I no longer can go on field trips with Patrick if they are boring. He will spend the entire time following me around and kissing me. It turns out the Mahaffie Stage Coach Museum is really boring. I had to try to convince him to pay attention and stop smooching on me for four hours. Too long.
Patrick finally received his second place trophy for the half marathon! It had been sent to our old address. He only asked me about it approximately 100 times (not an exaggeration). I was happier than Patrick when we finally figured out where it had been sent.
I missed Patrick's choir concert but I heard about it from members of his fan club. The choir is huge but somehow everyone noticed Patrick.
He's lucky he's cute and is such a sweetie with Juliet. She loves his new pull-up bar. Every boy who comes over to our house goes nuts on this thing.
Patrick and Juliet had their final Friday off from school while the middle schoolers remained in school. It's for teacher planning days, Eleanor says it is of supreme injustice that this schedule change happened the year she went to middle school. We spent the morning at ROKC.
We were meeting friends there but they were late. No big deal, we just climbed a bunch until they got there.
Annabelle and Jackson had never been to ROKC before and they had a blast.
I ended up leaving Juliet with the buddies, I had to run Patrick to another activity. Juliet was thrilled when the friend's mom bought her a donut after I had expressly forbidden her from having one. Nothing tastes as sweet as a forbidden donut.
I know Juliet loves these buddies because she's touchy feely around them and she usually hates touching people.
The mom is a good influence and was encouraging Juliet to floss. I'm not sure it's a go though. Too minty.
Eleanor and I got talked into going to a UMKC symphony performance because her bassoon teacher plays in the group. We did reasonably okay at the performance despite being uncultured swine. I was relieved that Eleanor insisted we sit in the very back row.
While we were gone Patrick and Nathan finally finished working on his off-brand Lego Arrowhead Stadium. It turns out Patrick won't do Legos without a buddy. This is the last Lego set he's ever going to get.
Bradley had another track meet, I love middle school sports! I got other people to hang out with Patrick and Juliet so I could be there for the entire thing.
Bradley was thrilled that I caved and got him a sno-cone. This was literally the first time I had bought him one of these. He only ever got one when they had free Kona Ice at school events. Much joy!
I messaged Eleanor on the house phone and told her she could have a sno-cone if she biked over. She did! She crashed on the way over but apparently it was still worth it.
Bradley also got to go out for a victory dinner at Panera. Panera mac n cheese is his favorite food of all time.
Uncle Thomas came for a visit! Callie was very excited.
Patrick insisted on being on Thomas's team for Dixit and sat in his lap.
Dixit has been a blast, it's nice to have a game the entire family likes to play together.
Juliet got very comfortable around Uncle Thomas.
It's more difficult to play Dixit when people won't let you see the cards.
We're not sure how Juliet decided this was a good idea but she was very happy about it.
She hung out there awhile.
And maybe Uncle Thomas deserved it because he swung Juliet around for doggy kisses afterwards.
Winner loser picture! Poor Juliet. Grandpa made an amazing comeback to win this game. And Juliet won the next time. She's actually a very good sport for games.
Eleanor's choir concert
Throw popcorn at Juliet so it can miss and then the dog can eat it. Juliet is a very good sport about a lot of things.
Nathan had a Friday off and I talked him into checking out the WWI museum. It was very interesting - I had been once before but it was with children so I barely got to read anything.
Then we had lunch at Billie's Grocery - a fancy pants place known for its gluten free options. Nathan was very happy there.
The next day was Patrick's final lacrosse game of the season. It was a tournament and they narrowly lost their first game. He played really well, I enjoy watching lacrosse (which is saying something because I'm fairly whiny about most sports. Baseball is so boring. Football is dumb. Lacrosse is okay.)
Team photo!
We didn't bring the other children. They had a very cozy morning at Grandma and Grandpa's.
Then we had loads of free time! Patrick's friend Luke came over and Bradley became a big fan of Luke when he found out he liked Pokemon Go. Patrick is a huge sweetie and was just fine with Bradley joining them for an outing. He wasn't just fine with it, he was so happy.
Meanwhile Juliet ended up hanging out with Annabelle again.
Apparently they are moving to South Carolina. I didn't even know Juliet knew about South Carolina.
Nathan took a well-deserved nap. Sookie is the best nap time helper there is.
And then Nathan was the one who took the younger two to their elementary school's glow party. I had no idea what that entailed exactly. It was awesome! Juliet got a very fancy arm painting.
And there was dancing
Patrick played nonstop sports
And then Juliet ran off with a friend and colored a bunch. She was so proud of herself. Sighhhhhh.
Mother's Day was the next day. I had a marvelous time! Nathan took the younger two to brave a line out the door at McLains. Worth it for pastries and a delicious latte!
Then we played family pickleball! And I was so pleased that Eleanor chose a Mother Knows Best shirt, although it was a picture of Mother Earth on it so I covered that up for the photo.
We discovered the pickleball courts were under construction so we just hit around on the basketball court area. Worked just fine, was probably for the best with how much Juliet is able to hit things over the net. Imaginary net was nice!
Can you tell when it's a naughty picture of Bradley? He jumped in front of me when I was trying to take a picture of other children.
I said do a cool pose. This is a cool pose.
Me and the kiddos!
Nathan got himself in. It was such a nice morning!
Then we had my mother over for games that afternoon! Well, and grandpa too. Everyone likes playing Uno with Juliet these days. Although playing Uno Flip can be tricky with her. The cards are two sided so there aren't as many secrets when you're dealing things out and we all started laughing when she noticed that certain wonderful cards were not going to her people of choice so she adjusted things. Fortunately she wasn't playing with any of her siblings for that round, there would have been outrage.
Sometimes Nathan takes me out to lunch and takes pretty pictures of me. One hates to complain ...
We've been walking home from school more frequently lately and news spread quickly among the neighbor girls when I mentioned that we would have a popsicle when we got home. They actually beat us there and were waiting for us. Hurray popsicles!
Juliet was having her standard Monday play date with Addie and our neighbor Lilah joined. It went really well, which was a relief. Juliet doesn't exactly hide her feelings and she hadn't been a Lilah fan a year ago. Lilah is an extraordinarily nice little girl, she just tried to boss Juliet around once or twice and Juliet decided she was not worth playing with. If only she hadn't decided this loudly in front of Lila's mother. Fun times!
Lilah made it through dinner time even. Such a good time!
And here are photos from our final Girl Scout meeting of the year. We had a tea party and built things out of sugar cubes and gave out badges! I know how to throw a killer party for a group of 6 year olds.
All of the girls enjoyed the sugar cube stacking but Juliet made the best faces.
And then she had a field trip to Deanna Rose and I got to chaperone! There were so many parent chaperones that I got a group of 1 to supervise: just Juliet.
But we did end up going around with Addie for the entire field trip. Of course!
It was very fun. I love getting to go on these field trips and visit for other school events.
Hay ride line. I figured out at the very end of the year that Juliet has two good friends who are boys in the class. TJ is the one picking her up in this photo.
And Giles is smiling right beside him.
Hay ride fun!
Wishing well with Nora.
We were specifically told not to buy our kids extra items but then other parents did it so I caved as well. It was hot and Juliet was very happy about the bomb pop.
The next day I attended a choir concert at a retirement home. I hadn't been able to stay for the entire concert at the school a week or so prior so it was a happy surprise when I found out Eleanor had a little solo with one of the chimes!
Then I joined her for lunch. I was getting a bit tuckered out on the number of school events I was going to at this point so I didn't go along for their tour of the Kauffman performing arts center after this. But no other parents did either. Middle school field trips are much less of a thing than elementary school field trips.
And that evening Patrick had his pool party with the flag football team plus a few other friends. It was very loud.
Juliet swam and did her own thing on the side and didn't even get smushed by anyone over the course of the party. I was relieved.
Cool pic of the party crew.
I got to stay through the singing of happy birthday and cake, then I had to leave with the older two for a band concert. And Juliet had to leave early for a dance class, my mom got to take her to that. Nothing like fitting in a birthday party in the midst of May activities!
Patrick's favorite presents were the Mr. Beast candy bars. It's a terribly age we live in.
Band concert! I could actually see both of the kids while they performed, it was an end of the year miracle.
We love Lorelei. I'm so glad Bradley is still friends with her. They met in kindergarten!
I also volunteered at field day, which was great fun but also a mistake because a tired and sweaty Juliet insisted she didn't want to watch a movie at school for the rest of the day at the end of the event, she wanted to go home with me. I tried to talk her out of it but sometimes you just need your mommy!
This was my station. It was a lot of work.
Buddy cuddles at the end! And then we went to Costco together and played a bunch of Uno. Honestly it was a pretty great afternoon.
Another Addie play date!
Luke came over again and all the boys were very happy about it.
Then Patrick went over to Luke's house and I was thrilled because it meant they wouldn't be able to play dumb Pokemon Go but Luke's mom caved and somehow set it up for them. At least they were outside.
And in very big news, Eleanor got an electric scooter. I had been vehemently against these once Patrick crashed on one, but then I had to drive Eleanor back and forth to school with her bassoon for a month and suddenly I was very supportive of her having her own transportation. We're going to use bungee cords to attach the bassoon to the little seat in the back.
And I didn't think that it was a seat which was really meant for a passenger, but apparently it's just fine for Juliet! Juliet was beyond thrilled when she got rides home from school on the scooter with her cool middle school sister for the last week of school.
Patrick got a ride too which was an experience ...
This may be my favorite video of Patrick of all time. I cut off the video right before he started kissing the ground.
Juliet has been deemed the more appropriate candidate for rides.
We finished up soccer season with a bang! Which is good, because Juliet has informed me she doesn't want to do it again. We're just checking off the boxes on trying these sports so when she turns 14 she can't complain that I never gave her the chance to try soccer.
She was so cute to watch. It was a lot of fun.
Her favorite part of the sport may have been sitting on the sidelines with friends
Team photo!
And then Patrick had his final flag football game of the year. It was a very close game, they barely won and everyone was very excited.
Medal time!
Team photo
Nathan was out of town on a work trip and I had been promising Juliet a sleepover for weeks leading up to it. When she's tired she sometimes just wants to cuddle me and bemoans the fact that she has to sleep in her own bed. So we tried it! For three nights. Juliet was too excited to fall asleep at her normal bedtime each night but it went reasonably well.
I only got kicked a little bit by her and it turns out she often kicks off all of her covers. Ah well. It was still very cozy.
Patrick got loads of gift cards from his friends for his birthday and I exchange them for cash now - too often we have gift cards that are a few years old and I'm the one who goes to Target on a regular basis, it's easy for me to use them. But the end result was a little ridiculous. I'm glad we're having him put some money towards activities here and there. He had a very fancy summer basketball camp and I told him he got to contribute $100 if he wanted to go. Apparently it was worth it!
It took me a good portion of the school year to figure out that Patrick was buddies with the child of the mom I always saw on the way to school. His name is Yuel and he's been coming over for a number of play dates lately. The boys are a very good duo.
A photo from Nathan on his work trip. He got to got Louisville and was obligated to visit the place where they make all their baseball bats.
Meanwhile, I made cookies. I've been baking a lot lately, it's been lovely. These are chocolate chocolate chip.
Bradley was told he had to show Patrick some love in order to get the cookies and I think both he and Patrick enjoyed an excuse for some cuddles. Stupid middle school has given Bradley ideas about what is cool and what isn't so there hasn't been as much Patrick love lately. We're bringing it back with cookies.
Juliet was busy writing notes for Nathan about some sort of treasure hunt. I love kindergarten clues - deciphering them is always exciting!
A typical visit to the library with a typical amount of books.
After the second to last day of school we got to go to a free Kona Ice truck at a neighbor's house because this neighborhood is ridiculous. It was very fancy and fun!
Juliet in the foreground, Annabelle and Jackson in the background.
Then we had to race home and I got to figure out how to put Juliet's hair in a ballet level bun for her big dance recital!
She did so well. She loves being on stage. I don't know if dancing is her thing exactly but I love that she did it.
We brought her flowers! Thank goodness I sent Nathan to get some last minute, it was the first thing Juliet asked me about after the show. You get a medal for sports, you get flowers for dance, Juliet is no dummy.
Official photo in front of the Blue Valley Rec Center sign! The recital was at the high school, her classes were at the rec center.
And a picture with Addie, her lovely buddy who did dance with her.
Nathan had the day off for the last day of school and helped me walk Juliet and Patrick to school.
I facilitated during the signing yearbooks time of the day, even though I was entirely unnecessary. Although I ended up signing a fair number of yearbooks!
The final day of middle school only involves yearbook signing, nothing else, and Bradley was desperate to avoid how awkward this can be so we let him skip his half day and he stayed home and played a bunch of board games instead. It was lovely.
Meg loved it too.
Nathan traded out with me on Bradley board game duty so he could supervise Patrick's class party.
He also got to witness Patrick say goodbye to his teacher, Mrs. Washington. Apparently Nathan asked Patrick if he was going to say goodbye to his teacher and Patrick immediately looked at her and started fake crying and ran over to her to hug her. Mrs. Washington is a very good sport.
End of the year chest bumps or whatever this is with his friend Rhett.
Patrick and Juliet with their yearbooks. It was a very good year of school for all of the kids.
Looking through her yearbook with Nathan.
Meanwhile, Bradley and I played MicroMacro Crime City, a delightful crime fighting game where usually you are figuring out a murder.
Juliet got incredibly interested while I was playing with Bradley so she and I played as well.
There was a lot of Juliet cuddles and commentary as we played, I enjoyed it ever so much.
And Nathan and I got to have a cool kid date night as a belated anniversary outing! We went to Extra Virgin in downtown KC for dinner.
Then we went to the Green Lady Lounge, a famous jazz bar in Kansas City which we had never been to despite living her for 12 years now. It was high time!
Meanwhile, the grandparents took care of some very happy grandchildren.
The next morning our date extravaganza continued with a trip to a driving range, a bookstore, and lunch.
Then things were back to normal with the kids at home and Meg getting the cuddles she so deeply deserves.
We had a very cold Memorial Day pool party at a friend's house. A fancy friend's house. They had a balloon artist
We had my parents over for rainy day games
Juliet victor, Patrick big loser
Sookie has been really happy about Patrick not having to rush off anywhere first thing in the morning. Much better cuddles for a sweet kitty!
Not sure why she ended up in the bookcase the other day
Meg is gorgeous
She really likes reading with Eleanor. Especially when Eleanor is reading a hardcover. Lots of chin rubs on the side of the book.
My parents' neighborhood courts have been resurfaced and we were thrilled to discover that they had made one of the tennis courts into two pickleball courts.
Bradley was doing some cool moves for me so I took a video
And we practiced tennis as well! It's nice to have some cooler summer weather so we can run around outside.
Juliet had another play date with Addie and I got this photo. Looks like all the neighborhood kids joined in!
I was cat sitting for a friend who was gone on a trip and Juliet was a great help playing with the kitty.
Juliet came into our room ridiculously early on the morning we had family photos planned. I thought that was actually a good thing, meant our morning wouldn't be rushed, so I left her on our bed while I went to take my shower. She promptly fell back asleep. The morning was very rushed after I finally woke her up.
After pictures we went to Nathan's company picnic. It was super fancy fun, although all my kids care about are the carnival games.
Carnival games have cool prizes!
And there were a few inflatables they enjoyed as well. It's really quite the fancy event.
Bradley with his cool prize!
And we ended the day with yet another pool party, this time at Bradley's friend Xavier's house. Bradley jumped in the water and yelled out "I am the warlord!" Yep, pretty much a babe magnet this kid.
Patrick lemonade story from the party: he was very thirsty and they had two big carafes out with lemonade. So her poured a bit from the pink one and drank it, made a horrible face, and ran over to the yellow one and drank that to wash out the flavor from the first one. Second one was just as bad, he was trying to rub the flavor out of his tongue ... turns out they were boozy drinks. One was a cosmo, the other one was something similar. And they did not skimp on the alcohol, I had a glass of the cosmo and had to water it down. Whoopsie! Patrick is very proud of himself and if we were wanting to make it so he never drank again we may have succeeded.
