A Team Week 152: ____ to School

This week the Back To School idea started to become our reality.  It is hard to believe that our boy is to be a kindergartener this year.  I simply cannot understand where the last five years have gone.  We've thought about this new phase in life for a long time, but this week (the 3rd week of August) it is almost here and we are no longer simply thinking about the idea, but now we are in full prep mode.

With both of us being quite busy at work, the work week was quite uninteresting.  We got a giant bucket of peaches from our neighbors' peach tree and had easy dinners including one of the boys' favorites: pancakes.

Avery helping me mix up the pancake batter.

As Eric and I attempted to manage our career life and home life the boys spent a decent amount of time playing on their own...

Asher caught fireflies

Together the boys made this "train".  The night before I took this picture, I was putting Avery to bed and he kept talking about a train but I had no idea what he was actually talking about.  It wasn't until the next morning when I saw this in the backyard that I understood.

Eric and I also tried desperately to figure out what the school year would bring.  With the school closed all summer, there was really no one that we could talk to, but as soon as the school opened up for the year Eric was there asking questions and peeking in on Asher's future classroom.  He also showed these pictures to Asher, who was also quite hesitant about the idea of going to school, to help him get excited about the idea.  It worked...for a few minutes at least.

On Wednesday the boys and I were ready for our day off together and being that it would be our second to last Wednesday home together I was determined to make sure it was a GREAT day!  We started things off by relaxing in my bed and watching some cartoons together and then building a gigantic duplos zoo in the basement.

When it came time for breakfast the boys request chocolate pancakes...not chocolate CHIP pancakes, but chocolate pancakes.  I wasn't sure how to make these but being that it was our special day together I figured I'd give it a shot.  I found a recipe online that was a copycat for IHOP's chocolate pancakes and got to work.  It wasn't until I got all of the ingredients in the bowl and started to mix them up that I realized I'd basically made brownies for breakfast rather than pancakes.  Oh well, they were pretty tasty!

Side Story: As I was making the pancakes, Asher kept checking in on me and my progress.  I quickly learned that Christina (at daycare) makes chocolate pancakes (although I later learned they are chocolate CHIP) and that is where their request came from.  At one point, Asher saw me mixing everything up and said, "I think I might like Christina's pancakes better."  To which I replied, "oh well, we are just giving them a shot."  A few minutes later though I actually started to cook the pancakes and the smell of chocolate pancakes brownies filled the air.  At that point Asher spoke again from the living room stating, "Mommy, I think your pancakes will be better than Christina's because her pancakes never smell like THAT!"  :P  I couldn't help but chuckle as I thought to myself "yeah, because I'm sure Christina's pancakes are not actually brownies!

We enjoyed our breakfast at the backyard deck, got dressed and headed to Pet's park for the remainder of the morning.

At Pet's Park we played on the playgrounds (the typical one and the one for "BIG" kids), checked out the creek, hiked in the woods and tried to catch butterflies.  It was a gorgeous outside and we had a great time together.

Attempting to catch butterflies.

Asher found this hidden rock in the park...so we re-hid it for someone else to find.

After a great morning at the park, the boys and I headed back home for lunch and rest.  When we were all up and rested we then headed to Meijer for groceries and SCHOOL supplies!  Asher was super excited to get to buy supplies for school and Avery was a bit jealous that he didn't get any but did alright with the reply that he would get the same supplies when he was older and went to school.

An attempt at a back to school shopping selfie.

When the weekend came we tried to enjoy our time with the boys.  I say 'tried' only because as we entered the second half of the month my allergies kicked into full gear and made me fairly miserable any time I went outside.  On Friday night I was exhausted and could use some time indoors to rest so Eric took the boys down to the park on our street.  

Avery loves to brush his teeth these days and REALLY gets into it! ;)

On Saturday morning the boys also rode their bikes to Meijer and then spent some time playing in the backyard while I continued to avoid allergens inside.  Later that morning though I did attempt to enjoy time outdoors downtown for Harbor Market and fun at the splash park for the boys.  I didn't last as long as I'd hoped but we did have a little fun downtown together.

Eric bought them each a squirt gun from the clearance rack.

The boys also discovered that the cicadas were moving from the ground and morphing from nymphs to their adult bodies (imago).  They were EVERYWHERE and although very gross bugs, it was an interesting part of biology to watch.

Avery & I headed to Harbor Market

Asher & Avery at the splash park.

In the afternoon on Saturday we continued our attempts to enjoy the last few days of summer with our boys by heading to the Dream Playground and then savoring our last dinner for the year at Big Star Drive-in.

Thumbs up for Big Star!

On Sunday we finished out our week with church and another relaxing day at home with fun at the park before ending another week and getting that much closer to the start of school. 

Avery at nap time.

Driving the gator to the park.

The boys had fun playing at and driving around the park.  At one point I looked at them though to find Avery standing on top of second to last bleacher at the ball field and jumping off just as I yelled for him to get down!

While we went to the park, Eric stayed home.  At one point though we looked up in the sky to see a drone hovering above us and watching us for some time.  ...I guess that is one way to 'go' to the park with your family... (it was Eric watching over us)

Since there was a lot of open space at the park, I told Avery that he could drive the gator and that Asher could give him driving lessons!  Asher was a pretty good teacher, although slightly impatient with his little bro.

(2) Videos: Avery's Driving Lessons