On Sunday morning, we asked the kids to fill up our K-cup holder. It took them no time to fill the holder. When they were done, they started stacking the extra cups.
John created a little pyramid and Gillian insisted on making one just like it. John patiently walked her through each step.
She was so proud of her accomplishment. But when I asked for another picture, she accidentally knocked over her pyramid. I thought she would get mad, but she calmly started building again. The kids played with the K-cups for a half hour before they got bored.
For the past few years, Daddy, John, Aunt Betty, Justin and I have run the Color Run. This year Gillian joined us! She was very excited when we were at the house.
And in the car.
When we arrived she was very nervous and I think overwhelmed by all the people and noise. She sat in the stroller and refused to move. We had to bribe her to come out and take before pictures.
We then moved towards the starting line. We wanted to be in the first wave of runners. So we would have the maximum amount of time to go through the race. We brought a stroller for Gillian, because we knew she wouldn't be able to run the entire 5k. Before we started Daddy had a quick pep talk with the kids.
He let them know that John could run ahead, but we all wanted to go through the color stations together.
The first color station was pink. Gillian was nervous, but excited that it was pink. We had her get out of the stroller and walk through the station with Daddy. The workers made sure she got a lot of pink. They paid more attention to her than Daddy (he didn't get any pink). After that she walked for a little bit.
She walked for a little bit and Daddy carried her on his shoulders too, but she mainly stuck to her stroller. She always got out for the color stations. John, on the other hand, ran or walked the entire race. He spent the entire time with Justin. They would run ahead, but would wait for us to go together as a group through the color stations.
After pink, we had orange, yellow and then blue. The very last station was silver shine. I got to walk with Gillian. The volunteers just loved her. They gave her high fives and they carefully doused her in the silver. She was covered in it. She just sparkled. And she was so happy.
We rounded the corner and headed to the finish line. At the finish line we all got medals, a packet of color and a packet of shine. We all opened our packets and had a little color war. Gillian said that was her favorite part.
It was an amazing day. Looking forward to next year!
I get emails updated from Monmouth County Park systems. At the beginning of the month, I received an email about the pool at Fort Monmouth Recreation Center. The pool is open to the public and for a nominal fee you can get a daily or monthly pass. Since the recreation center is five minutes from our house, I told Daddy that I wanted to check it out. We went the first weekend of August and bought a family pass for the month. The pool is a decent size and varies in depth from 3 feet to 10 feet.
The kids fell in love (well we all did). The pool is clean and well maintained. Daddy and I loved that it wasn't packed with people. We have been back every weekend since that first trip.
We took the kids to Ikea today. Daddy and I knew exactly what we needed but we still decided to walk around and look at everything. John and Gillian both carried around the paper measuring tapes to assist us. John also was the map reader. When we were downstairs in the marketplace I noticed that John was walking around with a pencil behind his ear.
He kept us informed on where we were and what was coming up next.
John decided this year to not have a birthday party with his friends. Daddy and I offered to take him on an adventure in lieu of having a party. We planned a surprise trip to Great Wolf Lodge. John is a lot like Daddy and hates surprises. So he requested a few clues to help him guess our destination. We told him: 1) it was some where we have never been, 2) we would need a bathing suit, 3) it would take awhile to get there, 4) we would have to pack. John guessed right away. He said "I think Great Wolf Lodge. Cause we never been there and you need a bathing suit. Daddy said we would be a pack, and wolves live in a pack!" I was shocked. I didn't know he had heard of Great Wolf Lodge (GWL) before. I asked him how he knew of that place. He said "I heard it on the radio." I tried to play it off like I had never heard of GWL. He didn't give it up. Any time we talked about his birthday adventure, he would mention GWL.
We left on Thursday and headed to GWL. As we pulled in the lot, John immediately said "I knew it!"
At check in, John received wolf ears with a built in birthday hat. He also got a special wristband that said he was a birthday boy and he was able to get free ice cream for our entire stay. I was worried that the ears would cause drama with Gillian, but she didn't care. And John actually let her wear them too!
We scoped out the lodge and set the kids up to play MagiQuest. MagiQuest is an interactive game played throughout the hotel. To play you need a special wand. Gillian chose a pink wand with a unicorn topper and John had a brown wand with a red dragon topper.
Then we hit up the water park. We checked out the pools, the kiddie slides, the lazy river and then headed to the big slide. Gillian was just tall enough to go on the big slides with a parent of course. We read all the signs and headed up to the slides. As we approached the platform, I realized that we were in line for a big slide with what we like to call "a toilet bowl." I tried to convince the attendant to let us go on another slide. It didn't work. So the kids first big slide spun them around and basically scared them. Gillian hated it. She was so angry at me for taking her on that slide. It took a little while to convince her to go on another slide. But when we did, she fell in love. And that's where we spent majority of the rest of the afternoon.
We went back to the room for a little bit and the kids were excited to find a tent! It was their own little room with bunk beds and their own TV.
We played more MagiQuest and ate a late lunch and then headed back to the water park. We timed that well because while most people were eating dinner we were enjoying short or no lines on all the big slides. John and Daddy checked out a really big slide. All four of us also got to go on one big slide together.
We watched a show in the lobby. Gillian loved it. John just wanted to get back to MagiQuest.
The next day we spent more time in the water park and John attempted to finish his MagiQuest.
We didn't get a lot of photos of our adventure, but I did get this video of the kids and Daddy on one of the water slides.
Gillian has been taking dance class at her school. They finish every year with a recital. Gillian has been talking about her recital for weeks. Yesterday was Gillian's recital.
We had the dress rehearsal two weeks ago and the girls looked awesome. Gillian was very strict "You can't watch. You have to stay outside. It's a surprise."
Finally the big day was here. Gillian was ready. Gillian not only had Daddy, John and I in the audience, but Grandma, Grandpa, Grandad, Mimi and Poppy too. Gillian and her class were the second to last to perform. They danced to "Little Grass Shack." They did amazing.
I am so impressed. Gillian and her classmates did awesome. Each of them were awarded a medal. Gillian wore it proudly.
Gillian was showered with bouquets when we met everyone outside. We are so proud of our little girl!
On Saturday night, we took the kids to Smashburger for dinner. Normally the kids opt for milk as their dinner beverage. But we decided to treat them with a milkshake. It was well worth it.
Gillian kept calling her milkshake a smoothie. She said "I love my smoothie. John, let me try your smoothie." She tasted everyone's milkshake and decided Mommy's chocolate Oreo and her chocolate milkshakes (I mean smoothies) were her favorite. John, on the other hand, kept drinking his shake and then said "Do you see how far down mine is?" And they would compare the heights of their shakes.
Once again, I love that a simple treat made a huge impact.
We went to see Disney on Ice, Princesses and Heroes last weekend. I have never been and we have never taken the kids to see a show like this, so needless to say I was very excited. We told Gillian that she could wear one of her princess dresses. She said "Ok. I'll wear my new gold dress." She was referring to her Christmas dress. After we explained that she could wear one of her dress-up dresses, she proudly said "Elsa. I wear my Elsa dress." I was excited about that, because then she could wear her Elsa hat that Grandma made her for Christmas. Plus I was able to wear the Anna hat!
We arrived at the Prudential Center and found our seats. We got there a few minutes late and Aladdin was already skating. John was happy to see Aladdin and Gillian as super excited to see Jasmine. Basically, the actors would sing and dance on skates and perform a short version of their story.
Next up was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
In between the stories, Tinkerbell would skate around the ice and sometimes we would see Mickey and Minnie Mouse. They would help introduce the next Princess.
The next Princess was Belle. Gillian was very excited by this point. She was jumping up and down. She saw Lumiere and leaned over to me and said "Him's got feet!" Poor dude had to skate around in that big costume and Gillian called him out within 30 seconds.
After Belle, we got to see Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. Next, we got to see the Little Mermaid. John really liked this part of the show. The first part was the sailors on Prince Eric's boat. They did fun tricks on their skates.
So they showed the whole part where Ariel gives up her voice for human legs. Gillian, very loudly, said "But her's already got legs. See? Right there!"
After Ariel and Prince Eric were married, we had a short intermission and then got to see Tiana. Next was Sleeping Beauty. Sleeping Beauty is my favorite fairy tale. Gillian was a little afraid of the dragon.
After Sleeping Beauty, Goofy came out and announced the arrival of Cinderella.
Cinderella's step sisters were hilarious and Gillian really loved Cinderella's carriage.
Mickey and Minnie came out all dressed in very fancy clothes and announced that the next princess was Anna!
All the kids in the arena were singing along. It was adorable.
Olaf got to sing his song, Summer. This is John's favorite and he sang along as well.
Tinkerbell came out after Frozen was completed and then all the Princesses and Heroes came on the ice. Along with Mickey and Minnie.
The kids loved this part. Tinkerbell sat in Cinderella's carriage and it rose up in the air and "Fireworks went off!"
We had a great time with our favorite Princess and Hero.
Tonight, I read John a chapter out of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." At the end of the chapter, the Weasley twins were teasing their older brother about getting dragon dung sent to him at the office. Here's the passage:
So I read it to John and he laughs. Daddy says "Do you know what dragon dung is?" John said "No." Daddy asked "Then why are you laughing?" "Cause I bet it's funny!" This kid. You got to love him!
I am reading John "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." Tonight we got to the part where Harry gets to test out his new flying broom, the firebolt. I read "Harry saw the Snitch dart out behind Wood, and within ten seconds had caught it tightly in his hand." John said "What? That's like, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten! That's fast!"
Tonight we ate pizza in the living room and watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I know. It doesn't sound that exciting. But it was. John was super excited to see all the characters that we have read about come to life. He jumped on the couch when he was excited and hid his face when he was scared. It was amazing watching him enjoy the movie and remember parts from the book. My favorite was when he questioned why they would have to cut parts of the book out of the movie. Perfect night.
It's been a long time since I have enjoyed a tea party with Gillian. Yesterday Aunt Betty and Justin came to visit. The kids were playing happily downstairs while Aunt Betty and I talked upstairs. We went to check on them and found John and Justin playing video games. Gillian, on the other hand, had on a pretty dress up skirt and fairy wings. She was setting up a tea party. Aunt Betty and I joined her. I laid out a blanket and helped her set up the plates and napkins. Aunt Betty worked on the cookies and sandwiches. Gillian got some friends (stuffed animals and babies) to join us. She brewed up some coffee (in her coffee maker). And then she said "We need a menu!" She found the Magna Doodle and gave it to me. "Write the menu." Aunt Betty and I laughed and she insisted "Write the menu." I asked her "What do I write?" She gave me a little list of what we were having. "Mac & Cheese, chips, coffee, drinks, cookies, sammiches." I wrote her list and she got mad because I missed something. And I had to rewrite it. Aunt Betty and I really enjoyed our tea party with Gillian and her friends.
Here are some pictures of the party. And yes, I know I can't spell potatoes.
Saturday morning, we got up very early to get ready for the Color Run. Like last year, Gillian spent Friday night at Aunt Missy and Uncle T's house. So it was just John, Daddy and I getting ready. Daddy had cut the sleeves off of his Color Run shirt and John had to match! We also had to cut his shirt so it wasn't down to his knees.
We arrived at Raceway Park bright and early and met Aunt Betty and Justin. The Color Run isn't timed and has a rolling start. We got in line and were part of the second group. John took off like a rocket. He is fast. And he ran in a zig zag. We followed behind and he slowed down after a little while.
Our first color was pink! We all ran thru and everyone got some pink on them. John got a second wind and ran again. It didn't last long. But before we realized it was time for our next color: Yellow! Yellow was not as good as pink. It was basically like walking thru a big cloud of yellow smoke. None of us really got much color. But luckily we were headed to blue. One of Justin's friends was spraying blue and Justin got covered! We had a long walk from blue to purple. And yes, we were walking. But at this point last year we were all taking turns carrying John on our back. But not this year. He walked or ran the entire 5k. We got to purple and I watched a lady just stick aa-handful of purple in Aunt Betty's hair. Purple is my favorite color and I made sure I got a lot! On our way to the finish line we had to pass yellow again. So Uncle Kyle and Justin hopped the divider and headed back to get some more yellow. They attempted to do pink too, but they were stopped.
We made it to the finish line and were given individual color packets. Daddy and I got green, John and Justin got red and Aunt Betty got orange. We opened our packets and attacked each other. Poor John couldn't open his packet, after someone helped him, he got everyone!
