Summer Break 2018: Week 7

As the calendar has changed to August, the days of summer are winding down. It was a mostly rainy week, but we still managed to pack it full of indoor and outdoor activities (weather dependent). This week included a trip to the Science Center, two Children's Museums, and a ranch & petting zoo, just to name a few. Here is a full run-down of the week: 

1. On Monday, we went to the Greensboro Science Center with the cousins and Grammy. We are getting our use out of the annual membership! That evening, we celebrated my grandfather's 89th birthday followed by dinner and playtime at the Chick-Fil-A. Emmy is keeping up with her cousins more and more these days, although she didn't like being sandwiched between them on the slide. 
2. I had a meeting for work on Tuesday, so Grammy came over to watch Emmy. There was a break in the rainy weather for them to go swing at the neighborhood park. 
3. I cooked several times this week! I even made a homemade peach cobbler from the last of the Kalawi Farm's peaches. 
4. There was a good amount of sunshine on Wednesday, so Emmy and I spent time outside both before and after her nap. You'll notice that I took a lot of park pictures this week. Emmy loves swinging and going down the slides. She will usually go down the slides on her tummy but has recently switched to also going down on her bottom. She has become quite familiar with the park in our neighborhood and several of the other parks in downtown Kernersville. Free entertainment!
5. On Thursday, we went to the Greensboro Children's Museum with the Beuters. Emmy and Lyla moved about from room to room and generally kept us parents on our toes. 
6. Emmy was so proud posing in her new pajamas. Her 18-month pajamas have turned in to capris and the tops barely cover her belly, so we moved up to Minnie Mouse 24-month pajamas. While we were swapping out pajamas, I also took some time to organize her closet and pull out the other 24-month and 2T clothing. It is hard to believe that she will soon be phasing out of the "-month" clothing, with everything ending in a "T"! 
7. This week marked the end of Boomer's four-day work weeks, so I planned a special Friday for the three of us. We started the day with the Superintendent Special at Fitz on Main (a 3-egg omelet with hashbrowns, biscuit or toast). Then we went to the Winston-Salem Children's Museum called the Kaleideum. We arrived just as it was opening and had the museum practically to ourselves for the first hour or so. As Emmy gets a little bit older, I think she will enjoy even more the "make-believe spaces" like the grocery store, donut shop, log cabin, and vet's office. Despite being on the younger side, she tinkered around in each of the rooms and liked having free reign. She is a little explorer! We ended our field trip with a short walk through Old Salem and then lunch at Twin City Pizza in downtown Winston-Salem. Whew, we did all of that before 1PM!
8. On Friday evening, Boomer and Emmy stayed home while I had dinner with a few of my former Spartan Guides. It was so fun catching up with these driven, enthusiastic, hardworking ladies. Several of them are working fulltime, a few are setting off to grad school, and one is planning a wedding in December. I'm thankful for these relationships that I made during my time at UNCG. 
9. Saturday was another full day. We went to Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville with the Houstons, Grammy, and Grandpa. My sister arranged for a 9AM wagon ride, and since we were the first group out that morning, the animals were all eager and excited to see us. Many of them ate right out of our hands! We got to see up close all types of animals: water buffalo, bison, deer, antelopes, emus, ostriches, giraffes, cows, zebras, kangaroo, camels, llamas, and sheep. We had a particularly close encounter with a large black cow, which required consoling Emmy for a few minutes until we moved on. After the wagon ride, we walked through the other areas of the petting zoo. Zander and Maddox did a great job holding out their hands to feed the animals, while Emmy mostly observed. She was content being in her stroller or on Daddy's shoulders. It was a fun day and something I want to do again with her in the years to come. 
10. After naps on Saturday, Emmy and I met Caroline for dinner at Osaka and then fit in our 4th (or 5th?) park of the week. The rain finally moved out but was replaced by some pretty hot temperatures. Today was also hot. This evening, we went out to dinner with my parents and then to a food truck festival in downtown Kernersville. We didn't last long in the 90+ degree heat; just long enough to scarf down a funnel cake and then get back in to the air conditioning.
11. Two last things: 1) we were in the newspaper this week! And 2) after Boomer's request to go to the arcade at the beach didn't pan out, as a consolation I agreed to dusting off our Wii. We have played many rounds of Mario Kart after Emmy has gone to bed, and it has been an even split between the two of us. I forgot how competitive we both can be!