Gemma conversations

Gemma is going through a language explosion. She is learning so much, so quickly it is amazing! She is also hilarious recently. Here are a few:

1.
Gemma:(sneezes)
Gemma: bless you, me!

2.
(William and Amelia are fighting in the backseat about something)
Amelia: not it is not!
William: you are wrong!!!!
Amelia: no, you are wrong!
Gemma: yes it is!
Amelia: no it isn't!
William: no it isn't!
Gemma (with a gleam in her eye): yes it is!

She has since tried to bring back this argument any time we drive anywhere.

Gemma: yes it is!
.....
Gemma: yes it is!
....
Gemma: yes it is!
William: no it isn't!
Gemma: yes it is!



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It's swimming lesson time!

The kids have swimming lessons this week. The temperature has been cooler than usual, which I have enjoyed from the sidelines. The kids aren't enjoying the cold as much. They are, however, making great strides in their swimming skills.

At the beginning of the lessons, William was able to swim, although he wasn't very efficient. He is knows how to do front and back crawl and bread stroke. He isn't super great at executing them yet, but he is miles better than where we started.

Amelia desperately wanted to be able to swim. She is determined to keep up with William and it made her crazy that he could swim while she couldn't quite do it yet. She is now familiar with the front and back crawl. At her last lesson, the teacher was able to start working with her on the breast
stroke. Pretty exciting!

Before the first lesson, William was adamant that he would NOT be going off the diving board. I agreed as I have learned that it is just better to pick my battles with William. It turned out that the diving board was not available at the first lesson. At the end of the second lesson, Amelia jumped off the diving board, much to William's dismay.

With a big sigh, he turned and said, "did Amelia just jump off the diving board?"

I agreed.

He then asked the swim teacher, "was she very scared?"

Nope.

And then he requested a turn on the diving board.

Those two just push and pull each other to improve and develop. It is astonishing how much they motivate and push each other. While they are somewhat in competition, they are also best friends and play together all the time. (Yes, they fight all the time as well).

Watch for video to follow

Falling asleep

One way we survived sleeping in one hotel room with 5 people was to make a game for the big kids. We gave out huge prizes for the winners of the sleep game as well as some special privileges. There wasn't any real money involved, but sometimes you got the first pick of seats at the table or the last packet of fruit snacks.

The winner was defined as the person who fell asleep first and another winner was the person who slept the longest. Mom and dad were disqualified from this game, but it really helped the big kids.

A major problem is that William prefers to read himself to sleep until he cannot hold the book anymore. It isn't unusual to find him passed out with the book across his lap, chest or face. We've seen it all. He comes by this genetically. I'll let you guess where it comes from. William is the back up again around 6 am and he has no sense of how loud he is when others are trying to sleep.

Amelia falls asleep very quickly (I suspect she still needs a brief nap, but refuses to take one. This, she totally collapses at bedtime.). She also usually sleeps in a little longer. However, in true little sister style, if William is up, she is ready to go. She will not miss a minute nor be a step behind.

Gemma needs the most sleep, but at the youngest, she is the last to let go. If there is going to be a party, she will NOT miss out. She will hold out for quite some time just in the off chance something exciting happens.

Getting all 3 of them to sleep in the same room is very tricky.

Enter in the sleeping winners. If the big kids are quiet and even just pretending to sleep, then Gemma will let go as will Amelia.

One night, everyone was in bed and everyone was supposed to be sleeping. Amelia was all tucked in, eyes shut and very still. I would have guessed she wasn't sleeping, but I wasn't sure.

I quietly reminded William that he needed to settle in and go to sleep so he could be a winner tomorrow.

Which is when this conversation happened:

Amelia: William won't be the winner. I am the winner because I am asleep first.

Daddy: Amelia, you aren't asleep if you are still talking.

Amelia: yes I am.

William: if you were really sleeping, you wouldn't be listening to us talk.

Amelia: yes I am. I am talking and listening in my sleep.

Daddy: that's enough. It's time to sleep.

Amelia: I'm already asleep. And I'm a winner.
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Safety town

Amelia just completed a two week day camp called safety town. It is put on by the city we live in and covers all kinds of topics to help kids stay safe. The kids talked about stranger safety, crossing the street, railroad tracks safety, car safety, poisen control, gun safety, how to call 911, and a few other topics.

The last day was a graduation ceremony and the kids wore their graduation hats while they sang a song and recited her poem. Both are too long to put up here, but Amelia did a great job.

Hot tub, please

We were eating lunch this week and I was talking to the kids about their upcoming swimming lessons. Gemma perked up when she heard the word swimming.

Gemma: swimming? Swimming mom? Mom! Mom! Swimming?
Mom: yes, we will go swimming.
Gemma: I swim!!!! Swimming suit!!! Yes!!!

(All of a sudden, she swung her head back toward me as if an idea had just occurred to her)

Gemma: swimming suit?? Hot tub?? Babpa? Babpa? Hot tub?
Mom: you like to sit with grandpa in the hot tub?
Gemma: (head in hands with a dreamy look in her eyes) yes. Yes.

Then I had to figure out a gentle way to break it to her that she wasn't signed up for lessons, so she wouldn't need her swimming suit, and grandpa wouldn't be there.

Sent from my iPhone

Amelia conversation

Background:

We were at the resort with my family and we were discussing getting ready to go to the pool. With so many of us, there is always some strategizing to get people anywhere. Who is going? For how long? When are you going? What are we going to do after that? Has anyone seen my missing ____________ ?

Amelia picked up on the fact grandma might be swimming immediately.

Amelia: grandma! Grandma! Do you really have a swimming suit?
Grandma: yes, I do.
Amelia: you do? Why haven't I seen it?
Grandma: well, the swimming suit is ancient and I'm not sure I want to wear it.
Amelia: you should wear it! It will be so fun! I'll show you how I can (insert pool tricks Amelia has mastered).
Grandma: well, I'll look at my swimming suit and decide if I think it will be okay.

(Later, at the pool)

(Grandma walks in wearing her swimming suit)

Amelia: oh! Look! There is grandma! She looks beautiful in her Egyptian swimming suit! I've never seen an Egyptian swimming suit!

Apparently, if something is ancient, it must also be Egyptian.

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Gemma is not allowed at the splash pad

There is a park by our house that has a splash pad area. Basically, it is a small concrete area that has sprinklers shooting out of it at random times. There is a more standard swings and slides park adjacent to this park. This summer has been a small battle as some days aren't conducive for splash pad. If we have to go somewhere else, the kids will be soaking wet when we get there. I also don't always have towels and extra diapers on hand in the car. Other days it is too crowded/rainy/muddy.

This day, I told the kids NO SPLASH PAD. I can't remember why, but everyone was very good about listening. That is, until Gemma discovered the drinking fountain was malfunctioning.

The fountain still worked, it just had too much pressure. When the button was pressed, the water over shot the fountain by several feet.

Gemma was fascinated. She would not leave it alone. After a few minutes, she had it figured out. If she pressed it and then stuck her head out far enough, she would get her head wet. Despite my protests and attempts to distract her, Gemma managed to play with the fountain until she was totally wet.

Good thing the splash pad was off limits, right?

More crazy

This piece is the portion we completed this last weekend. John built yet another retaining wall. This one is in our backyard under our deck. The grass didn't really grow because it didn't get enough sun.

The wall and rock look really nice here and make me wonder why didn't do this years ago. While we were back there, we cleaned up the patio and the steps of the deck. The backyard is much nicer looking now!

The problem is that we STILL HAVE the rock pile currently on the driveway, even with all of these additional projects. Next up, John is going to try and squeeze a little extra rock in a few other places and then built yet another retaining wall to hold what we hope will be the last of the rock.

Although this rock turned into WAY more than we had planned, our yard is looking nice. For the last 3ish years (since my pregnancy with Gemma), we have just been doing enough to get by and not worrying about really making things nice again. It was just too hard with 3 little ones and not enough time. It makes me happy every time I drive up and see how nice everything looks.

I think I would be happier to drive up and see the driveway missing the rock pile, but I'll take what I can get!

I love crazy, an update

As of this morning, here is the rock pile remaining on our driveway. It feels like it is never going to go away! We have added multiple projects that weren't planned until we had the big pile to use up! It's hard work, but things are starting to look nice!

The second photo shows the area we initially purchased the rock to fill.

The last picture here is where we extended our retaining wall in the front yard to join it to our front step. It looks really nice and like it has always been there. We filled this area with rock from the big pile.

After that area was full, we had left over rock, so we repurposed the edging pieces from the mulch and created tree rings. The two tree rings are just barely visible in the first picture in the series.


Of course, I am incapable of writing about this without reminding you all that we wouldn't have this problem if we had used my rough estimate when ordering the rock (I have to hold this victory near and dear as it may be the ONLY time in my marriage when my estimation will be correct. I will fully admit that I am NOT a person you want to trust with giving you an estimate for anything. John is so precise and careful, he is almost always correct. Therefore, I have to take full advantage while I can. The opportunity likely will not come around again soon.)

More 4th!

Even our hair accessories are patriotic! What is better than a curly hair girl with curly ribbons? Nothing.

We drove back to Rochester after lunch on the 4th and managed to catch the parade in the next town over. I will always include a parade on my summer bucket list. Lucky for me, every one else was willing to play along!

We are a picnic while we waited and enjoyed the weather. After the parade, we put Gemma to bed and took the big kids to see fireworks with Kaye and Scott. (John stayed home with Gemma. We obviously didn't leave her alone).

The next day, we packed everyone back up in the van and we made the long drive home again. What a wonderful trip! The kids are already talking about next year....

4th of July

Sadly, we had to leave the lake resort on the 4th of July. However, we had other exciting plans for the day!

It's always fun to find something a little festive to wear on a holiday like this one, I made sure to plan ahead for everyone but me! Isn't that the way it usually goes? I don't know of I'll ever find a 4th of July shirt that is more perfect for William. Dinosaur with flag? Perfection. Huge credit goes to John for spying this gem last month while we were at the lake of the Ozarks! You'll notice that William has his staple accessory of swim goggles still.

Boating, v.3

The last evening of our stay, my dad decided he could handle driving a pontoon boat. This was decided after careful observation of several other drivers over the course of dinner that evening. (Pictures of Amelia, Kelly, Gemma from said dinner).

The pontoon ride was a huge hit- almost a month later and the kids are STILL taking about it. It might even be their favorite thing ever.

The hi light for each kid was when grandpa allowed them to steer or "drive" the boat for a short time.

William drove for several minutes before turning to is and inquiring:

"How hard would it be for this thing to do a figure 8?"

We had a beautiful sunset and gorgeous weather for an evening cruise of the lake!

3 kids

I have 25 different versions of this picture on my phone. Not one of them has all 3 kids looking at the camera.

Boating, round 2

Somewhere along the line in our week long adventure, William decided he liked using his swim giggles as an accessory. He only took them off for sleeping.

We also have pictures of Amelia "oaring" and William's true feeling about letting his sister have a turn at anything.

Boating

One of the highlights of our resort stay was the water activities. There were boat and other fun water activities such as water bikes, paddle boards and fishing gear that could be rented.

One fine afternoon, we put Gemma down for a nap and grandma Kim and I took the big kids out in a paddle boat.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank whoever was the last adult to take ME paddle boating. The paddle paying was about 1000% more work than I recall it being.

My mom and I took turns paddling and the kids swapped turns as well. There was quite a bit of wind as well as other motor boat traffic that made our adventure a lot of work. When we finally returned to the dock 45 minutes later, I was not certain my legs would carry me to our room, which was up several flights of stairs. My legs did their job just fine, but I did require a nap to recuperate. The next morning, I awoke with a pain in the center part of my lower back. Apparently, I was pushing so hard with my legs to paddle the boat, I created a very sore spot on my back.

The following day, the kids were up for more boating adventures. This time grandma and grandpa took them out in a row boat. The kids were thrilled to be in charge of the para for a short period of time.

Amelia: wow! This oaring is a lot of work! I will probably need a treat when we are done!

The row boat activity took about 8 minutes from start to finish.

Then they decided it might be more fun to canoe. Grandma and grandpa were such good sports, they hopped out of the row boat and practically into the canoe. The canoe adventure was short lived as it apparently isn't much fun to be in a boat when someone (William) insists they ARE holding still when they aren't. The canoe time was approximately 5 minutes.

Despite the brief nature of the trips, the kids loved being on the lake and spent the latter part of our drive home arguing about which boat they would ride in again if given the opportunity and who was the better paddler.

Beach in Minnesota

The resort in Minnesota had a beach- it was kind of a hike to get there, but the kids LOVED IT. I think they would have happily played there for days until they were covered from head to toe in sand. We spent two mornings digging, splashing, shell hunting, castle building, minnow chasing, feet burying, footprint making, and moat filling. The kids were in heaven- even William, who sometimes has trouble with scratchy textures.

More resort

There is a rule that only 3 photos can fit into an email blog post. Since there is no chance of finding the cord, downloading to the computer and composing actual blog posts is not going to happen anytime soon, you are going to be stuck with several more posts worth of resort photos.

After the beach, we usually followed up with some pool time. There were both indoor and outdoor pools here. I confess that we were never hardy enough to try out the outdoor pool, but it did look nice. It was a shady location and with the temperatures in the low 70's, were going to need some sun to keep us warm.

The kids have really improved their swimming skills over the last weeks with time in several hotel/resort locations. William even discovered he could swim on his own across the deep end of the pool. I am especially impressed as we have swim lessons on the books for when we return from our trip. Our last swim lessons were last year!

The last picture is the view of the lake and trees from the passenger seat driving in to the resort area.

Brainerd

On July 1st, we packed up and hit the road for a lake resort near Brainerd, MN. This was a last minute addition to our trip and we were happy to have grandpa, grandma, Megan and Z with us! More people is always more fun!

We stayed at Craguns resort on Gull Lake and enjoyed ourselves very much. I won't say it was relaxing, because there was a lot of running around as there were many places to run around to at this location.

I'm not exactly sure how to describe this, but even if it wasn't relaxing, the lake was very restorative or soothing to my soul. The water laps on the beach, birds call, kayakers float/paddle by and the leaves whisper in the wind. There are also screaming kids running up the beach, the smell of exhaust from the motor boats and someone has to go to the bathroom.

Overall, we had a lovely time.

The first picture depicts a form of Minnesota beach wear that one would don when it is chilly in the morning.

The second shot is out the window upon our arrival.

I attempted to make a pretty picture with writing in the sand. The waves had other ideas!

Grand forks

Just a few more pictures I came across from the grand forks portion of our trip. It's been so busy around here with fun things happening. I hope to catch up soon!

More North Dakota

William enjoyed the North Dakota joke book very much this time....hopefully he will have forgotten all the jokes before school starts again.

All the kids enjoyed grandma's dominoes. The big kids built all kind of creations and Gemma worked hard to knock them down.

Of course, the weather was cooler than I was expecting...I never get the packing right for the cooler summer weather in North Dakota when it is 100+degrees here.

Guess who...

Can tie their own shoes?????

She is so proud of herself!!!

Sleeping arrangements

Starting in Grand Forks, our family of 5 shared a hotel room. I was pretty worried about how this was going to work out as if one little person doesn't sleep, no one is going to sleep.

Even though they were bed hogs and slept in crazy positions, the kids did so well! They went to bed fairly easily and slept past 7:30am most days!

Grand Forks

We made the trip to Grand Forks last week to visit my grandparents. The great grandparents adore their great grandchildren so we try especially hard to visit at least once a year.

We have some top favorite things to do in Grand Forks and we were able to get to most of them this time.

The kids all love "digger park" with the scooping toy to dig with.

Mom and Dad love the Mexican restaurant, La Capana. It is so delicious, it doesn't even matter to me that we are far, far from the Mexican border.

Amelia loves when great grandma Nona reads the special Mickey Mouse book to her. If Amelia had her way, poor grandma would read it over and over again.

I always like to walk or drive by "wobbly park" at least once to remember playing there when I was growing up.

Occasionally we stay in a hotel and have access to a pool. Everyone is a fan of waking up and jumping in the pool!

This time Gemma was a daredevil. She loved to jump in and discovered she loved jumping in backwards and head first. She jumped without holding my hand or checking to see if I was ready.

When those tricks got old, she starting taking off. I would out her on the side of the pool to jump in and she would sprint away from me towards the ladder into the deep end. It didn't matter if I was there or not, she was going to jump in. Luckily, grandpa and grandma ran interference on the side of the pool which kept her out of the pool before we were ready.

This is a good reminder about why I will not be going to the pool by myself with all 3 of the kids.

William really started to put things together with the swimming. All of a sudden, he can swim. He was thrilled to be able to show off to the family his new skills. He was even able to prove he was able to swim back and forth unassisted in the deeper end of the pool where he wasn't able to touch. Last week, that wasn't possible! Great job William!!!