Visitors from Belgium

Did I ever mention we love having visitors? Well, we do! And this past week, we were lucky enough to have ma marraine (Dominique), Marine, Geoffrey, and Romain visit us for a few days.

Because of some troubles with the rental car, they weren't able to leave as early as they'd hoped for, so they got to our house fairly late on Monday. I had kept the kids up so that they could meet them and say Hi. We had dinner, talked a little, and they all went to bed soon after that (8 hour is a long time in the car.)

 

On Tuesday, we went to the farm to pick strawberries. This was actually our first time picking strawberries. We've picked cherries, apples, and pumpkins before, but never strawberries. That afternoon, we played in the swimming pool on the deck while Kendall took a nap. Then we went to the mall for some shopping. Marine was in Heaven.

 

Wednesday morning, we went to Krispy Kreme (where the belt was turned off, so we didn't see the donuts being made- boo), and then Grater's Ice Cream (where we learned that the factory had closed 2 years ago- boo again). BUT we did get to eat some yummy fresh donuts and some unique delicious ice cream. Peach ice cream and black raspberry ice cream with chocolate chips. That afternoon, while Kendall was napping, we played some games outside, then we had a water balloon fight... well, the older kids did. And then we watched Belgium kick Korea's butt in the World Soccer Cup. That night, after Logan, Taylor, and Kendall went to sleep, we played a few games of Wacky Six. I think we got them addicted.

On Thursday, we went to Buck Creek. Once again, Kendall was fearless. We're gonna have to give her swimming lessons soon, because I had to save her a few times. She just kept walking in deeper and deeper, until her feet couldn't reach the bottom. Ahh, that girl! We also made a sand castle... well, our little family watched their family make it. That afternoon, we went to Steak 'n Shake for their half-off shakes, and we ate them at the park. Then we took a little walk in the woods. After dinner, we celebrated Romain's 13th birthday and went to Cold Stone for some ice cream. And that night, we went to another park for their outdoor movie night, Wreck-it Ralph. By that point, the kids were exhausted, but they did really well during the movie. The meltdowns all happened on the way to the car and in the car. Poor Marine, Geoffrey, and Romain will never want kids after that. In their defense, they really were tired. 8 am to 11 pm makes a long day, but they all passed out in the car. Phew.

And Friday, before they all got back in the car for another 8 hours to Maryland, we played some Wii and had some Coke floats, because Belgians don't do Root Beer floats. Duh!

It was a really fun but short visit. Next time they come back, who knows where we will be. Hopefully still in driving distance from my parents, but we will see. We miss them already!

And here are Marine's pictures from the trip. (I think she took 1000 pictures, these are just a few.)

Krispy Kreme

Graeter's Ice Cream

At Batelle Darby Creek Park, after picking some Steak 'n Shakes milkshakes

At Buck Creek

Ready for the game

Wreck-it-Raph (pre-meltdown)

Saying Goodbye, for now.

World Soccer Cup

It's the World Soccer Cup 2014!!! First Belgium beat Algeria, then Russia, and then Korea. And then came the big game (for me): Belgium v. USA. Who was I rooting for? Belgium, of course. I kept checking Facebook during the game, because I just loved seeing how everybody in Belgium was united in one hope and one dream of winning. It was... kind of humbling.

And Belgium beat the USA, 2 to 1. I would have loved being in Belgium when it happened. The screams of joy. The parties in the streets. Everybody celebrating the big win.

Next up, Argentina. Wouldn't it be amazing if Belgium won the World Soccer Cup? Then maybe people would finally know where Belgium is. Or that it's a country. Haha. Although after last night's game, I'm sure they know it now.

 

 

Glo Run 5K

We did it again! Last year, Sia, Rachelle, Maloree, and I ran the Color Me Rad 5K. This year, we signed up for the Glo Run 5K, and a lot more girls joined the fun- Brittany, Kortney, Trinette, Krystee, Heather, and Emily. The night before the race, Trinette, Rachelle, Maloree, and I made tutus (it's kind of a tradition now). But this time we added glowsticks to make them even cooler.

 

We were decked out in glowsticks- bracelets, necklaces, earrings, glasses, and we even attempted to "mark" ourselves with the stuff inside the glowsticks (that's what Rachelle is doing in that picture).
Even though we walked the whole way, because Sia, Maloree, Rachelle, and Trinette are pregnant, we had a blast.

The not-pregnant girls

The pregnant girls

Summer fun in June

We love summer! I might not be that mom that has a summer schedule and does something new, fun, and exciting for her kids every day. But I do try to get them out of the house and enjoy the beautiful weather that we've been having. Sometimes we just go on a walk at the park. And sometimes we just set up the swimming pool on the deck. It's nothing fancy, but the kids love it. Because when your husband/daddy is a resident and you have a budget, you can't just go to the zoo and the water park whenever you want, so you just have to look around and find simple but fun things to do that are free.

 

Father's Day

 

 

The kids might not know it, yet, but we lucked out on getting this guy! He's an amazing husband and father. He's kind, loving, fun, patient, understanding, ambitious, spiritual, and has passed down all his great genes to our children. I mean, look at them! And look at him! I'm pretty darn lucky.

LOGAN:

 

What is daddy's name? William

How old is daddy? 23

How tall is daddy? 23

What does daddy do for fun? He loves to go bowling.

What is daddy's hair like? It spikes me sometimes.

What does daddy do at work? He eats lunch.

What are daddy's favorite things to eat? Spicy stuff on toast.

What makes daddy the best? Because he saved the animals with his sword (...) and he is strong.

What does daddy like to drink? Coke, because he works hard.

What is your favorite thing to do with daddy? Going ice skating and bowling.

TAYLOR:

 

What is daddy's name? William Beeston

How old is daddy? 5

How tall is daddy? This tall.

What does daddy do for fun? He plays with toys with us. And he plays jokes on me.

What is daddy's hair like? It's like black.

What does daddy do at work? He exercises.

What are daddy's favorite things to eat? He likes spices on his food.

What makes daddy the best? Jesus made him.

What does daddy like to drink? Coke

What is your favorite thing to do with daddy? Play and sleep. And play hide-and seek with my baby animals.

 

 

KENDALL:

 

What is daddy's name? D

How old is daddy? 3

How tall is daddy? Bigger

What does daddy do for fun? He plays in the tent.

What is daddy's hair like? Black.

What does daddy do at work? He plays with kids.

What are daddy's favorite things to eat? Lettuce

What makes daddy the best? Me

What does daddy like to drink? Coke

What is your favorite thing to do with daddy? Going to the snuggy bear.

Kendall, just because

These past few months, Kendall has been letting me play with her hair and try out new things, so I snapped a few pictures of the results of my hard work. Can you tell she's got personality?

 

 

Fishing trip

We finally took the kids fishing! William has been talking about doing it for a while now, but this month has been pretty easy on him, so we finally went ahead and went to the pond. We didn't catch anything, but we still had a lot of fun. And the boys thought they were so cool...it was really cute.

 

Buck Creek

The first time we went to Buck Creek was almost 3 years ago, when we first moved to Ohio. I don't know why it took us so long to make the 40-minute drive to Buck Creek again. Maybe I was nervous to bring 3 non-swimming kids near water. I don't know. But one Saturday morning, we decided that the weather was perfect for a morning at the beach. And so we packed the kids' swim suits and a few snacks and jumped in the van. Notice that in the excitement of our trip, I forgot to pack the adults' swim suits. I also rubbed sunscreen on the kids but forgot to rub it on ourselves, resulting in sunburns for both William and I.

(Also, Kendall was completely fearless in the water, just like I was as a kid.)

 

 

Sports Summer Camp

After Taylor was "diagnosed" (not by a doctor) with "anxiety" (or whatever), I signed him up for a Sports Summer Camp. I figured it would push him a little outside of his comfort zone and force him to interact with others. I didn't sign up Logan for this because I wanted Taylor to get used to not always having his brother around. Tough love, I know.

I had been talking to him about the camp for weeks, doing my best to get him excited about trying out new sports and making new friends, but when we got there he stayed right next to me. I encouraged him to get out there and get the ball. But when someone threw the ball at him, he missed a couple of times, and I think he lost all confidence in himself and his abilities to play sports, or basketball.

Eventually, I had to leave, but I did so with heavy feet. My heart was breaking for him. He clearly didn't want to be there. He clearly didn't want to play with a bunch of strangers. And he clearly didn't want to be alone. As soon as I sat in the van, I started sobbing. Is tough love really the way to go? After 5 days of camp, I'm not so sure. I don't think this experience taught him to get out of his comfort zone or interact with others. Sure, he learned a little more about soccer basketball, flag football, baseball, and Olympic sports, but he came out the same way he went in-- alone.

It breaks my heart because I often felt lonely as a child. I wanted to play with others, but I didn't want to impose myself on them. And I think Taylor feels the same. Sure, I turned out alright and grew out of it (to a certain extent), but I also have many regrets (things I wish I had done). I don't want Taylor to have regrets, to grow up and look back on his past, wishing he had done things differently, and tried to do these things he so desperately wanted to do.

Ahhh, this parenting-thing... I'm still learning as I go... Taylor's favorite sport was soccer, by the way. And he got a super cool metal, for soccer.