Christmas Activites

Austin and Sydney had their school Christmas concert.  It was so nice for them to have a Christmas concert.  Last year the kids were in the spring concert instead.  It wasn't the same.  The Christmas is special at this age.  Austin was not into as much as he was 2 years ago but nevertheless it was great to see them sign Christmas songs.

We went to Lock 3 for breakfast with Santa.  This was the first time we did it.  It was neat.  The breakfast was good.  Then the kids played in the children's museum for a while.  Then we took the kids ice skating.  Austin and Sydney love ice skating.  Sydney had forgotten how to skate fast but she did get better with some time.  The skates hurt a bit so I am hoping to buy them skates at a play again sports store.

We have been going to some Cavs games.  The kids have enjoyed them.  It's sad that they are the worst team in the league though.

At the fundraiser at the kid's school in the fall, we bought morning anchors on their school TV.  So Austin and Sydney had a day they each did the morning announcements with an 8th grader.  They did a good job.

The school also had a field trip to the movies to see The Grinch.  Brian and I both volunteered to be drivers.  The kids had a lot of fun.

We ended all of our Christmas activities this year with the kids favorite with Breakfast with Santa at Lake Farm park.   They enjoy the breakfast.  Their favorite is making the wooden toy at Santa's workshop.  This year, Austin made a Minion and Sydney made a reindeer.  They turned out nicely.  They really took their time this year with painting them.  Austin looked at Brian's phone to make sure he painted the Minion exactly right.

Brian has been working on the downstairs bathroom.  He's putting in a shower so he's had to dig up the floor for the drain.  It's been working so much on it.  It will be great when it's done but it's so much work.  And messy!  Plus I didn't have a washing machine for a week.  That is never fun but we made it.

It was a fun busy Christmas season!

Start of Christmas Activites

December is always one of our busiest months of the year.  We love doing all the fun Santa holiday stuff.  We started our going to Brian's work Christmas party for the kids.  The turn work into the North Pole.  It's a lot of fun.  They have a magic show, balloon guys, and of course Santa.  Santa even lets them get a present.

For several years, now we get a live Christmas tree.  We go as a family to pick out the tree. Austin and Sydney always cut it now.  They work together to cut it down.  This year it was warm day when we did it.  It's always a fun time getting our tree. 

We also went on a ride on the Polar Express.  It was not magical for Austin.  In fact, I think he was bored most of the time.  However Sydney loved it.  It was totally worth it for Sydney.  She enjoyed singing Christmas carols, she loved the North Pole, and hot chocolate and cookie. 

We went to one of our favorite activities downtown which is Mr. Kringle's Inventionasium.   It's so fun going though all the different stations.  Austin loved drawing smiley faces on all the pictures with water.  Sydney enjoyed making a candy cane out of form things that stick together with water.  They also made snow and some toys.  Santa there is the best.  He knew all about Austin and Sydney.  And spent at least 5 minutes with us.  They also got a stuffed dragon from Santa.  It was magical.

While downtown, they talked to the talking tree which is always a lot of fun.  We went to the Cavs game.  We even got an upgrade on our tickets that night.  It was cool to sit behind the Cavs bench.

We did something new this year and saw Tuba Christmas at EJ Thomas Hall.  People who play tuba family instruments go and decorate themselves and instruments to play Christmas Carols.  They play the song and then we sing it back.  It was neat.  The kids enjoyed that.  We went to a family Christmas party that night.

We have also went to the Q for Breakfast with Santa.  There the kids had donuts and juice.  They played basketball on the court.  They made some crafts and even saw Santa.  Another fun adventure.

Our school had a gingerbread house contest that the kids went to.  It was fun for them to decorate a house with their friends.  I like them doing the gingerbread houses somewhere other than my house.  They also had their Christmas concert at school.  Sydney loved singing.  Austin was not as excited as in year's past but it was still fun for him.

Brian also got an early Christmas present.  His Tesla Model 3 finally arrived and we picked it up.  The car is awesome!  I was never one to be that excited about it but it is really cool!

Thanksgiving

In November, Sydney had 4 birthday parties to attend.  She was very busy.  Austin was home a lot helping Brian setting up our Christmas lights.  Brian decided that they were going back up this year.  It has been 2 years since they were set up.  Last year with our house and death of my dad, we didn't set them up.  Sydney doesn't ever remember our Christmas lights.  However Austin does and he was very excited to have them back up again!  He worked hard with Brian to get them set up.

Brian is coaching basketball for Austin and Sydney.  It's on Friday nights so it works out.  Brian feels bad since he can't spend too much time with on group but all and all it's going fine.  Next year, Austin will be playing games for basketball.  That should be fun!

I had Thanksgiving here again this year.  My mom and grandpa came over.  Brian is working on our downstairs bathroom so he kept the kids busy helping with that.  I am getting better at cooking a turkey.  Dinner turned out nicely.  It was a lot of work but worth it. Austin loves Thanksgiving dinner.  Sydney did not want to eat turkey because it's an animal however after she tried it. She liked it as well.  She only ate turkey and rolls.  Austin ate all other foods.

My mom and grandpa did not stay long.  Austin wanted to go out and see the Black Friday experience so we took them to Best Buy and we stood in a line (they were just opening when we arrived) but only letting certain number of people in at a time.  It was very cold.  After about 15-20 minutes we got in.  We just walked around the store and the kids played the switch.  That is what Austin wants for Christmas.  Then we went home and watched a movie.

On Friday, Brian took the kids to the Science Center while I worked.  They loved that.  Then when they got home we worked on Christmas lights and then basketball.  After basketball we went out with friends for pizza.

On Saturday, we went downtown Cleveland for their Winterfest.  The weather was nice in the 40's.  We saw them turn on the lights and for Santa to arrive.  Then we went to the Cavs game.  The game was good and they actually won.  It's been a rough season without LeBron.  It was a nice evening.

On Sunday, Brian took out annual Christmas card picture.  Brian always comes up with great ideas for our Christmas card.  This year, the kids are on the roof and have a runway for Santa to land.  It's very cute!

We are getting ready for a busy Christmas season!

Halloween

We went to our favorite Halloween activities Boo at the Zoo with our friends.  The weather was very nice for it.  This year, Austin was an airplane pilot and Sydney was an unicorn princess.

We also went trick or treating down at my mom's house.  It was raining that night.  Since my mom can't move around that well, I basically stayed there to hand out candy.  Brian took the kids everywhere.  They were very wet and tired but had so much fun.  And got so much candy.

We went down to the Q for a Trick or Treat event there.  They had different stations.  The kids decorated a pumpkin.  They got some candy and pizza.  We also got a lot of empty shoe boxes to give to all the basketball players Brian is coaching.  Brian is coaching the 2nd grade boys team and the 1st grade girls team.  Luckily it's at the same time each week.

On Halloween, I was planning on doing trunk or treat at the kids school. Unfortunately it was raining so it was moved indoors which was fine.  I was also in charge of Sydney's class party so I had to help with that.  We played games and read stories.  It was fun!

Brian also took the kids trick or treating at our house.  It was also raining that night.  But once again the kids had fun and got a lot of candy.  I hung out at my neighbors driveway which was fun too.

Austin's football team was in a tournament and they went to the finals.  Unfortunately they lost however it was fun to watch them get there.  Because of all the rain, everything was so muddy.  I had never seen so much mud before!  I had Sydney wear snowsuit just because if she fell in the mud, her clothes would still be clean.  It was a very good idea!

October Fun

The first week back from Europe was a little rough.  The kids got up at 2:30am on Monday morning.  And they didn't go back to sleep.  The rest of the week, the slept in a little later but still up by 6am.  Austin got a lot of homework done in the mornings.  It was nice when they were finally caught up with their homework.

Homework has been an adjustment this year.  Austin has anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes of homework a night.  He has spelling test each week and timed math test every week.  Plus reading homework.  Sydney has spelling test every two weeks and homework projects every two weeks as well.  I have been copying Austin's homework so she has something to work on in the evenings.  She loves homework.  Austin does not.  It is a struggle every night for him to do it.

Sydney finished up soccer this month.  She really enjoyed it.  She was good at it too.  I am hoping to convince her to do indoor soccer this winter.  Austin has been doing flag football.  He likes being with is friends.  There has been some cold and raining games.  Austin became a complete mud ball during one of the games.

We went to the home opener of the Cavs game.   It's a little sad this year since we no longer have Lebron.  However it's still a fun family activity to do.  With school, the kids usually don't get their hair painted or tattoos anymore since they are not allowed to have them at school.  Unfortunately the Cavs lost and it looks like it's not going to be a good season for them.

Austin had his annual hearing test.  We got busy over the summer and we couldn't get an appointment before school started.  So we went in October.  We got the best news ever, he finally passed a hearing test.  And we no longer have to follow up unless something happens.  We are all very happy!

Trip to Europe

We got the kids out of school at 12:30pm on Friday.  We had to drive 5 hours to Toronto for our flight to Barcelona.  On Friday, I was thinking what in the world have we done.  Why are we traveling all the way to Europe with a 6 and 7 year old.  But it was too late now.  Everything was paid for and booked so time to make the best of it. 

The drive to Toronto was uneventful.  Since we drove past Niagara Falls, we stopped briefly to allow the kids to see it.  I didn’t even get out of the car since I was driving and we didn’t have much time and didn’t want to pay $20 for parking. 

When we arrived to the car parking place in Toronto the lot was full. They had us to go another one.  Then we waited a while for a shuttle bus.  I was starting to get nervous.  The last time we wanted to do was miss our flight.  When we finally got to the airport, we didn’t have to wait too long to check in.  Then the security line was reasonable too.  We waited at the gate for about an hour. 

Brian and Sydney sat in the two seats by the window.  Austin and I were in the middle row and I had a women next to me which was fine.  Our flight didn’t take off until 11:00pm so we were all tired once on board.  We got dinner.  Sydney fell asleep before dinner was served so she didn’t eat.  Austin had mac and cheese.  He liked it.  This was his first time eating airplane food.  We have never flown this far with them to get a meal.  Austin was impressed.  After eating, we all tried to sleep.  Sleeping on a plane is a real challenge but we were able to get some sleep.  Austin and I watched some movies on our Kindles.  Brian worked on his computer.  Sydney basically slept the entire time.  Then we got bread for breakfast.  Austin liked it. 

When are plane finally landed we waited a while in customs.  Then we had to get our luggage.  Then off to find a taxi quickly to get to our hotel before 2pm.  They close at 2pm to 4pm for lunch.  Sometime we are not used to back home.  Luckily we arrived to the hotel at 1:55pm so we were able to be checked in.  We went up to our apartment.  It was nice.  It had a kitchen and a bedroom, bathroom,, and living room area.  Then we figured out what to do.  I had ideas on what to do but didn’t really think when to do what. 

We decided we would take a taxi to Park Gual.  Once there we walked up several steps to the top and we could over look Barcelona.  It was a beautiful view.  Then we walked down and the kids found a playground along the way that they loved. 

Then we took a taxi to La Sagrada Familia.  I was planning on going inside however it was sold out for Saturday and Sunday.  We were bummed.  I feel bad because I feel like I should have planned better.  I didn’t realize it could be sold out for days.  We got some pictures outside and then grabbed dinner at Burger King.  We took our sandwiches to the park near by at ate.  Then the kids played at that playground. 

After playing, we tried the subway (Metro).  Austin and Sydney had never been on a subway before.  They were excited.  It was interesting to see the tracks right there with no gates or anything.  The kids got an important safety lesson.  We board the subway to La Rambla.  Once there, we walked around.  We found a fresh market, and we showed them around there.  They got a juice smoothie to try.  It didn’t have sugar so they weren’t big fans.  Then they got some gelato.  They loved that!  Later Austin got a slushie and Sydney got a sucker.  It was a fun evening out. 

We found a plaza where a street performer was blowing big bubbles.  He took a break soon after we got there.  There was a big wall like thing that kids were trying to climb up.  Austin and Sydney played there.  Brian helped them to the top.  However on one of the times, Brian turned his head for a second and Sydney was already slid down landing on her ankle funny.  For a while, Brian and I thought she broke her ankle.  It was terrible. 

Then the bubble guy started doing bubbles again. The bubbles were able to distract Sydney and she was able to walk again. Luckily her ankle was not swollen or bruised either.  Then we decided to walk back to our apartment for the night.  We are all very tired and ready for a good nights sleep. 

We all slept very well.  We went to bed around 10:30pm and we got up at 8:45am.  Brian and I were the first ones up.  That never happens at our house.  We had to wake the kids up so they started getting on this time zone. 

We decided to take a taxi to Montjuic.  We took the cable car over which I thought was to a castle but we believe the taxi took us to the wrong spot.  Because it wasn’t where we wanted to go.  We started walking up the hill.  After a while the kids were very tired.  Then we found another cable car.  Unfortunately our tickets didn’t work for this one.  We brought more tickets (they are pricey).  However we did enjoy the nice ride in the cable car.  Sydney was being difficult for pictures but that isn’t anything new.  Sydney likes to do only what Sydney wants. 

At the top was the castle.  We were going inside however the line for tickets was long and we didn’t have much time.  So we just walked around the outside of the castle.  The kids had fun climbing on cannons.  Then we walked down the mountain.  We were going to take our first cable car back but the line was too long.  So we had to take a taxi from half way up the mountain.  The taxi took us back to our hotel and we picked up our stuff.  Then we took a taxi to the cruise terminal.  We were getting on the NCL EPIC.   Austin and Sydney were very excited for the cruise. 

We board the cruise without any difficulties.  Once on board, we were able to go straight to our room.  Usually we board the ship much earlier than 3pm.  We dropped our stuff off and went to lunch.  We were all very hungry.  Then we had the muster drill.  The kids are very familiar with that these days.  Then we went swimming.  After all the walking around, swimming was nice.  The pool water was even heated.  That was a nice surprise.  Austin and Sydney then played water mini golf and chess.  Then it was time for dinner.   We eat dinner in the restaurant then go to the buffet for dessert.  Then it was bedtime. 

Our first day, was a sea day.  Again we slept until 9:30am.  We had a ship tour at 9:45 so Austin and Brian had to move quickly to get there.  They went to the ship tour and Sydney and I went to breakfast.  It was very crowded but finally found somewhere to sit and eat.  Then we came back to the room.  Brian and Austin came back and  we went up for a family dodge-ball game.   The kids had a lot of fun with that.  Austin even got to be the doctor where he would tap people who were out.  He liked that.  Austin and Sydney also did the spider slide.  Then we went swimming again.  The weather was cooler and the pool didn’t seem as warm.  Austin and Brian did some water slides.  Sydney and I swam for a bit.  Then we went to lunch.  After lunch, we did some homework.  Austin was not a fan of homework but after some arguing he got some done.   Sydney got to go back on the spider slide for 45 minutes before Austin was done with his homework. 

Then we got ready for formal night pictures.  We went around the ship and got pictures taken.  Austin and Sydney are getting better at doing that too.  Then we finally got to go to dinner.  We had dinner and back up to the buffet for dessert.  We have had busy few days and we still have 5 more stops to go. 

Our first port of call was Naples where we took the cruise transportation to Pompeii.  We had to get up early for the bus ride to Pompeii.  The forecast showed some rain so I packed ponchos for the day.  The bus ride took about 20 minutes.  When we arrived we were told where to buy tickets although I am not sure it saved us much time.  We got the tickets and went in.  Brian brought headsets from home with an app that we were hoping to use.  However the battery was dead and they didn’t work.  That was a bummer.  So we just starting walking around looking at things. We walked a lot that day.  We saw lots of interesting things.  Brian took lots of pictures. With about 30 minutes left of our time there, it started to rain. I was so happy we had ponchos.  However our feet still got soaked.  The kids even got a few souvenirs. Austin got a patch and Sydney got a lava bracelet.  Then we took the bus back to our ship.  We had lunch on board.  

After lunch, we left the ship again and walked to a castle near the port in Naples.  We went inside and brought a audio/video guide.  The kids enjoyed that.  On the way back from the castle, there was a street vendor selling toys that turned into a blop when you threw it down.  We got the kids one and they were so excited. 

Once back into the hotel room, Sydney’s little toy got a hole in it and broke.  She was so sad and would not stop crying. Austin convinced Brian to get off the ship and run back to get her a new one.  They thought they would be quick however the line to get back on the ship was really long so they waited a while to do get back on.  Meanwhile Sydney was on the top deck, doing the bounce and jump trampoline.  She did it for 30 minutes because there was no wait.  It was nice going to Europe this time of year, there were not many kids on board. 

Wednesday was our very busy day to Rome.  The port is an hour away from Rome.  We got up at 5:30am and got off the ship at 6:30am to take a train into Rome.  It was a 20 minute walk from the ship to the train station.  We got the train tickets with no issues and was on the train to Rome.  Once we arrived we took a Metro near the Colosseum.  It’s amazing getting off the Metro and seeing the Colosseum.  We knew where to buy tickets with a shorter line so we went there.  Then we entered the Colosseum.  There were a lot of people.  We walked around the main level first.  Then we walked upstairs.  It’s unbelievable how big it is.  And to think it was made all those years ago.  It was a sight to take in.  The weather was perfect.  It wasn’t too hot but warm and sunny. 

After the Colosseum we went to Palatine Hill.  We walked around just for a bit.  Then we got back on the Metro to head to the Vatican.  The Metro was very crowded.  Too crowded for my comfort.  A little over half way to the Vatican, they made us all get off the Metro. We believe that it broke down or something.  We were not sure what to do but there was a taxi stand right outside the Metro station so we just got a taxi over to the Vatican. 

We didn’t have much time for lunch so we stopped at a shop near the Vatican.  They didn’t have any food that kids would eat so we just got them ice cream.   The only issue was we didn’t want them to get messy.  Somehow they decided they didn’t like their ice cream and they were trying to switch when they dropped it into Austin’s shirt.  We were not too happy however it did was washed up nicely.  Then we met our guide right outside of Vatican Museum. 

Our guide was awesome.  It was a kid friendly tour of the Vatican.  We started off in the museums.  There were long hallways of sculptures.  It was very large area of museums.   Then there was areas of fabric hanging telling the story of Jesus.  There were also several mosaics.   Then we went into the Sistine Chapel.  There were no pictures in the Sistine Chapel.  The outside of the Sistine Chapel looking like a simple square building however the inside was amazing.  The painting everywhere including the ceiling are amazing.  Then we went into St. Peter’s Basilica.   That was truly amazing.  The size and beauty are unbelievable.  We even got to touch St. Peter’s toes that have been worn off from everyone touching them.  It was very special experience.  We saw the guards outside of the Vatican near St. Peter’s Basilica.  We enjoyed our day in Rome.  We took the train back to the port and got on the ship.  We were exhausted. 

The next day we were in Livornio.  We took the cruise bus to the train station.  It was like a 20 minute ride.  Then we took the train into Pisa.  Once in Pisa we walked to the leaning tower.  When the kids first saw the leaning tower, they didn’t think it was leaning enough.  Once we got closer, they agreed with really was leaning.  We took lots of pictures with the leaning tower.  Then we went into the Baptistery and the Church.  Going up into the Baptistery was cool.  A gentlemen even sang and the echo was breathtaking.  We did a little shopping before taking a taxi to the train station. 

We took the train to Lucca.  Once we arrived, we rented a family bike.  We biked the walked city for a few hours.  Biking up the hill was a challenge.  But then it was a nice bike ride around the city.  We stopped for the kids to play on a playground.  The kids also got an ice cream treat with a pop.  It was cool to see the walled city of Lucca. 

We took the train back to Pisa.  In Pisa, we need to change trains back to Livernio.  We didn’t have much time.  We checked the board inside the train station.  We went to that platform.  While looking, I realized it didn’t say Livernio anywhere.  They were making announcements however in Italian so not sure what they were saying. Over on another platform, it did say Liverno. We asked someone and they said they changed it.  We ran over to the other platform and got on the correct train just in time. 

The next port was Cannes.  We didn’t have any plans.  It was a tender port and even though we could get priority tender tickets we decided just to chill on board until it was time to get off.  We got off the ship around 10am.  We walked up to the Castle near the dock.  It was a nice walk.  We even paid for the castle so we could go all the way to the top for the view.  It was worth it.  Then we walked down the hill and did some shopping.  Sydney found a unicorn bag and Austin got Pokemon cards in French.  They both were very happy. 

We headed back to the ship.  Once on board, the kids did some swimming.  It was nice the pool was heated even though the weather was nice.  Austin and Sydney also did the spider mountain climb play thing as well.  It was a nice evening on board. 

Our last port of call was Palma Spain.  We did not arrive there until 1pm.  I found this amusement park (Katmandu park) that looked cool that was only 20 minutes from the port.  We decided we would take a taxi there.  It worked out great.  We got off the ship, fairly quickly and walked to the taxi stand.  We got a taxi right away.  The driver took us right there.  We got tickets and we did all the attractions.  We started first in the house.  It was a trick house.  The elevator looked like we were going down but actually we were going up.  It was a cool fun house.  There was even games for the kids to play.  We did some 4D movies and Austin and Sydney even played in the waterpark.  We also played putt putt golf.   Austin and Sydney rode on some small go karts as well.  They had a great time.  We took a taxi back to the port.  

We had separated dinner reservations with each child.  I had dinner with Sydney and Brian had dinner with Austin.  It worked out nicely.  However we were all very tired. 

On Sunday morning, we woke up early to get off the ship.  We took a taxi to the airport.  We waited in line for a while for the airline check in to open.  Then we had to go though security and customs.  It seemed like we waited in a lot of lines. Then we were on the plane back to Tortono.  We did a lot of homework with the kids on the plane.  Then we watch some movies.  Even though, it was a 9 hour flight the kids did great.  Sydney refused to eat the airplane food but Austin ate it. 

Once in Toronto, we had to go though customs and get our luggage.  Then get on the car park shuttle.  It seemed like it too forever however it really didn’t.  We were just ready to get home.  The kids fell asleep around 6pm our time.  We stopped at McDonalds to try and fed them and keep them awake but that didn’t really help. It was foggy on the drive home.  Brian and I were very happy when we got home at 9pm (3am from what we were used to)! 

Labor Day and Brian's Birthday

Labor Day weekend was different than in year's past.  We usually always go to the Air Show.  However it was so hot that we did not.  We had some friends invite us over for swim parties so we did that instead.  It was fun hanging out with friends.  On Monday, we did go up to Cleveland to watch the Blue Angels.  We didn't go into the Air Show just watched from downtown.  Afterwards, we let the kids play in the splash pad area of Public Square.  It was so hot.  They enjoyed that!

Austin played flag football this fall.  He likes it.  He practices twice a week with games on Saturday.  He likes being with all of his friends.  Sydney is playing soccer for her school this fall.  She loves it.  She only practices once a week with games on Saturdays.  Luckily the games, haven't conflicted much so we have been able to see both football and soccer games.

Brian's birthday was during the week this year.  We celebrated on Sunday.  Austin had a birthday party that Brian took him to.  It was a swim party that was outside.  It has been unseasonably warm this fall.  They stayed a while since Austin was having fun.  We were going to go out to dinner but Brian didn't want to since he had just ate at the party.  So Brian just picked up Wendy's for everyone.  Then we had pie and ice cream.  Austin and Sydney had a great time celebrating Brian's birthday!

Sydney's 6th Birthday

The one thing that Sydney really wanted was her ears pierced.  I am not sure why but she really wanted it.  She has asked for a few months now.  I thought for her birthday she could get her ears pieced.  We all went to Claire's and they did a great job and she got them pierced.  She didn't even cry.  It hurt and she knew it was going to hurt but she was so excited.  It was cute.  She was one happy girl when it was over.

We had her birthday party on her birthday.  It's just how it worked out.  She had an unicorn themed party.  Brian did a great job with her birthday invitations.  We had her party at local indoor pool.  It worked out great.  Kids played in the pool for 1.5 hours then we had pizza and cake.  Sydney and I made a rainbow fruit kabobs.  It was fun and turned out cute.  Then we came home and Sydney opened gifts.  She got some stuffed unicorns, unicorn outfits, earrings, jojo bows, and bracelet making kit.  Then we went to a friends house to swim.  It was a hot day and Sydney had a great birthday.

On Monday, I was able to go to the school and read to Sydney's class for her birthday.  It was a lot of fun.  Sydney even read some of the book to the class.  It was a special.

First Day of School

And summer is over just like that!  With the kids in school, I have a new appreciation for summer.  It's my favorite time of year.  The schedule relaxes.  We do what we want.  Stay up late.  We do lots of fun things like outdoor movie nights and traveling.  It's great.  But all great things, come to an end and now it's time for school again.

Sydney was really excited for school.  She loves it.  Austin was kind of indifferent of it.  He likes school and enjoys being with his friends but also understands how much fun summer is.  But we were all ready for school to start and excited to see what this new year brings.

Austin is now in 2nd grade.  Sometimes I wonder how that is possible.  There is definitely more work and learning going on in second grade.  Sydney is in 1st grade.  She was excited to have Austin's teacher from last year.  We were too.  She's great.   It's nice to know what to expect.

Sydney loves reading.  Austin loves math.  Austin enjoys helping Sydney.  Sydney also helps Austin with reading at times.  They are enjoying their new desks this year.  They have all their own school supplies on their desks.  I am so happy we did the addition when we did.  For them to have their own space to work is priceless.

We are hoping for a great school year!

Myrtle Beach and Hershey Again

We drove down to Myrtle Beach for a long weekend to visit Brian's family.  Usually I drive down myself and Brian fly's and joins us.  However this year, Brian drove down with us.  He worked in the car while I drove.   It's definitely not a fun drive but it's great once we get there.  Nana has a pool and the kids love that!  They swam everyday.

We went to the beach one day.  There was a stingray warning so we didn't go in the ocean much. The kids wanted to play in it a bit though.  Luckily no one got stung.  We also went to their membership pool area.  That was a big hit!  Everyone loves the pool.

We hung out at Melissa's house and the kids played in the water bounce house/slide.  That was a lot of fun for the kids.  We also went to the Pirate Voyage dinner interactive show.  That was really good!  Melissa even knew people so Austin and Sydney were in the show and so us Melissa, Jonathan, Brian and I.  Austin and Sydney won their challenge.  However us adults did not and we actually got booed.  Melissa spoiled the kids and brought them all kinds of pirate stuff.  It was a fun night.

We also went to the water park there.  It was a little rainy of a day which was perfect because it was not crowded at all.  We had a lot of fun.  Austin rode some crazy water slides.  He loved it.  Sydney enjoyed the lazy river and a few smaller water slides.

On our last night, we went to Lulu's for dinner.  They have a kids play area with water and sand.  The kids got soaking wet and had sand everywhere.  They enjoyed it though.  I was a little stressed about the mess but I guess it was worth it for them.

We had a great time there!  Then we drove to Hershey to try and make up some of the rain days from July.  We went that evening after we arrived at our hotel and it was great.  We rode several roller coasters as a family.  We even got to ride the racing roller coaster which was a big hit for everyone.  I am usually not a fan of roller coasters but the kids were having so much fun it made me like them too.  Poor Brian had to ride the Hershey Tower like 3 times with Austin.  We are not a fan of that ride but Austin absolutely loves it.  I have to say my favorite was the racing roller coaster.  But Comet and Super Dooper Looper is cool too.

Then next morning we checked out of our hotel, then went to the Park for a bit.  Again we started with roller coasters.  Then we went to the water park  It was insanely crowded.  In fact, Austin and I waiting like 45 minutes just to ride one slide.  Unfortunately we didn't get to do much.  Then we had to drive home.   It was a great family vacation though.

End of Summer Fun

Brian had to go to China for a week at the end of July.  It's not ideal for him to be gone during the summer but it had to be done.  Austin and Sydney get so sad when he leaves.  They miss him.  It's hard.  I try to keep them busy while he's gone so they aren't as sad.

I took them down to the Science Center.  We had a lot of fun.  We don't go there as much as we should.  Austin loves it there and Sydney likes it too.  They had a duck tape exhibit which was a lot of fun for them.  They made shoes, hats, and smiley faces with duck tape.  They played in the tape slide too.  We watched the bubble show and Sydney was even selected to go up on stage.  She was so excited.

We also went to Cedar Point while Brian was away.  Austin enjoyed riding the big roller coasters.  Sydney had fun riding the eagles and things in Planet Snoopy.  We definitely used our passes a lot this year.  During the week, we also hung out with friends which is always fun.

Once Brian got back from China, he's always jet legged.  He makes sure he stays up during the day to try and get back on normal schedule.  The kids said they wanted to put a roof on the playground so the weekend he got back they worked on that.  I thought he was crazy but like he said, it kept him awake.   Then we went back to Cedar Point to the waterpark on Sunday.  Austin wanted the family to ride the family waterslide which we did twice.  It was fun!  It was very hot so it was a great day for the waterpark.  The kids also used their small pool a lot this summer.  It was worth setting it up.

Austin and Sydney went to cooking camp for a week in August.  Austin loves cooking and Sydney was old enough to attend as well.  They had a lot of fun.  They made several different types of cupcakes.

We went to annual Wine and Gold night at the Cleveland Zoo.  We love that event.  The Cavs rent out the zoo for season ticket holders.  Sydney loves to get her face painted.  We ride the train.  We get free food and drinks.  The zoo was set up for Asian Lateran festival so it was cool to see that too.  We also saw the new Asian animal exhibit.  We had a great family night at the zoo.

Hershey

This year we decided to get season passes to Hershey Park instead of Sesame Place.  We loved Sesame Place for years but we feel the kids have outgrown it.  Especially for as far as it is for us.  Last year, we had a great time in Hershey and we wanted to go back for several days.  Melissa and the boys met us in Hershey on Saturday evening.  Our plan was to go to the park, however it was raining heavy so we decided not to do that.  We went to Target and then to Friendly’s for dinner.  Jonathan was supposed to fly to meet us however his flight was cancelled. 

On Sunday, we went to Hershey Park.  We rode the Super Dooper Looper which is an upside down ride that all kids can ride.  They love it.  Then Austin went to the Hershey tower.  He rode the Kisses one first then the Reeses one.  He loved it.  I am not into rides but I did ride the Kisses Tower with him.  The little kids rode kiddie rides.  We got a meal plan with a drink package.  Austin and Sydney enjoy picking the drink.  Then Jonathan arrived from the airport. 

We then rode the Comet roller coaster.  That is a wooden one.  It was fun.  I thought it was a bit intense however Austin quickly reminded me that Millennium Force is intense and Comet is not.  Then it was back to Super Dooper Looper and Hershey Towers.  Austin even rode the big Hershey Tower with Auntie Melissa.  He loved it!  They even did it again. 

It rained for a little bit.  We used that time to eat lunch.  Then after lunch the kids played in puddles.  We tried to explain to keep their feet dry but they did not listen.  Graham even sat in the puddles.  We rode the water ride since everyone was already wet. 

We rode some cars.  We also enjoyed Trail Blazer roller coaster.  However Sydney cut her finger on it.  She needed a band aide which fixes everything.  We were making our way towards the back of the park when we realized it was going to rain again.  We did not notice with too much warning.  Then it started to pour down rain.  We took shelter under a table umbrella until it slow down a bit.  Then we decided to leave the park for the night.  It was after 9pm anyways. 

By the time we got to the car, we were very wet.  However all and all we had a great day at Hershey. 

On Monday morning, we went to the park around 10am to find out the park was closed due to flooding.  We were shocked.  We did not realize the park would be closed.  It was a bummer because it was not raining either.  We had several hours of no rain.  We were hoping to take advantage of it.  We went to the gift shop since we were there however so many other people did too! 

We didn’t know what to do, however Brian thought it would be cool to do the Caverns near by.  We went there and brought tickets.  While waiting for our tour, the kids did a sample of mining for rocks.  Then we went on our tour.  It was interesting and Austin and Sydney enjoyed it.  Cam and Gram were a bit young for it and wanted held a lot.   They left the tour a bit early.  Austin and Sydney were cold during it but will likely remember it. 

Then we went to Chick Fil A for lunch so the kids could play.  It was sometime for them to do.  Then we came back to our hotel and went swimming.  Afterwards we went to Chuck E Cheese.  It was a surprise for them.  Austin and Sydney loved it.  Especially because Auntie Melissa got each of them 2 hours unlimited card.  They had a lot of fun.  Even the adults played some games since it was an unlimited card.  It was a great night.  We made the best out of the situation of the park being closed. 

We decided that we are going home early.  With all the rain, it makes it challenging for doing the park and we didn’t know if the park was going to be open.  Melissa and Jonathan decided that were going to check out Washington DC early too.  We went to Hershey Chocolate Factory in the morning.  Then Melissa and family left to go to DC.  

We decided since we have passes to go into the park for about an hour.  It was raining but the kids did not mind.  Brian and I tried to stay dry with umbrellas. Austin and Sydney rode the little carousel that Sydney really wanted to ride.  Then they did the scrambler.  Austin rode the big pirate ship.  Then we walked for Austin to ride a roller coaster with Brian.  It was raining so they got wet.  They enjoyed being in the front car in the rain.  Sydney wanted to ride the water ride.  However Brian and I did not want to ride it.  Austin said he would ride it with her.  They loved it and got soaked.  Luckily I had a change of clothes for them in the car. 

Austin convinced us to allow him to play a game for a stuffed animal.  He won a stuffed Hershey bar and then played again to win Sydney a stuffed Hershey Kiss.  They had fun and were happy with their stuffed animals. 

We left and park and kids got changed.  We stopped at McDonalds for lunch and then drove home.  It was only about a 5 hour drive however it seemed much longer.  When we got home, Brian took the kids to the drive in.  I was happy to stay home and grocery shop.  I needed to unpack and clean up the house.  The kids enjoyed the drive in.  They even got concessions because we didn’t have time to go to the store before the drive in.

Sydney lost first tooth and July Summer Fun

Sydney had a loose tooth and she was so excited.  Austin has lost 6 teeth and Sydney none but finally she knew it was her turn.  She had a loose bottom tooth for a few days before it finally fell out.  The interesting thing is when it fell out she did not notice.  She was going to bed and then she realized her tooth was gone.  Unfortunately we never found it.  Brian even took the drain apart hoping to find it from her brushing her teeth but it was never found.  However the tooth fairy still came that night and gave her $5.  She was so excited!

The kids went to Cavs basketball camp the first week in July.  Austin loved it!  Sydney enjoyed it too.  I was proud of her because she went without knowing anyone.  She even met a new friend for the week.  However the timing of the basketball camp was not good.  Lebron announced the night before basketball camp that he was joining the Lakers.  Austin was devastated.  He cried for an hour.  That made us sad too.  Sydney was also a bit sad but not as much as Austin. She didn't enjoy the games like he did.  Austin loved the playoffs.  He loved to scream and be into it.  He liked fan fest downtown.  Brian and Austin really enjoyed it.  They know how lucky they were to experience it for all the years but they are going to miss it terribly!

We also took the kids to see fireworks with some friends.  They enjoyed watching them.  They got a balloon animal as well.  Sydney got a unicorn and Austin got an emoji person.  Those are their favorite things right now.  They played in the bounce houses for a bit too.

We went to the 4th of July parade.  It was very hot this year!  We found a small piece of shade.  It was a good thing.  The kids sat up by the street under an umbrella.  They got so much candy.  It was ridiculous how much candy they got.  We always have a good time there though!

Austin and Sydney started doing the Home Depot kids workshops again.  Austin requested we start doing it again and I looked it up for them.  And we went that Saturday.  Austin really enjoys it.  Sydney has also gotten good at using a hammer.  They enjoy projects like that.

We also went camping at their favorite campsite Yogi Bear.  They have a great pool with a slide and diving board.  Brian taught the kids how to dive.  They had a gaga pit that Austin played with the older kids.  He used to be shy but now he's fine just going to play with other kids.  It kind of makes Brian and I sad how he doesn't need us as much anymore.  However it's great seeing him interacting and playing with other kids.  They had crafts that Austin and Sydney enjoyed.  Sydney also liked the movie in the barn (even though it was so hot).  We had a great weekend camping there.

Sydney also learned to ride her bike.  She was not as interested in riding her bike much.  I really wanted her to learn to ride 2 wheel bike.  I would tell her this summer she was going to learn.  Austin and Sydney decided together that he would teach her.  She didn't want Brian or I to do.  Austin did amazing with her and taught her how to ride a bike.  They spend an evening in the driveway and she learned.  It took a little bit but she finally got it.  We were all proud of her and Austin too for teaching her.