Summer Break Week 3
Week three of summer break is in the history books (or is about ready to be blogged about, actually). I find it odd that summer (the season) hasn't officially begun yet the kids have completed week three of summer break. The bad news is that when they'll return to school, there will be about six weeks left of actual summer.
On Monday, after picking Jacob up from Fast Twitch bright and early and his subsequent nap, the girls and I headed to rural Ohio to pick strawberries. The day was a great one for it- low humidity and temps in the low 60's. Unfortunately, the strawberries were past their prime and we had to work hard to get good strawberries. Jacob hung out with AJ after his nap and I took the boys to see a movie in the late afternoon.
I wrote about our strawberry picking here.
On Tuesday, Jacob had open field for soccer and the girls and I went to Prodigy after dropping Jacob off at Wade Field (the site of open field). Avery and Alyssa played for most of the afternoon. Abby and I ran a couple of errands including shopping at our local Kmart which is going out of business. Everything is marked down (in varying amounts) and it's fun to pick through the discountedjunk stuff. Later, Abby and Jacob and I made chocolate chip cookies. Making chocolate chip cookies on a hot summer day may not sound season appropriate but if your house is cool thanks to A/C and your teenagers want to eat cookie dough hang out with their mama in the kitchen, then I'm all for it :).
My run on the treadmill at Prodigy (that's 58:27, not 68:27; also the 14:38 minute per mile is what I had slowed down to at the very end when I was able to take a picture. I actually try to take pictures of various mile markers when I'm running at "full speed" (8- 9 minute miles) and the pictures turn out quite poorly :)). I ran a little bit faster this time than I did the previous week at Prodigy.
What makes the running worthwhile...We hadn't made cookies in a while and man, were they ever good!
On Wednesday morning after Fast Twitch, the kids and I all hung out in the family room for a while. I'm not sure why Jacob wasn't in his room napping as he usually heads straight to his room to try to go back to sleep after arriving home from Fast Twitch. I don't remember what we talked about but we joked and had a good, low key time together. Times like these are why I love summer break so much. The quintessential fun summer moments are great- going to the pool, going on a trips, spending time with friends- but for me, getting to spend time with all three kids in a relaxed kind of manner with no overt agenda or planning is one thing I LOVE about summer break. Later in the evening, a storm rolled through (needed the rain badly!!) and we lost power for at least an hour. Abby was at dance; they'd not lost power at her studio which is only a couple miles away. Bereft of his PlayStation playing capabilities, Jacob headed downstairs to hang out with Donnie, Alyssa and me. We played Alyssa's favorite card game, Don't Take My Word.
We hardly ever lose power; neighborhood folklore has it that we are on the same power grid as the fire station so our power grid gets top priority during outages. Being out of power for more than an hour is a rarity, that's all I know.
A fun game to play (with or without electricity but certain family members will only play it as a measure of last resort :)...
Thursday morning was a busy one. Jacob had open field for soccer and Alyssa had training at Prodigy. I ran on the treadmill and had to take a quick shower when I arrived home. I had to run a quick errand and do some laundry before Jacob left for Lake Cumberland with his friend Casey in the early afternoon. Jacob headed to Lake Cumberland with Casey, Casey's mom and brother. They stayed on a houseboat that belonged to Casey's mom's friend. With a boat, a tube and jet skis at their disposal, the boys were pretty much in heaven!! They stayed in Lake Cumberland until Saturday evening. So glad that Jacob got to go and have that fun experience. Alyssa and Abby played for a little bit and then Avery came over. Avery and Alyssa asked me if I'd take them to the pool, which of course I did. Later, Abby, Alyssa and I got froyo at a place in Centerville to which I had a coupon. YUM!
Froyo- Kind of a funny story- Alyssa wanted to go to Orange Leaf, a Springboro froyo place. I had a coupon to a place in Centerville that we've never been to before. I wanted to go to the one in Centerville since I had a coupon. Alyssa did not want to go to that one and upon further questioning regarding why, she told me she was concerned about the toppings. The coupon displayed a picture of a cup of yogurt with berries on top. Alyssa was worried that "junky" toppings weren't available there. I had to go to the website to verify that there were plenty of junky toppings available. Once assured, she was fine to go to Centerville for froyo.
Alyssa's...
Abby's...
Mine- I think I had the junkiest toppings of all!
On Friday morning, the girls and I headed to Kings Island to go to Soak City, the water park portion of Kings Island. The day was supposed to be warm with a high of 84. All morning it was super cloudy and cool. It was not water park weather. We went to the park part of KI where the girls enjoyed Starbucks, popcorn and riding Diamondback. Finally the clouds departed, the sun came out, and we were ready for some water park action. We had a good time on the slides and the girls spent at least 45 mintues in the wave pool. Alyssa begged for candy at KI which I refused. I told her we'd stop at Lovely's Farm Market and get fudge there (at about 1/4 of the price of fudge at KI). While at Lovely's, the aroma of fried chicken was too much for me and I succombed. Truth be told, I hadn't thought about what to have for dinner so the leap from "Wow, that chicken smells amazing!" to "let's have fried chicken for dinner!" was not great :). The fried chicken and potatoe wedges (Donnie was good and did not partake :() were wonderful!
At Kings Island- getting ready to take the train from the water park to the main part of the park.
Diamondback riders- the girls got to ride before I did so I took this picture of them strapped in and ready to go.
This picture doesn't do Lovely's Fried Chicken justice, but then what picture can capture the essence of fried goodness of any kind?
On that fried, delicious note our week three of summer break concluded.
On Monday, after picking Jacob up from Fast Twitch bright and early and his subsequent nap, the girls and I headed to rural Ohio to pick strawberries. The day was a great one for it- low humidity and temps in the low 60's. Unfortunately, the strawberries were past their prime and we had to work hard to get good strawberries. Jacob hung out with AJ after his nap and I took the boys to see a movie in the late afternoon.
I wrote about our strawberry picking here.
On Tuesday, Jacob had open field for soccer and the girls and I went to Prodigy after dropping Jacob off at Wade Field (the site of open field). Avery and Alyssa played for most of the afternoon. Abby and I ran a couple of errands including shopping at our local Kmart which is going out of business. Everything is marked down (in varying amounts) and it's fun to pick through the discounted
My run on the treadmill at Prodigy (that's 58:27, not 68:27; also the 14:38 minute per mile is what I had slowed down to at the very end when I was able to take a picture. I actually try to take pictures of various mile markers when I'm running at "full speed" (8- 9 minute miles) and the pictures turn out quite poorly :)). I ran a little bit faster this time than I did the previous week at Prodigy.
What makes the running worthwhile...We hadn't made cookies in a while and man, were they ever good!
On Wednesday morning after Fast Twitch, the kids and I all hung out in the family room for a while. I'm not sure why Jacob wasn't in his room napping as he usually heads straight to his room to try to go back to sleep after arriving home from Fast Twitch. I don't remember what we talked about but we joked and had a good, low key time together. Times like these are why I love summer break so much. The quintessential fun summer moments are great- going to the pool, going on a trips, spending time with friends- but for me, getting to spend time with all three kids in a relaxed kind of manner with no overt agenda or planning is one thing I LOVE about summer break. Later in the evening, a storm rolled through (needed the rain badly!!) and we lost power for at least an hour. Abby was at dance; they'd not lost power at her studio which is only a couple miles away. Bereft of his PlayStation playing capabilities, Jacob headed downstairs to hang out with Donnie, Alyssa and me. We played Alyssa's favorite card game, Don't Take My Word.
We hardly ever lose power; neighborhood folklore has it that we are on the same power grid as the fire station so our power grid gets top priority during outages. Being out of power for more than an hour is a rarity, that's all I know.
A fun game to play (with or without electricity but certain family members will only play it as a measure of last resort :)...
Thursday morning was a busy one. Jacob had open field for soccer and Alyssa had training at Prodigy. I ran on the treadmill and had to take a quick shower when I arrived home. I had to run a quick errand and do some laundry before Jacob left for Lake Cumberland with his friend Casey in the early afternoon. Jacob headed to Lake Cumberland with Casey, Casey's mom and brother. They stayed on a houseboat that belonged to Casey's mom's friend. With a boat, a tube and jet skis at their disposal, the boys were pretty much in heaven!! They stayed in Lake Cumberland until Saturday evening. So glad that Jacob got to go and have that fun experience. Alyssa and Abby played for a little bit and then Avery came over. Avery and Alyssa asked me if I'd take them to the pool, which of course I did. Later, Abby, Alyssa and I got froyo at a place in Centerville to which I had a coupon. YUM!
Froyo- Kind of a funny story- Alyssa wanted to go to Orange Leaf, a Springboro froyo place. I had a coupon to a place in Centerville that we've never been to before. I wanted to go to the one in Centerville since I had a coupon. Alyssa did not want to go to that one and upon further questioning regarding why, she told me she was concerned about the toppings. The coupon displayed a picture of a cup of yogurt with berries on top. Alyssa was worried that "junky" toppings weren't available there. I had to go to the website to verify that there were plenty of junky toppings available. Once assured, she was fine to go to Centerville for froyo.
Alyssa's...
Abby's...
Mine- I think I had the junkiest toppings of all!
On Friday morning, the girls and I headed to Kings Island to go to Soak City, the water park portion of Kings Island. The day was supposed to be warm with a high of 84. All morning it was super cloudy and cool. It was not water park weather. We went to the park part of KI where the girls enjoyed Starbucks, popcorn and riding Diamondback. Finally the clouds departed, the sun came out, and we were ready for some water park action. We had a good time on the slides and the girls spent at least 45 mintues in the wave pool. Alyssa begged for candy at KI which I refused. I told her we'd stop at Lovely's Farm Market and get fudge there (at about 1/4 of the price of fudge at KI). While at Lovely's, the aroma of fried chicken was too much for me and I succombed. Truth be told, I hadn't thought about what to have for dinner so the leap from "Wow, that chicken smells amazing!" to "let's have fried chicken for dinner!" was not great :). The fried chicken and potatoe wedges (Donnie was good and did not partake :() were wonderful!
At Kings Island- getting ready to take the train from the water park to the main part of the park.
Diamondback riders- the girls got to ride before I did so I took this picture of them strapped in and ready to go.
This picture doesn't do Lovely's Fried Chicken justice, but then what picture can capture the essence of fried goodness of any kind?
On that fried, delicious note our week three of summer break concluded.
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