The Hutchinson Family

Thursday, June 30th, 2016

Such a sweet morning, looking at the pictures in my lovely photo book gift, and them looking at their photo gifts.  Great minds think alike!  So fun to have and reflect on those memories. 😀

Special lunch at 5 Spot.  Parker had “the best orange juice ever” (of course, it was fresh squeezed), and Bailey loved his Mickey Mouse pancake.

Sweet brotherly love.

After bike camp, the boys and I got to spend a quiet afternoon together.  Looked at silly YouTube videos I had been telling them about, read their new magazines, and played Monster Factory.

Then silly photo time!  Parker is tickling my chin, Bailey is being Bailey.

Then cute photo time 🙂

Love, love, Love!  How I <3 these boys!!  Emotional day for all, and not one (or the past four years!) I will soon forget.

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Blanketed love.

Bailey doing the back stroke!

Parker’s backstroke!

Streamline arms

Big day at bike camp! Parker doing the obstacle course,  practicing stopping aND signaling, to prepare for their road test.   Bailey got his training wheels off! Two days of camp, and he passed his training wheel test.

Bailey quote of the day – “I wish the president of the states would say that little kids had to eat more than big kids so they could grow bigger!”

Finally the sun came out for the afternoon – surprise trip to the splash pad! Parker thanked me so many times for bringing them there, it was very sweet.

Tuesday, June 29, 2016

The boys were excited to get out on a bike ride after breakfast! Probably just as excited to ring their new bells over and over.

Turns out Natives aren’t the best for learning to ride, so we turned back and Parker did a lot of riding up and down the alley.

“Peace!”

A little bit (!) colder today for lessons, but the boys were troopers. Snugglefest before hopping in!

After lunch, it was time to head to bike camp.   Parker said “I love bike camp!”

Parker got pulled a bit early from camp to have his first session with Tate at Shelley’s.  They did great together!  Shelley called them twinsies cause not only how they were acting, but they were also wearing the same shirt.  To write their stories, they needed to look up characters names. Along the way, they looked up “Parker” and got a kick out of the website saying it meant ” park keeper”.  A note about the writing – Parker wants to use a journal that doesn’t have lined paper, which Shelley says is fine.  However, they had to have some discussion over that meant he would have to really focus on his word spacing.

Mini play date with Tate after! Time to set up plastic figures.  Much discussion over which figures could do what,  and if they were going to actually battle them or just set them up into poses so they didn’t knock over their hard work.

Thursday, June 23rd, 2016

After our playdate with Trent ended in him puking, Bails and I needed a change of scene.  Bouncy house, here we come!

Down the “snowball machine”!

When Bailey “broke out of jail”, aka one of the bouncy structures, he said “I didn’t use my bomb blaster to escape, I used my particle separator.”  Somebody has been reading a lot of superhero books.

Pit stop at Molly Moon’s ice cream on the way home!

Bummer to miss Parker’s field day, but a nice dry bouncy house was better than a cold, wet, field.  Luckily, he didn’t seem to mind the weather, and was flying high on “being undefeated in winning tug-of-war!”

Too cool for school dude.

The boys and I had a really sweet afternoon exploring their “Little Passports”.  Those are great packages (thanks, Grandma Sue and Bonka!)  Parker made some of the activities, Bailey started his passport and map, and then the boys wrote Post Cards back and forth to each other.  It is so nice when we can all hang out uninterrupted for the afternoon!

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016

Beautiful day for a drive up to Lake Forest Park.  Bailey was excited to see he could climb higher in the trees this year.

When he found out we were going to see my Grandma, he jumped on the opportunity to bring his swim trunks and new squirt gun.  He knew he could find a willing water gun fight participant in my dad!

Of course the army men had to come out – at least we got smart this year and put them on a blanket, instead of the green figures blending in with the green grass.  New “zombie” creatures appeared as well to battle.  Bailey decided he needed the stretchers for his side, since I was the zombie team, and “well, your pieces are already dead, so they don’t need to go to the hospital to get better”.  Smart thinking.

Parker and more block creations!  The chair they designed from a book, the other tower is all his own.  Shelley asked Parker to create a writing goal for the summer.  Parker is aiming for the stars and wants to create a “Create Your Own Challenge” book.  He will bring in his journal every week to create this book.  Shelley also established what the routine will be with Tate. For three weeks running, they will be in the “blue” room, or other similar smaller sized room.  Then, if they have earned it, and agree on it, they can be in the “yellow” room for the 4th week.  The yellow room is where the big bouncy equipment and fun toys are, but yet, also the most distractors.  Parker has requested to bring in his large pack on CitiBlocks for that 4th visit, Shelley says they will revisit that idea later.

Tuesday,  June 21st, 2016

Parker was a great sport as headed off to his last few days of 2nd Grade.  Bailey was excited to go to the zoo with his friends! Ended up just being Landon,but they had a blast together!

B – “Look! The flamingos have price tags on them!”, when he saw the identification bracelets on their legs.

“Nesting” flamingo boys.

Bailey taking a yoga moment in the tree – “ommmmm”.  The boys wanted to stop at every playground at the zoo,which was great.

Originally we were going to be home 12:30ish, but the boys were really excited to see Yola, the new baby gorilla, and she wasn’t going to come out and play until 1.  The boys were still going strong, so we decided to stick it out.   We are so glad we did – she was adorable!!  We all agreed her antics were a highlight of an already fun day.

“Booby trapped bridge!”

Back at home to pick P up.  Sunny boy coming home – sure is nice just chill at school, and know there’s  no homework to come home to!  He spent a good portion at school working on this catapult.

Went to the library also, and re-introduced them to their own library cards.   Parker seems to have a renewed interest in Minecraft, and Bailey as well, so they put some Minecraft building books on hold.  I reminded them that grown-ups get the right to look at the books when they come in to make sure they’re appropriate.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Last gathering at Little Howe after Bailey’s school.  These have been such sweet afternoons. I hope all the kids continue to get along, even with their bumps in the road.

After Parker’s school, we headed to a very sunny Farmer’s Market. Along with at least half of QAE.  The boys chose some ripe cherries and peaches, and then their “sophisticated” pallets brought them to the fish n chips stand for dinner.  They both loved how large the pieces of fish were, and that they were wrapped in newspaper.

We had a leisurely afternoon there. Parker was enthralled with his Boy’s  Life magazine, and Bailey enjoyed sharing his Boogie Board drawings with Asher.

After having our fill of sun and food, we headed back to QAE for Parker’s PBL Showcase on Blue Whales.  He took such pride in his work, and rightly so! Fantastic details and knowledge.

I especially loved the whale sculpture he made, and his corresponding scene, complete with 3-D seaweed and plankton for it to eat.

Check out a portion of his reading of his report, and his video he made!

https://youtu.be/RSgiObMkrCI

https://youtu.be/EH9x_xag3CQ

Wednesday, June 14, 2016

Another day flies by! Parker slept in until 830, but woke up happy.   Bailey had a playdate at Trent’s, so the house was quiet until 3.

Boy was Bailey happy when he realized he can now reach this top bar! He came flying across the playground to come show me.

Parker had OT with a kiddo named Jonah today.  I told him earlier in the week, and day,  that a new kid would be joining him because Shelley needs Parker to help show him the ropes and be a really good example of how great he is doing.  Turns out the kid wasn’t new,  but Parker did a great job working with him anyways.  Shelley might look for another kid to join him and Tate, to add a neutral presence in there.  Parker really seems to be motivated to “graduate”, so that could be a good drive this summer.

Back at home,  top secret projects, hence the poor angle of the picture.  Just know the boys were being very creative and working on the project together very well!

Tuesday, June 14th, 2016

Parker came down raring to talk about what he had learned at the Cub Scouts meeting.  I’m so glad to see him this excited about it!  He wanted me to tell him more about the different levels, and was thoroughly impressed that my brother completed his Eagle Scout.  Of course, he made sure to tell me that he’ll need to buy a pocket knife, a new backpack and a first aid kit.  I told him that he has to first learn how to safely use a pocket knife before one could even be talked about being bought.  And reminded him he already has three backpacks. 😉

Bailey slept in until 8:15, and then during breakfast was saying he was tired.  Next thing I know, the smarty pants is saying, I am “T . I. R. D., tired!”  In between each letter, he was sounding out the word “tired”.  Yay!

The pre-k engineered devices to keep an egg safe when it is dropped. Bailey was a little bummed that his broke,  but then, “ew, you see it’s guts!”, when he saw the broken egg whites.

After hw and chores,  Hank and Gus came over for 20 minutes.  Team work to build a marble run! Then debate over whether to call it a “Chocolate Factory” or a “Chocolate Machine”.

More engineering after dinner..Parker wanted to create a ramp for his cars. “I think this is the best thing I can build.”

June 7-9

Superhero day at soccer!  They blasted Mr. Freeze, and the best part was when they were walking around like the Penguin.  Or should I say waddling around.

Parker’s beautiful piece of writing that shows just how far he has come this year!

Beyond improving in spelling and writing, he actually remembered  that Shelley had asked him to bring in a piece of work that he was proud of this week.  That’s huge that he’s starting to take responsibility for his work!

Parker was very excited to show us this structure he had built.  What a great activity for them to do when he had a headache to keep him calm, focused, and quiet.

Which is more colorful, Bailey’s choice in outfit, or the John Hay sign?  :-p   I guess we’re lucky he usually picks more coordinated outfits!

Preschool buddies playing dogs in their house.  Pretty much the whole time Sid and Trent were over. 🙂

I had thought Mad Libs was done, so B and I went at regular time to pick P up.  Parker was on the ball though, and thought he had one last session.  He was correct, so Bailey and I headed home for him to finish up his birthday Thank You notes.  I had him really focus on starting at the top and left of the page, and to write one word per line, instead of a word taking up more than one line.  Success!

It was a sweet time for Bailey to tell me how special Aunt Liz is to the family.  Nothing really brought it up, but he told me that she has a small hole in her heart, and that makes her extra special to him.

The master art work Parker created for his last day at Mad Libs!  Glad to see such great details.

In cleaning out the drawers this week, I’ve made it easier for the boys to re-discover some treasures they have in there.  The play money was especially a hit to re-find.  Parker started a loan counter (again, out of nowhere!) and gave a fairly accurate description to Bailey about what a loan was.  Bailey played along for a bit, but then decided stealing the money was an easier course.