We came, we saw, we bounced! Tonight we headed to open play at Air Zone. Our friends the Petersen’s met us there. We had a great time. Robert was all over the big slide. The first couple of times I went down it with him, then Olivia helped him master the steps and that was all she wrote! He’d land at the bottom, pop up, say “more!” and head back to the steps!
Saturday morning was gorgeous so we decided to go to the park. Robert had a blast! I thought it would be cute to try and get some pictures of him in a tree. I was a bit worried that he might be a little scared… nope, no such thing!
So… the beginning of July was taken up with the EHS grant at work. Good Lord I thought it was going to kill us all. It was several late nights that culminated in July 8.. my Dad’s birthday. I worked at the office the night before until 10:30pm. The next morning I was up bright and early to go make a case for a new MO-DOT van. That process is interesting. You submit your grant then you go before a local committee of your peers and defend your proposal and then each committee member in good standing has a ballot to rank the submissions. After the oral presentations we were ranked #2… we are guaranteed a new van for the adult program… a 15 passenger van with a raised roof and wheel chair lift… that was a rocking good way to start the day. At 5:00pm we realized we had the budget wrong. My boss and I finally submitted our grant at 1:30am…. an incredibly LONG day! We’ll know in October if we were successful. And that ended 30 days of development hell for me. The good news is I already know we got two of the grants… the van grant and another grant for van maintenance. The remaining three grants we will find out about in October. Things are still busy at work and there is always a lot to do but it’s not as insane as that 30 days.
Today was my Mom’s birthday. We took her out to lunch Saturday. Here she is in her new car. It’s the first car she’s bought on her own. My Dad always bought the cars… she had a say in what she wanted but cars were definitely dad’s department. She got a 2006 low mileage Mercury Sable and really likes it. I’m proud that she really did it all on her own… that’s a bit intimidating.
We also went to a puppet show on Saturday at the Puppetry Arts Institute. Robert had the most fun looking at all the puppets in the museum. He also got a cat finger puppet when we left and he loves it.
Other things that happened in July…
Jim, Donald and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie. Donald and I have been to every Harry Potter movie on opening day and I was so happy that he didn’t want to break tradition. Erika is not as much of a Harry Potter fan so she volunteered to babysit Robert so that Jim could go. She was an awesome babysitter. I warned her that he would cry when we left…. so of course, he didn’t. He could have cared less that we were gone. Until about 9:30… then he was a little upset.
Robert also got his first T-Ball set in July (because Jim thought golf might be too frustrating for him)
He really liked his swim trunks (although he’s decided he hates his pool)
He’s taken an interest in photography. The other day I heard him behind me yelling… “SAY CHEEEZZZZEEEEE” I turned around and he had my big camera. They had pictures at school today and apparently he followed the photographer around saying “CHEEEZZZZEEEE”.
Donald, my nephew, had the audacity to turn 18 this year. I can’t believe it. My little camping buddy. He’s not a little boy anymore but turning into a wonderful young man. He’s had a tough life losing my dad (his best friend) and then his dad a few years later. He’s made his share of mistakes not taking school seriously but last year he really battened down the hatches and kept his nose to the grind stone. I hosted his party this year. The cake was Dallas Cowboys theme. I was trying to think of all the themes we’ve done over the years. I know his first birthday was Mickey Mouse, second birthday was Snoopy, there were also a pirate theme, the WHITE Power Ranger, Harry Potter. We had a huge water fight one year and another year there was a piñata. We had a good old fashioned summer bbq this year complete with brisket, pulled pork, corn on the cob, baked beans and salads.
He may be 18.. but he can still be a kid with Robert…
Yes, I’m still playing catch up but I am determined! Fourth of July weekend.
On Thursday night the big kids came over and we tie dyed red, white and blue shirts. The big kids had a lot of fun and our shirts turned out great!
On Friday we went to Wonderscope with my Aunt and Uncle. They had a really good time watching Robert play.
Fourth of July morning Jim got up and made a couple of salads to take with us. I concentrated on desserts. I made cupcakes.
Robert decided to be the official taste tester.
I also decided to try my hand at the Wilton Flag Cake. The buttercream icing was to die for! I got rave reviews on this.
We went to the Petersen’s for a BBQ and to watch fireworks. Their neighborhood is INSANE. There were fireworks going on everywhere! Literally any direction you looked someone was shooting something off. I was amazed how good Robert did with all the noise and commotion. He would actually dance along with the pops. Eventually he gave out and fell asleep in Daddy’s arms.
And yes, that is a broom that Robert is carrying around in a lot of the pictures. It’s an obsession with this boy, I tell ya. Olivia was kind enough to find one for him to play with since she knows of his obsession. She is so kind to him.
By the weekend of the June 26th I had finished both the fundraisers for work… both of which were very successful. The dinner/auction did $4000 better than last year. Two of the four grants were done and I was ready for some quality time with my boys.
Roberts class had studied about trains all week so after being pretty much a sloth on Saturday, I decided Sunday we’d go see some train stuff. We headed to Crown Center and ate at Fritz’s. It’s a restaurant with a train them that delivers your food to your table via a train. Robert loved it.
After lunch we went to see an exhibit where everything was made out of Legos. You could look… but you could NOT touch!
Then we walked across a glass cross walk to Union Station to see the model trains there. Robert loved looking out at the cars beneath me.
On the way back to Crown Center he hitched a ride on Daddy’s shoulders.
Then we went to the Crayola Store. I shopped while Robert & Jim colored. We were told in his parent/teacher conference that Robert really loves art time, especially painting. I found a lot of great color wonder stuff for Robert and some new crayons.
Afterwards he checked out my purchases and seemed to approve.
Summer is here and we are on the go! On Father’s Day weekend we headed to Jim’s sister’s house in Nebraska to meet up with the rest of the family for the yearly family gathering. Color Wonder helped Robert pass the miles in the car. I was busy reading Early Head Start regulations in the back seat as part of the whirlwind at work.
Our hotel had a small patio where Robert enjoyed yelling directions at Daddy as he unloaded the car.
Of course we had to have a workspace for Mommy. As I checked into the office via email, Robert checked his phone messages.
Robert’s cousin Aaron made his day by letting him see the baby ducks and chicks.
Cousin Aaron showed me all his animals. The baby ducks were cute.
Ella is absolutely in love with Baby Robert… except he doesn’t follow directions really well and it exasperates her sometimes.
Friday night we ate, and caught up with everyone, and ate… and laughed and enjoyed being together as a family. By the time we got back to the hotel Robert was absolutely tuckered out!. We used Priceline for the hotel and got a really great deal on a nice room, but it was a little further away from the house than we would have preferred… it’s a trade off.
Saturday morning Aunt Debbie had planned an outing for the girls (and Jim and Robert) to the Sunken Gardens and Lincoln Zoo. The flowers were very pretty.
There was also a really cool fish pond.
We even got to ride a train.
Saturday was Uncle Gary & Aunt Sheri’s anniversary so we had a party… and cake!
Sunday we all had breakfast together and then headed for home. It was such a fun weekend… I’m ready to go back.
