Summer Vacation - Week One

I guess our nephew Steve is tired of no updated post from us as he kindly reminded me today that I need to update our blog. With 4 kids at home all day there is never a quiet moment anymore, especially to just sit at the computer. I could wait until everyone's in bed but I've been too tired (and trying to watch So You Think You Can Dance!) So this is for you Steve!

We all survived week one of our summer vacation. We're having a lot of fun hanging out together.......lazy days with lots of play. Breakfast is now around 10 o'clock, Lunch around 2, and dinner is whenever we can convince the kids to come inside and eat. During our first week we've had playdates, water gun fights with the neighbor kids, video games, got haircuts, watched movies, done paper crafts, and piano lessons. Taylor's been taking lessons for 2 years, but Zach just started this week. He was real nervous at first and it was kind of a fight to get him to agree to take piano, but when I picked them up he said how much he enjoyed it. Let's hope his enthusiasm continues for the next few years!!

I kinda feel like a camp director - trying my best to keep children entertained, fed and clean. I guess I could take them all over town to fun places, but we're trying to find low cost activities and gas in my SUV is way too expensive!!!! I've seen a dramatic increase in laundry and dirty dishes but managing so far to keep up with it. That's one house rule I insisted on when school got out.......we are not gonna play and play all day and make tons of messes thinking that we'll clean it up later. Before they move on to their next activity or get the chance to play with a friend, they have to clean up their previous mess first.

We're enjoying our quiet mornings sleeping in and I think the kids have slept in their own beds maybe twice since school got out. Lots of sleeping in the playroom, especially on the new comfy sectional. Unfortunately Mason's sleeping habits have gotten real bad and his sleeping arrangements change every night. It all started when we basically kicked him out of his crib to put Tanner in there. We thought he would love sleeping in the new bunk beds with Zach, but it's not working out as planned. He wakes up almost every night now and usually climbs into bed with me every morning after Andrew wakes up for work. Let's hope he gets over this phase soon!! I'm open to any and all suggestions!

Father's Day weekend was good. On Saturday Andrew really wanted to go to Bass Pro Shops to pick out his own Father's Day presents so we made it a family affair. The kids loved watching all the fish in the big tanks and sitting on the four wheelers and the shooting gallery. Daddy loved looking at all the expensive hunting rifles and sitting in the boats dreaming of being on the lake.

Earlier in the day we were in the area of town A.K.A ghetto where Andrew grew up and he wanted to drive the kids by his old house. We pulled into that cul -de- sac and there was a for sale/auction sign posted out front. There was an open house going on so he took Taylor and Zach for a tour of his childhood home. I stayed in the car with two sleeping kids. It broke my heart to see that house in such poor shape after being so well taken care of for so many years by the Dixons. A lot of great memories in that house for me - my first time meeting all of Andrew's brothers and sisters, his mission farewell, etc. Andrew even proposed to me in that house! Andrew said the inside looked the same for the most part with a few changes and it reeked of cigarette smoke. I think seeing where Andrew grew up had a profound affect on Zackie. This is a conversation I had with him later that night:

"I feel sorry for Daddy."
"Why Zach?"
"Because he had to live in the olden days.......you know like in the nineteens!"
"What do you mean nineteens?"
"You know, he lived in like 1985!!!"

Ah, I got a good laugh from that!