How to get Simon to eat a mint oreo

Just hand it to him.

How Alice makes a mess

She told me she just wanted to paint on the porch. Soon there was water and paint every where.

How to get Simon to eat grapes

Simon was refusing to eat his grapes at bedtime snack, so I ate one and said, "Mmm! Tastes just like eyeballs!"

He ate the rest right away.

I'm finally getting the hang of this parenting thing.

How Simon gets a haircut

The two-treats bribe worked again, and Simon had his second-ever tear-free haircut.

The kids at school

Simon and Alice with Ms. Pauline on the playground

Simon helping Ms. Evelyn fill a pool for water day.

Alice and Izzy decorating shells.

(This picture is actually from Aug 22, Alice's final line-leader day.)

Shopping Day

On Sunday morning, the kids got up and played trains for a while. Simon is wearing his train engineer outfit that Cam (or Santa?) got him for Chistmas.

Then, we headed to Target to do Alice's school shopping. She picked out a Supergirl backpack and a Wonder Woman lunch box.

Then we had some fun in the toy aisle while Zac picked out all the boring stuff on the school supply list.

After Target, we made a quick stop at Dick's Sporting Goods to get me a pair of goggles and Zac some running shoes and sunglasses. The kids had a lot of fun there too.

Back at home, Alice got her first fingernail painting. She used her own money to buy two bottles of nail polish at Target: sparkly blue and sparkly green. Here we go!

That evening, since her piggy bank was out, she made herself some money pants.

Alice watching the Olympics

On the weekend, we let Alice stay up a bit to watch some Olympics. She is really annoying, because all through the events she asks a million questions, and also during the commercials. She doesn't understand anything on real TV.

Here she is after Team USA won three swim races in a row. Then she gets a bit silly.

Anna's Pool Party

Saturday morning was Anna's birthday pool party. Alice and Simon were so excited. Alice made progress in that she jumped off the side of the pool. Simon continued to do well kicking around with his floaties on.

Curls

While wrapping the present for Anna, Zac showed Alice how to make a ribbon curl. She was thrilled.

Bath Portraits

Playdate with Grayson

On Thursday, Grayson came over for a playdate while his parents went to his kindergarten orientation meeting. He and Alice had a blast, chasing each other around and jumping in the bouncy castle.

Doing "stand hands"!

Potty Training

We're still struggling with potty training Simon. He'll voluntarily poop in the potty every once in a while, but most of the time he resists.

Swimming at Sandling Beach

Sunday was overcast, so it seemed a perfect day to go swimming at Lake Falls. The water was warm and the beach was sparsely populated, so it was a great morning.

Simon had first used his floaties at the mountain house last week, and today he figured out how to kick his legs and swim (rather than just bob in the water). It's pretty cool to see him coming along and growing braver.

Friday Night Rainbow

Friday night, Zac walked to our friends' house for a "manly poker night" and texted me that there was a rainbow outside. I took the kids out to view it.

Oscar's Birthday Party

On Tuesday, we got a last-minute e-mail that Oscar was having a last minute birthday party, hosted at his uncle's house. It turned out to be just be Alice and some neighbors and some cousins. But there were so many fun things to play with that Alice didn't even notice. It should be mentioned that the uncle has no kids of his own, just tons of nephews.

First, the human kids played in the goat pen. 

Then, they played in the old truck.

Then, Alice tried driving a truck.

Oscar's dad runs a business that does inflatables and small rides for parties and festivals, so he had The Wizzer set up in the driveway. Alice absolutely loved it.

I even got to ride on it! It was super fun!

Then, she took a turn at billiards and pinball.

Then it was back outside, to race around the track.

Seeing as how it was a school night, I took Alice home around 7pm. This was totally unacceptable and she had a big meltdown with lots of dramatic crying. It was mainly because she was hungry though, since there were too many fun things going on to stop and have supper (she only ate a bit of watermelon.)

Technically we have a pool at our house, too...

Normally when you go on a trip, it feels good to be home. But the mountain house in Brevard was so nice, that I missed the pool and the stunning views. Our AC went out on Sunday, so we set up the pool and sprinkler in the yard for the kids, while Zac washed the dust off the vehicles. It wasn't as fun as the mountain house pool, and it didn't have the views, but we made do.

Day 8: Goodbyes, WNC Nature Center, Home

It was sad to discover that the whole week at the mountain house had already passed, and it was the morning of departure.

After bidding a sad farewell to the grandparents, we stopped at the WNC Nature Center in Asheville on our way out. It was basically a mini-zoo, housing the animals of Western North Carolina, such as blackbears, coyotes, red wolves, etc.

 

 

 

The kids fell asleep within five minutes of being in the van. When they woke up and we were about an hour and half from home, we stopped at a bbq restaurant for a late lunch/early supper.

Then we were home again!