Grand and Daddy are Nationals fans. Daddy already has his own Nationals hat, so when Grand gifted this one to Jack, it became very important to wear the red hat just like Daddy. The donning of the hat this time was on our first ever trip to play mini-golf!
The other thing that we all had to wear, just like Daddy, was....
...golf gloves!!
However, the kids don't own "real" golf gloves, so old winter gloves had to do.
Daddy -red; Mommy -lavender; Malynn -orange; Jack -white.
Oh yea, in the hole!
See, you have to line it up just right. Sometimes getting down close helps.
And, when all else fails, use your hands.
Right at home on a mini-golf course.
Oh, silly Daddy!
Everyone got a turn with the coveted Nationals cap.
Aunt Kathy came to visit from Texas!! The kids can now identify Texas on a map of "SA" (we usually don't get the U pronounced), tell you that's where Kathy and Grand are from, and identify the letter K for Kathy.
Kathy was staying with Grand, but they came down for an overnight with us -Ottar & Amita, of course came, too. So we had a big family weekend of fun.
First stop was the children's museum. Everyone was interested in going because Malynn and Jack love it so much. Plus, there was a special activity that day where kids could make their own first aid kits!
Malynn really liked her Dr. Malynn sticker and particularly liked being called Dr. Malynn. :)
We did lots of our standard favorites like the air tubes, the spinner game with Daddy, brushing the animals, etc. And one big new thing...
...climbing the latter up to the cabin loft!
It was pretty crowed inside, so we headed out and did another new thing...riding the carousel!
Malynn had a genuine princess moment when she first climbed up on that horse, and I was lucky enough to catch it in this photo!
And Jack was just delighted as he passed by again, and again, and again.
We had time for a quick stop by the fountain for some penny tossing, too.
Building with blocks was the feature activity for the afternoon.
It's hard to tell what Malynn likes best, having a new castle creation or knocking it down!
Ottar introduced an amazing new way to get more height -stack up the stool to build on!
Malynn wanted to continue wearing her Dr. sticker -so cute.
Then came the "summer thanksgiving" part. The meal Grand prepared was both grand and, as we like to say around here, d-lishous!
With so much amazing food and a table full of special family, it just felt like a thanksgiving. :)
Before Kathy and Grand took off the next morning they got to see some T-ball action. I especially had to be sure to share these pictures, since on this visit we learned that Kathy's grandson, John David, is a T-ball star himself!
Jack really loves getting T-ball set up and squaring up with the bat.
He's really quite good at connecting with the ball, too.
Malynn always prefers to do things with her own style! Today it was bunting and turning the bat around.
Don't forget to stay hydrated!
Then there was a little wagon ride action, too. I can just hear Malynn saying, "No Jack, over dere."
I can't believe it's been a whole year already! Thinking back on when we were searching for a part-time nanny, I remember saying, "I know people with a nanny who say that they would cry if they ever lost her, and I want to be able to say the same thing." Well, the search that I had allotted 4-6 weeks for, ended up taking over 3 months. I definitely got to a place where I had accepted that I would have to compromise on some of the things I was hoping for. Then we met Melody. When she came to meet us, I recall that the kids were automatically comfortable around her (I've learned to trust their first impression of people.). And, after the interview meeting, I told Mike that not only did I have a positive, peaceful feeling about her, but I could even see us becoming friends. Well, a year later, I can say that initial 3 month wait to find Melody was worth it. The gut feeling the kids and I had about her was right. She has loved and cared for Malynn and Jack as if they were her own. Knowing they are with her gives me total peace of mind while I'm working. Every day she comes the kids learn, laugh, and love with her. She has become a dear friend and we truly consider Melody part of the family. Not just her, but her children (the cousins), too. When any of the cousins come the kids know they can count on a little extra special lovin': reading stories, doing hair-dos, playing puzzles or blocks, or just plain romping around. Melody and her kids make such a positive contribution to our lives...I would cry if we ever lost her.
To celebrate the 1 year anniversary, I was inspired by my friend Helen who creates treasure hunts for kids (insert web site here once it's up and running!). I had the ingredients for making a graham cracker, banana, vanilla pudding dessert, so I wrote little riddle clues to lead Melody and the kids around the house to find what they needed to make the treat together. It was a hit!
I had little rhymes like: "The next place you need to look, is where we keep the Alexander book." and "You'll find the next thing out where we play, with lots of water on a hot, hot day." I have to admit, the second grade teacher in me had a blast making the clues! Malynn and Jack really started to get a sense of what it was all about as they went along, and Jack loved getting to see what cooking item they would discover next. I'll definitely need to create more fun treasure hunts in our future!
The last one led to the recipe and a picture collage for Melody of special times when we have been together.
*Special note: This weekend was full of "firsts," which I will highlight throughout. :)
We had been wanting to make the trip to visit our friends from college Dave, Helen, and their girls, Ava & Sophia. We were finally ready to do a longer car trip with the kids, so we squeezed it into one of our remaining summer weekends! The timing worked to catch up with John, Kelley, and their daughter, Addie, too. Bonus! Plus, turns out another college buddy, Liam, lives just 30min away, so he drove over one afternoon with one of his kiddos. And...another college friend, Pat [congrats on your "thing" (a.k.a. wedding)] was in town for work and also came over one evening. It was practically a reunion!
*Jack and Malynn got to watch their first Disney movies on the drive down and back home. The inaugural viewing was of The Lion King. Two moments were especially dear: 1) As the movie started, Jack got a big smile and said, "Animals TALKIN'!" and 2) [caution: spoiler alert] When Mufasa was falling into the stampede below, Malynn said, "Oh no, far away." and a moment later it was followed with, "You come back now." (Moments like that in movies always bring a tear to my eye, but Malynn's commentary left me defenseless, triggering a chin quiver, runny nose, and stream of tears. Good grief!) On the way home Nemo became Disney movie #2.
One of the very first things we did was to head upstairs to Ava & Sophia's amazing playroom and find this...
...bunny suit! Malynn fell ridiculously in love with it. She must have put it on at least five different times while we were there, and she would wear it until we had to encourage her to take it off because we didn't want her to overheat! When she wasn't wearing it she would let us know she was thinking about it by saying, "Where the bunny go?"
Check out this precious bundle! Jack was happy to show Addie how all the animals fit into the barn. I love it when Malynn and Jack are playing with our friends' kids...I love it every time.
I wanted to capture a little of the kid action with a video. I thought it was inappropriate to keep filming when sweet little Sophia got hurt, so it's just a glimpse.
Ava wasn't home from school yet (1st grade this year!), and if you think you didn't see Malynn then watch again and look carefully!
When Ava got home we all learned that first grade is awesome because you get two recesses and the coolest thing she's learned about so far this year is the gorgonopsia (a prehistoric creature). Ava thoroughly enjoys imitating the creature, and apparently it was pretty terrifying beast!
One thing you can count on if you visit Dave & Helen is being fed well!
Here we are with amazing ribs that were fall-off-the-bone tender and you'll-eat-two-more-than-you-should yummy! Everything was cooked with bunches of fresh herbs from their garden, and the picking, chopping, and preparing with herbs shows extra love -thanks! I thought it was pretty amazing that we were ALL eating together at the table at once, so I had to snap a quick picture...even though Sophia isn't sure why I'm interrupting her meal, Jack can't be bothered when there's pesto pasta on the plate, and Kelley is trying to get Addie to smile, I'm still glad I caught the moment.
Sleep didn't go so well our first night there. The kids had trouble falling asleep, were restless, woke up crying multiple times, and in the middle of the night Malynn had one of her "I'm totally awake and will be for the next couple hours" episodes. I ended up downstairs on another air mattress with her to try to let Jack and Daddy get sleep for the rest of the night. We got through it, but knew that we'd have to try something different for the next night. I was convinced at this point that the pack-n-plays were simply too small and not allowing them to get comfortable. To be continued...
That morning the air mattress downstairs made for an irresistible play surface!
Ava was the bounce-master...
...which Sophia tolerated, but it elicited belly laughs and chants of "more, more" every time from Malynn and Jack.
That day we made the trip to the water park -oh, I mean pool- that Dave and Helen belong to. It was huge and had an amazing water slide!
*Malynn and Jack both did the water slide, which was another first. Jack wasn't a fan of the loud rushing water at the top, but still enjoyed a handful of rides on the slide with Daddy. Malynn loved everything about it: the steep climb, being up high, the rushing water, the twists and turns, and the big splash finale. She even got brave enough to put her arms in the air on the way down after the first few trips!
...then it was time to head home for nap time. Dave and Helen let us use their toddler air mattresses.
*So, Jack and Malynn had their first independent sleeping experience in a non-walled bed! They were pretty excited about it, but thankfully they were also totally wiped out from the pool. I was smart enough to stay outside the door after we put them down and consequently was privy to Jack saying, "No, May-may, no." and Malynn responding with, "It's okay Jackie. Mommy went away -like downstairs." (!!!) Of course, to her chagrin, I appeared, resettled them, and waited until they fell asleep (which took about 3.25 minutes).
That afternoon we just took it easy. There was swinging to be done, yummy food to be eaten, and bunny suits to be worn.
The dads and their kids!
A few other precious shots:
Malynn was feeling a little sensitive, as evidenced by this moment:
But Jack was feeling good and we got a whole series of amazing Jack pictures:
That night the kids fell asleep easy again and the mommies and daddies got some adult time. Wine, Olympics, and good friends -that's pretty fantastic evening!
That night we only had one little fuss from Malynn because she had rolled off the mattress!
In the morning Jack was the first one awake, and Mike and I heard:
"Wake up Mayin."
"I no milk cup. No, Daddy come get it."
"I water cup." "I no water cup."
"No Jackie. Stay in bed for nap-naps." (Good job Malynn. I'm so proud of you for listening to Mommy and Daddy and respecting us.)
One final memory from the drive home was when Malynn was playing with one of the old phones we had brought as a car toy and she said, "I'm texting on there," and was holding the phone appropriately for texting. Soon enough, my dear, soon enough.
