Swim lessons

Friday was the last day of swim lessons, and the parents are invited to come watch to see what all the kids can do.  They teach them beginning swimming technique, but also skills to help them keep safe in the water.  

 Lined up on the steps and ready to go!

C's turn to jump in, tread water, float, swim through the hula hoop, and kick back to the steps.

 H's turn, he did all of the same, but also swam to the bottom of the pool to pick up a pool toy. 

 Getting their certificates and ring pops.  I'm proud of the boys, and proud that they are not scared or nervous, but just love to swim!

 We went swimming together that afternoon.  H could swim totally without a floatie of any sort, and C could for short distances, but I did put a floatie on C after he started getting tired.  

H would jump in the pool and pop right back up out of the water, C would jump in and sink down.

H could barely kick and would propel himself easily from one side to the other, C would kick furiously and maybe move an inch.  I'm not quite sure how these differences are, but I'm chuckling about it!

The boys have been asking to have a sleepover for awhile now.  They already share a room, but wanted to try in the same bed.  The cute giggles coming from their room as they shared "secrets" were cute, but they only made it about five minutes before it was evident that it just wasn't going to work, and H was asking to get back in his "comfy bed."

Snapshots

 Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

(I love this man who has always had my back!)

 We checked out a kids cookbook from the library, and I've been letting the boys choose recipes to cook.  H had selected Strawberry Shortcakes.  They were helping me cut the strawberries.  The boys have been more interested in cooking lately, makes it more fun for all of us!

 Swim lessons! 

This is the boys' second summer taking swim lessons at the Prep Center.  They love it and are learning some good skills. 

 Worn out from summer!  

(And maybe a little growth spurt?)

C had his awards dinner for WeeBall at Johnny's Pizza.  What a fun first season he had, he likes all of his "baseball friends" (team mates), all of the "baseball men" (coaches), and is so excited about his "middle" (gold medal).  And H has learned the art and joy of photo bombing.  All of the sudden so many of my pictures have an extra face/finger/hand/etc.  That picture was supposed to be just of C and his coach, and then H ran in at the last minute with a big smile and laugh...  

National Pollinator Week at Black Bayou

We love the activities at Black Bayou, and didn't want to miss out on the National Pollinator week activities there!

 We were able to see some caterpillars, butterflies, and chrysalis' and learn about what butterfies and bees do to pollinate.  Then the boys were able to make some coffee filter butterflies

 And some hummingbird feeders

 They had some snacks that were provided by pollinators (fruits, berries, and chocolates).  The boys loved those snacks, especially the chocolates. 

 I had forgotten that the boys had some "what's buzzin' cousin?" bee shirts, and they thought it would be perfect to wear them to pollinator day. 

We went home for some lunch and some goggled and gloved fishing from C's little (yellow chair) house, with the use of a light sword and yoyo.  He told me he caught a big one!

Then we went to see Inside Out with some friends.  Such a cute movie, and since then, H has been telling me all about how "people have all sorts of feelings," and "right now I feel a little bit sadness and a little bit joy too." and C has been telling me about the "red guy" (anger) being his favorite.  

Weekend in Snapshots

 Morning walk.  This is probably Tatum's favorite part of the day, but the one of us it is the most important for is H!  He needs to expend the energy more than the rest of us.  It helps him to make better choices the rest of the day.

 Lots of rainy days this summer.  

They have lead to some pretty skies and sunsets.

 

 H was working on his selfie skills in the car...

C was attempting to take a selfie....

 Shopping with boys leads to funny faces in the mirrors, jumping off the benches in the dressing rooms, and trying on Mama's clothes while they are still hanging.  Always an adventure!

 The merry-go-round is a must see at the mall!

 Trying out the new yogurt shop at the mall.  The boys thought it was great!  Watermelon, chocolate, and gummy worms.  (I'm not sure that sounds too good to me)

C's last game of the season.   

He definitely enjoyed it! 

Summer is wearing these boys out!  

They are more worn out and fall asleep quicker this summer than they did during the school year.  

Wearing them out good!  (Wearing myself out too!)

Zoo and splash pad

We had a week between VBS and swim lessons to run around and do some fun summer activities.  We headed to the zoo!  The zoo is always fun with so many animals to see, even if the animals are all resting in the shady corners to try to stay cool.  

The zoo has an awesome new splash pad!  

The boys weren't sure why I told them to bring their swimsuits to the zoo, but they are generally up for pretty much anything.  

After we saw the animals and were good and hot, they changed into their swimsuits and waited for the water to come on.  

I will let these pictures speak for themselves, but it was soo much fun!  There was plenty of space for all the kids to move around and explore, and it kept them cool on a hot summer day! (Next time, I plan on wearing swim clothes or something because it just looked so fun, and I was too hot!)

We brought a picnic lunch and then splashed some more! 

 After changing out of swimsuits, we went by the petting zoo,

 and got something cold to drink to cool off.  

 These monkeys had a great time, and I think this will be a regular in our summer activity rotation.

It definitely did a good job wearing them out!

VBS

H was ready to go for VBS this summer!  We still listen to the music from and talk about last summer's VBS.  

C was still too young.  He really wanted to go!

H came home each day telling about the games, activities, snacks, songs, and more that they did that day.  I wish he could keep that same excitement about the gospel all year long!  

 They had a family night during VBS week for the kids to share their songs and what they were learning.  H felt very important to get on the stage and be part of the presentation.  Me and C had a fun time watching, and waving to H every time he turned around to look for us.

 Snow cones and popcorn after the presentation with these two!

 While H was at VBS, me and C would run errands, walk Tatum, play, and he really enjoyed looking at his baby pictures from our blog book.

 We also snuck in the back of the sanctuary so C could hear the songs and feel like he was taking part in VBS too.

 And then we took silly selfies while waiting for brother too be done with VBS.  

What a good week we had!

I love these two silly VBS boys with their extra big ears for listening to God!

FOUR!!!!

I can't believe this little boy is four!
It is hard to imagine that my baby is 4!

 We started the celebration the day before his birthday with birthday snow cones and swimming.  He was so happy about it!

 On the morning of his birthday we got pancakes and chocolate milk for his birthday at "Jama Days" (what C calls Java Dave's).

"Look I'm bigger now!"

He was glad to finally be able to wear his 4 shirt. 

 A couple of days later we had his birthday party.  It was going to be at the park, but with all of the rain lately it was so wet and muddy we decided to have it at our house.  Horton supervised the presents while we partied!

The kids kept themselves busy in the boys room. 

(their room always looks a lot smaller with seven or eight kids in there!)

I had picked up a few wooden masks at the craft store, for something to do, and it kept them very nicely occupied to color and then play with the masks.  

 C wanted a "baseball Ninja turtle" birthday cake, and thanks to our friend Amy who makes cakes, thats what he got!   A baseball diamond with the Ninja Turtles at each of the bases.  C normally loves attention, but once it was time for  presents and cake he became very bashful and shy.  

 I'm four!

 The birthday bunch. 

 So much fun!  I'm thinking that four is going to be a good year!