Off to the beach!

After a very busy, very labor intensive summer, we finally took a well-deserved family vacation to the beach. It was supposed to be a 12-hour drive but with frequent potty breaks, meals and traffic in Virginia on I-95 (will that highway ever be finished???)  it took us 19 hours.

Mr Cool

The kids enjoying the waves coming in and getting sand in every cracks and crevices. They are probably not enjoying the latter.

My nekked feet. Yo.

Swimming with daddy

blog catch-up

I can't believe it's been more than a month since I have entered a blog post (again). Miss J and K turned 5. Boy, how is that possible? My little girls are growing up fast. With the end of school year, I was busy planning summer camps, activities, and going crazy trying out new crafts.

I wrote the school where J and K would be attending Kindergarten letting them that I want my girls in separate classes. Of course with this request come the mental preparation of separation. At first K said, "Yes! I want a different classroom!" especially when we told her that no one would be confusing her with J. J on the other hand was not very enthusiastic. She said she wanted to be K, she wouldn't know which classroom she has to go to, etc. I reassured her that the teachers would all be helpful and that she would see K during recess and lunch.

Big M finished spring soccer and as soon as school ended, he started soccer camp. I only singed him up for 3.5 hours a day for 2 weeks, and I think that was more than enough. There is a long walk to the soccer field and every day he could barely carry his soccer bag. He can handle the physical activity, but the heat and the fact that he doesn't drink enough water is making him exhausted. He came home the first day with a water bottle that was barely used. I had to make marks and asked him to make sure he drank to the marks every water break. He is loving it though.

Little M continues to be a handful. We've caught him playing in the toilet, using applesauce as lotion/sunscreen, sneaking into his sister's room to rip out their wall decals, etc. Daddy and I look at each other at the end of the day and thing, "none of the other kids ever did any of this!" He is so smart and talkative too. Opinionated. We can't forget that part. Just like his mother father.

This summer has proven to be our most active yet. I think it's because Little M is to the point of being able to endure/enjoy the outings and the four kids are slightly more manageable. We tried hiking in our local park, which we all enjoyed: even terrain, fairly short (1 mile). The next week we went on a challenging hike off a cliff of a mountain where we had to go up and down rocks. We got to walk behind a waterfall. It was a lovely hike, the trees shaded us so it was not hot at all. Little M was on my back the entire time, which made some of the downhill and uphill challenging. On another occasion we hiked a preservation park. Upstate New York is such a lovely place for so many outdoor activities. Just days ago, we also started Geocaching. Why not combine hikes and treasure hunting? I found a very recently placed cache full of toys and as a family went to look for it. The kids were excited about treasure! Unfortunately, not all caches have toys/treasure. Big M loves it though, even finding the littlest ones where all we can do is sign it that we found it.

Today we tried bowling. This is Little M's first bowling and he did great. He loved it, except for the fact that he had to wait for everyone's turn.




Fun!

Trying our best to cool off

The weather is the same day after day after day. It's 102 during the day and 80 at night. Everyone breaks into a sweat the minute we step out the door. And our power bill....

So here are the kids trying to cool off. This was actually before noon when there is shade in the backyard and the water was still a little chilly. But somehow even Little M tolerated it. By 11:30 we had to come in because the sun was bearing on us.

family came to visit

Hubby's parents and 3 nephews came to stay with us for a week over the 4th of July holiday. The kids were very excited. Big M remembers his cousins and is very excited about being able to see them again. The girls don't remember their cousins but they were very excited to see their Nana and Papaw.

After a night's rest, we started their next day to a local city pool. There were slides for bigger kids and a huge area for the little ones. The pool was only 3.5ft deep so it was manageable for the girls and Big M. There was a water structure area for Little M that he also enjoyed. We spent a total of 4 hours there. It was over 100 degrees.

After everyone got settled back home, we saw noticed Little M's tan line. If you look from the distance you can see a clear straight line right above his elbows. I always said that once our kids tan there was no going back. Now he will be caramel colored. I applied sunblock on the kids 4 times while we were at the pool and it paid off. None of the kids go sunburn. The adults were another story. I got sunburn on the my back and on my scalp of all places. I had a part on my hair where the sun beat down on. I didn't notice the burn until I got in the shower. Ouch!  Daddy also got a sunburn on his head even though he put sunscreen on his, um, bare spot. But I think he only thought of it after already spending an hour on the sun.

I have no picture of this day, but I must mention about the girls. Both girls wore a vest provided by the facility. As soon as K got in the water, she swam by herself. I was pleasantly surprised since not 3 weeks ago she was holding on to either Daddy or me for dear life. Then she started jumping in the water and splashing everyone over and over again. J was not so confident. She held on to someone the entire time. Papaw got her to jump to him but she always called him back to her closer before she jumped.

The next day we spent another four hours at another water park. This time, Big M was very confident on the water. There was a knee-deep area for little ones but he just kept on walking until the water got up to his chin. Thanks to his Nana and Papaw for keeping an eye on him so that I could enjoy the non-kiddie parts of the water park with Big M.

Enjoying a juice break.

Big M enjoyed the little kid area, too. 

Everyone taking a break from the sun. Yes, this is how Daddy wants to be immortalized on the internet - picking his nose.

summer is a drag!

Our summer schedule is exhausting! Big M go to summer camp MWF and the girls go TTh. This means I don't get to be by myself (or rather, Little M and I don't get to be by ourselves), unlike when school was in session. When there was school, baby and I were alone on MWF when the girls go to school on those days and of course Big M is in kindergarten everyday. On Mondays I clean the house from the weekend mayhem. I vacuum the kids' rooms, the living room, the kitchen and change bedsheets. When I don't have time to do all, I do them sometime on Wednesday or Friday. I don't clean everything, but I do get to what needs to be done some time and then I get to be in peace by myself when Baby M takes his naps.

This summer I either have 2 kids, or 3 kids depending on the day, which means I am constantly answering someone's request: I want juice, I want this, I want that, or I'm done (from pottying)! My kids are highly independent and self-sufficient but there are still never-ending requests! And I can't find the time to do any cleaning because when I do find a quiet time, I'm exhausted. I am also trying to get the kids out because it is summer after-all. It's just highly frustrating to leave a cluttered house and then come back to a cluttered house. ARGH!

I love my kids, but I need time alone!!!

But with parenting, there is the 90% of the time when I want to pull my hair out, poke my eyes out and stuff pencils in my ears, but there is that 10% where everything is awesome and we all get along. Without that 10% I would be in a mental institution.

cooling down at the spray park

Big M, Little M and I joined a group of moms and headed to the spray park. It was hot but when you're wet you barely notice it. Little M had a lot of fun walking around not caring where I was. There was a big playground beside it so the boys did a little playing there too and then got wet some more.

I got soaked blindly following Little M around and not looking where we were heading.

School is out!

With school being over comes the new crazy schedule. Big M goes to the girls' school on MWF and the girls go TTh. This wasn't planned but when the girls were advanced to another class when they turned 4, the swim days for the class is TTh. They would not get to swim at all for the summer if they kept their MWF schedule.
Our first outing while Big M was in summer camp was just to the park. With the weather being in the high 90s the only time to go to the park is really early.



Having a snack and a drink before they pass out from the humidity.



K picked a flower to give to Daddy. But of course it wilted before Daddy came home. She was very upset.



Little M doing his own thing.



Little M enjoys the swing with K pushing him. Getting pushed by J results in whiplash.

the hoodie gang

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="K, Big M, J, Little M"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="K, Big M, J, Little M"][/caption]

I love taking pictures of all of these kids together, especially when they are all smiling.

Kids, it is my wish that you all stay close as you are now throughout your lives. It his highly likely that you will disperse throughout the country, and even perhaps outside the country but I want you to stay in touch even if it's just by email. I want you all to be friends, to be able to call on each other in times of need, for support and to cheer each other on. If I give you nothing else of my culture but this, I will be very happy. Family is important.

You don't need to jeopardize your own stability in order to help each other, like many other Filipinos do. Enable each other to do better. Always repay your debt; financially, or emotionally.

Balloon Festival

We witnessed our family's first ever Balloon Festival last weekend in this Texan heat. We saw parachuters first which were really just a tiniest speck in the sky until it got close to the ground. I wish I had more than a point and shoot camera for this day. The kids thought they were cool, for a moment anyway. Big M found a girl catching crickets and so they bonded over that most of the afternoon. It was a good thing really. The crickets were better off in the little girl's container than hopping around freaking me out. Although I kept pretty calm since we were with new friends. Didn't want them thinking I'm weird and all.

The girls stayed in our blanket playing with their new friend, also 3 years old. We tried to keep cool, but you can only do that so much in this humid hot weather. At one point in the evening there was absolutely no breeze at all. K and Big M were soaked with sweat.

The balloon launch was pretty to watch, but not as cool as the balloon glow. That was beautiful. What's not beautiful is the fact that the kids had to go potty. It's never a good thing when you have to use a port-a-potty. With 50,000 people roaming around... well, yuck.

When dark came we oohed and aahed  at the beautiful glowing balloons while trying to avoid all manners of bug life forms. Thank goodness for our new friends coming prepared with bug repellent wipes. Daddy took Big M to slide on a few inflatables and then we were out of there. Three hours in the hot humid weather and we were all spent.

spent more but had lots of fun

On Labor Day we decided not to fight the crowds and go biking in the park instead, and it would be cheaper. But the girls have outgrown their trikes so we needed to buy bikes and helmets. But the 2 bikes and 3 helmets ended up costing more than going out, but we definitely had fun, that is, after the girls figured out how to pedal. We somehow didn't anticipate that pedaling would be a problem. Big M went on ahead and had to wait for the rest of us, while Daddy worked with K, and I worked with J. They both put weight on the pedals backward which not only prevented them from going forward, we couldn't even push them forward. After a few minutes, we switched girls, and after much frustration, I was able to help K finally get it. So K was cruising along and Daddy and J were far behind. Daddy was about to lose it, so we switched again so I could work with J. I was so frustrated I just ended up laughing like a lunatic. Then she finally got it! So for the second half of our time, we were able to walk while the 3 kids biked. While waiting for all of us to catch up, Big M hunted for bugs. He found a cricket which he planned on scaring me with.



Thank goodness the cricket had other plans and hopped off before getting to me. Big M then proceeded to look for his cricket friend. When they were reunited, cricket hitched a ride on Big M's back.

Big M's bike was inherited from Daddy's friend. He loves it because it looks like a motorcycle. He gets to be a cool dude. He still needs training wheels though. We don't allow him to bike nearly enough to work on balance. I'm planning on making the trip to the park a weekly event, so hopefully he can master his balance soon enough.



About a quarter through the path when the girls have mastered pedaling, the kids were soon raising each other to be in the front. Thankfully we didn't have to work on steering!

The weather was not as hot as previous days and because we went to the park early at 9:30. By 10 it was getting warm so we set up a blanket and had some snack, and to check for stinky diaper. Little M quiet the entire time. He was enjoying the sights and sounds.

Little M scratches his face very hard at night!

By 11am when the temperature was hitting 80 ish, we let the kids play in the playground and then hightailed out of there to get ice cream!

The kids had a lot of fun. They've been wanting to go outside, but it's just been so hot. We are starting to hover in the 9o's now, so maybe, hopefully, it'll cool down soon.

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