Fireworks, Late Nights

Summer - all hot and sweaty is here! We regularly have ice cream regularly and walks are determined by the strength of the sun. The kids are getting used to late bedtimes and makes it tough to get a little adult time. Ains has been cutting molars and it's no fun for us. She wakes up in the middle of night or cries herself to sleep with restlessness. The other night all she wanted to do was rock, and hold her water bottle. 

We invoked our regular tradition for the Fourth. We go out to my parent's house on the 3rd for fireworks. That way the kids can sleep in the next day and we don't need to worry about crabbiness on the 5th. They are starting to really embrace these holidays, for the most part. At one point, Grady did say, can we go to bed now? Their favorite part of the festivities is hunting down the paratroopers that we light when it's still light out. One even went into the "cow farm" as G put it, but Grandma rescued him. E had a blast playing with the kitties. Grandma did a good job of taming them down this year. 

For the 4th, we did something a bit different. We headed to Wes and Kristi's - we had a brat off and then smores before watching the Capitol show from their backyard. The kids had such a good time playing with their cousins - they have really missed them and face to face conversations were good for us too. Matt did really well playing catch with Tyler but lacked the patience to teach the kids how to play cornhole effectively. 

On Sunday, we finished the weekend with a seafood boil and some basic house organization. Matt and I organized the garage as it was well needed and the littles slept and E did okay. She got bored with it all and just wanted to play with the radio and dig in stuff or go have snacks in the house. I get it, I think I felt the same way when I was younger when I was supposed to be helping.

EER and GRR playing out in the front yard. Front door open.

GRR suddenly starts screaming.

ALR to MJR(who was closer to the door): What happened?! Go find out.

EER comes rushing up to the screen door: Grady's gone!

Screaming still occurring.

MJR runs outside.

MJR fishes GRR out of front window well: It's okay, you just fell down.

Soothing continues

EER: Grady was gone!!!

MJR: You did the right thing, Eleanor. When something bad happens you come get Mom and Dad.

Soothing continues

Lodges, Lips, Lightyear, Ladders

Weekend started off on Friday for the kids - we still don't have Friday daycare due to COVID-19 restrictions. Matt took a turn with them. Despite the heat, he took them to Ft Lincoln. They did the blockhouses walk and went into one or two and then went and looked at the earth lodges. E was definitely interested in the information. We are starting to see her thirst for knowledge and soak it in like a little sponge. It was fun to listen to her tell me about what she'd learn from the trip - from her perspective, the tools and buffalo "head" aka skull. We are working on the kids calling them by the proper names and not mudhuts.

Well, it was a tough weekend to be an Ainsey.. poor little girl has a busted up lip and a chipped tooth. Eleanor, who despite being told to quit picking her up still does, dropped her on Saturday at the zoo on the pavement. Ains handled it like a champ - a bit of crying but mostly wanted to be snuggled by her dad - we are keeping an eye on it. But the poor girl keeps hitting her face on things - whether it's her kitchen stool, the gate for the stairs, her toys - it's tough. For the most part, her attitude hasn't been impacted, she's same as usual. She also added a new word to her vocabulary.

Add that to Dada, Lola, Uh-oh, nah-ah, and Puppy.

We did a couple movie nights this past weekend. These are treats for the kids - we put on something Disney based, set up the chairs, if it's a real special night, make popcorn and watch 1/3 of a movie. E and G are real good about focusing and watching. Ains doesn't care so much. She's about the popcorn and panhandles her weigh as best as possible but she plays in the room while we watch. The current movie we are working on is Toy Story 3. G is in love with BuzzLightyear right now. He has a Buzz doll and loves seeing him on TV. E is okay with it but is more about the princesses still right now. She's just happy to be watching a movie. Usually, the kids start in their own chairs but sooner than later, E crawls up with Matt and G cocoons in next to me.

The temps are rising, this week in the 90s.. next week is slated for 100. I set the pools up on Sunday and let them play. They love it. The other thing that they are interested in is eating outside. Specifically eating "Big Boys" outside. We did it a couple weeks ago but this past weekend in an effort to not cook, we went through drivethru (FYI Big Boy does not have corndogs) and the whole way home we listened to the begging and pleading to eat outside. Our response of "too hot" did not end the whining.. so there the two bigs sat in 92 degree weather, eating their flying style sandwiches pleased as punch as they dipped their french fries in E's water (after dipping in honey mustard).

Friday night - eating pizza.
G: Me go up the ladder, you are too big.
MJR: No, I wasn't too big to go up the ladder but I couldn't because I had Ainsley.
G: Me go up, but Dad and Eleanor do not go up, you are too big?
ALR: No, someday when we go back, I will go up with you. Eleanor can go up too.
G: Dad is too big?
ALR: No, Dad is not too big, Ainsley is too little. 
G: Okay, so you is not too big, Me go up the ladder.
ALR: I (emphasizes) will go up the ladder
G: Me and you go up the ladder
ALR: No, Grady, can you say "I go up the ladder."
G: I go up the ladder, but Dad is too big. 
(Repeat this conversation for the next three nights in various formats, takeaway, G wants to go up the blockhouse ladder.