Ann Arbor Children's Hands-On Museum

The kids and I went to a children's hands-on museum in Ann Arbor last week. We had a great time together exploring the science center which was located in an old building right in the middle of the downtown. The big hit of the day was the life-sized ambulance that the kids loved to explore. They spent at least 45 minutes playing around in it. I brought a picnic lunch with us that we ate on some picnic tables outside. Afterwards, we went to a $1 movie - "Meet the Robinsons". We saw it in the spring but it was fun to see it again. Here are some pictures of our day ---

Logan liked being a fireman in the play area

Firemen in training!

Spencer and Jessica put puzzles together while Alex and Logan were putting fires out

Logan inside the ambulance

They pretended to be paramedics for a very long time. I had to drag them away!

Jessica played inside the ambulance too

A wild driver!

What a smile---He must be having fun!

Logan needs to get to the hospital quick!

Spencer on a bicycle beside a mirror showing him how his skeleton works while riding a bike.

Harry Potter Mania

Most people know we are HUGE Harry Potter fans, so with the movie and book coming out this last month, you may guess that it's been Harry Potter mania around here. The movie "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was rated PG13 so Joshua and I went to see it on opening night without the kids. It had a modest amount of tense and scary moments, but Spencer and Jessica were eager to see the movie too, so we took them a few days later since we figured they could probably handle it. Alex and Logan don't mind waiting until we buy it on DVD. They've done that with all the other Harry Potter movies and don't know any different. Most of the information goes over their heads anyway, but they enjoy sitting and watching the movies with us here at home. They consider themselves big Harry Potter fans too.

Spencer has read all the books, finishing the sixth one, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" last week and just in time for the weekend release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." Josh has read all the books around 4 or 5 times, with the exception of the most recent one of course. Because he read the books so many times, I believe he sparked Spencer's interest in reading them too. They each have their own set of books. Don't know why we must have two sets, but we do. Spencer has been nice enough to let Jessica borrow his books. She just started reading the second one, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."

Okay, Yes---We admit to being in line on Friday night at midnight to buy "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". Our "Meijer" store had a good promotion on the book -- It was on sale for $19.99 but if you bought an extra $30 worth of merchandise between midnight and 6 am, they would take $7 off the book, making it only $12.99! I called around to other stores and most were selling it for around $26.99. So, Joshua and I came up with a plan. We got to Meijer at 10:45, and while Joshua, Spencer and his friend Chandler (who was spending the night with us) stood in line for the book, I did some grocery shopping. They were actually pretty close to the front of the line. But as I did my shopping, the line grew very quickly. By midnight, there were people wrapped around the store! Meijer was crawling with more people than I had ever seen there before. It was definitely a party atmosphere---Meijer was handing out prizes, refreshments and had games for the kids. They even had a costume contest. I tried to get Spencer to dress up in his Harry Potter costume from Halloween last year, but he was too embarrassed. I think someone dressed as Hagrid won "best costume".

When I was done with my shopping, I met them back in line and we split the groceries in two baskets, with at least $30 worth in each basket. At 12:01, the line started moving as the employees began passing the new Harry Potter books out. Both Spencer and Joshua picked up a book at the front of the line. Then Joshua took his basket and I took mine and we went to the front of the store to buy our merchandise. We thought we were pretty clever getting $7 off each book, as did other people who watched us split our groceries. One person told me they wished they would've thought of doing that.

Joshua started reading as soon as we got home and read until 4:00 am. He continued to read all day Saturday and was done by Saturday night---with all 37 chapters, 759 pages! He is a speed reader! He said it was really good book. I'll probably read it someday too but I don't read as fast as Joshua. I'm a slow reader. Spencer is already on chapter 9 and loves it already. He'll read about 2 or 3 hours a day. At this rate, I'm sure he'll finish in a few weeks.

My Healing Foot

My foot looks much better, the bruising is almost gone and the swelling has subsided, but my toes can't bend very far without a lot of pain. The doctor told me the muscles and tendons in my foot would take a while to heal. I banged it up pretty good when I fell on it. I think of myself as excessively clumsy. If you've seen the movie "Ratatouille", I think I'm very similar to Remy's wanna-be chef friend, Linguini. Our family went to see it on July 4th, and while watching it, I leaned over to Joshua and said, "That is totally me!" Joshua says "no way" but I think I am. I've fallen down the stairs before but somehow managed not to hurt myself until my birthday. I'm just lucky it wasn't broken. (KNOCK ON WOOD!)

Like several times the last few weeks, this morning I tried again to take a jog around the neighborhood. At least I could actually run this time but I didn't go as far as I had hoped. It's been difficult not being able to exercise. Before my fall, I was in a good habit of running 4 - 5 times a week for thirty minutes a day. Most of this last year, I've been enjoying running on my treadmill downstairs or if the weather is nice, running outside around the neighborhood. Hopefully soon I'll be able to run more and farther. I'll try a little more each day. I think it's the best way to rehabilitate my foot.

Favorite Summer Activity

Here's a short video clip (with no sound) of the Dyal children's favorite summer activity. Whenever they get a chance, they'll beg to go outside to jump on the trampoline. You'd think it was new by how much they love it but it's actually the third summer that we've had this trampoline. They never get tired of jumping! On a really hot day the kids will put on their swimsuits and jump with a sprinkler underneath. They've been known to jump in the water for hours. They literally have dozens of trampoline games they've either learned from their friends or have invented on their own. They especially love to jump around with as many bouncing balls as they can find. It's a great way for them to get thier exercise and get some much needed energy out. I love it! I'm a big fan of the trampoline! Every once in a while the kids will find me jumping on it too. I say---jump on kids, jump on!!


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Here is Spencer doing flips!

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A Visit to the Museum

A few pictures from our trip to a children's hands-on museum in Toledo, Ohio. We went down with our friends, the Selthofers. It was a fun day!

My Attempt to Tame Monsters, Brawls & Bugs

It's been a very relaxing summer so far. Just what we needed after going non-stop all school year. I've noticed the children needed it as much as I did. We don't have any huge vacation plans this summer---the first summer that's happened in a while. We actually used all our vacation time during the children's breaks during the school year. But, we've made a special effort to go on occasional outings and day-trips around the area to see and experience new things. We also have a weekly library day, park day, and Friday is our adventure day. We usually invite friends with us on our adventure day.

Anyway, it's been nice to see everyone, especially Spencer and Jessica, more laid-back and at ease this summer, although we still get the very common sibling BRAWL. Those never take a vacation. But I had an idea a few weeks before school got out for the summer. I decided to make an attempt, or some may say bribe, to get these battles to lessen. So far, it has helped. I made a "Star Chart" that I introduced at FHE the Monday night before school was over. The chart is on a dry-erase board that has each one of my children's names on it. It's posted it in the kitchen where everyone would see it frequently throughout the day. I told them I would watch them all week and if I saw or heard them do something kind, thoughtful or respectful to one another (including their parents), they would get a star by their name. But, if they did something rude, disrespectful or unkind, one of their stars would be wiped away. If by the next FHE they were able to make it to their minimum requirement (each one is different because of their age), they would get to do something fun of their choice, within reason of course. Some of their individual rewards have been sleepover parties, a trip to the movies with Mom or Dad, a game night with Mom & Dad, etc. They have loved it, especially the individual attention they have received, and it's been a great motivator! Every once in a while someone hasn't reached their star limit by the end of the week but usually, it encourages them to do better next time. This has been a life-saver for me this summer. A complete turn-about from the last year!

The Star Chart

So, because we've been doing so many fun things this summer, the house chores have become one of the lower priorities on my list. Anyone who knows me very well knows I'm a clean freak! Especially about tidiness. When my house is cluttery, I can feel myself become unhinged. My whole person becomes deranged and crazy. Josh would probably tell you I turn from "Jekyll" to "Hyde". But, I've resolved myself not to let it become a huge issue this summer. I've suppressed my feelings of insanity. Hopefully that doesn't come back and bite me in the rear end. But, to make sure things don't get too out of control around here, I've been trying to do a chore each evening, usually after the kids go to bed. My biggest and worst "MONSTER" chore is, has and probably always will be THE LAUNDRY! I absolutely detest doing laundry, yet, it is never-ending!! I've tried to have a good attitude about it but how? What can I say good about spending a whole day doing laundry? Normally, because I'm doing SIX people's week-long laundry, it takes me an entire day. During the school year I perfer to get it done on Monday so it'll be quickly behind me. But this summer, it takes me several evenings to accomplish. The only thing good about laundry is the tremendous load off my shoulders once it's done! I have disliked laundry ever since Joshua and I first got married. Josh's least favorite chore is doing the dishes, so after we made this discovery, he decided to make laundry his weekly chore and I always did the dishes---until Spencer was born. Then I had to stop working and Josh took on a full-time job while also going to school full-time. So, ever since then, it's pretty much been up to me. Sometimes Joshua will help me fold the laundry in the evening after the kids go to bed but I've become pretty particular about the way I fold laundry too. Joshua thinks I'm crazy. He thinks since I hate laundry, I shouldn't be so particular when someone offers to help. He has a point. I guess I'm a little obsessive-compulsive about it.... Me? You think?

My "MONSTER" chore!!

As I was making dinner in the kitchen the other day, I listened to my boys play downstairs in the basement. I suddenly heard all of them running around saying:

"I'll get it!"
"No, I can get it."
"You got it last time. It's my turn."
"But I saw it first!"
"Wait, let me go get my shoe."

I didn't know what they were talking about until Spencer appeared from the basement to get a kleenex from the bathroom. He said that Alex had killed a big spider in the basement and he needed a tissue to clean it up. For some reason, this struck me funny. I suddenly had a flood of memories from when I was a child. I grew up in a family of mostly girls, so whenever we saw a spider or any kind of bug, we would scream and hide! I'd run and tell my Dad to come kill it. He was our hero, our exterminator!

A particular memory sticks out in my mind when I was 5 or 6. We were living in Annandale, Virginia and I was in my bedroom upstairs. I don't remember what I was doing, I just remember seeing a wasp flying around the room. I guess the first thing I thought of was hiding in my closet because that's what I did. After I closed the door I started screaming and hollering for someone to come help me for who knows how long, but as a young girl, it seemed to be forever. No one was coming and it started getting really hot in the closet. I decided to peek out to see where in the room the wasp was. I couldn't see it but was really tired of being in the closet. I sank to the floor and crawled my way to the bedroom door for my escape. I quickly closed the door behind me and waited until my dad got home from work. He inspected my room from top to bottom and somehow found and killed the wasp. My hero!

A little more dramatic than the spider situation with my boys, don't ya think? It's been fun learning about boys! I'm glad I have 4 of them to kill the BUGS that get in my house!

Warren Sand Dunes

Joshua took the day off work yesterday so we could made a trip out to Warren Sand Dunes State Park with our friends, the Larsen family. The Warren Sand Dunes are located in southwest Michigan along the Lake Michigan shoreline. It took us about 2 ½ hours to get there. Several families in our ward recommended this destination, especially for the nice sandy beaches, so we decided to check it out. We had such a great time playing on the beach and climbing the dunes. I was disappointed my foot wasn't healed enough to climb the dunes, but Joshua took the kids up and even Logan climbed the steepest dune all by himself, but with a lot of effort! Most everyone crawled the last few feet before reaching the top. They told me it was quite steep! Before we went home I tried to climb the sand dunes but didn't even reach the middle. You can see me, a little tiny speck of a person, in a couple pictures on the sand dunes below. See how tall they are? I can't wait to come back and climb them next time. I've heard that on a clear day, you can see the Chicago skyline on top (most likely with binoculars). We also want to hike the trails around the parks. Joshua and I love to hike.

It was so relaxing just laying around on the beach, talking to friends and watching the kids play in the sand all day. The water was very cold so the children spent the majority of the time playing in the sand. We were there from 11:00 am - 5:00 pm. The weather was great! It wasn't too hot - the high was only in the mid-80's.

After shaking all the sand off, as much as we could anyway, we went to dinner and then to "Culver's" for ice-cream before heading home. The Larsens reserved a hotel room and stayed an extra day because John had a "mandatory" week off work. They are still playing and sight-seeing around the area today. But Joshua needed to be back to work today so we went home on Monday night, getting home by 10:00 pm. I thought I did a good job putting sunblock on the kids and myself but everyone has a sunburn somewhere on their body today. We've been smothering aloe on ourselves all day. Hopefully it'll fade in a few days.

Here are some of the pictures we took ---