Kelepouris Family: July 2019

The first couple of days of July we missed out on the first half of our annual 4th of July "Baecation," but since the kids had PLENTY of extra red, white and blue outfits they dressed the part even before we headed up there.

Landon was really excited to show Papa how he (we) completed a Sudoku puzzle!

A few days after returning from our 4th of July trip, Brooklyn went in to surgery to have her umbillical hernia fixed. She was the happiest little surgical patient going into surgery (and Rady Children's Hospital really knows what they're doing)!

It was a quick surgery, she did great (Mommy had a hard time seeing her go under anesthesia though) and the recovery wasn't bad (a popsicle, TV, movies and a nap).

Grammie came down to help with Landon, and the two of them had fun preparing for Brooklyn to come home (welcome home poster, flowers, a balloon and Target shopping).

She walked slowly and carefully just for a couple of days, and, when she would finally give in and take Tylenol she seemed to feel almost like her normal self. After the first 2 days, the only downside was that she wasn't allowed to swim, run, jump, climb (or do anything fun) for 2 weeks. When she refers to her wound or bandage she calls it "my surgery" in a whisper voice, like it's a bad word.

We tried very hard to spend our time doing relatively quiet activities, like digging for fairies while Landon got to play outside with Aiden a few days.

A few days post-surgery the kids and I went to Grammie's house (and Daddy played in a softball tournament in San Diego). We enjoyed Handel's Ice Cream, Mongolian BBQ, the San Clemente Pier with Grammie & Auntie Sheila, went to Sydney & Mackenzie's birthday party, saw "Toy Story 4" with Grammie & Papa and played with Auntie Gail, Uncle Fred & Katherine!

Papa (and all of his patience) even had a Sudoku helper.

Brooklyn and Zoe attended Magic Fairy Dance Camp. (Katherine Good sent her a Poison Ivy tutu at the perfect time!) They had a great time coloring, dancing, crafting, snacking and dancing some more.

A few of the days Brooklyn had a hard time and cried at the very end of class. Crying time happened when she saw me (and even just the other moms) and the freestyle dance coincided. Miss Kelli had Brooklyn be her special helper at the end of one of the days, which worked like a charm! She also met a friend, Reem, there, who was so sweet and so concerned for Brooklyn when she cried. We even planned a playdate with her at the Splash Park the following week.

On the last day of camp they performed for the parents, and "a real princess fairy" joined the class. I was so worried about how Brooklyn would feel and thought she might not perform and/or cry when it started, but she did great!

Landon and Jacob went to a Wonders! Super (science) Camp. This was Landon's second year attending this camp. He had a great time, liked riding on a hovercraft and learned a bunch of cool stuff!

Daniel and Brooklyn had fun with PlusPlus creations for a few days.

Daniel and I took Luke out for his first Birthday Date. He wanted to go to Soup Plantation and the mall.

Holy sprinkles!

We got to the mall as they were closing the train, so we went to the Disney Store instead. We had a great time!

These kids!

Grammie gave us Battleship, which Landon loves to play....and Brooklyn loves to design with.

This summer we only attended one of the Summer Sunset Concerts, but it was the kids' favorite one, where they shoot streamers into the crowd and throw a bunch of chotskies...and they got their faces painted (B got flowers, and L got Miles Morales from "Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse")!

Boy do they love dressing up!

...and sword fighting!

Date (Devilicious for apps, Nightingale for dinner, Geocaching for the first time and Unique Pasty Factory for a Hungarian Chimney Cake dessert) and double date (Crush & Brew dinner, speak easy drinks & BJ's dessert) nights!

After Daniel and I had a date night, Landon asked, "How come you guys get a date night and we don't?" He made a great point, so we had Mother-Son and Father-Daughter Dates the following day. Landon and I went to In-N-Out then Chuck E Cheese's. At lunch I asked him what he thought French fries were made from. He said, "giraffes?" (When asking Brooklyn later, she replied, "styrofoam.") Daniel and Brooklyn went to Carl's Jr. to play at the Playplace then home to watch a show. Cousins came over for dinner that night too...what a fun day!

We watched the 4th of July video at the Palmquist's new house after a little time at Oceanside Beach. While there, Addison and Kaylee corralled all of the kids together so they could plan a surprise for 4th of July Baecation 2020. (The next day, both Landon and Brooklyn asked if they HAD to participate in Addison's performance at 4th of July.)

Landon went to multi-sports camp and loved dodgeball.

This was perhaps the hottest and most humid week to have sports camp in Temecula, the poor kids!

This duo plays so well together!

Brooklyn's belly button is healing nicely. She has an innie again! It was a rough 14 days of no climbing, jumping, running, etc., but we got through it with a countdown. Everyday (multiple times a day) Brooklyn would ask how many more days until what she named "Zero Day."

When Zero Day arrived, we celebrated. Landon wanted to be the one to wake Brooklyn up.

As usual, she took a minute, but once she realized it was Zero Day she got right up and JUMPED off her bed!

...then they wrestled...

...then she jumped on (and off of) the couches.

We jumped around at Get Air...

...and came home to ride her big girl bike, balance bike, scooter, roller skates and balance board.

We had a blast playing electric guitar jump rope...

...and then we swam!

Then Daddy topped it off when he came home with a Happy Zero Day balloon, "0" donut and candle!

What a day!!!

We also celebrated Zoe's birthday with our annual Birthday Date. She decided to take Landon this year, and she wanted to go to Panera and Luv 2 Play. (Daniel and I were more tired from taking turns chasing them around the play structure then either of the kids were!)

And her unicorn party was fun!

Daniel took Brooklyn into the pool 3 days in a row after we got back from SLO and taught her how to swim, from screaming, yelling and crying that she didn't want to go off the step to (15 minutes into the first "lesson") swimming half the width of the pool to the step. She made huge strides in those 3 days, then was not allowed to submerge her belly button in water for 2 weeks. As soon as those 14 days were over she got right back into it and now LOVES swimming! She's a major fish and loves both "ice cream scoops" (freestyle stroke) and "circles" (breaststroke) as well as (aided) diving for toys.

We had Zoe and Charlotte (from Giggles & Gluesticks) over for a pool party, and all the kids had a great time! Brooklyn loved having her firneds there, but she had even more fun just swimming and diving for toys (without help now!) on her own. (Zoe and Charlotte both started kindergarten this year, so they won't see each other at preschool anymore.)

Landon's first wiggly tooth finally fell out (over a month after it started wiggling in Greece)! He let Daniel try to pull it out a couple of times. Daniel got it close, then Ladon finished it off himself!

New smile! (And his adult tooth was already about halfway in when the baby tooth fell out.)

The tooth fairy visited him that night and brought a glittery surprise!

The next pool party was with some of Landon's kindergarten buddies (and their little sisters and mamas), Tristan/Celse, Christian/Cavali and Jacqueline. The kids swam and swam then had a water balloon fight.