Summer + Pool Time = a nice break

Since we've been here the kids and I have been having a lot of fun going to the pools. At first it was hard to convince either Madeline or Oliver to dunk their heads underwater until we got goggles. Oh the magic of goggles. Oliver is a pro at it and he doesn't plug his nose. It might not seem like a big deal but Weston refuses, refuse is a strong word, but he really doesn't enjoy going underwater without plugging his nose. Anyway basically it's awesome that he doesn't plug his nose because then it makes teaching how to swim a little bit easier. We've been watching some youtube videos with astronauts explaining the changes and differences of being in space with the lack of gravity, and so he likes to think he's in space when he goes under and pretends to float. It's really cute. He also dances underwater. I would really like to capture that moment but it's a little difficult to get. Oh well. I'll just have to take a mental picture. Madeline likes to do it too but not nearly as much as Oliver. However, when they are taking a bath she's more apt to doing it. She must feel safer when it's not so deep, smart kid. On the awesome days that we do go swimming, the little people are so exhausted bedtime/naptime is a piece of cake. Then I get to have a nice, quiet, peaceful break. It really is quite nice. We love pools.

This is the only picture I got of them swimming. I need one of Mads.

Cow Appreciation Day

            It was cow appreciation day sometime ago at Chik-fil-A and it was so much fun. We had a friend tell us about it and basically you dress up as a cow and you get a free meal. So when we woke up we were excited to get our little get up together. However, when you procrastinate it's never looks the way you had imagined it in your head. Luckily I don't have harsh critics. They still enjoyed making the masks, dressing like cows and getting a free meal. A great day for cows and sharing it with new friends. MMOOoooOOO!

 Sadly I didn't take a lot of pictures but at least these ones look cute.
     

Little Biker Man

      Over the past few months Oliver has been using his birthday bike as a balance bike. When we first got it we had taken it for a few spins around Philly with the training wheels, unfortunately the training wheels kept coming loose. The sidewalks are not the kindest to the poor wheels and so one minute Oliver felt invincible and the next he would be on the ground frustrated. Our practice path wasn't exactly the safest because of the busy cars so we had taken off the pedals and training wheels and just went down our very long hall. Then he decided to take a hiatus until we moved here in NC. Oliver got the itch to try biking again and so we brought it to the park near our home and I wanted to see if he could just ride down the hills. And he could! I was so shocked and amazed. He had his balance down, for riding straight at least. After at least a week of hurling himself down the grassy hills we decided it was time to put the pedals back on. We started off on the hills then flat ground and now he's biking! Not perfect,  he definitely still takes some spills but he's tough most of the time at least. It hurts to fall. When he starts feeling overly confident about his abilities he falls a little bit more often and it's just so funny to watch.That wasn't very nice of me, but it's true. He also gets this crazy-eyed determination to bike as fast as his legs will take him. I look at him and I just know he's imagining that he's a superhero in some radical superhero contraption he has built himself. This milestone makes me so proud and excited for him but also a little scared, because it means that he really is growing up and there's no stopping it. Mostly, we're just feeling really proud of our little

 biker man. 

Mr. Twinkles, Two, and Corni

      We bought our first family pet, GUPPIES! We got it the day before Madeline's birthday. I was thinking it could be one of her presents but it was our first pet so it should be a family pet. So we had been thinking for a while that we wanted a pet, but we didn't want one that required too much commitment so we would go back and forth between some sort of reptile or something aquatic or a gerbil or something. Just something small. Someday we will have dogs or cats or both, it hasn't been the right time yet. On the Friday before Mad's birthday Weston had a study group so we dropped him off and the kids and I were supposed to run some errands. It was a little before dinner time so the kids were at that odd transition between normal children and inconsolable crazy children. So, of course, the best thing to do, instead of doing an errand they were anticipating, we had an impromptu pit stop at PetSmart. About and hour later we came out with two Guppies, a bowl, gravel, small live water plants, water conditioner, and tropical fish food (*note: notice I did not buy a fish net which will later traumatize my poor boy). (o.0) No we never did our errand, we just went straight home set up our bowl got everything ready and lo and behold our first family pet, two guppies, Mr. Twinkles, named by Oliver, and Two, by Mads.
      The kids adored their two little fishes and Mads could not stop staring and giggling.

Unfortunately, they only stayed with us for six days. I had noticed that Mr. Twinkles started to swim slower and sideways and I knew that he wasn't going to last long. I thought that maybe if I cleaned their bowl it might give him a fighting chance. This is where a fish net would have come in handy of course. I scooped both fish out just fine with the cup. It was putting them back in, for some reason, was a little tricky. Two made it in ok, but Mr. Twinkles fell into the sink. Oliver was watching the whole time and his eyes grew big while I tried to put him back in the bowl. It must have been a lot of trauma for the both of them because Oliver wont let me live it down about not having a net after Mr. Twinkles died the next day. I didn't bring any attention to it until after Mads' birthday so he was floating in the bowl for a couple of days which may have been the reason why Two followed suit. It broke Oliver's heart to see Mr. Twinkles floating and he refused to flush him down the toilet because then he would be in with all the poop and pee. He didn't really want to bury him either, because if we moved to another house we wouldn't be able to bring him with us.

Eventually he decided that we could bury him in the back yard and had a little memorial service. Madeline wasn't too shaken up, she was just worried about Oliver. After the memorial service Oliver says, " So can we get another fishy?" I guess the mourning process for little children are quite short. He moved on as soon as we got our new female Betta fish, Corni (named by Oliver). I'm proud to say we've had her now for more than six days and she seems to be doing well. Yay us!

 

 

Madeline's TWO!

It's July so obviously now is the time to write about Mads' June birthday. We decorated the house and spent some quality time together. We had some chocolate brownie cupcakes that didn't really turn out the way I wanted but the kids loved it so it was just fine. Madeline loved the attention and Oliver just loves birthdays so it was fun seeing them celebrating together. We got some gifts from the grandparents and birthday cards and it made Madeline really happy. I just can't believe she's two already. I am so in love with her and I am so stinkin' blessed to have her. She's caring and sweet and always takes note of other people. Whenever she asks for a Popsicle she never leaves without another for Oliver. She's a sweet, stubborn, fierce, loveable, thoughtful little girl. We have truly been blessed to have her join our little family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADELINE