The Amazing Summer: Week 2

We've been having such an amazing summer that it's been difficult to find time to blog about it! I thought I'd do my best to catch up, though.

The theme for our second week of summer was "Go, go, go!" and we learned about different forms of transportation.

Monday: We kicked off the week and beat the heat with some morning playtime at Observation Park, the little park overlooking the runways at the airport. The kids enjoyed playing together, and the moms enjoyed catching up. I can't remember what the rest of the day held, but I do know that I finally finished my internship hours log that night - an activity I would rank only slightly above working on the dissertation in its tediousness and horribleness.

Paige, Anthony, and Evelyn checking out the park.

Gideon hanging out at the park.

It was just a bit HOT. 

 Tuesday: We were up early and we piled into the car to make it to story time at the library. We turned in our summer reading logs and got some silly bandz and glow-in-the-dark bookmarks. We listened to the stories, colored for a bit, and stocked up on some good books about cars, planes, trains, bikes, and the like.

Wednesday: We headed to Meadowmont Pool in Chapel Hill to swim with friends in the morning, and Evelyn was a little fish as usual. This was my second experience wrangling two kids at the pool, and it was slightly easier than the first time thanks to the proximity of the stroller to the pool (so I could leave Gideon in the stroller and swim with Evelyn) and the free toddler-sized life jackets (so I could swim with both kids and not worry too much about Evelyn drowning). We had a picnic lunch in the car, took good naps, and then it was off to the Museum of Life and Science for their free Wednesday afternoon visiting hours. Madness, I tell you. Madness.

Checking out some turtles at the museum. 

Molly accompanied us to the museum. 

The Dinosaur trail kinda freaked her out at first. 

Gideon was super thrilled with the museum's offerings!

Digging for fossils. 

Evelyn and Molly on the dinosaur. 

Did I mention it was HOT? We stopped for some Pelican Sno on the way home. 

 Thursday: We were off bright and early, headed to Carrboro (or was it Hillsborough?) to pick up new birth certificates for the kiddos. This was the first time I got one for Gideon, and the second or third time for Evelyn. I just can't seem to keep track of them! Of course we were never asked for proof of age for the kids when we flew to Kansas, but I had to be prepared just in case. After our adventure, we drove to The North Carolina Botanical Gardens in Chapel Hill for their Nature Tales story time.

Checking out a sculpture at the Botanical Gardens. 

Listening to "Over in the Meadow" and "The Blue-Tailed Skink" at story time. 

Walking through the meadow after the stories were read. 

Checking out the flowers and insects in the meadow. 

Not ones to let the heat get us down, we decided to check out Pullen Park that afternoon. This was probably the most theme-related thing we did (apart from reading transportation books), as we had the chance to ride the boats and the train, to run and gallop and hop and walk, and to ride around and around on the carousel.

Riding the brown hare on the Pullen Park Carousel. 

Ready for a train ride!

Gideon was excited to be on the train too. 

Evelyn (and Molly - see her?) on a boat.

A second Carousel ride, on the giraffe with piggytails. 

Friday: I think we did something in the morning? I know we had lunch with Jonathan at Moe's, which was okay. I'm always disappointed in the food there but I do love the magical touch-screen fountain drink dispenser. It was really hot, just as it is every day this summer, so over lunch we agreed to stop by Lowe's and grab a little wading pool. The kids and I played in the pool, there was some napping, and then more pool time. Jonathan came home from work a little bit early, which was great timing so that he could watch Gideon while Evelyn and I went to play in the glorious air conditioning at Wheels Fun Park, where we met up with Abby, Linus, and Edison. 

What a great week! 

The weekend was spent packing, if I remember correctly, and anticipating our trip to Kansas! Stay tuned for the next post, sure to be among the longest posts ever, about our amazing adventure to the motherland.