Summer Vacation - Day 18

Yesterday was our first day to be out and about in a week!  We started off with Stroller Strides (mama is feeling the pain after missing a week) which wore this little one out.  He caught a nap between the park and our next stop.

 I'm sure you've noticed that the boys are looking pretty shaggy and in need of haircuts!  So we headed to the salon to play with the choo-choos and get trimmed up.

 Kids haircuts have become so much fun.  What can be better than sitting in a plane, eating a sucker and watching Toy Story 3?!

After lunch and some much needed naps, we tried out this pinterest idea.

 It makes great bubbles although I may try a smaller bottle next time.  This one seemed to require more air than my kiddos have.  But we used what we had on hand.

 It was still pretty fun.

Summer Vacation - Day 17

As I said - we had to get creative yesterday.  Everyone was pretty cranky.

We took two boxes (yay for Amazon.com diaper delivery!),

paper plates (used 4 small ones left over from a birthday party and one large one for the steering wheel) and the following accessories

and made some cars.

 They were pretty much a hit and we enjoyed some time at the Drive-In watching the Olympic swimming trials taped from the night before. (side note - we/I are really getting excited about the Olympics!  we/mostly I have already started work on our torches and medals.  More to come on that later.)

 We realized that our cruisers needed some bling so we dug into the sticker stash and had some more fun.

Summer Vacation - Day 16

 Well - Day 16 started out as most of the previous week. . . just with a new kiddo on the couch.

 After a week of being stuck in the house, you can imagine that mama and kiddos are becoming quite the cranky pants.  How are you supposed to keep the "healthy" kid entertained without disturbing the sick kid?  I'm seriously taking suggestions.  Also - it was way. to. hot. to go outside today.  104 degrees hot.  Ouch.  

Mama broke a rule and let some upstairs toys come downstairs and we spent some time building while we watched yet more movies.

However, by about noon, mama had reached her breaking point in the "my child has been running a 103 fever since Saturday" category.  So daddy called over and got us in the see the MD.

As per usual, the 103 fever broke on the way in and was slightly under 100 when we got there.  Looks like we're just waiting out a virus.  Waiting is not one of our strengths.  We're going to need to get extra creative as we're housebound at least one more day.

VBS Kick-off

Joseph and I were finally able to escape the house for a couple hours on Sunday afternoon to enjoy the Kick-Off event for the Vacation Bible School he's attending this week.  He really enjoyed the water activities and worked up quite an appetite.

 Joseph with one of his besties, Henry!

Name that Post

Option 1: Best Laid Plans

As in - we had these awesome plans for a fun family weekend.  The Great War Memorial Balloon Race was taking place and we were so excited about about going.

Option 2: Another One Bites the Dust
As in - Jacob started running a fever Saturday morning and was "hitting the bucket" by that evening.

Fast & Sneaky

in the spirit of writing things down before I forget. . . .

background info needed:  We refer to Jake as being "fast and sneaky" all the time.  And he really is.  We barely had to baby proof the house for Joseph.  Jacob can turn the entire house upside down in about 30 seconds flat. without. making. a. sound.

at lunch today:
Joseph: (playing with something in his hand) "hey mama!  There was a fly on the table but I got it."
me: "a fly?"
Joseph: "yes - there was a fly.  But I smacked my hand down on him (demonstrating) and I got him!"
me: "you killed the fly with your hand?"
Joseph: "yes!  I'm fast and sneaky too!"
me: "is it, um, in your hand now?"
Joseph: (reaching for sandwich) "yes!"
me: "um, do not touch the sandwich.  go wash your hands."

Summer Vacation - Day 15

 ahhhh - Friday.  Time for everything to get back to normal. . .  sort of.  

Little Jake Jake headed off to school.  Joseph and I had plans to resume normal activities but I could tell first thing in the morning that the poor kiddo was still recovering.  He took one look at breakfast and said his stomach hurt and he just wanted to lay around.  So - another day at home.  Which turned out to be awesome because mama made huge headway on a sewing project for a client in Charleston.  And Joseph spent another day working in his math book and playing bingo.  Seriously folks - math is fun and games for this kid.  He LOVES math.  Obviously he gets that from his daddy.  

We were pulling ourselves together in the afternoon to make a quick run and pick Jake up from school when daddy said he'd just leave early and bring him home.  Yay.  

But when they got home, they brought this.

Yep - a confirmed case of head lice in Jake's class.  It makes your head itch just reading it.  

And that's when the day got fun!  Dr. Daddy and Mama tag teamed the rest of the evening: scrubbing kids, stripping beds, sponge bathing stuff animals, throwing stuff in the laundry and making dinner.  

Which would have been easier if I had boxed spaghetti from the store. But, seriously, once you go fresh it's so hard to settle for store bought!!!

 Squeaky clean, hopefully lice-free, and ready for dinner!!!

 Yummy goodness!!!

 Joseph wanted to take a picture of his plate too.  I didn't feel his tummy was quite up to meat sauce so he just had fresh spaghetti with a little butter sauce.  

We have a couple fun activities planned for this weekend so stay tuned for a Weekend Edition of our summer vacation!  

Summer Vacation - Day 14

a.k.a. - another day under quarantine.

Just how do you entertain a kid who is still sick . . . but not?  Joseph is definitely better but is still not eating much and wears out easily.  Part of that translated into a big ole (much needed) nap yesterday during which mama was able to fold two large loads of laundry and iron 8 shirts and 3 pairs of pants.  (ironing clothes straight out of washing machine = shirts that look like they came straight from dry cleaners = laundry happiness.)

We watched more movies (Cars 2, Lion King, Monsters)

We played with our trains.

Then we explored our artistic talents.  

Coloring books are great but sometimes free-style drawing is the best!

I'm hoping that we'll be fully mended and able to get back to our regularly scheduled summer vacation adventures soon!

Summer Vacation - Day 13

a.k.a. - a day under quarantine

Our day started out with my little darling wanting a bed on the couch like his brother's.  Thank goodness for a big couch!

 We did lots of laying around in our jammies watching Mickey Mouse and several movies.

 Finally sick boy announced he was very hungry (yay!!) and devoured two of these. (side note - totally in love with Land O' Lakes cinnamon sugar butter!)

 After which he perked up and wanted to play.  I let him have his math book on the couch for phase 1 of operation "back to normal."

 Then we progressed to easy puzzles on the floor.

Mama even found a little time to make this shirt I saw on Pinterest.

 He didn't quite feel up to sitting at the table for dinner so I sent him back to the couch where he crashed so hard he didn't even budge at his little brother trying to shake him awake and throwing trains at him.  

I think he may need one more recovery day before we're back to "full steam ahead."