Year 3, September 28th, 2018: Second to Last Apple Picking Day

Well, we got it done, but not without some grumpy kids.  I thought it was going to be a little rough and I know it could have been worse, but, it was very rough taking all 4 kids today.  Sigh.  Honestly, I just wanted to get the trip checked off the list this year.  And it counted for the pumpkin patch, too.  We did both trips in depth last year, so I wanted to go easy this year.  We went to our basic little orchard 10 minutes away that we've used probably 10 out of 16 years of Benaiah's life, Pleasant View Orchard, formerly Anderson Orchard, in Fairland, IN.  We are mid season on apples and you can tell there's been many a field trip out to the farm already, as well as storms that have come through.  Lots and lots unusable fruit on the ground, pockets of mud and standing water, tree limbs heavy with apples, snapped off of the trees, and trees a bit picked over.  I'm sure it's not easy to keep up with it all during the busy season, and I also know that the farm changed hands a few years back, but, the trees definitely took a hit this year or last and they need a little TLC.  Hopefully the current owners can do that or seek help and the trees and fruit will be better in years to come.  I won't say that we wouldn't go back because it's our traditional spot to go apple picking, and they do have wonderful apple cider slushies, but, if you're picky, try a different orchard this year. 

Anyway, we got our apples, we saw a pumpkin patch, we sat on pumpkins, we got our pictures, we ate our slushies, we played on the playground and we came home.  One and done.  As you'll see though, I forgot to clean the lens before we started and the first couple of photos have some dust spots on them.  Whoops!  So definitely not a perfect day, but we managed.  Abishai did have fun and was very excited to go apple picking.  He knew exactly what we were doing this year!  He even recognized the muddy ground and avoided it and all the mushy apples there.  He saw pumpkins and started talking about Halloween, ugh! Stupid TV shows corrupting my child! So when we got home I pulled out our Christianized pumpkin patch story book that compares the guts of a pumpkin to our sin and how God cleans it out of us like we clean it out of a pumpkin.  And then the farmer cuts out a face in the pumpkin and puts a light in like the light of Jesus that shines bright for all the world to see.  It also talks about different sized and colored pumpkins, just like human diversity.  There's Scripture throughout it, too.  Anyway, it was good to see Abishai so engaged today and he not only told Daddy about how a storm knocked over the tree branch and all the apples fell to the ground but how the skid steer picked up skids and put them on a truck and they closed the door.  He remembers a ton of stuff and makes up a ton of stories, too.  He even ate most of his slushie today without spilling.  He will be 4 in February, but I think he's pretty smart for his age.  He even went over to Benaiah, who was sitting on a swing, after yelling, "Miah!" like it was the first time he really saw him all day.  Then he sat next to Benaiah to comfort him.

Benaiah was tired, and still a bit sore from his fall yesterday.  His lip is a bit swollen and he can't pronounce all his letters clearly.  However, there's no pain and no teeth are loose or discolored.  His shoulders and back are also sore from the fall and from doing those lazy man pull ups.  Benaiah also woke up to his siblings arguing, which would make me irritable, too.  So, when he played the part of a parent today, I just let it go.  He woke up when he was asked to, he smiled for pictures when asked, and he did go.  I can be content with that. Today was the second to last official time to the apple orchard with all four of them, so it was good enough.  Next year, though, I will have Jared go and we will take the time to make sure it's done better.  Sure Benaiah might still be at home if he skips a year between high school and college, and maybe he'll be home on fall breaks, but there's no guarantee he will be there.  Cue the tears because well, with it being a Howell tradition as well.  Sigh. It makes it that much harder to let go of.  But you better bet your boots that I will be doing it still with the three, then two, and then just one kid until the grandkids come and then I will do it with them, too.  Always and forever one of the best, most consistent Howell traditions we have.  And the most positive memories, too, because as most people know or have in their families, there are some not so good memories as well.  But apple picking was and is and always be a highlight and must do annual tradition for me.  Always.

The rest of the day was spent resting and catching up on schoolwork.  The kids did well this week and I have talked myself into taking things a bit slower so we can actually enjoy our life even if it means we don't finish books by the end of the school year.  I just read another article encouraging me to keep lessons short, and to give space for the lessons to sink in and be assimilated into the brain.  You can't just throw fact after fact to them.  They need time to process it, too.  And they need free time for their own non screen pursuits.  So, I need to convince myself to use loop scheduling and be ok with pushing things off.  I'm thinking of doing a hard stop at 3 or 4pm depending on when we started and how distracted we got.  There's always tweaking to be done, always.  But they truly are working very, very hard to keep up with my demands and expectations.  Keturah and Justin have both matured over the summer and it shows in their efforts in their schoolwork.  Poor Keturah can't draw worth anything, but that's why we are doing it.  Just practice, practice, practice.  And Justin has so much to memorize and he's past the prime age where memory work is easy, but he's still trying.  So I'm trying not to expect perfection out of them on all of this.  Did they work hard? Yes.  Did they improve from the last time I tested them?  Yes.  Then let the rest go.  It will be ok.  Really.  Sigh.  Oh, but Abishai is letting me read to him again, so I told him to pick out books and I'll stop whatever I'm doing and read to him! Yeah! I'm bound and determined to share all the books in our personal library which means no more boxes in front of bookcases!  That's the goal anyway.  We have so much good stuff right here! Use it or lose it, right?  And some of the baby board books will never be read by them again and it makes me sad.  I don't want to miss the opporutnities to share the fun stories we have and that Keturah has read a million times or miss out on all the fun preschool activities I've been saving all these years.  All of that is so much important than so much other stuff.  And that's where my heart is.  So let's keep at it!

I like the smiles in this one, although the sun glare/dust smudges blur it a bit.  Imperfect picture like the day was imperfect and I'm strangely ok with that.  I had all 4 of them with me, that's what matters.

We played for a bit on the playground first, but there were a couple of preschool/kindergarten field trips there, so we didn't linger too long.

This was when Abishai went to check up on his 'Miah.  Oh so sweet.

Getting so big!

Sweet tunnel in the hay bale mound.

Ow, Mom, this hurts!

So big! And yet, still loving the slide.

The only picture I have of Abishai climbing the hay mound.  He could get up the first layer, but not the second.

Simple but fun.  We are going to a field trip at a dairy farm in October and there will be more fun things like this.

Abishai knew exactly what to do.

These two are pros as well.  Twist and tug.

"Mommy, it's MY size tree with MY apples on it!"

Babies and apples.

"Aw, look at the baby apples!  Aren't they cute! Aww!" (Abishai really did say that and used his cute voice!"

Nice photographer's shot!  Sweet!

Bags were easily filled!

A drowned out pumpkin patch.

Abishai did recognize it, too.  Pumpkins!

It was fairly warm, but definitely NOT as hot as it was last year or the year before when we came in late August/early September.  I was just afraid there weren't going to be any apples last year, but this year I realized that different varieties ripen at different times and my favorites ripen later in the season.  And here's the proof I wore my plaid today in honor of my Dad's plaid shirt he always wore that my sister Stefanie has and uses for her apple picking trips.  Plaid plus apples equals apple picking trip completed!

Again, the contrast between these two crack me up.  Their personalities are also pretty different as well.  I'm wondering because we call Abishai a mini Gary, if it will be like having Gary and Jared together.  Who knows but it's fun to watch!

Red delicious apples, my favorite.  Or these might be the ida reds.

Lots of pumpkins!  I'm wondering if they have other pieces of land where they plant their crops like pumpkins and I saw turnips come into the store today as well.

There's one pumkin patch!

Traditional picture with the sign.  The one thing I do love about this orchard is that you just pay for the apples you pick.  There's no extra entrance fee.  Maybe that's why it's more low key than other places like Tuttle's Orchard where we went last year for our actual field trip with our friends.

He loves these things!

And one more group shot with the pumpkins!  Reminds me of the pile of pumpkins my siblings and I would clamor over right outside that orchard's store.  My parents would take our pictures there and they would get their pumpkins there as well.

Aw, hug a pumpkin!  Just don't kick it!

Apple cider slushie time!  My favorite treat!  They have lots of other things like caramel apples and fudge, hot apple crisp, hot dogs, nachos, etc.

Abishai wanted to play in the sand/rock pit but there were a bunch of kids there not playing well, so I tried to discourage him from getting in there.  He wanted to take off his shoes and socks and I didn't let him this time because of all the kids buzzing around.  They were also throwing the sand, too.  The teachers were trying to handle the situation but I'm sure it's difficult to keep track of everyone.  I have a hard enough time handling my 4 kids, never mind a dozen or more.

The sandbox that Abishai likes.  Actually, I think he was mumbling and babbling about wanting want of these at home.  Benaiah was trying to convince Abishai to go home because he wanted to eat lunch before work and the wasps were not leaving our slushies alone.  Thankfully, Abishai didn't throw a fit about it.

One of the highlights for Abishai was seeing the skid steers working!  One brought product up to the store.  One more brought some things into the store.  And the other took it to the truck.  Then Abishai told us that they were going to close the door of the truck and drive away.  Very smart kid!

The largest pumpkins they had.

Time to climb those as well!

Last picture at the apple orchard.  I didn't even have to ask them to pose.  They just did.

Abishai couldn't WAIT to wash and eat his own apple that he picked!  So grown up!  And the apples were sprayed heavily with pesticides, grr.

He loved arranging the apple pieces before he ate them.

Hey, I have a dimple!  And yes, I was at the orchard, too.

Using a Norwex scrub sponge to clean his apple.  And yes, I am very impressed with Norwex products, although I only have this sponge so far.  Cleaning with just water and no chemicals is awesome!

Somebody was very exhausted today from staying up too late last night because Mommy was the one putting him to bed and he wouldn't settle.  Then we went to the orchard today, and Daddy's office where he ran around in circles, and then the library, where he peed his pants and got mad that somebody had played with HIS duplose and ruined HIS house.  He had a full blown tearful tantrum and rolled around on the grass, too.  He was playing with Justin's Lego BB-8 and other Star Wars Lego mini figures and we figured out that Abishai IS BB-8 because he rolls around so much just like BB-9 does!  And then Justin is the Po Dameron (sp?) who is the X-Wing pilot that is buddy to BB-8.  Makes sense to us!  But 3 1/2 yr olds can get overstimulated and exhausted, too.  Good night, wittle buddy! (He insists that he's still little and not a big boy yet.  Yes, he's the baby of the family and he KNOWS it and uses it to his advantage!  And we let him sometimes because, well, he's the baby!  Boss Baby!)  Night, night, 'struction sight, night, night, little one.

Year 3, September 24th-27th, 2018: Restful Week

Yeah, this week is going to be a fairly "normal" week! Lots of homeschooling got done on Monday with the kids not complaining that they worked until 6pm.  They worked from 11a-6p today because they woke up around 9:30a because we were so exhausted from the weekend.  Even Abishai slept in for once!  Yeah for a flexible homeschool schedule!  There wasn't as much battle during lessons either. Everybody enjoyed being home for the day.  It was off and on rainy today, which made the trampoline wet, but the kids enjoyed slipping and sliding and giggling.  Benaiah went to school, worked, and shoved a fundraiser in my face and asked if I would it on my social media.  However, his teacher is my friend and she beat me to the punch!  Ah!  I'll try to go live sometime tomorrow but we have school, an appointment, and a piano lesson.  We'll see!  Abishai spent a good portion of the day sing songing the songs he learned in Sunday School, too, even watching the video on my phone which he had rest on the piano where the piano books go so he could play piano, sing, and do motions to the song all at the same time.  Adorable!

Tuesday was a very productive day!  We started with screen time with Abishai and we did our history lesson, followed by checking independent work, and got that part done by 1pm! Now I'm rethinking if that should be our routine instead of waiting on screen time.  Unfortunately, that means Abishai will be free roaming the rest of the day, which can make it difficult if I need to make phone calls and such.  But, if we did it first, then on the days I have an appointment or field trip in the afternoon, I won't feel like we didn't do our together stuff.  Also, Abishai tends to watch the screen when Keturah is watching, and that means he gets way too much screen on any given day.  We'll have to figure out a work around, either she uses her headphones or I start trusting her with the tablet again.  Abishai doesn't usually sit and watch Justin play, plus Justin can do his turn after Abishai goes to bed. We'll see.  That's the beauty of homeschooling, tweaking the schedule!  Then I can fit in their independent work whenever and wherever.  Hm,....wheels are turning.

I did finally have an appointment with a new personal counselor and it went very well.  She has me on a sliding scale fee so I'm getting a discount, thank goodness because I'll be seeing her weekly for a bit at first.  We scheduled it for late Monday afternoons for now, that way Grandma can babysit instead of my very gracious friend.  My friends is going to be very busy with her dog having puppies soon, so I don't want to use her all the time.  Then on Tuesdays I have one piano student so far, and hope to add some more.  And after looking at Benaiah's schedule, we decided to put our foot down and adjust his availability so he is home one night of the week.  Jared to write all of that up and get Benaiah to hand it over to the scheduler.  I'm sure Benaiah is not please about it, but tough.  We want you to be with us.  This new schedule will start the Monday after his NYC trip.  We thought long and hard and talked with many people about it before crossing that boundary and saying enough is enough.  We made sure to make the decision when we weren't in an emotionally charged state.  Budget wise, this will mean he will have to wait to get a car and he needs to stop spending money on eating out and buying clothing.  He'll learn soon enough.

That was pretty much our day! At the moment I feel "caught up" but I'm sure I'm forgetting something.  The schedule feels a bit more open though now that I've been careful to not commit to much.  For the record, Abishai likes to "go 100 mile per hr" said in his little squeaky voice and he knows how many girls live in Keturah's friend Baleigh's house: 3!  And he loves his songs from Sunday School!

Coupon books are here for Benaiah's school's mandatory fund raiser!  $25 for coupons for local and national places to eat and shop.  AND it's all on an app so you don't have to have the physical coupons with you!  Amazing!  Now who wants one?

Interesting sky combination when the sun finally came out today.  There's still very dark clouds in the sky and then bright spots of sunshine.

Wednesday

How can two days, both similar in nature, feel so different? I was all happy and calm yesterday and today, everything that the kids did seemed to trigger me and I was back to "I'd rather play games on my phone than take care of my kids" mode?  But, that's what it was.  We didn't get going quick enough, and I decided to do step 1 out of 100 of new(er) project involving shelves that were sitting in the middle of the garage, and it was nice outside and I didn't realize that until mid to late afternoon.  I wasn't about to kick myself for not letting kids play outside on the best days of the year, so I shooed them outside unprepared for the fighting that could and did ensue.  I was trying to finally do something about the front garden so I had an excuse to be outside and watch Abishai ride his bike up and down the driveway.  Then the 3 kids headed out back to play with kites, which then devolved into a screaming match for the whole neighborhood to year and the toddler going back and forth leaving the gate open, making me nervous while I'm trying to desperately cut down grass with scissors because I don't have the trimmer and the little patch where the old sidewalk was looks so uneven and gross.   Flower beds are time consuming and I don't have that time nor know how.  I don't think it looks much better but the flowers underneath won't have a chance if I let that much grass die and decompose on top of it.  Basically the grass was as tall and heavy as if we had never cut it all summer, which we didn't because it was in the flower bed and wasn't caught early enough and took over.  Sigh.  I'm still "over it" and #notmyproblem because I just don't have time.  I wish Jared cared and took care of it, or Leah could do it.  I didn't even take before and after photos.  Blech.

So, not much else to say because it's late.  I watched the kids at Rooted tonight while Justin had Bible Bowl which was just a change of scenery really for me.  Watching kids climb and learn to potty and make huge messes just like I do with my 1 kid that age makes me even more exhausted.  I made the most of it, but I'm still unable to do any real productive thing tonight besides this.  I was able to tackle a couple of things last night though.  What I do is I organize the pile of papers first and decide on what is needed to finish the task and it's priority.  Then I put the paper in order of deadlines.  I still have a HUGE pile of papers of "non deadline, but fun informational papers" to go through from the big summer paper declutter.  I'm seriously thinking of taking a late October fall break week so I can focus on a few of these things and switch kids' clothes because there's no time on weekends to these things either.  Or, they will just sit until next summer, which I'm contemplating on tackling the boys' room and finishing properly unpacking that room, putting up shelves, helping organize Justin's mess of stuff including Legos.  It's not a very functional room either.  Sigh.  But I also need to go through books on bookshelves, so we'll see.  One bit at a time, and I did just that today.  I wish those projects would involve me actually getting rid of stuff instead of finding a way to stuff it all back into an area, but that wasn't the point today.  I mentioned that I have decision paralysis sometimes and I mentally could not get to making those decisions.  I was focused on the actually moving of pieces of furniture. Thankfully the switch was easy and the stuff all fit for the most part and there's room for other things because the shelves weren't full to begin with.  I could 5 minutes and just double check each shelf though.  We'll see.  These projects get done on my mood, which I cannot fight.  So it looks like I hop around from one project another, and I do kind of do that.  But I loop around eventually and do the next step and eventually it gets completely done, even if it's years done the road.

It's a bit harder to do that with school and I really should put us on a "loop schedule" for some subjects, skipping something if we run out of time, but making sure it's the first thing we get to the next day.  Things like history, science and read alouds.  I might do it casually with their individual subjects, too.  That's why we plan for 4 days with a 5th catch up.  Ok, that's enough, I'll throw up some pics and move on.  Hopefully the kids will forgive me for being too emotional today.  Tomorrow is a new day.

Cube shelves before switching them out.

Occupied preschooler while working on project.

Cube shelving after.  It's 3cheap shelves I picked up at a garage sale for $10 total.  The other cube shelving is going in my room because the cube slots are big enough for cube drawers.  The openings on these are too small so the shelves will stay open.  Plus they don't have a backing to them.  Oh well, cheap and holds the same amount of stuff.

I"m thinking about putting this on my Christmas wishlist.  Not that we have room for such a fun creation!  Wowzers, Lego is awesome! (Screen shot from IG)

New t-shirt the kid got at his retreat for his school.

Besides the temperature barely reaching 70 degrees, I see the first peek of fall colors!  Apple picking on Friday and perhaps Eagle Creek or the Art Museum to see more of the colors in the next couple of weeks.

It's hard to get a lone time when this one comes and finds you.

Those eyes!  And that pitiful "cutie whine."  He almost whimpers like a dog, it's hilarious!  Then he hugs my arm and snuggles in.  Sigh. Why do you have to be so active child?  Just sit still for half a second!

I was just thinking about how many months Abishai was able to play with this big car racetracks toys in the nursery C room.  I thought about buying one for him, but he has all his other garages.  I'm glad he got to spend time with these and the two Thomas the Tank Engine train tables every week because we didn't have them home.  It was tricky finding out which cars would slide down which track.  But if I have to put back one large piece of furniture/toy like a clubhouse one more time....the kids we have in there are a bit holder, ages 3/4, so they can push the bigger toys around all by themselves.  We don't have any issue with them as long we put them back by the end of the night.  Little relationships are starting to form and each week, even the shy kids feel more and more comfortable and don't cry.  One little girl who hardly ever talks was singing and dancing and smiling tonight.  Yeah!

Thursday

Ugh, late start to blogging again.  Abishai took a long time to fall asleep for me.  Jared ended up staying at work because he is way behind on editing one of the books the guys have written and it needs to get to the publishers for a reprint because their inventory is low.  But let me back up for a second. Somewhat normal day at home, although I feel like I puttered around a little too much and didn't follow up with the kids' schoolwork much.  They took all day to finish their work and it was a half day! I also didn't get to any reading, either.  But I did manage to move the cube shelving into my room, so that's something!  I keep trying to think of ways to engage Abishai in preschool activities and we have done some of this week.  I want to do this fun preschool curriculum with a poem with actions and he doesn't seem interested.  But he has let me read to him a little more, so maybe soon he'll be ready to sit down and do things with me.  We did have a lot of snuggle time though this morning AND tonight.

After morning studies, I had this grand idea of taking the kids to a park WITH Benaiah since he had a little bit of time between school and drum rehearsal tonight.  Well, it was about 65 degrees today, and overcast, but surprisingly not terribly cold at the park.  I had Jared drop Benaiah off directly at the park instead of coming home because I just knew if he came home first, he wouldn't want to go anywhere and he'd play his video games.  Thankfully, the men both agreed to this. Well, the kids were glad to get out of the house although it took a lot to get them there.  Between trying to finish their schoolwork and Abishai not wanting to give up his TV time and having a hard time deciding what shoes to wear, I almost gave up.  But I'm glad we went.  We need to get out of the house sometimes.  I just didn't feel up to planning a trip the art museum or fancy park today.  Everybody got to burn some energy, and then, Benaiah fell on an apparatus and it was both comical and a bit unnerving the same time. I was filming at the time and caught 4 seconds of the fall.  He posted the video to Instagram and his friends (and I actually) can't stop watching it and laughing hysterically over it.  One of his bottom teeth did punch a hole in his upper lip which is now swollen and he can't say words with "f" in them very well.  He also got a scrape right under his nose.  There was some blood but not a profuse amount.  Such an innocent little smack to the face and he has turned it into a joke instead of being mad at me for making him go to the playground with his siblings.  I gave him some space and then he joined us again for a few minutes.  I was a bit concerned about the swelling so we didn't stay much longer at the park.  Plus, he needed to get to practice early so he could practice before he was working with the whole band.

It's a good thing we left a bit earlier than planned because tonight was the homecoming parade for our township and it was going right through the area we needed to drive through in order to pick up some McD's before heading to church.  We barely made it through the area before they blocked it off.  Then we went inside the McD's to order because I needed the restroom and man was it slow!  I don't like the new kiosk ordering thing because I don't know where everything is located.  And then I forgot to order Jared food, so I had to make a 2nd order and wait for it to be made.  And it wasn't busy in there at all!  By the time we got through some of the rerouted traffic from the parade, our food was cold and soggy.  We took our fast food meal to church and ate dinner with Jared there.  Then he could stay and edit and Benaiah could go drum.  Abishai had a tiny nap on the way to the office, so he was pretty restless trying to fall asleep tonight.  I tried hustling everyone to get ready for bed quickly, and they did do it, but it still took almost 2 hours or Abishai to settle.  So I'm now exhausted and probably not writing as well as I could.  Let's throw up those pics and the most hilarious video of a poor teen falling on his face, shall we?

Yes!  I can't wait to find a time and place to actually enjoy a fall hike with older kids!  I need this!

Where did Abishai go? I had to remake Benaiah's bed (he forgot to put the mattress protector on) and Abishai thought he would help.  I also cleaned up Abishai's bed area because there were too many stuffed animals and unused blankets that needed folding.  We've been trying to prevent Socks from sleeping with Abishai because Abishai is feeling squished and wake ups occasionally.  However, every barrier we put up, Socks finds a way around and we are hearing a "crash boom bang" every night when he goes to bed (usually when I do).  So, I give up.  The dog has his routine and you can't change it.  And I vacuumed up all the dog hair, too, well, at least in the areas I could reach.

Finally!  Two more boxes of stuff empty and put on shelving!  These handicraft items have been in these boxes for almost 7 years!  I've rifled through them pulling things out as I needed, but the stuff was stored in these boxes in the boys' closet in Charlottetown and then in my closet/bedroom in the condo, and finally more than a year here in our bedroom.  Again, it's not about actually purging.  It's about seeing what I actually have and what takes more priority with the limited shelving I have.  I still have totes of scrapbooking to go through and add to the mix.

Ta da!  I didn't want the cube shelving left in the hallway over the weekend, so I decided to just get 'er done! Now, it's a work in progress as this Instagram photos will tell you.

That's now two steps closer to all of our belongings out of boxes!  I have another bookshelf to clean up and put in the playroom and organize, and then I'll go through individual shelves or boxes to see what can be tossed so everything fits neatly (instead of crammed) on their respective bookshelves.  I'm getting there!

Jared played with us for just a couple of minutes, but this was one of my favorite scenes!  Daddy chasing his not so little boy around!  This ring spins and because the guys do weight differently, they ended up off balanced.

Really?!  I KNEW this kid needed to still be a kid!  He needs this and I'm glad he obliged without complaining today.

Aww, lots of boys on another spinning thing!

Rub a dub dub, 3 kids in the tub.

I think Abishai's coat actually came with the pants.  It's rare that I pair the original outfit together.

Musical keyboard thing played bye the kid wearing his favorite "floppy eaed" sweatshirt.

Go,go, go!

Aww....

 Ready, set, laugh!

Gotta document it or it didn't happen!  Ouch!  He'll be fine and now he's made his friends laugh!

Another spinning around thing! I'm glad all 4 of them could be on at the same time!

Woah!

More musical instruments, especially the drums!  Benaiah tried every single one!

I helped him get down from the platform and spotted him across the rope bridge and then he cautiously did it twice on his own!  No fear!

Playing peek a boo with big brother!

It's a gorgeous playground!  It's connected to a large subdivision but open to the public.  In fact, they are making a huge new parking lot for it so people don't block up the entrance to the neighborhood.  Unforutnately, it does NOT have a bathroom!  What is it with city parks not having bathrooms?  It does have a picnic shelter and large basketball courts.  And a walking bath on the outskirt of the whole thing.  They have plenty of land if they wanted to build more things.  And the best thing is that it's less than 10 minutes from our house and it's a bit out of the way from the normal rush hour route.

Little and big up there.

Swinging across.

Getting a lecture from Benaiah on how to listen and obey mom and dad (insert eye roll here).

Rings, Mommy, look what I can do!  Swinging!

Look, 'Miah!

Just your average kid, right?

Nice and lazy pull ups! But he did breathe heavy so he was working hard at going up and down! (upside down push up?)

I miss our pyramid structure behind our house in Charlotteotown.  We were just getting to the point where we could let the kids go the playground alone (in pairs and I could see them from the porch).

Big kid!

Where'd she go?

There is she!  Way up at the top!

Aww, (sad Mommy face), Abishai's big enough to try out the rope pyramid!

Watching Justin's puppet show.  They threw wood chips at him because Abishai wanted to get the bad guys.

Well, this isn't your typical sight in the office.  The food might have filled us up, but it wasn't that tasty.

Sleep it (the food) on!  Night, night!

Clouds towards the east.  The storms that threatened all day are moving on out without a drop of rain.  Yeah!