Well summer is officially over. The (big) kids are off to school (more on that later) and Cal and I are home alone (also, more on that later... at least that is my intent). We had an amazing summer. A life changing summer. BUT... it was not quite how I envisioned it.
See, we had BIG plans this summer:
In my mind - the one that had apparently completely forgotten what it was like to have a newborn - the one that had no idea what it was like to have THREE kids - we would have this baby, roll out of the hospital 2 days later, and blow and go, with him napping plenty, and easily - both at home and in the car. In reality - I stayed in the hospital the full max three days, had a much harder recovery than with my prior two c-sections (additional surgery time makes a big difference, apparently), and we got a beautiful, wonderful, perfect, sweet, squishy, adorable baby... that is not such a fan of the easy, breezy napping I had envisioned for him. Not to mention that you just can't ignore a major surgery and there are real, non-negotiable limits to what I was able to do for the first 4 weeks.
Thus, I had to relax a bit this year (not quite easy for me), and let the summer happen for the big kids in the most fun way POSSIBLE.
So - our list:
1) Go to the zoo. Accomplished August 11th. This didn't happen until the last few weeks of summer, because it was hot and required quite a bit of timing and planning to make sure el bebe had ample food for our time away, but we DID IT! And, we even got to see the dinosaur exhibit!
2) See Finding Dory. Accomplished June 19th. This was easy to check off the list, because the movie was released PC (Pre-Cal). I failed to take pictures of this one, but I do have a picture of Coop and I seeing the BFG the weekend before Cal was born. This wasn't on the list, but was definitely part of Cooper's (and my) summer plan. We had read this book together when he was in kindergarten and LOVED IT and made sharing the movie experience even more awesome.
3) Go to an arcade. Accomplished June 11th. Also a PC activity. This was a blast, and possible because Cal was still in my belly. I had so much fun watching Daph rock the games in a way I didn't think possible for a 4 year old, and getting my butt kicked by Coop at air hockey. My feet were killing me by the time we were done, but it was worth it.
4) Get Megatron. Not accomplished, but acceptable "failure". Technically this shouldn't have made the "list" as the items are supposed to be things we can all do together, and this is very much a Cooper item. But, at list-making time, I was a bit tired and foggy brained, so it ended up on the list and it wasn't until later that I realized my error. Anyway, this was a goal that Cooper set when he was obsessed with a certain game on his Kindle. Since then he has flipped his attention to other games, and thus, the failure to get Megatron was more of a conscientious choice on his part to forego Kindle time on that game to play a game he enjoyed more... which is kind of the point of summer, so the "failure" was really a summer-long accomplishment.
5 & 7) Go for a 1 mile walk/run/bike ride and go on a nature hike. Accomplished July 21. This was my first outing with the big kids solo after Cal. We had so much fun. While I planned on doing a separate mile long bike ride (where I jogged while the kids rode), it was just too hot or rainy on the few days where we had the opportunity. Thus, thankfully, I can be flexible and accept that we knocked two items out when we did our epic nature hike. (And, albeit slow, mommy managed several mile plus long "runs" after Cal before summer ended, which was a personal side-goal).
6) Go camping. Accomplished August 5th. Initially this was planned for in the backyard camping with s'mores from the grill. Due to extreme heat and the fact that it was completely absurd to think of managing a newborn inside and big kids outside, we moved the tent up to the gameroom (though, points should be given for the fact that we did purchase a REAL tent), and did the s'mores on a separate night when our cousins were in town. I hope we can use the tent for an outdoor camping trip, maybe even next summer, but I declare this item COMPLETE!
8) Go swimming at the Y. Accomplished LOTS OF TIMES. And we did a lot of swimming at our neighborhood pool.
9) Have a water balloon fight. Accomplished June 18th. Since I didn't take pictures of the water balloon fight or our swimming, I am including the picture below as a representation of our water fun this summer!
10) Make cookies. Accomplished July 3rd. I love to bake, and the kids LOVE to help. This summer marked the first time that Cooper shared egg breaking duties with Daph, and while I don't have pictures of our cookies, here is a different creation from the same weekend:
11) Play table tennis. Accomplished MANY TIMES. Cooper got a table tennis set for Christmas, and it wasn't until summer that we busted it out. While we didn't necessarily buy our kitchen table with this (exclusively) in mind, it totally worked perfectly and we had a blast.
12) Go play basketball. Accomplished August 10th, August 14th and August 16th-18. The first time we just set up dribbling and passing obstacle courses in our driveway, the second time was at the hoop up by the church, and the last time was on Mamaw and Grandpa's hoop. We had so much fun with the kids dribbling and trying to keep me from stealing the ball.
13) Play on the trampoline. Accomplished MANY times. Despite the heat and the rain, our tramp got lots of activity this summer. Which was awesome, as we were more homebound than I would prefer, so it gave the kids a great place to work out some energy!
14) Go to Build-a-Bear. Accomplished August 13th. Daph made a Paw-Patrol Pup. Coop made Toothless. Together they made Cal a teddy bear that talks in their voices and tells him how much they love him.
15) Go get pizza. Accomplished June 10th. We ate lots of pizza this summer, but this was the one time we went out instead of bringing it home. We loosely discussed making our own dough, but didn't get that far this summer. Perhaps it will make next summer's list.
16) Have lots of company. Accomplished MANY TIMES. We had Grandma and Grandpa Kowalski twice. Mamaw and Grandpa Cox both together and individually several times. We had Aunt Jessi and our biggest cousins, Emma and Ryan, once. And we had Aunt Krishia the Great. We had a busy house this summer, but the extra hands were much appreciated and all the company was so much fun.
17) Go see the Pets movie. Accomplished July 10th. We actually made it out to this movie again later in the summer, but the kids got a special treat when Mamaw and Grandpa Cox took them to see it the day after Coop came home (and Cal and Mommy got some much needed down time).
18) Go to the drive in movies. REPLACED with have a lemonade stand. The drive in movies was a great IDEA, but not possible this summer. For starters, Cal is not the type to sleep quietly in his carseat in a non-moving car (he rocks at car rides when the car is moving, but fusses when the car is still). Also, you have to turn off your car, which means no AC and there were MANY days with official heat advisories down here. Finally, just taking the big kids with one parent while the other was home with Cal (for previous reasons) would have been still too hot and not fun when needing to go to the potty or get snacks, etc. Thus, was born the replacement item: A lemonade stand. I cautioned Cooper that his dreams of big profits were perhaps unrealistic, but their enthusiasm could not be dampened. We talked them down to a reasonable price per cup (25 cents instead of 5 dollars), and they still managed to prove me wrong and rake in some considerable dough. Apparently being adorable pays.
19) Draw 100 pictures. Accommplished (and then some) throughout summer. The big kids are prolific in their art, and if I say so myself, quite talented. They love it when Steve sprawls on the floor with them pulling up characters to draw on his iPhone. I know we hit at least 100 masterpieces but have no idea how many more were created.
20) Bring home a baby. Accomplished July 9. Cal entered this world on July 6, but didn't come home until 3 days later. Adding him to the family has not been seamless the way I envisioned it when we made our summer to-do list. But he is a newborn and a whole new person and so, really, it should not be seamless. We have missed lots of sleep and had to change plans and make new plans and scrap all plans and just go with it. But his addition to the family has been wonderful and we wouldn't change a thing. The big kids continue to marvel at him and want everything to do with him. While I am cherishing these tiny baby months, I am excited to see the big kids show Cal the ropes as he gets older. He is so lucky to have Cooper and Daph, and without a doubt, he made the summer one to remember.
You are very fashionable, having received many cute outfits from friend and family and being the lucky recipient of hand me downs from a baby three months your senior. 
We did family pictures a few weeks ago and it was so neat to capture our new bigger family. You belong here. 
We had our first diaper buster the other day... But instead of showing that I will show a "before" picture. 
And you are getting so interactive with us and with your toys. You love purple hippo so I try to hang him from whatever apparatus you are engaged with. 
