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:

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. 

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.

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!

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.

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.