Birthdays & Bedtime…Camp, Concerts, & Canoes

Summer is here in full effect, that’s for sure. For some, it signifies the end of a school year, the beginning of really hot weather, taking family vacations, and a whole host of various activities. This is no different for the Jones crew. Brayden celebrated her last week of kindergarten with an end-of-year party and a bon voyage night, where the 1st grade teachers provided the kids with insight into what they will learn next year in school. She will no longer be the “little girl on campus”, which is hard to believe.

We attended lots of parties and get-togethers as well. We enjoyed a day at the pool with the Dunlaps, roller skating with the Y Guides tribe, an F3 swim party, and a classmates birthday party. Peapod turned 16 and Indiana turned 12 in June…pretty old for dogs, but they are both doing well. They sleep most of the day, Indi barks at night and licks everything in sight, and while Peapod’s name has become a self-fulfilling prophecy more than we ever expected (note: he pees all the time, everywhere he’s not supposed to), they are in pretty good health, in general. Happy birthday, Molmmers and Indi Bean!

Brayden started off the summer with some awesome camps in June as well: cooking (she learned how to make corn dog nuggets, fruit smoothies, and strawberry shortcake), x-treme sports (dodgeball, kickball), all about pink (yep, you guessed it…princesses and all things girlie), and splash camp (playing water games and swimming). She has had a blast and comes home each night completely exhausted. Some of her friends from her preschool and current school have been in the same camps with her, so that has been nice knowing she’s in good company with friends.

Bedtime battles have begun with Hanleigh. Around this same age, Brayden pulled identical trickery. It goes like this: 1. child brushes teeth and uses the potty 2. child gets in bed 3. two seconds later child says she has to go potty 4. parent takes child potty and puts child in bed 5. two seconds later child says she has to go poopy 6. parent takes child potty and she goes 7. parent puts child to bed 7. two seconds later child says she has to go potty 8. Repeat steps 4 through 7 endlessly until you want to scream and pull your hair out. Well, after a couple of weeks of this tom foolery, we had enough and implemented a new routine. Teeth brush…potty…bed…potty…done. Only one chance to go potty after the official bedtime. After teeth are brushed, there are no incentives at all (no M&Ms, no books, no lights on, etc.). She just stands at her baby gate and quietly calls our names, however after a few nights of that not working to her advantage, she slipped back into bed for a night of peaceful Zzzzs. Just call it the ferberizing of a two-year old’s nighttime routine. Mission accomplished.

Trent had a great Father’s Day where he had tasty breakfasts at both of the girls’ schools, but that leaves me questioning something. How come the dads get donuts for their day, while the moms get stuck with muffins? I mean, I get the fact that they are trying to use the grammatical term “consonance” to make it sound cute, but at the expense of not giving moms a donut…c’mon, peeps! We had a cookout and pool party at Aunt Patty’s house that weekend as well. It was great watching the cousins swim together! Mimi celebrated her birthday, too!

The girls’ (embarrassing) concert series was resurrected after a two-year hiatus with a group of us attending the New Kids on the Block (NKOTB for all you fans)/98 Degrees/Boyz II Men concert. I must admit that I was pretty bummed because when we arrived Boyz II Men was playing their last song (Motownphilly…AWW YEAH!) and I caught about the last 10 seconds. All our fault, though because we were having so much fun at dinner that we lost track of time. That combined with the fact that we would’ve bet money that 90 Degrees would open up (since they weren’t nearly as cool as the other groups). Alas, this wasn’t the case. Regardless, it was another fabulous girls’ night out.

Trent went on his annual guys’ canoe trip and this year, Kyle joined him. They had a great time, cooked some awesome meals over an open flame, indulged in homebrew, and floated down the river. Simple, yet refined. While the guys were doing that, the girls and I joined Kendall and her kids and Kristy and her son at Ocean Isle Beach for a weekend at Kendall’s mom’s house. While the weather wasn’t the best (a bit rainy) and Kendall didn’t feel well, we had a wonderful time watching all the kids play together. On Saturday night, we took a walk on the beach to go get ice cream and saw the Supermoon…it was spectacular and so wonderful to create such nice memories! All the kids got along so well and it was great to catch up with amazing friends.

The house decorating continued with some new drapes for the dining room windows, I got my hair chopped and colored (pictures to follow in the July post once the “work of art” is complete), and we had a great cookout/pool party at our neighbor’s house. All in all, it was a fabulous month. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family and cherish all the time we spend with you all.

Brayden-isms
• One night, I was putting Brayden to bed, when she said, “Mom, give those feet a break.” Amen, sister!
• Brayden received her school yearbook. One night she asked me, “Do you know what dreamy means?” to which I sarcastically replied, “No, what does it mean?” She said, “It means beautiful and handsome. Fiona thinks Bennett is dreamy. He’s in second grade.” Then, she showed me his picture and said, “See what I mean.” Oh goodness…we are in for a ride.
• While at the beach, there was a woman crossing a busy intersection. Brayden yelled at her, “Hey lady, don’t you know your rights?”

Hanleigh-isms
• Trent asked Hanleigh to close her eyes at night so she can go to sleep, to which she responded, “But when I close my eyes, I can’t see anything.” He then said, “Yes, that’s the point.”

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