Taekwondo

 

This summer, Logan and Taylor took a Taekwondo class. At first, they loved it. As the weeks went by, the excitement wore off a little. But I'd like to think they learned some good defense and offense skills. They both looked so cute in their little kimonos...

  

 

 

Logan and Taylor are 5!

Daddy had a really important M&M presentation on Logan and Taylor's birthday. But that didn't keep us from having fun. In the morning we went to World of Bounce. In the afternoon, I have Logan and Taylor one present each (bow and arrows) to play with until Daddy came home. It entertained them for hours. Then, when Daddy came home, we gave them the rest of their presents (a marble run and a speed race track). We had dinner at home because we wanted Logan and Taylor to enjoy their presents for a little while, and then we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert.

 

The following day, we had the birthday party with friends at the playground. We ate pizza and an ice cream cake from Cold Stone (because I knew that some kids didn't really like cake) (and because I'm not the best baker or decorator in the world). We played some games, including guessing who was in the picture, Logan or Taylor, and the almost-annual piñata. The kids had a blast and were very grateful to everyone who came, which was Kelly, Robert, Ben, Ashley, Azelynn, and Jaylee. Sadly Joey and Amber couldn't make it.

Taylor's stats: 3 ft 4.1 and 32.8 lbs. (He's in the 7th percentile for height, and 5th for weight.)
Logan's stats:  is 3 ft 4.2 and 36.4 lbs. (He's in the 8th percentile for height, and 20th for weight.)

Once I actually looked at these stats, I realized they had to be wrong because Logan is at least 2 inches taller than Taylor. But I don't know whose height they got wrong. Oh, well.

As far as their personalities go, Taylor is sweet, goofy, tolerant, mechanical, patient and helpful.
Logan is athletic, caring, independent, ambitious, resilient, and helpful.

Friends' birthday parties

It's not always easy to have a Summer birthday, with people going away on vacations and stuff. But fortunately, a lot of our friends are in the same situation as we are: they're in school and they're dirty-poor. So we've been able to make it to 2 of our very good friends' birthday parties: Kelly and Joey, both turning 5.

 

Kelly had her birthday party at the splash pads.



 

And Joey had his birthday party at home.

We're so grateful for wonderful friends who "get" us, care for us, and love us, no matter what. Sure, we all have a lot of energy and we're kinda weird sometimes, but real friends understand that and don't judge us for it. We love you, Kelly and Joey.

Summer fun in July

Is it me or has this summer not been all that great, weather-wise? I feel like there's been a lot of sad, gray, chilly, rainy days. But we've tried to make the most of those nice days. Sure, there are days when we don't do anything cool; instead, we go to the gym, or we go grocery shopping. But then we also go swimming with friends, go to the splash pads, go to the playground, or go to the Columbus Commons for their free entertainment.

 

 

Can I just say, I am so proud of Logan. When it comes to the swimming pool, he is cautious but daring. Ok, I know those words are opposite. What I mean is that he likes to jump in and swim into the deep end, but he does so very carefully, and always with floaties. Logan is more daring than Taylor, for sure. And he is more cautious than Kendall, certainly. It's the perfect balance. 

 

4th of July celebrations

What's better than celebrating Independence Day on July 4th? The answer is, celebrating Independence Day on July 3rd AND July 4th.

On the 3rd, we went to the Red, White, and Boom celebration on the rooftop of a parking building at OSU. We had a lot of friends there, which made the time go by fast until the fireworks went off at 10 PM. It was nice to have some adult time while the kids all played together.

And then on the 4th, we went to the Hilliard Soccer Fields to watch another set of fireworks, which also went off at 10 PM. We were there with the Childs and the Lemons. The kids had a blast playing with Ben, Ashley, Kelly, and Robert. They played soccer and tag, before we busted out the sprinklers and glow sticks.

 

 

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.