Waning weeks of Summer

We were playing outside last week and Ben wandered up to me, "Look, Mom, I'm one of those Star Wars guys!"

Photo bomb by Dodo.

Ben continues to create. He and Emma are so different when they play. Ben takes his sweet old time building and creating - taking such pride in getting everything RIGHT. Emma, on the other hand, takes great pride in her speed and agility. She rushes to get through every activity not necessarily to be the first one done, but to get onto the next fun activity!

Look at the detail on these clay Angry Bird figures. He made them all himself!! No parental help.

We walked up to the Greek Festival last weekend. We really didn't get much of a chance to enjoy all the local fireman's picnics / fairs this Summer because we were constantly on the go, but this one is literally a 5 minute walk from the Penthouse, so we had no excuse not to go. (Not to mention we LOVE Greek chow - Daddy had souvlaki, Emma and I split a Gyro, we all split a greek salad, douma grape leaves and Spanikopita. Ben had french Fries - little turkey...) We hit up the rides first, then had dinner. Smart move probably, no one puked!

Me and Ben on the Ferris wheel. I was SCARED. Ben held my hand. Such a good boy...

Emma enjoyed the pink haired pony on the carousel. Ben chose to ride the dragon roller coaster twice instead of the ponies... I couldn't get a decent picture of him because it was rolling along pretty fast and the light was not cooperating from where I was waiting.

She flashed everyone getting on AND off. Must resend her to princess school.

They saved the teacups for last. Before they got on I huddled them in close. "Ok, kiddos, here's the deal. When you get into the teacup, sit on your booties and DO NOT STAND UP. In the center is a wheel. While the whole ride is moving around, you grab the wheel in the middle and spin it as fast as you can!" Below is the 'before' picture, I WISH I could have gotten the after shot. They had a absolute blast spinning and spinning and spinning. When the ride was done, I jumped the fence to help them get off KNOWING how easily Ben is affected by anything spinny. Emma was a little woosie, but Ben - goodness gracious - stepped off the teacup like he had just polished off a six pack of Pabst's Blue Ribbon. Hilarity! "Mom, I can't stand. I'm sooooo dizzy!"

We got this!

The next morning we headed back out to the farms for more local grown goodness. We stopped first at Lewin's Farm to pick Honey Crisp Apples. They were DELICIOUS!! Crunchy and sweet - and didn't affect my allergies (most apples give me a very scratchy throat!). Ben was in pure New Yorker form, picking apples while eating his bagel from the local deli.

Is this a good one, Mom?

We then hit up the pepper and eggplant farm, scoring some yummies that Daddy cooked into a ratatouille. DELISH! And not just for Pixar fans...

It's bigger than me!

More Ben and his AB cities:

Usually parents are worried when their children are exceptionally quiet. To us it just means Ben is creating again...

We finally got Emma a book light to read with in the evening. Here is a sweet pic of her the night before when she fell asleep reading by flashlight.

Snore...

We hit up low tide Wed morning. Em was digging a river when she uncovered the most amazing creature treasure. This guy was about the size of a tennis ball and was alive and kicking - cranky to have been uncovered deep in the sand. His insides were heaving as if he were breathing heavy, like me after climbing the stairs to the Penthouse...

Possibly the coolest creature we found this Summer at low tide...

We are craft crazy! Like my AB? Ben fell in love all over again...

Where's my slingshot?

While I was mosaicing, Ben opted for marker coloring.

Such focus!

Tada! The final product! Seriously, hardly went out of the lines! At 4 1/2! Emma could not have done better. He truly cares about his work!

Mom! Stop bragging! It's embarrassing!

Benism

Ben has a bladder of steel, Em still wakes with a 5 pound pull up. I am not at all worried about it, as I said before, when she gets it, she will get it.

That being said, Ben woke this morning soaked. It is a RARE happening, so absolutely no complaints from us parents. The funny part is this:

Ben ALWAYS wakes before any of us. Yet, today Daddy and I were up and about before either kid woke. It was so quiet and lovely in the penthouse... I'd forgotten how peaceful mornings can be because Ben usually wakes with the birds! At 8:15 I was in the kitchen putting the dishes away and I heard the kid's bedroom door open and close. Next thing I know, a naked Ben is standing in the kitchen with his wet pajamas in his hands telling me there, "must be a leak in the roof that got him all wet" and wondered what he should do with his wet clothes.

HE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE SERIOUS.

When I asked him if maybe he had an accident, he was adament. "No, mom. Come see. I'll show you where it dripped from. The roof has a crack in it."

PERFECTION, this kid. PERFECTION.

Pushin' buttons

'Ole Benjamin cracks us up on a daily basis. The kid really is a hoot. Tonight he admitted to doing the things he does "to make the other kids laugh". I wasn't sure a 4 1/2 year old really grasped that concept, but apparently they do.  He has also discovered "mouth noises" - you know, clicking your tongue, smacking your lips, pursing your lips and blowing air through them, etc etc etc. He is a nonstop cacophony from the moment he wakes til the moment he falls asleep at night. And guess what, HE IS DRIVING US INSANE. Seriously, don't tell anyone I said this, but I can't wait for preK to start so I have 2 1/2 daily hours of SILENCE in the penthouse. Is that bad? :)

He is still AB crazy - the good news is he spends more time building random AB structures with blocks and clay and playdoh than he does on the iBen. He busted out the train tracks again the others day, too - only to build a massive track, but not to play on it. That is what I have learned about Ben, he loves to design and build things, but then not necessarily play with the things he has built. He prefers to just leave them around the house to "look" at, which is why at any given moment there are structures like this ALL OVER THE PENTHOUSE:

Jenga blocks - not just for playing JENGA!

This is Ben designing AB structures with actual AB play pieces - he usually builds them with whatever he gets his hands on. (Today he asked for playdoh, then obsessed for hours on building a "softee" sling shot and birds and towers that would not stand up properly - which means he needed help EVERY 7 SECONDS.)

If I asked him, he may call this one a "Hardee".

Em has really been pushing our buttons lately. (Can you tell it is the end of Summer and we are ready for school to start?) We constantly catch her spewing little white lies (the good news is she owns up to the big stuff quick). She has been a beast to get to bed although since my FB plea for help she has been so much better (not falling asleep any sooner, but at least not whining for hours from her bed!). The other day daddy was stretching on his inversion table so the kids wanted in on the action. This may be our new discipline contraption, but then again both kids LOVED it so I don't think it will be very effective...

This upside down smile is not to be confused with a frown.

The farms out east on the island are beginning to EXPLODE with local grown fruits and veggies. We went peach picking last week and YUM - taste explosion compared to what we buy in the super market.

Hooray for BUY LOCAL!

The other day I was doing some work at home and the kids were LOUD. Daddy could see my blood pressure rising so he suggested the kids and he go for a ride. I got this picture text:

Daddy had one, TOO, so I am thinking ULTERIOR MOTIVE.

Daddy sure is good at entertaining the kids. I scored not only the best Chef in town, but a dang good Daddy, and super duper husband to beat. LUCKY MOMMY.

He's super duper CUTE, too. (giggle giggle)

Oooooooooooh, it's buy school supplies time again. Sadly it's not a one stop shop kind of thing. I was at Walmart, Target and Staples in one day and still I could not purchase all the necessities... Time for the online order!

When I went to school I got a pencil and a tablet from the teacher. And I walked uphill backwards both ways in the snow. (Or something like that...)

Emma and Ben still like to have their picture taken with "Emma and Ben" outside the library. I need to find the first ever picture taken and do a side by side comparison. Apparently my children have grown, but the statue children have not. Go figure. (Yes, that is Em picking at yet another scab/bug bite.)

CHEESE!

4 weeks

Repeat after me, "Copyright infringement." (photo stolen from Henry's mom's FB)

All of my friends in CA are posting their first day of school pics and I'm thinking, geez, those CA kids really got robbed! Summer is SUPPOSED to go through labor day! Billy Joel even sings a song about it! These island kids are blessed - we still have FOUR MORE WEEKS of lazy fun in the sun.

And fun we are having! The penthouse community has gotten a family makeover. The grad students have moved out and families with young children have moved in - woohoo! There are three vacent penthouse suites available and we are hoping (praying?) at least one of them gets snatched up by a nice family with a high school aged daughter who LOVES to kidsit! Add this to your prayers for me faithful readers! (Oh, yeah, and while you are prayin' don't forget to mention that the sitter must love dogs...Oi!)

The above pic was taken today. I was not witness to the events, but I heard afterwards that our new awesome neighbor, Viv, and Emma were playing "party planners" and threw Henry an impromptu birthday party (his bday was Mon) complete with home made drawn games - pin the nose on the clown! etc. It seemed as though everyone had a blast and Em did not shut up about it our entire dinner. (Possibly because we interrupted the party to drag her away to eat dinner... which she did in record time, then proceeded to walk around the sidewalk in front of our building saying quite audibly, "Party starting in 2 minutes!" over and over again until the other kids shoved their dinner down their throats and ran back outside to resume the fun...)

The kids have been coming to the office with us more often these days. Emma sits at the desk and plays pbskids games on the desktop while Ben happily spends time on the iBen, er, I mean iPad. The other day I forgot to bring snacks so Emma asked me if she could "get a snack from the thing down there." I had no idea what she was talking about so she walked me to our lounge and pointed to the vending machine. As I needed to buy myself another 45 minutes of work time, I relinquished and gave her a dollar to get a kit kat. The funniest thing ever happened next! She has obviously never ever purchased anything from a vending machine before (not too shabby, right??? Six years!!!!) as she took the dollar bill and tried to stuff it into the coin slot. I was amused by this so of course I snapped a picture and offered NO advice to her wondering if she would figure it out. She folded the bill all different ways to no avail until she FINALLY discovered the bill slot at the top. Of course the bill then kept getting rejected because it was all wrinkly! I then stepped in to offer motherly advice, the bill was accepted, she pressed the appropriate buttons and out came her kit kat. EXCEPT, she had no clue how to retrieve it from the bottom. I showed her how to push in the lower panel and grab it and she was all, "That's so cool!" Needless to say, I may be in trouble from here on out. Vending machines are addictive - please remind me never to forget snacks again!! 

Kit kats are good for me, right?

We took the kiddos to PA this past weekend for the speediest ever overnight getaway. The Denver contingent was making a rare PA visit and we needed to get our Aunt Miki and Uncle Sean fix. Saturday evening we partied away at Aunt Lisa's, left there around 9:30 figuring the kids would fall asleep in the car on the ride to Gramma's house. NOPE! They were wide awake and Ben requested a "dance party" so dance we did! It is not very often we are rockin' the dance floor into the night - gotta take advantage of the fun while we can! It was so much fun I forgot to take pictures or video so you will just have to believe me when I say our kids can cut a rug. :)

Before the dance party with the Aunts and the Uncles!! Hooray! A complete set of smiling family!!

We do love us the Denver contingency!

That is my baby sister, not me. I know, I had to look twice, too.

This is what a party on a maple syrup farm looks like! Smores galore!

Thanks for the memories!!! xoxoxo (You can find me in jail as I stole these pics from Gramma's FB!!)

Back into the Summer Groove

We slipped right back into our Summer groove after a week away from the island with one distintive difference - THERE IS NO HUMIDITY!!!! I don't know where it decided to go, but it's gone and we couldn't be happier. Seriously, We have spent three entire days OUTSIDE enjoying the land around the penthouse and our awesome neighbors. Our kids have taken over the cul de sac riding bikes, scooters, running, jumping, chasing, improvising, wild life adventuring - otherwise being kids! without complaints of being too hot and wanting to go inside. The TV has not been turned on since we have been home and it has been awesome. Again, big thanks to my family for taking care of the kiddos while we were away!!

Enjoying our port beach in the perfect Sunday weather.

Gramma Lou picked up the kids decorative sling shots while in Alaska last week. They have NOT put them down - and believe it or not, haven't shot anyone's eye out and been overall very respectful in their play with them.

Sling shotting pieces of bagels to the ducks off the bridge while Mommy's car gets inspected.

I scored two razer scooters at a garage sale this Spring for $1 each. Best dang two dolla a gal could ever spend. Em has become quite the pro. Everytime I look out the penthouse window she is zooming around on the thing. Which leads me to my next topic - Free Range Chickens, I mean Free Range Children. We live in a sleepy little port village on the north shore of the island. The school is #2 on the island and ranked in the top 500 of all schools in the entire United States. The people here are friendly - we look out for our neighbors. This Summer we've actually let the kids be on their own outside trusting they will watch the street for cars and not talk to strangers. Of course I realize Sandy Hook was a mirror image of our village (precisely why that tragedy hurt our hearts so) but Daddy and I have always believed "hover Mothers" do more harm than good - our kids are GOOD kids, they thrive in social environments, they know right from wrong (that doesn't mean they always make good choices - but it is our belief they are learning from their mistakes). We talk about stranger danger and they know no one is ever allowed to see or touch their privates without permission from us (i.e. doctors, etc). They have proven to us this Summer that this little piece of independence has given them more self confidence than most kids their age and I see them stepping up as leaders on a daily basis.

Free Range! With her sling shot in tow to ward off evil doers!

The lack of humidity also means lack of Ben asking to use the iPad!! He has actually been playing with his trains a bit again and building "piggy towers" with legos and blocks and enjoying "bamming" them with a kick ball. (Angry Birds + Bad Piggies + Word Girl + Thomas = PLAY!) He makes up these wonderfully elaborate stories based off of all his favorite characters. He plays so well independently but still enjoys group play, too. Our little sensory man has come a long way!

TRAINS!

Daddy was playing Mr Mom the other evening while I was out helping a family. I got this picture text half way through my appointment with the caption: He was saying "send it to Mom!" while holding the pose.

Look at my perfect pearly whites!

Em and I had a girl's afternoon out today. We hit up the library and scored another dozen books to read. Em stopped for a pic: Dig into reading!

A real smile!!

We then snuck into Tiger Lily - a funky little artsy hipster lunch spot in our village across from the library and had an afternoon treat! She was all, wow - we've never been inside here before! As we munched on our treats I asked her what her favorite part of the shop was (there are fun paintings all over the walls, the furniture is artsy mismatched, the menu has vegan - vegetarian - meat eater items on it, overall not an environment she is quite used to) and she replied, "The cookies!" Ha! Did she even notice the enviroment???

Not the cutest pic but the cookies make up for it!!! YUMMMMMM.

My babies...

Last Monday morning I left my babies in the care of my big sister, her hubby, and their two awesome kiddos, Leah and Frank as Daddy and I departed on our yearly mentoring convention in Las Vegas for a whole week.

While we were gone for 6 whole days, the kiddos had all kinds of fun. I will eventually post pictures of the adventures when I receive them (hint, hint picture holding people) but apparently they fished, built bird houses, swam, played on playgrounds, stayed up way past their bed time, slept until 8:30 am (even BEN!!!! What the heck???), and basically had a blast...

Can I tell you all how very blessed I am to have nearby (four hour drive plus traffic through NYC, oi) family who are willing to jump in and take over when Daddy and I need 'em?? Thank you, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Dennis, then Gramma Lou for the sleep over. I never ever ever at one point throughout the week was worried my kids weren't being attended to in the best possible way. You cats are the best family a mama could ask for...

WAIT, except for this ONE moment of doubt.............

Yes, that happens to be my ONLY son being tossed into the deep end wearing nuttin' but a 99¢ store inner tube. Apparently he LOVED it and REQUESTED multiple tossings... Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. :)

A week!

Zoinks! A week has passed since I journaled! What have we done? Last Sunday we explored low tide at our pal's private beach, then ended up in his pool for some good 'ole chlorine fun!

Daddy is on the right in the middle of the pool. :)

This is one of our favorite families to hang out with. Molly and Em were in the same preK class and became good friends. The daddies play on the same softball team together and the Mommies? Well, we just seem to have heaps in common so it is a win win for us all. Ben and baby Megan are good pals, too.

Come on in, the water's perfect!

While Mommy was at the hairdresser getting her greys hidden Tuesday morning, Henry's mom did some kidsittin' and the kids had a blast playing with umbrellas on a bright sunshiny day as the lawn guys were testing all the sprinklers.

Photo credit: Henry's mama

We've been playing tons of board games this Summer and Ben is still mad for his Duplox legos as well as regular legos. Can you tell he is dressing himself these days? His buzzed head is slowly growing back. It feels like peach fuzz now...

He called this structure the "Piggy's apartment" - it was quite impressive.

Quick update

The celebration continues. I swear the 6 year old gets to celebrate all Summer long. Ben of the future (BOTF - from here on out), you do get ripped off. Sorry you were born in January after everyone is partied out...

Thanks Aunt Miki and Uncle Sean! I'm headed to the toy store!

Em came with me to Walmart to get some household stuff. She asked if we could go to ToysRUs and I told her not until Wed which was days later - she wanted instant gratification, so Walmart toy section it was. She did a great job walking up and down the aisles before choosing too quickly and settled on this Barbie pool that Daddy got to put together.

As a matter of fact, this is my dining room table!

Sad to say, most days we eat on a table that looks just like this - stuff just gets pushed to the center and we chow around it. *Sigh...* It's tie for a declutterification once again.

Gramma Lou, Em loves her lego friends set. She plays with it daily!

And makes up pretty elaborate stories.

We have been rocking the high 90s all week and have escaped to HERE every single day. We are so very grateful to live just 5 or 8 or 10 minutes from three amazing beaches.

Come play with us!

BEN IS EATING HAM! BEN IS EATING HAM! Well, the deli stuff which isn't all that healthy, but whatever - it is a new flavor on his palate. Em still continues to rock the raw fruits and veggies - love me this girl and her healthy eating habits...

I'm cute when I eat healthy foods!

Daddy tried to trim Ben's hair last night and Ben moved which resulted in him getting the closest head shave ever. He looked in the mirror and said, "I look like Caillou!" Seriously, he is bald. I hate it but I love it - it's very strange. It sure does showcase his super cute face. Daddy thinks he can play Kelly Slater (#1 surfer) as a kid in his biography.

I'm Ben in the future! BOTF!

We hung out indoors all afternoon - too hot to do anything so we got our arts and crafts on. Hand art is so simple and fun - ours is beach themed, of course.

Don't be crabby, it's Summer! Squid you like to play with me? Don't be beachy, Summer's peachy.

And lastly, this is what Saturday night dinner looks like when you forget to pull a meat out of the freezer. Dino chicken salad!! All the left over veggies with some black beans and sunflower seeds.

Jealous of this "Mel's kitchen" masterpiece??

Chow time

The dolphins and parents have been busy busy busy. It is one billion degrees here right now so beach beach and more beach it has been. I have no pics to share as beach + water = bad for iphone so I cannot post their "a picture is worth a thousand words" expressions of joy!

We have also been playdating up a storm. Tonight's "family" playdate started at 5:00. Daddy took the parents aside and helped them with their budget while the 5 kiddos and I built a pretty intricate lego friends tree house. Let's sidebar about these OVERPRICED lego friends sets. They are like $35 for a treehouse and a pool. BUT, the dang kids really enjoy building them. But, at my kids ages (4 1/2 and 6) they still need guidance (I mean they don't have the patience to follow the simplistic building pictures - they want instant gratification and just start building stuff...), so I wonder if the price tag is worth the experience. Maybe next Summer?

After the work/play date, we two families headed to our fav family restaurant in our village, Tommies. We decided to eat outside (despite the heat) - the patio is shaded and right off the water so a decent breeze. It was AWESOME and the kids did well for 79% of our time there. The other 21%, they were those kids. But I have developed a thicker skin this past year (note, not "thick" - that takes more time) and am allowing them to be "kids" on occasion. (Although during the 'kids' time I did remind them other people were trying to relax and enjoy theirs dinners, too...) They really were generally respectful, which we are grateful to see...

Bday goodness

Every once in a while we sacrifice something important for something important. Yesterday, Emsadoodle's birthday evening was one such occasion. As you know we own our own business so we can have control over our time - you know, never have to ask a boss for time off. That does come with the ability to make choices. As Em will "celebrate" her special day at least four times (FL, NY  x2, PA) we figured it was fine to choose to hold a special seminar on her special day knowing she would be in the great hands of her BFF and her awesome family. 

What a night for her! They took her out for dindin to McDs. I got this text, "Um, has she ever been to McDs before? She seems kinda confused..." I replied we were more of a Wendy's family. They laughed and said, "Oh, no! I hope we aren't ruining her!"

She enjoyed her happy meal and especially her minion toys! 

Next they went to Rocketship Park where I received this text and pic stating, "Sorry, she may need a bath when she gets home!"  

Then, to cap the evening - they could not have made it more special(!), they made their own ice cream sundaes after a fun water fight in the yard and sang to her. 

Look at the natural joy in that face. Now compare it to the fake smile I got when we sang to her at lunchtime!!! Ha!

Happy Birfday, Emma!

Looky who is turning 6!

Aren't you glad I made it black and white so you don't have to see all the blood and guts everywhere?

Emsadoodle, how did that tiny little black haired babe grow into a 6 year old blondie, with giant brains, a huge heart, and moxie moxie moxie! It must be because you are such a great eater! Thanks for blessing us on a daily basis with your smiles. Thanks for challenging us to be better parents every day with your sass. Thanks for being an awesome big sister (mostly - just remember, Ben will be bigger than you soon enough...). But mostly, thank you for being YOU. Don't ever change!

WE LOVE YOU!