July Bungalow Fun

July.... let's see... we spent lots of time at the SSC - especially at the pool!

A Blended Family

On two occasions this summer, Mike & I took the boys out for some off-campus (SSC) fun. The first time we were at the Mt Olive Carnival - where we were repeatedly mistaken as a family with four boys - Eek!  The boys were a lot of fun having fun on the rides and enjoying ice cream - I was thankful for the wagon, which made keeping tabs on 4 infinitely easier.  

The second time, we took the big boys, and Omis out for mini golf.  The boys played golf as well you would expect 4 & 5 yo olds to play.  I won't be joining the LPGA anytime soon.  Mike & Omi were amusingly competitive and I don't think the real winner was ever really determined.

Highlight Reel: Birthday Celebration, Campout, 4th of July

Somehow I never got through all of the summer "highlight reels".  I hope to get those done (low on stories, big on photos) this weekend, so I can start sharing more from our day-to-day life in real time.

Can you believe these two are three years old now???  We are finally coming out of the fog.... a full year later than I had expected!  Their birthday was on a Friday this year, a non-preschool day. I'm not one to experience much Mommy-guilt, but was feeling bad that these guys would one day look back and wonder why they didn't get a fun birthday celebration like Oliver (fire engine theme for 3).  So, each boy got to select their own birthday cake theme and we took them to school for a mini celebration. Alex picked Leonardo the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and Lukas wanted Dusty, the plane from two Disney movies. Amazing what you can buy on amazon! Two cake molds, some food coloring, and a little help from Betty Crocker, and Voila!

Oliver was off from school on Fridays too and was so happy he got to come hang out at his brothers' school, since they see his school when Lena picks him up once/week.  

By far, their favorite present was Ninja Turtle turtle shell water guns!  We got them scooters to zip around town.  They weren't very impressed.  Alex has just started using his now and Lukas has no interest, so Oliver has been using his.  Adam thought I was kidding when I told him this, but I want my own scooter (which they really do make in adult sizes).  I could zip to work in no time! 

20 photos later and this was the best we go

It rained that weekend and I honestly don't even remember what we did. The campout that had been planned for that Saturday night was rescheduled to the following weekend.  We had a very brief, mini-party on the deck of the bungalow (cakes looked better the second time around), before we headed down to set up camp.   

Adam & I are running Jugend (Children activities) for the SSC this year, so we made the campout a Club event.  We had nice turnout for the cookout -- then, the local parents wisely packed up their young children so they could sleep in their own beds.  Our cousins were all there to share in the fun, as well as some college friends of ours.  The kids had a blast and I love that this has become an annual event. 

Adam was supposed to sleep in the tent with Alex & Oliver (as expected, Lukas had little interest).  But, at 10pm, Alex was still wide awake and Adam was ready for bed, so Alex ended up in the bungalow afterall.  Next year, I'm sure Adam will have all three in the tent - lucky him!

The next day was the Fourth of July! We had a blast at Bill & Kim's party and even managed to stay for the fireworks!

Highlight Reel: June

June seems like so long ago!  We spent a weekend early in the summer at home in Philly.  There is a park close to our house that has a small splash-pad, so we went there after work on Friday.  I don't know why, but all of our kids are fearful of water.  Oliver has fun sticking his butt in water jets and Alex will put his hands in the water streams, but doesn't really get wet.  Lukas runs around the outside, and only gets wet if I pick him up and run through holding him.  I wish I could have more fun with these guys in the pool and at places like this, but that just doesn't seem to be in the cards for us right now.  Hopefully, as they get older, and have some positive peer pressure from friends, this is something they overcome. 

Oliver and I also went to Spruce Harbor Park to go rollerblading.  I was so proud of Oliver's persistence.  He really wanted rollerskates (from the rental booth), but was a trooper and continued to practice on his inline skates.  It was fun having some one-on-one time with him and this outing gave me confidence that Oliver will be ready to try skis this winter.

While we waiting to get on the rink, we hung out and played games and had a bite to eat (this is the same place that we came with Devon & Nicole last winter.  Maybe next time, we'll get the boys on ice skates.  

During Adam's second extended golf outing, me and the boys headed to Jersey for the weekend to camp out at the bungalow.  On our way up, we stopped at Nicole's to help out, since she and Devon were on Preston-duty, while the rest of the family moved Robin into her new house (while Sergio was in Philly during the eye radiation seclusion -- what timing).  Bill & Julie came over later with Nathan (no photos of them though).  And the boys had a lot of fun running around and going in the pool...

The boys took a much needed nap on the carride to the SSC and I "may" have stopped for Dairy Queen on the way :-)  but there was no evidence (I got a cone!).  Yummy!

Now that the twins are bigger, we are less reliant on the wagon, which is awesome, because it means I can pile it high with stuff!  The water was pretty cold, but we happily camped out at the pool and enjoyed having the place to ourselves.

The boys were so well behaved and had a lot of fun -- at the pool, hanging out at the clubhouse, and even playing largely unchaperoned on the deck.  What a difference a year can make!

My Sunday morning activity in the summer with the boys (while Adam sleeps) is to take them out to breakfast.  We alternate between the Chester Diner and Flanders Bagel. They know the routine at each place and the outings are completely manageable.

A park around the corner from our house hosts different family activities every Wednesday in June.  Once they had a fire truck come and the kids got to splash in the hose water (mine just held the house, didn't really play), once they had everyone bring bikes and they biked around the neighborhood, and another time they did a weird Halloween theme, including some trick-or-treating in the neighborhood -- I thought it was odd, but all of us love an excuse to dress up!

Back to Blogging: Highlight Reel: Part 1

Eek - I've only posted once since late March!  We're alive and everyone is doing well.  I've been putting off getting back to the blog mainly because of all the catch-up posts I would need to write to get back on track.  In the interest of being able to post regularly again, this post will be Post 1 (April/May) of a two-part "Highlight Reel".

We celebrated Easter at the SSC - the event was nicely low-key and the boys had fun at the Easter Egg hunt (they were the only participants).

Where has the time gone?

It seems I haven't posted in almost two months!  Well... we've been busy!  I will get posts up soon with photos from Easter, Oliver's birthday, and some of our Philly adventures. In the meantime, here is a quick family update, in no particular order.

1) The boys have finally learned to ALL smile AND look at the camera!  Hurrah!  It doesn't happen all the time, but this new development makes me so happy...

2) Alex really loves to run/walk instead of being in the stroller, which makes travelling around the city with this trio easier.  Lena & I tend to put Lukas in the sling on our back (instead of a single stroller) while Oliver & Alex happily walk.  Thankfully, both of them are really good at stopping well ahead of each intersection and waiting for us to cross (or this would never work).

 3) Everyone is doing great in their new preschools/daycares. Now that the weather has improved, we are starting to get a better feel for our new neighborhood and all of the parks & playgrounds we can be frequenting.  We have a family that lives close by that has a daughter who will be in Kindergarten with Oliver and has a son in class with Alex/Lukas, and we have done some family playdates.  Looking forward to getting to know more families in our neighborhood.

4) Have I mentioned yet that Lena has agreed to extend for a second year?