All About Me (By Paige and Owen)

My other favorite present from my birthday was these questionnaires the kids answered about me. All answers are totally accurate especially the parts where I am 3 years old, weigh 23 lbs and can lift a zebra or a Daddy. Is anyone surprised that Paige thinks my favorite color is pink and Owen thinks it is blue? Seriously though, my heart was touched. I love those kids.

Crafting!

A little while back I was at a craft store with the kids and saw a large bag of sequins. It was cheap. It was shiny. We needed to bring it home with us. As a result, we did some serious crafting.

Aww...

Just some cute brother/sister pictures from the summer!

We like to stop at this overlook in the park. The kids are so quick getting up the spiral staircase that now that I just stay on the bottom to get a picture before I head up.

Hanging out at Crocker Park, enjoying some popcorn and some people-watching.

This is how close they sit to each other when they watch television. It's adorable.

Birthday!

Ah yes. I had a birthday not too long ago! We celebrated a day early with family and peach/apple pie (we used this recipe for the filling but added a couple apples because I was short on peaches!). On my actual birthday Pat took the day off from work (best present ever!) and we went downtown for lunch, stopped to pick up a Cleveland shirt, tried to go to the Botanical Gardens (closed!) and ended up at the Westside Market where we, shockingly, didn't buy anything. We did get up to the balcony though, which is something we have never gotten around to doing before, and enjoyed the view of the Market.

Back to School Dinner!

We're continuing the tradition of a "fancy" back to school dinner! Actually, it got a little less fancy this year...we still had the crunchy oven-fried ravioli but substituted steamed veggies in for the salad. We also had toasted marshmallow rice krispie treats (you broil the marshmallows until browned before you stir them in) which I initially thought wasn't that much of an improvement on the original until I realized I did not want to stop eating them! Another change was that both kids got a card this year since Paige will be starting preschool in a couple weeks! We toasted, we ate, we told the kids how proud we are of them. Then we ended the dinner with them each blowing out a candle. The kids even kept their shirts on this year! Maybe it was fancier after all...

(Click here for the 2012 dinner)

First Grade!

It happened. Owen started first grade. It feels a little sad and like something (ahem...someone) is missing from the house. We did so much this summer and didn't even get around to everything we were hoping to do so it feels like it's too soon for school! Owen was a little nervous but I know he had a great day and there are a couple kids in his class that he knows and likes. We even got to meet his teacher the other day and she seems great! I can't wait to see what he learns and accomplishes this year!

Chuck E Cheese

I said I didn't want to take the kids to Chuck E Cheese for Owen's half birthday but then when I asked him what he wanted to do before summer was over it was the only thing he mentioned! I decided to surprise the kids with a trip. They didn't know anything until I pulled into the parking lot so the surprise on their faces was a lot of fun to see! We also met some friends there and had a picnic lunch and a short hike in the park afterward. 

Chuck E Cheese?! Yay!

The kids started busting out of their seat-belts once they realized what was happening.

Remember Paige on this ride last year? It's especially funny to see the old picture because she's wearing the same shirt!

Funny picture from the park!

Soccer!

Owen is on a travel soccer team this year so the number of hours we spend in a week devoted to the game has increased dramatically. Owen, of course, couldn't be happier about it! On Saturday his team participated in a fundraiser where they got to play three short scrimmages against different teams and then Sunday was his first official game. The scrimmages were the first time we got to see how his team compared to other kids their age and we were all impressed. On Sunday, Owen scored the first goal of the game and had scored two more before it was all over! 

Library and Lunch!

A couple weeks ago we went to a construction-themed library program with some friends and then had lunch in the park together. The program was cute with different stations where you could experiment and build with different toys. I think the kids enjoyed afterward even more though when they were standing in goose poop and throwing rocks into the lake. It would have been  more ideal without the goose poop but it was unavoidable if you wanted to get near the lake and I didn't have to stand near it myself so I let it slide.

Ice Cream!

Another one of Owen's goals for July was to make ice cream. I had a recipe saved for a long time on how to make ice cream in a bag by shaking it and I was excited to finally do it. Unfortunately, we got everything ready and realized we only had three ice cubes (we don't really use ice so I forget to make it, something frequent visitors to our house can attest to...)! We attempted it anyway but the ice melted right away and we ended up putting it all in our actual ice cream maker (for which I keep a bowl in the freezer constantly prepped for last minute ice cream making even though we've probably made ice cream once in the last three years...). In the end it was really yummy and just what we needed after the rough day we had!

Bike Aboard!

One of Owen's goals for the month of July was to ride a train. It was perfect because we were planning on doing Bike Aboard (where you can take your bikes on a train one way and bike back or vice versa) again this summer! We sort of missed completing his July goals in July but it's summer so we're being flexible. We decided to do a different section this year that ended up being 4.25 miles. I wish it had been longer, we definitely could have biked farther! Paige is still a little young to ride on her own but she was a good sport about riding on the back of my bike even though her knees now touch my back when she's in her seat. We looked around a museum, spotted a ton of turtles while biking the trail and stopped for some trail mix when we saw a good spot. 

Click here for last year's post

Owen was covering his eyes because he was so worried the bikes were going to fall off the back of the car!

Waiting for the train-there were a lot of other bikers waiting too.

More waiting...

On the train!

Ready to ride!

Snack time!

A couple stopped near where we were snacking so I pounced on them and made them take our picture:)

Adventure!

We spent a day last week exploring a part of the park we don't get to very often with some good friends! It was quite an adventure-fraught with slips, bumps, bruises, water-logged shoes, a little bit of blood and even POISON IVY!! Aaah! It was a lot of fun :) The kids spent a lot of time throwing rocks in the water, then there was a short break to hose Paige down with some dish soap and water which either totally got rid of the offending poison ivy or she was never going to get it in the first place...? Then we headed to another park for lunch and some playground time.