Half His Life

John turned 48 this month.  It seems like yesterday that we were even pushing thirty and here we are pushing fifty.  The time flies.  Half his life ago, John was moving to a new part of the state, enrolling in a new school, starting a new job, and committing to a rather new relationship--ours.  Half his life ago, he chose me and a whole new world.  It was big then, and it feels big now.  Half. His. Life.  I've been there for it all.  And there's been so much.  So many things, events, milestones, and emotions fill those years.  Half a life later, and he's no longer a single college guy setting out to start his real life.  He's an established man with a career and a family.  A man who is looking forward another half life and seeing things like he's never seen them before.  Half a life more and he'll be 72.  I can only imagine what our lives will look like then with Jozsef at 42, Hannah at 30, and all the others somewhere in between...

We celebrate the here and now, because that's all we truly have.  Him,  Here.  Today.  We took advantage of the fact that his vacation and his birthday overlapped.  We started the morning slowly and had a special pancake breakfast.  Then we took our time and enjoyed family play time at the bowling alley.  We shot some pool while we waited for our lane to be available and then we bowled the afternoon away.

Jozsef went to work and we went home for cake and gifts (not ideal that we would divide and conquer in that way, but with another true adult in the house who is launching his own independence, that is just how things flow sometimes).  John and I had dinner out together and when Jozsef returned home and the little kids were in bed, we joined the older boys in the living room for a movie.  The day was punctuated by fun and relaxation--two things that are tough to come by and even harder to get together in our busy family life.  We enjoyed it as fully as we could.

Life races by and too soon we will be looking back at another half a life spent.  May we spend it together well, because family matters and happy memories are among some of the best treasures this life has to offer.

Happy birthday John!  We're glad you're here and we can celebrate you <3 nbsp="" p="">

Reading Rewards

Every year since Jozsef was in third grade and we were introduced to Read to Succeed, the kids have enjoyed an annual summer trip to Six Flags.  Through all of the years and all of the moves, we have been blessed to be in decent driving distance to a park so that the kids can participate in this great program.  The trip is a coveted tradition in our household.  This year, Hannah aged in and John had more kids than ever before to shepherd through the park.  Grandma made the task a little easier by sponsoring Nikolas' participation.  John was very thankful for the extra help and they all had a wonderful day exploring a new park with fresh shows and ride thrills. 

We weren't sure how Hannah would do.  She's usually the first to express physical exhaustion on long family outings, and she'd never been on a roller coaster before so we weren't sure how daring she would be.  The gang was happy to find out that Hannah is fairly adventurous and she was game for most everything she qualified for.  She did express a distaste for a ride called the Mindbender and that ride quickly taught John her limits, which made it bad and good that they took that ride early on in the day. It seems John's pre-trip planning and preparation with the kids paid off in his ability to cater to the crowd he had and to insure that they got the best bang for their bucks. 

We all decided that this photo won the title of Action Shot of the Day.  There's so much going on in this photo and it's wonderful. 

Lots of big drinks were necessary for the long hot day

Wonder Woman is her favorite so she was pretty happy to have Diana highlighted at the park

Though it's not all about Bruce, he still got a lot of attention :-) 

It's not spelled the same, but Riley easily took ownership of this :-) 

These two--they're buddies.  Truly.  They may not speak it, but they act it, every day.  And they have for years.  I love their relationship

The big pizza has become a lunch tradition that the kids look forward to

Last Ride of the Night

They hit 20 rides!  And they saw three shows.  It was an amazing day and I'm so thankful that they are able to go and have this experience.  Here's to more good summer memories in the bank!  :-)

From Top to Bottom

Two pretty big milestones have been reached by Hannah this month.  She lost her first tooth, and none too soon.  We had no idea that the new tooth was already growing in behind the loose one.  By the time Hannah recognized her tooth was loose, it was just about a day before she pulled it, quick and easy.  :-)

Hannah also learned to tie her shoes.  I had attempted to teach her a few months ago, but she just wasn't ready, so we let it go and let her mature a bit.  This month, when Jozsef brought it up again, I challenged him to teach her.  Within the hour, they came to see me, triumphant.  Hannah showed me her newly formed skill on the paper shoe that all of the kids learned to tie their shoes on (thank you Teacher Jani for the great tool!)

and then the real test came--could she do it on a wearable shoe?  Hannah tied with confidence and passed the test. 

She joins the ranks of the big kids in basic skills now.  :-)  Good job Hannah!  And good job, Jozsef, for stepping up to the teaching challenge.  :-) 

Butterfly Encounter

Once upon a time we were introduced to a butterfly encounter while we were at Marine World and we were quite enchanted by the flitting of delicate and beautiful creatures all around us.   The encounter quickly became a favorite parts of our park visits.  So when I found out that during the month of July a local nature center had a butterfly encounter, we had to try it out.  When we had the opportunity to go, Nikolas was, unfortunately, sick so he did not go with us.  However, the rest of us went to discover the nature center. 

 The encounter was much smaller and simple than what we were accustomed to, but still, it allowed us to be up close and personal with a handful of butterflies.  What was really different between the two encounters was that at Marine World, people were there purely as spectators.  In this encounter, each visitor was handed a sponge paint brush that was dipped in nectar so as to attract the butterflies to you.  The interaction was much more hands on and though we were told not to pick the butterflies up with our hands, occasionally they did spontaneously land there. 

 Though the screen house was hot, we spent nearly an hour among the winged delights before heading out to see what the rest of the center had to offer. 

In the section where large birds were kept, we witnessed the feeding of an eagle and a few other birds. 

There is a lake on the property where canoe trips can be scheduled.  We did not canoe, we took in the beauty of the surroundings and enjoyed the myriad of turtles and fish that lived in the lake and were so easy to see. 

We toured the grounds more and found a great event courtyard and covered area as well as a kids play course.  The children had a great time testing their balance and speed skills. 

Testing their balance

We walked along the lake a bit more before we ventured in to the learning center.  There we found informational displays about animals native to the area. 

Carpenter bee houses

Studying bones

Learning about native butterflies

He loves a good microscope

Learning about Raptors

 With the center closing up shop for the day, we said our goodbyes to the staff and the surroundings and decided we would absolutely go back again some day.  Nature quest, complete.  :-)