2013 Summer Highlights!

School starts tomorrow!  We had a great summer.  It was very busy, but we also had days where the kids just played outside with the neighbors from morning until night.  Here's a list of the highlights

Stone Harbor
Swim Team
Jake's truck collection at the Library
Zoo Overnight Camp with Girl Scouts
Space Camp
Bugs, Bats and Worms Camp
Explorers Camp
Soccer Camp
Zoo Camp with Brynn (JJ and Jake at the Zoo)
Playing with the neighbors (Max, Annika, Avery, Lila, Reagan, John, Julia)
Going to the movies (Rio with Mom, Planes with Dad)
4th of July in Kansas
Memphis Kiddie Park
Walking in the Strongsville Homecoming Parade
Fishing
Amazone (indoor play area)
Swings and Things
Jake's playdates with Brady
Mommy's Triathlon
Daddy's Triathlon
Jake cruising around the block in his Mustang
Riding bikes to the playground/ice cream store/movie store
Grace's Popsicle stand with Avery

Jake and JJ at the Zoo

Zoo Camp with Byrnn

Popsicle stand with Avery (they sold out!)

Cruising with Brady

Strongsville Homecoming Parade

Playing at Amazone

Jake's truck collection in the library display case

Neighbors

When we first moved in we thought the neighborhood was really quiet, I guess we still do, but we have gotten to know our neighbors better.  We have kids on both sides and across the street.  Jake and Grace especially like to play with one set of neighbors Max (6th grade) and Annika (1st grade).  The kids have been back and forth between our houses all summer long.  Jake immediately asks in the morning if he can play with Max and it seems the doorbell is always ringing with Annika wanting to play with Grace.  Grace and Annika like to play "baby," make forts, and ride bikes.

Despite the age difference, Max and Jake really seem to enjoy playing together.  Jake loves having another boy on a street of girls.  He really loves that Max has lots of cars, trucks and other "boy toys".   Max is really into guns and military stuff (which I'm not crazy about) but he's also very patient with Jake.  Max loves to talk and Jake doesn't talk much, so that works well too.  All by himself, Jake will walk over and ring the neighbors door and ask if Max can play (once pretty early on Sunday morning, oops).

The other side is a house of girls.  Avery is 9 and her twin sisters, Lila and Reagan, are just a month older than Jake.   Last Friday night we had a couple beers in the driveway with the girls parents.  The kids ran around outside for a while then finally went in our house to watch a cartoon (around 9pm).   Soon after Lila and Reagan walked outside wearing Jake's boxers and t-shirts (I guess they were all getting their PJ's on).  It was pretty cute (only cause they are 3).  Look how happy Jake is to be posing with the girls:

Here they all are:

Cleveland Triathlon

Last Sunday Matt did the Cleveland Triathlon with his friend from the Coast Guard, Craig.  They did the Olympic distance (.9 mi swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run).  I think Matt is crazy, but I guess he likes it.  Being a spectator at the races has it's pros and cons.  I like having the kids and I support Daddy, the races are usually in scenic areas, the weather is usually nice and the atmosphere is lively with lots of people and music.  The cons are getting up early and waiting for hours to catch a glimpse of Matt swim/bike or run by (and then there is having to use a porta potty with the kids, yuck!)  This race was in downtown Cleveland right by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Matt did great.  It was fun, but also a challenge to try to watch some of the race, take pictures, and make sure the kids don't fall in the water or get run over by a bike!

Fishing

A couple weekends ago, early on Sunday morning, we all went fishing.  It was a nice peaceful morning, but for August it was a little cold (around 55).  We went to Wallace Lake, about 15 minutes away.  I'd read on the internet it was a popular fishing spot, and that was definitely true.  More and more people showed up to fish throughout the morning.

I never did much fishing as a kid and I don't really know much about it.  I can cast, but thats about it.  I like the part about being outside, and feeling like you "won" win you catch a fish, but I don't like yucky worms or actually removing the fish from the hook and forget about cleaning a fish (yuck).  I'm glad Matt's pretty good at that stuff.  Grace loves fishing, it's one of the few things that keeps her still.  Jake's a little too young and requires a lot of attention.  It worries me to be around him swinging a pole with a hook on the end of it.

We could see a lot of fish in the lake, by the dock and jumping, but we didn't catch any (Jake's not the quietest fisherman).  It was fun anyway.  Hopefully next summer when Jake is a little older it will be relaxing too.

Memphis Kiddie Park

Memphis Kiddie Park is a Cleveland area landmark.  It's an amusement park for little kids.  I guess it's been around forever and many people have told me about it, but we never got around to going until last week.  It just happened to be on the way home from one of Grace's camps, so on her last day of camp, I surprised the kids by stopping at the park on the way home.  I figured this might be the last year Grace would be able to ride some of the rides.  We stayed for about an hour and they got to ride on almost everything.  Jake really liked the cars and the little roller coaster.  Grace wasn't that impressed, but had fun anyway.  I think we can check it off the list of things we have to do in Cleveland.