School's Out!

Here we are, the end of June! We had a nice Father's Day weekend, I took the kids swimming on Saturday afternoon so Brian could have some time to work on the cubbies in peace. The pool down the street is nothing special, but a pool is a pool and the kids had fun! Sunday we took it easy, Brian didn't really want to do a whole lot so his wish was our command. Lynsey did bake cookies for him on Sunday:-). School was out the following Thursday, and Lynsey had a sleepover with some friends in the tent in the backyard. Any time the tent is set up in the backyard, the boys are going to want to sleep in there, too, so all three kids actually slept in there Friday, Saturday and Sunday night! We didn't sleep out there with them and they did fine. It's fun for them, but bad sleep for us so it worked out!

A big thing that's happened the last few days is Nathan learned to ride his bike, woohoo! He has never been really interested in learning, but we knew he would like it if he learned so we have tried to push him a little, not too much. This past weekend I told him I would buy him a book that he wanted if he learned (not how I normally like to motivate, but some situations call for strategies outside your parenting philosophy!). We went out Saturday and he made some progress, and this past Monday he really turned a big corner. His confidence shot up as he was able to make turns and even got started on his own! Yesterday Lynsey took him to the park and he was riding some trails in the park, he's doing so well! I'm really proud of him for pushing through some adversity and discouragement and trying again and again until he got it!

Brian is sooo close to finishing the cubby unit now! It's up, just needs to be properly fastened and trim pieces added. This is very exciting! We are leaving tomorrow on our road trip to Alberta so the finishing touches will have to wait.

We are looking forward to hanging out with family again! Here's hoping for a great trip home!

One more week of school!

And here we are, at the end of another school year! The kids are ready to be done, I am ready to be done with checking backpacks and making lunches, it's just time for the summer. The weather is gorgeous here this week, too - going to be over 30 degrees Celsius here today! Happy for some nice weather (and air conditioning;-)).

It's been an eventful few weeks! Memorial Day weekend was pretty low key, we were dog sitting for just over a day for a Mom in my babysitting co-op. Adam was very apprehensive about the dog, but he didn't seem to be actually afraid of it. We are trying to gear up for being a dog family but I will admit I was a bit relieved when the dog went home! He was pretty good, a little barky at times but generally pretty easy. I'm sure once it's our own dog we will figure it out! We had a picnic at Perrigo Park with the Davey's on Monday, the weather was nice. The next weekend was pretty low key, Brian is still plugging away at those cubbies and he is now at the painting stage! Soooo close! This past weekend, I went on a girls trip to Chelan as an early celebration for my 40th birthday. We had such a great weekend! Kayaking, going for walks, going out for dinners, relaxing, watching movies, perfect! We stopped in Leavenworth on the way home, what a beautiful town! Will definitely be back.

Adam is really coming around to his social skills group! Brian took him this past Saturday, and he is participating so much more than I would have thought just a few weeks into it! I'm hoping we can continue doing it through the summer, will have to chat with them because we have to miss a bunch because of camping and trips away etc. We will see what they say. 

Volleyball is over for Lynsey, but I signed her up for a week long summer camp to help her grow her skills:-). She really enjoyed being on the team, but I still wish they had done a bit better at teaching skills! Hopefully she can make Junior Varsity next year and the teaching will be a bit better. She has a lot of stuff going on this summer, not much time for her to get bored (although for those few days when she doesn't have anything, I'm sure she will be bored still:-/). We are getting ready to go on our big trek to Alberta in just over 2 weeks, how did that get here already! The kids are really excited, Adam has already talked about it several times. 

What is new with Nathan - he's had some birthday parties the last few weekends which has been really fun. He is constantly making books - the amount of paper lying around with his creations is astounding! I do love that he is using his creativity, he still says he's wants to be an author when he grows up:-). He may also end up being a meteorologist, ask him about clouds and he will talk your ear off! Such a smart little guy, always learning!