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I’m not sure there’s much to say.  The neighbor had a huge pile of dirt in her driveway.  The sprinkler was running.  Put the two together & this is what you get.  YUCK!!!  (Jack says he looked like a big Cheeto.)

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Today our little fishy learned to swim.  It was absolutely amazing!

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Aunt Molly got Will an “inflatable bathing suit” (what else would I call it?  That’s what it is, after all!) for his birthday last March.   It’s like a one-piece tank suit with inflatable panels inside.  So first thing when we got in the water this morning, Will started experimenting by letting go of the wall.  Then he was a little more courageous when jumping into the pool,  not squeezing my finger like he usually does, but eagerly jumping into my outstretched arms.  And the next thing we know, he’s motoring across the pool all by himself, laughing like crazy.  It was so much fun!  He really loved playing the jump-in game with Margaret & Jack. What a great way to start the weekend!

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My kids have a dream dad!  For his Father’s Day, Brad decided he wanted to go to the water park for the day.  Margaret & Jack screamed out loud when they discovered Daddy was spending the entire day going down water slides with them.  The really cool thing is that this year, they are both finally tall enough to go on EVERY ride in the park – yay, fun!!!  So Jack decided that we would spend the day in “teams” – Brad, Jack, & Margaret on one team.  Mommy & Will on the other team. 

I wish I had photos to show you – it was such an awesome day!  But since we were in the water for 6 hours, that didn’t really work out so well.  Everyone had sooooo much fun, though.  Brad talked Margaret into going down the “straight down” slide, and Will even tried out a little slide (which he loved, until he got hurt).  It took will about 90 minutes just to get past the fountains in the main entrance – he was having so much fun splashing around in the water spray!  After that, he and I spent most of our day in the wave pool.  He loved being in shoulder-deep water, running around, dunking his face in & pretending to swim.  He didn’t even mind when the waves came & washed over his head.  I honestly think it was the best day of his life!  He was having so much fun that my face hurt from smiling & laughing with him!  It was something we both really, really needed.

We had a great day, the weather was beautiful (HOT!), and the big kids were so happy to have a day with dad, doing something they love.

This photo’s not from the water park — but it does really show how much Will loves the water.  If he’s wet, he’s got a smile on his face.  He is turning in to an amazing “swimmer” already.   

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It was blazing hot yesterday, and the kids kept getting in each others’ hair.  Everyone was a little tired & grumpy, and understandably so.  Jack has had day camp all week at church, going to the water park, a baseball game, bowling, and a pizza/movie party.  He has been non-stop action all week.  Margaret has had two HUGE playdates with her best friend, plus is recovering from ear infections on both sides.  Poor Will, he has a cold now.  If it’s not something, it’s another — and now that his skin is clearing up a little bit, well . . . he’s coughing, sneezing, yucky nose & sore throat.  Eventually his immune system will catch on to the local climate.  But for now, we just have to do the best we can. 

Anyway, spur of the moment, the kids and I jumped in the van & headed to the sprayground.  It’s just a tiny one, but not too crowded & just right for 3 kids who tend to run off in 3 different directions the moment we step foot in the park!  Can you believe I caught them all playing together???  For sure, I snapped a photo right away to document their moment of harmony.  How appropriate that we are learning Matthew 5:9 this week — “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”

My mom, who is quite a petite lady always says she is tall enough, as long as her feet touch the ground.  Now how am I going to explain this go Jack???  As the mother of 2 sons, I am constantly amazed at the number of photos I have of my boys with NO feet on the ground!

Pure Joy!!!  It was Will’s 1st time to the sprayground.  He love, love, loved it!  Do you see the rainbow to his left?  This is my new favorite photo of Will.

Oh Margaret, please stop growing up.  I am so going to be in trouble with my little beauty.  She, like Will, loves all activities involving water.  I might have two future Shamu trainers on my hands here.

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First, the Yay’s, because there’s some really good stuff to be cheered this week :

First, SCHOOL IS OUT!!!  The kids had their last day of school on Thursday.  Even though this is a yay!, Jack still says Thurs was the worst day of his life, because he loves his teacher so very, very much.  She has been incredible — patient, loving, soft-spoken, and encouraging.  She has been just absolutely perfect for him.  Jack is going to miss her so much.  We are seriously praying that he will have an equally wonderful teacher next hear for THIRD GRADE.  By the way, who says my baby is allowed to be going into 3rd grade?  Huh?   How do you like Margaret in her wacky relay outfit from her class party?  Nothing sad about summer break for this little girl!  It is time for Barbies, swimming, and her newly mastered 2-wheeler bike!

Next Yay! is that Jack has been drafted to a brand new football team for the fall season.  It’s called THE TRUTH.  I’m no football expert, but that team name sounds surprisingly non-NFL, non-NCAA, and blatantly values-oriented to me.  We are pretty excited that we are going to be on a team with coaches that are promoting the same types of values that we are trying to instill at home.  And the uniform color — gold.  A little angelic?  Maybe?  We’re going to have to wait and see.  There are a total of 7 boys from Jack’s team last year that got drafted to this new team.  We’ll also have 1 of the same coaches, and one of the dads from last year’s team is now a coach.  It will be nice to have some familiar faces, as well as some new ones. 

Last Yay!, is that Will can now eat all the ice cream, cheese, yogurt, and goldfish crackers he wants.  We got his bloodtest results back on Friday, and the list of Will’s allergies is shockingly short — and it does not include milk!  We have been trying hard since January to limit all of Will’s dairy intake, thinking it was causing his horrible eczema.  But we celebrated the good news with chocolate pudding on Friday and cookies & cream ice cream today.  I put plain old milk in the sippy cup, but still a no-go.  He’s never had straight milk, after all.  He was having formula in China & when he first came home — then we’ve been giving him vanilla soymilk since February.  It will take some getting used to for him, and it’s no big deal.  He can still drink the soymilk.  But now he can eat yogurt & cheese, which makes him a very happy little man.

And that brings us to the Boooooo’s.  Sorry.  I just have to do it. 

This first Boo is a kicker.  Here’s the shock — the allergen causing the most pain for our baby is cat & dog dander.  That’s a pretty big problem, considering we have 2 cats & a dog.  I think Brad & I have decided that getting rid of our pets is not really an option at this time.  Alex & Winnie are so old, that it would be absolutely cruel to cut them out of our family now.  They are our first babies, and we love them so much.  Harmony is only 4, but she’s still such a sweet cat (unless you ask Brad).  We are going to do everything we can to try to ease Will’s symptoms and still keep our pets.  We have a lot of cleaning to do & some behavior modification to attempt ( keeping the animals out of Will’s room), plus many options & products to explore.  At least we know now where we need to focus our efforts to try to help Will’s itchies go away.  Oh, Will’s also allergic to shrimp, which kinda stinks — it’s one of his favorite foods. 

Second boo . . . it’s a much smaller one . . . someone rammed my new van with a shopping cart.  Who would do such a thing?  We just put the permanent license plates on it yesterday!

Ooh, here’s a big boo hoo from all of us.  Our dear, dear friends, are moving this week.  We have been good friends since we were pregnant with Margaret and T. at the same time.  The kids have become as close as family, and I consider S. one of my best friends in the world.  We’ve babysat the kids the past 2 summers & after school last year & the year before.  When I hugged the kids good bye after school on Thursday, it was so hard not to cry.  But I didn’t.  I wiped my tear & sniffed the sob back in.  We are going to miss them so much.  Margaret & I did have a good cry together, but we’re ok now.  After all, we’re going to visit them in their new home in just 3 weeks!

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