My 2 little fishies...

The kids were up at Nanny and Papa's house this past weekend. It was on Pumpkin's wish list for the summer. It was nice to have some time to get things done around the house without our "helpers". Hubby and I went up there on Sunday to hang out and then bring them home. They had spent a fair amount of time in my parent's pool and were excited to show us what they could do!

Apparently all Critter wanted to do was jump to Papa from the edge. They taught him to ask every time, since he can not swim yet.

Not knowing how to swim does not make him fearful of the water though! Look at this! :) Funny thing is that his eyes are open the whole time!
Of course, Papa is there to catch him!

He did this time and time again. I love that Pumpkin is waiting her turn to jump as well! She is a little fish now. Papa taught her how to expel some air from her lungs so she can sit on the bottom of the pool. While this is a neat trick, it makes my heart stop every time she does it! There is nothing natural about seeing your child playing on the bottom of the pool. At least we all take turns watching the kids.

This picture is proof that I really have 3 children, not just 2. I could not believe what my husband was doing! My parents pool is not that deep, I can stand in the deepest part. But, the kids loved this....and Hubby did. I did turn my head a lot of the time (when I was not taking pictures).

So...since Critter has no fear of the water, my parents came up with this idea to give them a rest from him jumping in the whole time. I don't think he could fit many more flotation devices on his little body! He is getting really good with his swimming skills, which is a huge comfort. He blows bubbles, kicks, uses his arms, knows the grab the edge and can pull himself out of the water. So...we are getting there!

Hubby could not let Papa have all the fun.....

But, Hubby outdid Papa to the extreme. At one point, my dad looked at my mom and said "Now, you can not say anything about what I was doing with the kids!". The scary thing was that Critter was having a blast! I was not having the same fun watching them though. Plus....Critter has gotten really heavy! There is NO WAY I could throw them around like that!

Yes, that is Critter flying through the air...

Now let's go for over the head!

Nothing like a face plant into the water! Yet, he kept asking for more....he certainly does not get that adventure streak from his momma!

She was doing cannonballs off the ledge....she has a little of her dad in her as well!

CANNONBALL! :)

Her splash was not nearly as big as Hubby's, who jumped in after her!


It was a great day at their house. The kids had SO MUCH FUN! They both slept in on Monday and took a 2 and 3 hour nap! I sometimes wish we had a pool, but after seeing how daredevil they get...I am glad we don't! I know it will be just as crazy the next time we go up there.

Celebrating...

This is a little late (but better late than never!). We had a nice Father's Day celebration with Hubby. We actually were able to have a whole weekend to just be the 4 of us! That was awesome :)

I started this project with Pumpkin when she was 2. Each Father's Day we make a cement stone with hand/foot prints and give it to him. I will say it makes coming up with his gift each year much easier :) This was the first year where besides mixing the cement and waiting for it to set enough....the kids did it all! They had so much fun. I was actually able to take pictures of them doing their project this year.

He took this very seriously. He did keep trying to fill his hand and foot print with glass and marbles....other than that he did great!

She of course, took her time and planned things out...

It is always so much fun to do this with them each year. Our goal in the next year is to re-do the backyard. We are going to incorporate these into the design. It is so neat to see how much they grow each year!

We just spent the weekend having fun with the kids. Life gets so full of errands, parties, activities and work that we don't get to just be. We took the kids to the splash pad in the morning. It was fairly empty and fun! It was not quite hotter than the face of the sun, so we were able to hang out for about an hour and a half! Critter was Mr. Adventure. He loved running through the spouts of water and having fun!

Pumpkin did not want to go in...so her brother held her hand and brought her to the water. It was really cute. I did not get pictures of it, but she started to use those orange circles as monkey bars. She would go from one end to the other, swing around w/o touching the ground and go back again. She did that 4 times without touching the ground. Hubby and I were sort of amazed at that one! She has a lot of strength in that little body :)

I think in their minds (and mine) we had a perfect Father's Day weekend. The kids and I got to hang out with Hubby for 2 whole days and just do what we wanted. The kids even got to do yard work with him while I cooked dinner. I wish we could do this every weekend.

It was the perfect celebration of a great dad! :)

One of our favorite parks...

Last weekend we went to one of my favorite parks! It is about halfway between my parents house and ours, so it is a great meeting spot. Plus, they have a train, playground and carousal. We met my parents up there early on Sunday (before it got too hot) to celebrate my mom's BDay and Father's Day for my dad. The kids had a blast! It is so much fun to see them play and let their imaginations take hold. They always create fun games!

The way he was posing on top of this thing just cracked me up!
So, we can not find his cool superhero glasses he got for Easter. But, Hubby found a pair of glasses in the closet the other day. So, we gave them to Critter. They are a little big, but they fit. It took me a few days to realize who they belonged to....me! I got them when I left my sunglasses in a friends car. I can not go without sunglasses, so I got a really inexpensive pair. They have now become Critter's sunglasses. I don't know if it is a good thing that they pretty much fit him....at 3 1/2 years old!

I am trying to soak in this girl this summer. She is getting a little bored, but it is nice having her home. I want to make sure we are enjoying the summer and not running completely ragged!

He LOVES riding the train! I love the fact that my dad is into trains and will one day build a track for his model trains at their house. Between trains and golf, they have a special "thing" with him. I think that is so neat. I love that as they grow they will have certain special memories with each grandparent. Those small things are what will last them a lifetime.

I honestly could not believe that both my parents got on the carousal with the kids! It was such a fun day. The kids loved it as did Hubby and I. What a way to celebrate two great people!

Some Summer Fun...

The kids and I were able to escape for Memorial Day Weekend up to my parent's house. That way, Hubby was able to get some projects done around the house without his "helpers". They LOVE heading up to Nanny and Papa's....they get a little bit spoiled! I love it as well since I get to potentially relax :)

We had a fun filled weekend. We started off by going to their music in the park that their community has. The girls walked and the boys took the golf cart. Critter is getting into having special "boy" time doing things. It is rather cute. I think this is one of my favorite pictures of Critter...

It was a nice relaxing time listening to some good music...until bed time though! My kids are so scheduled that even when I try to let them stay up or do things different, it does not work so well! They are like their momma....they like knowing the schedule of the day :)
The next day, Hubby was able to join us after finishing his projects. We had a cookout and then made smores! Not much better than that :)

The special thing about heading to Nanny and Papa's house is going golfing with Papa. Pumpkin has outgrown her first set of clubs and is doing really great! Critter does good...but often swings like it is a baseball bat. I absolutely love that they have this special thing to do with my dad. Plus....if I get to go with them I usually get some really fun pictures!

We are still working on Critter's stance a little bit. Plus, he has grown so much he has almost outgrown Pumpkin's old clubs. So...we will see what we do!

This time, he took them to the small driving range as well. Usually they only head to the putting/chipping green. He wanted (especially Pumpkin) to see them use their drivers and see them really swing.

Critter was trying to be just like Papa when putting his ball on the tee. It was really cute he kept looking over at my dad to see what he was doing.


It was a really fun way to start off the summer. Even though Pumpkin still had 2 days of school after this, I sort of thought of the weekend as the start of the summer. I know the summer will be over before I know it, so we are trying to soak in every minute of it! :)

Grad. pictures...

I had to post some actual pictures of Pumpkin's graduation. They just told so much of the story of the day :)

I wanted to get a picture of her outside the front door just like I did on the first day of school....but it was not worth a fight! She wanted to stand inside, so that is where we went. Then....she did not want to "smile" for me. So, she smiled and covered her mouth. She unfortunately, is much like her mother. She gets a little moody when she gets nervous about a special event. I have sympathy since I am usually on the giving end of those moody times!

She was trying to convince her brother to make funny faces with her. He gets so proud of her when she does stuff. Each time she has had a performance at school or something special, he is an angel. He knows how much these things mean to us and to her. It is really sweet. Plus...who doesn't love it when kids pull up their socks like that! Every time he wears these socks he has to pull them up. Some hot days the socks happen to be dirty! :)


Her last picture in her Kindergarten classroom! She had such an amazing year in this classroom. I can not believe how much she has grown and how much she has learned. It is amazing.


We have been having a fun summer so far. I need to take more pictures of what we are doing. I will say that it is much harder to find a rhythm with Pumpkin getting bored during Critter's naps!

I can not believe how much I love this crazy family of mine!

No longer a Kindergartener...

Our little girl is no longer a Kindergartner :( I am sad, yet so proud of who she has become. I was looking at pictures of her from the beginning of the year, and I can not believe how much she has grown! Once again, her school put on a really nice show. I can not believe how many songs these kids learned for the Fairytale Nite in April and then this now. Pumpkin would not practice at home because she wanted the songs to be a surprise for us.

Since Pumpkin is one of the tallest in the class she got to be in the back row again...next to her "boyfriend". This is a really sweet boy who is a dear friend to her. She was very happy to stand next to him :)

I may have gone a little overboard on the videos....but oh well! :) Our first born finishes Kindergarten only once! I have a bunch of pictures, but I will save those for another post...

The next video is the one that got me....I was not teary eyed much at all...until this one....

It makes you realize how quick they grow. Another mom started crying, then I started, then the mom on the other side of me started...it was sort of funny. I just could not believe I was sitting and watching this little girl be so grown up. I want to enjoy each moment of this summer, I know it will go by way to fast!

This summer is going to be filled with lots of adventures....I am truly looking forward to it!