Memorial Day Get-A-Way.....

The Thursday before Memorial Day weekend Shawn sent me a text that read, "Dr. ****** that is working here this week offered to let us use his condo at Lake of the Ozarks this weekend for free.  Are we interested?"  Huh.  Let's see Shawn.  What do you think?  I sent a text back, "Bags are already in the car and I'm backing out of the garage.  Are you coming with us?!"
Total no brainer for me.  Condo.  Lakeside.  Three day weekend.  FREE.  Who says no to that? 
The place we stayed was gorgeous.  And spacious enough for our entire brood.

It had a fully stocked kitchen.

A full dining set on the deck complete with a gorgeous view.

And two chaise lounge chairs also on the deck.  Close enough to wifi that evenings on the laptop outside were fabulous.

Craziest thing about this weekend?  Our good friends the Lewis' were staying in the exact same complex the same time.  Julie and I were able to run together in the mornings and lounge with each other at the pool one afternoon.  We went with both our families out to dinner one night.  I actually forgot the name of the restaurant (blame it on back blogging).  But.  It was on the water somewhere with great scenery and we enjoyed ourselves.

That's the restaurant in the background.  Most people boat to it.  We drove.  Because that's how we roll.  (and we don't own a boat!) One morning we woke up and decided to venture out on a hike to a local state park.

We had such a great time.  We opted for a paved path that was one mile in, one mile out along a riverbed that had no human access.  We saw lots of turtles, bullfrogs, and a few sea otters.  It was the perfect hike for our little people.  And Presley walked the entire way.

After the hike and a bit of swimming at the condo, we hit up a local custard joint to help with heat stroke.  And because it tastes good! 

That evening we were afforded the opportunity to eat at a fancy schmancy establishment (read: a place with actual menus instead of a reader board at the counter) with Drew and Julie.  Sans kids.  A great way to end the day.

What I don't have pictures of?  All the fun times spent around and in the condo swimming pool.  And the Jet ski's Dr. ****** let us have access to.  That was actually hilarious.  Shawn took Ethan and Kennedy out to sea.  Ethan decided it wasn't his favorite activity, Kennedy enjoyed it.  Then he took Jackson and Landon.  Landon said it was okay, but Jack.  Oh Jack.  He was totally in his element.  He could have stayed on that jet ski all day long.  But.  He couldn't.  Because.  We sent all the kids back up to the room and Shawn and I hopped on one together.  How romantic.  Especially when Shawn hit a wave sideways and totally tipped us off.  And then he stayed in one spot treading water while I swam after the craft, hopped on, found both of his flip flops, and then pulled him back on.  Yep.  Romance isn't dead.  It was pretty awesome.  Shawn and I both felt this was our favorite family vacation by far ever spent.  We think it had to do with "no expectations" because we really had none.  We didn't know what to expect so how could it go wrong?  And the kids were amazingly good.  Amazingly good.  I hope trips like this pop up in our lives every once in awhile from now on.  Good times.

Jack's Performance....

Jackson finished first grade this year.  And according to him "I'm the smartest kid in my class.  Todd is second smartest."  He's such a modest child.  His class put on a few small plays for the parents to observe.  Jack was chosen to be narrator of the play he was in.  (He also told me he's the best reader in his class.  Hmmm.  Maybe a humility lesson is in order?)

I guess all joking aside, Jack is a very smart boy with a lot of potential.  At his current age he loves everything medicine.  And is eager to go to work with Shawn every chance he gets to witness epidurals or surgeries if the timing is right.  This year he also became fascinated with "The Lion, The Witch, And the Wardrobe" series.  He saw the "Prince Caspian" movie and it quickly became his favorite.  When he found out there were more movies he was thrilled.  But.  Then he found out there was an entire book series.  He was elated!  And he read the series in it's entirety.  He's moved on now to Harry Potter.  After book one he watched the movie.  He said "I liked the movie, but I loved the book.  When I read I get better mental images than when I watch the movie".  I love that he's such an enthusiastic reader.  A boy after his mother's heart.

Graduation Ceremonies....

For Landon, preschool is now just a fond memory.  After two years of learning at Sacred Heart Preschool Landon was dubbed smart (and old) enough to move on to bigger and better things.  Mrs. Carroll sure does know how to hold a celebration.  The theme was western this year and the room was decorated with these wanted posters:

The entire group gathered on stage to perform a few of their prized songs:

Then each child was handed a diploma from Mrs. Carroll herself.  Such a big moment in a little man's life.

Congratulations Landon.  Kindergarten will be lucky to have you. 

I guess I should say that out of all my children he is most excited (and ready) to move on.  He's been reading for the last year, and since he turned 5 last November he's been begging to get on the bus.  I think the early morning wake up call will be an eye opener to his little world.  But.  He's ready.  And so is his Mother. 

Baking anyone?

We all know by now that Presley loooooves to get into things.  Especially when she feels nobody is paying attention.  One morning after a really hard workout I opted to take an exceptionally long hot shower.  Five full minutes instead of three.  And when I exited my bedroom I was greeted in the kitchen by this face:

Don't feel sorry for her.  Her tears were only because she came to the realization that her fun was over.  She feels little remorse for her adventures.  She had her fun.  And then I got to have my fun cleaning up all of her fun:

She's lucky she's so cute.

Mud Pie Day.....

Springtime in Missouri means lots of rain.  Which in turn equals mud.  Because our neighborhood is always in construction mode, the dirt run off is quite abundant in the streets.  Which leads us to my current knowledge that my sweet little Presley has no fear of getting dirty.  Precious.

She was playing with the boys, then trying to wipe something off her face which led to the complete mud mask.  It was actually quite funny to witness.  The boys had a great time filling an old pop bottle with mud.  And just getting dirty in general.

Good thing little bodies are completely washable. 

Mother's Day....

When I arrived home the day before Mother's Day (I can't for the life of me remember where I was) it was to a clean house and these from Shawn:

Beautiful.  And then on actual Mother's Day?  Kennedy presented me breakfast in bed:

Yep.  Made all by herself.  From scratch. Mother's Day is changed forever now that I have a daughter old enough to take over my job.  Happy Place.

Rubik's Cube Mania....

*I realize I am waaaaaay behind on posts.  My kids hog the computer all day, and at night I'm beat.  I'm gonna play the catch-up game.  For journaling purposes.  And because we've had a lot of fun these past few months!*

Ethan became obsessed with Rubik's cubes over Christmas break.  He asked for a cube in his stocking.  He got one.  And then he actually learned how to solve it.  Youtube tutorials taught him the algorithms.  Crazy.  He got to where he was really fast and needed to be challenged.  He saved up and purchased a 5x5, 6x6, and 7x7.  Yes.  There are such things.  And he learned how to solve them all also using algorithms.  He begged and begged me to let him enter a competition.  Lucky for him there was one two hours away in April.  Being the good mother I am (I need some kind of credit) I opted to take him.  And I'm glad I did. 
This particular competition was held in a middle school cafeteria.  A really nice cafeteria.  Entering was quite intimidating.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't what I thought it would be.  There were small groups of competitors.  Serious competitors.  That appeared to be late late teens and early twenties.  With lots of long hair, piercings, and tattoos.  None of which are bad.  Just not what I expected.  Especially when I have my 11 year old son trailing behind.  Awkward.  But.  We were there with a purpose.  We selected a table clear in the back where Ethan set down his stuff and started to warm up.  If that's what it's called.

After a few practice tries he decided we should move up to the front where we could witness all the action.  I admit, I was impressed.  The host was an 8th grade boy whose parents had a "Rubik's cube official" flown in for the weekend to make it legit.  (Flown in from Berkley.  See.  Point made.)  Real timers, solving mats, and judges were placed up front where the audience could fully enjoy each competitors event.  One of the guys in his late teens even brought his own groupies:

Complete with Rubik's cube skirts.  Awesome.  Ethan competed in the 3x3 rounds.

He was one place away from making it to the finals.  Top 12 made it, he was 13th.  So close.  And not bad for being the youngest one competing.  He was smack dab in the middle ranging from best to worst.  He rocked it out.  He competed in the 4x4:

And also in the one-handed division:

While the judges were doing their thing and there was a bit of time to spare, they teamed up and did a blind folded version.  The person blindfolded was the solver, and the teammate called the moves to help make the solve.  Ethan found a friend named Sam.  A sophomore who also convinced his mother he needed to enter this competition.  A very nice kid.  Who was impressed by Ethan's skill.  Because Ethan beat him with ease.  And was pretty modest about it.

For a while Ethan would eat, breathe, and sleep Rubik's cubes.  Since the competition his passion has kind of waned.  I'm so glad he convinced me to take him to this event.  I loved spending the time with him, and watching him succeed in his element.  He told me "I love just being around people who understand what it means to be a solver.  And to not have to explain what an algorithm is."  Smart boy.  Way smart boy.