Summer Is Sinking In

Well, it's been almost a month that Koen has been out of school.  It was a fun June, a good jump start into my hopes for the summer and included 2 birthdays and 2 short trips.  Going into this week, we seem to be hitting a few speed bumps.  Mostly that Koen and Tavin seem to be feeling the fact that they are together all day, every day.  Oh, the brotherly angst, annoyance and aggression is running at an all-time high!  I feel like a referee all day long.  We have plenty of fun and good moments amidst the intensity though which is helpful in keeping me sane!  Here are a few examples from the last few days...

Monday morning Penn had his first taste of real oatmeal with raisins.  He's not a big fan yet, but this is a staple in the boys' diet, so I'm hoping he catches on soon.

After breakfast, we baked banana muffins.  Koen was a big help (and quite proud of it).

Tavin helped a little, but mostly enjoyed "baking" with macaroni and plastic eggs.

I was all excited to make newspaper boats with the boys after Tav's speech therapy appointment that morning, but unfortunately (as you can see by Tavin's defeated body language) the Curious George book we were working off of was made in a time when newspaper was printed on a different size paper and our boats did not turn out quite right.  Oh well, I tried.  Sorry, Tav!!

So, on Tuesday, Koen and I had a project to work on throughout the day for our "history" lesson of the week.  With July 4th this week I wanted it to be about freedom, patriotism, etc. We had a great opportunity to talk about these themes as we prepared a care package for a family friend who is serving overseas in the Air Force currently.   We baked him chocolate chip cookies and Koen worked meticulously on a special thank you card for this serviceman.

That day we also had a fun playdate with some friends we don't often get to connect with except in passing at church.  Koen had playdates with twins, Jonathan and Faith for the first few years of his life, but once preschool hit it was hard to get them all together.  Now, J & F have a little bro 6 months younger than Penn.  Here they are getting acquainted on the swings (I missed photo opps with the big kids as they were very busy and active on the playground!).

On Wednesday we enjoyed our scheduled playdate with Owen, Claire, Carson and Charlotte (and my momma bud, Adrianne).  The kids were especially into the swings.  Here are K & T on the swings with Owen and Claire.  

While at the playground, we went on a leaf and twig hunt as the science experiment I had planned for that afternoon with Koen required them for supplies.  We learned about habitats and homes.  We made a nest.  Koen really enjoyed it.  (It made me really impressed with a bird's talents.  Our nest would've never held up in a storm, let alone daily activities with baby birds, etc. and we had hands to build with and glue to stick things together with!).

Today was July 4th.  We kept it pretty low key in the morning with hanging around the house and Koen and I running some errands, but this afternoon Koen and Doug went to the Pirates game.  I asked for a picture and here's what I got...

Pretty cute Father/Son picture.  Apparently there was a contest in the stadium that they took a silly picture for in order to attempt to win and get their photo on the jumbotron.  They won!  Here are my famous Melder men!

After the game, Koen and Doug headed to a cookout at a friend's place near the stadium as they planned to go to the fireworks after sunset.  Penn, Tav and I had a much more relaxed 4th afternoon with naptimes (and some time for me to be uber productive!), but in the evening we invited a neighbor friend down for some pool time.  Here's Tav and Perry loving the pool I purchased this morning (we tried the baby pool yesterday which was literally a teeny mud puddle after about 10 minutes).

The baby bros didn't really get any pool time, but they enjoyed playing together in the yard.

Here they are deciding who gets a cup...ah, the stress of being a one year old!

Well, I got the boys to bed, things cleaned up and laundry folded and Doug and Koen got home.  They ended up getting a spot for the fireworks and then deciding to evacuate.  Partially due to Koen's overtiredness, partially due to the ominous storm approaching and partially due to the smokers that just took up residence beside them.  I was relieved they came home early.  Koen needed to get to bed!  

So, that's a sum up of the highlights of the last few days.  I'm guessing the late night Koen had tonight isn't going to help brotherly relations tomorrow, but you know what will???  Aunt Abbie arrives on a plane tomorrow afternoon.  Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This sister is so psyched that her best friend/sis is going to be here in less than 24 hours.  Help is on the way!