Summer Chain of Events: Week 5

Our 5th week of summer with the kids was a great one and a busy one.  We did all these events and I unpacked and organize our new house.  Here's how it went.

Monday, Day 30: Pottery Painting with Mimi

Mimi (Justin's mom) was kind enough to pick the kids up in the morning to take them to paint pottery.  I was incredibly grateful since we had just finished moving in on Sunday and there was plenty of unpacking to be done.  She picked them up and headed to Ribbits Enchanted Cottage.  When they got there they found out it was closed until Wednesday.  Oh No! But not to worry, Mimi saved the day and took them to Funstation Jr. and Chick-fil-a.  The kids had a blast and I had plenty of time to unpack and organize. Thanks Mimi!

Tuesday, Day 31: Date Night

Tuesday night was a special occasion and something we've never done before.  Justin and I talked about it and we decided that McKayla does not get enough father/daughter time since she's gone every other week.  So we decided to start a new tradition where each week we have them Justin will take one of them out to dinner and I will take the other.  As you can imagine, McKayla loved this idea.  Seth surprised me by stating that he wanted to go on a date with me.  He ran to his room, got his money out of his "ATM Bank", and stated, "I want to do the real deal, I'm buying you dinner." Hahaha! Don't worry, I didn't let him pay with his money but I did let him pay the cashier at Moe's with my money and he enjoyed that.  McKayla and Justin went to Beef 'O Brady's and she loved that.  I love this new tradition and I think the kids do too.

A date complete with flowers for the pretty girl.

Not the best quality picture but it's the only one I have for the week.

Wednesday, Day 32: Let's Go to a New Park

On Wednesday morning (before it got too hot) we headed to Tekesta Park.  This is a park that is pretty close to our house and one the kids hadn't been to yet.  Unfortunately, it was closed for some reason and so we headed to the playground at Killearn Lakes Elementary instead.  They had fun there but it soon got too hot so we headed home and got ready to go to the pool instead.

Thursday, Day 33: Slip 'n' Slide

We have a slip 'n' slide that Mimi bought for us and while we've used it before, we hadn't used it at the new house yet.  Since it has been so hot here this was a great outdoor activity for the kids to enjoy.  I did take pictures of this activity and the next but something happened to my memory card and they got deleted. : (

Friday, Day 34: Water Gun Fight

I think this activity has probably been one of their favorites. We went to Wal-mart and got 2 big water guns for only $10.  It was $10 well spent!  They ran around the yard shooting each other, the trees, the bushes, and anything else they could think of for a couple hours.  I'm sure they'll be playing with those again soon. I'm really sad because I got a few really cute pictures of them with their water guns but due to a memory card malfunction I no longer have them. 

Saturday, Day 35: Let's Take Fenway to the Dog Park

Fenway loves playing with other dogs!  On Saturday we headed to the dog park that the city provides.  She soon picked the largest dog there and proceeded to run, chase, and tumble with him.  We were only there for about 30 minutes because of the heat but it was enough to wear her out for the next several hours. 

Sunday, Day 36: We're Going to Church

Justin and I are Christians but neither one of us has attended church on any kind of a regular basis in a long time. We decided that we needed to stop being "godless heathens" (that's what Justin calls us), and find a church we liked.  While we both have a great deal of respect for religion and Christianity, neither one of us enjoys the traditional church experience.  That's why we decided to try Four Oaks Church.  It's a non-denominational church close to our house and they have wonderful children's programs.  All in all we enjoyed the experience and we look forward to going back.  We also plan to try E3 Church, another non-denominational church here in town.  McKayla enjoyed it but Seth did not.  He didn't want to go to the children's school by himself so he was quite board sitting with us.  Hopefully next time he will have enough courage to join the children's program. 

Summer Chain of Events: Week 4

I know...I'm behind on my posts again.  I have valid excuses, I swear!  In the past three weeks I have finished up an internship, completed another semester of grad school, and have moved.  As you can imagine, I have been super busy. 

So without further ado, here is the update on our summer chain of events. 

Monday, Day 23: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2

I'm sure you all already know this but the final Harry Potter movie came out on July 15th.  Justin and I went to see the movie Friday night without the kids because it's rated PG-13.  Once we saw it we decided it wasn't too scary or inappropriate so we surprised the kids on Monday by letting them see it too.  We didn't take any pictures but I can assure you that the kids LOVED IT!!!

Tuesday, Day 24: Let's Have a Car Wash

As it turns out the kids love washing cars!  This is one of those chores that you love as a kid but hate as an adult. It worked out well for everyone because I got a clean car and we all had a blast.

Wednesday, Day 25: Let's Feed the Birds

While we were in Tennessee we collected some pinecones specifically with this purpose in mind.  We bought some peanut butter and birdseeds, found some yarn, and got to work. Once we were done making them we wrapped them up and put them in the fridge to save for the new house. 

Thursday, Day 26: A Day at Tom Brown Park

Tom Brown Park is one of the largest parks in tallahassee and has a great kids playground.  So on Wednesday of our fourth week of summer we headed to the park.

Friday, Day 27: Picnic Lunch with Daddy!!!

Justin's branch is in Southwood which happens to have a nice park and playground.  On Friday we packed lunch and picked Justin up for his break.  We all went to the park and tried to enjoy our lunch as the gnats tried to invade our space.  After lunch the kids played and even though they whined and complained about the bugs, if you ask them now it's one of their favorite events from the chain. 

Saturday, Day 28: The Gulf Specimen Marine Lab

The Gulf Specimen Marine Lab is in Panacea, about 45 minutes from our house.  We headed there to check out all the marine life they have to offer.  McKayla had been there on a field trip before so she was very excited to show us around.  The kids loved seeing the sea creatures and getting to touch and feel many of them. 

Sunday, Day 29: Sidewalk Chalk

Well...we were going to do sidewalk chalk on Sunday but we were also going to the beach so we ran out of time and never did it.  You see, the activity on each link is not the only thing we do that day.  We usually incorporate the activity into our very full day of other activities.  So on Sunday, there just wasn't time for the chalk.  So we spent the day at the beach with our friend Meghan (who the kids love) and enjoyed every minute of it. So much so that the kids completely forgot about the chalk :-)

The Old House

I know you were probably hoping to hear about the new house but I'm not ready for that just yet.  I'm not proud of myself for this, but I can't even begin to count the number of times I complained about something in that house.  Don't get me wrong, I had a nice and safe home to live in and I got to live there with people I love, and I'm very grateful for that, but some things about it really drove me crazy. 

Here are some of those things:
 - Three big bedrooms with decent closets but 2 very small bathrooms with almost no storage.
 - No true master bedroom. 
 - A small kitchen with very limited storage.
 - A small yard.
 - No garage or outdoor storage
 - No linen closets or extra storage of any kind.
 - A bad layout of space in general.  Windows and doors in inconvenient places and a staircase so close to the front door you can't get any furniture through it without lifting it over your head. 
 - Oh, did I mention the ugly wall paper and plain white walls? Ugh!
 - A landlord that wouldn't let us paint or make any improvements on our own (she wanted us to hire someone to do it).
 - A rental company that wouldn't make repairs to the light fixture, the running toilet, the broken sink, the broken blinds, the broken gutter, or the broken back door lock. 

With all these reasons and possibly a few more I have forgotten you can understand my excitement when we found our new house.  What surprised me was what happened on one of your last trips hauling furniture and boxes from the old house.  I was following Justin in my car when I started thinking about the old house and before you knew it I was crying. Don't get me wrong, I was excited and still am excited about the new house but I will truly miss the "old house".  

This is why:

 - The "old house" is where Justin first told me he loved me.
 - The "old house" is where I first met Seth and McKayla.
 - The "old house" is where Justin and I decided we couldn't live without each other and we needed to get married soon.
 - The "old house" is where Justin and I first lived as a married couple.
 - The "old house" is the first home that Fenway lived in.
 - The "old house" is where the four of us (and Fenway) became a family.

For all of these reasons, the "old house" will always hold a very special place in my heart.