World Cup on the 4th of July

 

Daniel and Heidi had tickets to the World Cup game played in Philadelphia on the 4th of July. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a big soccer game.

I thought they were crazy to want to be in Philadelphia the day of our country's 250th birthday. But it turned out to be a great trip for them.

They were originally going to stay one night, but they ended up staying two.

This gave them a chance to go out and have a nice, quiet dinner together and sleep in on Sunday.

The first night, Heidi's parents watched the boys. They were going to stay at Daniel & Heidi's house, but their power went out, and it didn't come back on until Sunday afternoon.

So they headed over to Grammie's house for a sleepover.

On Saturday, we met them all back at the boys' house to take our turn. Since the power was still not on, we emptied the freezer and refrigerator and transported all the food we could save to our houses.

The sad thing was, Heidi told the boys they could watch all the TV they wanted while they were gone. But there was no power at their house, and no internet at our house, which meant no TV! 

We improvised. Don ran to Walmart and bought a couple of old-fashioned DVDs. The boys screamed with joy when they got to watch Bluey episode after Bluey episode for two hours. Glad we didn't get rid of our DVD player!

Dean and Gavin got to sleep in the same room at our house, and Noah slept in the next room in the crib. The older boys slept through the night just fine. Noah woke up around 1 a.m., and I ended up spending the night in his room (long story).

We get to do this again in five weeks when Daniel and Heidi go away for their anniversary. This time, we get Dean & Gavin while Noah goes to Grammie's house.

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Peter & Kendall in Oregon

 

Peter and Kendall enjoyed a week+ in and around Eugene and Bandon, Oregon, at the end of June. Of course, Reese was there too, along with Kendall's parents and her grandma Eula. 

Reese got to dig in the sand and splash in the water.

She also tagged along on hikes and a whale-watching adventure.

Peter was back at Bandon Dunes to play golf.

Look at that swing!

Eula's dream came true when she got to play the Par 3 course.

Lucy chummed around with Cooper the whole time. They became fast friends. Lucy was the sweetest girl by letting Cooper sniff her as much as he wanted. Lucy had one of the most active weeks she's had in a while, and Cooper was the calmest he'd been since we got him. They are so good for each other. I hope she visits again soon.

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Summer Fun

 

Noah is growing taller, talking more, and trying to keep up with his big brothers. Of the three boys, I think he looks the most like Daniel when he was this age. Noah is almost 2!

Reese is tall, talkative, and loves to run. She is the littlest of these beauties in a four-generation photo. They are enjoying a vacation in Oregon this week. Reese will soon be 2 as well.

Ezra is not afraid of anything (except loud trains). He wants to do everything his big sister does, and he is great at keeping up. He still gives the best hugs. He even hugs Cooper. Ezra is going on 2 and a half.

I am really proud of Gavin. On Father's Day, he made up a game that included Cooper. He has been afraid of Cooper (and I don't blame him!), but on this day, he took a chance and had fun with him. Gavin will soon be 4!

Dean has a smile on his face, but as you can see, he has a big boo-boo on his arm. He got a little rambunctious playing on the Bounce House and fractured his elbow. Since kids heal so quickly, he only has to keep the cast on for three weeks. Unfortunately, he has to miss most of his baseball season. But luckily, his cast is waterproof, so he can still swim! Dean will have a birthday next month, like his two brothers. He will turn 6.

Marina performed in a ballet recital the first weekend of June. She looked beautiful in her costume, and she did great on stage. 

She is the oldest of our six grandchildren, but not by much. She is six weeks older than Dean. She turned six the end of May.

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A Day With Reese

 

On Friday, I got to spend most of the day with Reese. Because of Cooper's propensity to jump all over her, I decided to have a day out rather than bring her to our house to play. The Chagrin Falls library opened at 9:00, so that was the first stop.

Reese and Kendall spend a lot of time at the library, so she was very comfortable there. She showed me around the cute kids' play corner.

For about 45 minutes, we were the only ones there. Reese had the place all to herself. She enjoyed putting scarves under the air tunnel and watching them fly upward.

I was very entertained by this too.

While Reese played, I spent some time looking through picture books, choosing some old favorites and some new ones to read.

The next stop was the playground near the library. The only thing Reese wanted to do there was swing, swing, swing! I tried to convince her to try the slide or climb way up high, but she was very happy in her swing.

The reason no one was at the library is that they were all at the playground. It was packed with kids, parents, grandparents, geese, ducks, and dogs. I think Reese would have stayed in that swing all day if it hadn't been for the Mickey Mouse pancake waiting for her at Yours Tuly next.

She is very good at coloring for her age. Look at that concentration. I forgot to take a photo of her pancake, but she devoured it.

We did have to go to Sito's house for nap time. We arrived half an hour early, so we played in the driveway with the bubbles. As you can see, we went through a lot of bubbles. 

After a brief, not-so-pleasant encounter with Cooper in the house, we hurried up to the nursery for a nap. I let Reese play a little before getting her ready for bed. I got her all snuggled in her sleep sack with Mousey in one arm and Baa in the other arm. When her head was on her pillow, and she was covered with her Winnie-the-Pooh quilt, I turned out the lights.

She likes to sing while she falls asleep, so I listened to her on the monitor while I started making some banana bread.  Half an hour later, she was still talking and singing, so I looked at the video monitor. I noticed she was standing up without her sleep sack on. 

I went up to the room and found her pillow, Mousey, Baa, and her blanket on the floor. Hmm...

I calmly rocked her in the rocker and put her back in the crib without all the accoutrements. Another half hour went by, but instead of singing, she was crying crocodile tears. I gave up.

That isn't the end of the story, but I'll just leave it at that. 

Reese and I had such a fun and special day together. I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did.

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