Even though the pandemic is still raging, our summer in our new home as a full family of five has been so refreshing! We’ve had so much quality family time that we’ve all been aching for for years! Since Covid is still going strong and we are still being protective of our little Brody, we really haven’t gotten out and about much to explore our new town and we haven’t really been able to meet people, but we know that will come soon enough when things get better. In the mean time, we’ve just been soaking up all the family time we can get, and enjoying being close to our families and cousins again.
Here’s a rundown of our July…
4th of July
We enjoyed going to the lake this year for the 4th. Our day mainly consisted of boat rides, fireworks and cousin time!
IU Scavenger Hunt
We took the kids on a long walk through IU’s campus, and I wanted to find a way to make sure they somewhat stayed interested, so I made a scavenger hunt. It included specific landmarks around campus, such as the Sample Gates, the Showalter Fountain and the Herman B. Wells statue, but it also included things like red and white flowers, a red clock, people riding bikes, etc. The kids enjoyed it even though it was about 100 degrees out that day!
Exploring new parks
We have tried to spend some time finding old and new parks to explore in our new town. The first one I wanted to go to was my favorite park from college, Lower Cascades Park. It is a beautiful little park with a hidden creek and waterfall. The kids LOVED the waterfall area! They spent a good hour climbing behind and all around it, and throwing rocks in the creek.
After the waterfall hike, we let the kids just play on the playground. This park is also nice because it isn’t usually too crowded. Another day, we came back to this park to ride bikes and had a Subway picnic.
Another park we tried was called Switchyard Park. Kinsie liked to call it the “American Ninja Warrior Park” because it had lots of climbing ninja-type activities, which is one of her current obsessions!
Pool Parties
We’ve gone to my parents’ pool about once a week this month. This is probably the kids’ favorite place to play with their cousins!
We recently let Brody have his first pool experience. He was pretty chill about it, like most things in life!
Lake Life
We’ve spent almost every weekend at the lake, our happy place! We always love going on lots of boat rides whenever we can.
The kids have loved spending time with their other cousins as well. We enjoyed visiting some cousins at the Heritage Lake Campground, as well as some much-needed Griffin time!
We always have fun at the lake. Whether it’s fishing, swimming, boat rides, paddle boat rides, kayaking, or just hanging out, it is always a fun and relaxing time!
Outdoor Living
The house we are currently living in is a great place to catch fireflies. The kids loved their first firefly experience!
Ryan has never had this much time off before, and he is not the type to sit around…so he did lots of projects. Just a few examples include a giant Jenga set, and a peg board for the kids to climb!
Fun at Renata’s
The kids are always asking when we can go back to Aunt Renata’s house. I took them one day and like usual, they had a blast. They loved playing with Nicole’s dog Winnie in the baby pool, running around outside, and doing lots of painting and art projects!
Kinsie the Biker Babe!
Our big girl Kinsie learned how to ride her bike without training wheels…in about 5 minutes! We were visiting Ryan’s Aunt Rita and her family at the campground, and Kinsie wanted to ride bikes with her cousins. The only extra bike they had didn’t have training wheels, so Aunt Rita took her out and Kinsie picked it up SO quickly! It was so much fun watching her ride and all the kids running with her and cheering her on! We’ve been taking her places as often as we can to keep practicing. She’s a pro now!
Kinsie Dates
My sweet Kinsie has REALLY missed being in school. She was supposed to start her first day at her new school on August 5, but her district decided to do online learning until at least September. She’s super bummed, so I’ve been trying to find ways to keep her spirits up. Since she is at home with her brothers all day every day, she’s been needing some breaks…and since she’s good about wearing a mask, I’m able to take her on little dates. One day I took her to get special drinks from Starbucks and then to the park. Another day I took her to get school supplies and go see her school. She loves our girl dates!
Cousin Bike Ride
Ever since Kinsie learned to ride her bike with no training wheels, she wants to ride ALL the time! Our rental house is on a main road, so she can’t ride there, so we take it to parks and my parents’ house often. One day, my sister brought her kids and their bikes too and all 5 of the kids had a cousin bike ride.
Brody is 2 months!
We are SO grateful for our precious Brody in our lives, especially during such a weird time. His sweet noises and smiles can brighten up any dark day we may have.
Here are some updates on our Bro at 2 months:
- He is 12 lbs. 5 oz. – 55th percentile for weight.
- He is 24″ long – 85th percentile for height.
- Like my other kids, he has quite a large noggin! His head circumference is in the 95th percentile!
- He sleeps a good 6-7 hour stretch at night in between feedings.
- He is talking and interacting much more.
- He is SO smiley…especially in the mornings.
- He recognizes voices and faces and love his family.
- He loves doing bicycle kicks with his legs. When his belly hurts, this is one of the only things that calms him.
- He loves when people talk to him and love to be involved in whatever we’re doing.
- Car rides, boat rides, and being worn in a carrier always soothe him to sleep.
- He is getting on a more consistent eat – wake – sleep cycle… a Babywise method that worked well for my other kids.
The kids are still completely obsessed with their little brother. They love cuddling with him, talking to him, playing with him, helping give him baths, and cheering him on with tummy time!
His smile is seriously my favorite…
More sweet Brody faces!
As you can see below, he has already grown a lot! He is really filling out and getting some cute chubby cheeks!
We are all head-over-heels with this sweet little boy. Even though giving birth and living with a newborn in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic has been extremely difficult, his laid back personality and overall sweetness has made every difficult second completely worth it. He was an unexpected, but perfect gift from God. If it would have been up to me, of course I wouldn’t choose to have a baby during a pandemic. But God knows better and I can’t imagine life without this precious gift He knew we needed!
Ryan is excited to start his official job in August, Kinsie will start online learning, and Braxton gets to start at his new preschool. We also should be breaking ground on our house in August as well. We are grateful for these things to keep us busy and give us something to look forward to during an unpredictable time.
Enjoy our July 1 Second Everyday video!
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