Knoebels Trip, First Day of School 2020, First Soccer Games, and Ema and Papa Come to Visit

Samantha: 111 Months, Week 4

Aedan: 79 Months, Week 1

Owen: 35 Months, Week 4

At the end of every summer, I always try to squeeze in as much as I can before school starts and our schedule has to change a lot more. Well, we decided to have one last hoorah and go to Knoebels for the day. We went there once last summer, and I took Aedan on a date there once last fall, but we hadn't been again since then. The kids were so excited about going because they remembered how much fun it was last time. It was Labor Day weekend, so we were worried that it would be a little busy, but some friends of ours had just gone and said it wasn't super busy and they were doing a good job of keeping up with Covid precautions. We knew we would have to wear masks all day long, but we were okay with that.

Knoebels doesn't open until noon, so we packed a lunch and got there early so we could eat at the picnic tables outside before going in. I brought a picnic blanket to cover the table and plenty of hand sanitizer. There was no one around us, so we felt pretty safe. After eating lunch, we went into Knoebels to buy tickets. We ended up getting all day passes for the kids so that way they could feel free to ride anything they wanted as many times as they wanted, and we just got a couple books of tickets for Ben and I, since we weren't planning on going on as many rides as the kids.

We had our little peanut with us that day because I couldn't find anyone to watch her for us. She had just had a bottle and was pretty alert, so we decided to go on the Ferris wheel first since we could take her with us. Aedan was acting a little nervous about it going up so high, even though I'm not quite sure why because he rode a big roller coaster with Ben later that went much higher (and faster) than the Ferris wheel did. Nevertheless, holding on to the middle bar helped him to feel better. As you can tell, Samantha and Owen weren't scared at all. Our little peanut had no clue what was going on, so she was doing fine as well. It was a good, easy first ride to start out on.

After that ride, Samantha and Aedan wanted to go on a ship that rocked back and forth, but Owen was too short to go on that. He was pretty upset about not being able to go, so I suggested that Ben take him on this little airplane ride that was right next to it. Ben had to go on with him, but it made Owen happy to be able to go on a ride as well. Here is Owen on the airplane ride.

As Samantha and Aedan stood in line for the swinging ship ride, they realized that it looked to scary, so they got out of line and decided to go on a ride called the Whipper instead. Owen was actually tall enough to go on that ride with Samantha and Aedan, so once they got off their first ride, he got to go on it with them as well.

This is a video of a kiddie roller coaster that I went on with all three kids. Owen was actually tall enough to go on it, as long as he was with an adult, and he was so brave to try this out with me. I put my arm around him to help keep him more secure and not sliding around as much in his seat. His face looked a little terrified as we were on the ride, and I wasn't sure what he really thought of it, but once we got off, he wanted to get right back in line and go again. Reminds me of myself when I was first going on rides/roller coasters!

From there, we went back into the park in different direction than we did last time so we could go on some rides that we may have missed last time, saving the more "babyish" rides for later when we knew Owen would be having a harder time for missing his nap. Here they are on a hot air balloon ride, having a great time.

Here we are on a little train ride, which is something we didn't do the last time we were here. It was actually a pretty long ride, and they enjoyed it. Samantha and Aedan sat in the row in front of Owen and me.

After that, Aedan wanted to go with Daddy on one of the big wooden roller coasters in the back of the park. I tried to get Samantha to try it out too, but she was just too scared. She doesn't like rides that go really fast or bounce her around a lot. So while Aedan and Daddy went on the wooden roller coaster, I took Samantha, Owen, and our little peanut to find a ride that we could go on in the meantime. I finally found an antique car ride that I thought would be good, and our little peanut was waking up from her nap and would be ready to have her bottle, so I figured that would be good timing for feeding her while we waited in line. Samantha got into a grumpy mood while we were waiting, and I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe she was jealous that Aedan was going on a big roller coaster and she wasn't, but she was giving me a lot of attitude, which wasn't helping when I was trying to feed a two month old baby while also trying to keep Owen standing in the right place in line. By the time we were getting to the front of the line, Aedan and Daddy were done on the roller coaster, so Aedan actually joined us in line, and Daddy was able to take our little peanut. Aedan really liked the roller coaster, and Ben talked about how brave he was for riding it. I think Samantha is just too nervous sometimes and doesn't want to try new things unless she knows exactly what it's going to be like.

After that we decided it would be a good time to ride on the log ride. They loved this ride last time, and I wanted everyone to have enough time in the sun to be able to dry off. I went on with the kids first, and they had such a great time that they wanted to ride again with Ben, so I took over with our little peanut so that he could go on with the kids as well. (This is the one downside to having a little baby again, and also why I tried to find someone to watch her, because I knew we were going to be always having to take turns, instead of being able to ride things altogether as a family.) Anyways, this log ride was so fun. Their smiles and squeals of joy are just priceless. I love being together as a family and just having fun, getting away from the worries and stressors of life as it has been lately. Here are some pictures and videos of our time on the log ride.

As the afternoon went on, Owen was having a harder time because he didn't nap and was getting tired. We stopped to have an afternoon snack of ice cream or Italian ice, before heading over to the kiddie ride section where everyone would be able to ride more rides without having to wait in too long of lines. Here are the kids on the bumper cars, although as you can see in the video, Owen didn't know how to steer his car and just kept going around and around in circles, and Samantha and Aedan kept getting stuck in the middle of all the kids that also didn't know how to drive. They were a good sport though going on the ride because they knew Owen wanted to go on it with them.

After the bumper cars, we stopped at the carousel. I went on it with them so I could Owen get on and off the horse. This carousel is pretty fun, and you go around for quite a while, so you get a good ride out of it.

It was almost dinner time, and we decided it was time for us to head out soon. Samantha and Aedan wanted to go on the chair lift as their last ride for the day, but Owen was too short to go on it, so I stayed in the kiddie area with him while Daddy went on the chair lift with Samantha and Aedan. This ride is pretty cool because of the great views you get of the mountains around us.

Owen was happy to go one some of the kiddie rides, like this boat ride, and the next one where they got to pick different vehicles to pretend to drive as the ride went around in circles. At this point, our little peanut was getting hungry, so I sat on a bench to feed her while Owen went on the vehicle ride several times in a  row. He was having a great time.

After a big day on Sunday at Knoebels, we spent Monday just hanging out at home, getting ready for a new school year to start the following day. Ben had class like usual. Samantha and Aedan finished their summer workbooks. I put laundry away, the kids watched a show while I took a shower, and they played outside. It was a pretty uneventful day, but it was good to relax at home.

Here is our little peanut swaddled and with her pacifier, enjoying her morning nap in her crib.

Owen was tired and grumpy, and really needed a nap after the long day on Sunday, and I was tired, too. Ever since our summer trip, he has fought me on falling asleep in my lap and just wants to go in his bed. The problem is that he then plays around in his bed a lot, and sometimes never falls asleep. I really needed him to fall asleep on this afternoon, so even though he fought me for awhile and didn't want to stay in my lap, I told him I wanted him to cuddle there and close his eyes. I think I selfishly wanted to experience this with him one more time as well because I never knew when it would be the last time he fell asleep in my lap for nap time. He's getting so big now that he barely fits in my lap, and I'm pretty sure I remember tears trickling down my cheek that afternoon as I held my little baby boy, knowing that these moments with him are slipping through my fingers. I enjoyed all the afternoon cuddle sessions with him as he calmly settled down to sleep in my arms, and I could sit there and watch him sleep. It was one of my favorite things, and I felt sad that he no longer needed that from me anymore.

Oh my sweet little boy, why do you have to be in such a hurry to grow up and be like your big brother? Sometimes I wish I could rewind to your baby days again and change my perspective when I was so upset that you wouldn't sleep on your own, and just wanted to be able to put you down. Now, I wish that there would be some days you would desire for me to not put you down and you would linger in my arms just a little longer.

That afternoon, the kids came up with the idea of getting Samantha's planet painting kit out to work on. She agreed that it was okay if Aedan helped her paint as well, so we matched up all the planets, got all the paint ready, and the two of them went to work. They worked really hard on this all afternoon and did a great job. It even came with glow in the dark paint to put on at the end. They were so pleased to be doing something together. (Especially Aedan, for he loves when his big sister includes him in something.) I loved watching them work and talk and discuss what colors to make different planets and how to mix colors together to get the color they want. This was the perfect afternoon activity for while the little ones were sleeping, and for the day before they go back to school and I no longer have these afternoons at home with them anymore. I know that it has been crazy with the stay-at-home order and then the summer where all plans were cancelled, and I know sometimes I longed for the quiet, but I will truly miss them when they go to school. These months at home with them have been wonderful for me, an unexpected and precious gift. I love spending time with our kids.

That evening after dinner, the kids got bathed and ready for a new school year. Samantha is starting 4th grade, and Aedan is starting 1st grade, and I can't believe it. Well, every year, Ema and Papa send letters for the kids to read the night before the first day of school. It's a sweet tradition that we all look forward to every year. So here they are opening and reading their letters that night. Samantha read hers out loud, and Ben read the letter to Aedan. It was cute to see Samantha smile when she read how proud Ema and Papa are of her, and when Aedan smiled when they mentioned Legos. They always appreciate these well wishes before the start of a new year.

We did our best to have everything ready for the first day of school and got the kids to bed at a decent time. We knew that Samantha was going to have a hard time sleeping because she always does the night before school and before something new is starting. I put Owen to bed, and he didn't have any clue how tomorrow was going to be the start of something that would feel very different for him. He had Samantha and Aedan home from school for six months, and he loved having his siblings to play with. I was a little worried that he might have a hard time or be bored with just me and our little peanut. Here he is being silly in bed that night with Izzy climbing on top of him.

When Ben and I went to bed that night, we found this note rolled up on the top of our bed with money inside. The note was from Samantha, and it made me smile. Earlier that afternoon something happened to the TV remote, and I was pretty sure that she was the one that dropped it or played with it so much that it came apart, but she wouldn't admit to anything, instead just saying she didn't know what happened and the remote was just like that. She has always been very reluctant to apologize and admit to doing something wrong. I'm not exactly sure how we can encourage her to be better about that, but this note was very heartfelt and touching. You could tell she felt bad about it, and we talked to her about it the next morning, thanking her for apologizing, and gave her money back.

Tuesday, September 8th was the big day. Samantha was starting 4th grade in Mrs. Gannon's class, while also have Mrs. Welby for 5th grade Math, and Mrs. Wallace for Gifted. Aedan was starting 1st grade in Mrs. Hynick's class. We were lucky enough that Lake Lehman was still offering a five day a week, in person option for school, as they were really the only district in this whole area that had that. Most transitioned fully online or were doing a hybrid model where half the class went to school two days a week while the other have did school virtually from home, and then the groups would switch. We felt comfortable allowing our kids to go to in person school because the number of cases in our geographic area have been pretty low this whole time. Also, they were taking the proper precautions with social distancing, requiring masks for everyone, and having a plan for contact tracing and quarantine. We kind of assumed that at some point cases would get bad again and maybe school would go back online, so we figured we would take advantage of the chance our kids have to actually go to in person school. After the end of last year ending online and not getting to see their friends for almost 6 months, they were very excited and ready to get back in the classroom. Here are our first day of school pictures:

Samantha picked out a new Harry Potter backpack, and she was so excited, but also nervous about meeting her new teachers, finding out what kids would be in her class, and going up a grade for math and feeling singled out. Samantha is looking more grown-up and taller than ever. She is beautiful, smart, helpful, and kind, and we are so proud of her being our daughter.

Aedan picked out a Lego Ninjago backpack, and he looks super cute in his orange shirt (which is still his favorite color), and both of his top front teeth missing. He was hoping to show Mrs. Weaver, his kindergarten teacher from last year, what his smiled looked like now that he's missing his two front teeth. What a handsome little boy we have! Aedan is energetic, silly, creative, and smart, and we are so proud of him being our son.

Here they are in front of the van that will take them to school, with their masks on and ready to go. (They are the only kids riding on the van this year, so that is nice as well!) I feel bad that they have to wear masks all day, but I spent a lot of time researching masks before getting this Mambe brand. They had a strap that went around their neck and another that went up over their ears and then connected in the back to form a drawstring that you could loosen and tighten as needed. I figured it would help for them to be able to just hang them around their necks and not be taking them on and off, or dropping them on the floor. They each picked out five different colors so we would have enough for every day of the week, plus to keep one as backup. This crazy Covid world that we are living in, but at least they get to go to school, learn in an in person classroom environment, and see their friends, instead of feeling like they are still stuck at home all the time. I wished them luck, sent them off with a hug and a kiss, and couldn't wait to hear how their day was when they got home. 

All this week, I think as a way to ease everyone back into school, the kids had early dismissals at 1:00 every day. I was excited to hear how their day went, and they both had good reports. Samantha said she met a new friend who also likes Harry Potter, and she sits by her in class. Aedan enjoyed seeing some familiar faces from his class last year. It was a good day overall, and I was glad.

It was nice for the kids to still have time in the afternoon to play. After painting all the planets yesterday, they were dry and ready to assemble, so on Tuesday afternoon, when they got home from school, we cut and tied the strings, assembling their solar system model. They were excited to see the final product, and it looked great! They decided they wanted to hang it up in their room, so I hung it from the pull chain for their light, and they couldn't wait to see how it would glow in the dark. They were so proud and happy that they worked on this together.

Even though it was hard having soccer on the first night of school, Aedan had his first soccer game that night. Ben just took Aedan, since he had to go since he was the coach, and because we were just finishing up dinner when it was time to go, and we didn't think it would make sense to drag everyone there. It would have been fun to be able to go and see his first game, but it was at 6:45, which was not the best time. I knew Aedan was going to have another one on Saturday and then the other week night ones will be earlier, so they will be easier to go to. Ben said it went well, and they ended up winning. Aedan had a lot of fun playing. Here is a picture and videos of Aedan playing soccer in his first game. He actually really liked it and was more into it than I thought he would be. He did well running around and going after the ball. I was proud of him for how much effort he was putting into it. I'm glad we encouraged him to try soccer for this season!

Tuesday felt like a crazy busy day, and I was tired from running around all day. Getting back into the school routine, while also have a foster baby, will take some getting used to after being at home for so many months. I took the kids to the van in the morning, went grocery shopping with Owen and our little peanut, tried to have lunch and get both little ones down for naps before I had to go pick Samantha and Aedan up at 1:00. Then, I was trying to do fun things with them in the afternoon, like finish building their solar system set. After dinner I was trying to vacuum and mop because I never seem to have time to do that lately, but it felt like everything just backfired. I felt like I was just running around like crazy all day, and trying to do everything with bedtime on my own was stressful. I was trying to get Owen's air conditioner plugged in because it had gotten warm that day, and the tube wasn't connecting. We discovered that someone had broken the tube by playing around with it, so I wasn't able to get it to work. It was just frustrating all around, and I did a lot more yelling than I like to do.

After a busy day on Tuesday, we stayed home on Wednesday and just did things around the house and played together while Samantha and Aedan were at school. Then, on Thursday, I took Owen to get his hair cut. It was getting pretty long, so he was ready for a hair cut. Even though we went in the middle of the morning, we had to wait for quite a while with several people in front of us, but luckily our little peanut slept in her car seat through it all. We had to wait in the car for our turn so there weren't too many people waiting in the tiny shop, so to help kill some time, I drove to Dunkin' Donuts to get Owen and me a donut to eat while we waited. That made him happy. He did a really good sitting nicely and getting his hair cut, even though he makes really funny faces when they use the clippers around his ears.

Owen was playing with some toys that afternoon and wanted me to take pictures of the ninjalinos all stacked up and then guarding the bus. I thought that he would have a harder time with being home with just me, and that he might miss having Samantha and Aedan to play with, but so far it seemed like he didn't mind too much, and he was probably enjoying having a little more attention from me.

Daddy has been doing a lot of TV and newspaper interviews lately as we get closer to the 2020 election. The kids were excited to see this video of Daddy on Thursday after school. After they saw it, Samantha remarked, "Daddy, you're famous! You're on TV!"

Samantha had her first soccer game on Thursday night, and since it was earlier in the evening, we decided to all go watch her together. Here she is playing defense, and she did a great job turning the ball around.

Here she is huddled up with her team, getting directions from her coach. Samantha is number 9 on the team. It was a lot of fun watching Samantha run around on the field and be a part of a team. We remember 3 year old Samantha playing soccer, and she just stood there looking around, picking the grass, and didn't want to go after the ball. She really enjoyed being on defense and keeping the ball away from their goal. She loves playing, and I'm glad they are giving soccer a try for this season.

With Owen's birthday coming up in the next week, we planned his birthday party to be Sunday, September 13th so that we could invite a few families and his little friends to celebrate Owen turning 3. We decided to have his party at Sunset Beach in the afternoon, in hopes that it might be warm enough for kids to swim, or at the very least play outside together so we could still take Covid precautions. We were able to rent the pavilion and use the picnic tables, and we were looking forward to celebrating our little guy. So knowing that we were celebrating Owen's birthday, Ema and Papa decided to plan their visit around when we were celebrating his birthday. They arrived after the kids were in bed on Thursday night, and everyone was so surprised when Papa was in the kitchen on Friday morning! Owen immediately went up to Papa, crawled in his lap, and cuddled with him. It was just the sweetest thing, and I had to capture it in a picture.

We had a good day spending time with Ema and Papa on Friday, although Samantha and Aedan were upset that they had to go to school, and that Owen got to stay home with them all day. However, it was just a half day of school, so that made everyone feel better. It was nice having someone to play with Owen, and an extra set of hands as I tried to do stuff around the house like laundry and stuffing diapers, along with taking care of our little peanut. She had a visit later that afternoon, so it was nice to have them home to be with the kids while I went to take her down.

Even though Owen is in his toddler bed now, he still asks me to take silly pictures of him in bed sometimes. On Friday night, he wanted me to take a picture of him laying on monkey like a pillow. He is pretty attached to this stuffed monkey of his. I love that each of our kids have grown to love their blankies and a certain stuffed animal.

Later that night, just before 10:00, Owen woke up crying. Ben went up there to see what what wrong, and he had had a bad dream. Now that we have the video monitor, I was able to see him talking to Owen in his bed. I thought it was cute how Ben got down on his level and helped him to feel better, so I took a little picture of the video monitor. I am lucky to have such a loving and involved husband.

Saturday morning both Samantha and Aedan had soccer games, and Ema and Papa were excited to be able to watch them play. (For some reason I don't have any videos of Samantha playing from that morning. Sorry, Samantha!) Here is Aedan playing, doing a good job following the ball, getting his feet in there to kick and dribble the ball a few times, and even doing a throw in. He was much more aggressive and interested in playing than we thought he would be because he didn't act all that interested in even being on a soccer team. I like seeing him run around and be active. (We just have to remind him to not use his elbows to push his way through the kids to get to the ball!)

That afternoon while the little ones slept, I suggested that Samantha and Aedan play with Play-Doh as a good activity that would keep them involved and not running around the house, making a mess of toys, or being loud and waking up the little ones. They were very creative with their Play-Doh creations, and it made me think that we need to bust the Play-Doh out more often. I just forget about it (or I don't want to deal with the mess of Play-Doh everywhere afterwards). However, this time Samantha and Aedan were actually able to clean up the majority of it themselves. This first picture is Samantha's creation. It's Ron and Harry from Harry Potter riding in the flying car with the Whomping Willow in the foreground and Hogwarts Castle in the background. The second picture is Flat Stanley because we have been reading Flat Stanley to him lately, and he is really enjoying listening to us read chapter books to him lately. It is great to see how imaginative and creative they can be when they have the time and materials to express themselves.

(Blog about September 6-12, 2020)