Indoor & Outdoor Fun!

Towards the end of June the boys decided to get out some of the water balloons we had and have themselves a water balloon fight. They did everything themselves. They didn't ask me for a thing. It was so nice to see them taking ownership and having fun together. 

They each had their own container filled with their water balloons. 

I think there might have been some thievery going on at one point. 

 

It was so fun hearing excited screams and shouts! 

What did we do without Bunch O Balloons. They make water balloon fights so easy now! 

The boys were even good about going around and picking up all the balloon bits out of the yard when they were finished. 

I love these kids! 

While there was fun happening outside there was also fun happening inside. Earlier in the day Zeke had done some ice dying with tie dye powder. It was one of his KiwiCo crates. After his stuff was dyed we washed and dried it. 

He was able to make 2 pairs of socks and 1 hat. 

I love that he's wearing a pair of socks on his hands! 

Even though each sock was sitting right next to it's mate they both turned out so different! 

His hat turned out really cool. I don't know if he'll actually ever wear these, but it was fun getting to make them! 

Ella was also working on her KiwiCo crate. She was learning all about plaster. She was able to make 3 plater planters using molds. This project took her a few days from start to finish because of the setting and drying times. She also was learning about paint dipping where you thin the paint with water and are able to dip whatever you want to paint into it. 

Here's her first planter. The kit came with the stickers that look like plants. She painted this one specifically with this leaf in mind. She decided to dip the planters at an angle. 

The yellow one was a surprise....we both weren't sure if we'd like it, but it turned out really nice! 

This one is super cool too. It's hard to tell because of the lighting, but she just wanted to dip the very bottom with this purple color. 

Here she is with her creations. Honestly KiwiCo is amazing!!! 

 

Mini Front Garden Bed Remodel!

During the weekend of June 25th & 26th...I had asked Michael if we could get a few things done around the house mainly in the yard. We needed some weeds pulled and some bushes trimmed. It had been a long time since we'd addressed our front garden bed between our house and our neighbors. So we got to work and it turned into a much bigger job than I thought it would. 

First off this is the best before picture I could find. 

This is prior to us having a flag pole which we put that up in April 2020 so this is probably around 3 years old. But you can see all those bushes have grown together and basically become one bush. Obviously if this picture is 3 years old than it was worse than this. There was a TON of trimming going on and then just straight up ripping out. Owen and I ended up making 2 trips to the dump with yard waste! Which evidentially there is a special place at the dump for the yard waste. Now I know! :) 

Here we were mid-process! A lot of bushes had been removed! 

We had a trunk we were trying to get out. 

Michael tried to hook a rope up to the truck, but it broke and then he couldn't get it to reach the tailgate. So he had to do it the old fashion way. Which surprisingly wasn't that hard after all! 

On Sunday after church we headed to Carpinito Brothers to buy some new plants and get a load of bark! After Michael and I planted the plants the bigger guys helped with moving the bark.

Zeke and Ella took on the task of cleaning up Penelope since she was straight up nasty! She's a beauty now! 

Ta Da!!! New garden area is looking so much better. Not so crowded at all. I do still want to get a Dogwood tree in here there's actually quite a bit of space back there still and it will be nice to have something in there with a bit more height since all these plants are bushes. 

Wild Waves With The Kuch Family!

Back in 2019, we were able to have a super fun day with the Kuch family at Wild Waves. We wanted to do that again so we invited them to come with us on Friday, June 24th. It's crazy how much bigger the kids are now! 

Here's back in 2019. They were all so little! 

Now in 2022, they are as big as me or bigger. Seriously...I look like one of the kids here! 

The first thing the boys wanted to do was go on the Wild Thing! Christina went up with them just to get a picture! 

In 2019, none of the boys' heads came over the headrest! 

Now...look at these tall guys! 

There they go! 

The girls wanted to run over and see them on the ride! 

We had to take them to our favorite ride...Dodgems. Seriously I didn't know someone could love bumper cars so much. They are the best! 

The only sad thing about Wild Waves right now is there are around 8 rides that aren't working. They are all in need of parts and you guessed it...they are on back order. I highly doubt any of those rides will be up and running this year. I don't feel back for us as passholders, but I feel really bad for those people that pay $50 for a one day pass. Honestly it's a total joke that it's that expensive and about half the rides are down. 

The big pirate ship is my favorite, but sadly it's one of the rides in need of repair. Over in the kiddie section the have this ride called The Coastal Clipper and it's like a smaller version of the Pirate Ship. It doesn't just go back and forth though it goes around and around. It's actually super fun! 

While the other kids when on Timberhawk, Anna & Addison went on the Scrambler with me. It's funny how I remember loving all these rides when I was younger, but now they actually really freak me out. My mind just goes to worse case scenario and I'm thinking if this part fails then that car will fly off. Of course I couldn't show Anna & Addison that I was freaked out so I held it together and we had fun! 

After that it was time to head over to the water side. Even though it looks gorgeous outside it was quite breezy out which made it feel chilly...especially when you're wet! 

After a couple of slides we came back to our loungers and got food for lunch. With our season passes we get free parking so I had Owen jump in Christina's car so she was able to use his pass and get free parking as well. We also had free guest passes so they didn't have to pay anything to get to come with us. We also get coupons on our passes so we ordered 3 combo meals and got 1 free. We all shared those 4 meals and it was perfect. 

This is my favorite place to be...in a lounger! Now that the kids are older whenever we go I mainly just hang out here soaking up the sun while they run around having blast. It's one of those bittersweet things...where the kids are getting old enough they don't need me all the time. I want them to go and have fun without me and then when they ask me to come with them it's the greatest feeling in the world! 

All of our kids are pretty skinny minis so that breeze was tough, but most of all it was tough on Anna. Sweet thing doesn't have an ounce of fat on her. She was just shivering! If we decide to get season passes for next year I want to wait to have them come with us later in July or August so it's a really hot day! 

It was loads of fun even though it was chilly and we just love spending time with our friends! 

Strawberry Picking!

We starting going strawberry picking with Kim and her kids back in 2017. Last year, we ended up not going because there was so much crazy stuff going on before I knew it strawberry season was over. :( This year I was determined to not miss it! Back in April, Duris Farms post on FB about their strawberries being about 5 weeks away from being ripe...weather depending of course. 

This year our weather was definitely depending! It felt like summer would NEVER come. I just kept checking to see if they were open yet and finally on June 12th they were open...of course we were in full on getting ready mode for our first camping trip so we weren't able to go until after we got back. 

On Wednesday, June 22nd, we made it down to the strawberry patch. Unfortunately, the Storer family wasn't able to join us....they were over in Europe having a fabulous time on vacation! 

Even though it looks super gross out, the weather was perfect for strawberry picking! It doesn't take much sun to make you blazing hot out there...especially when you're squatting down over and over picking strawberries. 

I had 4 awesome helpers! 

I always have to remind them to look at the backside of the strawberry before they pick it. We had a couple picked that shouldn't have been, but it wasn't a big deal. 

A full box of yumminess!!! 

Michael installed my new sink back in October of 2020 and it's never disappointed me. It was weird going from two smaller sinks to just one big one, but I LOVE it! When it comes to handwashing dishes I just fill one of the dirty pots with soap and water rather than filling up the whole sink. It works out great! I love having all this space to be able to rinse and not spill water all over the floor. Plus it just looks gorgeous...especially filled with strawberries! 

Last year I finally bought a strawberry huller to take the greens out super easy. After washing in a vinegar rinse, I let the strawberries dry on the counter and then pack them away in containers. I had 4 huge containers full of strawberries. They didn't last long though....Duris has THE best strawberries! 

First Time At Wild Waves Since 2019!

On Tuesday, June 21st, we went to Wild Waves for the first time since 2019. In 2019, we had season passes and then I renewed them for 2020. Of course nothing was open in 2020, so they rolled over to 2021. Unfortunately there were still a bunch of restrictions in 2021 and honestly we were going to be so busy I didn't want passes for 2021. I contacted Wild Waves and explained that and they were awesome enough to roll our passes over to 2022. 

My plan for this first visit was to not go in the water. The weather wasn't super hot, but mainly it was because we had Taekwondo in the afternoon and I didn't want the kids to be all wet. On our walk over to the dry side of the park we saw this geese with their goslings. They still had their down feathers and they were so cute!!! 

The first ride the boys wanted to go on was the Timberhawk. I haven't been on a wooden roller coaster since Tremors at Silverwood in 2002 when I thought I was going to die. Jordan and Ella didn't want to ride so they sat on a bench and waited for us. It wasn't bad at all! 

After this we walked over to the bumper cars. These are the most fun bumper cars ever!!! I normally don't like bumper cars at all, but these you have to drive in one direction around the center section and no head on collisions. It's fun because you are trying to catch up to the people you want to bump or you're trying to get away from people trying to bump you. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. 

Zeke was just a little too short to ride by himself so I got to be his chauffer! 

Hey Jordan! 

Ella was being such a stick in the mud...she didn't want to ride. 

The name of the bumper cars is Dodgems...you just can't see the first D because of my big ol' head! 

Owen and Jack made it on for another round. In actuality I think we rode this about 5 times. 

Jordan honestly had a good time even though he won't smile! The dry side of the park isn't his favorite...he would much rather be in the water!  

Ella finally decided to go on a ride and it would happen to be the Ferris Wheel! The world's longest ride in history! At least she had fun! 

And it finally got her out of her shell so she'd go on the bumper cars with us! 

This ride brings me joy every time! 

See the green cup...those are our Season Pass Cups that came with our passes. We can get them refilled every time with come for only $1.09 each if we want soda or for free if we want water. 

 

Had such a fun time with all these kiddos, but especially with this guy. Glad he was just little too short and "had" to ride with me!