Goodbye sunscreen and lazy mornings

Yesterday I took the kids for what will likely be our last Hawaiian Falls trip for the year.  On Tuesday I remembered we were out of sunscreen so I ran by the store to pick some up, and then had the realization that I won't be buying any more sunscreen until next summer.  I'm not particularly sad about not having to buy sunscreen, but it just all went by so fast.  It was just a few days ago that the kids were wrapping up preschool and getting good at swimming, and then today  the kids were talking about their Halloween costumes (btw - today Rachel wants to be the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and Ethan wants to be a leprechaun...really).  This would be a really boring post without any pictures, so I'll do the exact opposite and post way too many to appease some grandparents out there who think I've abandoned my poor little blog.

In July we visited the MOLA for the first time at the Ft. Worth Zoo

The kids spent a lot of time this summer in their dress-up clothes

We did a lot of swimming and have some nice tan lines to show for it
 - Ethan will not swim without his swim shirt and goggles
 - Rachel will argue with you that she can swim just as good as Ethan
 - they are both jumping off the diving board - Rachel needs someone to catch her but Ethan can swim to the shallow end by himself
 - we went to Hawaiian Falls a lot - Ethan's fave is the wave pool and Rachel's fave is the blue slide without the tube

We were able to hang out with Addi, Libby & Levi quite a few times this summer
 - and a big HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY TO LIBBY YESTERDAY!

We had VBS at our church earlier this month and had a great time learning about Joseph
 - Rachel earned the most bands (points) in her age group (thank you Allie & Kate for coming as her guests) which meant she got to throw a pie in our youth minister's face...she's still not sure why she did it
 - Ethan earned the most bands in his age group (thank you Jack, Josie, Lauryn & Zachary) which meant he also got to throw a pie
 - E also earned the most bands of all the boys at VBS which meant he got a new bike!

The kids had a blast at their friend Scarlett's circus-themed birthday party

Cara and I took all the kids to the airplane musuem a couple of weeks ago and were pleasantly surprised when they allowed us to eat our packed lunch right beside this airplane

Rachel took a trial gymnastics class a couple of weeks ago and she's hooked.  I've been telling her all summer that when Ethan started kindergarten she could start gymnastics...better add that to my weekend to-do list

Monday night Clay & I had 3 other families over who are all sending their oldest child - all boys - off to kindergarten on Monday.  We enjoyed dinner together and then all of the Dads prayed over their son.  I definitely want to keep doing this as we move forward in our school years.

And then today we went to see a live production of Alice in Wonderland to celebrate Allie's 4th birthday.  The kids LOVED it.  I think this was their first play so hopefully they're hooked.

I wish I would have done a better job this summer of photographing the ordinary and every day moments.  We really enjoyed pajama days, catching bugs in the back yard, trips to the library, summer Bible study, having friends over to play, riding the carousel, dollar movies, and picnics in the living room.  I'm sure that in 20 years I'll be wishing I had pictures and video of these things.

Goodbye summer and hello school!

summer lovin'

It's official - I love summer. I think this kid does as well...

Levi lovin'

Last weekend my little nephew, Levi, spent a few days with my parents.  Friday morning the kids and I headed over there to hang out with him for a while.  It was so much fun because my kids are usually occupied with Addi & Libby when Levi is around, so it was fun to see them interact with him.  Looking forward to him being a little older so he and Ethan can start tormenting all the girls together. 





And this one is for the people who wondered if Rachel's hair would stay curly after her haircut:

Listful thinking

In my little world, every day would have a list of things that have to get done, a list of things that probably should get done, and a list of things that sure would be fun to do.  Well, around May I started making a list of fun things we could do this summer and it wasn't hard to fill it up.  So, in the spirit of embracing the summer, I ditched the lists of things that have to get done and probably should get done and we're just focusing on the fun.  Lately we've been to The Tubes at Irving Bible Church (a great free activity if you live around here), to the splash park by ourselves (a completely different experience by yourselves than with a bunch of other people), Clay took the kids to a balloon festival which was really more of an aircraft show (check Nicole's blog for pics), played in the front yard in the sprinklers, made some new friends (check Ashley's blog for pics), went to the lake with some friends and let the kids go tubing, Ethan started t-ball practice, we've been to the park, and we've also been to the movies a couple of times.  Now if I can just get my back to start feeling better we'll start exploring some other cool things on my list (anyone know of a black market that sells portable epidurals?  I'm thinking that's the only way to go to get some relief at this point). 

At the park


Jack & E


At The Tubes


At the splash park


E & Sophia at the lake


Clay and Rachel tubing


Rachel dodging the sprinkler


E in the sprinkler


And as a side note, Rachel has been speaking another language for the past 2 days.

Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

Oh, glorious summer.  Last year I did not embrace summer.  In fact, I think I may have even cursed it a few times.  However, we've kicked off this summer with new attitudes, a general love of the water by all, no swim diapers or morning naps, and lots of fun to be had.  It's week 2 and we already have a nice tan brewing...gonna be a great summer.

Different strokes for different cousins

A couple of weeks ago my mom, Addi & Libby came to the pool with us.  I laughed thinking about how their personalities were so reflected in the few pictures I took.  Maybe you can identify with at least one of them!

Addison: Independent, confident, underwater swimmer, leading the pack, happy to be in her cute swimsuit, a little annoyed that Ethan didn't want to go down the slides


Ethan: extremely cautious, had to be in the ring or stuck to me, loved spraying other people with water but did NOT want people spraying him, a little annoyed (okay, mildly panicked) that I made him go down the slide...once


Libby: a little fish, just happy to be with other happy people, tried to do everything Addi did, a little annoyed that she couldn't do everything Addi did


Rachel: Sleepy, tired, exhausted, hungry, a little annoyed that the sun was so bright during her nap


I guess it's no secret which two had the best time!

Where are the children?

Do you see Ethan, Rachel, Lauryn & Allison anywhere in this photo?


Oh, no, that's right - they were WAY more interested in the ducks outside of the pool than the brand new pool we took them to.  I wish I was this easily entertained.

It's not actually swimming, but it's close

We kicked the summer off today by heading to one of the city pools.  Okay, it's not actually a pool you do laps in or anything, but it does have water, entertainment for my kids, good people-watching for Clay and me, shaded places to eat the lunch I threw together in less than 5 minutes this morning, and clean bathrooms so what more can you want?!?  We decided to get city pool passes this year - those combined with our zoo passes will hopefully by my sanity this summer while my husband is traveling all over the world this summer.  He says it's for business, but there's been a little too much talk of Stonehenge and the Sydney Opera House so I'm getting a bit skeptical.  I digress.  The kids had a blast this morning and we really enjoyed ourselves.  Here's to a lot of sunscreen applications this summer, many a soggy sandwich, lots of "Mommy - what kind of bug is that in the pool?", and tons of other great pool memories in the next 3 months.

The pool
 

I have been dying for Rachel to wear this suit since Tracy gave it to us in the fall - thanks, T!


And you have to love the shades that cousin Mak sent!


Ethan loved spraying the people below with the hoses


Both of the kids had fun with the sprayers around the pool



Taking a snack break


As you can tell, Rachel is feeling much better.  Thank you to everyone who said prayers for her this week.  She finally kicked her fever Thursday morning, and got her appetite back today.  She lost 2 pounds in the past 2 weeks, so we're thankful she's getting back to normal.  Thursday afternoon Nana pampered Rachel by giving her first mini pedicure.  She is SO proud of her painted toenails and gets very upset when she has to put shoes on.  What a girl.