Summer switch up

So the summer holidays are upon us.  11 weeks off for Oliver, 8 weeks for Isaac.  About a month ago I got together with some friends to discuss what we should do.  Given that we are away for nearly 3 weeks, and another friend is going away for nearly a month, organizing things is tricky.  Despite this, I felt motivated after coming home.  The boys and I sat down and did this

This is a rough plan of what we can do.  Hopefully there will be enough to keep everybody happy.  Oliver is having his operation a week before he goes back to school but Isaac will already be back by then. I honestly don't know how I keep up with everything sometimes.  Seb will continue going to school through the summer.  His is a day care, and he gets more from being there than being home with 2 smelly brothers.  Plus, he only does 3 mornings a week, and it will be nice for the other 2 to be able to do things with me, without me having to worry about a 3 year old.

We went to the zoo last week, first time in ages.  But we had to.  Joy the elephant is off for a better life in Colorado.  Due to AZA standards, Greenville are unable to keep an elephant of its own.  They were running lots of different events around the zoo in celebration of elephants, which my kids loved. 

Here is Isaac signing goodbye.  It will be sad to not have elephants at Greenville zoo anymore.  I know Seb in particular will find it hard not seeing the elephant when we go.  It's his favorite animal, and I don't think he quite understands.

****************

Another reason for going to Charlotte last week was to take a trip to ikea.  We had decided a while ago that it was time to get Seb out of his cot. I thought it best to wait till the boys were off school, so it wouldn't be too unsettling or tiring for everyone.  After a bit of debating around the store, we decided to invest in some bunkbeds.  They were not that much more expensive that a single, and when we move back to England, it will be highly unlikely we will have a house big enough for 3 single beds to start with.  Ikea was an absolute nightmare.  The queues were huge.  Paul queued while I took the boys for frozen yogurt.  He still wasn't at the front by the time they finished.  We went and got the car to wait for him.  It took ages, but we got the bunkbeds home.  Paul painted them last weekend, and we put them together in Oliver's room.  He has had bunkbeds before, so is used to them, it also gives us flexibility for sleep overs or if Seb is a nightmare when he goes to bed.

We went with garish yellow as we had it left over from the sandbox.  The thought is we will get some Kyle Busch/M&M stickers or decals to go on them, and make it into a Kyle Busch bed (next project!)

This then freed up Oliver's bed, which was the same as Isaac's before I decorated it.  I was going to stain it, but I don't have a lot of free time at the moment, so we decided to paint it.  Coat of white, followed by a coat of green (again left over from the sandbox).  The boys even helped to the green yesterday while I snoozed on the sofa.  Paul dismantled the cot (we will sell it), and put together the bed in Sebastian and Isaac's room today.  It has a new mattress and covers etc.

Seb loves it.  At certain times today he disappeared, only to be found in his bed, just lying there.  We put him to bed in it tonight.  He goes up at 7.30, Isaac at 8.  Seb was still awake when I took Isaac up.  This was followed by Isaac getting out of bed saying Seb was playing with the toys, trying to get in to his bed etc. The saving grace of bunkbeds.  Isaac got in the lower bunk in Oliver's room, we closed the doors, and they were both asleep with 20 minutes, with no issues.

Thank goodness for bunk beds.......