opportunity to soak up more attention!  Not only did she carry on multiple conversations with him, but she got him to read her a few books as well. <3

Tuesday was our last day at my grandma's house.  We just hung out, did laundry, packed up, played a few more games, and then hit the road after dinner.

It only took us 2 1/2 hours to get to Columbus.  Logan fell asleep, but Olivia just watched a few shows on her kindle.  So when they got to Michael's mom's house they were wound up and ready to play.  It should have been bed time, but they explored all of the toys and played with their grandma for a few more hours!

The kids stayed up later than usual, skipped nap on some days, and played hard most days, but they did great at adjusting and going with the flow.  We brought the pack n play for Logan, which we did have to use some of the time.  But if they were tired enough, I let him sleep on the floor with Olivia.  This is how I found them one night.  Olivia was halfway off of the cushion.

On Wednesday morning Michael and the kids walked over and visited his grandma while his mom and I got ready for the day.

Michael's sister Jenny flew in around noon.  They picked her up from the airport and then we all went out for a yummy lunch!

And the kids spent the rest of the day playing with Aunt Jenny and Grandma!

Logan took a liking to Aunt Jenny right away!

On Wednesday night, Michael went out with his high school friends for a guys night.  Olivia and Aunt Jenny made necklaces.

While Logan and Grandma colored

Another great day of vacation was in the books!

Road Tripping, Day 5

My mom took off work on the Monday we were in town, and we planned a fun day for the kids.

But before we got started, some of my family showed up at grandma's, so the kids spent the morning playing with cousins.

Olivia enjoyed playing with my cousin Melissa's girls.  Her and Morgan played together for quite a while. 

Logan and Ellie played together, too.  They played Mr. Potato head and they played with trains.  This picture cracks me up, because they are literally two weeks apart in age.  But Ellie is in the 100th % for height, and looks nearly 6 inches taller than Logan. Actually, every time my cousin Andrew's wife would post stats about Ellie, I'd look Olivia's up from when she was that age and they were always almost exactly the same.  So it's crazy for me to look at these two side by side.  She is exactly the same size Olivia was at that age (or at least height) and then there is little shorty Logan. :) Somehow, he did not get the same genes as his sister did.

After letting the kids play for a bit, we set out on our day of Adventure.

Our first stop was build a bear.  Years and years (and years!) ago, my mom took my youngest niece Hannah to build a bear for her birthday.  So she wanted to do the same for Olivia.  We walked in, she saw the Ariel bear, and she was sold.  There was no turning back.

The Ariel bear was a special edition that came with everything--including a special heart and a song!

Dressing Ariel

You can't take one to build a bear and not let the other get something!  So Logan picked out a camo bear.  He pushed the pedal for all of two seconds before he quit because he didn't like the sound.

The completed project!  And Logan in the background with his.

They played at the mall playground for a little bit before we headed to lunch.  We ate at Cheddar's with some friends from church, who ordered some cheese bites as an appetizer.  Ever since then, Olivia has declared Cheddar's her favorite restaurant and begs for the cheese bites.  So my mom told her we could go for lunch.

After lunch we headed to the Ft. Wayne Zoo.  My mom has a pass and can get her grandkids in for free.

Waiting to go!

There were peacocks everywhere!

both of the kids got to feed the giraffe

 Logan in a dinosaur egg

 Olivia in a dinosaur egg

My mom wanted to spoil the kids, so they go to do all sorts of extra rides. The first one was the pony ride.

Olivia was really proud of herself for not needing "help".

Logan swayed the whole time between giddy excitement and sheer terror.  He couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or cry, but he mostly enjoyed it.

 My cousin Erica and her kids joined us halfway through our visit, so those are my two and two of hers

 Molly and Olivia (and Logan) on the train ride

Molly and Olivia in front of an open peacock

One of the last things we did was the boat ride.

All in all we were there for about 4 hours.  We headed home with tired and hungry (and sensory overloaded) kids.  We had dinner at my grandma's, and Erica and her three kiddos came over.  Our kids played like wild ones for a little bit longer, before I put my guys down to bed.  It was a long, but fun day for the crew.