August: Part 6: Maine: Lake Ossipee Olympics

I think the highlight of our trip to Maine was the Lake Ossipee Olympics. It was so much fun because everyone was into it. It ended up being a multi-day event but nobody lost interest. Dan's family is really into exercising and there were some challenging events and intense competition. We decided to make it a decathlon, so here are the ten events:

1. Ping pong tournament.
Not just around the world--a full-on tournament with winner's & loser's brackets. (I won.)
Kate & Wayne (dad/pepe) staring each other down. 2. Hula Hoop.
Two weighted hula hoops. (I won.)
3. Weight throw. (Sam won.)
Dan's pop was a college hammer throw coach. He has been coaching Dan's mom. She won two gold medals at the Outdoor Master's Track and Field Nat'l Championships. She was the one to beat. Check out her form...

..then she hit a tree.

4. Ping pong toss. (Wayne won.)

It was supposed to be target shooting but we were out of pellets. Too bad. I think I would have done better with a gun. 5. Boggle (Scott won.)

We wanted to reward intelligence also.

6. Time trial. (Stu won.)

We biked a three mile loop starting 30 seconds apart.

7. Jump rope. (Kate won.)

Most jumps in 30 seconds.

8. Kayak rolls. (Val & Stu tied with nine.)

Most rolls in a minute. Since three people couldn't do this we were all required to take a zero in one event.

9. Swim. (Sam won.)

Dan's mom swam in college and is a swim coach. All his siblings were on the swim team. I took my zero in this event. There were some discrepancies about the standings since the time sheet for one wave went missing.10. Sculling. (Mardie won.)

Dan's mom does this for exercise so she had an advantage. I was really bad at it.
Scott (bro-in-law) was the overall winner but the scores were really close.

Aftermath.

I love these picture because it shows how much fun we were having. All chores (and maybe sometimes the kids) were neglected. Rule is loser gets to come up with the next year's events. I can't wait.

Cousins

My kids loved having their cousins visit. We celebrated Chloe's birthday, went to the Discovery Center and mini golfing.

At the D.C.: bed of nails, animal hospital, grocery store.

Our kids do what we did when we were little--make up dances and plays. Ethan is a good sport. Here we have Ethan and Chloe in a dazzling display of precision choreography:

Can you believe they haven't received any formal training? Chloe would be really good at dance but we can't afford piano, a sport and dance. So, we'll stick to piano and soccer or gymnastics.

Thanks for the visit Gma & Gpa, Rachel, Ashton & Ethan! Come again soon.

Fred's Room

One of my new year resolutions was to get settled into our home. I lost sight of my monthly goals but I did, finally, accomplish something. Here is Fred's room:
Chloe painted/drew that picture of her and Fred.

The Better to See You With

First of all, when I got Fred's shirt out of the halloween pile to get him dressed I found this spider. Creepy.Poor Stella, it's not easy being the villain. Fred kept chopping her and he doesn't even know the story.

(Slipping wig.)

Didn't you know the story of Little Red Riding Hood has a lumberjack terrorist?

When Chloe was four she wanted to be the Big Bad Wolf. We were so happy that she didn't want to be a princess that we granted her wish--even though the costume cost us $50 off ebay. That is why Stella had to wear it this year (even though she wanted to be a princess) and Fred will wear it when he is four. Then we will sell it on ebay. They were going for $75 this year.

Mermaid Party

Chloe told me she wanted a mermaid party before she got too old. I couldn't resist that.

It takes a village to throw a party. Rachel and her kids and my mom AND dad came up. They all helped clean and decorate. And Rachel made the awesome cake. My aunt Cheryl was in town and she and Rachel and two teenage girls from the neighborhood put make up on the kids.
They played with moon sand (mermaids probably make sandcastles, right?).

Played charades (Ariel lost her voice).

Hit a Sponge Bob pinata (he didn't seem to mind).

And found hidden treasure chests.

I took pictures of the girls in front of the beach sunset my dad painted. (They are supposed to look like mermaids.) Ethan is a crocodile. Stella is an Egyptian mermaid.
I sewed these tails. I am pretty impressed with how they came out because it took me four prototypes before I figured out this designs. They are basically aprons with a hot pad at the bottom--the fin is open in the back so they can slip their feet into it.

Rachel made the cake out of fondant, brown sugar for sand, hard tack candy for water and a scalloped fruit roll up for the tail. Poor mermaid was being swarmed by sharks. She survived the attack but not with her tail. She is now naked with legs.



Chloe is a really good helper. She is small for her age. And smart for her age.
She is good at following rules and instructions. School comes easily for her. She also loves any kind of art or craft project. She loves riding her bike (just not to school in the morning but I make her anyway) playing soccer, Barbies, Polly Pockets & dolls. She just started gymnastics and I think she is a natural. She loves dancing around to music. Her favorites are Fiona Apple and Miley Cyrus.

Happy Birthday, Chloe! We love having you in our family.

Thanks everyone who helped. Chloe loved it! Oh, and the crowns were behind the recycling in the pantry.

JibJab Halloween Fun

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Cleft continued

Fred doesn't NEED to get it fixed. The muscles in his lip and his palate are completely fine. It won't interfere with his speech. It is strictly cosmetic (though insurance covers it because it is considered a birth defect). I really don't imagine kids teasing him about it. Maybe in elementary a kid will ask, "Is that a scar?" And Fred will say, "Yes." "How did you get it?" And Fred can reply, "I was born with it." --or-- "I fell down some stairs when I was a baby." (I think it is more likely he'll get made fun of for missing teeth or being named 'Fred'.) I can't recall a time when a kid has inquired about his lip. Maybe I should start asking children what they think.

Ha ha. I just asked Chloe's friend if she had ever noticed Fred's scar. She tried to look but said she couldn't see it. So I pointed it out. Chloe said, "Whoa! I never noticed that." Neither had Stella or Annie.

I prefer to just leave it until he wants it fixed (and hope we have good insurance). Or at least until he's old enough to sit still and watch movies/color/play video games while it heals. Or until summer when I can ship off the girls. Or until we have money to cover the deductible. Or until we're about to lose our insurance.