Micah & Victoria turn 6!

 As Micah & Victoria's birthday fell on a Wednesday, they spent the evening with their father.  We therefore celebrated during breakfast with a super sweet birthday donut "cake" before heading off to camp.  Presents would have to wait till their birthday party on the weekend which didn't seem to bother them at all.

Micah:

1.  You have become more independent this year.  A reward chart makes sense and helps with fostering your independence.  Rarely do I have to ask you to get dressed in the morning for school.  I may have to make a few suggestions on choices however.  You have been the most interested in learning how to ride your bike including taking off the training wheels.

2.  You still want me to sing your bedtime song.  Falling asleep is more difficult if I don't.  When you were a baby, I would rock you and sing "Goodnight Sweetheart".  You often will sing with me and smile such a loving smile when I am finished.  A kiss goodnight tops off our bedtime routine.
3.  Your ability to sense other's emotions is a trait I can't even fathom.  You are always asking me questions like "How was work?" with tones that vary in accordance to how it really went for me.  You are quick to give anyone who needs one a hug.  With this innate sense comes challenges with your own understanding of your emotions.  As you've gotten older you have been heard saying you don't know why you are upset or frustrated or saddened.  That will come with time.
4.  You continue to be all boy.  Sports has become more interesting for you.  This past year you took a stab at karate.  Though we took a break over the summer, you would like to restart this soon.  You have also taken a liking to golf.  This is an activity that just you and John do.  You are amazingly persistent with getting the ball into the hole.  Now if we can just transplant that persistence into other non-preferred activities.
5.  Drawing may not be a favorite activity for you which made kindergarten a bit challenging.  It's been wonderful to see how much your dexterity skills have improved in just a year!
6.  You continue to be a meat and carb kid.  Meatloaf (aka beef jerky) is a favorite for school snack.  The only fruit that will cross those lips are bananas.  You will only eat cooked carrots the way Oma makes them (in chicken stock).  That's it.  Feeding you is challenging.  Little do you know how much we hide in the foods you eat... mushrooms, onions, water chestnuts and olives to name a few.


Victoria:

1.  Interpersonal relationships rule in your world.  This past year you created such intense friendships that I saw my future adolescent Victoria on a near daily basis.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.  Your BFFs are Gabby, Amalia, Ashika and Yani. 

2.  I am no longer called mom or mommy or mama.  You don't even call me by my birth name (Elizabeth) or Liz.  I am M-O-M.  You will call me from the bathroom for help by saying M-O-M.  When I answer V-I-C-T-O-R-I-A, you hiss and say "not funny M-O-M".

3.  One of your nicknames when you were a toddler was jumping bean.  I knew when you were excited by how much you kicked your legs if sitting down or jumping if you were standing.  Add to this list now are 2 claps.  You will walk off and clap twice which is music to this mama's ears knowing your heart is full of loving life.
4.  This past year has been full of non-urgent medical "dramas".  You are not a fan of wearing or cranking a palate expander for a cross bite.  You are likely going to follow in Izzy's footsteps by needing headgear in a few years.  Your new nickname is "wart hearder".  Izzy developed a wart on her foot ~ 1 year ago followed by Micah a few months later.  You, on the other hand, have 4 on your feet and have been the most challenging in eradicating these suckers with scrubbing and freezing.
5.  2018 was the year of teeth dropping like flies.  You lost 5 front teeth in the matter of 2 weeks.  Your smile cracks many up given how barren your smile has become.
6.  Sports may not be your thing.  Dance certainly is with you taking your first dance class with your BFF Gabby.  Its not surprising that you are often on the sidelines being a "cheerleader" to activities such a zip line, water slides, flowrider, ATV, rollercoasters... the list goes on and on.

Weekend on Martha's Vineyard

With so many activities this summer, we couldn't find a time that worked with our and Jim's family to spend a weekend on the island.  This created frowns from the kids when we discussed the situation.  A spontaneous change in plans and Jim's willingness to host us on such short notice meant  those frowns turned to smiles.  What a weekend to head out there!  While it rained most of the weekend in Brookline, we has sun on the island.

Despite many beach experiences we have oddly not ever buried anyone.  Hard to believe.  After a family left the beach for the day, a large hole where their sand creations stood was left behind.  Micah was game to be buried and didn't mind the sand going everywhere on his body.  Every now and then I get glimpses of Micah & Victori's twin bond.  Victoria ensured Micah was not left wanting for a snack opting to hand feed him goldfish.

One of the ongoing favorites is taking a ride on the Flying Horses carousel.  This year the finder of the brass ring rode in-between Izzy and Victoria.  So close but so far away!  One year we may be the winner.  In the mean time we'll keep having fun grabbing those rings and putting them on the horses.

 Our ring loot!

 One of the picturesque places on Martha's Vineyard is the Camp Meeting Association.  I have no clue why this is the name for such a charming area.  The cottages are all sorts of colors and shapes.  Izzy took her hand at nabbing a few pictures in anticipation of a 4-H entry for next year.  One can never plan too far in advance...ha! 

 The next day we were off to the beach.  We collected more sea glass for our collection and caught crabs with hotdogs as bait.  The afternoon culminated in building an enormous fort with retaining wall with Josh, Jim's niece and nephews and the kids.

Gage County Fair Time

A favorite of the summer is the Gage County Fair.  This year was special in that we spent it with the cousins.  A big thanks to Oma and Opa who played an integral part in project entries.

 This was Izzy's 2nd year in 4-H.  She added to her sewing skills by making a simple elastic waistband skirt (black 'n white plaid with pink princesses).  Her style came through effortlessly in choosing complementary fabrics which caught the judges eyes.  She also sewed an entry in the themed category by creating a pig out of Husker print fabric. 

 Much to Izzy (and my) surprise, she won two awards from her 4-H entries.  She was recognized for her Husker print Pig and for a photo book on the history of our family barn.  Both of these were themed exhibits.

 The rest of the entries were in Open Class.  It was one exciting day as nearly everyone won one championship ribbon in their respective categories.  Amelia also won reserve champion with her chenille teddy bear.

 Avery winning with his robotic lego robot.  Micah won with his pinewood derby car.

 Izzy won with her minimalistic tie-dye dress.

 Victoria was proud of her entries despite not winning a championship ribbon.

We all got a kick out of Avery's giant vegetable entry.  Any guesses as to what this is????

Answer: a radish!

 After scoping out everyone's entries, it was off to the midway for games and rides.

This was the most fun ride to watch for us and other spectators.  Izzy convinced Avery to ride this with her.  A woman standing next to me commented that she would be just like the boy covering her eyes if she rode this.

 Outside of fun at the fair, we spent a night with my good friend Jess and her family.  Izzy and Quinn (Jess' oldest) are only 2 days apart in age.  Victoria, Micah and Rowan are ~1 year apart which lead to exciting spontaneous playing and late night conversations.

 One of my favorite places to spend a day in Omaha is the Henry Doorly Zoo.  There is so much to explore that we weren't able to take it all in during our visit.  Our favorites were the topical rainforest and creatures of the night.

This summer should be dubbed the summer of Four Square.  Days were spent with games amongst young and old.  Next summer we may set up a tournament.

 Another fun summer past time is to go fishing.  Victoria decided to stay with Oma shopping and making rice krispie treats.  In the one hour we were there, we estimated catching close to 100 fish!  They would even bite without any bait on the hook.

 

 One is never too old to play dress-up!  What a delight to see the dresses I sewed when I was in 4-H!

 Summer is just not summer without hitting the pool.  The challenge for the kids is picking which one to go to.  The kids know them by the one with the pink slide (Beatrice) and the one with the yellow twisty slide (Wymore).  As the kids get older, the Beatrice pool is more enticing given more daring options such as slinging the middle person when going down the pink slide three at a time.

 Pool breaks can be boring at times.  That didn't stop the girls from playing games that only need body parts (fingers).

 There are always markers to remind us that our children are growing up.  This year Micah and Victoria could touch the bottom where the yellow twisty slide empties into.  This lead to John and mom not needing to stand at the bottom to catch them.  But one of us wasn't too far away "just in case".

We had a blast on the farm this summer!

1st Family Camping Experience

 On a whim for a new summer experience, John suggested we take the kids camping.  We headed west to Shelburne Falls where John had gone fishing in the past.  We were in luck as they had only two camping spots left for that weekend.  The down side was that these two camping spots were the farthest from the bathrooms and showers.  We either had to walk the half mile or drive.  In order to prevent non-campers from entering the area, a rope hung across the driveway.  Every time you wanted to come or go, someone had to move the rope.  Micah took this job on proudly the whole weekend.

 John worked hard on packing quintessential camping foods... hotdogs, s'mores and sandwiches.  We took in brunch one day which was a treat.

 All 5 of us could not fit into one tent.  So we divided up into a boy's tent and girl's tent.  The kids never complained about how they slept (sleeping bags on air mattresses).  John and I, on the other hand, slept on the ground with just sleeping bags.  None of us were ready for the sun to be up bright and early at 5:30am every morning.

 A surprise the first morning was taking the kids tubing down the Deerfield River.  They let water our of the dam in the late morning/mid-afternoon which raises the level of water enough for kayaking, rafting, tubing and jumping off of rock formations.  We rented two double inner tubes and one single.  Victoria rode with me and Micah rode with John.  Because we rented these, no rope was available to tie them together.  None of us thought that would be a major problem.  However, Izzy got tangled in a tree that recently fell along the shore and started to get separated from us.  Panic set in as she tried to get untangled as the four of us kept floating downstream.  She managed to get loose but at the cost of a pretty big scratch on her arm from one of the branches.  I then tied her tube to my life vest given a long string for adjustments to the vest.  When we hit a few rapids, Victoria and I bumped around a rock.  Because we were tied to Izzy, we drug her inner tube  over the rock causing her to fall out.  Good thing the water is not too deep as I could stand and hold the inner tube until we were all able to get back in and finish our adventure.  Izzy has since dubbed this summer as "the summer I almost died!".... fitting for my theatrical child.

 After rafting we explored the Berkshire Ski Resort.  Our last adventure for this camping trip was taking a ride down the Thunderbolt Mountain Coaster.  This is a combination of a roller coaster and alpine slide.  Each cart is equipped with its own braking system allowing for us to choose how fast we wanted to take this course.  After talking to her about Izzy's personality (she would like to go fast but won't say so because she's nervous, she said Izzy didn't really have a choice.  They were going to go down fast whether or not she wanted to.  I guess that is what you get when you ask for someone to go with you who's done it multiple times.  After all was said and done, Izzy loved it (as I knew she would).  The kids had such a great time they are now asking for a bigger tent for Christmas so we can do it again.  Maybe by Christmas John will have recuperated enough to want to do it again...ha!