She's 8!

What does a girl do first on her 8th birthday?  Go for a ride without her booster seat, DUH!

 And practice her bike tricks

 While Daddy & her brother paint the leaning shelf Mommy made for their room.

 Such a hard worker!

 Until his sister parks her bike and walks away.

 He told me he was fixing it.  That's some serious thought he's putting itno this repair job.

 And then she helped.  I did too, but I'm the one that takes pictures, so there isn't any documentation of it.

 Then, at Eliz's request, we went bowling. 

 She got her first spare.  I knew there was no point in trying for a non-blurry photo.

 His ball kind of matches his shirt, cute.

 And another spare. 

 Wow, they are soo much alike, and not just in looks.  My boys, how I love them!

 Hehe, Daddy told him to do that.

 Yeah, he's a lefty.  Crazy man.  Once he bowled right, and did the best he's ever done. 

 Daddy's girl all the way.

 I don't think he could be cuter if he tried.

 So sweet, matching shoes!

 Ha, I think he gave up on tutoring hm and decided to just see what happened.

 Eliz felt that it was a great birthday, and we all had fun.  But she and I were really getting excited for this weekend, when she has her party.

To the park with friends

Technically, it's still summer.  It was a beautiful day, and a friend asked if we wanted to go to the park and play.  We went to a park that's a fai distance from our house, but the play ground and woods make it worth the drive.  No pictures of the girls on the playground, they were running to fast. 

 

Ah, mud.  Even little girls like it!

However, little girls also like to clean themselves off more than boys do.

 Yep, she goin'  to da movies, pickin' her seat!  *snicker*

I'm glad they knew what that was for.

 And we Mommies didn't even have to tell them how to pose.

 They are too silly!

And cute!

H2O games at the Library

I know!  More play time at the library.  And yes, the library has long been in the top 5 of my favorite places to be.  One week we played Luau games.

A relay race,

Then they made felt lei's and decorated bags with felt flowers.

A week later we played water games.  Well, the kids played and I stood by and took pictures.

They were passing the sponge over and under, over and under.

 Pop the balloon by sitting on it.

 Lex insisted on picking his own balloon.

 It wasn't until this point that I remembered that I brought the kids' swimsuits.

 But there was too much to do, the balloon toss was on!

 But once their clothes were soaked, it was okay to take a break and change.

 Jumping on the balloon to make it pop.

It was hot sunny day and perfect for this kid of activity.  The water day was also a great way to end the summer programs at the library, sigh, we will look forward to next summer and more fun!

While we can...



Word on the street, and news, is that there's going to be a water ban placed soon. I understand, and it's probably a must, because I can't remember the last time it rained. I don't mean a 20 minute tease, I mean, rained. The kind of drenching that gives life to plants and saturates the air with the scent of trees and flowers. We're leaving in a few days for Georgia, and even though there is laundry to do, and to do lists to check off, I got out the slip n slide, since we probably won't be able to use it again this summer.   I'm only a little upset with the no fireworks ordinance, I get the dangers of wind and dry grass mixed with fire.

 They quickly decided that a BIG running start was key to a good slide.

 I must be getting old, 'cause it makes my knees hurt just looking at this. 

 Obviously, did not bother her knees At. All.

 Either because he's too light or because he didn't want to, Lex never made it face first into the pool at the end of the slide.

 He did lots of twists and turns going down, though.

 Aww, yeah Baby!  I plan on taking this with us to Grandma's, so they'll get some more time with it.

 This looks like a lead in to a belly flop to me.  Or a face plant.

 Yep, face plant.

 You can barely see our sprinkler.  There's always one sprayer that finds me when I'm not in bathing suit. 

 Keep pullin' kiddo, keep pullin'.  His dad doesn't have a butt either, and I wonder if he's just gotten used to his pants falling down, or if he knows a trick he hasn't yet shared with me.  So far I haven't found anything to keep the poor boys pants up.

 Lex got out his skateboard and rode it down the slide.

 Surf's up.  The kids don't know it, but we're taking them to the beach for a couple of days.  grandma's house is 3 hours from The Gulf.  I'm looking forward to their first trip to the beach.

 Lil' Monkey. 

Root Beer Floats

In a couple of weeks, my sisters and I are taking the kids and DRIVING to southern Georgia.  What's in southern Georgia that I'm willing to drive 12 + hours with 7 kids and 3 women?  My Grandma, her farm, and The Nurse.  We'll do most of the driving at night, but still, the kids will need some new stuff to get by.  So we went to Franklin, IN and visited my favorite toy store, Imagination Station.  Franklin is a classic old fashioned small town.  Beautiful store fronts, a town square, and lots of nostaglia. I didn't buy very much, mostly because I didn't want the kids seeing it.  this is supposed to be a surprise, so that hopefully the things hold their attention a little bit longer than normal.  I was carrying a few too many things to take pictures while we were walking, but we stopped to get some old school root beer floats.  As far as I know, this is the first time either of the kids have had these. 

 Nummy, nummy!

They may have enjoyed the black and white tv show the most.

 Well, maybe not in Eliz's case.

Xander kept pointing out the antique things around us.  I didn't think about how big the floats were, and how much he would be able to drink.  Or not drink.  Eliz did her best to finish off the entire thing, but gave in with 3/4 of it gone.  Fortunately, we parked next to a store with public restrooms, so the 30 minute drive home was uneventful. Thankfully.