CORA'S 7TH BIRTHDAY!

My favorite girl, my favorite number! Happy 7th Birthday to Cora Mae!

 Powdered donuts and raspberries for breakfast - her request.

 Picked up early from Daycamp and whisked to Jackson an hour at High Heaven.

 Then next door to the mini golf course to try something new (to them). But it was really hot, so Cora requested that we only play one round instead of the two courses included.

 After mini golf, we went out for cupcakes, then hit up a few bike shops in search of the perfect (right price, right color) new 24" bikes for each kid since they'd severely outgrown their old ones. Cora's is a birthday gift from Gramma, James' is a "Congratulations" gift for having such an incredible end to his school year.

 Cora treated us to pizza with her "Free Pizza for a Year" award at Mellow Mushroom, then we headed home so she could open her gifts from us and her grandparents.

Moana is all the rage with her right now, and this set is bathtub friendly, so it was all we could do to convince the fresh-out-of-the-shower birthday girl to wait until tomorrow to take a bath. She told me later at bedtime that this was her favorite gift, so good call Grambot and PawPaw!

 What was in the hard to open package from Gramma? Books and swimsuits! Don't worry, I had Cora model them for you. She both scared me and cracked me up with that process...

 Cards from Grambot and PawPaw, and Great-Grandma and Grandpa.

 Her other obsession? Calico Critters. She was SO pleased to receive new Calico Critters sets from Grambot and PawPaw and us.

When she opened this one James said "Ooh, it has Bluetooth!" Much to our surprise...

One more picture before bed - their cool new Giant's!

SICK DAY #2

Since a very restful Sunday did not have me feeling any better, and my cough turned wheezy, and Cora's cough turned wheezy (not that it slowed her down), we figured we were dealing with more than allergies. Turns out we both have pneumonia. So I got some shots, we both got prescriptions for antibiotics and something to dry us out, and James came along to get his ruptured eardrum rechecked (since we forgot to do so last week - luckily he's fully healed, since he's been swimming for weeks now). We dropped James at Daycamp after we dropped our prescriptions off, then grabbed milkshakes to make ourselves feel better before grabbing our meds and heading for the couch. I managed to Telework a half day, but enjoyed just snuggling with Cora all morning.

WONDER WARRIORS

Instead of going home after the party, Jay met us up at the cinema to watch Wonder Woman. I figured I could sit in the dark there just as easily as I could sit in the dark at home, and the movie was pretty awesome, so I'm glad we went. The kids loved it, of course!

SAMMY'S BIRTHDAY SWIM

Cara Beth's little brother Sammy turned 6 and invited James and Cora to come swim at his Mario-themed birthday party. James and Sammy have been "Tagalong" buddies at Girls Scouts for the past couple years, were in the same Cub Scout Pack this year since they added a kindergarten-aged Lion Den, and had recently hung out at the library's Summer Reading Program kickoff party, so Sammy wanted James to come party and Cora got to tag along for Cara Beth.

He cracked me up when he went over to grab flippers (I didn't know he could swim in them, let alone walk in them!)

 (I was there in the back, tucked into the wing chair, trying not to breathe on anyone since I'm still sick and not sure if I'm contagious or not.)

(LITTLE) GIRLS NIGHT OUT

Autumn's mama called me earlier this week to see if Cora could come over Friday night for a Girls Movie Night. I asked Cora if she wanted to go and she responded with a squealing YES, so off she went! (I heard a couple other girls who were invited wanted to know the guest list first... I can't believe we're getting to that age where it matters. I'm thankful that Cora, social butterfly, can find or make friends anywhere she goes.) She ended up knowing most of the girls there though: Autumn, Cara Beth (one of her absolute favorite friends - they're in Girl Scouts together), Anzley (who she has been dancing with at RiverPointe for years now), and Addison (a friend she tends to see most often when we go out to Martin's for dinner). Autumn's mama, Sarah, reported that the girls weren't too interested in the movie though... Instead, they played outside, crafted, ate pizza, cut hydrangea souvenirs (with permission, thankfully!), and played fashion show.

(All pictures were group texted to the mamas. Sarah did a great job keeping the girls busy without losing her sanity - I was honestly impressed, because seven 7-year-olds seemed a little scary to me!)

 (Watching a little bit of Trolls)

 Cora brought home 4 bunches of hydrangea. She put 3 in a vase on the table for the family, and let me have the 4th as "get well flowers", so I put them up in the windowsill.

SICK DAY #1

I developed fever last night to go along with the cough I've had for weeks and basically felt like poo, so I stayed home Friday and Teleworked (I had a presentation to complete, so a sick day wasn't possible unless it was really needed). As soon as James saw me come downstairs still in my pajamas he started complaining about a tummy ache. While we full well knew that he was most likely telling stories so he could stay home with me, it wasn't worth the debate, since it's not like he'd be missing school. Cora happily went to Daycamp solo, after trying her own version of tummy sickness, only to be told that if she stayed home sick then she couldn't go to her Girls Movie Night this evening (since she was sick). Worked like a charm. (There's no way I could have Teleworked productively while feeling sick if both kids were home with me,,,) James was not allowed to play Kindle or video games (we have rules for sick days so that the kids don't take advantage), so he read a chapter book for his Summer Reading Program and completed the corresponding Quiz-O-Matic and book report, did a few extra pages in his Summer BrainQuest workbook, then snuggled with kittens and watched TV while I worked at the table in the kitchen. Jay took Cora to Daycamp and picked her up after work, then drove her to her Movie Night, despite starting to feel sick himself, so I didn't have to leave the house until 8pm to pick her up (I wasn't feeling any better, but Jay was feeling worse, so we had to tag-team).

BECOMING BUDDIES

They're getting friendlier...

HIDDEN EGGS

Jay found a guinea nest hidden in the bushes behind the coop on Friday with 5 eggs in it. Today there were 7. We can't eat them because we have no idea how long they've been there, so I guess we'll just leave them be and see what happens... The guineas can't sit on the nest since they go to bed in the coop with the chickens every night (where they also lay eggs in the nesting boxes and randomly across the floor...)

FACETIMING KITTENS

ICE CREAM REWARD

The kids received free ice cream cone coupons for DQ on their last day of school. 

It seemed like a good day to cash them in!

PICKLE DOG

I was explaining my love of relish and sadness that I didn't have any in the house, and he said "Why don't you just put the little pickles right in there?!"

SUMMER READING KICKOFF

We don't normally attend the Summer Reading Kickoff party hosted by our local library (because it's in the middle of the day on a Monday, and we have to work), but we really wanted the kids to join the Summer Reading Program this year (to encourage the completion of at least 10 books), so I took a couple hours of annual leave to take them. They had a magician whose act was all about Building a Better Story.

He was actually really good, very creative, and James was highly entertained by all the puns he used in his act.

We saw lots of people we knew (and there were two large buses of daycare kids too). Cora was thrilled to find Cara Beth in the crowd. She borrowed her glasses and bow for a photo op...

We also saw Southpark's librarian (Ms. Johnson) and Cora sweet-talked her way into the first slice of cake (and end piece with tons of blue frosting), which was a really cool multiple-level Lego creation.

After the show and cake, and filling out their goal forms (10 chapter books for James and 15 chapter books for Cora because hers "are shorter and easier", plus "however many other books we can read"), we went downstairs to the kids section to grab a book or three before heading out for lunch on our way to Daycamp.

James had finished his graphic novel by bedtime and read a Goosebumps book over the weekend while I was away at camp, so he may have aimed a bit low with his 10 book goal. Of course, he does have to write a short (2-3 sentence) book report for each book in order to receive credit, which is far more painful for him than the reading...