More Summer Fun

We have been having so much summer fun, I have been neglecting the blog. We went to Nana's house last week and had such a great trip. The kids and I got on a flight Monday afternoon. I'm always amused at the questions and comments I get from people when I fly alone with 5 kids. "Are they ALL yours?" "Are you old enough to have 5 kids?" That one kills me because I don't think I look THAT young. "You have your hands full!" And then there are the people that stare and count. Anyway, it keeps our trips interesting.

They always stick us in the very last row of the plane so we can sit together. It's loud back there but I don't have to worry too much about the kids being too loud. They all packed their handhelds. PSP, DS, gameboy. The oldest two had MP3 players too. The flight is only an hour so it was pretty uneventful. Baby went to sleep on take off and Rockstar wasn't too far behind him. Cowboy was disappointed because the pilot stopped the snack service right before we were served. I think they could have served 4 more drinks but oh well. Sad Cowboy really wanted a Sprite.We landed and Nana and Poppy met us at the airport and took us out for delicious Mexican food. Then we took Caveman over to his favorite cousins house to spend the week. And we brought a cousin back to Nana's house for a sleepover.

Tuesday I did some shopping with my mom then everyone came over for dinner. We had pizza and the cousins played and we made plans for the rest of the week. Sassypants went home with the twins and Carly and Jenna spent the night with Rockstar. Always lots of sleepovers with all these cousins.

Wednesday we all went roller skating. We got there first and were waiting for everyone else. I gave the girls the camera to play with. I love these little blondies. I can't get enough of their cuteness.

The girls loved skating. The boys...not so much. Cowboy only wanted to skate on the "cawpet" and Caveman fell down a lot. He wanted to go home. After a pep talk from mom he decided to stick around and he had fun. Cowboy on the "cawpet" with my nephew in the background.

That night we all went to the drive-in. This was something on our summer to do list that we were very excited to check off. We saw Up and Race to Witch Mountain. And most of the kids stayed awake through both movies. When we got home and dad asked the kids about the trip they all agreed that the drive-in was one of the best parts.

Thursday we all went to the pool. (when I say all, this is what I mean: Daytime activities=4 moms, 17 kids. Evening activities=4 moms, 4 dads, 17 kids, 1 Nana and sometimes a Poppy. This trip to the pool, my s.i.l. had two extra kids that she was babysitting.)

This was a really fun pool! The kids loved the waterslides. I even went down one. And it was a great pool for all the little kids. They loved the sprinklers and the shallow water. This is how the baby looks just about every day that we go to the pool. So glad he likes sleeping in the stroller!This little man had to get a nap in before his Lightning McQueeen birthday party. He says the cutest "Ka-Chow" you've ever heard.The girl cousins. Looks like we have a family swim team.

We swam all day then grilled out steaks for Eli's birthday. That night ALL the girl cousins spent the night at Nana's. They were up until 12:30 then woke up a 4:30 AND they woke up Poppy. I don't think Nana and Poppy will host a cousin sleepover any time soon.

Friday, my sister was back from her vacation so we did a little shopping and that night we went out to dinner just mom, dad and the siblings. We went to PF Changs. And you can tell by the table that we enjoyed ourselves. This is probably the first time since any of us were married that we've gotten together without spouses. It was fun. We missed our Kirk though.

Saturday, we packed up and got ready to go. We made a stop at Macy's birthday party on the way to the airport then we were homeward bound. We had such a good trip. Thanks Mom and Dad for having us and feeding us and letting us make a huge mess of your house. Thanks to all my brothers and their families for missing out on lots of sleep to entertain me and my kiddos. We had so much fun!

Oops!

Last night, as the kids were going to bed at about 10:30, they woke the baby up. So I brought him into my bed. I was watching TV so he snuggled up to me to watch some TV too. Then he saw my phone sitting there and picked it up. He plays with my phone all the time. And he has made a couple of phone calls before. Usually to the last person I had called so it's not that big of a deal. Well last night he dialed 911. Then pushed send.

I started hearing a man's voice and was wondering where it was coming from, then realized it was coming out of my phone. I grabbed it from the baby and said hello. To a 911 operator. I apologized and explained that my baby was playing with the phone. He said he still needed to get my name and address and that they might send an officer out just in case. I gave him my info, apologized again and that was that. I put the baby back to bed and was getting myself ready for bed when the phone rang.

It was the dispatch officer from the police department telling me there was an officer at my front door that wasn't getting any response. I was surprised that I didn't hear anything but told her I'd go to door, then hung up. I got to the door and there was no one there. No car in the drive way. So I called the lady back and told her there was no one there, then I could hear her radio him to make sure he was in the right place. I here him tell her 10-4. She then tells him that I am standing at my front door and he is not there. I told her I had a red suburban in the driveway and she passes the info on to the officer who then realizes he must be in the wrong place. He was in my neighborhood, at a house with the same number, just not on my street. So he shows up, I apologize for wasting his time and he is obviously embarrassed that he went to the wrong address. And that was that.

I really felt bad. I hate to think that there could have been a real emergency somewhere and this cop was coming to check on us for no reason. BUT I was also relieved that I didn't have a real emergency while that guy was knocking on someone else's door.

We Love Summer!

Our first week of summer was great! A perfect balance of staying busy and being lazy! Monday I tortured the kids and we spent the day recovering from a crazy weekend and got the house cleaned up. Monday night was our piano recital. Sassypants played two songs and did a great job. She is becoming a great little pianist. The mom of one of my students made this cute treat for the recital.Sugar wafers covered in white chocolate. So cute!

Tuesday Rockstar had a playdate so I took the rest of the kids to the library. That afternoon we finished leveling out the front yard and planted grass seed. Hopefully we'll have a lovely yard soon!

Wednesday morning we went to the free movie. I took most of the kids to Kit Kittredge and Caveman went with dad to see Shrek the Third. That afternoon we went to the pool. And I just have to say that I am so glad we joined. We missed having a pool last summer and hope to make up for lost time this summer.

Thursday it rained ALL day. That morning we took the kids down to the middle school to run. We are hoping to do this a few times a week and also work on sit-ups and push-ups. Caveman had to run 4 laps, Sassypants 3, Rockstar 2 and Cowboy 1. Caveman and Cowboy both ran the whole time. The girls started out too fast and had to take a break. My hope is for us to do a fun run sometime in the fall. When we got home the kids built a fort in the ENTIRE dining room. Then pretty much spent the rest of the day in it. And all of Friday and then slept in it Friday night. Some messes are TOTALLY worth it. I took this picture from the doorway. There was just enough space to get through to the kitchen and barely enough room on the other side to make it up the stairs.They played and read library books and I went in there a couple times to read the Tale of Despereaux to them. We are trying to finish it before we see the movie this week.

Thursday I finally caved and cut the baby's hair. He kind of had a rat tail.He wasn't very excited about it.
But looked really handsome when we were done. No more rat tail. Daddy is so happy!While they were in the fort on Friday I did TONS of laundry. I have to admit I have been a laundry slacker the past couple weeks and needed a catch up day. This is the laundry table when I was done.There is another row of piles behind this one so think x2. And this is the laundry room closet. Saturday morning we put it all away so now the closet and table are empty...for a few days. Then we start over.

The sun was back on Saturday so we went back to the pool. We have learned that the baby is terrified of anything inflatable. Especially his pool float. He actually doesn't like the pool at all. At least he's content to sit in his stroller while the other kids swim.

So that was our week. I'm kind of amazed at how quickly the kids started sleeping in. Waking up at 8:30 is so nice. We are looking forward to many more fun summer days. The kids and I made this list a few weeks ago. We'll see how much we get done.
Hope everyone else is having a fun summer too!