to be a kid again...

When I was a kid, the only water entertainment was either running through the sprinkler, or splashing in a tiny plastic Scooby Doo pool. Sometimes, at my grandparents, we'd rig up the sprinkler over the clothesline so it would rain down into the pool, and that was as good as it got. I don't even think they had water parks or water slides back then. And I know as sure as I'm sitting here, they did not have this:

Our friends had a great birthday bbq party last night, and we arrived to find this fantastical inflatable super fun fun bounce water slide-a-rama. And, if you look closely, you'll notice Dylan is the one totally airborne at the top of the slide. Just looking at this photo makes me yearn for a chiropractor. And to be five again.

making summer memories

My kids like to stay busy, and our days go much more smoothly when we are on the go. I plan the activities for my MOMS Club, and I'm constantly on the prowl for kid-fun places in our area. Fortunately in the summertime, there are a million places to choose. We spend a lot of time at our community pool, which is so kid-friendly, with a zero depth entrance and lots of cool fountains. Yesterday, we went to a great little waterpark the kids love.

Today, we checked out a small, local zoo before it got too hot out. I have always heard about this place, but we just never made it until today. It was very hands-on with lot of places the kids could feed the animals.
Logan was fascinated by the free roaming animals and the size of their feet....



....and the giant tortoise.



We saw a family of spider monkeys hanging out with their new baby.

We even saw some kangaroos doing what comes natural - trying to make some more kangaroos. Dylan asked me what they were doing, and I quickly said "hugging! Lets go see the reptile house!", as some teenagers were approaching and I knew the hugging explanation wouldn't hold up for very long.

I love these kinds of days with my kids - getting to experience the world so innocently through their eyes. Everything is fascinating to them - from the way a tortoises shell feels, to getting to chase ducks along a dusty path. I'm so grateful to have this opportunity to be home with them and make these memories. This job doesn't pay much, but its absolutely overflowing with benefits.

Aqua Boy

Dylan passed his swimming test this evening. It was very exciting! We didn't even know he was going to take the swim test tonight, it just kind of happened when we arrived at his swim lesson. The teacher thought he was ready, and after a little practice treading water, it was thumbs up. He had to swim the length of the pool, and a few times I wasn't sure he would make it. He is the youngest kid in his class by over a year. But he just kept going, knowing once he passed, he'd be allowed to go down the slides and off the diving boards. He has always been very confident in the water and it seems to be natural thing for him. In fact, he has only had one other swim lesson his entire life. Tonight was night four of an eight night class, and he did it already! Way to go buddy!

splish splash

Andrew is heading to a work conference this week. So tomorrow morning the kids and I are heading to the lake house to meet my Mom for a few days. In the meantime, here is a photo I snapped of the kids splashing in our baby pool on Friday. Be back soon!

summertime, and the living is crazy

I'm suddenly aware that we are almost already to the middle of June, and summer is flying by way too fast!



With preschool and soccer over, our days have been filled with pool time and playdates. Its much more fun taking Logan to the pool this summer. He has very little fear of water and sticks his face in, and tries to do whatever Dylan does. When we are not at the pool, it seems I am doing laundry - all the extra wet towels and bathing suits.



The kids are so active, its hard to keep up! I'm trying to minimize TV time. Today during Logan's nap, Dylan and I had science time, followed by an hour floating objects in our baby pool to see if they'd sink or float.



These next few weeks, our calendar is jam packed with random short trips, parties, visitors and other goodies. I think July will be a bit more calm. We are, however, planning Logan's 2nd birthday party and keeping it on the smallish side. We'll save the big 'friends' party until 3 or 4.

Since I have no interest in summer TV shows, I've been spending more time reading in the evening. I just finished this and now I'm working on this. Totally different from each other but both equally captivating!


Also, I just started a new volunteer position within my MOMS Club, and I'm planning all of our weekly events. Its a lot of work, but we're getting to do some pretty cool stuff I'll be blogging about at some point!

hot fun in the summertime

weekend wrap up

This weekend, Dylan had his last regular soccer game of the year (the tournament is this weekend). Andrew has enjoyed coaching the team for the most part (except for the incident where one of the kids randomly walked up and punched him in the you know whats). Yowza. We are trying to decide if we should try a different sport this fall, skip sports all together for a season and let Dylan get adjust to kindergarten, or stay with soccer. We'll see.

On Sunday, we joined the Clark Crusaders team in the Walk for Juvenile Diabetes Research.

The team raised close to $10,000 for diabetes research! It was a beautiful day spent with a great group of people, and there were tons of kids' activities and fun. Dylan practically ran the entire walk, and then we spent the rest of the day at the pool cooling off. His endless energy never ceases to amaze me. Logan is more interested in the snacks I've brought, with a little splashing here and there. Whereas Dylan is nonstop swimming action the entire time, even though the water isn't exactly warm yet. I'm just glad Dylan is a pretty good swimmer or else I don't know how I'd handle them both by myself at the pool with one in the water and one out.