For J week, we kept our weekly Junket simple and close to home. We started with a Joyous lunch at Jason's Deli. It has been a long time since I have eaten there and I forgot how Juvenile-friendly that place is. The kids actually liked the food in the kids meals and they were especially Jubilant about all of the varieties of free crackers from the salad bar. To top of the meal, there is free soft serve ice cream for dessert--what JOY!
The Jubilant Juveniles Just before lunch at Jason's Deli
Juice Box Joy
Jovial Ryder
Jocund Kaydence
Jocose Rustin
Judicious Kassidy
Jazzy Kyndall
Following our Jaunt to Jason's Deli, we Jetted over to the park to play on the Jungle gym.
Ryder & Rustin
Kyndall
Kassidy & Kaydence
All in all, we had a Jolly-good time and the kids would Jump at the chance to take this Journey again!
Just wanted to let you know that I am planning a 2012 WQ+2 calendar this year. I am planning on having them printed at Costco again. Like last year it will include a few pics of Riley and Kaiya too. A few people have requested a copy of the calendar, even though it isn't all quints, so I thought I would throw the offer out there for everyone.....If you have a blank spot on your wall that you would like to fill with a WQ+2 Calendar, I would be happy to order one for you and have it sent to the Costco nearest you. You can then pick it up and pay for it at your Costco. The cost for the calendars is $9.99 plus tax.
If you would like a 2012 WQ+2 Calendar, just send me an email at rcwilkinson@gmail.com Let me know how many you want and which Costco you would like to pick them up at, and I will send in the order. Calendars take 5-7 business days to arrive.
This week we decided to take a break from learning new letters and review the ones we know so far--A B C D K L M P R S. (and by "this week" I really mean a month ago, since that is how far behind I am!) For our field trip, we hit the road and went to Dinosaur World in Glen Rose, Texas. Dinosaur World is home to over 150 life-sized dinosaur replicas.
Picnic Lunch! I got up early Friday morning and put together a fabulous picnic lunch which ingeniously incorporated all our letters (apples for A, bagels for B, cheese sticks for C, etc.) Unfortunately my brilliance ended there. After we had been on the road for about 30 minutes, I realized that I had not-so-brilliantly left the cooler with our picnic at home on the kitchen counter! Dinosaur World is REALLY in the middle of nowhere, so fast food was not an option, but we did find a little grocery store and we were able to make a hodge podge picnic (though not quite as alphabetical!)
Kassidy, Ryder, Rustin, Kaydence and Kyndall---The park was kind of like a zoo for dinosaur statues. We followed a large circular path to see all the exhibits. Each one had a sign giving the dinosaur's name and info.
I tried to get the kids to stay and look at each dinosaur long enough for me to tell them dino's name, but some of them (most notably Kyndall--no surprise there) just wanted to run to the next one!
Halfway around the loop there was a pond with Koi fish swimming in it, which the kids found utterly fascinating.
Kyndall, Ryder, Rustin, Kassidy and Kaydence
Everybody's favorite dinosaur---the T-Rex!
Running from the T-Rex
The park also had a big playground, which my kiddos loved!
Kassidy
Kaydence---Kaydence had my favorite quote of the day....the kids kept running from dinosaur to dinosaur all day---I tried to slow them down by having them say each of the dino's names before moving on. At one point, Kaydence ran ahead and then stopped and yelled back at me, "Mom, LOOK---It's an Oh-My-Goodnessaurous!"
Rustin
Kyndall
Ryder
Eaten alive!
Our final activity at the park was a fossil dig. Each of the kids got their own tools and could dig for 15 minutes. At the end they could select three fossils to take home with them.
Budding archeologists
The kids had a blast and have been begging to back, so I think it was a successful field trip!
Rustin recently had to get glasses! He "failed" his vision screening at his 4-year check-up, so I took him to see a pediatric optometrist. Turns out he does have a few issues with his eyes, so the glasses help a lot! He was always a little slower at learning things like the alphabet before and had a harder time with our preschool activities, but now I realize it was because he couldn't see. I think he is absolutely adorable in the new glasses (which we had to special order because he insisted on having BLUE). So far he is doing great with them, but he is all boy, so I am sure it is only a matter of time before they get broken :-)
The Whole Wilkinson Clan (photo by Angie Moore Photography)
This August, Jayson's family had a reunion in Colorado. It was short, but packed with fun and creative activities. Each day had a theme. Day 1 was "Thriller". It started with a family photo shoot in Garden of the Gods---not exactly Thrillerish, but we did make some Thriller poses!
Zombie Pose: Riley, Jayson, Rachelle, Kaiya, Kassidy, Ryder, Kaydence, Rustin and Kyndall. (photo by Angie Moore Photography)
Waiting our turn, we snapped a few photos of our own...
The Original Wilkinson Family: Kevin & Sylvia Wilkinson, with kids (in birth order): Jayson, Alicia, Joel and Megan (photo by Angie Moore Photography)
Cousin Buddies: Trevor, Riley and Andrew
WQ+2 (photo by Angie Moore Photography)
Following the photos, we headed to Rudy's for Lunch. We didn't even have to drive all the way to Texas to find Rudy's, they now have one in Colorado Springs!
Yum!
The Quints favorite part is the cheap white bread
When we got back home, the real Thriller fun began...wearing our matching Thriller T-shirts (which we later tye-dyed), we made our own Thriller music video (inspired by the Michael Jackson Wii game).
Check it out below---we had way too much fun making it!
Thriller Day ended with everyone getting their own Feltie Zombie, made by my crafty mother-in-law. Each zombie was carefully crafted to match each persons interests and personalities.
The Feltie Zombie Display
Day 2 was "Harry Potter" day. Each person had their turn under the sorting hat to determine which house they were in.
Ryder getting sorted
Next, everyone went to the "wand shop" where their wand selected them. Once again, my mother-in-law's creativity amazed me---she actually made wands for everyone with their name inscribed on them and she sewed protective wand carrying bags for them to go in!
Stupify!
The hunt for the Sorcerer's stone
Churchify: Harry Potter Day was Sunday, so we also went to church :-)
The third day was "Down on the Farm" day. One of Sylvia's co-workers owns some horses and graciously allowed us to come over for some carriage rides
Ryder & Rustin
Kaydence and Kyndall
Kaiya
Kassidy
Horses were not the only animals on the "farm"
Final Group shot!!
After the reunion, we stayed with Jayson's parents in Colorado for a few more days. Another one of Sylvia's friends has pet RATS. The thought of it seems kind of icky, but they were actually quite cute, if you could get past their very rat-like tails!
Oh Rats!
Kaydence
The kids lost interest in the rats as soon as they discovered the wealth of toys at the house we were visiting!
Kyndall, my true animal lover, made friends with the kitty
Jayson
Riley
Kaiya
My friend Liz, who used to live near me and was so much help when the quints were born, now lives in Colorado Springs. She is either really brave or really crazy, because she drove up, picked up ALL seven of the kids and took them back to her house for a sleepover! The kids LOVED it! It was one of the highlights of the trip for them. Apparently, tree elves live near Liz and they leave treats in good little boys and girls shoes.
While in Colorado, I think we broke a record for the highest number of thrift shops invaded by quintuplets on a single day...
Goodwill
Salvation Army (I think...they all started to blend together after a while...)
ARC Thrift Store
We found the best deals at Goodwill! I came away with several pairs of jeans for the kids and myself for 99 cents! I have always been more of a clearance deal shopper than a thrift store shopper, but with my mother-in-law's help, I think I could become a thrift store convert :-)
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