Last Swim of the Summer

Most of the pools around here close the day after labor day, and because it was a hot day today, I wanted to take advantage of one of our last days to swim. So I took the kids to our neighborhood pool. There weren't too many people there, so we had plenty of space to play and to do a little bit of work on the kids' swimming skills.  Don't worry, I didn't leave Hannah at the pool.  It was her naptime, and Meghan was out running errands, so she stopped by to pick up Hannah and bring her home so the other kids could have some extra time to play before we made the trek home in our wagon.

Take Her Out to the Ball Game

For my date day with Clara today, I decided to take her to her first baseball game.  Like I did with Joshua last year, I decided a T-Bones game would be a good option.  We started in our seat and ate some food.  Clara had a hamburger and a Sprite, and I had a hot dog and a Pibb Xtra.  She was super adorable in her little K-State cheerleading outfit, and her new haircut that she got this morning with Meghan, and many people throughout the night commented either aloud to themselves or to me about how cute she was.

Last year, Joshua loved Sizzle.  But today Clara was pretty scared of him.  She didn't want to stand with him for a picture, and she barely consented to this group photo.  Apparently Clara hasn't had much exposure to mascots, because she kept calling him Willie, because Willie the Wildcat is pretty much the only mascot she's seen.  I eventually convinced her it wasn't Willie, and that this guy was Sizzle, but she still kept calling him "The Sizzle", which cracked me up every time.

After awhile she got a little restless, so I took her to the play area.  She really wanted to go in the bounce house, but once she got in, she wasn't sure she wanted to do it.  But with some encouragement, she let loose and bounced all over the place.

We also went to the playground where she enjoyed the slides and swings. One of the most interesting things about the T-Bones is that their first base coach is Frank White, who is a near Hall of Famer and who was one of the key players on the Royals World Series Championship team in 1985.  But he's currently feuding with the Royals, so he's not involved with them, and is investing his time in the T-Bones.  Here he is, a really famous baseball player, spending his summers coaching for an independent league team.

For dessert, I got Clara some cotton candy, and we went to the outfield grass area to eat it.  She took a few bites (after being surprised to find out it was actually something edible), but then decided she didn't like it.  I had her take a couple more to be sure, and she said she definitely didn't like it.  This boggles my mind, because it's hard to see how that's possible.  But that left more for me, so I didn't complain.

This is one of my all-time favorite series of photos.  I put her on my back, while still holding her with one arm, so I could take a picture of us, and she thought it was great.  I took a bunch of pictures of us hoping to get one, but a lot of them turned out fantastic (the one where I look a little worried that she might pull us both down the grass hill is fantastic in its own way).  I love these pictures, and they pretty much sum of the night we had together.  It was a really fun date day.  She was a great listener (despite being short of sleep since I had to wake her up early), and she was happy and cheerful the whole time.  It was a great bonding experience and probably the best date day we've had.

Pumping It Up

This week is the last week with no school, so Halie wanted to take the kids somewhere. It's a good week, because most other schools have already started.  So she took them to Pump It Up, which is a big indoor play area with gigantic inflatables for kids to play on.  They had a lot of fun and enjoyed all the different types of activities.  Joshua and Clara are excited about going to school next week, but they are definitely enjoying the end of their summer.

First Haircut

 When Clara was a baby, her hair grew on the sides and front first and then the back. However, Hannah's had gotten longer in the back than the sides and front so in recent weeks I felt like it had gotten kind of mullety. I decided she needed a haircut, her first ever. However, she really is still pretty short in the front and on the sides so I really just wanted the back trimmed to even it out. So I did it myself. Though I won't be quitting my day job any time soon, I think it came out pretty cute and now she has a little bob. Here it is from the front, but it doesn't look that different since I didn't cut the front or sides.

You can see it better in this picture. I feel like that one small change gave her a much better look because now she looks like she has a style and not just hair that happened to grow a certain way. Some day she will get a real haircut in a salon, but probably not that soon.

Wednesday Morning Coffee with Family

If I'm in town on Wednesdays, I take the kids over to Mom and Ron's house, and then pick them up in the evening.  Sometimes I'm in a rush because of something for work, so I have to leave quickly, but if not I like to hang out for awhile.  Mom and Ron always invite me to have some breakfast and coffee, which I really appreciate.  The kids always eat breakfast first thing, so they are sitting around the table.  They usually eat English muffins, so I'll usually have one or two of those, along with some coffee in a vintage (the old red logo) Sprint mug.  During this time, I'll chat with Mom and Ron.  We don't have too many times to just talk, so it's nice to have the opportunity.  But after awhile I need to get going to work, so I'll say bye to everyone and head out.  As I said, I don't get to do this every week, but I really value the chances when I do have them.  It's a really nice start to my day to have some time to relax and talk with my family.  Today was one of the days that I had the chance to do this.  Here I am with the kids at the table.

School Preview

 Today I took the kids to school for the preview day. This day is an hour long program where the parents stay with the kids and they can see what school is like and meet their teachers. Joshua has the same teacher, Mrs. Pogue, who is in the same room with Mrs. Trug. Clara will be in the same class with Joshua this year. When the kids arrived, they had free play time for awhile.

 Then Mrs. Trug read a story about Clifford, the big red dog.

Then they had a fun art project of making an apple. Clara was really not very happy about the amount of glue she got on her hands.

Then we said bye to Mrs. Pogue. We will see her again in a week, when school starts for real.

What Could Have Been

One thing I try to balance with my kids is gender and societal norms with not putting them in boxes. This comes into play with Joshua more than the girls because, though there is certainly a lot of gender discrimination out there against women in this world, it is way less overt than it used to be. So the verbal message girls get while they're young anyway is that you can do anything and wear anything and it's all fine and great. With boys, this is not at all true and they are never supposed to do anything remotely feminine even from a young age. Which is actually one of the ways you know there is still a long way for society to go in this area.

Joshua has asked for earrings. Earrings are not necessarily a huge deal for a male at this point, but they also are not typical so I feel he is not old enough to truly make that choice. He also wants makeup and nail polish and pony tails because he sees me have those things and the girls, and wants to fit in. I do let him have all those things because they are not permanent and, when he is old enough to care about peers, he will probably stop asking for them. But the earrings are a no go because that is at least semi-permanent, if not permanent body modification and so I think he should be at least approaching double digits before I feel he understands the social context of that enough that I am willing to consider it.

So today he found a way to have his own earrings and was pretty excited about them. I think they made him look like Frankenstein, which is super cute. I was hoping he would be Frankenstein for Halloween this year, but we were choosing costumes and he didn't seem very excited about it so I don't think that will be the winner. He isn't old enough to really have a strong preference in what he wants to be (which I am actually fine with because I want a theme I can have all three kids be a part of and I wouldn't be surprised if that trend ends once they have strong opinions on what they want to be), but I did suggest a few options to see if he had a preference and he did. And I think I should respect his preference if it's consistent over a matter of days or weeks. So far it is, but I have only asked him twice. So Frankenstein isn't totally out of the question, but it doesn't seem to be trending that way, so this may be the closest I get.

Ice Bucket Challenge

What really causes something to go viral (in an internet sense) is sometimes a little hard to figure out, but usually it's a combination of different things. Recently something called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has been spreading like, well, a virus through social media, primarily through Facebook.  The idea is that if nominated/challenged, you have to take a video of yourself dumping a bucket of ice water on your head.  You then have to post your video and then challenge others to do it, which most people challenging three other people.  If you get challenged, you have to either pour the ice water over your head within 24 hours, or else donate to the ALS Association, although many people choose to do both.  Today I was challenged by my friend Steve Tilden.  I had just got done mowing the yard, and it was in the 90s today, so it sounded like a refreshing way to cool off.  I found an old bucket, added some ice, and recruited three little kids to join me.  Meghan filmed it, and I did it!  It was cold, but not as bad as I thought it would be.  The picture on the left is the picture we took beforehand, and the one on the right is a screenshot from the video.  I challenged my friends Jeff, Drew, and Jason Keeler.

Date Day in Topeka

Today I had a date day with Joshua. I decided to take him to the children's museum in Topeka.We had not been here before and it was a great facility with a ton to do. The first thing we did was this series of vacuum tubes that you put a soft ball in and it would suck it up and shoot it out. He thought that was pretty cool.

Next there was an area where you could build a structure with pipes and then turn on air to shoot ping pong balls through them (he loves things that shoot). This was especially fun because the way we built it, the ball would float there.

We briefly looked at a few science exhibits, but he was only slightly interested. He was mostly like, "Stop talking about black lights and conductors". So after that we went outside. The outdoor component of this place was truly amazing.

First he rode some bikes. They had several different ones, including some trikes large enough for adults, though I didn't try them out. I was glad he got to try a balance bike because I had been thinking about getting him one. Unfortunately, he hated it so I guess I can cross it off my list. He wasn't sure why it wouldn't have pedals and actually seemed kind of distressed about it. He had more fun on a trike he chose.

Next, we stopped by the musical garden. He liked this area a lot because he got to hit a lot of things with sticks and it was actually encouraged. And he likes making music, so it was a good fit for his interests.

Not quite as good of a fit as the water area, though. He loves water and this water area had rocks that he threw to watch them splash and toys and ducks you could put in the stream and watch them get sent down to the pond with the current. Of course, even though I told him 42 times to try not to get wet except for his feet and to be careful, he ended up soaked.

By this time I was getting pretty hot since I was not soaked and it was in the high 90s. But I wanted him to have a chance to dry off before we went back into the ac, so we checked out the playground area. This was mostly natural equipment with a tree house and lots of opportunities for swinging and jumping and climbing and balancing.

We went back inside and Joshua had fun scooping and playing with these tiny rocks. It had a whole system of pulleys and a grain elevator and everything. And then he did the painting station where kids can paint on glass.

We wrapped up our visit in the wood shop, which has real tools so does require adult assistance, unlike most of the things to do here. We made a very simple wooden car and he really liked hammering. We also did a little bit of sawing and used a hand drill, though those require a bit more strength and dexterity so he was more excited about hammering. I gave him his choice of lunch and he was very specific that he wanted a "cheeseburger, fries, and a toy" so we went to McDonalds. I tried to get him to go for tacos, but no dice.

We had a really fun date day. The children's museum turned out to be such a great facility, that I immediately bought a family membership there even though it is just over an hour away from our house. I am such a baby about driving that I am usually extremely hesitant to drive more than 10, possibly 20 minutes if I am feeling very ambitious. Like I really like Trader Joes. I very rarely go because it's 20 full minutes away. In fact, I was really not sure I was willing to drive to Topeka in the first place and the only reason I did was because it was so darn hot I really couldn't think of anything else to do. I am really glad we went and now that I know how awesome it is, I think we will definitely come out ahead on the membership, especially when it's cold and I am cursing Kansas and wondering what to do with my children on the 20th consecutive day of it being too cold to go to the park.