So… where ya been already??

I know, I know. I’ve been ignoring my blog. Poor neglected bit of internet real estate. The grass is overgrown, sidebars are dusty, newspapers piling up on the porch. Sorry! I’ve just been distracted... in a very good/lazy/happy way. I’ll try to be a more responsible member of this neighborhood association, but seriously, it IS summer (Blessed Solstice, btw) and I’m making no promises.

First things first – SCHOOL’s OUT! Whoo hooo! Ok, actually, the kids liked school, so they didn’t exactly come running home, chucking their notebooks into the nearest ditch, dancing prancing and singing and so forth, but it is nice to have the break. One of the last activities of the school year was a field day… on a very very hot June morning. I hadn’t volunteered, but when I showed up to watch, I ended us as a helper anyway. I had fun, but it was HOT! I believe the kids had a blast, and that was the whole idea.

 

It was so hot, that I think I was seeing things later that day…

A day or so before school ended, the kids brought home their extra school supplies. Brian came in with an armload of heavy bags and Ninja thought it terribly unfair that he had so much, while she had nothing at all. She dug through his stash, found things she liked, and ran off with the whole bag of pencils, markers, notebooks and other items. She may look slender and slight, but do not be fooled into complacency, she’s a pro!

Last day of school! Can’t believe how big our kids are getting! On to summer!

Wait .. one more stop. Because it took me so long to finish making Brian’s hydra, I decided to come up with a silly excuse as to why it was so hard to finish it, an excuse that both kids would get a kick out of…

When they came home after their last day of school, they found Hydra on Brian’s bed… sitting on eggs!

I made 3 cloth eggs, and each one held a small hydra baby… each baby a single color, red, blue and purple. Mythical Hydras get their extra heads after losing one in a fight and growing more… I figured the young ones probably only start out with one head. That’s my theory, or perhaps my excuse to make my sewing easier. Nevertheless, the kids thought it was a very fun surprise.

Speaking of babies, this is a little toy cat that Honor has had since she was a baby. Ninja LOVES this kitten! She’ll carry it everywhere, and I often find it at, or in, the cat dish. Ninja, and Pixie too, will often bring their ‘babies’ to the food, purposely and carefully putting the toy in the bowl.

We’ve been keeping quietly busy since the start of break. The kids have been happy to hang out and play at the house and do their own things. I offered several times, during the first week off of school, to take them places, but they wanted to stay in and relax for a few days. We did get out to the local Children’s Museum with some friends the other day and had a great time. There is a lot to do there, and we probably should get a family pass.

Brian tried his hand at pitching. Honor learned what it was like to wheel a wheelchair. (Sorry for the blurry photos – forgot the camera and used my mobile instead).

Honor lifted herself with pulleys, and Brian drove a small robot.

Honor used another robot to build a statue.

All the kids practiced their weather broadcast skills.

They went shopping.

They saw a beautiful little shark (which I took a photo of before Honor found the ‘no photography’ sign … I used no flash, my cell phone doesn’t flash, so honestly, this was not fish abuse!)

And they learned about earthquakes, or at least, Brian did… Honor and her friend spent some time burying his little brother in the sand pit instead (Don’t worry, we dug him out before we left.. he is too cute to leave behind!)

The above is only a small sample of what is inside the museum, and there are some nifty activities outside as well.

Wet activities… how refreshing, especially on what turned out to be another hot day! Took a bit to pull the kids away from this section of the museum.

There was a interesting sculpture-thingy that the kids climbed on, and a number of large musical instruments made of wood and stone that I should have captured a video of, but my little cell phone is not that versatile. Maybe on another visit when I bring the real camera.

Tired yet?

Need a looong nap?

Tired enough to go camping in the living room? Honor drew up little invitations (found under our pillows) to a camp out slumber party… kids in tents, parents on sofas… cats chose to sleep, and play, where ever they wanted!

Being inside the house did not protect us from the onslaught of wild beasties.

By the end of the camp out, Brian had lost the lower end of his tent… the cats ran off with it when he was asleep!

The kids slept well, while the parents managed!

To top it all off, the kids had a fine time making a surprise cake for their dad on Father’s Day!

A chocolate cake, with what turned out to be a lovely tie-dye style decoration. Hope everyone was able to celebrate Father’s Day with the special dads/father figures in their lives.

The kids are going to day camp now, and will for a couple of weeks. Despite sunscreen, they are getting pinker every day and coming home completely worn out…tennis, soccer, taekwondo and swimming… and yes, again, it has been hot. Very hot. Summer is here, and has been here, even before its official arrival. Whew!

Anyway, you are now officially caught up, for now, and I’ll try to be better about maintaining my place here, but if I’m not around, just imagine us off having fun somewhere, and I’ll be back to blog whenever I start feeling guilty and negligent again.