Sunday, August 21, 2011

Last Day of Summer Vacation

Greg just asked Ben,"What was your favorite part of summer vacation?" Ben's reply was, "Going to Aunt Kathy's!!!!!" He and Eva have spent the last week hanging with Aunt Kathy and Uncle John, going to Chuck-E-Cheese, the pool, and catching fish on the dock! Yes, I am sure last week was a blast (and, of course, it sticks in his mind because it just happened), but what about the previous eight weeks? We did a lot and had lots of fun. Here are some highlights from the past month:


We made ice cream in a bag.  Ben was only able to shake it for like 1 minute before his arms got too tired and too cold. I think next time, we'll put the ice cream bags in a pillowcase. He can hold one side and I'll hold the other, then we'll shake it. That way, neither of us has to deal with freezing hands! The ice cream was a little (well, a lot) soupy, but it was actually very yummy.

Summer Movie Nights! Once a week, we let the kids stay up a little later than usual, set the little couch up with a cozy blanket and began a movie after bath. The movie title was always a surprise. Eva's favorite was Tangled. Ben hated Tangled. He said it was the second worst movie ever. I asked what the worst movie ever was, and he said he didn't have one. Soooo, I guess Tangled was it! That didn't stop him from watching it from beginning to end without taking his eyes off the screen!

As part of my birthday celebration, we went to The Melting Pot for dessert. It was really fun and the kids were very well-behaved. They looooved dipping the treats in the chocolate!

Ben complimented our server on the best chocolate ever and asked for his autograph. Heehee.

Believe it or not, Eva didn't get too messy. She did good!

We went to Lowry Park Zoo again with Aunt Susan and Makayla.

Ben rode the Tiger Chase (?) ride all by himself, like, three times! And no hands!

He looks happy here.

He does not look happy here. Such a pre-teen. Eva, on the other hand, thought the train was awesome.

She also enjoys The Flying Bananas.

Feeding the fish

The Tomorrowland Speedway at the Magic Kingdom - these guys were especially excited to drive the race cars.

We were super hot.

Getting ready to take off - Ben drove, but Greg had to press the pedal. Greg said that Ben did a great job steering around the track.

And, oh my lord, this had to be the most stressful five minutes of our Disney Vacation. Eva HAD to drive. You know how little kids pretend steer by moving the steering wheel from left to right all herkey-jerkey? Well, that was our Tomorrowland Speedway experience. We were bouncing around like crazy, but she wailed when I tried to gain some control over the wheel. There were a few times when I felt like we were going to bounce right out of the car (even though we were securely belted in). My back hurt when we got off the ride! Not fun! I'm driving with Ben next time!

The teacups were fun for the three of us, not so much for Greg. I figured that we would just rotate around the center teapot, knowing the Greg doesn't like spinny rides. However, Ben was able to spin us round and round pretty well! I was impressed. Greg was queasy.

An attempt at a family photo

The awesome pirate ship pool at Caribbean Beach hotel. Ben, especially, had a blast! He must have gone down the big kid slide more than 50 times. Literally.

Did I mention the rain? Ugh.
While I love summer vacation and it's great to look back at all the fun things we did, I am also excited about the upcoming school year. I am lucky to be a teacher and have so many vacations in common with the kids. Many people don't have that opportunity, so I am grateful for all the time that I do have with my very awesome Ben and Eva.