Summer Vacay Dailies: Week 5

We finally checked something off of our To-Do list for the summer!  Here's how our week went down:

 Thursday June 27

Thank the Good Lord above for giving someone the brains to create those rides at the mall- and thank Him even more for my child not caring whether they move or not, she could climb on them all day!  They make shopping trips a lot easier for sure. :)  Thursday night we watched another Trojan ball game- extra innings and a heartbreaking loss this time.

 Friday June 28

This little girl was so happy to see her Daddy in the morning.  The first thing she wanted to do was read a, "Boo peez!"  One of her current favorites is The Pout Pout Fish, we picked it up at Kohl's a while ago and it's so cute!

 Saturday June 29

We traveled to Carroll for my sister Kristen's softball tournament in the morning.  It was great to see the family and we scored some new Under Armour shirts for Jerod at the Carroll shopping center for less than $15!  Cailyn developed a low grade fever through the afternoon so we headed back and I had an I'm-such-a-terrible-mom moment when I tried to force feed her chewable children's Tylenol and she gagged and upchucked all over her car seat.  This happened in Glidden people...we still had to drive over an hour to get home, it was a smelly ride home.  Luckily, we tracked down some liquid medicine, got that in her, got the fever down and after a nap she seemed to be feeling much better.  So, we whipped up a batch of some Rolo Cake Mix bars and headed over to the Burdorf's for some grilling and good fun!

 Sunday June 30

The Blank Park Zoo was on our Summer To-Do's and after sleeping in until almost 11:00, Cailyn's fever was all gone without the help of medication and we made an early afternoon trip to Des Moines for animals and an early dinner at Capitol Pub & Hot Dog Co.  She loved the water animals the best and especially enjoyed feeding the Coi fish and the ducks in the children's zone.  It was a good first zoo, big enough that we had lots to see, but small enough that we could actually see it all in a couple hours instead of having to be there the whole day.

 Monday July 1

We recently discovered that we have some tiny punctures in the bottom of our pool, BOOOOOO!  So, while I tried to find all of them, Cailyn had herself some fun with the 'mist' setting on the hose.  Monday night, our friends Matt and Michelle came up to see a game and brought their kiddos, Maddie and Jack.  Cailyn always loves having kids to play with at games.  It was an exciting night for Trojan baseball because they clinched the conference title!  Congrats to my hubby Jerod, Coach Edwards, and to the boys for all the hard work they have put in to earning the title of Conference Champs!!

 Tuesday July 2

I had spent a few days working on a July dinner menu and a list of freezer meals I could prepare for when this next kidlet decides to pop out and I have no energy to cook.  Tuesday was the grocery shopping day for all of the ingredients.  It took two shopping lists, and stops at 4 different stores (I still have to hit up Fareway for some fresh meat) but the lists are almost complete!  We skipped out on the game against North Polk and decided to just stay home and knock out 9 of the 17 freezer meals.  The above photo of my kitchen is just a snippet of the mess that ensued.  Cailyn was happy to add to that mess after waking up from her nap!

 Wednesday July 3

I went strawberry picking at The Berry Patch Farm with my friend Jamie and her two oldest kids, Jenna and Brody.  I love doing this with them every summer, and so look forward to it every year!  When I got them home Cailyn helped wash them and remove the stems.  She may or may not have removed the stems using the following process: pull off the leaves, take a bite to make sure it's sweet enough, put it in the bowl, repeat.  Ha!  If you get some freezer jam from us, know that Cailyn put a whole lotta love into it!  

Hope you all have a very happy and safe fourth of July!  I think we may take an opportunity to view the Ames 4th of July parade, but I guess you'll have to wait and see on next week's Summer Vacay Dailies!