For actual Father's Day we stayed home and Kevin decided to barbecue. He got the pool set up for Fox, chemicals in and vacuumed. He and Fox later decided to take a dip...which lasted a whole 5 minutes given the water temperature!
Our real Father's Day celebration took place on Tuesday, June 17th. We got tickets for the St. Louis Cardinals Social Media night. Kevin took off work early, grabbed Fox from camp early and we were off and running by 4 pm. The event itself was packed; but the venue was awesome. It was held at the Bowtie Bar in the stadium. Great views, seats and no crowds....well, other than those standing up blocking our view from the players who were kind enough to do Q & A for the evening. We each received a nice tablet case, too. Fox enjoyed the night. We left the game early due to it being a work/camp night. All in all a fun night.
I was working into the evening so many nights during the last 2 weeks of June (due to year end at work) that Fox said to me one night when I did manage to sit at the dinner table and eat with he and Kevin, "We got our whole family back". Wow. The impact his words had on me. I've always been adamant that we sit down and eat dinner as a family each night. But I'd foregone my own rule due to work constraints. It was Fox's words that made me realize the impact it has on him. He enjoys it, too. It also made me realize that no matter how important work seems, my family is MORE important. I need to remember that before I sacrifice time at the table together. A real eye opener. We're so busy trying to raise our kids and teach them the tools they need that we never stop to realize how much they teach US!!! I beat myself up for having missed that time with them; but know I learned a lesson for the future. I've yet to miss another family dinner with the exception of an aqua zumba night or two.
On the weekend of June 28-29th we were off to yet another baseball venue. I'm not really into baseball that much but since my friend's son was called up to the BIGS in late April, I've started following him religiously, more than I do the Cardinals, to be honest. So, we had a chance to travel to Kansas City to see Mike Morin, #64 of the Los Angeles Angels (a relief pitcher and someday hopefully a closer) play against the Kansas City Royals. It was a BIG deal. It was his first "homecoming" as a major leaguer and playing in his home stadium as such. We wouldn't dream of missing it. We were invited to an evening reception to celebrate his success with him. It included an upscale venue on the Country Club Plaza, delicious and abundant food supply and drinks. Ah-maz-ING!
We were hating life at 5:30 am that Saturday when the alarm went off; but we jumped up excited to face the excitement of the day. 256 miles later we arrived at Kauffman Stadium only to see 3 innings and several hours of rain delay. But we had a blast at the game visiting with my friend, Leatha and her family who drove down from Iowa to see "Moosh" play. The game ended up being postponed until 7 pm that evening. We never went back. Instead we headed straight to the reception from our hotel...and during that time we missed seeing Moosh pitch 2 innings on the big screen of the board room his party was located in. Fox had fun munching on hot dogs and sun chips and soda while we waiting for Moosh's grand entrance. Then he had time to talk to Michael, get autographs and have photos taken with him. It was a wonderful opportunity for Fox; but I know Daddy loved it, too. I was just happy as a pig in sunshine to celebrate Moosh's dedication to the sport and his realizing his dreams. It's a SUPER COOL thing to watch someone's dream come true. I can't put it into words.
Here are a few pics of the wonderful weekend we had:
Unfortunately we didn't have Fox for the 4th of July weekend. Daddy and I were exhausted so we vowed to stay home and tend to the household and our bodies that were so in need of rest. Mission successful! On Sunday evening, we did meet up with close family friends, Kelli and Brett Eckman for an early dinner at the 2865 Brewhouse followed by Frozen Custard at Lyons (only because Jaynie's Ice Box was closed and we couldn't get the Italian Ice we'd been craving!!!). Kelli and Brett had their grandson, Preston who is 3. Fox calls Preston his "favorite cousin". Poor kid, most every child we introduce him to, we say, "this is your cousin, so and so". Now he thinks every kid is his cousin; but that's ok because Preston is practically family anyway! The boys had their respective ice cream and sno cone and played while we finished up then we had to part ways.
That brings us to tonight, where Preston is coming over to swim with Fox and order pizza for dinner. Not sure if there will be room for us adults in the pool, too. Could be interesting.
As far as Day Camp goes, Fox is LOVING it. He goes everyday from 8 am ish to 5 pm ish. He has swimming lessons 4 days a week in addition to the regular camp swim days, which is also 4x a week for an hour or so. He's in heaven; and he's also really overcoming some of the fears he had when we first started taking him to lessons back in Kansas City. He now goes under water completely and is developing more skills as well.
He's had some phenomenal field trips so far: St. Louis Zoo, Brunswick Zone, Sky Zone, City Museum and this week the best one: Raging Rivers water park. He's excited. Each week we give him money for his field trips so long as he's picked up his floor/cleaned his room every evening before bed. We have to laugh, so far instead of buying snacks and drinks like we imagined, he's chosen to spend it on things at the gift shops. At the Zoo, he bought a crocodile gripper claw thingy that was broken by the time he got home!!! At City Museum he bought some Zombie slingshot stretchy thing. LOL.
We're trying to teach him the value of money and importance of taking care of things. It's been interesting, to say the least.
For a while he was forgetting his belongings at camp every night, we've given him gentle reminders on that, as well. For the past two nights he left his Gatorade at camp...which never turned up in the Lost and Found. So today I reminded him; and I'm proud to say he remembered to bring the unused portion home.
Yesterday as I was getting him ready in the morning, I told him to put his swimsuit on. He put the suit on that he's had for a couple years and it literally fell off his skinny body. The elastic must have worn out. So we had to dip into his vacation swimsuits that I bought and have been saving.
Fox has always been an overly affectionate and loving child (in a beautiful way). So I'm enjoying all the random hugs, kisses and "I love yous" that I can get!!! It makes me sad to think our summer with him is half way over already!
One month from today, we embark on our big family vacation to Gulf Shores, AL. We're so excited to see him enjoy making sand castles and frolicking on the beach. The countdown will begin SOON.
And one Fox Funny before I log out for the evening.....the other day when I woke him to get ready for camp, I asked him, "Fox do you want to stay home or go to camp today?", knowing I'd get a rise out of him. He quickly replied, "I want to stay home". FLOORED me 'cos I was SURE that would NEVER be an option for him. Then he hopped up out of bed and said, "I'm just JOKING, I'm going to camp!!!". Kid got me. We both giggled.
He's really into telling jokes, some that he reads from his magazines and some that he makes up (and cause you to fake a laugh). I wish my Grandpa Kenny were here to share joke time with him. My Grandpa loved calling me with silly jokes when I was a kid.
Speaking of grandparents, Grandma K has already asked for Fox one day to go on a field trip with her and the girls when they are in from NY later this month. He will miss a day of camp for cousin field trip time, which he is OK with. His cousin, Elise, things he hung the moon! They will have a good time.
The only other major observation of Fox this summer is that he LOVES LOVES LOVES his magazine subscriptions to Highlights, Zoobooks, National Geographic Kids, Ranger Rick, etc. He reads the back when it says the next issue will be shipping and tells me it's coming THAT day. And when it doesn't arrive that day, he asks EVERY day until it arrives. When he came home Sunday after spending the weekend at his mommy's, he had THREE magazines waiting. Kevin said to me, "Fox is gonna have a cow when he sees this". Sure enough, he was uber excited. I love that he loves to read. He learns so much from them; and often reads to us.
Gotta run, his swim date, Preston, is here. Time for some more FUN............
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