A week in the life

We've been home for just over a week and our kids are still firmly on Wyoming time.   Our attempts to fit in the maximum amount of Cleveland summer fun have been slightly hampered by both the rainy, cool weather and our 10:30 wake-up times.  Still, we managed to fit a few things in... Quite possibly more than I can fit into one blog post.  But here goes.

The "Slightly Structured Summer" Plan:  In an effort to curb screentime and increase productivity in our house, we've started this routine where everyone has to do something creative, something outside, some kind of learning, some kind of practicing, and a chore before the screens come on.  A certain 7 year old I know is not the biggest fan of this plan.  But he is tackling it with his usual focus, heading through the morning goals with determination.  He needs some support to select an activity in each category and doesn't always revel in them.  Ivy, on the other hand, needs little to no encouragement to start her chore and creative activity, but then wants me with her to complete it. The hope with this plan is that the kids will get caught up, naturally, in some sort of creative or outdoor or learning endeavor and entertain themselves independently for hours on end, without screens.  That has yet to happen.  But, this week's attempt has led to the creation of a wizard hat (Jack's idea) and of a new garden bed in the front garden (a family "outdoor" project).  If we were going to be home more of the summer, there might be a chance of our settling in to this routine and making it work.  The hours spent at home cajoling the children into doing their activities, have also allowed me to get some things done:  cleaning out the spare-room closet, for example, or painting the window bay in the living room.  It has felt good to work on our home, making it better on little bit at a time.  And to focus on some real, active parenting, attempting to give the kids a structure that optimizes their brain growth and creativity.

Good, but a lot of work.  I am, secretly, feeling rather grateful we leave home again soon and I can let down this organized facade for a while...!  :)

Alumni Weekend at Hiram:  It was the 20 year reunion for the class of 95 and so we headed down to spend some quality time a great group of people.

And Garfield.

The theater building had put up a bulletin board of old play programs.  Amazing how many memories can be brought back by a piece of paper and a list of names...

 Ivy and Keeley, Fiona and Anthony's daughter, rekindled their relationship and were instant, fast friends. So much so that we took Keeley home for an overnight on Saturday to give the girls more time together.  Which was pretty great except for the way they stayed up until 12:30. But that's another story...

 So one thing we did, in a classic Hiram-random moment, was to spend some time hanging out with 50-some sheep and one awesome goat (named Goat, of course), on a visit to our friend Barb's farm. The kids loved feeding bread to the animals and Goat won all of our hearts.

I always forget what an absolute animal nut this kid is. 

 The kids also loved this giant hammock at  Barb's dad's bakery.

 And golf cart rides around campus.

The little crew discovered the magic of Hurd Garden. Here they are getting into the garden supplies hidden behind a willow. Ivy and Keeley are making a potion to grow fairy wings...  

This is what our car ride home from Hiram looked like when we dragged these sweet ones back at 8pm.... then fed them dinner at 9... then the girls were up til 12:30...  there's that story!

 Father's Day: The day where you show the man in your life how much you appreciate him by making him wake up early to do something he hates.

Nat is really the most awesome father.  As demonstrated by (among many other things) the fact that he spent his Father's Day morning running a mile race with Jack.  The run was my idea and I didn't even go.  Not that I complained too loudly about having to stay home with sleeping little girls, instead of running 5 miles...

Jack ran an 8:34 mile, a new PR for him but not enough to win his age group.  He took it like a champ, though.

A little more Father's Day celebration, the day after:  Dinner (and hide and seek) at Legacy Village...

... where we picked up Nat's father's day present, a new bike.  I am bound and determined to find a way he and I can enjoy fitness together!

A midweek visit to Rocky River Beach, on one of the few warm days we had this week...

We can't seem to keep this kid from reading, everywhere he goes...

...And a dinner playdate with some friends.  It's crazy, I have a daughter who gets together to play dolls with her friends.  She is too grown up to handle.

Of course, we spent plenty of time this week on Wade Oval.

A picnic by the lagoon...

... and our first Wade Oval Wednesday of the year.

This festival just gets more crowded every week, I think.  There is barely a ring of grass around the edge of the Oval this year, and this week that ring of grass was full of pedestrian traffic, food trucks (tents are not enough any more!), children throwing frisbees and balls, and the bubble guy too.  Couldn't even SEE the band through all the crowds of picnicking revelers. It was mass chaos.  But, mass chaos with bubbles, so it was OK.

We've decided next time we may just camp out in this wonderful new green space by the Case campus, where we could hear the music wonderfully as it echoed off the building.  Also we could jump off walls and roll down hills, with space all around.  Lovely.

Another event of the week:  Ivy is now registered for Kindergarten.  All official, with a student number and everything.  Two little Heights Tigers in the family, who knew!

Of course Mama's girl had to come along. She waited like and angel, studiously coloring away the whole time..

We've done admirably this week with getting Jack together with his friends.
Second/third grade playdates in 2015 look a lot like this...

Ivy and Elise had a good time with their usual pastime too.

A most exciting day on Friday:  The morning brought an announcement of the Supreme Court decision to legally recognize same sex marriage in all 50 states.  Such tremendous news!  SO much joy!  So many rainbows in my Facebook feed!  About damn time, America...

Ivy and celebrated by buying a dress-up wedding gown at a garage sale.  While Ivy is eagerly and earnestly planning her own current wedding to a 5 year old boy (she even had the time set--5:30 pm that day-- and was MOST disappointed that Christopher could not come over at that time), she is happy to know that she, and EVERYONE ELSE IN AMERICA, can now marry the person they love regardless of gender.  

If that's not a reason to dress up, I don't know what is.

It's also a good reason to go to the pool.  That, and inflatable pool toys.  These are photos of my children AFTER an hour of pool time with giant inflatable spiders, crocodiles and Orcas (and lots of squirt guns).  No pictures of the actual insanity of Family Fun Night, sorry, as I was in the water for all of the family fun.  Good times.  Very very splashy good times.

Friday night, I snuck off to a small but lovely Mama Speakeasy gathering where 5 of us spent 4 hours drinking and eating and talking about all of the things.  I love the Mamas!

Saturday:  Rain.  This has been a most thoroughly raining summer so far.  Both of our pool trips so far have been on cloudy/rainy/cool evenings, and we've not been inspired to trek to Kiddie Park or Hale farm or any other outdoor summer venues.
Thankfully we've got some wonderful indoor spaces right in our own backyard.

Jack and Ivy and I spent the morning riding the carousel, petting turtles, and enjoying the warmth of the glasshouse.  Note that Jack-the-insatiable-reader took his Kindle along and made a point of reading in each location we visited.

Sometimes you just have to dance in the rain...

Sunday -- whew.  The beginning of a two-day marathon of friends and families and hosting and joy that left me reeling with happiness and completely exhausted....

We set off to make the most of ANOTHER rainy day by visiting the Dunham Tavern Museum, a piece of local history that we drive by at least once a week but have never visited.

Here is a photo from the 5 minutes we spent in the actual museum.

It appears to be a perfectly serviceable "back in time" experience and is likely rich in both local history and period furniture.  But we'll never know because sadly there was a tour guide intent on explaining, in exhaustive detail, the purpose and history of every singly item in that very large colonial kitchen, to a very interested audience of two older ladies.  My children, it turns out, already know a fair amount about spinning and weaving.  And they have the attention span of.... children.

So, we went outside and trudged in a disgruntled fashion through the damp grounds. And then our friend Will met us there, with his daughters and his three grandkids in tow, and the day turned around.

Literally.  The sun even cam out.  And our combined troupe of 7 matched right up and took right off and played and talked and imagined and had more fun than you'd dream possible in this little wooded park.

Kids don't need much to be happy, it turns out.

Just each other, and some space, and maybe some sticks and dirt and crabapples.

Plus, Jack REALLY hit it off with Will's granddaughter Riley, and the two of them were SO adorable, walking around talking about MInecraft and Percy Jackson.  As we were leaving, Jack turned to her and said, "So, are you going to come here next summer?"  Way to plan ahead, kiddo.  He ended up giving her his phone number.  Imagine, my son, giving his number to a girl.  Life happens fast!

After taking the kiddos to the west side for an overnight with Gram, we got home in time to welcome our friend Meg, who came to stay with us for the annual Loud Ladies of Hiram event.

Our loud ladies have been louder in the past-- for many practical reasons including picking up unaccompanied minors at the airport and vacation travel, we were down several group members and we disbanded by 9.  But we managed to put some hurt on two pitchers of gin and tonic during that time, and enjoyed a gourmet meal of grilled chicken and amazing salads, and ate WAYY too many brownies. And loved every minute together.


So much so that we did it again on Monday morning.  This time: brunch with the kids!

A better brunch has not been had since the most recent Fake Christmas morning. :) A splendid combination of some of my favorite people, local "regulars" and out of town "treats" and a total of 11 wonderful kids tromping about in the house and yard between the hours of noon and 6. as people ate and drank mimosas and lingered to talk and watch children play.  I love days that stretch out like this one, with my house all happy and glowing and full of friends and food and warmth.

I can't imagine a better way to close out our "interlude" at home between travels.  Tomorrow, we pack and head out to Farley's, for the next chapter....