Kimball's Birthday

Kimball turned 7 over the weekend.  It is hard to believe he is already 7 years old.  The time really has gone quickly.  We started the day with a breakfast of Kimball's choosing...cheese danish.

Kimball was eager all day, and the few days preceding, to open presents.  Shortly after breakfast we let Kimball have his first gift.  Joseph had made him a soccer goal.

Kimball's excitement over his goal.

Joseph and Kimball needed a quick soccer game to try it out.  Kimball is only allowed
to play soccer in the house when Joseph is playing so things don't get out of hand.

After the excitement of the goal wore off Kimball needed another present.  Joseph is currently working on a project in our basement putting in new insulation and building some shelves for storage.  Joseph bought Kimball a hammer so Kimball could help.

Using his new hammer.

We did the rest of the family presents in the evening.  Kimball was excited to receive so many Legos, Hero Factory, K'nex, etc.

Kimball told Joseph recently that he wanted his very own Fan Chart from FamilySearch
with his name in the first position for his birthday.  This was an easy request.  Kimball posing
with his fan chart with the 6 generations preceding him all filled in.

Blowing out his 7 candles.

Kimball really wanted a birthday party this year.  I decided I needed to make it work even though I was 30 weeks pregnant with twins and super tired the days leading up to his birthday.  We knew a family in Arkansas who did two "friend" birthdays for each of their kids, one when their child was small and one as a teenager.  I really liked this idea and I decided that the 7th birthday would be a good year for a party.

Kimball had a Lego theme.  It was Lego in the games, but I didn't have the energy to make a ton of Lego decorations or foods.  I did turn juice boxes into 1x2 bricks and they were cute.

Game #1 Lego Memory.  I gave the kids about 3 minutes to look at all of the Lego accessories and then they had about 5 minutes to write down as many as they could remember.  This game probably would have been better for older kids because half of the group didn't understand that they needed to be remembering as many as they could.

Lego Memory objects.

Looking at the pieces.

                         
Game #2 Put the head on the mini-figure.  Each child decorated their own mini-figure face and then they tried to put it on the body.  The kids enjoyed this one.

Decorating their faces...

Playing the game...

Rebecah's turn.  I told Kimball if he had a party he needed to let Rebecah attend and participate.

Kimball's turn.

Game #3  Guess how many Legos are in the jar.  This game was pretty easy to put together, but it also didn't take very long at the party.

Kimball is just too good.  He technically won every single game, but after the first one I told him he could only win one time.  There were 55 Legos in the jar and Kimball guessed 50.  Everyone else was off by 40 Legos at least.

Everyone pointing at the birthday boy.

Blowing out his cupcakes.

I love how excited all of the kids got at present time.  They were all crowding around to see what Kimball opened and no one seemed disappointed that they weren't opening gifts.  I loved it.

Kimball with his good friend William.

All of the party goers.  A few others had planned on coming, but last minute
things popped up so they couldn't make it.

We ended the party with a pinata.  Each child got two turns.  The girls were dainty and each got about 5 hits per turn.  The boys were more rough and only got 3 hits per turn.  After all of that hitting, it still wasn't broken so Joseph had to go in and bust it open.  It took quite a few swings on Joseph's part.  He even broke the bat we were using!

Rebecah's turn.

Marilyn's turn.

Kimball's turn.

Jose's turn.

Thank goodness Joseph was around to help with crowd control.  It would have been crazier if I had been running the party solo.  Kimball had a great time and I think all of the kids did too.  

We are so happy Kimball is part of our family.

Summer Fun

This summer I have tried to do fun things with the kids to give them happy memories of life before the babies come.  We haven't gone or done anything too fancy, but the kids are so happy with the little things.  Joseph and I both agree that while the kids are young and content with smaller activities there is no need to spend the money on fancy outings or vacations.  We'll do that when they are older and can remember the fun adventures.

The Summer Reading Program theme at the library this year is Fizz, Boom, Read.  It is a perfect theme and far more interesting for the kids than the last few years.  Our local libraries planned all sorts of shows and programs that are Science related.  Kimball is really into Science and non-fiction books this summer so this is right up his alley.

One show was put on by the local Science Center.  A lady came and did various science experiments that fizzed, boomed, or popped.  I loved the experiments as much if not more than the kids.  Another show was a juggling show and even though I was so tired the day of the show I still took the kids and I was entertained enough to stay awake.  The two other shows that we attended had animals.  The first one was put on by the Syracuse Zoo.  They brought 3 animals from the zoo for the kids to view...a tarantula, parrot, and a blue-tongued skink.

Try as I might, I never could get a picture of the skink with his tongue sticking out!

The other animal show was put on by Dan the Snakeman.  As the name suggests there were snakes involved.  Dan showed us a variety of snakes that would make good pets, but he also brought out his rattlesnake which still had its fangs and venom sacs.  I was surprised that he had a rattlesnake out in a public place with so many children, but no one was bitten!  He also showed us tortoises, tarantulas, and other strange creatures.  Kimball's favorite animal was the yellow python.  Kiimball was thrilled when everyone who wanted was allowed to touch it. Kimball keeps telling me that it is his dream to own a python or an anaconda!  That sounds like a good pet for an adult Kimball.

Touching the python.

A new ice cream/frozen custard/frozen yogurt place opened near our house recently.  Every time we drive by the kids ask when I'm taking them to get ice cream.  A few weeks ago Joseph was working on a Saturday so I took the kids to get ice cream.  The ice cream was just fair in flavor, but creamy.  On the way home I asked if we should go back sometime.  Rebecah surprisingly responded with a loud "No!"  After further questioning she said that the ice cream was yucky.  She had ordered a mint chip cone and hadn't liked it.  I can't say I blame her.  I am not a mint/peppermint fan, but I took a small lick to see what it tasted like and it had such a strong mint flavor it was like taking a bite of toothpaste.  I reassured Rebecah that if we went back there would be other flavors to choose from.  I was impressed that she ate her entire cone without complaining that she didn't like it.  Kimball enjoyed his cone.

Another weekend when Joseph was gone we went miniature golfing.  This was another activity Kimball has been asking about for a few months.  I opted for the less nice, but cheaper golf facility.  I knew that Rebecah would be hard pressed to go 18 holes and I wasn't about to pay $8 per person for us to play at the fancy place when we could all play at this other place for $7.  I was right, at hole #9 Rebecah decided she was done.  Kimball enjoyed the golfing, although he and Rebecah scooted their balls more than actually hitting them, but that's the beauty of mini-golf...the kids can play how they want.  We were the only ones playing mini-golf so we could take our time without worrying about slowing others down.

Kimball taking a shot.

Rebecah's turn.

All finished!

We plan on attending the State Fair next week.  We are all looking forward to it.  I will be sorely disappointed if my doctor recommends that I stay home.  It was so fun last year and it would be sad to be left out of the adventure.

Other Fun Times

This post is just a collection of smaller activities we did over our two week stay.  

One day before Joseph arrived it was pretty warm so we filled the wading pool and let the kids play.  It was in the 90s and I didn't really relish sitting outside watching the kids, but they brought me a basin filled with water and I was actually quite comfortable soaking my feet and sitting in the shade.  Once Joseph arrived he took the kids to a local rec center to go swimming.  They all had a great time.  I stayed home with my mom and Heather.  It was in the mid 90s and it was too hot for me to sit outside in the sun.  

Another day we went to Bob's Drive In, a local ice cream place from my childhood, for ice cream cones.  We all ordered small twist cones and there was nothing small about them!

I love their ice cream mouths!

Our group, minus Chandra, who was behind the camera.

Kimball with my sister, Heather.

Rebecah with  Heather.

Rebecah has really grown up a lot in the last few years.  Two years ago she wouldn't go anywhere near Heather.  (I can't say I blame Rebecah for her reservations.  Let's be realistic, a paralyzed woman can be unnerving for a child who is accustomed to seeing able bodied people.) Last year if I was in Heather's room Rebecah wanted me to hold her as if Heather would suddenly leap up and grab her.  This year Rebecah got brave.  She would go visit Heather's room by herself and she even started holding Heather's hand and laid with Heather in her bed once.  Such progress!  They are good buddies now.  It probably helps that I skype with Heather almost every week so Rebecah has "seen" Heather on a regular basis over the last year.

Photo op after church one Sunday.

A close up of the hand holding!

Another picture of the "besties"

                           

For those inquiring minds.  Here is the latest picture of me.  I feel huge, compared to how I usually look when I'm not pregnant.  I did look at the picture I posted a month ago when we were in Vermont and I have grown a lot since then.  I feel like I'm just growing exponentially!  Joseph reminds me that I need to be growing because we don't want 3 pound babies, which is true, but it is still hard on me emotionally to be getting so big so fast.

These next pictures are all of Rebecah and her hair.  My sister, Chandra is great with hair.  She willing did two hair styles for Rebecah while we were visiting.  The first is a pseudo Elsa braid.  My version is a side ponytail with a regular braid.  Chandra's version looked MUCH better.

What a pretty girl!  I love her.

This next style is similar to Anna's hair for the coronation.  As you might have guessed, the Frozen princess hair styles are popular with Rebecah.

Gorgeous Girl! 

Chandra, Rebecah and me.  I had to get a pic with the stylist.

Kimball has found a new addiction...Monopoly.  He convinced Joseph to play Monopoly with him the first day Joseph arrived and that was the end of it.  They played every day until we left for home.  Kimball won some games and Joseph won some games.  Joseph was an EXCELLENT teacher/coach.  He would talk Kimball through buying properties and when to buy and when to wait even when it was a disadvantage to himself.  Kimball couldn't have asked for a better opponent.  Who else would be merciful and go easy on him instead of being cutthroat and ruthless.  The day we returned home Kimball insisted that we go to the store and buy Monopoly.  I just hope Kimball will learn to be as compassionate when playing as his siblings get older.  I think Monopoly can be a very traumatic game for siblings to play because it usually ends in tears!

Rebecah would play sporadically.  When she lost she would just join
ranks with the player who bought her out.

One activity that we did that we didn't get pictures of was to take a tour of Fisher Cave at Meramec State park.  The park does an excellent job preserving the natural state of the cave so no cameras were allowed inside and there weren't electric lights.  We were all given flashlights to carry.  I toured the cave with my family about 25 years ago and I remember really liking it.  If my memory holds true, the tour and cave seem pretty much the same.  It was a cool 57 degrees in the cave.  It was a very cool day anyway so the cave temperature wasn't quite as enjoyable as it would have been if it had been in the mid 90s outside.  I wasn't complaining about the 75 degrees outside though!  We could have gone to a more touristy cave...Meramec Caverns, but we wanted a more authentic feel and we all had a great time.

On our way home we decided to make a stop at Niagara Falls.  It costs about $15 in toll fees to go from our house to Niagara Falls, so we thought it was a perfect activity to do on the way to or from St. Louis when we have to pay those fees anyway so we stopped.  Unfortunately, it was sprinkling heavily so our stop was short.  The kids were a little disappointed in the waterfall.  Niagara Falls IS impressive when you consider the power behind all of the water and the width of the falls, but all of us agreed that our hiking to the water falls at Watkins Glen was more fun and exciting.  There are also a ton of people milling around so we were constantly dodging people.  Should you visit NF if you haven't?  I would say "yes" just because it is the most popular and best known waterfall in the country, not because it is the most beautiful. 

On the Observation desk.  We didn't think it was worth the money to ride the Maid of the Mist with the kids so we just went to the observation desk.  Joseph and I rode the Maid of the Mist 3 years ago when we visited and we both thought it wasn't worth the money.

We had a great time in St. Louis but it is good to be home.  School starts in 6 weeks and then we will really be in baby mode as we get closer to their due date.