City School rolled around when I was 37 weeks pregnant. I wanted to get out and do more amazing things, but unfortunately it just wasn't in the cards this year. I still think we managed to have a lot of fun, but I look forward to future years when I don't feel so limited.
We picked Jaylen up on a Wednesday morning. To break up the 3-hour round trip drive, we stopped at a fun park to play and have lunch. Aubree and Jaylen wasted no time returning to great-buddy status.
And speaking of great buddies, Bryce stayed right by Graham's side and helped him navigate all the fun features of the playground.
Believe it or not, this was the best of the series of pictures I tried to get of the kids having lunch.
Once we made it home, the fun really started. Okay, so really I packed the girls up and took them to my midwife appointment, which, ironically, was the only one of my whole pregnancy to start late. The girls primarily kept themselves occupied by playing with their American Girl Dolls. This was an ongoing theme the entire City School time. After my appointment, we hurried off to Aubree's violin lesson. I felt bad taking Jaylen with us, but Aubree's teacher invited her to play "The Skittle Game," and both girls left the lesson with a bag full of skittles and were quite content.
I'd signed my kids and Jaylen up for a week of late night (7-9pm) sport's camp. Jaylen missed the first two days, but jumped right in when she arrived Wednesday night. If the girls look slightly Oompa-Loompa-like in this picture, it's because they were on the "Orange Team" and painted their faces to show team spirit.
Despite being up late Wednesday night, the girl's were eager and ready to get an early start Thursday morning for their most anticipated part of City School - our annual trek to the American Girl store. I'd arranged for my sister to watch my boys that morning, but then her kids got sick, so we had the whole crew. The boys were decidedly uninterested in the dolls. I keep thinking that one of these years, Aubree and Jaylen will be likewise uninterested. This wasn't that year. Aubree hadn't managed to save quite enough money to get what she wanted, though, so she did consider the trip a little disappointing.
Our next stop proved much more enticing for the boys - the Lego Store! Graham kept himself occupied with a bin of Duplos. Thane quickly picked out a Summer Chore Challenge Level 6 prize, then went to work building Lego boats.
Bryce took his Level 6 prize choosing much more seriously. He walked the store carefully numerous times, before deciding he wanted a container of "choose-your-own" Legos. Then he took even more time choosing each individual Lego.
After our Mall excursion (in case I've never made this clear before - I am NOT a fan of malls, or of shopping in general), we hit up a Splash Park in Bellevue that was new to us. The eager kids ate a hurried lunch then explored the features of the park. It wasn't a super warm day, so they didn't get too wet. Instead, they spent most of their time climbing.
The enormous Orca whale was the main attraction. Thane spent almost all of his time near the dorsal fin, watching the world around him.
Even Graham found a friend on whom to climb:
Have I ever mentioned that Bryce and Charlotte are super silly together?
Friday evening the Sport's Camp hosts a family night carnival, complete with food, treats, and games. The Sno-cones were the hit of the night.
Graham spent at least 30 minutes sloooowwwwly eating his, determined not to leave any behind.
The rest of the kids finished much quicker and took their messy selves to explore the rest of the carnival.
Saturday morning Mark took Jaylen back to her parents, and left Aubree with them to start Farm School. We had a great time having Jaylen with us. She and Aubree got along impressively well and they and their AG dolls had all kinds of fabulous make-believe adventures in addition to our real adventures.
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