We hit the ground running Saturday morning, July 6th. We were so excited to be home and together and to get some things done around the house. We haven't stopped running since and it seems like time is out pacing us every day. As I'm writing this we are a week away from August!!!
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Now that we were home no more running around with her binky all the time.
Hazel compensated by finding a babydoll that has an attached binky and stealing hers. |
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Saturday morning we cleaned both cars inside and out.
Then we set up the sprinkler for the kids. |
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Saturday morning I got the bright idea that Cody and I needed to go on a date that night.
Luckily, we have awesome friends and one husband came over after we put the kids to bed so we could go see Lone Ranger. |
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| Cody was not happy that I was trying to take a picture in the dark movie theatre and he was really not happy when the flash went off. I'm glad I have this moment preserved! |
On Wednesday the 10th, we met at the Nature Realm for playgroup. It was a super muggy, swampy day (aparently it rained for the entire time we were in Florida and man does it show with the weeds in my yard!) But lots of people still came and the kids enjoyed being out of the house. Success!
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Morgan was very proud of his tower until Hazel knocked it over.
Sisters! |
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| Classic kid group photo. |
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| Watching a mommy duck and her babies waddle around. |
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| Playing I Spy with the lily pond creatures. |
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| Found the duck family again. |
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| Time to explore some trees. |
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This is our typical nap/quiet/lunch time.
Morgan happily eating and/or watching something.
Pepper all over me and my chair! |
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Morgan's top tooth has been wiggly for weeks and weeks it seems.
Finally came out when he bit into his sandwich that day. |
On Thursday, the 11th we joined some people from Momsclub and ventured out to an exotic animal rescue facility about 40 min away. It was a nice morning but had rained a lot the night before and the ground was really muddy. Between that and the loose gravel paths pushing the stroller was NOT my favorite. Also, because so many of the animals were badly abused there are signs everywhere that say no loud noises, crying, screaming or running and don't call out the animals names because all of these things scare and upset these poor creatures. Yep, large group of small children was super fun to keep quiet and peaceful...but we actually managed pretty well. It was called Noah's Lost Ark and the website gave background stories on a lot of the animals. I cried reading most of the stories and tried my best to explain the situation to the kids without scaring them. I think I'll wait to go here again till I have older kids who can better understand the purpose of this place but glad we went nonetheless.
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| The beginning part was petting zoo area where you could feed the animals. |
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| Morgan's friend, Sarah joined us. Outings are always more fun with friends. |
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| Most of the bigger animals' homes sat back further from the path and a lot of the animals stayed in their shacks because it made them feel safer. It made it a little harder to see them but we still were able to see lots of different and amazing animals. |
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Morgan was excited these lemurs were named Batman and Robin.
Who has pet Lemurs and then doesn't take care of them?! People are so crazy sometimes! |
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| The pretty horse area. |
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| Lunchtime! |
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| Someone loves being a big kid who gets to sit at the table and drink a juice box. |
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| The exotic animals I brought home with me. |
Friday the 12th was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A. I decorated some shirts as best I could and headed over to meet up with some friends for lunch. Because we only had shirts we didn't get whole meals free just entrees. I will be better prepared next year!
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| Pepper followed and harassed this poor cow all over the restaurant. She kept pulling his tail, giving him hugs and high fives. Then she gathered a whole group of little girls that kept running around screaming and chasing the cow. I'm sure that teenager kept thinking, "They don't pay me enough for this!" |
On Saturday the 13th, Sarah's mom invited us to join them at their local lake where they are members. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves and had the best time. It was so peaceful and the weather was just perfect. It was a perfect way to spend a summer Saturday morning together as a family.
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| Stephanie took the older kids out to the raft where they all had fun jumping in. Luckily, Stephanie brought 3 life vests for them because it was a pretty long swim for short arms. |
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| Another summer picnic. I swear all I do each week is pack picnic lunch after picnic lunch. |
After we got home from the lake and Hazel went down for her nap, Cody and Morgan headed out on a father/son date. Cody took Morgan to Chuck E Cheese for the 1st time in his life so they could play arcade games. Morgan's life got a little bit sweeter that day and the kid's face lights up whenever he talks about it. I'm pretty sure Cody had a pretty fun time too. Next up on the man date was a late lunch at 5 Guys Burgers, Morgan's choice. Again, Cody was pretty happy about that, too!
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Then they hung out at Sams Club getting free samples till we came and joined them for dinner.
Hazel is one happy baby if you give her pizza.
Also, one of the few words she can say very clearly. |
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| So many great things about this shot. |
A new frozen yogurt place opened up closer to our home so we headed over there after grocery shopping to check it out. Sweetfrog is the name and it was pretty great. Now the kids ask every other day to go there again.
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| Pepper's bowl always has way too many flavor choices and candy toppings. This girl loves sugar. |
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| Hazel was quite focused, too. |
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| Another mascot to enjoy. |
The next week was probably the hottest of the summer here, so on Tuesday I decided we needed to get wet again. We grabbed some friends and headed over to Cuyahoga Falls to one of the wading pools. We were lucky enough to grab some spots in the shade and let the kids have a great time.
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| Hazel kept sucking on my leg. Guess she likes the taste of sunscreen and stubble. |
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| Can you find all the kids? |
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| We left just as another storm came rolling in. Besides not feeling that great myself it was a very nice morning. |
On Wednesday17th for playgroup we met up at the Akron Zoo. It was another hot and humid morning but still not as bad as Florida. I was with one pregnant mom and another who had a few week old baby. Needless to say we did not push ourselves too much and after a quick trip around outside headed inside for lunch and let the kids play in the coral reef exhibit.
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| Pepper and her friend, Hugh sharing his double stroller with the new baby. |
I am so glad these two are old enough to ride by themselves now. Hazel hates it and spinning rides make me instantly queasy.
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| Hazel happy to observe. |
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| The big cats were all out and easy to see that day. |
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| Looks like one of the lions was pawing the glass with muddy paws. |
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Elsie and Hazel holding hands with Emily.
Love them! |
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A new all time favorite picture!
I love matching sisters! |
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The Instagram version of the same picture.
I could stare at this all day! |
So, that's a little bit of what we've been up to since we got home from Florida. We have kept pretty busy so there is more to come.
