This Was a First for Us

So, the first week of July brought some extreme weather.  Before the heatwave started, we had a tornado warning!  This is not something we ever see in our area, so it was a first for us.  The news was advising us to head to the basement and our phones were warning us to take cover.  Of course, this happened on the ONE DAY all three kids were napping.  They were so tired, and the house was so nice and quiet, but we saw that office buildings and medical centers were evacuating people to the basements or first floor, so we had to take things seriously, too.  So, that meant waking up three very sleepy kids and carrying them to the basement.  Luckily, they did not freak out and they were very patient.  We didn't have to stay down there too long, but the weather continued to be intense.  It was hard to get any great video since I didn't want my phone to get wet, but I don't think I have ever seen it rain so hard here.

 

It was quite strange to be huddled in the basement.  I know we have friends in other parts of the country for whom this is somewhat common, but we were not prepared for that.  At least we had iPads and the kids kept busy that way.  Thankfully, no tornado touched down near us, and everyone was safe.

We spent most of the day indoors, of course, so the kids requested that they be able to paint.  These are their masterpieces from the day.

We have been trying to come up with different ways to beat the incredible heat lately (temps in the mid 90s with a lot of humidity).  My mom suggested a 'girls night' of sorts so she, Mairead, and I met up with Katie and Lily for dinner.  We went to Joe's Crab Shack and had a fun time.  Every so often, 'disco' lights flash and the waitstaff gets up and dances.  Of course, Mairead and Lily were all over that!  I was pretty impressed with Mairead.  She followed the waitresses' instructions carefully and really learned the steps to the dance.  She has even repeated them for us in the past few days and has been SO proud of herself!

 They have an awesome kids' dessert- make your own ice cream sandwich.  They give the kids a plate with a quartered ice cream sandwich and a few toppings.  Both Mairead and Lily loved the idea and enjoyed their delicious creations!

 

This has been a not so great part of summer so far.  They are doing major work on the gas lines on our street, and they start at 7am every day.  Every. Day.  They are out there all day and it is SO loud and SO dusty, and it's hard to even get out of the driveway sometimes.  Obviously, it's worse for the poor guys working in the heat, but we will be very happy when the work is done!

 

North Conway Day 2- Diana's Baths

After a good night's sleep for everyone, we piled into the car and headed to a nearby entrance to the National Forest.  This trail would lead us to Diana's Baths, which is a very cool spot.  The hike in was about 6/10 of a mile, which was perfect for us.  The kids took off on a tear trying to get to the waterfall.

 

It really was beautiful.  The water was too cold for even Mairead to go in, but she had fun climbing on the rocks with Daddy, while the boys (ninja turtles) fended off an attack from Shredder by throwing rocks into puddles.  There were some beautiful butterflies around who were brave enough to alight on Mairead's shoes at one point!

I LOVE this.  Jack has his hand on Ben's shoulder and is pointing out the correct trail to follow.  Such a good 'big' brother.

I really can't say what is happening here.  She is a bear, maybe?  Who knows...  Notice that in NO picture are all three kids looking in the direction of the camera.  Some day...

North Conway Trip- Day 1

 For Christmas, my aunt and uncle gave our family an incredible gift- passes to Story Land and use of their house in Bartlett, NH.  It was such a generous gift and meant so much to us.  After two really tough summers, we were finally able to go on a family vacation!  Thanks so much, Lee and Jean!

The kids were great on the ride up, partly because we have DVD players that we use on long trip, partly because I had lots of snacks, and partly because they are just good kids.  We stopped for lunch along the way and they even shared their lemonade.

The kids were very excited to check out the house.  They did wonder where Lee and Jean were, and why they were not in their house, but they mostly had fun exploring the new place.

 

Bunk beds!

We didn't arrive in NH until afternoon, and it was raining when we first got up there, but we were able to get in a round of mini-golf with the place all to ourselves.  This turned out to be good since my kids do not have the most control over where the golf balls end up.

This picture of Jack is out of order, but you can see that he made himself at home pretty quickly!

 

We laid low and had dinner at the house that night because everyone was so tired from the trip.  We were ready for our adventures the next day!

First Day of Summer Vacation

We didn't waste any time getting the fun started.  On the first day of summer vacation, we met up with some friends at Parlee Farms to see the animals and to, of course, eat some donuts.  The kids loved feeding the goats and the all thought the bunnies were so cute.  It was a nice way to start the summer with a relaxing morning on a beautiful day.

 

When we got home, we talked about the animals and equipment we had seen, and did some coloring of pictures of farms.  Teacher friends- you will appreciate the differentiated instruction in that Mairead colored and then cut out pictures of farm animals and equipment and then glued them into the right categories and places in her picture.  The boys tried writing the letter 'F' and colored their animal pictures.  It was really cute to see them all working and learning together.