The day after school ended (well for J, who the heck wants to go back to school for a half day the day after Memorial Day) we headed down to Miami for Memorial Day weekend. The girls were so excited to meet their new baby cousin it's mostly what they have talked about how they were going to help since the day she was born. Trying to recall that day back everything is a blur, chaotic with five kids, Nana who we hadn't seen for two months, and a new house to navigate! I do remember J being totally in love with her baby cousin at first sight, if it was up to her she would get a baby brother but my shop is closed! She loved holding and helping to feed her, picking out her clothes, playing with her but we couldn't get her to chance a diaper, she just supervised. Somehow I got kids to cooperate for pictures, they will do anything if you let them hold the baby! It was rainy most of the weekend and we didn't get a chance to swim. We did venture out twice with all five kids, to the bowling alley which the kids loved and then to the mall to play and have lunch (but they really wanted to bowl again). It was B's first time bowling so J helped show him the ropes, we tried to get her to bowl without the ramp but she wouldn't, she said the ball was to heavy! We had a great visit and the girls wanted to pack up A and bring her with us, we did pack Nana up and bring her back for her last two months with us before she moves to Georgia.
We got back from Miami and took off to Disney for a quick 24 hour trip before our passes blacked out for the summer, nothing like going to Disney in the heat but if it makes the kids happy it's (somewhat) worth it, getting there at 4pm also made all the difference in the world (behavior and heat wise). This was probably our best trip to date, the girls behaved, they both interacted with the characters and we had a priceless visit with Elena and Cinderella, one I'm sure the girls will be talking about for months and not forget (and compare future visits too). J usually isn't into Elena but this day she was for some reason, as soon as Elena started talking about dress making she got more into her and took the conversation so seriously, I think she really thought she was going to design and make (well have me sew) her a dress. Let's see how this all goes the next time we go and visit and it isn't the "same" characters and they don't remember the dress making conversation.
When we weren't out of town or busy with cousins we spent lots of time with friends, especially our good friends who moved to Virginia in the middle of June, we had to soak up all the time we could get with them as who knows how long it will be until we can get together again. We swam (a lot), had Chick-fil-A dates, went to the mall for Moana day, played at home and the bigger girls got to spend an afternoon at art camp painting sandcastles. J loves coloring, painting and drawing so I knew this would be right up her alley, she loved it and as soon as I picked her up she asked when she was going back, luckily for her she was signed up for the next week to go with some friends from her class, they painted cartoon dogs which she happened to name Ginger. She definitely got daddy's artistic abilities, she is quite talented for her age, maybe I need to look into art activities for after school since she has no interest in sports!
Cousin B came and spent a week with us this month! J got to drive with me to pick him up and got to see baby A which she was super excited about, she wasn't happy she didn't get to hold her. While he was here we had a full week of fun which included lots and lots of swimming in ours and the community pools (and movies when it rained). We went to circus day at the mall where the kids got popcorn, balloon animals, learned how to juggle and spin frisbees and watched the summer kids circus troop perform a few acts, it was just enough fun for one morning for these kids, followed by lunch at Chick-fil-A. The kids had a fun week just being together, B was very attached to J and wanted to do everything with her which made C mad at times.
Swimming lessons at the YMCA were short lived. After a hot mess of a first lesson "Swim School Mom" was back open for the summer to pick up where we left off last year. I was really hoping for someone else to teach my kids but surprisingly enough when it is "lesson" time they actually listen and do as I say, if I ask them to do something when it is play time they refuse! J can easily swim the length of our pool and is great at diving to get the rings (she can get all six of them in one shot in the deeper end). We started practicing rolling to her back while she is swimming which has led into learning how to side breathe. She is also working on kicking on her back and will soon be ready for some backstroke. I'm already seeing we didn't build a big enough pool for these kids, thank goodness we have the community center as she will be ready for 25 year laps soon!
World Cup started this month and the girls got into cheering Brasil on, C mainly played during the games but J impressed me with how much she actually watched (and screamed Nemar as she watched). They had their game day attire (to the underwear) and rituals for watching the game. At one point during one of the games Brasil was losing and J turned the lights on/off and they scored. That became her signature ritual for the remainder of play, driving us all crazy as she flickered lights. She was excited when Brasil won and we were at G&G's house and she got to play with the vuvuzela's and drive mom crazy! Daddy hopes she will get a bug to play soccer this fall!
One night at dinner I taught J about BOGO's it took her a while to catch on to what I was trying to teach her and finally understood the concept and that she got jipped out of a box of cookies from Nana since the black/white cookies she had brought over for dinner that night were BOGO. When we sent this video to Nana her reply was that she didn't realize they were BOGO, she needs to wear her glasses when she shops, can't miss out on that BOGO deal! We spent Father's Day at home watching Brasil's first World Cup game, the girls got him a new Brasil shirt, and then spend the rest of the afternoon BBQing and hanging out in the pool. We checked out the South Florida Museum one day when they had their free day, the girls enjoyed seeing the manatees and learning about them and the show in the planetarium, it was something fun to do but not a place I would go back to and pay the admission they charge, we'll go again on free day next year!
Here are the pictures from the month.
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