Samantha's first blog

pamelamyers | July 7, 2017

Mark had to go into his office to drop off/pick up his laptop that broke, and since it was Friday and she was home, he offered to take Sam with him. He knows she is fascinated by his (or my) office. She had such a good time! When they got home, I heard all about it. Her favorite part was wearing her official SAP visitor badge. She felt like a VIP!

Daddy let her write on a whiteboard, she saw everyone typing away in their cubicles, and she just had the best time. The only other times she has really been in the office are during his summer picnic, and no one is working. It’s quite a different experience on a workday.

Last stop, the cafeteria, for a humongous cookie! Well, you know that made her day. Mark has to go back yet again on Monday and Sam is devastated that she can’t go because she will be at Busy Bees camp. Poor Sam!

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pamelamyers | July 6, 2017

Yesterday, we got to do a once-a-year thing — bike inside Tyler! Tyler only allows it one night a year and we knew we had to go. It was so much fun. We got to explore a lot more than we would have on foot because Sam didn’t get tired, and it was a beautiful night.

One of our first stops was one of the tree houses. Not surprising — Sam loves them!

We quickly reminded Sam that we were there to bike not go through every tree house and we got on the trail. It is so fun riding with her now that she is a fairly accomplished rider. She doesn’t even get upset now when she wipes out and falls.

There is a giant bug sculpture exhibit this summer and it was our first chance to see them. Sam loved this dragonfly…

…and the praying mantis. Maybe she loved him a little too much. Down, Sam!

The daddy long legs was creepy. Sam was showing us her own daddy long legs pose.

Eek! She’s trapped in a spider’s web! 🙂

The goats are also back this summer. There were little cards in the welcome office with all their names, their breeds, and a checklist so that you could find them all. Of course, we had to find each one. Sam loved that one was named Pam. It was hysterical, apparently.

We always stop at the pond for a look. The pond is always so murky it’s hard to see anything, but…

We found a frog! And a cute turtle who kept popping its head up out of the water and staring at us.

On the way down one path, we saw a huge caterpillar. We thought it might get squooshed, so with a stick I lifted it off the trail and into the grass. Not 10 seconds later, that little bugger was back on the trail! Who knew caterpillars were so quick?

We had such a great night. It’s a shame that Tyler doesn’t allow biking more than once per year. We’ll be back next time, for sure!

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pamelamyers | July 5, 2017

We started out our annual 4th of July festivities early this year. The holiday being on a Tuesday made it kind of an odd day to celebrate. We planned to shoot of some fireworks in the driveway like we have in the last few years, and decided to do them on Sunday instead of the actual holiday. When I mentioned it to Sam, her first question was, “Can Julia come?” She was super excited that Julia could in fact come and celebrate with her. Julia came over before dinner and we had pizza then Mark took them on a bike ride around the neighborhood. We weren’t going to wait until it was truly dark to get started (it would have been 9:00 which is way past when I wanted to get things rolling), but we did have to wait for it to darken up a little bit. Bike riding is a great way to kill some time.

As you can see, the girls had a blast!

Goofballs! They love making silly faces at this age, don’t they?

It still wasn’t quite dark so we started off with one of Sam’s favorites — Bang Snaps! She and Julia just love hurling those things at the ground and making noise. Well…they are kids. Noise is their thing, I guess.

Next up came the ever popular sparklers. They were using them as magic wands. 🙂

We started off with a few smaller fireworks just to get the ball rolling. Thank God Mark is ok with shooting them off. I would be a little nervous, but he does a great job. He is Mr. Safety, that is for sure. The kids have a “no cross” line and the hose is ready to go just in case! Thankfully, we’ve never had any issues.

We lit so many sparklers, but the kids never get bored with them.

We took a short break to let it get darker and Sam and Julia were goofing off on the swing. The wanted to swing together, but, well, it didn’t work out so well. But it made for cute photos!

Finally, it darkened enough, and our neighbors Joe and Debbie came out to see them too. We made it quite a party out there!

Some of these supermarket fireworks are pretty good, I have to say! Not bad for the lame-o stuff you can buy in Pennsylvania!

Way to go, Mark! What would Sam do without her fireworks show each year?

My neighbors really liked our show, so on the actual 4th of July, they wanted to set off more for their grandkids, Emma and Nolan. Joe asked Mark if he would mind doing it (probably safer that way…) They weren’t as big as some of ours, but the kids liked them. It was a lot and Joe asked Mark if he minded doing them and Mark responded that, really, they are asking if he minds blowing stuff up? Ha. Sam thought that was funny. She likes blowing stuff up too.

All in all, I think Samantha had a pretty nice 4th of July! Happy Independence Day!

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pamelamyers | July 5, 2017

Sam’s friend, Lina, who lives down the street got a pool for their backyard. It’s not huge, maybe 2.5 or 3 feet deep, but it is perfect for the kids to splash around in. Lina was nice enough to invite Sam over on a hot, hot day! They had a blast! I really like Lina (and her mom), so I hope the kids manage to stay friends. It’s not like there are a million girls her age in our neighborhood, unfortunately. I still remember how great it was having my best friend next door, and other girls down the street (even if I didn’t necessarily like them that much). We always had someone to play with, and with Sam being an only child, it’s hard. We keep hoping the girls will be in the same class next year. Fingers crossed!

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pamelamyers | July 1, 2017

In a quest to keep Sam busy this summer, because she loves being creative, I have bought her a bunch of stuff to do that is crafty in nature. She had started making things on one of those knitting spools, and so I bought her a larger knitting ring and she loves it. My mom bought some too for her house. The next retro craft she has delved into is a loop loom. You remember those things. We all made a million pot holders when we were little. You know you did, just admit it! Well, it’s her new obsession. She has made us so many so far. I told her we should take a picture of the very first one she made. Here it is! The pose was Sam’s idea. 🙂 She is aware, however, that they aren’t really useful as pot holders. I had to clue her in on that pretty quickly before she got offended that we weren’t using her creations.  I’m really happy she likes things like this. They are great ways for her to spend her time. I am all for fostering her creative nature. It’s better than a lot of other things she could be doing. And hey, I got some nice coasters out of it.

 

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