June Recap

It's hard to believe that August is almost upon us!  I would ponder how fast time flies by, wonder how it has been so long since our last post, and give my excuse for how busy we've been, but I'm sure you are all in the same boat.  Nuff said.

The first weekend of June, Marie went on her first "date."  She and Jon attended the Daddy Daughter Dance at our church.  The theme was Little House on the Prairie and all were encouraged to dress in appropriate attire.  This gave me an excuse to brush off my sewing machine and make a dress for Marie.  I don't often get to sew and it seems like a project is the perfect excuse for me to get my fix.  It ended up being a bit rushed, but I thought the finished product turned out well.  I think Marie and Jon both had a good time since there were quite a few of their friends, both dads and daughters, that also went.

Marie no sooner finished her kindergarten year than we started full steam ahead into our summer activities.  (Stevie was also recovering from a fairly bad case of Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease, so a change of pace was warmly welcomed!)  The kids got to go on their annual trip to the strawberry patch, where we picked both berries and sugar snap peas.  All three of the kids did some picking this year.  It didn't take Stevie too long to realize that the little red ones were yummy!  It just so happened that Grandma and Grandpa Meinhart were also visiting, so that made things all the more fun and much easier on me!

Both Marie and Joey also started their soccer league the second weekend of June.  This was our first experience with our kids playing "organized" sports.  It was a bit comical at times watching the pack of 3-4 year-olds congregate around the ball.  Both the kids learned a bit and we did see some improvement in both skill and basic understanding of the game.  We will see if their interest is maintained and whether we try another season sometime.

Our trip for the month of June was a visit to Illinois, coordinated around the wedding of my cousin, Kelly.  We had been looking forward to this wedding for some time.  I used to babysit for Kel and her siblings and she married the nephew of one of my dear friends from high school.  We made the trip worth it and took a few days of vacation to spend down there.  Uncle Mark, Aunt Sarah, and Ella as well as Uncle Matt and Liz were also there.  The kids had a blast with all the family, putting up Grandpa's tent (that they never ended up sleeping in), going fishing, making and eating s'mores, taking care of the kitties, not to mention going to the wedding.  As usual, it was a wonderful, packed full of fun, trip and a great time to catch up with family.  

Chapter 5. Summer's End

Note: Re-posting due to technical difficulties with the video...hopefully it will work this time. For those of you that get these updates automatically, you may have to go to the blog itself (instead of reading it in your email) to watch the video at the end.

Even though it is mid-September as I write this, I'm still a little hesitant to admit that the summer is actually over. But, let's be realistic, school has started (more on that later), we are now watching football on the weekends, and the first leaves have started falling from the trees. Yep. It's official. Summer is over. But, in a last ditch effort to hang on as long as possible, let's review what we did in August.

The first weekend in August brought us visitors from the state of Wisconsin. Jon has a close buddy (and by close, I mean he convinced Jon to wear a kilt at his wedding) that lives near Milwaukee with his family. Carl's daughter, Aneliese, is Jon's goddaughter. Every summer the Conrath's drive to Erie, PA to visit with family. This year on their way back to WI, they decided to swing by our place. It broke up the drive for them (they usually have to stop to spend the night somewhere anyway) and gave us a chance to catch up after what has turned into a couple of years. Aneliese is just about a year older than Marie and boy did they hit it off. They also have a son, Hayden, who is just a little bit older than Joey. It was fun to see them all get along so well.



Also, in August, the kids and I took off to go to the "beach". This is something that I had promised Marie we would do and she probably would've forgotten all about it...but I wouldn't have. The "beach" is on a lake that is literally 10 minutes from our house. There is also a picnic area and Splash Zone for the kids. The three of us (Marie, Joey, and I) went last year as well and Marie had a great time. It was a good thing that we went on the spur of the moment this year because if I would have had too much time to think about taking all three of the kids by myself, I just might have chickened out. But, they of course did great. Marie and Joey loved playing in the sand and water and obediently stayed close to the shore. Stevie chilled in his stroller, watching them and all the other kids play. Marie and Joey were pretty hesitant to go into the Spray Zone at first, but finally worked up the nerve to venture into an area that was a little less daunting. They had fun and boy did they take good naps that afternoon!








In the middle of August, we had a visit from Grandma Meinhart. It was a good thing she was here because otherwise I'm not sure what I would have done with all the green beans and tomatoes. We got a lot of canning done and marinara sauce made for the freezer. We even made a trip to a raspberry patch / peach orchard but were disappointed by the fact that it wasn't a good day for picking either of them. :( We'll remember to call ahead before we drive there next time.

The week of Grandma's visit also corresponded to when Marie attended her very first Vacation Bible School. This was also the first time that our parish offered VBS, so we didn't really know what to expect. I figured Marie would have a good time AND that it would be a good chance to get primed for going to kindergarten this fall. Overall, I think it was a success. Marie did make a couple new friends and also learned some things.

On one of the days while Marie was at VBS, we decided to Joey to a petting farm that is about a minute away from our church. It took him a little while to warm up to the animals, but thanks to a nice volunteer and the cutest little baby bunnies, he finally did. He ended up feeding the goats and also going on a wagon ride. He was pretty interested in seeing the pigs for some reason...




Other than that, we were busy getting ready for the school year to start. We had a fun family outing to Target when we got all the necessary school items (supplies, extra booster seat, shoes that met dress-code, etc.). The kids were pretty excited about this because the trip also involved a trip to Wendy's, their absolute favorite restaurant. :)

We also took a trip to the doctor for Marie's 5 year and Stevie's 6 month check ups. Marie is still roughly 90th percentile for height, but closer to 65th for weight. Stevie must have hit a little bit of a growth spurt, because he stretched out to 95th percentile (26") while his weight was closer to 85th (19 lbs 4 oz). We aren't surprised given his older siblings and are just thankful to have such healthy kids.

Last items of note for the month of August have to do with and update on Stevie. He is really changing fast. First of all, he became the proud owner of two bottom teeth. It seemed like it took quite a while for them to actually poke through, but they finally appeared. Then we introduced solid foods to him. He made the expected sour face the first couple of bites, but he has really taken off. It's as if we weren't feeding him!! He is also now crawling. He's pretty slow, but what he lacks in speed he makes up for in determination. And, he is definitely fast enough to annoy his big brother and sister. The toys and books that they have are always more appealing than any baby toy we might try to use as a distraction. He is settling into his little brother role quite naturally and it won't be long before he is rolling around and wrestling with Joey I'm sure. :)

Chapter 2. Early Summer, Revisited.

Chapter 2...Early Summer...let's see if I can remember that far back.

I do remember that we had a very nice visit from Grandma and Grandpa Meinhart right around Father's Day. Grandma came up for about 7 days and stayed long enough to help put up strawberries. We took the kids during the week and they did pretty well. Marie actually did some picking. Joey was interested in it for a few minutes and then got a little bored. He was much happier looking around for rocks and other boy-ish things. I'm sure Stevie will be a bigger help next year. :)



After leaving the patch, we stopped at the park to have a picnic. We've done this the last couple of years, so it appears that we are starting a tradition. Later on, Marie and Joey got to help prep the berries for putting into the freezer.




We were able to celebrate Father's Day with both Jon and Grandpa Meinhart. Marie and Joey had made special cards (with tools on them!) for Jon and had gotten a kick out of wrapping (and unwrapping) the presents. Then they got to learn all about Purple Martins from one of Grandpa's gifts.





They other "fun" thing that went on while Grandma and Grandpa were here was the Hamburg Family Funfest. This annual event happens to be about 1 1/2 miles away from our house. For one weekend a year, they have carnival rides and games, car shows, a petting zoo, concerts, fireworks, etc. We certainly didn't take advantage of ALL that was going on, but the kids enjoyed the rides and petting zoo for a couple of hours. It did take them a little while to warm up to the goats, but they eventually got close enough to actually pet them thanks to Aunt Sarah!







Other than that, I think June consisted of a lot of playing outside (and inside), planting the garden, going back to work (Peg), a visit from the Mitzels (and trip to the outlets), and getting ready for our shut-down week road-trip. Stay tuned...