Bike Aboard 2017

Oh, bike aboard...it's a love/hate relationship. For me, it's a tradition and I'm unwilling to give it up. The kids, however, were not super pleased when I announced we'd be going. I've decided they can handle it once a year and even though it wasn't a perfect trip...we made a lot of memories:) We got to the station with plenty of time and had two wedding parties to watch while they took pictures. Unfortunately, the train was running 30-40 minutes late so we had a lot of time to watch them. The train ride was a lot of fun though! We played some hand-clapping games, checked out the scenery and the kids and Pat played the "make me laugh" game. We finally got to our destination and had some dinner at The Winking Lizard. We were taking our time until Pat checked the weather map and realized it was about to rain and we had to bike 6 miles back to the car still! We paid our bill and bolted! The kids were out of control racing each other and Paige ended up wiping out and got cut up on her elbows so that was not a great start...but we couldn't really slow down for too long because we still had a ways to go! The weather was really cold and it got worse when it started raining. The trees shielded a lot of it but I was freezing the entire way back. Can't wait for next year! ;)

PS-I was trying to figure out how far we biked last year (8 or 10?) and so I went back to reference last year's post and there wasn't one! I threw one in there and you can see it here. Or you can just search "bike aboard" and find all of them.

Dancing in the Rain!

I thought Paige had performed All About Me for the last time at the recital but her group had one more opportunity at Heritage Days. It was really rainy and the girls were performing in the street so it was difficult for a lot of the more complicated dances to perform. I was a little worried the girls wouldn't remember their dance but Paige was feeling super confident and they did great! Owen was super helpful and watched two of Paige's friends younger brothers. A balloon guy found them and provided them with some hats. They cut two dances out of the performance so everybody could make a run for it back to their cars but we all got drenched anyway!

Parade!

The day after the sleepover, I convinced Paige to take a nap because she was going to be marching in a parade that evening. It was great until I had to wake her up to go and she wanted to stay at home to sleep instead! She finally came around to going and we met up with friends at a restaurant (18 of us!!). The waitress was completely overwhelmed and had no idea how to serve us even though we were trying to make it super easy for her! It rained a bit during the parade but cleared up after about 10 minutes. The route was a lot shorter than last year but we still thought everyone deserved ice cream afterward (even me!)

Visit with Jamie!

We took a trip to check out Jamie's new living space (ok, new to us, she's been there awhile!)! We got the grand tour of her super well-decorated home and then we headed to Mellow Mushroom. The kids were not impressed with the food but they did love the amazing balloon guy (Balloon Ninja?) that happened to be there! He made Paige a Pinkie Pie unicorn and Owen requested a shield but the guy got more creative and gave him a battle axe and shield. After we ate, we went on a walk through the park because it was a beautiful day!

Training!

Owen's club soccer team has been training a little harder to get ready for the upcoming season! On one hand, it's kind of crazy to see 10 and 11 year olds doing this kind of stuff...on the other hand, they seem to love it! They're having practices twice a week at the beach that is strictly conditioning, they're not doing any footskills or scrimmages on these days. Then they have another day of practice with the ball and a travel practice (with Pat) on top of that!

Teen Swim Night

Owen attended a "teen" swim night at our city's pool a week or two ago. I have no idea why they considered 5th graders to be teens but when Owen's friend asked if he wanted to go, he didn't have any problem with it. He had a blast swimming at night and hanging out with his group of friends and even won the splash contest!

Dance Camp 2

The second week of dance camp focused on Jazz, Ballet and Lyrical. This week is a lot more serious and emotional, especially with the lyrical dance! I didn't see as many smiles on the girl's faces but hopefully they were still enjoying it!

Dance Camp 3!

The third week of dance camp was all about dancing with their new training groups. Paige's group is a lot different than last year and she's going to be missing some of her best buddies but hopefully she'll still have a lot of opportunities to hang out with them. Camp was actually only 2 days but they stayed for 5 hours each time! The girls were exhausted by the end of each day. After they finished on the second day, a bunch of the kids from training groups 9 (Paige's new group) and 10 (mostly filled with Paige's old group) went to a splashpad for lunch and running around. Then that night Paige went to a sleepover with some of the same kids! I don't know how she made it through everything!!

Day 1

Day 2! Paige isn't even heavily featured in this photo but I think it's hilarious!

Playground fun

Love these three!

Last kids at the park!

Everyone eating lunch!

Sleepover time! All the girls brought a doll!

Aaaaand breakfast at the sleepover!

Supplies

I took the kids on their individual "get a special drink/buy all the supplies" trip a little early this year! Paige wanted to go the moment she saw the supplies in a newspaper ad so we went one day when Owen was at soccer camp. She ended up choosing a sour grape icee (yummy and weird). I went a few weeks later with Owen while Paige was at a dance camp and he chose a Coke icee (classic).

Owen's face right after he asked if he could have a refill. He finished the whole thing just on the walk to the supply section!

Goofballs

10.5

Owen is 10.5!! That means sprinkle pancakes and a card! And lots more responsibility;)

Zoo!

Another zoo day!

On one foot like the flamingos!

Taking a break while waiting for the rest of the group to catch up

Checking out some kangaroos! Or the train?

The whole group! Zsa Zsa suddenly thought the wagon was verrrry interesting:)

Petting goats!

I found this picture on my phone when we got home.