Summer Bucket List

The other day while the 5 of us were walking around the lakeshore path on campus waiting for Ben to get home from work and join us for ice cream on the terrace, I realized something.  THESE KIDS ARE NOT HIKERS.  We walked for maaaaaaaayve 6 and a half minutes before everyone needed to rest their tired little legs.

 The kids-- especially the 3 youngest kids-- are obsessed with NPR's Wow in the World podcast, and this episode told them they should feed ducks kale, not bread.  So, they packed a ziploc of kale and took it with us.

 The ducks were sort of meh about the whole thing, but fellow Terrace-goers looked at us like we were crazy litterbugs, and Harry and Dorothy ate it by the handful.  So, win?

 We were really there for this, the Freshman 15 sundae, featuring 15 scoops of Babcock ice cream, 5 toppings, and an entire can of whipped cream.

 The have been waiting for it all summer

 And it didn't disappoint.

 We abstained, mostly, because 4 kids gross up a giant sundae pretty fast.

 Their enthusiasm waned, but they wanted to see how much they could eat.

 Dorothy dropped out first

 And insisted I take her picture

 On both big chairs.

 Cooper was the last man standing!

 I LOVE when he meditates.

 Jack, in a quiet moment of after-dinner reading.  He has recently started the Wimpy Kid series and is in love.

 Cooper reminded me that it was his turn to come to the office with me.  Kind of bad timing since my pre-semester meetings start next week, and I have a LOT of work to do, but he's such a cute and agreeable date-- how could I refuse?

We started with lunch at Mickie's-- my fave.

 The his flip flop broke in the middle of a kid product wasteland.

 We hobbled up the street to a cute little novelty store that happened to have these weird fish clogs that almost fit him.  PERFECT.

 He played on Harry's computer while I did various work and then he helped me add to my photo wall and left filthy foot prints on my office credenza.

 Luckily I have a bottle of spray cleaner in my file cabinet (of course I do) and could clean it right off.  And we came home to a million boys in our front yard, and this kid still in her jammies: