Here’s just some of the fun things we did so far:
Royals Baseball Game
Nothing says summer like a night out at the ole ball game. And even though it’s not the Rangers, we still always cheer for the home team!
Here’s the whole gang! My parents, brother Keith and Mason, and sister Katelynn and Scarlett. Nana and Papa are visiting all summer long from St. George so we enjoyed their company too.
And it just so happened so be Scarlett’s very first time at a baseball game!!
And Ms Brooke enjoyed herself too
And while we enjoyed an eventful baseball game, let’s be honest, there’s one reason we ALL go to baseball games. For the FOOD! Watching baseball just happens to be an added bonus!
Brooke tried a Lemon Chill for the first time and was addicted. And MY pretzel quickly became hers!
A few weeks earlier, one of Anthony’s patients gave him AWESOME tickets to a Royals game. Up close and personal, it’s a totally different baseball experience. It was totally spur of the moment, but the we ALL loved the $20 voucher that was included with each ticket. So we ate to our hearts content, and then went shopping :)
Shawnee Mission Park
One Saturday, we took advantage of family day at Shawnee Mission Park and explored the beautiful oasis. This park was one I remember going to as a teenager when I lived in KC –and always brings back so many memories.
Tanner and Anthony braved the wind to go out in canoe, mostly cause Anthony figured it would be easier than manning a pedal boat. Tanner was a worried they’d tip over and never let go, but otherwise enjoyed it.
And not too far away, Kristan/Keith’s family were hanging out in a paddle boat.
Next up, we hit the beach. We’ll definitely be coming back here more this summer! Not that I’m a huge fan of swimming in lake water, but the unlimited amounts of sand just made Tanner’s day.
Scarlett and Brooke were having fun too…if only we can figure out how to keep Scarlett from trying to eat the sand!
Later that evening, Jeremy and Corinne were in town doing some wedding planning. All the family met up for dinner for BBQ on Saturday night and had a repeat on Sunday night at Kristan’s/Keith’s. We LOVED seeing them and can’t wait for their upcoming wedding this Fall!
Strawberry Picking
One of my favorite summer childhood memories is picking strawberries straight from the field. In MN, they were everyone. When I saw a friend post a picture of a strawberry field, we decided to give it a go. We barely made it – we happened to call and they said they were open one more night. The berries were small but still so sweet!!
Nana & Mom out in the strawberry fields
Tanner and Avery “helped” too, but Tanner readily admitted he wasn’t a very good picker but a much better eater!
There he is -- caught in the act!
And somehow we convinced them to give us a ride in the tractor back to our cars. We were all grateful! I was a hot, sweaty, strawberry mess!!
I was thinking I’d have to come up with something to do with the 10+ pounds of strawberries we got, but turns out, we ATE them all. It was way TOO EASY!
But I didn’t do it by myself. Brooke helped. We discovered Brooke has a strawberry addition. She could easily eat a whole pound all by herself in one sitting. They were the perfect size for her to just pop in her mouth, and she wouldn’t stop until the whole bowl was gone. empty. no more left.
So next year, we’ll definitely be back, with the whole family in tow!
Crown Center Plaza
I met with an old college roommate – Heidi Meadows – who I haven’t seen in YEARS! But now we all are married and have kids – so we met up in Downtown at Crown Center Plaza and let the kids play at the Curious George Exhibit.
Afterwards, we had lunch at the kiddos all-time favorite, Fritz’s, were all the food is delivered via railroad train.
Jo Ho Storytime
One of our favorite activities each month is going to Jo Ho Storytime, where Jo Ho makes stories come alive by acting them out and asking for audience members to participate. Tanner is always LAUGHING out loud during the show – and always manages to get a turn going up to help act out a story.
Brooke was having a good ole time too, hanging out next to momma and chowing down on some snacks.
Power Play
If you every ask Avery what she wants to do, it will 99.9% of the time involve going to Power Play. This place is like Chuckie Cheese on crack – arcade games, bumper cars, bowling, laser tag, and rides. What more could a kid seriously want?? I love the fact that it’s air conditioned!!
Tanner’s friend Carson met up with us too. These two LOVE hanging out every chance they get…and most mornings start by Tanner asking if he gets to go to Carson’s house.
When they were getting ready to play Laser Tag, Carson wasn’t so sure. He told us, “I think my Dad told me to never, ever do this!” Yeah, something about loading up with gear and shooting guns isn’t something we usually tell our kids is a "good” thing, but when it comes to Laser Tag, it’s lots of fun. Avery gave us the run-down of how to play, and even though Tanner was one of the youngest, he held his own.
Laser Tag
Arcade Games
Rides – Tanner wasn’t so sure of this at first, but by the end, he was laughing hysterically. He liked being able to control the up/down movements :)
The infamous swings!
This one is called “The WHIP” for good reason.
Brooke had her share of rides too. She could have stayed on this train forever! But she also enjoyed the bounce house and other activities too. Even though she stayed up way past her naptime, which typically is never ever advisable, she was so happy/pleasant the ENTIRE time. This girl was in her element!!
Olathe Fire Station Fieldtrip
Tanner has a slight obsession with firefighters…so even though we had done this with his preschool last fall…we decided to organize another field trip to the local fire station just a few blocks from ourhome
We got to see where they eat, sleep, and live.
Go inside a real fire truck. And made sure not to push any buttons, cause we didn’t want the fire struck to start! Fire trucks don’t have keys (who has time to look for them!) so everything is operated by buttons.
And Brooke was just as fascinated as the rest of them. She insisted on going inside and didn’t want to budge from “her” seat.
But she’s cute, so she gets her way, most of the time.
They also got to see all the fancy equipment firefighters wear – weighing up to 85lbs when everything is on. Not sure you could convince me to wear that during the summer!
Tanner wants to be a fire fighter when he grows up…so it’s awesome to have such nice local fire fighters who take time to help educate these little ones about fire safety and answer their millions of questions.
Swimming
And we spend most of our time at the pool. Swimming. Cooling off. Getting wet. And totally exhausting ourselves.
Tanner is a HUGE fan of the water this year, when in the past, he was always slightly afraid. Now he swims on his own, either with his kickboard or floaties. And considering there’s a toddler that I can’t take my eyes off of, we welcome his new found independence.
Brooke also LOVES the water. She’s a little crazy. In the pool, she LOVES to jump. She doesn't like to be held or stuck in a floating device, but loves the freedom to roam around in the baby pool or on the steps. She’ll bend her knees, get her face as close to the water as possible, or heck, even take a little sip, and then pop up and JUMP! It's so cute to watch and it makes her so happy! Occasionally, she looses her balance and slips under the water, but she doesn't seem to mind and keeps doing it again and again. At home, she tries the same technique to jump but isn't nearly as successful, at least not yet!
And you know what else we discovered. Brooke’s hair is LONG enough for pigtails. And she keeps them in!! Doesn’t she look absolutely adorable??
Playground
We also spend a lot of time outdoors, mostly in our backyard. Brooke has a slight obsession with swinging and is constantly asking to go outside. No matter how hot…
One time we weren’t quite ready, but I let her run out there with Tanner while I went to grab her shoes. Literally seconds later, look what she was up to:
Climbing the ladder like it was NO BIG DEAL! Funny how earlier that same day, I was thinking how lucky I was that she couldn’t climb up it yet, and most likely wouldn’t be able to until next summer. Well – Brooke has her OWN ideas – she can get all the way up herself, but it makes this MOM super nervous. She hasn’t fallen yet…and we hope to keep it that way.
I should have know better. When we were at the neighborhood park, she got all the way up this super tall set all by herself. She’s crazy, but not that crazy – at least she enough sense to hold on.
And she was so PROUD of herself. And couldn’t wait to go down the slide. Most days, I think she thinks she’s 2, and forgets she’s only 13 months!!!
She also LOVES to play on the patio with this water table, an awesome garage sale find for only $10! She’s usually totally drenched afterwards, but it’s worth it. It’s such a fun sensory experience for them – even the older kids join in too!
Parties
I also planned an awesome PIRATE birthday party for Tanner (more on that later).
Celebrated my Mom’s birthday. For her bday, I took them to go see 9 to 5 Musical at Theater in the Park. Perfect girls night out musical!!
The rain has tried to foil all my plans this summer! First, we had to re-schedule our Royals game tickets, the game getting cancelled AFTER we got there, and the second time, going to see "Catch Me If You Can" musical at Starlight outdoor theater. Anthony gave me season tickets for my birthday and my parents/grandparents joined us, but left at intermission due to the rain. We stuck around and LOVED the performance, but could have done without the 15 minutes of rain. And we had the same luck seeing "9 to 5"musical at Theater in the Park. But the show was cancelled just after arriving -- and we went a few days later -- and it was an absolutely beautiful, a dare say COLD, summer evening outside.
And had a PARTY with some close friends for Chelsea’s 30th birthday!!! Complete with bacon-wrapped appetizers and DQ ice cream cake – two items Chelsea’s highly addicted to – and who else isn't??
Luckily, we survived the worse stomach flu ever. I think it's been over 10 years since I was sick with the flu and vomiting, but as long as it doesn't come back again for another another 10+ years, we'll be ok.
So that was our June, in a nutshell. I'm sure the rest of our summer will involve much more sitting around the house, vegging on tv and iPad, but hey, sometimes that's the best we can do. But we've had SO much so far, and hoping there's still more FUN to be had!!
