I’m trying so hard to survive summer, that I don’t always have the time to blog about it.  How did week 5 go?

I painted 12 six panel doors…front and back…two coats each.  It sure took a lot longer than I was anticipating.  Six panel doors look great, but they’re a pain in the %&#@# to paint.

I took a break to do yard work.

The bright spot in week 5 was Peter Cetera.  I’ll have to edit this post later when/if I can get Nate to email me the pictures off his phone.  We took the kids to see Peter’s concert and had a blast!  I remember buying one of his cd’s (cassette tape?) in junior high.  He sang all the good ones.  I sang along (loudly) to every single song.  I may have even shushed Sam when he told me he needed to go potty during Hard for Me to Say I’m Sorry.  It was the perfect thing to look forward to during the week as I was painting into the wee hours!

Are we really a month into summer break?  I think the remainder of the summer is going to go even faster considering there are trips to be taken and visitors to be welcomed.

We had a speedy week 4, and considering the agenda, not many pictures to show for it.  The majority of the week was spent doing yard work.  Sometimes I just have to wonder what the previous owners of our home were thinking.  I wonder that a lot whenever we decide to tackle home improvement projects.  We did manage to squeeze some fun into our week:

Magei and Sam have been so diligent with their summer reading.  They finished their whole library chart this week and got to turn it in for all their prizes.

Magei was especially festive for the Fourth of July this year.

Since we were occupied with yard work, we didn’t have the chance to do any fireworks or parades, but we did take a break to barbecue with friends for a few hours.

We finally got our bikes out for the season.  Both kids are flirting with the weight limits for their bike seats, but we’re going to see if we can squeeze one more summer out of them.

No pictures of this, but I have to add that Michael Buble’ helped me survive summer break this week.  Not only did he give me a night out with a friend and no kids, but his concert was awesome.  I’m still thinking about it.  I really think it might be one of the best concerts I have ever been to.  We’ve got another concert coming up this week.  I have a feeling I’m going to love it, too.  Probably not as much as MB, but love it nonetheless.

Sam and I were so excited to take Magei to the zoo this week.  We were so excited, in fact, that we went THREE times!  Why? Well, the new polar bear exhibit of course!  Repeat after me. AWESOME!

We ran into this little guy on the way out…

We have a weekly play date this summer with the Beazers.  Last week we met at the Powell splash pad to get a little relief from the hot, humid weather.  The kids had a blast!

Sam has loved Maisy books since he was really little, and still likes to check them out from the library.  He and Magei were both thrilled to color and cut out these adorable Maisy paper dolls.

The Packs can always be counted on to throw a great party.  Lucky for us, they had a little swim party and picnic last week.

We took the kids to a back porch concert on Friday night.  The music was fabulous and featured a great fiddler and bassist.  We picked up some cheese, fruit, and vegetables for dinner, and ate on our blanket while we listened to the band.

And the grand finale to our awesome week three was a visit from this guy:

One of our good friends from dental school just finished his residency and spent the night with us as he made his trek across the country.  It gave us a great excuse to go get some Cap City and Graeters. Yum…

We survived week 2 of summer break by doing yard work, spending some quality time at the library while dodging the rain, going hiking, and having some Father’s Day fun!  Nate had a vacation day left that he had to use or lose, so he took Friday off.  Lucky us, it was gorgeous, sunny, and the perfect day for a long hike! (And lucky us, Sam was a trooper and didn’t ask to be carried once!)  We saw a lot of Hocking Hills that day.

Father’s Day also helped us survive week 2 of summer break.  Unfortunately for Nate, Father’s Day ended up being a bit of work for him.  He had to wake up early to prepare a lesson, help prep for dinner, clean the bathroom, go to a meeting, and then cook his own dinner.  I suppose it’s symbolic of things that come with being a father.  We celebrated with our oldest c-bus friends, the Beazers.  Tradition dictates that the boys grill their own dinner and then retire to the video games soon after.

And so, week 2 of summer break has officially been survived.  Stay tuned for a fabulous week three…

I am overjoyed to be done with Magei’s kindergarten schedule.  That said, it’s going to be a long summer if we don’t stay engaged and stimulated.  Not that I want to be super busy…I just don’t want to be dormant.  So how did we survive week 1 of summer break?

Unfortunately, we spent some time wishing our wonderful Walker friends a fond farewell.  It’s that time of year when people move on, so we’ll be doing this a few more times throughout the summer, I’m sure.

Nate officially became a third year resident.  This was exciting for everyone.  Dr. Holloway has a picnic at her home every year, and we got to say goodbye to the residents who are done.  This is Nate getting in on the pinata action after none of the kids could break it open.

We took the kids downtown to a PBJ and Jazz concert.  Unfortunately it rained, so we had to move inside.  It was a packed house, but super fun!

After the concert, the kids were delighted to hang out with the folks from the Columbus Museum of Art and make some art of their own.  I actually think Nate may have had more fun doing this…

On a side note, I have to add that I love what is inscribed on the building: “Open to all.  Treasures are within.”

And so, week 1 of summer break was survived.

Kindergarten is almost over…and I am ready!  I look forward to not having to feed my kids lunch at 10:30 in the morning and having a little more freedom in our schedule.  To say Magei has loved school (and her teacher) would be a huge understatement.  She’s sad that it is almost time for summer break, but finds comfort in the fact that she will be a first grader.  The kindergarten kids put on a concert last week.  They sang quite a few songs, played kazoos, did little dances, and had a slide show.  All the kids were adorable and we had so much fun cheering from the audience.

A few weeks ago we took a trip up to Buffalo.  We had a great time getting to know the city.  We didn’t take a ton of pictures, but we managed to pack a lot into the trip.  We spent part of a day at the Buffalo Zoo.  It was much smaller than our Columbus Zoo, but very charming.  It is one of the oldest zoos in the country, having been established in the late 1800’s.

We ate lunch one day at the pier in downtown Buffalo.  It was a gorgeous view: out one window was the United States…

…and out the other window was Canada.

Nate experienced the infamous Anchor Bar buffalo wings, and we indulged in Loganberry juice, roast beef on ‘wick and fried bologna sandwiches.

The kids’ very favorite thing was fishing in the Fagin’s pond.  We had to have caught at least 15 fish and Magei and Sam are still talking about it almost a month later.  Dr. Fagin gave them each a picture of themselves holding a fish, and they are hanging proudly in their rooms.

It’s a perfect Saturday for updating the blog: Nate will be at school all day, the kids are playing happily together in their rooms, and it’s raining outside so I don’t feel guilty that I’m not doing yard work.  We’ll start with some random pictures and move on to more exciting stuff in posts to come…

I found all these pictures on our small point-and-shoot.  Magei and I were in Idaho in December, so the picture below is when Sam and Nate were fending for themselves.  Besides Sam’s pants being too short for him, I thought Nate did a decent job getting Sam ready for church.  I usually have him wear a shirt and tie, but a polo is perfectly acceptable.  Oh wait…he’s wearing sandals.  And it’s December.

We find the kids playing dentist a lot.  Nate thinks it is the coolest.

Perhaps the most exciting news at our house is that Sam is fully potty trained!  He’s been wearing only underwear during the day for a while now, but about a month ago, we started leaving him in underwear at night, too.  I’m happy to report we’ve had zero accidents!  Now if I could only get him to refer to his underwear as underwear instead of panties.  It’s an unfortunate hazard of having an older sister who wears panties.

These next pictures don’t have any stories behind them…just a few outtakes in the lives of Magei and Sam. One of their favorite things to do is take pictures of one another.  This is their work.

The kids and I spent a glorious blizzard-filled week in Idaho over spring break this year, while Nate remained in 80 degree Ohio.  Despite the winter weather, we had a fabulous time visiting family and celebrating Easter.  The kids had so much fun with their cousins.  Poor 10 year old Gabe had to be best friends with 3 year old Sam - he was such a good sport and didn’t complain a bit.

The Sunday after Easter, the kids got to wear their new church clothes.  Had I known six months ago that Easter Sunday corresponded with General Conference weekend, I would have thought twice before buying this Cinderella dress for Magei.  Oh well…maybe we’ll do something formal before she grows out of it.

And this is how 99% of our pictures turned out:

And finally…after multiple bribes of quarters and candy:

Again with the low key birthdays.  It’s becoming a Farly tradition.  Magei requested a surprise birthday party this year.  We celebrated a day early…that was the surprise.  Anyone want to nominate me for Mother of the Year?!

Magei requested Happy Meals from McDonald’s for dinner.

Magei wanted to dress up for her party (which btw only included me, Nate, and Sam).  She asked me to help her look her best.  Then she asked me if I could look my best.  (Apparently I was not looking my best!)  So, she went into my closet and picked out a matching purple dress for me to wear.  I made this dress for Magei to wear when the weather is warmer, but I suppose there’s nothing wrong with thinking spring in February.

We sang plenty of Happy Birthday songs…she was delighted!

We opened presents, ate cake and played wii.  Magei has been in love with My Little Ponies lately, so that was the majority of the presents.  Sam was just itching to jump in her lap and steal them all, but he controlled himself nicely.