It was our first week of summer and we were BUSY. Our summer schedule is Monday- boys with Grandma Debbie, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday- nanny Shyanna is with the boys, Friday- Nate and Natalie alternate PTO days off with the boys.
Grandma Debbie’s bestie also does childcare for her grandkids, so Monday was a fun day of swimming at the lake, playing and hanging out with Cain and Cora. The evening was all about running back and forth between our yard and the neighbor’s yard to alternate swimming and jumping on the trampoline.
As stated last weekend when we assembled the pool, we had no idea what we were getting into- the pool was a decent price, but this week we spent a small fortune on accessories. We are leaning into pool life and have spent a lot of time cleaning the filter and checking things, and maintaining.
On Tuesday, Augustus slept in until 8:45, which was probably an indication that we’ve had a lot of late nights and jam packed days. It was the first day the nanny was here and all of us were excited for her to arrive. She is a student at St. Thomas. I absolutely have hired her to be a camp counselor. She is wonderful with the boys and ALSO with the dogs, which wasn’t a requirement, but probably should have been as they are a handful and she is awesome with them. Day 1 was super fun- they played a lot of games, did some crafting, played outside, swam and when she left for the day, the boys asked when she was coming back, so I call that a success. We have had several nannies over the years and all of them have been OUTSTANDING. I am confident she will continue that trend and I’m so grateful we have her this summer!
Tuesday night was soccer for the boys. It was SO hot outside, I was advocating for us skipping it, but Nate and the boys were excited, so I got overruled. Augustus scored a goal! Xander is getting better and better each week and both boys really enjoy it. I appreciate that it is only one night a week.
Wednesday was Augustus’s first golf lesson! Nate said he spoke up and had a lot to add to what the teacher was saying. Nate also said he did really well. When he got home from golf, the boys and Shyanna went to the library to use their new library cards and pick out some books. There was more swimming and because it was so hot, there was also a mid-day movie. Wednesday night is tee ball for Xander, which I skipped so I could bake cookies and walk the dogs. Nate said he did really well!
On Thursday, Shyanna took the boys to the park, and they were gone for a long time! When they got home, they were excited to report that as they were getting ready to leave, Sam and Abby showed up, so they ended up staying for another 45 minutes! More games, crafting and swimming. I think they swam twice a day every day this week. So far, this pool has been a great addition!
On Thursday night we headed to Camp St. Croix for their pizza farm night. We met the Nelson’s there and no one knew what to expect. You buy the pizza boxes and get tickets. Then you go around to each farmers market stand and collect your ingredients. Then you assemble your pizza and bring it to the pizza oven for them to cook for you. I LOVE stuff like this and it was fun to support one of the camps I work with.
Friday was a marathon of a day! I had the day off and the boys and I headed to the YMCA right away- I had a personal training appointment and they tried out the Y childcare for the first time. After my appointment, we all jumped in the pool to play for about 30 minutes until their swim lesson started. I didn’t take any photos this week, but Xander swam 50 yards! He is getting SO good at swimming and I am really proud of him. Augustus is also becoming quite a little fish, and I am happy to see them be so confident in the water.
After swim lessons, we headed to the dentist and both boys were fabulous. Xander has lost 6 or 7 teeth and Augustus has 2 loose teeth right now!
We stopped for lunch and then headed home. We did all of that before 1pm! Swimming, playing, and we were ready for the weekend. The dogs have been VERY interested in the pool- they’ve chewed on the cord for the pump, on the side straps, eaten one of the foam mats… so on Friday afternoon, Nate built a small fence to keep them away. Thus far, Hudson has mostly taken the fence as a challenge, so we just keep re-enforcing it. Every time he breaches the fence, he eats something new (a pool noodle, goggles, a squirt gun), so we’re going to continue to battle him until we have a bulldog-proof fence. Stay tuned…
On Saturday, Grandma Debbie took the boys to Uncle Barry’s cabin for the day. They caught 6 fish and swam all day! Nate golfed, I did a major organizing project in our spare room and baked cookies- I think it was the perfect day for everyone!
And today was Father’s Day! Completely on their own, the boys created a scavenger hunt for Nate. They had made fuse bead creations and also had mini Twix bars. They drew arrows and had clues. It was VERY cute and I had absolutely nothing to do with it (except that clearly genetics had a role! I have future camp counselors on my hands!). They were very excited for him to find their prizes.
It was 90+ degrees today, so we decided on an indoor activity. We went to Can Can Wonderland which is a very fun place. There are unlimited arcade games, skee ball, air hockey, etc. and also mini golf (our original reason for going). Each hole of mini golf has a different design and they are all spectacular. So cool! We mini golfed and then spent several hours playing games. It was such a fun place!
Afterwards, we had not lunch/not dinner random time sushi. We had planned to go for dinner, but we were all starving so we went early. That left us plenty of time for relaxing, swimming (with freezies in the pool) and a movie night. Both boys went right to sleep, so I think they were exhausted from a very busy week.
Every week this summer has a lot on the calendar, so we’ve only just begun. Here we go!!
