Christian Turns 12!

Christian turned 12 away from home so we celebrated a bit late, but had a great time.  Also, Benjamin had early band practice, so he was up for the festivities, for the first time in a long, long time - probably for the first time since becoming a teenager. Christian got everything he asked for and a little bit more - a customizable computer keyboard, a new watch, mechanical pencils, some t-shirts, underwear, and of course, an Alaskan cruise!!

That's where he was on his actual birthday - Alaska!  He and my mom sailed on a giant cruise ship from Seattle to Alaska for a week and had a wonderful time.  What a lucky kid!  He loved every minute of it. 

End of Summer Bucket List

The end of summer is upon us and it's feeling like every day is just a blink.  Christian and I sat down and made an end of summer bucket list.  On it were things like, swim at Spring Mill Pond, visit science museum in Toledo, and visit the Outdoor Adventure Center in Detroit and have lunch along the Detroit River.  So, we did all those things this week.  It's been a blast.

Spring Mill Pond:

Imagination Station Museum in Toledo, Ohio: 

The museum had a classic video and arcade game area where you could play the original super mario bros, tetris, donkey kong, pac man, sonic the hedgehog, and of course, guitar hero.  Christian and Peter loved that one.  

While we were in Toledo, I had Peter and Christian recreate the picture I'd taken of the older three kids so many years ago.  I can't believe how little they all were - ages 4,6, and 8!

The Outdoor Adventure Center in Detroit:

We can never visit the outdoor adventure center without eating lunch on the banks of the Detroit River looking out to Canada.  It's always so beautiful in summer.

While Peter, Christian and I have been living summer to the fullest, the older two have already been so busy with marching band.  Practices every day, sleep-away camps, and football games.  Having kids in two different high schools and two different marching bands makes for crazy schedules, but I love that Bella's school is just down our street!  It has made drop off and pick up so much easier!  And with Benjamin driving himself to all his activities now, things have been much easier than in the past years.

Benjamin got to play at the University of Michigan stadium today - the largest football stadium in the country!  

He's the snare drum on the right with the super curly hair.

Bella's game was at the high school this week, so we got to enjoy the band from much closer to home.  In fact, we could hear it from our back yard.

One night parents were asked to come watch the band practice and to participate in some activities with them.  No one was available to watch Peter, so consequently, Peter came along and was part of the activities.  He had a great time out on the football field with all the high schoolers and marching with them.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of this week of just Peter.  What is he, you ask?  He's a roman gladiator fox riding his horse into battle, of course.

Summer Fun and My Baby is 3!

 Kelly and the older boys did a week long trip to the Upper Peninsula with the church's young men's group.  They camped, hiked, kayaked, jumped off cliffs into Lake Superior, and otherwise had an amazing time.  I would have really loved to go along. 

Meanwhile, I stayed home with Bella and Peter.  Bella and I had a wonderful time.  Girls' movie nights, only cooking what her picky palate would accommodate rather than having to worry about the boys' likes, and otherwise enjoying the peace, quiet, and clean house.

Peter and I spent most days out and about.  He spent 4 hours with friends at the playground one day.  It has been so fun to see him really enjoying the company of others and really getting to be quite social.

We also went to the zoo, one of his favorite places.  I'm not sure if he really understood that the dinosaurs weren't real.  It's possible that they were just another animal on display.  I didn't dissuade him of the notion.  This way was so much more fun.

We also had to go to our favorite place, Greenfield Village.  He wanted to sit by the pond and watch the animals.  We saw many turtles, frogs, fish, insects, geese, etc.  He was mesmerized.  (There's a turtle in the background in the first picture.  Zoomed in better in the second picture.)  I was amazed by how still and patient he was. What 3 year old sits for 30 minutes by a pond watching the turtles and frogs?  I was ready to move on but he kept insisting he wanted to stay.

One thing Bella and Peter and I did together was attend the Highland Games - the local Scottish cultural festival.  Haggis, clans, and bagpipes all day long.  It was so much fun.  We watched the giant men throwing a 56 lb weight over a bar 16.5 feet high and make it look easy.    We watched all the traditional scottish dancing (which Bella deemed "so boring" but which I thoroughly enjoyed).  We watched teams of giants compete in a tug of war that left me in awe.   They had to have chosen these teams by bicep circumference.  We ate good food and met some really interesting people.

The real reason we came, though, was because Bella's friend Carolin was in one of the bands competing that day.  She's a drummer in a traditional scottish band.  It was so fun to hear them all play and see them march around to the sound of the bagpipes.  Peter had a wonderful time too, despite the crazy heat and humidity.

Some of Bella and Carolin's teachers came in Carolin's support too, as well as her boyfriend.  It was a fun day with so many friends.

Of course, the highlight this past week was Peter's 3rd birthday!!  My baby is every bit a 3 year old - energetic, opinionated, stubborn, and adorable.  He's a great mix of everything.  He was so excited about his birthday but the presents were just an afterthought.  I think it was just the concept of finally being older that really excited him.  When the big day arrived and his presents were there, he decided to eat his birthday muffin first. (I put off baking elaborate cakes for as long as possible).

Then he donned his special 3rd birthday shirt and he was ready to go off and play.  Christian couldn't stand the suspense, however, and encouraged him to come back and open some presents. Peter obliged.  If only Christian had known that nearly all the presents came from the attic stash of old toys.  

We love our little Peter.  He has no interest in potty training despite my efforts.  He can't be bothered to learn letters, numbers, or anything else academic.  However, he is so sweet with people, loves to play with others, and is never afraid to talk to people and engage people in conversation.  He'll talk to people at the store, in restaurants, or on the playground, no matter their age.  He's most comfortable around adults, though.

He shares a birthday with our good friend, Thea, who turned 80 this year, so I took the two of them out to lunch along with a few of her other friends.  He received money from some of the older ladies which he wanted to spend at the dollar store.  He chose some truly terrible junk. I couldn't bring myself to participate in the purchase of such cheap trash so I handed him the money and told him he could go buy them himself.  Without hesitation, he did.  He stood in line, placed the items on the belt, and paid, without intervention from me.  

He's a wonderful boy and we're so lucky to have him in our family.

He's officially a driver

Benjamin passed his driver's test this week.  I was a bit worried as he parallel parked the first time (see picture), but he fixed it on try two and he was wonderful from there on out.  The tester complimented him and I was also impressed.  (Law required me to come along on the test drive.)  I was so nervous and sick to my stomach during the drive, but Benjamin was great.  What a milestone!  May I please remember to take a better picture of the big day when Bella's turn comes around.  How is this the only picture I took??!

Also, the other boys had fun this past week.  Christian and Peter are so great together.  Here's them having  blast with soap bubbles.  It doesn't take much to entertain them.

High Adventure in Pennsylvania

My second trip to Pennsylvania this summer was just as great as the first.  This last week I went with some girls from Bella's scout troop to Ohiopyle, PA for a white water rafting and rock climbing trip.  It was a blast.  The girls were great - no drama, got along wonderfully, super smart and helpful, etc.  The activities were also such a blast.  First stop was Fort Necessity to complete a few merit badge requirements.  It dates back to pre-revolution times - during the French and Indian war.  George Washington set this place up when he was just a young 20-ish nobody and it was the start of his military career.  The ranger who toured us was fantastic and I learned a ton.  Then it was off to the real adventure.  Our trip was organized and run by Wilderness Voyagers, who did an amazing job.  They provided all transportation, food, and guided activities.  We just had to show up.  We rock climbed for 5 hours the first day and I made it to the top on all climbs!  Wasn't sure if I could still do that.  Bella got up 3 of the 4.  I was proud of how well she did.  We white water rafted down the Yough river the second day.  The guides were beside us in kayaks and shouted directions while we controlled the boat. That started out really bad when I was assigned to be "captain" due to my previous kayaking experience but a man in our boat (a dad from the troop) couldn't accept a woman as captain and kept shouting contradictory commands.  We spent 30 minutes spinning, flipping, and cursing.  One girl fell out and cried the rest of the time.  The guides kept yelling at us to listen to them, but to no avail.  Finally they suggested we switch people around.  I swapped captain spots with a man in another other boat and everything was perfect after that.  It became a really fun experience that I was sad to see end. I was honestly so sad when it was time to head back to Michigan.  I could have stayed many more days.  I'm amazed at Pennsylvania's natural beauty.  Such a gorgeous place.

We camped every night and our first night we planned to cook our own food because the official Wilderness Voyager trip (and their food service) didn't begin until the next day. However, it rained before we got there so all the firewood was wet.  It took us 2 hours to finally get the fire going.  It got faster on subsequent evenings, but that was a very hungry first night.

In addition to rafting and climbing, we found some natural water slides and waterfalls that the girls had a blast playing in.  We also enjoyed just spending time on the river's edge.

The tour took pictures of our rafting trip since cameras could fall out of the boat, but they took the picture pre-captain switch, so the only two smiling was the man and his daughter in the front who were oblivious to how frustrated we all were.  Needless to say, we didn't buy the picture, but simply photographed the tv in the store as they were displaying it.