The adventure continues

It has been a fairly eventful year so far. Lucian has done well in school and has tried his first season of flag football. Apollo is becoming more of a young kid and less like a toddler. We have built food trucks, pillow forts, water slides, car ramps, and amazing train railways. We have done experiments with baking, coloring and mixing water, reactions with bath and toilet bombs, and combining different liquids. We have gone to the zoo, the children's museum, playgrounds, indoor climbing places, trampoline parks, and field trips. It has been hot, cold, windy, and wet. I think we will survive the year just fine.

Lucian has done a great job in school this year. His reading and writing has come a long way. He even wrote me a little book. He has made lots of lovely pictures and fun art projects. Hopefully made some good memories and friends. His teacher was a really good match for him. 

Recently, he has tried flag football. He wasn't sure he would like it and we knew nothing about the rules. I thought he might like it because he likes "capture the flag" style games. So we gave it a go. His team ended up taking first place in his age group. He received a really nice trophy. Now he wants to play again in the fall. I had to explain to him that he probably won't be on the same team again, but he still seems to want to play. I think it will be a nice change for him. He wasn't the fastest or strongest, but he did pull his fair share of flags. For that, I am proud.

Apollo has been quite the little "threenager" this year. An emotional roller coaster who likes you one moment and despises you the next. He is learning that some things are a little too difficult for him. It's frustrating for him and he gets upset. It is frustrating for everyone else around him too. He often won't accept help. But that's ok. He is learning. I try to offer him love and support. Hopefully he accepts it.

We did attempt a gymnastics class for Apollo. It didn't go very well. I ended up getting a refund. He was too shy to even try. I guess it was too much for him. I think we will try a dance class next. 

Today we attempted to go to a strawberry festival. It ended up being cancelled due to the rain. We didn't get to do the festival or pick our own strawberries. We will pick strawberries another day. I'm hoping we get to pick other fruits this year as well.

We have a trip for Holiday world planned. It is coming up soon. This will be our first time going. It is a holiday themed theme park with a water park attached. I have heard good things about it. I hope the weather holds true for us. This will be Apollo's first theme park. I'm excited to see how he will do with rides and everything. I hope it doesn't disappoint. Hopefully, I will come back and write about our experience.

The kids are getting restless. Apollo is frustrated because he is unable to blow up a balloon. Lucian is bored. That is my calling to end this here. Until the next adventure...

New adventures for 2019

Lucian has currently been on winter break. We wanted to do something new and fun before he returned to school. Well, he goes back on Monday. Therefore, we did something new today that I've been wanting to do with him for awhile now. We went skating. All of us. As a family.

Keep in mind that neither boy has one skating before. Lucian received roller blades for the holidays this year from his grandpa. The boys tested them around the living room a bit. I told them we were going to go skating while on break. Naturally, they weren't thrilled because they are homebodies. I made them go anyways. I think they had fun. They tried something new.

Lucian fell a lot while learning to balance. But he figured some of it out. There was a lot of laughing and smiling. He didn't cry or get upset. He did his best. I am proud. He was proud of himself. Maybe next time I'll rent him a support contraption that kids use when they are learning. Only if he wants. Or maybe we will try ice skating next.

Apollo had the adjustable plastic skates for kids. His feet weren't big enough for the smallest skates yet. They were a lot easier to move around in than blades. Easier to balance. Plus they didn't roll well. He basically walked around in them and did the occasional split. He was okay with it all. He had a fascination with all the numbers the rink had on the walls.

After their hard work, we visited the arcade section. It wasn't much of an arcade I'm afraid. Most of the machines were out of order. Unfortunately, we got a good amount of tokens before looking at the games. It all worked out. They ended up with some tickets and picked out a few prizes (including cotton candy). I think it was a good overall experience. I hope we do some more new things soon.

Happy Birthday!

I can't believe time has gone by so fast. Lucian is 8 today. Apollo is 3 today. They have grown so much; physically and mentally. Each boy has been blooming in their own personalities. Lucian is creative, intelligent, and innovative. Apollo is imaginative, quick-witted, and curious. They are so much alike, yet, so unique. Today we plan to let them decide what they want to do. They each have a little cake that they picked out. They have some presents to open. I also wrote down a few activities they may be interested in. Mostly including some type of trick or treating. We did celebrate their birthdays early this year. Their Grammy came to visit for a week recently, and they were able to open some of their presents and have some cake. They mostly smashed their monster cupcakes into a giant much pile, but it was fun. They were able to promptly wash off in the bathtub. Currently, they are playing a brotherly game of minecraft while watching Peppa Pig on an Ipad. It's amusing watching it. They can't really do both at the same time. So they play a little bit of minecraft and when they hear something that peaks their interest, they pause and watch the show. Happy birthday my babies. Mama and Daddy are proud of you.

Woops, skip to Fall

Apparently we have been busy this summer, and I haven't updated. Or it could partially be due to the computer hard drive failing at the same time as my tablet wifi chip stopped working. Either way, I'm a bit behind.

Right now, I am standing at my old computer trying to have patience with the uncooperative keyboard. The boys took a trip up to Nana and Papa's house for the week. I have been so lonely without them. Their hugs and beautiful smiles. It is currently fall break, and we wanted to make sure the boys were able to get some quality time with each other and their grandparents. I wish it was easier for us to visit everyone. I'd love for the boys to spend more time with my side of the family. I would like that too. It has been a few years since I(we) have seen some people. Hopefully, the upcoming year will bring some travel.

So what has been going on around here? Well, over the summer we gardened, played at some new parks, ventured to the outdoor pool, started Lucian on a bike without training wheels, and started considering house buying. Lucian began second grade. He seems to like it so far. He has a friendly teacher who is also challenging and has made some new friends. He still loves to play video games. Apollo has joined him in playing minecraft. Against my own will, I had to learn to play a little bit in case he asks during the day. Joseph pulled out the old xbox and they have been trying out one of the halo games. Lucian is really good at picking up new games. I was seriously impressed. He still also plays Roblox on the ipad.

Apollo has started to become more independent, more vocal, and more interactive with other kids. He is still quite timid and prefers to observe, but has started venturing into playing with other kids. Though, he prefers his brother. He still loves to be outside and anything related to water balloons(or maybe just water).

Toward the end of summer and into fall, we have gone to the two different apple orchards.Though we didn't pick apples at the first one, we picked a bushel and some pumpkins at the second. Hopefully, we juice/cook/eat them before they start to rot. I've been eating them daily! Lucian has become more adventurous with the apple picking. He independently and willingly climbed into the trees with me to reach apples higher up the tree. Apollo was great at collecting the apples into the bags for us. He also became more adventurous in the pumpkin field. No matter how many times he tripped, he would get right back up and search for more pumpkins. He found quite a bit of them. We ended up getting four: 2 white, 2 orange. Lucian really likes the white ones, and we all had a fun time searching through all the vines to see if we could find any. Luckily we did!

In September, Lucian was very sick with a stomach virus. He missed a week of school after getting sent home from vomiting. After not improving from the stomach pain after 24 hours we ended up at the hospital to make sure it wasn't appendicitis. It wasn't. Thank goodness. Though we did keep him there a few days for fluids and pain meds through an IV. He wasn't keeping much down, especially any pain medications. Poor kiddo. It eventually passed. I am very proud of how strong he was through all the discomfort. Apollo was lucky enough not to get it.

We have been back to a normal routine up until now for fall break. Soon it will be their birthday. I can't believe they will be 3 and 8. Time really does fly. I wish it would slow down so I don't miss anything, but I'm excited to watch them grow. They have so many similarities and just as many differences. They love each other and annoy each other. Best of all they get to grow together. It is truly beautiful.

Moving on

The school year has ended. First grade is past us. I'm sad to see him grow, but I haven't been prouder. Lucian is a shining star. He is a kind, unique child. This past week we were able to watch him be promoted from the first grade. They had a cute little ceremony where all the kids in each class were called to the stage and handed an envelope with their "awards" as they walked across and shook hands. The classes designed a red carpet made out of paper for them to walk down. Each side had individual pictures with hand prints and names of the students. They concluded the ceremony with the kids singing "Roar" by Katy Perry. Lucian couldn't read the lyrics fast enough and wasn't too well versed on the song. He did his best. It was cute to say the least.

He had three ribbons in his envelope. The first one was a ribbon saying he was promoted to second grade. The second one was the citizenship award. He was chosen as citizen of the month earlier in the year. The third one was for A-B honor roll. We aren't really sticklers on grades. Especially at this age, he doesn't need that type of pressure from us. We just encourage him to do his best. But, he also doesn't like to lose, so that may be his own personal push.

Now that we are officially on Summer vacation, we are just trying to have some fun. He finished his current soccer season right before school ended, and they had a picnic on the last day of school. It was a good way to end the season/school year and start vacation. They had little goodie bags with small water guns in them. All the kids pulled them out and raced along the playground getting each other wet. The water fountain had quite the crowd of eager participants.

Yesterday (memorial day), we took a family trip to the children's museum. It was nice to have us all go for once. During the school year, I would take Apollo during the day. It's a nice place to go in winter to get out of the cold. Now that they have opened the outdoor sports area, I've been wanted to check it out while it's nice. Though it was way too hot out, Lucian and I braved the outdoor heat and brightness for a little bit. He tried the basketball area first. I thought it was way too bright. I could barely open my eyes it was so reflective (the ground was yellow). Next time we need to take sunglasses. We were going to try the soccer area next, but ended up going into the hockey area, which was right before the soccer area. I've been trying to convince Lucian to play hockey for a few years now. He always tells me no. I think he is afraid of the whole skating thing. Luckily, the outdoor hockey area didn't need skates. It was roller hockey. Let me tell you, he is REALLY good. I was impressed how quick he picked up on it. He has a pretty good slap shot. It may be all those years we played mini golf and regular golf. He seems to be a natural with stick sports. He is still reluctant to try skating... how young can they start field hockey? Either way, I'll keep trying to get him to the skating arena.

Today, Lucian started volleyball camp. We signed him up for a couple different camps to get him to try new things and keep him busy. This allows some interaction with other kids around his age and keep his mind off being bored or relying on electronics. This was a fairly new sport for him. I thought they did a good job introducing basic movements. It's at the high school and several of the high school volleyball players were there to help and work with the kids. I was only able to watch here and there because Apollo was getting bored. I don't think Lucian has formed an opinion on it yet. We will see.

We started our garden within the last month. It has been so hot lately, we have been trying to maintain as much moisture as we can. We do have some things growing. We need to keep up with the weeds a little bit more. Hopefully, some more things will pop up.

Apollo has been adjusting to having Lucian home. He's been a little more grumpy and territorial, but I think he is getting there. He has also been attached to my leg lately. Anytime I go to work, he has a partial meltdown. At least it is nice out right now, he usually does better when occupied outdoors. He is an outdoor kid for sure. We stocked up on water balloons, and purchased a second hose, to keep them both busy outside. Otherwise, he is getting pickier, talking a lot more, and napping less. Sometimes it is aggravating when they fight, but it is pretty funny to hear Apollo's side of the story sometimes. He has a different perspective on life for sure. We need to work on the whole what really happened/truth thing.

That is pretty much it for the moment. We've been looking at houses lately and taking the boys to a few open houses. They have a thing about running in circles in empty rooms. I don't know, they like it. Maybe we will find the right place for us soon.

Is This Spring?

The weather seems to finally be normalizing. The sun has been shining. The dandelions are peeking out. The trees are, finally, budding. I'm so ecstatic to see green everywhere. We are starting to prepare our gardens. Joe cleaned out a lot of our containers yesterday in preparation. Lucian planted some seeds. We checked out the condition of one of our garden plots the other day. I am really excited to start planting soon. We tried to start some plants inside this year. The delay in weather killed most of them. But I'm hoping we can save a few that are still sprouted. I think the lack of sunlight in our house didn't help either. We have all North facing windows, which is pretty much the worst for sunlight.

Lucian's year of first grade at his new school is starting to come to an end. This is, officially, his last month as a first grader. I was glad to see him do well this year. He has made some friends, likes his teacher, and says he likes his school this year (probably due to the first two things). Today as I was driving him to school, he told me he really liked school trips. We recently went to the zoo as a field trip. Even though it was chilly and rainy, everyone seemed to have a good time. It was very rushed, I wish they could have had longer. Unfortunately, all the picnic tables were soaked, and they decided to bus back to the school for lunch. The kids were starving at the point, since they usually eat a lot earlier in the day. We joined the kids for lunch in their classroom. It was nice. Apollo had fun too. I think he wants to go to school with Lucian. He must miss him during the day.

Apollo is currently watering the grass in the yard. The kid loves water. We were going to go to the park today and get some energy out, but when we stopped home he took one look at the water table they filled yesterday and decided that was a better choice. It started with the water table and escalated to the hose. Now everything is getting a spray down. Including Burnie, who was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Though he moved, I know he doesn't mind it too much. At least he watered my lemon balm!

So what are the boys into now? Well, Lucian still loves watching videos on youtube kids. He learns about different video games that he plays. He is into the game Roblox right now. It's a game similar to minecraft where you take your character into different games. It's funny seeing him play a game where a bunch of players are doing everyday things. Some examples are: riding an elevator, plowing snow, running a pizza shop, or going to high school. There are some weird ones too and also some violent ones. He also still really enjoys playing minecraft and building levels in super mario maker. We have been playing a lot more board games lately too. Outside of the house, we have been going to the park after school on nicer days. It helps keep his mind off electronics. Plus, we could all use fresh air. As for sports, this spring he is currently playing soccer. He is enjoying it, and he is pretty decent. I like to watch all of his practices because I work during his games. I'm sad to miss them, but I'm glad Joe and Apollo go root him on. This summer he is going to be super busy. We have him joined into many events. Such as soccer camp, reading group, inventor camp, and possibly swim lessons. Invention camp seems fun, they are supposed to be making a robot and studying robotics. His school has a robotics club, so maybe this will get him more interested in joining something like that.

Apollo looooooooves Paw Patrol. He picked the video off the shelf to watch not too long ago and has loved it ever since. Within the last few weeks, he has found the paw patrol toys that have been hiding out among the toys. Now we play paw patrol every day. We also watch a lot of paw patrol. I did reintroduce him to Little Einsteins the other day to mix it up. He seemed to like it. We have also been playing a lot of trains, coloring, and play dough. We've been slowly making out way through the costco sized play dough bag I bought. Joe thought I was nuts, but now he thinks it was brilliant. Because it was ;-)

Now I'm going to hang out with Apollo as he watched Paw Patrol and eats his frozen sesame bagel (it's his thing lately, I don't know). I'll try to post again soon.

The never ending winter

This winter seems longer than most. The skies have teased us with sunlight and temporary warmth, than blasted us with brutal winds and snow. The world seems disrupted in an uproar of political spasm. I watch my boys grow each day. It gives me hope that the warmth will soon come. Maybe the sun will bring everyone to rest. Allow us all to simply get along.

I long for the chance to get out in the garden, to enjoy the parks, to try something new this year. This summer will hopefully involve camping, gardening, and horseback riding. We haven't taken Apollo on horses yet. I feel this year would be a good opportunity. Maybe try some other things we haven't done yet. We haven't gone to any pools since we moved up here. So maybe we will try that out this summer as well.

Lucian is signed up for soccer, which should start in a few weeks. We have been talking about putting both boys in swim lessons this summer as well. It's hard, since summer is so short. School restarts in the midst of what we knew as summer break. It really limits the time frame to try new things. I think we will also send Lucian to soccer camp again this year. It's not an overnight camp. He really liked it last year. Now that he speech is constantly improving, I hope it will be easier for him to connect with other kids. Maybe make some true friends.

Apollo is milking his toddler years. Enjoying the fact that he gets to stay home while his brother leaves for school. He does miss him though. The bigger he gets, the more things they are able to do together. They can actually play and have fun. Of course, there is a lot of fighting as well. They are siblings after all. Taking each others toys and deliberately annoying one another. It can be frustrating at times, but I actually kind of enjoy it. Through the disagreeing, they find a solution or they are separated. It gives them a glimpse into their potential closeness, into how much they are alike, into the unfair world. So, yes, I enjoy that they are unknowingly learning about themselves and the world around them. They will understand the importance of their relationship when they get older. For now, let them play, let them disagree, let them learn.

On the upside, Lucian has been going through an eating strike since being back in school. He thinks he can survive off of macaroni and cheese and lunchables. Ok, not quite that extreme. Though he would probably survive, he wouldn't be very healthy. He has been retrying and trying new things. We have been trying to re-expand his food palate. He has discovered he actually does like mango, and still dislikes anything in the squash category. Apollo, on the other hand, seems to be even pickier. He straight out refuses to eat anything the color green or that may have a sliver of green touching it. I can only hope we outgrow that sometime soon. Until then, one day at a time.