August outdoor fun

August was hot but that didn't stop the kids from playing outside from sunup to sunset. We jumped, swung, biked, swam and so much more! Here are some random pictures from the fun we had enjoying the August sunshine!

 Helping Grammy harvest her garden is always fun

 Samuel learned how to ride a bike well enough to go on bike rides with the big kids! His first trip was to the myra museum. He was hot and tired and so so proud of himself, as was his big brother Benjamin!

 Brandon was going to take Samuel to McDonalds for a free ice cream cone for being caught wearing his helmet. Samuel invited his best buddy Theo and Brandon gave them cones IN THE CAR and let them go at it. Another reason I am not the fun parent, I would never do that! We tired to take a picture of the boys and they both did the same pose. 

 Elias learned how to mow the lawn this summer. Brandon enjoys the task so Elias wont' really ever have to unless Brandon is too busy. 

 We also spent a ton of time at parks, on bars and in trees. You know, just hanging out!

My favorite picture of the summer. I went on a pokemon go walk with Elias and Brandon took the other 4 to the park and to play tennis. Samuel did great but after so much running and playing he just laid down and stayed there until it was time to go. I don't know why but I just love it!

Looking back on all the fun we had this summer makes me excited for next summer! 

Pokemon Go

Last summer Pokemon Go came out and Elias was hooked. The only downside to it is he needs to be on my phone and walking around or driving around to catch and hatch things. Being as he is 9, doesn't own a phone or a car, this proves to be a problem. A separate problem is I lost my walking buddy last fall when Kelli's husband and my husband ended up on conflicting shifts making it hard to walk regularly. I don't know why it took so long but I realized that if I let Elias play Pokemon Go, we could go on regular 2 mile walks...done. We developed a pretty solid routine of walking every day when the weather permitted in August. He was so into the game he didn't even notice how much he was walking, bonus! On days where we couldn't get in a full walk, we would still try to get to the Myra museum which is only about a 5 minute walk away. We headed out as the clouds rolled in. I wasn't even the slightest worried because I looked at the radar and I had a solid hour.....or so I thought. 

 We snapped this picture and I felt the first few drops fall. We were shielded by trees most of the walk home but about 2 blocks away it started pouring. The older kids ran ahead but I was stuck walking with Sammy pushing Nicholas in a stroller and 38 weeks pregnant. I just accepted to get soaking wet. It was a hot day and felt kinda nice so we just made it fun and danced and danced when we got home. I don't usually do fun or messy things but this was both!

 Annie started getting jealous of all the Pokemon Go-ing Elias was doing and she started to come along as well. Sometimes we even took all the kids and accidentally ended up eating ice cream instead of walking. Oops.

August Parks

Now that I have introduced Mary to everyone, it is time to catch up on the last few months. My goal, if I choose to accept it, is to be fully caught up by Thanksgiving. Wish me luck!

At the beginning of the summer, we started our park challenge. We tried to visit every park and pool in town. Last year we got about 68% of the way through and I was determined to complete the challenge this year! Brandon was on weekends off the beginning of August and we took that chance to do a couple of monster park hopping days. We were able to cross off every park and pool on the list! Whoop Whoop!

 The gym had an end of the year party at Riverside Pool. We were able to cross off the park and the pool at the same time!

 We spend the next weekend getting our last three parks, all downtown parks I had never been to and a couple I didn't even know existed!

This is a little park right by Saint Michael's Church. Small and tucked away.

 Richards West on the north west side of town. I expected it to be small but it was quite large with lots of green fields to run around the park.

Phoenix school park 

 Our last park of the summer!! We celebrated with a ill timed celebratory jump!

Since I am now an official park expert our favorites were:

*Wilder Elementary it is seriously SO nice 

*Kannowskii park downtown. It is small but a ton of monkey bar type equipment which my kids love. I am not super thrilled about the area though.

*Lake Agassiz school. I love the dual park area and if you go early on the weekend its empty!

I will also add that it is sad but true that most of the lower income areas of town also have the most run down and depressing parks. The nice parks are in the newer areas of town which of course is where all the newer and bigger homes are....who can afford those....thats right people with money. Some of the north end schools like Wilder have nice new parks but Winship's is just flat out depressing as well as several of the neighborhood parks. I really hope they plan upgrades to some of them in the future otherwise they won't get used and that is just a shame being as parks are fun! 

I am not sure if we will do this next year, Elias is totally over parks. I can probably string  him along if I let him Pokemon Go the whole time, which I might do because I really look forward to getting a cold coffee and relaxing at the park with my brood of kids. 

LEGOS, Library and other indoor fun

The absolute best part about homeschool is the ability to dictate our schedules throughout the year. We usually start school the week before the public school kids because I am just ready to be in a routine already and we normally end early May. We don't take off any days during the year really, and only a few days over Christmas and other big break holidays. I like being in a routine, we function better as a family and it is simply just easier. I have to brace myself for the days neighborhood kids have off, and we do school early and late so the kids can play but we pretty much start in August and don't end until May. That is the beautiful part...we end in early May! The kids have spent all winter inside and by spring all kids are getting squirly, this is why it works out so well to be done, we enjoy the parks and fresh air all to ourselves for almost a month before the public school kids join us. 

There is a downside to all of this, the weather! In May it can still be cold or wet or just not outside weather. When we are done with school and the weather is bad and neighbor kids are still in school we get creative to fill our time! We love hitting up the library year round, doing LEGO club( through the library), building awesome race tracks, sewing, baking, playing board games and just playing without school looming over our head. The kids get to enjoy time with each other and I am really thankful that for the most part they do it without fighting. The good thing about having a big family is we are NEVER board in this house! So here are some pictures of our May indoor happenings!

 I made the leggings Annie is wearing and she made the swaddle and bow JJ is wearing!

A few of my favorite things

In an attempt to get caught up...again, I am combining some pictures I took in March all into one neat little post I like to call, a few of my favorite things. Up first: Play time with the neighborhood kids!

The kids on our street have been really into street hockey recently. Surprisingly, no one on our street actually plays hockey with a team so it really is just good ole fashion fun. For an early b-day present for Elias, we bought some street hockey gear. We have already had several fun outings both with the whole neighborhood and just our family playing. In case you are wondering, we all suck:)

 Next up, COFFEE!!!! Brandon and I both love our coffee a bit too much. Regardless of how much we love it, Nicholas loves making it even more! He frequently walks up to Brandon, reaches his arms out to be picked up and starts making the coffee grinder noise. He walks Brandon though the kitchen, pointing to the appropriate spot to get the beans, grinder, pot, filter and water. His favorite part is by far grinding the beans. After the pot is brewed, he likes to climb up in Brandon's lap and take giant whiffs of the delicious smelling stuff while Brandon drinks it. It is probably the most adorable thing that happens around here on a regular basis.

Grinding the beans...pure joy!

 Last up for today, library time! This Christmas I made all the kids library totes and we have wasted no time putting them to good use. We love to pop on over to the library( after preschool/toddler story time but before lunch is the sweet spot) and pick out a fresh stack. The kids usually sit and read for awhile while I chase Nicholas around then we pack up and head home where its more reading! The library has become a nice little home away from  home that we enjoy spending LOTS of time at!

Apple Picking Fun

One of the best parts about homeschooling is the freedom it allows in our day. One beautiful September day,we were happily doing some math problems when my phone buzzes and the opportunity to go pick apples arose. We threw down our pencils, grabbed the bug spray and headed out to a beautiful home with 4 apple trees that were right for picking. The first frost was a few weeks off so we didn't clean the trees, but each of the kids ended up with a big bag full of tart apples, perfect for baking! Later in the month, we headed back out and cleaned the trees( with the help of the Grafs) I had SO MANY APPLES in my car that I opened up my trunk and let all my neighbors go to town. Even after they took their bags full I still had enough to can 17 quarts of apple sauce and make several apple crisps as well as a ton left over for eating. A big big thank you to the Lester's for letting us pick apples in the beautiful sunshine!

 Why stop with apples when the garden has green beans that need to be picked. 

 This picture does not even began to do the quantity of apples we had justice.