Keepin' 'em busy

Today we've been busy. We started the day with a bike ride on the Clear Creek Trail. The kids managed to ride 1.5 miles with a snack stop in the middle. We had a stressful start, but once Spencer and I arranged to agree on landmarks where he would wait for us it worked out fine. I walked the whole way but I can see that I'm going to need a bike soon.

After lunch we had a jam session at Spencer's Music Shoppe in the living room. Then we dusted and headed out the door for a shoe shopping adventure. Cosmo made a brief appearance, shrieking at the top of her lungs and grinning at all the people who stopped to stare, but we survived. We decided that once we got home we needed some more outdoor time.

Once the kids rode around on their bikes for a little bit we got the gift of PERFECT puddle jumping weather. First, a warm drizzle that made us put on the rain gear, and then enough rain on the wet ground to create almost instant puddles. The temperature was about 70F, which is great. The kids got completely soaked, head to toe, and needed to dump out their boots before coming inside.

Tonight we're supposed to go to Family Fun Night at the IU Outdoor Pool. Their last swim class there got cancelled last night because of a thunder storm so we thought it would be a good way to make up for it. But it's a little chilly to go swimming so we'll have to see. While I whip up a little dinner and make this post the critters are enjoying a well-earned rest in front of The Magic School Bus.

A new teacher

That's me! I'm so excited. I'll be teaching 4 hours a week at the kids' preschool. This nursery school is a truly spectacular place full of wonder and respect. We completely lucked into it as parents and now we get to be an even bigger part of it. Today was the new teachers' meeting. It was fun to see the new faces and find out more details about what we'll be doing.

The joys of travel

We're back after a weekend trip to visit my family in Ohio. Four or more hours in the car with the kiddos is always an adventure, but they were really great this time. On the way home we dropped off the boys so they could attend the Brickyard 400. It took the rest of the afternoon to do the unpacking (which isn't completely done, of course) and the grocery shopping for the week.

After all that Evie and I stayed out late at a concert at a local park. We met up with some of her friends from preschool. She was too shy to play with them much but I had a good time catching up with their parents.

A little banged up

Poor Spencer came home from camp early today after scraping up the side of his face. He's so tired he just couldn't get over it. Luckily I was already there to pick up Evie, whose camp gets out earlier. He looks a little worse for wear but I think he'll be fine. The worst of the cut was covered up by a bandange so I don't know how bad it is yet.

A little time to myself, sort of

Both kids are in camp this morning, which means I should be cleaning the office so we can turn it into Evie's room. Instead, I'm writing in my blog, emptying the dishwasher, getting the bag ready for swim lessons later, getting the luggage out for our trip to see family this weekend, figuring out what needs to be washed for our trip this weekend, and oh yeah, I had an appointment right after I dropped off the kiddos. You know how it is.

Stickers as pre-dinner craft

It seems like finding a nice, quiet, crafty thing for the kids to do while I make dinner might actually be reasonable at their ages--just not while they have camp in this ungodly heat and aren't sleeping very well after evening swim class. Today they chose to do stickers. Well, Evie chose to do stickers and then Spencer decided to join her when she wouldn't chase him. Then they fought over the magnifying glass so they could make the stickers look bigger. Then Evie got mad because she couldn't pull the stickers off her skin that she had stuck there a half hour earlier. Then there was more mayhem. And then dinner.

See, sticker crafts are good for you. Now I have to go pull shiny stickers off my kitchen floor.

Cosmo

No, not Kramer. OK, maybe a pint-sized version. Whenever Evie's feeling mischievous she announces, "I'm Cosmo!" Cosmo is a male personality, too. She giggles, grins, and misbehaves whenever she has put on her alternate persona. We have not clue where she got this, but at least we know when to expect mayhem!