Category: Xander

On the way home from the indoor pool, we stopped off at IHOP for lunch…a HUGE favorite of the boys…they love the Cupcake Pancakes. Look how big they’re getting!!!

The boys had their first half day of school today. It was REALLY hard to get a good picture of all of them. Roman’s had to be retaken after school (and Xander’s still needs to be retaken) because they were just not having it. I always get nervous about beginnings and endings too and wasn’t a big fan of pictures when I was little…so I understand. Here’s what we’ve got…

Jonas: “When I grow up, I want to be a graphic novel artist.”

Xander: “When I grow up, I want to be a marine biologist.”

Roman: “When I grow up, I want to be a poker player.”

This week has been a little disappointing for us. The boys and I drove out to Pump It Up on Wednesday for some inflatable jump time, and they were closed for cleaning. Then, on Thursday, we drove out to the Cumberland Park Sprayground, and they were closed due to inclement weather. Ugh!!! Oh well. That’s life. We ended up taking the glass elevator and walking across the pedestrian bridge in the rain anyway because they just love that part. Here’s to the last day of summer before school starts…

We went to the Back to School Bash tonight, and the boys got to meet their teachers! It’s SO hard to believe that Jonas will be in 4th grade, Xander will be in 3rd grade, and Roman will be in 1st grade this year.

When I was a little girl in elementary school, we went to the Dyer Observatory for a field trip. I’ve seriously been wanting to go back there ever since then. So, I was so excited to be able to take my three elementary school aged boys there today, meeting up with our longtime adventuring friends…the Pomerantzes…for a (FREE) open house and tour.

First, we checked out the star model display in the lobby (“an interactive model that displays the positions of the 100 nearest and 100 brightest starts in the night sky”). Next, we climbed the stairs to see the Seyfert Telescope, where we learned about the telescope and got to take turns looking into it to see a star named “Beetle Juice”, which is a part of the Orion constellation. Then, we met in the library to look at the Hubble Space Telescope model, the observatory’s original planetarium dome, and a collection of meteorites and tektites. Afterwards, we gathered outside to hear about the sundial. Last, we followed a wood chip path to check out the solstice and equinox alignment stones and see the star chamber (“the only such installation of a camera-obscura and sundial in the world”).

I think Jonas enjoyed it the most…he said it was really cool and thanked me for taking him. Roman was triggered somehow sensory-wise and teetering on meltdown territory pretty much the whole time, but he was able to pull through it and I was still able to take in as much of the tour as possible. So, we’ll call it a success.

The boys and I met up with our dear friends, the Pomerantzes, to go hiking at Radnor Lake this morning.

It was Kim with her three girls and me with my three boys on the lake trail…which ended up being a three mile hike. Phew!!! It was tough keeping everybody together…as we have some who like to trail blaze, some who like to run ahead, some who like to stop and smell the roses, and some who just aren’t sure what they think about the whole thing.

Brilliant me, trying to distract from a possible multiple child meltdown…said, “Hey, guys, look! Here’s the lake trail already!” Only we ended up going on the looooooooooooong lake trail instead of the short lake trail. Oh well…no one was any worse for the wear, and we saw at least five different creatures along the way (deer, turkeys, turtles, herons, and fish). And Xander even found a pet stick to adopt, who he affectionately named Paul.

The boys did a lemonade stand this afternoon to raise money for Winter at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. They helped make cookies (snickerdoodles, oatmeal chocolate chip, and oatmeal raisin) and created some really fun, colorful signs. They each had a job and rotated (working the cash register, scooping ice, and pouring lemonade). We were excited to be able to raise $21 (every little bit helps) that we’ll be sending off in the mail tomorrow which will go towards caring for Winter and all of the rescued marine animals at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

The boys and I had a lazy morning in our pajamas…we fed the ducks and drove around town hiding painted rocks. Here they are feeding the ducks.

In between morning and afternoon appointments for the boys today, we went to the Franklin Rec Center Pool.

The boys had to pass a brief swim test (swim the width of the pool from the slide to the ladder) to be able to go down the water slides. Roman wasn’t so sure about it, until I reminded him that he swam the entire length of the pool several times last week. He decided he would try it, and I’m so happy he did. I loved seeing the look of confidence and the smile on his face when he stepped out of the pool on the other side to get his bracelet from the lifeguards, signifying that he’d passed the swim test.

He, along with his brothers, basically spent the entire hour and a half there going down the water slides.

The boys and I went bowling today! We bowled two games in the mini lanes. Then, they played in the arcade and earned tickets that they traded in for little things like noise putty, whoopee cushions, etc. They actually did well this time around…usually it’s a big meltdown fest…so we might go again later in the summer.

The boys had VBS this week! And this is how they roll…