Herways of the East: August 2013

Friday, August 23, 2013

Rrr Pirate Adventure

So I saw this Pirate cruise on Groupon and I couldn't resist. I knew my kids would absolutely love it. It did not disappoint...it went above and beyond my expectations.

Tommy trying to win the "RRRRR" contest. He should have won.

Stories, sword fighting...

Water bombing the "bad pirates"

Finding the hidden treasure

Collecting their treasure, which was found with an "X marks the spot" in the middle of the lake. They pulled up the treasure chest from the bottom of the lake.

Root beer!! My kids love soda, because it is a rare treat.

It was a memorable adventure for sure. As soon as it finished Tommy was asking when could we do it again. He talked about it ALL day!

Afterwards we headed to the beach at Cape May (one of our favorite beach towns)

These kids had a blast on their boogie boards and are getting good at catching the waves. I felt like they were out there for hours.

Rachie was counting how many waves she caught at first but I think she lost track after about 42.

I think I buried Katelyn a good 20 times. She loves it.

I could watch these kids play at the beach forever. It's so hard to leave when they're having so much fun.

And what's a beach day without an ice cream cone :)

Friday, August 16, 2013

Rachel's Poetry

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One morning this summer Rachel woke up and put her pencil to paper...not an unusual thing. She wrote a handful of poems and has been adding to it randomly ever since. Here are a few of my favorite from her collection:

July 23, 2013

The Stumble

Twas’ the night of the baseball game,

I was having a bunchell of fun.

And here it was, the end of it:

I stumbled to the floor,

and I cried like never

before. My cut, the size

of a baseball, at the end

of the worst baseball game.

“Thump Thump”

Hear my heartbeat,

loud and firm, as it’s

going “Thump Thump Thump.”

you might think this,

but it does not hurt

while it’s goin’ “Boom Boom”

I like that sound: thud-thud-

thud, all the while I’m

Living.

Me as a Cheater

It’s impossible for

me to do a 9 squared

sided Rubik’s cube

-but I had a plan.

(a wonderful plan!)

…I put the stickers back in

place. –I’m a cheater!

what a race.

blister or splinter,

-whad’ya say I call

this mister?

July 30, 2013

The Dryer That I Went In…

I went in to a dryer

To see if I could fit.

My mom suddenly turned it on,

And round and round I went.

Bruise Bruise Bruise – (9 bruises)

In the dryer I will never go

For that story was the worst one yet.

I, The Abominable Snowman

I am going to the swimming pool

But I trust you enough for me to introduce myself:

I am

Blizzardy,

Scary,

Watchamacality,

Rude,

Naughty,

Frightening to little kids, (Hee Hee!)

Smart,

Braggy,

Raggety Bleegery.

-WAIT! What time is it!? 10PM!?

I missed the swimming pool.

Oh fret!

August 11, 2013

Forks

Using chopsticks

Are hard to do,

So I only use a you-know-who

…a fork!

Monday, August 12, 2013

July Flyin'

Does anybody else feel like July flew by?! And now we're already nearing mid-August! Wow. It has been a great summer and been going way too fast. We have three weeks and then baby comes, school starts...I'm getting a little anxious. Maybe that's why I'm not sleeping so good as of late.

Anyway, on with some catching up and a lot of pictures.

Rachel was a little anxious to get back from our trip because she knew she was getting a new bed in her own room. (At least for a little bit until the baby needs to get out of our room). It was a little hard for me though. Rachel and Tommy have been bunking for so long and are such good buddies. I loved how she would sometimes read to him or how they would talk and giggle in the dark. It is an end of an era. Change is always hard. She has become a little more responsible though and cleans her room and makes her bed, without me asking, and even does her laundry (per her request). I know it probably won't last.

We had one really HOT and HUMID week in July. (You can see the humidity was fogging the camera lens). But, other than that we have had some great weather...almost too good to be true (knock on wood!)

For Jake's Christmas present he got a flying lesson that we found on Groupon. We finally got around to redeeming it. It was quite an experience! It was fascinating learning a little more about the aviation world. Jake was funny when he turned on his Iron Eagle music to practice his skills on the simulator.

The plane he flew

Ready

Not so ready. The trainer actually eased a lot of my anxiety and I really wasn't that nervous. He could take full control if he needed to.

A little video of him taking off. We had air traffic control calling in making sure everything was okay

Look at that smile. He was loving it. As was I until he did one too many turns right in a row. That with the lack of air flow on a hot day...and I lost my lunch. No fun!

Me and Kate keeping ourselves entertained at a baseball game

Sunday best. Seriously. I've got some cute ones :)

I have thoroughly enjoyed having Rachel at home this summer. I didn't sign up my kids for any summer camps and there is a part of me that feels guilty...that I might be depriving them of something. But, so far we really haven't needed it. (We've saved a lot of money too, because out here they are insanely expensive). It has been priceless to see these kids play together. Rachel has grown a lot this summer. She has been listening better and has been a whole lot sweeter.

I. am. a. robot.

A little 24th of July (Pioneer Day) fun. We had to do something.

We made homemade butter. The kids loved it.

An afternoon at the school playground

One weekend we went to the New Jersey hot air balloon festival. We got to play inside of a balloon which was pretty fun.

Unfortunately, the balloons didn't launch that evening. The 5 mph winds were just enough. I was so bummed! They weren't exactly cheap tickets and we wanted to get our moneys worth. So we decided to wake up at 5am the next morning to make the hour drive back up to see them launch that next morning.