What a month we had! Between summer activities, end-of-year, vacation, and off to camp... it was crammed from start to finish. I wanted to maximize our summer opportunities before both boys went away for 3.5 weeks at camp, so we were busy every weekend. We put many miles on our minivan.
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| Charlotte in her lemonade dress with the princesses |
June 1: Alex's Lemonade Stand. We went to this community event when the boys were little, but it is much more fun now that all 3 kids are in school. We know most of the people there, and everyone has a group of friends to play with. Charlotte takes off, and this year I couldn't find her for an hour (45 minutes of that hour I wasn't worried; 15 minutes of that hour I was panicked). Benjamin prefers to stay with a parent, but that is progress, because 2 years ago he refused to attend altogether.
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| ice cream treat |
June 2: My parents took us to see a children's play of "Treasure Island." After the play we went out for dinner at the same restaurant where I had my bachelorette party. Times have changed. After dinner we got ice cream from an old-fashioned ice cream shop nearby. We had lovely weather, and then it poured the moment we got in the car.
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| Asher with a mouthguard and medal |
June 8: Asher's final day of flag football. Asher signed up this year for flag football, having never played before. He really liked it, and played hard. He is pretty fast, but his throwing and catching could use some practice. His team ended up winning their final match and they got a special medal for their win. He now wants to play again in the fall.
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| The beautiful ballerina |
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| Charlotte and her carpool mates |
June 8: Charlotte's dance recital. Charlotte made it through a year of dance! Her school put on a lovely recital, which my mom and I thoroughly enjoyed. Charlotte and her classmates danced to a medley of songs from Mary Poppins. She smiled the whole time! She is unsure whether she will do it again next year, but I am hoping she will.
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| delicious strawberries |
June 9: Strawberry picking. I took the kids to pick strawberries on Sunday morning. The fields were empty, the air was cool, and the strawberries were ripe. We had strawberry-rhubarb crumble for dessert that night.
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| last day of school |
June 14: The last day of school. The kids only had a half day. I was at a conference in Philadelphia, but was able to take the train out of the city in order to pick them up. I had a big surprise planned...
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| It's me in there! |
I dressed as a dinosaur to meet the kids as they left the school building. They all seemed surprised. Charlotte laughed, and then burst into tears. Benjamin laughed while he cried. Asher pushed me out of the school yard.
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| My friend took this picture. I look like I am going to eat my son. |
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| here's a picture of the kids posing in front of the Marvel Super Heroes picture |
June 15: Daddy got tickets to a marvel super hero exhibit at the franklin institute. There were old fashion headphones.
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| At the Governor's Palace |
June 17-21: Family trip to Williamsburg. We took a 4-day trip to Williamsburg, Virginia. This the farthest south the kids have ever been! We started in the late afternoon on Monday with a little bit of touring around Colonial Williamsburg, and then headed to our hotel for happy hour and a swim. On Tuesday, we spent an entire day at Water Country- I have no pictures because I left my phone in the car the whole time.
Benjamin was initially fearful of the rides, but with some "incentives," he was able to let go of the fear and got on all the rides. It turns out that he does like rides! The lines were short, whether it was because it was a Tuesday or because thunderstorms had been predicted, but we got to go on every ride we wanted to try.
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| The sky train at Busch Gardens |
On Wednesday we went to Busch Gardens for the day. Again, lines were short and we got to go on everything! Except for Charlotte, who was too short for most of the rides she wanted to go on. We were getting ready to leave, and planned to take the sky train across the park. It started to drizzle as we were waiting for our train cars to come. Eric and the boys got on a car and started to travel across the park, and a big buzzer sounded- the ride was now closed! Charlotte and I didn't get to go, and we had to walk to the exit.
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| On our way out |
On Thursday we went back to Colonial Williamsburg. It was very hot, and we were wilting in the heat. Eric seemed to be wilting worst of all, so we didn't get to do nearly as many things as I had wanted to do.
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| Benjamin at the gunsmith. You can get a custom gun for $20k. |
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| Our family at the courthouse |
From there we began the long drive home- long because we got stuck in hours of rush hour traffic around D.C. We ended up stopping at a rest area for dinner, and the kids wanted Wendy's. Every time we stop at Wendy's on a road trip, we have a terrible experience and I swear that we are never stopping there again, and every time we travel, I stop. When will I learn?
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| Margate, NJ |
June 22: Day at the beach. We drove to Atlantic City for the day to go to the beach with friends. We had perfect weather. The kids played in the sand and flew kites. I tried to teach our friends' daughter to boogie board, and we relaxed. All of my children got a sunburn because I let them put on their own sunscreen.
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| Charlotte the sand mermaid |
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| Splashing in the waves |
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| Charlotte and Maddie |
We then went out for dinner and ice cream and drove home to watch the sun set over Philadelphia.
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| The half-birthday unicorn |
June 23: Charlotte's half-birthday party. For reasons I can no longer recall, I told Charlotte she could invite her kindergarten classmates over for a half-birthday party. It was pretty simple- they played on the slip n slide and had a water balloon fight, and I ordered pizza and made an ice cream cake. The day was hot and sunny, and they seemed to have fun. But really, did I need to do that? Eric was gone all day on a bike ride and I had to pack the boys for camp at the same time.
June 26: Boys to camp. We drove the boys up to overnight camp early on Wednesday the 26th. Benjamin had been very anxious about it a few months prior, but seemed pretty calm and unworried when we drove up. I went with him to unpack, and Eric went with Asher. We made beds, met counselors, and then said our goodbyes. I don't think anyone cried, but Eric was definitely the most worried about it.
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| Benjamin and Tiggy in their bunk |
We got a call that Friday afternoon saying that Benjamin had settled in well, was having a great time, and wasn't homesick at all. We can see pictures online, and he looks like he is active and engaged. We assume Asher is also having a great time. Two more weeks before we see them.
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| Ice cream treats |
June 28-30: visit from Aunt Elana and Uncle Alec. Elana and Alec came up to escape the city heat in D.C. We spent Saturday at the pool at my Aunt Jane and Uncle Ed's, and then had ice cream before it stormed. On Sunday Elana and I went for a jog, and then they ran errands and I packed Charlotte up for camp.
June 30: Charlotte to camp. Charlotte went to 5 days of Girl Scout camp about an hour away. She got very nervous before we went, but she seemed to settle in when we dropped her off. She is now home again, and says it was so-so. I think she had a lot of fun, but did miss us at night. She's non-committal as to whether she will go back again next year, and I am happy to have her home. Although Eric and I had 5 days without children and it was very quiet and relaxing, I missed the noise and mess of children.
That was our month! July will be much more laid-back, thank goodness.
