Blueberries

Annual blueberry picking with friends! The girls won again for picking the most!

Why, Paige? Why? :)

The group!

Owen in action

Picture Roundup

Owen went to an Indian's game for a friend's birthday

Owen learned how to mow the lawn!

Paige comforted Griffin on the way to the vet

Griffin was a little out of sorts after the vet:)

Paige received the "team player" award for dance

We got to hear Alex play!

Sno cone cousins

Mitchell's and Market

On day one of Owen's soccer camp, Paige and I met up with some other parents and siblings and had a few hours of fun a short walk from the camp location. We went to Mitchell's and got ice cream and also got to see where they make their products. We tried to schedule an actual tour but they didn't have a good time open for us. It was still very interesting to look down into the kitchen and watch so many people doing very different and specific jobs like precisely measuring and cutting brownies or crumbling cookie dough pieces. 

After ice cream we went to the Westside Market and perused the shops. We bought some pepperoni rolls (gave them to the kids for dinner and they were not a hit) and posed in front of a fun mural before it was time to head back to get the boys.

Soccer Camp

Owen tried out a new soccer camp this year! We were looking for something to replace the Akron camp and settled on this one because it wasn't too far and the school has a pretty good reputation for athletics. He didn't love the first day and was initially a little miffed that I had signed him up at all but was liking it by the second day and said he would do it next year by the end of the week! They were separated into teams for the week and Owen said his group won 4 out of the 5 days!

Fourth Festivities

We had a pretty low-key July fourth. Just the way I like it:) I can't even really remember what we did during the day. Maybe we went on a bike ride? Maybe it rained? We weren't even sure we were going to the fireworks because the kids weren't super interested in them but we walked up at the last minute and ran into some friends, despite the crazy crowds! I'm glad we went and kept up with the tradition! The parade was the next day so we speed-walked up just in time and speed-walked back home because we were heading to a friend's house for a cookout.

Otherworld

Jamie, Paige and I went on a roadtrip to Columbus to see a fun, interactive art installation. We started with lunch at Easton and I had one of the best salads. The place was called Cafe Zupas and it gave out a chocolate-covered strawberry with all the meals. That strawberry was about the only part Paige liked of her meal:)

After lunch, we headed over to Otherworld. I was a bit thrown off when we arrived at a mostly abandoned shopping area and wondered if driving all the way to Columbus was going to be worth it for this...it was! Inside was a maze of rooms, all with different themes and interactions. We probably walked it at least three times to make sure we had been in all the rooms and to revisit some favorites. Paige found a few of the rooms to be creepy but we passed those quickly. Her favorite was a room where you had to crawl under a bed to get to another room that contained a bunch of adorable monsters.

We finished out the day with some Jeni's ice cream, a little bit of shopping and a Starbucks drink for the way home. We were exhausted by the time we got home!

Kitten Overload

We did it! We got a kitten! We went to the shelter to check out two specific cats but when we got there, one had already been adopted and the other wasn't interested in us in any way. Another kitten, however, found its way over to each of us and climbed in our laps and was just all around awesome. We decided he was the one and named him Griffin! He's a pretty great kitten so far. He's playful but also loves to nap in laps. He was already litter-trained so we haven't had any problems there. It's mostly been just about us figuring out when and how much to feed him and what kind of rules we're going to enforce. 

Car Dealership

The past couple of summers I've taken the kids with me when one of the cars needed to be fixed, get an oil change etc. It's actually one of my favorite days of the summer because we're all stuck together, working together to figure out our own entertainment and we always end up doing stuff I couldn't have really planned on. I figured we'd have an hour or two to wander but we were told upon arrival to plan for 3.5 hours. It sounded a bit daunting and Owen was voting to take the shuttle back home but I wanted to stick it out. We started out by wandering into the lobby and eating some donuts and then headed across the street to TJ Maxx. We ended up finding a few things for the kitten (more on that later!!). Then Owen was hungry so we stopped at five guys for his lunch, then went across another street to get Panera for Paige. We went to a couple more stores and then headed back to see if the car was done. It was not, it ended up being almost 4.5 hours! Longest car appointment ever! 

Chair races

Owen considered this bag for his 7th grade bookbag ;)

Five Guys lunch

Fun game:) Paige could swing her hair and it would wrap around the cup.

Skills