HolleMama: SFD Academy- Weeks 10-16

Ok.
Seriously.
I know I said that I was going to write a post a week to help me countdown the 20 weeks of Sean's academy, but I quickly realized that getting out and doing things was a far better way to pass the time then writing about it ever would be.

So here we are, it's Week 17 (!!) and Sean is still going strong. He continues to impress me with the tales of what he accomplishes every day and the temperatures he does them in and I am truly amazed that he continues to wake up at 4 am with a good attitude to get back out there and do it all over again. I am in total awe of my man.

While Daddy is off learning how to save the world, I spend my time keeping the kids alive and the house still still standing. It seems like life these days has only two modes:

Having Fun

and

Paying Dearly For Having Fun

And I don't know if there is some kind of magic balance between the two, but I have yet to figure out how to have one without the other and that is exactly the reason why the last 7 weeks have gone undocumented. I take a lot of pictures of our fun adventures because I love taking them and I want to show Sean what we've been up to, but then we come home and everyone falls apart, and takes the house down with them, and I've got my work cut out for me...And it has nothing to do with posting a blog :)

But...school starts up again tomorrow morning (!!!) which means that this is the last day of Summer Vacation. 12 hours from now our life will look a whole lot different than it does right now so I skipped the dinner dishes and I am determined to get all caught up before the next chapter of life begins in the morning. Enjoy!!

Week 10

Week 10 was a very good week. Not only was it the Half Way Point for Sean's Academy (wooo!!) but I turned 35!! We didn't have any official celebration, but the week was full of little surprises and bright spots and wonderful friends and family who made me feel so valuable and loved, and made it one of my favorite birthdays I have ever had.

My Birthday Poster from Oliver :)

Sleeping children, husband at home, a wall full of birthday love notes from dear friends and a slice of chocolate cake delivered (by coincidence!) from our next door neighbor.

So far so good, 35!!

Wacky Wednesdays at Cache Creek are back!!

I noticed that compared to last year, my kids could listen, understand and participate in this program on a whole new level and I thoroughly enjoyed myself- Mothers of toddlers, take heart!! :)

I'll have a Grande Cup o' Fish, please :)

One of Sean's extended cousins is a very talented singer and so against my better judgement, I took my crew to one of her performances :)

They almost made it to the intermission!!

They were doing their best but I didn't want to risk ruining the show so we spent the second half outside where I could still watch her sing (she is in there if you look real close!)...

...and keep an eye on my wiggle worms

Thank goodness I had Grandma Gloria there to help me wrangle these guys- she is an expert!!

When it was time to go, I told the boys they could run ahead to the car and I caught up to them just in time to see this...Oh, geeze!!

And why drive home when your mother in law treats you to a hotel room?
Between the elevator rides, the long hallways and the giant fluffy bed with a TV, we all had a ball!!
Thank you Gloria and Suzanne for making this possible, and to Cassie for giving us the reason to come in the first place :)

Meanwhile, down in the lobby...

We are so mature :)

It was a real treat to stay in the hotel, but I was relieved when we checked out and found some wide open space at the Nibus Fish Hatchery.

I have always wanted to check this place out and even though it was the off season and the fish ladders were closed, we still had a great time at the visitor's center and this fun playground.
We had the whole place to ourselves!

We will definitely be coming back in November to see this place in action!

And because no birthday week would feel complete without her,

Evangeline and her kids made the trek up from Sebastapol to shower me with love and cake and fill my little ~~home~~ backyard with my favorite not-so-little ~~boys~~ Ninja Warriors.

The history, tradition and love in this picture just kills me. In a good way.

Lesson of the Day: you don't need to grease the cake pan in order for it to be delicious!!

My heart almost can't take the cuteness of these two together!!!

Off to see the bats!!

The Artist

Sweetest boys I know!!

Seriously.

15, 13, 11, 9, 9 and Amazing. Each one of them.

They have the best mom...and they know it :)

Sean met up with us after work and we were all happy to see him!

Just in time for the bats!!

And... a whole lot of goofing off :)

When we were young and daydreamed about our futures,

we always said that we would love each other's kids.

And here we are.

And the best part?

They love us back :)

And after all that, we ended Week 10 with a trip home for my dad's birthday!!

Walking the doggies with Grandma :)

First blackberries of the year!

Rope Swings

And Summer discovered that shiny new accessory on Uncle Benny's finger ;)

Old home videos

(not the same without you Emma!!)

And (more) cake for our very special Grandpa!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!
(Yes, it's totally blurry, but let's pretend it is a representation of the happy chaos that always comes along with a Burtt family celebration these days :))

After more than a year, we finally made it to the beach in Week 11!!!

And, we had the whole place to ourselves!!

Until we didn't :)

Snacks taste better when shared, on a picnic blanket, in the sunshine, in the sand, with your cousins.

It's science :)

Off to explore...

discover hidden worlds...

And enjoy being together

Henry the Sand Angel Master

She insisted on doing it herself so I just stood by and took pictures :)

We love you guys-

Let's do it again soon!!

Monday Nights = Band Uh Nights = Fun for All

New quiet time activity of choice?

"Spiramints"

Where a few seemingly harmless ingredients and a whole lot of curiosity and probably not enough supervison come together on the kitchen table while I am trying to clean the kitchen.

Sometimes they go as planned (whatever that is)...

And, sometimes they don't :)

At the beginning of summer we made a Bucket List of things we would like to do and Oliver requested to find some rope swings to play on...so we did. Check!!

Kate wins the "Fun Mom" Award on this particular morning :)

But not the "Exits the Rope Swing Gracefully Award" :)
It's fun to be friends with such a good sport!

We started this week with one set of cousins and finished it off with another...

at Grandma Gloria and Grandpa Gary's (hopefully) First Annual Cousin Sleepover!!

Riding their bikes all the way to the pool like big boys :)

While the girls walked and talked all the way to the pool, like big girls :)

Pool Babes

And their crazy big brothers!!

Bikes!

Hugs!

Trains

Hot Dogs!

Dress Up!

Cousin Annabelle was the perfect addition to our group- she was cheerful and had patience for everyone :)

Cars

Buns!

Games

Squeals of Delight!

Goofballs.

Buddies.

Pancakes!!

Family Band!

All topped off with a visit to this incredible new playground!!

That's a whole lotta energy right there-
But if anyone can handle it, and more importantly enjoy it, it's you two!!
Your love and attention to each one of them will be something that they will cherish their whole lives.

The boys had Breakaway and the house was needing a lot of attention so for Week 12 I came up with a plan: Each morning after we dropped the boys off at camp, Summer and I would have a little date at Starbucks and then I would tackle one area of the house that really needed some love. I tried to get rid of as much stuff as I could and then I dropped it off at the Goodwill on my way back to pick up the kids before lunch. And it was fantastic! I organized the kid's closets, the coat closet, streamlined all the cleaning supplies, the linen closet and I transformed my "Crafty Corner" into a Homework Station for my soon-to-be First Grader. I was productive, the boys had a blast at camp, Summer got some one on one attention from me (and did her fair share of binge watching Frozen over and over again) so I'd say Week 12 was a Win/Win/Win :)

I didn't take pictures of my coat closet, but how cute is this Homework Station?

I completely underestimated how thrilled he would be to have a space that was all for him to do "Work" and my only regret was that I didn't do it sooner. Oliver was so pleased to finally have a space of his own that he spent his quiet time turning the boy's reading closet into a Homework Space just for his little brother. These spontaneous acts of generosity don't come that naturally to Oliver and so it was just as touching to me as it was to Elliott.

Grandma Ellen heard there was some One-on-One time

with Summer available and played hooky at our house.

We love it when that happens!!

And since we didn't have any big adventures out of the house, most of the exciting stuff we did happened during quiet time:

We cooked

We built

We painted

and we received a Very Special Delivery from Grandma Peggy

Thank you, Mom!

Summer learned to dive for toys at the bottom of the pool

The thrashing booty in the air as she tries to swim down is my favorite part :)

Ta-Da!!

And she taught herself to swim!! Which is amazing and terrifying all at once.

And in the God Answers Prayers category, there is a group of adult men who put on full/authentic suits of armor and engage in battle across the street from our house.

(Also in the God Answers Prayer category: I always prayed that someday I would have a son. And when I was pregnant for the second time, I prayed for a brother for Oliver, and when Elliott arrived, I prayed that not only would they would love each other, but that they would enjoy to be together :))

The highlight of Week 13 was going to San Mateo to visit a dear old friend and her family for a few days. On our way down, Oliver wanted to know how I met Patty and I was glad to tell him that one rainy morning after I had just started at UC Davis (I came in January), she just walked into my freshman dorm (wearing a yellow rain jacket with the hood pulled up) looking for my roommate. My roommate wasn't there, but she introduced herself and invited me to come get breakfast with her and we've been dear friends ever since! She was my first friend in college- and all because she was kind and friendly and introduced herself to The New Girl. I will never forget that morning and I am grateful for all the seasons of life our friendship has shared as a result of it :)

It makes me so happy to see our friendship get passed on to the next generation :)

Thank you for being gracious hosts and generous friends!!

Emma returned safe and sound (and very happy!!) from her trip to Uganda.
It was so great to walk into my parent's house and hear her call out my name again from the other room before rounding the corner to give me a great big hug. I know she has to leave again for college soon, but it's just not the same at home when she is not there. We missed you!!

That afternoon, Sean called with the good news that he had passed the second round of testing (kinda like finals week for the fire academy). After we all breathed a great sigh of relief, my exhausted husband boarded a train to join us down in the Bay Area. He didn't have to come, but he wanted to be there with us to celebrate Grandma Darragh on her 95th birthday!! She certainly holds a special place in all of our hearts.

Birthday phone calls and Belgian Waffles for breakfast!

The kids each made their own card for her

and she made a big fuss over every little detail.

Even when you do

something nice for her,

somehow, she always manages

to make you feel

like the special one :)

And it's especially nice when you give her a card with an offer for a concert/dance performance :)

Then we all get to enjoy it :)

Thank you for ALL of the ways that you show us your love.

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Every few months we make the trek out to the Kunkle's house to visit with them and check out all the exciting things that happen when a family of seven decides to renovate a one hundred year old building :)

The front entrance is almost done!!

But the real fun was happening in the backyard!!

After years of day dreaming, it's time to build the pool!!

While Aaron is hard at work,
Summer and Sweetie cheer him on from the sidelines

And the boys have no trouble keeping themselves busy (and very dirty).

Around the house....something lovely was happening in every corner :)

By the end of the evening, the footprint was all laid out

and it was time to unwind with a family jam session

Playing with the big guys...Oliver was in heaven!!

And even Summer's contribution was welcomed :)

The next morning, the boys ate breakfast while the bulldozer got to work right outside the kitchen window!

Elliott finished his cereal as fast as possible before parking himself right here to watch the show :)

Parker and Mason are out there working alongside their dad- they have helped renovate this house every step of the way!!

What 13 year old boys should be doing

And meanwhile... what 6 year old boys dream about doing :)

Thank you so much for opening up your family to us over and over again.
You are building an amazing family and an amazing home to raise them in!!
Can't wait to come back someday soon and swim!! :)

We got back home and finished off Week 14 with some family time at the reserve. Sean had offered to take the kids on his own so that I could have some time to relax, but I am just aching for time when we can all be together. It seems like either I have the kids or he takes them on little errands and adventures to give me a break, but really what we are lacking the most during this academy has been doing something purely for fun as a family. So I made up my mind to go and it was worth every minute.

One hour of adventure with these guys did things for my spirit that a 3 hour nap could never do...

and I think they would all agree :)

Elliott has been coming out of his room all dressed for the day before any of us have even eaten our breakfast and I love to see what he comes up with :)
Can you see how proud he is?

Every one knows that a Ninja Warrior needs a bandana...

...and a purse, of course.

(full of tools,treasures and his stuffed duckling...essentials for any real competitor :)) I love him.

In other Week 15 news,
Summer helped herself to a haircut:

Don't tell her this, but I actually think she looks even cuter with half of her bangs hacked off!!

On the weekends, the boys LOVE waking up and discovering that Sean is still at home.

I found these two eating breakfast as close together as possible :)

And if he is home, this little frog sticks right by his side

I don't normally support Halloween items being sold in the Summertime, but when I saw these costumes at Costco, I just had to get them!!

And when Sean saw them...

...he just had to get his ax out too.

After modeling their new gear, the next item on their agenda was to have Sean time them and see how fast they could get everything on...just like Daddy :)

Just a few more years and you'll be ready for the Academy, too!!

Week 16
For the first time all season, I could sense that the summertime was coming to a close and we were gearing up to go back to school. I ordered lunch boxes online, received emails from school administrators and soccer coaches, got back in touch with some of our friends from school and signed up the little ones for gymnastics from the Fall 2015 Recreation Catalog. I always feel a little bit sad for each season to come to an end, but this year, the end of summer means that the academy is almost over and although he will continue to be busy and stressed as he starts off in his new career, we will likely get to see him more often- and that is totally worth getting excited for!

Another good thing about the end of summer is that we will get to see Ava on a more regular basis again. We were missing her this week and so she came over to play and ended up introducing Oliver to the world of hip hop dancing :) The number of reasons why I love this girl just keeps growing!!

We invited Ben and Katie to come for dinner this week, but when Ben and Katie say that they are coming for dinner, what they really mean is that they will bring everything needed to make dinner and then go on to entertain our kids while making delicious food for us in our own kitchen while we stand around enjoying everything like we are the guests. They bring so much fun and enthusiasm, kindness and generosity (and seriously yummy food!) into our home

...and we love them for it!!

Elliott is going into PreK at UCNS and finally, it was time for his long-awaited Teacher Visit day. We love Ms. Lois for so many reasons and we are honored to get to have her teach another one of our children. Elliott is pretty please about it, too!

And... just when it was feeling Officially Over, we forgot all about school for a few more days and jumped right back into summer mode with a camping trip to Lake Tahoe with some of our best friends!!

First trip with no stroller, no pack and play and no diapers.
I felt sad for about 5 seconds and then enjoyed how much easier it was to pack the car :)