back to beach

Yes... we were back at the beach last night for Alex's triathlon club training session. It was another nice overcast, breezy day to hang out while Alex worked and Clara played.

I have only one photo to post...
We forgot to pack sand toys so Clara entertained herself by coating herself in sand and then running into the lake to wash it all off.

We didn't end up hanging out at the beach long since Jeff texted me from the parking lot (he was in the car on a conference call) that there had been an accident in the parking lot involving one of the moms (a friend of mine). Clara and I came up to hang out with my friend and help keep an eye on her son while the police sorted everything out. Long story short... a woman was giving her friend driving lessons... while pulling into a parking space she pulled in too fast, jumped the median and hit the car in front of her. In a panic, she threw it in reverse and flew backwards hitting my friend's van (snapping the axle on the back).... then panicking again, threw it back into drive and gunned it forward... jumping the median again and flattening the front of the car on the other side of the median. It was really lucky that no one was hurt given the number of people with children who were wandering in and around that parking lot!

Anyway... Alex went on with his training and his coach says that he's looking really good and ready for his first triathlon! He can't wait!

Last night the kids were worn out... especially Alex, he could barely keep his eyes open. In addition to tri-club, they had also had an hour long swim team training session earlier in the afternoon.

Thankfully today we have a lazy day with just one class this evening.

one crazy sunday!

Yesterday was just CRAZY!!! But it was a very good crazy... we had such a great day!

First of all, we got up and went to church. We rushed home after church so we could have a quick lunch before Alex I headed out to the garden walk which started at noon.

It's funny... it always ends up being me and the boy. Clara really has no interest, but the boy loves it. We couldn't wander far from the house this year because we needed to leave by 1:30 to go to a birthday party and unfortunately, not many houses around us participated this year.

We did stop at our favorite house to see the train...
I took one other photo the entire time...
I think we only managed to make it to about 5-6 houses before heading home.

We jumped in the car with Jeff and Clara to head to their friend's birthday party.

It was a good old fashioned party in the park!

They had three-legged races...
(not the best idea for our two to be partners... but they survived)

Sack races...
(that's the birthday girl on the left)

And egg and spoon races....

There was also a pinata....

It was a great party! The weather was PERFECT.... cool and overcast which meant the kids could run and run without overheating. They just kept playing and play... we finally had to drag them away about an hour after the party was scheduled to end. The kids loved the party so much that they have requested summer birthdays so they can have the same type of party :-)

After that we stopped for dinner on the way home. While there I got a message from the mom of one of Alex's friends wanting to know if Alex could come over for a playdate. We took him over there as soon as we got home and picked him up at 9:30. Needless to say, he was EXHAUSTED and fell asleep while reading in bed with the lights on!

We have another busy day today.... not sure if there will be any photo ops... but there might be!

the market

Yesterday morning the kids went with Jeff on his run... they rode their bikes. They did 7 miles again! It's beginning to be part of their regular Saturday morning routine.

As soon as they got home, we loaded up and headed to the Green City Market for breakfast.

Alex was first to pick his breakfast...

Fresh cider donuts....
... YUM!

Clara and I waited for our crepes...
We each got ours with cheese, herbs and tomatoes (I had shitake mushrooms on mine too).

They were sooo good....
Afterward, the kids and Jeff somehow started a game of monkey in the middle with a balled up paper bag (this game last nearly half an hour).

Clara got great joy out of faking the boys out with her throws...
She took throwing rather seriously...
Alex did goofy stuff like this a lot so not so many photos of him from yesterday....
:-)

Clara making a valiant effort to catch the "ball"....
Oh my....
This shot was totally by accident... I was adjusting something on my camera and accidentally hit the shutter button.... but I included it to show you the state of Clara's knees by the end of the game...
I'm not sure they'll ever come clean!

presentation

Yesterday was Clara's last day of dance intensive. Since it was the last day, they put on a little presentation for the parents.

Here is Clara demonstrating some of what they learned during their improv class...
She loved dance intensive and is sad that it is over. However, neither one of us is all that sad about not getting up early every morning and getting her hair into a bun!

We were rather boring last night as Clara was really worn out.... so that's it to report!

the beach

Tonight we went to the beach for Alex's triathlon team training.

Clara and I packed up beach stuff to play for a bit while Alex trained...
It was pretty funny to see Alex run by while we were sitting there....
He was so in the "zone" that he didn't even see us. They were working on their transitions from swimming to biking.

Clara continued to play.

Here's her "please bury me in the sand" look...
It didn't happen.

So, she continued working on her sand castle creation thing....
It was a nice evening until it started to rain... but that didn't start until right after Alex's training ended. Good timing, huh?

Now to get two worn out kids into bed!

'nite!

simple things

Isn't it funny how some of life's simplest moments are some of life's best? Last night was a really nice night. With Jeff out of town and Alex at a playdate, I grilled out burgers for dinner for Clara and me. After dinner Clara asked if she could go back outside on the deck to sketch. I said yes and she sketched while I cleaned up the kitchen. She looked so content outside that I decided to go down and get my book so I could join her. However, once I got back with my book she was inside and "done". I told her that I was planning to hang out with her outside to read.... so she quickly ran to find a book and we went back outside (Friday came too). We weren't out there long before Alex came home from his playdate, so I went inside to heat up his dinner. He decided to join us outside to have his dinner.....

Clara decided that a yogurt sounded good too, so she grabbed one and came back outside...

After her yogurt, she decided to settle back in with her book, but Alex kept telling stories about his playdate that made her laugh...
In all of our rearranging we have going on here, she found a volume of one of those treasury of children's books book (did that make sense?)....
So many of those books we own or had gotten from the library... it's funny to see which ones they remember and which ones they don't... and which ones they enjoy now compared to when they were little....
When Clara found one she particularly liked, she would pass the book to Alex (who at this moment was preoccupied by a lightening bug flying by)...

We had such a great evening together. We stayed out there reading until I got too dark to see.

We'll have to do this more often!

toxic waste

We're trying to get back into the swing of things around here, and part of that is getting back to "family night" on the weekends. This weekend was Alex's pick and he picked the movie Inkheart (I thought the movie was horrible.... they really strayed far from the book). Anyway, with the movie comes picking a special family night treat. Alex has a thing for anything sour so he picked out a new candy to try.

Here we go!!!.....


Hmmm.... looks like it could be a bit sour.....
well... maybe not since he was able to compose himself so quickly....
oh wait.... maybe it is reeeeaallllllyyyy sour....
I seriously cannot believe that we let him buy this stuff...
Super sour candy sold in a little plastic drum and named "Toxic Waste".... yeah... that sounds like a good idea :-)

Well... at least Alex thinks it is...

the faux fourth

Backtracking a bit with the photos here.

Since we were already in Missouri to pick up the kids at kamp.... my mom decided to have her family Fourth of July party a week early so we could be there for it. The kids LOVE it.... especially my little pyromaniac, Alex.

Here's part of Clara's fireworks stash...
And Alex's....
Clara getting more stuff out...
And Alex, organizing...
They LOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEEEEEE fireworks!

Awwww.... they actually posed nicely for me!
And then Clara got the giggles...
Alex started with some sparklers...


Some of the night stuff....

(I haven't quite figured out how to shoot fireworks... sigh)

It was good to have such a fun celebration with family. Our actual Fourth was very low key. It rained most of the day so we stayed in and watched a movie.... it was really nice day.

Nothing much going on here.... Clara has started a two week dance intensive and Alex and I get to spend some quality time together! Good times!

Happy 3rd of July!

Sigh... yesterday we found out that our dear friends, neighbors and alley playmates are moving. We're trying not to be sad about it but instead we're focusing on having fun with them while they're still here. So today the kids all decorated their bikes with supplies that their friends' grandmother had brought with her.

Here's Jeff helping Clara decorate her bike....
(I was helping Alex by holding his bike with one hand while taking photos with the other)

Then we switched and I helped Clara....
Lovely, huh? You know what... it's really hard to tie streamers into a bow.

Here's Jeff helping Alex decorate his bike...

Once their bikes were done, they decided that they needed fancy 4th of July names.

Here's Clara aka The Sparkler....


And Alex.... aka The Bottle Rocket...


They even got out the ramp for a bit....

It was a good day out in the alley!

I was inside part of the time, trying to make some sense out of the chaos that is the room that will someday be my office. I'm beginning to freak out a bit as it's about time to place my homeschool orders for next year and I have got to have somewhere to put all of the stuff! I made progress though so I'm feeling pretty good (at the moment).

Okay.... I'm off to bed!

'nite!