We are getting a little tired of being stuck inside. This spring/summer has been a wet one, and when it isn’t raining, it’s so buggy no one even wants to try going outside. Today, we pulled out the REALLY old favorites to make it through without inflicting any physical harm. We did enough of that in the morning. Ben started the day by pulling his dresser over on top of himself. Thankfully Nick was just a few steps away and pulled it off before any real damage was done.
While Ben made his own fun in the hallway …
… the big boys brought out the Play-doh. I’m honestly surprised any of it was still good. It’s been a long time since that box has come out of the closet.
In between downpours Mike and Nick ran a couple errands. One was to Toys R Us in search of some safety straps for the little boys’ dresser. They didn’t find the straps, but they did find Hungry, Hungry Hippo.
The old school game kept them entertained for at least 30 minutes before the emotional breakdowns started. Is it bedtime yet?
Despite the weatherman’s dire predictions of rain all day, the sun pushed it’s way through the clouds about 8 a.m. and didn’t let the rain take over until late in the day. We took advantage of the nice morning (and Mike’s apparent ability to walk again) and headed for the local strawberry patch. The fields were full of mud (and a few moldy strawberries), but we managed to find about 5 pounds worth picking before the boys decided they had had enough. It’s really a good thing we don’t live in a time when you have to raise your own food to eat. I’m pretty sure we’d all starve.
We spent a few minutes saying hello to the animals (these goats were awfully mean to each other) …
… then headed over to the berry field.
Ben really didn’t care to do much picking, but he was happy to hold the little bucket for me. Until the leaves started itching his legs.
Hey, it isn’t exactly the kind of picture I want to blow up big for the wall, but at least they all look mildly happy. Ok, really, I’m just happy no one is crying. It might be because we promised McDonald’s if they were good. They were so good, in fact, we decided to brave the pool this afternoon. No pics there; the pool makes you get a pass to wear around your neck if you want to take pictures. It’s really not worth it. Suffice it to say, they had fun and for the first time we almost felt like having three kids was becoming manageable. Yep, it was a good day.
Apparently, Ben really likes broccoli. After dinner tonight there were about six pieces left in the bowl. I was about to throw them away, and, as a joke, offered them up to Ben (who was already done eating and playing in the living room). He comes running into the kitchen and says “Yep. I wove (love) broccoli.” Sure enough, he does. He proceeded to eat the rest of the bowl. I don’t think I willingly touched broccoli until I was about 18 and that was in Chinese food only. I didn’t eat it as it’s own food until at least 20-something. I guess we are doing something right with this kid. It’s not much, but I’ll take it.
Early this year I put all three boys on a wait list at a local daycare center. In six months, they managed to move backward on the list. I knew that Zander and Ben would be fine spending another summer with my aunt. I knew it would end in disaster for Nick. He’s older than everyone there, and he doesn’t play with toys so he has a hard time connecting with any of the kids there. On the last day of school Mike talked to the mother of one of Zander’s classmates. I don’t know how it came up, but she mentioned a camp-like program through the local rec center. I called on my way home from work and took Nick down to sign up before dinner. They only had one opening in two of the weeks offered, but we took it. A couple days later they called back (twice) offering Nick spots in five more weeks. Again, we took it. It’s only been a few days, but I can already tell this was a great decision. This week they went to the pool twice and the UNI rec center once. Even better, it’s CHEAP (well, in terms of daycare). And Nick loves it. Last summer we had to beg him to go to daycare, even on days when they were doing fun things, like the pool. He gets up super excited and ready to go every day.
Then today, he came home with this (pardon the picture – he actually came home with this yesterday, but I forgot to take a picture. That’s his still puffy, just rolled out of bed, mom get the camera out of my face face). I[m thinking we’ve found a solution to our summer care problem for the next couple of years. Hopefully if Zander goes next year it won’t ruin it for Nick.
And of course these hams can’t pass up getting their picture taken either.
Nick’s friend Zak asked him to sleep over at his dad’s house (about 10 minutes outside of town) after a baseball game this week. Being the overprotective mom that I am, I said no. I talked about it with Nick later, and turns out it was probably a good thing. He didn’t want to say no, but he was a little nervous about staying at someone else’s house, especially when it wasn’t just a few block from our house like Zak’s mom is.
We talked it over and decided to invite Zak to sleep over at our house instead. We went out to pick him up at his dad’s giving both Nick and me the chance to scope the place out. While Zak showed Nick around, I chatted with his dad and we both left feeling a lot more comfortable about the whole situation.
In an effort not to embarrass Nick too much, I kept the camera put away most of the night. But, I couldn’t help but snap at least a couple pictures.
The boys played hard, had a few rough patches with Zander and our neighbor girl, but generally had a good time. Nick struggled staying up as late as Zak, and finally at midnight I had to shut it down because I needed to go to bed. Nick was still up bright and early the next morning. Zak slept til 9:30. Just before lunch we took the boys back out to Zak’s house. They played in the rain, went to the pool, played some more, and then Nick finally (reluctantly) came home at about 9 p.m. He really wanted to stay, but we all knew he wouldn’t have made it much longer. He’s already planning the next sleepover! I’m just glad he’s found a friend to hang out with!
