Bikes and Books

Grammy's new location came with excellent grounds for biking.  Yesterday we pedaled from her house to the library using the nearby bike-path.

Pedaling at Petrie

New bikes had been purchased with the intent of taking the old bikes over to Grammy's.  Monday we loaded up the wheels and even got a chance to take a test pedal in her most excellent biking neighborhood.  We had pure bike joy going on.  It was fabulous.  We are definitely looking forward to more time on wheels this summer.

New Wheels!

In order to supply bikes for use at Grammy's house this summer, 3 new bikes were purchased this weekend.  We are talking pure bike joy here, people!

Bikes, Kites, and Birds!

Today was a spectacular day here in Northern Michigan.  65 and sunny had us outdoors most of the day.  The bikes got a lot of miles around the driveway.

With an excellent "breeze" , it made for a great kite day too.  The bigger kite was a gift from the Andersons, and it originated in China.  I have to say it wasn't as tricky to get started as I might have thought, nor was it too hard to keep aloft... but when it came down it came down with a crash!  All of the kids brought out their own kites and had various levels of success. Lucy stuck with it the longest today.

 While we were playing, Ken was finishing construction of the chicken condo.  This afternoon he borrowed Ray's tractor and we moved the condo down to its permanent home downhill (by our garden).  Once the chicken security system (fencing) is in place, the chickens will move from their current garage residence.

Visions of Sugar Plums

5:15 was my vision upon seeing the clock when Lucy came into our room this morning.  All the kids could see was a mountain of presents under the tree.  Watching them open their presents was lots of fun--they were just the right amount of excited about what they had opened and eager for the next surprise.  They must have gotten a good report from our elf, Fred, because they made out very well.  There were Legos in abundance (Mitchell spent most of the day building and playing), a big green two-wheeler, and many things adorned with Tinkerbell or in shades of pink.  Owen also received his "Aunt Mary brand" quilt and it got a 4-paw rating from our dog-loving one.  Wii were also surprised with a Wii (Ken is SNEAKY),  so we all tried our hand at playing.  Lots of fun all around today.  The Rogers family is definitely very blessed.

Mitchell opening one of many sets of Legos.

Charlie early on in the excitement.

Lucy and one of her aforementioned items of pink.

Lucy "helping" Mitchell with his fire boat.

Lucy, just plain excited!

 

Charlie, worn out from the excitement.

Lucy with another one of her Tinkerbell treasures.

Woof!  New digs for his bed courtesy of Aunt Mary.

The big green 2-wheeler's maiden voyage.

 

Lucy, fashioning her new pink monkey hat.

Chillin' in the sled.

School Comes Calling....

Hard to believe that our "summer" has come rushing to a close. Seems like we've been here before. I went back to work for a few days this week and it was a good test run to get us all used to the routine again. Tuesday we start it all again. I will be teaching 3rd grade again, but will have a very large class.

Here are some cutie patooties I've been hanging out with lately. Their recent achievements:

• Owen can ride a two-wheeler now if we hold the bike while he gets on.
• Lucy is speaking in short sentences. Her clarity in saying "Mommy, stop it" is remarkable.
• Lucy is singing a lot.
• The boys love to play Spyro on Ken's old Playstation. They actually share and take turns and cheer each other on. WOW.
• Lucy opens her own band-aid wrappers and puts them on for herself.
• Mitchell is eager first grade to begin. Owen's preschool is on hold due to state funding issues.

Blue Skies and Brown Eyes

Owen had a visit with the pediatric eye doctor today and the report was good! YAY!

The day was completed by some quality outside time. It was finally warm enough to let the kids play in the sprinkler today.


Lucy is picking up several words a day, and can even put some 2 and 3 word phrases together. She likes to say "six-it", "wush", and "onk! onk!". Any guesses on the meanings? :) Her other favorite activity is coloring, which she will do for 30 minutes at a time, long outlasting her brothers. This morning, unfortunately, she thouroghly colored her belly with navy blue marker. It required a full out bath to get it clean enough to put clothes on.

Owen is doing remarkably well with wearing his underwear. He is now at the stage of potty training that every time he sees a bathroom, he says he needs to go. He is now working on earning a trip to go bowling. He loves riding his bike and playing catch.


Mitchell is riding his bike nonstop and playing catch as well. He loves Bakugans. He asks lots of questions about everything. Typically he is very helpful, but he's had a very rough few days with me lately. He is growing like a weed.

Our garden is growing pretty well; we've already picked some zucchini. I'll be trying my hand at Dad's zucchini bread recipe here soon. Hopefully I'll remember all the ingredients (haha).

It's supposed to be relatively warm here this week (70s, maybe even an 80!) but fall-like again next week, so we'll be out enjoying the weather while we have it.

Happy Campers, Big Bikers, and Proud Parents

Last week was a busy one, but fun despite the Seattle-like conditions. We had 5 days straight of 55 degrees with rain. Normally prolonged rain and 3 children = disaster; however, with the boys going to day camp, it made the best of a dreary situation. Mitchell spent all day at Camp Torenta each day, and Owen attended a preschool program for a few hours twice during the week. Good experiences were had and the boys are already asking to go again.

I woke the kids up to go watch fireworks at Linda's house on the lake. Very nice also. The next day Owen repeatedly asked me if I had really woken him up for "something special at Linda's house" , as if he thought it was a dream.

Saturday we headed to Chuck E Cheese, as Owen had earned his potty training goal. Very fun. Next goal=bowling trip.




Sunday Mitchell and I went to pick out his big 2-wheeler, the prize for mastering biking without training wheels on his little bike. He picked out a "cherry red 2-wheeler" and described the day as the best ever. I can just hear Dad saying, "it just doesn't get much better than this..."

Lucy is trodding along. Interesting tendencies... loves to play with shoes, but most often refuses to wear any shoes outside. Her current favorite phrase is "fix it". Also--freaks out if she is wet. She will repeatedly say wet as she tries desperately to remove the offending article of clothing. She also can now take her own diaper off (cringe).

Fun news--This Friday Ken and I are headed into Chicago for our now annual trip to celebrate our anniversary. We will as usual be able to enjoy a Cubs game (thanks Lee!) and we will even get to meet up with Ruthie and Amanda. YAY. I think the Harry Potter exhibit is also on the to-do list for the weekend.