What We Did on Our Summer Vacation, Part 1: June

Summer break started early for us this year!  By the first day of June, we were already "on vacation."  This summer, no one is taking a morning nap, so we have a lot of free time to go out and about and do some fun things in the morning.

Face painting from the park party

In June, some of the things we did were: pool visit to Champlin, story time at Barnes & Noble (Laura listens to stories, Ryan plays at the train table), neighborhood park party, penny carnival at the park, Kids Concert at the park, soccer on Saturdays for Laura, road trip to WI with Grandma Barb, "Baby" Joey's 1st birthday party, Musikgarten class for Ryan, and swimming lessons for Laura.  Wow!

Party at Joey's!

The road trip was our biggest undertaking, 5 days in Wisconsin visiting Great-Grandma Mason, the Olley Greats, Auntie Annie & Daniel, and Great-Great Auntie Carol.  Good thing Grandma Barb could come along and entertain in the back seat!  The kids were great riders and adapted well to being shuttled all over. Laura particularly liked eating at Panera (three times!), twice polishing off giant cinnamon rolls, sharing a bed with Grandma Barb, looking at Auntie Carol's jewelry collection, and climbing up the pole in Grandpa & Grandma Olley's basement.  Ryan enjoyed playing with cars and trucks in Grandma Mason's basement, bonding with "Papa Woh-wee" (my Grandpa Olley), visiting the airport restaurant with Grandma and Grandpa (he still tells me "Papa Woh-wee...helicopter") and driving Matchbox cars around in their basement.  Always fun to see the WI relatives, which we don't get to do often enough.

Pit stop at Grandma Mason's for dinner!

Trucks in the basement

Visit to Auntie Carol's

Made it to the top!

Playing in the backyard with Papa Woh-wee

We've only been to Musikgarten once so far, but Ry exceeded expectations by staying seated in my lap, and following commands about taking/using/returning musical instruments.  He participated, sang along, and generally had a good time.  Yay, Ryan!  You may recall when I took Laura to ECFE classes that she stood in the corner at music time and WOULD NOT join in.

Laura had a good experience at swimming lessons the last two weeks, made even more fun by the fact that her daycare buddies CJ and Grace attended lessons at the same time!  This year she was in Guppies (step up from her 2 year stint in Tadpoles) but did not pass yet because she "just needs to get bigger and stronger."  Story of her life!  She also forgets to keep paddling and kicking when she wants to take a breath so there is definitely a little room for work there.  Soccer went through June and wrapped up at the end of the month.  I think she liked soccer, but was frustrated when she didn't score, it was "too hot" or she had to face off against kids that were better/bigger than her.  She certainly learned some skills she put into action on the field and it was fun to watch her try something new.

Soccer girl

So there's June.  Other current info is that Ryan continues to be obsessed with playing "cars and trucks" with Matchbox cars, and we are constantly toting buckets of his favorites up and down three floors of our house. It keeps him very focused and busy!  Walks are still a favorite and most days we make the loop around the block with Laura on her bike and Ryan walking or riding in the stroller.  Finally, Laura is growing up and enjoying pop music on the radio immensely and has several favorites (she will blast out of her room to announce what's on the radio).  Some are a little older and others more recent - here's Laura's "playlist":

* Ingrid Michaelsen "Girls Chase Boys"

* Katy Perry "Roar"

* Magic! "Rude"

* Sara Bareilles "Brave" and "I Choose You"

* Paramore "Ain't it Fun"

* Lorde "Royals"

Ryan's still digging The Muffin Man and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  Glad I still have my "baby!"