Summer fun

I've been trying to keep these kids busy this summer so here is a little run down of all the things we have been up to.  We have been pretty successful so far at keeping them busy and I haven't heard the awful "I'm bored" come out of their mouths too much.  We did buy a swim pass in the spring and that has provided us with lots of fun.  I've also created a chore chart for them, they have 5 chores that they have to do everyday before we go do anything fun.  And so far they have been really good about completing their jobs.  We are doing the library reading program, so we end up at the library about once a week to get new books and get their reading logs signed off.  Leila has been doing swim lessons that last two weeks, so we have had that every morning and while she is swimming the boys get to play at the splash park.  We've had lots of play dates with friends which usually end in the kids running through the sprinklers and playing in our little swimming pool.  

The kids are always good at Costco so they can get a treat after we finish shopping.  Paul and I didn't think they would each finish their giant ice cream bars and were expecting to get to finish off their leftovers.  We were disappointed because they finished every bit of their ice cream.  

The splash park is fun but it is the only one in Ankeny and it is only free in the morning so it gets pretty crowded.  I definitely miss Henderson's parks and splash pads.  

Sometimes I get to take just Leila and Grey to the pool while Paul stays home with Asher.  It sure is nice to only keep track of two kids at the pool instead of three.  

On June 11th Paul and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.  We took the kids out for lunch to our favorite burger place, Zombie burger.  Afterwards our neighbor watched the kids while Paul and I went out for dessert.  We had to celebrate early in the day because Paul had a meeting at work that night.  We were also able to go out that weekend while the kids stayed home with a babysitter.  

We have had several picnics at different parks,  Leila wants to try and go to all the different parks in Ankeny.  I think there are around 30 different parks and so far we have been to about 10 different ones.  

We spend a lot of time playing and riding bikes in our front yard.  Greydon has become really good on his balance bike and so one day he wanted to try out Leila's bike.  I literally ran with him for about 5 seconds before he just took off.  

We went to a movie at the middle school one day while we had stormy weather.  The kids enjoyed watching Madagascar 3 with their friends Madisyn and Alanna.  

Greydon and Asher spend hours each week talking to our neighbor Julienne through the fence.  They share snacks through the fence and toss things back and forth.  One day I even found Greydon sharing is dinner with Julienne through the fence.  

So back to the kids having chores.  I give them jobs everyday that they just have to do because they are part of a family, they don't get rewards or treats or money for these.  Then I have extra jobs that they can do to earn "money" to buy things from the "mommy market".  Every Saturday I open up the market and they can choose how to spend the money they've earned.  In the market is anything from toys and candy to special activities.  Both Leila and Greydon have done really well with this system.  Leila sometimes has folding clothes as one of her jobs but sometimes it's just a bonus job.  She is really good at folding all the kids clothes and putting them away.  

Both kids have been pretty worn out each day from all of our summer fun.  Greydon has taken a nap almost every single day.  

One day Leila wasn't feeling well and had a fever but that didn't keep her from being outside with everyone else.  

 Greydon loves to get wet at the splash park and runs around like a crazy person the entire time we are there.  

Leila is becoming quite the little swimmer.  She has known how to swim for several years and could definitely get across the pool if she needed to but now she is learning all the swim strokes and learning how to breath while swimming.  She didn't love her class because she was the youngest and didn't know anyone and she couldn't touch the bottom like the rest of the kids.  But she went each day and worked really hard during class.  

We had the Spjuts over to roast marshmallows and eat dutch oven cobbler.  By the end the kids were sticky and full of sugar so I think it was a successful night.