Dan conquers every project in our home. This Summer we put in a garden. It's done really well! We had more cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes to know what to do with. So, Dan picked the cucumbers and canned them, canned the tomatoes (sauce and diced), and blanched and froze the squash and green beans. We are learning a lot about gardens. Turns out Roma tomatoes aren't the best to can. One cucumber plant will suffice. Weeding is a must. And plant less but more variety.
Ears Pierced
Tess has been anxiously awaiting her 8th birthday, the age at which we told her she could get her ears pierced. She wanted to do it in SC with her grandma but we didn't have time. By the following weekend Abby had convinced us that she needed them too. Dan stayed with the other two kids at home while I took my girlie-girls to Clair's. It was an incredibly long wait but when the time came they were champs. The girl before us cried hysterically for a while before letting the lady do it; I kept the girls in the back of the store looking at all the glamorous stuff so it wouldn't scare them. When it was their turn Tess decided she wanted Abby to go first. Abby hopped up in the chair, no questions asked and was so brave. Not one single tear. She amazes me. Tess did great too, no tears. Abby said it pinched, Tess said it stung a little. Tess chose her birth stone, ruby, for her earings. Abby has colorful flowers on her ears. I was totally shocked at the price of their earings, OUCH to the bank account, but I couldn't back down after promising for so long. They look so cute with earings. I love my girlie-girls!
(thumbs up for Dad, after pierced)
Before
After
Park Quest and Camping
I found out about a program called Park Quest at the beginnign of the Summer. For the low price of $10, the first 500 people to sign up get a pass to all the State Parks for the Summer. With the pass came a "pass-port" book for stamping once we visited the park and finished the quest. The quests were things like: identify trees to find, determine barometric stuff and fish, American history questions, plants and animal identifying ect. All those who complete 12 of the 24 quest get invited to an awesome party with lots of raffles(including kyaks, ski trips ect)! This was so perfect for a geology major/history buff Dad.
Fishing in Baltimore at a State Park
The second weekend in August we camped in western Maryland for 3 days and did 5 State Park quests. It was an absolutely perfect weekend. The weather could not have been any better and the quests gave us fun things to do throughout the day. We camped, fished, went out on a paddle boat, played in a lake, enjoyed a folk music concert, and ate lots of smores/marshmallows. The kids didn't catch any fish, but the lake caught Clara. I was standing right next to her casting the poll and then letting her wind it back in. She mis-stepped and fell right into the lake. Scared me to death, and her. Abby learned on this trip that when Dad says sit down around the camp fire at night she needs to sit down. She about fell into the fire, about giving Dan a heart attack. I learned to use some of our emergency prep stuff on this camping trip and Dan learned that he is very interested in identifying trees. It was a fun weekend.
We completed 12 quests and are excited for the party in September! Hopefully we get LUCKY!!
POMS
We haven't been able to do a lot of extra curricular sports/dance with the kids yet. However, I promised Tess last Summer that she could do Pom camp this year (Emma Conover did it last year and Tess adores her). It was a 4 day camp with a performance at the end. There is an option to continue cheering for the Fall football season but we decided to just do the camp.
Tess was so excited to go the first day. However, when I picked her up she broke into tears telling me the dances and kick line were to hard and that she cried missing me. I had the teenage coaches show me some of the steps and worked with Tess at home. By the end she had it down and did great at the performance . I think it was a good learning experience for Tess and I'm proud of her perseverance.
Clara danced through each of the routines.
Doggie-sitting Elle
I received an email from a friend looking for people who would be willing to dog-sit while they traveled for 2 weeks. The dog was a 7 year old beagle. Dan and I thought it would be fun for the kids, especially Tess. Elle was a great dog. She hardly barked, never jumped, hardly pooped, was great with Clara climbing on her. It went so well that we decided to keep her longer than the original 5 days. Tess loved on her every chance she got. She read books to her and even fell asleep with her. Elle loved our backyard and I think will have a hard time going back to a townhouse. There were lots of tears when we took her home. The kids and I decided to have our friends over soon and tell them to bring Elle!
Tears taking Elle home.
Cousin Day
Every Wednesday this Summer we had cousin day. Bonnie and I took turns hosting and doing crafts with the kids.
Herbal Tea Party at Warner's
Paper bag craft at Barnhurst's
Mess Makers
A Sunday entertainer: flour.
Pool
The kids and I had a goal this Summer to get them swimming. They did it, and without formal lessons. Tess went from not putting her head under the water to passing the swim test (swimming the length of the pool and treding water for 1 minute) and going down the slide in the deep end. Abby is a fish. She does great under water but is still learning how to swim above. Abby's back float is better AMAZING! Jacob has almost mastered the art of diving. And Clara- wears a floatie. Maybe next Summer we'll be ready to open our pool.
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