Summer Weekend – Strawberry Picking and Water Fun

We went to up to Wisconsin this weekend for our annual outing to pick our own strawberries. The strawberries were the largest we’ve ever seen them. And the fields were crowded with more people than ever.

While the strawberries were large, they weren’t as sweet as ones we’ve had in the past. But Kai wasn’t complaining about that.

Though he did start to grumble about the heat. But after we had picked two boxes of berries, I think all of us were ready to go get lunch at our traditional favorite, The Brat Stop.

After we got home, my wife was ready to rest. Kai was ready to go to the beach.

So he and I went out for a couple of hours. The water was really cold, so after taking a dip up to our ankles, and splashing each other with water shooters, Kai was content to stay on shore and try to skip stones.

The next day, I took him to a birthday party at a home that had a large swimming pool. Kai had a great time swimming and playing with all the water toys, though he seemed pretty content to do his own thing and did not interact much with the other kids.

He’s a happy kid whenever there’s a swimming pool or beach so those will be our common weekend outings this summer.

Ah, if only life were one long summer weekend.

Our Memorial Day

Beach

The water was cold, even for Kai.

Barbeque

Well, it was indoors, but we had ribs, corn on the cob, cole slaw, and baked beans. Yum!

Birthday

My dad's birthday is this week. My wife made made the birthday cake out of Jell-O and pound cake, and topped it with home-made whipped cream and strawberries and blueberries to give it the patriotic look on Memorial Day.


Hope you had a nice holiday as well.

Summer Fun Brings Lots of Laughs

We did a couple of my son’s favorite summer activities over the weekend.

On Saturday morning we headed over to our community’s beach for the first time this year. I have never been a particularly big beach person – I could easily make do without the mess of the sand and the cold water. But, Kai loves it, so we go often.

Even though it is July, the Lake Michigan water temperature is frigid. However, Kai’s penguin-like adaptability to the cold water remains remarkable, as he seemed to have no problem splashing right in. But a few seconds in the water was enough for my wife, who remained ensconced in her beach chair the remainder of the time.

Someone had to get in the water with Kai, though. And let’s see, who does that leave?

Somehow my body got used to the cold water. Or perhaps my body had just gotten numb.

We brought along a water gun and had a lot of fun playing with it.

Kai smiled and laughed a lot as he sprayed me with the cold water.

And tracked me down.

And then when I had my turn soaking him.

We picnicked on the beach before heading home.

You would think that after a day at the beach, that would have satiated his desire to get wet. But after we got home we played with water balloons in the backyard.

Kai’s exuberance, accompanied by the enthusiasm in his voice and near-constant laughter is one of his greatest qualities. And nothing brings that out like a day of summer water fun.

And so I’ll take the sand sticking to my body and getting in the car.

Because along with it comes a very happy child.

Picnic at the Beach

It was a warm day in our parts yesterday. After an exceptionally warm winter, April returned to the norm, with cooler, rainy weather. So, when the sun came out yesterday and the temps warmed into the 80s, Kai asked if we could go to the beach.

It was late in the afternoon before we could leave the house, so we decided to have a picnic dinner on the beach.

When we got to the lakefront, we found only one other family there.

Kai enjoyed playing in the sand for awhile.

My wife and I tried unsuccessfully to fight off the flies. I normally don’t mind flies too much, but these were the kind that bites. I was bitten all over my feet and legs, but, for some reason, they left Kai alone.

Dark clouds started hovering over us when we started to eat our dinner. And when the first drops of rain started to fall, we decided to pack up and head back home. Frankly, I was happy to find an excuse to get away from the bugs.

Kai didn’t mind… he has a fear of thunderstorms so he was glad to leave.

Despite the bugs, it was nice to do an activity all together as a family again. With my wife having been away, and then still exhausted from her trip for the past few days, this was our first family outing in a few weeks.

Kai loved it, and can’t wait to do more this weekend. He has been looking forward to trying a new miniature golf course, as he had wanted to wait until Mom was home. He also did not want to get a new movie for our Video Nights until Mom was back.

So, I’m sure this weekend will be a fun one. Can’t wait!

St. Patrick’s Day Weekend

We live in the suburbs of the city that colors its river green for St. Patrick’s Day, so of course we had to celebrate it a little bit.

On Friday afternoon, Kai helped Mom make green muffins.

They tasted yummy!

On Saturday, the temperatures were predicted to be in the 80s, which is crazy warm for this time of year. Kai declared that he wanted to go to the beach.

It sounded like a good idea, but when we got there, we discovered that the temperature along Lake Michigan was much lower than by our house, and the strong winds made it seem even colder.

We shivered through a picnic lunch, and came home before our skin turned green.

We later went to a park where Kai did one of his favorite things – rolling down the hill.

And for our movie night dinner, we had corn beef and cabbage instead of the usual pizza, and homemade green vegetable juice.

Hope you all had a nice weekend as well.

Day Trip to the Indiana Dunes

After all the miserable weather we’ve had this spring, we had to take advantage of the summer-like conditions here on Memorial Day with a day at the beach. But not just any beach. We made our first-ever trip to the Indiana Dunes.

The Dunes stretch along several miles of the Indiana shores of Lake Michigan. There are actually several different beaches but the most popular area is an Indiana State Park. There, the hilly dunes are said to be very scenic. I say “said to be” because we did not quite make it into the State Park.

The hour and a half drive from home was mostly uneventful and Kai was excited about going to a new beach. But, when we got there, we encountered a long line of cars waiting to get in. It looked like everybody in Chicago had the same idea we did. We couldn’t even see the entrance far ahead of us, and the line was barely moving, so we got out of the line and drove away to search for a different beach.

A few miles away, we found West Beach, and also found another line of cars waiting to get in. We had come too far to turn away so this time we waited in the line. Kai was impatient, yelling about finding a different place, but we stuck it out and eventually got in.

Once there, Kai ran straight into the water. We followed him in, and quickly ran out. Brrr! Cold! After I got home, I looked up the water temperature and it was listed as 43 degrees. Somehow, our part-penguin son was able to tolerate loved that cold water.

He kept trying to pull us back into the water with him. My wife was having none of that, as she kept retreating to the comfort of our beach blanket after only a few seconds. But I tried staying in. After a few minutes in the water, I didn’t feel the coldness anymore, mostly because my legs had gone completely numb. But Kai enjoyed it, splashing around and getting most of his body soaked.

We ended up staying there for over four hours, eating our picnic lunch, digging in the sand, and splashing in the water. I think all of Kai’s sensory needs were met, and it was a really fun day in the sun for all of us.

My wife and I were tired and sleepy for the drive home, but somehow Kai was wide-awake. My wife tried to nap and every time that she fell asleep, Kai called for her from the backseat. “Mom, can I have a snack?” “Mom, can I have gum?” “Mom, can I have the remote (to the portable dvd player)?”

That last one drove my wife crazy as Kai handed the remote back to her each time after he had used it, only to request it again a few minutes later just as she was nodding off. And when she told him to just keep the remote with him, he got upset as if she had told him go take a hike.

So, my wife didn’t get much of a nap, but the comedy of their back-and-forth talking kept me awake so that I could drive safely.

It was a long day, but a fun one overall.  Memorial Day is the traditional start of the summer. If this first weekend was any indication, I think we will have a good one.

Beach Day, Sick Day

Sunday was the first time that we had really nice, warm weather here in the Chicago area this year, and my son wanted to go to the beach. Kai loves the feel of the sand and the water and so, even though I’ve not always been a big fan of going to the beach, we go quite often with him.

On this day, the air temperature was in the 80s, but the water temperature felt like it was about 33°. One quick step in the water was enough for me and my wife. But, Kai loved it. He was constantly going in and splashing around. I was thinking that he is part penguin the way he tolerated the cold water.

But then, he started to get a little cough on Monday evening that turned a bit more persistent by early Tuesday morning. Do penguins catch colds?

Anyway, with his little cough, we thought it best to keep him home from school yesterday.

For most kids, sick days off from school are spent lounging around watching tv or taking naps. But our son rarely does things the way most kids do.

With Kai, being home meant more time for thinking about elements. He wanted to play his new element game. He wanted to label the stones he brought home from the beach with the names of different elements. He was having a grand time.

In fact, after about two hours, he didn’t seem sick at all. His cough had stopped. He was hyperactive. He was chatting away.

Unfortunately, the better my son seemed, the sicker my wife got.

I don’t think that she caught our son’s cold. I think it was just the stress of entertaining him at home on a school day. After all, how much talk of elements is one person expected to take?

And so, it fell to me to keep him occupied for the rest of the day. I was able to get a bit of work done while he filled a calendar with each state’s “birthday,” the date they became part of the United States.

After that, though, I was out of luck. He bombarded me with talk about the elements. For instance, he asked me what my favorite lanthanide is, and then we watched the Element Song on YouTube and tried to pause it every time a lanthanide was mentioned. We even discovered a different element song on YouTube, this one set to Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

Today, he is back in school. I’m glad. I don’t think I would have made it through one more sick day.