Weeks Of Summer Part 7

Since July has come & gone & we are already halfway through August, I'll just recap a few things that have gone on this summer that I haven't blogged about. At the beginning of the summer Kamden begged for his training wheels to come off his bike but I wasn't sure if he was ready so they stayed on for awhile. One evening Jeff took them off & Kamden hopped on & away he went. Kamden also lost his first tooth yesterday & was so disappointed when he woke up to find his tooth gone & nothing under his pillow...he'd knocked the money from the tooth fairy onto the floor & didn't find it for awhile.

Ethan has had more bike/scooter wrecks this summer than I can count while Kamden has made it through the summer with only a few scrapes. Some of Ethan's injuries over the last few weeks include wrecking his bike twice without a helmet, resulting in a black eye & a mild concussion. He was also grounded for 3 days from riding his bike since he wasn't wearing a helmet...so far he's remembered to put it on before riding.  

Jeff was so sweet to get me a new bike, I've been riding the same purple Huffy I got when I was 12. It's been a good bike but recently the brake cables broke...brakes are kind of essential when riding a bike. So he got me a beach cruiser with a little basket in the front & we've been spending evenings riding around the neighborhood.
Ethan also jumped off the couch & landed right on Jeff's belt buckle, the sharp part that goes through the belt hole went straight into the bottom of Ethan's foot. It was so gross but that was several weeks ago & it's healed right up, thankfully. 

 We spontaneously decided to go on another cruise when Jeff won free airline tickets at a golf tournament (the best thing to have ever come out of his golfing hobby for me) So we figured it would be easier if we went before the boys started school & thankfully they have amazing Grandparents who were willing to help us out. Ethan & Kamden left Friday August 3rd & went to stay with Grandma & Grandpa Stoker for the week. They had such a great time that they keep calling me "Grandma". They got to play with cousins, go to the fair, ride in Uncle Shawn's combine, eat pizza (which was apparently a highlight for Kamden because he's told me about it several times) & FINALLY got to play in Grandma Hurst's ditch.

 Owen stayed with Grandma & Grandpa Van Leuven since we felt like it would be easier & less stressful for everyone if we split them up. They all did really well & Owen had lots of fun going to McDonalds, jumping on the trampoline with a sprinkler, playing Legos, spending time with Aunts, Uncles, & cousins, and getting to sleep in Grandma's bed...but now he thinks he should get to sleep in my bed. My brother & sister-in-law picked Ethan & Kamden up Friday on their way home from Wyoming & brought them to my parents' house where they stayed the night. Mom said Owen was so excited to see his brothers & Ethan said that when Owen saw him he jumped on him. They picked us up at the airport on Saturday & we were glad to be home! We had a great time relaxing but a week was long enough...although it would've been nice if I could bring our room stewardess home to clean up after me & leave mints on my pillow every night. Unfortunately I had to come back to the reality of doing laundry, cleaning the house, & cooking & doing dishes. 4 days later & it still feels like the boat is rocking, but we're already talking about when we'll go again. 
THANKS to our parents & everyone who helped out with our boys, it was hard to leave them for so long but it made everything easier to know they would be taken care of & have a great time.