visit with buffalo friends! august 5 - 7, 2015

katie, safina, and emery and stephenie, brooke, ben, and adam all came to visit for a few days! it was so much fun!!! these kids missed each other! as soon as safina and emery pulled in there were huge hugs and they were playing immediately. mainly singing their hearts out! and then right to swimming! 

 brooke, ben, and adam came around dinner time. we all had pizza, played a bit and then hopped back in the pool for a bit! katie read stories to the girls, neal read stories to the boys, and then it was sleepover time. the girls slept in the playroom and were up until 11 telling scary stories. they all woke up at 5am. i went in and told them it's the middle of the night and to go back to bed. i don't think it worked for all of them but they were quiet until 6:30 at least.

day 2 began with a nail painting party! rex did his new mixels that he got as an early present from katie, safina and emery and ben played with rex's toys. the kids all played doctor together and then had a snack before we walked to the playground. malloy was excited to show her friends her school and her playground. we walked back, had lunch, and jumped in the pool! everyone was beat after walking, playing, and swimming so they watched a movie before dinner. after dinner there was more swimming and not a lot of chatting at bedtime, which was closer to 9 this time.

 
day 3 - the girls slept until 6:30 and just laid there chatting until after 7. true sleepover fashion!

 adam LOVED neal and i think the feeling was mutual. how could you not love this kid?! he's the happiest baby ever!

 we lounged around and played in the morning and then swam one more time before saying goodbye! the kids started getting cranky just before it was time to leave. everyone needed sleep and they were all melting down! we said quick goodbyes and the only tears were from malloy, but i'm pretty sure she shed enough for everyone!!! poor kiddo!!!

 such a fun visit!!! until next time!!!

august 4, 2015

this morning we went blueberry picking with grandma val, grandpa don, and papa hank. it was the first time for the kids. they were pleasantly surprised when we got there. rex wasn't really looking forward to going. he liked it for the first 10 minutes. malloy liked it for the first 15 minutes. rex rested in the van, then had to poop. malloy wanted her seat down, too. they were calling me from the van while i was picking blueberries. so very relaxing! ;) when we were leaving, papa gave the kids a treat. then we ended up stopping for ice cream on the way home! 

malloy picked up my napkins when they blew away without being asked. she got a kindness sticker for that one!!  the chart is a motivator so far...

malloy asked to go in the basement and look for something to do. we found an art bin and brought it up. grandma val brought some contractors paper over a few days ago. it was malloy's idea to tape the paper to the wall and decorate it with the art supplies. kept the kids busy while i made dinner! 

hello, august! where is the summer going?!

mmm peaches and cream waffle sandwich! 

 i went in to check on rex and he had all his "spy gear" laid out on his bed.

modeling his new school pants

it was a blue moon, so we had a blue moon fire at grandma val and grandpa don's. we had hot dogs and pies and smores, then sang some songs and played instruments - grandma's drum, some blocks and paper towel roll! it was a fun night!!

one's a streetlight behind us, the blue moon is on the right

rex loves setting up his guys and having me take pictures

special lunches are a hit! 

i had to take a picture of rex's "comic book set up" 

neal, grandpa don and grandpa gary cut down a pine tree that was by the pool. neal had to climb to the top of the tree to tie a rope on it so they could guide it when it fell. they did a great job!!

 sunday morning, both kids chose their own activities that they wanted to do. rex found paint and wanted to mix colors together. and he did! for about an hour!  malloy wanted to watch high school musical and write down the lyrics to all the songs in her notebook. she's a bit obsessed at the moment!!!

 we had friends over to swim today - yay! fiona and brenna came over and malloy had  a great time! rex swam and then went inside to play on his own. poor kid needs some boy friends!!! then they were tired out and wanted to have movie night. we haven't done it in a while so we did dinner and a movie and watched meet the robinsons.

 rex was being a cuddle buddy after dinner! he loves his daddy!

the kids have been at each other a lot lately. malloy seems to be getting very snippy and bossier than normal, sometimes downright mean to her brother for no reason. we're going to start kindness charts and hopefully get some better behavior!! they're not bad kids at all, i just don't want to let the rudeness and unkind words continue. so for every 10 acts of kindness they get a piece of candy and when we get to 100, we'll go see the minion movie! we're starting tomorrow and we'll see how it goes!