Chef Rion

I don't think Rion played the computer at all today. No video games either. Instead he was Chef Rion. I'm not sure why, but this morning he put on his chef's jacket that he's had forever, but never really played with, and pretended to be a chef. He was a chef that worked in a hotel restaurant. He pretended to be a chef all day. He has such a great imagination, but he doesn't use it as much as I wish he did. He spends too much time with the computer and video games. And he was so good today. I didn't have any bad moments with him today, which was nice for a change. He was also pretty good with Torii and Cordelia. Anyway, hoping to take advantage of Rion's pretending, I asked him if he wanted to cook something for real. He hesitated because he said he didn't know how to cook, but I told him I would help. First we did a simple strawberry smoothie. He read the recipe and I helped him measure things out. Actually, I told him how to measure it and then he did it. I taught him about fractions while measuring and my math wiz loved it. He had fun making the smoothies, which were very good by the way, so we made another recipe. I wanted to make some ham and cheese breakfast muffins for tomorrow so he helped with that. Tomorrow he wants to make something else that goes in the oven. Rion liked measuring the flour. While the muffins cooked he was practicing at measuring.

A weekend at the lake

We spent most of last weekend at Lake Tschida. The kids love it out there. Well, I do too. We also finally got Fred out there. He's never had weekends off before so this was his first time at the lake. I think he really enjoyed it and he'll be going out there again with us. He got to do a lot of fishing so he was happy. On Saturday we got as much swimming in as we could, but the weather did not cooperate in the evening and we were forced inside. It rained off and on, but a couple of times the rain was very heavy. But that was OK, because it's also nice to sit inside the cabin and listen to the rain. The boys as usual had a great time at the lake. It's amazing to see how much better they are at swimming a year later. They had lots of fun jumping into the lake and swimming into the bigger waves made by passing boats. Cordelia didn't do much swimming. She had more fun playing in the sand on the beach. The boys enjoying a pontoon ride around the lake after all the rain was done on Saturday.
Playing on the beach.

I tried to get a picture of Torii concentrating really hard to reel in a fish, but as I snapped it he turned to look at me. He looks like I'm disturbing him.

Sweet peaches

Years ago, Fred was on Marlboro's mailing list and they would send cool stuff every once in awhile. One of the things was a Cook like a Man cookbook, filled with BBQ and grilling recipes. Not only is it a visually appealing book, but it filled with awesome recipes. I don't think there is a single recipe that I don't want to try, although I've only tried a handful. I made these peaches the other night. I forgot to buy strawberry preserves so we had it without, but it was still awesome.

4 fresh peaches, halved, pitted or 8 canned peach halves, drained well
Large resealable plastic bag
1 cup honey
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 Tbsp strawberry preserves, heated
Vanilla ice cream

Coat peaches by placing in bag with honey, vanilla, and cinnamon; refrigerate until ready to grill. Preheat grill to medium heat. Remove peaches from bag; reserving honey sauce. Place on grill and cook about 2 minutes per side. Remove from grill and spoon about 1 tablespoon strawberry preserves into center of each peach. Top with vanilla ice cream and reserved honey sauce.

Happy Summer!

I hope I don't jinx it, but I think summer is finally here. On Saturday we decided to spend the afternoon at the zoo. The kids love feeding the goats. Rion was also having a really good time and he kept posing for pictures by the goats. That's unusual for him. All three kids (and two goats) were posing really nice for the above picture, but as I snapped it, one of the goats moved which made Cordelia laugh and for some reason everyone, including the goat, is looking over to the one side. I think I like this one better than a posed picture anyway. We got our new membership on Saturday too so we got some train tickets. On the train ride Cordelia had a conversation with a little older boy. He must have been about three. It was so funny to listen to them. They understood each other and kept chatting.

For Father's Day we didn't do much. Torii and daddy went fishing in the morning. Then we basically hung around the house. I made steak for dinner and hot brownie sundaes for dessert, Fred's favorite. The kids did spend some time in the sprinkler on Sunday and then that evening we went rollerblading. There is a small hill at the end of our block that they like to go up so they can roll down. They must have done that 15 times, from our house to the end of the block. They went to sleep without a peep. Rion is trying really hard at rollerblading, but he just takes tiny steps to get to where he is going. Torii, on the other hand, is a man possessed on the blades. He is a pretty good rollerblader and he has a super serious and determined look on his face when he blades. Torii may be more of the athlete in our family. He likes sports and he has the coordination and the competitiveness. Poor Rion may have to suffer through Auntie Kelly syndrome, where everyone will ask him if he plays basketball because he is so tall.

Tonight we went rollerblading again, all the way to GG's house. Torii and Cordelia had fun while GG tried to water her flowers. Cordelia started out by helping hold the hose, but it wasn't long before she was trying to spray Torii and then herself. They got pretty wet, but they tried off quickly in the sun.

I hope it continues to be nice out because I am enjoying the time outside. And I am enjoying grilling season as well. I have a yummy recipe to share, but I'll leave you all in suspense and post it later.

Michigan trip

Tomorrow we will be forced back into our "normal" lives. It's been a nice two weeks to relax, see family, and stay up late and sleep in. I think we are all in for a rude awakening tomorrow. Most of the last two weeks was spent in Michigan. We drove along with my parents. They took one kid at a time so that helped stave off fights in our car. And really, the kids were pretty good throughout the trip. It's hard being away for so long, but they did great. They were rewarded with Chuck E Cheese on our last night in Grand Rapids. Chuck E Cheese was one of the first things Rion saw in Grand Rapids. Nobody else saw it as it's sort of tucked away from the road, but he saw it right away. Unfortunately, it was close to the hotel so he saw it a lot. The main reason for going to Grand Rapids was to attend the wedding of my youngest sister Laurie. The wedding was beautiful and Laurie was gorgeous. The reception and dance was at a park and we had a great time. Torii loved dancing and even Rion joined in later. While the week leading up to the wedding was filled with fun parties (bridal shower, bachelorette party, and rehearsal) we still found some time to explore the city.

Torii at the baseball game. Grand Rapids has an "A" minor league team for the Detroit Tigers called the Whitecaps. We got seats on the lawn and enjoyed an afternoon at the ballpark.
My beautiful kids at the wedding. I didn't even see them until after the ceremony and they left me speechless. They looked so good! What handsome young men and a little lady I have.

After the ballgame (and naps) we headed to Lake Michigan. The water was still quite cold, but that didn't stop the kids from getting into the water. The kids loved the lake and beach. They built sand castles, chased seagulls, and played in the water. Rion asked to go back to the lake almost every day for the rest of the trip.

This was taken after rehearsal dinner.

Rion and Cordelia at Festival of the Arts in downtown Grand Rapids. The festival is sort of like our street fair in the fall except there is a lot more art. And a lot of hands on art. There was also things for the kids to do. I wish we would have had more time to explore the festival because I didn't get to see it all and I wanted to eat some more too! There was a lot of food that you just don't see around here and I wanted to try so much of it. And the prices were so much cheaper than what the food vendors charge at our street fair.

We also got to visit the zoo which is really nice. Rion was in heaven because he got to see real life penguins. We had planned on going to Minot this summer to see the penguins at their zoo, but Rion got to see them in Grand Rapids. He is obsessed with them. I haven't seen him that excited about something in a long time. The kids also got as much swimming in as they could at the hotel. And on our way home we stopped at the Wisconsin Dells. We stayed at the Wilderness for the second time. We had hoped that we could explore the outdoor water parks this time around, but the weather didn't cooperate. There was plenty to do inside anyway. The kids loved the wave pool. And this time the boys were tall enough to do some water slides. Rion is tall enough that he can do them on his own. And I got to go on the water slides this time too, because I was pregnant the last time. We had a great vacation and now we must get back to real life. I've gotten used to staying up late, but now I need to get to bed or it's going to be a long week for me.

Vacation

Today was the first full day of being home from a 10 day vacation. Usually it is really nice to be home, but I had so much fun that I still wish I was on vacation. Plus having our entire family together made it a lot more fun. Our main purpose for the vacation was to attend the wedding of my youngest sister in Michigan. She married a great guy. We had a great time in the days leading up to the wedding and the wedding itself was great. There is so much to share and pictures as well, but I still need to collect my thoughts or this will be one long incoherent ramble. Congratulations Laurie and Eric!

Two sides of Torii

This week has been very busy at work as the end of the year field trips are in full swing. The fourth graders from the boys' school were out this week. One of the helpers, Miss D., that is in Torii's class a lot was helping out on the field trip. She saw me and told me she just had to tell me that I had the best kid. It told her how it was funny because out of all my kids, Torii is the one that gives me the most trouble. She said she couldn't imagine that. He is a good listener, raises his hand all the time, he's smart, and stands in line so nicely. The teacher always tells the other kids to be more like Torii. It is amazing seeing him at school. He is so quiet and polite. He may misbehave at home, but we must have done something right if that's how he acts in public.

Torii's class also had a substitute for four days this week. The sub told Fred on Thursday that the class had gotten punished for their behavior, but she didn't feel Torii deserved it. He was really great all week. Torii had to tell me all about it that evening. I was really proud of him for being so good and not following the bad behavior that the other kids exhibited throughout the week.

As far as his behavior at home, it has gotten better lately. We have tried a few things like the traffic light chart and rewarding good behavior with extra time playing video games. It seems to be working. And when he got a little out of hand the other night I told him I was going to video tape him and bring it to school. Then Miss D. would see how he acts at home since she didn't believe me. That stopped his tantrum cold.