Follies In Motherhood: Nature Center

The title of this post is courtesy of one Colin Kuriyama. I asked him why he picked "Nature Center" as the title and he said "Because it is funny. So is the library." I am completely blanking on an opening paragraph, so I also asked Colin what to write:

Dad
Louis
Grandma
TV
Plants vs Zombies (this is his favorite game, thanks to his Dad)
The fan.

We kicked off the month with Chris' favorite holiday - 4th of July! I know I've said this before but I never imagined myself as the neighbor who pops off fireworks at home, but here I am! It is just so much fun to see the kids' reaction and some of the fireworks are pretty cool. We are also really fortunate to have a cool (instigator) neighbors who surprise the kids with big time fireworks.

Blair was very non-plussed about the fireworks - a few she gave a reaction to but mostly she just wanted to be pushed around in her stroller bike.

And you know me - any chance I get to go to a parade and I am there! Even when it feels like I could melt into the pavement. This parade was...suspiciously white (if that's even a thing) but it was good to get the kids out, and now they both love to snatch up those candies and goodies!

Chris had a very long weekend and we made sure to take advantage. We headed to the Nature Center (see title) and played around in the water and mud while Chris was devoured by bugs.

Then we went over to Lake Michigan because we hadn't felt our bodies go numb and freeze in water since last summer. I always have the best intentions of going to the lake more often when summer starts but then we only end up going once or twice. It was a fun trip and both kids were able to play and have a good time.

At one point Colin wanted to go to a sandbar a ways out; as we were walking he said "Oh my legs are turning green!" so I had to haul his string bean body back to shore.

We are lucky enough to have some awesome friends that love taking adventures too, even if it means it is an hour away! We went to the Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids and it was so cool, and the kids had a blast (except for the time Colin got lost and told an employee "I can't find my mom - can you please call Julie?") It was definitely an artspace > kids area though because there were some no no's we found out about along the way. But it was fun and worth the trip!

One of the moms in Colin's class told me about this farm close to the Indiana border where they have all these exotic animals and given my daughter has an aggressively loving nature towards all things that move, we had to check it out. It was...interesting. First, it is very clean, and there are a lot of hands-on opportunities. But when the options to feed the animals are carrots and Froot Loops and you start to wonder. Then you go on a horse drawn wagon to feed the more rare animals and that's when it gets weirder. At first you're thinking "Wow, that's a wildabeast!" and then you think "Hmm..that seems a little out of place." The kids had fun and that's all that matters!

We also took a longer-than-normal trip to Ohio this month! Chris was removing our tile floor and it was a very messy and dusty job so the kids had to be out of the house, and luckily we know a great spot to go. We went to the Cleveland Children's Museum again and both kids had so much fun. My mom, sister and brother-in-law came too to provide extra coverage and get extra laughs. Then we went to a splash pad where the water was actually warm, which made it all the better because it was a cool day. We also sprinkled into some testicle toss and some squirt gun fights with Uncle Kyle. I was happy to visit of course but was so excited to see the floor and it looks amazing!

The kids even got to ride in Papa's Jeep! How fun (and scary for mom)!!

The very next day Colin had soccer camp. My choices for age ranges were 2-3 or 4-6 and since his birthday was so close to the camp I chose the older group, and Colin may have paid for it. While it was the right choice because he would've gotten nothing from the 2-3 group, the size and skill gap between an almost 4 year old and 6 year old is pretty big. It was also obvious other kids had played before which also made it tough. Nevertheless I made him finish with his team each day (even if he did get a ball to the guts 5min earlier) and it goes without saying his favorite parts were celebrating goals (after he realized that he too, gets a point) and running through the sprinkler.

Colin was asking for a lemonade stand and it finally wasn't blistering hot outside, so we set it up and waited. And waited. And waited. The only people who stopped were our cool neighbor (see above) and Chris. I kept asking Colin if he wanted to go in and he'd say "No I might miss a customer!" It killed me to see him get his hopes up every time a car got close and then sad when they drove by...maybe next time I'll throw rocks at every car that doesn't stop!

Dad needed to finish up some parts of the floor, so the kids and I headed to the AirFair at our regional airport. It is nothing super fancy, but it has crafts and prizes, and you get to sit in some aviation equipment. And who doesn't love getting their face painted?

And finally! Our last big adventure for the month was to the Nature Center to a farmyard school. We went last month and they had baby goats running around, and this time we got to see how chores get done around the farm. As a perk, the kids got to feed the chickens (gross), goats and mini horse. Little Blair in her element!

The month with the reputation as being the hottest surely didn't disappoint. We splurged and bought an $8 sprinkler and it has something for everyone, even the dog!

When it wasn't scorching hot we visited playgrounds and friends, did a failed science experiment and then redid it to only fail again. I am also trying to get the kids into arts & crafts again but keeping in mind I will need to save that interest for winter when we are cooped up inside!

As the kids continue to grow, I see how different they are. And not to assume that I only see the differences, because I see similarities too (funny, fearless, super friendly, climbers, let's-put-everything-into-my-mouth), but those are expected since they are siblings. Blair can bumble around the backyard while I'm outside just happy as a lark, and Colin loves to come up with imaginary games to be play with me. Even though they are both funny, Colin is more obvious humor, and Blair is more "it is always the quiet ones" type humor. They don't often find things they can play together, but still want to be around each other.

And onto the kiddos. My Colin - what a dynamic kid. There are moments where his hilarious & kind personality melts my heart, but other times when his stubbornness makes me crazy. I know that he gets bored because no matter how many parks or playdates or adventures we go on, I still can't give him the type of stimulation he really needs like he gets from school. And when he's bored, he's mischievous on a whole other level, which means I've been letting him zone out to the TV/iPad way more than I'm comfortable with. We will use the month of August to get those cobwebs cleaned out and wean him off screens so he's not a total disaster once school starts!

Funny Colin stories:
- I accidentally brushed Colin up against the endcap at Target while he was on the end of the cart and he said "Ow you caught my b-hole!"
- I think he picked this up from his teacher, but he's been saying "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
- He heard the song "What do you mean?" and said I should sing it to Carlo. When I asked why he said "Because you always say, 'WHAT DO YOU NEED CARLO?'"
- We were watching a show about life in Africa and he was pretending we were lions and he said "I eat meat popsicles!"
- Colin was eating a popsicle and said "I shall kiss this popsicle for joy & love!"
- we got his haircut the day before his birthday and he told the lady "Do a good job, tomorrow is my birthday."

Oh and my Blair. Sweet girl, but also recently nicknamed Josie Grossie because she's always looking a hot mess! No matter how hard I try, the girl has dirt on her hands, feet and face all day long. It suits her I guess, and offsets that fair skinned, blonde hair, blue eyed stereotype. She has 7 teeth but just recently had an 8th one pop through - so crazy because at this age Colin had all his teeth. Blair is also getting very excellent at words - she can identify most animals by sound, with a few by name, and can say & point to major body parts. Both kids are very friendly, and very in tune with other people's emotions. If she's around and Colin is crying, she will go over and try to make him laugh or give him a hug (which includes little pats on the back) which make me so proud & happy.