Summerizing

This is me getting ready for summer. 

...by making shirts wearable for another 3-5 months.

James loves ketchup.

On EVERYTHING...which is good, because he hates all potato products...including fries. Weird, I know. The ketchup makes them bearable.

So, now he can be Mr. Ketchup for the summer.

...and Annika, whose closet I had just gone through was in desperate need of shirts. 

She didn't think so, but, with my laundry habits, a half-dozen shirts just doesn't cut it. (And kids don't think to do their own laundry until the very last minute.)

So, as much as she poo-pooed the idea, I short-sleeved a bunch of her shirts too.

The owls got a regular, medium-length sleeve.

I thought this stripey one needed something a little shorter to be Summery.

Yep.

Since this pink number already had some decorative, unfinished ruffles, I didn't even bother hemming.

SO easy.

...and one more traditional short-sleeve.

Back in the day, the girls would have turned those leftover sleeve scraps into Pokemon dresses lickety-split. I'm not sure what Annika has planned for them, but she just couldn't stand to see them thrown away.

I'll have to try and think of something small and useful that she could make.

...and now I'm really wanting to dig into a few more of the sewing projects I've been neglecting all year!

Gold Belt (Karate)

James has been doing Karate this year. 

For those of you who may not know him, James in not a very focused individual. He's sweet and lazy. And, as much as it hurts my wallet, I'm happy that James has found something that he's excited enough about to bother participating in. (He sat, staring into space through art lessons.) 

During his first few classes, he was bouncing up and down the whole time. Literally. He could not hold still, he was so excited.

His first belt test:

Yep, that's James - breaking a board with his foot! (Every little boy's dream.)

HI-YA!

Their Butterflies

So our butterflies weren't that spectacular... 

the ones fluttering through Brookside's butterfly house made up for it.

That Atlas Moth! See him behind the kids? I had to get a picture with people in it for scale.

Last year we made the mistake of visiting an uber-warm greenhouse in August. Not smart.

 (Which, I also just realized that blog post is moldering, unpublished and long forgotten, in my "drafts".) 

This year we went in May, and it was a much more pleasant experience. Especially since Cozy wasn't a sweaty, hot cranky-pants the whole time.

...or maybe it's being 4 instead of 3 years old? Or a few bug classes at the Nature Center. 

Regardless, Coze was interested.

This purpley-gray guy is my favorite....'cause he can accessorize. 

So, last year Cozette was extremely frustrated that butterflies kept landing on everyone else and, no matter how still she sat, none came her way.

This year a butterfly did land on her boot. She screamed and shook it off, saying, "it's going to try and stick it's nose in me and drink me!"

...and Sofia got to come with us! I'm sure going to miss her next year when she's off at High School with her big brother! Thank goodness none of them got Hogwarts letters - I don't even like them being gone during the day! Something changes when children spend the bulk of their time away from their families. There's a connection that's lost...or that you have to work extremely hard to maintain.

I guess we'd better get in a lot of family bonding time this summer!

Our Butterflies

We ordered some caterpillars again this year, put the had to go up on the plate rack...so that Matt wouldn't eat them. He really wanted to - naughty cat.

I was lucky one of the kids noticed them hatching. I had kind of forgotten about them up there.

We gave them some bananas to "lick"....

...and tried to let them fly away.

(...but only a couple did. The rest of them died. Don't tell the kids!)

Beets

We aren't doing much with our garden this year...since we'll be gone for most of the summer anyhow.

I did start some beets last fall. They survived. ...but not for long, because we picked them.

The stragglers....

...plus a little spinach and some volunteer sunflowers.

We'll have to do some gardening in Grandma and Grandpa's garden.

I'm sure they have more harvest options anyhow.

Behold: Cozy, eater of beets. 

She and Anthony are the only kids who like them. 

Not much sharing required.

The Land of Little Horses

I've been wanting to take Cozette to the "Land of Little Horses" ever since I noticed the billboard outside of Gettysburg. We drive past every time we go to visit grandparents, but we never seem to have the time to stop. I would have taken Cozy for her birthday, but, nope It didn't open until May.

Finally, on Memorial Day, nothing stood in our way! (...except my oldest son whining about not wanting to go....so I left him home to "do his homework". Whatever.)

Everyone else enthusiastically piled into the car and headed off to see tiny horses.

Right at the entrance, there was a gazebo and FREE wagons to pull your littles around in. My littles aren't so little any more, so they were pulling each other around. AND....a bunch of pedal tractors! James would have been happy to stay there the entire time.

Cozette always complained that her tractors wouldn't turn. 

I think it might have been a user error, because the boys were all over the place in those tractors. 

I had to outlaw bumper-tractors.

We bought one cup of horse food and it lasted us the entire time, partly because Cozy was very stingy with her pony pellets. One per pony, per feeding....just enough to get the pony's attention, but little enough to keep them coming back for more.

This little donkey was roaming free, as were a couple of the horses. 

 Other animals were in their pens or stalls waiting for some attention.

This lady knew who was holding the food.

Come on, Sofia...give it up...

They even had a Cebu (or Zebu)! As featured here, for those of you who might be unfamiliar with Veggie Tales' "Song of the Cebu".

Next, we hit the playground - something you cannot walk past with children, even if you want to.

Cozy put herself in the baby swing.

I felt obliged to point out that, if you are able to put yourself in the baby swing and buckle yourself up, you are definitely not a baby....and should not be in the baby swing.

So, she went to wait "patiently" for the horsey swing.

We finally escaped the playground and made it to the Old West Town.

I'm thinking of building one in my back yard.

Cozy became a dancing girl in the saloon....

....with Annika accompanying her.

 

Then James and Cozette caught a dangerous criminal (Jonny) and...

...threw him in jail.

Once Jon convinced the posse he was innocent, we went on pony rides.

Cozy got to ride Frosty.

Jon (barely under the weight limit) rode the somewhat larger Andy.

...and James got his turn on the little pony. Doesn't he look pleased.

Sofia and Annika just got to watch and be sad that they aren't little kids any longer. (That makes 3 of us.)

I let them get feathers for their hair instead.

James tried to bring home another souvenir. Oh yes, he is most definitely a cat person. 

We also got a wagon ride through the forest. It was full of fun western silhouettes. There was an Indian camp, an old mine, buffalo, bears and wolves. Cozy spent the whole time yelling, "That's fake! Those aren't real!"

Yes, thank for clearing that up, Cozette.

..and for the finale, we watched the arena performance. No pictures (copyright issues?), but it was lovely. (Although I must add the disclaimer that we are very easily entertained.)
We saw a tiny unicorn.
A goat walked backwards on a rolling barrel.
Dogs picking apples and jumping through hoops.
And a horse doing math problems. (He also read the numbers on Sofi's shirt.)
Fun, fun outing!