Ugh, it has been one of those weeks. Well, one of those months really. Hayden caught a cold the first week of August right before we went to Tamarack for the weekend. Addie caught it too and both had the sniffles. Hayden continued with the nice green snotface for the whole week. The next weekend he came home with a stomach bug -- vomiting and diarrhea Friday night, fine Saturday and Sunday, and more diarrhea at daycare Monday (conveniently getting sent home - didn't matter since Addie was already home with vomiting and diarrhea). Loren ended up with it Tuesday (I think) and I wasn't feel so hot by Wednesday. Then Thursday Hayden decided to spike a fever at about 4:30pm (ear infection), so we had to hit Primary Health for that one. He stayed home Friday and I started feeling crummy on Sunday. By Tuesday Addie had an ear infection and by Wednesday I had strep throat (that progressed with nasal congestion, a horrible cough, and itchy watery eyes). Good times! Anywho, just started feeling a little better yesterday so we he hit Bug Day at the Botanical Gardens. We haven't ever been, but Addie loves bugs and we had passes because we got a membership this year (I can't help it when I see those deals on Groupon, darn it). We hit it early to avoid crowds and heat.
Here you could draw your own bug.
And play bug bingo.
We found a tiny frog, which I'm sure was the highlight of Addie's day.
She painted a bead for Ben's Bells.
And they both colored butterflies.
Hayden ripped his wings off immediately after assembly. Look at that tongue. He sticks it out whenever he is concentrating. I think he gets it from my Grandma. :)
Off to hunt bugs. We didn't find anything but a bee.
Apparently her whining worked up a hunger. We hit the hot dog stand. Actually, she wasn't too whiny. :)
Overall we were a bit disappointed in bug day. Just not enough real live bugs. Lots of dead ones to look at and some neat ideas for games. But all they had for live ones were cockroaches and crickets. Oh, and roly polies. And bees. Addie really wanted to dig for worms somewhere. And I would have liked some caterpillars or other bugs you don't see on a daily basis. Our kids just really aren't into the games yet -- they're a little too young and too shy. Just glad we didn't pay the $20 it would normally cost to get in. I think we're bigger fans of the butterfly exhibits at the zoo and fair.
Afterwards we met my dad at Flying Pie (the kids had eaten, but we hadn't). Kinda got pushed out of our booth by a large baby shower (even though they weren't scheduled for 45min).
I discovered this pic as I was going through my camera. I'm sure Addie took it. :)
So tomorrow marks the first day of school. Now the kids have continued daycare all summer since I've still been working (taught 3 summer classes, took 2, and attempted to catch up on a few things and work ahead for this Fall since I'm teaching 4 brand spanking new classes), so it may not be a HUGE adjustment, but I'm still gearing up. This summer has been pretty laid back in when I work, what time I need to be there, if I go in at all, etc. -- which all makes for much more flexibility with the kids. Now that school starts, this is what we have to look forward to... all of us up, ready, and out the door by 7:15am to drop of the kids and head to work until 5pm when we pick up the kids and head home to make dinner, eat, do dishes*, make lunches*, and plan outfits* before beginning the bedtime routine* of picking up toys*, putting stickers on their new rewards charts*, taking a bath, putting on pjs, brushing teeth, reading*, and finally sleeping. And then repeat! And weekends will be full of attempting to squeeze in some family time while tackling the disaster that the house will inevitably be and planning* for the week to come. Ugh, I'm tired just thinking about it...
*These are all new things I'm attempting to start this semester in a hope to keep the craziness to a manageable level. My goal is to do the dishes every night (this may be routine for everyone else, I don't know - but I'm bad about letting them sit for at least a day and/or cramming in several loads on the weekends). :) Until now we usually deal with lunches and clothes in the morning, so I want to do that the night before to make the mornings a bit smoother. We've been really bad about a bedtime routine, so we're starting that with cleaning up each night (hoping to keep the house a bit more tidy), doing the reward charts (hoping this will help with all of the above -- I just made some basic tables in Word and they're going to put stickers next to what they achieve -- I'll post more on it later), and making a concerted effort to read every night for 20-30min before bed (we're bad about parking in front of the boob tube). I'm also hoping to spend some time doing meal planning on Sundays in an effort to make it easier to make a fast home-made meal after getting home at 6pm (want to cut down on the take-out). Wish me luck!
