Honestly, I debated doing a weekly update for this week because we didn't actually check anything off the summer bucket list... but decided to go ahead and do it because we did do some fun stuff. Plus, there are only two more weeks of this (including this one) so anyone that is actually interested can read it if they want. =)
This week was fairly low key. Steven was dealing with his shingles diagnosis so we didn't do anything too crazy because the main reason he likely came down with it was because he is so run down and stressed out.
Kenzie had school all week. Well, except Monday but on Monday's, we dance. She did great at dance by the way! She goes to dance each week and then spends the next 6 days asking us if she has dance. We made her a calendar for the fridge that lists her activities and dance is on it. We cross off each day so she can count down to dance. Doesn't matter. She still asks. Wishful thinking, I guess. And she is still rocking school. She is doing really well going 4 days a week. It is definitely tiring her out (and seems to be making her appetite increase, as well just from all the extra energy and brain power she is using.)
We did finally have some downtime to put together a Lego castle that Kenzie got for her birthday. These are Lego Juniors so they are normal sized legos but the directions are easy to follow and the designs are not complicated. She LOVED it. She would find each piece we need and I would instruct her on where to put it. Most of the time she did it herself, but she did need some help along the way. She has been asking to build a new castle every day since. She ended up doing some with Nana on Thursday, too.
Thursday was the first really fun day for us. Steven and I were able to go to a Miami Dolphins game. Due to the status of the stadium being renovated down south, they decided to move this preseason game to Orlando. Works for me. I have been to one NFL game in my lifetime and I barely remember it. Steven has been to a few, but we have never been to one together. Nana came into town shortly after Kenzie got out of school. She was super awesome and decided she could help us out by not only watching the kids that night but staying through the night so we wouldn't have to rush home from the game. The kids were both really excited to see her and get to spend the evening with her.
Nana told me that the kids were as good as gold. Which is good, because they have been pushing every button I have lately. They played in the playroom and outside. Nana took them to McDonalds for dinner. Wait. Let's stop right here and discuss the eating habits of our 4-year-old. First off, Will seems to be in a stagnant growth period. He isn't eating much lately. He has been picking at most meals and living off of mostly fruit for about a week now. He just isn't into food at the moment. No worries. I know if we give him a week or two, he will be back to digging through cabinets for snacks as soon as he finishes a full meal. Kenzie on the other hand... well, she better just be really hungry from school because if she is growing, we aren't going to be able to afford to buy her any new clothes because she is going through what she has fast enough already. Nana took them to McDonalds. Kenzie always eats the same thing. A 6 piece nugget happy meal with apple slices. It comes with a tiny fry container and lately we have been allowing her to get the juice. Apparently the McDonalds messed up and accidentally gave her a 4 piece even though Nana paid for a 6. So, when Kenzie finished all her food (as in every bite), Nana realized what happened and went to the counter to explain that she just needed 2 more nuggets because (of course) Kenzie was still "starving", I'm sure. The lady behind the counter just brought her a full 6 piece and told my mom to just go ahead and take the entire thing. Nana brought it back to the table and offered Kenzie her other chicken nuggets. She ate the 2 she didn't get initially... and then polished off the other 4. This kid pretty much ate the equivalent of what Steven would eat if he went to McDonald's. She needs to get a job. First off, to pay for her food because we aren't going to be able to afford her soon... and secondly, to pay for her clothing since she seems to think growing is all the rage. Despite eating all this food lately though, her pants still fall off of her because she is still in the stage where she only grows up instead of out. I wish I could eat like that and only get taller... anyway... I digress. The kids were great for Nana and they had such a great time, that they were in bed by about 7:30 and I heard that Nana was right behind them. Haha!!
Steven and I met up at his office downtown in the afternoon and walked over to the shuttle that runs to the Citrus Bowl (or Camping World or whatever ridiculousness they are calling it now) for events. It was about a mile walk, but it wasn't bad. The shuttle process was super easy too so we are glad we chose to do it this way instead of paying $30 to park near the stadium.
When we got to the stadium, we went into the tailgating type area. It was so much fun. We got quite a few pictures. We even met Dan Marino and Don Shula. ;) It's so funny though. Now that we are parents, we spent a lot of time talking about how Kenzie (or Will but since he is younger, he doesn't mind as much either way at this point) would have loved this or loved that. She would have fawned all over meeting T.D., for instance. After walking around the tailgating area for a while, we decided to head into the stadium. This was our first time being there since the renovations and it looks pretty good.
We didn't have any trouble finding out seats but because of how the stadium is set up, we had to climb about 4 flights of stairs to get to the upper deck and then go back down them to get to our seats because we entered from the wrong side and part of the concourse was blocked off. We had great seats. We were in the endzone in row D. We were close enough that when they were practicing punting or kicking, we were sort of worried one of us might get hit by a football. (We were also close enough for me to point out that white pants are not the smartest attire for football players... ) We watched the team practice a while and then decided to head down for some food. We realized at that point that we were right next to the players' entrance to and exit from the field. We were allowed to cross since we had tickets in the section right next to it, but it was interesting watching them decide when people could cross and everything because of the players coming through. We decided to stand there for a minute and managed to catch Jarvis Landry (wide receiver) coming to the locker room. The people next to us got a picture with him and we immediately regretting not having Kenzie. Yes. We would have totally used her adorableness (and the fact that she has a Landry jersey) to get a picture with him. Plus, she could have sang him the Dolphins' fight song and that would have been freaking adorable.
After putting down a small fortune to eat dinner (seriously... a hot dog, 2 sodas, and chicken fingers and fries were close to $30), we made our way back to our seats in time to see the team come back out in uniforms to finish warming up.
Before long, it was time to start the game. The entrance was pretty cool since we were right next to the entry. We could feel the heat of the towers that were shooting fireworks.
The game was great too. We were both surprised to see that many people at this game. There are a TON of Dolphins fans in Orlando, apparently. I didn't know there were this many of us. There are also apparently a few Falcons fans, but I tried not to notice them. =) Attendance was actually 45,974. Wow! For a preseason game in a town that isn't even your home base...
The Dolphins won! The best part of the game though was hearing the fight song after they scored. I had an awesome video of their first touchdown (and the 4 or so final plays leading up to it) including the extra point and fight song because we really wanted to show Kenzie, but something happened and it was accidentally deleted from my phone. I was crushed. She didn't know any different, but we were so excited to show her since she loves that song. I did get a video with the very tail end of the fight song after a field goal which she loved, but wasn't nearly as exciting as the other. I guess it happens. =(
Leaving the stadium and getting back to the shuttle was super easy, as well and we were back at the drop off fairly quickly. The mile walk back to the cars was fine. Steven and I debating jogging most of it. We had been sitting so long and just wanted to run, but decided against it. We still booked it back because it was late. We didn't roll into the house until close to midnight but it was such a fun night and totally worth it.
Friday started early though as the kids were up before 7. Nana helped me out with them and I let Steven sleep for a bit because I knew he was set to have a really late night at his office. On Friday, while Kenzie was at school, my college roommate, Kelly, and her two little ones came to visit. We didn't tell Kenzie, but Will had a blast playing with them. Her son is Kenzie's age and her daughter is about 6 months younger than Will. It was nice having some time to catch up too. They live near Tampa, so we don't see them all that often.
Steven was home super late and then had to work from home for a couple of hours so we didn't see much of him on Friday. On Saturday we had our friend's baby shower. I took the kids to the shower and Steven went to the men's party which was at a tap room. We all had a great time.
We had to leave a little early though because we had another friend's fourth birthday party Saturday, as well. It was held at a gym that is used for cheerleading, dance, gymnastics and the like. The kids thought it was awesome. They had a blast running, jumping, and everything else that came along with it. Kenzie even tried her hand at the balance beam. Will decided hanging from the high bar was pretty fun. I have to admit, miniature sized high bars, uneven bars, and parallel bars are pretty much some of the most adorable things ever. I can just imagine a tiny (though she is still tiny) Simone Biles learning to use miniature uneven bars. Kenzie really enjoyed herself. Will did too. We have talked about the possibility of looking into tumbling or gymnastics classes for one or both of them over the summer. Kenzie doesn't dance in the summer so it would be some free time. She does have swimming though, so we will have to see.
We had a fairly uneventful afternoon. After that big morning (and the days leading up to it) we were all exhausted. Will fell asleep on the way home so I put him in his bed. Kenzie didn't want to nap, but we made her go play and Steven and I took naps. Short naps, but naps. That's how you can tell how tired we are. Neither of us are usually nappers. Saturday evening Steven worked again as he has a project due on Monday and the kids were put to bed early because they were both obviously tired from the day. They were exhausting me so to bed they went! Haha!
Sunday was pretty much our norm. I went for a run in the morning and then we all got ready for church. Church was good. I was in the back volunteering in Grace Town. We had a meeting to discuss the Fall Festival we do every year which sparked my creative juices and I am all ready to start planning our trunk for the trunk or treat as well as the kids' (and our) costumes. After church Steven helped our neighbor's mom move a bed into her new apartment. The kids were having a bit of an off day. Well, Will was so we just took it easy all afternoon. Steven did decide to smoke a chicken. Okay. He decided to do so a day earlier because it takes that long to prep it since we have to brine it first. It was really yummy.
During the afternoon we decided to finally break out the water balloons that we never had a chance to use at Kenzie's party. The kids thought they were awesome. We had them convinced for a while that if they stood there with their arms out, we would throw themat to them. ;) They were onto us pretty quickly though and started running. They just thought it was hilarious. My favorite moment though was Steven busting a balloon over Will's head. It's even better in slow mo...
What you can't see is him laughing at the end of all of that and Steven breaking another one over his head. Haha!!
Eventually they had enough though and we turned on the sprinkler. For the first time all summer, Will actually went through it. They seemed a bit waterlogged after a while so we packed it up and went inside to work on dinner.
That chicken was awesome! Between the four of us we ate almost the entire thing. I think Will ate half of it on his own. He seriously ate more than me, I think. I also made homemade mac and cheese. Will ate a bunch of that too and Kenzie ate some left over Kraft mac and cheese we had. She isn't into homemade mac. Weird kid.
We are now ready to enter into our final week of our summer of fun. Labor Day is a week from tomorrow and will officially end our "Bucket List" period. I wonder what we can get into this week. While it might not be anything officially on the bucket list, we have some fun things planned.
After this week we will start working on preparations for Will's birthday party and Halloween as well as finally making it back to Disney pretty soon. I'm excited for all of that. =)
This week was fairly low key. Steven was dealing with his shingles diagnosis so we didn't do anything too crazy because the main reason he likely came down with it was because he is so run down and stressed out.
Kenzie had school all week. Well, except Monday but on Monday's, we dance. She did great at dance by the way! She goes to dance each week and then spends the next 6 days asking us if she has dance. We made her a calendar for the fridge that lists her activities and dance is on it. We cross off each day so she can count down to dance. Doesn't matter. She still asks. Wishful thinking, I guess. And she is still rocking school. She is doing really well going 4 days a week. It is definitely tiring her out (and seems to be making her appetite increase, as well just from all the extra energy and brain power she is using.)
We did finally have some downtime to put together a Lego castle that Kenzie got for her birthday. These are Lego Juniors so they are normal sized legos but the directions are easy to follow and the designs are not complicated. She LOVED it. She would find each piece we need and I would instruct her on where to put it. Most of the time she did it herself, but she did need some help along the way. She has been asking to build a new castle every day since. She ended up doing some with Nana on Thursday, too.
Thursday was the first really fun day for us. Steven and I were able to go to a Miami Dolphins game. Due to the status of the stadium being renovated down south, they decided to move this preseason game to Orlando. Works for me. I have been to one NFL game in my lifetime and I barely remember it. Steven has been to a few, but we have never been to one together. Nana came into town shortly after Kenzie got out of school. She was super awesome and decided she could help us out by not only watching the kids that night but staying through the night so we wouldn't have to rush home from the game. The kids were both really excited to see her and get to spend the evening with her.
Nana told me that the kids were as good as gold. Which is good, because they have been pushing every button I have lately. They played in the playroom and outside. Nana took them to McDonalds for dinner. Wait. Let's stop right here and discuss the eating habits of our 4-year-old. First off, Will seems to be in a stagnant growth period. He isn't eating much lately. He has been picking at most meals and living off of mostly fruit for about a week now. He just isn't into food at the moment. No worries. I know if we give him a week or two, he will be back to digging through cabinets for snacks as soon as he finishes a full meal. Kenzie on the other hand... well, she better just be really hungry from school because if she is growing, we aren't going to be able to afford to buy her any new clothes because she is going through what she has fast enough already. Nana took them to McDonalds. Kenzie always eats the same thing. A 6 piece nugget happy meal with apple slices. It comes with a tiny fry container and lately we have been allowing her to get the juice. Apparently the McDonalds messed up and accidentally gave her a 4 piece even though Nana paid for a 6. So, when Kenzie finished all her food (as in every bite), Nana realized what happened and went to the counter to explain that she just needed 2 more nuggets because (of course) Kenzie was still "starving", I'm sure. The lady behind the counter just brought her a full 6 piece and told my mom to just go ahead and take the entire thing. Nana brought it back to the table and offered Kenzie her other chicken nuggets. She ate the 2 she didn't get initially... and then polished off the other 4. This kid pretty much ate the equivalent of what Steven would eat if he went to McDonald's. She needs to get a job. First off, to pay for her food because we aren't going to be able to afford her soon... and secondly, to pay for her clothing since she seems to think growing is all the rage. Despite eating all this food lately though, her pants still fall off of her because she is still in the stage where she only grows up instead of out. I wish I could eat like that and only get taller... anyway... I digress. The kids were great for Nana and they had such a great time, that they were in bed by about 7:30 and I heard that Nana was right behind them. Haha!!
Steven and I met up at his office downtown in the afternoon and walked over to the shuttle that runs to the Citrus Bowl (or Camping World or whatever ridiculousness they are calling it now) for events. It was about a mile walk, but it wasn't bad. The shuttle process was super easy too so we are glad we chose to do it this way instead of paying $30 to park near the stadium.
When we got to the stadium, we went into the tailgating type area. It was so much fun. We got quite a few pictures. We even met Dan Marino and Don Shula. ;) It's so funny though. Now that we are parents, we spent a lot of time talking about how Kenzie (or Will but since he is younger, he doesn't mind as much either way at this point) would have loved this or loved that. She would have fawned all over meeting T.D., for instance. After walking around the tailgating area for a while, we decided to head into the stadium. This was our first time being there since the renovations and it looks pretty good.
We didn't have any trouble finding out seats but because of how the stadium is set up, we had to climb about 4 flights of stairs to get to the upper deck and then go back down them to get to our seats because we entered from the wrong side and part of the concourse was blocked off. We had great seats. We were in the endzone in row D. We were close enough that when they were practicing punting or kicking, we were sort of worried one of us might get hit by a football. (We were also close enough for me to point out that white pants are not the smartest attire for football players... ) We watched the team practice a while and then decided to head down for some food. We realized at that point that we were right next to the players' entrance to and exit from the field. We were allowed to cross since we had tickets in the section right next to it, but it was interesting watching them decide when people could cross and everything because of the players coming through. We decided to stand there for a minute and managed to catch Jarvis Landry (wide receiver) coming to the locker room. The people next to us got a picture with him and we immediately regretting not having Kenzie. Yes. We would have totally used her adorableness (and the fact that she has a Landry jersey) to get a picture with him. Plus, she could have sang him the Dolphins' fight song and that would have been freaking adorable.
After putting down a small fortune to eat dinner (seriously... a hot dog, 2 sodas, and chicken fingers and fries were close to $30), we made our way back to our seats in time to see the team come back out in uniforms to finish warming up.
Before long, it was time to start the game. The entrance was pretty cool since we were right next to the entry. We could feel the heat of the towers that were shooting fireworks.
The game was great too. We were both surprised to see that many people at this game. There are a TON of Dolphins fans in Orlando, apparently. I didn't know there were this many of us. There are also apparently a few Falcons fans, but I tried not to notice them. =) Attendance was actually 45,974. Wow! For a preseason game in a town that isn't even your home base...
The Dolphins won! The best part of the game though was hearing the fight song after they scored. I had an awesome video of their first touchdown (and the 4 or so final plays leading up to it) including the extra point and fight song because we really wanted to show Kenzie, but something happened and it was accidentally deleted from my phone. I was crushed. She didn't know any different, but we were so excited to show her since she loves that song. I did get a video with the very tail end of the fight song after a field goal which she loved, but wasn't nearly as exciting as the other. I guess it happens. =(
Leaving the stadium and getting back to the shuttle was super easy, as well and we were back at the drop off fairly quickly. The mile walk back to the cars was fine. Steven and I debating jogging most of it. We had been sitting so long and just wanted to run, but decided against it. We still booked it back because it was late. We didn't roll into the house until close to midnight but it was such a fun night and totally worth it.
Friday started early though as the kids were up before 7. Nana helped me out with them and I let Steven sleep for a bit because I knew he was set to have a really late night at his office. On Friday, while Kenzie was at school, my college roommate, Kelly, and her two little ones came to visit. We didn't tell Kenzie, but Will had a blast playing with them. Her son is Kenzie's age and her daughter is about 6 months younger than Will. It was nice having some time to catch up too. They live near Tampa, so we don't see them all that often.
Steven was home super late and then had to work from home for a couple of hours so we didn't see much of him on Friday. On Saturday we had our friend's baby shower. I took the kids to the shower and Steven went to the men's party which was at a tap room. We all had a great time.
We had to leave a little early though because we had another friend's fourth birthday party Saturday, as well. It was held at a gym that is used for cheerleading, dance, gymnastics and the like. The kids thought it was awesome. They had a blast running, jumping, and everything else that came along with it. Kenzie even tried her hand at the balance beam. Will decided hanging from the high bar was pretty fun. I have to admit, miniature sized high bars, uneven bars, and parallel bars are pretty much some of the most adorable things ever. I can just imagine a tiny (though she is still tiny) Simone Biles learning to use miniature uneven bars. Kenzie really enjoyed herself. Will did too. We have talked about the possibility of looking into tumbling or gymnastics classes for one or both of them over the summer. Kenzie doesn't dance in the summer so it would be some free time. She does have swimming though, so we will have to see.
We had a fairly uneventful afternoon. After that big morning (and the days leading up to it) we were all exhausted. Will fell asleep on the way home so I put him in his bed. Kenzie didn't want to nap, but we made her go play and Steven and I took naps. Short naps, but naps. That's how you can tell how tired we are. Neither of us are usually nappers. Saturday evening Steven worked again as he has a project due on Monday and the kids were put to bed early because they were both obviously tired from the day. They were exhausting me so to bed they went! Haha!
Sunday was pretty much our norm. I went for a run in the morning and then we all got ready for church. Church was good. I was in the back volunteering in Grace Town. We had a meeting to discuss the Fall Festival we do every year which sparked my creative juices and I am all ready to start planning our trunk for the trunk or treat as well as the kids' (and our) costumes. After church Steven helped our neighbor's mom move a bed into her new apartment. The kids were having a bit of an off day. Well, Will was so we just took it easy all afternoon. Steven did decide to smoke a chicken. Okay. He decided to do so a day earlier because it takes that long to prep it since we have to brine it first. It was really yummy.
During the afternoon we decided to finally break out the water balloons that we never had a chance to use at Kenzie's party. The kids thought they were awesome. We had them convinced for a while that if they stood there with their arms out, we would throw them
What you can't see is him laughing at the end of all of that and Steven breaking another one over his head. Haha!!
Eventually they had enough though and we turned on the sprinkler. For the first time all summer, Will actually went through it. They seemed a bit waterlogged after a while so we packed it up and went inside to work on dinner.
That chicken was awesome! Between the four of us we ate almost the entire thing. I think Will ate half of it on his own. He seriously ate more than me, I think. I also made homemade mac and cheese. Will ate a bunch of that too and Kenzie ate some left over Kraft mac and cheese we had. She isn't into homemade mac. Weird kid.
We are now ready to enter into our final week of our summer of fun. Labor Day is a week from tomorrow and will officially end our "Bucket List" period. I wonder what we can get into this week. While it might not be anything officially on the bucket list, we have some fun things planned.
After this week we will start working on preparations for Will's birthday party and Halloween as well as finally making it back to Disney pretty soon. I'm excited for all of that. =)
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