Those rude boys...

When I picked Ben & Maggie up from Adventure Club yesterday, I ran into the younger sister of one of Ben's friends (she is 7 or 8). She said "Mrs Sylar, when I sit down, you can see my underwear and the boys keeping looking and that is rude". I looked down at her (she's quite a character & I really like her) and she is wearing a skirt the size of a scarf-no wonder that you can see her underwear when she sits down. I had to breathe deeply for a few seconds so that I didn't laugh. I said "well, if you have to wear a tarty little skirt like that, then what do you expect? You should be wearing pants like I am. But you are right, it is rude and I will tell Ben not to do it". She went away quite happy & I laughed all the way home. Ben told me that her brother kept looking under the table and laughing, but of course he wasn't doing it. I told him that he shouldn't do it as it wasn't nice. I think Ben really likes this girl & she is a lot of fun so I am not surprised they are messing with her when they can.

Walking to lose weight-the big lie?

SLU started a walking program this Summer. I got a team together & we started keeping track of the number of steps we did each week. I thought this would be a great incentive to get me to walk more & I was hoping I'd lose weight in the process. We started a month ago and I resisted weighing myself until 4 weeks had gone by. In the past 4 week, I have used every opportunity to walk, have walked over 390,000 steps (about 190 miles) and I was hoping for great things. I got on the scale this morning & I have GAINED 1 lb over what I was at the start. I am inclined to sit at my desk all day and eat Ted Drewes ice cream!!!! I'm trying to convince myself that the extra pound is due to all the muscle that I have built up on my legs!!!!!

Scout meeting at Circus Flora

Circus Flora had a scout day on Saturday. After the show, the scouts could ask questions and do a tour of the backlot. They all had a great time.

The past week

Ben & Maggie watched Pirates of the Caribbean again this week. It prompted Ben to get his old Davy Jones costume out again.

Ben made this plate for Sam's Father's Day present at Paint Me Pottery.

Maggie had several milestones this week. This was the first trip to the pool with Summer School. I was hoping that she'd be able to dress herself in a timely manner and bring her suit & towel home-she managed to do both. We got a call that she scraped her face on the pool side when she went down the slide. It was way worse than I thought it was going to be, but it doesn't seem to bother her too much.

We went to the pool on Sunday and I let Maggie try jumping off the diving board in the deep end. She did really well and spent hours just jumping off the board, getting out & lining up again!!!! She also had a wobbly tooth that she pulled out herself after we got home from the pool. At least the tooth fairy got this one!!!

The playground tree

The tree at the school playground that provided shelter for the parents while the kids were playing was struck by lightening last week. Unfortunately, it had been struck by lightening years ago and they were not able to save it after this time. It was cut down and hauled away within a couple of days and so I took the kids over to the school to see what it looked like without it. It is amazing how huge the trunk was, the whole center of the tree was hollow so it was probably just a matter of time before its demise. Luckily, it did not fall down when the kids were out there.

Enterprise family day

This event has become one of our regulars and is a huge hit with the kids. There is so much to do & it is all free. Unfortunately, it was another hot & humid day and most of the events are on the parking lot, so we were pretty much done for by the end of it!!! We did start off in a relatively shady spot where the kids were going through an inflatable obstacle course and Ben got his arm painted with a Cardinal. The kids love the fact that all the soda is free and they can have an (almost) unlimited amount

The Clydesdale horses are always there and Maggie had to pet this one-she really loves all animals

They loved going around on this little car

Maggie had a go at this thing, Ben wasn't having anything to do with it, even though he went on it last year. Lately, he has been very timid about trying anything.

Maggie had great fun jumping up and down on this and went on it twice. Unfortunately, there is always a long line to get on it

After 3 attempts, Ben finally decided he was ready to try riding the mechanical bull. Once he had done it, you couldn't keep him off it!!!!

What child can resist legitimately being able to hit their sibling with something huge???!!!!

Ben was the winner, but Maggie gave him a run for his money & she actually knocked him off the first time!!!!

Hit of the day-making wax moulds of your hands!!! First, you had to immerse your hand in ice water (not a pleasant experience)

then, dip your hand into a vat of molten wax for times. After each time, they check for bubbles and make sure your hand is completely covered

After they have dipped your hand 4 times, they cut around the wax and pull it off your hand

Lastly, they dip it in whatever colour you want. Ben got his done in the Ukrainian colours

10th percentile

Ben had his 4 month visit for his growth last Thursday. Recently, several people have commented that he seems to be getting taller, I think it's more that he seems to be getting thinner. He had grown another 2.8 cm since last time, so I think that puts him at close to 50 inches tall & he weighs 54 lbs. He has climbed up to the 10th percentile on the charts now, but he is leveling out from what he was when he first started growth hormone. The doctor increased his growth hormone dose. She did point out that his bone age is 2 years behind, so he still has plenty of growing left to do

Happy Birthday to....me

We went to Fitz's for dinner to celebrate Maggie's birthday on my birthday!!!! We are so behind this year. Fitz's is a great place for birthdays because they give you this huge root beer float that satisfies all of our dessert cravings!!! They have the best coffee ice cream I have ever tasted

Another tooth gone...

Maggie has been obsessing about her latest wobbly tooth for several weeks. She came running up to me last night to show me that she lost her tooth at school today. I think she must have lost it when she was eating because she said she put it in her lunch box. It had disappeared from her lunch box by the time she came home, so that's another one the tooth fairy will never get!!!!

Happy Birthday Maggie

Maggie had a great birthday, despite Sam & Ben being gone all day and despite her not even remembering when she woke up!! She slept until 10.30 am, which is amazing in itself. When she got up, Sam had just set me a text & she asked me what he said. I asked her what day it was and she said "Sunday". Then, I asked her what other day it was and she had no idea. I told her, "it's your Birthday Maggie. Dad said to tell you happy birthday". She immediately looked over to the battery charger and said "Mum, I think my batteries are done". We really don't need to worry about her being too excited about her birthday-certainly with Ben not around!!!
She finally got into the swing of things and enjoyed her presents. Arline bought her this travel easel which she played with for a long time.

Jan & Julie came to our house in the afternoon because she wanted to play baseball with them. They bought her a shirt, hat and glove, but she made Jan open everything

We played baseball with her for hours and she had a great time. She wants to be a catcher

The ice cream van came around the neighbourhood and we bought ice cream

We also did a lot of walking. We walked to Starbucks for coffee at lunchtime and then walked to CiCi's and back for dinner. Maggie loves the macaroni pizza-actually she picks off the macaroni, licks off the topping and comes back later to eat the crust!!!!

Scout Quest 100

Sam & Ben had a great time at Scout Quest this weekend. It really is a unique experience & I am glad that Ben could do it. They set their tents up with Troop 301 which is one of the Webster scout troops.They were able to eat together with the parent troop, which saved a lot of trouble with cooking themselves. Sam says that the days of great meals from scout camp outs seem to have vanished though

They got up around 6.30 on Saturday morning, ate & got cleaned up and then had a quick game of Frisbee.

Ben spent a lot of time trying to get the baseball though the target. He was really excited that he won a football and several key chains during the day.

They flew balsa wood planes....

and got to see some real ones

One of the big hits (and longest lines) was the ice block sledding....

Ben loved the water slide (of course)

They had a bunch of climbing walls for the older scouts

The kids had fun playing sponge wars

There was a big show and dinner at night. The scouts had to wear their uniforms

By the end of the day, they were pretty tired. They were out in 90 degree heat all day. Ben & Sam (and a bunch of other people) decided just to pack up and come home on Saturday night. I think they were both glad to be sleeping in their own beds again....

How did this happen?

Happy Birthday Maggie!!!! Our baby girl turns 6 today. Where did the time go? It seems like it was only yesterday that we brought her home from Ukraine, a tiny quiet little girl that stole everyone's heart. Unfortunately, the boys are not here to share her special day with her, so it was just be us girls. Maggie's favourite line to me is always "I guess it's just you and me again"!!!! Poor Maggie, she has no Dad & Ben on her 6th Birthday, she had no Mum on her 4th Birthday, we didn't even remember it was her birthday until lunchtime on her 2nd Birthday and her 1st Birthday probably wasn't even noted by anyone around her. She is definitely due for some MAJOR celebration next year!!! We are very lucky that she doesn't even realize what day it is most of the time (unless we constantly remind her), so we will be able to celebrate when the boys are back home and she will be just as happy.....

Scout Quest weekend

Sam and Ben are spending the weekend in Forest Park celebrating the 100 years of scouting at Scout Quest 100. This is a huge event that has been anticipated for many months. They are expecting over 10,000 scouts and leaders to be at the event. The only event expected to be larger is the national jamboree. Sam sent these pictures from his phone last night.

It looks like the boys went to the Science Center. There are only 3 boys from the den that are camping. They are lucky that they just made the age/rank cut-off to be able to participate this year. It's going to be something that they never forget

Ben's camping trip

Ben went camping with Jan & Julie over Memorial Day weekend. They went to Hawn State Park. He was so excited to go with them. I was worried that he'd be bored there or that he'd drive them crazy, but they all came through unscathed. It's so good for them to get the opportunity every once in a while to get some individual attention.They found all kinds of wildlife when they were there and Ben had to document each event.

Ben helped with the cooking. They had casserole on Sunday night, pancakes for breakfast and corn & ribs on Monday night. He probably wouldn't even look at most of it at home!!!!

They found a copperhead while they were out hiking on Monday-I hope he had this on zoom!!!

Everyone looked like they had a lot of fun

Julie looks happy. I hope it's not just because they were packing up to leave!!!!

Ben found this frog under the camper wheel when they were getting ready to leave. He loves frogs-maybe he got that from me.