Matching Presidents...in our New Pocket Chart I was astonished when Peter spontaneously identified George Washington by name as soon as he saw that card - this was the first time he had ever seen these flashcards!!
Pointing out Our Current President Peter than practiced saying President Obama a few times and we talked in general terms about voting and the upcoming election.
My kids both like black liquorice. What is up with that?!?
That right there is one of the only pictures we have of our Fourth of July adventures. We were just too busy (and wet) to pull out the camera. The boys and I spent the entire week of the Fourth up at the cottage. It was very, very hot. The boys spent much of their time playing with tubs of water on the deck or frolicking in the paddle boat which was in the middle of the lawn filled with water.
Doug was there with us for the first part of the week. On Monday a group of us went to a Tiger's game where my Dad "caught" a foul ball. Okay, it ricocheted off several people and chairs and finally landed at his feet where he scooped it up. Still, a much better outcome than a few swings later when a line drive foul ball hit a guy a section over from us. It hit him on the side of the head which resulted in a lot of blood and paramedics, but he gave a smile and a wave 20 minutes later when the medics finally carried him off looking like an extra from The Mummy.
On the Friday after the Fourth, all of us made our way to Grand Rapids. Our first order of business was to get our air conditioning working; that was right in the middle of a two week stretch of 100ish degree temperatures.
We had planned to go on a train ride on Saturday, however the temp was a bit over 100 degrees and they canceled the ride. Instead we went to the Meijer Gardens and explored the kids' garden and went on a trolley ride to see many of the sculptures.
On Sunday, we went and cheered on our local Grand Rapids White Caps baseball team. It is a nice ball park for families. We got cheap lawn seats so the kids could stretch their legs, the food was reasonably prices (plus it was kids eat free day), and they have a play ground with a large bounce house that Peter loved. Unfortunately, the White Caps lost.
We have been super busy around here these last few weeks. We traveled to the cottage for the Fourth of July and to attend a Tiger's game. We all (us, my parents and Scott) came back to Grand Rapids for some work and fun. Since it has been a few weeks since I updated the blog, I figured I would just pick up where I left off (even though that was several weeks ago).
To get Peter ready for fireworks we watched some videos on YouTube and then he created firework artwork by cutting and flattening cupcake papers which he glued in a black night sky and then decorated with markers and glitter...LOT AND LOTS of glitter.
Elliot prepared in his own way. The kid is a marvel - in one sitting he ate 8 cups of watermelon!!
The boys and I spent a few days visiting Nana and Papa for Father's Day. On Sunday Doug joined us at my grandfather's house to help with some chores. We got to see Aunt Barbara, Nancy and Steve, Rachel and Doug and Gramps.
Nana and Papa got Peter a new tricycle that he tried out in the garage. Then we all tried it out.
First we went to an outside playgroup that is held jointly by several early childhood groups. Jill, Peter's former early interventionist, was there and she brought her guitar to play for the kids. Peter enjoyed playing on the playground, waving big bubble wands to make huge bubbles, mixing up some Koolade playdough, and clinging to my legs whenever other kids came close to him.
Elliot didn't enjoy much of anything, but he was semi-content as long as he was snuggled in my arms. I'm not sure why he has been out of sorts for the past few days. Either he is bothered by his upper canines coming in (they are the last two teeth he will get for the time being), or he is bothered by the shots he got on Monday, or he is bothered by the small amounts of gluten that we have been giving him as tests. Who knows, but I am hoping for a speedy recovery.
After the playgroup we headed to GE to meet Doug for a picnic lunch. Then we came home where both boys went down for long naps.
The boys and I went to visit my Aunt Victoria this past week.
First we met her at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. It was VERY crowded with school groups.
While we were in Wisconsin we went to the museum and the beach and visited light houses and went on pajama walks. On Sunday we went to Victoria's church for a picnic.
With all the outside time and activities the boys both slept like logs.
