In a New York (state) minute

Our good friend Danny came to town with his kids, Ashlynn and Bryson. He and Kevin have been friends since high school, and they live in Utah, so to have them in town was a treat. He was actually visiting his brother in D.C., but when he mentioned taking a trip up to Niagara Falls and Palmyra, we jumped at the chance to steal them away for a day or two.

So, we left their sparkling clean rental car in the driveway, and packed into our van like sardines, and set out for the 5-hour drive. The kids brought every electronic device known to man, and entertained themselves completely. Well, besides asking for help with treats, and headphones, and movies, and... okay, so even with electronic devices, kids are a lot of work! 

There was a brief, 1-hour window when all of the devices had died, and they started to panic. But even then, they managed to entertain themselves with pipe cleaners and music. It made me think that maybe, just maybe, we could have survived a road trip back in the good, old days. But probably not.

 

About halfway through the drive, there was a serendipitous moment when we passed through Williamsport, PA, home of the Little League World Series. For the baseball-loving Wight clan, this was JACKPOT. 
 

We wandered around the grounds, checking out the stadium, and giving ourselves a tour. Even my non-baseball-loving Marie could appreciate the chance to run around and stretch her legs. This was a happy, little coincidence and the perfect way to start the trip.

And I loved the "Little League Pledge." I was tempted to buy Kyle a shirt, even though he's already "retired" from baseball. What a great standard to teach our kids.

We continued on with the beautiful drive, and discovered that Bryson can demolish a DumDum lollipop in less than 18 seconds. Truly impressive.

 

And FINALLY, we made it to our hotel, where immediate bed-jumping and pillow-fighting began! Freedom!

We forced the kids to go grab some dinner (much to their chagrin) before heading back for a swim. I always forget that when you're a kid, the hotel pool is IT. The place to be. The reason we stay at hotels. Kevin and Danny were troopers, and jumped in with the kids the first night, having races and doing tricks.

Which means that the next night, it was MY turn to take one for the team. So I jumped in that nasty pool, and Kyle and I taught them the beauty of pool games like Marco Polo and Dibble.

But the number one favorite pool activity (at least for Marie), was the hydraulic pool lift. She sat on this thing, going up and down, up and down, at least half the time we were there. I'm sure she wasn't supposed to be on it, but hey - we're on vacation!

July catch-up

I had the awful realization today that summer is more than half over, with less than four weeks left. I'll admit that I was a little worried about our summer, without our usual three-week vacation out west. What were we going to do all summer?! But, for not having very much on our agenda (I didn't even make our usual summer bucket list, for crying out loud), we've had a pretty great one. And the only way I can possibly document it without feeling overwhelmed, is by pumping it all out at once.

The month of July brought:

 

A high-adventure with the young men. They went to Ohiopyle, went caving, rapelling, white-water rafting, did a high ropes course, and camped for a week. They also threw in a day trip to Kirtland, which was a spiritual high adventure of sorts. It was a week with the guys, and a week without work and technology. It was so, so good for Kevin, and definitely a highlight of his summer.

 

My good friend Amanda turned the big 3-0 and her husband went all out and threw her a surprise party, with a limo and everything. She was pretty bummed over the fact that Brad hadn't planned anything, and all of her friends were unavailable even for dinner out. So, the look on her face as we all piled out of the car and the limo drove up the street was pretty priceless. I think Brad was redeemed, and we had such a fun night out! Love that Amanda.

Some of our VERY favorite cousins (who am I kidding, they all are!) just moved to Viginia, and we went and visited. We went to Rebounderz for Dallin's birthday and the kids had a blast. So, so happy to have these guys living relatively nearby. 

While Kevin was with the YM, the kids and I spent the 4th of July with my parents and Scott. More to come, but we started the morning off with a ward dutch oven breakfast. 

The next stop on our 4th of July weekend was a trip to the temple. We met Kevin and the youth there, and he took the kids to Cafe Rio while I did a session. This was a highlight of my summer. I won't admit how long it had been, but I was so happy to be back. Now, to make sure I don't get lazy and go through a drought like that again... :)

And the weekend was capped off by our first-ever 4th of July celebration at Long's Park. So many reasons for not going until now, but this was definitely the beginning of a new tradition. We had a blast. More to come on this, too.

Marie's been doing a field hockey camp this summer, and she's loved it! Girls soccer plays on Sundays here, so we've had to look for other options. I wasn't sure about field hockey, but she's loved it so much that we've signed her up for fall. This was tie-dye day. They had a different theme each day, and would hand out prizes for the best costume/outfit. She finally won a prize on CR@zY day, so her life was complete!

We've had what seems like a million birthday parties this summer. I guess all the cool kids are born in the summer?! :) Summer birthdays are the best! Am I right? This was Abby's party, and that was a pretty killer waterslide. Those kids FLEW! I'm surprised there weren't any injuries. They had a blast. Love those McElroys!

We have the BEST sister missionaries in all the land. I'm sorry for all of you that don't get to know and love these awesome sisters. They are so, so great. We see them all the time, and they've had such a profound impact on our kids. I will love them forever. On this night, Sis. Lamphier and Sis. Chavez came over to make s'mores with us, and managed to come up with an analogy relating s'mores and prayer to boot!

My cousin Misty and her family live in Hershey, about 30 miles away. We've lived here three years and have only seen them 2 or 3 times. There's no excuse for that. We finally got together for dinner and had a blast. Why don't we make this happen more often??

We took a trip to Indian River beach with friends and cousins. It was one of the best beach days to date. It makes for a long day trip, but we just can't get enough of it. Even Kyle said, "I think we should spend every weekend at the beach."

We took a trip to the Herr's Snack Factory. They have an awesome tour, complete with hot potato chips off the line. We bought bags of seconds, in awesome flavors like dill pickle and BBQ chicken, and got to try cotton candy flavored cheese balls (hence, the thumbs down). It was a great little trip, and FREE! 

We went to the North Museum, which was meh. But must be documented! However, Kyle DID really like the Sea Monster movie in the planetarium.

 

This summer has been pretty major for Marie in that she's FINALLY an expert bike rider. She's had a blast, and sweet talks us into bike rides nearly every evening. This day, she thought her bike needed a good washing.

 

We met our good friends, The Horsts, in the city for market and donuts.

We've played a little disc golf. This was a particularly off day for me - I managed to peg Kevin in the ear (he went down) and almost took my kids down, too. Be glad you weren't there.

We took advantage of Marie's new-found bike skills, and made our annual trek to Mt. Gretna. We started off much closer than our typical 9-mile mark, and it's a good thing we did. They way there is SLIGHTLY uphill (ever so slight), and was filled with many stops. But the ice cream stop must have given Marie a boost of energy because we cruised on the way back. We love this tradition so much that we're going to fit it in again before summer's over.

Marie and her friend Mia found this sweet (and wild, maybe rabid?) kitty one day after field hockey and were dying to take it home. I heard them whispering and making plans. "Let's go home and get a cage, and sneak back here to take it home!"

Kyle went fly-fishing with the cub scouts. No fish caught, but still fun.

 

Kyle did a Challenger British soccer camp last week and LOVED it. It was probably the best camp he's ever done. He was only signed up for the half-day, and came home asking to do full-day. On Friday, I relented and was going to pay extra to let him stay the whole day. They ended up letting him stay for free! He had a blast - this was cR@zY day. Marie thought the tutu was a special touch.

 

Another beach day with lots of friends from the ward. This one was a doozy. A thunderstorm rolled in, and threw a wrench in our plans. More to come on this, but it ended up being a gorgeous, perfect evening.

My kids have an obsession with wild berries. We found some on our Mt. Gretna bike ride, and we happened upon some over at the school after field hockey one day. We filled an entire baggie. And no, we haven't died. :) Actually, I'm convinced my kids would happily eat a whole lot more fruits and veggies if they grew and harvested them themselves. Yet another reason for a garden...

And finally, we ended up at the swimming pool, where we seem to spend about half of our summer days. I'm pretty jealous of my daughter's tanned little legs.

June catch-up

The first half of June pretty much consisted of end-of-school year fun. That deserves its own post, but this is how Kyle felt about school FINALLY being over:

 

Yes, that's a cheer. Not a cry of agony. :)

 

Kevin finally built and launched his two-stage rocket. Let's just say that it was less than successful. I have video of the launch that still sends me into giggling fits, but this photo will have to do. Yes, that's Marie in the background, trying to pull the rocket out of the ground. Hil.ar.ious. However, Kevin would have you know that he's made adjustments and has successfully launched it many times since!

Marie had her very first dance recital, and loved it. I feel like this deserves its own post, too. Several highlights, and sooo many lows. Man, what a night!


This sequence of pictures makes me cringe and laugh at the same time:

She got her ears pierced for her 6th birthday. She's been wanting to for quite some time, asking pretty much every week. We've never had a certain age or rule about it, but I wanted it to be her choice. So she would ask, I'd say yes, and then she'd chicken out. For about a year now. Imagine my surprise when this day, she said. No tears, no nervousness, just excitement. She didn't even cry when they were pierced, just a slight whimper a few minutes later. And to say that she's happy she did it would be the understatement of the century! I will say that it instantly aged her and made both Kevin and I a little sad.

 

Kevin has an obsession with socks that must be documented. There's nothing better to him than fresh, new socks on his feet. But the old ones don't wear out, so he just keeps adding. I just had to give up one of my drawers to make room for his socks. The next person to gift him new socks better give us a dresser to go with it.

We floated down Pequea Creek, as part of Marie's birthday weekend.

Marie turned 6 - finally! My kids both have summer birthdays and are the youngest in their classes, so by the time their birthdays roll around, it seems like they've already been that age forever. Does that make sense?

 

Our sisters like to keep us in shape. And Marie liked showing off her biking skills. She gave Chavez a run for her money, while Lammy and I huffed and puffed behind...

Our summer has also been full of sleepovers, which I'm not exactly sure how I feel about. Actually, I do know. I don't really like them. I'm just not sure what to do about it. This was Marie's first away from home, and she had a blast with these sweet girls.

Kyle had Cub Day Camp.

 

And I finished the month off with a bang, turning the big 3-4. Friends came over. We laughed, we ate, and we got to humiliate ourselves with a pinata. Good times.

End of Year Wrap-up

The end of the school year is the best. Full of field trips, sports days, and very little school work. And luckily, I got to join my kids for most of it.

These little bandits had a field trip to Lancaster County Park. We visited the Garden of 5 Senses, collected insects, played games, and had a picnic.

Against all odds, Addison and Marie ended up in the same class this year. It will probably never happen again, so they enjoyed every minute of it. Unfortunately, Mia ended up in morning kindergarten, so they never got to see her. But they hit the jackpot that day and ran into her on the field trip!

They had a pretty fun little class this year, we'll miss these guys.

Our school district is unique in that we have district mascot, not school mascots. We're the Lampeter-Strasburg Pioneers. And every year, the 5th graders get to have "Pioneer Day." Every 5th grader comes dressed as a pioneer (only one of 250 didn't this year) and participates in parlor games, panning for gold, orienteering, and several other stations. I was in charge of moccasin-making and they were pretty stellar, if you ask me! I don't know how much the kids love it, but it's better than math and reading, I guess. It's a pretty fun tradition, and I never would've thought I'd see something like this outside the state of Utah.

The 5th graders also go to Philly for a day. When it was Kyle's turn to go, it was a rainy, awful day. I wasn't able to go on this one, but didn't feel too badly about that after I found out they walked around Philly in the pouring rain, missed out on seeing the Liberty Bell due to long lines, and got stuck in traffic for 2 hours on the way home. Imagine that bus ride full of wet, smelly 5th graders!

Well, when sports day rolled around, it was another wet, nasty day. So, instead of full day of fun outside, they were stuck inside the gym for a whopping 60 minutes playing "Butterfingers." It sure freed up my schedule, but I felt for them getting gypped again. Somehow, these three neighborhood buddies ended up on the same team. Pretty fun.

And finally, (finally!) after 2 dozen snow days this winter, the last day of school arrived. There wasn't any program or fanfare for the 5th graders, but there also wasn't any sadness!

Marie, on the otherhand, had a cute little program, complete with songs, poems, and awards. It was sweet.

 

They also showed a slideshow from the year, where I caught these girls giggling, singing, and dancing along. There's a lot of personality there, I can't wait to watch them grow up (or can I).

 

It was a great year, and I couldn't have asked for a better start for Marie!