Summer Fun

The last few days it has gotten pretty hot with high's around 90 degrees. We have taken advantage of some of this warm summer weather with pool, water, and outdoor fun.









We also met up with one of Rebekah's church friends at Coolidge Park. Joshua wasn't very fond of the sprinklers, and the girls were ready to eat lunch soon after we arrived, so we didn't play in the water much. After lunch we rode the carousel.

Rebekah is excited to ride


Rebekah's friend Natalee


Joshua was not looking forward to the ride at first. In fact, he was scared...


...Until the carousel started moving.


He was hooked after that!

Rebekah earned her second sticker for SwimAmerica today.

Station 2 – Bubblers (Underwater Exploration)

Advancement Goals:
Go underwater by self
Open eyes under water
Hold breath and blow out (deck)
Blow bubbles in water

Joshua did better today in his swim class as well. He still was very clingy with me, but he's relaxing a little bit more in the pool. He's grabbing and holding the wall excellently! His upper body strength really amazes me, and I think a lot of that has to do with compensating for his low muscle tone when he was army crawling.

Another exciting milestone is that Joshua is exploding in learning his letters. Just a few weeks ago the only letter he had mastered for sure was 'O'. He now knows over half the uppercase letters and about a third of the lowercase letters. I confess I haven't worked as much with him as I did Rebekah, so she knew all her letters by this age and even how to spell her name, but Joshua is catching on quickly for learning them mostly using the Fridge Phonics and other alphabet toys. He even surprised me today by identifying the number 4. Now I'll have to see how many numbers he knows!

Fun-filled Weekend

Get ready! This is a picture overloaded post! This past weekend we, particularly Rebekah and I, went non-stop. We had a packed weekend filled with fun with friends. Friday morning our friends LeeAnne and Maggie came to our house so the girls could play one more time together before Maggie starts preschool this week. The girls had such a great time at our previous play date that we wanted to get the girls together again. It was another fun visit!

Rebekah was eager to see Maggie arrive. She stood in the kitchen window anticipating her arrival.


Rebekah pulled out her U.S. puzzle and the girls worked on it together for a little while.


Joshua enjoyed himself as well.


The girls hung out on the couch while LeeAnne read a short book to them.


After playing outside, lunch, and more playing the girls finished the puzzle before LeeAnne and Maggie left. The puzzle pieces didn't want to stay together, so it was rather challenging keeping the puzzle intact, but they completed it.


Saturday morning an old friend of mine from church when we were in elementary and junior high school came over for a visit along with her husband and 2 1/2-year-old daughter. It had been years since I had seen Robin, and it was nice to catch up with her. Unfortunately, her daughter was not feeling well and they had to leave after about an hour, but I got to see Robin again on Sunday at church. Hopefully they will visit again soon, and maybe I can get some pics at our next get together.

Saturday evening Rebekah and I went to Coolidge Park to attend Swingfest with LeeAnne, Bobby, and Maggie. We had anticipated all the music to be swing, but the first band played jazz, the second played Big Band, and we left before the third band played, which I understand was supposed to play swing. I was disappointed that we didn't get to hear any swing music. That is what I was really looking forward to hearing. We still had a lot of fun, and Rebekah enjoyed dancing to the music.


Here's a pic LeeAnne captured of Rebekah and me dancing.


The girls had more fun walking along this brick wall! Well, Rebekah enjoyed running along it!


Here's another pic LeeAnne got of the girls. I love Rebekah's expression with her arms open wide!


Riding the carousel - what a hilarious face!


The girls were jumping off the wall while holding LeeAnne's hands earlier then later they decided to help each other where the wall was much lower to the ground.


Sunday afternoon was Paxton's birthday party. Paxton is a little boy in our playgroup, and we celebrated his second birthday at Pump It Up. Joshua only napped for about 30 minutes, so he stayed home with Darrin while I took Rebekah to the party. She had lots of fun sliding the big inflatable slide the most.

Sliding with Jessica, Heidi, and Kyle


Heidi and Rebekah


Paxton, the birthday boy


Whew! What a weekend it was! It was nice to have Monday as a holiday just to relax and do nothing.

Staycation Day 2

For the past couple of weeks we have intended to take more days as a family to enjoy our city and the fun activities for the kids, but between families feeling unwell and Joshua's teething blow-out diapers we have postponed our activities. Friday we finally got to take a day as a family to go to Coolidge Park.

When we first arrived we took a couple of rides on the carousel. All of the animals and such were hand-carved and hand-painted. They are absolutely beautiful pieces of artwork! Joshua was not crazy about going up and down on the horse, so the second ride we all sat in one of the sleighs. It was just as much fun because they sit on the outside ring of the carousel, so you feel the pull outward from centrifugal force as you ride around.

Here are a few pics from our carousel ride.




We then stripped down to our bathing suits to play in the fountains. Rebekah seemed to have the most fun running around and checking out the statues.


After a while I took the kids to play in the water. Both the kids were hesitant at first.


As you can see, Joshua wasn't happy at first.


Rebekah, on the other hand, had a ball!


I finally got both the kids to play in a small water fountain to get them used to the larger fountains. Rebekah did wonderfully. Joshua liked it briefly then decided he had enough.



Joshua wanted to practice walking instead. He actually led me out to the big grassy area where he did most of his walking.


And Rebekah played in the water.



I think this picture is hilarious!


After a short lunch break (and I mean short, because when Rebekah is having fun and too excited to eat, lunch doesn't last long at all!) a bunch of girls from Girls Preparatory School showed up at the fountains. They were there on a field trip through their P.E. class that they call Bruiser Class. I was concerned that Rebekah would be really hesitant to play in the fountains with all those girls there, but she actually became more excited as she watched the middle schoolers squeal and enjoy the water. I also think that having already had some time in the fountains before they arrived helped her to warm up to the place, so she felt more free to play. What surprised me, though, was that Rebekah really had more fun with those girls playing there too. I guess my little girl is growing up on me.

A Day at the Park

Yesterday our playgroup met at Coolidge Park for the day, thinking we would beat all the crowds before school got out. Everybody and his brother were there. Kindergarten graduation, elementary school end-of-the-year celebration, and even high school and college activities were going on. People were everywhere enjoying the beautiful weather and fountains. So much for beating the crowds!

We found our friends playing in the water fountains and set up our blankets in the shade near a picnic table not too far off. Rebekah was excited about riding the carousel, so we did that first. My mom had joined us for the outing, so she got Rebekah on the carousel and rode next to her while I rode on the other side with Joshua. Rebekah's arms trembled as she rode, although she seemed to have a good time. I could tell she was nervous riding all by herself without having an adult holding on to her.


After we rode the carousel we went back to our shady spot to dress Rebekah in her bathing suit so she could play in the fountains. Just as we were gathering our things to enjoy the water our friends LeeAnne and Maggie had a scary experience. I helped LeeAnne get her things to the car while my mom attempted to take Joshua and Rebekah to the water. Rebekah decided she did not want to play in the fountains once they got there. I think all the people was just too much for her.

We had lunch and enjoyed some of our friends in the shade while others dried off in the sun. Once dressed again we enjoyed another ride on the carousel, and Rebekah and her friend Heidi ran around some together.