Summer Fun

We've been trying to enjoy summer... which is just flying by!  July is jam packed with activities & August & Jeff heading back to school will be here before we know it.

 

He is teaching a 2 week summer school class right now... and building us a shed.... for class :)  So August will be full of shed & garage cleaning & organizing.  At the risk of sounding completely stupid... I'm so excited.  Our garage is a PIT!  Really, its a storage pile, not one car is in it.  So I've been Pinterest-ing some DIY garage storage ideas.  Anybody have any great must have ideas?

 

But for now... swimming fun!

We've been making the drive to our old pool... because they really enjoy the baby pool.  AND this baby pool is free.  For adults even, if you just go to the baby pool.  Worth the 15 minute drive.

 Their favorite thing, trying to dunk Jeff under.

 "Swimming"

 This has been a long time coming.... but we finally have one brave enough to jump into the baby pool.  And sometimes she has to stand there for 5 minutes getting herself psyched up first.  How they can jump & dive from couch to ottoman 8 feet across the living room with no fear, yet jumping 1 foot into a foot of water is so terrifying, confuses me?  Sillies.

 

This week one afternoon we hit up the Splash Station in Fremont.  Its a pretty great place actually.  Reminds me quite a bit of Island Oasis where I spent time as a kid, minus the lazy river.  That place seemed so HUGE when I was little.  Really its a couple of mid-size water slides, a wave pool, leap pad things for the bigger kids to crawl across, a snack bar & some kid activities/slides.  (Note the green water tower in the middle back of this picture... not their favorite thing!)

 It also has a splash park type area.

 And the kid section is basically a big train with slides.  Last year we tried to go & the kids were tired & crabby after camping & scared of the train whistle.  It blows every so often & there is a big water tower that dumps a bucket of water after the whistle blows.  That dang bucket the kids are still scared of, but beyond that, they had fun.  Logan & Olivia especially.  Hayden was pretty reserved that day. 

Usually there is water shooting out from both sides of this slide.  So you get a big spray in the face on the way down when you are 3.  I think that's why Hayden wasn't a huge fan.  Later in the day, they turned it off & he did go down once.

 Two of the slides off the train are into very shallow, kid friendly water.  There is one on the back side, that goes to water just too deep for our kids to stand.  It was a little tricky watching 3 kids & making sure we were there to catch if someone went down that back slide.  Both Jeff & I were seen sprinting over there through the water as Livi was on her way down once or twice.  They wore their puddle jumpers part of the time because of that.

 

 Snack. 

 It was kind of a cloudy day & not too busy.  AND 4 & under was free, so it was cheaper than going to any Omaha Public pool!  Score!

We've also been watching our garden grow.  Its really taken off. 

The kids watering.  They are helping hold the hose "like Fireman Sam."

 Our cucumber plants are going crazy!!  We have eaten a couple already & have 3 more in the fridge.  And I bet next week we'll have a dozen more.  I had no idea they would be so huge & take over our beans & carrots like they are. 

 Corn as tall as Hayden

 Mostly our pepper plants look sad.  I think that back corner of the yard stays more wet than they like.  We will probably re-arrange & add & subtract things next year.  The kids are really having a blast with it. 

 We have a few green beans too!

 

Hope you are enjoying your summer while its blowing by!!

He's got it good!!

Catch the Moment, July

A laugh.  A moment I cherish.

Linking up with Sarah at Nurse Loves Farmer & remembering to catch the little every day moments in life that I never want to forget.

Road Trip!

We road tripped up to say with Tisha, Aaron, Addie & Ava this past weekend.  Usually they have a big get together Memorial Day weekend, but there was a wedding that weekend, so instead we did it this weekend.  We go & Aaron's siblings & all their kids go.  And Aaron's parents.  And usually Jeff's parents too, but unfortunately given Jeff's dads recent back surgery, they didn't make it this year.  We missed them! 

About 7 hours up, including 2 potty stops & a potty/lunch stop.  And about the same back.  We even successfully braved road tripping up there in underwear for all 3 kids!  The boys were in pullups the ride home, because I new they would be tired & sleep more & thank goodness they were, because they both randomly had poop accidents while playing in a McDonald's play gym.  Weird. 

There was some intermittent rainy weather, but we had a blast.  There were 9 kids 4.5 & under plus parents, grandparents & a few other aunts & cousins that stayed together under one roof Saturday night.  It was quite a party!  Historically our kids are so shy & needy.  Last year there, they did start to break out & play, but always had to be sure mom & dad were near by.  This year however, they wouldn't have cared one little bit where we were.  They played & socialized & had a blast.  Not sure if its just age, or if we can attribute a lot of this to school? 

There was also one of Aaron's nieces, who will be either in 7th or 8th grade next year, who we really should have paid come the end of the weekend.  Man, she played & entertained & watched those kids.  Her name is Holly.  At my family gatherings there is a cousin named Avery, who is a bit younger than Holly who plays with the kids.  It took them a while to start calling her Holly, not Avery.  Then, one of Holly's little cousins for some reason calls her Bobby Dot.  So Holly had all the kids chasing he around, calling her Bobby Dot all weekend. 

Anyways, here are a few pictures of our fun!!

Potty stop!!

{ What it really looked like}

 Saturday lunch with 8 of the 9.  Hayden didn't want to sit at the little table (notice him at the big table behind them all).  Clockwise:  Olivia, Isaac, Addie, Evan, Avery, Logan & Ava.  And baby Sofie is just like 7 weeks old, so she wasn't in on the lunch party.

 Another Baby came to visit too!!

Played all.day.long!!!

 Logan LOVED LOVED "Bobby Dot"

Tag!

 Holly & Logan

 Poor Holly!

 Ava & Hayden

 Hayden LOVES to pick "flowers" for me :)  He is such a terror, but he can be oh so sweet.

 Logan playing bean bag toss while the big guys were taking a break.

 

This boy has some serious athletic talent in him!!

 

My beautiful girl!!

 And my most favorite photo of the weekend & quite possibly my most favorite photo of Olivia ever!  Simply stunning!!

 The 5 biggest kids movie in Tisha & Aaron's bed to quite down before bed.

When we got home, literally we had JUST pulled into the driveway at 9pm, our neighbor lady was just pulling out & said a church just up the street was having a big fireworks show.  So we quickly went potty, threw on some long pants for the cool evening, grabbed some snacks & hit the road again.  It was a good show, just long enough for our kids' attention span.  And this year no one was scared or cried!  Yay!  They did however say, "That one sounds like a fart."  "EW!"  "That firework needs to poop."  "Eww.. they are stinky fart fireworks."  Oh.... boys will be boys.

 

What an awesome jam packed weekend!!!