BIKE!

We finally have a bike rider!!

I decided that the bikes the kids got for Easter are too big to learn on. So we'll save them for later & I took off in search of some free/cheap replacements. In a session of cleaning out my friend Amy's garage, I managed to come home with 2 12 inch bikes for free & Grandma GG & Molly found us a 3rd one on Craigslist for cheap. So what if they are all 3 pink/purple. By the time the boys care, they will be ready for their bigger ones.

We have been trying to learn how to ride them. Olivia & Logan can pedal their (too small) trikes (which I need to sell).   But they haven't been able to carry that over to a bike very well. Hayden could care less. Well tonight it finally clicked for Olivia. She got it! Once while trying to learn months ago, she tried to turn WAY to sharp & crashed. Her skinned up knee in her mind was as good as a broken arm & she is too nervous to do anything but go straight. And she spends most of her time looking at her feet. And she needs help getting started. But she literally JUST got this tonight. So I'm sure it won't be long before she has it mastered.

 

Swimming, take 1

We FINALLY got to go swimming this year.  Seesh, this weather has been crazy.  Cold, windy, stormy.  The temperature was warm, in the 90s I think, but it was still so-so-so windy, if you were up out of the water much, it was cold.  Luckily the pool water was WARM.  It was a nice surprise.

The kids & I met up with Grandma GG, Molly & Analeigh at Grandma & Grandpa Siebert's house & went swimming, played, had dinner & visited.  The kids always love going there.  They had a blast.

Considering we had not been swimming since last summer, I wasn't sure how it would go.  But they all ran right in.  I LOVE this pool.  Wish it was closer.  There is zero entry, a little kids slide, a big slide & a small town "do what you want" mentality.  That's my favorite part. 

I wanted a picture of the 3 of them, they were not interested in cooperating.

 Little slide.  Hayden & Olivia went down a hundred times.  Logan went down several a the beginning, then decided he wasn't a big fan.  He is much more reserved in the water than the other 2.  It took them a while to do it without someone standing RIGHT at the bottom to catch them.  But they had it figured out by the end.   

 Analeigh the daredevil would have probably jumped off the slide had we let her.

 One of Logan's few trips down.

 Helping Grandma GG catch Analeigh.

 Grandma & her girls :)

 Logan spent most of his time back in the shallowest part.  He "swam"/crawled around on his belly with his face in most of the time.

 This blue line was about the extent of how deep they could walk well.  I told them not to go past it without a grown-up & Livi & Hayden kept testing the limits.  They didn't have much fear.  I need to get them into some swim lessons this summer.

 CHEESE!

 BIG SLIDE!

Hayden & Liv begged to go & went a ton of times.  Logan went a few times, then declined.

 Grandma & Olivia

 Me and the boys.  Like I said, I LOVE the "do what you want" mentality.  I doubt there is a place around here that would let me take 2 kids down on my lap. 

 Deep end with puddle jumpers.  Logan HATED this.  He was absolutely terrified.  Olivia LOVED it.  With her puddle jumper on, she could swim across the pool.

 Trying to get them to jump in.  They are not fans of jumping...

 Snack break!

 The non-jumpers wanted to go off the "jumping board."  Well the 2 brave ones did.  Then they both refused to actually jump. 

 We had fun!!

 They LOVE their grandmas!!

Our next projects....

Jeff's current project.  Stripping, sanding & staining the deck.  So glad this is HIS project & not mine. 

 My next project.  Cleaning the... um, cleaning closet.  And of course painting & organizing & purging. 

Who do you think will get done first??

And once I get some paint & a chance to dig into my project, I'll get some pictures up of our latest fun adventure.  Swimming for the first time this summer.  Thank you for a day of warm (yet still windy) weather. 

Rainy Weekend

This weekend was community days... in our new community.  And I was bound & determined to be all "townie" & get out & have fun. 

Well the weather had different plans.  It rained, & rained.  And the wind blew.  And it rained.  And it was cold & sucky.  And it was April 1st weather, not June 8 weather. 

Well, despite the cruddy weather we were dealt, and the 3 year old attitudes that we endured, we found some fun moments between the clouds & rain & tantrums & tears.


We were just ready to walk out the door for the parade, when the morning's rain started.  So we scrounged up some umbrellas & headed out anyways.  Despite the fact that we were soaking wet, despite the fact that they were pulling candy out of "rivers" for rainwater running down the street, despite it all... they of course had a blast.

Look at all those umbrellas!!

 Logan's stance in response to the fire truck.  Someday he will get over that fear.

 Watching the parade under the umbrellas.  Part way through, the rain turned into sprinkles & by the end the rain was done (for now).

 It took them a while to warm up to the whole parade thing again...

See all the water on the street?!?

 Finally the treats & prizes came flying.... THEN they remembered what parades were all about!  The poor people on the floats were covered in parkas & trash bags.  Inside vehicles or dripping wet.  They had prepared for it to be hot & handed out water bottles, popsicles, glasses of lemonade, etc.  We would have preferred hot chocolate!

 Checking out their loot.  Their bags were overflowing by the end.

 Not much for good pictures.  I was under an umbrella & trying not to poke the eyes out of the other parade-goer's with the umbrella edges.

 Horse pink painted toe nails ;)

 Turned out to be a not, too bad morning.

The afternoon was supposed to be full of fun in the park.  Games, rides, bounce houses.  Pizza, hot dogs, chips.  Instead, we lunched on Red Robin (which was probably better than park lunch) & we went bowling-ish. 

 

Why the -ish?  Well it was rough.  They didn't want to wait turns.  Sit.  Listen.  Anything.  They ran around.  Tried to pick up balls 100x too heavy, despite constant reminders not too.  They are lucky no one lost a finger screwing around with the ball return.  Pretty sure the people in the lane next to us asked to move lanes.  Their behavior was absolutely awful.  I was embarrassed.  We stuck out the hour we paid for & then left.  The facility has a large arcade as well & the kids cried & begged to play games, despite the fact that they all well knew that unless their listening improved, there would be no games after bowling.  Hayden cried all the way to the car.  And Livi.... oh, Livi.  She almost got left in the parking lot.  First, she ran away... in a parking lot.  Then, she lay on her back in the parking lot, crying & screaming & feet kicking in the air.  Picture perfect stereotypical tantrum.  I picked her up like a football under my arm & carried her kicking & screaming all the way to the car.  I almost had to SIT on her to get her buckled into her carseat.  She kicked & bucked & fought.  I looked at Jeff & laughed, because really what else do you do at this point but laugh?  And said... at least she is yelling "NO MOMMY!" otherwise someone would probably be calling the cops for a child abduction.  Yes it was REALLY that big of a scene.

 

So glad I got this picture from the start of the trip or I might forever only remember it as a nightmare!

They took long naps after this fiasco & we rounded out the night with a living room picnic dinner & a movie. 


Sunday they behaved like Angels at Church.  And were great going out for lunch.  Logan's favorite place to go is to the "pancake store."  The little café we love to eat at, he always asks to go there after Church & he gets the kids pancake meal & dips them in grape jelly.  (The only place in all the world he will eat jelly or dip anything in anything.)  Its a little slice of Heaven for him.  He loves him some pancakes.  Hayden gets mac & cheese & French fries.  And Livi gets part of each of the boys' meals.  She is SUCH a follower lately she has to have & do everything they do.  To an over the top level.

One night I was tucking her into bed & I said "oh you are lucky, you have 3 cars in bed."  (Hot wheel cars)  She asked "Do the boys have 3 cars?"  I replied, "Nope, they just have 2 cars." & before I could blink, she threw a car across the room & yelled "I don't want 3 cars I want TWO like my boys!"  Honestly, most days as of late & wonder if she is boarderline insane?

Sunday evening we rounded out the weekend with the Circus.  It was supposed to be Saturday night, but it got rained out.  And I'm actually glad it did.  We would have not gone had it been Saturday after the bowling fiasco.  I LOVE this circus.  LOVE IT.  Small town optimist club circus set up in the football field.  We sit SO close its crazy.  And its not so huge & overwhelming.  Just our size.  We like the last 2 years, got there early so we could get the front row.  Not sure we'd make it through if the kids couldn't stand? 

 Look at all those tigers!!!

 He was SO good.  SO into it.  Sat nice.  Watched everything.  Clapped & cheered.  Waved at the clown & animals.  He really, really enjoyed every, single, moment.

 Tigers.  They really are right.there.  We are in the front row of the football stands & they are about where the team would stand on the sidelines!

 Hayden thought HE was the circus!!!

 And of course, Olivia the follower joined in.

 Popcorn & their first ever cotton candy at intermission.

 Hayden of course didn't like cotton candy.  Logan was in Heaven.  He closed his eyes with every bite, it was just.that.good!

 Juggling with FIRE!

Hayden was ornery.  He tried to climb the fence & on a couple occasions ran to the end of the bleachers & started down the steps, looking back to make sure we could see him being naughty.  (I wished I saw a face I knew to tell them to pretend to "steal" him so we can scare him a little bit into staying close!)

 

Despite his orneriness, he is apparently pretty cute & photogenic.  There was a photographer running around taking lots of pictures.  I thought he was with the local paper.  Turns out he is, we'll I'm not sure exactly what he is, but Hayden's picture is going to be in the onplane magazine on SouthWest Airlines in August.  Working on getting me a few copies of that magazine!

 A bear, in a cowboy hat, riding a rocking horse.

 Watching the bear.  Could her butt be any littler?

 And of course, the finale.... motorcycles in the sphere.

 Logan clapped & clapped & clapped!

Despite the weather & trials & tantrums & well, everything.... we managed to have a pretty amazing weekend.  Hopefully we built some memories to last us a lifetime.