Presents!

The kids were excited to receive their birthday presents from grandma and grandpa Shogren!

Simon's SSTIW

Simon said he wanted to build a stool. Zac told him to draw a picture of what he wanted. Then Zac helped him make it. Simon even hammered a lot of the nails himself. Fun afternoon project!

Eno River

For today's excursion, Zac took the kids to the Eno River, where the kids had fun splashing around and catching fish and crawdads. A few other kids were there too, so they had some playmates.

What a beautiful spot!

Dinos in Durham

Since we didn't end up going to Ohio this week due to my health problems, and Alice isn't in a camp and Simon's daycare is closed, Zac has been fully in charge of the kids. He takes them somewhere every day so I can have some peace and quiet in the house to lay around and go to the bathroom. 

Today he took them to our favorite: Durham.

How to a get a butterfly to land on you: Two Different Techniques

Neither one worked.

Playing with the neighbor kids!

The new neighbors moved in to Parker's old house about a week ago, but somehow the kids didn't cross paths until today.  It seems they hit it off.

Simon's Cicada

His first love still remains his true love.

Simon was delighted to find a cicada at the creek this morning.

Simon's End of Year Celebration

It is with great joy that I report this was the last Country Day Montessori School End of Year Celebration we would have to attend.  They perhaps would have been more enjoyable over the years if either of our kids ever had a role in the performances, but the teachers knew they both had the tendency to freeze up when on stage, and so they were never assigned anything to do. Plus, as much as I love my own kids, a room full of kids just always stresses me out. I always leave these things thinking that as much as we pay for daycare, it can't possibly be enough. Although, the kids are probably extra psycho because the performance is right during their normal nap-time, so they're likely not normally this squirmy.

Here are a bunch of videos of the performance. Feel free to skip them all, as they are quite tortuous. However, if you do watch the series, you'll notice that Simon goes from being super shy and frozen to being quite goofy once he positions himself next to his two best friends: Donovan and Elizabeth. If you watch anything, I recommend the last video (6) where Simon is presented with his certificate.

After the performance, as per tradition, everybody headed to Pullen Park for the after party.  Zac took the kids and I went home (not feeling well still) but it looks like everybody had a lot of fun.

Alice, slime, and a bunch of stuff

Alice has been home with me this week, and given that I spend most of my time in the bathroom or laying around in an energy-less stupor, she's done a great job entertaining herself.

Back when I was still healthy, I envisioned us spending the summer weeks she wasn't in camp going to the pool and museums and doing fun mother-daughter stuff together. So it makes me pretty sad that my health problems are incapacitating me.

Simon at School

Simon at the Dentist

Zac said he did great. The poor kid unfortunately has a lot of cavities.
Too many gummies!

Camping at Falls Lake with Donovan

I usually start planning the summer when I'm going stir-crazy in February. Also because you have to sign up for Alice's summer camps so early, I need to map out the summer. So in February, how was I to know that come June 22 I'd be in the midst of the worst colitis flare of my life? Well, I didn't, so I reserved our favorite beach front campsite at Falls Lake for two nights, and invited Simon's best friend Donovan's family to join us.

Because I was feeling so bad (not to mention needing to be near a restroom) I really wanted to cancel the campout all together. However, I didn't want to wimp out since we were going with another couple. So a compromise was made: rather than camping Friday and Saturday night, we'd arrive early Saturday morning and just camp one night.  Plus, we couldn't go Friday because I'd had no energy to do the packing, and so Zac had to do it all Friday night. And, to make matters even more complicated, I'm on this restrictive SCD eating plan, so I had to pre-cook and bring all my own food. What a pain.

But the weather was gorgeous and Simon and Donovan were so cute playing together that it was all worth it. (Except those stressful walks to the bathroom.)

I didn't fully document it, but the kids really spent the whole day in the water except when we made them come out to eat.

Donovan's dad, Everett, made ribs for supper and Zac roasted some corn, both of which I hear were delicious. Sides were baked beans and Trader Joes pasta salads. I had chicken soup and a SCD-legal sausage for supper. Poor me.

Leave it to Alice to find a weird way to eat a s'more.

After so much swimming and playing, both kids fell right to sleep in the tent that night. But they were back at it the next day--swimming all morning.

Having some snacks before heading home. I was completely exhausted. Camping with IBD and anemia is no fun.

The kids fell right to sleep on the drive home.

And Simon was so tuckered out that he collapsed on the living room floor and slept the rest of the afternoon.

All in all, if you take away my health problems, it was a wonderfully fun camping trip.

Simon's morning drop-off litany

He's only a little neurotic, right?

Father's Day

Father's Day followed close on the heels of Alice's birthday celebrations, but the kids never tire of helping open presents.

Sometimes I get Zac a toy he wants "for the kids" but by getting it for him, it makes sure no kid lays claim to it and they have to share.  It's a good way to provide mutual toys.  Although, really, after a couple of days, original ownership is usually forgotten anyways.

A couple days later they went down to the pond to try out the boat.

It worked well, the battery lasted a long time, and the kids got pretty good at driving it.

Alice's birthday party at Jelly Beans

Alice's birthday party this year was tricky. We considered doing another pool party, but Alice insisted we invite the whole class, and that just seemed like too many. Plus, our pool doesn't have an official lifeguard, so it made me nervous inviting strangers who might drown.  So we went for the second best thing: a party at the roller skating rink!  It wasn't too expensive, and the best thing is they do everything for you, which was quite appealing since I'm having health problems and have no energy to spare.

So, when we took Alice there in May, I had her pose for a picture and then used it to create an invitation, which I sent her to school with to distribute to all her classmates, plus a couple extra for any friends in her after-school care program.  I was also worried about the numbers--would 25 people show up? (The party package was for 12 guests). Would nobody show up? (Since the party was in a couple of weeks after school was out and on Father's day weekend).  This is why I really hate doing birthday parties--no matter what it's still stressful!

As the big day got closer, only 3 people had RSVPed yes.  Would more show up, but just not RSVP?  Who knows. At any rate, we called in our back up plan. We invited Emory and Anna and Izzy at the last minute, and luckily they were all able to come. I let Alice know who had said they were coming so she wouldn't have big expectations and she seemed very content with six people. Phew.

So the day finally arrived. I had no energy, and just planned to sit in one of the booths with Simon (I brought some coloring for him) and any of the other parents that just wanted to hang out.  Fortunately, Izzy and Anna's mom are good friends of mine, so it ended up being a quite pleasant way to spend the morning. Anna's mom has a PhD in nutrition, so I told her my intestinal woes and tried to get some advice. Turns out food and the body are quite tricky and there are no easy answers.

Meanwhile, Zac skated around and kept everything well-managed.

Alice and Emory

Alice, Izzy, Anna

Alice and Emory

Alice and Tru

Alice, Tru, Leslie

After skating around for an hour, it was time for drinks, ice cream, and cupcakes!  Nothing like a massive sugar load to keep the kids going strong!

Izzy, Leslie, Emory, Anna, Alice, Tru

After the cupcakes, the kids were all given five tokens to play the games.

Alice loves getting tickets, which you trade in for prizes.

Simon was actually surprisingly good a pinball. Future pinball wizard, right here!

I do not like this picture.

By the end, Alice was completely tuckered out. Or just having a huge sugar crash.

All in all, the party was great and was the perfect choice for this year. But I will continue to dread these every year!